Leaking intel?

Treason? Maybe.  Espionage? Definitely.  Prosecutable?  Of course.  Immoral?  Hell No.


It's obviously completely screwed up that our government is keeping records of citizens' cell phone records.   Let's face it though, it's not like the government hasn't been tapping phones since phones were invented guys.  Get real.  While Snowden should be applauded for bringing to light such a blatant violation of our constitution, it's no real surprise that these things are happening.  The real surprise is the lack of foresight the intelligence community has in letting private contractors have access to such damaging information. 

Anyone else notice that Obama has invoked the Espionage Act more times than any other pres in history?   Combined?

It's amazing.  He's more of a...'socialist'  than FDR and more of a 'warmonger' than GWB (statistically we can see this by comparing the total amount of money spent on foreign military actions during the two administrations)  

Really, I haven't talked to a single (OK, well maybe ONE) person who voted for Obama who is pleased with what he's done.  At least a lot of people who voted for GWB were happy with what he was doing...

~Printbuttonmoney

Bangladesh, Oklahoma, Texas, etc...

So, bad things happen.  There's something about priorities that needs to be said, though.  Build your home in Tornado alley, don't be surprised when it heads to Oz every few years.    That's almost as awesome as building your house in a flood zone and being surprised when, every ten years, your shit floats away.  What's even more awesome is making the tax payers foot the bill for your idiocy.  Yet another example of 'i deserve to do what I want, and make other people pay for it' 

Want cheap clothes? then either get rid of unions and minimum wage, or stop bitching about people who die in factories that make the things you're wearing.  Oh, and by the way, those 'poor' people in Bangladesh are WAY better off than they would be without those 'horrible' jobs.  Last time I checked, I showed up to work because I wanted to.  I'm pretty sure if people in Bangladesh didn't want to work they wouldn't.  It's not Disney's fault that Bangladesh has no worker protection legislation to speak of. 

Jesus people, focus, the Fed is printing 80,000,000,000 dollars a month, we've got to be coming close to 1,000,000 dead via the war on terror, and you're worried about tornadoes and factory collapses?

Get your priorities right.

~printbutton

End The Fed!

Finally, a somewhat mainstream editorial favoring the End the Fed movement, supported by Ron Paul

Policymic.com posted an article regarding a video explaining what's up with the Federal Reserve, and why we should make it go away.

check it out

~printbutton

Bombing in Iraq

So there's an election coming up in Iraq, and that means it's bombing season (still? again?)

Rt.com reports  that 23 were killed and 130 more wounded in five bombings involving 5 Shiite mosques, coming ten days bombings killed 56+ and wounding another 200+.  

Effect?  Encourage the election of someone who continues to rely on a U.S. presence to 'protect the democratic process' more than likely.  Damn the war on terror is awesome.  I like how we keep pumping money into this area, like it's ever going to do any good.

and North Korea shifts to a 'war footing'

awesome.

Stay scared everyone.

~Printbutton

More on North Korea

The L.A. times reports that Kim is making the men in charge 'nervous' here in the U.S.  I wonder how we make him feel on a daily basis?  I'm thinking the huge economic sanctions and threats of military action are just great for his peace of mind.  Most people probably think he's a ruthless, arrogant, maniacal dictator with designs on destroying the 'peace and freedom' we enjoy as U.S. Citizens.  I can see why those people might think this way, given that most news agencies, and even Hollywood, have been slamming North Korea induced terror down our throats for the last couple years. 

The article says:

"The Pentagon on Thursday took the unprecedented step of announcing that it had dispatched two nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to fly a round-trip mission from their base in Missouri and drop dummy bombs in South Korea. Also this month, the Pentagon sent nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the peninsula and announced that it had bolstered missile defense forces in Alaska with 14 interceptors in response to North Korea's threats of missile attacks."

Jee, I wonder, who do you think is more nervous, him or us?

I wonder who has more good reason to be nervous?

Dumb question I guess...

~Printbutton

Why is Online Poker illegal?

Well, the Federal Government (and state governments that have separate legislation) tells us a story about consumer protection (just look at the funds that various poker sites have embezzled from their customers), and protection against money laundering. 

Realistically, it has more to do with the Fed not getting their cut.  Money laundering is the process by which money earned illegally is 'washed' and becomes part of the white market economy.  This happens in other areas in various ways, most having to do with front businesses providing legitimate services, but perhaps falsifying records in various ways.  Basically, find a way to pay taxes on money you earned selling drugs, and it becomes legal.  Online Gambling allowed people to launder money without paying taxes to the federal government (or state governments, for that matter).  As we know from various bumper stickers and t-shirts, the government hates competition.  It worked harder and faster to shut down online poker as a viable way to both earn untaxed income and launder money than it has on many other organized crime organizations that use more conventional laundering routes. Evidence: the continued existence of the Italian Mafia for well over 100 years as a criminal presence in the U.S.  As long as those more conventional routes involve paying taxes as part of their laundering process, why bother? 

Currently,  Washington State is working on legislation to regulate online poker, so that those wishing to run poker sites allowing online gambling sites catering to  players in that state will be required to have a physical location in Washington according to Pokerfuse.com.  This means the business will have to pay taxes, and keep U.S. based records on the financial activities of its customers.  This doesn't prevent those players from laundering money, necessarily (although admittedly it makes it a bit harder), it just makes it so those laundering money have to pay taxes on that money (just like those gambling in a regular casino with large amounts of money). 

While it's nice for those of us that like to play poker online with legitimately earned income, it's yet another example of those in power using that power to make sure they're getting the money they so richly 'deserve.'   It's also another example of the government further regulating the internet as a whole, which, in my opinion, generally means less freedom and more ability to control a population. 

Oh well, it could be worse, I mean, North Korea could invade or something.....


~Printbutton

The North Korea Situation

The Washington Post reports on North Korean situation today, in what can only be called one of the more obvious statements I've seen as a headline for a story recently.  "Our policy toward North Korea isn't working."  Really?

A starving population and a government with nukes trying to figure out how to launch them at us, slowling losing reasons to avoid launching them at as, as they 'get away with' more and more 'unacceptable' behavior.

I saw two movies recently, "Red Dawn" and "Olympus Has Fallen."  Both movies have to do with invasions from North Korea.  Later this year "Whitehouse Down" will be coming out, also a Noth Korean invasion. 

Propaganda Much?  It makes me wonder what's going down in the near future with regards to that red-headed stepchild of the nuclear world.  I wouldn't be too surprised, as the War on Terror seems to be calming down in the Middle East, to see an effort by our Commanders in Chief in the next couple decades to go after North Korea.  I guess there's not alot that would surprise me with regards to our sensationalist and imperialist foreign policy, but the signals are all there, more blatant than usual. I mean really, Olympus has Fallen" and Whitehouse Down"?  They're not even trying to disguise it, just rile us all up and instigate some deep racial hatred in a short amount of time.  Just remember, we're the ones who are trying to dominate them at this point, not the other way around.  Yet.  I don't really blame them for being all pissed off at the U.S. 

As Mike Chilnoy, the author of the above article, states:

"Every time Pyongyang has faced pressure, sanctions and coercion — as opposed to a U.S. willingness to engage — it has responded in precisely the same way: by doing the opposite of whatever the heightened pressure was designed to achieve. "

Surprise Surprise. 

~Printbutton

Breaks over!

Alright, breaks over, time to get back to this again.  I haven't been keeping touch with what's going on in the world, I've had more pressing matters to deal with recently, but all that is relatively under control now.  So let's take a look at some news headlines and see if I can get back into the swing of things.  

~Printbutton

Syrian Capital under siege... by Syrian Government?

