Message from discussion
PROponent - September 1995 - PRO Newsletter
From: dcar...@bronze.coil.com (Dennis P. Carney)
Subject: PROponent - September 1995 - PRO Newsletter
Date: 1995/09/12
Message-ID: <432rst$kab@ns.concourse.com>
X-Deja-AN: 109942392
organization: Central Ohio Internet Link, Inc. (614)242-3814
newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater
The
PROponent
Peoples Rights Organization
3953 Indianola Ave Columbus, OH 43214 (614) 268-0122
Volume 7 September, 1995 Number 9
[Headline]
LAWSUIT MOVES!
OUR LAWSUIT MOVES IN COURT ...
Yes it's true. PRO hasn't gone away and is still chewing on
the leg of the anti-gun Columbus City Council.
The lawsuit filed against Columbus by PRO, Gerald Smolak and
Dennis Walker will be heard on September 29, 1995, at Courtroom #1,
3rd Floor, 85 Marconi Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43215, at 2:30 pm.
It will be heard by Judge Sandra S. Beckwith and Magistrate Judge
Mark Abel.
Dr. Stephen P. Halbrook, Esq. and Donald C. Brey, Esq. will be
arguing for PRO, et al. Glenn B. Redick, Esq. will be representing
Columbus.
This lawsuit is the third in a series backed by PRO against
the anti-constitutional gun-grabbing tactics of Columbus City
council. Our first challenge made it all the way to the Ohio
Supreme Court, when PRO withdrew it in order to get the NRA to
support a second challenge based on the "vagueness" of the law.
That second suit was successful and the City was forced to pay all
lawyer expenses and the law was overturned.
But your elected representatives weren't impressed. They
just used your money to pay off the costs for their mistakes (not
counting the money lost to the city from OGCA gun shows) and passed
another ban. This seems to be the new mode in government. If you
make a mistake, or commit illegal acts, you just use taxpayer money
to pay off anybody who squawks and nobody ever goes to jail or gets
charged. Often they seem to get promoted to show appreciation for
their incompetence.
One Federal level case of this is seen in the Weaver incident.
Here the government used 3.1 million dollars of your money to
settle with the surviving Weavers and still in spite of the dead,
the coverups and the negligence, nobody has been charged yet.
It's even better if you can get a judge to help you get away
with excess. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by
Louis Katona III and his wife, Kimberly, against the BATF. The
lawsuit claimed that the BATF search of their home and seizure of
32 firearms from their home was illegal. BATF agents seized
$107,00 worth of firearms, including automatic rifles, silencers
and a grenade launcher. The BATF also said that permit forms for
the firearms had been forged.
Judge David Dowd issued a summary judgement in favor of the
government, ruling there had been sufficient probable cause to
issue a warrant to search the Katonas' home. Dowd also rejected
the Katonas' claims that the search violated their privacy and
recklessly inflicted emotional distress on Mrs. Katona, causing her
to miscarriage.
Katona, a part-time New Washington police officer, was
disappointed by Dowd's decision. "I definitely disagree with the
judge's dismissal of our claims, especially when he said we didn't
show we were emotionally distressed enough." Katona went on, "I
don't know how you can say a miscarriage and all the expenses we've
had throughout this are not distressing enough."
The bottom line seems to be that there are people in
government who seem to think that they have developed enough clout
that they can act as if they are above the law. But PRO is here to
tell them both in the federal government and on City Council that
we do not intend to stand idly by and condone that kind of
behavior.
PRO may not be big and we may not have the dollars the movers
and shakers can muster, but we are persistent. And once the people
wake up to the way in which some public officials have been
cleverly using public money to cover their mistakes we think they
will be finally getting their "come-uppance".
Which leads us into our never-ending commercial. There is
another city council election coming up this November and in the
past PRO has proved to be quite ineffective in ousting the worst of
city council members. They have come to view PRO like a mosquito:
annoying, but not much of a real threat. Well some things have
changed on the legal front that allows PRO members to take a more
active role in the campaign. We will be explaining more as the
election draws near, but for now, just start thinking about taking
a little time to distribute literature door to door in YOUR
neighborhood. We CAN win!
PRAISE FOR PRO ...
[The following letter was sent to the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources giving unsolicited praise for Mr. Lydic and the
job his hunter safety class crew have been doing. It speaks for
itself.]
TO: James R Wentz
Outdoor Skills Administrator
O.D.N.R.
Division of Wildlife
Dear Mr Wentz,
I felt compelled to write to you in addition to submitting
my Application for Volunteer Hunter Education Instructor. The Team
of Instructors from the P.R.O. Gun Show Hunter Safety Class August
5 & 6, 1995 were excellent. John Lydic, lead the members of his
team in an organized manor. Each man knew his subject and added
personal experience to the class with "Safety" being the main
topic. The pace was active and never dull. I took particular
notice of issues both needed and wanted in a Hunter Safety Class,
which were mentioned in the Instructors course, and the P.R.O. Team
performed at 100%.
I hope my classes mirror Mr. Lydic and his Team's fine job.
Richard F Belford
[The editors would like to take this opportunity to point out
to our membership the selfless and unflagging effort put forth by
not only Mr. Lydic and the Hunter Safety team, but also by Mr. Ron
Herman and the NRA Personal Protection / Firearm Safety
instructors. Education represents a large portion of how PRO
fights for your Rights. Every student who becomes familiar with
the truth of firearms and firearm safety is not only one less
accident that the other side might use against us, but also it is
one more person who is no longer susceptible to media and Handgun
Control Inc. lies.
