Listening to CBC. . .

. . .and they are interviewing an female journalist from Afghanistan. She quoted an Afghani woman saying "it feels like I have to choose between my freedom and my security, and I don't want to do that".

This is a choice we all have to make. This is what made America so great; their forefathers made the right choice, freedom.

Gaza Massacre Funded By US

Canadian media has reported on these types of protests in Toronto and Montreal, however no US media has reported on any protests, anywhere.

Fiscal Conservatives Making Their Voice Heard

Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing "socialism," underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush's administration.

Read more here.

I'm always skeptical of actions taken by any politician, but this does seem like there is a faction of the Republican party trying to put back into place the fiscally sound policies the Republicans had been known for oh-so long ago. Kudos, for now.

More Poetry

Grass by Blaga Dimitrova

I’m not afraid
they’ll stamp me flat.
Grass stamped flat
soon becomes a path.

Found here.

Police Uses Excessive Force to Detain Criminals

A random sample of ER physicians were surveyed and 99.8 percent said excessive force is used to arrest and detain suspects.

Read the article from Yahoo! News here.

I'm glad the state is here protect me, aren't you?

"Seedkeepers" - by an unknown Palestinian

Found here.

"Burn our Land
Burn our dreams.
Pour acid on our songs.
Cover with sawdust the blood of our massacred people.
Muffle with your technology the screams of all that is free, wild and
indigenous.
Destroy our grass and soil.
Raze to the ground every farm and every village our ancestors had
built.
Every tree, every home, every book, every law and all equity and
harmony.
Flatten with your bombs every valley.
Erase with your edits our past, our literature, our metaphor.
Denude the forest and the earth till no insect no bird no word can
find a place to hide.
Do that and more.
I do not fear your tyranny.
I do not despair ever.
For I guard a seed, a little live seed, that I shall safeguard and
plant again."

Lew Rockwell Releases New Book

From the description, "Relentless moving from left-wing to right-wing and back to left-wing policy is not progress; it means continued movement down the road to serfdom."

Rally For The Republic, #7 Most Watched Video On C-SPAN.org

You see the rankings here.

"The Revolution: A Manifesto" Most Loved Book

Reuters is reporting Amazon.com's Best Of 2008 Lists. This is interesting on its own, but I'm linking it because Ron Paul's The Revolution: A Manifesto has been listed as the most loved book of 2008. This essentially means it had the highest number of positive reviews during the year.

TSA: Making The World Safer, One Passenger At A Time

Rhona Mahony has posted about her experience with the TSA while traveling to Denver. . .with a fake boarding pass. You can read her story here.

She also brought with her three jars, one carried Charcoal, another Sulphur, and the last Saltpetre. These three items mix together to make gun powder. This did not raise the attention of the overly efficient and profoundly educated government agents who performed an extra thorough check of her suitcase.

More Comedy

Will The US Split Into 6 Portions?

Below I have posted a video of Igor Panarin. You can read an article about him in the Wall Street Journal here.

This map is from the article.

US Military Might Be Needed To Supress Domestic Violence Given An Economic Collapse

Just in time, a representative of the parasitic state has come out trumpeting the possibility for the need of using military for domestic use, but only in certain circumstances. I wonder who will be provided the responsibility of providing judgment for these circumstances...

Read about it here.

Peter Schiff On The Government Tightening Its Belt

Peter Schiff has written a piece in the Wall Street Journal, and like most of what he writes, its worth reading.

There's a lot of quotable stuff in it. As he normally does, Schiff has used plenty of relevant analogies to get his point across. I'm posting this quote because a lot of people see the recent strengthening of the dollar and the drop of oil prices and assumes this contradicts what the Austrian economists (negative nancys) have predicted in regards to inflation. Of course, there is an explanation:

For now the inflationary tide is being held back by the countervailing pressures of bursting asset bubbles in real estate and stocks, forced liquidations in commodities, and troubled retailers slashing prices to unload excess inventory. But when the dust settles, trillions of new dollars will remain, chasing a diminished supply of goods. We will be left with 1970s-style stagflation, only with a much sharper contraction and significantly higher inflation.

A Little Liberty Propaganda

Some Predictions On The Future Of The United States. . .

. . .and these are not from my typical sources.

In the first video, note the mention of the US dollar not being backed by gold. Russia has a large amount of gold reserves; Bernanke has been very openly selling off US gold reserves to the rest of the world.

Lacking Sympathy For Israel

There's two sides to all stories, but there's not much excuse for the destruction Israel is bringing to the Palestinians. Israel has more money, resources, international support and a larger military than the "terrorists".

There's not much excuse.

Please read this.

You Think Cheney Was Secretive? Just Wait.

You'd think the title Czar in a free society would have negative connotations. You'd think people in power would fear providing this title to someone in power the same way they would fear referring to themselves as Communist in public (I'm not accusing anyone of being a Communist). Obama would never refer to himself as an emperor; the public black-lash would be incredible (you'd think). This is odd considering his surrogates have no problem tossing around the title "Czar" when referring to individuals who will be in charge of particular agencies.

Carol Browning has been referred to as Obama's climate czar. The Washington Times has reported on a recent testimony she provided in a civil case concerning governments obligation to preserve documents. In the testimony, the Washington Time quotes her testimony:

"It was a conscious decision not to use a piece of equipment or to learn how to use a piece of equipment because I didn't want to be in a situation similar to what I had been in Florida," she testified about government computers. The testimony referred to her days as an environmental regulator in Florida, where an e-mail message sent to her surfaced in litigation.

"This is why I made this decision not to use my computer," she said. "I was very careful."

Apparently Browning and Cheney share an affinity for destroying public records as well:

The lawsuit examined why EPA officials failed to save electronic records that chronicled the Clinton administration's final actions in office and that were being sought by a conservative legal group under federal open-records laws.

The same day a judge ordered the agency to preserve such records, Ms. Browner asked a staff member that any files on her government computer be erased, prompting allegations of a possible cover-up.

This reluctance to keep her actions on public record will mesh well with her newly appointed title "Czar".

Protecting Children From Lead Toys

Last year 45 million toys were recalled due to the use of lead paint. There was a public outcry and the federal government rightfully legislated the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in response.

