Freedom Port: Firefly (the other one)

And In Case You Thought...

2007-07-02T18:08:00.001-04:00

...That Hitler's youth camps were long gone...

The kids sat in Frances Willard Elementary School's library Thursday morning, waiting for their teacher.
She arrived about 9:10 a.m., dressed in all black, including a black face mask.
"Sorry
I'm late," Rock Island Police Officer Dytanya Robinson told the Junior
Police Academy class. "I've already been working two raids ... I've
been sweating in this hot suit since 6 a.m."
The students were wide-eyed and curious. They wanted to know more about her job with the tactical unit -- and her uniform.

More here...

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." -- James Madison, speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 16, 1788

Anchorage Proves...

2007-07-02T17:38:00.001-04:00

…That Nazi-fascism is alive and well in the Last Frontier…

As Saturday gave way to Sunday, smokers

enjoyed their last gasp inside bars and bingo parlors across the city.

A ban approved overwhelmingly by voters earlier this year will send

them outdoors the next time they get a nicotine fit while knocking back

a Budweiser.

Midway through the evening at the Bradley

House, a bugler played taps while Bradley walked solemnly to the door,

an American flag cradled in one arm.

She tore down the sign that had been posted

ever since the city’s restaurants went smoke-free in 2001, the sign

saying the Bradley House is a smoking establishment — something it

could do because it’s designated as a bar, not a restaurant, even

though it’s actually both.

Now a souvenir, the sign made the rounds at

the bar as customers signed it. “June 30, 2007,” one of them wrote. “In

memory of our lost rights.”

Later, people gathered outside near a new

cedar building decorated with a big red ribbon. They applauded as

Bradley cut the ribbon and opened the door, revealing a room where

smokers can take shelter when it’s cold and wet.

“After today you’re gonna have to go out to a shack?” a nonsmoker asked Cassidy.

“Yep,” she said.

“I’ll come visit you there,” he said.

Back inside the bar, Cheryl Contreras, caught up in the spirit of things, borrowed a Marlboro Light from a friend.

“This is my first cigarette in, like, 30 years,” she said. “They put this ban in and made me smoke again. How healthy is that?”

Contreras voted against the ban even though

she quit smoking when she was 24. Her friend Joelle Donovan would have

voted against it too, except she’s Canadian.

“That’s why I’m becoming an American,” Donovan said. “I want a voice. Laws like this scare me.”

“Laws like this scare me.”   That pretty much covers it…  It would scare any rational person.

More here…

“One of the striking differences between Fascism and Communism
is this: Fascism has inspired no great work of art…. No doubt, Fascism
is too vile and scurrilous an ideology to produce those charities of
the imagination which are essential to literate art. Communism, even
when it has gone venomous, is a mythology of the human future, a vision
of human possibility rich in moral demand. Fascism is the ultimate code
of the hoodlum; Communism fails because it would seek to impose upon
the fragile plurality of human nature and conduct an artificial ideal
of self-denial and human purpose. Fascism tyrannizes through contempt
of man; Communism tyrannizes by exalting man above that sphere of
private error, private ambition, and private love which we call
freedom.”  — George Steiner

Long time...

2007-05-14T08:47:00.000-04:00

...No post...

;)

I am trying to decide whether to simply post the same content to both blogs or to use this one for something else...

We will see...

"Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; .... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. "
-- Frederick Douglass

Due to Circumstances...

2006-05-19T20:01:00.000-04:00

...that come from free market choices, I have opened a new blog here...

Please update your bookmarks and blogrolls accordingly.

Viva La Sez Faire!!!

Bye, bye Google/Blogspot???

2006-05-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

To my dismay, I have found that certain of my readers are unable to get to my blog because of filtering by Google (they own Blogger). This is an unacceptable situation for me and I am looking into alternative blog sites right now.

If/when I am forced to relocate, I will post updates and revise settings in the forums and to as many co-bloggers as I can contact. Thank you for your continued support and patience.

Cashiers and a sign of the times...

2006-05-17T07:40:00.000-04:00

...Morrigan has fun shopping at WalMart!!!

Just one of the many strange goings ons, by a people becoming more and more desperate...

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it."
-- Thomas Sowell

Doug Kenline...

2006-05-08T10:12:00.000-04:00

...the King of Bloggers, has revamped his updated site and is making money doing his favorite thing. We should all have it as good as Doug. Go and visit and see what he is up to...

What Have Conservatives Wrought???

2006-05-04T06:59:00.000-04:00

Only the final destruction of the republic. Supposedly conservative republicans have controlled the House of Representatives since 1994, the Senate since 1996 and the White house since 2001. It took over 200 years for American government to amass a one million, million (a Trillion) dollar debt. Our current president and congress add one million, million (again, a Trillion) dollars to the debt every 18 months. They fight phantom wars against plant extracts and social methods. They can create a criminal out of thin air. They kill more civilians than they do soldiers, and call it an acceptable ratio.

How anyone can morally support such a system is beyond me. I think mostly they do it from fear. Fear makes them irrational. They won't think it through, because to do so puts them face to face with their own fear of being responsible for themselves.

Pericles once said, "Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." I think that was around 430 B.C. (BCE for all you nimrods who think that changing the name of a measurement term gives you some moral superiority over everybody who wants to keep things simple) Even that statement provokes the people to try to participate out of fear.

I tend to go with the Riddick philosophy. In "Pitch Black" the Imam counsels Riddick, "Can we pray together? I have already prayed with the others. It is painless." Riddick replies that, "It's pointless" The Imam responds, "Because you do not believe in God, does not mean God does not—" at which point Riddick interupts him and firmly states... "You think someone can spend half their life in the slam, with a horse bit in their mouth, and not believe? Think he could start out in some liquor store trash bin with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and not believe? You’ve got it all wrong, holy man. I absolutely believe in God. And I absolutely hate the fucker." (For those of you who don't like that word, feel free to join the nimrods against simplicity.)

Substitute state for God in the above (or maybe in addition) and you get my sentiments on the matter of conservatives and liberals and politcal parties, in general.

Lew Rockwell puts it quite succinctly...

"The problem with American conservatism is that it hates the left more than the state, loves the past more than liberty, feels a greater attachment to nationalism than to the idea of self-determination, believes brute force is the answer to all social problems, and thinks it is better to impose truth rather than risk losing one’s soul to heresy. It has never understood the idea of freedom as a self-ordering principle of society. It has never seen the state as the enemy of what conservatives purport to favor. It has always looked to presidential power as the saving grace of what is right and true about America.
"I'm speaking now of the variety of conservatism created by William Buckley, not the Old Right of Albert Jay Nock, John T. Flynn, Garett Garrett, H.L. Mencken, and company, though these people would have all rejected the name conservative as ridiculous. After Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR, what's to conserve of the government? The revolutionaries who tossed off a milder British rule would never have put up with it.

"For my part, I'm hoping that the whole conservative movement will go down in flames with the decline and fall of the Bush administration. The red-state fascists have had their day and instead of liberty, they gave us the most raw and stupid form of imperial big government one can imagine. They have given America a bad name around the world. They have bamboozled millions. They have looted and bankrupted the country."

More here...

The Bene Gesserit Littainy against Fear.
From "Dune", by Frank Herbert

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

To Gulch...or not to Gulch...

2006-04-26T08:23:00.000-04:00

Robert Klassen looks at the salient points...

I’d like to thank those readers who wrote to me asking for more information about small-scale restoration farming. My advice is usually the same: Look for level land in a poverty stricken county that has been trashed and overgrazed, has utilities in place, has ground water, rainfall, and moderate weather. Such property can be cleaned up and the fertility restored with little expense or labor, although that will take time. For a high-tech urban dweller, that means the place is only useful as a private vacation spot.

I saw a perfect place on the western slope of the Olympic Mountains recently. Ten acres in a flat spot on a valley floor beside a year-round creek, covered in weeds from overgrazing, a trashed doublewide, junk and garbage scattered around, the kind of place a spouse might condemn on sight. What I saw was restorable land with utilities in place in an excellent spot for a vineyard. I would pick up the trash, give the mobile home away, remove the cross fencing, hire a guy or rent a tractor to disc it down, sow in clover, and forget it for a season. With nothing to steal showing, I'd use it as my personal campground (I live in an old motor home) once or twice a year, bring up the fertility, and get up to speed on viniculture.

More here...

"...the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch."
-- Thomas Jefferson

The Horror is for Real...

2006-04-22T10:02:00.000-04:00

...The economic horror, that is.

I am constantly amazed by the number of people who seem to operate under the misguided perception that borrowing to live is a viable long term alternative to living within ones means. They have no understanding of money or what money really is. If you ask them about money, they immedeately point to Federal Reserve Notes. When you ask them the meaning of the term "Note", they think of it as just a clerical reference. The legal term is a "Note of debt or indebtedness". Which is what FRNs are. Even the term bill is a reference to an unpaid debt. They are a promise to pay. To pay up in What? Real money, of course. The currency used to have this promise printed on them. But after FDR made real money illegal they had to remove the promise to pay, for obvious reasons. From 1934 until 1971 only foriegnors could redeem FRNs for gold (sorry Ramsey, your wrong) In 1971, Nixon nixed even this, as it was rapidly draining gold from Americas coffers.

Recently, on the Dave Ramsey Show, Dave was heard to utter...(paraphrased) "Gold hasn't been used as money since the Roman Empire..." Dave was talking to his audience about people who had written him about buying bullion or coins for a hedge against economic collapse. He recommended tradable items such as liquor, cigarettes, dried or canned foods and such. All good ideas, but only tradable to those who needed those specific items. Money evolved out of the need to expand the trade markets, such that trade could happen between people who didn't have the same wants or needs to exchange.

Contrary to Ramsey's opinion on gold and silver as money, it has been used as such in the United States until 1934. Even now, the American Liberty Dollar is silver currency traded in thousands of locations in the States.

Back to the horror...Eric Englund gets it...

"Unfortunately, the common American does not understand he is being manipulated and impoverished by the Federal Reserve. When money is no longer real (i.e. fiat currency vs. gold and silver), then people may come to believe in the surreal, and a hyperreality emerges. In particular, during the reign of Alan Greenspan, money and credit – created out of thin air – rained upon Americans as if to assure us that crop failures and misfortune had been banished from U.S. soil. Hence, we came to live in a world of plenty where one may become wealthy by simply purchasing a house – with lots of borrowed money – and by "investing" in stocks for the long run. What a dream it is to become wealthy without effort. This mass delusion is only one step away from collectively believing that cotton candy is a cash crop. Alas, Americans will soon discover that housing values don’t grow to the sky and that heavy mortgage debt leads to a harvest of financial despair. The Austrian theory of the trade cycle will be validated yet again."

More here...

Read and prepare accordingly...

Interestingly, The Daily Reckoning recently asked readers to comment on what would happen when the next "great" depression begins... Here are some of their responses...

"It won't be pretty," writes one reader, who calls himself Mr. MAGNUM. "In fact, ugly will fail to sufficiently describe the events which will unfold across America in the coming three to five years.
"Initially, isolated incidences of desperation will be reported in the press as a lunatic gone wild with a gun or a knife, in a grocery store, for a gallon of milk.
"Then the media lock down will occur, and all such reports of desperate people doing desperate things for food for their families won't be reported, therefore won't be happening.
"Eventually, across America we will be reading local newspapers reports, and hearing sound bites on radio and television, of the fringes becoming the fat tail and felonies for food occurring everywhere.
"When America's Second Great Depression takes hold with the bite of a pitbull, around 2010, we will all get to personally experience how our borrowing for widgets and chitoys, our failure to save, and our failure to remember the results of past forays into fiat currency, bring to our own front doors the sacrifice and suffering we Americans collectively thought could never again happen here in the Land Of The Free and The Home Of The Brave.
"Sometime in 2012 we will all wake up and realize that we are living in 3rd world economy, here in the last great empire on good old mother earth.
"As they say in The Daily Reckoning, we are going to get not what we expect, but what we deserve. And we will be getting it good and hard.
"Mr. MAGNUM recommends stop spending, sell your McMansion, buy a home you can pay cash for, pay off all debt, buy silver and/or gold, keep a low profile and don't flaunt any wealth you may have. Those who DON'T HAVE, will remember those who DO HAVE and they are going to want to come and take it from you when things get really bad."

You really should go read the rest of the article...

Anyone not planning for this eventuality (which may come a lot sooner than anybody thinks), is going to have a very hard time in the coming years...

"The State is great fiction by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else."
-- Frederic Bastiat

Who???

2006-04-12T18:58:00.000-04:00

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
-- George Washington

From the Email Bag...

2006-04-06T21:30:00.000-04:00

...thanks go to my fishin' buddy Joe for this!!

Modern Management Thinking: A Modern Parable

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese team won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat.

A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese team had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

So American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. To prevent another loss to the Japanese, the American's rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was outsourced to India!!!!

Just had to share that with ya'!! ;)

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."
-- Herbert Spencer

They Hate Us...

2006-03-29T07:16:00.000-05:00

...for our Alaskan Salmon!!!

Roberts climbs out of his truck and slams the door.

He is a square-jawed man with a slow, deliberate way of talking. He looks out at Nushagak Bay, which remains frozen until the end of April. No boat can enter or leave the harbor until the ice breaks up. He shakes his head. "This is Dillingham, Alaska, folks," he says. "I don't think we have to worry about Osama bin Laden."

That is, unless Bin Laden wants to go salmon fishing.

Dillingham is a hub in the Bristol Bay region, which is famous among fishermen for its sockeye runs.

More here...

You just can't make this shit up!!!

Hat tip to Gunner over at No Quarters...

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Why I am Optimistic...

2006-03-22T08:22:00.000-05:00

I began awakening about the same time as Szechuan Death. It was difficult at first. I had to do a lot of research and then I had to learn to discard most of the education I had gained in the prior 30 years or so. It didn't fit. It could not be made to model actual conditions. It was wrong. There are many reasons why it was wrong, but the most evident was because the state wanted it to be wrong.

Now that I have learned some truths about history, about economics, about states, things have become quite clear. I don't need to battle the state. The state requires my support. I only need to deny that support and the state will collapse. I have stated it many times on this blog (and others), "IGNORE THE STATE". Now many of you are fearful of ignoring the state. That is understanable as that is what you have been trained to. But if you want freedom, you need to start thinking for yourselves, protect yourselves, and most of all support yourselves.

Szechuan Death has his own perspective that closely mirrors my own:

Most Root Strikers, in my estimation, came to their beliefs because they are officially broken, factory defects in a world not of their making whose functions are strange and counterintuitive, where everything seems at least the slightest bit "wrong." Because of their perception of the craziness of the things they are told and made to do whether they will or no, whether that perception was conscious or not, they started pulling and tugging at threads around them until a couple came loose. They did not and do not BELEEEEEEEEEEEVE On The State like they were supposed to, never completely, and so consequently went looking for other explanations and found 'em, back when it was hard (or harder, at any rate) to do. That's my story, in a nutshell; I've been broken since Day One, non-traditional all the way, a freak from the word Go. I've had a general low-level dislike for things which violate that natural law which all of us are born knowing but most somehow manage to forget, but only since 1998 have I made any strides toward understanding the larger picture and its mechanics, largely due to the improved access to information the Information Age has afforded the general public. Now, here I am, scribbling out little screeds in my spare time, one of the phosphorescent plankton flagellating about in a decaying Leviathan's wake, doing my best to keep afloat and prosper. That's my "how," and from what I've read, it's scarcely unique. Most heartening is that it seems to be getting less and less unique as time goes on.

The danger to the State is not that these people, these heretics and apostates of its Cult, will band together and work to destroy it; it is far more insidious, and far more overwhelming, than that. These people have access to the information that was previously unavailable due to cost, or inconvenience, or both. These people are replicating this information, analyzing it, reading it, disseminating it, discussing it, and refining it, all without realizing or caring that they are only meant to be burning it during the Two Minutes' Hate. They pound little drums for Liberty all across the planet, and slowly those drums are coming into synchronization of their own accord, converging on one single, pure harmonic, the low seismic thrumming of Truth and self-fulfilled prophecies that even the oblivious are feeling and swaying to. These people are wise and canny; they do not need the State, and feel no love for it in their breasts, and will not be there to prop it up when it begins to fall under its own weight. And that is, perhaps, the greatest danger they pose; that while they may not lift a hand to harm they sure won't lift a hand to help, that they will, at the very end, the last extremity, that crucial hour when all good men must come to the aid of their Crown so that the unthinkable prospect of an outbreak of uncontrolled human activity can be stifled, will finally render unto those panic-stricken, directive-spewing, impotent toadies of Caesar begging for assistance and compliance just that which is due them, the immortal wisdom of the fat sage Cartman: "Screw you guys, I'm going home."

And the by-now-certain-to-occur, once-in-a-millennium opportunity to deliver that line and walk away smiling to live our lives free, that is why we should be optimistic.

More here...

It really is that simple.

"Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."
-- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Our Marxist Government...

2006-03-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

...no, not Karl...The Marx Brothers...

Bill Bonner explains...

We had a lot of fun with the "End of History" concept. It is so arrogant...so imbecilic...so preposterous, we chuckled every time we said the words. But, it helped explain why the options market had gone dead and why Americans are ready to go so deep into debt. It explained why investors buy 30-year U.S. debt at less than 5% yields, why people lend money to Third World countries at yields so low, you'd think they were going to pay the money back, and why Dow stocks still sell for 20 times earnings. Nobody expects history to cause any trouble.

"End of history? Beginning of nonsense," Maggie Thatcher is said to have remarked. But investors and neocons loved the idea. They don't realize it themselves, of course, but the new conservatives are a species of Marxists – not followers of Karl, but of Harpo, Chico and Groucho – with the world-improving pretensions and messianic delusions of Lenin and Che. They think they can build a better world by telling other people what to do. They are not the first to believe it, but they must be among the most inept.

More here...

