Pat Robertson Questions The Morality of Criminalizing Marijuana Possession and Use

The Dumbing Down of America

Ron Paul Front Page of HuffPo Re: Wikileaks

Quote - Wolfgang Neskovic

Barack Obama is not God, able to freely decide about life and death…. Nevertheless he behaves like an Old Testament God who kills people as he sees fit with fire and brimstone.

German MP Wolfgang Neskovic in regard to a bombing in Pakistan by an American drone which killed a German citizen.

Quote - Thomas Jefferson

The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be said, his testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose to them, they will support the true religion, by bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation. They are the natural enemies of error, and of error only. Had not the Roman government permitted free enquiry, Christianity could never have been introduced. Had not free enquiry been indulged, at the aera of the reformation, the corruptions of Christianity could not have been purged away. If it be restrained now, the present corruptions will be protected, and new ones encouraged. Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in France the emetic was once forbidden as a medicine, and the potatoe as an article of food. Government is just as infallible too when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was sent to the inquisition for affirming that the earth was a sphere: the government had declared it to be as flat as a trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his error. This error however at length prevailed, the earth became a globe, and Descartes declared it was whirled round its axis by a vortex.

Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia: Query XVII: Religion, 1781

Quantitative Easing Explained

Professor on CBC Calls For Assassination of Julian Assange

What happened to the rule of law? This is the world we live in. The President of the United States does not refrain from assassinating US citizens and now we have talking heads on the news calling for the assassination of a private citizen. Assange is not even being accused of directly harming anyone (but the government), and his life is to be taken without due process for what crime?

Carlin on Airport Security

Sarah and I will be flying to Orlando on Wednesday. Not sure, if given the choice, whether I will choose to be molested or have nude photos taken of me. Either way, looking forward to learn how it feels to exist within a fascist state.

Ron Paul at his BEST: Enough is Enough!

15 Storey Building Contructed in 6 Days

This is incredible...



From the YouTube description:

Level 9 Earthquake Resistance: diagonal bracing structure, light weight,
steel construction, passed level 9 earthquake resistance testing
6x Less Material: even though the construction materials are much
lighter(250kg/m2) than the traditional materials(over 1500kg/m2), the floors
and walls are solid with surefootedness, airtight and sound-proofing
5x Energy Efficient: 150mm thermal insulation for walls and roofs, triple
glazed plastic windows, external solar shading, heat insulation, fresh
air heat recovery, LED lighting, yearly HAVC A/C energy consumption
equivalent to 7 liters oil.
20x Purification: after 3 levels of purification, the purification efficiency
for fresh air reaches 95%-99.9%; air exchanged 1-2.5 times per hour, and
indoor air is 20x cleaner than out door air
1% Construction Waste: all components are factory made, construction
waste, mainly package materials, result from on site set-up only and
amount to 1% of the total weight of the building.
This is the first building in human history which combines almost all
environmental friendly, comfortable and secure elements. So, we call it:
Sustainable Building

Also, rumour has it these guys are not unionized.

Silver Update

Fascism is Alive and Well in the US

Talking to Liberals About Rand Paul

Best Lantern of the Year

Why Can't Chuck Get His Business Off the Ground?

Our Embarassing Nova Scotia Government

Let's talk about Bob. Bob earns $50,000 a year. He is currently in debt for $80,000, and he budgets to spend $60,000 over the next year. Can Bob survive indefinitely with this type of budget? Would we look at Bob and say,"Gee, Bob really has a plan to ensure he lives a high quality life in the future." No. Now let's say half way through the year of this budget Bob decides he could really improve his quality of life if he borrowed $10,000 to buy a jet ski. Anyone else think Bob has a serious problem?

And so it is with the Nova Scotia Government. As a whole we have an annual budget deficit of close to $500 million, a total debt of $13 billion, and revenues of just over $8 billion. These numbers alone paint a broad, yet alarming, picture. So what does our government do? They find a new project to spend more money on.

Today Premier Dexter announced to the province that the government would support a plan to build a new convention centre in downtown Halifax in partnership with the Halifax Regional Municipality and the federal government. The total cost to the Nova Scotian taxpayers, over the term of a 25 year capital lease, will work out to about $328 million. This is a government project, so the real cost will most likely be in the $500 million range (if we're lucky). $47 million of the funding is expected to come from the federal government.