Good! American children shouldn't be exposed to toys with lead. See, Americans are blinded by the cheap price of these toys. This blinding price render the parents unable to research the toys and investigate who makes them, how they're made, and what they're made with. Parents have been forced to put their children at risk. Now, they can safely tuck away any concern they might have had about all of these toy recalls because the government is taking its proper roll protecting their children, as opposed to the parents protecting their children themselves.

We haven't even mentioned the greatest benefit provided by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Not only does it save parents from shopping smart for safe toys as well as allowing them to continue buying anything pretty they see on the shelves without concern, but it is also going to leave toy making to those who do it best. Wait, did I say best? Sorry, I meant most.

In the Yahoo article Ho, ho, no: Toymakers say lead law harms workshops written by Marcus Wohlsen, he speaks with smaller toy makers who will not be able to afford the third party testing of their toys required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Peapods Natural Toys and Baby Care owner Dan Marshall advises they will have trouble staying in business because of the high cost of the third-party product testing required by the legislation. Mike Lee, co-owner of Sarah's Silks advised that his 9 employees will have to be downsized along with his product line, in order to afford the testing.

Julia Chen, the owner of The Playstore was quoted as saying "the number of brands she sells could drop from more than 300 to about 10." In reference to the legislation, she says "this is truly actually threatening our access to safe toys." I don't think she read the title of the legislation because it clearly indicates it will improve consumer product safety! Kind of like the Patriot Act provides patriotism.

Now Chen says that the number of brands on her shelf will drop from 100 to 10. This is GREAT! Now only toy-makers like Mattel, Fisher-Price, RC2, Cranium Inc., and Marvel Entertainment will be able to afford to make toys. This ensures that the US market will only have toys created by these great toy makers that have never had a history of manufacturing toys in China with lead-based paint, as proven by the links provided for each toy-maker.

Long live free enterprise.

Liberty and Security

The article that provoked the previous quote is Security or Liberty: A Logical Fallacy written by Jim Fedako. This is a worth while read, as it iss short and uses logic to dissect the "false dilemma fallacy" presented by liberty and security.

From his article:

To believe that the more the state threatens my person, and the more that the state invades my property, the greater my security is to believe the lie central to the state. And to watch fellow countrymen harassed, only to assume that the state must have reason for its harassment is to turn backs on the very same rights expected to protect us in the end.

Quote

"If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

~ Samuel Adams speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776

US Heading To Police State?

With the coming economic collapse in the US, be sure, the government is prepared. Read here.

One of the more disturbing quote in the article:

“Further, DoD would be, by necessity, an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance.”

Yes, politicians need authority to continue!

My only hope is that after the dollar bubble bursts, the DOD in the US will not have any cash left to fly home their hundreds of thousands of troops they would need to enforce a police state.

Here's an interesting quote by John F. Kennedy (an enemy of the FED):

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

The American state knows this and is preparing.

I Love CBC Radio

I listen to CBC Radio a lot. Anytime I drive anywhere I listen to CBC. This is unfortunate because usually the CBC is tooting the horn of the state.

Tonight when I got in my car, the host of the late night show asked the question "Do people have the right to a functioning government?"

What a silly question, I thought to myself. People have the right to self-government, but functioning? Well, you have to define what "functioning" means, but even then, its up to people to provide "functioning" government, which means its not a right. The right is for self-government.

Anyhow, after listening to the host give a brief overview of the disaster in Zimbabwe, he interviewed a few people, one representing Zimbabwe, one representing Belgium, and another fella whose position I didn't quite catch.

With the first guest from Zimbabwe, the host asked if the government is providing proper education to the people. Anyone that knows even a little about whats happening in Zimbabwe would know this is a ridiculous question. The guest advised that education has taken a back seat to survival and most teachers have left the country as they cannot be paid. Who would want to be paid in a worthless currency that has been printed into oblivion anyway? Well, for now, American teachers.The guest did advise that it is up to the people of Zimbabwe to resolve the conflict and international political intervention was not needed. BEAUTIFUL!

I do not know a lot about Belgium, but the host of the show described the situation in Belgium as if they do not have a functioning federal government and they remain one of the wealthiest nations in Europe. The two factions in Belgium have been having a hard time coming to terms forming an appropriate federal government. It was interesting listening to the guest talk about the lack of need of a federal government. She advised all services expected by government are being provided by the local governments and right now the only need of a federal government would be to represent the country on the international stage. The radio host asked her if people have the "right to functioning government". She didn't provide a direct answer, but her answer was essentially no, and she referenced her own nation. BEAUTIFUL!

I only remember a small portion of the last individual interviewed, and as mentioned, I'm not sure where he was from and what he represented. He was asked if people have the "right to functioning government". He also said no. As a follow up, the host asked how the guest would define functioning government. The guest replied something to the effect, "to prevent illegitimate violence, and to serve as unbiased medium for supporting contracts". I'm not sure what was meant by "prevent illegitimate violence", but the LONG list of things he didn't mention that most people expect from government made me think. . . BEAUTIFUL!!!

This individual also went on to say beyond these responsibilities, governments that attempt to do more often become too large and damages society in unintended ways more than helping it.

I love CBC radio. . .tonight.

Paying Taxes Is So Much Fun!!!!!!

Car Market Collapsing

This is not something you'd see in American main stream news:

A Little Comedy For Once

Debunking The Keynesian Myth

I Love Ron Paul Propaganda

The Damage Done By Regulation

Brian Doherty at Reason discusses Sarbanes-Oxley in his short article Sarbanes-Oxley Revisited.

Should We Build A Battlestar Galactica?

Art Carden at Mises.org seems to mock the current left-wing green perspective through the reality of our future. Read here.

Commercial Real Estate Ask For Bailout

Pittsburgh Business Times reports on several commercial real estate markets looking for bailout here.

They managed to quote one individual who made a lot of sense:

“Our business is cyclical in nature and is prone to boom and bust,” said Andrew Czekaj, chairman and CEO of Cambridge, a Herndon, Va.-based developer. “The boom in the last phase of the cycle was underwritten by cheap credit, [and] the Fed’s predisposition to over-prime the pump led to riskier and riskier bets.”

“This does not require government intervention on behalf of the ownership group. Any intervention will simply prolong the structural problem of the market — too much capital chasing too few deals — and lead to a more severe correction later,” Czekaj said.

Communism: Its A Party!

This was sent to me by a co-worker, I do not know its original source.

