GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The warfare state is impoverishing us all

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

2017-Oct-25

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/10/tyler-durden/ron-paul-rages-at-the-decades-of-wars-damage-to-the-american-economy/

Ron Paul Rages At The Decades Of Wars’ Damage To The American Economy
By Tyler Durden Zero Hedge October 21, 2017

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“Just think if all the money we have spent overseas since World War II ended, if that money had been left in this country to let wealth grow,” proposes Paul.

Had that happened, Paul says there would not be so many people using food stamps, the middle class would not be dwindling, and the jobs situation would be better in America.

While the American economy in general has been hurt by the wars, Paul notes that some Americans have benefited financially. Paul concludes,

“It’s insanity to think that war improves your economic condition; it improves the condition of the war manufacturers.”

*** end quote ***

Time to “repurpose” the Department of DEFENSE?

With all these “wars” that go on forever, “We, The Sheeple” need to stop these politicians and bureaucrats in their tracks. 

Personally, I blame Congress. They don’t want to take any responsibility for their actions. “The devil made me do it” is really the campaign contributions make me the corrupt venial fool that I am.

“Campaign Finance Reform” has to start with “Free Speech”. 

But, shouldn’t a politician be limited to raising funds within their own constituents?

And, corporations, as artificial creations of the Gooferment, shouldn’t have “free speech”?

Argh!

“WE” have to stop the warfare state.

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WSJ: Survival comes from pre-planning

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

FROM BEHIND THE WSJ PAYWALL

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Why are we the only ones going this direction? Are we digging our own grave?”

Eli Monroe, 34, on choosing a route to escape the deadliest wildfires in California history. We chronicle how the fires, which have left more than 40 people dead, have forced thousands to make similar, split-second decisions. Officials said Sunday that easing winds would help firefighters.

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One thing that “preppers”, survivalists, and plain old “industrial strength” corporate Disaster Recovery (DR) planners do is: (1) itemize the risks that you might face in the future; (2) weigh relative probability of all the possible “disasters”; and (3) continually develop, test, and update plans for when those “disasters” happen.

Strategies — for example: shift to an alternative location, mitigate the risks, create alternatives — are just unique approaches in response to a “viewpoint” to a particular risk. Interesting is that a single strategy can mitigate multiple risks.

Tactics — for example: having a “bug out” bag ready, having a “get out of Dodge” kit in your car trunk, having a “cache” at a secondary location — are all slight variations of the same thing. AND, once again, they can service several alternatives at the same time.

One mistake that CEOs, CFOs, Board of Directors, and IT leadership make is that the don’t test realistically and completely are “blind” to the “ground truth” that their EXPENSIVE DR plans are worthless. And they don’t want to hear it.

Don’t you make their mistake!

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RANT: Gooferment Komputer Systems barfs

Monday, October 23, 2017

2017-Oct-23

Got DMV renewal for caddie. Put all my info in, got part way, and system barfed. Argh! Now I have to wait 30 minutes to try again. Stupid Gooferment!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Wisdom of the Crowd “laughs” at the Emperor’s “new clothes”?

Monday, October 23, 2017

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6522758/

Wisdom of the Crowd

A tech innovator creates a cutting-edge crowd-sourcing hub to solve his own daughter’s murder, as well as revolutionizing crime solving in San Francisco.

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I like the premise of the show.

(a) wonder why no one is trying it — maybe they are?

(b) I like how it makes the Gooferment politician so venial.

(c) It shows the police “protecting their turf” from an outsider with a better idea.

(d) It shows how people can be empowered to act on their own.

The corollary is that we are all reponsible for our own and the collective security. 

Get armed, trained, and pro-active.

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GUNS: Why don’t women voters pick this up

Sunday, October 22, 2017

https://www.vinsuprynowicz.com/?p=5755

Americans should be proud to love firearms . . . and freedom

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Only one sport in that fledgling “Time, Inc.” product of 60 years ago merited THREE MAJOR FEATURES: A feature with color photos on American skeet team captain (and Cuban native) Carola Mandel; a second feature on 13-year-old trapshooter Johnny Lilly winning the under-21 Grand American Handicap Tournament in Vandalia, Ohio (thousands attended); and a major flashback piece to the Great Rifle Match of 1874 between the U.S. and Ireland, shot at ranges out to 1,000 yards, and won — after they ran neck-and-neck all day — on the last shot.

