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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Today Will Be The Last Day of My Husband's Life ...

The Sheepdog has reprinted this article via Blue Collar Muse and the courtesy of Ken Marrero. The linkback to Ken's original article is here.

Ben and I have been married for 1 year, 4 months and 2 days. Ben has just 16.5 hours left here on this earth with me. Sixteen and a half hours of time and we have no idea the end is coming … The clock is ticking.

So my friend, Nikki Goeser, begins her story. On April 2, 2009 she and Ben were operating their karaoke business in Jonny’s Sports Bar in Nashville, TN. A man stalking Nikki was asked to leave the bar. He pulled a gun and murdered Ben while she watched, helpless, just feet away.

Denied a Chance: How Gun Control Helped a Stalker Murder My Husband is Nikki’s recounting of not just the tragic loss of her husband but of her transformation into a powerful and articulate voice for gun rights and advocate for the 2nd Amendment.

Far too many respond to the shooting of innocents in theaters and schools by blaming guns for violence, Nikki places the blame where it really belongs – on the murderers.

She came to understand legislators crafting bad law bear responsibility, too. The gun used to murder Ben was in the bar illegally. Nikki, although a carry permit holder, an Intermediate Handgun Certification holder and experienced gun range volunteer was required by law to leave her handgun in her car. She obeyed the law. The murderer did not.

Nikki can’t say with certainty that had she had her handgun she could have stopped Ben’s murder. She also knows a bad law denied her the chance to try.

In the aftermath of Ben’s murder, dealing with her loss, Nikki kept a journal which became Denied a Chance. She walks us, in poignant detail, through her last day with Ben and the murder itself. She tells the story of the Marine who tackled the murderer and the cop who stayed with her for the longest night of her life.

She tells her story honestly. She sought counseling and dealt with PTSD. Ironically, it was probably this that began her transformation into an activist.

Nashville provides counseling to those affected by violent crime. Nikki didn’t think twice about being armed while taking advantage of that program. The counselor felt differently. Nikki was told she was welcome to continue the sessions only if she left her handgun outside. Denied a chance once, Nikki wisely chose not to risk becoming a victim a second time.

Nikki went beyond asking merely “What happened?” to “Why did this happen?” Squarely at the center of the problem was Tennessee state law. She began to correspond with state lawmakers regarding the injustice of her being denied the chance to stop Ben’s murder.

Nikki connected with Suzanna Hupp, the woman who watched another lunatic murder her parents and 21 others in a Luby’s restaurant while her handgun was locked in her car in accordance with Texas law. Suzanna advised her not to fear standing up for what she believed and assured her such courage would impact others.

Nikki began seeking out like minded people and groups. As her story began to spread, she received offers to speak to various groups and eventually to testify before the legislatures of several states looking at ways to keep their citizens safer. Ultimately she would appear on programs like Nightline, Fox Business with John Stossel, ABC News, CNN, the BBC and other shows. She was awarded the Sybil Ludington Women’s Freedom Award by the NRA in 2012.

Thanks to her tireless efforts, Tennessee and other states changed their bad laws and began the process of protecting the law abiding and punishing those who are truly guilty.

Nikki’s tale closes with the trial where the law victimized her yet again. Despite the “open and shut” nature of the case, it took 3 years to come to trial thanks to the circus surrounding an insanity plea. Finally, however, some measure of justice was done and Ben’s murderer is behind bars for the next 25 years.

Nikki continues her work. She remains a tireless advocate for the rights of Americans to defend themselves in an increasingly violent world. No longer a victim, she has turned her pain into purpose. She will never again be Denied a Chance.

Hers is a story which must be read by every American.

Get your copy of Denied a Chance via Amazon by clicking here. If you would like to contact Nikki for an interview or to arrange a speaking engagement, you can contact her via her website and clicking on the Contact Us link in the top right corner.

By Ken Marrero on Blue Collar Muse

From The Sheepdog ---

First, I want to thank Ken Marrero for graciously allowing me to reprint his review of Nikki Goeser's book Denied A Chance

Second, as I read Ken's article and thought about Nikki's story, my thoughts quickly ran to thinking about my own wife. What if she found herself in Nikki's shoes ? Or, what if I did ? I can't imagine what Nikki's been through. 

Third, Nikki's story is just more proof of why gun control never, ever works in any form, in any time in history, or for any reason. The bad guys don't follow gun control laws - only the good guys do, and sometimes it's with tragic results.

Nikki is a tough lady who now advocates for individual gun rights in hopes that no one else will have to experience the horrific loss that she did. The Sheepdog applauds her.   