The Big Cheese Bail-Out

Read about it here.

New Eras, Old Fallacies: The Fed and the Coming Recession

From Mises.org.

Listen Here

Jim Rogers On Where to Invest

Don't buy American until Dow drops below 4000.

Read it here.

Quote on Taxes

I stumbled upon this quote on LewRockwell.com. I have no idea who Lysander Spooner is or what is entailed in "No Treason", but I thought this cold description of how taxes are taken from individuals compared to how the "highwayman" (a robber) operates to be very real:

The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber. He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a "protector," and that he takes men's money against their will, merely to enable him to "protect" those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection. He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful "sovereign," on account of the "protection" he affords you. He does not keep "protecting" you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villanies as these. In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave.

"The proceedings of those robbers and murderers, who call themselves "the government," are directly the opposite of these of the single highwayman.

"In the first place, they do not, like him, make themselves individually known; or, consequently, take upon themselves personally the responsibility of their acts. On the contrary, they secretly (by secret ballot) designate some one of their number [*14] to commit the robbery in their behalf, while they keep themselves practically concealed. They say to the person thus designated:

"Go to A_____ B_____, and say to him that "the government" has need of money to meet the expenses of protecting him and his property. If he presumes to say that he has never contracted with us to protect him, and that he wants none of our protection, say to him that that is our business, and not his; that we choose to protect him, whether he desires us to do so or not; and that we demand pay, too, for protecting him. If he dares to inquire who the individuals are, who have thus taken upon themselves the title of "the government," and who assume to protect him, and demand payment of him, without his having ever made any contract with them, say to him that that, too, is our business, and not his; that we do not choose to make ourselves individually known to him; that we have secretly (by secret ballot) appointed you our agent to give him notice of our demands, and, if he complies with them, to give him, in our name, a receipt that will protect him against any similar demand for the present year. If he refuses to comply, seize and sell enough of his property to pay not only our demands, but all your own expenses and trouble beside. If he resists the seizure of his property, call upon the bystanders to help you (doubtless some of them will prove to be members of our band.) If, in defending his property, he should kill any of our band who are assisting you, capture him at all hazards; charge him (in one of our courts) with murder; convict him, and hang him. If he should call upon his neighbors, or any others who, like him, may be disposed to resist our demands, and they should come in large numbers to his assistance, cry out that they are all rebels and traitors; that "our country" is in danger; call upon the commander of our hired murderers; tell him to quell the rebellion and "save the country," cost what it may. Tell him to kill all who resist, though they should be hundreds of thou- [*15] sands; and thus strike terror into all others similarly disposed. See that the work of murder is thoroughly done; that we may have no further trouble of this kind hereafter. When these traitors shall have thus been taught our strength and our determination, they will be good loyal citizens for many years, and pay their taxes without a why or a wherefore.

"It is under such compulsion as this that taxes, so called, are paid. And how much proof the payment of taxes affords, that the people consent to "support the government," it needs no further argument to show.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Interviews Thomas DiLorenzo

Bill Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently interviewed Thomas DiLorenzo. In the interview DiLorenzo rates Abraham Lincoln as the worst president ever and relates the corruption of Illinois Governor Blagojevich to similar tactics Lincoln used.

One of his more interesting quotes was in regards to the 17th Amendment which offered a perspective I had not yet thought about:

That's why, for example, the Framers originally had it set up so that U.S. senators were appointed by state legislatures. The reason for that is they didn't want the senator from Pennsylvania to go to Washington, D.C., and gather money from people in New York and elsewhere -- lobbyists and special interests -- and be beholding to those people. They wanted to be sure that when they went off to the nation's capital, that the senators would serve the people in their home state. They set it up so they could fire the U.S. senator on the spot if he didn't do what they wanted. It happened on numerous occasions. But once we had the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which was in 1913, for the direct election, now the senator from Pennsylvania can go to California and New York and Texas and raise money for his or her re-election campaign and he can vote against the interests of the people of Pennsylvania in many instances and still get re-elected because he has got so much money for his campaign.

Save Polaroid!

It was reported yesterday that Polaroid is going bankrupt.

Now, not as many people work for Polaroid as the automakers, but a lot still do, and they deserve to keep their jobs. The US government really needs to come in and save this company, after-all, its not the employees fault that the business didn't adapt quick enough to a changing industry and can't borrow any more money to keep itself out of bankruptcy! One could call this a TRIPLE WHAMMY! Stupid management, obsolete product, and a credit crunch!

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Polaroid was purchased for $426 million in 2005, so one can assume the amount to bail out this failed company is PENNIES compared to the $17 billion being given to the automakers. The government should work out a ratio for how much money they're willing to print to save each job. Given that formula, any business should be able to apply for government loans instead of going bankrupt, the government can determine how many jobs would be saved by loaning this company money and then based on that number, print the needed dollars! And then MAGIC! POOF! No one EVER loses their job without any negative side-effects.

The reality of these policies though are that many people will lose their jobs anyway. GM is going to be forced to cut down their product lines and liquidate a lot of assets to restructure and unemployment will soar in the US. Just like the 30s though, the number of people kept out of work won't be considered a problem as long as the government can prop up union wages through price fixing.

Amazingly enough though, as the article mentions, Polaroid will continue functioning through the bankruptcy and no lay-offs have been announced. Filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy will not be the end of Polaroid's existence, just as it would not be for GM. Polaroid is even planning new product launches in 2009!

I was led to believe that if GM filed for bankruptcy EVERYONE would be destitute; GM's infrastructure would just disappear into thin air and tens of millions of people would be on the street begging for money.

Of course this isn't true.

One has to wonder who carries the hundreds of billions of dollars of debt GM has and how much influence they have in Washington, D.C. I'd bet they've been lobbying for this bailout hard to prevent GM from filing for bankruptcy protection just like Cerberus has been lobbying for Chrysler.

Money, Banking, and the Fed

This video is a great documentary on the history of money and the central banks in the United States.

Governator Down-Sizing California Government

Arnold seems to making some hard decisions. Read about it here.

Government Ponzi Schemes

In his article "In Madoff We Trust", Peter Schiff relates the Madoff ponzi scheme to the social security structure in the United States:

As money is collected by from current workers, the funds are then dispersed to those already receiving benefits. None of the funds collected are actually invested, so no investment returns are ever generated. Those currently paying into the system are expected to receive their returns based on the “contribution” made by future workers. This is the classic definition of a Ponzi scheme. The only difference is that Ponzi didn’t own a printing press.