Now, I could go on and on about how the tax payers in rural Nova Scotia and Cape Breton shouldn't be on the hook for a convention centre in Halifax. I could talk about how the province's finances are already in a mess. I could point out that we rely on 40% of our provincial revenues to come from the federal government (most of which come in the form of equalization payments). I could point out that its completely irresponsible for a whole province, essentially living on federal welfare, to undertake a project that our private sector will not fund for themselves. But that is not what bothers me the most.

Our government is supposed to lead, but unfortunately the only place they ever lead us is hat in hand to Ottawa. They've become experts at it. The Department of Intergovernment Affairs costs Nova Scotian taxpayers millions of dollars a year with the sole purpose of going to Ottawa to bring home the bacon. And to introduce a new project that requires Nova Scotians to beg the rest of Canada for funds once again? This has gotten to be embarrassing. Extraordinarily so. As a Nova Scotian, this is what bothers me the most. I don't beg for money to support myself, and our government, our representation to the rest of the country, shouldn't be begging to support itself. Especially when it just wants to buy a jet ski it can't afford on its own.

Jon Stewart on the Youth and Politics

He's dead on, and this is exactly why Ron Paul has so much youth support.

Quote - Maxime Bernier

"The federal government today intervenes massively in provincial jurisdictions, and in particular in health and education, two areas where it has no constitutional legitimacy whatsoever. This is not what the Fathers of Confederation had intended."

Link

Maxime Bernier is no Ron Paul, but the language of this statement certainly demonstrates he is paying attention to the political scene south of the border.

Great Glenn Greenwald Interview

Glenn Greenwald is one of my most favorite progressives.

Dylan Ratigan Tears Apart War-Monger

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Niall Ferguson on US Collapse

Ron Paul on Elizabeth Warren

This past week the administration announced its choice for the first credit czar at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This bureau was created as part of the supposed Wall Street reform bill recently passed by Congress. This new bureau, which represents nothing more than another layer of useless Washington bureaucracy, will be housed within the Federal Reserve - one of the most anti-consumer institutions in Washington.

The appointee named to run the bureau is an Ivy League professor. By her own admission she is an academic, not a businessperson. She has very little real world business experience with the highly complex financial instruments she will oversee. The administration has done nothing to refute her characterization by some in the financial press as an anti-business, ivory tower leftist with an aversion to free market principles.

She also admits to being told, or warned, that the big banks always win in Washington - yet she trumpeted the creation of this new agency as a win against those banks. I would caution her against declaring victory too soon.

Outrageously, she has been appointed as a 'special advisor' to design and lead the bureau, but the administration has not disclosed the exact length of her term. There will be no Senate confirmation hearings, nor will the public or the financial industry be allowed to comment on her appointment. We simply are expected to accept the appointment of an enormously powerful regulator without question, and without regard to the constitutional requirement that the Senate advise and consent with regard to her appointment. This means you, as a voter and citizen, effectively have no say whatsoever for the duration of her appointment. In the meantime, she has unprecedented new powers over private business decisions.

The truth is that this new bureau is just more of the same ineffective and damaging regulation we typically get from a crisis. Just as the FDA serves big pharmaceutical companies, not patients, and just as the SEC serves Wall Street, not investors, this agency will end up serving the banks. All regulatory agencies eventually become co-opted by the industries they regulate, and they become chiefly concerned with restricting the entry of new competitors and protecting market share for the big players. This new bureau is not likely to straighten out Wall Street, so much as it will instill a false sense of security in the public about banking and investing again.

No bureaucrat, no federal agency, and no ivory tower academic can replace the regulatory powers of the free market. 'Caveat emptor' remains the rule for intelligent investors and depositors. Buyers always need to beware, especially when politicians say they have it all under control.

Real reform starts with transparency and an adherence to the rule of law. The administration would do well to adhere to the law, rather than shoving a new economic czar down our throats without congressional involvement. Real reform would mean taking steps toward restoring sound money and getting back to the Constitution. The Constitution does not allow for favors to special interests, or handing out public money to keep private businesses afloat. The Constitution necessitates a small, impartial government that first and foremost, protects liberty, and sees all citizens as equal. It does not recognize a special banking class. The fact that measures to achieve these ends are still quashed tells me that indeed, the banks do still win in Washington.”

Southern Avenger: Rove and Rush: Late to the Party

Peter Schiff on Dylan Ratigan

How does a guy like Dylan Ratigan get a show on the same network as Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, and Chris Matthews?

