Reinke Faces Life

For immediate release
October 1, 2014

Libertarian Party submits statement in opposition to Oregon “top two”

Vote NO on Oregon Measure 90
Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark submitted the below statement in opposition to Oregon’s “top two” ballot Measure 90 for inclusion in the state’s voter pamphlet.

The pamphlet is being mailed to each voter household in the state in advance of the November election.

Vote No on Measure 90

Oregon 2014 Statewide Ballot Initiative

Measure 90 takes away your choice.

Imagine a store where you can buy Coke, Pepsi, juice, energy drinks, water, and many other beverages. But you go back to the store in November and can only buy Coke or Pepsi. Or, even worse, only Coke and Diet Coke. You don’t drink soda, but that’s all they have because Coke and Pepsi were the most popular beverages earlier in the year.

You wouldn’t put up with a store that didn’t let you buy juice because it wasn’t one of the top two beverages. Why put up with it when choosing political leaders?

How much choice do you have when the only two candidates on the ballot in November are two Democrats, two Republicans, or one of each?

That’s what happens in California and Washington where only two candidates on Election Day is the law. General elections have only two candidates, often from the same party: two Democrats or two Republicans!

Robber barons in the 1800s passed laws to give themselves an economic monopoly. They used laws to corner the market, raise prices and rake in lucrative profits — without competition getting in their way.

Proponents of Measure 90 want a political monopoly. They want to shield their favored candidates — usually incumbents — from competition. They want to pander to their special-interest pals — without political challengers getting in their way.

Proponents claim Measure 90 will increase voter turnout in primary elections. But after California passed this law, the 2014 primary election had the lowest voter turnout in history.

Measure 90 greases the skids for incumbents and multi-millionaires while practically outlawing grassroots candidates who offer voters fresh choices from new political parties, Democratic and Republican challengers, independents, and write-in candidates.

Many measures could substantially improve voter participation, but Measure 90 will make things worse. It hands elections to incumbents, millionaires, and elites while silencing the voice of everyday workers, taxpayers, and citizens.

Vote No on Measure 90.

# – # – # – # – #    

Why bother having more than one name on the ballot at all?

Tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber!

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #   

http://brooklyngopradio.blogspot.com/2014/09/has-brooklyns-anti-obama-graffiti.html

Has Brooklyn’s Anti-Obama Graffiti Writer Gone Too Far?

So today during work, I get a call from my family about – of all things – how more Anti-Obama / Anti-Dem graffiti keeps popping up all over our Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. You may have seen my prior posts here and here about…

# – # – # – # – #   

Unfortunately, someone doesn’t realize the political realities of life.

Impeachment is the tool of the MINORITY party to remove a President that will hurt the party in the mid-term elections. Example, Nixon’s resignation.

No R should mention the word “impeachment” unless there is an R in the White House. (IMHO)

# – # – # – # – #   

FROM JUDICIAL WATCH

*** begin quote ***

IRS Had “Secret Research Project” For Conservative Donor Lists

Judicial Watch continues to blow the lid off of the Obama administration’s increasingly feeble attempts to cover up its deliberate targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the months leading up to the 2012 presidential election. And the latest batch of emails JW has obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit portrays an agency potentially willing to go to any lengths to bring down the president’s political opponents – including misusing the private, confidential information of those who dared contribute to the groups the IRS had targeted.

*** and ***

You may recall that then-IRS Commissioner Miller initially testified to Congress on May 17, 2013, that “instructions had been given to destroy any donor lists.” But donor lists were actually produced to the House Ways and Means Committee four months later.

In addition to using them for some “secret research project,” did the Obama IRS otherwise misuse the donor list names the agency knew it had no business having? Well, we have some clues. The Ways and Means Committee announced at May 7, 2014, hearing that, after scores of conservative groups provided donor information “to the IRS, nearly one in ten donors were subject to audit.” In 2011, as many as five donors to one conservative (c)(4) organization were audited, according to the Wall Street Journal. And this past June, the IRS admitted wrongdoing in releasing the conservative National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) confidential tax return and donor list, which were published in March 2012 by the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign is the chief political rival to NOM; its outgoing president had been named a national co-chair of the Obama Reelection Campaign. The IRS reportedly agreed to pay NOM $50,000 to settle the lawsuit.

