Shifting Toward an Un-Free Market

Bill Bonner laments the demise of the Pontiac and ponders the rationale for nationalizing the automobile businesses.

The Extortion Economy

Credit Suisse received a call from the Federal Reserve. The Fed, the voice on the other end chirped, was calling to congratulate the international financial giant on its prudence, Credit Suisse having admirably avoided becoming enmeshed in the subprime mortgage debacle. Bureaucracies not typically being in the business of issuing gold stars, the call was out of character.

The Fed’s representative continued, “Now we’ll need you to buy up some of the toxic assets”. But why would Credit Suisse do that, their employee asked, when they were one of the few major financial firms wise enough to avoid the investments in the first place? The Fed’s response was chilling: “Because someday you’ll need us”.

Welcome to the extortion economy.

The heavy hand of government works in mischievous and devious ways. Troy Senik points out some of the shenanigans.

A Century of Bipartisan Tyranny

It should be abundantly clear that the left-right, Republican-Democrat dichotomy that we have been divided by over the past century has been one, vast Jedi mind trick. Over and over, the political ruling class has divided us with acrimony over meaningless, fringe issues while the two parties have consistently collaborated to loot our wealth, rob us of our liberty and dignity, and transform American society from one built upon self-reliance, personal responsibility, and the rule of just laws to one built upon dependence, fear, and legal plunder. It is past time for a third party movement. It is time for Americans to reject the paradigm of political party altogether. The answer to the problem of political gangs using the brute force of government to rob its people is not to form a rival gang and try to compete for or share in the plunder. The answer is to dissolve the two rival gangs and replace them with nothing.

Anarchy anyone? Tom Mullen describes how the two parties feint with acrimony to deceive us while they attack with collusion to enslave us. He has hope that revolution is imminent. We hope he is right but we are uncertain that we will see it in our lifetime.

Government Help Hurts

Credit cards are a demagogue's dream come true. What better way to win public affection than to rail against banks for their harsh terms? In the politicians' morality play, creditors are the villains and debtors their helpless victims.

A little context first: No one has a natural right to a credit card. Someone has to be willing to undertake the risk in issuing it. Banks issue cards in their quest for profits. Nothing wrong with that.

Think about what a credit card is.

Credit card debt may be next on the bailout agenda. Many consumers have piled up more debt than they can repay and politicians are eager to come to their "aid". Do you want to pay your neighbor's debt with your taxes?

The Housing Boom and Bust

Who could be against "the American dream" of home ownership or so mean-spirited as to ask how much it would cost the taxpayers or what risks it would create for the whole financial system? Certainly not most Democrats or Republicans in Congress or the White House.

The media were also part of this crusade for more home ownership, more widely available. If some segments of the population did not own homes as much as others, that just showed that there was something wrong with the mortgage lending process, as far as editorial office philosophers were concerned.

Thomas Sowell plugs his new book which examines the causes of the problems in the financial markets and the housing markets (Hint: they were not caused by laissez-faire free markets).

The Choice Between Capitalism and Socialism

After our conversation, I shook his hand warmly and told him we were happy to have him here. But that one question he asked kept haunting me. "Do you want your child to learn the rules?"[Emphasis added]

It struck me that this is not just the question he had to ask himself when he decided to leave Russia. It is the question we Americans ought to be asking ourselves right now. Do we want to live in a society where the state has such a predominant role that you get live [sic] a decent life if you know the rules? Do we want our children to learn those rules—the rules they will have to follow to show their proper subordination to the power of the government and those who run it?

That is what socialism is about.

Robert Tracinski talked to a doctor who emigrated from Russia about why he left and why he came here. The conversation prompted him to consider where America is going.

Secession: the Ultimate States' Right

Secession is the last resort of states whose sovereignty is over-ridden by an overreaching federal government. The federal government has only itself to blame for this talk. Recently, some states have enacted laws allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana, yet these laws are basically voided by the continuing raids by the DEA, sanctioned by the administration. The federal government is also strong-arming states with stimulus money, forcing them to expand programs they know they will not be able to afford in the future, at a time when many states’ budgets are already in the red. This is not a new problem.

There are a few who are starting to grumble about the government's heavy handed tactics. Governor Rick Perry used the S(ecession) word during a Tea Party in Texas and helped renew the debate over States' rights.

The Bubble in Real Life

Artificially lower interest rates cause future spending to happen now – that's the boom. But there's a limit to how long they can keep forcing the future into the present – it creates a big gap at some point, and that's the bust. What the politicians call "stimulating the economy" always amounts to nothing more than accelerating future economic growth to the present, creating a current boom and a future bust. And of course, things in the economy as a whole move slowly, so these economic cycles are longer than our election cycles. That's why the politicians have an incentive to do it.