Interesting... if that were the U.S. fighting to retake Washington D.C. from some interior rebel force, it seems like we would want to say "U.S. fights to retake capital" or "U.S. fights insurgents to secure capital" or some such other title where it's clear that the territory is the legitimate property of the Government that owns it.  Amazing that a 'News Organization'  can claim to report NEWS and not EDITORIAL when they make such blatantly biased statements in the very TITLE of the article.  Further on in the article, Voice of America reports that

     "Feltman also accused Iran of supplying Syria with weapons, backing charges by Western officials that.  Tehran is providing funds, arms and intelligence support to Assad in his bid to crush the opposition. Syrian rebels also say the Islamic Republic has sent Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah fighters to Syria."

but earlier in the article VoA says

"In Ankara, Turkish and U.S. officials are holding their first "operational planning" meeting aimed at bringing about the end of Assad's embattled regime. Thursday's deliberations are expected to coordinate military, intelligence and political responses to the Syrian crisis."


Notice the differnece between language like "accused, charges, crush the opposition"  and "bringing about the end of... regime"  Pretty huge difference. 


It's OK for the U.S. and it's 'allies' in the U.N. to plan BOMBING campaigns and other military action to aid the rebel forces, but not OK for a clearly dominated military power in Iran to help its allies? 
I mean, I'm not necessarily in favor of the Assad government, don't get me wrong, but I'm not necessarily in favor of a Sunni Muslim government either.  And I'm all for countries dealing with their own civil wars internally.  It's absolutely ridiculous that in one paragraph the VoA 'News' organization can implicitly SUPPORT foreign intervention on behalf of the rebels, but almost EXPLICITLY condemn foreign intervention on behalf of the previously internationally recognized government.   They don't even pretend to be unbiased, citing multiple cases of 'humanitarian violations' by the Syrian Government, but citing NO violations by the rebels, implying, thereby, that there ARE none, which can hardly be the case in war.  Also, laying the blame for the condition of the people of the country solely at the feet of the Syrian Government, forgetting that, without the rebels, there would be no war, be no refugee situation, and be no war-like increase in humanitarian necessity. 

Obama warns Assad of US military action in Syria

The Jerusalem Post, that famously unbiased publication, reports today that Assad leaders threaten that if Western Powers intervene that they'll use some bio or chemical WMDs against the rebels.  Obama doesn't like that much.  It's OK to kill people with bullets, shrapnel and fire, but nothing else, of course.   Mostly because the bullets and bombs were probably purchased from us at some point, on one side or the other.  God forbid one side do something to definitively end the fighting.  Not that chem or bio weps are cool or anything, but damn, I really don't wanna pay for more wars, you know?  I mean, yeah, agonizing death results from a gut shot from a bullet, and can take days longer than death from chemical or biological weapons, but that's irrelevant.  Dying in agony is dying in agony, I would think. 

Anyway, it's clearly a threat to Israel if Assad uses them within it's own borders.  Somehow.  I don't know why we even keep up pretenses of being a 'global force for good' as the navy propaganda would have us believe.  Cause you know the first thing that will happen is cruise missiles from our fleet in the Mediterranean will start flying around, followed by navy pilot flyovers.  How many times will they bomb the wrong force based on shaky intelligence from questionable informants?  once or twice more than is reported probs. 

We're so screwed: National GeographicSee realtime coverage Soft-Shell Robot Comes Complete With Cloaking Abilities

Muaha.  Here they come.  Cloaking robots.  RevModo Reports that Harvard made some neat-o robots that can cloak, kind of like octopus and other cloaking sea creatures. They do basically the same stuff to blend in to.  Mmmm, military applications abound, eh?

I want ten. you?

The future is here, I can totally see these in some sci-fi book from the seventies, or even eighties, or even now, but much more malicious.  They've even made them 'soft shelled'.  Add slime for fun times on Halloween?

Good for Harvard. 

Hiatus over? Global Climate Change

OK, so things have been interesting.  Financial issues, change of location, work, and... a distinct abundance of apathy in the whole thing required me to take a significant break from my various rants.  But perhaps, just perhaps, we'll give this a try again, just for kicks. 

I recently became a 'believer' in Global Climate Change.  That is, I came to believe the thesis that our climate is currently changing in a significant manner, and that this change, is, in fact, due to human activities increasing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.  However, this all fits neatly together with other things I have believed for quite a while, like, nuclear power should replace all other forms of power immediately to solve the 'energy crisis' as well as most of our other problems as the most efficient form of power on the planet.

Here's the jist of the "Global-Climate-Change-due-to-Human-Activity" argument, I guess

The planet earth has, as part of it's atmosphere, CO2
Various biological and geological processes on the planet create and utilize CO2
Until humans began burning vast amounts of fossil fuels during the industrial revolution, the CO2 circulated in a system much like the water system, in relative balance.  Actually, it may have even been reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Even though humans produce a very very small portion of the overall CO2 released into the atmosphere, the planet's natural carbon circulation system was not designed to incorporate that amount into the balance. 
As a result, there is now a net gain in overall CO2 in the atmosphere, overall.
Here's the website that convinced me that this is the case:  www.skepticalscience.com
They did a pretty good job, really.

However convincing they are, though, they haven't really proposed any sort of feasable solution.  I definitely would like to see people educated correctly about CO2 production and global climate change, but I don't want to see that education go hand in hand with alternative energy indoctrination. 

What it comes down to, basically, is that no combination of solar power, tidal power, wind power, or any other non-carbon producing or non-nuclear-reaction utilizing source of power can even come close to satisfying global energy needs, even assuming NO growth.

Nuclear power can do it though, no problem.   With new  breeder reactor technology we can have an almost endless source of fuel for the reactors, and with new storing and decomissioning technology, waste is becoming less and less of a problem.  New primary reactor design even makes them safer, eliminating concerns that arose from the Japan 'crisis.'

It's important to remember that it's not just a one step fossil fuel for power problem, we also use oil for almost all of our plastics.  To convert to entirely bio-lipid based plastics we would have to convert giga-acres of farmland to growing hemp for the oil, and it still wouldn't come close to satisfying our plastics needs.  Right now there is no alternative to plastic, either..

SO use oil for plastic, but don't BURN the oil (and then we can even recycle the plastic efficiently maybe, cause we won't have to use fossil fuels to run the recycling plants), use nuclear reaction for energy, problems solved, all electric cars, no worries!

GOP: The Warmonger party?

Since when?  Even George W. ran on a platform of international non-intervention.  Wolfowitz got his wish though (for his new world order doctrine) and their was a 'catalyzing event' to use as an excuse to go to war with, basically, anyone the executive branch (read puppet masters) sees as threatening to the status quo, including American Citizens who, apparently, can be targeted for assasination, despite the constitution. 

Forbes Reports that Dr. Ron Paul was the only GOP candidate with an intelligent foreign policy and national defense strategy among the entire candidate base; 

" Ron Paul’s clear and compelling case against a war with Iran irritated his Fox News hosts (who have already expressed their disdain for Paul) and painted him in stark contrast to his Republican rivals."

His main rival in this particular debate, Michelle Bachman, insists that Iran is a huge threat, and are guaranteed, without a doubt, making it basically a mathematical and metaphysical certainty (based on the fact that their constitution says 'worldwide jihad'... though we doubt that Bachman knows what jihad really means) to throw nukes at everyone we like and give them to everyone we hate, if they come to possess them.   Were you dropped as a baby, Michelle? 

What happened to the Republican idea of nonintervention?  What happened to leaving other countries to work out their own messes, ESPECIALLY when we're flat broke?

Hurrah, Dr. Paul, for standing up in the face the racism and hatred that has transformed the faces of so many of those in the government and the media, and BOO Fox News for trying to start more wars.  The cliche 'two rights don't make a wrong' is a cliche for a reason, guys. 

