Posts Made By: Mark Costello III

The Bible in that poster is open to Judges 4 and 5. The story there features a Barak who also was a national leader, called out by the prophetess Debora to go up against Sisera, commander of the army of Jabin the Canaanite. The Barak in that story turned out to be a wimp, refusing to go out to battle unless the prophetess Debora went out to hold his hand....

If this is a true story, the guys printing and selling this poster did their Barak no favors. Hopefully the President had nothing to do with this.

Jim McSheehy said:

The events on Lexington Common, 1775:

"Just before dawn, one of Parker's lookouts raced up to the tavern, bringing news that a column of 700 British Redcoats was no more than half a mile from the center of town. Parker ordered his drummer to beat the call to arms. The British regiment was just passing Solomon Brown's house when they heard the battle summons. The sound confirmed for them rumors they had heard on the march west from Boston that thousands of angry colonists were massing, readying to confront and slaughter them. Their commanding officer ordered the men to stop and load their muskets, then advance at double step. The soldiers complied, uncertain what they would meet as they rounded the bend to Lexington Common.

Only 77 of the 120 Lexington militiamen had time to arrive and form two meager lines before the Redcoats burst upon the scene. The two sides nervously — and briefly — faced each other, until British Major John Pitcairn ordered the Lexington men to drop their weapons and retreat. Captain Parker, seeing that his men were hopelessly outnumbered, ordered them to disband. But as they turned to disperse, a shot rang out. The normally disciplined Regulars ignored Major Pitcairn's frantic demands to cease firing. As they retreated across the Common, eight Lexington men were killed and nine injured – many shot in the back.

No one knows for sure who fired the shot that incited the Redcoats. Solomon Brown later told a companion that he had stood outside Buckman's Tavern, taken aim at an enemy officer, and fired. Later that day, he brought his friend to the spot where the officer had been standing. Two pools of blood lay on the ground."

The British wanted the colonists to disarm, and this issue, not taxation, was the actual cause of the Revolutionary War. How many modern pols remember their history lessons? 8)

http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=118

.... Probably not too many in the region where the Revolution started ....

Thanks for posting. It appears that what was meant by "militia" hasn't really changed from the times of our Founders: then it meant every able bodied male. That's good. I submit if the definition had materially changed, it would be irrelevant since how the Founders defined militia would be the only definition that could be used in interpreting the 2nd Amendment.

Best regards,

Part of my home town is in the 5th Congressional District, which she represents. :S

Here is a map of the Florida congressional districts.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoX6AiBpRcEMAQ2.JzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dflorida%2B5th%2Bcongressional%2Bdistrict%26n%3D30%26ei%3Dutf-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D5&w=1056&h=816&imgurl=mattsmaps.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fdistrict-color.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmattsmaps.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F01%2F29%2Ffloridas-new-congressional-map%2F&size=221.6+KB&name=...+%3Cb%3EFlorida+%3C%2Fb%3Eregion.+%C2%A0+Some+of+the+worst-offending+districts+are+below&p=florida+5th+congressional+district&oid=3ebd7965ae1c1578e3a0790805e8d51d&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=...%2B%253Cb%253EFlorida%2B%253C%252Fb%253Eregion.%2B%25C2%25A0%2BSome%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bworst-offending%2Bdistricts%2Bare%2Bbelow&b=0&ni=60&no=5&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=129qn6ego&sigb=13trq71fm&sigi=11o5pij4g&.crumb=rVKrQBjhPbw

See if you can locate the 5th Florida Congressional District.

Best,

Jinghua Optical Company (JOC), they're also the owners of the Explore Scientific Company and the lines of ED & achromat refractors (I have a 5" ES achro) and the 6" Levy Comet Hunter Mak-Newt. I wonder if there'll be some shuffling of products between Meade and ES? If so, it appears that it'll just involve the apo lines. ES doesn't make SCTs and Meade pulled their achro and Schmidt Newt lines some time ago, evidently....

I was off the 'net all day yesterday and just saw this. Here's a belated "Thank you very much."

Looks like common sense is a rarity there. What do they do when kids make these gestures as they sometimes do (I saw it often, probably did it myself a few times)? There is one interesting note. Per the article on the other end of the link, the ACLU challenged the school district's move. I guess the ACLU is as libertarian as liberal....

I concur; no, we don't need this.

For me, it's my ES AR127, a 5"F6.5 achromatic refractor. It's my only telescope. It sees plenty of starlight, a good bit of moonlight and planet shine as well.

Hi, Billy, I believe that observing sitting has helped me see more because I'm more comfortable and less fidgety, and so am thinking more about what's in the eyepiece. I use a step stool which works for most (about 90%) of my sessions. When and if I get a Dob as a complementary telescope for my 5" F6.5 refractor, I'll probably bite the bullet and also purchase an observing chair.

Best Regards,