POLITICAL: DIck Morris starts a rant

Friday, July 2, 2010

http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2010/07/01/obamas-immigration-hypocrisy/

OBAMA’S IMMIGRATION HYPOCRISY
By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
07.1.2010

*** begin quote ***

When Obama could have passed comprehensive immigration reform – when he still had 60 Senate Democrats – he didn’t lift a finger to push it. Now that he can’t pass it – it is too late in the year, he doesn’t have 60 votes, and many Democrats will defect – he aggressively pushes it in a national speech.

The opportunism and hypocrisy of his attempt to manipulate America’s Latinos into forgetting his previous inaction is transparent and obvious.

*** end quote ***

Dick Morris made an interesting point. When BHO44 had the majority in the Senate, he couldn’t be bothered with immigration reform. No that he can’t get it done, he wants to push it. Argh! Typical Chicago politician. He wants the political power from the fight about it. He can posture as the “immigration reformer” while painting his opponents into the corner as anti-immigrant anti-Latino. Voters are so stupid.

If I was the R’s, I’d immediately propose: eliminating all personal and corporate welfare and throwing open the “golden door”. We need imigrants who want to come here to work. I’d ask for a DNA swab, a fingerprint, a quick check for communicable diseases, and then immediately issue them a new combination visa, work permit, and tax id number. Welcome to America, the land of opportunity, and fat poor people. We want those people, we need those people, we can definitely handle those people.

At the same time, I’d end the drug war. (What does a drug dealer do when Walmart sells marijuana, crack, cocaine, and speed; all for the price of aspirin. I’m confident that they Walmart and the other Pharmacy Companies will do a far better job of controlling drug addiction that the Gooferment. Look at the business made out of weight reduction and smoking cessation.

(What will the Colombian Drug Lords do when WalMArt insists on low cost high quality “junk”? Take up tourism? And, what will the Taliban do in Afghanistan when WalMart doesn’t have to pay top dollar for their poppy plants? Go back to being a fourth world country? Argh!)

AND, we won’t have children die from “illegal drugs” of unknown strength and unknown quality. (Who’s body is it? Isn’t the decision what to put in it the ultimate expression of self-ownership.) (Given that youth like to rebel and do “cool” stuff, won’t making drugs “legal” take all the allure out of taking them? Kinda hard to envision yourself as a James Dean type rebel when you are in the queue at WalMart with Granny buying pot for her glaucoma!)

Pardon the non-violent offenders in Federal prisons. We could then close more than half the prisons. And focus on the really bad human beings who kill and hurt people.

And along with “fixing” (i.e., nuking) the drug laws, let’s eliminate the death penalty nationally. Aside from it not being cost effective, the gooferment should NEVER have the power to kill its citizens. I agree with Bill O’Reilly; Alaska sounds like a nice tropical resort for criminals. Create a place like the French Devil’s Island. No cruelty; just isolation of the truly dangerous.

And, let’s talk energy. France gets 80% of its electric power from nukes. They have a few national “standard designs”. If a company uses one of them, then there is expedited approvals. Now we need to import less oil.

Why does the Federal Gooferment have any role in the national electric grid? Sell it to the power companies.

Why does the Gooferment run airports? Sell them to the airlines. Why does the Gooferment run airport security? Turn it over to the airlines.

Suddenly we need a lot less gooferment workers! With bug salaries and big pensions.

And speaking about pensions! Why can’t we get out of the pension business completely.

Like any other fraud, we should prosecute any crime with the objective to make the victim whole. Restitution! Not incarceration or even rehabilitation. Let’s make sure that crime doesn’t pay.

The Gooferment should only be a referee; not a participant. And certainly not an operator. Gooferment skrules, gone. Clearly we need a 20 or 40 year transition plan.

Gooferment “social security” fraud, gone. Clearly, we need a fifty year transition plan.

Argh! There so much to do. Old Wall Street expression: When you’re in a hole, stop digging. We should not be creating more “holes” for future generation to dig themselves out of.

(Where do politicians, bureaucrats, and the elite send their children to school? Certainly not the “public school”! Argh!!)

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POLITICAL: I thought is was all about finding the “truth”

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

http://www.slate.com/id/2256188

Certain Knowledge
Why all crime-scene evidence should be DNA tested.
By Radley Balko
Posted Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at 9:59 AM ET

*** begin quote ***

Arguing over which evidence gets tested shouldn’t be part of either side’s strategy. The prosecution and the defense should begin knowing that all of the evidence has been tested or will be. For old cases like Skinner’s, if there’s significant doubt about the defendant’s guilt that testing could resolve, legislators shouldn’t wait for the courts—they should make sure themselves that testing is done.

*** and ***

By refusing to answer the question, Texas officials are acting as if preserving a conviction is more important than knowing for certain who killed Twila Busby and her sons.

*** end quote ***

One reason to oppose the “death penalty” is that it’s irreversible.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a search for Truth?

