Yhetti

Going Galt

2009-06-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

Alright. I've finally come to the point where I have decided that enough is enough.
America:love it or leave it,eh?
Okey dokey: I'm leaving.
Let the ignorant fucktards that make up the majority of the American citizenry reap what they have sown.
As of now, I shall no longer participate in the farce.

Fuck politics for a change.

2009-06-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

Although I realize that the ruling class (and the ignorant fucktards who grant them legitimacy) tend to have a disproportionate influence upon the lives of the peasantry (myself included), there are some things that I, personally, find to be much more interesting. With that in mind, I bring you the latest news from the world of paleontology:

Beaked, bird-like dinosaur tells story of finger evolution
ScienceDaily (June 18, 2009) — Scientists have discovered a unique beaked, plant-eating dinosaur in China. The finding, they say, demonstrates that theropod, or bird-footed, dinosaurs were more ecologically diverse in the Jurassic period than previously thought, and offers important evidence about how the three-fingered hand of birds evolved from the hand of dinosaurs.

Humans may be related to orangutans, rather than chimps...
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, professor of anthropology in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences and president of the World Academy of Art and Science, and John Grehan, director of science at the Buffalo Museum, conducted a detailed analysis of the physical features of living and fossil apes that suggested humans, orangutans, and early apes belong to a group separate from chimpanzees and gorillas.

Whorfed
(via the John Hawks Weblog)
I found an interesting essay by Lera Boroditsky on Edge, titled, "How does our language shape the way we think?" She describes cross-cultural psychology experiments that test the ways that perception is affected by language differences.

Sands of Gobi Desert yield new species of nut-cracking dinosaur
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2009) — Plants or meat: That's about all that fossils ever tell paleontologists about a dinosaur's diet. But the skull characteristics of a new species of parrot-beaked dinosaur and its associated gizzard stones indicate that the animal fed on nuts and/or seeds. These characteristics present the first solid evidence of nut-eating in any dinosaur.

Excerpts from The Book of Moron

2009-06-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

And lo it came to pass that in the last month of the last year of the second millennium, God sent Algor into the wilderness to receive The Word and bade Algor to write God’s Words in a tome of Truth. God gave to Algor a terrible vision of melting glaciers, of oceans rising to inundate great cities, of storms raging across the land in the expression of God’s True Wrath.

“Why, O Lord, are you choosing to punish mankind with such terrible plagues, causing the land to heat, the ice caps to melt and the oceans to drown all mankind?” Algor asked God. And in the terrible silence that ensued God gave Algor a vision of the Truth. Mankind was sinning against the land, flouting the laws of God by purchasing Ichor from the Hamites and thus enriching them beyond their dreams. And taking that Ichor, which the Hamites squeezed from the bowels of Mother Gaia like so much pus from a festering boil and burning it to power their chariots. Those chariots spewed forth a multitude of blasphemous sulphur and brimstone, causing the quiet earth ague and fever.

Continued after the jump......

Guess who's been keeping tabs on me?

2009-06-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Interesting.
I decided to take a long overdue look at the logs this evening- and it seems that I've attracted the attention of some rather unsavory characters:
On 5-28-09 my blog received visits from both the US House of Representatives and Terry Gainer- the Senate Sergeant at arms.

Was it something I said?

Proud to be an American? You should be ashamed.

2009-06-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

Karl Denninger hits the nail on the head once again.

Quote of the day

2009-06-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

What was the necessity of saving GM? Was our world irreparably damaged when we lost the AMC Pacer to financial ruin? In fact financial ruin can be quite cleansing. It has kept Michael Jackson out of the United States for three years now and might soon rid us of Donald Trump again.
--- Ron Hart

PayGo: The scam continues

2009-06-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

From Karl Denninger:

It takes some real BALLS to cough up this load of crap:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Congress to force itself to pay for new spending as it goes rather than sink the nation deeper into a debt, calling it a matter of public responsibility. Republicans lashed back that Obama is no voice of fiscal restraint as the deficit soars.

I'll be interested in that if and only if it is retroactive to Obama's submitted budget, and holds deficits to no more than George W. Bush's average deficit.

Remember, we're not going to be fighting any more wars, right? So no need for big deficits, right?

Oh wait - we're going to run somewhere around $1.8 trillion in deficits this year, and Obama wants to talk about "PayGo"?

To increase the deficit from HERE?

Who cares? A deficit four times larger than ever run before, and now we're going to say "we'll cap it here"?

This is a joke, right?

No, its not:

The deficit figures flow from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout and the cost of the economic stimulus bill. Obama has defended the massive stimulus plan as essential to helping pump some life back in the economy, one that is still shedding jobs but showing more signs of life in recent weeks.

But that "stimulus" and "bailout" won't and mathematically cannot work, because the excessive debt is still there, having been simply shifted to The Federal Government instead of forced to default on the balance sheets of the imprudent where it would have blown them to smithereens. Instead, it will blow all of us to smithereens.

How in the hell does anyone support this crap? How does this sort of thing not lead to immediate jeers from the peanut gallery, the Press and the people?

How does this sort of flat LIE not lead to 100,000 people surrounding 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with signs, pitchforks and torches - tomorrow?

We are truly a nation of sheep, and we are not going to get sheared this time - we're going to get slaughtered and eaten.

The beatings will continue until......

2009-06-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Passaic, N.J. cop initiates an unprovoked violent beat-down of a citizen.
(Recorded by a restaraunt surveillance camera on 5/29)
Perhaps the saddest part is watching the looky-loo sheeple who do nothing but walk by while it's happening.... the first who walked by had a perfect opportunity to kick the JBT's teeth into his rectum... yet he pretends that nothing is happening.
And some people wonder why this shit not only happens, but gets more common with each passing day.

Quote of the day

2009-06-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

So, David Carradine went to Bangkok to ... jack off in a closet? If I'm ever found dead in a compromising situation in a foreign city, there are going to be three hookers in the room shooting ping pong balls at each other.
--J. D. Tuccille At Disloyal Opposition

Checkpoint Confronted (Part 2)

2009-06-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Checkpoint Confronted (Part 1)

2009-06-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Bob Basso: An open letter to President Obama

2009-06-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

Local: The Nevada legislature screwed us over once again

2009-06-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

....and, predictably, the Reno Garbage Journal offers up a virtual hand job for their efforts.

A couple of bright spots in the midst of the douchebaggery:

The measure that would have forced Nevadans to comply with the Real ID Act (SB52) failed.
SB 283 (allowing the exercise of certain rights for domestic partners) passed.
Sb 238 (streamlines the process for civil rights restoration for felons who have served their time) also passed.

Quote of the Day

2009-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

"We are now in the fait accompli of American socialist revolution. Most peoples' ignorance of history doesn't allow them to really grasp how rapidly this is happening now, but this wheel is turning like never before."

-- Billy Beck

Alan Grayson to introduce Paid Vacation Act

2009-05-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

via Politico.com:

Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.

So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law.

The bill would require companies with more than 100 employees to offer a week of paid vacation for both full-time and part-time employees after they’ve put in a year on the job. Three years after the effective date of the law, those same companies would be required to provide two weeks of paid vacation, and companies with 50 or more employees would have to provide one week.

The fuckwittery of the political class (and their dimwitted supporters) continues....

READ THE REST of the story here

The Screeching Harpy is outed once again

2009-05-07T21:12:00.001-07:00

CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of 'Enhanced Interrogations'

Why hasn't this psychotic bitch been dipped in tar and sprinkled with feathers yet?
Seriously. This shit has got to stop at some point.

The Tyranny Becomes More Evident With Each Passing Day:

2009-05-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

via David Codrea:
Olofson machine gun transfer conviction upheld
David R. Olofson's conviction "for knowingly transferring a machinegun in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)" has been upheld.

And WND:
'Broken gun' conviction upheld by court
Rules government does not need to provide evidence to defendant
What a federal agent did during a testing procedure to result in "automatic" fire from an AR-15 has no bearing on the case of a man convicted of transferring a "machinegun" after he loaned to a prospective buyer the gun he considered a semi-automatic rifle, according to a ruling from a panel of appellate judges.

It looks like those pesky Tea Partiers are starting to get under the skin of The Annointed One.