For those of us that are sick and tired of hearing about deaths overseas, both of our friends and loved ones serving, and the 'enemy' that we have invaded and declared war on, it is refreshing to hear that there is a TRUE republican among the bunch.  Ron Paul understands that when you INVADE OTHER PEOPLES' NATIONS and BOMB THEIR WOMEN AND CHILDREN and DICTATE THEIR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY, and CONDEMN THEM OVER AND OVER diplomatically, that they tend to respond with some amount of irritation.

Hopefully the rest of the nation will start to understand that people don't just hate us for no reason.  They hate us because we do things that piss them off.

PrintButtonMoney.

Ron Paul: NOT just a novelty candidate.

Despite CNN's quote that:

"Paul's supporters wonder if he could win a general election, and the candidate himself doubts his stamina in what could be a long GOP primary fight. "

(which as a supporter I doubt is the case at all, cause I certainly have faith in his stamina... he's a doctor for God's sake). 

It is also clear that Ron Paul is a serious threat to Gingrich's tenuous hold on the Republican Party, which is AWESOME.  When even CNN has to admit (though obviously grudgingly) that Ron Paul has a good shot at things, you know we're doing well.

Go Dr. Paul!

And although NYDailyNews.com reports that :

"Though Paul has little chance to secure the Republican nomination, his campaign strategy could give him a loud voice at the GOP convention."

It seems blatant that the comment is a last ditch effort to convince those who haven't quite seen the light that Ron Paul isn't worth wasting their vote.  We know now that this isn't the case, but nice try NYDN, you're gonna go on the list of propagandists now.  This editorial comment is blatantly one sided, and not at all in the interest of balanced journalism.  This type of 'article' should be shown in journalism classes throughout the country as an example of media's attempts to control the political sphere.  The overall tone of the article seems to indicate that Dr. Paul's success is more a detriment to Gingrich than indicative of any real worthiness on Paul's part.  Again, as I said before, good ideas don't die without a strong fight.  Ron Paul for President, 2012.  He can do it, we can do it, we need to do it.

PrintbuttonMoney.

Ron Paul might win?! and someone is reporting on it!

I never would have thought the day would come when a major news outlet would report anything remotely near this.  However, The Kansas City Star, owned by the McClathy Company, says in the linked article that Ron Paul will probably take second in the Iowa vote on Jan 3rd, and has a good shot at Gingrich, even. 
For all of those who say that Ron Paul isn't electable, I say ANYONE is electable, and Dr. Paul isn't just anyone.  His message of personal liberty in combination with a small, constitutionally sound government is an ageless concept, and though our founding fathers were some of the first people to attempt to implement the idea on a grand scale (not democracy, but a democratic republic)  the ideas of freedom and personal responsibility for ever member of a country is not a new idea, and is not a crazy idea, as so many people seem to think.

We HAVE NOT outgrown the ideals set down in our constitution.  This would be like saying we have outgrown the bicycle because it's an idea over 100 years old.  Good ideas don't die.  However, those who's interests are disturbed by talks of a government who is no longer ruled by the few at the expense of the many will continue to try to convince us otherwise.

Be wary!

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'President' or 'King'?

What, at this point, are the relevant distinctions between our President (and indeed, other Presidents around the world) and the typical Monarch who is accompanied by a relatively weak parliament, and a judicial system that, basically, answers to the executive branch?

Not much, it seems.  The president is held responsible for things he can't possible hold any power over, and also claims credit for things he couldn't possibly have had anything to do with.  However, he often blames the opposition party/congress/a lack of good Intel for Snafus.

this is all something to be expected in a political circus like we have here in the United States, where the president is largely elected by the Media.  Or at least, the individual as the popular media portrays him.  Then, when in office, we find that the president is very little like the image portrayed prior to the presidency.  Surprise Surprise.  The fact that presidents in recent history have all come from something akin to the landed aristocracy in medieval Europe lends addition credence to the idea that the President has become an individual whom behaves and is viewed more like a king, or someone with king like powers at the very least.  At this point he can, effectively, declare wars, assassinate American citizens, and engage in all sorts of King like activities.

One might argue that we have a system set up with checks and balances.  However, the system as it was set up was supposed to guarantee that no one branch, executive, legislative, or judicial had any more power than the others.  Legislative makes laws, executive branch enforces Law, and the Judicial branch determines whether or not there has been violation of law. 

We know, however, than though we may all have equal protection under the Law, we are not all subject to the same laws.  Indeed, the President routinely takes an oath in which he pledges to uphold the constitution, both in letter and in spirit.  This clearly is a falsehood, as we have seen since the first Executive Order (via President Lincoln), which was basically Presidential Legislation that skipped the normal processes.  Additionally, the president no longer has to get a declaration of war from congress to take military action against a country or group of people.  The Judicial branch is ignored often in the decisions it makes, and the Attorney General selectively prosecutes.  The Legislative branch is mostly a farce, and at the whim of Presidential Veto, a polarized (apparently, though not really) two-party system, and the Federal Reserve system. 

And, really, they're all at the mercy of the world wide banking system, along with world wide media conglomerates.  Let's face it.  Without the Ted Turners of the world, the Bush's of the world could never get elected, and without the Rothschild's of the world, the continued boom bust cycle that makes the few rich and the many poor simply wouldn't exist as it does. 

Illuminati aside, its pretty clear that the power is in the hands of one President, and like Kings of old, he is a puppet to some unseen (but perhaps well known) puppeteer.

PrintButtonMoney

Alternatives to FRN (Federal Reserve Notes)

So what happens if (read when) the dollar crashes.  How will we get food, clothing, heat, etc?  Well, it won't take very long for competing currencies to emerge, mostly backed by state and private holdings of gold and silver.  These currencies will either BE physical gold, silver, and copper, or will represent actual amounts of these metals (or perhaps some other holder of value) held in vaults somewhere, where those value holders are actually audited and examined for accuracy.  Given the current value of the dollar relative to other goods (like gold, silver, etc..) it seems likely that those who have invested in actual property (rather than, say, the GLD etf or gold options, shares, or other pieces of paper that represent gold in a bank that trades in US dollars) will do very well, and be able to buy the goods they need.  Things like guns, bullets, gasoline, basic foodstuffs, dry firewood, etc will be in high demand, and luxury goods will be in low demand.

It's important to start thinking about how things will be if the dollar no longer holds any value.  Even now it only holds imaginary value, which, for most, is becoming less and less dependable, which is reflected in prices of goods, and the value of gold relative to the dollar.

PrintButtonMoney

Obama put's the blame on Congress?!?! Really?

LOL

This Article

Tells us about Obama blaming Congress for our labor and market problems.

Isn't the DOL and Federal Reserve part of the executive branch?

I'm pretty sure it is.

Well, at least the Department of Labor...

It's more like the Executive Branch is part of the Federal Reserve kindof....

ZeroHedge reports on BBC Meltdown Piece

What comes next is the Question
Here's the Zero Hedge Link


And there's more to come as Obama approves an additional Surtax on incomes over 1 million dollars. 

Gold up over 10.00 today

I expect, as always, with continued plans in Europe and the U.S to continue to propagate their fiat currency scheme for the world, that we will continue to see gold rise.

At least until they make it illegal to compare the worth of Federal Reserve Notes to gold and silver at all.

Confiscate it (again), and strike all record of these metals from history and the periodic table of the elements.

Sounds like a wet dream for the Ben Bernankster.

Here's a typical article about today's reasons for the shift in gold prices, and what 'investors' think about it:
From Northern Voices Online

The Death of Steve Jobs

Seems important to say something about.

I don't know much about the gentleman though, other than he is widely considered to be a revolutionary businessman and philanthropist.
It is unfortunate that he had Microsoft's Government Sponsored Monopoly to fight against, and wasn't granted the billions of dollars in Government Subsidies and Contracts that Microsoft was.