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POLITICAL: I’d prefer USP, UL, Consumers Reports, doctors, and WalMart over the FDA

Friday, June 18, 2010

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-businessman-battles-als-prepares-for-eternity/

Catholic businessman battles ALS, prepares for eternity

By Spencer S. Busby

*** begin quote ***

San Diego, Calif., Jun 6, 2010 / 01:19 pm (CNA).- Three years ago, Shane FitzMaurice was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The rare neurological disorder is typically fatal within five years of diagnosis.

*** and ***

Initially, the diagnosis felt like a death sentence. “At first, I was in denial,” FitzMaurice said, “feeling all doom and gloom and ‘why me’?”

But then he decided to fight back. Last August, he traveled with his wife to Monterrey, Mexico, to undergo an experimental procedure that implanted his own body’s stem cells into his brain. While FitzMaurice was pleased that he took action by undergoing the procedure, he admits that it has resulted in only limited improvement.

Still, FitzMaurice believes such therapies should be more freely available in the United States. “People with a terminal diagnosis should be able to sign a waiver with FDA to be guinea pigs, because we do not have the time to wait.”

*** end quote ***

We know so little about our own bodies.

And it’s a terrible disease.

That being said, the man has a great point. Why should the FDA keep interfering? Are they protecting him from something worse? What could that be?

TIme to nuke the FDA!

They are just a bunch of bureaucrats captured by Big Pharma.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Thalidomide? That happened with the FDA. And they used it to slow the process and make it more expensive. It’s not like we don’t have drug disasters anyway. And, what good drugs have they prevented by making it too slow and too costly.

I’ll take faster and cheaper. USP, UL, Consumers Reports, doctors, and WalMart will do a much better job of keeping us safe.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: OBH44 has chuptzah about Kenyan Constitution

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

http://www.lifenews.com/int1564.html

Barack Obama Praises Kenya’s Draft Constitution Allowing Unlimited Abortions
by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor
June 3, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Nairobi, Kenya (LifeNews.com) — President Barack Obama has come under fire from pro-life members of Congress for his administration potentially illegally spending as much as $10 million promoting the new pro-abortion constitution in Kenya. Now, in a new interview, Obama himself carefully urged Kenya residents to support it.

Obama officials were thought to have spent $2 million but Rep. Chris Smith says that figure could exceed $10 million.

A new interview conducted Tuesday with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has Obama actively promoting the constitution, which would have the effect of overturning the nation’s pro-life laws that prohibit most abortions.

*** end quote ***

Are you kidding me? This is a joke. Right!

Two or ten matters not. Why is Taxpayers’ Money being spent on this?

As a Pro-life Pro-choice fat old white guy injineer, I don’t want to pay for this immoral activity. Abortion is a horrible event. To have the Gooferment involved in it is abhorrent. It’s a terrible choice that a woman has to make. In a perfect world, we’d have lots of resources to make it unnecessary. (That’s the pro-life part of me!) In that perfect world, the Gooferment would have an interest in preserving the life of a future citizen. But we are far from perfect. The Gooferment should butt out because it can’t even find it’s own ass in dark closet! Best leave it to the woman and those she chooses to involve. (That’s the pro-choice part of me!)

Us, little L libertarians, are pro-choice on everything.

(1) Doesn’t OBH44 have enough to do here in this country?

(2) Why are we meddling in Kenya’s affairs?

(3) If he wants to run Kenya, he should grab his birth certificate and run for office there!

(4) As a pro-life, I object to using my tax dollars on something so morally offensive.

(5) As a pro-choicer, we in the USA should MYOB!

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Where does OBH44 get off using tax money for propaganda

Monday, June 14, 2010

http://www.lifenews.com/nat6398.html

Obama Administration to Spend $125M to Defend Pro-Abortion Health Care Law
by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor
June 7, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Obama administration is unveiling a new $125 million publicity campaign over the next five years to promote the pro-abortion health care law. Obama officials are relying on a pro-abortion former senator and a former official of a top pro-abortion group to make the case for the law.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

Where does the gooferment get off using tax money to propagandize the electorate to convince them they are wrong!

It’s immoral.

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POLITICAL: Remember who discriminates — the Gooferment!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=161057

The right to discriminate
Posted: June 02, 2010
Walter E. Williams

*** begin quote ***

An interesting example is found in an article by Dr. Jennifer Roback titled “The Political Economy of Segregation: The Case of Segregated Streetcars,” in Journal of Economic History (1986). During the late 1800s, private streetcar companies in Augusta, Houston, Jacksonville, Mobile, Montgomery and Memphis were not segregated, but by the early 1900s, they were. Why? City ordinances forced them to segregate black and white passengers. Numerous Jim Crow laws ruled the day throughout the South, mandating segregation in public accommodations.

*** end quote ***

The racist need control of the guns of gooferment to make us all racists!

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POLITICAL: Another reason to get the gooferment out of the schools

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/05/30/keep_government_out_of_the_schools/

Keep government out of the schools
Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe

*** begin quote ***

America is a land of religious freedom, in which people decide for themselves what to believe and how to worship. No religion is funded by government. Elected officials have no say in the doctrine of any faith or the content of any religious service. Religion flourishes in America because church and state are separate. And it flourishes so peacefully because no one is forced to support anyone else’s faith, or to attend a church he isn’t happy with, or to bring up children according to the religious views of whichever faction has the most votes.