We suspect that most of our members have no idea how much
personal time is freely given by the PRO volunteers who teach our
classes. These instructors certainly have as many pressing things
to do in life as you do, but nevertheless they find the time. Why
do they do it? They do it for the same reason that all of us
involved in PRO do it. We do it to make sure that the country we
hand over to the next generation is as free as the one we have
enjoyed, rather than the slave-state some power-hungry politicians
have in mind for us.
So the next time you see one of PRO's instructors give them a
pat on the back, or better yet, ask how you can become an
instructor yourself and join the team!
REMINDER: PRO HAS MOVED ...
This is just a reminder that the PRO office has moved. If you
write PRO be sure to use the new address you find listed on the
front and rear pages of this issue. Below is a photo Jeremy
Herman, son of Ron Herman, PRO treasurer and head NRA instructor.
Jeremy is obviously already standing up for our Rights outside the
new PRO digs.
[Photo]
NUKING NEGROES ...
While the media is screaming that there are dangerous
"anti-government" thoughts loose among the citizens of this
country, the confidence of the people is being shaken daily by more
and more revelations of those in power treating the American people
as if they were so many guinea pigs. We have heard of GIs given
LSD without their knowledge which resulted in the death of a man
when he jumped out a window. We have heard about whole towns being
subjected to radioactive fallout to see what would happen, and all
the while government spokesmen cooed about how safe it was. The
August 18-20 issue of USA Today reports that a search has turned up
16,000 persons who were unknowing subjects of government
radioactivity experiments. And this number is said to represent
"only a fraction" of Cold War radiation tests.
So now with commemorative programs all over the media for the
nuking of Japan to end WWII, we have one group saying it was
necessary and right [it was] and another group saying it was a
racist act [it was]. Hey, if the government of the United States
would commit the racist act of putting AMERICANS of Japanese
heritage into concentration camps, and even have it upheld by the
Supreme court (Korematsu v. U.S.,1944) one can easily imagine why
they were apparently willing to do more to homeland "Japs" than to
our European enemies.
Therefore, the PRO editors are going to join in all this
celebration of the first use of a nuclear "device" to kill human
beings with an article of our own...but we won't be talking about
Japan!
It was August 6, 1945 when a blinding flash cut across the sky
of Hiroshima causing the eventual death of some 80,000 men, women
and children. But a year earlier in July, 1944 a huge explosion
had occurred at the naval ammunition facility at Port Chicago,
California. All contemporary accounts described the disaster as
due to conventional explosives but an odd quirk of fate worthy of
a Perry Mason show or a mystery novel started author Peter Vogel
probing in other directions. The results of that quest which we
will summarize here was published in the Spring 1982 issue of The
Black Scholar in an article called The Last Wave From Port Chicago
by Peter Vogel.
In the spring of 1980 the author found a document at the
bottom of a box of photographic equipment and supplies from a
church rummage sale. That document was entitled the "History of
the 10,000 ton gadget" and had come from Los Alamos laboratories in
Autumn of 1944. Many people might have never paid any attention to
this paper which was a previously top secret technical description
of the timing of the various events taking place within a nuclear
explosion after detonation. The "history" proceeds through a
number of steps indicating, for example, the detonation wave
reaching the tamper in .067 milliseconds (step 2), The tamper being
fully compressed at .127 ms (step 3), ball of fire fully expanded
at approximately 160 ms (step 8).
But the Rosetta stone here was step 11. It stated: "Ball of
fire mushroom (sic) out at 18,000 ft in typical Port Chicago
fashion." This line set off alarm bells. The author learned that
the Port Chicago explosion was indeed characterized by a brilliant
white flash and that a ball of fire mushroomed out to at least
10,000 feet before it was obscured by nightfall.
So now the author had a few questions come to mind that needed
some answers:
> "Did the U.S. in fact have the capability to build a
nuclear fission weapon as early as July 1944? Was there sufficient
U-235 available?
> Had the bomb been specified by that time? That is, were
the technical details of it's design drawn up in final form by that
time?
> Was there any evidence that the Port Chicago explosion was
nuclear in origin?
All of these questions were later answered in the affirmative
by the authors research.
All bomb buffs know that there were two different types of
nuclear devices used on Japan. The one used on Hiroshima was
called "the gun" by it's builders and later came to be known as
"little boy". It was a simple unrifled 5" naval gun barrel with a
charge that drove one subcritical mass of U-235 into another
subcritical mass of U-235 at the other end of the barrel. The two
masses when forced together made a mass large enough for the
nuclear explosion to occur.
The other type was a plutonium bomb in which a spherical shell
of plutonium was compressed into a critical mass by precisely timed
shaped charges placed over it's surface. It was called "fat man"
because of it's rounded shape. You can also see that it is a very
high-tech device compared to "the gun". There is clear evidence
that this second type of bomb could not have been detonated at Port
Chicago.
So now a few questions of "accepted history" begin to arise.
The government insists that the Hiroshima bomb (the gun) had never
been tested prior to it's use on Japan. The "trinity" test of the
plutonium device is widely touted as the "first" atomic explosion
the world had ever seen. But scientifically this makes no sense.
After the first demonstration of a sustained chain reaction, it was
not even known if a nuclear explosion would indeed occur And if
so, what might be the result of such a blast (some feared the
atmosphere of the earth itself might be set on fire dooming the
planet).
The logical sequence for bomb testing would be to first test
the ultra-simple device first. There were in fact few other
options since the explosive lenses for the plutonium bomb were not
reliable and tested until the spring of 1945. On the other hand,
records show that at the end of 1943 there was enough bomb grade
U-235 to make one or two over-designed gun bombs or several minimum
critical mass devices.
