The Bureaucrat Gives and the Bureaucrat Takes Away

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Second Amendment

One sentence. Succinct. Placed second in a list of ten crucial enumerations of rights retained by the people as a conditional for the ratification of the Constitution in the first place.  Without the Bill of Rights, there would be no Constitution and no United States.  The Constitution is the glue which binds us together as one nation, for it provides for our mutual co-operation as multiple states acting in unison in the areas which effect us all.  There is a common currency (so far!), a common armed force, common standards of weights and measurements, the right to travel and conduct business across state boundaries.  This works because each state recognizes the citizens of the other states as having the same rights.  It has been the most successful political agreement in the history of human relations.  Appreciate it the next time you drive into another state without having to stop and render entry fees or show citizenship papers.  Appreciate it as you realize the right of free speech, security in your papers and effects, freedom from soldiers quartering in your home, right to trial by jury, right to vote, right against self-incrimination and so many others regardless of which state you are within.

The United States Constitution was written with the God given principle of subsidiarity.  Subsidiarity requires the level of authority for any given power to remain as low as possible, as close to the individual as possible.  These levels can be thought of as: the individual, the family, the neighborhood, the town, the county, the state and lastly, the federal level.  If a man needs food and shelter, then that is his proper area of action.  If his children need an education, then the family has the proper authority to see to it.  If he needs security in his streets, he forms a town council.  If the state needs governing the he forms a state government.  Lastly, the states had those mutual concerns mentioned above, then the federal was formed for those concerns only!  In other words, the Constitution of the United States does not confer rights, but rather, some rights are specifically restricted, for the purpose of the legitimate areas of action of the federal, but no others.  The majority of the rights, held by our citizens, precede the Constitution, and what authority the federal has is granted by the people, not the other way around.  That is why some of the framers argued that the Bill of Rights was unnecessary, for to them, the rule of subsidiary was obvious.  Wisely, others argued that men's memories were short, and they wanted the rule written into the document.  The two amendments which demonstrate this most clearly are the ninth and tenth.

 The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Ninth Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Tenth Amendment

The fastest way to end this remarkable federation of our fifty states would be to cease recognizing the rights of our citizens as they cross state borders and this is happening now.  The right to keep and bear arms has been making a slow and determined come-back since suffering severe restrictions in the later part of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth.  Starting with Florida in the late part of the last century, the majority of our states have been issuing Concealed Carry Permits to their citizens.  These citizens quickly experienced the reality of the pre-constitution days as they found themselves unable to exercise these new found rights across state lines.  Through much time and effort a strange system of Reciprocity Agreements sprung up between the Attorneys General of such and such state with some other states which would allow arms carrying citizens to enter certain states, but not all.  Right now I, as a Virginia citizen, could enter North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, but not Georgia, as I traveled south on vacation.  My route to Texas had to be through Tennessee and Arkansas, as Mississippi and Louisiana were off limits.  This is what happens when we violate the rule of subsidiarity in one area, it creates more violations down the road.  A man has the right to keep and bear arms, for whatever legitimate reason he may have (self protection, defense of country, sports, etc.), however when the states wrote restrictions in the form of gun control, they violated the rule and created a serious flaw in the federation as well.

The Attorney General for Virginia is Mark Herring.  He has hit the news with his remarkable announcement that he will cease recognizing the right of citizens from twenty other states to keep and bear arms.  In other words, he is unilaterally canceling the Reciprocity Agreements Virginia has with those states for this reason, in his own words:

 “Virginia, and nearly every other state in the country, have recognized that carrying a concealed handgun is a significant responsibility that should be extended only to those who have gone through a process to prove a level of competency and responsibility,” Attorney General Herring said. “The standards for proving competency and responsibility are up to each state, and the General Assembly has established Virginia’s standards for whom it considers capable of safely carrying a concealed handgun. Those standards should be applied evenly, consistently, and fairly to anyone who wants to lawfully conceal a handgun in Virginia.”

Wrong!  He is flipping the rule of subsidiarity on it's head and establishing a precedent wherein each state begins to violate the federation by ever increasing restrictions against the citizens of the other states.  What he has said is, since we violated the rights of our own citizens, in the form of gun control laws, we will extend those violations to any other American who would wish to enter Virginia.  This is why I have argued against any and all gun control laws, for they violate the Constitution and cause further disruptions down the line.  Can you name any other right, which has been listed in the Bill of Rights, which we would tolerate bureaucrats switching on and off at their own whim?  His citation of Virginia, and other states, establishing "standards for proving competency and responsibility" shows the error.  What other right requires such standards?  What other right, as protected by the Constitution, requires us to earn the benefit?

After February, the agreements with twenty states will be revoked, for Virginia.  This will not protect Virginians from all of y'all citizens of other states, as I never heard of a criminal being deterred from committing a crime simply because he couldn't get a permit.  It will simply be a huge restriction to Virginians to travel, the very people this idiot claims to be protecting.  In reality, at the base of his motivations, is the violation of the Second Amendment, wrapped in pretty words.  He wants guns out of the hands of the people, all the people, of every state.  It is my hope that the legislature of Virginia will squelch this guy and write a law which recognizes the rights of all Americans to enter Virginia with their arms, in compliance with the Constitution of the United States.

What's the Difference?!

The following quote is from Rush Limbaugh, this week, concerning the spending bill which the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives just approved.  That bill basically sells out the American people on virtually every issue the Republicans ran on when they won the majority of the seats in 2014.  Even Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) chortled, "We got everything we wanted this year."

“The country was just sold down the river again by your very Republican Party. … I know many of you are dispirited, depressed, angry, combination of all of that. … When you surrender the power of the purse, and that’s the primary power the House of Representatives has. Not a penny of money can be spent in this country by this government without the House of Representatives authorizing it.

They gave up the power of the purse. The reason they did that is because for some inexplicable reason, they are literally paranoid and scared to death of even being accused of doing something that would shut down the government.

And now the Republicans have the largest number of seats in the House they’ve had in Congress since the Civil War. And it hasn’t made any difference at all. It is as though Nancy Pelosi is still running the House and Harry Reid is still running the Senate. ‘Betrayed’ is not even the word here. What has happened here is worse than betrayal. Betrayal is pretty bad, but it’s worse than that.