Religion is peaceful because it is government-free. Liberate the schools, and they too would be at peace. Taxpayer-funded, one-curriculum-fits-all schooling makes conflict inevitable. There would be far less animosity if parents were as free to choose how and where their children learn as they are to choose how and where they worship. Separation of church and state has made America an exemplar of religious pluralism and tolerance. Imagine what separation of school and state could do for education.

*** end quote ***

Aside from the fact that “gooferment education” is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient, we can add to it the fact that it causes subsets of “Americans” to fight over the mechanism to brainwash the youth. Neither side sees that the mechanism is the problem. No one wants their kids being brainwashed by the other side. So let’s eliminate the problem.

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POLITICAL: Helen Thomas steps in it

Monday, June 7, 2010

http://bigjournalism.com/jdunetz/2010/06/04/helen-thomas-jews-should-get-the-hell-out-of-palestine-
and-go-back-to-germany-and-poland/

Helen Thomas: Jews Should ‘Get the Hell Out of Palestine and Go Back To Germany And Poland’
Posted by Jeff Dunetz Jun 4th 2010 at 11:43 am in Featured Story, Mainstream Media, media bias

*** begin quote ***

Helen Thomas’ comparing of the IDF to Nazi Germany is nothing but an attempt to water-down the horror of the Holocaust, and to dehumanize Israel. And her advice to the Jews to get the hell out of Palestine, and go back to Poland and Germany is nothing short of anti-Semitism. If Thomas’ comments were directed toward any other group but the Jews, she would have been out of work a very long time ago. Maybe it’s time for Helen’s bosses to retire her to the The Home For Crazy Old Anti-Semites.

*** end quote ***

“Liberals” are always so sensitive and caring. But every once and while, they show their true colors. Hateful.

Us little L libertarians despise them for their two-faced presentation.

“Fair minded journalists”? Don’t make me laugh!

“Liberals” were once the champions of the People. Now they are just small-minded control freaks.

Maybe Helen Thomas should just do interviews with Robert Byrd about the KKK’s opinion of Jews?

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POLITICAL: Fudging the unemployment numbers

Friday, June 4, 2010

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37507250

Weak Jobs Report Latest Sign ‘Recovery Is Still Pretty Tepid’
Published: Friday, 4 Jun 2010 | 10:23 AM ET
By: AP and Reuters

*** begin quote ***

Virtually all the job creation in May came from the hiring of 411,000 census workers. Such hiring peaked in May and will begin tailing off in June. By contrast, hiring by private employers, the backbone of the economy, slowed sharply.

*** end quote ***

Wow, what would that make the unemployment rate — 20%?

Argh!

Sorry, but we need a number that can’t be fudged, and can be audited. Weekly payroll tax receipts? That would show us “employed”.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: End the War on (Some) Drugs now

Thursday, June 3, 2010

http://www.thedailybell.com/1071/Hugo-Salinas-Price-Silver-Should-Be-Legal-Mexican-Currency.html

*** begin quote ***

Hugo Salinas-Price: The drug war is mainly between those who are in the drug dealing business and are fighting over territory. But this war also breeds criminals who take up other ways of getting money, by assaulting peaceable citizens. A US President once told a Mexican President: “Mexico is the spring-board for drugs into the US.” To which our President at once replied: “If we are the spring-board, you are the swimming pool.”

Legalization of drugs would greatly diminish the problem of outlaw drug lords in Mexico – but I mean, legalization in the US. We have a drug war, because drugs are illegal in the US and thus fetch a very high price. Legalize the business in the US and the price of drugs will come down to the price of corn. Mexicans will go back to raising vegetables. Remember, it was Prohibition that made Al Capone rich.

*** end quote ***

WalMart, Walgreens, and whatever drg company you can name can put the drug cartels OOB (out of biusiness) in a heartbeat.

Repeal ALL the drug laws today; end of drug violence tomorrow.

Will kids buy drugs? Sure. Who cares. They will be SAFE drugs. No more hot shots, ODs due to unknown strength, or drugs cut with rat poison.

Sad to say, but from time immemorial, we have had substance abusers. Nothing we can do about it, but get them help. Or, out of the gene pool. Tough love.

WalMart will be able to sell a carton of cigarettes cheap and easy. MaryJane is a weed; has to cost less than butts or beer. And, the “hard stuff”, less than the cost of aspirin. (Which is hard to make!)

Will drug use expand? I have no idea. I do know we will NOT have violent turf wars just like Prohibition.

The only question is what will all the unemployed drug sellers do? Get a job!

Argh!