And the plot thickens. Vogel writes, "Shortly after the
disaster at Port Chicago, the Los Alamos Laboratories were
radically re-organized in structure, organization and effort,
effective August 1, 1944. This re-organization had, as it's most
substantial effect the curtailment of all Laboratories' work on the
uranium-235 gun assembly weapon which was to be detonated over
Hiroshima." Could it be that suddenly all program managers grew
extremely confident for some reason that the gun device would work
as planned?
Note also that in 1944 the only method of delivering the bomb
was by boat. Albert Einstein had written President Roosevelt in
1939 saying, "A single bomb of this type, [ed. atomic] carried by
boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port
together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such
bombs might very well prove to be too heavy for transportation by
air." The gun bomb weighed 9,000 pounds. Interestingly enough,
the ship that exploded at Port Chicago, the E.A. Bryan, had just
been ordered to the Alameda ship yards to have its 5-ton (10,000
pound maximum load) booms and gear replaced with 10-ton booms and
gear in the No. 1 and No. 5 holds. The crater in the river bottom
showed the blast originated in No. 1 hold. The boxcar records that
would show what was in that hold are missing.
At 21 hours 18 minutes 50.94 seconds a blinding white flash
lit up the Port Chicago sky. Vogel writes, " The pilot of an Army
Air Corps C-49 aircraft flying line-of-sight towards Port Chicago
at a distance of four to five miles described the explosion as 'a
terrific white flash". Explosions produced by conventional
explosives do not produce a white flash. Some have argued that the
white flash came from magnesium-loaded weapons but inventory
records show no such weapons either loaded on the Bryan or on the
pier.
But there was more evidence of a nuclear explosion than just
the white flash. At the court of inquiry the C-49 pilot described
what he saw:
"Well there seemed to be a white flash and this flash had with
it a large smoke ring that spread out in all directions around Port
Chicago. I would estimate it, from the air to be at least three
miles wide. This smoke ring proceeded then to go up and in the
center of that was a terrific flash which mounted up as high as I
was, 9,000 and above me."
It turns out that in the Bikini tests of July 1st and July 25, 1946
where two atomic bombs were detonated in the lagoon at Bikini
island just above the water surface a phenomena was observed that
was not seen at the Japanese detonations: The Wilson Condensation
Cloud. It is not "smoke" but rather water vapor. In the Bikini
tests the Wilson cloud was 2 miles in diameter and "The ring rests
on the water and encloses the rapidly expanding fireball. A few
instants later the fireball 'whooshed' up through the center of the
Wilson cloud at Bikini to a height of about 9000 feet." This is
virtually the same as the pilot's description of the "smoke" ring
observed at Port Chicago.
The seismic record also shows not a series of conventional
explosions (as might be the case if ammo went off) but rather a
single explosion of 3.4 on the Richter Scale. This record clearly
shows that the front end characteristics of the blast do not match
those of a slow burning conventional explosion, despite attempts to
portray it as such.
It also happens that there was actually motion picture footage
taken of the blast by a navy plane flying over Port Chicago. Now
the Navy claims the film is a Hollywood recreation, but did not
make the claim until people began investigating the possibility of
a nuclear blast at Port Chicago. Indeed, the fact that a motion
picture camera was rolling and pointed in the right direction at
the time of the blast points to the possibility that the explosion
was not only nuclear but also not accidental. The film, which the
navy claims is fake shows a textbook nuclear detonation.
The blast itself was phenomenal. While the total amount of
TNT aboard the Bryan and the pier was no more than 1,780 tons,
which likely burned in large portion, the crater under the ship was
66 feet deep by 300 feet wide and 700 feet long. This is greater
than the calculations for a 5 kiloton nuclear bomb. The whole ship
disappeared and no large piece of it was ever found. A 12 ton
locomotive on the pier also "vanished" along with 320 men (mostly
black) working on the ship and dock. Damage from the explosion at
Port Chicago tends to match the same destruction at similar
distances from ground zero in Hiroshima. Generally speaking,
evidence is there that Port Chicago was hit with a nuclear device
of more than 5 kilotons... or a "10,000 ton gadget"!
Thus, there appears to be exceptionally strong evidence that
Port Chicago was destroyed by a nuclear bomb. It is author Vogel's
contention that the device was detonated on purpose rather than by
accident. From what we know about government thinking then and now
there is a certain credibility to the claim.
It was war time and the winner was far from settled. The
allies had this secret weapon project that could turn the tide in
Europe and Japan if successful, but there were many unknowns.
Would it work? If you put it in a ship and drove into a harbor,
say even, best case, one containing an ammo dump, how much damage
would you get? How would men respond to such a massive blast?
Would they rally and fight or just give up and run? How could you
get the maximum information out of a test when you had so little
bomb material to spare? You certainly couldn't test it on an enemy
city. What if it failed and the enemy got the mechanism (and the
enriched uranium-235). Furthermore, it would blow the cover on the
whole project.
No. The only test that would make sense would require a
sacrifice. Millions of people were dying in the war anyway and if
the sacrifice of a port facility at which virtually everyone except
a few officers were black, could save America, then the price was
probably deemed worth it. (Especially given the racist attitude
prevalent in government and the military at the time) So the ship
with the first atomic bomb was in the harbor and the plane with the
camera running was flying overhead and perhaps the timer was
ticking away.