This was out-and-out, in-our-face lying, from the campaigns to individual statements made about the philosophical approach Republicans had to all this spending. There is no Republican Party! You know, we don’t even need a Republican Party if they’re gonna do this. You know, just elect Democrats, disband the Republican Party, and let the Democrats run it, because that’s what’s happening anyway.”  (end quote)  

Last year, when I heard folks gleefully anticipating a major Republican victory, I warned that it would come to no good.  There is no longer a two party system, wherein different philosophies of governance are there for choosing.  It is a one party system with two divisions, each leading us to perdition, each spending borrowed money like drug addicts; for as money addicts, they have no choice.

When we elected "W" Bush, we also loaded both houses with Republicans.  We are just learning how badly they betrayed us, specifically with the Patriot Act (euphemism) and other "security" measures.  The Republicans are just another specie of snake.

So, I'll not be joining in on discussions of Trump vs. the other snakes.  I'll not be spending one minute in listening to debates, "issues", or campaign speeches.  I'll be sharpening my knives and keeping my powder dry, 'cause when the damage done by these power whores oozes through the system just a little more, there will be chaos.

Am I the only one who thinks Donald Trump is there simply to run interference for Hillary?

Lord have mercy on us.

Trey Gowdy Grills DHS Official on Due Process

Is there only one representative who sees the horror of the Airline No-fly list?!  The maddening thing is this, now that Mr. Gowdy has shown the unconstitutional nature of the no-fly list, nothing will be done about it. Nothing. Nada. Zip!  Even with Republican majorities in both houses, the list is here to stay. 

Dealing With the Devil II

On July 20th, this year, I wrote a post called Dealing With the Devil.  In that post I complained about the National Instant Background Check system, which Obama considers his personal enemies list.  When it was originally proposed and pushed through congress by the National Rifle Association, oh! You didn't know?!  Yep, this huge infringement upon the national right to keep and bear arms is the brainchild and evil bastard child of the National Rifle Association.  They pushed this through amid the howling protests of their members, which has resulted in many members switching allegiance to Gun Owners of America and the National Association for Gun Rights. Anyway, when it was shoved down our collective throats, we were promised that the only people who would be prohibited would be those with actual felony convictions. (short time later...) and domestic violence misdemeanors, (a little later) and veterans who have been given psychological counseling, and (several years later) Social Security recipients who have help with their financial affairs, AND....

(a few weeks later) BSBHO is about to add, we expect, by executive order, without congressional approval, the Federal Airlines No-fly list.  The no-fly list is the most whimsical, unconstitutional list of all.  If any member of the government even thinks a specific person is a hazard, real or not, he gets placed on the list.  This list is very easy to get on and is impossible to get off, for no one in government would accept that liability and there has never been a workable process of removal designed.  The late senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, found himself on the list and the power of his office struggled to get him off.  This is one of the rankest violations of the American system of due process ever devised and Obama will integrate it with the National Background Check, which in one fell swoop invalidates the 2nd, 4th and 5th amendments to the Constitution.

The governor of Connecticut isn't waiting for BSBHO.  Dannel Malloy, a Republican, is already using the Connecticut Background Check system to prohibit persons on the no-fly lists from buying guns.

Speaking of eviscerating the 2nd Amendment, the Supreme Court stepped in it again.  Back in 2008 they ruled in Washington DC vs. Heller that the right to keep and bear arms was an individual right which nullified the prohibition of gun ownership foisted on the people of Washington DC.  In 2010, in the case of McDonald vs. City of Chicago, they nullified a similar prohibition of gun ownership in Chicago.  These two cases moved the bar in the right direction...somewhat.

This week, the Court declined to review the case of Friedman vs. City of Highland Park.  Highland Park, IL is a political district situated immediately north of downtown Chicago,  They enacted a city ordnance which bans the ownership and possession, within their boundaries, of semi-automatic, magazine fed rifles, rifles which are very popular in Texas and other states.  By declining to review the case, the Court in fact ratified the ban.  They basically nullified Heller and McDonald, two of their own decisions.  If Highland Park can ban certain specified guns then any gun may be specified, by any governing authority.  Bye bye 2nd Amendment!

In reality, gun ownership in America isn't going anywhere soon.  The vast majority of our people have guns, shoot guns and carry them for personal protection.  There isn't near enough political currency to actually nullify the 2nd Amendment because too many of us carry it around in our hearts.  However, if bozos like the city council of Highland Park keep pushing, they will soon experience some real push-back.  In the meantime, move away from Illinois, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.  Let those pathetic monuments to liberal fuzzy ideals fade away under their own dead over taxed weight.

As for all of the lists being weaponized into one mega list, we should all be concerned and demand this be stopped now!  Government lists are the very opposite  of freedom as history has told us before.  Any restrictive power we allow the government always grows against us, for that is the nature of the beast; for this was why the United States Constitution was written in the way it was, that all powers not specifically enumerated are withheld from the federal level.  Now is the time to get your guns, for times like these are the very reason for the 2nd Amendment.

One more point,  the 2nd Amendment does not confer upon our people the right to keep and bear arms, it ratifies it.  In other words, that right pre-exists the Constitution and the federal government. The statement, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state; the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." was placed in the Constitution to remind the government of that essential fact.  It also emboldens our people, because we can read too!

The Islamic "Religion" and Religious Freedom

Our people are tearing up the airwaves with angst and vitriol over Donald Trump's declared intention to stop Muslim immigration.  At first glance it seems like a violation of Freedom of Religion.  In reality, it isn't, because in essence, Islam is not a religion at all.

In the 500's a man named Mohammed sat down and wrote up a set of rules, which he claimed were given to him by God.  It is apparent that somewhere in his past, a Christian tried to catechize him, because he includes several Christian facets, such as the tenets of One God, the Virgin Birth and Jesus.  Beyond that, it is a book with three manifest purposes: to make Mohammed powerful, to make Mohammed rich and to get Mohammed as much sex as he could stand.  If you are shocked by this assertion, read the book, it's all in there.  Also, this false religion of Mohammed, in order to effect these goodies for Mohammed, uses the force of the sword to spread the "word".  Talk about violation of Freedom of Religion!  It is the antithesis of Christianity.  His forces spread like wildfire through Northern Africa, the Middle East and Spain.  It was a real and present threat to Italy which prompted the Crusades, to beat back this scourge.  Spain was the only country who successfully purged themselves of Islamic invaders, a fight which lasted over 500 years and was finally completed by Queen Isabella, yep, the same queen who funded Columbus in the late 1400's.  Though Queen Isabella pushed them out 500 years ago, the pressure has always remained and today, Spain is high on the Islamic State's list of reconquest, but sadly, Spain has saturated herself in this modern social liberalism mush and has no strong leader capable of effective resistance.