2009-04-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of Tea Partiers showed up to greet Obama in St. Louis

2009-04-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

.... as 15 Obamabots sat on the sidelines ~~selling cult paraphenalia~~ counterprotesting.

A Nation of Helpless Idiots

2009-04-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Karen De Coster points out some inconvenient truths over at Takimag.com:

"The government’s anti-terrorist propaganda seeks not to dumb down the populace, but to convince people that they are already dumb, helpless, and uninformed, and so its purpose to “pull them up” through its awareness campaigns that enlighten one from the level of boob to educated informant. Moving to such heights does wonders for the self-esteem of idiots."

Read the entire article........

Crisis as a way to build a global totalitarian state (новом мировом порядке)

2009-04-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

by Olga Chetverikova of the Strategic Culture Foundation:
(первоначально русский )

As the world financial and economic crisis comes into its own, the Western community leaders are seeking to impress on mankind the idea that this upheaval will end up ‘turning the world into something different’.

Even though the picture of the 'new world order’ remains vague and fuzzy, the main idea is quite clear: A single global government, goes the argument, has to be established if we don’t want general chaos to prevail.

Every now and again, Western politicians mention the need for a ‘new world order’, a ‘new world financial architecture’, or some kind of ‘supranational control’, calling it a ‘New Deal’ for the world. Nicolas Sarkozy was the first to say so, while addressing the UN General Assembly in September 2007 (that is, before the crisis).

During the February 2009 meeting in Berlin convened to prepare the G20 summit, this was echoed by Gordon Brown, who said that a worldwide New Deal was needed. We are conscious, he added, that where the world financial flows were concerned, we would not be able to emerge from this situation with the help of purely national authorities alone. We need the authorities and world watchdogs to make the activities of financial institutions operating in the world markets totally open to us. Both Sarkozy and Brown are protégés of the Rothschilds. Statements made by certain representatives of ‘the global elite’ indicate that the current crisis is being used as a mechanism for provoking some deepening social upheavals that would make mankind – plunged as it is already into chaos and frightened by the ghost of an all-out violence – urge of its own free will that a ‘supranational’ arbitrator with dictatorial powers intervene into the world affairs.

The events are following the same path as the Great Depression in 1929-1933: a financial crisis, an economic recession, social conflicts, establishing totalitarian dictatorships, inciting a war to concentrate power, and capital in the hands of a narrow circle. This time, however, the case in point is the final stage in the ‘global control’ strategy, where a decisive blow should be dealt to the national state sovereignty institution, followed by a transition to a system of private power of transnational elites.

As early as the late 1990s, David Rockefeller, author of the idea of private power that is due to replace the governments, said that we (the world) were on the threshold of global changes. All we need, he went on, is some large-scale crisis that will make people accept the new world order.

Jacques Attali, Sarkozy’s adviser and former EBRD chief, claimed that the elites had been incapable of dealing with the currency problems of the 1930s. He was afraid, he said, that a similar mistake would be made again. At first we’ll wage wars, he went on, and let 300 million people perish. After that reforms will follow and a world government. Shouldn’t we better think about a world government already at this stage, he asked?

The same was stated by Henry Kissinger: In the final analysis, the main task is to define and formulate the general concerns of the majority of countries, as well as of all leading states with regard to the economic crisis, considering the collective fear of a terrorist jihad. Next, all of that should be converted to a common action strategy… Thus, America and its potential partners are getting a unique chance for turning the moment of the crisis into a vision of hope.

The world is being led to accept the “new order” idea step by step to avoid provoking events that are likely to make the universal protests against the worsening conditions of human existence take ‘a wrong course’ and become uncontrolled. The main thing that Stage One managed to achieve was to start a wide-ranging discussion on ‘global government’ and the ‘inadmissibility of protectionism’ with an emphasis on the ‘hopelessness’ of the national-state models for emerging from the crisis.

This discussion is proceeding against the background of information pressures that help to build up human anxieties, fear, and uncertainty. Some of those information actions are the following: WTO forecasts to the effect that 1.4 billion people are likely to sink below the poverty line in 2009; a warning by the WTO director general that the biggest world trade slide in postwar history is in the offing; a statement by the IMF’s Dominique Strauss-Kohn (a protégé of Sarkozy’s) that a world economic crash is impending unless a large-scale reform of the financial sector of the world economy is implemented, and a crash that is most likely to bring in its wake not only social unrest but also a war.

Against this background, the idea to introduce a common world currency as a cornerstone of the ‘new world order’ was put forward. The real masterminds of this long-standing project are as yet in the shadow. Let us note that some or other representatives of Russia are pushed to the fore. This is reminiscent of the situation before World War I, where the Anglo-French circles that possessed some well-elaborated plans for a new division of the world instructed the Russian Foreign Minister to draw up a general program for the Entente Cordiale. It went down in history as the ‘Sazonov program’, even though Russia did not play an independent role in that war and was from the start built into the system of interests of the British financial elite.

On March 19, Henry Kissinger came to Moscow as a member of The Wise Men (James Baker, George Schultz, and others), who had meetings with the Russian leaders before the G20 summit. Dmitry Trenin, director of the Moscow Carnegie Center and participant in the latest US meeting of the Bilderbergers, called that meeting a ‘positive signal’. On March 25, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article ‘The Crisis and the World Problems’, by Gavriil Popov (currently President of the International Union of Economists) that openly voiced what was normally discussed behind closed doors.

The article mentioned World Parliament, World Government, World Armed Forces, World Police Force, World Bank, the necessity of placing under international control the nuclear weapons, nuclear power generating capacities, the entire amount of space rocket technology, and the planet’s minerals, the imposition of birth-rate limits, the cleansing of humanity’s gene pool, the fostering of people intolerant to cultural and religious incompatibility, and the like.

The “countries that will not accept the global prospects,” says Popov, “must be expelled from the world community.”

Of course, the Moskovsky Komsomolets article conveys nothing new that would enable one to understand the strategy of the global elite. Another thing is important. The establishment of a totalitarian police order and the elimination of national states is being suggested as an open program of action, and what both the liberals, and the socialists, and the conservatives always viewed as ‘new fascism’ is being recommended as the only possible salutary path for the whole of mankind. Someone wants the discussing of these projects to become a norm. In this context, some ‘particularly trusted’ representatives of Russia are pushed to the fore, Russia that will become the main victim of the policy of total plunder should the ‘global government’ become a reality.

The G20 did not discuss the common world currency issue, since time had not yet come for that. The summit itself was a step forward on the way to chaos, because its decisions, if followed blindly, will only worsen the world socioeconomic situation and, to quote Lyndon LaRouche, will “finish off the patient.”

In the meantime, the crisis is being exacerbated, and analysts are predicting an era of mass-scale unemployment. The most pessimistic predictions come from LEAP/Europe 20201, which regularly publishes them in its bulletins and even set them out in an open letter sent to the leaders of the Twenty before the London summit.

As early as February 2006, LEAP was surprisingly precise in describing the prospects for the ‘systemic global crisis’ as a consequence of the financial illness caused by the US debt. LEAP analysts are viewing the current events in the context of the general crisis that began in the late 1970s and is now in its fourth, final and most grave stage, the so-called ‘elutriation phase’, where the collapse of real economy begins. According to LEAP’s Frank Biancheri, it is not simply a recession but the end of the system, in which its main pillar, the US economy, collapsed. “We are witnessing the end of an entire epoch before our own eyes.”

The crisis may lead to some most difficult consequences. LEAP forecasts a rise in unemployment to 15-20% in Europe and as much as 30% in the United States. If the key dollar problem fails to be solved, the world events will take a most dramatic turn. The dollar collapse may take place as early as July 2009, and the potentially decades-long crisis will trigger off “a world-wide geopolitical disintegration” with social upheavals and civil conflicts, with the division of the world into separate blocs, with the world coming back to Europe’s1914, with military clashes, etc. The most powerful popular unrest will take place in countries with the least developed social security systems and the biggest concentrations of weapons, primarily in Latin America and the United States, where social violence is already now manifest in the activities of armed gangs. Experts note the beginning of US population fleeing to Europe, where the direct threat to life is for the time being not so great. Aside from armed conflicts, LEAP analysts forecast power, food and water shortages in areas dependent on food imports.

