"If a vocal minority, however fervient its cause, prevails over reason and the will of the majority, this Nation has no future as a free society." - President Richard M. Nixon, 1969
"A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals." - Spiro T. Agnew
"The forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief
business in life is to pay." - William Graham Sumner
From the National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=145182
At first, Joe Horn appears to be doing his neighbourly duty. When he sees two men allegedly breaking into a home on his street in suburban Pasadena, Tex., in the middle of the day, he dials 911.
But the 61-year-old's call quickly takes a decidedly unneighbourly turn.
"I've got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop 'em?" he asks the emergency dispatcher less than 20 seconds into the call.
"Nope, don't do that," the dispatcher replies. "Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"
Moments later, Mr. Horn defies the dispatcher and steps outside.
"Move, you're dead!" he can be heard saying on the Nov. 14 audio recording.
Then comes the sound of several shotgun blasts. Mr. Horn returns to the telephone.
"Get the law over here quick," he says. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice."
Police arrived soon afterward to find two men with gunshot wounds; both died.
That was three weeks ago, but Mr. Horn has not been charged with any crime. Police are waiting for a grand jury to decide whether to indict him. The case has divided Texans into two camps: Those who support the shooter's apparent vigilantism and argue his actions were reasonable under the Second Amendment; and those who say he is a murderer whose actions may have been racially motivated.
Mr. Horn is white. The two dead men -- Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30 -- were black.
Pasadena Police expect the grand jury to be convened in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, tension is mounting.
The New Black Panther Nation, a black activist group, led nearly 200 protesters to Mr. Horn's otherwise quiet street for a rally on Sunday. They were met by a roughly equivalent number of his supporters; bikers revved their engines to drown out Quanell X, the New Black Panther Nation's leader, when he tried to speak.
"We don't condone anyone breaking into anybody's home and stealing. But we also don't condone a citizen becoming the police, the judge, the jury and the executioner, all at the same time," Quanell X said in a telephone interview.
"We believe that a system of law is in place, that every human being is granted due process in the system of law. Mr. Horn circumvented that, abandoned that and literally threw that whole due-process system away."
Local newspapers and radio talk shows have also been deluged by responses from Mr. Horn's defenders.
"If we had justice like this for all criminals, this would be a much safer country," one supporter wrote on YouTube.
"I believe what Joe did was right and I applaud him for it. And if you're some worthless human being that has to go steal other people's hard-earned possessions, you deserve to die."
On the 911 recording, which is widely available on the Internet, Mr. Horn repeatedly tells the dispatcher he is not going to let the men get away. At least 11 times, the dispatcher advises him not to leave his home or shoot.
An investigation is still under way, but a spokesman for the Pasadena Police said it appears Mr. Horn shot the two men after he turned a corner and found them in his yard.
Police estimate he was two to three metres from the men. One was hit in the chest, another in the side.
The victims began running in opposite directions, but both soon died, said Captain A. H. "Bud" Corbett. He described Mr. Horn as sounding "aggressive" in the recording.
"If Mr. Horn had just walked out and blown away two people walking by on the sidewalk, he'd have been locked up, and he probably would have been charged," Capt. Corbett said. "But that is not the case."
Tom Lambright, Mr. Horn's lawyer, insists his client was simply defending himself because the men "made lunging movements."
"He's trying to protect his own life," Mr. Lambright said recently. "He's scared."
The recording also indicates Mr. Horn keeps up to date on his rights. At one point, he lectures the dispatcher and reminds him he has the right to protect himself, and "the laws have been changed in this country since Sept. 1, and you know it and I know it."
This is thought to refer to a new state law strengthening Texans' right to defend themselves in their homes, vehicles and workplaces. The so-called "castle doctrine" took effect on Sept. 1.
Guns are easy to acquire in Texas and most are unsympathetic to the plight of criminals. The state leads the U.S. in executions: 405 since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s.