To this very day, Democrats in Congress who pressured the IRS to go after their enemies pretend that “progressive” groups were targeted in large numbers, as well – despite their being not a scintilla of evidence that conservative groups were the focus. The IRS confirms this again in these new emails, which also include a July 18, 2012, email to Lerner from Judith Kindell, senior technical adviser to Lois Lerner, showing that 75% of the nearly 200 non-profit 501 (c)(4) political activist groups targeted by the IRS were conservative, and only 5% were liberal:

*** and ***

Judicial Watch lawyers are preparing now to ask the court for relief in light of the Obama administration’s continuing efforts to thwart Judge Sullivan’s orders.

It is not surprising that it took a Judicial Watch lawsuit and a federal court order to force the Obama administration to produce these shocking emails from the IRS. And now we have learned the stunning news that Obama’s IRS had a “secret research program” that used the illicitly-obtained confidential donor lists of conservative and Tea Party organizations that opposed President Obama’s agenda or reelection. With all this IRS abuse, it is no wonder Lois Lerner said that questions by Congress and others were “dangerous.”

It is well past time that President Obama should be held to account about his repeated and recent falsehoods about his IRS scandal.

*** end quote ***

I urge everyone to support Judicial Watch.

They’re doing what the liberal media would do if this was an R administration and not a D!

# – # – # – # – #   

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/tgif-liberty-in-america-during-the-great-war/

TGIF: LIBERTY IN AMERICA DURING THE GREAT WAR
by Sheldon Richman
August 15, 2014

*** begin quote ***

The Justice Department under Attorney General Thomas Gregory encouraged citizen surveillance through its link to the American Protective League, “a group of amateur sleuths and loyalty enforcers,” in Kennedy’s description. Said Gregory, “I have today several hundred thousand private citizens — some individuals, most of them as members of patriotic bodies, engaged in … assisting the heavily overworked Federal authorities in keeping an eye on disloyal individuals and making reports on disloyal utterances.” Kennedy says that by the end of the war, the APL had 250,000 members.

This was also the period in which the United States got the Espionage Act and amendments known as the Sedition Act. Under the authority of the Espionage Act, Postmaster General Albert Sidney Burleson banned publications from the mail or stripped them of their second-class mailing permits for even suggesting that Wall Street or the arms industry controlled the government. Criticizing the government was regarded as aiding the enemy.

*** end quote ***

Ahh, yes, Wilson, the “Peace President”.

And, American Liberty has never recovered.

# – # – # – # – #   

[Those of us who served in the “old Army” (pre-1985) would insist that the M1911A1 firing the .45 ACP meets all the requirements. The Thompson-LaGarde Tests of 1904 led the Army and the Cavalry to decide a minimum of .45 caliber was the most effective pistol cartridge. They noted, however, that training was critical to make sure a soldier could score a hit in a vulnerable part of the body. But it seems clear that the 1911 with the .45 round has one major drawback – it is too much of a pistol for female personnel to handle.]

# – # – # – # – #   

Interesting if this is true.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://prepperchimp.com/2014/07/14/video-incredible-up-close-footage-of-israeli-roof-knocking-bombing-technique/

*** begin quote ***

The “Roof Knocking” Technique used by Israelis in their latest attacks on Hamas have been labeled “controversial” and even “inhumane”. What is “Roof Knocking”? It is when an inert bomb or shell casing with no explosive warhead is dropped on a rooftop to create a loud and thunderous impact with the building letting those inside know that in a few minutes a missile or bomb with a live warhead will destroy the building. The “knock” is to allow people to exit the building rapidly with the intent on saving lives when the warhead strikes to destroy enemy missiles, weapons and equipment. What other military provides this great “service” to an enemy? What do you think of this technique?

*** end quote ***

Wow!

Stunning at the damage.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/07/10/poor-mans-polar-vortex-to-make-shocking-summer-return-in-eastern-u-s-next-week/

What happened to “global warming”?

Are we now back to “global cooling”?

Or is it all now “man caused climate change”?