He also relates it to the United States Government:

The United States Government runs its own balance sheet based on the Ponzi principal as well. Our national debt always grows and never shrinks. As existing debt matures, proceeds are repaid by issuing new debt. Interest payments on existing debt are also made by selling new debt to investors. The whole scheme depends on an ever growing supply of new lenders, or the willingness of existing lenders, to continue to roll over maturing notes. Of course, as was the case with Madoff, if enough of our creditors want their money back, the music stops playing.

And his conclusion:

The main difference is that while Madoff took elaborate steps to conceal his scheme, the U.S. government operates in broad daylight. It truly is amazing how faith in government is so pervasive that many can believe that politicians will succeed where private individuals fail, and that governments are somehow immune to the economic laws that govern the rest of society. Like those unfortunate to have been duped by Madoff and Ponzi, the world is in for a rude awakening.

This Seems Reasonable

With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise

Man-Made Global Warming?

As mentioned before, I don't hold a strong opinion either way on Global Warming because I don't know. Most ideas on limiting pollution, such as a cap and trade method, essentially licenses polluting, which doesn't make much sense. It should be illegal for any company to pollute my air, my water, and my land, and if they do I should be allowed recourse in the courts. Simple.

I am always skeptical though when politicians (Al Gore) attempt to use fear into making us accept more government. Given that "going green" to "save the earth" has become the common mantra among most politicians, governments, and the main stream media, its only fair to give light to those in the know who disagree. Historically, governments haven't proven themselves right about a whole lot.

It's reported here that Chad Myers on CNN had some interesting opinions on Global Warming.

At the end of the article it mentions a previous CNN meteorologist who attack Al Gore's film. This individual quickly "recanted" his opinions after a public out-cry.

Wedding Photos

These are proofs we received and scanned onto the computer.

Bush: So What?

This was taken from here:

From an interview of George Bush by ABC News's Martha Raddatz:

BUSH: One of the major theaters against al-Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al-Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al-Qaeda was hoping to take–

RADDATZ: But not until after the U.S. invaded.

BUSH: Yeah, that’s right. So what?

SO WHAT?!

GM, Bankruptcy, the Transfer of Wealth, and Wall Street Incompetency

In Karen de Coster's and Eric Englund's article General Motors and the Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Wall Street they discuss the transfer of wealth from main street to wall street and the predictable bankruptcy of General Motors.

From the following quote, we can extract the reasoning behind why the Canadian and American taxpayers would enjoy great benefit from investing in General Motors:

To analyze General Motors’ 12/31/06 FYE financial statement is to understand that this once great company is likely heading towards bankruptcy. Here are the gruesome details:

* GM’s "as stated" net worth is negative $5.4 billion
* By fully discounting intangible assets, which includes deferred tax assets, GM’s net worth is arguably negative $48.5 billion (refer to Note 13 of GM’s 12/31/06 financial statement)
* GM’s as stated working capital is negative $3.7 billion
* By fully discounting current deferred tax assets, GM’s working capital drops to negative $14 billion
* General Motors’ total liabilities amount to a staggering $190.4 billion
* GM’s net loss, in 2006, was nearly $2 billion

Its also interesting to read about the complete fraud or ignorance Wall-Street committed when setting the "buy" recommendations on General Motors' stock:

Let’s step backwards a bit. On June 25, 2007, Wall Street powerhouse Morgan Stanley put out a “buy” recommendation with respect to General Motors’ common stock. Robert Barry, Morgan Stanley’s star analyst, proclaimed a 52-week target price of $42 per share. Less than five months later, on November 7, 2007, Wall Street analysts were stunned by General Motors’ staggering third-quarter (9/30/07) loss of $39 billion – one of the largest bookkeeping losses in history, which was mostly related to the writedown of deferred tax assets.

Fifty-three weeks after Morgan Stanley’s buy recommendation, GM’s stock hit a 54-year low of $9.98 per share – on July 2, 2008, after Merrill Lynch’s recommendation had gone from a “buy” to “underperform” (i.e., sell) on that day. In one sweeping move overnight, Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy cut his target price on GM by a whopping 75%, reducing the target price from $28 to $7. So how is it that GM suddenly went from respectability to mediocrity – in one analyst’s mind – overnight? In fact, why did it take until July 2008 to concede that GM was on life support? Wall Street, belatedly, is willing to acknowledge the fact that General Motors is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

Accordingly, key questions come to the forefront. How did any stock analyst, worth his salt, get blindsided by the aforementioned $38.3 billion writedown of deferred tax assets? Are Wall Street’s Ivy League-educated MBAs able to comprehend advanced accounting and finance? Has rigorous security analysis, on Wall Street, been supplanted by self-serving cheerleading and inane platitudes with the objective of transferring wealth from the masses to the Wall Street elites?

Ron Paul and Peter Schiff

An Interesting Insight Into Greece

Greece is a country I do not know a lot of. Its been a bit interesting seeing its riots headline some of the news lately. Maria Margaronis writes a pretty good article providing some insight into the instability of Greece for the guardian.co.uk. Read it here.

Lew Rockwell on Bailouts

At first I simply quoted his first paragraph because I like the statement. Here's a few other quotes from his article, which you should read, Don't Cave!

On the auto-workers:

Wicked unions have thoroughly looted the capital stock of these companies, and the workers themselves are wholly focused on their own well-being rather than that of the company and the consumer. The management is deeply embedded in the regulatory structure of the state, working to effectively turn the American car industry into a public-private partnership of the sort Mussolini would applaud.

On the Big 3 going bankrupt:

In fact, we should welcome their complete bankruptcy. Maybe they can regroup or maybe they can't. That's for the market to decide.

In the meantime, not cranking out these endless cars would be a welcome relief, freeing up labor and capital for more economically useful purposes.

On the consumers:

Wicked unions have thoroughly looted the capital stock of these companies, and the workers themselves are wholly focused on their own well-being rather than that of the company and the consumer. The management is deeply embedded in the regulatory structure of the state, working to effectively turn the American car industry into a public-private partnership of the sort Mussolini would applaud.

On politicians who compromise what they know to be true and right:

People who think along these lines imagine that they personally can control the political process in clever ways, giving a bit here to get more later on. I actually heard these same arguments about the first round of bailouts back in September: we'd better support this now or else it will be worse later.

