January 28, 2016::End of the day round-up

Oregon armed protesters invoke the Constitution -- annotated by a conspiracy theorist

It’s the Constitution. But not the way most people read it.

It includes all 4,543 words inscribed by the Founding Fathers, with 18th century spelling and punctuation preserved, but the pocket Constitution held aloft by Ammon Bundy at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge contains some additional notations courtesy of an anti-communist conspiracy theorist named W. Cleon Skousen.

Skousen, who once accused President Dwight D. Eisenhower of being a Soviet agent and whom Time magazine once labeled an “exemplar of the right-wing ultras,” pairs the original Constitutional text with quotes from Founding Fathers about the necessity of religion in governance.

Its message: The Founding Fathers intended the United States to be a Christian nation, beholden to a Christian god, and never intended the federal government to have any power over its people.
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The Bundys and their supporters refer to the Constitution constantly: during speeches, of course, but also over bowls of soup at lunch or at campfires at night.

They have invoked its privileges to justify their occupation, especially Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, called the Enclave Clause, which they argue means the federal government shall own no land.

Mainstream constitutional scholars dismiss such an analysis, but it has reemerged as a favored tool of the American lands movement, which seeks to transfer federal land to states, counties and private entities.

Ted Cruz having a shitty go of things lately,,,

Just in case you missed it! Ted Cruz Busted Lying About Losing His Insurance Due To Obamacare, He Still Has Coverage https://t.co/o8KtgjZxMg

Ted Cruz: 'I'm a Christian first, American second.' Imagine if Muslim or Jewish politician said that

The politics of this aside, I want to highlight here something we might call Christian Privilege. Could you imagine, for example, a Jewish candidate for president saying that he or she was a Jew first and an American second? Now imagine the sheer outrage if a Muslim American of any prominence whatsoever declared that he or she was Muslim first and American second. People’s heads would explode.

On a related note, imagine a presidential candidate saying he or she was black, white, or Latino (or any other ethnic group) first, and American second.,,, Only a Christian has the privilege—and only ones like Ted Cruz, who present themselves as holier than thou, would have the gall—to claim otherwise.

On ‪#‎ThisDayInHistory‬ 1986, the space shuttle Challenger explodes just 73 seconds after liftoff.

Gregory Jarvis: Buffalo’s connection to the Challenger disaster 30 years ago

Gregory Jarvis was supposed to come back to campus – along with the flag.

When the payload specialist lifted off on board the Challenger, 30 years ago on Thursday, the 1967 University of Buffalo graduate took with him a UB flag.

The Challenger’s fate – the space shuttle exploded slightly more than a minute after takeoff, killing Jarvis and six other crew members – remains etched in the nation’s history.

His death meant he would not return to UB to present the school flag he took on the mission.

Now, the flag – its cobalt and white colors still vibrant, its gold fringe intact – rests in the archives at UB’s North Campus in Amherst.

Marcia Jarvis, his widow, calls it a fitting home for the flag.

America’s Best Jewel Thief Is An 85-Year-Old Woman - The Daily Beast

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, Doris Payne hasn’t met a stranger in well over six decades.

A coal miner’s daughter born in rural Slab Fork, West Virginia, the 85-year-old might well be the most prolific international jewel thief the world has ever known. Payne, who by all accounts may never have held down a job on “the books,” has made a better than healthy living hopscotching around the globe in pursuit of shiny baubles and other luxury goods.

Armed with nothing more than an easy smile, designer clothes, and an exquisite handbag, Payne routinely charmed jewelry story employees out of their wares. The final take has never been officially tallied, but the largess gleaned from her illicit escapades is thought to easily number in the tens of millions. At one time, she was the subject of criminal warrants on two continents and tracked by Interpol, the 190-member multi-national organization that hunts fugitives.

Cliven Bundy EXPOSED for what he is

I'm fairly certain y'all have heard about the Cliven Bubdy v BLM bullshit. I haven't posted much about it because I knew there would be more information coming forth; information that would not be favorable to Bundy. Based on what little I had read when things began to come to a head my immediate conclusion, Bundy IS a follower of the sovereign citizen movement.

The following articles highlight what the Reich is ignoring,,,

EXPOSED: The Source Of Cliven Bundy's Crackpot Constitutionalism

The unfolding drama in the Nevada desert over a deadbeat cattle rancher's refusal to pay customary grazing fees like every other rancher, continues to excite the Tea Party pseudo-patriots who believe that threatening a range war in defense of personal greed is a mark of virtue. However, Cliven Bundy's domestic terrorism serves nothing more than his own selfish financial interests, and the crusade he purports to lead is rooted in the worst sort of perversion of constitutional principles.

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Now we have evidence of where Bundy may have picked up his constitutional delusions. In a recent media appearance, Bundy was proudly displaying a copy of the Constitution in his shirt pocket.

After searching for the distinctive cover of the document in Bundy's pocket, the publisher turned out to be the innocuously named National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS). However, the NCCS is not the commendable educational organization it purports to be. It began life as the Freemen Institute, a vehicle for the far-right, Mormon, anti-commie, history revisionist, W. Cleon Skousen. Skousen taught that the Constitution was inspired by a God who intended America to be a Christian nation. He also professed the canon of white supremicism that Anglo-Saxons are descended from a lost tribe of Israel. The Southern Poverty Law Center chronicled the NCCS curriculum based on Skousen's philosophy saying that he...

An abbreviated look at rancher Cliven Bundy's family history

It has been widely reported that Cliven Bundy’s family claims to have ranched in the Bunkerville area since the 1870s even though a federal judge held a different view of Bundy’s history.

Bundy repeated a similar claim Thursday when he told TheBlaze website: “My family has preemptive, adjudicated livestock water rights filed with the state of Nevada. They were established in 1877 when the first pioneers entered the valley. Among those first pioneers were my grandparents from my mother’s side. My father either bought or inherited his Nevada state livestock water rights and I, in turn, have done the same.”

Contrast that with the 1998 opinion from U.S. District Judge Johnnie Rawlinson in a case where it was determined Bundy wouldn’t be allowed to use federal land for his cattle because of failure to pay grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management. Rawlinson wrote that it wasn’t until roughly 1954 that “Bundy or his father or both have grazed livestock on public lands owned by the United States and administered by the BLM.”

Clark County Recorder documents show the 160-acre Bunkerville ranch Bundy calls home was purchased by his parents, David and Bodel Bundy, from Raoul and Ruth Leavitt on Jan. 5, 1948. The purchase included the transfer to the Bundys of certain water rights, including water from the nearby Virgin River. Cliven Bundy was born in 1946.