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Jason Stadtlander

Hitler
  • Jason Stadtlander

The Rise of a Corrupt Leader – Germany 1923
The Rise of a Corrupt Leader – Germany 1923 768 576 Jason Stadtlander

As everyone knows, last November 8th was an historic election in the United States, but what many might not know is that it is also an important day in history back in 1923. An event known as Beer Hall Putsch.

Beer Hall Putsch

Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup attempt by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. He and other Kampfbund leaders attempted to seize power in Munich on November 8th, 1923. Nearly two thousand men marched to the center of Munich and battled police which resulted in the death of 16 Nazis and several policemen. Two days later, Hitler was arrested and charged with treason. Had it not been for the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler very likely never would have come into the public eye of the German people. He stood trial for his treason and over a twenty four day trial, which was widely publicized, he used his publicity as a chance to let Germany know about his nationalistic views. Hitler was found guilty and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison during which time he wrote Mein Kampf; his autobiography.

Damage and Control

It has been strongly debated as to what led to the rise of power and the damage that was Adolf Hitler. I feel the reality is, a combination of things many of which were simply world economic circumstances that Hitler just happened to be in the right place at the right time:

  • Hitler was extremely distraught over Germany losing during World War I
  • After losing his father Alois in 1903, Adolf became very close to his mother. After losing her to breast cancer in 1907 he was never the same.
  • An artist, Hitler applied numerous times to various art schools but was continually denied. This built up resentment and a desire to show he was not the failure he appeared to be.
  • He developed a fondness for German nationalist Georg Ritter von Schönerer who promoted anti-Semetism, anti-Slavism and anti-Catholism.
  • The general morality of Germany was depressed and badly needed a boost.
  • The Great Depression provided Hitler with an opportunity to unite the people of Germany.

This along with many other influences may have led to Hitler’s attitude on the world around around him and his strong anti-Semitism beliefs. In 1920, Hitler announced a 25-point program for the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) which would later become known as the Nazi party. In October of 1920, the party was officially renamed to the Sturmabteilung or SA.

In 1928, feeling that Germans needed to know more about his goals, Hitler wrote a second book called Zweites Buch which was released posthumously.

On October 24, 1929 the United States stock market crashed, an event that was felt world wide. In Germany millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. It was the perfect opportunity for Hitler and the NSDAP to gain support for their party and they promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty as well as create jobs for the German people. In January 1932 Hitler gave a speech for the Industry Club in Düsseldorf, winning him support from many of Germany’s most powerful industrialists. Hitler adopted the slogan “Hitler über Deutschland” (“Hitler over Germany”) for his campaign for president. Although he lost to Hindenburg, he gained a strong following and respect as a political force among the people.

Hindenburg, a strong opponent of Hitler’s views reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two parliamentary elections had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. In being appointed as chancellor, Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany so  Wilhelm Frick was named Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring was appointed Minister of the Interior for Prussia, securing a total of three posts for the NSDAP.

In 1933, the new Reichstag was created with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam. This “Day of Potsdam” was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. That year Hitler’s government brought to vote the Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich (“Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich”), giving Hitler’s cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of Reichstag for four years. Using provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree, eighty-one communist deputies (and strong opponents of the Nazi party) were arrested which prevented several Social Democrats from attending the vote on the Act.

On March 23, 1933, the Reichstag assembled at the Kroll Opera House under turbulent circumstances. Ranks of SA men served as guards inside the building, while large groups outside opposing the proposed legislation shouted slogans and threats towards the arriving members of parliament. The position of the Centre Party, the third largest party in the Reichstag, was decisive. After Hitler verbally promised party leader Ludwig Kaas that Hindenburg would retain his power of veto, Kaas announced the Centre Party would support the Enabling Act. The Act passed by a vote of 441–84, with all parties except the Social Democrats voting in favour. The Enabling Act, along with the Reichstag Fire Decree, transformed Hitler’s government into a de facto legal dictatorship. [1]

Realities

The reality is, Hitler’s rise to power did not come overnight. He worked very hard to not only gain control, but to slowly eliminate those that opposed his views and ideals. I do not personally believe that any country ever decides to elect a dictator. A dictator slowly takes control at times when control is needed and opportunities present themselves. By the time the public realizes that there is a dictator in control of their homeland, it is too late.