LEAP experts describe behavior demonstrated by the Western elites as absolutely inadequate: "Our leaders have failed to understand what happened, and show the same amount of incomprehension to this day. We are amid a period of protracted recession, and it was necessary to engage in introducing some long-term measures to cushion the blows, whereas our leaders still hope to avoid a prolonged recession… All of them have been formed around the American pillar and cannot see that the pillar is a shambles…"

But this is not seen by the mid-level leaders, while the top-level world managers are, on the contrary, informed quite well; it is they who are implementing the ‘controlled chaos’ and general disintegration policy, including a civil war and the disintegration of the United States planned for the end of 2009, a scenario that is being widely discussed both by American and world media.

On the threshold of conflicts planned in various areas of the planets, a system is being established that will give a supranational center relying on a large-scale punitive machine total political, military, legal, and electronic control over the population. That system uses the network management principle that allows embedding into any society parallel structures of authority that report to external decision-making centers and are legalized through the doctrine of prevalence of international law over national law. The shell remains national, while real power becomes transnational. Jacques Attali calls this a ‘global law-based state’.

The ruling center of the global law-based state is located in the US. While its fundamentals began to emerge in the 1990s, the fight against terrorism after the 9/11 events has lead to radically new phenomena. The passing of the 2001 Patriot Act not only allowed security services to control the American population and suspected foreigners, but also accelerated the passing of state responsibilities into the hands of transnational corporate structures.

Intelligence activities, trade of war, penitentiary system, and information control are passing into private hands. This is done through so-called outsourcing, a relatively new business phenomenon that consists of trusting certain functions to private firms that act as contractors and relying on individuals outside an organization to solve its internal tasks.

In 2007, the American government found out that 70% of its secret intelligence budget is spent on private contracts and that “Cold-War intelligence bureaucracy is transforming into something new, where contractor’s interests dominate.” For American society (Congress included), their activities remain classified, which allows them to gather more and more important functions in their hands.

Former CIA employees say that nearly 60% of their staff are on contracts. Those people analyze most of the information, write reports for those who make decisions in state authorities, maintain communications among various security services, help foreign stations, and analyze data interception. As a result, America’s National Security Agency is becoming more and more dependent on private companies that have access to classified information. No wonder, then, that it is lobbying a bill in the Congress that is supposed to guarantee immunity to corporations that have worked with NSA for the last five years.

The same is happening to private military companies (PMCs), which have been assuming more and more army and police functions. On a significant scale, it started in the nineties in former Yugoslavia, but contract workers were especially widely used in Afghanistan and other conflict zones. They did the ‘dirtiest’ actions, as was the case during the war in South Ossetia, where up to 3000 mercenaries were involved. At the moment, PMCs are real armies, each up to 70,000 strong, that operate in over 60 countries, with annual revenues of up to $180 billion (according to Brookings Institution, USA) For example, over 20,000 employees of American PMCs work in Iraq along with the 160,000 American military contingent.

The system of private prisons is also growing rapidly in the US. The prison industry complex, which uses slave labor and sweatshop practices, is flourishing, and its investors are based on Wall Street. The use of convict labor by private corporations has been legalized in 37 states already, and it is used by major corporations such as IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, Texas Instrument, Intel, Pierre Cardin, and others. In 2008, the number of inmates in US private prisons was about 100,000, and it is growing rapidly, along with the total number of inmates in the country (mostly African-Americans and Latin Americans), which is 2.2 million people, or 25% of all convicts in the world.

After Bush came to power, privatization of the system for transportation and retention of migrants in concentration camps began. In particular, a branch of the notorious firm Halliburton, Kellog Brown and Root (once headed by Dick Cheney), did just that.

The biggest achievements have been made over the last few years in the area of establishing electronic control over people’s identities, carried out under the pretext of counterterrorism. Currently, the FBI is creating the world’s biggest database of biometric indexes (fingerprints, retina scans, face shapes, scar shapes and allocation, speech and gesture patterns, etc.) that now contains 55 million fingerprints. The latest novelties include the introduction of body scanning system in US airports, tracking of literature read by passengers in flight, and so on. A new opportunity to gather detailed information on people’s private lives follow from the NSA Directive N59, passed in summer 2008, ‘Identification and tracking biometry for the purpose of strengthening national security’, and the classified ‘Homeland Terrorism Preparedness Law’.

Evaluating the policy of America’s authorities, ex-Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul said that America is gradually turning into a fascist state, “We are approaching not a Hitler-type fascism, but one of a softer type, which shows in the loss of civil freedoms, when corporations rule everything and… the government lies in the same bed with big business.” May we remind you that Ron Paul is one of the few American politicians speaking for the closing of the Federal Reserve System as a secret unconstitutional organization?

With Obama’s coming to power, the police order in America is getting tighter and tighter in two directions – strengthening internal security and militarization of civilian institutions. Tellingly, having condemned the infringements on individual freedoms done by the Bush administration, Obama has put his own staff under total control by making them fill out a 63-question form that touches upon the most intricate details of their private lives. In January, the US President signed bills that enable the continuation of the illegal practice of abducting people, keeping them secretly in prisons, and moving them to countries where tortures are used. He also proposed a bill called National Emergency Help Center Establishment Act, which stipulates the establishment of six such centers in US military bases to provide help to people who are displaced due to an emergency situation or disaster and thus get into military jurisdiction. Analysts connect this bill with possible disturbances and consider it proof that the US administration is preparing for a military conflict which may follow after the provocation that is being planned.

The American system of police control is actively implemented in other countries, primarily in Europe – through the establishment of American law hegemony on its territory by means of closing various agreements. A big part here was played by US–European talks out of the glare of publicity on creation of the common ‘area of control over the population’ that were held in spring 2008, when the European Parliament adopted resolution that ratified creation of the single transatlantic market abolishing all barriers to trade and investments by 2015. The talks resulted in the classified report prepared by the experts from six participating countries. This report described the project to create the ‘area of cooperation’ in the spheres of ‘freedom, safety and justice’.

The report dwells upon the reorganization of the system of justice and internal affairs of the EU member states in such a manner that it would resemble the American system. It concerns not only the ability to transfer personal data and cooperation of police services (which is already being carried out), but also, for example, extradition of EU immigrants to US authorities in accordance with the new mandate that abolished all the guarantees the European procedure of extradition provided. In the US the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is in force, and it allows persecution or imprisonment of any person who is identified as an ‘illegally fighting enemy’ by the executive authorities and extends to immigrants from any country not at war with the US. They are persecuted like “enemies” not based on some evidence but because they were labeled so by the governmental agencies. No foreign governments have protested against this law which is of international importance.

Soon they will sign the agreement on personal data communication, in accordance with which the American authorities will be able to obtain such personal information as credit card numbers, bank account details, investments, travel routes or communication via Internet, as well as the information concerning race, political and religious beliefs, habits, etc.. It was under the US pressure that the EU countries have introduced biometric passports. The new EU regulation implies the overall switch of EU citizens to electronic passports from the end of June 2009 by 2012. New passports will contain a chip with not only passport info and a photo, but also fingerprints.

We are witnessing the creation of the global electronic concentration camp, and crisis, conflicts and wars are used to justify it. As Douglas Reed wrote “people tend to tremble in the face of an imaginary danger and are too lazy to see the real one.”

Oh, You Wanted Change? 100 Days and....

2009-04-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

From Karl Denninger:

It's change you got.

We got more corruption.

We got more abrogation of The Constitution.

We got more bailouts.

And you think the Tea Parties were some "right wing hackery" eh?

Read the full article..and watch the video at the end..

The Waco Butchers Are Back

2009-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Via The Libertarian Enterprise:

"Sixteen years ago we were reminded of the deadly danger of having the left-liberals in charge of the police state. The largest massacre of American civilians by the US government since Wounded Knee climaxed on April 19, 1993. The siege that had begun on February 28 with a botched ATF publicity stunt ended when the Branch Davidian church and home went up in flames, after an FBI-operated tank on lease from the military was driven through the building, pumping flammable CS gas for six hours into the place where women and children were cowering in fear. Chemistry professor George Uhlig later testified that the high concentration of the gas combined with poor ventilation subjected the women and children to conditions "similar to... the gas chambers used by the Nazis in Auschwitz."

