Richard Disney

Hat Tip: Op-For.com

The recent recognition by the  U.S. Supreme Court of the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right in the DC v. Heller case was a recognition of The Founding Fathers‘ original intent. The Bill of Rights was written specifically to limit the power and scope of the Federal Government and to protect individual rights.

Nowhere is the intent of the Founding Fathers clearer than in James Madison’s original proposed wording for the Bill of Rights:

“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.
The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.

The people shall not be restrained from peaceably assembling and consulting for their common good; nor from applying to the Legislature by petitions, or remonstrances, for redress of their grievances.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.

No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor at any time, but in a manner warranted by law.

No person shall be subject, except in cases of impeachment, to more than one punishment or one trial for the same offence; nor shall be compelled to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor be obliged to relinquish his property, where it may be necessary for public use, without a just compensation.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The rights of the people to be secured in their persons; their houses, their papers, and their other property, from all unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated by warrants issued without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, or not particularly describing the places to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the cause and nature of the accusation, to be confronted with his accusers, and the witnesses against him; to have a compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

The exceptions here or elsewhere in the constitution, made in favor of particular rights, shall not be so construed as to diminish the just importance of other rights retained by the people, or as to enlarge the powers delegated by the constitution; but either as actual limitations of such powers, or as inserted merely for greater caution.

No State shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases.”

After reading the original version of the Bill of Rights one must question the judgment of the dissenting Supreme Court Justices.

Tags: scotus, u.s. supreme court, 2nd amendment, gun rights, gun control, individualism, individual rights, guns, bill of rights, james madison, original version

Audio Link

I appeared on the KUNR Nevada Newsline radio show on June 27th, 2008. At times the debate gets somewhat contentious between myself and former Nevada Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman. Contentious means that it is interesting.

Not only do we discuss the Special Session of the Nevada Legislature but by listening to this broadcast you can hear a distinct comparison between an individualist philosophy of self-reliance and a philosophy of reliance on government.

From the KUNR website:

RENO, NV (2008-06-27) On this edition of Nevada Newsline, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons has called a special legislative session to address a 250 million dollar shortfall in the state budget.

Just ahead, host Brian Bahouth takes your calls for a discussion about the special session that is just getting underway in Carson City. Our guests are former Nevada lawmaker, Democrat Vivian Freeman and one-time Assembly Candidate, local businessman and political blogger, Republican Richard Disney.

Also this hour, some Nevada Republicans will be holding another state convention in Reno this weekend, they say, to conclude unfinished business from the first state convention that ended in mayhem back in April. The state Republican party does not sanction this weekend’s gathering, but organizers say delegates chosen this weekend will be going to the national convention in September. We’ll be taking your calls for a conversation with long time Republican leader Mike Weber. Enjoy the show.

kunr NewsRoom

Tags: kunr, richard disney, vivian freeman, nevada legislature, special session, brian bahouth, republican, democrat, nevada republicans, convention,

The Supreme Court ruled that an individual has the right to own a gun. With that being established, one should not need a license to exercise a right.

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 10:14 am

Answering a 127-year old constitutional question, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a gun, at least in one’s home. The Court, splitting 5-4, struck down a District of Columbia ban on handgun possession.Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the majority stressed that the Court was not casting doubt on long-standing bans on gun possession by felons or the mentally retarded, or laws barring guns from schools or government buildings, or laws putting conditions on gun sales.

In District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), the Court nullified two provisions of the city of Washington’s strict 1976 gun control law: a flat ban on possessing a gun in one’s home, and a requirement that any gun — except one kept at a business — must be unloaded and disassembled or have a trigger lock in place. The Court said it was not passing on a part of the law requiring that guns be licensed.

SCOTUSblog » Court: A constitutional right to a gun

Tags: supremecourt, scotus, constitutional right, individual right, guns, gun, ownership, keep and bear arms, united states

When reading this British news article, I detected some angst from the author that a weapon designed to obliterate terrorists actually works. Also down further in the article, there is a sense that the author would like to see a weapon that is more humane.

War is an ugly thing, it is even uglier when wars are lengthened by “humanitarians”  who make war “humane” enough to endure for longer periods. What is so controversial about a missile that kills the enemy? Wars are virtually impossible to fight let alone win when large segments of a population cringe at killing the enemy.

Article follows:

From Times Online by Michael Smith

British forces in Afghanistan have used one of the world’s most deadly and controversial missiles to fight the Taliban.

Apache attack helicopters have fired the thermobaric weapons against fighters in buildings and caves, to create a pressure wave which sucks the air out of victims, shreds their internal organs and crushes their bodies.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted to the use of the weapons, condemned by human rights groups as “brutal”, on several occasions, including against a cave complex.