Our politicians and media heads keep talking about "Radical Muslims" and the "religion of peace".  Both of these are lies hidden in euphemisms, such as a "woman's right to choose".  Firstly, Islam is NOT a religion of peace.  It isn't even a religion.  It is a political method of force which has, as it's stated purpose, the conquest of all lands.  It's in the book.  The proper term for Radical Muslim is, Muslim Fundamentalist.  In other words, he believes the tenets of his "religion" and puts his life where his mouth is, and those tenets are to kill unbelievers and conquer lands.  He will not emigrate into a foreign country to fit in, but rather to destabilize the current social order so to replace it with Islam! as this is the first order of Sharia law.  In truth, he is more honorable that the majority of the proponents of Islam, because he isn't a hypocrite, he read the book and takes action,  But even the "peaceful" followers of Mohammed will work to undermine the existing social structures, for it is their basic method for the propagation of the faith.  This was the hard reality that Spain faced after expelling the armed forces of Islam.  The reason for the Spanish Inquisition was not forced conversion to Catholicism, as is often claimed by Protestants, but rather the exposition of covert Muslims who publicly claimed to be Catholic but were actually working to subvert the Church and re-instituting Islam.

Let's talk about the reasoning behind Freedom of Religion.  Up until the 1500's there was mainly the Catholic Church in the western world.  She was the source and structure of Christianity.  She fought many battles, through the middle centuries, in the minds of men and governing councils, preserving the Faith from error and mutation.  She preserved the scriptures, in the form of the Latin Vulgate Bible, and evangelized all nations, as directed to Her personally by our Lord Jesus Christ.  She never used force of conversion, never.  Force of conversion is repugnant to the very gospel of our Lord.  She taught nations of the value and dignity of each and every human being, rich or poor.  She commanded kings and emperors to cease killing their own people at will.  She taught men and women to marry once and for life and to raise their children well.  She made it abundantly clear that the only pathway to heaven was to willingly and completely surrender oneself to Christ and his moral teachings.  She taught her children how to defend themselves against terror and assault.  Then came the Protestant Revolt in the 1500's.  It was the new churches of Calvin, Luther and King Henry of England that started persecutions, to push away the Catholic Church.  Read the history of Henry's wicked daughter, Elizabeth, who pilloried and quartered her people for being faithful to Catholicism and retains, shamefully, an honored part of England's political history.  It was always the new churches persecuting Catholics and each other as they vied for political stability and property for themselves.  That persecution is the genesis of the Pilgrims and other new sects moving to the new world seeking religious freedom.  At the core of all of these new "Christian" religions are the basic tenets of love of neighbor and social order.  With that commonality, it is possible to agree to disagree and to live with Freedom of Religion.  However, when another "religion" teaches violent primacy, then social order disintegrates.  That is why Islam cannot be accommodated by Freedom of Religion, for it is the forceful application of a lie and the Truth of Christ deserves defensive action against it.  The symbols say it all, the sword of Islam or the self-sacrifice of Christ?  I will never submit to the sword!

I have written in this blog a couple of posts which lament the idea of walls on our borders and the restriction of people's freedom of movement across any national borders.  I stand behind all of that because, as I stated, the freedom to move into another country is predicated on the absolute Christian responsibility to live in harmony with the host country's laws and civil order.  If one cannot do that, then one has no right to move in.  It is obvious that Muslims cannot do that, for it would be an apostatizing of their own statements of faith.  As they did in Spain, they will do everywhere they go.  This is why Donald Trump, while certainly not my choice for president, actually got this one right.

A Public Service Announcement

Run! Hide! Fight!  This the title of this YouTube video which shows strategies to employ if you are suddenly, and shockingly confronted with an active shooter.  I completely agree with these points, if you find yourself trapped without a gun of your own.  As you watch this video, have your finger poised to hit the pause button at exactly 0:59.  There! Do you see it?  The murdering creep walks past that Gun Free Zone sign, with the attendant regulatory citation, like it isn't even there.  At that is the crux of it all.  Why do we pay any attention to those signs if the madman, the reason for this terrible Gun Free Zone idea in the first place, ignores them?

A much better idea is to Fight! Fight! Fight!.  To do that, we too need to ignore those stupid Gun Free Zone signs.

A second idea has surfaced, in light of the San Bernardino shooting.

  

See how ridiculous Gun Free Zones are?  We must stop tolerating this restriction on our right of self protection.  Ignore the signs and demand their removal.

May our good Lord help us all.

Moral Certitude

Reading the news reveals a lot of anger and confusion over a whole range of issues.  Is racism a problem on college campuses? Should there be safe spaces for racial minorities?  Should students have a share of the administration powers of the school?  For that matter, what are the proper rules of agreement for sexual activities on college campuses or anywhere else?  Does "yes" mean yes or does it mean no?  Is all consent null and void if there is alcohol involved?  Should our country allow Syrian refugees to enter?  Will there be violence if we do?  Should we build a wall on our borders?  Should a cake baker be censored for refusing to bake a cake, for homosexuals to celebrate a wedding?  On and on the questions rage and the shouting escalates.

This near universal confusion and divergence of opinion is the result of the last one hundred years of "the errors of Russia" spreading throughout the world.  Diana West wrote an illuminating book, detailing this assault on western values, called American Betrayal.  The communist method was to spread as many lies throughout the world as possible.  If people could be made to question anything and everything, to disbelieve everything before held to be certain or authoritative, then the ground would be fertile for the spread of communism.  Of course, the founding tenet of communism is the denial of Christ and His Catholic Church and the best way to undermine that church was to convince the people that She holds no real authority and that there is no real consequence to sin.  If there is no consequence to sin, then there is really no sin at all; thus the arena of sexual morality is thrown wide open, bringing a whole batch of new questions. Additionally, a plethora of questions rear up concerning politics and order in the civil arena.  Among all of this confusion, the structures and institutions which hold our society together begin to fail, starting with the families.  While Ms. West does an extraordinary job of detailing the scheming and itemizing the damage done in this nefarious and comprehensive action, through the last several decades of our country's history, there was another lady who foretold these days, indeed, it was she who predicted the "errors of Russia."