*** and ***

I used to ride around my suburban Connecticut home town on my bicycle in the 1960s, carrying my .22-caliber rifle; no one ever worried young Vinnie was out to commit mayhem. When I went away to boarding school in Massachusetts -– Massachusetts! -– at the age of 12, I took my rimfire rifle. We practiced on an indoor range in the basement of the gym. I’ve lived in many parts of the country since then; many an old-timer has confided that the local high school, if built before 1970, has a target range in the basement, though they’re locked up and never spoken of, today.

*** and ***

What they favor is “Victim Disarmament.”

She had pepper spray with her when she was attacked on Florida State University’s campus in 2014, the victim testified. But the spray did not stop the attacker.

Citing 4Jax, Breitbart News reported on Aug. 6 that college campus rape survivor Shayna Lopez-Rivas testified: “He had a knife. I had pepper spray. And even though I ran for blue lights that are scattered all around, (he was) faster, stronger, and I did not win.”

She said she now carries a gun and the next attacker will not find her to be easy prey. Ms. Lopez-Rivas testified that if she had had her gun with her in 2014 she could have stopped that attacker in his tracks.

She said “The way that I carry it now, I would have been able to prevent what happened to me.”

Lopez-Rivas was asking Florida legislators to pass campus carry so women with concealed carry permits can carry their guns on campus for self-defense.

*** and ***

I search in vain in the work product of Leah Libresco and her outfit for a single word about the BENEFITS of private firearms ownership. And we haven’t even gotten to Maryann Watkins’ account of what the would-be rapist with the coil of rope around his arm said after he approached her in the deserted Arizona highway rest stop, declaring “I’m gonna have some REEEEEEAL fun now!!”

Producing her Ruger from her fanny-pack and centering its sights on his chest, she responded: “If you want to play, we’ll play with this.”

“Bitches with guns,” he complained, over and over again, as she backed to her car and drove away. “Bitches with guns.”

http://www.gunowners.org/wv20.htm

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“Victim disarmament is the view that it is somehow better to see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in her hand.” — T.D. Melrose

I’d like all the women in my life to be able to defend themselves.

Unfortunately, in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee, that’s not “permitted”.

Why don’t women voters pick this up as a wedge issue?

Think Harvey W would be threatening, fondling, or raping young women if they could even the battlefield?

Argh!

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INDEXCARDNOVEL: Another government program goes awry

Saturday, October 21, 2017

“Now see here, Eleven, all you have to do is follow my orders.”

“Yes, sir!” You pompous ass. Of course, I didn’t say that. After all I was only breveted to him for this assignment, then I could get back to counting lab rats, vials of distilled water, or whatever beans they needed counted.

We were signed into the secure facility and escorted to the observation area. I was curious and observant. A lot of red buttons in the observation area and in the observed are. No obvious exits from the observed area and only one entrance / exit from the observation area. Made me wonder who was the lab rat.

“Hi, I’m Kelly. Your narrator for this demonstration”, said a pretty young thing with a big smile. She had the obligatory photo id with lots of colors and letters along the bottom. “This is a demonstration of our new genetically engineered platypus. Its purpose is to infest enemy sewers and explode when needed. Needless to say everything you see here, stays here. Top Secret and all the mumbo jumbo. But then you know all that.” I thought she was very glib. Probably from repetition.

“You’ll see the tank on the other side of me with tubes and connections. For the purposes of this demo, we’re using clear water, but, in the real world, it would be sludge or human waste. Since our platypuses are blind, they are in the designed element. Observe!”

Then in the observed room, something opened and about a dozen “things” shot out and dispersed into the various tubes, tanks, connections. One tank was illuminated in red.

Kelly continued: “The red tank is the bathroom of the target. Let’s say the President of Lower Slobovia. By electronic waves, the brain of the next animal is given the target and released.” Another think opened and out shot a slightly different color animal. “The targeting changes the animals color and everyone he contacts.” Sure enough, every time those creatures bumped into one another, they assumed the new color. 

Almost at random, these things ferreted out the different paths. “We change the maze for every demonstration.” Finally, one reached the red target and popped. All the creatures returned to their original color. 

Then, from the popped creature, a smaller different thing emerged. It was black and had razor teeth as it chewed the carcass. When done, it moved at amazing speed. It attacked every creature it saw making short work of them. Then from the carcass of an early kill, another emerged. 