What is striking about these arguments is how tyrants always use them. Hillary Clinton used to claim that we either pay for her health care program now or pay more later. FDR said we need to support the New Deal now, or else face full-scale socialism later. Actually Hitler was the same way. He justified his entire program on the idea that only National Socialism could stop Bolshevism.

If a dystopian nightmare of the totalitarian state finally arrives in the United States, it will be a result of a compromise, and there will be people around until the very end who will insist that we should be grateful because it could be much worse.

This kind of strategizing also works as a cover for selling your soul.

Quote

"If you write and follow politics enough, you eventually realize that most evil in this world is brought about by those seeking a lesser of two evils. And those who assist in this very much resent it when you point out that they are promoting evil."

- Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

This quote refers to essentially any individual who supports the policies of the Democratic or Republican parties in the United States.

Bush Dodges Shoe

Quote

"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy."

Carroll Quigley – Author of Tragedy & Hope

News Max Interviews Ron Paul

To read the interview click here.

Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve System:

It’s not so much that gold is perfect, it’s that paper is insane. To give politicians and bureaucrats and secret bankers the license to counterfeit money and create money out of thin air is destined to fail, and it has. That’s why we’ve had this financial bubble develop since the linkage to gold has been severed in 1971…

Now they’re trying desperately to print and spend, but the bubble was overwhelming and the bursting of this bubble is something they can’t contain. It would never happen under a gold standard because there would be no legal right for our central bank to spend money and create money out of thin air. The arrogance of it all is unbelievable.

Ron Paul on Obama's Health Care:

He has no money. Where is he going to get the money?

He has no intention of bringing our troops home. He’s talked a little about Iraq, but we’re maintaining a world empire to the tune of a trillion dollars a year. He wants more troops in Afghanistan … You have to save some money someplace.

So if you want to help some people who are sick, we’ll have to change our foreign policy and bring our troops home.
...
Instead of coming back to a balanced budget and living within our means, to propose national health care, and not attack our empire, is just foolhardy and will seal our fate.

What I like about what Ron Paul is saying in these quotes is that its not that the gold standard is perfect or that he thinks the government shouldn't be providing health care (of course, he does think that they shouldn't be), its that the foreign policy and federal reserve system of the United States is complete lunacy.

Peter Schiff on the New New Deal

Here's Peter Schiff on Obama's new public works plan:

Last weekend Barack Obama announced his intention to implement a New Deal-style stimulus and public works program. What he somehow forgot to mention is that the United States is wholly dependent on the willingness of foreign creditors to supply the funds. But a weakening dollar makes continued foreign purchase of U.S. Treasuries a much more difficult decision.

Read the rest of his article on the US dollar here.

Ron Paul To Congress

Bailing Out Chrysler?

This OP-ED and this article on the bail-out of Chrysler make some very important points:

1. Chrysler is owned by Cerberus.

2. Cerberus is a private investment firm whose CEO is former Bush appointed Treasury Secretary John W. Snow

3. If Chrysler goes bankrupt, Cerberus will lose approximately $2 billion

4. Cerberus has spent $7 million hiring former Bush senior appointed Vice-President Dan Quayle to lobby Washington to bailout their investment.

5. Cerberus and Chrysler are both private corporations and therefore the public has no access to any of their financial reports.

So...

What we don't know is very much about the company that owns Chrysler, Cerberus.

What we do know is that Cerberus isn't willing to risk any further capital beyond the original $2 billion loan provided to Chrysler when it was purchased. Cerberus risks losing this $2 billion if Chrysler files for bankruptcy. We also know Cerberus has strong connections in the federal government and are lobbying hard for this bailout.

Essentially, Cerberus wants the tax payer to burden the cost of keeping its bankrupt investment, Chrysler, afloat so that it can get its $2 billion back. This has nothing to do with jobs, this is all about money.

Who Knew?

Who knew governors derive their mandate from the federal government? Apparently the democrats knew and didn't tell anybody. Sneaky Bastards.

President-Elect Obama and 50 Democrat senators have called for disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich to resign from his post.

I thought the citizens of Illinois vote for their governor and therefore he derives their mandate from them?

I would like to thank Governor Rod Blagojevich for being honest, blunt, and concise.

Hilarious Bail-Out Satire

Found Here.

Don't forget to read the fine print.

The Story of Stuff

My environmentally friendly father sent me a link to The Story of Stuff.

Anyone and everyone should watch this video.

***The quality of this embedded video is rather poor, best to visit the above link***

A Blurb On Why All Bail-Outs Are Bad

Capital comes from saving. Capital is used to invest. Investment creates jobs. Jobs allow people to save more. More capital is invested. More jobs are created. And so on and so forth.

Its not that people shouldn't spend, its that they should spend on the things they need the most. When they spend on useless shit, this is malinvestment. Malinvestment is when you spend wealth on items that provide little value to society. When investment is directed towards items that provide little value to society, the business that creates these items will go bankrupt as they are not able to sell these items in the market place. This is the correction that occurs within the free market that ensures only items that provide value to society are manufactured and sold. How do you know if your product that you have invested your capital provides value to society? Well, society provides value back by purchasing your item. The profit you retain is society saying to you "hey, you did something great for society, do more great things!" If you take advantage of this, you can create more and more value to society. This is how corporate giants like RIM, Apple, Microsoft, and Google do it. If you don't take advantage of this, eventually your business will go bankrupt, and should be allowed to go bankrupt to purge society of your malinvestment. This is how Wall Street and Detroit have done it.

Government has a habit of interfering with this natural cycle under the guise of "saving jobs", even if these jobs provide no real value to society. When government does this, it prolongs the correction and makes it worse as they need to move capital from those who invest their wealth properly, to those who have proven they don't. In this way, government makes those who best provide value to society poorer and less able to invest their earned value into more places they deem profitable. So instead government takes wealth from those that know how to create it and places it in the hands of people who have no idea how to create wealth and then they distribute it where they deem to, or their lobbyists talk them into.

Chinese continues its takeover of the US economy. . .

. . . with a this very small step.

The FED has authorized a Chinese bank to operate on US soil. I guess the Unite States figured since they're communist now too, why not work together.