Monday, May 27, 2013

Always

Today is Memorial Day 2013, and The Sheepdog would like to personally say "thank you" to all those brave men and women, and their families, who sacrificed their very lives protecting the freedoms that we Americans hold dear.

May we always honor, be grateful to, and never forget the sacrifice of all those who didn't make it home.

 
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Monday, May 20, 2013

Riding the "Crazy Train" on Music Monday

Wow - the last time The Sheepdog held a Music Monday was the Monday after Easter. That was nearly two months ago. I'll fix that today.

Cover of
Cover of Blizzard of Ozz
I had some inspiration for today's Music Monday. First, there was the guest appearance of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath on last Thursday's season finale episode of CSI. Then, there's all the "crazy" stuff going in the news - we've got IRS Gate, Benghazi Gate, the Boston Marathon Bombing, the trial of the "abortion doctor," and then there's always stories of people killing, maiming, and hurting each other for no reason. Just crazy.

If you're a fan of rock music, you've probably already guessed today's video is Ozzy Osbourne's hit "Crazy Train." When he and Randy Rhoads wrote the music and lyrics and recorded the song for Ozzy's 1980 debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, they were looking for some sanity in their crazy, crazy world.

In my opinion, if they were writing the song today, all the inspiration they would need could be found watching a few minutes of the evening news. As a country and a world, we are truly "going off the rails on the crazy train."

The video is embedded below or can be watched by clicking here. Enjoy 'cause it's crazy out there.


Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train by hushhush112
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Friday, May 17, 2013

Absolutely Baffling

As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I've been off the net for a while. However, I've kept up with some of the goings-on. I've noticed that the wolves have been busy and that some truly baffling things are going on. One such baffling thing was the election of Mark Sanford to the U.S. House of Representatives by the people of South Carolina.

Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, seen...
Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, seen here as a U.S. Congressman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It all started when Jim Demint resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate in order to go to work for the Heritage Foundation. South Carolina's Republican Governor Nikki Haley then appointed South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott to Demint's vacant U.S. Senate seat. The appointment left the U.S. House seat held by Scott vacant which led to a special election for a replacement to complete the remainder of Scott's House term.

Sanford entered the race for the vacant U.S. House seat and won the GOP primary. Next, he defeated his Democratic opponent in the general election to win a trip back to the U.S. House where he had served from 1995-2001 before becoming South Carolina governor.

Sanford is a perfect fit for Congress. He's as untruthful and untrustworthy as they come. Apparently South Carolinians have forgotten that :
  • In 2009, he went missing for 6 days. He told staff he was going on a long hike on the Appalachian Trail. It turned out that the scoundrel was in Argentina with his mistress.
  • Father's Day was one of the 6 days he was missing. So, it stands to reason that Sanford preferred being with his mistress and cheating on his wife over celebrating Father's Day with his children. What a dad. What an example.
  • He eventually confessed to inappropriate relationships with other women, too.
  • Ethics charges were filed against him alleging that taxpayer funds were spent conducting his adulteress fling.
Now, here's what I don't get - if South Carolina taxpayers can't trust him to act ethically and spend their money appropriately while in the governor's office, why did they elect him to Congress ?

Better yet, if his now ex-wife can't trust him to keep his committment to be faithful to her, how can he be trusted to preserve, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution ?

Oh, that's right - the other members of Congress don't either, so .... it's all good.

Perhaps Sanford's Congressional campaign slogan should have been something like, "My wife can't trust me, but the voters can." No wonder the dang country's screwed up, and it's our fault. We keep voting these immoral, unethical people into office. Geez.

Absolutely baffling.

Oh, ..... one other thing - did I mention that Sanford's a Republican ? And people wonder what's wrong with the Republican Party.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Where have you been, Sheepdog ?

Where have I been ? Well, I guess the best answer to that question is "everywhere but here." It's hard to believe it's been a month since my last post which was about my first gobbler, but it has. The time has flown.

We had great seats for the game.
When tax season ended, my wife closed her office for about three weeks. So, I did some more turkey hunting, without any luck. Then, we caught up on some errands and other things we had been putting off and spent some time away for a little R & R.

Part of our time away was spent near Tallahassee, FL visiting some friends. The weather was great - mid-70s, no humidity, no rain - basically perfect. While there, we had an opportunity to catch some more Florida State baseball. The 'Noles were in town for a three-game home stand with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. We attended the Friday, April 26, 2013, night game which the Seminoles won 7-3. They went on to sweep the Demon Deacons that weekend.

Now, it's back to business as usual as usual for The Sheepdog. With more and more wolves in the news running wildly to and fro, business is good.
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