He worked hard for his money, seems to be the consensus.
He was proof that a small business could turn into a massive business and succeed.

I hope the current establishment (Big Government Corporate Aristocracy) doesn't completely destroy his dream by denying future entrepreneurs the same opportunity, as they seem to be intent on doing.

Here's a fourth branch piece on him.

ABC News on Steve Jobs

Rest In Peace, Sir.

A great compilation of Ron Paul videos

I thought this was awesome.



Of course I would.

Also, apparently congress is all pissed at President Obama for the whole Solyndra thing (which is outrageous certainly), but it's hard to see how it's any more outrageous than any of the other horrendous abuses of our constitutional freedoms perpetrated by the Executive Branch and it's private sector cronies on a daily basis.

Greece gets the service of QuantitativeEasingIncorporated

AKA QEInc.

QEInc. Europe is swinging in for it's own version of QE2 for Greece, and French bankers are, almost literally, crapping their pants.  This all amid our own fiscal troubles spells for interesting times.


Even Reuters is reporting that Europe is looking pretty grim...
I wonder if people will start to draw any conclusions from what's going on in Greece and see how the similar fiat banking practices in the United States are, as we gear up with QEInc. part 3 here at home . 

Probably not, realistically, because CNN, FoxNews, and their Ilk, continue to inform  most of our news watching population.  Unfortunately many of these individuals come out in cattle like droves, voting mindlessly for the Donkey or the Elephant, and not really realizing that it's just a shadow puppet on the wall, cast by the same hand.  If 20% of a population votes (not ours, of course,  but let's just say), and  51% of that population votes, doesn't that mean that like 10.2% of the overall population is making decisions for the other 89 percent?   I'm pretty bad at math so that  might be wrong.

Please look at what Von Mises Institute has to say about the way our economy is working and start saving wisely...  Gold and Silver hold value far better than fiat currency, as we can see from the incredible increase in the price of gold over the last 20 years.

Most of all though, don't let fear mongers like me keep you from being hopeful about your future and what you work for , just please, use it wisely.

PrintButtonMoney

CURRENCY WAR COMMENCE!

It seems that our Senate just decided to go to (currency) war with China as they pass legislation to attempt to force the Chinese government to let it's currency inflate to 'create more US Jobs'

Bloomberg Business week Reports


WTF!

How in god's name do legislators STILL THINK they can do anything to create jobs, rather than damage the private sector's ability to recover on its own (HA!).  Until we see a removal of minimum wage laws and union control of labor, there's nothing Congress can do but damage the labor market as a whole, and really REALLY piss china off. 

Gold > paper money!!!

Zero Hedge just posted this article on gold, the just of which is that those with some say so in global currency are finally starting to PUBLICLY acknowledge that gold is becoming a much better holder of value than any given paper currency.  Yay.

This might mean some scary things for those paper currencies, especially given whats going on in Europe. 

If it weren't illegal, I'd advise using silver and gold to trade instead of paper money.  *cough cough*

PrintButtonMoney

Nasdaq down over 3% today

Along with reports Here in the world markets that Greece failed to meet its deficit marks once again, the world economy continues to get swallowed by the bottomless pit of Keynesian economic strategies.
And yet the EU ministers continue to plan, though with some hesitation, to follow through on Greece's bailout in November despite their continued failure to use those bailouts to any significant effects.

This all occurs amid strife and protest and a probable police crackdown in Greece, the Fatherland of the democratic republic.

Excellent.

Also, gold is up over dollars today as well.  Wouldn't be surprised to see a continued rise in gold as all this crazy stuff going on domestically and internationally causes a drop of confidence in any currency whatever. 

Bernanke vs. Paul

This clip shows their fundamental difference with regard to monetary policy.
Notice the Bankster gives very few solid answers, and is visibly nervous in the face of Ron Paul's grilling:

Loaning our money to foreign governments

Well, it must clearly be up to us to save Greece through the euro, cause if not, who else would do it?  God forbid Greece fail because they took out too much debt and can't pay it back... like a whole crap ton of American Citizens. 

How, in conscience, can we keep giving American tax dollars to foreign governments, banks, and individuals when I still have credit card debt.

That's a BIG WTF.

PrintButtonMoney

P.S. Here's a post on Zero Hedge regarding the Fed and lending to foreign governments.  Bernankster Bailouts questionable?!

End the Fed petition!!!!

There is a petition to be signed at the We the People portion of the official white house website to end the federal reserve!

I recommend strongly at least taking a look, and encourage adding your signature!  Petition Here

Here is the forum post about the petition:  Zero Hedge Forum Post

PrintButtonMoney

ATM fees by BofA and City?

ZeroHedge Posted this article today about the concern that with certain large banking institutions in the banking cartel (BofA and Citi) implementing debit card fees, many depositors will be taking their business elsewhere, precipitating, perhaps, the next government bailout on the road to a nationalized banking system. 

My advice?  Bank local.  Even credit unions seem like a good option at this point.  It won't be long before JP Morgan-Chase follows suit (indeed they already have very little to offer bankers over competing small banks).

If the government does indeed 'have' to step in again to bail these companies out, we will see an end to this supposed recovery, an increase in the price of gold, and a decrease in the value of the dollar.  Again.

Good game.

I still blame the Federal Reserve.

PrintButtonMoney

Going above and beyond

It seems to be discouraged these days.  Keep your head down in highschool, do just well enough that the school continues to get state and federal funding, graduate and enter wage slavery, or graduate and enter the secondary education sector, then find a career, earn wealth for those who are already wealthy, and hope to earn enough to take care of your kids and maybe retire. 

This country is lockd into a pattern.  Born, school, work and/or family, retire, die. 
There is no real questing for a return to self determination
No real yearning for the evil and corrupt phenomena we see by those in power to be curbed, but simply change hands from one group to another.  The power from big business to big military, or the power from socialism to corporatism (not capitalism).  The future begins to look bleak.  On CSPAN the other day, one of the women who sits on the board of directors even admitted that this particular 'recovery' (which is what they are calling the current economic climate) is progressing in much a different way than normal, and that way is slower, and doesn't seem to be creating the jobs we need created, or the industrial base we need to recover.  Which means if the next bust in the boom bust cycle occurs before we have a real recovery we will continue to see a consistent downward slope.

Sad. 

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an INCREDIBLY important read.

It is important that we understand some of the basic motivations that the consumer faces when acting in the market place, and how current economic practices violate the rules governing those motivations to the detriment of everyone concerned, except for big business and the military industrial complex. 

Ludwig Von Mises wrote his treatise on Human Action, which brings to light some of this information, as well as provides a good basic understanding of economic practices, both good and bad.

I recommend it strongly, it is available to read for free at the above link

Thanks for staying informed!
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The Monopolization of the Economy

So, I was talking to someone today about the role that Government plays in the marketplace, and made the assertion that labor phenomena like forced union membership, minimum wage laws, and other 'pro-worker' legislation actually ends up hurting the employees and consumers in the overall market, rather than curbing the illegitimate or immoral behaviors of employers.  There are several good arguments that support this assertion, I think, but a couple points come to mind immediately.

'Big Labor':  The idea behind labor unions is an incredibly important one.  I fully support any group of individuals who want to get together and advocate for better pay, safer work environment, and good benefits from their employers.  We need to understand a couple of important concepts though, to realize that requiring union membership by law to work a given job is counter-productive, and ends up preventing these goals from being realized in the labor market as a whole.

First of all, employers and businesses almost ALWAYS pass on the costs associated with regulation to the customer via increased prices (we have seen this more and more recently, as prices continue to rise across the board). This means that when the government forces businesses to hire from union labor pools, at a wage that is fixed by that union (and thus protected by law), that business has to recoup those losses.  They will do this in several different ways.  