Afterward, the effects were duly noted. The black GI's did
rally to help their buddies in spite of the huge blast until much
later when strange sickness began to appear in those helping with
rescue and a "mutiny" took place among workers. And with that
successful "first" test of a nuclear weapon, research turned to the
development of the plutonium type bomb, which in all the history
books (he who controls the present controls the past) was latter to
be called the "first" atomic explosion.
Whether the explosion at Port Chicago was an accident or
purposely done, it is very hard for those of us in this generation
to judge the desperate struggle of those dark days of war. We now
know that Hitler lost, but it was far from certain then. Indeed,
the final outcome to that great conflict only became certain once
it was clear that the atomic idea would work. And if the Port
Chicago explosion was atomic, the postwar greatness of this country
can in many ways be traced to the GIs at Port Chicago whose
sacrifice showed that all was not lost and that Nazis would never
be celebrating victory in New York City. No matter how it
happened, lets never forget those black men who experienced the
greatest home-front disaster of the war. And we also should never
forget the kind of government that views it's own citizen's not as
it's master, but rather as so many expendable laboratory animals to
be used as government sees fit.
That's the way PRO thinks the anniversary of the atomic bombs
should be remembered.
DEAR PRO ...
Dear PRO:
The law enforcement sign off on the BATF Form 4 is NOT a
requirement in the NFA law as written by Congress. BATF includes
this requirement by regulation.
It may be possible to get a court to throw out the law
enforcement sign off [as long as the transferee is eligible to
purchase the NFA weapon]. Doug Oefinger [of DLO Manufacturing] had
in interview in Machine Gun News [MGN] where he talked about a
lawsuit to get the law enforcement sign off requirement thrown out.
I don't know what the status of that lawsuit is. I haven't seen
anything about it recently in MGN.
Lately,
--
Larry Cipriani, l.v.cipri...@att.com
Ever feel like you're being watched ? -- You will.
[Larry Cipriani is a long time staunch PRO supporter and we thank
him for this additional information which relates to our article in
the last issue about local chief law enforcement officers refusing
to sign papers for law abiding citizens to own fully automatic
firearms. It is also important here to note the attitude of the
BATF where Congress grants them a little authority and they attempt
to boldly expand that authority until someone squawks. The message
is that it is important for as many gun owners as possible to make
as much noise as possible to keep the bureaucrats in bounds.]
BOVARD BOOK REVIEW ...
Just when you begin think that all the media journalists and
all the talented writers have all sold out to the statists for a
few pieces of silver, there comes along an author striking fear
into the hearts of the bureaucrats who think that working for the
government puts them above the law and decency. One such author is
James Bovard. PRO reviewed his book Lost Rights and now he has
done it again.
His new book is entitled "SHAKEDOWN: How the Government Screws
You from A to Z." Once again Bovard compiles a mountain of facts
and stories that never seem to make it into the daily news in spite
of questionable government actions and up to millions of dollars
being involved.
A review by Jim Powell of this book gives some of the
following examples out of hundreds in Shakedown.
"For example, he tells how the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission extorted $2 million out of World's Finest Chocolate, a
Chicago candymaker. It was "guilty" of recruiting new people via
word-of-mouth through their employees.
"U.S. Customs Service police stole $19,000 from Gilberto and
Josefina Gomez, farm laborers crossing from the United States into
Mexico. The couple provided proof the money came from a worker's
compensation settlement, but Customs' police neither filed any
criminal charges, nor returned the money.
"By forcing automakers to increase the miles per gallon of
their cars, U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations
spur the production of more small cars which pose greater risks in
accidents. Bovard cited authoritative estimates that the
regulations resulted in 2,200 to 3,900 more fatalities and up to
20,000 more serious injuries from 1989 model cars alone.
"Empowered by drug prohibition laws, many police go on wild
no-knock raids against peaceful people. In Riverside County,
California, police smashed into the mobile home of 87-year-old
Donald Harrison and his 77-year-old wife Elsie. Though both were
innocent, he died, and she went into a coma."
I'm sure you know it's not just about drugs anymore and soon
agents of a government out of control may be smashing down your
door under the color of law. This is a book that inspires us all
to cut government down to size. If reading it makes you hot under
the collar. Good! Now use that anger to DO SOMETHING positive
about these abuses.
It's title is SHAKEDOWN and it's by James Bovard. PRO says
check it out.
____________________________________________________________
"Jim Florio gave up his governorship for it (semi-auto ban), and if
I have to give up the White House for it, I'll do it."
William Jefferson Clinton, Thursday, June 22, 1995.
[ed. Help your president do it! Get out and WORK in the '96
election...]
____________________________________________________________
ANTI-GUN MEDICINE ...
By now you should all know how it works. First you start
yelling that this or that needs to be "regulated." Oh, it doesn't
have to be government, why, it can be private in the American
spirit of free enterprise. Let the industry regulate itself they
cry. And perhaps for a time it does. But once the authority of
the body is firmly established the time comes to take over the top
leadership and then that authority becomes transferred to the few
and the formerly democratic processes in the group become only
window dressing.
It doesn't matter if we are talking about the FOP or the AMA
the process is the same. However, this time it turns out we are
talking about the medical establishment. As you know all favors
and debts have been called within the medical community to further
the anti-gun agenda. We have seen article after so-called
scientific article about guns as a "disease" and how the presence
of a gun leads to inevitable death (no doubt in a manner similar to
the way in which the presence of a medical doctor makes it, who
knows how many hundred times more likely, that you will soon
die...you see healthy people typically aren't around physicians
just as people not at risk of violence don't worry much about guns
for protection.)
But in the midst of all this pseudo-science and propaganda,
shown a brilliant beacon of light. This was the Journal of the
Medical Association of Georgia, which proved to be a major
debunking force against all the medical lies and half-truths coming
out of the medical establishment.