In Fatima, Portugal in the year 1917, while WWI was raging in France, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children, not once, but once each month from May through October.  She forewarned us all, through these innocent  children, of these times.  She reminded us of the brutal reality of hell and the severe consequences of sin.  She affirmed, in crystal clear messages, that God is real, her son Christ Jesus is real and that His message of salvation should be the paramount motivation throughout our entire lives, or there will be hell to pay.  She ratified her message with a miracle witnessed by thousands.  Did you know of this?  While the world was telling you that extra-marital sex is OK, did you hear our Lady's strict caution against these sins?  The world makes so much noise and today, that noise is reaching a crescendo.  I have not linked a reference to Fatima, for you should look for it yourself.  It won't be hard to find and I really recommend that you study Her message to us.

We must stop questioning everything and considering ourselves to be the ultimate personal authority of what is right and wrong.  There is objective Truth and we will be held to account to it.  Hint: Your human nature and its self interest will steer you wrong almost every time. You must look for the true authority, to which you are accountable.  Look for Christ.  With Him comes moral certitude.  With Him comes the peace which calms the civil storms and gives us courage to face our tormentors.  With Him comes joy at the prospect of death.  With Him we are complete.

This video shows the courageous certitude shown by a convent of Carmelite nuns, who were not afraid to die for their Lord, in a world gone crazy, revolutionary France. 

Oh! Most sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Frustration! II

On October 3rd I wrote a post titled Frustration!  I remain frustrated, as we all are, watching madmen shooting innocent people.  It took only a month after posting that article for another grisly shooting to take place, this time in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

A lunatic, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, shot three people in cold blood.  His first victim, a bicyclist, was heard to plead for his life, by witnesses.  This hits at the core of my frustration.  That bicyclist, I have learned from another news source, was an army veteran, with two tours of duty in the Middle East to his credit.  It is a sure bet that when he started out on his bike ride that he did not expect to encounter his murderer.  We never expect to be murdered at any given moment; if we did, it would drive us crazy.  However, we must always be cognizant of the possibility and make ourselves ready.  To put that more directly, never, ever leave home without your handgun.
Even a combat zone veteran is reduced to begging and helplessness when confronted, empty handed, by an armed killer.  Also remember, that the responsibility of arming yourself is for your neighbor's life as well as your own.  After fruitlessly begging and dying, that poor veteran failed to prevent the murder of two women, who were the next victims in this rampage.  Always expect the best from people and prepare for the worst.

There is no greater love than that of he who lays down his life for another.  It is also an act of love to prepare yourself to defend the life of another.

Handy Lunatic Controllent

Rust, Moths & Thieves

How many times have I heard someone say, "If only I could hit the lottery".  That thought always makes me pause and imagine the "what-if" of buying a ticket for a few dollars and realizing several million in return.  If money is simply a means to self ends, then that is an enchanting thought.  However, money is so much more than that, and thanks to nefarious actors in state governments, now it is so much less.

The lottery cash comes from millions of other people who are embracing the "what-if" dream.  For many of them it has grown into a compulsion which will not allow them to not buy a ticket at each and every cycle, for fear that they would miss their day.  Lotteries are a voluntary tax on the poor.  It was sold as a fun and painless way to raise money for sanctimonious causes such as the school system.  "This money would insure that our children have the best and most complete education possible", is a typical politician's quote, as they pushed this legalized gambling down the tax payer's throats.

If you did hit it big, what would you do with the blood, sweat and tears of a million people, which was gathered up into a bundle and dropped into your lap?  Choose wisely, because our good Lord is watching.  You may believe that the money is yours, free and clear, but the truth is, as long as we live, we are never free and clear.  We must always use whatever God gives us, which is exactly everything we get, regardless of the method, for the good of our neighbors.  Would you have the courage and the will to resist the temptation to spend on yourself to the point of losing your soul?  I suspect that the majority of the lottery winners have failed that test.  That is what the value of money really is; it is the potential labors of your fellow humans and any good or pleasure you derive from having so much of it can only come from other people working for you.  That is a big responsibility.

As for the government's high sounding motivations to fund "schools" with their cut of the loot, understand this, the money didn't just go to the schools.  It went into the main pot and the school money came from that.  When they conned our citizens into supporting this "school windfall" what they were really doing was finding a way to harvest more of our money for their everyday, ordinary runaway spending habits, with the benefit of this version of their endless taxes being a voluntary one.  "Buy" a ticket and get an infinitesimally small chance of receiving a windfall and we will keep half for our cut, and our poorest lined up and sent in millions of dollars which they never saw again.

Now we come to this weeks announcement by the Illinois Lottery that they are broke and will not payout any winning amount over $600.00 until the state legislature ends it's budget impasse.  What?!  The lottery needs to get money FROM the state  funds?!  Remember when they sold the lottery to us as a free ride.  People contribute and win some back and the schools get free money.  How can it be that they are short?  It is because they lied.  They put all of the money into the state pot and were using cash flow from the government to make payouts, which they hoped would be rare events.  They failed to reserve the potential winnings.  They spent it all.  What a bunch of crooks, and watch how no one will go to jail for it.

These are the thieves which our Lord warned us about.  Forget about the lottery.  They only promise you the tiniest chance at comfort and ease of mind, at a certain cost and even fail at that.  Our Lord promises infinite graces, love, comfort and peace.  He promises to provide everything you need and all it will cost you is your love and trust.  Just try to out love Him and you will receive far more in return.  As for those leaches in the state house, walk away from their shell game and let their lottery schemes crumble down around their ankles.

It's Real! Don't Miss IT!

It always kills me how the non-believing know-it-alls cite the age of the universe as proof of scripture falsity, yet virtually everyone who has had this sort of experience cites the absence of time in the other world.  Dr. Ben Carson said it best, "He is God.  If He wanted to create a universe, billions of years old, He could do it."

This testimony confirms what we have always known; that our reason to be is to love God with our whole selves and to love each other better than ourselves.  Do that and suddenly your way of thinking changes profoundly and you will know joy, peace and serenity, and the cares of this world turn trivial.

May God bless us all.

Danger! Warning! Poison!

There is a poison in our society which is causing massive destruction to our lives, families, societies, civil order and it targets our spouses and children specifically.

This poison used to be relatively hard to find and was recognized,  for it's danger, sixty years ago.  Anyone caught with it in their possession in those times, and before, were ostracized and shunned.

Today, the availability of this poison has exploded and the vast majority of our people are consuming dangerous amounts, everyday.  In fact, while you read this post, you have it available to you, right now, without even leaving your seat.  Yep, it is in your home and is certainly in your young children's hands right now, in lethal amounts.