I am reminded of a scene in "V for Vendetta", where a national talkshow host substitutes the government approved script for one making fun of the chancellor and his propaganda against V. A faux chancellor is introduced to the audience and then a faux V begins sabotaging the chancellor's appearence. Benny Hill background music and accelerated studio chase around scenes, involving faux troopers, add to the comedy. When V is fianlly caught by the troopers, he is unmasked by the chancellor to reveal...the chancellor. Both chancellors then order the troops to shoot the other chancellor and of course the confused but well conditioned troops shoot...both chancellors.

The scene is meant as a tongue-only-slightly-in-cheek question of, "Who is the real terrorist?"

Most apropos in today's police states...

"Wherever a man goes, men will pursue him and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate oddfellow society." -- Henry David Thoreau

Striking a Chord...

2006-03-19T07:51:00.000-05:00

WorldNetDaily has published an anonymous hit piece on "V for Vendetta". It appears that the movie hit closer to home than I had thought. Reality is sometimes a tough thing to look at, face to face. The fact that this "review" is at the top of WND's Sunday edition is very telling...

According to the nameless diatribe:

Ted Baehr, a columnist for WND and the president of the Christian magazine Movieguide called it "a vile, pro-terrorist piece of neo-Marxist, left-wing propaganda filled with radical sexual politics and nasty attacks on religion and Christianity. "

Really??
Other than the motto of the state, "Strength through Unity, Unity through Faith", and a quick look at a Quran, under glass, there is no mention of religion and nothing of Christianity. Baehr's definition of terrorism apparently includes all violence against tyranny. Glad to know it. I hope to read about his admonitons of the US wars against tyranny, very soon. But I won't hold my breath. He, no doubt, includes our founding fathers as terrorists and would exalt their hanging with as much vitriol as he exudes in his review. Ironically, Baehr's review sounds more like one of Chancellor Sutler's raves (quote: "I WANT EVERYONE TO REMEMBER WHY THEY NEED US!!!) at his propaganda team.

WND's managing editor is also quoted...

"This is the marketing of terrorism," said WND Managing Editor David Kupelian, author of the bestselling book, "The Marketing of Evil." "When I saw Britain's Parliament building coming down in the final scene, I couldn't help thinking of the World Trade Center towers coming down.
"Many people around the world actually think the 9-11 terrorists were heroes," he added, "because they think America is evil. 'Vendetta' will push a few more lost souls over the edge, helping them believe the monsters threatening to annihilate multitudes of Americans in future attacks are heroic freedom fighters, not terrorists. The movie intentionally blurs the line between the two."

WND was supposedly started to combat the media bias toward out-of-control statism. How sad it is that it has become a tool of the state.

General note to TPTB (the powers that be)...
...when you do montrous things...you create...monsters...

I'm off to go see the movie...again!!!

UPDATE:

On the second viewing, I discovered I had somehow forgot all about the priest who was promoted to bishop, a decidedly Catholic thing and possibly attributable to Christianity, though I have come to disassociate Catholicism from Christianity after the scandal of the sexual predations of catholic priests, which were then covered up and the priests relocated to new hunting grounds.

And, of course, Natalie Portman prancing around in ponytails, ribbons and knee socks had a hand in the distraction as well. ;)

So there was a vague, indirect reference to possible Christianity... my apologies to Herr Baehr...

"People should not fear their government, the government should fear their people." -- V, V for Vendetta

"When the government fears the people, you have liberty. When the people fear the government, you have tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson

"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself... Almost inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable." -- H.L. Mencken

Did you think to kill me? There's no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There's only an idea. And, ideas are bulletproof. -- V, V for Vendetta

V...

2006-03-18T06:41:00.000-05:00

...for Vendetta...

We saw this movie yesterday, and I am still in the WOW zone. I want to go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone... so ya'll comment back on this thread after you have seen the movie and I'll do another post on it.

WOW!!!

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."
-- Milton Friedman

The Eides of March...

2006-03-13T17:48:00.000-05:00

I look at the hillside, opposite our house, and wonder at the majik of nature. The hillside is bathed in a brown/gold mix as it climbs into new green and old/green. I love the mix of colours. The natural contrast and the natural mix. The trees have not yet leafed out, yet there is green on the hillside as such has not been seen since summer. There is gold leaf, like a lovers pendant, hanging from the trees, and a season ago...

I am transfixed... and transplexed...

The green erupting in the yard and on the hillside, overwhelm the senses...

I am at one with nature...

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Creeping Socialism and Creepy Conservatives...

2006-03-10T10:41:00.000-05:00

It is impossible to tell liberals from conservatives, democrats from republicans, leftists from rightists, anymore. You just can't do it. The definitions and actions of the groups and individuals, who continue to cling to those titles are too mixed to determine true principles. The Libertarians (big L) have now joined this game and no longer represent libertarian philosphy. As such they can now be attacked by the other parties as simple crackpots and inconsistent ninnies.

Steve Brenneis, over at Ars Mens Mentis, takes a dim view of libertarians because of this. He is, however, honest enough to admit the failings in the conservative party that used to represent his own views. While I do agree with Steve on his view of the Libertarian party, I would suggest that he consider his own narrative and realize he may not have correct view of libertarianism, as a philosophy, for the the very same reasons.

I've spent a lot of time and energy, especially since I left public office, castigating this and that individual for claiming to be conservative when they were, quite obviously to me, not conservative at all. This reached a peak for me lately with George W. Bush. He is an unrepentant socialist, a globalist, and a closet aristocrat. At this point, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit a little self-absorption. Bush, at least his public persona, is just about the diametric opposite of most of what I believe, politically speaking. Since I considered myself a conservative, obviously Bush couldn't possibly be one. I have come to realize I was wrong about that.

Creeping socialism has been the way in this country for lo these past forty years. Following Hayek's logic, conservatism acts as an anchor, slowing or impeding change. The conclusion isn't rocket science. Bush and his fellow "neo-cons" really do represent American conservatism now. The neo-con appellation is ironically apt with its connotation of "new conservatism." The Republican Party is now the home, for the foreseeable future, of this new conservatism.

More here...

Even though I consider the libertarian philosphy the closest to my own beliefs, I feel a kindred spirit with Steve, as I once was a conservative. The very things he laments drove me from that party, and made me realize that the system produced these results. For meaningful reform, the system must change, not just the policy.

Steve has many more terrific posts. Go read and enjoy.

"When a true genius appears in this world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." -- Jonathan Swift

And Yet More on...The Freest Country In the World...

2006-03-09T20:08:00.000-05:00

Claire Wolfe reports...

THE OTHER SHOE DROPS ON NATIONAL ID. The pilot program for this abomination was sneaked in as land-mine legislation in 1996. It's only been a matter of time.
In a free country no one has to ask permission of the central government to earn a living. Or bank. Or travel. Or invest.
I'm personally frosted by the self-righteous quote in the linked article from former senator Alan Simpson. Way back when, I wrote a letter to a Wyoming paper, predicting what would come of his "anti-immigration" initiatives. Simpson contacted me (Wyoming; it's a small town) and we got into a heated discussion -- in which his part consisted almost entirely of denying that his BS would ever turn into national ID. Well, Mr. Simpson, welcome to the national ID state that you and your policies gave birth to. We should have "burned your humble butt" way back then. Your triumph is our failure.

The Great Mogambo Guru, master of all things monetary, mentioned Claire in this weeks article. Go Claire!!!

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." -- Thomas Jefferson

More on...The Freest Country in the World...

2006-03-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

It turns out that John Silveira has pondered this paradox...

Have you?

Here’s a quiz: Which is the freest country on earth? The answer’s easy. It’s the United States. Ask anyone. And why are we the freest? Not because we’re the richest. Long before we became the world’s richest nation we still regarded ourselves as the freest, and millions flocked to our shores to enjoy that freedom. The reasons we are free are: First, because of the philosophical basis upon which this country was founded. It is assumed that individuals have rights, e.g., free speech, the right to bear arms, the right of a jury trial before our peers should the government try to imprison us, seize our property, or deprive us of our lives, etc. Second, we have a Constitution that limits the powers of a central government to intrude into our lives.
And third, our rights have been enshrined in the First 10 Amendments to our Constitution.

More here...

"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe

The Freest Country in the World...

2006-03-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

From Sara Messenger...

I’m so glad that I live in the US of A
It’s the freest country in the world
Where there’s plenty of work
You just can’t live on the pay
Yeah, it’s the freest country in the world
But this earth was once held
In indigenous hands
Before the first flag was unfurled
Stole what we could use and killed
What we could not understand
From the freest country in the world

Let the Chinese build the railroads
Let the Irish work the mines
To keep the rich in diamonds and pearls
And let Africans slave
Without so much as a dime
To build the freest country in the world

But with pride people died
For my right to vote
In the fairest system in the world
I’d like to be represented
But the chance is remote
With the highest-priced elections
In the world

More here... (including an MP3 of the song)

"Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw." - Henry David Thoreau

Cooperating (or not) with the State...

2006-03-09T06:56:00.000-05:00

I have a post rumbling around my head. It is somewhat wide ranging but comes down to being able to determine those who strive for freedom from those who strive for control of others. In the meantime, Gary North has a great article on the coming collapse of the Empire (and probably all empires)...

The steady erosion of President Bush's popularity is the result of two primary factors: price-competitive guerilla weaponry in Iraq and price-competitive guerilla journalism in America. There is nothing he can do about either.
This marks the end of empire – not just the American empire, but empire as a system of international coercion. The world has been unable to eliminate empire as a form of political organization ever since the days of Assyria. Now that system is doomed. It is ending in the same geographical region where it began.
The central factor of the demise of empire is cost. It costs too much to organize an empire in comparison to the cost of undermining it. When costs change, production changes. When costs rise, less is demanded. The costs of empire have risen to a level where its organizational dynamics are negative. When costs fall, more is demanded. The costs of resistance continue to fall.
Fourth-generation warfare is not merely guerilla warfare. Fourth-generation warfare is a war against the legitimacy of the occupying forces. The costs of maintaining legitimacy for an empire involve both force and propaganda. Both factors are under siege by modern technology, which is not only radically price competitive but is also feature competitive. Empire is neither price competitive nor feature competitive.
The handwriting for empire is on the wall. It has been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
It's about time.

More here...

"In a capitalist society, all human relationships are voluntary. Men are free to cooperate or not, to deal with one another or not, as their own individual judgments, convictions and interests dictate." - Ayn Rand

MYOB!!!

2006-03-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

I found this short Sci-Fi story some years ago. It was first published in 1951. I highly recommend it to those who want to see what anarchy looks like in action...

His Excellency fastened a cold eye upon him and demanded, ‘Well?’

‘He refuses to come.’ Bidworthy’s veins stood out on his forehead. ‘And, sir, if only I could have him in the space troops for a few months I’d straighten him up and teach him to move at the double.’

‘I don’t doubt that, Sergeant Major,’ the Ambassador soothed. He continued in a whispered aside to Colonel Shelton. ‘He’s a good fellow but no diplomat. Too abrupt and harsh-voiced. Better go yourself and fetch that farmer. We can’t loaf around forever waiting to learn where to begin.’

‘Very well, Your Excellency.’ Trudging across the field, Shelton caught up with the farmer, smiled pleasantly and said, ‘Good morning, my man.’

Stopping his machine, the farmer sighed as if it were one of those days one has sometimes. His eyes were dark brown, almost black as they regarded the newcomer.

‘What makes you think I’m your man.’

‘It is a figure of speech,’ explained Shelton. He could see what was wrong now. Bidworthy had fallen foul of an irascible type. They’d been like two dogs snarling at one another. Oh, well, as a high- ranking officer he was competent to handle anybody, the good and the bad, the sweet and the sour, the jovial and the liverish. Shelton went on oilily, ‘I was only trying to be courteous.’

‘It must be said,’ meditated the farmer, ‘that that is something worth trying for—if you can make it.’

Pinking a little, Shelton continued with determination, ‘I am commanded to request the pleasure of your company at the ship.’

‘Commanded?’

‘Yes.’

‘Really and truly commanded?’

‘Yes.’

The other appeared to wander into a momentary daydream before he came back and asked blandly, ‘Think they’ll get any pleasure out of my company?’

‘I’m sure of it,’ said Shelton.

‘You’re a liar,’ said the farmer.

His colour deepening, Colonel Shelton snapped, ‘I do not permit people to call me a liar.’

‘You’ve just permitted it,’ the farmer pointed out. Letting it pass, Shelton insisted, ‘Are you coming to the ship?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘Myob!’ said the farmer.

‘What was that?’

‘Myob!’ he repeated. It sounded like some sort of insult. Shelton went back, told the Ambassador, ‘That fellow is one of those too-clever types. At the finish all I could get out of him was ‘Myob’ whatever that means.’

‘Local slang,’ chipped in Grayder. ‘An awful lot of it develops in four centuries. I’ve come across one or two worlds where there has been so much of it that to all intents and purposes it formed a new language.’

‘He understood your speech?’ asked the Ambassador of Shelton.

‘Yes, Your Excellency. And his own is quite good. But he won’t leave his work.’ He reflected briefly, suggested, ‘If it were left to me I’d bring him in by force with an armed escort.’

‘That would encourage him to give essential information,’ commented the Ambassador with open sarcasm. He patted his stomach, smoothed his jacket, glanced down at his glossy shoes. ‘Nothing for it but to go and speak to him myself.’

Shelton was shocked. ‘Your Excellency, you can’t do that!’

‘Why can’t I?’

‘It would be undignified.’

‘I am fully aware of the fact,’said the Ambassador dryly. ‘What alternative do you suggest?’

‘We can send out a patrol to find someone more co-operative.’

‘Someone better informed, too,’ Captain Grayder offered. ‘At best we won’t get much out of one surly hayseed. I doubt whether he knows one quarter of what we require to learn.’

‘All right.’ The Ambassador dropped the idea of doing his own chores. ‘Organise a patrol and let’s have some results.’

‘A patrol,’ said Colonel Shelton to Major Hame. ‘Nominate one immediately.’

‘Call out a patrol,’ Hame ordered Lieutenant Deacon. ‘At once.’

‘Parade a patrol forthwith, Sergeant Major,’ said Deacon.

Bidworthy lumbered up the gangway, stuck his head into the airlock and shouted,’ sergeant Gleed, out with your squad and make it snappy!’ He gave a suspicious sniff and went farther into the lock. His voice gained several more decibels. ‘Who’s been smoking? By heavens, if I catch the man—’

Across the fields something quietly went chuff-chuff while fat wheels crawled along.

Please continue the story, "And Then There Were None", by Eric Russell, here...

And for a present day look at anarchy in action, check this out:

Those concerned about deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the U.S. should take heart in the knowledge that the Somalis have built up a reasonably sound telephone system by combining the operations of their local telephone companies with those of dreaded multinational corporations like Sprint. While the system isn’t perfect, it is improving steadily. Nenova and Harford note that “[v]igorous competition has pushed prices well below typical levels in Africa , and Somalia now has 112,000 fixed lines and 50,000 mobile subscribers, up from 17,000 lines before 1991.” In addition, while some calls could require connections among several different companies, “firms in Mogadishu have now agreed on interconnection standards, and those in Hargeisa appear to be following suit.”

Similarly, entrepreneurs “have divided cities into manageable quarters and provide electricity locally using secondhand generators . . . . They offer households a menu of choices (daytime, evening, or 24-hour service) and charge per lightbulb.” This may not be the sort of system to which Americans have become accustomed, but it’s a heck of a lot better than having no electricity at all, and it beats the pants off much of Iraq under U.S. occupation.

Only urban areas of Somalia have public water supplies, but—surprise, surprise—“a private system extends to all parts of the country.” Furthermore, since the price of water is unregulated, “[p]rices naturally rise in times of drought,” thus helping to conserve much-needed water in those times. Would that we had such a system here, where instead we are treated to water rationing and government threats whenever water supplies run low!

Back when the Somali government operated the lone national airline, it had “just one airplane and one international route.” With anarchy, by contrast, have come “15 firms, more than 60 aircraft, 6 international destinations, more domestic routes, and many more flights.” Not possessed of the means to ensure safety, the Somalis engage in the much-maligned outsourcing to foreign countries for airplanes, crews and maintenance.

Somalis have a private system of courts, primarily handled by traditional clan systems. When a judge tried “to levy taxes and take over the privately run port of El Ma’an ,” the Somalis wisely told him and his court to take a hike. The private court system may not be perfect, but it’s miles better than one funded by theft and given to power grabs.

More here...

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..." Declaration Of Independence

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2006-02-14T08:34:00.000-05:00

Now here are the rules from the male side.
These are our rules!

1. Men ARE not mind readers.
1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!!!
1. Yes and No are perfectly Acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only If you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem . See a doctor.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't Expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one ...
1. You can either ask us to do something, or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not! A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will Be scratched. We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear Is fine......... Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or cars.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping!

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -- Robert A. Heinlein

Seabiscuit and War Admiral

2006-02-11T08:23:00.000-05:00

Head and head they came to the mile.
There wasn't a short conceded putt between them. It was a question now of the horse that had the heart.
Seabiscuit had lost his two-length margin.
His velvet had been shot away.
He was on his own where all races are won down the stretch. He had come to the great kingdom of all sport--the kingdom of the heart.

The Admiral had shown his reserve speed.
From two lengths away he was now on even terms.
But as they passed the mile post with three-sixteenths left--the vital test--the stretch that always tells the story--where 40,000 looked for the fleet War Admiral to move away--there was another story.
Seabiscuit was still hanging on. Seabiscuit hadn't quit. With barely more than a final furlong left, the hard-way son of Hard Tack must have said to the Admiral-- "Now, lets start running.
Let's see who is the better horse."

Read the rest of Grantland Rice's terrific Baltimore Sun write-up, here...

"Never let anyone else tell you that you're done..." -- David Goodyear

Independent Americans...

2006-02-08T08:50:00.000-05:00

" We demand no more than our just due, we will accept and be satisfied with
nothing less than we demand."

