POLITICAL: The Lincoln Movie

Friday, December 14, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton53.1.html

The Lincoln Movie
by Mark Thornton

*** begin quote *** 

Steven Spielberg’s epic movie Lincoln is truly a masterpiece. As an historical drama it portrays Lincoln in the final months of his life and the final months of the Civil War. More than anything, it shows Lincoln attempting – against all odds – to pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery.

*** and ***

With Lincoln, of course Abraham Lincoln was president during the American Civil War, Mary Todd Lincoln was the first lady, they had sons, etc. All the supporting cast did exist including all the politicians, cabinet members, generals, etc. The 13th amendment to the Constitution banning slavery did pass, Lincoln was assassinated, and the Union did defeat the Confederacy.

It is also true that Lincoln did work to promote the passage of the 13th amendment. However, as Thomas DiLorenzo has shown, Lincoln worked for the passage of the 13th amendment in 1861 That 13th amendment would have banned the federal government from interfering with states that permitted slavery if it has been ratified. Furthermore, he shows that there is no hard evidence that Lincoln worked for the passage of the 13th amendment in 1865 which prohibited slavery in all states.

As you can see, the real version of events would not have made for a good movie. In fact, the real Lincoln would not make for any kind of pleasant movie. He was a loser politician married to a crazy woman, who unexpectedly found success because the nation splintered into four political parties, handing him the election.

Lincoln was famous for telling people what they wanted to hear. He would often claim to support one position on an issue to one group of people and claim to support the opposite position to another group of people. He was the classic flip-flopper often supporting numerous positions on an issue over his political career. No good material for a movie here.

*** end quote ***

Wow, who would have thought a politician is a flip flopper telling people what they want to hear?

Lincoln is far and away on the top of my worst President list. No one in the second tier is even close.

He was the ultimate crony capitalist as a “railroad lawyer”.

I find it bemusing that the Black Community reveres him. 

Not that I’m a proponent of slavery, Jim Crow, or racism, but he was the opposite of their image.

Toss in on top that the rest of the world was able to eliminate slavery without a war. Slavery was uneconomic and, ten more so, when the mechanization of America. Human labor is too valuable to waste in slavery. (Ever try and get a human to do something that they don’t want to do? As children, we learn at an early age that no one can make us do ANYTHING ever. Even poop!)

Argh!

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RANT: Celebrities are not, and shouldn’t be, targets

Thursday, December 13, 2012

http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2012/12/11/taylor-swift-stalker-problem-is-worse-than-ever/

Taylor Swift: ‘Stalker problem is worse than ever’

*** begin quote ***

She adds, “There are a lot of them (stalkers). I just try to be safe and be conscious of people around me… It’s something you just have to deal with. It’s the price you pay for getting to do what you love. You can let it take over your life and make you fearful all the time, or you can live your life in spite of it.”

*** end quote ***

Not because she’s “my girl”. (LOL, like she wants a fat old white guy injineer.)

But one of the few LEGITIMATE functions of GOOFERMENT is to protect its citizens.

It would seem, given that Hollywood loves politicians, that there should be some protection.

As a little L libertarian, like my battered spouse suggestion, I’d say if there’s a restraining order and the star’s, or the detail, can see you, they can shoot you. Open season on stalkers.

No debate. No arrests.

But they are responsible for their collateral damage.

Think of it as a line of work for out of work military snipers.

LOL! Only partially!

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MONEY: It’s “too big to fail” is “to big to exist”?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

http://etfdailynews.com/2012/12/04/the-coming-derivatives-panic-that-will-destroy-global-financial-markets/

The Coming Derivatives Panic That Will Destroy Global Financial Markets

December 4th, 2012

*** begin quote ***

It would have been really nice if we had not allowed these banks to get so large and if we had not allowed them to make trillions of dollars of reckless bets.  But we stood aside and let it happen.  Now these banks are so important to our economic system that their destruction would also destroy the U.S. economy.  It is kind of like when cancer becomes so advanced that killing the cancer would also kill the patient.  That is essentially the situation that we are facing with these banks.

It would be hard to overstate the recklessness of these banks.  The numbers that you are about to see are absolutely jaw-dropping.  According to the Comptroller of the Currency, four of the largest U.S. banks are walking a tightrope of risk,

*** end quote ***

The bottom line is that Big Gooferment likes Big Anything.

More contributions.

More crony faux capitalism. Get money by playing the game; NOT satisfying customers.

Simple solution. Artificially constrain the size by limiting balance sheets. Require excess to be spun back to the owners.

Ever hear of “anti-trust” or “restraint of trade”?

Not going to happen, because they are all in bed with one another.

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RANT: Have we been euphemized?