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POLITICAL: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/05/13/a-slow-burn-bonfire-of-liberties-2/

A slow-burn bonfire of liberties
MARK STEYN: Here’s what you get when the state hauls nobodies off to jail for quoting the Bible
by Mark Steyn on Thursday, May 13, 2010

*** begin quote ***

The other day, upholding the sacking of a black Christian for declining to provide “sex therapy lessons” to gay couples, Lord Justice Laws ruled that “law for the protection of a position held purely on religious grounds is irrational, divisive, capricious, arbitrary.” Actually it’s the law of Lord Justice Laws that is increasingly “irrational, divisive, capricious, arbitrary.” Or as George Orwell, in Animal Farm, formulated it: all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. In the land of Laws, a gay is more equal than a Christian. A Muslim is more equal than anybody. A black man is more equal than a white man, unless the white man is gay and the black man a Christian. An eco-zealot is more equal than an Anglican. Not long before Lord Justice Laws’ decision on the “irrationality” of legal protection for Christianity, Tim Nicholson, a “Head of Sustainability” fired for questioning his property management group’s environmental policies, sued for wrongful dismissal under “Employment Equality (Religion And Beliefs) Regulations.” He wound up with the best part of one hundred thousand pounds after Mr. Justice Burton ruled that Mr. Nicholson’s faith in anthropogenic global warming was a “philosophical belief” on a par with religion. So the Employment Equality (Religion And Beliefs) Law protects belief in apocalyptic “climate change” but not in Jesus.

*** end quote ***

Yes, I know it’s overseas. BUTT (there’s always a big but), it’s coming here. You can see it.

“Political correctness” goes amuck.

And, civil discourse can no longer address race, sex, religion, or any other paradigm or meme that gets anyone upset.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: OBH44 skips Arlington on Memorial Day

Monday, May 31, 2010

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=12544685

Obama to skip Memorial day tradition
Posted: May 26, 2010 8:28 AM Updated: May 26, 2010 8:28 AM

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON, DC (KSLA) – U.S. President Barack Obama, plans to skip a presidential tradition this Memorial day weekend for a trip back to Chicago.

Traditionally on Memorial day,the current President will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

*** and ***

What do you think of the President’s plan to return home for Memorial day instead of partaking in the traditional Presidential appearance at Arlington Cemetery?

*** end quote ***

I think that is the ULTIMATE insult to the brave men and women who have paid the ultimate price.

With troops in harm’s way, he’s got chutzpah to claim to be “president”. A President leads. He shows up at Arlington and acknowledges that these honored dead gave full measure of what was asked of them. And, maybe he add that he understands what he, and the nation, are asking from the boys and girls in the foreign fields. Argh!

It communicates a disrespect that is hard to explain away.

Sorry, but he’s … … … a politician!

As a vet, who had it “easy”, I’m disgusted!

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POLITICAL: We don’t have “private industry”; we have witch’s brew of a mix

Friday, May 28, 2010

ORIGINAL POST

FJohn Reinke

“With the Gulf oil leak: the state was revealed, once again, as utterly incompetent at anything but taxing and making war, that is, stealing and murdering. It was funny to hear Progs urging Obama to seize personal control and fix everything. He doesn’t want the political responsibility, of course, but in any event, the… state employs no one with any such ability, and if it did, he would soon be useless, thanks to the environment of public property. All the state can do is grab other people’s money and use some of it to hire favored private contractors. Virtually all its millions of uncivil servants are good only at being busybodies, and armed ones at that.”

Sadly all too true!

>One Lesson of the Gulf « LewRockwell.com Blog http://www.lewrockwell.com
>With the Gulf oil leak: the state was revealed, once again, as utterly incompetent at anything but taxing and
>making war, that is, stealing and murdering. It was funny to hear Progs urging Obama to seize personal
>control and fix everything. …

RELOCATING A COMMENT

*** begin quote ***

I am offended!! Some of us are highly skilled workers (not me of course, but there are some) who are not only competent, but very, very smart (again clearly not me). Policy makers and political appointees are typically the poor performers because they have no subject matter expertise and if they do it is outdated since See Morethey probably haven’t had … See Morereal world, boots on the ground experience in a long time. This is a very clear failure on the part of private industry, which as a dedicated libertarian (unlike Rand Paul who was a poster child until he stepped on his you know what) is who you want running the world. BP wanted the lead and they dropped the ball- now everyone wants the gov’t to clean it up. Can’t have it both ways- either private industry is capable or they need oversight.

*** end quote ***

>I am offended!!

GOOD! If we can get folks’ Irish up, maybe, just maybe, we can change the “barbara streisand”!

>Some of us are highly skilled workers

I think we have “workers” that highly skilled. Even for the Gooferment!

The workers, (even you), are NOT bad people.

It’s just that “the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall”. Like the drunk looking for lost keys under the street light as opposed to looking by the storied “dark by the front door where those keys were lost”. It’s that 100,000 foot plan that is wrong.

You can put the best workers on the job, but the problem is that the “job” is completely wrong!

Argh!

>Policy makers and political appointees are typically the poor
>performers because they have no subject matter expertise

I disagree. They get poor results because they are working but have started with a poor meme (i.e., gooferment force) and have poor paradigms (i.e., centralized command and control systems don’t have the price and market mechanisms to guide them in decisions).

Reference: http://mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy/section2.asp

Bureaucracy by Ludwig von Mises (1944): Section 2 Bureaucracy

“Bureaucratic management is the method applied in the conduct of administrative affairs the result of which has no cash value on the market. Remember: we do not say that a successful handling of public affairs has no value, but that it has no price on the market, that its value cannot be realized in a market transaction and consequently cannot be expressed in terms of money.”