When they force future spending into the present, it's absolutely inevitable that there will be a bust at some point. That's what we see here.

It's a microcosm of the bubble.

Myron Weber explains the boom and bust so that we regular folks can understand it and, as you probably guessed, government involvement was a prime factor.

Congressman Paul on the Recent Swine Flu Scare

Worried about Swine Flu? Listen to the doctor. Dr. Ron Paul explains the hazards of government intervention.

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?

The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."

Does drug decriminalization work? It did in Portugal. Will it work here? It would, but our leaders are too entrenched in their positions and too entangled in their rhetoric to consider proposing it.

Are Banks Struggling, or Scamming?

First-time homebuyers with their giant government gift of money may have reason to buy. And financially stable homeowners are refinancing. But in the effort to get the economy rolling again, this doesn't carry much of a punch.

Few others can pull the trigger. Many consumers are so far in debt that the idea is unthinkable. Others cannot see how they can put money to profitable use. Buy new machinery when the equipment you have is already idle? Investing in industrial bonds is not a bad idea-- unless the company issuing the bonds suddenly suspends payment on them and slides into bankruptcy.

For many people, this is the time to hunker down. If they go to the mall, it's to look.

Nicholas Von Hoffman examines the failure (so far?) of the stimuli and bailouts to get us back to the halcyon days of yore.

Like Thoreau, I drank deep from nature

[S]ince childhood I had dreamed of finding a wild place where I would build a cabin and live simply and cleanly, close to nature. In recent months the dream had returned to haunt me, fuelled by my discovery of Walden; Or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau. A friend had given me the book, little realising the effect it would have on my life. Thoreau, too, had become disillusioned with the trappings of modern society (albeit in the 1840s) and had retreated to nature in search of a simpler, more self-sufficient way of living. His description of his sojourn in the woods and the reasons why he went there put my own feelings almost uncannily into words. Among other factors, the book was the philosophical catalyst I needed to change my life.

The dream of getting out of the Rat Race, otherwise known as a career, is, for most of us, just that; a dream which crops up from time to time, only to be dismissed as impractical and wistful thinking. Perhaps it is, unless you have the gumption to live your dream as the author of this story did.

Escape to the Caymans?

Cayman Islands
ESCAPE - INVEST

• Politically stable
• Safe, secure
• Modern Land Registry backed by CI Gov't
• Developed Infrastructure
• Good communications

Why Cayman?
Why NOW?

• No property tax
• No capital gains tax
• No inheritance tax
• No income tax
• No restrictions on foreign ownership

The Cayman Islands have some strong incentives to encourage your investments in real estate. NO taxes! The US taxes are endless. Government extorts these taxes from Americans while giving exemptions to foreign investors. It's little wonder we read about politicians who own all those offshore properties. They know how the game is played. If you have money to invest in some offshore propery, here's the link.

China Shows Who the Real Boss Is at USA Inc.

The nice thing about owning your own business is that you get to call the shots. Want to take the day off? Take the day off. Want to reupholster the office in pink, candy-striped vinyl? Go right ahead and have at it.

Along the same lines, I give you China — an ever-increasing stakeholder and now permanent board member at USA Inc.

Over the past few years the Chinese have plowed over $2 trillion into USA Inc. And since joining the management team they have been a [1] bold and aggressive partne[1] r in shaping the company’s policy both domestically and abroad.

One can only sympathize with the outranked managing director (President Obama) as he tries to keep USA Inc. employees (that would be us) satisfied, while at the same time keeping the Chinese members of the board of directors happy as well.

The chart below - Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities - is a partial list. Go to the US Treasury website to see the entire chart. That's a lot of chickens waiting to come home to roost. (By the way, those numbers are in BILLIONS of dollars)

Savers are still paying for Fed’s gift to banks

To save the banks from soaring loan losses, the Federal Reserve did what it always does when the industry gets into trouble: Policymakers hacked their benchmark short-term interest rate, which in turn pulled down all other short-term rates, including on savings vehicles.

But this time the Fed went to rock-bottom on rates. In December, the central bank declared that it would allow its benchmark rate to fall as low as zero.

Savers still are paying the price for that gift to the banks. Average rates on certificates of deposit nationwide have continued to slide this year, according to rate tracker Informa Research Services in Calabasas.

The average yield on a six-month CD fell to 1.27% this week, down from 1.86% on Jan. 1 and 2.24% a year ago.

Anyone who has a CD maturing soon should be prepared for serious sticker shock.