The first way is to lay off workers.  Unfortunately this doesn't defray the costs all that much because of the requirements for laying off union workers, such as having to pay unemployment at a wage much higher than they would pay a minimum wage worker to work.  A perfect example of this is the grocer's union in some areas.  Those who work in groceries and stock shelves can make up to 14 dollars an hour.  Unemployment pays a significant portion of their wage, up to 70% in some cases.  70% of 14 dollars is over 8.55 an hour (which is the minimum wage in my state).  Therefore, instead of the company being able to pay someone minimum wage to stock shelves(which is certainly a low skill job), that person places a burden on society of over minimum wage. 

Remember, we can't just look at the individual grocer and employee involved, we have to consider the labor market as a whole, across industries, and the grocery market as a whole, including things like the food manufacturing industry which is so closely tied to it.  As a result of these increased costs, both in keeping an overpaid workforce, and in laying off excess workforce, the prices of the goods and services that the business provides will necessarily increase.

 In the face of increasing prices or failing, obviously a business will try to increase prices first.  This has a cascading effect on the rest of society.  As prices increase, both on the prices the grocers have to pay and the prices the consumer has to pay, more workers have to be laid off, and prices continue to rise.  It's a never ending circle.  We are experiencing this phenomenon as I write this, in every arena from the cost of tickets to sporting events to the cost of airline tickets to the cost of something so basic as milk and eggs. 


This is an example of how forced union membership hurts businesses, who are required to only hire persons from unions at the union mandated wage, rather than hire from the entire labor pool for significantly below the mandated wage.


Obviously the relationship between legislative protection of unions and a decrease in price stability along with an increase in joblessness is not the only relationship we need to consider when examining how government regulation in the labor market cause the very problems the legislation allegedly tries to prevent. 

In the next installment we will examine how minimum wage laws destroy jobs and small businesses, and favor big business (especially those businesses with close ties to the government).

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New York City PD can shoot down planes, but should they?

The Christian Science Monitor published this story today in response to comments by NYPD police commissioner regarding the Police Department's capabilities with regards to anti-terrorism.  IT seems that the  NYPD can shoot down airliners in the event of a hostile takeover that puts them at risk, and the question raised is should the Police, Mayor, or Governor alone have the authority to make that decision?

People tend to cringe at this notion of local control of something so... scary.  However, it seems like the citizens of New York pay taxes to be protected by their police department.  If the resources exist for the NYPD to take care of these types of situation on their own, why call in the federal government at all?  This is a great example of the ability for local governments to care for themselves without the intervention of the federal government.  Why as citizens from California to pay for the protection of citizens in New York through federal funding, if citizens in New York can take care of themselves? 

In my effort to encourage decentralization of power, and return decision making abilities of all types to the individual, it seems like New York should have the authority to make decisions regarding their own safety, even if that decision rules out federal intervention, regardless of whether that decision is economic, social, or military.

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The Modern Day Gladiators

Sports is an interesting phenomenon in this country.  The ties between sports and patriotism should be evident, and sports as a propaganda tool is extremely useful.  That being said, GO SEAHAWKS. 

This year is going to be tough on the Hawks, though, they have a particularly difficult schedule, especially considering the decision to bring on T-Jack as the starting QB.  It's too bad, I think, that we aren't seeing Whitehurst up there at least sharing the role, given his performance in the playoffs last year.  Regardless, I doubt we will be seeing much playoff action except for of course our division.  The division is still weak of course, and no one really respects the rams or the niners as a contender league wide, but given T-Jack's lack of familiarty with the Seahawks offense, it will probably still be a close run to the NFC West.

One can still be disgusted with American Politics and love sports.

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Monday Monday

It's monday for the rest of the world, Friday for me. 
Work is bad on monday.  For some reason no one wants to gamble. 
The nice part is monday night football though, we have a bigscreen in the break room, and T.V.s all over the casino.

I was watching Cspan2 last night at work and saw something on by this investigative journalist regarding a book she wrote, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State, on the Afterwords program.

She was talking to the former undersecretary of defense about the necessity for protecting the process of exposing classified information, as the government couldn't necessarily be trusted.  He kept arguing against her, despite huge evidence to support her claims.

anyway, I'd advise taking a look at her book, at the link above, It seems like something good to know about, especially the role of the intelligence community in our every day lives, as well as the control they exert over political and police practices around the world.


Also, to get a little insight into some basic economic ideas, it's important to look at Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics, a really great introduction into sound money policy and some reasons to argue against over regulation of the economy in terms of wealth and prosperity production for the poor. 

At some point I'll start to talk about the problems that we can all agree on, whether we identify more with socialist ideas or capitalist ideas, and why what we have seen recently fits neither of those viewpoints.

I had to take my girlfriend to the hospital today for what we thought was a separated rib.  In reality it was inflamation of the outside of her lung wall rubbing against the inside of her body wall.  There's a medical term for it, but I've forgotten it now.

While we were there my tax dollars paid to airlift (for the second time this week) an alcoholic smoker who had had a stroke...  he was 75 and had been an alcoholic for a long time.  We could smell alcohol from the other side of the curtain. 

Yet alcohol is legal, despite the burden upon taxpayers and society and families, and other substances, far less damaging from a numbers standpoint are not.

*rage*


Happy Monday,
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Remembering September 11th

Two towers fell, full of people, killing over 3000 civilians, police, and firefighters in the great American city of New York, changing forever one of the most distinct skylines in the world, and the lives of millions of people around the world. 

What lessons should we take away? 

It seems we might say that the original causes of this tragedy might, on the surface, be as simple as the hatred of wealth and success.  The hatred of freedom and the pursuit of happiness by those outside our borders.  This belief is naive at best, and the height of arrogance and ignorance at worst.    We have to remember what happened before 9/11/2011.  We have to remember our role in the world as a whole before we draw conclusions.  It is important to examine all of the historical facts, and the entire causal history of those two hijacked planes. 

Osama bin-Laden, credited with leading Al-Qaeda, responsible for the attacks on our country on that day was not acting with his own money.  Where did he get the resources?  One explanation was that he got part of his resources from a tyrannical regime in Iraq.  This explanation led us to war, and the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians.  We know now, much after the fact, that there were no verifiable ties between the Iraq government under Saddam and Al-Qaeda.  There were also no weapons of mass destruction to be found inside those borders. 

Where, then, did these resources come from? 

Back during the cold war, Al-Qaeda received capital and training from, guess who, the United States Government, and were instrumental in driving the Soviet Communists out of Afghanistan.  They received weapons training, insurrection training, and most of the training they implement today in their camps was brought to them by our own government. 

We can say that, simply, it was a small group of individuals that caused the destruction of the Twin Towers.  We would be wrong.  Sometimes the hardest thing to do is accept personal responsibility for horrible occurrences.  This is one time when we have to look inside our borders, and hold those accountable for the role they played.  To do otherwise is a disservice to the families of those who have died in the wake of 9/11, both domestic and foreign.  It is a disservice to those who are now starving and jobless because of the economic effects of the war, as well as the direct effects of war.

What do we do to prevent this from ever happening again?  Is perpetual war against 'Terror' really the answer to our problems?  It seems that war is terrorism, in many ways.  The invasion of foreign territories, the removal of families from their homes, the destruction of personal and public property, any of these things, were it my own home country, would cause me to fight back, why would we think that fighting terror will discourage terrorism rather than promote it? 