The name of this killer is Pornography.  I haven't exaggerated the above statements, in a cheap tabloid technique, simply to grab your attention.  I have told the absolute truth - pornography kills!  It kills the soul.  It erases all sense of decency in men, husbands and fathers.  It creates sexual predators.  Men, and increasingly, women, are becoming instantly addicted to the images which pour into their eyes though the internet, which not only has exponentially multiplied availability, but also weaponized them, by the ease of computer graphics, over the old fashioned need for physical paper or film to be created and transported.

I was confused throughout this year as I heard of several families breaking up.  These were families which had church going fathers and whom I would have bet the farm in confidence of their lasting stability.  Suddenly, one by one, separation, divorce, shack-ups and scandal, boom, boom, boom!  What the hell?  Pornography.

I was confused at the young kids insistence in their "right" to do the grinding dance at school functions.  Don't know about grinding dance?  Look it up, if you want to, but beware, it is obscene (on second thought - Don't).  School officials are rightly canceling these functions in order to prevent this dancing, since a prohibition always fails as the kids invariably revolt and do it anyway - pornography.  Thanks for nothing Miley Cyrus!

I was really confused about the tip over, wherein a small majority of our people supported the same sex marriage ruling.  How does this compute when only about six percent of the population identify as "gay"?  Now I have learned that (how do I say this?) doing it "in the wrong place" has become accepted among a significant number of women, to prevent pregnancies!  Now a much larger percentage of our people are sodomites, even while they identify themselves as straight.  Pornography!

Pornography leads to lust, which leads to infidelity and debauchery, which is empowered by civil acceptance of contraception, extra-marital sex and abortion, which lead to divorces and broken children, which leads to sexual predators and suicides, as well as murder.  Down - down - down - down the hole to hell we go.

I have listened to several recovering pornography addicts as they describe the hell they have been through and the severe damage it has done to them and their families.  It is heart breaking.

BEWARE!  Do not let your kids have the internet, in any form, unsupervised.  Those sex monsters are reaching for them like bad movie body snatching aliens.

Do not tolerate indecent images at anytime.  That includes any R rated movie, put out by Hollywood, with any nudity or sexual scenes.  Wear modest clothing.  Fight back against this killer.  Pray, really, pray!  Pray the rosary everyday with your family; make it a rule.  Wives, do not let your husbands talk you into sexual acts which are intrinsically evil.  If he is weirdly persistent, ask him where he is getting that stuff.  You have to root this rot out as soon as you suspect it.  Learn sexual ethics, the legitimate, fruitful sex that God intended.  Husband and wife only, never divorced, no contraception, no kissing below the belt and genital to genital sex is enough; any more crosses the line.  Husbands, respect your wife's womanly dignity.  She is your help mate and joy, not your sex slave.  And, as always, self control and restraint brings much more true and permanent happiness than reckless abandon.

Oh Mary! Conceived without sin; pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Oh Mary! Conceived without sin; pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Oh Mary! Conceived without sin; pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Frustration!

Arrrgh!  Another mass shooting (October 1st, 2015) which leaves us all in heartbreak and civil turmoil.  The usual questions come up, as they do every time:

Q:  Who was this man and why would he do this horrible thing?

A:  He was a man out of his mind and there is no other reason.

Q:  Why can we not pass laws which would keep guns out of such a person's hands?

A:  Men who are out of their minds do not obey laws and such a law would only disarm the law abiding and the innocent, since we never know who would cross the lines of human decency and must treat everyone as a potential murderer (millions) in the hope of stopping the one.  The law abiding would remain disarmed while the law breaker would find a way to arm himself.  This would also leave us all at the mercy of the everyday, run-of-the-mill thug, who is sane and threatens us with deadly force for personal gain.

Q:  Why do these things keep happening?

A-1:  I truly suspect that we are creating these rage-monsters through a medical system which makes money by prolifically prescribing mind altering drugs.  In the last decade, the rate of prescriptions for ADHD has exploded.  Has the true occurrence of  ADHD and the commiserate need for such prescriptions really multiplied that much or are we seeking and easy way to control children with pills, with disastrous results?  I would love to see a study wherein we see the percentage of these twenty-something male murderers who were under the care of a doctor and were taking these mind altering prescription drugs.  With the huge numbers of these prescriptions being written, and the factor of one in a thousand turning into a monster, we are looking at the potential of thousands of these guys walking in our streets right now.  It is truly amazing that we have as few of these shootings as we do!

A-2:  The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.  I do not know to whom that quote belongs but it perfectly illustrates my real frustration with these recurring mass shootings.  Our men and women in this country need to wake up!  We have been brought up in a civilly induced slumber.  We walk around in the civil arena like it was our living room completely unaware of our vulnerabilities and naively believing that we are perfectly safe.  Worse, we assume no responsibility for our own safety or give the slightest concern for those around us.  We take the authorities word for granted that their rules, against our own self-protection, somehow make us safer.  That is "bull-(redacted)" and deep down, we all know it.

Q:  Upon the realization that the worse was happening, right here, right now, to you...and you were able to make that call to the 911 dispatcher and to make that person aware of the danger you are in, how long would you expect it to take for a very efficient police force to actually arrive and subdue the shooter?  Remember to be fair about this, for that dispatcher would have to get another human on the radio and convey the message, that officer would have to drop everything and race over, stop the car, find the door and find the shooter.  Would two minutes be a good estimate? (I think two minutes would be very optimistic, personally)

There are twenty other victims cowering in the room with you as the active shooter picks you out, one by one...BANG!...BANG!......BANG!...BANG!...BANG!  How           long         would        two      minutes       be?     Too long, by any standard.  And what are you doing?   Fighting or waiting as...BANG!, another innocent person dies, while you cower and pray for help...for yourself?    BANG!

Madness!  I am not anymore angry with the crazy man or the gun than I would be with a rabid dog or a poisonous snake.  I am mad at the men and women who allow this to happen in their midst, who allow politicians to lull them into a false sense of security with insane gun laws and "gun free" zones which only make themselves helpless victims.  Why oh why does anybody live in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington DC, Illinois or California?!  Why have these state's voters not thrown their state legislatures out on their butts?!  It is because they are walking around in a daze with an utterly foolish and false feeling of security.

Let me be fair.  The shootings in Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas, to name a few, happened in states where the gun laws are more liberal and people are afforded the ability to carry in public, though not in "gun free" zones.  Unfortunately, the people in these states, like the others, are also asleep and do not always take advantage of their legal right to carry and are caught flat footed when the unthinkable happens.