On April 12, the FBI had ruled out using gas because it was dangerous to children. A week later, Bob Ricks, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, said the gassing was "to make their environment as uncomfortable as possible until they do exit the compound." This excuse came after weeks of throwing flash-bang grenades at the building when people tried to leave.

Attorney General Janet Reno said the gas attack "was not meant to be D-Day. This was just a step forward in trying to bring about a peaceful resolution by constantly exerting further pressure to shrink the perimeter." This militaristic lingo was characteristic of the feds' approach throughout the siege. The government had waged psychological warfare by blaring obnoxious music, shining glaring lights and cutting the Davidians off water, electricity, their friends, attorneys and the press. Firefighters were not permitted near the scene as the flames continued engulfing the home. When it was all over, the ATF stuck its flag up on the building to declare victory.

At a press conference on April 20, a day after the FBI gassed American civilians, President Clinton said he did not believe "the Attorney General should resign because some religious fanatics murdered themselves." The press corps, in an unusually naked expression of solidarity with the government, applauded Clinton's statement.

This underscores the dynamic of having this crop in power. If even the liberals are for a show of force, it must have been necessary. The blame was put on the "religious fanatics," not the government fanatics, and the press and most Americans ate it all up."

READ THE WHOLE THING....

Involuntary Flying Squirrels

2009-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases

2009-04-21T00:22:00.000-07:00

Via The New York Times:
"Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent."

Obama proposes $100 billion U.S. loan for IMF

2009-04-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a $100 billion U.S. loan to the International Monetary Fund to boost the IMF's resources and urged a bigger stake in the IMF for emerging powers.

The rape of America continues unabated.

At what point will it finally become permissable to break out the tar & feathers?
...Or will Americans just keep on taking it up the ass until there's nothing left to steal?

Government

2009-04-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Pass the Ritalin Kool-aid

2009-04-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Found in the comments section of the CNN website:
_____________________________________
Robin

Obama's handshake with Chavez was perfect. African Americans , Latinos, Middle Easterner's all greet each other warmly, even with hugs-
even when the relationship is not that close. It shows respect and caring.
This is a president not afraid to you "I love you back" to the American people. This is why he is loved.

______________________________________

Shots Fired in Boston Riot

2009-04-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

Via Freedom's Phoenix:

AP-Boston
April 20, 1775

Scores Killed, Hundreds Injured as Para-Military
Extremists Riot in Boston Area

National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a paramilitary 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 local 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 early this month 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 "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.

Meet the new puppet.... same as the old puppet.

2009-04-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Tax Day Tea Party in Carson City, Nevada: 3000+ showed up to vent their frustrations.

2009-04-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

The warning shots have been fired across the bow.
Of course, most of the members of the mainstream media, political elite, and the clueless 'progressive' fan base that cheers them on still don't have a clue as to who, what, and why.

Up Yours, You Screeching Harpy.... and that goes for your dimwitted lapdog as well.

2009-04-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on April 7 acknowledged that gun registration is on her agenda, days after Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters in Mexico that the Second Amendment would not "stand in the way" of administration plans to crack down on alleged gun trafficking to Mexico.

What part of "...shall not be infringed." don't they understand?

Steampunk Tableware

2009-04-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Teaching children to live in a totalitarian society

2009-04-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ron Paul: Why not legalize hemp?

2009-04-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

Jackie and Dunlap weigh in on the Madonna adoption debacle

2009-04-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Mandatory 'depression screening' for everyone?

2009-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

How convenient.
Diagnose everyone as having an imaginary mental illness and you get to kill 3 birds with one stone: the pharmcos rake in billion$, the sheeple are drugged into submission from cradle to grave, and millions of citizens are barred from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.

The New DMV Vehicle Warranty Division

2009-04-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Another Reminder: April 1st is the day to mail tea bags to the non-representing 'representatives' who voted for the economic rape of America

2009-03-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ever notice how the powers-that-be are always worried about 'sending the right message'?
Well, now is the time to turn the tables on the thieving douchebags and send a message of your own.
Let the scumbags know that, unlike the legions of braindead unthinking Obamabots, you are not only paying attention- you are mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more.
A shot across the bow, if you will.
On the other hand, don't forget to thank those legislators who did have the cojones to stand up for what is right and vote against the largest rip-off in American history. They deserve both your praise and your support.

Hillary Clinton is now, always has been, and forever will be: a lying, corrupt, dimwitted little skidmark on the underwear of humanity.

2009-03-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

via AP:
Clinton urged a quick resolution to a dispute over Mexican trucks entering the United States, saying both sides need to ensure that traffic across the border is safe and legal.
"We (in the U.S.) can worry about what's coming north, but Mexican people are worried about what's coming south: assault weapons, bazookas, grenades," she said. "

Bazookas? Grenades? Gimme a fuckin' break.

T-Rex was a pussy

2009-03-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Via Newscientist:

Fossil of 'ultimate predator' unearthed in Arctic

It's Time To Join The Resistance

2009-03-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

We The People Stimulus Package: Thomas Paine Speaks Out Again

2009-03-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

American Tea Party Song by Lloyd Marcus

2009-03-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Just because....

2009-03-19T22:17:00.001-07:00

Ron Paul: "Legal action should be against these people who voted for AIG bailout!"

2009-03-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day

2009-03-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

"I don’t feel safe with a bunch of cops on the street. I feel the opposite. I think that would be like being occupied by a bunch of Redcoats in colonial times or British soldiers in Scottish villages in the time of William Wallace. We don’t need “standing armies” in our cities. I want to the ability to strap my gun to my hip and to take care of myself. I want the men of the community to take some responsibility for policing the streets with a knowledge and appreciation of due process. I want real self-governance, not the fake kind where we delegate our security to tax munching, trough-feeding minions of unions to whom we are all dirt and “officer safety” is paramount.
I’m getting really radical in my old age."

--Jerri Lynn Ward, Commenting on the article mentioned immediately below this one.

Do America's Inner Cities Need A "Surge"?

2009-03-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Mr. Balko is in fine form this evening.

2009-03-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

DHS thugs brag about stealing cash, guns and reloading supplies

2009-03-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

And just who, exactly, are the real terrorists?
-
Note that the described activities took place on US soil.
Note also that none of the ~~stolen~~ confiscated items are illegal- not even the money.
Not yet, anyway.
Both articles mention heightened awareness and a boost in readiness.
Imagine that.

DHS press release 11Mar09:
"A trio of weapons seizures in Arizona and Texas this week highlight the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) heightened emphasis on tracking and intercepting illegal guns and ammunition near the U.S.-Mexico border under Secretary Janet Napolitano."

DHS press release 3Mar09:
"A recent batch of large-scale cash seizures near the U.S.-Mexico border demonstrates a boost in readiness and attention to money trafficking activities in response to the current drug war raging in Mexico, a major priority for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano."

I wonder how Al Gore and his acolytes will respond to this?

2009-03-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

UW-Milwaukee Study Could Realign Climate Change Theory
Scientists Claim Earth Is Undergoing Natural Climate Shift

Jackie & Dunlap weigh in on the proposed 'stripper tax'

2009-03-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Ron Paul owns Stephen Baldwin.......... Should Marijuana be legalized?

2009-03-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Iraq? Afganistan? Nope........Alabama, USA

2009-03-11T22:15:00.001-07:00

A Brave New World Indeed

2009-03-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Washoe county (Reno, NV) sends in a friggin' SWAT team and a K-9 unit......for a land use violation.

Is it a police state yet?

The joys of censorship

2009-03-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when journalists make outrageously stupid claims like:

"The Western democracies, and in particularly the U.S.A, discovered communal values afresh in the 1930s after the capitalist beast was again unshackled and allowed to run amok (released by yet another generation of wild-eyed economic right-wingers who believed in the mythical “free market” the way 4-year-old girls believe in fairies).
And it looks—after the last spectacular round of suicidal libertarian bed-shitting—that we’re about to discover those values again. Let’s hope."
---Steven Wells, The Philadelphia Weekly

And then proceed to censor the comments of those who call them on their bullshit?