An entrepreneur has profit and loss to guide decision making. A bureaucrat doesn’t have that. So decisions are “political”; not profit seeking. The cost of capital, the business risks, and the size of reward are all available for the entrepreneur to guide, measure, revise, and quit.

>This is a very clear failure on the part of private industry

Unfortunately, the “private industry” had willing unindicted co-conspirators in: both political parties, Congress, States, various Administrations, and the main stream media. Campaign contributions, regulatory capture, and incompetent gooferment all loom large in this disaster. I read that the gooferment had a plan for a spill, but never bothered to buy the booms needed for the plans. SINCE 1968! ROFL!

We don’t have “private industry”. We have a gooferment – big company – big labor paradox.

>which as a dedicated libertarian

Will reject your assumption that we have “private industry”!

>(unlike Rand Paul who was a poster child until he
>stepped on his you know what)

I think he was attempting to make a very valid point. The reason we needed a “Civil Rights Act” at all was that governments were forcing segregation.

Take look into the famous Rosa Parks and bus story. You’ll find that there was no segregation on the buses run by greedy businessmen who wanted all fares regardless of color. The Legislatures voted in a law about “back of the bus”. And the bus owners lobbied AGAINST it. (ROFL, yes those evil capitalists!)

What he was trying to say was that the law should not have applied to private property. Gooferment property, access, and such is a fine target.

I think what everyone needs to understand that the marketplace is a real-time ongoing election. You vote with your dollars. If there’s a racist business, then they will be at a competitive disadvantage. There competitors will eat their lunch. So the marketplace will “fix” the problem.

>Can’t have it both ways- either private industry is capable
>or they need oversight.

But we don’t have that either or. We have a muddle. With payoffs and a wink’n’nod!

>

Don’t forget that the “limited liability corporation” is a creation of the Gooferment!

For other examples, look at the FDA / Big Pharma. Look at Big Education and all levels of gooferment, politicians, and bureaucracy.

>

Don’t poke sticks in the little L libertarian’s cage! It’s not productive, doesn’t change anything, and annoys the Libertarian.

:)

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POLITICAL: O’Reilly vs. Weiner Over Gold Controversy

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4210901/oreilly-vs-weiner-over-gold-controversy/?playlist_id=87937

O’Reilly vs. Weiner Over Gold Controversy

I listened to O’Reilly interview Wiener about Beck and Goldline. Now there is no doubt that Goldline is not my choice for a gold coin vendor. I recommend KITCO. And there is no doubt that they and Beck are tight. Like the View (i.e., where the hosts do a live in program ad read that appears like content), the ads are becoming part of the show. And, there is no doubt that Wiener has an agenda. Wiener has a whole industry to target; they have a lot of ripoffs, but he picks out Beck’s sponsor. There is no doubt that the liberals and their willing dupes in the media are out to silence Beck. Either by criticizing him, by their boycott, or now by their smear. It’s a sad day when a sitting member of Congress from the House of Reps takes such visibly partisan swipe at a media comentator. You never see that from the other side. The liberal Press wouldn’t tolerate it. We shouldn’t empower these criminals in the District of Corruption to attack law abiding members of the media and their sponsors with impunity.

Bottom line: (1) The citizens, who can vote, should be ashamed of this man’s attempted use of force in their name. (2) Everyone one should be upset about this backdoor attack on the First Amendment.

imho!

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POLITICAL: Isn’t this supposed to be the “home of the brave”

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

http://original.antiwar.com/pitts/2010/05/07/living-with-risk-is-the-cost-of-freedom

Living with Risk is the Cost of Freedom
by Leonard Pitts Jr., May 08, 2010

*** begin quote ***

We always seem surprised.

Even after Oct. 1, 1910, when a bomb destroyed the Los Angeles Times building and killed 20 men.

*** and ***

There’s a saying: I’d rather be lucky than good. Last week, we were both. But at some point, we will be neither.

So what can you do? The answer is that you do the best you can, take what precautions you can, and then you get on with it, learn to live with the risk freedom entails. You accept that risk because freedom is worth it.

And because living in fear is a contradiction in terms.

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment, while its raison d’Eter is protection of our rights, is incapable of keeping us completely safe. We see that result in the movies — “The Matrix”, “V”, and “I, Robot” — and in countless Sci Fi texts. We couldn’t breathe with a complete cloak of protection around us. And, mistake would still happen.

So let’s recognize there will always be risk. Someone always wins the lottery. Reasonable mitigation, Mutual Cooperation as needed, strict restriction of unjustified Gooferment intrusions should be the “order of the day”.

After all this is supposed to be the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”.

We all don’t need “no stinkin’ badges” to keep ourselves safe.

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POLITICAL: Avoiding a long period of economic stagnation

Saturday, May 22, 2010

http://channel-surfing.blogspot.com/2010/05/stagnation-ahead.html

Thursday, May 20, 2010
Stagnation ahead?