God forbid we engage in sound diplomacy, non-interventionism, and sound economic policies at home.  If we did that, our imperialist efforts would fail overseas.  Our wages at home would rise, joblessness would decrease, and overall violence around the world would drop immensely.  War doesn't stop terror, it causes terror.  Once, all we had to worry about were fanatics who had a grudge, either religiously or economically, against our country.  Now we have to worry about sons and husbands who have watched their families ruined picking up arms and fighting back. 
Despite promises to the contrary, military intervention overseas continues to be the norm, and not just in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Unless the attitude ends, 9/11 will not be the last tragedy that we observe that occurs because of the American Imperialist ideals. 
Until we learn humility, and let others make decisions for themselves, both internationally and domestically, we will continue to suffer.

Judge not lest ye be Judged and found wanting.

I find us wanting. 

That said, my heartfelt condolences to the families that have suffered as a result of 9/11/2011.  Both on the day of, and in the years after.  They in no way deserved their fate, and were casualties in a perpetual war that was never fought in their best interest in the first place.  I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a brother or a father in such an event, but neither can I imagine what it would be like to lose a mother or a sister to an American missile or .223 round.  Neither tragedy is greater than the other, and any life is sacred.  War is horrendous, and helps none except the evil. 


In sadness,

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How to think about unemployment.

We often hear news about shifts in the unemployment rate.  What exactly does the unemployment rate measure?  Here is one pretty good summary:  http://useconomy.about.com/od/economicindicators/p/unemploy_rate.htm

The overall picture here is that not everyone who is jobless is counted in the unemployment rate.  For isntance, if you're not looking for work, haven't declared as unemployed, or have run out of benefits, you're not counted in the figures. 

So when we are told by the same Website that unemployment is at 9.1% as of the sept 6th article, we need a bit more information.  Real joblessness, when taking into consideration all of the individuals that are not measured by unemployment statistics published by the federal government, the estimates are anywhere between 16-22% of the population.  That's 1/5th of every working age individual that is currently without a job. 

So if only half or so of the people without jobs are receiving income from unemployment benefits, at best, what happens to the rest of the unemployed? 

Unemployment vs. Private Savings

So some people make the argument that people wouldn't save if it weren't for unemployment insurance.  While this may be true, it is sort of irrelevant for the reasons discussed below.  Further problems with unemployment insurance become apparent when we look at the difference between money in the marketplace and money in the unemployment fund.  Money in savings or investment portfolios has the opportunity to earn interest.  The reason it earns interest is that banks use the money in those funds to trade, effectively borrowing money from their customers to make what are hopefully profitable investments.  So they pay their customers interest on the money they are borrowing.  Theoretically one can live off the interest of a large enough bank account.  Consider next unemployment.  A worker at a bank loses their job, then starts collecting unemployment.  The unemployment they collect comes out of a fund theyve been paying into for however long they've been working.  During that time that money was not earning interest or being actively used in the market place.  In fact, that money COSTS money to keep track of.  Some of these costs include the statements that we receive once in a while letting us know how much we've accumulated, alot of those costs include paying people to watch over that money.  So instead of participating in the market place where it can grow wealth, it gets taken out of the market place, where it costs additional money to maintain.  Then, once the individual goes to take that money out, even MORE money is taken from their company to match some of those unemployment dollars.  So not only is the initial income taken out of the market at an overall loss to the marketplace (because the money spent maintaining it is being used for a loss-bearing service) but the money when 'paid back' to the individual takes even MORE money out of the marketplace as the company has to pay that unemployment, causing more job loss, because the company has to pay money to an individual that is not laboring for them.    So unemployment, even if only the original money the individual has put into it is paid out, along with the obligation of the company, is a huge negative against the marketplace as a whole.  Those dollars would have either been saved in a private interest-earning fund by the individual, in which case the banks would have traded the income around, or the money would be spent by the individual in the marketplace, driving down the cost of goods and increasing the rate of pay as companies earn more money. 

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from work

Unemployment is good....

So I talked to this individual last night while I was waiting for a ride home from work (my girlfriend and I share an old beater), and we got to talking about unemployment.  Apparently it was this individual's view that unemployment insurance was good for the economy because when people didn't have jobs they still had money to spend on goods, which helped the companies and thereby stimulated the economy even when people were losing work. 

It is disheartening to see such evident misunderstanding of basic economic principles. 
Here is why this reasoning is faulty, at best.

First of all, people have to pay into unemployment when they do have jobs.  Part of the individuals argument was that people wouldn't save if we didn't force them to by law.  Whether or not that's true, let's grant it for the sake of the argument.  If people wouldn't save for the times when they don't have jobs, then it stands to reason that they would be spending that money in the economy.  Instead of the money they would be paying into unemployment, there would be money they were injecting back into the economy.  In addition, companies wouldn't have to pay out unemployment benefits either, meaning they could invest more in their corporation initially, or raise wages, or do any other number of useful things with that money.  So not only would the money from unemployment, if people wouldn't save on their own, be used BEFORE there was an economic crisis, the companies (whichever ones they are) would have more capital to work with BEFORE the economic crisis as well.  So, there would be twofold protection against joblessness, it would be cheaper to employ people, driving down the cost of goods, and people would have more money to spend initially, further stimulating the economy and preventing hardship in the frist place.

Prevention of problems is almost always better than elimination of symptoms. 

More to come on unemployment...

Back to the grind

Back to wage slavery.  Well, not slavery, that's probably a bit insulting to those individuals who are actually in that position, but something similar.  Anyway, I got a job as a casino dealer, which is a great job, as the wage work goes, and something I've done before.  20 minute breaks every fourty minutes, and I get paid to gamble (though not with my own money, and as the house).  The bad part though, as ever, is taxes.  Out of an 1100 dollar paycheck, I see about 900.   *stabs eyes*   I could really use that 200 dollars.  I found out we spent something like 20 billion dollars on air conditioning in Iraq for soldiers this last year.  I don't disagree with keeping them cool, I just disagree with them being there...  I'm thinking we could do a little bit of repair to our own internal issues with that 20 billion dollars from air conditioning alone, not to mention all the other direct and indirect costs of keeping people overseas.  I also saw brief outtakes from the september 7th GOP debate, in which Ron Paul thoroughly rocked the house, despite the attempted sabatoge by those who questioned him and his opponents.  It's exciting to see his popularity rise.  I'm at work now, on one of my frequent breaks.  I've learned to deal roulette this week, which just adds another feather to my cap, sortof.  Now if i can just get proficient at craps I might be able to stop living paycheck to (barely) paycheck sometime in the next 20 years (assuming there are such things as paychecks in 20 years).  

Relevant links: 

Sweet.

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House Comments, April 15th

At around 5 minutes into the Congressional Clerk's recording of the April 15th Session, one minute speeches start. I hadn't really looked at these before, but it was interesting nonetheless. The chosen topics and comments of speeches leave me further astounded at what happens in our halls of government.

See the Full 6+ hours here

Campaign for Libery Action Bomb

The Campaign for Liberty and their front runner, Ron Paul, are requesting a donation bomb to pay for advertising to press congress to Audit the Fed.  It seems appropriate to throw FRNs (Federal Reserve Notes, U.S. Dollars) at this issue.  Or buy gold.

Why you should buy precious metals

1. According to Ben Bernanke, recent inflation problems can be attributed mostly to poor weather conditions and the war in the Middle East.
2. The war in the middle east is probably a perpetual situation.
3. Weather is probably a perpetual situation
4. If 1, 2 and 3 then 5
5. Recent inflation problems are probably a perpetual situation.
6. As the dollar inflates, Gold and Silver become more valuable relative to the dollar.
7. If 5 and 6 then 8
8. Gold and Silver will continue to become more valuable relative to the dollar, in perpetuity.
9. If 8 then 10
10. you should buy Gold and Silver with dollars.

Additionally the Fed admits to believing that inflation has to be maintained at about 2 percent or so, meaning that at the very LEAST Gold and Silver will continue to gain at 2% even if all the "transient" reasons for inflation disappear.