Independent Americans Mission Statement

We, as a nation, have failed in our responsibilities to maintain vigilance over
those who are supposed to be our elected and appointed servants. When the
UNITED STATES INC., with its corrupted corporate laws and those who have
participated in that corruption, stand in direct violation to the original
Constitution for the united states of America, then, to "we the people", is
returned the responsibility of upholding the Common Law and our Unalienable God
Given Rights including all guarantees given to each human being, as mandated by
the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

If because of graft, corruption and the destruction of the Peoples Rights a
condition of anarchy arises, then under this condition judgement then
necessarily devolves, to "we the people", to judge those who have had any part
in destroying or undermining the original intent of our Founding Fathers as
explained in the Magna Charta, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of
Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution for the united states of
America and the other Constitutions of the 50 Republics as applicable. Further,
in order to give stature and stability to our new efforts, those who have
willingly sought to unlawfully gain advantage over the People and thereby
destroy the Unalienable, God given, Rights of Men, are to be indicted and
brought to stand before a Common Law tribunal to be judged of their crimes. The
Judicature movement extends the civil protection to the Militia, and the Militia
extends physical protection to following the precedence of the reestablishment
of common law rights and the proper establishment of Grand Assize/Grand Jury
Courts for the securing of the same, to include the recording and civil
recognition of Common Law Judgments rendered by the same. Until otherwise
provided for in a manner to secure our sacred rights the Militia Members or
other duly sworn public members may be utilized for the process of forming a
duly constituted Grand Jury and the Assize Court.

Following the True Course of Justice in seeing that transgressors and malfeasant
parties in the public service are dealt with accordingly, it thereafter becomes
incumbent upon "we the people" to act in true solemnity to restore the full
function of Common Law and Constitutional Order as the Law of the Land, to
thereafter secure the full reestablishment of our 50 de jure Republics once
again in their Sovereign Status, in order to fully secure all the Sovereign
Rights to the People.

In our efforts to preserve law, order and freedoms to the People, and to
designate to any and all future governments their necessity to act only in the
role of servant, while holding "we the people" with their Divine given Rights
and Freedoms, to be the governments' Master, in Perpetuity. To ensure this role
is maintained, it is important that Treason be recognized in its occurrence as
in any infringements against the People, our Laws, Our Rights and Our Freedoms;
and usurpers of these rights and liberties be swiftly dealt with according to
nature of their crime.

We are at a crossroad in time that the condition of a de facto government has
awakened those who have the spirit of Liberty and Freedom burning in their
hearts and are willing to pay the price for the reclaiming of our unalienable,
God given, rights. The need to replant the precious seeds of Liberty and
Freedom, for the sake of our posterity and generations to come, in a ground that
has been fertilized with the valiant blood of patriots, is upon us.

The Independent Americans are seeking to restore a lawful, de jure republic that
respects the Rights of Men, peacefully if we can forcibly if we must, to
supplant the current de facto illegal regime that is fraught with corruption on
the highest levels. It is our mission to re-establish the Common Law Principles
of the original Constitution for the united states of America through the Common
Law Judicature Reform Movement.

http://www.independentamericans.org

I'm With...

2006-01-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

...Mark G. Brennan on this one. If the thousands of American soldiers killed, and the tens of thousands injured got this kind of coverage, then maybe the People would rethink their position on this. But apparently Americans love their journalists more than their sons and daughters...[from LewRockwell.com]

"Ever hear of a guy named Jerry Durbin? No? OK, let me use his proper name. Did you ever hear of a guy named Jerry M. Durbin, Jr.? Not that either? OK, let me try it with his title. Did you ever hear of Staff Sgt. Jerry M. Durbin, Jr.? From Spring, Texas? Still doesn’t ring a bell? Staff Sgt. Jerry M. Durbin, B Company, 2^nd Battalion, 502^nd Infantry Regiment, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team? No luck with that either? Well, just so you know, Staff Sgt. Durbin died last Wednesday in Iraq after an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on patrol. The honorable, 26 year-old Staff Sgt. Durbin leaves behind a wife, two children, a stepdaughter and his parents to pay him his final respects.
"Let’s try another one. Ever hear of Bob Woodruff? "Of course!" you just yelled. I would also bet you know that in the last 24 hours Mr. Woodruff, reporting from Iraq for ABC News, suffered serious injuries when an explosion hit the Iraqi vehicle in which he was riding during a shootout near Baghdad. Luckily, Mr. Woodruff was wearing full body armor but he and his cameraman, Bob Vogt, suffered severe shrapnel wounds to their heads and upper bodies. Since they were standing up in the vehicle’s turret they were more exposed and therefore more prone to injury. I wish both Messrs. Woodruff and Vogt a speedy recovery and pray that none of their injuries are life-threatening."

More here...

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."
-- Herbert Spencer

Easily Observable...

2006-01-25T07:54:00.000-05:00

...without a scientific study. Of course republicans and democrats cannot reason. I am beginning to question that same quality about the official Libertarian Party and the Free State ~~Party~~ Project. Too bad they were not tested using this proceedure...

Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.
And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view.

--------------------------

"We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and circuits known to be involved in resolving conflicts."

Bias on both sides
The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, Westen and his colleagues say.

Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained.

The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.

More here...

I have noticed that since the campaign of 2004, whenever anyone starts with "you can blame the (insert your opposing political party here) for the current problems...", I automatically disassociate that person from rational behavior or thought. They are simply caught up in the propoganda of (insert your favorite political party here) and are incapable of rational discourse about whatever subject was being discussed.

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
-- James Madison, speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 16, 1788

Happy Birthday...

2006-01-19T05:59:00.000-05:00

...Robert E. Lee...

"With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword..." - Robert E. Lee

As the World Turns...and Burns...

2006-01-12T07:36:00.000-05:00

I like Mike Shedlock. We don't always agree, usually on the viability of the dollar, but in his latest opinion, "Energy Crisis & the Politics of Oil" he is dead on.

The US is worried about "safety issues" while Japan buys half of the world's supply of LNG and China is ramping up, both without concern. Meanwhile the UK seems to be stuck in the same sorry boat with the US. By the time the US is ready to be signing deals with Australia I have an inkling the rates will not be as good as the 25 year deals negotiated by China.

If Australia was smart they would hold out for free trade deals on sheep and cattle and everything else they want too. After all, if the US does not take that natural gas, China or Japan or someone else surely will. Higher prices are the consequences of letting the world pass you by with trade deals while being preoccupied with silliness in Iraq.

It's high time the US stops trying to be the world's policeman (a role we clearly can not afford) and starts thinking more like pragmatic India: "We live in a very complex neighborhood, surrounded by governments and rulers of different orientation - communists, military dictatorships, monarchies ... we hope the US understands the difficult choices we have to make for the well-being of our people," India's ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, has said while referring to Washington's dislike for Iran.

The sooner the US (and the UK) learn that lesson the better off the US and the world will be. If we fail to learn that lesson, we risk a major world war over energy. Perhaps we are sowing the seeds of that war right now, attempting to police the world instead of securing energy deals for our future like everyone else. Now we are eyeing Iran. Will India and China and Russia stand idly by if we strike Iran? Do we want to find out?

The rest of the article here...

Our government is bent on either world domination or the complete destruction of the American Republic. There can be no other explanation. The safety and security issues have been proven false and they were never justification in the first place, for the attack on American liberties.

"I see,... and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is advancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the States, and the consolidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic; and that, too, by constructions which, if legitimate, leave no limits to their power... It is but too evident that the three ruling branches of [the Federal government] are in combination to strip their colleagues, the State authorities, of the powers reserved by them, and to exercise themselves all functions foreign and domestic."
-- Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, 1825. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 16:146

$150/Barrel Oil and Global Thermo-Nuclear War

2006-01-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

You might as well get used to the idea, because this administration is bent on the destruction of the United States. They have borrowed on the souls of our children and payment is about to come due. Whether you believe the media and their cock-a-mamey story about Iranian Nuclear facilities or you are more attuned to the recent announcement by the Federal Reserve to stop publishing M3 data and what that means, we are headed for war, first with Iran and then with China and Russia.

By now your saying to yourself (and me) "David, you have lost it....gone 'round the pipe'...you're a few sandwiches short of a picnic...etc...."

Well lets look at a few facts:

1. The dollar has lost 96% of its value since the inception of the Federal Reserve.
2. In March, Iran, a major supplier and dealer of world oil, is going to open its Oil Bourse (unless we invade and stop it first).
3. At the same time The Federal Reserve is going to stop reporting M3, the major indicatory of the size of the money supply.
4. Since the dollar is the reserve currency for the world (but not for much longer), any destabilization of it will have global affects.
5. Russia and China are heavily invested in Iran and not likely to just stand by and let Bush get away with ruining their investments.

When (if we don't invade) Iran begins selling oil only for Euros, the fraud of the American dollar will be exposed and the dollar will not be worth a Continental. There will be a global reset of currency alignments and economies and governments will fall. If we don't invade, then $150/barrel oil is just the starting point. It will go up dramitcally from there. If we do invade then the government may be able to hold the price in the high hundreds for as long as they can resist the rest of the world trying to stop them, but in the end the dollar and the United States are toast.

Ed Haas has more on this:

Is it mere coincidence that the Fed will begin hiding M-3 the same month that Iran will launch its Iran Oil Bourse, or is there a direct threat to the stability of the U.S. dollar, the U.S. economy, and the U.S. standard of living? Are Americans being set up for a collapse in our economy that will make the Great Depression of the 1930’s look like a bounced check? If you cannot or will not make the value and stability of the U.S. currency of personal importance, if you are unwilling to demand from your elected officials, an immediate abolishment of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the fiat money scheme that the banking cartel has used for nearly a century now to keep our government and our people in a state of perpetual debt, than you are faced with but two alternatives, abject poverty, or invading Iran.

The plans to invade Iran are unspoken, but unfolding before our very eyes. The media has been reporting on Iran more often, and increasingly harshly. For the U.S. government to justify invading Iran, it must first begin to phase out the War in Iraq, which it is already doing. Next, it must portray the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as a threat to the region and the world. Finally, once naive American people are convinced the “weapons of mass destruction” that were to be found in Iraq are actually in Iran, coupled with the almost daily media coverage of Iran’s nuclear power / weapons program aspirations, and what we will soon have on our hands is another fabricated war that will result in tens of thousands of civilian lives being lost, all because the political elected pawns in Washington DC lack the discipline to return our currency to a gold or silver standard, end the relationship with the foreign banking cartel called the Federal Reserve, and limit the activities of the U.S. government to those articulated in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution for the United States of America.

When a wayward and corrupt fiscal policy and fiat currency, coupled with runaway government spending, forces a nation to only be able to sustain the value of its currency with bullets, the citizenry of the country involved in wars primarily to sustain its currency have historically first became slaves to their government, and then to the nations that finally conquer them. If you question the validity of such a premise, or whether it could happen to the United States of America, study the fall of the Roman Empire. If you read the right books on the subject, you’ll quickly discover that towards the end of the Roman reign, the Roman Empire was doing exactly what America is doing today; attempting to sustain a failed fiat money system with bullets.

*********************************************

If the United States invades Iran, or if Israel starts military actions by launches missiles at Iran’s nuclear power facilities, which then opens the door for the United States to intervene, most Americans will believe that our military actions in Iran will be to defend freedom and liberty while spreading democracy, when the truth is that we’ll be fighting a war in Iran because of our nation’s relationship with the Federal Reserve, a so-called bank that is not owned by the federal government, maintains no reserve, and isn’t a bank at all, but a cartel. Just like our war in Iraq, Americans and foreigners will die in battle so that the historical power bankers and brokers; cartel members such as Rothschild, Morgan, Lehman, Lizard, Schrader, Lobe, Kuhn, and Rockefeller to name a few, can continue collecting interest on every single U.S. coin and dollar bill in circulation, while controlling the U.S. Congress to the extent that the U.S. taxpayer becomes the collateral and lender of last resort to cover bad loans and unpaid debts that these institutions create by loaning money to third world countries, some of which are devout enemies of the United States. Remember the $400 billion savings & loan bailout approved by the U.S. Congress during the Reagan Administration? America is still paying for it – you and me, and so will our children and grandchildren.

We can avoid this, but only if the government fesses up about the Federal Reserve and ends this fiat currency. If we go by the Constitution and return to the bi-metal standard that is prescribed by law, we can avoid a world war. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it is preferable to 2000 spf sunblock and living underground.

But don't count on it. This adminstration and this congress have shown themselves to be more corrupt than any other in the history of America. They will jump from the sinking ship, taking as many of their toys as they can carry, but they have shown no interest in protecting Americans.

Faux Christians and Faux Patriots...

2006-01-04T09:57:00.000-05:00

...Many of them are the same. This post is libel to upset a few of my readers. But, they need to be upset. Sometimes it takes a two-by-four to the brain to get it to work properly.

Christians are in a dilemma They can't forsake their Lord and Savior to worship the state and expect to get to heaven. After all, Jesus is an Anarchist. Jesus mixed it up with and mostly ignored the state, and its mandates for all of his life. Eventually being killed by that state for nothing more than preaching peace and worship of the Lord. You see the state doesn't like competition for worship. Yet today's Christians either have forgotten why their ancestors came to this country and some of the basis for this country's origins or are so poorly educated as to not have known to begin with. Many were fleeing religious tyranny. And the Constitution included protections for any method of worship, as long as it did not infringe on the inalienable rights of others. Pretty simple. Yet, modern Christians are so disorganized on the Word, that there are several dozen variations of Christian churches, each with its own specific twist on the Word. Some of these Christians are like Judas and betray the Lord for money. These you find in the churches that protect their tax-exempt status by refusing to compare the Bible's teachings to the those of the state. Such things are against state doctrine and not allowed. These Christians worship the state more than they do the Lord.

Then there are the ones like Peter, who thrice denied Christ. They will go to church and worship with the congregation. They sing hymns and go to Bible study. Yet in their day to day life they act counter to the teachings of the Bible. They deny the Lord more than thrice a day. Notice I said the Bible and not the "church". The Bible is the Word, not the interpretations of some manipulator who can be shown to favor the state over his Lord. This is an important distinction. "You shall know them by their actions..." Our president falls into this latter category. He not only rejects the laws of God, he rejects the laws of man that he agreed to when he took his oath of office. Why today's Christians aren't demanding his impeachment I cannot explain. Except that they worship him over God. Go figure...

Now onto Faux Patriots. When I was a Boy Scout, more than three decades ago, we learned about respect for the flag. We learned how it was to be presented, in public, at different ceremonies, how to properly fly and lower it, how to honor the dead with it, how to take it down at dusk, how to fold it properly. Proper flag etiquette is actually codified in the US statutes. Technically, this makes violations of the code a crime. Fortunately for most 'Faux Patriots', these laws are ignored to enforce laws that infringe on basic rights and freedoms of Americans. Right after 9-11, there was a flurry of faux patriotism. People bought flags to adorn their cars. They flew flags at their home, at work and on their desk. They put flag bumper stickers on their cars. They wore flag apparel, coats, vests, bikinis and flag pins. They gave those things as gifts. And not a one of them could tell you how disrespectful to the flag it was. Now I have put my flags away, because of the demise of America. I no longer stand or say 'the pledge'. About the only flag I fly anymore is a Gadsen or a Culpepper, or sometimes the 1st Navy Jack or a Confederate Battle Flag (the south is gonna rise again, ya know...). And if the statists manage to get an anti-flag burning amendment through, I will be burning one of mine in defiance to state authoritarianism and first amendment violations. You see, true patriotism is not worshiping your government, but protecting your country from your government.

Consider...

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918) -- Theodore Roosevelt

When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart. (Journals, 1824) -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let me label you as they may. -- Mark Twain

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair. -- H.L. Mencken

Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. -- Herman Goering

I come to this post after receiving a Christmas gift (a flag in the guise of a fleece blanket or throw) and reading a rant by Mike Rogers over at LewRockwell.com. I found it interesting, in that a few years before 9-11 I went in search of a Flag pin that had 50 stars. They're harder to find than you think. But find one, I did (really, Mike!!). Mike's article also brought to mind all the flags I collected that had fallen off of cars in the months after 9-11. Many of them were being run over by other vehicle with flags similarly displayed. You know the ones, hung on a plastic staff that clipped to a rolled up window on your vehicle. One reason this is an improper way to fly the flag is the unreliable mounting method. Per US Code:

Title 4, Chapter 1, Sec 175(b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.

Yet these Americans will claim all manner of partiotic intentions to explain their 'faux pas'. Heehehe...they crack me up.

Americans have come to rationalize any manner of betrayal, be it to their God or their country.

Some of my favorite Christians, who defy the state and show their patriotism, are, Gene Chapman, who takes the battle to federal and state government buildings, in an attempt to get the Faux Christians working there to see the error of their ways; Fred Smart, who goes to the grassroots of his area and sets up meetings and discussions of how to overcome the state and its interference in Constituional law and religeous freedom and who has a numerical understanding of the Word that borders on genius; and Vox Day, whose articles are published on WorldNetDaily and whose blog is read from around the world...Voxie has Moxie!!!

Go and read. Follow their links to other like minded true Christians and Patriots. Learn and turn away from the state that would feed you to the lions for the sake of its bread an circuses...

In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees who fled from insurrection in San Domingo to Baltimore and Philadelphia, James Madison stood on the floor of the House to object saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
-- James Madison, 4 Annals of congress 179 (1794)

What Does Your Birthdate Mean???

2005-12-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

Your Birthdate: January ??

You have an extraordinary character - moral, responsible, and disciplined.
Your sincerity and honesty shine through in almost every situation.
Driven and focused, you rarely let your emotions get the better of you.
You're level headed and rational. People count on your to look at things objectively.

Your strength: Your unwavering loyalty and ethics

Your weakness: Your rock solid stubbornness

Your power color: Navy blue

Your power symbol: Shield

Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Proverbs 17:28:

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

On the Brink of Destruction...

2005-12-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

The Free Market News Network has a well rounded group of contributors. You can find views from almost every politcal perspective on their site. Mostly you will find libertarian/austrian thought to be the mainstream, but you will also find socialist commnetary and pro-state comentary. I believe they do this to promote discussion and debate. This is the way a healthy country resolves ideological differences.