Leno Dissects the Stimulus

The Plan feat. Sniper

The Broken Window Fallacy

The Uprising

Overdose - The Next Financial Collapse

Democrat Jack Conway: Police State > Individual Liberty

So apparently Democrats believe the inability of the gestapo to distinguish between marijuana and hemp is cause enough to maintain the illegality of growing and selling a harmless, useful product which would provide economic benefits and jobs to Americans (hemp).

As a Canadian, thank you Jack Conway for reinforcing an idiotic government policy in the US which removes all domestic competition to Canadian hemp growers wishing to export to the US!

Southern Avenger: Amen to the Imam

Obama is Out Of Touch

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling

Full text here.

The Flower

Quote: Jacob Applebaum from Wikileaks

Jacob Applebaum, senior volunteer for WikiLeaks: “All governments are on a continuum of tyranny,”

Southern Avenger: Obama is a Threat to National Security

Ron Paul Once Again Endorses Ending War For Social Spending

Huffingtonpost Is Stupid

The current headline at the Huffington Post:

"Disappearing Middle Class; Bilingual Ph.D. Can't Find Work, Accepts Rent Money From Church"

The middle class was built on savings, investment, and manufacturing jobs, not intellectuals (some might argue unions had a hand in this as well). If a bilingual Ph. D. can't find work, there are too many individuals with a bilingual Ph.D. It is not a sign of a disappearing middle class.

The subsidization of unneeded degrees and Ph.Ds is one of many causes of the destruction of the middle class. It represents a misallocation of resources that could have been better used to create new wealth.

Edit: The article can be found here. Its a sob story. An individual who took a risk and falled flat on her face during a very bad time to do so. She then spent 99 weeks taking unemployment benefits while only applying for jobs within her profession, instead of developing a new skill set that might help her obtain employment quicker. Now she relies on charity from her church, instead of herself.

When you lose your job, the ideal situation is to obtain a new one within your profession. The ideal situation is far from a guarantee and individuals need to ensure they have a backup plan, or they at least keep an open mind when searching for new employment.

More alarming than the sob story of one individual is the following graph:

Rand Paul in New York City

Papers Please

If Hitler didn't hate Jewish people, he would be a political hero for our ruling class today.

Fascism Comes to Canada

Here are a few videos of police brutality in Toronto toward peaceful protests. While they are all very disturbing, the one that bothered me the most was the charge on protesters singing the Canadian anthem:

G20 Security and the Failure of Democracy

Democracy has been presented to me as the greatest form of government known to mankind since I knew what government was. Democracy has been sold to provide equality for all; equal say for each individual. It’s been promoted to provide even the little guy a chance to voice his opinion. Democracies are supposed to provide the people with economic prosperity and the protection of understood civil rights. I’m told repeatedly that democracy ensures that those who write our laws are held accountable and that while it may not be perfect, it’s the best that we’ve got, or as Winston Churchill put it, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the other that have been tried.”

Since my political re-awakening a few years ago, I’ve felt like we are witnessing the beginning of the end of what we know as the modern democracy. Most governments fall at the hands of a large scale economic collapse. Typically, the economic collapse has been at the hands of an over-expansion of military power. With the countries of the western world weighted down with debt (and no end in sight), and the countries of the eastern world tightening credit, the west continues to have difficulty maintaining its debt without inflating its currencies into oblivion. A wide spread economic collapse in the west is sure to occur and prompt the end of most western democracies.

The recognition of a need change the spending habits of Western governments was given a token acknowledgement by those we’ve democratically elected to head our governments. When representatives from the 20 largest economies met in Toronto last month, they agreed to halve their government budget deficits over the next 3 years. They also agreed to continue inflating their currencies and to spend $1.1 trillion.

The G20 event itself is an example of the failings of western democracies. If democracy is supposed to provide the people with economic prosperity, accountable government leaders, and protect civil rights, how is it that the following is allowed to occur without protest from the twenty heads of state attending the G20, eight of which represent western democracies?



If the leaders of the “free world” (Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia) feel their presence is worth $1 billion in security protection, the creation of a fascist police state, and trampling of civil liberties, this is a punch in the face of any idea one might have that democracy is a form of government worth fighting for. Meanwhile you can watch videos of protestors shouting “this is democracy in action” on youtube as they refer to themselves marching. The irony is that the entire event, including the atrocities that occur, is the result of the main stream idolatry of democracy.