But such a major blow for truth and reason could not be
allowed to stand if the program for a gunless society were to go
forward. Thus, the JMAG editor had to go. And Dr. Miguel Faria
was fired.
Dr. Edward Suter, who had a number of extremely important and
powerful articles publish in the journal wrote:
"Miguel resigned under pressure. He had the overwhelming
support of the membership and the Board, but the Journal's
Executive Committee was --- dare I say --- "liberal" [a misnomer in
this case] top heavy. The Executive Committee had dinner with
Miguel then, as Miguel was going to bed at about 11 PM, they called
and asked him to come back to meet with them... to resign. He did.
"Let us celebrate his accomplishments. Single-handedly he
broke the "monolithic wall of censorship" [his words] in the
medical literature. Even his resignation bears witness... the
unmistakable recognition that, in the medical hierarchy, orthodoxy
is more important than science and dissent is a crime, but
dishonesty is not.
"I have come to know Miguel as a friend and patriot. His
heart and intellect burn with a love for America. Only the field of
battle has changed."
Dr. Suter suggests that everyone who has appreciated what Dr.
Miguel Faria has done for all of us can write letters of support in
care of the managing (and currently acting) editor. Ms. Johnson is
also a friend and supporter of Dr. Faria and thus, clearly will not
last long in this position as the board searches for a properly
anti-gun editor.
Miguel Faria MD
c/o Ms. Susan Johnson, Managing Editor
Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia
938 Peach Tree Street
Atlanta GA 30309
Perhaps we have lost a battle. But these arrogant tyrants
need to learn that you can't hide truth by decree. You can't keep
everyone in the dark by simply buying up a few editors and board
members. There are too many like Dr. Suter and Dr. Faria working
hard to make sure it doesn't happen.
THE THIRD OPTION ...
As you probably know the three main reasons people own
firearms are hunting, sporting competitions and personal
protection. Up to now the NRA has given members a choice of the
magazine which is part of their membership. You could choose
either the American Hunter, or if your interests are more
competitive, the American Rifleman.
But now PRO has obtained some copies of the first issue of a
new NRA magazine called the American Guardian. It's emphasis is
centered on personal protection. We found the trial issue to be
simply dynamite. It had articles on the role of guns in the LA
riots, it talked about the success of the Florida carry laws and
generally emphasized handguns. PRO loved it! After all, the
Second Amendment ain't about duck hunting or Olympic shooting!
However the bad news is that PRO's sources high in the NRA
indicate that this first test issue will probably be the last for
a while. The problem is money. In a perfect world the NRA
wouldn't have to be spending so much of your money to hold the pack
of rabid gun-grabbers at bay. But the world isn't perfect, and our
Rights are more important than a slick new magazine.
But we bring up this subject, not only to show the great
things the NRA could do if we can win this fight, but also to
encourage every NRA member who has an interest in personal
protection, or handguns to write to:
National Rifle Association of America
Publications
P.O. BOX 10610
Hernon, VA 22070-9749
and express your interest in such a new membership choice.
Hopefully as NRA membership continues to grow (false reports in the
media to the contrary not with standing), the money will come
available for this fine new magazine. Your comments will help keep
this great idea from being forgotten.
THE SHAME REMAINS ...
During World War II the Japanese nation committed many
atrocities against mankind, very few of which they have admitted to
or even faced trial. Japan imprisoned nurses from Britain and the
Netherlands. Beheaded stragglers on the Bataan Death March.
Japanese forces exterminated whole villages of Chinese because they
hid American flyers.
One of the worst abuses of the Japanese was their use of sex
slaves from China, Korea, Netherlands and England. Front-line
troops were allowed to use many thousands of women as sex slaves in
order to maintain their fighting peak.
At the recent U.N. International Women's Conference, held in
Beijing, China, a private group is seeking compensation from Japan
for war victims, while China is now worried that this might upset
it's largest trading partner. Chinese police have broken up news
conferences, revoked the passport of the leader of the campaign and
detained others. They have even intimidated the press.
With all the shame heaped upon America in the last month for
our use of the atomic bombs to end World War II it is past time for
the Japanese nation to apologize for all the atrocities committed
in the name of Japanese Imperialism. They started the war and
America won it. The manner in which it was won saved many hundreds
of thousands of lives.
But in war there often tend to be excesses and PRO feels it's
high time that all atrocities on all sides and in all recent wars
be owned up to and apologies given in much the way that Germany has
owned up to it's Nazi past. Then perhaps we can turn over a new
leaf into an era of post cold war prosperity and peace.
[Editor's note: It has come to our attention that the
Japanese government built houses of ill repute between the
surrender of Japan and occupying forces arrival. This was done to
protect the decent Japanese women. It is unfortunate that they did
not feel this way about conquered or captured women.]
SWEETHEART DEALS AT CITY HALL?...
Peggy Fisher, the republican candidate against appointed
incumbent Lisa Griffin, has filed a complaint alleging councilwoman
Griffin's former contract with the airport violates the Ohio Ethics
Law. Shortly after her appointment to city council, which was
delayed so that there would be no primary election, Griffin
accepted a $165.00 an hour consulting job with Port Columbus
Airport. The complaint contends that the contract was illegal
because the council still has limited oversight over the airport.
On June 12, Griffin canceled the contract after
conflict-of-interest questions were raised by Fisher and others.
Griffin has denied wrongdoing, citing City Attorney Ron O'Brien as
saying that the contract did not violate conflict-of-interest
provisions of the city charter. O'Brien has also said that his
opinion does not address a viewpoint regarding state law.