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #   

What is Domino’s Pizza Doing in Our Schools?
Alex A. Kecskes
July 4, 2014
1:30 pm

*** begin quote ***

A Pie with a Pitch

The new “healthier” pizza also came with a hefty marketing pitch for the Domino’s brand. The company delivers its pizzas directly to schools. So their trucks, employee uniforms, insulated boxes and lunch-line placards ubiquitously brand the company’s red-and-blue logo into young impressionable student minds. Nutritionists fear this on-campus branding primes students to head for Domino’s after school or on weekends to devour its regular non-USDA pizza (Domino’s says it has no plans to sell the Smart Slice in shops).

*** end quote ***

Over and above my problem with the Gooferment Skrules concept, this smacks of Crony Capitalism!

And, if the children are exposed and indoctrinated into “corporate branding” throughout their youth, then how can they have “free will”?

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.seaside-heightsnj.org/

Important USPS Announcement
July 2nd, 2014

*** begin quote ***

The Postal Service has established a review process for certain Post Offices known as the POST Plan. The Seaside Heights Post Office was among the offices evaluated under the POST Plan criteria. The Postal Service is now soliciting community input through surveys to help determine the best course of action for providing postal services to your community.

After receiving the results of this survey, the Postal Service will examine the responses and, unless the community has a strong preference (more than 60%) for conducting a discontinuance study for the Seaside Heights Post Office and establishing one of the additional sources of services described below, the Postal service intends to maintain the Seaside Heights Post Office with 6 hours of window service each weekday. Current Saturday window service hours and access to delivery receptacles will not change as a result of the POST Plan realignment of weekday window service hours.

In addition to this survey, the Postal Service will hold a meeting at the Seaside Heights Municipal Court at 116 Sherman Avenue Set 2, Seaside Heights NJ, 08751 on 8/7/2014 at 6:00 PM to answer questions and provide additional information about the POST Plan. At the meeting, local management will share the results of the survey, answer questions, and solicit input regarding the time of day the Post Office will be open. Although survey results will be known and shared, the Postal Service will not make a final decision regarding this office until after the public meeting. This will enable the Postal Service to obtain all community input and opinions, from both the surveys and the meeting, before making a final decision.

The Postal Service is also seeking locally established businesses or organizations to serve as contractor-operated postal retail units in communities like yours. If you are interested in operating a postal retail unit, please visit the website at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/welcome.htm for additional information. Generally, these contractor-operated postal retail units will operate in combination with a community’s Post Office. However, selection of the third option in the survey indicates a preference of your Post Office to be studied for discontinuance with the establishment of a contractor-operated unit a a replacement for the Post Office.

If you are filling out the survey, please return it by 7/24/2014. We kindly request the inclusion of your mailing address so that we can ensure that one survey response is submitted per address. Please note that your response may be entered into a publicly accessible record.

Thank you for your cooperation. Please contact the Post Office with any further questions.

*** end quote ***

And if you don’t get your mail delivered in 08751, then you don’t count.

Argh!

Should just outsource the whole mess to Fed Ex and UPS.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/james-bovard/war-crimes-of-us-generals/

Happy Custer Massacre Day!
By James Bovard
JimBovard.com
June 28, 2014

*** begin quote ***

Mosby’s men were vastly outnumbered but they fought valiantly to try to stop Sheridan’s torching of the valley.   Sheridan responded by labeling Mosby’s men war criminals and announcing that they would be executed if captured.  The North stretched the definition of illegal enemy combatant at the same time it redefined its own war crimes out of existence.  Six of Mosby’s men were hung in Front Royal, Virginia in September 1864.

In the weeks after the hanging of his men, Mosby’s men captured 700 northern troops.  In early November, his troops hanged several captured Yankees in retaliation.  A sign was attached to one of the corpses: “These men have been hung in retaliation for an equal number of Colonel Mosby’s men, hung by order of General Custer at Front Royal.  Measure for measure.”  Recognizing the perils to his own troops, Sheridan ceased executing captured Mosby’s guerillas.

*** end quote ***

The War of Northern Aggression was a very uncivil war.

Imagine what will happen the next time some State seeks to secede?

I foresee it in the near future. 

No one can possibly pay the debt that has been run up.

Collapse is inevitable.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/obama-impeachment-gop-faces-three-huge-obstacles_062014

Obama Impeachment: GOP Faces Three HUGE Obstacles

Michael Thomas
Storyleak
June 23rd, 2014

*** begin quote ***

It does appear that the Repubs may be waiting for the midterm elections to take back the Senate, and restock the House even stronger.  In which case they may be waiting for a pretext to impeach both Obama and Biden. In which case the new Speaker’s wife just may move into Michelle Obama’s bedroom.