In a recent commentary Noel Gibeson asks: "As a people concerned with civil liberties we may want to ask ourselves one important question. In the real world and not the theoretical world, are we willing to sacrifice our family members in the next terrorist attack for our desire to have greater freedom and liberty during the rest of the year?"

Tom Knapp responds :

The terrorists are thriving on America's sacrifice of liberty -- and every such sacrifice makes it easier for them to up the ante and profit a little more.

"I have concluded," writes Gibeson, "that some security is necessary even if it involves giving up a little liberty, at least until terrorism and the underlying reasons that prompt terrorism have been successfully dealt with."

Wrong question ... wrong answer. There is no "balance" between liberty and security. The latter is impossible without the former. Every sacrifice of liberty makes the next attack more desirable, more practical and more productive for its would-be perpetrators.

1, 2, 3...WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!!

More here...

Devvy Kidd covers the unconstitutional act of paying for poor people to heat their homes...

Congress continues to steal from the public treasury for votes with the full support of President Bush. Earlier this month, Bush said he fully supports a House plan for an extra $1 billion to help poor families pay heating bills this winter, an amount Democrats – surprise, surprise – say isn't enough. Our "compassionate conservative" president also said he supports $2.2 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, which spent the same amount to help poor and elderly Americans pay their heating bills.

and...

Recently, I watched a segment on the tube showcasing a family in Indiana. The husband works at an auto plant and makes roughly $50,000 per year. The mother stays home with three children. Their predicted heating bills this winter will run so high, they say they need federal assistance to pay them. This family's problem isn't unique. However, the federal government has no constitutional authority to pay their heating bills, either in full or in part. So what can be done to assist those in need?

The answer here...

Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. — St. George Tucker, in his edition of 'Blackstone's Commentaries,' 1:300 (1803).

No truer words were ever spoken...

2005-12-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

"How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Escape From New York...

2005-12-03T06:43:00.000-05:00

...if you can!!!

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Friday that police had a constitutional right to randomly search passengers' bags on the New York City subway to deter terrorist attacks.

Uh...right. I can't find police powers discussed anywhere in the constitution. And the police, being an organization, have no rights, only individuals have rights (that is correct kiddies, there are no such thing as state rights, either).

Don't 'cha just love federal judges making decisions on constitutionality when they haven't even read the thing!

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Anybody see any exceptions for New York City?

And don't give me that "We live in different times today" crap. Hell, the people who started this country would be called terrorists today. Principles don't change...unless you are unprincipled...then the sky is the limit.

"That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
-- George Mason, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776

"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Draft Kentucky Resolutions, 1798. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 17:380

Something else I already knew...

2005-11-29T15:28:00.000-05:00

You scored as Serenity (from Firefly). You like to live your own way and do not enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you that you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.

Coming on December 1, 2005:

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? The Sequel

Serenity (from Firefly)

88%

Millennium Falcon (from Star Wars)

75%

SG-1 (from Stargate)

69%

Nebuchadnezzar (from The Matrix)

63%

Galactica (from Battlestar: Galactica)

63%

Enterprise D (from Star Trek)

56%

Bebop (from Cowboy Bebop)

56%

Moya (from Farscape)

56%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

"It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil."
-- Friedrich A. Hayek

Gone...but not forgotten...

2005-11-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ok...we haven't been around much. We are relocating to a new "gulch". We are almost in. Once we get settled there should be more bloggin' goin' on. In the meantime visit the links on the blogroll. Most of them are good eggs, and they all have something to say.

One thing I need to make clear. Liberty is only for those who actually want it. If you don't want it, you won't do the things neccesary to achieve it and you won't be free. If you do want it, then no one in the world will keep it from you. It is that simple. Too many times I hear liberty minded folk asking for government or society to give them freedom. If freedom is something that can be given, then it can also be taken away. Remember, no one can enslave you without your permission. Take freedom for yourself. Set an example for others and stop "trying to change the world".

"... the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or to forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because in the opinions of others to do so would be wise or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise. "
-- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty [1859]

You scored as Captain Jack Sparrow...

2005-11-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

Roguish,quick-witted, and incredibly lucky, Jack Sparrow is a pirate who sometimes ends up being a hero, against his better judgement. Captain Jack looks out for #1, but he can be counted on (usually) to do the right thing. He has an incredibly persuasive tongue, a mind that borders on genius or insanity, and an incredible talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it. Maybe its brains, maybe its genius, or maybe its just plain luck. Or maybe a mixture of all three.

Captain Jack Sparrow

88%

William Wallace

79%

James Bond, Agent 007

71%

Lara Croft

71%

Maximus

71%

El Zorro

71%

Neo, the "One"

67%

Batman, the Dark Knight

67%

The Amazing Spider-Man

63%

Indiana Jones

63%

The Terminator

50%

Thanks to The Anarchangel for the link...

"Beg your pardon, mam... I'm a pirate, and proud to be called one..." Robert Shaw as "Red Ned" Lynch, Captain of "The Blarney Cock" - Swashbucklers

Liberty ain't easy...

2005-11-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

Ryan McMaken, at LewRockwell.com reviews Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800. You might think that so soon after the birth of the nation, things would be relatively peaceful, liberty would prevail and all would be well with the grand experiment. You would be wrong...

In 1796, when Washington was more than happy to leave the troubles of political dissent to someone else, the Federalists had become the target of significant public criticism from Jefferson and the Republicans. Events had helped to solidify party cooperation. Hamilton’s taxes, it should be remembered, were the result of a Federalist-supported treaty (negotiated by Federalist Chief Justice John Jay) approving the use of federal taxes to pay off British creditors from the war. The treaty infuriated supporters of local sovereignty and legislative primacy, including Jefferson. According to Beard, Hamilton was stoned in the streets while attempting to defend the treaty and "Jay was burned in effigy far and wide amid howls of derision from enraged Republicans." Americans had begun to experience the fruits of the new constitution. And many didn’t like what was happening.

Later, in an effort to destroy the Republican threat, Federalist newspapers, emboldened by the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, had begun to demand that "traitors must be silent," and the Federalist Gazette of the United States decreed that "He that is not for us is against us. It is patriotism to write in favor of government – it is sedition to write against it."

Jefferson, now regularly called a traitor by half the newspapers in the land, had had enough. Ferling recounts Jefferson’s impassioned plea against an unchecked federal government:

Jefferson took to his desk at Monticello…and wrote that the framers of the Constitutional Convention – delegates who represented twelve separate states, not the nation – had formed a "compact" to vest the national government with certain explicit powers but leave the "residuary mass" of the people’s "rights to their own self-government" within the states. Yet, Jefferson asked, who now was to determine if the national government had overstepped the bounds assigned to it in the Constitution? No "common judge" existed, and it would be ludicrous for federal authorities to be the "final judge of the extent of power delegated to itself." Each state would have to decide. Each state, he insisted, must have the authority to declare improper steps taken by the national government to be "void and of no force" within its jurisdiction. The vice president had drafted a doctrine of state nullification.

Knowing the rage these writings would produce in the minds of Federalists, Jefferson cloaked his personal support of these doctrines in secrecy. But, according to Ferling, Jefferson was confident that most Americans had never desired the kind of national government that the Federalists had been trying to impose on the public for a decade. He believed that time was running out for the Federalists.

Well, at least the wealthy...

2005-10-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

...can get some kind of justice in this country...

...unlike you and I or Irwin Schiff, Larken Rose and countless others...

Judge Orders IRS to Pay Buffett's Firm
Friday October 28, 1:15 pm ET
By Kevin O'Hanlon, Associated Press Writer

Judge Orders IRS to Pay Buffett's Firm More Than $23M for Disallowing Certain Deductions LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A federal judge on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to pay billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company more than $23 million in taxes and interest for disallowing certain deductions.

More here...

"We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without a tribute."
-- Thomas Paine

Still here...

2005-10-28T11:31:00.000-04:00

After the storm, the Verizon Wireless internet connectivity continued to deteriorate. Yesterday it was all but gone. I was able to connect to the local cells but routing through them was another issue. Verizon Wireless for south Florida is switched out of Fort Lauderdale, and they had some of the worst of the storm.

This morning things have improved and we are back on-line.

We are keeping an eye on Beta. Although the forecast has been for it to cross the central American isthmus, it continues to meander north. The UKMET model actually has it tracking up to the Yucatan Peninsula, where Wilma beat the heck out of Cancun before turning toward south Florida.

Peggy Noonan, sees the wheels coming off the trolley...(link found on Grabbe)

"Do people fear the wheels are coming off the trolley? Is this fear widespread? A few weeks ago I was reading Christopher Lawford's lovely, candid and affectionate remembrance of growing up in a particular time and place with a particular family, the Kennedys, circa roughly 1950-2000. It's called "Symptoms of Withdrawal." At the end he quotes his Uncle Teddy. Christopher, Ted Kennedy and a few family members had gathered one night and were having a drink in Mr. Lawford's mother's apartment in Manhattan. Teddy was expansive. If he hadn't gone into politics he would have been an opera singer, he told them, and visited small Italian villages and had pasta every day for lunch. "Singing at la Scala in front of three thousand people throwing flowers at you. Then going out for dinner and having more pasta." Everyone was laughing. Then, writes Mr. Lawford, Teddy "took a long, slow gulp of his vodka and tonic, thought for a moment, and changed tack. 'I'm glad I'm not going to be around when you guys are my age.' I asked him why, and he said, 'Because when you guys are my age, the whole thing is going to fall apart.' "
Mr. Lawford continued, "The statement hung there, suspended in the realm of 'maybe we shouldn't go there.' Nobody wanted to touch it. After a few moments of heavy silence, my uncle moved on."

Lawford thought his uncle might be referring to their family--that it might "fall apart." But reading, one gets the strong impression Teddy Kennedy was not talking about his family but about . . . the whole ball of wax, the impossible nature of everything, the realities so daunting it seems the very system is off the tracks.

And--forgive me--I thought: If even Teddy knows . . ."

More here...

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."
-- Alexander Tyler

Warp Power Restored!!!

2005-10-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

Commercial power came back on at 11AM. Proceeding with yard clean-up and final packing...

Some Video...

2005-10-25T08:09:00.000-04:00

Here is some video that I shot out the back door...I uploaded it last night and it has been viewed 394 times so far, but I couldn't get back into to blogger (or anywhere else, for that matter) to post a link to it. If this works, I have another on that I'll upload later today...

Hurricane Wilma Footage1 (AVI format, ~3.5 MB)

Looks like we made it!!

2005-10-24T12:45:00.000-04:00

Wilma is battering the east coast of Florida on its way out into the Atlantic. The winds on the backside of this thing were incredible. Much stronger than what we saw from Charley, last year.

No damage to the house. Lots of debris around though. No commercial power. Running on generator right now.

Marco Island took a direct hit. Haven't heard anything out of Everglades City, but they were also in the path. Naples is flooded and the mayor has the place closed down. Fort Myers Beach has some minor damage, but appears to have fared rather well. The airport (just a few miles from here) recorded an 82mph gust. 80 mph winds were also measured over in Cape Coral.

We'll see what images the news people come up with.

Internet access is spotty, so updates may be slow...

Looks like a lot of routers are down...

I squished a frog...

2005-10-24T05:40:00.000-04:00

... I think...

I was goin' out to the truck to get some tools and went sprawlin'... damn frogs...

Power out....

2005-10-24T05:11:00.000-04:00

It had been going off and on for about an hour...seems to be off permanent now....

ZOWIE WOWIE!!!!

2005-10-24T04:46:00.000-04:00

The storm is about 40 miles off shore of Marco Island... The eye is now about the size of Collier County... It's big kiddies.... We are within five miles of the collier county line and I expect the eye to pass within 20 miles of us (Immokolee)...

Can't sleep anymore...the wind is doin' that lion growl thing... I always thought that was wierd in "Twister", but it definately does it...under the worst conditions...

More as it we get it....

Hurricane Blog Continued

2005-10-23T20:24:00.000-04:00

At the 8pm advisory Hurricane Wilma is 1 mph below a cat 3........
Hurricane force winds extend up to 85 miles from the eye, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 230 miles from the eye.
Landfall is estimated at this time to be around 6am. With the tropical storm force winds begining around midnight.
Hurricane Wilma has also sped up, with its speed estimated at 15 mph at this time. It is expected to continue to gain in speed over night.

Estimated landfall is approximately 40 mi south of our location.
Sounds like it could be an interesting night.
We will continue to update until we lose internet connection, and hopefully we won't lose it, but anything is possible.
Hopefully it move a little further south and make landfall over a mostly uninhabited area of the everglades.

Hurricane Blog 'Fore...

2005-10-23T14:14:00.000-04:00

...as in a'fore it gets here...

NBC-2 is airing the Subway 500 (though sometimes it is in a little box in the corner while they continue their hurricane coverage) so I guess I will give them a break.

Wilma has increased forward speed and is still a strong catagory 2 storm. I am seeing higher cloud tops forming around the center and what looks to be defining wall clouds forming. This could indicate some strengthing may be occurring. The water temps where she is crossing are around 84 degrees with some 86 temps nearer shore. The timeline is for tropical storm force winds to be here around midnight and increasing until landfall. Tropical storm force winds are expected to reach up all the way to the I4 corridor (Orlando and such).

Hurricane force winds are expected within 70 miles of the eye (we are within 40 miles of the expected arrival area).

Obviously, if it is dark I won't be able to get much footage, but as soon as I have light, I will be getting video of whatever is going on around here and get it posted. Hopefully my internet connection will stay up. I have been contacted by a ham in Orlando who is willing to make regular contact with me. If I can't get anything out any other way, I will pass info onto him. He posts at The Claire Files Forum, so updates will also be available there.

TTFN

UPDATE:

FEMA retards (from Washinton, no less) are on the TV right now threatening all kinds of hate and discontent if evacuation rules are not followed. Hey buddy, come to my house with your attitude and you will have an attitude adjustment applied, ...with prejudice...

Hurricane Blog Treee...

2005-10-23T08:56:00.000-04:00

Well, the JBT's have decided to put some psycological pressure on the masses... Roadblocks, curfews, bridge closings....are in effect...well in advance of the storm. If you want to go to a shelter, you must have ID and get searched and then remain there until they say otherwise...

The storm left the Yucatan Peninsula yesterday, but hasn't accelerated much yet. The forcast arrival for this area is sometime tomorrow morning. Hurricane force winds extend 50-75 miles from the eye, so we will probably see them if it hits the coast (it's only 100 miles to Key West from here, as the crow flies...). When Charlie (a smaller storm) came ashore at Punta Gorda (about 30 miles from here) we saw ~60mph winds, which took down signs, trees and power poles just blocks from us. The power was out here for five days.

More as it happens...We'll be making a fuel/food run today...(not necessary, just goodies)

I'll be shooting video, as I did during Charlie...blog buddy (really the king of bloggers) Doug Kenline has agreed to host the videos for me...Thanks Dougie!!! I'll post links to them here and doug will probably have links as well....

The End of the Bush Administration???

2005-10-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

From the Free Market News Network... (the two articles on Constitutional Night Fright)

"...Prosecutor Fitzgerald had actually made his indictments available to the administration but that “U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales had resigned rather than serve them, as follows, “[He] was shocked while examining 22 indictments from Federal Grand Juries apparently including Bush himself. Gonzales swiftly disqualified himself refusing Bush's order to on the spot firing of Patrick Fitzgerald. … Bush ordered FBI to make fake Capitol "terrorist" scare to force evacuation. Democrats, however, refused to leave. Member of Joint Chiefs of Staff says he wants to go to arrest Commander-in-Chief Bush for treason. But Bush loyalists in top Military brass threaten to arrest brave senior General who is supported by an Admiral. Some in military, nevertheless, ordering monopoly press to quickly "tell the truth now" or suffer dire consequences. ...”

and...

“For all practical purposes, governing the nation has stopped at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as aides deal with an increasingly despondent President, mounting scandals and defecting dissidents from the Ship of State. … White House insiders say George W. Bush's mood swings have increased to the point where meetings with the President must be cancelled, schedules shifted and plans changed to keep a bitter, distracted leader from the public eye. ‘He's like a zombie some days, walking around in a trance,’ says one aide who, for obvious reasons, asks not to be identified. ‘Other times he launches into angry outbursts, cussing out anybody who gets near him.’”

"That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
-- George Mason, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776

Hurricane Blog Continued

2005-10-21T23:26:00.000-04:00

Well I guess that I will do the 11pm update, since I am up anyway.
I will not even try to carry on the rant about our local nbc affiliate, except to say that they sound as if they are the blind leading the dumb.........

Wilma is doing the sit'n'spin thing still. The WPTB (weather powers that be) think that the storm will considerably weaken overnight, then make the turn out over the gulf. The gulf still has very warm water, warmer than what is required for a storm like this to feed on.

We will be doing some other preperations tomorrow. We do not want anything left outside to become a missle! My worry is from all the construction sites around our house, I hope that there is nothing major left lying around.

Hurricane Blog Too...

2005-10-21T17:38:00.000-04:00

That's right kiddies...HEEEE'sss BBACCKKK!!!

Ok the news as we know it right now...

The storm still has not hit the Yucatan... It is sitting on top of Cozumel, where it has been for about the last four hours or so...
Cancun has been experiencing unrelenting hurricane force winds for eight hours or more... along with a lot of rain. The storm's last tracks may be indicating a turn north...along the coast of the Yucatan penisula... If that is the case it may not go ashore at all. We can only wait and see. If it is moving north, albeit slowly, it may be signalling the expected turn to the northeast. Once it makes that turn it should accelerate, with the help of upper level winds, and those same winds will hinder any intensification. That being said it could still hit here as a Cat-1 to Cat-3. I don't expect it to be any stronger than that.

The National Hurricane Center has moved the center of probability north to around Naples, for initial shore impact. One good thing about the NHC forecast line, the storm almost never sticks to this line, so the safest place to be is on the line or outside of the cone of probabilty. That is if you believe a direct hit has any meaning. I don't. Not anymore.