State law generally prohibits a public official from knowingly
having a contract with a government agency that is affiliated with
that official. The ban does not apply if the person had the
government contract before becoming a public official and the
contract was not later amended.
Griffin is also the council member that introduced the
resolution against the Concealed Carry Bill, the anti-graffiti
ordinance banning the sale of markers and spray paint to minors and
the ordinance banning auto repair in your drive-way or garage. She
has been the front-runner for every controversial ordinance that
council has passed this year. She is running as an incumbent. An
appointed incumbent.
Peggy Fisher, a community activist from the north end, is in
a run-off election as the Republican endorsed candidate against the
appointed Griffin. Griffin has made an issue of trying to block
CCW for Ohio and Columbus and many gun owners are getting a little
tired of this appointed gun-grabber routine at City Council. On
the other hand, PRO has interviewed Peggy Fisher and we feel that
we can work with her. She needs your help with contributions and
work for her campaign.
A WISE CHOICE...
Michael Wise is running for one of the four open seats up for
grabs in this years city council race, and is running as an
endorsed Republican candidate. He was born on the west side and
worked a number of jobs as a laborer for many years before and
while putting himself through Ohio State University, where he
earned degrees in English and Law. While in school Wise won a
national prize from the Commission on the Bicentennial of the
United States Constitution for an essay defending America's scheme
of inalienable rights. He has practiced law in Columbus for seven
years, defending those same rights.
Wise believes that when someone takes the oath of office,
swearing to uphold the Constitution, that individual is honor-bound
to uphold the entire Constitution. "When your elected officials
swear to uphold the Constitution, they are swearing to uphold the
Second Amendment. Only the voters can hold them accountable if
they break that oath!" Wise declared at the August PRO Gun Show in
Hilliard.
"The people have the God-given right to keep and bear arms,"
he said. "That right does not come from the government. The right
to bear arms pre-exists the government and, like any right in the
Bill of Rights, it is more worthy of preservation than any
government which would oppose that right." Wise truly believes, in
the words of the Declaration of Independence, that "...to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed." Or in Wise's own
words, "Government without Rights is Tyranny."
Wise is fond of reminding people of the Battle of Lexington in
April of 1775. The American people took matters into their own
hands when George III sent redcoats to disarm them. "The colonists
suffered many, many insults and wrongs from the Crown," he said at
the gun show, "but they would not suffer to lose their right to
bear arms." Wise believes that the moment the colonists took up
arms to defend their inalienable rights is the moment they defined
themselves as Americans. He reminds us all that the British were
repulsed, chased out of the countryside, and surrounded by 20,000
Minutemen, who eventually forced them to abandon Boston, all on the
people's own initiative. Almost all of these benefits were
realized before the Continental Congress took any action
whatsoever. The sovereign people were in armed rebellion for
almost a year and a half before Congress ratified the Declaration
of Independence. "As the Minutemen sagely observed," Wise said,
"if we do not resist the King now, when shall a better opportunity
present itself, after he has disarmed us?"
Mike Wise believes that the right to bear arms is the bedrock
of all our freedoms. He said in a videotape played continuously at
the PRO gun show: "No where does history present the spectacle of
an unarmed free people." He also said that the Bill of Rights is
like an arch, in which every Amendment depends on all the others to
stand. It is not like a cafeteria where sworn public servants
should pick and choose only those amendments suited to their
personal tastes."
Wise stands for election this November in a field race with
fellow-Republicans Jeannette Bradley, Chris Obetz and Dana Preisse.
Running against them are democrats John Kennedy, Les Wright, Matt
Habash and Hugh DeMoss. Wright and Griffin are under investigation
for various alleged improprieties related to their city council
seats. This field race is an unusual arrangement in which each
voter can cast up to four votes, for as many as four of the ten
candidates in the field. The votes are weighted, which means for
example, that if a voter voted for just one candidate out of the
ten, that one candidate would receive the equivalent of four votes
from that one voter. This enables interest groups to have a larger
influence on a field race than a normal head-to-head election, if
their membership unites behind one candidate sympathetic to their
views.
The editors urge all members of PRO to exercise their right to
vote, to protect their right to keep and bear arms, this November.
We have an exceptional chance in this election to make a real
difference. Let us continue the Republican sweep begun a year ago
and defeat our incumbent, appointed council members.
If you would like to contribute money or time to either Wise's
or Fisher's campaigns, their addresses follow.
Citizens for Mike Wise Friends For Fisher
57 E. Gay St. 865 Macon Alley
Columbus, Ohio 43215 Columbus, Ohio 43206
(614) 222-0530 (614) 882-7908
All contributions are not tax-deductible, and cannot be from
corporations.
[Editors note: If Councilman John Kennedy is our worst
nightmare then Mike Wise has to be a dream come true for PRO
members. Think of it! A diehard pro-rights, pro-gun candidate for
city council. Mike Wise is experienced. Mike Wise is articulate.
Mike Wise is one of us. If each and every PRO member can't find
some way to support this person who is so completely on our side,
then you might as well take your guns down to city hall and turn
them in, because you are never going to support anybody!]
COPS...
Isn't that the show where cops take a camera on patrol and
capture wrong-doers on tape and then broadcast it as a tv program?
Yes it is, but maybe we should have law-abiding citizens toting the
cameras to catch cops in their nefarious activities.
A Columbus police sergeant was indicted on July 13, 1995, for
allegedly beating his girlfriend. He was indicted on a felony
charge of abduction and a misdemeanor assault charge. Sgt. Fred
Reed is a 25-year veteran of the department. Reed was originally
charged with felonious assault against Roxanne Monk on Sept 17, but
the Grand Jury returned a misdemeanor assault charge.