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/peters-e/peters-e271.html

Their Proper Name

by Eric Peters

EricPetersAutos.com

*** begin quote ***

To undo it, there must be a rebirth of what they called in cowboy flicks, straight-talking. Calls things by their proper name – and challenge those who don’t or won’t. Make them say what they mean – openly. If you fail to do so, you’ve accepted their terms.

*** and ***

Most people are innocent victims of verbal (and written) rights-rape. For example, public schools. Well, no – they’re not. Yes, they are “open” to the public – in the sense that the public is forced at gunpoint to send its children to them. Which gives us a clue as to the proper name that ought to be used in every instance of discussion: Government schools. It is what they are, in plain, direct – and thus, honest – language. Nothing less. Which of course is why honest language is not generally used to describe them. Because that might get people thinking along certain lines. “Public” sounds so much… friendlier. Free, almost – a vicious irony if ever there was. You’re not free to decline to pay for them (even if you don’t use them). And most kids are certainly not free to not attend them. Very much what you’d expect of a government school. Because the essential attribute of government is coercion – force. The thing that must never be openly stated – but always euphemized.

*** end quote ***

So don’t let it happen to you.

Insist on clear definitions and meaningful labels.

A rose doesn’t smell as sweet if you call it a “thorny bush”!

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SERVICE: Has Google’s GMAIL broken

Monday, December 10, 2012

For the first time in a long time, I see GMAIL choking. Timeouts. The IPAD client barfing. Unable to sync and all sorts of strange errors.

Has Google jumped the shark?

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RANT: Gas is going up and staying up?

Monday, December 10, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-chart-implies-something-very-troubling-about-the-price-of-gas/

THIS CHART IMPLIES SOMETHING VERY TROUBLING ABOUT THE PRICE OF GAS

Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:50pm by Becket Adams

*** begin quote ***

See that? Although the price of crude has fallen in recent months, as the above chart clearly indicates, the price of gasoline remains at a record high.

“Anecdotally, it feels like when oil prices rise, gas prices at the pump rise; but when turmoil pauses in global geo-politics – or some entity decides that high oil prices just will not do for the world’s economy – gas prices at the pump seem not to drop so quickly,” writers are Zero Hedge note.

“Yes there are pipeline, inventory (and even tax) issues but the following chart suggests ‘gouging’ on a national level,” they add.

It’s also worth noting that what we’re seeing today with the price of gasoline and crude is eerily similar to what we saw right before the economic collapse of 2008.

*** end quote ***

I think there maybe a big overhang on the markets due to increased costs (i.e., Obamacare) and increased taxes (i.e., the fiscal cliff).

Given the “gouging rules” passed after Sandy. Or used during Sandy. I wouldn’t lower my price un my competition forces me to.

Hmmm?

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POLITICAL: Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Notes from JWR:

by Jim Rawles

December 9th, 2012 would have been the 98th birthday of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus. He was was one of the few Norwegians who had the testicular fortitude to put his life on the line, fighting the Nazi occupiers. (There surely would have been many more active resistance fighters in Norway, but fearing widespread reprisal executions by the Germans, King H7 urged the civilian populace to stand down.) Manus passed away in 1996. His exploits are fairly accurately shown in the movie Max Manus: Man of War

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MONEY: What have we allowed to be done?

Sunday, December 9, 2012

http://www.cmi-gold-silver.com/blog/government-money/

Book Review: What Has Government Done to Our Money?

*** begin quote ***

In the United States we currently have a stated policy by the Federal Reserve to create higher levels of inflation while artificially lowering interest rates. This is a policy devastating to savers and those attempting to live off of the proceeds of their capital. How did we arrive at the point where a government created agency can arbitrarily opt to destroy the value of people’s savings?

Murray Rothbard’s What Has Government Done to Our Money? lays out the step by step process by which the commodity based monies of the free market are slowly and deliberately usurped by governments and their central banks. The end result of this control is the ability of government to take purchasing power from the savings of its citizens through inflation.

Understanding money and its creation are essential to understanding how inflation originates. Rothbard assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and begins with first principles to derive what money is and how it is used in a free market. He then covers the manipulations used by government to wrestle control of money away from the free market. Finally he finishes with a two hundred year history of money and currencies in the Western world. It is through this history he demonstrates how government abuse has resulted in a series of breakdowns of the dollar with respect to gold that have inevitably led to our current global monetary crisis.

*** end quote ***

We have allowed the politicians and bureaucrats to inflate the paper currency and silently steal from everyone — rich and poor  alike — their wealth. For the poor, it’s the value of their labor. For the rich, it’s the value of their savings.

argh!