 

 

[1] Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
  • Jason Stadtlander

Administrator Permissions Denied in WordPress
Administrator Permissions Denied in WordPress 635 124 Jason Stadtlander

If you’ve ever had a WordPress website and discovered that you can’t access updates anywhere (Update the core or update plugins), then most likely you have been the victim of hacking. Typically, it’s not a real person that has hacked your website. It’s a series of bots that go out and search WordPress websites (because it’s one of the most common platforms on the internet) and inject the PHP code with a string that gives hackers access to the website.

What it Looks Like

  • The hack is basically just a single piece of code at the top of TONS of pages within your WordPress website. Here is a sample of what it looks like:
  • Location of Code: The code that is affected is normally in the following folders:
    • wp-admin
    • wp-content/uploads
    • wp-content/themes/[your active theme]
    • wp-content/plugins
    • [root folder]
  • You might find it in a dozen files, but most likely you’ll find it in dozens if not hundreds of files.

Why They Do It

  • Because they can.
  • Because it allows them to leverage your hosting power for themselves

How They Do It

  • The bots (software) are designed to submit special (injection) code into a form or known uploading exploit in your PHP website. It then allows the bot to write a single string (peice of text) in your source code at the top of your PHP pages.
  • The string at the top basically disables your ability to do anything administrative to your website and also provides a backdoor for the hacker’s software.

How To Clean It

Ok, so this part is a little trickier. I’ve literally cleaned dozens of websites with these injections. Because of the number of files affected, the only effective way to clean it is to follow the directions below.

  1. Download (using Filezilla or another FTP application) the entire site into a temporary folder on your local computer
  2. Using Dreamweaver or another HTML editor of your choice, open several of your PHP files until you find a string like shown above. It’s always at the top of the page right after “<?php” and normally has something like “$iforomos”, “$ogaveg” or “$fimeleg=fimeleg(5)” and has an enormous string of nonsense characters and ends with something like “unset($ogaveg);”
  3. Highlight the entire string AFTER “<?php ” and copy it.
  4. Do a “Find and Replace” in the entire site, replacing that string with nothing.
  5. Re-upload all of the files to your website, ensuring that you are overwriting the files.
  6. All done!

How To Prevent It From Happening Again

The only solid way is to keep an eye on your website. Login regularly. Also, I would highly advise you to install a Web Application Firewall plugin like Wordfence (which is free), so that you are notified if anything does try to alter your website.
  • Jason Stadtlander

“You Have a Penis and I Have a Vagina” – Happy Valentines Day!
“You Have a Penis and I Have a Vagina” – Happy Valentines Day! 840 473 Jason Stadtlander

The Bare Facts

One of my vivid memories from when I was a child was exchanging valentines for Valentines Day. Now this was way waaaaay back in the day when we would actually take some thought and create beautiful valentines or create ornate boxes to contain the little cards that each child would make with care.

You have a penis and I have a vaginaMy most prominent memory from elementary school was Valentines Day in the first grade. There was this little girl by the name of Jennifer with long brown hair and I will admit I was quite smitten on her. Our teacher told us to all go around and put our valentines in each other’s (shoe-box) valentines boxes. I went straight to Jennifer and put my Snoopy valentine into her box, with all the innocence of a little boy having a crush on a little girl. She stepped up beside me and handed me her valentine instead of putting it into my valentine box. Before I could say a word, she said to me “You know what makes us different?”. I shook my head, unable to speak and she said nine words that I was not expecting, “You have a penis and I have a vagina.” and she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Then she merrily went off depositing her valentines into other people’s boxes, leaving me standing wide-eyed, unable to move due to the shock of what I had just heard. The simplicity of a child understanding the difference between male and female.

An Analysis

If only the differences between men and women could be defined as easily as our anatomy. There are absolute similarities between girls and boys prior to puberty, but once puberty kicks in, the abyss between us mentally, physically and emotionally widens. The truth is there is as much depth to who and what we are as a gender as there are drops of water in the ocean.