Here is a little test. Go and tell someone who has been side swiped by a hurricane or tornado (my childhood), or someone who took a direct hit from a Cat 1 storm or and F1 tornado, that it could have been worse. Then report back here how your jaw feels. I get so tired of people saying " OH, it was only a Cat 1, ...No problem!!" or "Looks like you'll get off easy, it is only Cat 1!" All those in that catagory can go stuff themselves. Can you prepare for it,..Yes!!! Does it help? Sometimes yes,...sometimes it makes no difference whatsoever. Every situation is different, every storm is different.

Ok I guess I should hammer my favorite local TV network, NBC-2.

On the noon broadcast they made an attempt to "define" mandatory evacuation. [NBC-2 rant mode on]

It was....laughable. Really these people need to devote a segment, say three mintues or so, about how all this mandatory stuff is crap.

The current definition is (according to NBC-2): "mandatory evacuation means that you will be on your own and at risk if anything bad happens..." Really??? You gotta be kinding me!!! Forget that the courts have already ruled that no one has the right to expect help from police, fire, 911 or anybody else, so many times that they could fill a phonebook with the rulings! Forget that my property rights make your "mandatory" evacuation unenforceable. They fianlly did admit that it also means that "if" you abandon your property (like on the barrier islands or Fort Myers Beach) you will not be allowed back until the "authorities" give the ok.

Ok, NBC-2 is part of the problem, I know that. I can't expect them to stop being a lap dog just because peoples lives and property are at stake. I guess I am just a cold, hard, callouse bastard.

Oh, and could you guys stop playing with all the 'cool' features you have on your new doppler software and just show me where the damn weather is? Christ!!! The clutter from all the doo-dads is screwing up being able to see where it is rainin' and where it ain't!!

Ok, [/nbc-2 rant mode off]

Anyway, they have an evacuation in progress of collier county communities that are south and west of US41. Fort Myers beach is also 'suggested' to evacuate...

Ok.. that's all I have for now...more as it comes avaiable...

Hurricane Blog....

2005-10-20T17:30:00.000-04:00

Blah, Blah, Blah....

But first...

My Fred Flintstone imitation....

WIILLLLLLMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Cool, huh?

The genuflecting by the media is incredible. Countering that, the governor is taking this very seriously. I especially like how he is trying to limit FEMA's involvement, at least until he figures out how much money he wants. Hehehe....

The media has been, of course, giving 98% coverage to the storm. It pretty much proves there is nothing much going on in the world and runs kinda counter to their alternating "DON'T PANIC" and "PANIC has been ADVISED" stands. Funnier than hell on the TV ( I'm watching NBC-2 outta Fort Myers).

Ok, the facts...

The storm is still down south of Cuba, pretty much headed for the Yucatan Channel. I know, I know, they are saying it is going to hit the Yucatan and depower. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I can only report what I see on the various satellite feeds, pressure maps and consult with my crystal ball ( I also channel Eleanor Roosevelt, but she doesn't seem to be interested in this storm;keeps mumbling about Hilliary getting laid more than her or something...Hey it's kinda muffled...). In the last hour it has moved mainly north and it ain't to the Yucatan yet. Now, this storm has some wobble so it may wobble on over there and have some issues with land. It could also be starting the expected turn a little early and shoot right out the Straits of Florida with a little hello to Cuba. We will probably get some rain and some wind. If it comes ashore near here, there will be flooding, water damage and wind damage, as well as large power outages.

F-A-C-T...Fast...Accurate...Consise...True...

...That is the way news should be reported...but you ain't gonna get that outta any major news agency in the USA today...

The big point is these people don't know where this this storm is going to go, but can't say that without spinning it "for the moment", as it were. What makes good news? Confusion!!! Well at least to the nimrods sitting in the production booth at NBC-2. And I'm not just picking on NBC-2, they are just my favorite target because I want them to improve the most....Hehehe....

Seriously, I have been thinking about starting a blog just to analyze spin and disinformation on that particular station, on a daily basis. I was going to call it NBC-2 Sucks!!!. If anybody wants to run with it, this idea is not claimed as "intellectual property" and can be claimed without peril (at least from me).

Oh, one more thing, if you are in south Florida and plan on staying put, make sure you have sufficient food, water, guns and ammunition to stay and defend your property. King George is just itching for a reason to declare martial law, start fixing prices and start a civil war. Lets make sure we can take care of any random crime issues at the local level...

You guys are cool...

HAH!!!

2005-10-16T10:28:00.000-04:00

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Phantom Flu ?

2005-10-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

In 1918, a virulent, never seen before, form of influenza seemed to suddenly appear. It seemed to kill within hours,
and spread around the world within days. It seemed to appear simultaneously all around the world. Its spread was faster than any then known means of human travel.

In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization warned of repeats of such a rapid and deadly pandemic, through such variants of influenza as SARS and Bird Flu. But without knowing what caused the 1918 pandemic or how it spread, how can the CDC or WHO make such a claim? Unless they already know something they are not telling.

As yet no one has been able to identify the actual medical cause of the 1918 Flu, with only a few samples of a "bird-like" virus taken from only several cadaver tissue samples. But no sample is complete. And those are only one or two samples from among the estimated 20 to 40 million people who seemed to die mysteriously almost overnight. The 1918 Flu spread faster and was more deadly, killing more people than even the Plague and Black Death of the middle ages. Why does no one talk about it?
more here...

Also check this out....
Bureaucrats love crises. Crises get their hearts racing. They will hold press conference after press conference and fill the air with a blizzard of white papers and meaningless data. Nothing will change - but in the case of the EU, the hope is no doubt that people will gradually forget this; the outfit that just recently couldn't figure out how to get rid of millions of female undergarments after it decided to enforce a boycott against Chinese manufacturing and instead almost ended up bankrupting its largest department stores. This is the outfit that couldn't write a constitution in less than 100 pages and couldn't get it passed anyway. This is the outfit where one whole layer of bureaucracy had to resign en masse about seven years ago because corruption was so endemic. This is the EU, folks. Now they will save us from bird flu.
More here...

That was weird...

2005-10-08T18:31:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, my template went away. The message said something about it being expired (dead?). When I went to the edit page, though, it was all there. Blogger just wouldn't publish it. So I selected a new template. Then I found that all my quotations and my blogroll were gone. Bummer... but I guess I can rebuild them.

Wonder what that was...

"It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil."
-- Friedrich A. Hayek

I Aim to Misbehave...

2005-10-02T07:26:00.000-04:00

Malcolm Reynolds tells us very clearly why this is important in the newly released movie, "Serenity".

There is a pretty good discussion, and reviews of the movie, going on over at "The Claire Files" forum. Look for the WARNING: SPOILERS... thread.

All in all, I like the movie, but it isn't as good as the series. Hopefully, interest in the movie will regenerate a desire to continue the series (though I really don't want another movie if they can't keep it closer to the feel of the "Firefly" series).

I will miss the Shepard and Wash if a new series is developed, but maybe we can see them again in flashback sequences, like in "Out of Gas".

Still, I enjoyed the movie, will probably go see it in the theater again and will definately buy the DVD when it comes out.

"That's what governments are for...to get in a man's way..." - Captain Reynolds of the Firefly class transport, "Serenity"

Sometimes it seems...

2005-09-17T21:37:00.000-04:00

...hard to talk to your children about the way the world is. Sometimes I didn't know where to begin. Sometimes I didn't know WHEN to begin.

Sometimes you just have to answer questions...

Len, over at One in a Row, shows us how. Good job Len!!!

Explanations
Earlier today, my daughter asked me what I thought about the New Orleans gun confiscations. I was in a chatty mood, and I'm afraid that she got a little more than she bargained for. I spoke for almost 3 hours. I spoke of the slippery slope, of sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves. I spoke of bread and circuses, and the Dream That Was Rome. I spoke of how those that are in power do not work for the good of the people, they work to remain in power. I spoke of Ruby Ridge and Waco, gulags and concentration camps. I spoke of jihad and the Crusades. I spoke of Leonidas of Sparta and Horatio at the bridge.

The rest here...

"Whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them; nor does it follow from this, that all promiscuously must go into actual service on every occasion. The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle; and when we see many men disposed to practice upon it, whenever they can prevail, no wonder true republicans are for carefully guarding against it."
--Richard Henry Lee, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.

We Don't Need Bushes and Kerrys, We Need Davy Crockett...

2005-09-16T07:16:00.000-04:00

As I watched King George last night, giving his FDR-like wellfare speech in the evacuated Jackson Square, I was reminded of this story from the life of Davy Crockett. Davy's argument is just as valid today as it was in his time. Unfortunately, the sheeple of America can no longer wipe their ass without government approved toilet paper and a government goon to make sure they do it right.

Thanks to LewRockwell.com for reprinting this important lesson...

I was one day in the lobby of the House of Representatives when a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support – rather, as I thought, because it afforded the speakers a fine opportunity for display than from the necessity of convincing anybody, for it seemed to me that everybody favored it. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose. Everybody expected, of course, that he was going to make one of his characteristic speeches in support of the bill. He commenced:

"Mr. Speaker – I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him. This government can owe no debts but for services rendered, and at a stipulated price. If it is a debt, how much is it? Has it been audited, and the amount due ascertained? If it is a debt, this is not the place to present it for payment, or to have its merits examined. If it is a debt, we owe more than we can ever hope to pay, for we owe the widow of every soldier who fought in the War of 1812 precisely the same amount. There is a woman in my neighborhood, the widow of as gallant a man as ever shouldered a musket. He fell in battle. She is as good in every respect as this lady, and is as poor. She is earning her daily bread by her daily labor; but if I were to introduce a bill to appropriate five or ten thousand dollars for her benefit, I should be laughed at, and my bill would not get five votes in this House. There are thousands of widows in the country just such as the one I have spoken of, but we never hear of any of these large debts to them. Sir, this is no debt. The government did not owe it to the deceased when he was alive; it could not contract it after he died. I do not wish to be rude, but I must be plain. Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much of our own money as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."

He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.

Like many other young men, and old ones, too, for that matter, who had not thought upon the subject, I desired the passage of the bill, and felt outraged at its defeat. I determined that I would persuade my friend Crockett to move a reconsideration the next day.

Previous engagements preventing me from seeing Crockett that night, I went early to his room the next morning and found him engaged in addressing and franking letters, a large pile of which lay upon his table.

I broke in upon him rather abruptly, by asking him what devil had possessed him to make that speech and defeat that bill yesterday. Without turning his head or looking up from his work, he replied:

"You see that I am very busy now; take a seat and cool yourself. I will be through in a few minutes, and then I will tell you all about it."

He continued his employment for about ten minutes, and when he had finished he turned to me and said:

"Now, sir, I will answer your question. But thereby hangs a tale, and one of considerable length, to which you will have to listen."

I listened, and this is the tale which I heard:

More here...

There is nothing in the Constitution that allows congress to spend one penny on anything other than its enumeratred powers. Many think that the terms "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" grant carte blanche for congress to do as it wants. That was never the intent and such manipulation is a direct violation of the Constitution. As an act performed by the president or the legislature it is treason.

"Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction." (Letter of September 7, 1803 to Wilson Cary Nicholas).

But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years.
Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789

And Jefferson saw the error of the Supreme Court, early on...

At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Monsieur A. Coray, Oct 31, 1823

The people are waking up...

2005-09-12T07:22:00.000-04:00

Left wing, right wing...just different wings on the same bird of prey. 15 years ago I couldn't have believed much in the following article. I had been duped, since childhood, in believing the democrats and the communists were our enemy. The old create a monster game. Hell even before I gave up voting, I voted libertarian in the 2000 election, then when the ballot scandle put the whole thing in court, I was secretly relieved that Bush was selected by the court, rather than Gore.

Now I know better, of course. There hasn't been an honest election in this country for a long time. Maybe there never was. The Whiskey Rebellion happened too soon after the start of this country. Seems to have been a tyranny from the start.

Jack Kenny at LewRockwell.com goes after the loyalists (Torries)...

Anyway...enjoy...and think...

"If it weren’t so pathetic, it would be amusing. Bush loyalists will go to any length to blame anyone but George and the Republicans for anything that goes wrong in the government. The ironies abound. The same crowd that loves to preach "accountability" is scandalized by "finger pointing" whenever the Bush administration steps into what dear old Dad used to call "deep doodoo." Clearly, the buck doesn’t stop at the president’s desk anymore. This president spends the bucks too fast – faster than any president in history. Yet "conservatives" love him.

It must take a lot of faith to still believe that the prescription for curing our nation’s ills is to vote Republican. The party of Lincoln, Blinkin’ and Nod has held the White House for 24 of the last 36 years. It has controlled the Senate for most of the past 20 years, has held the House since Newtsie’s little "revolution" (oh, those Republican revolutionaries!) in 1994. All but two of the members of the current Supreme Court are Republican appointees. So the conservatives must be winning, right? I mean they must be busy rolling back "big government" programs till the federal government is about the size it was when Mr. Coolidge left office. They must be restoring a sound dollar, reigning in excess spending, eliminating "waste and fraud" and just generally giving us the kind of frugal, sensible government that Grandma knew, right?

Well, not exactly. Budgets are in the trillions, deficits in the hundreds of billions, the nation’s wealth and a considerable amount of its young blood is being squandered on a war we started by invading a country that didn’t attack us, in search of weapons of mass destruction that appear not to have been there. And the closest we have come to accountability is the Defense Secretary’s observation that "Stuff happens." Maybe this is the Forrest Gump administration.

Let us be blunt: There is not a shred of credibility left to the Grand Ol’ Party’s crusade against "big government." The "era of big government" has never been over, despite that white flag run up by Bill Clinton to the thunderous ovation from a Republican Congress, followed by a cover of the Weekly Standard, exulting: "We Win!" The GOP is surely the party of Pyrrhic victories."

More here...

UPDATE!

It seems Joe Plummer, at Strike-the-Root, has been thinking too...

Taking a serious look at government "wrong doing" is no easy task . . . . Not because the damning evidence is hard to find, but because the truth (once found) is very hard to swallow.

How does one reconcile the fact that we are being led into slavery (and to slaughter) by a group of pathological liars who, ironically, have been appointed to "protect us?" How does one come to grips with the fact there are still millions of Americans who believe there is a "good half" of the government and a "bad half?" . . . An intellectual twilight zone where "good" has nothing to do with the ACTIONS of elected officials and everything to do with whether or not they've dressed themselves in "blue" or "red."

As I began my journey into the bottomless pit of government tyranny and lies I was shocked to find things were MUCH worse than I had originally imagined. Even more upsetting, I came to understand that my 30 years of ignorant bliss had been carefully manufactured on an assembly line of distractions and disinformation. My ignorance had been no accident; it had literally been "by design."

After a few years of serious digging, I reached a point where I couldn't help but stand in awe at the amount of "dirt" I'd unearthed. I thought to myself "How the HELL can all of this be going on and so few know about it?" The logical answer came shortly thereafter: "It is only going on BECAUSE so few know about it."

What I had initially hoped was just a rare instance of wrongdoing, turned out to be standard operating procedure. What I hoped was just a new phenomenon (brought about under an exceedingly corrupt administration) turned out to be as old as history itself."

More here...

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."
-- Thomas Jefferson

We have met the enemy...

2005-09-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

My $0.02

2005-09-02T10:32:00.000-04:00

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "Go to hell – it's every man for himself.''

This about sums it up doesn't it? If you are unprepared to take care of yourself, don't expect anyone else to step up.
I cannot say that this was unexpected, if you expect the government, in any form, to help you.....you are living in a dream world. This is the most blantant example of this type of mentality.
Nothing that has occured in New Orleans was unexpected, even the levey collapse. There have been so many documentaries on this subject! Many that I have seen on PBS and other venues. Yet they did nothing.

They knew that the levies were only rated for a Catagory 3 hurricane, Katrina was a Catagory 5 when it was headed that way. Wouldn't it have made sense to bolster the levey system in advance of this storm? Yet they did nothing.

It was well known that the city sits below sea level, it was known that the storm was headed that way, it was known what could and would happen. Yet they did nothing.

Advising people to go to the Superdome was ludicrous! It is known that the power will go out, and that the Superdome sits near both the river and the lake. This advice was remenicent of herding people toward the shower rooms in the concentration camps.

People should be allowed to make their own choices, however they are also responsible for the concequences of those choices and should not expect anyone to show up and "save" them from themselves!

It is pitifully obvious that most people expect to do whatever they please, but then also expect not to held responsible.

The handwriting was engraved long ago on the wall, but the mentality of " it won't happen to me", " it won't happen here", coupled with " the government will take of it" sealed the fate of this disaster.

Waiting for the Spark...

2005-08-24T07:17:00.000-04:00

From The Daily Reckoning...

The great Yellowstone fire of 1988 awoke
the rangers to what "zero tolerance" had wrought. A small,
nondescript fire in June of that year, started by a
lightning bolt from a summer thunderstorm, inexplicably
grew to become a raging inferno. The destruction was
multiple orders of magnitude worse than anything ever seen
before. Prior to that year, the worst park fire on record
had consumed a mere 25,000 acres in 1886. This time, more
than 1.5 million acres burned.

The Forest Service has learned from the error of its ways,
and is now working feverishly to correct the problem.
Vigorous policies of deadwood culling, underbrush clearing
and 'controlled burns' are now under way. Yet the task is
akin to sweeping the Augean stables, and rangers admit
their efforts may prove too little, too late. The Forest
Service website offers this grim assessment:

"Today's forests, dense with green vegetation, may seem to
be beautiful, but in fact are deadly. Many forests are
choked with brush and dead trees that make catastrophic
fires a certainty."

What does this have to do with markets and finance, the
normal purview of this space? As it turns out, plenty.
There is another long-standing agency, established 1913,
that is dangerously addicted to "zero tolerance." It is
frighteningly easy to recast the rangers' warning in a
manner fit for the Federal Reserve:

Today's economy, flush with green liquidity, may seem to be
beautiful, but in fact is deadly. Many consumers / banks /
hedge funds are choked with leverage and debt burdens that
make catastrophic downturn a certainty.