The use of the Hellfire AGM-114N weapons has been deemed so successful they will now be fired from RAF Reaper unmanned drones controlled by “pilots” at Creech air force base in Nevada, an MoD spokesman added.

Thermobaric weapons, or vacuum bombs, were first combat-tested by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s and their use by Russia against civilians in Chechnya in the 1990s was condemned worldwide.

The secret decision to buy the Hellfire AGM-114N missiles was made earlier this year following problems attacking Taliban fortified positions.

British Apache pilots complained that standard Hellfire antitank missiles were going straight through buildings and out of the other side. Even when they did explode, there were limited casualties among the Taliban inside, particularly when a building contained a number of rooms.

American Apache pilots overcame the problem in Iraq with the thermobaric Hellfire.The weapons are so controversial that MoD weapons and legal experts spent 18 months debating whether British troops could use them without breaking international law.

Eventually, they decided to get round the ethical problems by redefining the weapons.“We no longer accept the term thermobaric [for the AGM-114N] as there is no internationally agreed definition,” said an MoD spokesman. “We call it an enhanced blast weapon.”

The redefinition has allowed British forces to use the weapons legally, but is undermined by the publicity of their manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, which markets them as thermobaric.

When the American military bought them in 2005, President George W Bush said: “There are going to be some awfully surprised terrorists when the thermobaric Hellfire comes knocking.”Despite the Bush rhetoric, it is unlikely anyone targeted by the missile would know much about it. The laser-guided missile has a warhead packed with fluorinated aluminium powder surrounding a small charge.

When it hits the target, the charge disperses the aluminium powder throughout the target building. The cloud then ignites, causing a massive secondary blast that tears throughout any enclosed space.

The blast creates a vacuum which draws air and debris back in, creating pressure of up to 430lb per sq in. The more heavily the building is protected, the more concentrated the blast.

Click here to read entire article Army ‘vacuum’ missile hits Taliban - Times Online

Tags: vacuummissile, thermobaric missile, enhanced blast weapon, george bush, british army, ministry of defence, taliban

This is a horrible indication of how many Americans are willing to vote away all of our freedoms. Talk about the Wussification of America!

If the federal government starts regulating the Internet “the same way it does radio and television”, say goodbye to free speech in the form of blogging written audio or video content. Say hello to licensing and regulation that will limit Internet content production only to those who can afford the massive fees, compliance and lobbying necessary to have a sanctioned site.

As Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problems…Government IS the problem.”

Article follows:

From Rasmussen Reports

Nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that the federal government should regulate the Internet the same way it does radio and television, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national survey.

Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree, and 16% are undecided.

Americans also believe overwhelmingly — 73% yes to 13% no — that it should be a crime to harass someone on the Internet.

The findings come as a Missouri woman faces an unprecedented federal prosecution for allegedly setting up an account for a fictitious 16-year-old on an online social networking site to harass the 13-year-old daughter of a neighbor.

Click here to read entire article Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election.

Tags: internet, free speech, government regulation, blogging, federal regulation of the internet, rasmussen, poll, 49%, americans want regulation, wussification of america

This article is most surprising to me in that it reveals rarely heard words when referencing a piece of military or naval equipment…”delivered eight months ahead of schedule and $54 million under budget.”

Article follows:

GROTON, Connecticut (AP) — The Navy’s newest attack submarine, the New Hampshire, was christened Saturday, delivered eight months ahead of schedule and $54 million under budget.

The New Hampshire will begin sea trials this summer and be delivered to the Navy in October.

The New Hampshire will begin sea trials this summer and be delivered to the Navy in October.The New Hampshire was christened by the widow of a pilot killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“I believe I’m looking at heroes,” said Cheryl McGuinness of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, looking at the ship’s crew. “You all are my heroes.

“Thomas McGuinness was co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the World Trade Center’s north tower.

Navy officials, members of Congress and shipyard workers were among the thousands who gathered to celebrate the christening of the 7,800-ton, 337-foot nuclear-powered submarine, which will have a crew of 134.

“She’s a living, breathing soul who will provide a home to her crew,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut.

The submarine, built by General Dynamic’s Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, is the third Navy vessel to carry the name of the Granite State.

“Now it’s time for this New Hampshire to continue the seafaring legacy of the ships before,” said Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of naval reactors. “We’ll soon depend on this crew to take this submarine into harm’s way.

“The submarine is scheduled to begin sea trials this summer and is expected to be delivered to the Navy in October, in a ceremony at the Naval shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Navy’s newest submarine christened - CNN.com

Tags: u.s.navy, submarine, new hampshire, under budget, ahead of schedule

 by Jason Mick (Blog) - June 19, 2008

“Dell has answers” … like a Vista Downgrade to XP, but only for some users, and expect to possibly pay a substantial fee.