*** begin quote ***

Paul Krugman’s column, which is on the Times site tonight, but will be in print tomorrow, reminds us that the danger is not the deficit — not in the short term, anyway — but the likelihood that we are entering a long period of economic stagnation, a “lost decade,” and that we are not doing enough to prevent it.

*** end quote ***

Remember the Great Depression was caused by the Gooferment and it’s Smoot Hawley tariff.

This one was caused by CRA, Freddie + Fannie, repeal of Glass Stegal, the FED, the SEC, the FDIC, and the FTC. (imho in that order) (p.s., blaming Wall Street is like blaming the insane in the asylum. Corrupt gooferment makes this all possible.)

The answer is freedom; not gooferment. How’s all that deficit spending worked out for Japan? How did socialism work out for the old Soviet Union. Remember Thatcher’s quote on “other people’s money”?

No, we pull ourselves back from the brink by tough love. Sure it’s going to hurt. But, do we have the right to endebt future generations?

imho, we need a national CPR, fast comprehensive and violent:

(1) End the various “wars”. Bring all the boys and girls home.

(2) End the psuedo War on (some) drugs. Pardon ALL non-violent drug offenders.

(3) End all restrictions on small businesses. (License to braid or cut hair’ please don’t make me barf!) (Dollar van prohibitions.)

(4) Zero corporate, estate, and income tax. Return to constitutional tariffs and excise taxes.

(5) Start selling off the “national assets”.

(6) Return — with a forty year plan — education costs to the parents.

(7) End welfare — corporate and personal — with an appropriate transition period.

(8) End the Social Security ponzi scheme [Really a misnomer. It’s Ponzi like. Those defrauded really had no choice about participating.] with a Chile-like solution to give folks time to adapt.

(9) Open the borders with an expedited identification scheme. (i.e., here illegally? come down and get your picture taken and finger prints checked and dna sample! Here’s your new green card.) (i.e., want to come here. post a bond for your return trip. no communicable diseases. pic, finger, dna. welcome to the land of opportunity.)

(10) Re-institute Constitutional money in gold and silver. Figure out a transition plan from FED to gold.

Then stand back and watch this economy take off. You’ll have growth and civility that is unprecedented.

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POLITICAL: More bailouts until the pig-gy bank is busted

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=155205

Will the PIGS blow up Europe?
Posted: May 18, 2010
Pat Buchanan

*** begin quote ***

The ECB seems to be substituting itself for the banks as the chump to be left holding the bag when the defaults begin.

*** end quote ***

Whatever you think of Pat as a Presidential candidate, he has a knack for identifying global trends.

Transnationalism, ethno-nationalism, and economic nationalism I think I understand. What he misses in this short piece are the formation of religious nationalism (i.e., Muslims carve out part of countries and align them…selves with their religion as opposed to the country) AND the liberal politically correct non-nationalism. Maybe he covers these in his book.

In any event, a thought provoking one pager.

Clearly, the US Taxpayer is on the hook for this bailout. All to benefit the banks that are stuck with the deadbeat’s bonds!

When this all fails, what happens?

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POLITICAL: Filling out my list of the “worst” Presidents

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A fellow alum posited that:

*** begin quote ***

“If you were to be trapped in a cave for 30 days and had the choice of ANY dead president to chill with…who would it be and why.”

Probably George Washington or Lyndon B. Johnson.

Washington so I could fill him in the shit state of the US today.

Johnson because he was an incredibly important figure during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. I guess I’m not over my thesis. Still emotionally attached. Sigh. I would just like to talk to him about his true feelings about the war as well as the civil rights and black power movements.

*** end quote ***

Washington was unarguably the “best” President.

But I’d assert that LBJ is pretty well down there for worst. “Civil Rights” was forced on him by the “evil” republicans to get more funding for Vietnam. (I remember reading about it in the papers.)

My “worst” list:

(1) Lincoln (Civil War over secession ending the “America Experiment” on liberty, corrupt railroad lawyer figuratively in bed with Northeastern power brokers and literally in bed with some “interesting” people whole presenting a different image to the folks, First Amendment violations, Income Tax, )

(2) Wilson (duped us into WW2 after running on a “peace platform”, racist, Progressive, Federal Reserve, Income Tax)

(3) Truman (ABombed defenseless civilians)

(4) FDR (Progressive, the “social security” scam, End the Gold Standard, may have lied us into war, Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914.)

(5) LBJ (Gulf of Tonkin to expand the VietNam war, expanded the draft, put the Welfare / Warfare state on steroids)

(6) BHO (Healthcare, Porkulous, GM, Wall Street Bailout, started us on the road to socialism)

Also rans (Not even close to the “big” time):

(*) Nixon (Expanded Drug War on the inner cities, ended the international Gold Standard)

(*) Bush41 (“No new taxes”)

(*) Kennedy (Expanded the VietNam war, Bay of Pigs, permitted a trip to Dallas)

(*) Regan (Deficits, ran with Bush41)

(*) Jefferson (Demonstrated that absolute power corrupts even the best men)

(*) Bush43 (Started the Iraq war)

(*) Clinton (Whitewater, “Slick-ness”, Monica IN the Oval Office, lot of “little wars”)

Comment?