As noted earlier, occasional low-intensity fires are Mother
Nature's cleansing agent—her way of maintaining a healthy
forest ecosystem. In an unmanipulated business cycle, the
same can be said of low-intensity recessions. A modest
downturn induces belt-tightening without stirring up panic.
Overextended consumers and businesses rein in their horns;
credit lines are reduced, optimism is scaled back, and
sobriety returns to the fore. A few businesses fail at the
margins, but the healthy enterprises survive. Risk is
reduced, capital is recycled, and new growth takes place.

Unfortunately, Greenspan has emulated the bad old ways of
the Forest Service prior to their Yellowstone awakening.
The Fed's zealous suppression of downturns over the years
has created a build-up of potentially catastrophic
proportions. Thanks to massive liquidity stimulus, business
operations that should have folded linger on. Credit lines
that should have been cut back are extended. Speculators
who should have tempered their bets are encouraged to
become more aggressive. Excessive reliance on easy credit
is mistaken for economic strength, and even bigger bets are
made.

More here...

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that, if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that too."
-- William Somerset Maughan, 1941

A Funny Thing Happened...

2005-08-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

...during the week of the Larken Rose trial. The statists and the Tax Honesty Movement held their breath. Really! I usually get 100-120 messages a day from various tax forums. It went down to about 20 a day for the entire week. And when the week was through and the verdict announced, the tax fraudsters, like those over at Quatloos, were the same miserable miscreants that they were before the trial started and the Tax Honesty Movement gained strength and resolve from the experience.

Larken Rose is a hero, albeit an unlikely one. But aren't those the best kind? The stuff of legend? Don't take my word for it. Go to Doug Kenline's blog and see some of the comments people have made. Then go to the Trial Logs blog and read the comments there. What you will find are sentiments of undying support for Larken and Tessa.

Mixed in you will find snide little reminders of the lowlifes of humanity. Most of them are from tax industry specialists (yes, people who make money off of taxes; go figure) over at Quatloos ( I won't provide link, go look it up). These people have nothing better to say than personal attacks on Larken and people they disagree with in general. No comment on how professional or expert the prosecutor was (he wasn't). No word of the great fairness provided by the judge (he didn't). Just sick jokes about prison sex and incredible cries for us to just go along to get along. Pitiful.

But all of their taunts ring hollow, like a schoolyard bully trying to recover from getting popped in the mouth by one of his victims. He hadn't expected it and now he is not so sure of himself. You will find no intellectual debate on the merits of the case or the arguments made in court, from these people. You will only find the repeating mantra of "Do it because we say to do it." They say Tax Protestors are nuts, forgetting the fact that all of the founding fathers were Tax Protestors. If the choice is to be compared with people like those on Quatloos or the people who brought forth a grand experiment in freedom, I'll take the later, thank your very much.

Larken is home now. He sent the following email out...

As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, I was convicted on Friday of
five misdemeanor counts of "willful failure to file." I'm at home, with a
new federally-funded piece of fashionable jewelry (ankle bracelet).
Sentencing happens November 15.

I'm obviously not happy about being convicted, but I am more upset at the
missed opportunity. As I've said all along, my goal was not to avoid
trouble (obviously), but to expose what I believe is a monumental fraud.
Becaue of that, I had to do things the way I did (pro se, not looking for
procedural solutions, etc.), which put me at an even greater disadvantage.
An acquittal would have gotten public attention which would have helped a
lot. But it wasn't to be.

I'm sure a bunch of people who were there (and we packed the room) will be
giving their accounts of what occurred at the trial. Right now, as you
can probably imagine, I have a lot of things to take care of, so I'll cut
this message short. For now I'll just add this: I'm proud that I told the
truth, and stood up against a fraud. And of course, I'm upset that this
time around, doing the right thing didn't seem to accomplish much. But
hey, no one said resisting tyranny was easy.

Eventually I believe the audio recording of the entire trial will be
available. In my closing I explained how this trial was simply a really
big "baseball bat" designed to intimidate me into LYING about my beliefs
(i.e. "confessing" I owe the tax, when I know that I don't). I find it
sad that our "public servants" seem to think "government-via-baseball-bat"
is perfectly legitimate. Apparently the jury thought so too.

Sincerely,

Larken Rose
larken@taxableincome.net
http://www.861.info
http://www.theft-by-deception.com

What a guy!!! What a hero!!! And don't you believe this is over either...

Ken Evans, who attended the trial and provided comment at Trial Logs, sent out the following press release today...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:

Ken Evans
873 East Baltimore Pike #464

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

610-636-4407
kevans@dca.net
www.reasons2vote.com

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

For release: August 13, 2005
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

The Truth About The Trial of Larken Rose

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

The trial of Larken Rose concluded on August 12, 2005 and its resulting guilty verdict prove one thing very clearly … the depths to which some individuals in our own government have sunk and the lengths to which those individuals will go to keep Americans from learning the truth about the misapplication of the federal income tax code.

Consider the following:

During a pre-trial hearing dealing with what evidence could be admitted at trial, presiding Judge Michael Baylson made clear that Mr. Rose’s political views are irrelevant and not to be discussed. Yet, what did lead prosecuting attorney, Floyd Miller, repeat throughout the trial and focus on during his final statement? He emphasized nothing greater than Mr. Rose’s political views.

The judge also made an interesting ‘about face’ from the beginning to the end of the trial. On the first day of proceedings, while explaining to the jury that they should not read anything about the case outside the courtroom, Judge Baylson stated, “It’s unlikely that you’ll hear anything about this trial on the TV or in the news.” However, during his concluding statement while thanking the jury he stated, with emphasis, “This was a very important case for the government.” He then paused and almost as an afterthought added, “and also for Mr. Rose.”

If the Judge knew that this case was of massive importance to the government, why would he assume at the outset that it wouldn’t be widely reported by the TV or news? And interesting contradiction, don't you think?

Even more disturbing was the fact that prior to the defendant and the public being informed of the verdict, a New York Times reporter, David Cay Johnson, long known to misrepresent the underlying facts of this issue, was personally escorted by the Courtroom Deputy to do a private interview with the two alternate jurors behind the locked doors of the courtroom.

How was this special treatment obtained by Mr. Johnson, who was not observed at the trial prior to its final day? What was discussed during this restricted rendezvous? No mention of this meeting occurs in Mr. Johnson’s article which was published in today’s New York Times.

Why also, after permitting the New York Times reporter to do a private interview, did the judge attempt to prohibit anyone else from speaking with the jurors by sealing the courtroom for several minutes after the verdict, effectively holding the entire remaining gallery captive while the jury was allowed to scurry out of the building?

Those that attended the trial know that several IRS agents attempted to portray the proper application of Section 861 on the witness stand as nothing more than a section of law by which ‘wealthy individuals’ who have both foreign and domestic income avoid double taxation. In spite of the fact that the title of Section 861 is "Income from Sources Within the United States." In contrast, the New York Times article published today by Mr. Johnson claims the exact opposite. Mr. Johnson claims that Section 861 itself shows the wages of the average American to be taxable. It is impossible for both of these claims to be correct and further demonstrates the deliberate obfuscation surrounding the proper application of this section of law.

The prosecution's witnesses made other deliberate misrepresentations during the trial. The worst of which was the claim that every court that has examined the issue of the proper application of Section 861 of the Internal Revenue Code has found claims related to its application to be frivolous. This was repeated by the judge himself. The opposing reality is that there has not yet been one single federal court ruling to correctly characterize the position taken by Mr. Rose. In previous cases, either the legal argument was incorrectly presented, deliberately mischaracterized by the government, or utterly ignored by the courts.

The most blatant case of court's refusing to address the issue when properly presented is the refund lawsuit brought by the author of this article. In 2003, a refund lawsuit was brought wherein the proper application of Section 861 was the primary issue of contention. Not only did the court refuse to address it, but the Department of Justice, representing the government, disobeyed a direct instruction from the court to answer Interrogatories that would have gotten to the very heart of the matter. Even more unsettling is that a Motion to Compel answers to those Interrogatories was filed but never showed up on the court docket. It mysteriously disappeared from existence!

If ever there were an opportunity for the federal judiciary or the Department of Justice to demonstrate any alleged fallacy of The 861 Evidence, this was it. But attorneys for the Department of Justice along with a federal judge himself simply could not do so.

True Americans recognize the tribute due Mr. Rose, who, like John Hancock before him pledged his life, his fortune and his sacred honor in defiance of tyranny and deliberately drew the ire of the ‘powers that be’ so that all could be free. While the document to which John Hancock boldly signed his name is revered throughout America, Mr. Rose's "Declaration," namely his "Please Prosecute Me" challenge, was disallowed into evidence as hearsay. It is a bitter irony, that Mr. Rose has been persecuted and unjustly convicted for trying to defend the rights of the very jurors who decided his case.

The unfortunate and incorrect verdict in this case, while devastating to the personal life of Mr. Rose, will do nothing to change the underlying truth that the Internal Revenue Code and its Regulations hold the disturbing truth of the greatest financial fraud in history. These are discussed in detail at www.861.info and www.theft-by-deception.com .

So a Funny thing happend on the way to tyranny,... it seems that there are a few more stones in the road than the tyrants had thought. And some of them are mighty big stones, indeed.

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow."
-- James Madison, Federalist no. 62, February 27, 1788

Not Guilty!!!

2005-08-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

That is what the verdict should have been today. Larken Rose was convicted of five counts of "Willful Failure to File". He was not allowed to show the law. The prosecutor declared the Internal Revenue Manual excerpts to be hearsay, and the judge[sic] backed him up. The judge[sic] made error after error concerning the 16th Amendment and the supreme court cases that decided what it meant, then instructed the jury that he was the giver of the law and that his word was final (a blatant and treasonous violation of his oath of office).

I should not have been surprised, but I was. I had been following the case through the efforts of attending bloggers from Doug Kenline and the Trial Logs. These people need to be congratulated for their coverage and comentary on the trial.

The case against Larken was so weak that it was suggested he ask for a summary judgement after the prosecution rested. You see, they failed to make their case. They failed to prove a liabilty on Larken to file and they failed to prove that he knew of this liabilty. Even though I have zero faith in the rule of law anymore, the trial was going in Larken's favor.

But what do you get when you seat a jury from a pool out of the Federal Witness Protection Program, in a court appointed by the same government that has been commiting fraud and treason on the people for over a century, with a prosecutor and a judge[sic] paid for by that same goverment?

What you don't get is the truth.

I hope a lot of people have learned something from this. You cannot solve the problems of tyranical government through that same government's courts. And when the rule of law breaks down, you have to fall back to moral law.

"The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please. It should be remembered, as an axiom of eternal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government is independent, is absolute also; in theory only, at first, while the spirit of the people is up, but in practice, as fast as that relaxes. Independence can be trusted nowhere but with the people in mass. They are inherently independent of all but moral law."
~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Judge Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819.

Our Fly on the Wall...

2005-08-09T12:08:00.000-04:00

...at the Larken Rose Trial...actually... I think he has a nice cushy seat... is Scoop Kenline!!! Make sure to check out his blog for the latest news, updates and photos of this trial.

Also check out Trial Logs for additional information and updates.

Thanks to both for all of their efforts.

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. "
-- Will Rogers

Additional Updates...

2005-08-08T16:05:00.000-04:00

...are available at Trial Logs....

Thanks to all the folks over there for helping us out on the reporting of the Larken Rose trial.

And don't forget to check out Doug Kenline's blog, too, for updates and photos.

In a famous incident in 1854, President Franklin Pierce was pilloried for vetoing an extremely popular bill intended to help mentally ill. The act was championed by the renowned 19th century social reformer Dorothea Dix. In the face of heavy criticism, Pierce countered: "I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for the public charity." To approve such spending, argued Pierce, "would be contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded."

Doug Kenline...

2005-08-08T07:01:00.000-04:00

...will be covering the Larkin Rose trial this week. Go to his blog and checkout the audioblogs and photoblogs (on the right).

A big Thank You to Doug and to Robert Ingle as well.

Thanks guys. We appreciate it very much.

UPDATE!!! RW Moore is also attending the trial with Doug and Robert.

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Joseph Milligan, April 6, 1816

A little good news...

2005-07-26T09:08:00.000-04:00

Free Dick Simkanin: "Simkanin Appeal Update"

To: Show Me The Law

Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:06 AM

Subject: Update on Simkanin

On July 6, 2005, the oral arguments regarding Simkanin's Appeal were quite favorable. Each side had 15 minutes to present their case or facts. The government went first and proceeded to lambast Mr. Simkanin by calling him names such as anti-government, tax protestor, etc. The judges listened for about 8 to 9 minutes, then asked the D.C. prosecutor if they had any facts to present. The prosecutor simply said that the facts are what he was presenting. The judge told the prosecutor to sit down if that was all he had, which he did. Peter Goldberger then told the 3 judge panel that he would do his best to finish his presentation in the 15 minutes allotted to him. However, the panel allowed Peter to speak for 45 minutes. After Peter was through, the panel thanked him for doing an excellent job in preparation for the oral arguments, and not wasting the court's time. The Simkanin legal team came away from the hearing feeling they (the judges) will find in favor of Simkanin! Yipeeeeee!!!!!! We will all be waiting anxiously to find out if David Cay Johnston of the New York Times reports in Simkanin's favor the way he blasted Dick after the trial.

Through the grapevine there is another petition floating around among the Ft. Worth Attorneys to impeach Judge John Henry McBryde from the bench. If this petition hits the 5th Circuit before they make a decision in the Simkanin case, it should surely help in his favor. September 24th or before, is the time frame for results of a decision. They expect the court to reverse the felonies (2), but are not sure how they will handle the misdemeanor. Even if they confirm the misdemeanor, it will be time served and Simkanin will be out!!!!!!!!!!!!

So please keep the judges in your prayers that the Lord works through them for a favorable outcome!

Thanks!

Charlotte Smith

"When the boot of government is on your throat, it doesn't much matter if it is the left one or the right one." - Unknown

In the pursuit of safety..............

2005-07-19T12:52:00.000-04:00

It's tootight around the equipment to be running," said Safety Director Jerry Graziose, the Broward County official who ordered the signs. "Our job was to try to control it."

How about swings or those hand-pulled merry-go-rounds?

"Nope. They've got moving parts. Moving parts on equipment is the number one cause of injury on the playgrounds."

Teeter-totters?

"Nope. That's moving too."

Sandboxes?

"Well, I have to be careful about animals" turning them into litter boxes.

Cement crawl tubes?

"Vagrants. The longer they are, the higher possibility that a vagrant could stay in them. We have shorter ones now that are made out of plastic or fiberglass."

Broward playgrounds aren't the only ones to avoid equipment that most adults remember. Swings, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters and other old standards are vanishing from schools and parks around the country, according to the National Program for Playground Safety.

"Kids aren't using them the way they're supposed to," said the agency's director, Donna Thompson, who led a national effort to get rid of animal swings two years ago. "I'm pleased that a lot of these are disappearing."
more here...

A Peek at the Future...

2005-07-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

Just a few things to consider...

The US is the largest consumer in the world. The US accomplishes this through borrowing, since we don't sell enough goods to maintain our expensive lifestyles. That debt is now reaching proportions which have never been seen in the history of man. Total US savings are at an all time low. If you owe more than you own, your net worth is negative. When the bills come due, if you can't pay, you will be bankrupt.

Joshua Fritch has an essay which describes the situation in pretty clear terms.

Just how bad is it? As of July 7, 2005 the public debt as reported by the government is $7,838,410,800,630.51.¹ This does not include private debts such as mortgages, home equity loans, car loans, "personal" loans, credit card accounts, layaway plans or any other type of personal debt. Nor does this number include corporate debt, or even your state or local government debts - - it is purely a measure of how much debt the federal government alone has taken on. Considering that this total has increased by more than $242 billion in just the first 7 months of this calendar year, I think it is safe to assume we will crack $8 trillion by the end of the year. With a population of 300 million here in the United States, this means that every man, woman and child in the country owes approximately $26,600. You owe twenty-six thousand dollars. So does your spouse. If you are married with three children, your combined household debt, courtesy of runaway government officials, is about $133,000. But let's stick with $26,600 for now - - it's easier to wrap your head around. Let's say you owe $26,600 and there is no such thing as interest - - the amount owed remains static. If you decide to make payments of $100/month, it will take you roughly 22 years to pay it off. Even if you pour money on this debt at the rate of $1000/month, it will still take you more than two years to pay it off. Can you afford a $100/month increase on your taxes? How about $1000?

Perhaps you are thinking that this does not apply to you - - after all, you didn't spend the money, so why should you have to pay it back, right? Wrong. The government has spent this money in your name, and in the name of your children. The only source of income the government has is taxes - - therefore, if the government needs to pay a debt, it will raise your taxes. But hey, they'll only raise taxes for the rich, right? It still won't be enough - - the combined net worth of the 25 richest Americans as of September 24, 2004 was roughly $358 billion.² This means that if the 25 richest people in the richest country in the world cashed in everything they own and donated it towards the federal debt, it would pay off 4.57% of what we owe.

---

I expect that you may be skeptical of this "doomsday scenario", but I assure you, the risks are quite real. In a world of interest-only mortgages, adjustable-rate loans and Wal-Mart Mania, it will not matter if you, personally, do not default on your debts. It will not matter if you, personally, have been fiscally responsible. Just like it only takes one bad driver to cause a 50-car pileup on the highway, the domino effect applies to our economy as well. The government and the vast majority of the United States population have been on a spending binge the likes of which the world has never seen. When the bill comes due, we all will pay. We will pay through higher taxes. We will pay because our neighbors walk away from their mortgages, causing a glut of unwanted real estate on the market leaving us unable to sell our own homes for even close to what we paid for them. We will pay for new social programs to assist the very people who caused this catastrophe when they wind up mired in bankruptcy. We will pay with the blood of our sons and daughters in the wars that always accompany the decline of an empire. We will pay.