This is all aside from the industrial value of Gold and Silver that will continue to drive the value up independently of the Federal Reserve being retarded.

The Weather effect

We should see a nice rise in gold and silver prices, and a nice increase in inflation, according to the Bankster, since the weather in the Midwest and the south is so terrible.

As an aside, it is incredibly tragic that so many people got so devastated by the Tornadoes ripping through Alabama, no sarcasm whatever.

What is additionally tragic is that the lost property will incur cost nationwide, both in the immediate sense as businesses and industry are disrupted, and in a long term sense as already non-existent government funds will be used to alleviate the suffering.

Imagine how much more help we could offer those suffering with the massive amounts of money we spend on screwing up the economy and shooting people overseas....

Oh well, the lesson is still the same, really. Buy gold, buy silver, buy ammo, buy property, and put yourself in a position to help the people around you. It's not the Governments job to do our charity for us, that takes all the charity out of it.

Here's some footage of a newscast on one of the record setting twisters in Tuscaloosa

Ron Paul responds to Ben

Poor Ben, he just can't seem to satisfy this guy.

The Bankster lays it out for us.

Ben 'The Bankster' Bernanke, in an unprecedented move by the Federal Reserve, decided to meet with the press in a friendly little get together.  This is what he had to say:





Now for those of you that don't feel like watching the whole damned thing (which isn't really worth it anyway), the short story is, current inflation projections are higher than normal because of..... Libya and the Weather. 

Excellent.  As soon as the situation in the middle east stabilizes and oil production meets (ever increasing) global demand in the emerging markets (which are growing rapidly), gas prices will fall, easing the burden on households, who will then spend that money on more crap they don't need.   Since the War on Terror seems to be occurring primarily in the middle east, and global demand for oil will increase exponentially as second and third world markets become first and second world markets, it is unclear just exactly how or when this light at the end of the tunnel will turn on.   On the bright side though, he said it all with a smile!

Later, something happy, hopefully.

Ron Paul on The View

Oh Man, this is excellent.

Ron Paul talks on The View.  Media attention what?  Is that applause I hear?  Is that Whoopi Goldberg getting angry with her crowd?  I think it is.

Really? Gaddafi and M.J.

The second link down for my Google news search for Muammar al-Gaddafi leads to the following headline:

Did Muammar Gaddafi Influence Michael Jackson's Sense of Style?


The second link down. 

As the West, under the guise of NATO and the U.N., continues to help 'liberate' the people of Libya from the rule of the Tyrant (but former good buddy) Gaddafi, the most prolific search engine on the face of the earth chooses to return this story as the second most relevant return on my query. 
I have little more to say on the matter, other than it is probably as apparent that the be-robed monks of any given order are my inspiration for wearing a bathrobe as I write this. 

Further down the page, and upon further in depth search of news topics relating to the new enemy of Freedom in the middle east, we see relatively unimportant headlines, such as Libyan rebel's story shows links to Taliban, Al Qaeda, NATO, reported by the L.A. Times, along with Ex-CIA chief: Kadhafi was good partner (in Counter Terrorist efforts), reported by AFP. 

What in the hell are we doing?  It's interesting that we sold/gave the very assistance to Gaddafi, Kadhafi, Qaddafi, or however the name is spelled in your part of the world, that we are giving to his opposition, who happen to also be associated with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, who we previously supported during the cold war to fight the USSR in Afghanistan.  It's like we're just passing weapons around like prostitutes, and the STDS we get as a result are suffered on civilian populations and military personnel.

I love my country, but this blatant profiteering and flip-flopping is abhorrent, and I'm not even gaining anything from it.  Oil isn't cheaper, the dollar isn't (significantly) stronger, and my beer isn't any colder.  What the hell?  If we're going to use my tax dollars to turn the Middle East into a game of Extreme Chess: Conquest Edition, I feel like I should get something out of it besides nausea and death counts.  Maybe a collectors edition shell casing or something. 

Normally I couldn't give a damn less how the rest of the world views the United States, much as I'm sure people in Norway could give a damn less about how the United States views them, but I'd like some semblance of consistency.  Maybe I'm missing some larger picture.  It's like the greater good argument for the existence of God, but for Government Action instead.    At least God is omniscient. 

"Oh it's ok, it doesn't matter if we understand it, they know what they're doing, and I'm sure glad I don't have to make those tough decisions, hell, they even teach my kids for me these days!  I'm sure glad I pay 20-33% of my income for all these great services."

Right?

Right.  The overall picture is they're taking your money, paying for bullets and bombs, and killing people with them.  In fact, the amount of money you pay in taxes isn't anywhere NEAR enough to pay for it all, so they take out loans too.  On your behalf.  Congratulations.

It's ok though, because we're good people.  We rock that nine to five (or six to ten if you're a good, hardworking American), walk in the door, and do whatever it is that the government watches us do behind closed doors.  And today's memorial to Michael Jackson?  You stole your look from Muammar Gaddafi, bro, what the hell. 


~PrintButtonMoney

Upcoming Posts:

I wanted to write a short something about my intentions for upcoming posts.  One of the things I hope to do is something of a dream journal.  Whenever I have a particularly memorable dream I will do my best to put it up  here, this will probably not happen incredibly often, but will be neat when it does.  Another thing I hope to do is pick a particular political news story from one of the big media conglomerates, like AP, or a Ted Turner company, or some other such propaganda machine, and write a little bit about the implicit and explicit purposes for those 'news' stories.  And then, once in a while, I will write some nonsense, some poetry or some inconsequential happenings.  The news will happen, I hope, daily; the dreams as often as they happen; and the frivolous as often as the urge comes upon me. 

Thanks
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The 'Work Week'

So instead of delving wholeheartedly into this blog when I first started it, I let other 'important' things distract me.  At the time I was a student at a local university, where I had been attending off and on since the fall of 2003.  I've taken breaks and gotten work, signed up for classes 'full time' and then dropped them, but the short story is, my formal academic career has finally reached a semi-permanent conclusion.  I didn't do what I needed to do winter quarter, and finally they kicked me out.   I'm quite surprised they didn't do so much sooner.  My difficulties with anxiety and test taking and processing information that I am uninterested in (like low-level Mathematics) led me to not quite make it through.

As disappointing as this was, it was in many ways incredibly liberating.  For some reason I felt as if I could finally move on with my life.  I have this problem, see, with the way things are being done in Washington.  Both the city and the state.  It is time to start accumulating resources and experience to do what I can to rectify these problems.  I have worked before, in the moving industry, the casino industry, and the telecommunications industry, and now I've hit the street again to find work.


My Girlfriend recently started receiving unemployment (finally) after being out of work for almost a year.  I was considerably frustrated with her lack of effort to both do the modicum of work required to apply for unemployment or get a damned job.  I should step in here and say that I have various means of earning income, which I am not at liberty to discuss here, currently, and have been, basically, solely supporting us (with the help of family and financial aid) since she lost her job.  This has caused feelings of resentment.  This resentment comes from fear, as do most negative emotions.  Fear of not being valued as a companion and life partner, as well as sincere feelings of disrespect as I watch the love of my life deteriorate both mentally and physically.  My happiness with her for completing the process and 'earning' income has helped, but I fear that unemployment income will not suffice for her own feelings of inadequacy, as it still doesn't require leaving the house.  Regardless, we are still in a state of financial distress. 


I'm no saint, don't get me wrong.  My passion for her, it seems, is directly related to her passion for herself.  She has indulged in extra curricular activities with other individuals (never in person, but isn't the internet a beautiful thing?) often enough that it has left me somewhat jaded, and I, in some respects, have attempted to protect myself by keeping to myself what I once gave freely without fear of being taken advantage of.  