Frugal savers are being punished by the Fed's policy of reducing interest rates to near zero. Senior citizens, seeking an alternative to the plummeting stock market, who reinvested their 401k's into IRA's or money market accounts are accruing little or no interest on their balance sheets.

Wrisley's Advice

Having never been to Economists' School, we personally rely solely on our observations and instinct in these matters, and see the monetary landscape presently under the influence of deflation...not inflation, hyper or otherwise. Our main barometer is the price of gold. General commodity prices are also waving the deflation banner.

Deflation means that money is in short supply. Inflation means there's too much of it flooding the economy and it drives up prices. Hyper-inflation means...well...Weimar Germany or present-day Zimbabwe. We're not suggesting that monetary inflation won't eventually burst upon the scene. We are saying that deflation has the upper hand at the moment.

IF THE READER IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT HIGH INFLATION LIES DIRECTLY AHEAD HE OR SHE SHOULD TAKE ON DEBT AND BUY UP SENSIBLE ASSETS. THE DEBT WILL BE PAID BACK BY CHEAPER DOLLARS. THE LENDER WILL LOSE ON THE DEAL.

BUT...WE'RE STILL ADVISING CAUTION. TO ANYONE WHO'LL LISTEN WE'RE SUGGESTING A BORING, OLD-FASHIONED APPROACH: PAY OFF CURRENT DEBT...ACCUMULATE ASSETS ONE CAN LIQUIDATE AS NECESSARY IN CASE OF TROUBLE.

Our Friend John Wrisley offers some advice for these troubling times.

The Truth About Voting

Until we have a legitimate third party option, we will continue to abstain from voting, for neither Republicans nor Democrats provide a choice for smaller and limited government. This video from freedomainradio.com is in concurrence with our thoughts. I guess we should caution that Stefan Molyneux is passionate and uses some profanity but we think you should "man up" and give him a listen anyway.

Maxed Out

Anyone who carries a credit card knows that billing practices have become much more aggressive, punitive, and seemingly arbitrary over recent years. Sadly, these fees have become one of the only means the companies can use to compensate for the increasing defaults on their unsecured loans.

By mandating that the credit card companies lower their fees, the government will severely hinder their tenuous profitability. In order to avoid bankruptcy, the companies will have to deny credit to marginal borrowers, which would reverse the “easy access” policies that have defined the industry over the last generation. The resulting contraction in consumer credit will run contrary to current Administration efforts to keep Americans spending. The horns of this dilemma are completely missed in Washington.

Debit or credit cards provide owners to access pre-approved credit up to an established maximum amount at an interest rate established by the contract (Note: Read the fine print or pay the cards off each month) agreed to by the signee. This is a private covenant between the issuer and the user. Penalties apply if either violate the agreement.

Money & Power Corrupt. Would They Corrupt You?

Let's say the government created a new program. Federal agents show up at your door and say, "We want to offer you a chance to help our economy recover." They give you a printing press and say they will allow you to print your own money for one month with no limits. "It will be good for the economy," They say. They leave and there you are with a printing press and your government's blessing. Wow! You hit the jackpot! What would you do? Would you print just enough money to pay your bills and eat? Would you print enough money to improve your lifestyle? How about feeding the hungry or maybe giving enough money to get medicine to the poor? Think of all the people you could help! You could save your neighbors' homes and local businesses. You would be admired, worshiped and a hero.

Why the Fed's attempt to "save" the economy by inflating the money supply will not work is explained by Andy Wright.

A Nation of Helpless Idiots

The Metropolitan Emergency Managers Committee is kind enough to include a video version of “Identifying Terrorists for Dummies.” In the video, actors play out the seven signs so you can learn what a terrorist looks like. Accordingly, “anything out of the ordinary” is deemed a “possible terrorist plot or threat,” and it is stressed that such abnormal behavior must be seriously assessed and investigated. At 3:55 of the propaganda production, a jogger runs by a man on a park bench writing in his notepad. I looked for signs of grenades, big ole bombs ‘neath the bench, or an assemblage of scary-looking darkies toting box cutters in the background, but no such thing is apparent. However, since spending time alone to write in a notepad outdoors is a highly suspicious, deviant, and subversive activity, the jogger, disturbed by the sinister notebook, stops to pull out her cell phone and call the police.

Seen any suspicious characters lately? Call 911!

Why Obama Now Has Big Business Trained like the New White House Puppy Bo!

The question I have is pretty simple: how come we're letting Obama abandon capitalism after only two bad years (1929 and 2008) in the last century? Yet we're putting government in charge, when government has never in history EVER had one single good year. Not one.