---

Will you 'pass the buck' and wait for someone else to clean up the mess? Or will you step up and demand a stop to all of this madness by getting out of debt? That's all it takes, you know - - to bring an end to the fiat fiscal policies we live under...stop carrying debt. You don't need to convince the rest of the world to condemn the system, just stop participating in it yourself. Eliminate your debts to the credit card companies and the car financing corporations. Eliminate your debts to the mortgagor. Don't buy a new TV just because you can get it on credit with "no payments or interest for one full year!" - - save up the money and buy it. You do not need to "keep up with the Joneses", Mr. and Mrs. Jones are going to eventually suffocate under a mountain of debt - - do you really want to be one step ahead of them? Richard Russell once said there will soon be a new four letter word - - this word will be D-E-B-T.

More here...

"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread."

-- Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, 1821

No...

2005-07-05T15:17:00.000-04:00

U.S. Court Of Appeals Soundly Rejects
IRS Plea To Soften Ruling In Schulz v IRS

On January 29, 2005, we reported under the headline, “Dramatic Development,” that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had issued a decision in Schulz v. IRS. The Court held that taxpayers cannot be compelled by the IRS to turn over personal and private property to the IRS, absent a federal court order.

In our January report, we quoted from the decision,
“...absent an effort to seek enforcement through a federal court, IRS summonses apply no force to taxpayers, and no consequence whatever can befall a taxpayer who refuses, ignores, or otherwise does not comply with an IRS summons until that summons is backed by a federal court order…[a taxpayer] cannot be held in contempt, arrested, detained, or otherwise punished for refusing to comply with the original IRS summons, no matter the taxpayer's reasons, or lack of reasons for so refusing.”

On March 9, 2005, we reported under the headline, “IRS: Gut Schulz v IRS. DOJ: Court’s Opinion Threatens Tax System,” that on behalf of its client, IRS, the DOJ had filed a motion with the Court, requesting that the Court amend its decision in Schulz.

We reported that the DOJ stated in its motion that, “...the Court's opinion threatens to seriously impede the effective administration and enforcement of the nation's tax laws.”

We reported that the DOJ chastised the Court for “creating a false impression,” and “misapprehending” and “misunderstanding” and “misstating” and being “inaccurate,” regarding the “consequences that flow from the issuance of an IRS summons.”

On June 29, 2005, the Court issued its much-anticipated decision regarding the government’s motion to amend the Court’s earlier ruling. With a firm reliance on the Court’s primary role of protecting the People’s individual, unalienable Right to Due Process guaranteed by the 5^th and 14^th Amendments, the court soundly rejected the government’s pleading.

Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Straub wrote, in part:...

(continued...)

Hehehehehe...

The State of Minnesota is Closed...

2005-07-01T13:59:00.000-04:00

But, the territory is still open!!!

Poor bastards never had a chance, did they...eh?

"ST. PAUL, Minn. - Some state offices closed and about 9,000 state employees were jobless Friday after parts of Minnesota's government shut down for the first time in state history, leaving most rest stops closed for the Independence Day weekend."

Services that were closed included highway rest areas and the issuing of new driver's licenses. (David: hehehehe)

"We need to fix it today," said Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, a Democrat. (David: this guy really has to go...)

More here...

More on the Lost Liberty Hotel

2005-06-29T15:09:00.000-04:00

Am I taking this seriously? But of course," said Charles Meany, Weare's code enforcement officer. "In lieu of the recent Supreme Court decision, I would imagine that some people are pretty much upset. If it is their right to pursue this type of end, then by all means let the process begin."
Read the rest of the article here...

Oh!...I am Likin' This!!!

2005-06-29T14:19:00.000-04:00

At the County Permits and Inspections Department

2005-06-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

by Christy Ann Welty

This story was inspired by the comments of a World War II veteran. He came back from World War II to find his own government strangling the freedom for which he had been fighting. He found bureaucracy spreading like a fungus, controlling his fellow Americans with mind-numbing demands to conform to arbitrary regulations. With anguish and despair, and with the inevitable humor and clarity of one who has loved and lost much, he saw our future.

A man stood at the Permits and Inspections counter. He'd just received a permit to build a garage onto his house. The clerk had been efficient, taking his money and giving him a little slip of paper printed with a serial number, the day's date, his address, and a short description of the project. It had taken only a minute.

"Make sure you keep that permit in a safe place. The inspector has to see it when he comes out to look at your work," the clerk said. The man knew she was trying to be helpful, but it still irked him. He couldn't put his finger on why.

He stood holding the little slip of paper in his big hands. His hands had pounded hammers, lifted timbers, and matched miters. They were strong and hard. He knew his work was good. The little garage he was planning to build was child's play compared to other work he'd done. He'd been getting these permits for years, but it bothered him more than usual today. Must be getting old and cranky, he thought. He slipped the paper into his wallet, and pushed his wallet into his hip pocket.

"Where's your restroom?" he asked the clerk.

The clerk had turned away to ruffle through some other stacks of papers, but now wheeled her chair back to the counter. "I just need a little information from you. Oh, this is handy, your address is still on the screen," she said as she looked at her monitor.

The man cleared his throat. "I said, 'Where's your restroom?'"

"Why, yes, I heard you," the clerk said. "This won't take a minute."

The man was starting to feel like he was speaking a different language. "All I want to know is where is your restroom...." Little spots were reddening his cheeks.

"There, I have the right program. What is your birth date?" She sat with her hands poised over her keyboard.

"What are you talking about, ma'am?"

The clerk glanced at him, and looked back at her screen. "I need some information for a permit. Your birth date, the date of your last complete physical, and your doctor's name. I already have your address."

"What permit are you talking about? I didn't ask for another permit," he deliberately stared at her, hoping to intimidate her into turning toward him.

"It's ten dollars to cover the cost of lab testing and sending the results to you and your doctor," she spoke to her screen, avoiding his eyes.

He was starting to get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked around for the familiar restroom sign, and finally saw it at the far side of the Permit and Inspection office, on her side of the counter. His gut roiled in rebellion.

He edged over enough to see her monitor's screen, and read the title, "Permit for Fecal Inspection."

He blushed a dull red, and choked, "You'll see me in hell before I get a permit to take a shit!"

"It's for your health! They'll check for colon cancer and parasites, and many life-threatening disorders," she blustered, but she was arguing at his back as he strode out of the building. She turned back to her screen, and muttered, "And it's for your children, so they can plan for your care. And for County taxpayers, so they don't have to pay for your outrageous medical bills. And for your own protection, so you aren't taken in by quack medicine cure-alls."

She tapped a key, and the screen showed, "Permit Evaded." She clamped her lips together, and tapped another key, flagging the file with the tag, "Withhold Approval of Structure, Fecal Inspection Required." She sighed and shook her head. "Anybody who won't consent to inspection must have something to hide."

Note: I have to go through this all the time and while I haven't had to submit to a "fecal inspection", they sometimes want BLOOD. - David

Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. -C.S. Lewis

The Lost Liberty Hotel

2005-06-28T14:34:00.000-04:00

Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.
Read the rest of the story here...

Sasha...

2005-06-26T16:46:00.000-04:00

Well....

through an intersting chain of events, today...

I ended up finding some pictures of a dog, that we saved...and then lost...

There are some pictures posted on the web, from Gene Chapman's Archive (GO Gene!!!)

They say, "Time heals all wounds..."....but it ain't so....
Here is the story of when Sasha came to us. It was first published on our other blog on January 1, 2004, just a few days after we found her...and about three weeks before the birth of our grandson, who Sasha loved....

The car came out of nowhere. She didn't see it before bouncing off of its fender, landing just off the side of the road from the direction she had come. Her friend was a few steps in front of her and took the force of the metallic beast full on. It threw him some 50 feet up the road and slightly to the side. He lay there, still, with no signs of life.

Her thoughts were lost in foggy review. It had happened so suddenly, yet, in her semi-conscious state, the horrible event played, in slow motion, over and over again. Slowly the clouds began to take shape and the light began to contrast into brighter and darker objects. She blinked, trying to clear her mind and establish the source of the pain.

She lifted her head up and looked around. Seeing her friend, some distance away, she got up and wobbled across the distance, trying to keep from falling over. When she got to her friend, he lay very still. She could not tell if he was alive or dead. She felt a tremble and the strength left her legs and she let herself fall to the ground beside him.

The car had not stopped. The road was quiet and a little lonely, only seeing traffic once in a while. Her mind wandered over the preceding days and weeks. She was gaunt from hunger. She had eaten little, wandering the back roads and woods with her friend, both homeless. They ate what they could find. They drank from the canals. Her eyes closed and she drifted away.

She had been born into a large family. Probably too large. They could not afford to keep her. She was adopted by another family and forced to move away from those she had known since birth. The new family was nice. They taught her right from wrong, good from bad. They played with her and tried to make sure she was happy. But, in the end, they began to ignore her and to sometimes forget her.

That was why she ran away. Unable to bear the loss of love, she left in search of what she needed. Then she ran into him. And they laughed and played, rested and searched together. He was a companion on her journey. She didn't know how long she would stay with him, but for the time being, it was enough to have the warmth of a friend.

Now a sound came to her ears. Another car. She wrestled with consciousness. The car slowed and pulled past, then came to a stop and pulled off of the roadway. A young man got out and walked over to her. He was tall and young but had a concerned look on his face. He looked at her friend and then back at her. She heard him talking, but couldn't quite make it out. Was he talking to her?

She drifted in and out of dazed darkness. She didn't know how long it had been, but she heard yet another car stop. Two women, one young and one older came up to her. The young man made some comments about her friend. “I think that one's dead” he said. The women agreed. The younger one was now sitting beside her, offering sympathy. Still drifting between dark and light, she heard a vehicle drive off.

Now only the two women remained. The older woman was wearing sunglasses, hiding her eyes. But, there was a softness in her voice and gentleness in her touch that was calming. The younger woman had nice eyes, that seemed to captivate those who looked too long. And she, too, had a gentle manner about her.

They seemed to be waiting for someone. She just wished the pain would stop and that her friend would wake up and they could be on their way. Then another car, or maybe a truck, could be heard. It was louder than the other two. It slowed as it passed and then partly turned in the road and stopped.

A man, with salt and pepper hair, leaning more towards silver, got out and came over to her. He had a gruff and direct voice, but his gray eyes, with faint laugh lines at the corners, held a look of gentle compassion. He talked to the older woman and looked at her friend, still lying in the road. Then he reached down and touched her cheek. The touch was soothing and cool. He stood up and walked back to his truck. She heard him leave but didn't really pay much attention.

The older woman gently reached down and picked her up, carrying her to a large van and laying her in the back where the younger woman joined her. They could have driven an hour or only a minute. Time was lost to her. The stress, the pain and her malnutrition were catching up with her. Then, suddenly, they were helping her walk from the van and into a house.

They gave her water. Then they looked her over from top to bottom. They got out the soap and water and began to bath her. Once, twice, thrice before they were satisfied. She hadn't been this clean in ages. Her nose still hurt from bouncing off of the car, but it was improving. They made her a snack, which she gulped down eagerly. Then they cuddled her in a large towel and let her drift to sleep.

At first her dreams were only of the car and the stillness of her friend, mingled with the fun they had enjoyed together. But every time she awoke, the women were there and soothed her worry and pain. At one time she woke up and noticed others, like her, in the room. They rough-housed and played together nipping and chasing each other around the room. They tried to sound ferocious, but their waging tails gave them away. It was only play.

When they noticed her looking at them, they came over and sniffed her face and gave her a lick. Her initial apprehension faded. Nothing to fear from them. She drifted back to sleep and her dreams became more sedate. The women who had helped her, were nursing her back to health. Her fears eased and she relaxed even more.

She doesn't know how long she slept, but she heard the door open. In walked the man with the soft, gray eyes. He came over to her and touched her gently on the cheek, then patted her neck. She felt a sense of tranquil calm returning to her. She drifted off to sleep, too tired to pay attention to the man. Soon, the younger man, the first one she saw after the tragedy, came in. Again she drifted toward sleep even as she realized they were a family, these men, the two women and the others of her kind.

She awoke to a commotion. All were clamoring into the next room. She was encouraged to follow and staggered to her feet, following slowly and cautiously. She poked her head around a corner to the smell of food and the invitation to dine. And dine she did, for her appetite was now ravenous.

The man, with the gentle eyes, passed some cheese to her. It had been so long since she had tasted cheese. It was one of life's little treasures. After finishing dinner she was lead outside and allowed to walk around. Her legs were not so wobbly now, but she was still weak and could not stay up long.

Back inside they went and she curled up on the towel they had used to keep her warm. She then drifted off to sleep, forgetting the tragedy of the day and quietly reveling in the warmth of love that she had been seeking for so long.

We lost Sasha about six months later... But she is still with us in our hearts...

"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog." - Gene Hill

YEEEHHHAAAWWWW!!!!

2005-06-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

Joseph Banister has been found Not Guilty on all charges...

Read it here...

BBBWWWAAAAHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAA!!!!!

I used to think...

2005-06-15T10:55:00.000-04:00

...now it just gives me a headache!!!

Actually, I used to think that going up against the government was bad idea because the government is populated with the best of the best. They were armed with the best weapons, both legally and offensively. They were a well oiled, conspiratorial machine.

I don't think that anymore. The vast number of really stupid ideas and comments coming from government officals, contractors and journalists (yes there are government journalists, you twit), has led me to believe that this country is in the shape it is in, solely from incompetance, not conspiracy.

Here is an example of economic incompetance...

I will start off with one comment that is so blatantly
stupid that it was instantaneously perceived as such by
practically everyone. I intended to do an essay on this one
item alone, but by the time I passed the comment around,
three other blogs were already reporting on it. In case you
missed it however, here it is: Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas President Richard Fisher said this to CNBC on
Wednesday:
"Where would the world be if Americans did not live out
their proclivity to consume everything that looks good,
feels good, sounds good, tastes good? We provide a service
for the rest of the world. If we were running a current
account surplus or trade surplus, what would happen to
economic growth worldwide, and what would be the economic
consequences? So I think we are doing our duty there."
Now let's take a look at what Mr. Alan Nevin, chief
economist for the California Building Industry Association,
said this week:
"People have the ability to borrow against their homes. If
times get tougher, they could borrow a sufficient amount to
pay their mortgages."
Another startling revelation! Borrow money to pay your
mortgage.

More here...

They really don't have a clue...

Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity. - Nick Diamos

RebelFire...

2005-06-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

"Justice Day"

You're the boot.
Stomping on the human face forever.
You're the eye.
Staring down on everyone and ever seeing all.
You're the lie.
Twisting all our minds into your whoredom.
You are Death.
You are war.
You are slavery.
You're the law.
You're the law.
You're the law!

When laws spew like vomit from power-drunk tongues
And freedom's a lie that the old tell the young
Then out of the darkness,
The rebels arise
And on that day the Outlaw, the Outlaw will ride.

When spies and lies choke out the spirit of life
And authority scrapes like a rusted dull knife
Then out of despair
The heros will soar.
On that day the Outlaw, the Outlaw is born.

(Chorus)
Breakdown, breakdown.
Fire in the mind.
Freedom on the firing line.

When "for your own good" is a lock and a chain
And "security's” used to enslave hearts and brains
Then out of our bondage
Rebellion will fly.
On that day, the Outlaw, the Outlaw will ride.

When criminals, criminals make all the laws
Then anyone breaking them fights a just cause.
So don't obey leaders
And don't follow rules
And the Outlaws, the Outlaws are saviors, not fools.

So crush their damned spycams, rip open your cage
Let liberty loose with a howl of wild rage
Each tyrant you smash
Is a freedom you've won
And the Outlaws -- we Outlaws – put power on the run.

(Repeat chorus to fadeout)

Lyrics by Claire Wolfe. Concept by Aaron Zelman. (c) 2005 Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman. All rights reserved. Lyrics may be copied, shared, or used for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are accompanied by this full credit and copyright line. Anyone wishing to record or otherwise use “Justice Day” lyrics for commercial purposes should contact RebelFire Press (www.rebelfirerock.com)

Keep your eye out for the reversal...

2005-06-01T07:32:00.000-04:00

It may be sudden and drastic...

Interest rates will go up. Puff goes the American housing market. Down goes the dollar.
All of which is to say that there is a lot less support to the dollar than meets the eye. The dollar is simply GM in waiting. U.S. bonds are distressed debt owned increasingly by fund managers desperate to eke out a few basis points here and there. This is not the bedrock of a strong rally in a currency.
The dollar is a long-term sell. But if not the euro, what will it fall against next? Well, while the dollar rally story is shallow, the commodity bull story is still deep and rich.
When the dollar falls again - which it will - it will also fall against Asian currencies, especially in anticipation of a yuan revaluation by Bejing. It is possible, of course, that the dollar can remain stronger for longer than anyone expects. But the whole currency regime can come crashing down much more quickly than anyone expects as well.
It doesn't happen often. But it does happen, and when it does, it happens despite the fact that most people think the world will always work the way it works today.

More here...

Got Silver???

If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs...

2005-05-30T11:44:00.000-04:00

- I am officially back on the "scared and paranoid" side of life, and while it is not "good to be home", it is, at least familiar, and there is a certain comfort in that, as at least I know where all the pistols and cookies are stashed around here. But then again, my homecoming is only because I was temporarily in a distant, disturbed place, where even shadows spook me out, and where my nights were spent entirely without sleep, night after night, because my brain no longer waited for me to fall asleep before I started having nightmares about the economy, and I am here to tell you that that is unnerving, to say the least.

My problem seems to be that nothing makes any sense anymore. A story in The Post says essentially the same thing when the author notes "In the past few weeks, the world's financial markets have acted in a confused, counter-intuitive, bipolar fashion." Doug Noland entitled his Credit Bubble Bulletin this week "Conundrums." Mike Hoy writes "I have never seen as many red flags being raised at one time as what I see right now." It's everywhere!