Some individuals who founded the federal government which united the states of america understood the fallacies of Democracy. Thomas Jefferson was known to despise democracy to the core, saying, “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” I would say the same, but also add, in a democracy, it doesn’t necessarily require 51 percent of the population to take away individual rights. It requires the absence of political involvement by the masses and a few over-zealous government bureaucrats, backed by big business, who thirst for power and own no empathy toward those who suffer at the hand of their policies. Thus we have modern democracy.

Fascism Comes to Canada

Here are a few videos of police brutality in Toronto toward peaceful protests. While they are all very disturbing, the one that bothered me the most was the charge on protesters singing the Canadian anthem:

Nader and Napolitano

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Liberal Barney Frank and Conservative Ron Paul

Reagan's Peaceful Foreign Policy

The War in Afghanistan is not a War.

Clint Webb

Silver Is Going To Move

I Am Campaign For Liberty

LOL @ French Workers

I read an article today about French workers striking because the government is going to raise the retirement age to 60. Here's the link.

The strongest economy in Europe right now is Germany, with a retirement age of 65, rising to 66 this year. The weakest economy in Europe is Greece, with a retirement age of 55.

Greece is being forced to put forward significant cut-backs to balance their budget, while traveling around the world hat in hand begging for money. One of the countries they are forced to beg from is Germany.

If I was a French worker, I would be looking around right now and asking myself, would I prefer to live in Germany, or Greece?

Their actions strongly suggest they would like France to turn into another Greece, though any logical analysis would suggest they'd be better mimicking the Germans.

These people are absolutely loony.

With the collapse of Greece; the soon collapse of Spain and Portugal; and a French neighbor with an ignorant populace unwilling to face necessary changes; you would think at some point the Germans would be asking themselves, why are we part of this pathetic union?

US Government Green-Lighted Risky Drilling In the Gulf for...

...drum-roll please...WAR.

From www.oilprice.com:

According to the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) sources within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Pentagon and Interior and Energy Departments told the Obama Administration that the newly-discovered estimated 3-4 billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico would cover America's oil needs for up to eight months if there was a military attack on Iran that resulted in the bottling up of the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic, resulting in a cut-off of oil to the United States from the Persian Gulf.

Obama, Salazar, Chu, and Gates green-lighted the risky Macondo drilling operation from the outset, according to WMR's government sources.

WMR learned that BP was able to have several safety checks waved because of the high-level interest by the White House and Pentagon in tapping the Gulf of Mexico bonanza find in order to plan a military attack on Iran without having to be concerned about an oil and natural gas shortage from the Persian Gulf after an outbreak of hostilities with Iran.

Can someone tell me again how this is the fault of capitalism?

Can anyone think of another time in history where BP, the UK, and the US conspired together to gain control of Iran?

I can.

This oil spill is the result of greed: greedy government officials who think the United States government deserves all that it can steal.

The $1 Billion Police State In Toronto.

From June 26 - 27 the G20 is coming to Toronto. This event is costing the taxpayers of Canada $1 billion in security costs. Why does security for the G20 cost $1 billion? Because that's the price of a police state for 2 days in the center of the busiest city in Canada.

What is occurring in Toronto today is a stain on our country (that we allow it to occur) and a stain on our esteemed world leaders (that they are so insecure about their legitimacy that they must shut down entire cities where ever they go).

The Globe and Mail wrote a piece that provides some insight into what life in Toronto is like right now:

The proliferation of police, amid a marked decline in the number of office workers on the streets, certainly made an impression on Jeffrey Arbuckle as he ran a lunch-hour errand on Monday.

In an effort to liven up the porch of his television production studio near the security zone, Mr. Arbuckle had picked up a five-kilogram sack of potting soil. He was walking when two plain SUVs carrying eight police officers in tactical gear pulled up. They wanted to know what was in the bag.

While one officer checked his identification, another inspected the dirt and a third conveyed their concern: that he might be hauling fertilizer to a bomb-making lab.

After 10 minutes, Mr. Arbuckle got his dirt back, along with a warning that anyone in the area could expect similar scrutiny for the rest of the week.

“The cops have been nice so far, but it really feels like a war zone,” Jian Ghomeshi, a CBC Radio host, said outside the national broadcaster's headquarters, across the street from the convention centre where the leaders will meet. As if on cue, a pair of military helicopters chuffed overhead. Moments later, a blue wave of police officers washed around Mr. Ghomeshi on the sidewalk.

Just remember, at a time where our economy is weak and our deficit is large, we're spending $1 billion on this foolishness, which doesn't even factor in the lost business revenues for any business located in downtown Toronto. But who cares about them? Role out the red carpet, blast the trumpets, and bow down: our ruling class has arrived.