Government loses money every second of every day. Every department of government bleeds loses every year. Government has never heard of a profit. Government simply spends and loses trillions of dollars every year of its existence, then raises taxes next year, and somehow still manages to run a huge deficit. Government only survives because it asks capitalism and capitalists to bail out its losses, waste, corruption and inefficiency every single year (with the power of taxation). Name one year that government has ever succeeded in making a profit?

Because it's not their money, government does not invest it with the care of those who stand to lose their own money. And, because it can take more money when its funds are depleted, government is not motivated to be profitable.

How Things Change Out From Under Us

Anyone who has been around for a while and who pays any attention to the news sees many disturbing changes. Recently, I read a report that two children, ages seven and eight, had an altercation at school during recess. They were carted off in handcuffs by the police. The teachers or principal had dealt with the boys’ disagreement by calling in the law.

I wonder if the kids now have felonious assault records that will cancel their Second Amendment rights when they come of age.

When I was a kid there were no age limits to the Second Amendment. We all had firearms before we reached puberty. Anyone with the money could purchase a .22 caliber rifle at the local hardware store. If you were too young to see over the counter, the proprietor might call your parents to get an OK. You could purchase .22 caliber ammunition and shotgun shells at most any gas station.

None of us ever shot anyone or any farmer’s cow or mule. There were no gun accidents among my armed companions.

The nanny state, supported by whiners and snivelers, has changed the American psyche from self reliance to state reliance.

The Case for a Federalism Amendment

How the Tea Partiers can make Washington pay attention.

In response to an unprecedented expansion of federal power, citizens have held hundreds of "tea party" rallies around the country, and various states are considering "sovereignty resolutions" invoking the Constitution's Ninth and Tenth Amendments. For example, Michigan's proposal urges "the federal government to halt its practice of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States."

While well-intentioned, such symbolic resolutions are not likely to have the slightest impact on the federal courts, which long ago adopted a virtually unlimited construction of Congressional power. But state legislatures have a real power under the Constitution by which to resist the growth of federal power: They can petition Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the Constitution.

Randy E. Barnett has a proposal to curb the abuse of power of the federal government.

A Leak of the Stress Tests?

Did you see where President Obama has asked for $100 million to be cut from the budget? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s like removing a bucket of sand from a beach! But, I’d rather let you see what my friends Ian Mathias and Addison Wiggin over at the 5 Minute Forecast had to say about this announcement… Here’s The 5…

“These radical cuts will come by ‘purchasing office supplies in bulk’ and teleconferencing when applicable. And they account for roughly five one hundredths of a percent of last month’s – just March’s – $192 billion federal budget deficit!

“Ooooh…

“That’s like making a $5 payment on a $10,000 monthly credit card bill.

“If your neighbor sent the bank a check for $100 on a $200,000 loan, he’d be a bum on the verge of personal collapse – the village idiot. In Washington, he’d be the leader of the free world.”

Obama promised to look at the budget "line by line" and eliminate wasteful spending. This is a very slow start on that process.

Seeing Through the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve, a central bank, runs monetary policy, sets interest rates, pumps liquidity into insolvent banks, buys and sells government securities, issues paper currency and controls the money supply. Since its founding in 1914, this very important banking monopoly has enjoyed unparalleled secrecy.

Unlike even the CIA, the Fed doesn't answer to a congressional committee, has no budget, and is never meaningfully audited. It meets behind closed doors. Transcripts are made public only after five years.

The Fed is secretive about it's manipulations of the money supply. Many are alarmed about the surreptitious transactions and are calling for transparency.

Prohibition spawns drug violence

Visiting Mexico last week, President Obama said he will fight drug violence: "I will not pretend that this is Mexico's responsibility alone. The demand for these drugs inside the United States is keeping these cartels in business".

I don't expect politicians to be sticklers for logic, but this is ridiculous. Americans also have a hefty demand for Mexican beer, but there are no "Mexican beer cartels." When Obama visits France, he doesn't consult with politicians about "wine violence." What's happening on the Mexican border is prohibition-caused violence.

The stylish Pogo once said "We have met the enemy and he is us." This certainly applies to the War on Drugs.

Why Gold Owners Are Targets of the Government

If you own gold, you are in a war. You are under assault. You had better figure this out early.

There is a full-scale war against you. The politicians and central bankers who are conducting this war against you are determined to see that you lose money on your investment.

I have written a detailed report on this: The Gold Wars. You can download it free of charge.