Some corporate and private users of Windows XP remain lukewarm about Windows Vista and its higher hardware demands. Microsoft has tried repeatedly to transition XP into end-of-lifespan mode, but has found that PC makers are constantly looking for ways to give customers what they want — an XP OS.

Microsoft is still trying, though, and has insisted that customers simply do not want XP. On June 30, availability of XP will be discontinued for most mainstream PCs. Anticipating this, Dell yesterday wrapped up its XP installations and is shifting to a new tactic.

Dell, the second largest manufacturer of notebooks and PCs, behind only Hewlett Packard, anticipates a strong continued demand for Windows XP. In response to this, and Microsoft’s decision not to extend the lifetime further, it is going to take advantage of the “downgrade rights” applicable to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate licenses, which allow a user to ask for a copy of XP Pro in its place with the option of returning to Vista when they see fit.

Click here to read entire article DailyTech - Dell Appeases Customer Demands to Downgrade Vista, But Hits Them With Fee

Tags: computers, windows vista, windows xp, dell, fee

This is a concerning post as the enforcement of tolerance is trumping the protection of freedom of speech worldwide. The spirit and fact of speech as a right is to have the right to say or write things that offend others, including governments. When governments arrest or intimidate people who say or write what they think, it has a chilling effect on the entire society which weakens the people and strengthens government.

Post from Publius Forum follows:

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bloggers are being arrested more and more as the importance of the Internet is realized by governments across the world, at least so warns the BBC.

It seems an alarming report where community activists and democracy advocates are finding themselves being oppressed by government, arrested, and maybe even tortured because of their blogging.

But, one little fact of the story is never really focussed on in this alarming BBC report on the release of the WIA report from the University of Washington.

The fact that bloggers aren’t threatened much in democratic nations has been glossed over by this report.

Unfortunately, a cursory reading of this piece would leave the reader with the vague feeling that people all over the world are being arrested merely because they are blogging, but that isn’t quite the case.

The way this report is written serves as a perfect example of a PCism more concerned with upsetting the tender sensibilities of tyrannical, undemocratic governments, than in reporting the oppression of its citizens. It’s a PCism gone so far that it makes the report uninformative at least to the most important aspect of the reason these bloggers are being arrested.

Here is how the BEEB starts their almost whitewashed report:

“More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report.

Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.”

The BBC also gravely informs us that, “Citizens have faced arrest and jail for blogging about many different topics,” and that “Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights or suppression of protests. They criticized public policies and took political figures to task.”The report goes on to explain why this new threat to bloggers has arisen. The report said the rising number of arrests was testament to the “growing” political importance of blogging.

Click here to read entire post Jailed for Blogging « Publius’ Forum

Tags: PCism, bbc, bloggers arrested, blogging, political importance, warner todd huston, publius’ forum

The fact that it is news whena man gets his printer to work with Windows Vista (after quite a struggle) made me chuckle.

Story follows:

Charles Walling prints from his Windows Vista PC.

Regular readers may recall the story of Charles Walling, the retired Seattle warehouseman whose struggle to get his printer to work with Windows Vista was documented in our story marking the Microsoft operating system’s first year on the market.

Well, it’s working now — but not without some help from a Windows test manager.

The underlying problem reflects the huge changes Microsoft made from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and the need for hardware makers to adjust. At the same time, the experience may provide a good reminder for PC users making an upgrade.

Here’s the back story: After the article ran, I received e-mails from a couple of people inside Microsoft who were curious about the cause of the problem. With Mr. Walling’s permission, I directed them to him. Tom White, test manager for documents and printing in Microsoft’s Windows Experience group, visited the Walling household on multiple occasions, figured out what was wrong, and ultimately got the printer to work.

Click here to read entire post Man gets Windows Vista to work with printer

Tags: windowsvista, printer, compatibility, todd bishop, microsoft blog, technology, vista problems

I saw this article today and remembered back to the 1970’s and early 1980’s when there were many predictions that there would be mass starvation before the year 2000 because of the “population explosion”. Now we are in a world where there are more obese people than starving people.

Ain’t capitalism great!

Article follows:

World Population To Hit 7 Billion In 2012

Posted by KYLE TRYGSTAD Author

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it projects the world population will reach 7 billion in the year 2012. The world hit 6 billion people in 1999, doubling the 3 billion mark reached in 1959.The Census Bureau projects the world population will grow at a slower pace over the first half of the 21st Century than it did over the last half of the previous century.

World Population To Hit 7 Billion In 2012 - Real Clear Politics - Elections 2008 - TIME

Tags: populationexplosion, starvation, predictions, mass starvation, obese, people, more obese than starving