"Texas is a frontier state. It has a lot of tradition in terms of people being able to protect themselves," said Fred Moss, a professor of criminal law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"What disappoints me is that the vocal minority gives the image of Texas as being a bunch of gun-toting, chest-thumping, macho types who think you ought to be able to gun burglars down as they run away."
If the grand jury decides not to indict Mr. Horn, Quanell X will lead another march back through the quiet suburban neighbourhood and directly to his door.
He expects it will be necessary. "We live in the deep South," he said. "And in the deep South a white man killing a black men is as common as apple and cherry pie."
My desire and my riding has finally outgrown my '04 Specialized Enduro Expert. I bought that bike from my friend, Mike. That bike got me hooked on mountain biking. Lately, we've been trending to the steeper, faster, bigger...and I needed a ride that could propel me forward. I looked at a few different bikes, but always came back to the Enduro line. Mike had an '07 Enduro Expert that he let me ride a couple times.
I got the word that he had already sold his so, I started searching for another one. Then the word came down that his was still available, and he made me a deal that was too good to pass up. I think I am now a sponsored rider of the Kabul Fight Club.
(Thanks to Mike for the image.)
Part I was a truncated ride up Miller Peak, which is chronicled here:
Digging Deep on Miller Peak
One week later, and much convalesced, we headed back into the Teanaway to get some more mileage in this beautiful area before the snows shut things down. We decided on a counterclockwise ride of what is known as the "5 Drainages" ride. Most people do it in a clockwise direction to take advantage of the beautiful, buff trail descending 1,800' down the Eldorado Creek drainage. Mike, however, had heard that counterclockwise would set us up for a beautiful 3,100' descent. An early start from the West Side found us in Cle Elum well before first light; we camped out in the Pioneer Coffee Roasting Co. and sipped mexican mochas until the sky started to get light.
The fall colors were even more brilliant than the previous week, but the weather looked even better. We were off by 0800, after Mike set up his 2007 Specialized Enduro rental bike for me to try out. The nine road miles cruised by and we started up the Eldorado Creek trail; most of it is 'hike-a-bike' so, we consigned ourselves to pushing. We rode where we could and, once I got the feel of it, the '07 Enduro climbed very well. I was very impressed with the ProPedal adjustment on the Fox DHX Air Shock. As we climbed higher, the scenery got better and better: the trees opened up, the ridges and snowcapped peaks rose up around us, and the beautiful, rust-red volcanic rock of the Teanaway began to appear. Suddenly, we were at the saddle and could see down into the Beverly Creek Drainage, North to the Stuart Range and the Enchantments, and West to the heart of the Central Cascades.
As a sidetrip (unintended), we pushed our bikes to the summit of Iron Peak's second summit (6,510'). We found a register, placed by the Mountaineers, at the high point, and then got set up for the descent. The descent back to the saddle was interesting, mostly for the surroundings and position in the high alpine. After some videography, we dropped into the drainage and started the good-ness. The upper third, or half even, of this trail is no slouch of a descent; you can't just point it straight and go. There are 'babyheads', sharp jogs, and other potential day-killers along the way that keep you on your toes and your brakes. One thing I had noticed is that the beefy build, and stiff front hub, of the '07 Enduro rolled through (and over) stuff that would have collapsed my '04 Enduro. This was a whole new All-Mountain weapon.
After crossing two huge scree fields, the trail finally started to buff up, as it entered the lower-elevation forest. It was then that I finally started to get comfortable with the '07 Enduro. I was able to get low and stuff it into corners in ways I could never have done on my '04. The beefier, stiffer components, the larger brake rotors, and the altered geometry lent more confidence when attacking things straight on. It truly is a great bikel; Specialized definitely has the formula, in my opinion. As we descended lower, the trail began to open up and we rocketed towards to trailhead. In the end, we cut the overall ride short due to all the filming, and such, that we did. It didn't matter, though, as it was a great day in the mountains, and a great close to the high alpine riding for the season.
For those who lack reading skills, here is a media interpretation of the above account: Iron Peak/Beverly Creek