The reason why you are under assault is because you have demonstrated by your purchase of gold or a gold-related investment that you do not trust the monetary policies of your nation's central bank. If you are an American, this means you do not trust the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve System. You have taken a step that confirms your lack of trust in the government and its central bank. If you think the government and the central bank will sit quietly, while millions of citizens buy gold as a way to hedge against government and central bank policies, you are terminally naïve.

Gary North - excellent article on the perils of owning gold and and the dangers of not owning gold.

Survivalists 2.0: Regular people get ready for the worst

“You turn on the news and only hear about job losses and the prospect that things are going to get worse than better,” he said. “You see signals that the world is full of nasty things you need to avoid. You’ve engaged in this general sense of avoidance. You are trying to focus on safety concerns.”

Markman said the trend is not surprising, given the economy.

What exactly preppers are preparing for isn’t specific. It could be a layoff, tornado, global pandemic or nuclear war.

Internet sites devoted to survivalism often refer to scenarios like TEOTWAWKI, an acronym for “the end of the world as we know it.”

“I am prepared for just about any disaster that disrupts everyday living,” said Bob, 43, a sales manager from eastern Pennsylvania who runs www.thinkprepared.net.

“ ... The economy is at the forefront of my concerns. The unemployment rate is soaring, and most people are not prepared to be without a paycheck for a week, much less a month or longer,” Bob said.

Businesses that sell storable foods, disaster shelters and guns are thriving.

Passing the Torch

Maybe the news trade didn’t build character, but it built characters. Marquis, Mauldin, Royko, Charlie Reese, Smith Hempstone, Paul Vogel, names ancient and less so, mostly unknown in the wider world. Over drinks, usually lots of drinks, they told wild stores in the press bars of Taipei and Joburg, stories both impossible and sometimes true.

There was Six-Pack Muldoon, a chopper pilot working in Southeast Asia. Always flew with an open six-pack in the cockpit. Asked why, he said, “In thirty years of flying, I’ve only crashed twice. Both times I was sober. I’m not going to risk it again.”

That world is gone. The news biz has been sanitized, made polite and tedious, like a family pool hall with orange felt and no betting.

Reminiscing about days gone by - no one can do it better than Fred Reed.

Responses to Piracy

First and foremost, the people and entities closest to the situation need to be empowered to defend themselves. In the case of private shipping companies, the owners and operators need to be allowed to carry weapons to deter and defend from attacks. But because many governments, including ours, have anti-gun laws in place in ports and territorial waters, ironically to discourage piracy, it is nearly impossible to legally carry weapons at sea for peaceful and defensive purposes. This sets up the predictable situation that only criminals and military vessels remain armed, making legitimate shipping operations ridiculously easy prey.

The simplest and cheapest solution to piracy is to allow ships to arm themselves against pirates. We suspect that whatever government solution is eventually imposed will be more complicated, expensive and ineffective.

The Tea Parties: We’ve Seen It All Before

The real reason that Conservatives have suddenly discovered a distrust of government, of course, is that they’re out of power. It’s not as if the deficit wasn’t outrageously large last year, and it’s not as if the Bush administration wasn’t out-spending even the LBJ administration on all its pork projects, endless wars, and prescription drug programs for eight long years.

The GOP, the Party extolled by Conservatives every two years as mankind’s last great hope for civilization, racked up deficits and spent sums of money far greater than that ever suggested by Clinton or Carter, and yet now, all of a sudden, Conservatives turn out and would have us believe that they’re opposed to big government.

George W. Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative." He was neither compassionate nor conservative. With a Republican Congress at his back for the first six years of his Presidency, his tenure ramped up the federal deficit and trampled on personal liberty. The Democrats are picking up the torch of GWB and running in the same direction. We do not have a two party system because the differences between Republicans and Democrats are inconsequential.

Is there any gold inside Fort Knox, the world's most secure vault?

It is said to be the most impregnable vault on Earth: built out of granite, sealed behind a 22-tonne door, located on a US military base and watched over day and night by army units with tanks, heavy artillery and Apache helicopter gunships at their disposal.

Since its construction in 1937 the treasures locked inside Fort Knox have included the US Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, three volumes of the Gutenberg Bible and Magna Carta.

For several prominent investors and at least one senior US congressman it is not the security of the facility in Kentucky that is a cause of concern: it is the matter of how much gold remains stored there - and who owns it.

It has been several decades since we have had an independent audit of the gold in Fort Knox. Ron Paul has a bill pending in Congress which would require an accounting of the gold and determine if allegations of shenanigans with the bullion are true. It's interesting to note that all the gold in Fort Knox - if it is there - is worth less than $250 billion, about what we've spent on AIG bailouts.