I can tell you from experience that carrying a handgun everywhere, all the time, is a pain in the butt.  However, that is what men and women of honor do.  We prepare for the worst while expecting the best.  Be ready!  Wake up!  We must protect each other.  Get a handgun, learn to use it, carry it everywhere and learn to love your neighbor so much that you would readily kill anyone who tried to harm them.  Stop expecting the cops to do for you what you are not ready to do for your neighbor or yourself.  If anyone tries to shoot you, SHOOT BACK!

To answer that third question more succinctly, the reason these shootings keep happening is because we the people, allow them to happen.

Planned Parenthood Outrage - Just Now!?

I cannot get enthusiastic about the recent furor over Planned Parenthood's apparent attempts to profit from the "waste material" produced by their diabolical activities and the resulting cry to "de-fund" them.  Are we, as a nation, so morally dead that we are more concerned about what is done with the corpses of the victims than the fact that they were murdered in the first place!?

As for de-funding Planned Parenthood, we could do that ourselves simply by dropping our employer subsidized health insurance.  Know this with absolute clarity - when you keep your health insurance, you are paying for murder.  It is that simple.  You may recall, during one of those 72 hour attention span news cycles, the "shock" our politicians expressed upon learning of Obama-care policies paying, directly, for abortions.  Well, that news cycle faded and nothing changed.  Planned Parenthood will simply wait for this attention to lapse and continue their evil depraved business with our continued complicity.

We cannot ever return to greatness as a country unless we collectively force this evil to stop!  We must stop compromising our values, all the way down the line.  Contraception is evil. Co-habitation is evil. Sex outside of Church sanctioned marriage is evil. Divorce and re-marrying is evil.  Same sex unions are evil. Abortion, murder, is the logical progression to those evils and is the lowest we can go, for it is the murder of the most innocent.  Our good God will have His justice and He will ask each of us, individually, if we helped it along.  Drop those health plans now and stop accepting those other sins against nature.  Tell your children about these evils.  I continually hear about these twenty-something kids moving in together and treating these sins as the new normal.

Our Lord prayed for us, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  The sad thing is, we know what we are doing and are indifferent to the crime.

Dealing With The Devil

I have stated a couple of times within this blog that I will never collect any money from the federal government, for any reason, primarily for the fact that this failed government has no money to give me.  A secondary reason lies in avoiding a deal with the devil.  The government is funny.  They take our money by force and offer a little of it back to us with conditions.

How many people would you think, supported the idea of an instant background check system, with it's multi-million dollar price tag, for the purpose of keeping guns out of the hands of "criminals", thought for a second that they would end up on the prohibition list themselves.  We could estimate around 4.2 million Social Security recipients as part of that group now.  That is in addition to the several million military veterans who have been placed on the list by the Veteran's Administration.  These people were placed on the list, not for comitting crimes, but for their own safety...and ours, it's mostly about our safety.  They might do something stupid.

This current administration has been expanding that prohibited persons list at a fantastic rate.  And this is the main point I wish to make.  If we as the People, who formed this government, allow it to maintain such a list, then we ourselves eviscerate the 2nd Amendment and the right it cites.  That list, by definition, infringes on the right to keep and bear arms.  If we tell the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives to maintain and manage such a list then we specifically tell them that the right to keep and bear arms SHALL be infringed.

I am one of very few people who has said that the laws which prevent convicted felons from legally obtaining firearms are unfair and unconstitutional.  My first concern is for the felon.  If he has committed a crime, has been duly convicted and is now freely moving about on our streets, then our wise government must have determined that he is no longer a threat to us and has paid his dues.  If he cannot be trusted with firearm ownership, for self-protection, then why would they let him out?  I know, I know...they let dangerous criminals out all the time.  Well, that is even more of a reason for everyone to be armed.  Which brings me to the second part of why prohibiting felons is stupid.  To do so would require a LIST.  Now the non-felon must prove he is eligible, while the actual prohibited felon is out there grabbing guns anywhere and we are slogging through paperwork and bureaucracies.  And that is where we are, with people who are not felons being added to the list.  That is what it is like when you strike a deal with the devil, the outcome comes out short on your side while he keeps his end of the bargain.

Another Gun Free Zone Success

Gun Free Zones are always successful.  They always work as intended.  I am not being sarcastic.  Our latest example of a gun free zone shooting happened yesterday in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  A young, angry man with an agenda shot and killed four United States Marines and a United States Navy sailor as they were working in a naval training center.  The training center is federal property, thus it is legally defined as a Gun Free Zone and that zone served it's purpose.

Gun Free Zones are established specifically to prohibit the people who work in them and those who conduct lawful business in them from bringing in guns.  The managers and supervisors who establish those prohibitions only have authority over those two groups.  Those two groups are the only ones who will seriously consider the implications of a financial fine and/or a felony conviction.  This is an example of a negative trade.  The manager says, "You do not bring a gun to work and I will not cause you to be imprisoned for a year or more."  The employee and lawful visitor says, "I do not wish to be locked up, so I will not bring in a gun."  We have a trade.

This trade balance completely fails with a maniac, a psychopath or anyone who is hell bent to murder.  The manager says, "You do not bring a gun to work and I will not cause you to be imprisoned for a year or more."  The murderer says, "I am going to murder you all and I don't give a damn about you and your silly laws!"  There is no trade and innocent people die.

When the employees and honest visitors made the negative trade, notice what they did not get, absolute protection.  The managers never include that in the deal and they know that they have no agreement with the murderers; they are happy just prevailing over the law abiding.  After victims are buried, the managers and their organizations are never punished for preventing self-defense and failing to protect.

In yesterday's attack, battle tested, awarded, warriors were summarily killed by a crazy kid.  That is how out of balance a Gun Free Zone is.  This brings us back to my original statement.  The Gun Free Zone established at the Naval Training Center, in Chattanooga, Tennessee was completely successful because the men to whom it was directed and binding, Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, Lance Corporal Skip Wells, Sergeant Carson Holmquist, Staff Sergeant David Wyatt and Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, shot no one.

Requiescat In Pace

07/20/2015

A new revelation may indicate that one of our Marines may have cheated the Gun Free Zone.  There is a Glock pistol, as it was described in this linked Fox News article, which the FBI does not believe was brought to the scene by the murderer.  If that handgun was smuggled in by a Marine and he did use it in self defense then we have lost a rare and valuable man.  He may have prevented a horrible situation from getting much worse.  Semper fidelis!

Changing Flags

A young deranged man walked into a Charleston, South Carolina church during a Wednesday evening service and murdered nine people in cold blood, for reasons that even he doesn't understand.  After the initial shock, our national discourse has settled on the "hateful" image of the Confederate flag.