End The Fed Song

LYRICS:

'End the Fed'

Human greed is the monster that we cannot seem to kill
It drives evil people to impose their evil will
Ever since the beginning it has been the same way
Michael and his angels against the demons of today

Now the Federal Reserve Bank is the monster's secret lair
It hides behind the government and no one knows it's there
Presidents they come and go but the fed remains the same
Only truth can slay this demon and expose this evil game

Time to rise up
Join the revolution
End the fed
End the fed
The sacred armour of the constitution
Will protect us in our battle for the truth

The main reason you can't pay your bills is the federal reserve
A brotherhood of bankers who control the entire world
They say they're here to help us but that's always been a lie
Now they're bringing down America
While Americans stand by

The founding fathers are rolling in their graves
I guarantee they are
They just would not believe
How we the people can let these things go on
Right under our noses for so long

Time to rise up
Join the revolution
End the fed
End the fed
The sacred armour of the constitution
Will protect us in our battle for the truth

Non-Organic vs. Organic

From here.

Southern Avenger: Israel, the World, and Us

End. The. Wars.

Emma Kaplan and former Army Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, veteran of the war in Afghanistan, speaking at at UC Santa Barbara on May 7, 2010.

Glenn Greenwald Drops Truth Bombs on MSNBC

Glenn Greenwald: Who are the real "crazies"?

From here:

Last night, the crazy, hateful, fringe lunatic Ron Paul voted to repeal the Clinton-era Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (or, more accurately, he voted to allow the Pentagon to repeal it if and when it chooses to) -- while 26 normal, sane, upstanding, mainstream House Democrats voted to retain that bigoted policy. Paul explained today that he changed his mind on DADT because gay constituents of his who were forced out of the military convinced him of the policy's wrongness -- how insane and evil he is!

In 2003, the crank lunatic-monster Ron Paul vehemently opposed the invasion of Iraq, while countless sane, normal, upstanding, good-hearted Democrats -- including the current Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Senate Majority Leader, House Majority Leader, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and many of the progressive pundits who love to scorn Ron Paul as insane -- supported the monstrous attack on that country.

In 2008, the sicko Ron Paul opposed the legalization of Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program and the granting of retroactive immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, while the Democratic Congress -- led by the current U.S. President, his Chief of Staff, the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and the House Majority Leader -- overwhelmingly voted it into law. Paul, who apparently belongs in a mental hospital, vehemently condemned America's use of torture from the start, while many leading Democrats were silent (or even supportive), and mainstream, sane Progressive Newsweek and MSNBC pundit Jonathan Alter was explicitly calling for its use. Compare Paul's February, 2010 emphatic condemnation of America's denial of habeas corpus, lawless detentions and presidential assassinations of U.S. citizens to what the current U.S. Government is doing.

The crazed monster Ron Paul also opposes the war in Afghanistan, while the Democratic Congress continues to fund it and even to reject timetables for withdrawal. Paul is an outspoken opponent of the nation's insane, devastating and oppressive "drug war" -- that imprisons hundreds of thousands of Americans with a vastly disparate racial impact and continuously incinerates both billions of dollars and an array of basic liberties -- while virtually no Democrat dares speak against it. Paul crusades against limitless corporate control of government and extreme Federal Reserve secrecy, while the current administration works to preserve it. He was warning of the collapsing dollar and housing bubble at a time when our Nation's Bipartisan Cast of Geniuses were oblivious. In sum, behold the embodiment of clinical, certifiable insanity: anti-DADT, anti-Iraq-war, anti-illegal-domestic-surveillance, anti-drug-war, anti-secrecy, anti-corporatism, anti-telecom-immunity, anti-war-in-Afghanistan.

There's no question that Ron Paul holds some views that are wrong, irrational and even odious. But that's true for just about every single politician in both major political parties (just look at the condition of the U.S. if you doubt that; and note how Ron Paul's anti-abortion views render him an Untouchable for progressives while Harry Reid's anti-abortion views permit him to be a Progressive hero and even Senate Majority Leader). My point isn't that Ron Paul is not crazy; it's that those who self-righteously apply that label to him and to others invariably embrace positions and support politicians at least as "crazy." Indeed, those who support countless insane policies and/or who support politicians in their own party who do -- from the Iraq War to the Drug War, from warrantless eavesdropping and denial of habeas corpus to presidential assassinations and endless war in the Muslim world -- love to spit the "crazy" label at anyone who falls outside of the two-party establishment.