In any case, after many goings on over the past five years that we've been together, both incredibly joyous and incredibly painful, I came to the conclusion after the last incredibly painful experience that there was little I could do to make her feel better about herself, and once again become the girl I fell in love with.  Instead, I could lead by example, and do my best to take care of myself, and hope it rubs off.   Great words, in theory, very difficult in practice. 


But I have come across a likely prospect for income, once again in the casino industry, an environment I know I can thrive in.  A good friend got me an audition, and I'm fairly confident I'll be hired (pending urinalysis, which is, quite frankly, going to be a sticking point that I will have to find some way around).  This prospect at earning income as I become more and more of an 'adult' is both exciting and depressing.


As I was unable to sleep last night, I thought about a few things.  One of the things i thought about is taxation.  Upon receiving 'legitimate' income, a portion of that income (a significant portion) will be taken from to help fund the government budget.  This means that I am paying for bullets that are killing people.  I don't like killing people.  I don't think War, as in governments throwing their citizens at each other, is very often justified.  In fact, I would consider only three of the conflicts our nation has been a part of wars that could even be considered justifiable (if any can be).  Of course, the revolutionary war is one of these, for obvious reasons.  I tend to agree with Thomas Jefferson (who I will henceforth refer to as my good buddy TJ), when he favors individual liberty over government, and I think the revolutionary war was important for this reason, to at least attempt to establish a state where personal freedom was paramount.  The second war that was perhaps justified was the Civil War.  My claim for why this war is justified is incredibly controversial, though.  Until Lincoln, the Statist fuck (one who believes that the power of the state is paramount, and the answer to all problems), states had the right to secede from the union. 

Lincoln was one of the first presidents to go to such great lengths to adjust the constitution to current political goings on, and to further a particular controversial political agenda.  This agenda was not the freedom of the slaves, contrary to what we are taught in the public education system.  This agenda was the centralization of power in the federal government, and the supremacy of the federal government over the various states.  As such, the south was justified in going to war against this new King George named Lincoln.  History is always written by the winners.    Look at the civil rights crisis this country still faces, compared to other countries where slavery went away WITHOUT war.  Lincoln assuredly created the wage-slave class in this country.  In any event, the South was entirely justified in fighting their revolutionary war for exactly the same reasons that we were justified in fighting against the British in the 18th century.


The last war we were justified in entering was World War 2.  The ONLY reason we were justified in entering this war is because we were attacked by a NATION in an act of war by a NATION on our home soil.  This is the only time in history that another nation has attacked us on our home soil (though we attack ourselves daily).  I am no expert in military matters, as far as strategy, and what it takes to win a war of such magnitude, but we perhaps did more than we really needed to, and perhaps did less than we needed to at the same time. 


I should make a couple of things clear about foreign policy matters.  It is not our job to save Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan, or any other nation from its dictator, unless it is our job to save every other nation from their respective dictators as well (like all those assholes in south and central America and Africa, many of which caused FAR more chaos and suffering among their populations than did Hussein).  It is not our military's job to act as a police force in the guise of "national security".  While certainly some sort of minimal militia force would be necessary to enforce our borders, the leviathan that is today's military is nothing short of horrific in both its scope and its deeds.  Preemptive strike is tantamount to punishing someone before they've committed a crime (though we do that to our own citizens as well).  It is naive to think that our military actions across the world have more to do with ideology than they do with political and economic motivations, despite the ever-flowing propaganda that we are fed nightly on the various 'news' outlets, which have become, in reality, the fourth branch of government. 


So this is perhaps my biggest problem with earning 'on paper' income, rather than surviving off student loans and government handouts, which I have already previously paid for through taxation of various sorts.  As long as I have to pay for things that I don't want to pay for through taxation, I will eke every single drop of government assistance that I can, in hopes that some of those dollars I pay in taxation, and that my parents and family members pay, might not go to buy a bullet today to kill someone that doesn't deserve to die.  Or to pay for a penal system whose population is comprised mostly of 'minority' races.  It simply isn't the case that minorities commit that many more crimes per-capita than whites do, it is simply the case that they get convicted more often, because they are still slaves despite (or perhaps because of) Lincoln's best efforts to the contrary.  I am appalled that so much of my income has gone to support this continued subtle slavery. 


If I had the opportunity to opt out of taxation and not receive government services (yes, including roads and electricity and the 'protection' of the police) I certainly would.  I would use this new abundance of capital to provide those things to myself at a much cheaper rate (businesses simply charge less for goods than do governments, because they operate in the interest of profit and efficiency, rather than some controversial and ever-changing ideology). 


At the same time, my freedom from this system can only be bought with the resources that the system currently utilizes.  This means I have to bite the bullet for a while, earn some FRNs (federal reserve notes, conventionally referred to as 'money'), convert those FRNs to something that is actually worth something (like property of various sorts), and start affecting social change (or perhaps infecting social change).  Also, it would be nice to be caught up on bills for services I actually do use willingly and would use my tax dollars to pay for (and I'll leave discussion of the monopolies that are represented by utility companies, aka the Department of Energy, for another time.  I wonder how much electricity we could purchase with a 750 billion dollar defense bill, if it instead were spent on energy efficiency and improvement?  that works out to about 2100 dollars per person in a population of 350 million.  That's 10 months of electricity for me.   How much debt could we have gotten out of as individuals if TARP had paid out to every person with a social security number, instead of just the businesses, along with subsequent bail outs.   I don't know what the figures are, but I am WAY OVER thinking the government is acting in my best interest. 

I don't believe that our Government has been acting in our best interest for a very, very long time.  Why should we think so?  What evidence is there to support the claim that the Government is acting withing the legal confines of the constitution to ensure that it's populations has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  Very Very Little.  Just go look at the congressional agenda for any given day, pick a bill, and read it.  See how much of it actually helps the population, then get back to me.

In Earnest

I am here in earnest.  The events around the world compel me to speak, sometimes merely for the sound of my own fingers across a keyboard, and sometimes in hopes that someone is listening.  We have quite a bit to talk about.  Japan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Unemployment, Inflation, you name it, there's an issue, international or domestic, we'll try to give it attention here. 

An Introduction

I am a student, officially of Philosophy.  I am 25 years old, white, have a younger brother, a steady girlfriend, and a car on blocks.  I don't do much, but I don't do nothing.  There's something wrong.  I felt it first when I wanted to follow in my grandfather's footsteps, and become an FBI agent.  I felt it next when I wanted to venture into the political realm.  I feel it now, most strongly, as I see the feeling reflected in eyes around me.  Dramatic as this sounds, it's nothing short of accurate.  It may be said that it's just the people I associate with.  If this is the case, then the feeling is reflected in the eyes of college professors, students, lunch ladies, cab drivers, bus drivers, cops, and criminals.  I hear it in the voice of professionals and of bums.

I hope to talk a little bit about where I think this feeling comes from.
I don't hope to convince you.
I do hope to focus your attention in a different direction.
I will make claims and give arguments for those claims.
Some of these claims will be controversial.
I will appeal to reason and evidence.
I will not claim that something is too difficult or complicated for you to understand.
It's not.
I will not tell you that you're wrong, unless you are.
I will provide evidence from media, both main-stream and 'underground' whenever appropriate.
I will gladly respond to reasoned, intelligent responses to what I have to say.
I welcome discourse and argumentation, and relish being shown that I'm wrong, so that I might modify my views with what is more clearly the truth.
There are those that will be scared and angry by what I have to say.
Before you reply, in anger, or fear, it would be awesome if you would first ask yourself why you're scared or angry.  Ask yourself if you've let your mind be open to what it is that you're reading before you shut the door.

I don't claim to know more than you, I just claim to know different things.
I don't claim to be right about everything, but I don't assume that anyone else is right about everything they say either.
In fact, I assume that, some of the time, what other people say, peasant to president, is largely full of shit.


Thanks for your time, and attention,

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