Not All Economists Agree

When private citizens invest their own capital, those who invest wisely are rewarded with profits, while those who do not are punished with losses. Bad investments are therefore abandoned, with capital reallocated to more successful ventures. Conversely, when governments invest money, these checks and balances do not exist. There is nothing to correct bad investments, as losses are endlessly subsidized by taxpayers. In fact, the more a government plan fails, the more it tends to be funded in the hope that additional resources will finally achieve success.

President Obama said the other day that "economists on the left and right agree that the last thing the government should do during a recession is cut back on spending." Peter Schiff is an economist and takes exception to the notion that we can spend our way out of a recession.

Great Myths of the Great Depression

A Modern Fairy Tale

According to this simplistic perspective, an important pillar of capitalism, the stock market, crashed and dragged America into depression. President Herbert Hoover, an advocate of “hands-off,” or laissez-faire, economic policy, refused to use the power of government and conditions worsened as a result. It was up to Hoover’s successor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to ride in on the white horse of government intervention and steer the nation toward recovery. The apparent lesson to be drawn is that capitalism cannot be trusted; government needs to take an active role in the economy to save us from inevitable decline.

But those who propagate this version of history might just as well top off their remarks by saying, “And Goldilocks found her way out of the forest, Dorothy made it from Oz back to Kansas, and Little Red Riding Hood won the New York State Lottery.” The popular account of the Depression as outlined above belongs in a book of fairy tales and not in a serious discussion of economic history.

What calumny is this? We learned in school that FDR saved us from disaster during the Great Depression. Didn't he build those dams in Tennessee and run the banks? Well, let's review the facts by reading this free online book, Great Myths of the Great Depression by Lawrence W. Reed.

"Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic And Political Climate Fueling Resurgence In Radicalization And Recruitment."

I've said time and time again that the government (think Eric Holder's hate speech) is trying to fan the flames of a race war in this country. And they are trying to set it up so that they can blame peoples' rebellion on the fact that Obama is (half) black and not the fact that the government, under Bush and now Obama, has stepped up its totalitarian, Communist, Fascist, Socialist agenda faster than ever. And now that the economic boom period - which provided enough false prosperity to paint over the underlying gloom - has been shattered, people are waking up out of their (mostly jobless) slumber, and they are looking to fight back.

Their logic goes something like this - if you don't like Obama's policies, and since Obama is black, you don't like blacks; ergo, you are a racist. Karen De Coster explains how government and the media use charges of racism to deflect crticism of government policies.

Are You a Terrorist?

Our friend Bubba took the Are You a Terrorist? quiz and is now on Janet Napolitano's watch list. You too can take the quiz here but be careful. Big Sis is watching.

The Forgotten Right

America was founded upon the idea that each individual had an unqualified right to the fruits of his labor.[4] This more than anything was what the founders meant when they spoke the word "liberty." It was the extent to which this right was respected that made America different than every other society in history, before or since. This was the great secret that made America the engine of prosperity and innovation that it was. This is what made America the land of opportunity to change one's lot in life. It was this right that gave birth to the American dream.

However, we no longer hold this right up above all others. Instead, we have become a society that is based upon competing groups seeking to plunder each other via the force of government. The rich plunder their neighbors with corporate bailouts, subsidies, and regulatory fascism.

The government has grown over large by pitting Americans against Americans - demanding alms from some and awarding pittances to others while keeping the largesse to maintain its bloated escalation.

A 'Copper Standard' for the world's currency system?

China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) has instead been buying copper and other industrial metals over recent months on a scale that appears to go beyond the usual rebuilding of stocks for commercial reasons.

Nobu Su, head of Taiwan's TMT group, which ships commodities to China, said Beijing is trying to extricate itself from dollar dependency as fast as it can.

"China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. The Chinese are buying raw materials because it is a much better way to use their $1.9 trillion of reserves. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure for 50 years."

China has lots of US dollars. We buy their products with them. China is investing their dollars by buying industrial metals to be used for production of more products before the dollar becomes worthless.

“Right-Wing Extremist” instruction kit

Hi kids! By now, most of you have already heard about the Department of Homeland Security’s recent memo regarding right-wing extremists and the danger they pose to our society. You’ve probably heard that these individuals may in fact support such radical and dangerous concepts as:

- limiting the power of the federal government to confiscate your earnings

- private ownership of firearms

- the Constitution of the United States

Now I know you’re probably wondering, “Gee! How can I become an extremist?”

A little gallows humor here. Be sure to read the footnote below Janet Napolitano's photo.