The weird thing about this is who gave the authorization. This branch of the totalitarian Chinese government was able to receive permission to open a bank on US soil without permission from Congress, the Senate or the President. The FED is acting on its own.

Ron Paul: "Gun Control: Protecting Terrorists and Despots"

Typically I avoid posting Dr. Paul's Texas Straight Talk as it is simply the same stuff you read in most of the articles and videos I link to.

His latest straight talk is in regards to the 2nd Amendment in the United States' Bill of Rights and its importance today when considering the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Paul often refers to the September 11th attacks as a prime example of where, if the government didn't impose laws preventing private air travel companies from having their pilots carry a firearm, the planes may not have been hijacked using box cutters. He uses the same logic in reference to the attacks on Mumbai.

From what I can gather from some quick googling, India allows private ownership of fire-arms as long as it is permitted by "Licensing Authorities". Lenin once said "A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie," but that's neither here nor there. Not only does the Indian government control the ownership of arms, they own the industry as well. Private manufacturers are limited on the quantity and type of fire-arms they can produce. In the 1980s, the Indian government also banned all fire-arm imports. The Indian government has subsequently been artificially pushing the prices of fire-arms and related materials very high, to a point where individuals cannot afford to buy a decent firearm.

"That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." - George Orwell

Dr. Paul's latest Texas Straight Talk, "Gun Control: Protecting Terrorists and Despots":

Tragically, over the Thanksgiving holiday, the world was reminded how evil and cruel people can be. According to emerging accounts of the events in India, about a dozen well-armed and devastatingly well-trained terrorists laid siege on the city of Mumbai, killing almost two hundred people, and terrorizing thousands.

Regardless of the reasons, the indiscriminate shooting on masses of unarmed and defenseless people is chilling and reprehensible. How were these terrorists able to continue so long, relatively unchallenged, killing so many?

India’s gun laws are her business, of course. However, once the shock of these events and the initial reaction of fear passes, Americans should take away a valuable lesson about real homeland security and gun control from this tragedy.

Gun control advocates tell us that removing guns from society makes us safer. If that were the case why do the worst shootings happen in gun free zones, like schools? And while accidents do happen, aggressive, terroristic shootings like this are unheard of at gun and knife shows, or military bases. It bears repeating that an armed society truly is a polite society.

The fact is that firearm technology exists. It cannot be uninvented. As long as there is metalworking and welding capability, it matters not what gun laws are imposed upon law-abiding people. Those that wish to have guns, and disregard the law, will have guns. Gun control makes violence safer and more effective for the aggressive, whether the aggressor is a terrorist or a government.

History shows us that another tragedy of gun laws is genocide. Hitler, for example, knew well that in order to enact his “final solution,” disarmament was a necessary precursor. While it is not always the case that an unarmed populace WILL be killed by their government, if a government is going to kill its own people, it MUST disarm them first so they cannot fight back. Disarmament must happen at a time when overall trust in government is high, and under the guise of safety for the people, or perhaps the children. Knowing that any government, no matter how idealistically started, can become despotic, the Founding Fathers enabled the future freedom of Americans by enacting the second amendment.

In our own country, we should be ever vigilant against any attempts to disarm the people, especially in this economic downturn. I expect violent crime to rise sharply in the coming days, and as states and municipalities are even more financially strained, the police will be even less able or willing to respond to crime. In many areas, local police could become more and more absorbed with revenue generating activities, like minor traffic violations and the asset forfeiture opportunities of non-violent drug offenses. Your safety has always, ultimately been your own responsibility, but never more so than now. People have a natural right to defend themselves. Governments that take that away from their people should be highly suspect.

To Prorogue or Not To Prorogue

Apparently the answer is "to prorogue".

Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Governor-General Michaëlle Jean at Rideau Hall to request for parliament to be prorogued until January 26th. The Governor-General granted the Prime Minister's request.

I don't understand the logic behind this process. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is designated the head of state. The Queen has never rejected a Prime Minister's suggestion for Governor-General, therefore the Prime Minister selects this individual. Until the recent events, my perspective of the Governor-General was primarily a ceremonious role. Her job was to dissolve government and call elections, which seemed appropriate as someone has to, right?

Today her position became much more important. I did not know she has the power to halt a democracy at work at the request of the Prime Minister. I don't understand the need for this power and I don't understand why it is designated to an appointed official. Even in the worst crises, a democracy should be allowed to function and no one individual should be able to delay or stop the government from working.

I liked the Conservative's budget. I liked that it cut public funding from parties, I liked that it did not include stimulus package that would only further hurt our economy and I liked that it froze the wages of public servants.

I did't agree with freezing a group's right to strike, however I don't really believe Harper can remove this right. If a nurse's union decides to strike, is he going to put them in prison? No. The government would be forced to negotiate with the union because nurse's are not easily replaced and they are needed.

I disagree with Harper that a coalition with the Bloc Quebecois is dangerous for Canada. If Quebec ever left Canada, Canada would still exist and would have the confidence of the people who still support its government. A coalition with the Bloc Quebecois on the part of the opposition does threaten the ability of the federal government to represent the nation as a whole. In which case, I'd prefer my federal government to not be in bed with a political party that seeks to undermine the good of Canada in its current form for its own benefit.

Of course, I'm never going to see a government that behaves the way I want it to, but it should be allowed to function without the intervention of any one particular individual. If the Liberals want to ruin their political party by forming a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc, the Governor-General should not be able to stop them. She was wrong to accept Mr. Harper's request today.

On another note, it is absolutely appalling to watch the leader of our country go begging to a representative of the queen because he made a boo-boo.

Best Breakfast Ever.

Peter Schiff Metaphors

How many ways can you say "it's the FED!"?

Doug Wead: Paul for Pres 2012

Doug Wead, an advisor to two past presidents, recently blogged on why Ron Paul needs to run for president in 2012:

He has woven a slender thread through the crimson cloth of Evangelical Christians and the pink cloth of Gay America, making one garment out of a people who have decided that they never really wanted or needed power, just the guarantee that government would stay out of their lives and not intrude. Who would have thought that this was politically possible?

He has gathered the hurt and wounded families of America who have suffered the extremes of our glorious “War on Crime,” which has become almost Soviet in its unintended consequences.

It is an amazingly diverse and complicated political fabric, with great demographic possibilities.

You can read the full article here.