That is not to say that we move apart from each other, but rather our comprehension of each other shifts. Along with that diversion in understanding also comes a strong magnetism (physically and emotionally), a desire to figure out one another and find ways for the genders to compliment each other. I will start first be dispensing my understanding of women, only because they have always eluded me and yet fascinated me at the same time.

Women

Someone once told me that God created man, then saw man was lonely and created woman. Stepped back and said “Whoa man!” and thus we call them women. I don’t know how much credence I give to this explanation of how women came into being, but I do believe there is a comical value to our (males) relationships with women. If I can generalize, men were put on earth to kill the beast and bring it back to the cave so that woman can cook it. What man did not know was that woman would criticize how man brought back the beast, failed to kill it in such a way that would make it easier to cook and go on to prove how she is right in saying so, utilizing logic that man could not deny.

FACTS:

  • Women are the more compassionate of the two genders except for 5 days a month
  • They carry the off-spring for 9 months and make sure that the male never forgets it
  • Care for the male but require that the male in turn, rubs their backs
  • Women are something for the male to brag about, but when asked how the male got the female, the male rarely can come up with an adequate answer. To which the woman steps in and says “because he’s smart” – Both complimenting herself and the male at the same time.

All joking aside, women are very different in how they perceive the world around them compared to men. Both sides have a moderate understanding of each other but are frequent to redirect their perspective back to their own gender, where-in the problem lies.

Women are emotional creatures… many carrying their heart on their sleeve, but not necessarily reactive in that emotion. They may be extremely upset, but it may not come to the surface until enough has boiled to the surface to truly spill over. Women have the ability to stand back and analyze the situation before it becomes volatile. Generally speaking, women seem to have a firewall between their brain and their ability to act on things. They are more patient than men and not as apt to rush into things without thinking them through first.

Women are also mental creatures. Their mental and emotional side is directly linked to their physical side. This plays out in daily life and in bed. If a woman has something bothering her or stressing her out much more than normal, her sex drive goes out the window as well.

Men

Genesis (1:26) says that God created man to rule over the beasts of the earth. What isn’t stated, that we now know, is that man is a beast himself. Sometimes incapable of doing anything in his downtime aside from passing gas, staring blankly into space and requesting that his offspring pull his finger so that he can start the cycle over again. Again, let’s generalize… Man kills the beast, brings back the beast to woman and woman criticizes man. What woman doesn’t realize is that as she is stating, “Didn’t you think to drain the blood before you brought it home? Now, are you going to clean up that mess?” what man is actually doing is thinking about the beast he didn’t get to kill, but wanted to… internally praising himself for the job he did and what he actually heard was, “[blank space], blah blah blah home? Blah blah blah [blank space]?”

Which leads man to stare at woman as if she has three heads and has just rattled off the blueprints to the atomic bomb.

FACTS:

  • The male hearing center does not engage unless woman is naked or holding food in her hand
  • The adult male is a grown up version of a child, it just has a lot more responsibilities, because of this nature, males generally enjoying playing with the children
  • True males will use any object that they come into contact with as a tool and will find uses for the most obscure tool
  • Men will state a fact with absolute certainty, later being disproved by a woman, they will spend the next four hours analyzing how they could possibly be wrong on something, forgetting that they are nearly always wrong.

Again, joking aside, men too have their strengths and their weaknesses, but are greatly complimented by women. Men are instinctively self-centered, however that can be a strength as well as a weakness. Obviously in the matters of relationships it can be a weakness, but in a professional life, being selfish can help them to achieve the impossible. Most men are driven to defend and provide for their family, it makes them feel complete.

Men are very physical creatures, being driven more by physical attraction than by emotional or intellectual attraction. However, they also find a deep satisfaction when they do finally attain that emotional and intellectual attraction.

Medically speaking, men have been proven to process better in the left hemisphere of their brains, while women tend to process equally in both hemispheres. This explains why men generally are stronger with left-brain activities and approach problem-solving from a task oriented perspective while women are more creative in their problem solving skills and more aware of feelings while communicating.

Men tend to have a ‘fight or flight’ approach to stress while women often favor ‘tend or befriend’, caring for themselves and their children.

The Reality

Men and women are both divergent and yet at the same time complimentary. It is why we care so much about each other, our differences and our similarities.