I could see from the expression on Kelly’s face that this was NOT part of the show. My survival instincts kicked in and I headed for the exit. As I passed thru the door, I looked back. The tank had exploded from all these creatures multiplying. Kelly’s leg was being gnawed and she was hitting one of the many red buttons. She was yelling: “Lock it down.”

Like a guillotine, the door knifed shut as the alarms sounded. I quickly walked out the compound’s exit and back to the car. The guard towers wailed and those gates locked. 

I got into the car and drove away. Never looked back and headed for the airport. I wanted to get back to bean counting where the beans didn’t eat you.

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INTERESTING: Labor Unions Explained by Tom Woods

Friday, October 20, 2017

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tom-woods-show/id716825890?mt=2&i=100039326650

Listen to Ep. 1019 Labor Unions: Myths and Facts from The Tom Woods Show in Podcasts. 

Haven’t labor unions improved the standard of living of American workers? Why, wouldn’t we not even have the weekend without them? My father belonged to the Teamsters, so I have a natural inclination to side with unions, but the facts won’t let me, and in this episode I explain why.

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Tom Woods puts the Gooferment laws squarely in the crosshairs for deliberately misstating the truth.

Labor Unions didn’t cause the progress in living standard. 

Obviously, the increase in wealth was due to the increase in productivity and the benefits of the modern division of labor.

Very worth a listen to disprove “facts” assumed to be truth.

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HEALTH: I have to give up trans fats!

Thursday, October 19, 2017

https://nutritionfacts.org/audio/the-skinny-on-trans-fats/

OCTOBER 12TH, 2017
The Skinny on Trans Fats
Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, founder of NutritionFacts.org 

A lot of junk food comes loaded with trans fats which may raise our bad “LDL” cholesterol when consumed in nearly any quantity. In today’s episode, I talk about trans fat oil bans, as well as our primary sources of this substance.

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I’ve given up putting sugar in my coffee after listening to Doc Greger.

Now I have to do the same for trans fats. That’s going to be much harder.

The death toll is very scary; all those lives could be saved.

Argh!

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GOVERNACIDE: Afghanistan war has failed spectacularly

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

http://www.inforum.com/opinion/columnists/4341146-carlson-its-time-end-americas-longest-war

Carlson: It’s time to end America’s longest war
By Brock Carlson on Oct 10, 2017 at 11:35 a.m.

*** begin quote ***

On Oct. 16, 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom, the invasion of Afghanistan, was launched by the U.S. government in response to the 9/11 attacks. Now, 16 years later, that war continues under a new name, with its third commander-in-chief, new generals, and is being fought by soldiers who were toddlers when it started.

The war has cost an estimated $2.7 trillion dollars, 2,403 US soldiers killed in action, over 1,000 coalition soldiers killed, over 20,000 US soldiers wounded, who knows how many suicides, and over 149,000 Afghans killed, who are people too after all.

The time has long passed for politicians and generals to stop the talk of “national security” and admit that our nation’s longest war has failed. Not only has it failed, but it has failed spectacularly.

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Why can’t we just declare victory and bring all the girls and boys home now!

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein

I don’t care (really) about the money. After all, it’s a “sunk cost” and business school teaches that you should ignore it when making a decision about the future.

I do care about the human toll — vets, their families, the country’s moral fiber, and all the collateral damage.

Besides weren’t almost all of the hijackers Saudis? I never saw us hold them to account.

Argh!

Dona Nobis Pacem

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: KILL the Department of Agriculture

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

https://spectator.org/on-the-department-of-welfare-crony-subsidies-and-math-about-vegetables/

Crony Capitalism Watch
On the Department of Welfare, Crony Subsidies, and Math About Vegetables
* If the Department of Agriculture were honest, that’s what it would call itself.
JON CASSIDY October 11, 2017, 12:05 am

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The bulk of its budget, some $126 billion, is required by law to be wasted on welfare, farm subsidies, and such, but for the $25 billion remainder, the department has some discretion as to how it would like to waste the money on welfare and farm subsidies. There are massive programs for wasting the money indiscriminately, but also grant programs to spend the money in a targeted pointless way. An Austin gardener wants $100,000 to sell his hippie neighbors on the merits of organic produce? This is the place to fund that.*

*** and ***

*It should be noted that organic food is a good idea. But it’s an idea that sells itself and we don’t need the Feds making the case.

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Let’s end the DoA as a bad idea whose time has past!

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