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Like anyone cares about my opinions!

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2011-Dec-14

Adding Teddy to #7 ahead of the “also-rans”!

(7) Teddy (Crazy, “world’s policeman”, “master race”, “trust buster” of the unfavored business, “food safety crisis”, “conservation”, and worst reviving the income tax.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo106.html

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POLITICAL: Kagan is anti Second Amendment

Friday, May 14, 2010

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPI35t8uR6Gs

Kagan Was ‘Not Sympathetic’ as Law Clerk to Gun-Rights Argument
By Greg Stohr and Kristin Jensen

*** begin quote ***

May 13 (Bloomberg) — Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk in 1987 that she was “not sympathetic” toward a man who contended that his constitutional rights were violated when he was convicted for carrying an unlicensed pistol.

*** end quote ***

This is really all we have to know about Obama’s nominee Kagan.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is the Palladium of Liberty.

The “litmus test” for who is sovereign — the People or the “King” aka the Gooferment.

Sad, but she needs to be defeated.

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POLITICAL: Obamacare will go broke; only question how fast

Friday, May 14, 2010

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/early_harbingers_of_the_health.html

May 04, 2010
Early harbingers of the health care fiasco
Walt Elgin

*** begin quote ***

Speaking of which, nobody knows what it will cost or who covers overruns. Well, that will ultimately be us whether state or federal shortfalls, or both. Last month, dozens of states asked who pays when federal funding runs dry . “You could have a handful of people that could literally bankrupt the high-risk pool,” said Sumi Sousa, special assistant to Democratic California Assembly Speaker John Perez. “What do we do then? The state’s broke.”

*** and ***

And the feds have finally owned up to the real state of affairs; HHS spokeswoman Jenny Backus declined to say who pays when the program runs out of money. “I think we need to get the programs up and running before we start speculating,” she said.

*** end quote ***

All I can do it quote Margaret Thatcher.

“The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Some programs run out faster. Like Indian Health Care. Like Obamacare.

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POLITICAL: I’ll defend the country; not the regime, administration, or the gooferment

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/56783.html

April 29, 2010
The Quintessential Defender of the Military
Posted by Laurence Vance on April 29, 2010 07:40 PM

*** begin quote ***

<<Quoting a student who was upset with his blog post>>

“It comes down to patriotism and the saying the [sic] many people live by is Love It, Or Leave It. If you don’t love the country or those who defend it then there is no room for you here. The people who put their lives on the line everyday no matter what the politics are in a conflict, they are Hero’s. [sic] If you enjoyed the freedom of typing out this article, than you can thank the military. People join the military to do their duty to protect our freedoms for not only us but our future generations.”

*** end quote ***

My “humble” observations:

  1. “Luv it or leave it” — Why? I paid my dues. Taxes were stolen from me. Loving the country is not necessarily “loving” the regime, government, or its military.
  2. “Defend it” — As soon as the “enemy” comes across the border or lands on the beaches, I’ll be on the line. And, I’ll even bring my own gun.
  3. “Lives on the line every day” — If the government was observing its own Constitution, then we would not have several undeclared wars going on while having troops in about (I’m told) 170 countries. (When did WW2 end? “We” still have troops in Germany!)
  4. “Hero’s” — No, they are mercenaries. And, the word implies a value judgement. Values we clearly don’t share.
      
  5. “Enjoy freedom” — The Dead Old White Guys told me in their writings that my “rights” come from my Creator. And, that Gooferments were instituted among Men to secure these rights. Were they wrong?
  6. “Thank the military” — If they were defending the borders within their Constitutional bounds, maybe I’d agree. remember the Constitution only authorize the Army to be called up for two years. What ever did happen to that restriction?
  7. “Join the military” — Sorry, folks join the military for numerous reasons that has nothing to do with posterity’s freedom. Tuition, pay the bills, and shoot big guns leaps to mind.

I think we need patriots who will stay out of the military and fight the expansion of the gooferment. That’s heroic. And dangerous.

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POLITICAL: What about “free speech”?

Monday, May 10, 2010

http://www.sltrib.com/D=g/ci_15046518

Glover gets ovation, some boos at USU graduation
Some chided actor for not putting hand over heart at flag ceremony.
By Arrin Newton Brunson
Special To The Tribune
Updated: 05/08/2010 09:07:46 PM MDT

*** begin quote ***

He said he had been booed before. “People have problems sometimes with what I believe and who I talk to,” Glover told The Tribune . “I try to respect people, honor them.”

USU police Lt. Steve Milne, who prepared for protesters by banning signs inside the building during the ceremony, confiscated two posters.

“It is the Spectrum [arena], but this wasn’t a basketball game,” Milne told The Salt Lake Tribune .

It was the crowd surrounding critics that finally quieted the disruptive yelling. For Morgan Jackson, who came to watch her cousin Sidney Allen graduate, the constant booing a few rows behind her was “irritating.”

*** end quote ***

Danny Glover is a left wing “loon” imho. Not that I always disagree with him, his statements, or his actions.