Creating personalized email with domains
  • Jason Stadtlander

Creating Personalized Email Domains
Creating Personalized Email Domains 700 420 Jason Stadtlander
PERSONALIZED EMAIL: A few friends have asked me how to setup their own domains for email with their last name. (i.e. john@smith.com) So, I setup a sale on my the hosting company I own so you can do it cheap!
 
It’s not expensive and it has a professional level to it. So, here’s how you do it:
  1. Go to my hosting store: http://www.mywebsitehosts.com/
  2. Search for a domain name for your family name (i.e. smith.com). If your last name isn’t available, try adding a word to it, like “thesmiths.com”, “thesmithhome.com”, etc.
  3. Click “Add to Cart”
  4. Click on “Email Accounts” > “Email Plans”
  5. Choose “Personal 12 mo” if it’s just you or “Business 12 mo” if it’s for your whole family and select “Add to Cart”
  6. Make sure you choose the right “Term” (1 year, 2 year, etc.)
  7. Your total should be approx. $28.00 per year (depending on the domain name you choose)
  8. Proceed to Checkout and once your order is done, just login using “My Account” in the hosting store and setup your email addresses.
  9. If you ever need help, you can always reach out to me too on my connect page: www.jasonpstadtlander.com/connect
Why did the chicken cross road
  • Jason Stadtlander

Why Did The Chicken Cross the Road?
Why Did The Chicken Cross the Road? 960 652 Jason Stadtlander
I thought I would update this post in light of recent political developments (saved the best for last – at the bottom):

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he’s a maverick!

BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.

JOHN McCAIN: My friends, the chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross the road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way the chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2014, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2014. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

JOHN WAYNE: Keep crossing that road, I pretty much don’t like quitters son.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

HILLARY CLINTON: I was not aware that any private chickens were stored in my house. Wait, what was the question?

DONALD TRUMP: I will not allow that chicken to cross that road any longer! I will build a wall to prevent illegal chicken crossing!

Don’t Be One Of The Imbeciles And Misetes Of America
  • Jason Stadtlander

Don’t Be One of the Imbeciles and Misetes of America
Don’t Be One of the Imbeciles and Misetes of America 259 194 Jason Stadtlander

I swore I wasn’t going to write any posts on the post election, but here it goes anyway. Let me first put this forward: I am not a Trump supporter, nor am I a Clinton supporter.

Don’t Be So Shocked

Everywhere we look in the post election front  there are two extremes, overjoyed and hateful.

I see people I have known for years spouting off that all Trump supporters are bigots, misogynists and racists. This is preposterous and insane.

I truly believe that those who voted for Trump did not vote for him because he was going to “Build a wall” or because he feels that “Mexicans are rapists” (both things that have been taken out of context by the media in my opinion – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe them). They voted for him because they are tired of the corruption that has been our government for so long. Yes, corruption has always been part of government, perhaps as early as the founding fathers, however it has gotten deeper, stronger and clearly more prevalent in the last fifty years.

Why are is everyone so shocked that so many people came out to vote for Trump? People are tired of sticking there heads in the sand, tired of sitting on the side lines while they watch their country go in some directions they want them to go and NOT in other directions they do want them to go.

What Bothers Me Most About The Election

Although I’m not crazy about Trump being elected, that isn’t what bothers me most. What bothers me most is the fact that our president, congress and house are all now the same party. There are no checks and balances. It will be a lot easier for the president’s cabinet to pass more unilateral decisions without interference.

It’s Not Over – Stand Up and Be Heard

Canada’s Immigration website crashed on election night. Thousands of Americans were looking into how to immigrate to Canada in the haste of the outcome with Trump clearly winning the election.

I know one person very close to me that always says “Jason, you are far too impulsive. Don’t make decisions without thinking them through.” and she’s right. The same should go for our country. Don’t be so stupidly impulsive and believe that #Calexit or renouncing your citizenship is the answer.

All over Facebook people are posting “I’m giving up my citizenship!”, “I’m leaving the country.”

To this I say, “Stop being a fucking idiot and get your head out of your ass.” You want to leave the country?  Fine, good riddance! We need people in this country who will stand up for what they believe in, not a bunch of pansies who will stand by and do nothing while politicians make decisions for us. That is exactly why Trump supporters did what they did. They were fed up with something, so they made a choice to try and change it.