What's wrong, Mr. Wells? Are you quite aware that you're completely full of shit?
Is that why you refused to print my comment?
Just in case it may have slipped your mind, here's a screenshot of my comment as submitted:

Yes, censorship has become so common over the past few weeks that I'm now starting to take screenshots in order to keep track.

The New F***ing Citibank

2009-03-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

Another Invasion Of The Obamabots?

2009-03-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Via Breitbart.com:

US President Barack Obama mustered his powerful campaign army on Monday, calling on his millions of supporters to lobby on behalf of his budget and economic plan. The appeal to back the president was made in an email and video sent out by "Organizing for America," the organization which morphed out of Obama's campaign machinery to push his agenda when he entered the White House.

In the video, Mitch Stewart, the director of Organizing for America, urged the president's supporters to take part in the "Organizing for America Pledge Project."

"The pledge project is an ambitious effort to map out and identify support for President Obama's economic blueprint across towns and communities in America," Stewart said.

"We're doing that by asking people to pledge your support for the broad initiatives outlined in President Obama's economic plan.

"Once you do, we will ask you to build support in your own communities by forwarding this pledge by email, by knocking on doors and by making phone calls," he said.

READ ON....

Quote Of The Day...

2009-03-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

"But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." --- The Declaration Of Independence

Market kills the Bezzle...

2009-03-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

Via The Market Ticker:

"Be warned Mr. President - we are on the precipice of a tipping point from which you and our economy cannot recover for a decade or more, if at all.

Protecting those who have stolen the wealth of millions of Americans, along with their homes and jobs, is going to become singularly unpopular in very short order."

READ ON......

Quote Of The Day

2009-03-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed."
--Ayn Rand

This is just surreal.........

2009-03-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

The Evil That Men Do: Willful Submission To Illegitimate Authority

2009-03-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

by William Buppert

We live in tumultuous times that demand close attention to the yokes being placed on us. The US government is seemingly in the throes of a coup that is exponentially creeping and expanding into what was formerly a fairly autonomous province. Every sector and branch of human transactions that are palpable in this mortal coil is now being subject to regulation, taxation or both. With no authority whatsoever, entire swaths of American society are being subsumed under Leviathan state.

What is the authority or color thereof that these alien entities are gobbling up entire patterns of human existence? I have hinted before that the denizens of Mordor on the Potomac act as if their authority is unlimited and their ultimate reach is anything they please. We are witnessing a vicious brew of Sovietization and Mussolini-style state corporatism that will take a revolution to undo.

READ ON...........

Video released of King County sheriff beating a 15 year old detainee

2009-02-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

Via Injustice In Seattle:

"King County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Schene plead not guilty to fourth degree assault over what took place in the video shown above. If convicted he only faces a maximum of one year in jail.

The video was taken on November 29th in a SeaTac, Washington holding cell, south of Seattle, Washington. The video shows deputy Schene, another deputy, and a 15-year-old girl he arrested on suspicion of auto theft for driving her parents' car."

MORE.....

Quote of the day....

2009-02-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

From Trevor Bothwell @ Who's Your Nanny?:

"I cannot predict when this empire will end. It's quite possible that our rulers could keep this game going for the rest of my lifetime. The media and schools continue to brainwash the public so the empire may continue on faith alone. But this empire must end eventually. And we should prepare ourselves just in case it does happen while we are still living."

Keith Olbermann: Democrat Fluff Boy

2009-02-26T23:41:00.000-08:00

Party Like It's 1773

2009-02-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

Tax Evasion vs. Tax Revolt

2009-02-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

This op-ed from JB Williams at The Canada Free Press is a must read:

America is certainly headed for very difficult times and from investors to employers to employees and retirees, people of all political stripes are beginning to react to an overbearing federal government that is behaving more like a heavy handed left-wing dictatorship than a representative republic.

The US Constitution is being shredded, replaced by progressive democratic socialism. The DOW lost 27% of its value during the last six months of 2008. But it has already lost another 12% in the first thirty days of unbridled Democrat rule.

Washington DC leftists strong armed a so-called “stimulus bill” through congress without any real bi-partisan support. The people are now figuring out that it was not an “economic stimulus” effort, but rather a forty year wish list of leftist government run asset redistribution.

Talk of a second Civil War, another revolution, a Tea Party, are growing by the day as the new fed moves to confiscate private property and power in the name of a “greater communal good” and the “general welfare” of the people at large."

READ THE WHOLE THING.....

Alan Keyes: "how does a bankrupt government bailout a bankrupt banking system?"

2009-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

Orwell was an optimist

2009-02-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

“A productive, free, and peaceful society cannot be held together by violence, surveillance, torture, SWAT teams, lies, and prisons. Neither can it countenance governmental policies of plundering the fruits of the labors of an entire population, and redistributing it to the institutional friends of those in power.”
-- Butler Shaffer

Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

2009-02-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Check it out. Seriously.

(Thanks to Johnny for the heads up.)

'Nuff Said.

2009-02-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

What Is A "Three Percenter"?

2009-02-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

via the sipseystreetirregulars:

During the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists. They were in turn actively supported by perhaps 10% of the population. In addition to these revolutionaries were perhaps another 20% who favored their cause but did little or nothing to support it. Another one-third of the population sided with the King (by the end of the war there were actually more Americans fighting FOR the King than there were in the field against him) and the final third took no side, blew with the wind and took what came.

Three Percenters today do not claim that we represent 3% of the American people, although we might. That theory has not yet been tested. We DO claim that we represent at least 3% of American gun owners, which is still a healthy number somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million people. History, for good or ill, is made by determined minorities. We are one such minority. So too are the current enemies of the Founders' Republic. What remains, then, is the test of will and skill to determine who shall shape the future of our nation.

The Three Percent today are gun owners who will not disarm, will not compromise and will no longer back up at the passage of the next gun control act. Three Percenters say quite explicitly that we will not obey any further circumscription of our traditional liberties and will defend ourselves if attacked. We intend to maintain our God-given natural rights to liberty and property, and that means most especially the right to keep and bear arms. Thus, we are committed to the restoration of the Founders' Republic, and are willing to fight, die and, if forced by any would-be oppressor, to kill in the defense of ourselves and the Constitution that we all took an oath to uphold against enemies foreign and domestic.

We are the people that the collectivists who now control the government should leave alone if they wish to continue unfettered oxygen consumption. We are the Three Percent. Attempt to further oppress us at your peril.

To put it bluntly, leave us the hell alone.

Or, if you feel froggy, go ahead AND WATCH WHAT HAPPENS.

Stimulus Today, Disaster Tomorrow....

2009-02-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

Liberty 01: A look at the near future?

2009-02-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

Damn You !

2009-02-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Nicki Fellenzer at The Liberty Zone tells it like it is.

Australian Bush Fires

2009-02-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Boston Globe has posted some incredible pictures of the Victorian fires and their aftermath.

Just a timely reminder...

2009-02-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

That most of the shitbags who "hate your freedom" aren't a bunch of semi-literate Muslim desert dwellers eeking out a pitiful living as best they can in some third world hellhole.
No........ not even close.
The most dangerous threats to your freedom are snooping around right in your own backyard.
Shooting your pets.
Trashing your house.
Stealing your stuff.
Slaughtering women and children.
Persecuting those who dare to exercise their right to defend themselves against the insane actions of a tyrannical police state.
Ignoring the Constitution and prohibiting the free exercise of your rights.

Etc., etc., etc......

No.
The most dangerous threats to your freedom and liberty are currently infesting the Whitehouse, the Legislature, and the incredibly vast bureaucracy of this once-great nation.

Soooo..... what do you intend to do about it?

Stand up and defend your rights, your property, and your freedom?

Or get down on your knees and lick the boots of your tyrannical masters?

The choice is yours.

--
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." --Patrick Henry

---

The names of both the oppressed and the oppressors may change, but history does, indeed, have a nasty habit of repeating itself.

Red State Update: Obama's Tax Cheat Cabinet

2009-02-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

Stimulus: Because all economies have performance issues.