The Numbers Game

UPDATE:



This was found here:

If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research crunched the inflation adjusted numbers. The bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

And people tell me a gold standard is crazy.

This Guy Rocks

This guy on Aljazeera rocks!

Left-Wing

The left-wing: A political wing that believes it is ok to take rights from those it doesn't like, and fight for rights of those it does like. A political wing that doesn't believe an individual should be awarded for hard work and success through the market, but instead all of the rewards created from the hard work and success should be shared among everyone, especially those that did not contribute, simply because they exist. A political wing that believes in bailing out the rich in the name of keeping jobs for the middle-class, jobs the market place is trying to purge from existence like my stomach purges booze after drinking too much vodka. A political wing that promotes peace, and at the same time supports a president who wants to place 40,000 troops in Afghanistan. Apparently the troops that have been there for the past 8 years haven't helped the opium trade boom enough. A political wing that fights passionately over the right for a mother to slay her child before birth, and completely ignores the existence of the child; changing and manipulating the definition of human life to support this position. A political wing that doesn't understand rights are owned by an individual, not dependent on others. A political wing that likes to create rights, such as "health care", irregardless of the existing rights that are being trampled. A political wing that rails against bigotry and racism and yet, loves to define people based on class, affiliation, location, income, job, education, or anything else they can think of that separates people instead of bringing them together. A political wing that imagines a government that can provide for all and works hard towards this end, all of the while doing more harm than good and trampling those who get in their way.

This is a reaction to reading this.

I understand the linked article does not represent the opinions of every individual that would associate themselves with the left-wing.

This is also not a defense of the right-wing, as the right-wing line of thought is just as disturbed and misguided. This right-wing/left-wing stuff needs to become a thing of the past. Neither wing should be allowed to interfere with the way an individual chooses to live his or her life.

US goes to middle-east, Hat-In-Hand

Yahoo! has published an article online referencing Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah. Its reported that the US is seeking approximately $300 billion in loans from the middle east to help support loaning the money out to failing American businesses.

The hypocrisy of this is amazing. The main reason being argued by Obama and his supporters for removing America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil is to protect national security and prevent future wars. Hopefully Obama manages this goal so that the US will only be indebted to the middle east for BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. As they are with China and Japan.

Of course, this would be a real good deal for the US if they are provided the loans, as Bernanke can just continue printing the money to pay off the debt. If the arabs are smart, they'll request repayment in gold only.

Man of the Hour: Peter Schiff

Lew Rockwell and Peter Schiff talk about the collapsing American economy and how the US government is following the lead of Hoover and Roosevelt.

Talking heads listen and ask questions as Peter Schiff lectures them on how the world works:



I especially like the guy that calls the Chinese commies and refers the Russians as crummy. I almost laughed out loud when he started talking.

The Left Has No Monopoly On Political Music

In response to this

First of all, the below song by Ash Soular is not AGAINST change. The song is obviously against Obama's change because it is not change. She pegs him as a hypocrite and Obama proved it during his campaign as he spoke out against FISA and then voted for it. He's for more war, more murder.

The attack on this amateur song-writer is solely fueled by one line in which she communicates some conservative thoughts against big government spending and high taxation. I guess its our job to randomly tear apart individuals who voice their opinions on YouTube? Very constructive.

Music from the 60s was not against conservatism generally. It was against big intrusive government causing wars that harm millions of people. It was against corporatism and big government. See: American Woman.

Remember, Barry Goldwater was the peace candidate as a conservative in 64 and lost by a landslide. George McGovern was the peace candidate as a liberal in 72 and lost by a landslide. Whether on the left, or the right, these types of candidates will never be elected because the powers at be profit from war and big government. This has nothing to do with socialized health care or a social safety net. The profits gained by big corporations from weapons sales and military contracts will always ensure the president is on the side of war.

This music comes out against the state. Yes, some of these artists lean more left than they do right, but that doesn't not mean the left has a monopoly on political music.

Here's a tune both those on the left and the right could find common ground with from 1967:

A Compelling Argument to Bail-Out Auto

Declan McCullagh has written a great article, Rewarding Failure: Why Stop With Big 3?, supporting the $25 billion bail-out of the failing auto-makers in Detroit.

I could not have said it better myself.

Ron Paul On The Fed

This is cool.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Change Has Come

Environmentalism the New Religion?

I do not take a hard stand on the issue on environmentalism, but this is an interesting perspective:

The Old Lie

I was first introduced to this poem in grade 9 english, and then again when I moved to Amherst in Mr. Bauld's grade 10 english. I wrote a horrid 6 page essay on it in grade 9. I thought it was supposed to be 3 pages, back to back, so when I ran out of substance, I made some up and stretch out other thoughts as much as possible to fill the space. After I got the essay back, my teacher advised it was only supposed to be 3 pages, but he gave me an A for the effort.

Anyhow, I stumbled upon it today, and it seems to be fitting for the occasion.

Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And floundering like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Lew Rockwell and Naomi Wolf

Libertarian Lew Rockwell interviews progressive leftist Naomi Wolf. Its a 40 min interview in which the two talk about the changing political landscape and on how the most important issues facing America can not be drawn along current political lines; new political lines need to be drawn between those that want to live free, and those that support the fascist American state.

LISTEN HERE

Quote

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty"

- John Adams

Quote

"The national government must lay claim to the right to force its principles on the whole nation without consideration to previous federated state boundaries."
- Adolf Hitler

Quote

"A powerful national government may encroach considerable on the rights of individuals as well as of the different States (by following an imperial policy), if only every citizen recognizes such measures as means for making his nation greater"
- Adolf Hitler

Homer Everyday For 39 years

Peter Schiff on the US Dollar

Quotes

"Then I say, the earth belongs to each of these generations during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and incumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:455, Papers 15:393

"[Using], for instance, the table of M. de Buffon, [it can be determined that] the half of those of 21 years and upwards living at any one instant of time will be dead in 18 years, 8 months, or say 19 years as the nearest integral number. Then 19 years is the term beyond which neither the representatives of a nation nor even the whole nation itself assembled can validly extend a debt... With respect to future debts, would it not be wise and just for [a] nation to declare in [its] constitution that neither the legislature nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years? And that all future contracts shall be deemed void as to what shall remain unpaid at the end of 19 years from their date?" --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. Papers 15:394

"The conclusion then, is, that neither the representatives of a nation, nor the whole nation itself assembled, can validly engage debts beyond what they may pay in their own time." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:457, Papers 15:398n

Anti-War Video

My Favourite Liberals

Even with my turn to right-wing conservatism, I'm still a fan of Paul Martin and Jean Chretien. Chretien because he said no to Iraq and had a quick wit. Martin because he gave the Canadian government budget surpluses that were the envy of the world. He then responsibly used this cash to pay down the national debt.