Ron Paul Changes Stance on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

From here:

So why did Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), after supporting "don't ask, don't tell" since its introduction in 1993, vote to begin the process to repeal it?

"I have received several calls and visits from constituents who, in spite of the heavy investment in their training, have been forced out of the military simply because they were discovered to be homosexual," Paul said Friday. "To me, this seems like an awful waste. Personal behavior that is disruptive should be subject to military discipline regardless of whether the individual is heterosexual or homosexual. But to discharge an otherwise well-trained, professional, and highly skilled member of the military for these reasons is unfortunate and makes no financial sense."

Paul's vote was the lone surprise among the five Republicans who bucked their party to vote for the amendment sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Penn.).

Parish President Nungesser Speaks on Federal Government Indeptness in Louisiana

Obama Fail.

Obama had a mandate to remove all combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months of his presidency. Fail.

Rand Paul and the Civil Rights Act

Protecting individual liberty is always hard because our neighbors will not always make decisions we agree with, and will sometimes make decisions we abhor, that is a nature of humanity.

Those who have no respect for individual liberty will always use the mighty and violent arm of the state to stomp on those who say abhorrent things or perform abhorrent actions. While the cause maybe just, the solution is not.

Since Rand Paul won the Republican nomination for the US Senate in Kentucky on Tuesday night, he has spent much of his waking time defending his position on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its encroachment on private property.

Last night he was on the Rachel Maddow Show where Maddow grabbed onto Paul's position on the Civil Rights Act and would not let go. She tried hard to prod him into making a gaffe that could be used as a soundbite, and even though Paul was functioning on very little sleep due to the previous night's celebrations and was probably exhausted from the non-stop interviews he gave throughout the day yesterday, he managed to avoid providing a damaging sound bite. He did, however, present himself and his position very poorly and sounded like a broken record, often avoiding the direct questioning with an answer that always began with "the interesting thing is..." and then he would mumble on about something unintelligible. Again, if you watch the interview, it is clear Paul was exhausted. He did very poorly in providing the intellectual support for his position that does exist and gave much fodder for the media to attack him with today.

That said, today is a new day and thankfully, the intellectual support for Paul's position is coming out of the woodwork. Here is one video blog that provides a clear explanation as to why Paul is on the right in regard to this issue:



On Rachel Maddow's blog, the following comment was posted:

Rachel,

I am a 45 year old Black American male who loves your show but I strongly disagree with you about your position on Rand Paul. Just so you know I voted for Obama and Kerry because I was horrified by both Bush and Palin respectively. Here's where I disagree with you.

1. If someone in the Klan owns a restaurant and doesn't want to serve me, why on earth would I want to support him by giving him my money? I don't want my money going to buy little Klan baby clothes. I'd rather the privately owned establishments wear their racism on their sleeves so I know who to support. If they want to lose my money, and the money of all other minorities and people with brains and a conscience, then fine. Racism is bad business.

2. There's two facts none of us can get around. Churches are still the most segregated places in America every Sunday morning. Its called freedom of religion. There are still restaurants where you can't go in D.C. and I can't go in Georgia. That's called tribalism. Integration cannot be forced privately, only publicly. Tribalism cannot be defeated by legislation. Freedom of speech and of religion means also freedom of @!$%#s. I prefer them with their hoods off.

3. I respectfully say that I think you're wrong to imply that Rand Paul is a racist for believing that

Woolworth's should be allowed to be segregated. I will go on the record right now and state that I believe that Woolworth's and any other privately owned business should be allowed to be segregated. We Black's have a choice now that we didn't back before the Civil Rights Act. Why would I want to support cracker ass Woolworth's if that's who owns the store? I'll take my money elswhere. If you had your way, I wouldn't know one from the other. I hope we can one day agree to let Woolworth's be free to take off its Klan Hood so you and I both know where to spend our money. Its not like and oil company. We all "have to" buy gasoline for now. We blacks have a choice which lunch counter we want to sit at in 2010. Rand Paul stated that when violence occurred it was wrong. He said it was morally reprehensible and he would never support it? He shouldn't be smeared as a racist.

I love you to pieces and as a person of color I identify with your pain, but I'm glad these racists and homophobes want to come out into the open now. I don't think Rand Paul is one of them.

Oteil Burbridge

Bassist Allman Brothers Band

Lawrenceville, Georgia

Also, as Paul gets attacked mistakenly as someone who would support Woolworth's right to segregate lunch counters back in 1960, we should all remember that it was not the Civil Rights Act that desegregated Woolworth's lunch counters, it was the people protesting just as Paul says he would too.