My family and friends that voted for Trump are not bigots, racists or misogynists. They are simply people that feel that Washington doesn’t give a shit about them. They are right, Washington doesn’t give a crap about any of us.

We are a collection of diverse people, with a variety of beliefs and ideals that we all feel strongly about. Don’t stand on the side lines. Make sure that this new administration supports what you believe in and doesn’t take action where they shouldn’t. If we don’t like where they take us, then we become irritating assholes with anyone that can get our opinion pushed through and in four years we vote someone else into power that will. In the mean time, write your congress representatives, contact your senators and DON’T EVER GIVE UP.

Here are some facts about America and if you feel strongly then do something about it!

  • 55% of Americans support same-sex marriage[1]
  • 62% say the federal government does not do enough for middle-class people [2]
  • 69% among moderate or liberal Republicans and 48% of conservative Republicans say climate scientists should have a major role in policy decisions related to the climate. [3]
  • Illegal immigration has actually declined since 2009, not increased [4]
  • Since 2003, Americans dissatisfaction with the operation of the country has gone progressively up [5]

What does this all say about America as a whole? It says that we are expanding our views on the world, progressing forward but we are not happy with the body that is controlling everything. That is the key. That is why I believe Trump supporters did what they did and I believe it’s something that Clinton supporters did not see. They did not see how much of the country was dissatisfied with current state of the union. I personally think that democrats simply stood behind the wrong candidate. Had they stood behind new blood to represent the democratic party, someone who had a fresh perspective but could maintain their views – they could have stood a very good chance of beating the republicans in the election.

So, now it is up to us as a people, like never before, to stand up and make sure that what we hold dear (the issues we believe in) are upheld.

 

Gary Stevens
  • Jason Stadtlander

Lost Souls – The Death of Gary Stevens
Lost Souls – The Death of Gary Stevens 573 393 Jason Stadtlander

Lost Souls

Our world is replete with stories about people that pass on with no connections or have simply diminished so much in life that no one notices that they have died.

Two nights ago, just such a person was lost and my father just found out yesterday.

Gary StevensGary Stevens was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC and was divorced with no children. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Why am I writing about this man?”

That’s a good question. I didn’t know him well, but I did know him. He talked to my father nearly every day, sometimes several times a day. Aside from me (and of course my step-mother), my father talked to him more than just about anyone.

Over the last few years, many of the talks were with a drunk Gary, but he was still a good man and fun to talk to.

Gary owned his own business; Working Dog Leathers, a business that he ran out of his trailer that he hauled around to gun shows and trap shoots. He was an extremely talented leather working artist creating amazing leather work with common and exotic leathers for over 35 years. Gary had such clients as Barbara Mandrell and General Schwarzkopf. The man had endless stories and a sense of humor that you couldn’t help but laugh at and an appearance to match with his suspenders and top hat. Gary and his dog Rat Dog(who passed away about 5 years ago) drove a distinctive Peterbuilt with a pair of Texas longhorns mounted to the front which he pulled around his custom 32 foot workshop/trailer/home with.

The part that hits me hardest is, he was found dead in his trailer having died alone. My father of course already feels the void as he talked to him every day. But how many other people will miss this talented man or know that he even passed away. Lost souls… No one deserves to die alone. No one.

Gary isn’t the first lost soul I have seen leave our world either. A close family friend by the name of Chuck was lost a couple years ago in similar circumstances, his girlfriend having died a year before, alone and his wife; an angel having passed a year before that found between her bed and her wall. That brings my count of people that I have personally known (albeit some not all that well) that were lost in the last few years, alone and empty to 4.

Two Pleas

I have two pleas for you.

  • Those who knew Gary, please tell people about him. Carry on his story and don’t forget him. Here is a nice bio I saw written on him that you might enjoy: Working Dog Leather
  • This is probably the most critical plea. Please, if you are someone that is lost, alone, in need of a friend, reach out to those you know. Bug the crap out of them and let them know that you care about them and trust me it will be reciprocated. If you need help, seek it by any means possible. There are so many people in this world with the ability to love and all it takes is to reach out to them.
    • Don’t dump on your friends. “Talk” to them.
    • Don’t spend more than half the time you talk to them – talking about yourself. Ask how they are, ask what’s going on their life and they will show an interest yours as well.
    • Don’t give up on yourself or others. That is what brings friendships to a halt and what ultimate causes people to be alone. Yes, we have WAY TOO MANY ways to keep in touch to the point that it’s overwhelming. So pick one… stick to it and don’t stop, but don’t smother either.