2009-02-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

More Zero-Tolerence shenanigans

2009-02-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen: we are surrounded by idiots- and some of the dumbest happen to be running our public youth indoctrination facilities.

"A local school district has suspended a member of the Young Marines youth leadership group after students saw drill props in her vehicle.

Marie Morrow, a 17-year-old senior at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, is serving a 10-day suspension. Her punishment could be extended at an expulsion hearing later this month."

More Puppycide in Vegas

2009-02-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sooooo.......
The JBT tried to avoid shooting the family dog..... which was inside a shed in the fenced backyard of a private residence..... which they entered without a search warrant.....after searching a nearby neighborhood with a helicopter equipped with a heat detecting device and spotted a 'large mass' in a shed behind a home...again, no search warrant...... in pursuit of a DUI suspect who had fled the scene of a traffic stop on foot.

Fuckwits.

Full story here via The Las Vegas Review Journal:

BACKYARD INCIDENT: Family's pet 'Coco' killed by police

Department says officer tried to avoid shooting dog

Rahm Emanuel: If you are on No Fly List, no gun for you.

2009-02-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Major douchebag and all-around fuckwit Rahm Emmanuel fellating the Brady Brunch with visions of insanity:

Lots of people have been talking about stocking up on guns, gold, food, etc. over the past few months. Good advice- but there are a couple of items that may be very useful in the not too distant future that I have yet to see show up on anyone's prep list.

Anybody know where I can get a good deal on a tar pot and a few gunny sacks full of dirty chicken feathers?

SCHIP - Do Your Part

2009-02-06T23:40:00.001-08:00

Blogosphere post of the day

2009-02-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

From Phred at Americanly Yours:

Trust?

“Mother should I trust the government?”

NO!

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

----------

'Nuff said.

What It feels Like To Be A Libertarian

2009-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

by John Hasnas
Associate Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University:

Political analysts frequently consider what it means to be a libertarian. In fact, in 1997, Charles Murray published a short book entitled "What It Means to Be a Libertarian" that does an excellent job of presenting the core principles of libertarian political philosophy. But almost no one ever discusses what it feels like to be a libertarian. How does it actually feel to be someone who holds the principles described in Murray’s book?

I’ll tell you. It feels bad. Being a libertarian means living with a level of frustration that is nearly beyond human endurance. It means being subject to unending scorn and derision despite being inevitably proven correct by events. How does it feel to be a libertarian? Imagine what the internal life of Cassandra must have been and you will have a pretty good idea.

Imagine spending two decades warning that government policy is leading to a major economic collapse, and then, when the collapse comes, watching the world conclude that markets do not work.

Imagine continually explaining that markets function because they have a built in corrective mechanism; that periodic contractions are necessary to weed out unproductive ventures; that continually loosening credit to avoid such corrections just puts off the day of reckoning and inevitably leads to a larger recession; that this is precisely what the government did during the 1920's that led to the great depression; and then, when the recession hits, seeing it offered as proof of the failure of laissez-faire capitalism.

Imagine spending years decrying federal intervention in the home mortgage market; pointing out the dangers associated with legislation such as the Community Reinvestment Act that forces lenders to make more risky loans that they otherwise would; testifying before Congress on the lack of oversight and inevitable insolvency of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to legislators who angrily respond either that one is "exaggerat[ing] a threat of safety and soundness . . . which I do not see" (Barney Frank) or "[I[f it ain’t broke, why do you want to fix it? Have the GSEs [government-sponsored enterprises] ever missed their housing goals" (Maxine Waters) or "[T[he problem that we have and that we are faced with is maybe some individuals who wanted to do away with GSEs in the first place" (Gregory Meeks) or that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "one of the great success stories of all time" (Christopher Dodd); and arguing that the moral hazard created by the implicit federal backing of such privately-owned government-sponsored enterprises is likely to set off a wave of unjustifiably risky investments, and then, when the housing market implodes under the weight of bad loans, watching the collapse get blamed on the greed and rapaciousness of "Wall Street."

I remember attending a lecture at Georgetown in the mid-1990s given by a member of the libertarian Cato Institute in which he predicted that, unless changed, government policy would trigger an economic crisis by 2006. That prediction was obviously ideologically-motivated alarmism. After all, the crisis did not occur until 2008.

Libertarians spend their lives accurately predicting the future effects of government policy. Their predictions are accurate because they are derived from Hayek’s insights into the limitations of human knowledge, from the recognition that the people who comprise the government respond to incentives just like anyone else and are not magically transformed to selfless agents of the good merely by accepting government employment, from the awareness that for government to provide a benefit to some, it must first take it from others, and from the knowledge that politicians cannot repeal the laws of economics. For the same reason, their predictions are usually negative and utterly inconsistent with the utopian wishful-thinking that lies at the heart of virtually all contemporary political advocacy. And because no one likes to hear that he cannot have his cake and eat it too or be told that his good intentions cannot be translated into reality either by waving a magic wand or by passing legislation, these predictions are greeted not merely with disbelief, but with derision.

It is human nature to want to shoot the messenger bearing unwelcome tidings. And so, for the sin of continually pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, libertarians are attacked as heartless bastards devoid of compassion for the less fortunate, despicable flacks for the rich or for business interests, unthinking dogmatists who place blind faith in the free market, or, at best, members of the lunatic fringe.

Cassandra’s curse was to always tell the truth about the future, but never be believed. If you add to that curse that she would be ridiculed, derided, and shunned for making her predictions, you have a pretty fair approximation of what it feels like to be a libertarian.

If you’d like a taste of what it feels like to be a libertarian, try telling people that the incoming Obama Administration is advocating precisely those aspects of FDR’s New Deal that prolonged the great depression for a decade; that propping up failed and failing ventures with government money in order to save jobs in the present merely shifts resources from relatively more to relatively less productive uses, impedes the corrective process, undermines the economic growth necessary for recovery, and increases unemployment in the long term; and that any "economic" stimulus package will inexorably be made to serve political rather than economic ends, and see what kind of reaction you get. And trust me, it won’t feel any better five or ten years from now when everything you have just said has been proven true and Obama, like FDR, is nonetheless revered as the savior of the country.

Freedom & Liberty from the viewpoint of an 11 year old

2009-02-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

This young lady has more sense in her little finger than all of the collective wit (or lack thereof) in our entire legislature. (RP excepted of course):

The Hidden Weapon of "Gun Control" Advocates

2009-01-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

Kirby Ferris via the JPFO:

Advocates of victim disarmament in today’s American politics owe their tactics and techniques to a man whose name is becoming more and more familiar: Saul Alinsky. Hillary Clinton actually sat at his feet. Barack Hussein Obama was spoon fed his teachings. Bill Clinton was Saul’s ideological son. And you can bet that freshman Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Dem. NY) has been well versed in Alinskyism by her own mentor … Madam Hillary.

For decades gun owners have shaken their head in wonder as lie after lie from the gun grabbers results in more and more anti firearms ownership legislation. We can conservatively estimate that there are at least sixty five million gun owners in America today. That is an immense “interest group”. And yet, gun registration (and outright confiscation) schemes have never, in the entire history of our nation, loomed so ominously on the horizon.

How has this been done? The evolution of an America in the sixties, when kids took shotguns and rifles to school so they could go out hunting after classes, to a climate wherein today a kid draws a picture of a gun in class and gets hustled off to a shrink and likely suspended.

Lunacy reigns. But it didn’t happen accidentally. We’ve arrived at the endgame of a process, a process that Saul Alinsky, if he didn’t invent it, polished, packaged, and taught with unbelievable skill and cynicism.

Alinsky’s last book, published in 1971, a year before he died, is titled “Rules For Radicals”. These tactics are the “hidden weapon” of the more sophisticated “gun control” advocates.

Here are Alinsky’s thirteen basic rules. I’ve commented on each, and how they are used by the victim disarmament crowd. The old saw, “know thine enemy”, is ably served if you first understand what your enemy has been taught. The next time you see an anti gun politician or spokesperson spouting off about “responsible gun ownership”, or “keeping guns out of the hands of criminals”, or “the rights of hunters” understand that it is all deception based upon Alinsky’s tactics.

Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

Josh Sugarmann, Sarah Brady, Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, and their ilk, are superlative grandstanders. Like verbally vomiting vultures, they immediately appear in front of the cameras whenever a Stockton, California or Columbine, Colorado shooting spree takes place. They actually seem pre-prepared, almost as if they knew something was going to happen. In the horror of the aftermath, they shamelessly silence pro gun advocates with a flood of emotionalized, illogical, irrational, and manipulative buzz phrases and clichés that a rabidly anti gun media presents to the American public with somber aplomb. Some of them, like that morally perverse harridan from New Jersey, Carolyn McCarthy, actually rise to power by irrationally and hysterically pandering their personal losses to the crowd. The queen of passive aggressiveness, Sarah Brady, used the same tactic.

Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.

Sadly, the gun grabbers are better organized than most pro gun groups. Alinsky taught his students moral relativism. The end justifies the means. Look at the political killer instinct demonstrated by the leadership and active base of the “guns are bad” sub culture. The NRA operates on schmooze, backslapping, and insidious ground losing compromise. Handgun Control Inc. runs on secrecy, back stabbing, and unwavering betrayal of agreement. They are winning. We are losing.

Twenty years ago, JPFO (unaware of Alinsky’s teachings, it might be added) was founded with the realization that it was time someone countered the lies of the gun grabbers using some of the enemy’s tactics. Thankfully, JPFO doesn’t have to lie … ever. Watch JPFO’s documentary “Innocents Betrayed”,(trailer - - store purchase of full DVD) the graphic and unnerving chronicle of disarmed citizens and genocides in history.

There is a crucial difference between JPFO and our adversaries: We don’t need moral relativism because we don’t have to lie.

Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

This is easy for the Carolyn McCarthys, the Chuck Schumers, and the Dianne Feinsteins. They are liars. And gun owners are perhaps inculcated with a more fundamental, innate, honesty than any other easily definable social group. So when Feinstein or Schumer fights dirty, our side tends to cringe in disgust and confusion and disbelief. How many times have your heard a gun owner ask: “How can they lie like that?!” They lie because it is working!

Rule 4: Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”

The alleged pacifism of the Jewish and Christian faiths, is used relentlessly against gun owners, many whom have deep religious beliefs and “old fashioned” moral constructs. Have you ever noticed that there is always a pastor, priest, or rabbi at an anti gun ownership rally? Always. Their message to gun owners is subtle and corrosive: “Thou shalt not kill. How can you even think of owning a gun?” The underlying subliminal context? Self defense is a sin. This is an insane lie.

And, by the way, the accurate translation of the Sixth Commandment is “Thou shalt not murder. It is not “Thou shalt not kill”. Think on that. (see: “2A Today for the U.S.A.”, JPFO’s crystal clear explanation of the Second Amendment.).

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counter-attack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Gun owners are “hillbillys”, “rednecks”, “macho”, “gun nuts”, “extremists”, “paranoid”, and, if the gun owner is male “in fear of their sexual inadequacy”. Come on, admit it, how many times have you wanted to kick smirking Chuckie Schumer. Bingo! He won. You just lost.

Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”

At the time Alinsky wrote this, the late 1960s, he was teaching mostly college age youths (most specifically Hillary Clinton, who he dearly wanted as his protégé) the secrets of “activism”. The leadership of our devious opposition has a flair for drama and theater. The true believers in Handgun Control Inc., the day in and day out worker bees, are mostly younger folks. They are energetic idealists with bagels for brains.

Meanwhile the staunch pro gun ownership activist is usually forty or older. Sadly, in the realm of pure energy, they’ve got us beat. This is why it is so important to get youngsters into shooting and gun safety and the moral issues involved with that most basic human right, the right to self defense. JPFO’s “Grampa Jack” series of educational comic books is the perfect way to introduce youngsters to our cause.

Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

Here is where we can beat them. The pro gun ownership activist knows, with grim certainty, what waits at the end of gun confiscation. This somber understanding keeps our shoulders to the plow. Our foundational tactics are: Truth and history. It is that plain and that simple.

Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose.

They never stop, do they? Every sordid event that involves a firearm draws them like flies. That is, unless the event is the morally righteous use of a firearm that leaves a violent criminal dead or crippled, and an innocent citizen alive, instead of dead. Then you don’t hear a peep from Chuckie or Sarah or Dianne, do you?

Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.

Alinsky used to arrange civil obstructions that would be financially damaging to a city. He’d call for a “sit in” or demonstration and then shake down the city politicians and get them to fund his pet socialist projects. Watch for the gun grabbers to call in their pimp politicians like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton when the “Big Threat”, the race card, needs to be played in a situation.

Rule 10: "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign."

Our adversaries never directly confront an issue. They can’t! Their entire premise is a lie! They outflank, snipe from cover, and retreat. They’ll push a cliché until it wears thin and then change pace, like a skilled quarterback switching back and forth from ground game to passing game.

Rule 11: "If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside... every positive has its negative."

This encapsulates Alinsky’s foundational cynicism and amorality. The victim disarmament crowd deep down believes that lying to achieve their goals is okay.

“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” Vladimir Lenin.

Rule 12: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where we can pin them between Heaven and Earth like wriggling worms. Because deep in the heart of every gun grabber is the dream of complete gun confiscation. They won’t admit it, but it is the truth. Many of these people are actually mentally ill. (see: Dr. Sarah Thomson’s article, “Raging Against Self Defense”. It is highly instructive.)

JPFO waves the lessons of history in the duplicitous faces of the victim disarmament advocates. JPFO is a solution oriented organization. It provides you with the intellectual ammunition to counter the lies of the gun grabbers. FACT: Repeatedly in the 20th Century, firearms registration preceded firearms confiscation preceded horrific mass murder by governments against their own people - see JPFO's Genocide Chart). Sarah Brady and Chuckie and the rest of them, because they are venal liars, we can never let it go there. Never.

Rule 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

This is why Michael Moore targeted Charlton Heston in “Bowling for Columbine”. Moore’s use of Alinsky’s tactics (specifically ridicule) is insidiously brilliant. We should learn from him.

Yes, study Saul Alinsky. Because therein we can learn how to spot the tactic, arm ourselves with the counter-tactic, and then ruthlessly and effectively retaliate and neutralize. It’s time to take the gloves off. It is brass knuckles time, friends. The future of our freedom, and the freedom of our children and grandchildren, depends on it. We must fight fire with fire. Nothing else will work.

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

Note from the Burrow Owl:

One little quibble RE: Rule #5:

If Chuckie Schumer's shriveled little 'nads ever get within reach of my size 13 boots, I frickin well guarantee you that I will win that round.

Russian Woody

2009-01-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

Stimulus Numbers: The true cost of national socialism

2009-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Via The Reason Foundation:

Stimulus Numbers

Here is the stimulus as it stands by the numbers:

$1.1 trillion - the cost of the stimulus package
The current spending plans, tax cuts, and expected interest on borrowed funds to pay for the stimulus are over a trillion dollars

$347 billion - the interest on the stimulus package if paid off by 2019
The Congressional Budget Office issued a report today estimating that the government’s interest costs would increase by $0.7 billion in fiscal year 2009 and by a total of $347 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

$136 billion - the money spent on brand new/never before funded programs growing the size of government
The stimulus bill creates and funds 36 new programs for everything from a "Waste Energy Recovery Incentive Program" to "Washington, D.C. National Mall Revitalization" to a "After School Feeding Program"

$10,000 - the amount each American family would have to pay to cover the stimulus bill

1,588 - the number of pages in the stimulus bill
"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." - James Madison, Federalist #62

Maybe 1% - the reduction in unemployment projected from the stimulus bill
Bloomberg recently reported that Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, projects the stimulus plan would reduce the unemployment rate by “maybe” 1 percent, or about half of the 3 million jobs Obama has said the plan would generate.

We are so screwed....

UPDATE:
If you really want to see what's in the largest pork bill in US history, the good folks over at the Heritage Foundation have put the whole damn thing online:

$850 Billion, 1588 pages, and counting... somebody needs to read it!