Paul will be on Meet the Press on Sunday. Hopefully he can diffuse the attacks on national television.

Obama Jokes About His Power To Kill. Not Funny.

Rand Paul Wins Republican Primary

Rand Paul Makes GlobeandMail Front Page

Rand Paul is on the front page of the GlobeandMail today. Even during Ron Paul's run in 2008, to my knowledge, he was never on the front page of the Globe and Mail.

You can find the article here.

Rand Paul's Primary is Today.

Schwarzenegger Makes Tough Decisions; Is Nova Scotia Heading In A Similar Direction?

RawStory.com has an article here in regard to the cuts coming out of the Governator's office in California.

Here's a list of some programs that will be hit by the budget cuts:

• California's welfare-to-work program
• Childcare for low-income families
• Community mental health
• A freeze on local school funding
• Cuts to state workers' pay
• State worker pension reform
• State parks
• Prison system

The transition individuals who depend on these programs will experience as they find new solutions will certainly be painful. Local governments and communities will certainly have to step up to assist their neighbors in need. Thankfully, the new budget does not increase taxes which would be devastating to an economy suffering 12.6% unemployment.

There is a large amount of opposition to the budget, but no other real solutions are being offered to fill the $19.1 billion budget deficit. In fact,  Schwarzenegger's budget only closes the gap by $12.4 billion, leaving $6.7 billion in deficit spending for a State government already drowning in debt. While the state Democrats are attacking the Governor for the cuts, fiscal conservatives could make a strong argument that this budget is too liberal as is and further cuts are required to address the remaining deficit.

Earlier today I was listening to Marc Faber discuss why he was long on the Euro over the US dollar even though many believe the Euro will take a big hit as the EU attempts to bail out Greece. His primary reason for picking the US dollar over the Euro was California. The bankruptcy (or bailout) of the State of California, because it is significantly larger than Greece, will burden the US economy far more than the bankruptcy of Greece will damage the European economy. In the new budget, California is counting on $3.4 billion in help from China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Europe Washington, D.C., and one can only believe that will be just the beginning of what it will take to get California back on its feet as the state continues to run massive deficits.

Now. Take a hard look at your national or regional government and the people running it. Are they enabling a situation to occur similar to that of California or Greece? Are they further indebting the public they are supposed to serve and leading them to an era of poverty?

Here in Nova Scotia the NDP recently passed a budget running a $222 million deficit. Nova Scotia's total debt is $14 billion, with a 36.9% debt-to-GDP ratio. In Canada, this is second only to Quebec.

Bruce Wark from The Coast made the following commentary in regard to Nova Scotia's debt:

I quickly flipped to the budget table showing government expenses: $3.6 billion for health; $1.3 billion for education; $971 million for social supports such as welfare, money for poor kids and public housing. All that added up to more than $5.8 billion or almost two-thirds of Steele's $9 billion budget. Health, education and welfare must, therefore, be largely responsible for the elephantine NS debt, I concluded.

My reasoning stirred more nagging questions. Why does our technology-driven health system put expensive band-aids on the ailments of affluence---heart disease and stroke, cancer and diabetes----when real health depends on things like adequate nutrition, loving relationships, plenty of leisure and a decent income? Ka-ching! Why do we coop young people up in classrooms for at least 15 years memorizing stuff they could learn in half the time and saddling them with serious debt in exchange for the paper credentials required to get a good job? Ka-ching! And could it be that we spend almost $1 billion every year supporting people who fall through the cracks because we'd rather maintain an expensive poverty system than work toward shrinking the income gap between richest and poorest?

With the Bank of Canada keeping interest rates near 0, Provincial governments have been enabled to borrow to destroy business stimulate economies through the recession. Governments, like the Province of Nova Scotia, typically even bring out a committee of witch doctors statist & keynesian economists promoting the deficits to promote job growth (all the while ignoring that fact that deficit spending for the past decade hasn't helped Nova Scotia job growth).

Is a province like Nova Scotia in dire straights currently? Nope. But just wait until interest rates rise, and they will.