*** end quote ***

I have oft opined (not that anyone listens to me) that “impeachment” of a President is the power of the MINORITY party to remove a President that damages their future chances to “suck at the teat of Gooferment”. (Why else would they?)

I cite the R’s with Nixon. He resigned ONLY because the R’s said “you’re toast”. Not that they care too much about him, BUT he was going to take all of the other lifetime R’s down with him. (Rats and the sinking ship come to mind!)

This blog post illustrates another “impeachment method”.

Should the Sheeple be so “offended” by the sitting President’s conduct, (which I think is “egregious” even by today’s standards), that they vote in the opposite party with a sufficient plurality and majority (particularly in the Senate), that impeachment is a foregone conclusion.

While drastic, maybe the Sheeple can be interested to the point of voting.

Obamacare, immigration, VA, and the collapse of “foreign policy” might just be enough to have these sheep look away for DWTS and vote for real “hope and change”.

I hope that the Libertarian Party doesn’t shill for the D’s and save them.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #    

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/david-swanson/to-hide-the-brutality-of-us-imperialism/

So That’s Why They Kept the Drone Kill Memo Secret
By David Swanson
War Is A Crime.org
June 25, 2014

*** begin quote ***

The memo considers a section of the U.S. code dealing with the murder of a U.S. citizen by another U.S. citizen abroad, drawing on another section that defines murder as “the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.”

David Barron, the memo’s author, needed a loophole to make murder-by-missile a lawful killing rather than an unlawful killing, so he pulls out the “public authority justification” under which the government gets to use force to enforce a law. It’s a novel twist, though, for the government to get to use force to violate the law, claiming the violation is legal on the Nixonian basis that it is the government doing it.

Alternatively, Barron suggests, a government gets to use force if doing so is part of a war. This, of course, ignores the U.N. Charter and the Kellogg Briand Pact and the illegality of wars, as well as the novelty of claiming that a war exists everywhere on earth forever and ever. (None of Barron’s arguments justify governmental murder on U.S. soil any less than off U.S. soil.)

*** end quote ***

When the “King” kills his subjects, then we have tyranny.

Is there any doubt that the Gooferment has “crossed a very important Rubicon” with this memo?

No one can have any doubts now.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/joseph-mercola/butter-the-new-health-food/

Butter Is Back—Processed Foods Are Identified as Real Culprits in Heart Disease
By Joseph Mercola
Mercola.com
June 24, 2014

*** begin quote ***

Flawed Nutritional Guidelines Have Created a ‘Pandemic’ of Heart Disease

Between 1920 and 1960, Americans’ butter consumption declined by over 75 percent, yet heart disease went from a relatively unknown condition to the number one killer. Consumption of trans fat radically increased in the mid-1950s, and rates of sudden death from heart disease have faithfully risen right along with trans fat consumption.

Today, there are 30,000 items in the American diet that contain trans fats, according to the FDA. That should give you an indication of just how prevalent these dangerous fats have become!

Basically, if you eat processed foods, you’re likely eating trans fats. Many products that claim to be “zero trans fat” simply have portion sizes that are so ridiculously small that the trans fat falls below the permissible limits and therefore do not need to be listed.

Authority Nutrition has assembled several graphs with side-by-side comparisons of obesity and heart disease trends with nutritional trends over time. These graphs make it easier to visualize how the low-fat recommendations have done you no favors whatsoever.7 For example, the following graph shows how the European countries that eat the least saturated fats have the highest risk of heart disease:

*** end quote ***

Why would anyone believe ANYTHING from the Crony Capitalists and their agent called “The Gooferment”?

This includes, but not limited to, FDA, USDA, CDC, … … … 

Argh!

Next we’ll find out that smoking is good for you. (Credit to Woody Allen for that bit of sarcasm.)

We have to think for ourselves.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #   

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/11004507-disability-beneficiaries-top-11-million-first-time

11,004,507: Disability Beneficiaries Top 11 Million for First Time
June 20, 2014 – 4:04 PM

*** begin quote ***

The number of Americans receiving disability benefits continues to exceed the populations of Greece, Tunisia and Portugal and is drawing closer to Cuba, whose population of 11,047,251 (as reported by the CIA) is just 42,477 more than the 11,004,507 Americans receiving disability benefits.