Reed was arrested on June 28, when his gun and badge were
taken from him when he arrived at work at the Central Police
Headquarters where he was assigned to the Juvenile Bureau. Police
had investigated the incident for months before filing the charges.
During that time, Reed served a 30-day suspension.
It is alleged that Reed beat Monk with his fists and a
high-heeled shoe after finding her in a nite-club. She suffered
skull fractures, cuts and bruises.
On August 25, 1995, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus
filed petty theft charges against former Columbus police officer,
Stephen Judy. Judy is alleged to have stolen $270 from a bingo
game while working off-duty at Bishop Hartley High School.
Judy retired from the police division on July 28, a week after
the department filed charges on him relating to the bingo incident.
As a result of his retirement, the charges were dropped and Judy
was allowed to purchase 6 months of retirement to get a full
pension.
The diocese began investigating theft from bingo games at
Hartley earlier this summer. A surveillance camera was set up in
the office where the money was kept. The bingo organizers gave a
tape to police supervisors on July 18. Police sources said that it
showed Judy, in uniform, taking money. The video tape allegedly
shows Judy taking $100 on July 11 and $170 on July 18. Judy was
paid $23.50 an hour for working the bingo games while off-duty.
Police Chief James G. Jackson charged Judy with breaking a
department statute that says all officers must follow federal,
state and local laws.
Another officer, Terrie Price, has sustained four departmental
charges from Jackson for allegedly double-dipping on his pay. He
has been suspended for 30 working days and Jackson has recommended
that Price be dismissed from the Police Division.
Price worked special duty at a Sawmill Road shopping Center
during times that overlapped with other special-duty work for the
city. He was charged with failure to obey federal, state and local
laws, engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer on and off duty,
failure to be truthful at all times and violating the regulations
pertaining to secondary employment.
The charges against Price stem from his failure to properly
write parking tickets, inaccurate inventory for the hours he worked
for a neighborhood coalition, and on seven occasions for billing a
shopping center for time worked while he was supposed to be working
for the city.
Senator Gene Watts has introduced a bill in the Ohio Senate to
upgrade offenses committed against police officers. If someone
commits a misdemeanor against an officer, it could be upgraded to
a felony. This bill is due to the death of a police officer during
the Red, White and Boom festivities of July 3rd., while he was
directing traffic and was allegedly run down by a motorist.
An amendment to Watt's bill seems to be in order. If a police
officer is to be thought more of than an ordinary citizen when a
crime is perpetuated against them, then they should also receive a
stiffer penalty when they are convicted of a crime against those
they have elected to serve. If cops are to be put on a pedestal in
references to crimes against them, then they should also be held to
a higher degree of punishment when they commit crimes. Cops know
the law. They know when they break these same laws. Whether it is
in domestic disputes, double-dipping or in out-right theft. They
know right from wrong, and they should be judged accordingly.
LETTERS...
August 8, 1995
Dear PRO:
On July 3, 1995, I telephoned PRO for the purpose of obtaining
the Ohio House Bill number for the concealed carry law since I
wanted to write to all the House members of the House Judiciary
Committee and my own House Representative for support of the
proposed CCW Bill.
You answered my call and gave me House Bill 336, as the CCW
Bill number. I used this number in my correspondence to seventeen
House members, Governor Voinovich, The Columbus Dispatch(not
published to date), and The Times Recorder(Zanesville newspaper-my
letter published).
Those that have replied to me to date, which include Governor
Voinovich, have indicated that I was writing in support of the
federal Brady Bill in Ohio. In other words, you have given me the
wrong bill number. To date, I still do not know the correct bill
number in the House assigned to the proposed CCW law, however,
knowing the correct number is no longer important.
Needless to say, it was extremely frustrating to say the
least, to learn that I had written letters in support of a gun
control bill. I can only hope that the text of my letters make my
true intentions known to most of the representatives I have written
to. As of today however, two replies address my support of gun
control legislation-what a travesty!
I feel it extremely important that you be informed for two
reasons:
-So wrong information is not passed on to anyone else.
-To emphasize the negative impact this has on your
constituents. It takes quite an effort to write letters in the
first place, but to put forth the effort and to impact in a manner
opposite to one's intention, is totally frustrating, as I am sure
you can well imagine.
Please be more careful in passing out information in the
future. I realize, of course, that this was completely
unintentional on your part, but the exercise of caution cannot be
over emphasized.
Suggestion: In the PROponent for April, 1995, you give
specific home addresses for Ohio Senators and Representatives. To
date, two letters I had written were returned to me marked by the
US Post Office as "Unable to Deliver." These were for
Representatives Ried and Wormer Benjamin. There may be others.
Perhaps in the future, it would be wiser that the PROponent suggest
mailing all correspondence for State Representatives and Senators
to their general mailing address on High Street in Columbus. This
in fact was suggested to me when I called the general phone number
listed in the phone book for all state representatives, in my
subsequent attempts to get good addresses.
Thank you for you efforts in the past and don't let up in the
future!
Sincerely,
B. Janick,
Zanesville, Ohio
[Editor: The generic mailing address for Ohio Senators is:
Ohio Senate
State House
Columbus, Ohio 43266-0604.
The generic mailing address for Ohio Representatives is:
Ohio House
77 S. High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43266-0603.
We would recommend that during the times that the separate
Houses are recessed, that one try to send mail to their homes.
This is a reminder to them that they are residents of the same
community in which you live.