Les Perreaux of the Globe and Mail wrote this article on Martin describing his regrets of a conservative government. If Martin was on the ticket this past election, I probably would have voted liberal (not that it mattered in my riding).

In the article Martin criticizes Harper for erasing the government's surplus (in August the feds ran a deficit), and also takes credit for regulating Canadian banks which have not been suffering the same woes as our American, European and Japanese counterparts.

Also, its nice to see Martin taking a roll as a private citizen to help people less fortunate. The article talks briefly about his endeavors preserving the Congo river basin and his launching of an aboriginal equity fund that will be used to help provide support and finance to aboriginal business endeavors.

Thomas DiLorenzo: Hamilton´s Curse

Tom Woods interviews Thomas DiLorenzo on the history of central banking in the United States here.

Ron Paul To Come Back When Country Needs Him

This is a nice little spoof by The Onion of the good doctor.

Socialism Continues to Spread

The recent economic downtown is giving lots of room for the socialist left to come up with great ideas to control your life in the US. The most recent is a scheme for the government to take over all 401k account. This would be akin to the Canadian government taking control of all RRSPs, and very similar to actions that are being taken by the great country of Argentina.

Wouldn't it be great if the government took over your entire private retirement investment, gave you a 3% return on your investment, forced you to invest 5% of your income, and then contributed $600 to it a year? Isn't it great that the US government would want to GIVE you $600? Government has absolutely nothing to give that it hasn't already taken from you. I guess the idea of getting $600 of your own money back is an added benefit. Knowing the US government though, they'll just print it, which would just be another tax on you, or they'll charge it to one of these major credit cards and in return have to tax you more to pay it back.

Considering the US government has done an amazing job managing social security, who wouldn't want to put their personal savings into their hands?

The biggest question would be: what right does any government have to take over one's private investments, or any private property from an individual? None, though it would be in line with the governments best skill: stealing.

For their own sake, I hope the left will pass some anti-gun legislation once they take over the country in January because there still might be some free-minded people that might find some use for them. . .

Tetrahydrocannabinol Good For You?

Fox news has reported here that tetrahydrocannabinol could have anti-tumor properties after researchers fail to find any link between cancer and heavy tetrahydrocannabinol users. Its quite amazing for this article to show up on Fox News' website as Fox News host Bill O'Reilly regularly slanders tetrahydrocannabinol users.

Unfortunately, it makes no mention of any studies that prove heavy use of tetrahydrocannabinol doesn't make you a demotivated, munchy craving slacker with no direction in life.

Sushi Model of Capital Consumption

Robert P. Murphy, of the Ludwig van Mises Institute, uses a Sushi consumption model to describe how Paul Krugman's discredit of Austrian economics is false. Its very easy to understand and makes complete sense. It does a good job of explaining partially why unemployment occurs during recessions as well.

Quote

"The State is, in a way, like a beast that escapes our control and desires: though we can imagine ways to make the beast serve our interests, nothing guarantees that in practice, once released, it will behave in ways we wish it did, thus it might be preferable not to release it in the first place." ~Albert Esplugas

Judy Shelton on the "Roots Of The Crisis"

I've never heard of Judy Shelton before. Her article Loose Money And the Roots Of the Crisis is one of the better I've read describing why the dollar is the problem. A couple of my favourite quotes:

Whatever well-intentioned reasons existed in 1913 for creating the Federal Reserve -- to provide an elastic currency to soften the blow of economic contractions caused by "irrational exuberance" (and that will never be conquered, so long as humans have aspirations) -- one would be hard-pressed to say that the financial fallout from this latest money meltdown will have less damaging consequences for the average person than would have been incurred under a gold standard.

It is time to take on the task of establishing a new foundation for international economic relations and financial relations -- one dedicated to open markets and based on monetary integrity. Every country is responsible for anchoring its own currency to the universal reserve asset, and every citizen has the right to convert the national currency into the universal reserve asset.

That's how a gold standard works. A bimetallic system, linked to silver and gold, works the same way. In either case the money is fixed to a common anchor -- and thus automatically functions as a common currency to serve the needs of legitimate producers and consumers throughout the world.

Mr. Rogers' History Lesson

UCLA Economists Blame FDR

This article discusses the conclusion by two UCLA economists, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, that FDR's policies prolonged the Great Depression by 7 years.

This is an interesting tid-bit from the article:

Using data collected in 1929 by the Conference Board and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Cole and Ohanian were able to establish average wages and prices across a range of industries just prior to the Depression. By adjusting for annual increases in productivity, they were able to use the 1929 benchmark to figure out what prices and wages would have been during every year of the Depression had Roosevelt's policies not gone into effect. They then compared those figures with actual prices and wages as reflected in the Conference Board data.

In the three years following the implementation of Roosevelt's policies, wages in 11 key industries averaged 25 percent higher than they otherwise would have done, the economists calculate. But unemployment was also 25 percent higher than it should have been, given gains in productivity.

Meanwhile, prices across 19 industries averaged 23 percent above where they should have been, given the state of the economy. With goods and services that much harder for consumers to afford, demand stalled and the gross national product floundered at 27 percent below where it otherwise might have been.

This last bit is good too:

NIRA's labor provisions, meanwhile, were strengthened in the National Relations Act, signed into law in 1935. As union membership doubled, so did labor's bargaining power, rising from 14 million strike days in 1936 to about 28 million in 1937. By 1939 wages in protected industries remained 24 percent to 33 percent above where they should have been, based on 1929 figures, Cole and Ohanian calculate. Unemployment persisted. By 1939 the U.S. unemployment rate was 17.2 percent, down somewhat from its 1933 peak of 24.9 percent but still remarkably high. By comparison, in May 2003, the unemployment rate of 6.1 percent was the highest in nine years.

Recovery came only after the Department of Justice dramatically stepped enforcement of antitrust cases nearly four-fold and organized labor suffered a string of setbacks, the economists found.

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."