*** end quote ***

I have read that once someone goes on disability, they never come off.

And, is this substitute for lifetime unemployment.

How does one differentiate between “the truly needed” and the moochers?

Really, all charity must be private.

http://www.acton.org/public-policy/effective-compassion

*** begin quote ***

How are the poor best aided? After a thirty year governmental “War on Poverty” failed to reduce poverty in America, a consensus developed that the centralized entitlement approach of the federal government created more problems than it solved. Consequently, in 1996 welfare reform and its “Charitable Choice” provision paved the way for more involvement by the private sector, especially by faith-based institutions, in helping the poor make the transition from welfare to work. The welfare reform law of 1996 was a first step away from direct federal control of help to the poor and toward private sector solutions-but it was only a first step. The Acton Institute envisions a revivified civil society that is energetically involved in transforming the lives of the poor with a minimum of government intervention.

*** end quote ***

It’s a hard topic, but if the economy was booming, it wouldn’t as big an issue.

And the economy isn’t going to boom until the Gooferment is cut down to the bones.

Minimum wage, high taxation, and over regulation!

Then maybe the “little people” would have a chance.

# – # – # – # – #   

http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2014/6/11/public-pension-plans-boom-and-bubble-forever-or-bust.html

Public Pension Plans: Boom And Bubble Forever Or Bust
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2014 AT 1:28AM

*** begin quote ***

Public pension plans of states and cities have been in a heap of trouble for years. Promises of juicy pensions after a relatively short time on the job, with many decades of life expectancy remaining, are easy for politicians to make and buy votes with, and for unions to demand to please their membership. But they’re a tad expensive to live up to. Some have been involved in bankruptcies of their municipalities, including those of Detroit. Others are headed that way.

*** and ***

The best-case scenario, which is also the base scenario, assumes return on investment is 7.7% for all plan assets combined, for all years to come.

*** and ***

Assuming the unlikely scenario of an eternal return of 7.7% annually, some of these pension funds are in worse trouble than others. A small coterie, like the Louisiana State Parochial Employees fund, is funded over 100%. But most plans are in trouble. Some of the worst sinners: Alaska Teachers with a funded ratio of 47.9%, Connecticut SERS (41.2%), Illinois Teachers (40.6%), Chicago Municipal employees (37.0%), Illinois SERS (34.2%), Chicago Police (30.9%), or Kentucky ERS (25.8%). Some of the sinners are relatively small plans, but several are large, such as the Illinois SERS, Illinois Teachers, and Connecticut SERS. If markets were allowed to swoon, these babies would be wiped out.

*** and ***

And even that miracle, combined with the other miracle, a 7.7% return for all years to come, won’t be enough: it would still leave plans $1.1 trillion underfunded. Alas, if the rate of return drops to 5%, the hole will increase to $3.0 trillion, and plans would only be 50% funded. And at a rate of return of 4.0%, unfunded liabilities would jump to $3.8 trillion, and numerous plans would simply….

Reality is too ugly to contemplate. So now the hope is that the new rules – accounting for stock market surges in the year in which they occur – will trigger big gains immediately and drive up the funded ratios. Better not even think about the possibility that the stock market might stumble from current bubble highs or that a soupçon of chaos in the bond market would slam junk bonds and trigger a wave of defaults.

What these pension plans need in order to be there in the future, the report suggests, is a booming economy year after year and endlessly inflating asset bubbles. Otherwise, forget it.

Wiping out in one fell swoop six years of carefully orchestrated propaganda, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard admitted that the Fed had dropped the ball during the prior bubble that blew up the financial system, and that it’s dropping the ball again during the current bubble. 

*** end quote ***

So what does the average schmoe do?

Plan for pension defaults. Save in commodities. 

Does anyone really believe in 7+% returns forever?

In war movies, you always hear “get small in your hole”. I think that advice is good for fiscal crisis.

Always live modestly. Save in commodities. No “bad” debt; very little “good” debt.

I’m not sure that IRA / 401k is a panacea. I’m in it big time, but the politicians and bureaucrats must be looking at that pot of wealth longingly.

Argh!

YMMV

# – # – # – # – #