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FUN: Hat, scarf, and gloves as heart attack prevention

Saturday, December 8, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/orig13/bennett-l4.1.1.html

Woolly Hats and Heart Attacks

by Lizzie Bennett

Medically Speaking

*** begin quote ***

Each winter there is a myriad of articles published warning us about the dangers of hypothermia, how to spot it and what to do about it. There are articles warning about cold injuries such as frostbite, warnings to the elderly about the dangers of not keeping at least one room warm. Warnings to get the boiler serviced in case carbon monoxide builds up if its faulty. We are warned that we may need extra vitamins, warned to drive carefully, warned to take care if using candles and warned not to leave the lights on the Christmas tree switched on overnight. Not once, anywhere in this plethora of warnings have I heard the one that warns you that you are more likely to suffer a heart attack if you don’t wear a warm hat in cold weather.

*** end quote ***

Makes a believer out of me.

Interesting that my work location is always cold. Even in summer time.

The women are always saying it. And, recently, I couple of ties I felt it. Power of Suggestion? Anyone who knows me that I like it at “Meat Locker” temps. Wife used have a blanket when we took car trips. (Although I always thought she was being sarcastic.)

Maybe there is something to the article.

Maybe if I wear a hat, gloves, and a scarf in the office they think I’ve gone around the bend  and pay men off?

Then, it’ll off to New Hampshire to get warm.

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RANT: Any one remember Pearl Harbor day?

Friday, December 7, 2012

… and remember who caused that disaster?

 

No, not the Japanese. FDR!

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GUNS: Bringing a gun to a knife fight

Friday, December 7, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/knife-wielding-home-intruder-breaks-into-wrong-home-greeted-by-40-cal-handgun/

KNIFE-WIELDING HOME INTRUDER BREAKS INTO WRONG HOME, GREETED BY .40 CAL HANDGUN

Posted on November 27, 2012 at 11:52pm by Jason Howerton

*** begin quote ***

A homeowner in Grand Prairie, Texas shot a knife-wielding home intruder after the suspect shattered a side window to gain entry into the home, KXAS-TV reports.

The homeowner, who has not been identified, was reportedly on the phone with 911 operators when he shot 21-year-old Gilberto Banderas. The shooting occurred at around 2:30 p.m. after the sound of breaking glass prompted the homeowner to get his .40 caliber handgun.

The suspect, Banderas, was shot in the stomach. As it turns out, police discovered he lives just blocks away from the home he attempted to break into. In other words, he apparently tried, and failed, to rob his neighbor.

*** and ***

“During the conversation with him, we could hear him yelling, ‘You came at me with a knife,’” Grand Prairie detective Lyle Gensler said. “We responded within about a minute and 30 seconds.”

*** end quote ***

Note for the unarmed, dial 911 and die.

Critique of the shooting: The suspect was still alive.

The military taught me to keep pulling the trigger until nothing moved.

I’ve heard that advice often repeated.

Even if the bullets are going into the floor and ceiling, no one in their right mind wants to be down range of a loon with a gun and is using it.

Critique of the shooting: Good dhot to the center of mass — the belly.

Hope I never have to do it. Hope no one ever has to do it.

But the best way to stop crime is get rid of few of the criminals.

Make getting caught by the police an unlikely outcome.

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RANT: Schools are prison training centers

Thursday, December 6, 2012

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/127265.html

November 28, 2012

End the Pretense that Government Schools and Prisons Are Different

Posted by William Grigg on November 28, 2012 03:13 PM

*** begin quote ***

It’s for your own good, kids: The “Isolation Box” at Longview, Washingon’s Mint Valley Elementary School

Warrantless “drug sweeps” in government-run schools have become routine in recent years. So have “lock-down” drills in which SWAT teams conduct training exercises involving hostage or terrorism scenarios. In some lock-down drills, students inmates have been kept in the dark about the fact that the incident is a training exercise, rather than a genuine crisis.

Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande, Arizona, held a lock-down drug sweep on October 31. Students Inmates were confined to their classrooms, then led in small groups to another room where they were forced to line up against a wall and be searched with the help of drug-sniffing dogs. This exercise introduced a new element: Among the four law enforcement agencies involved in the search was a group of prison guards employed by the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest for-profit prison contractor.

*** end quote ***

We need the home schooling movement to break out.

I suggested a 40 year plan to end gooferment skrules during the tax revolts in Nu Jerzee. First 20 years was to get them out of the operations; the second 20 years was to end the funding.

Argh!

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INTERESTING: Bitterly disappointed

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9686219/I-am-bitterly-bitterly-disappointed-retired-naval-officers-email-to-children-in-full.html

‘I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed’: retired naval officer’s email to children in full

This is the full email that retired Royal Navy officer Nick Crews sent to his son and two daughters in February expressing his and his wife’s disappointment in them.

***

When I read this, I saw a boomerang.

Were you such a bad parent that you weren’t able to steer the children correctly?