During the early 1970s the US inflated their currency much like the Bank of Canada is doing right now. They did it to pay for government deficits and an unjust war in Vietnam. By the end of the decade the country was suffering through stagflation; the economy was in a recession and price-inflation was on the rise in a big way. The Federal Reserve could have continued to inflate, sending the economy into a hyper-inflationary spiral (like the Weimar Republic in Germany, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and many other irresponsible governments) or they could raise interest rates as high as 21% to choke off the inflation. They raised interest rates, choked off inflation and stablized the economy. If government debt then had been as large as it is today, many western governments would have been forced to default due to massive increases in interest payments (much like many Americans were forced to default on their mortgages after their teaser rates jumped).

In years to come Canada will face a similar decision. We're borrowing large amounts of money to pay for our governments' deficits and an unjust war. Due to the inflationary policies of the Bank of Canada over the past few years, we too will face the option of hyper-inflation or spiked interest rates. If we choose spiked interest rates, our governments are screwed. Interest payments will consume significant portions of government budgets forcing higher taxes, massive budget cuts, or both. If we choose hyper-inflation we're all screwed anyway, so fuck it.

Patent Absurdity

Must Watch Documentary

Meltup - The beginning of a U.S. currency crisis and hyperinflation.

Stand Back!

Found on LewRockwell.com.

Latest Example of Police Brutality

B.J. Lawson Wins Primary

Grayson Gets It Right On The Fed

Southern Avenger: Rand Paul, Jim DeMint and the GOP

Sanders Flakes

Is America Turning Into A Police State?

From the Cato Institute:

Americans have long maintained that a man's home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they're sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects.

Calvin and Hobbes vs. Christopher Robin and Pooh

From here.

With ads like these...

...who can still say that taxation isn't robbery? If it was a mutual agreement, would the State of Pennsylvania have to intimidate its citizens like this?

My Life In Tech Support

From here.

The Love Police

Putting A Freeze On Things

Architect Talks About Collapse of WTC

Dr. Laurence Vance on Drugs (he's not on drugs, he's just talking about them)

Arizona Turning Fascist

A Speech By A War Veteran

I DO NOT CARE ABOUT RAHIM JAFFAR OR HELENA GUERGIS

Every day I hear or read something about these two. I do not want to anymore. I do not care about them. Even if they did something illegal, let the RCMP take care of it. Leave it out of the news. There is no need for there to be a headline every day involving these two; there is no need for their names to be brought up on the radio. I spent my 15 minute drive into work this morning listening to a political talk show on CBC talk about whether it was right or not for Jaffar to be lobbying when he's not a registered lobbyist...I DO NOT CARE.

There are more important events occurring in the world right now on which our esteemed media should be taking time to discuss. Perhaps they could discuss the Conservatives attempt to pass the fascist Combatting Terrorism Act, in which suspects can be arrested without charge and have testimony "compelled" from them by a judge. Don't worry though, the liberals will defend our civil liberties...except Ignatieff has a bundle of academic work behind him at Harvard supporting such policies. He goes further to support "aggressive interrogations".

When you can't call it torture anymore, you know we're living in an animal farm....

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

Obama's Private Army

Family Guy must have a Ron Paul supporter writing for it

Extremist Blames Man-Made Climate Change (or Global Warming depending on the propagandist you ask) For Eyjafjallajokull

I admit it. It is fully possible that the climate is changing due to the actions of man. Whether it is having a net negative or positive affect, whether it is a crisis or not a crisis, is hard to tell. Why? Because ass-holes like Alan Weisman are given space on mainstream news websites to write the following completely unsupported nonsense:

As they flow off the land, we are warned, seas rise. Yet something else is lately worrying geologists: the likelihood that the Earth's crust, relieved of so much formidable weight of ice borne for many thousands of years, has begun to stretch and rebound.

As it does, a volcano awakens in Iceland (with another, larger and adjacent to still-erupting Eyjafjallajokull, threatening to detonate next). The Earth shudders in Haiti. Then Chile. Then western China. Mexicali-Calexico. The Solomon Islands. Spain. New Guinea. And those are just the big ones, 6+ on the Richter scale, and just in 2010. And it's only April.

People like this, who have no data and only their own imagination to support their statements, give climate science in general a bad name to any individual who would like see real conclusions from real data. He clouds reality with his bullshit and anyone who believes climate change is a crisis should write this moron off, and if possible, tell him to shut the fuck up.

The Story Of Your Enslavement

Ron Paul on HardBall

Spending Like A Drunken Sailor

The Asset That Backs National Debt

Bankrupting America

Southern Avenger: Smells Like Ron Paul Spirit

Tea Party Racism

Ron Paul: My Battle Against the Fed

The Cultural Upheaval of Loose Money

Liberty Organizations Overtake CPAC 2010