I guess… that’s all I have to say about this.

She's got a thing about her
  • Jason Stadtlander

She’s Got A Thing About Her
She’s Got A Thing About Her 500 333 Jason Stadtlander

Every once in a while you hear a song that resonates with you.

This morning, this song truly resonated for me.

She’s got a thing about her – Chris Young

Lyrics

It might be her smile cause it can change my day
blue eyes that chase my blues away
Might be her touch that keeps me coming back for more
Her loving words that keep me going strong
that heart of hers hang my future on
What it is well I can’t say for sure
It’s just she’s got this thing about her
she’s got this thing about her
Like that magic in your favorite song
you just can’t put your finger on
In her arms when were all alone
I get the feeling that I’ve come back home
she’s got this thing about her
She stops time when she moves through a room
When she leaves she’s always gone too soon
and I’m counting down the minutes till she’s back
She’s the love I’ve known eternally
that always feels brand new to me
I can’t separate the fiction from the fact
Its just she’s got this thing about her
she’s got this thing about her
Like a hymn in a cathedral hall
watching April snowflakes fall
In her arms when were all alone
I get the feeling that I’ve come back home
she’s got this thing about her
Like the magic in your favorite song
you just can’t put your finger on
She’s got this thing about her.

Copyright Chris Young • Written by Christopher Young, Corey Batten, Kent Blazey

2nd Amendment Confusion – Election 2016
  • Jason Stadtlander

2nd Amendment Confusion – Election 2016
2nd Amendment Confusion – Election 2016 2000 1000 Jason Stadtlander

Those of you who know me, know that I was raised around guns. My Grandfather and Grandmother were artisans creating handmade, ornate flintlock rifles, scrimshaw powder horns and paintings related to hunting and gun ownership (especially antiques). Therefore the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution has been a strong part of our family heritage.

That being said, there has been an enormous amount of focus on the 2nd Amendment rights, in particular there was some significant time spent during the Third Presidential Debate regarding it.

The Facts:

The 2nd Amendment was adopted within the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. Let’s take a moment and look at what the actual text of the 2nd Amendment states:

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.

The most common examination of that statement is as follows:

  • “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…”:
    Which means: A Military that is well organized, connected with our country and maintains our freedom, defending our citizens against those who may wish to take our freedom.
  • “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”:
    Which means: The people (citizens) of this country have the right to own arms (guns) and this right to bear arms shall not be prevented or limited in any fashion.

The Obscurity:

  1. I think it’s fair to say that we (as a country) have already violated the second amendment in that there have been numerous restrictions placed on gun ownership in this country (from where it stood in 1791). That’s not a dig, just a fact. Some of those violations are necessary and some are not.
  2. The “arms” that we have the capability of owning today, are significantly more powerful (yet just as deadly) as the arms that we could own in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was adopted.

The Real Stats:

At the time that this article is being written there have been (from Gun Violence Archive):

  • 46,973 Total “Gun Violence” Incidents
  • 12, 086 Deaths from guns
  • 25,017 Injuries relating to guns
  • 558 Children killed or injured from guns
  • 2,562 Teens killed or injured from guns
  • 312 Mass shootings involving guns

Now, that data above is all fine and dandy for “shock value” and if you take it at face value, it IS shocking, but let’s break this down a little more:

Up to 60% of perpetrators of mass shootings (such as the 312 figure above as well as the 46,973 number) in the United States since 1970 displayed symptoms of mental illness.

I know you have all heard this before but, guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

You can set a gun on a table and sit there and watch if for 100 years and it will NEVER jump off the table and kill someone. But, get someone who has no respect or training (or simply no respect for human life) around a gun (or a knife, or a baseball bat or a bow and arrow) and only then does the weapon become dangerous.