My parents made a lot mistakes. But, I would never fault them for the choices they made. I’ve made a lot of my own bad choices.

This 0 for 3 tends to make me blame the “builder”.

imho.

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MONEY: Thinking about employer 401Ks and IRAs versus retirement savings

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/11/26/401k-with-no-match-should-contribute/

An interesting article. My gripe with 401ks has always been the investment options and fees are “unacceptable”. Especially when you consider the real inflation rate.

I know I am a gold bug. But with the FED printing money and the subterfuge of them buying their own bonds, I think we are at risk of an even higher inflation. I remember the Cater inflation. And, I am not buying that the interest rate is zero.

I think an interesting facet is that the price of gas, which goes into every product indirectly, has actually decline in price since 1968. (Ron Paul said it best: “Three silver dimes bought a gallon of gas in the Sixties; today, those same three silver dimes equate to a gallon and half.”)

As a poor retiree, inflation is my concern. (If it evokes more sympathy, I’m also an orphan.) I realize that I probably personally have a lot to worry about. It’s really just me. But for posterity, this stinks. Hence my obsession on commodity bullion.

And, it is a way of avoiding the estate taxes.

–30–


SERVICE: LASTPASS’ security check

Monday, December 3, 2012

https://lastpass.com/index.php?securitychallenge=1

The security check ignore how I use LASTPASS.

I keep my old passwords in LASTPASS as well as all non-critical new ones. (No one gets the passwords to my financial accounts. Those I have memorized. If I ever get alzs, I’m in trouble.) So what the security check calls dupes are either iteration of the same account. Not every url is a simple single entry point.

Additionally, there is a need to keep old passwords for restored systems,

Another topic, I have problem is those secondary authentication questions for lost passwords. I NEVER give the correct answers. In fact, I use last pass’ tool generate to create the answers. And they are unique by site. So my favorite book might be “4zm7#ut47” on one site and “ut47#vj4a” on another. I use special notes for those. But it would be nice if last pass helped me with them.

so I don’t agree with my score.

fjohn

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TINFOILHAT: The “killing” of OBL

Sunday, December 2, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts377.html

The Osama bin Laden Myth

by Paul Craig Roberts

*** begin quote ***

Although only a few Americans are aware of the September 28, 2001 interview in which bin Laden states his non-involvement with the 9/11 attacks, many Americans have seen post-2001 videos in which a person alleged to be bin Laden takes credit for the attacks. There are two problems with these videos. Experts have examined them and found them to be fakes, and all of the videos appeared after bin Laden was reported by the Pakistan Observer, the Egyptian press, and Fox News to have died in mid-December, 2001, from lung disease. See also.

Bin Laden also suffered from kidney disease. According to a CBS news report on January 28, 2002, Osama bin Laden was hospitalized for dialysis treatment in the Pakistani military hospital in Rawalpindi on September 10, 2001, the day before 9/11.

Obviously, a man suffering from terminal lung and kidney disease did not survive for another decade to be murdered by a US Navy SEAL team in Abbottabad. A Pakistani TV interview with the neighbor of the alleged “bin Laden compound” exposed the assassination hoax. This sensational interview also went unreported by america’s “free press.” I had the interview translated, and it is available here. See also.

Shortly after the alleged assassination 30 members of the SEAL unit died in a mysterious helicopter crash in Afghanistan, and now we learn that not a single one of the thousands of sailors on the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, witnessed bin Laden’s alleged burial at sea from that ship. The press reports with a straight face that for unexplained reasons it was kept secret from the ship’s sailors. This is supposed to be the explanation of the sailors’ emails reporting to family and friends that they witnessed no burial at sea. Some speculate that the SEALs were bumped off before their questions to one another, “Were you on that raid?,” reached outside the unit. Apparently, it doesn’t strike the media or the public as strange that the US government captured and killed the terror mastermind without interrogating him and without keeping any evidence or presenting any witnesses to support the assassination claim.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a more logical explanation of why there was no interrogation of  this valuable intelligence asset.

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RANT: You always have the right to secede

Saturday, December 1, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams147.html

Parting Company

by Walter E. Williams

*** begin quote ***

For decades, it has been obvious that there are irreconcilable differences between Americans who want to control the lives of others and those who wish to be left alone. Which is the more peaceful solution: Americans using the brute force of government to beat liberty-minded people into submission or simply parting company? In a marriage, where vows are ignored and broken, divorce is the most peaceful solution. Similarly, our constitutional and human rights have been increasingly violated by a government instituted to protect them. Americans who support constitutional abrogation have no intention of mending their ways.

*** end quote ***

I like that Professor Williams always goes to the crux of the matter.

Do we have the RIGHT from Nature’s God to peaceful leave the Union?

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