Peter Schiff's advice on fighting inflationary depression

We’ve spent a long time squandering wealth in this country. We’ve borrowed a lot of money and foolishly used it to consume. We’ve allowed our industrial base to disintegrate, and it’s going to be difficult to rebuild a viable economy. But we’re never going to rebuild one if the government stands in the way. What the government is doing now with their polices is trying to reflate the bubble; they’re trying to get Americans to borrow and spend even more money when we’re broke from the money that we shouldn’t have borrowed and spent in the first place. And the government is trying to get itself bigger. The government is trying to grow its size at a time when it needs to contract because we’re really too broke to afford a bloated government.

This is as clear and concise an explanation of the problem you're likely to hear but our government does not want to accept this analysis.

Making it personal

$6.9 trillion in public debt breaks down to $22,549 per citizen. Foreign entities held $3.07 trillion in Treasury debt at the end of January 2009, 45% of the public holding. Foreign ownership will have to rise sharply this year.

Huge shortfalls mean massive borrowing. Our government will have to borrow much of the money available in global markets this year. Across the course of 2009, the US Treasury will borrow $2.25 trillion, or $7,352 per person. That amounts to over 20% of average disposable personal income. Our plans are contingent on massive and global demand for our debt despite the low interest rates we offer. If there is a stumble on that front, it will not be pretty.

The numbers are staggering. Billions and trillions of dollars for bailouts, budgets, debt and spending. It numbs the senses and defies comprehension. Maybe we could relate better if the numbers were broken down into smaller numbers by dividing them all by 306,000,000, the population of the US based on 2009 census data.

War Is Generational Theft

Bush saw a terror crisis and spent like there was no tomorrow. Obama sees an economic crisis and spends pretty much the same and conservatives are rightfully saying "no" to Obama's "generational theft." But debt is debt, and if spending mind-blowing amounts of money to address a domestic crisis is completely unacceptable, why is the same generational theft accepted -- and even encouraged -- by conservatives when it comes to war spending?

The United States has the largest defense budget on earth. At nearly $1.5 trillion in 2008, America accounts for over 50 percent of global defense spending. All the nations of Europe combined spend $289 billion and account for 20 percent of global defense spending. International "menaces," or nations Newt Gingrich calls an "evolving planetary threat" like North Korea and Iran, don't even account for 1 percent, and their annual defense budgets are similar to what the U.S. might spend on the National Endowment for the Arts.

The US cannot seem to stop spending money. Debt is the problem. Spending will not solve it. The empire is going broke.

Napolitano stands by controversial report

warning! When the federal government sends out memoranda like this, look out for your freedom of association and expression!! The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias. ~ John Wrisley

The document is truly terrifying. One can only imagine what is contained in the classified version... My guess is that the sentiments revealed in the report I read are the tip of an iceberg that the Department of Homeland Security would prefer to keep submerged until it needs to reveal it. The iceberg is the heavy hand of government, a government with large and awful eyes, in whose heart there is no love for freedom and on whose face there is no smile. ~ Judge Andrew Napolitano

If you can redefine dissenting opinion as "hate," you can brand your political opponents as "extremists" -- and you can marginalize electoral threats. "Antigovernment"? "Pro-enforcement"? "Disgruntled"? Feeling taxed enough already and "recruiting" and "radicalizing" your friends and neighbors through "chatter on the Internet"?

We are all right-wing extremists now. Welcome to the club. ~ Michelle Malkin

Some thoughts on the unclassified document, approved by Janet Napolitano, the head of the DHS, which found its way to the media. The document alerts law enforcement across the country to be on the lookout for right wing radicals but makes no mention of left wing radicals. If you're opposed to abortion, illegal immigration or concerned about the growing power of the Federal government, you make the list of those the DHS is concerned about. The bottom line is that the public is becoming restless and leery of big government. Little Brother (us) is watching Big Brother and Big Brother is just a little concerned that their deceptions are not going unnoticed.
Update: I just saw Ms. Napolitano on TV. She said the department sends out memos like this all the time so don't be concerned - this memo just happened to get into the public eye. What she means is this is SOP; we just happened to get caught by a bunch of right wing, zealous, fear mongering Republicans.

Politicians Love the Tax Code We Hate

Why does the U.S. continue to go in the opposite direction and make our code ever more complex? Because it is through deductions and credits that legislators manipulate the system. When you hear a politician touting a cause these days--whether it is making us more energy efficient, getting more kids to go to college, expanding educational opportunities in inner cities, or increasing home ownership--you can assume he intends to pursue his cause at least in part through changes in our tax code.