The Real Problem

The real problem boils down to several factors that are decays in our American society itself:

Education:
Lack of weapon education (guns, knives, anything that can be used to harm another human)

Instant Reactions:
Lack of ability to control temper and the need to act out instantly. We live in a society where everyone expects instant gratification. Someone sends a text and it instantly gets to the person. Subsequently, someone gets upset or angry and they feel the need to instantly harm the person that is causing them pain. We have removed the ability to stand back and think about our actions, removed the ability to allow common sense to take over.

Mental Illness and our Over Medicated Country:
Studies show that nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffer from mental illness each year. Some of these cases are long term, some of them are short term. To treat mental illness, doctors prescribe hundreds of different medications. For depression for example, a common medication is Welbutrin (bupropion) – a medication that although it can help with depression, can also cause: anxiety, irregular heartbeats, irritability and confusion to name a few side effects.

The reality is, most of the gun violence incidents we will never know or be able to tell if they are mental health / medication related.

Gun Laws Don’t Stop Criminals

The U.S. has national laws that prevent people who have had a felony from owning a gun. But, perhaps one of the most important things that we as a country really need to think about before enacting laws relating to guns is this:

What am I actually saying here?

Now, with all these statements, what am I actually trying to say here? Am I supporting the unlimited ability to own guns? No.

Do I stand behind the idea that laws should limit gun ownership more than they currently do? No.

What I am saying is that we need to not be pigeon holed on our perspective of the 2nd Amendment. We need to stand back and look at the bigger picture and determine where the dangers really are and squelch those dangers. The problem is much bigger than simply limiting gun control.

  • The problem is about teaching our youth that instant gratification is not good.
  • It’s about ensuring that mental illness isn’t over-diagnosed AND over-medicated.
  • It’s about ensuring that gun owners are educated about gun ownership and are held responsible if they are stupid enough to leave a loaded firearm laying around where children can reach them. I personally think that there should be laws in place similar to DUIs. If a gun owner has an incident where a child is injured due to their negligence to protect their firearm, then that owner should have to serve a mandatory, instant (significant) jail-time.
  • However… there should be ways for a lawful gun owning adult to quickly get to a firearm if they need it for the purposes of self defense. If someone is threatening your family and for some reason you cannot contact the authorities immediately, then fumbling through trigger locks, loading ammunition and trying to unlock safes are not really viable options.
  • Limit the amount of guns that can be licensed in populated areas. I do believe that there should be a limit on the amount of firearms that can be licensed within a given populous (i.e. not everyone in a city needs to own a firearm), but those in the more rural areas I believe do have just cause for such ownership.
  •  We are not the same country  or society  that we were in 1791. Just as any other historical document, the constitution needs to evolve and be dynamic… what I fear most is that those changes and dynamic modifications will injure the original context of the Constitution,  not enhance it.

That’s my two cents. What’s yours?
  • Jason Stadtlander

In For a Penny, In For a Pound
In For a Penny, In For a Pound 320 213 Jason Stadtlander

Driving the company with dollars in mind
Scrooge is your model, in him you will find
Stoke the fire, the coals are aligned
Screw the the staff the way you’ve designed

In for a penny, in for a pound
Enjoying your car and premium sound
Standing on bodies on top of the mound
As you’re in for a penny and in for a pound

She dreams of a goal that she’ll reach in time
Making her plans to weather the climb
Following the path and saving each dime
Until she has realized that it’s reached it’s prime

She’s in for a penny, in for a pound
Her pattern is planned ’til everything’s sound
Watching each movement, holding fast to the ground
She’s in for a penny and in for a pound

He stands with his team, a fight to be free
Ready to charge at his C.O.’s decree
Holding his gun, he’ll never flee
For truth is beheld, so Don’t Tread on Me

He’s in for a penny, in for a pound
Ready to defend ’til the battle is crowned
His word is his honor, forever renowned
Because he’s in for a penny, in for a pound

I stand in the booth, staring at options
I’ve read and I’ve researched and heard the concoctions
With four hundred million, it’s our chosen adoption?
A liar, a thief, a moron, a flake, endless corruption

We are in for a penny and in for a pound
No choice that I have makes me feel sound
Dear God help us all, not to be drowned
We’re in for a penny and in for a pound

Copyright © Jason Stadtlander - All Rights Reserved

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