I guess I got something for my donation after all. Only an emailed letter in PDF file but a nice touch. As I said, I expect, if Arizona successfully defends its states rights to rid itself of the scourge of illegal aliens and stop the tide of illegal entry of aliens across its border, then I will have gained a more secure border and a safer America as will we all have done. Click on the letter to enlarge it.
All the best,
GB
...I think it is one of the most beautiful states to which I have ever been and I have visited it many times over the course of the last 37 years or so since my first visit there. I estimate, I have made at least 25 trips there, probably closer to 50, maybe as many as 75, or even more (I never kept count but went there very often). Of those, two were of over 1 month's duration each and another two of over 3 months duration each for my job. I also have been there on a couple of vacations lasting over 10 days to 2 weeks long, and have been there many other times on day and weekend trips (when I lived in California and when I visited family in Las Vegas). Lately, I have truly been disgusted by how it has been overrun, over the past several years, by the tide of illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and other criminals who have crossed its southern border into our great nation. So today I made a donation to the state, I gave $100.00; I hope to give more if they need it. How much I gave is not all that important but I gave more than I thought I would have given when I posted my blog, Remember Arizona - Don't let It Come To That - Help Now, a couple or few days ago about the state seeking donations. I mention the amount here because maybe some of you, like me, still see a hundred bucks as a decent sized chunk of change to just give away. I could have used that c-note for a lot of other things and but what is important is that I gave it anyway. You can always make excuses not to give to a worthy cause like this one. I could just have said to myself: it is too much or could have said why give when I will get nothing back except a receipt (that would have been very short sighted indeed), or I could have told myself not to have given at all because I could have spent the money on me or my family. I could have gone fishing on a party boat twice for that, or gone once and taken my son along too, or bought a good amount of ammo, or paid for a few trips to the shooting range in Brookhaven, or bought a great bottle of whiskey, or taken my wife out to dinner or my daughter out to lunch or... You get the picture. Instead of any of that, I gave to this fund because if I didn't, well then when and if our way of life is lost due to the influx of illegal aliens, I would have felt guilty as all hell for not having given at least something and would have had to have blamed myself first for not doing something to solve the problem while others had tried to help. Will I get something back for my donation - if Arizona is successful then you can safely bet that yes I will get something back - so will you. We will have more secure borders, a safer country, more legal as opposed to illegal immigration, more jobs for American citizens and legal resident aliens and a better country in which to live.So, the important thing is not so much how much I gave but that I gave. I took some of what I had and donated it to a state that is doing something of which we should all be proud and which we should all support as loyal hardworking U.S. Citizens, or honest and hardworking legal resident aliens, or as law abiding and honorable aliens in foreign lands waiting to immigrate to the USA legally. The other important thing is that you give too. So once again, I am asking you, my dear readers, to dig down a bit and give to help the state of Arizona fight illegal entry of aliens and criminals into the USA via Arizona, to remove illegal aliens from their state and turn them over to the feds, to fight to get the federal government to actually enforce its own immigration laws, and to make Arizona and the United States of America a safer place to live and raise our children. Please give what you can. The site through which I made my donation can been accessed through an icon at the bottom of the official website of the state of Arizona at http://www.az.gov/ or at this link:
http://www.keepazsafe.com/
All the best,
Glenn B
Crap, over 2 hours researching and typing a piece about the Affair of Honor (duel) between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton that took place on July 11, 1804 only to hit 'Publish Post' and it was lost because Blogger crapped out on me. It only saved about 2 paragraphs during auto saves and I typed a good 4 or 5 regular pages of text. Oh well, go to some history sites if you want detailed info.
I'll just say they were personal rivals, and Aaron Burr won the fight, was charged with murder in NY & NJ (duel was in NJ), was not prosecuted because he was the sitting Vice President of the United States at the time. Hamilton died the next day. It has been hypothesized based upon physical evidence (a letter he wrote the night before the duel), his own oral statement after being shot, and his history in dueling, that Hamilton never even intended to fire at Burr. Burr certainly intended to fire at Hamilton as per his own statements. Some believe that Hamilton fired first, wide and well over Burr and his shot reportedly struck a tree about 12 feet above the ground where the bullet lodged. Then Burr believing that Hamilton had fired at him, returned the shot striking and mortally wound Hamilton. He was well justified in having done so if Hamilton indeed fired first because each man had a second loaded pistol for a follow-up shot. Normally, in dueling back then, if an opponent wanted to get out of it with honor, he fired a shot into the ground near his feet showing that he had attended the duel with honor and courage and had yet declined to kill his rival. The other opponent then usually did likewise and it was over. In this case though, if Hamilton fired first, his shot zoomed by Burr and Burr reacted killing Hamilton. Of course if Burr fired first, it was possible that Hamilton fired a shot as he collapsed and that is why it went wide and high. Others think it possible that Hamilton used the adjustment on his pistol to set it as a hair trigger and he may have inadvertently fired the shot when he brought the pistol into play. Others think he was suicidal and wanted Burr to kill him. (His son had been killed in a duel at the same dueling area only 2 years prior.) No one actually witnessed the shots visually as the seconds turned their backs to the action so as to later be able to claim plausible deniabilty and say they had never seen the duel take place (something to protect themselves and the winner). Hamilton did make a dying declaration that he had never intended to harm Burr but some believe that he hated Burr so much he would have said anything to have made him look bad if Burr had actually won the duel. That whole controversy was discussed by me in detail but is now forever lost in the virtual ether of the Blogosphere.
Burr finished his vice presidency after which he conspired to start a new country by seizing land within the Louisiana Purchase, then in Spanish territories, then New Orleans. His plans never really made it off the ground but he was charged and tried for treason. He was acquitted based upon Article 3 - Section 3 of the Constitution when it was shown that only a single co-conspirator gave testimony against him that there was in fact a conspiracy. He then, in disgrace and owing a lot of money, fled to England where he spent most of the next 4 years. Returned to the US of A. Died in NY and was buried in NJ in 1834. Burr's party was the Republican party (not related to the Republican party of today except in name only). It was, in fact, the precursor of the Democratic Party of today and is often retroactively referred to as the Democratic-Republican Party. Hamilton was a Federalist. No political commentary here - just factual info.Imagine all of that though regardless of party affiliation; a vice president of the United States of America charged with murder by two states and later charged and tried for treason. What a guy! Crap, crap, crap - my other piece was much better but after losing it, I lost my inspiration to try my hand at it again.
All the best,
Glenn B
I guess I got something for my donation after all. Only an emailed letter in PDF file but a nice touch. As I said, I expect, if Arizona successfully defends its states rights to rid itself of the scourge of illegal aliens and stop the tide of illegal entry of aliens across its border, then I will have gained a more secure border and a safer America as will we all have done. Click on the letter to enlarge it.