I am squarely on the side of the Confederacy concerning the issues of the war.  Specifically, the main provocation of the North was using their higher populations, through the democratic process, to place a disproportionately high portion of the national tax burden on the agricultural products of the South.  For decades this issue fermented and was loudly contested in the congress to no relief.  After having their arguments for tax parity rebuffed, the South attempted to put into action the political theory of the "consent of the governed" and through their state legislatures, declared their separation from the Federation.  This too, was rejected.  In final frustration, the South started the shooting.  From this lack of political respect for the South, the most terrible war this nation has ever known erupted, taking the lives of 620,000 Americans and destroying the property, economy and culture of the South.

As right as the South was in their political grievances, it is nearly impossible to be taken seriously when you have a severe cultural flaw, which manifestly renders your arguments of "rights and liberty" moot and hypocritical, as does slavery.  Every man of conscious and good will abhors slavery.  It is ugly and glaringly wrong.  This is why, as noble as was their defense of the pure political ideals as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the Southern cause will always always be tarnished.  This is why their proud flag will always be a hated symbol by many.  Let this be a lesson for all of us, regardless of how noble you are in your work, how grand your achievements, if you besmirch your character with a grave sin, it is all diminished.

Today, rather than talking about how we raise our children, how we have let slip the ideal of solid, conventional families, how we have neglected any kind of true teachings on right and wrong in our educational system, we are talking about purging the image of the Confederate flag.  Well...OK, if the Confederate flag is offensive, I'll take mine down.  The Confederate cause is dead anyway.  The good ideals, so dearly and honorably fought for, have slipped away from our entire country without notice or concern.

Racism is wrong.  That is a truth.  Everyone has the God given right of individual dignity, the right to life, to safety, to property, in short, the right to live.  The South further tarnished their flag and their noble legacy through their 100 year pity party in which they enacted and enforced racial discrimination laws.  To deny civil dignity to anyone based on their race, culture or gender, is simply wrong.  The civil disobedience of the black peoples of the south was right and it was a noble effort which proved effective, because it was right.

Homosexuality is a grave evil.  I am not being inconsistent here.  There is a huge difference between being of a race of people and committing a sinful act of an abominable nature.  Everyone born, of any time, was born for one reason, to know, love and obey God in this life and to be with Him in the next.  Any willful action, which destroys that raison d'etre, is by definition, a sin and cannot be excused or tolerated.  It is an act of charity to admonish the sinner and to not ratify his sins.  To look the other way, with indifference, is only to wave "bon voyage" as the poor soul travels the short route to hell.  Worse, agreement with a sin, is to partake of the sin.  Concealment of another's sin, is to partake of it as well.  This is why cake bakers are right in refusing to take part in sacrilegious marriage ceremonies.  To refuse to support those ceremonies is not evil discrimination, it is an act of love, love for God and love for the persons involved.

Our society is severely confused on what is truly right and wrong.  If symbols help, if the conversation could be pressed back on a proper path through images, then the flag I raise, as I lower the Confederate flag, will be the flag of the One - Holy - Apostolic - Catholic Church.  In Her, the confusion is erased and Truth reigns.  In Her, the good fight lives!

Gun Free Zone Debates

Two out of three kinds of men support Gun Free Zones.  Let us hear their arguments.

Mr. Goodheart:

Guns are the problem.  If there were no guns there would be no violence.  We just need to enact common sense laws, laws requiring background checks for every purchase.  Our government is very good at implementing such laws and rarely makes any mistakes.  I am the kind of guy who thinks civil order is a good thing.  People should not have to walk around the city in fear and most people simply wish to go about their way not causing trouble and not experiencing trouble either.  What's wrong with that?  With strict and complete gun control laws in place our streets would be much safer.  I always feel safe in a Gun Free Zone.  Besides, we could always call 911 if something ever does happen.

I vote YES for Gun Free Zones.

Mr. Knight:

I am a peaceful man.  I have never been in trouble with the law.  I do realize that there are other people who are not peaceful in heart.  Just read the papers!  One cannot get through the first page, on any day, without reading of a heinous crime.  My heart always goes out to the victims.  I cannot stand the thought of anyone getting needlessly hurt or killed by a lunatic.  That is why I carry a handgun with me everywhere I can.  If something bad were to happen to me or anyone around me, I want to be prepared.  Gun Free Zones are my bane.  I have three choices when considering entering a Gun Free Zone.  I can decide to not enter.  If something bad goes down inside, I won't be in there.  Those folks in there are sitting ducks.  Secondly, I could ignore the signs and carry my gun into the Gun Free Zone anyway.  Honestly, I have done this numerous times.  While this exposes me to some legal trouble if caught, I never have been.  Funny how easy it is!  The third choice is to enter the Gun Free Zone without my gun,  This, is always my last choice and one that pains me.  I never visit a public school or anyplace with metal detectors.  I know that I am helpless to stop a mass killing without my gun.

I vote NO for Gun Free Zones.

Mr. Fangs:

People make me so mad!  They are all out to ruin my life.  It is amazing how each boss I had at all those jobs were total jerks.  They were always riding my case and blaming me for stuff that was not my fault.  What's up with my girlfriend lately?  Space!?  Why do we need space?  Hell, I'll send her to space!  That will show her that no one puts me away.  She works in that office building with the Gun Free Zone sign.  That's perfect.  No one else will have a gun and I'll show them all how to share my pain! The more the better!  If the security guard gives me trouble - Boom! - I'll let him have it!  I haven't done anything like this yet, so the background check was a cinch.  Ha!

I vote YES for Gun Free Zones. 

New Jersey Failed - Big Time

Carol Bowne, is dead.  Carol Bowne knew she was in danger.  She had a restraining order against Michael Eitel.  She had security cameras installed around her home.  She applied for a handgun permit from her local police.  That application was made on April 21, 2015.  She followed up on the delay in approval two days before she was murdered in the first week of June.  Those cameras recorded the murder as she returned home.  Eitel did not use a gun to kill her, he didn't need one, he used a knife. That worked just fine.

There are calls for New Jersey to streamline their application process for people like Carol, who have restraining orders against potential assailants.  These calls are stupid because, even if Ms. Bowne had received her permit to own and had procured a gun, she would still have been prohibited from carrying it on her person outside of her home, since New Jersey has a complete carry prohibition system.  So, New Jersey didn't let her down at all by stonewalling the application, since owning a gun, stored inside of her home, would have had zero positive effect in her self-defense as she was attacked outside of her home.  These restrictions are insane!  The murderer will kill regardless of the laws and has a much easier time of it knowing that his victim has no gun.  Did those public "safety" laws actually keep Eitel from getting a gun himself?  Apparently not, since he was found in another woman's house, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot.  It looks like he had one but knew he didn't need it to kill Carol.