ADHD Drugs Cause Hallucinations in Children; Psychiatry Pushes Hallucinogenic Drugs for Profit

2009-01-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

(NaturalNews) New research published in the journal Pediatrics reveals that the ADHD drugs prescribed to millions of children are causing them to experience frightening hallucinations. Children on these drugs hallucinated that snakes and bugs were crawling all over them, says Reuters, and some kids taking the drugs experience other bizarre psychotic side effects such as thinking they ran into a wall and falling to the ground even when no wall was present.

ADHD drugs, of course, are powerful psychotropic mind-altering chemicals that are often molecularly identical to street drugs. The industry of psychiatry is virtually owned by Big Pharma, which hopes to drug every child, teenager and adult with at least one mind-altering medication.

The drugs reviewed in this study include: Ritalin and Focalin XR (Novartis), Adderall XR and Daytrana patch (Shire), Concerta (Johnson & Johnson), Strattera (Eli Lilly), Metadate CD (Celltech Pharmaceuticals) and Provigil (Cephalon).

Researchers noticed that only children taking these drugs suffered from hallucinations. Those taking placebo had no hallucinations, and the children who stopped taking ADHD drugs saw their hallucinations cease.

Reuters reports that "…FDA researchers urged doctors to discuss the potential side effects with parents and children to help ease their anxiety if such symptoms should occur." So instead of getting their kids off these drugs, the FDA thinks parents and kids just need to "talk about the hallucinations" to ease their anxiety.

READ ON...

Obama's Hundred Days That Will Change America

2009-01-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

By Dick Morris

Now that Obama is the president, fasten your seat belts.

During his first year in office, and particularly during his first hundred days, we are about to witness the most prodigious output of legislation since 1981-2 (under Ronald Reagan), 1964-5 (under Lyndon Johnson), and 1933-36 (under Franklin Roosevelt). The combination of top-heavy Democratic majorities in Congress and a mood of public fear bordering on panic over the financial crisis and the looming depression will speed his legislation through a compliant Senate and House.

We will enter his administration as the United States, buoyed by an aggressive free-market economy. We will exit his first year — and even the first hundred days — as France, burdened with massive government regulation, a vast public sector and permanent middle-class entitlements. And Obama will take care to arrange things so that massive and permanent political change accompanies his and protects his legislative achievements in the future.

He will call this radical change a stimulus package. He will dress up a generation of liberal priorities as necessary steps to fight the economic crisis. His programs and policies won't do much to end the depression.

READ ON....

0bama’s trillion dollar taxpayer leap into pure socialism

2009-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

Don’t Confuse Intellect with Intelligence

By JB Williams Monday, January 26, 2009

America voted to fill the halls of Washington DC government with what they consider to be our nation’s “greatest intellectuals,” political progressives. But they had best not confuse intellect with intelligence, or they will be sadly disappointed by the ignorant decisions already evident in the new Washington elite…

READ ON......

Money and Our Future

2009-01-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

by Lew Rockwell

We are fortunate to be living in these times, for we are seeing the unfolding of events long explained and predicted by the Austrian tradition. Maybe that sounds implausible. What is fortunate about our times? The economy is tanking, stocks have been pummeled, unemployment is rising, and Washington is pursuing the worst combination of economic policies since Hoover and FDR. Nor does the new guy in charge seem to have a clue about the limits of what government can do.

READ ON...

Thanks to President Obama, smart is the new fabulous -- and why that’s a bad thing in politics

2009-01-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

via the Western Standard:
While I’m not convinced President Obama’s team is any smarter than the Bush team, I am, however, convinced that it doesn’t matter. Did Soviet central planning fail because the Politburo was staffed with idiots? Of course not. It failed because central planning and socialism doesn’t work due to what economist Ludwig von Mises called the economic calculation problem.

READ ON....

Another end run on the Constitution: ammo registration

2009-01-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

I know this story has been around for awhile, but this is one of the more devious ways of curtailing your 2nd amendment rights that's currently in the works- and little reminder can't hurt. If you live in one the the affected states, be sure and contact your legislators and let them know what you think about this:

via NWV News:

"Gun control fanatics, frustrated in their attempts to impose severely restrictive regulations on the gun rights of law-abiding American citizens, apparently think that if they push severe restrictions on ammunition acquisition and possession, they'll come closer to their objective of restricting if not eliminating the individual Second Amendment civil right to keep and bear arms," says John M. Snyder, named Washington's senior gun rights activist.

READ ON....

Sheriff attempts to intimidate right to carry proponents

2009-01-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Many consider Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio to be America's Sleaziest Sheriff- but it looks like there may be an up-and-coming challenger for the title:
Orange County sheriff Sandra Hutchins.

Via the OC Register:
Sheriff Hutchens' hostility to the Second Amendment is matched only by her hostility to the first one.

The 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

2009-01-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

An Open Letter To Barry Obama

2009-01-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

Trevor Bothwell does an excellent job of expressing my own sentiments:

Mr. Obama, I Want Out

Dear Barry,

Tomorrow you will take your place as America's next tyrant-in-chief. Heretofore you have made it very clear that the lives of ordinary Americans should revolve around the state. Like the vast majority of your predecessors, your vision of the federal government comprises the severely misguided notion that coercion and violence can be used as forces for good.

Your mantra of "change" is tiresome at best, mostly because I haven't heard you mention any federal agencies or programs you would eliminate upon taking office. Indeed, you will simultaneously be the most popular thief and thug in the United States, as were the men you will follow.

READ ON.....

Orwell's 2009- United States Big Brother is Watching

2009-01-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

By: James Quinn

George Orwell wrote his legendary novel 1984 just after World War II. It is renowned for its portrayal of government's encroachment on the rights of the individual. It was Orwell's warning against totalitarianism, specifically Stalin's Soviet Union. Pervasive thought control and surveillance of citizens is prominent throughout the novel. After living through the last eight years under the Bush administration and observing the marketing effort of the coming stimulus plan by the Obama team, the U.S. has moved closer than ever to Orwell's nightmare world. In the novel, The Party maintained control of Oceania by manipulating facts, history, and citizens to retain power and dominate the masses. In the United States of today we theoretically have two major parties, Democrats and Republicans. In reality, we have one Party made up of the wealthy elite ruling class backed by enormous corporate interests and protected by the military industrial complex. There are no major differences between Republicans and Democrats, just minor meaningless variations. They are both under the control of the fascist corporate oligopoly that runs this country. Representative Ron Paul explains how The Party is able to maintain control in today's world:

“Pretending that a true difference exists between the two major candidates is a charade of great proportion. Many who help to perpetuate this myth are frequently unaware of what they are doing and believe that significant differences actually do exist. Indeed, on small points there is the appearance of a difference. The real issues, however, are buried in a barrage of miscellaneous nonsense and endless pontifications by robotic pundits hired to perpetuate the myth of a campaign of substance. Influential forces, the media, the government, the privileged corporations and moneyed interests see to it that both party's candidates are acceptable, regardless of the outcome, since they will still be in charge. It's been that way for a long time.

The two parties and their candidates have no real disagreements on foreign policy, monetary policy, privacy issues, or the welfare state. They both are willing to abuse the Rule of Law and ignore constitutional restraint on Executive Powers. Neither major party champions free markets and private-property ownership. Those candidates who represent actual change or disagreement with the status quo are held in check by the two major parties in power, making it very difficult to compete in the pretend democratic process. This is done by making it difficult for third-party candidates to get on the ballots, enter into the debates, raise money, avoid being marginalized, or get fair or actual coverage.”

Government has progressively acquired more power over the lives of Americans. They have done it subtly for decades but it has accelerated at warp speed in the last eight years. Since 9/11, Americans have seen their liberties taken away on a scale reminiscent of the McCarthy years during the 1950s. In the last year, government has taken advantage of this financial crisis to step into the breach and gained complete control over our banking system and auto industry. They are choosing the winners and losers in our society. They have chosen to save their rich ruling elite brethren who made billions by taking excessive criminal risk, and throw the middle class under the bus. The average American does not see the insidious method that The Party has used to gain overwhelming power over their lives. The U.S. government has used chaos, fear, and exaggeration to expand their control. The method used to gain control is simple. Government creates a problem, fans the flames to make the problem appear to be extremely dangerous, and then provide a solution that only government can implement.

READ ON......