“Patriotism”, to me, means living up to the ideals of the nation. One of those ideals is “free speech”.

Glover’s is big man; he can take a little heckling. And, apparently from the report, did handle it well.

My concern is the police “banning signs” inside the building.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that is NOT the police’s job: interfering with free speech. Political speech!

I assume that USU — Utah State University — is a gooferment college. At least, that’s what it appears to be on their website.

Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is a building on the campus built with taxpayer funds.

I’m sure the University is well-involved with gooferment funding.

So will some one please explain to me how the protester’s free speech was abridged?

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POLITICAL: Massachusetts Ballot Initiative to Roll Back the Sales Tax from 6.25% to 3%

Thursday, May 6, 2010

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001kpRLqd
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QU37Fcvz0-tR-cUvgI7ZTtuV0s-U-2NELVTORi0R0MVlYXkWEBYrxAGU%3D

201005060920.jpg

Massachusetts Ballot Initiative to

Roll Back the Sales Tax from 6.25% to 3%

*** begin quote ***

Kelly-Williams is a nurse in Cambridge and a spokesperson of the union-funded Coalition for Our Communities, the main group opposing Howell’s initiative. She points out that the cut would leave a $2.5 billion hole in the state budget.

“And we already have a shortfall of $2.5 billion. Where is this money going to come from?”

Kelly-Williams says she already knows the answer.

“I fear devastating cuts to educational services, as well as fire and police safety for our communities.”

In any case it will certainly mandate some tough decisions from Bay state lawmakers who have $51.8 billion in total state spending to work with this year.

“This will mandate cuts that will be devastating,” said Kelly-Williams.

Howell isn’t buying it. “This is the Chicken Little, ‘Sky Is Falling’ defense. They say this about every effort to cut taxes.”

“These guys,” she said, referring to Massachusetts elected officials, “are addicted to spending. While the economy has been shrinking, these guys have been spending more money.”

She says the only way to stop them, is through a voter mandate.

“This is it,” she said. “They won’t stop on their own.”

Key Facts About the Massachusetts Sales Tax Roll Back to 3% Initiative:

2010 total Massachusetts state government spending is $51.8 Billion. $3 Billion Higher than 2009.

In 2009, the Democratic state legislature and Democrat Governor Deval Patrick raised the Massachusetts sales tax to 6.25%.

The Alliance to Roll Back Taxes’ Ballot Initiative to roll back the sales tax from 6.25% to 3% will be on the Nov. 2nd Massachusetts Ballot.

*** end quote ***

I applaud Ms. Carla’s tilt at the big gooferment windmill.

It unprecedented to have a roll back of ANY taxes.

Who knows what can happen when they get the “ball” rolling?

Maybe we could have the same in New Jersey?

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POLITICAL: Fixing Arizona using power point?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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POLITICAL: What a novel idea: voluntary funding of services

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/the-audacity-of-deceit-92614219.html

May. 02, 2010
The audacity of deceit
VIN SUPRYNOWICZ
I don’t think Barack Obama tells the truth.

*** begin quote ***

The freedom ideal would be no compulsory taxation, at all — let all keep their own earnings to invest in growing the economy, while what minimal government is required would be supported by voluntary user fees.

The statists will pretend to object on pragmatic grounds. Let them first answer whether or not they agree this would be the ideal. If they do, then we can try to solve the pragmatic problems. I grew up in a small town, for example, where voluntary membership fees funded the ambulance and the volunteer firemen. The ambulance and the firemen would still respond to a home that had not subscribed — but that homeowner would then receive a bill for the full cost of their services. Few waited to get a second bill before signing up as paid members.

*** end quote ***

My gripe with gooferment is:

  • It uses force even when not needed;
  • We pay for “services” that we don’t want.
  • We pay for “services” that we don’t need.
  • We pay for “services” that we can’t afford.
  • We pay for “services” that are “over priced”.
  • We pay for “services” that are “under functional”.
  • We pay for “services” that are delayed or way overdue.

And pay, and pay, and pay, and pay.

Enuf is enuf!

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POLITICAL: Thinking about “fair”!

Monday, May 3, 2010

I was watching an old episode of Family Fued and one of the questions spurred a RANT. Really political.

“What do you think is a fair salary for a new teacher?”

Arghhhhhh!

Regardless of the answer, this had so many “teachable moments” it was astonishing.

(1) Opinions are like …, everyone has one. Who cares what people think is “fair”? The ONLY “fair” price is one that is freely offered and accepted. A marketplace establish what is “fair” better than any vote or opinion.

(2) The teacher is an employee of the gooferment. With a capturing captive union that exerts tremendous political pressure. Starting salary is political. Very political.

(3) The salary of day care “teachers” is by definition “fair”. And, much lower than that of “real teachers”. Why do we have gooferment “education”? I’d call it “youth propaganda prisons”. And we sneered at the Communists and their “political reeducation camps”; what’s different?

(4) The whole education system isn’t “fair”. I don’t decide ANYTHING in a child’s life, but I’m forced to pay for their education. That ain’t “fair”.

Argh!

Did I miss anything?

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