New Jersey needs to scrap every one of it's laws concerning the owning and carrying of firearms.  This should be the only such law:

A well regulated militia,being necessary to the security of a free state,the right of the people to keep and bear arms,shall not be infringed.

Short of that, a New Jerseyan who needs protection simply needs to move to Virginia, where he/she can purchase and carry, in public, a handgun, simply by stopping by the gun store and buying it.  An added bonus is that Virginia's murder rate is lower as well.

Remember this silly anti-firearm public "safety" ad?

Now we can give the woman in this video a name, Carol Bowne.

Loadin' Up For Knoxville

Loadin' Up For Knoxville

June 10, 2015

I snapped this shot with my smartphone as we were boarding our flight from Washington Dulles to Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Night The Ground Came Up

My previous post, "Geronimo!" got me thinking fondly of N2064P.  Though Jere and I only flew a few flights in her, both he and the Chief Pilot of the school now had a confidence in my ability to fly the Geronimo safely.  In fact, in time, it led to opportunities to fly other light twins.  Jere kept her on our flight line, hoping for some rental revenue.  I rented her myself when I could.  There was one trip out to Henderson, Texas when I took my father on a business trip.  It has been said that pilots run through four distinct stages when acquiring a new skill set.  The first stage is "Intimidated", the second, "Cautiously Confident", the third, "Cocky", until something bad happens and then we are back to, "Intimidated".

It is true, I was growing out of the "Cautiously Confident" stage as the Geronimo and I were becoming good friends, though I learned a hard and valuable lesson one clear night in October, 1987 and the Geronimo was my teacher.  While I didn't quite bounce all the way back to "Intimidated", it was humbling.  Our flight school had arranged a maintenance program with a mechanic on Luck Field, an airport on the south side of Ft. Worth.  Luck Field is how it is listed in my logbook however, I cannot find it on a current chart, so it must have changed names or succumbed to land development, a fate many delightful airports suffer.  We had a Cessna-152 over at Luck which was ready for pick-up.  My fellow flight instructor, Mike, and I flew over there in the Geronimo and Mike got out to fly back in the 152.  It was late and I was in a hurry to get back to Redbird and home.  So, as soon as Mike slammed the door shut and I latched it, I was taxiing for take-off.  A few minutes later I was cruising at 2000 feet above ground level and all was right in the world.

Piper aircraft have a unique door system.  They almost always have just one door on the passenger side which opens outward.  The top of the door necessarily follows the contour of the fuselage, thus curves in, giving it a clam shell look.  There are two latches, the main one located low and a secondary latch located up high above the curve.  Failure to secure both of these latches properly often results in the door popping open and results in a lot of ambient noise.  Anyone who has flown Pipers long enough will experience one or more of these sudden door openings and they will notice two things right away, firstly, the door cannot be closed.  The slip stream follows the Venturi law and creates far more suction on the door than one can overcome and the door stubbornly trails about three inches open, and secondly, the plane will fly just fine, in spite of the fact that the trailing door creates a turbulent airflow across the horizontal stabilizer and elevator.  The main aggravation lies in the fact that to close the door and resume relative peace, a landing and another take-off is required.

Piper Arrow with open door

I had just leveled off and was heading east, when "PHWOOSH!" the door popped open.  I instantly realized what the noise was about and for the first moment I was simply annoyed.  However, in the next moment I realized that I had a serious problem.  When the door came open the airplane started to descend.  This descent was happening at a rate of about 250 feet per minute and was occurring in spite of my having the yoke pulled all the way back, against the stop.  Quick mental calculations came up with several disappointing conclusions, namely that I wasn't going to get the door closed, I could no longer stay in the air and I wasn't going to make Redbird airport.  Ahead and to my left was the Grand Prairie airport and to my right was the Arlington airport.  Arlington had a little longer runway and I figured that the wind favored landing south, so Arlington it was.  As I descended into a straight-in final approach, I was relieved upon lowering the landing gear to note that my control-ability was no worse with the configuration change.  I was unable to let go of the yoke long enough to look up the proper Common Traffic Advisory Frequency, the radio frequency with which I would be able to alert other airplanes near Arlington of my predicament and intentions.  I simply lit up every light I had and aimed for the runway knowing that this first approach would be the only possible approach.  I didn't risk using flaps, fearing that the nose down tendency would only get worse.  If anyone had been near enough to the runway to see that landing, they would have judged it to be a really poor one.  With the nose low and a little excess speed the airplane hit on the nose wheel first.  That popped the nose up and began a cycle of hitting the nose...the mains...airborne...nose...mains...airborne...nose...mains... with each cycle getting shorter and less pronounced and me holding the yoke back against the stop the whole way.  Finally, the old Geronimo was rolling down the runway in a normal fashion.  If you have ever heard of "knees going weak" following a stressful event, I can tell you that it's true.  I could barely stand up after crawling out of the cockpit. 

There was a period of time after that event wherein I was confused on why things went so wrong with a simple door pop-open.  Soon, upon calmer reflection I figured it out.  An airplane lives and dies by it's weight and balance.  In flight, with the center of gravity in the proper limits, the wing holds up the craft while the horizontal stabilizer provides a balancing downward force.  The elevators provide the modulation of that downward force to give the pilot his range of pitch attitudes, up and down.  An improperly loaded airplane will have one of those ranges limited.  In my case, I was alone in a four seat airplane and the CG was certainly too far forward, thus requiring nearly all of my up elevator travel to maintain level flight.  When the door popped, the resulting turbulent airflow across my right elevator reduced it's efficiency some, causing my pitch attitude to re-balance slightly negative and down we went.

The FAA describes the accident sequence as a chain of errors, which individually are harmless, but when linked in series are often catastrophic.  My failure to calculate an accurate weight and balance for this solo flight coupled with failing to latch the door securely set up the event.  Having a place to land, thankfully, broke the chain.  This was a huge lesson as I moved from the single engines to more complex aircraft.  The loading options in the single engines are limited and one learns what works without having to go through the trouble of a complete computation.  Computing the weight and balance used to be a pencil and paper affair requiring numerous adding, multiplying and dividing steps.  Today, a smart-phone app could do it in a few seconds.  I learned to slow down and meticulously complete each step of flight planning from this night when the ground came up.