I mean, inflation is up, but bond yields are down, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect. In fact, the yield on the 10-year T-note is barely over 4%! Foreign demand for US debt is down, yet prices for debt go up, the exact opposite of what you would expect. Inflation is up, yet gold is down, again the exact opposite of what you would expect. Demand for oil is up, yet prices are coming down, the exact opposite of what you would expect. The economy is slowing, yet stocks are soaring, the exact opposite of what you would expect. It just goes on, day after day, item after item, which explains why I am cowering in the hall closet, gobbling tranquilizers and whimpering "It doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense!"

The Mighty Mogambo speaks...

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."
-- Milton Friedman

POST SUMPTIN', DAMMIT!!!

2005-05-29T18:03:00.000-04:00

OK,...Ok...

We have been busy...

Our newest grandson was born May 25th, under serious circumstances....

He is fine...the mother (our youngest) is fine...

We ran up to North Carolina to be there...for their support...and ours...

More posting to come...

...and don't you bet against it either...

"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American...[T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people."
--Tenche Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.

The Empire Strikes Back...

2005-05-18T15:32:00.000-04:00

"The U.S. Empire is a very different thing from the U.S. republic. Americans still think of their country and their government in 19th century terms. Here at The Daily Reckoning, too, we had a hard time getting used to the idea. We had a sentimental attachment to the old republic of Jefferson, Fillmore and Harding. Like getting over a love affair, it took time before we were ready for a new fling. But now, after a suitable interval, we've come to appreciate the curves and caprices of the new empire.
Not that it makes Americans safer or wealthier. Not at all; it does just the opposite. But it is so full of bluff, vanity and absurdity that it is far more amusing. Even before we had our morning coffee, we read the paper and found ourselves in shock, awe and stitches.
The headline story in today's International Herald Tribune tells us that America is fed up with Chinese currency "manipulation." How are the Chinese manipulating the yuan? By pegging it to the imperial currency! Oh...that is clever...wily...diabolical, isn't it, dear reader? The Chinese are maintaining their 10-year-old policy of pegging the yuan to the dollar. Doing so, they get around the imperial power's method of collecting tribute. The United States counts on a steady devaluation of its money. It buys from overseas and pays in dollars. Then, in effect, it prints up more dollars to replace those it has shipped overseas. The resulting "inflation" of the currency...reflected in the increase in prices of oil, gold and other internationally traded goods...is a form of imperial tribute. It's America's way of making the empire pay. As the dollar goes down, the trillions of dollars held in foreign accounts become less valuable.
But the Chinese refuse to play along. As the dollar goes down, so does their yuan. Instead of raising prices on Chinese goods and lowering the value of Chinese dollar holdings relative to its own currency, everything remains even. The Chinese aren't paying their tribute.
Americans are indignant. A Senate committee says it will rewrite the law of the land to make what the Chinese are doing qualify as currency "manipulation." Bush administration officials say they will give the Chinese a deadline to shape up."

More here...

Awww...I feel so bad for the American Fedral Empire...Boo Hoo.....

Was it Serenity's fault???

2005-05-17T08:16:00.000-04:00

The days of picking flowers and chasing your friends has suddenly come to an end. Your innocence stripped in one careless moment from strangers with guns who came shooting from the sky. You see the grown ups running everywhere... you see your mom, she's scared and laying on the floor covering the baby. You are scared too. You overhear a grown up say the men outside shot and killed someone.... its hard to hear, the babies are screaming... all your friends are crying. Their moms are trying to tell them its going to be okay, but you see the fear in their faces and you know that means its NOT ok. Terrified you crawl further over and you hear someone say his name. But you are so young, you don't understand what it all means.... how can grandpa be dead? You had just kissed him good morning before breakfast. This is a nightmare come to life. You look into your moms eyes and ask... why is this happening??? Why are the strangers killing everyone? Why are they telling everyone we are bad people? What did we do mommy... did we do something wrong... was this my fault?
Was it Serenity's fault?
Was it....any... of our faults?
Mommy.......grandpa will never hold me again... will he.

I'm scared...

Suddenly...

2005-05-16T08:57:00.000-04:00

"As you can see, I am standing closely, but not too close, to the electrified barbed wire fence surrounding the United States Capitol building. The fence was erected three weeks ago, following the declaration of martial law in the nations capital. There are no indications that either the fence, or martial law, will be taken down any time soon. If you will follow our camera panning the Washington D.C. skyline, you will see something quite remarkable in these difficult times. Besides the clear blue sky, mercifully brought in by the first significant cold front of the season, you will see no pillars of smoke. Billowing smoke plumes have been darkening the D.C. skyline and our collective consciousness for the past twenty nine consecutive days until this evening. Unfortunately, my colleagues are not repeating this same story in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many other major U.S. cities. Maybe the cooler temperatures have calmed tempers, but there is no question that the rains last night put out many of the building, block, and car fires that the overworked district firefighters didn't yet reach, or that the National Guard did not forcibly prevent with mass arrests. Fortunately for the people in the nation's capital, they did not suffer anywhere near the death toll as the other cities I mentioned."

.....................

"It seems like an eternity ago, but it was only six weeks ago that this latest phase of the economic disaster befalling America took a violent turn. Remember if you will where it all started, in the New York City grocery store refused to accept cash in US dollars for purchases over $20, only European and Japanese currencies, or gold or silver coins. Of course, with milk at $15 per gallon, the irate costumers could not buy much with their money. People who had been locked out of their offices, forcibly evicted from homes that were once theirs, were then unable to feed their families or themselves. It seems obvious now, but that's when the first of many food riots erupted in this country. Who would have thought that America would come to this? Desperation on a mass scale? Not long after, mob scenes appeared at banks in New York, then the north east, and then all across the country. Panic stricken people were desperately trying to withdraw their dollars to either spend them for food, gas, and other necessities, or convert them to stable foreign currencies or precious metals. Indeed, these days it seems any foreign currency is more stable than the once globally accepted United States dollar. Oddly enough, US silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars that have been out of circulation for more than 40 years are now more commonly seen in store cash registers than dollar bills."

More here...

End government ponzi/welfare schemes masquarading as insurance...

2005-05-01T07:53:00.000-04:00

"Social Security in any form is morally irredeemable. We should be debating, not how to save Social Security, but how to end it--how to phase it out so as to best protect both the rights of those who have paid into it, and those who are forced to pay for it today. This will be a painful task. But it will make possible a world in which Americans enjoy far greater freedom to secure their own futures." -- Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Institute

Cherie and I have been out of town...but, we are back NOW!!!

In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees who fled from insurrection in San Domingo to Baltimore and Philadelphia, James Madison stood on the floor of the House to object saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
-- James Madison, 4 Annals of congress 179 (1794)

Shots Fired...

2005-04-19T07:51:00.000-04:00

Scores Killed, Hundreds Injured
As Para-Military Extremists Riot

Boston, April 19

National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a para-military extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw. Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices.

The governor, who described the group's organizers as criminals, issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure law and order. The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed widespread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons. Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early April between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily. Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans.

During a tense standoff in Lexington's town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange. Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units. Colonel smith, finding his forces overmatched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor has also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as ringleaders of the extremist faction, remain at large.

Note: I last posted this back on September 17, 2003. Lyle Barkley was preparing to defend his property from an armed assault by the local standing army. The Michigan Militia and the Mutual Defense Militia were also standing by to assist. Luckily the sheriff decided to honor his oath and follow the constitution, rather than the unlawful orders of a local judge.

The situation has rekindled, and again, Lyle is preparing to defend his property. There have been no alerts issued for militia involvement at this time.

"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing [a people] to slavery." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774. (*) ME 1:193, Papers 1:125

Unitarian Jihad Declared Against the United States...

2005-04-12T15:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Claire Wolfe for the link...

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians or Hindus. Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.

We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.

More here...

Oh...Ye Suckers....

2005-04-12T11:21:00.000-04:00

From The Mogambo Guru...

-Paul Hein has a nice essay entitled, "Give No Quarter" on the LewRockwell.com site. He must have been looking at how the metal in coins now cost more than the coins are worth, and he says to relax. "The mint says that the coins cost a nickel to produce. Americans will have to pay 25 cents apiece for them. This is a 'profit' of 20 cents per coin, and the mint, remember, is going to stamp out half a billion of them, for a net gain of 100 million bux. Nonsense! The actual cost of producing the coins is – nothing. If you can pay for money with money, how can it cost you anything?" The Mogambo is delighted with Mr. Hein, and I hop up and down and clap my hands together in childish glee! Exactly! Hahahaha! He goes on to give an example, "How much would a bunch of grapes cost if you could pay for it with a couple of grapes? Suppose you pick up a large bunch of juicy, delicious grapes at the supermarket. The checkout clerk says, 'Those will cost you three grapes.' So you pick off three grapes and give them to her. Were the grapes expensive? Can you continue to afford them, even if the cost doubles to six grapes?"
Then he gets very philosophical, but important, if you think that casting aspersions on fiat currency is important, and I do. "If a slave-owner in the 19th century printed up some nice chits bearing pictures of himself (using his slaves to do the work, and produce the paper and ink) and then distributed them to the slaves as 'payment,' they could exchange the chits among themselves as money. Of course, they would have no claim on any assets of the master, but that wouldn’t occur to them. That is precisely what defined their slavery, even if they thought of themselves as free: their chains were made of paper. So are ours."
-In his essay "The Decline of Paper Currency," Chris Mayer writes, "Inflation, as it is commonly known, has not always been the normal state of affairs." That is because the normal state of affairs is people trying as hard as they can NOT to let inflation get started. And I will tell you that a damned government letting a damned central bank actually try and create inflation ("to prevent deflation") is not normal for people who are not insane, either. But Mr. Mayer doesn't want to talk about that, and instead motions for me to sit back down and take a pill. With me safely out of the way, he quotes James Grant, who is the editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, who said, "From George Washington to the A-bomb, prices alternately rose and fell... As Alan Greenspan himself has pointed out, the American price level registered little net change between 1800 and 1929." Now Mr. Mayer extrapolates from that, "It took Rome four centuries to destroy its currency," he said. "Germany and Austria reached that point in just nine years, ending in the famous hyperinflations of the 1920s, and before that, Russia managed it in only five years."
Hahahaha! And if you think that is funny, then you will probably bust a gut to learn that Greenspan has devalued our money by 30% or so in the last few years alone, and the poor old dollar has lost about 98% of its value since 1913 when the filthy Federal Reserve was created! And if you think THAT is funny, then you are will probably fall down on the floor and die laughing to learn that the value of the dollar goes lower and lower every damn day, and will probably continue to do so for the rest of your life!

More here...

We Have Met The Enemy...And It Is U.S.

2005-04-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

The Living Bill of Rights

by Edgar J. Steele

April 2, 2005

"Each measure is passed without great trouble or violent public opposition because the average man does not see at the time, how it can possibly affect his own existence - the only thing he is really interested in. Then, one day, he awakens suddenly to realize all his rights and liberties are gone."
--- Ayn Rand, in a letter to the New York Herald-Tribune (February 9, 1937)

"...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends (of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness), it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."
--- Declaration of Independence of the American Colonies, 1776

We keep hearing from our elected officials and so many media talking heads that the U.S. Constitution is a "living document," which changes with the times and adapts to situations not considered by America's founding fathers. In particular, I understand how innumerable statutes, legal rulings and widespread bureaucratic fiat work together to make our Constitution a "living document." Some might say subvert it, but I, of course, never would be one of those.

Endless confusion results from a written constitution which says one thing yet means another, as interpreted and applied today. Therefore, I consider it imperative that we rewrite our constitution to say exactly what it means and thereby clear up any confusion engendered today, particularly in the obviously-misguided minds of so-called patriots. I humbly offer the following rewrite of Amendments 1 through 10 to the U.S. Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, as a first step toward recasting our "living constitution" into a form that all can comprehend.

Starting with the Bill of Rights is a natural first step, as its adoption specifically was designed to prevent any misconstruction of the powers of government. Clarity being the objective of the founding fathers, it seems only natural that we start by establishing clarity with regard to the very portion of the document which itself was charged with ensuring clarity about the entire U.S. Constitution.

While I often jest or exaggerate to make a point in my writings, please understand that what follows is neither. The following reflects my understanding of the current state of the Bill of Rights, both personally and based upon my training, education and experience as a lawyer. I repeat: this is no joke.

For easy reference, I include the original wording of each amendment in parentheses, following each proposed new amendment.

Amendment I

Congress shall subjugate all forms of religious expression to the will of the State, particularly Christianity, and draw an absolute wall between personal religious beliefs and any and all public expressions thereof. All manner of speech is to be carefully monitored, filtered and censored to ensure that nothing offensive to the ruling class is communicated to or from any individual or form of media. The people will be allowed to assemble only when and where the State directs. Government at all levels will be immune to petitions and lawsuits of any sort brought by citizens.

(Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.)

Amendment II

Citizen militias are forbidden. The carrying of small arms, when permitted, will be closely regulated by the State, with licensing and registration of all firearms required. At no time shall any weapon of military significance be possessed by citizens except when citizens are pressed into the service of America's standing armed forces.

(A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.)

Amendment III

By Executive Order, soldiers may be quartered in any house, with or without consent of the owner and at any time following a declaration of martial law.

(No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.)

Amendment IV

Citizens may be stopped at any time and any place and be required to produce identification and a justification for their presence. Citizens and their possessions, including vehicles and houses, may be searched at any time and in any manner, including secretly, with or without justification and without warrants. A right to privacy is retained exclusively to the State and its agents and in no case possessed by any private citizen.

(The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.)

Amendment V

Citizens may be held indefinitely, with or without charges being made, upon the direction of government officials. Citizens may be tried repeatedly for the same offense, both by differing jurisdictions and by way of differing charges, both simultaneously and at different times and places. Citizens may be required to testify against themselves, save only in specified circumstances and during actual public trials. The property of any citizen may be seized upon the direction of government officials, with no review by any tribunal and with or without compensation.

(No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.)

Amendment VI

At no time shall any citizen accused of a criminal offense be entitled to a hearing or a trial, either public or private, except when government officials shall so determine. At trial, no citizen shall be entitled to a jury, except when allowed by the judge presiding. Citizens may be held indefinitely without charges and without being informed of the nature and charge, if any, of accusations against themselves. Citizens shall have no right to confront witnesses against themselves or to compel the attendance of witnesses in their favor. When allowed by government officials to retain counsel, citizens may hire only certain preapproved attorneys and, when allowed by the presiding judge, be appointed only attorneys beholden to the State.

(In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.)

Amendment VII

In no suits at common law, civil or otherwise, shall any party be entitled to a jury, except as allowed by the judge presiding. When allowed, juries may determine only those facts allowed them by the judge, who, in every case, shall be the sole arbiter of applicable law. All facts determined by juries may be rejected or affirmed, either by the judge presiding or upon appeal.

(In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.)

Amendment VIII

Bail of any amount may be prescribed and may be denied altogether. Fines may be imposed and punishments inflicted at the direction of government officials, legislatures and judges presiding over trials. No fine or punishment so imposed shall be deemed excessive, cruel or unusual. Certain citizens, designated by government officials and legislatures, may summarily be executed without formal proceeding, by way of either abortion or euthanasia. Citizens placed in prisons and jails may not be protected from other inmates.

(Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.)

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the government.

(The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.)

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the states by the Constitution, nor granted to citizens, are reserved to the Federal government.

(The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.)

I trust that this exercise has been instructive.

We all should encourage immediate adoption of The Living Bill of Rights as well as a completely rewritten Living Constitution so that we might well understand our limitations as they now exist in America.

Or, perhaps this would be a good time for you to reread that excerpt from the Declaration of Independence provided at the outset of this article. In fact, this would be a good time to reread all of the Declaration, not to mention the entirety of the U.S. Constitution.

New America. An idea whose time has come.

Forward as you wish. Permission is granted to circulate

among private individuals and groups, post on all Internet

sites and publish in full in all not-for-profit publications.

Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.

Thanks to Bill St. Clair and Claire Wolfe for the link...

Freedom Port: Firefly (the other one)

And In Case You Thought...

Anchorage Proves...

Long time...

Due to Circumstances...

Bye, bye Google/Blogspot???

Cashiers and a sign of the times...

Doug Kenline...

What Have Conservatives Wrought???

To Gulch...or not to Gulch...

The Horror is for Real...

Who???

From the Email Bag...

They Hate Us...

Why I am Optimistic...

Our Marxist Government...

Striking a Chord...

V...

The Eides of March...

Creeping Socialism and Creepy Conservatives...

And Yet More on...The Freest Country In the World...

More on...The Freest Country in the World...

The Freest Country in the World...

Cooperating (or not) with the State...

MYOB!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Seabiscuit and War Admiral

Independent Americans...

I'm With...

Easily Observable...

Happy Birthday...

As the World Turns...and Burns...

$150/Barrel Oil and Global Thermo-Nuclear War

Faux Christians and Faux Patriots...

What Does Your Birthdate Mean???

On the Brink of Destruction...

No truer words were ever spoken...

Escape From New York...

Amendment IV

Something else I already knew...

Gone...but not forgotten...

You scored as Captain Jack Sparrow...

Liberty ain't easy...

Well, at least the wealthy...

Still here...

Warp Power Restored!!!

More Hurricane Video...

Some Video...

Looks like we made it!!

I squished a frog...

Power out....

ZOWIE WOWIE!!!!

Hurricane Blog Continued

Hurricane Blog 'Fore...

Hurricane Blog Treee...

The End of the Bush Administration???

Hurricane Blog Continued

Hurricane Blog Too...

Hurricane Blog....

HAH!!!

Phantom Flu ?

That was weird...

I Aim to Misbehave...

Sometimes it seems...

Explanations

We Don't Need Bushes and Kerrys, We Need Davy Crockett...

The people are waking up...

We have met the enemy...

My $0.02

Waiting for the Spark...

A Funny Thing Happened...

Not Guilty!!!

Our Fly on the Wall...

Additional Updates...

Doug Kenline...

A little good news...

In the pursuit of safety..............

A Peek at the Future...

No...

The State of Minnesota is Closed...