We would like to commend Mr. Janick for his hard work and
effort in composing and sending all of his letters to members of
the Ohio Congressional delegation in Columbus. This effort should
be done by each and every member of PRO and by those that are
concerned for their liberties.
In answer to Janick's frustrations over receiving misleading
information, an apology is in order. We talked at length about
Senate Bill 68 and House Bill 336. I tried to tell him that their
was no House number on Senate Bill 68 since it had not been
introduced into the House yet. It will receive a number in
November when it is introduced.
At the time, PRO was in favor of SB 336, which would have
done away with the waiting period for the purchase of pistols.
This would have been beneficial to women and those in fear of their
lives. As a result of pressure from Gun Owners of America and a
decision by the Ohio Constitution Defense Council, PRO is leaning
towards opposing this bill as it now stands. According to NRA
Board Director, Jim Ramm, HB 336 will be re-worked when it is
introduced into the Senate. This bill is designed to create an
instant check system to foil the Brady Law provision of a waiting
period. It will sunset when the Brady Law sunsets.
As gun rights activists, we must keep open the lines of
communications between ourselves and between our elected or
appointed representatives. Double check your information. Call
back to verify your source of information. Be sure that what you
say is the truth.]
MANSFIELD CONFERENCE ...
The Ohio Constitution Defense Council will hold its annual
meeting at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, Ohio on September 23,
1995, at 10:00 am. This meeting will also host a grass roots
leadership conference by Gun Owners of America. Dennis Fusaro, of
GOA, will attend and conduct the seminar.
This seminar is important in that it will help us in the
upcoming November elections. As gun-owners, we must continue the
success that began in last year's November election.
For more information, please call the PRO Hotline at
614-268-0122.
If you have never attended one of these leadership conferences
and can make it to Mansfield on the 23rd, PRO urges you to attend.
Learn how to fight the political battle.
DON'T ASK - DON'T TELL ...
On May 23rd, many of us were watching the mass funeral on tv
for the victims of the terrorist bombing of the federal building in
Oklahoma City. Unless you had cable, you missed an important news
development regarding the blast.
CNN's Gary Tuchman interviewed Edye Smith about her loss of
two little boys, Chase and Colton, who died in the bombing.
Tuchman asked Smith, "Your two little boys, such beautiful
children- it's very hard for anyone to figure out how someone like
you copes with the situation. How do you manage to cope?"
Smith answered, "My strength comes directly from God. I've
been raised in a Christian home, very fortunate. He keeps me going
every day. I don't see how anybody could go through anything like
this without Him. I just can't even imagine."
Tuchman continued with his interview until he struck a nerve
in Smith when he asked, "What now?" Edye Smith
answered, "There are a lot of questions that have been left
unanswered, a lot of questions we don't have answers for, we're
being told to keep our mouths shut, not to talk about it, don't ask
those questions..."
"What kind of questions have people been telling you to keep
your mouth shut about?" asked Tuchman. "Well," said Smith, "we've
just... innocently asked questions,you know--where was ATF[the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms]? All 15 or 17 of their
employees survived, and...they're on the ninth floor. They were
the target of this explosion, and where were they? Did they have
a warning sign? I mean, did they think it might be a bad day to go
to the office? They had an option to not go to work that day, and
my kids didn't get that option...And we're just asking questions,
we're not making accusations. We just want to know, and they're
telling us `Keep your mouth shut, don't talk about it'"
At this point, Tuchman, obviously disturbed, said "Thanks for
joining us," and terminated the interview. The ATF launched an
immediate damage control offensive, issuing a press release that
denounced "malicious rumors" about ATF evacuation of the building
prior to the blast. According to the ATF release and subsequent
statements by director John McGaw, five of the agency's 15
employees were in the building and three of those were injured in
the blast.
The September 4, 1995 New American, from which this
information came, said they, "Had no cause or basis for questioning
the ATF accounts until a number of credible witnesses in position
to challenge certain `facts' in those accounts came forward. Some
of these witnesses worked in the Murrah Building. The testimony of
these witnesses, together with evidence of foreknowledge uncovered
by other investigative reporters in Oklahoma, will be the subject
of an upcoming article."
That article is being eagerly awaited.
____________________________________________________________
"Thank God we don't get all the government we pay for."
Will Rogers
____________________________________________________________
The PROponent is published by:
Peoples Rights Organization;
3953 Indianola Ave.; Columbus, OH 43214;
Tel (614) 268-0122
Fax (614) 275-0092
EMAIL: 73427.1...@compuserve.com or dcar...@freenet.columbus.oh.us
Back issues of the PROponent are available via the World Wide Web at:
http://www.portal.com/ chan/orgs/pro/
Michael T. Regan, Chairman; Dennis Walker, Vice Chairman
Todd Koehler, Secretary; Ron Herman, Treasurer
Editors: Dennis Walker and Frank Jacoby
Contributions, either written or financial are gladly accepted.
Anyone wishing to reprint all or part of an article from the
PROponent may do so. Please mention the PROponent and the issue
that the article was in, and send a copy of your publication to our
PRO office. (We like to know what your organization is doing too.)
Also, PRO will exchange newsletters with any pro-gun, pro-rights,
pro-hunting, etc. group to further grass-roots communication. Put
us on your newsletter mailing list and we will put your club on
ours.
Unlimited electronic distribution of all or part of this text
file is permitted so long PRO is credited.
PRO general meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month
8:00pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, W. Broad St. Columbus,
Ohio.
"That government of the people, by the people, and for the people,
shall not perish from the earth"
_________________________________________________________________
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