Credits and deductions are also a way for office holders to pay back the always-growing number of rent-seekers in Washington, from lobbyists to advocacy groups, by crafting adjustments in the tax code favorable to their industry or constituency. That’s one reason for the 3,125 changes in the tax code since 2001, an average of more than one a day.

Congress uses the tax code as a weapon to threaten us and as an inducement to cajole us. It is neither fair nor Constitutional and our leaders are not going to allow any lessening of their ability to use it against us.

LOTS OF TEA PARTIES - AND THEN?

Do you know what the herding technique is? Do you know what 'controlled opposition' means?

These tea parties are the manifestation of millions of Americans who finally got the big jolt last September when they screamed at Congress: No bail outs! They also watched their hard earned money in 401(k)'s bleed half to death. It didn't matter. That body of crooks, cowards and criminals have their agenda and they no longer fear the ballot box. Why? Because the mobs continue to demand the fruits of your labor are stolen via heavy, progressive taxation to give to them - right along with massive vote fraud. The U.S. Constitution is nothing but a prop out in the District of Criminals.

The real purveyors of doom - the Fed, Congress and the White House - have successfully redirected blame to bankers and businessmen, Wall Street and the "rich".

Why the End of America is Closer than You Think

Most tend to think of public demonstrations as signs of a political instability. But in fact, public demonstrations are a sign of a healthy Democratic process. And Democracy is alive and well in Ecuador (with the usual level of corruption you find in any democracy).

It is in America, where the sheeple have been terrorized into staying inside the boundaries of their little "protest zones," that you find a fragile, unstable nation.

Through complacency and fear-mongering, most Americans have become cowards when it comes to political activism. They think emailing their Senator a few times a year is all that's required to defend freedom and preserve a nation. Marching in the streets is seen as uncivilized... or even unpatriotic!

Lots of Tea Parties today! It's great to see the people protesting - but what are they protesting? Bailouts? Taxes? AIG bonuses? Wall Street? The rich? Unemployment? When the original Boston Tea Party was convened, protesters actually raided British ships and threw tea overboard. They were very aware of whom the enemy was. Today, the enemies are the Fed, Congress and the White House but the Tea Parties are expecting to get help from these institutions. We don't know if the Tea Parties today will result in any substantial changes or if they will be followed by sustained resistance but we can only hope.

Simpler is Better

The tax code is an abomination. It should be, not overhauled, but terminated and rebuilt from scratch. Glen Beck explains why.

Income Tax Is Worker Exploitation

The hardship of taxation is most clear to the worker on tax day, when the proletariat must consummate their economic enslavement over the previous year with an intimidating and self-deprecating ritual of paperwork. It is akin to adding homework to injury. Having paid rent on their lives to the corporate state, a large fraction of which payment has financed slaughter, persecution and further oppression of workers, the tax serfs must prove to the state to its satisfaction that the right amount has been extracted from them. If they fail, they go to jail.

No one can know for sure if they obeyed the laws when they file their tax return. The tax code is convoluted and complex. It is impossible to assure compliance with each and every rule.

94 Years of Serfdom

In the first year of the income tax, the world’s richest person, John D. Rockefeller, paid $2 million in income tax, almost 3 percent of the total income tax collected.

People were happy. They had finally gotten the rich.

And themselves as well. Exemptions were reduced and tax rates were raised in rapid succession in 1916, 1917, and 1918. Within five years the tax rates ranged from 6 percent to 77 percent, and people whose incomes were initially exempt now paid tax at more than double the initial top rate that had applied to John D. Rockefeller.

It's Tax Day today. Most income tax has already been paid to the IRS through required paycheck deductions - interest free. Now it's time to dot the i's and cross the t's for last year. Meanwhile, we've been paying our 2009 installments for 3 1/2 months (if you still have a job).

A CRITIQUE OF THE QUANTITY THEORY OF MONEY

This means that the regime of irredeemable currency, depending as it is on the open market operations of the Fed for its existence, imparts a definite bias to the interest rate structure establishing a falling trend, whereas interest rates would be stable in the absence of that regime. This in itself is a condemnation of irredeemable currencies as they introduce an unwarranted bias into the economy favoring debtors and spenders while punishing creditors and savers. In addition, it favors the financial sector at the expense of the producing sector. Falling interest rates, as opposed to low but stable ones, are detrimental to productive capital.

Thus we have two effects to reconcile as a consequence of money-creation by the Fed: an inflationary and a deflationary one. We cannot say which of these two forces will ultimately prevail without digging deeper.

Some heavy wading in the economic waters but, suffice it to say, the monetary policies of the Fed and Congress are hostile to production and supportive of debt and spending.

The Disastrous Embargo on Cuba

If Cuba ever mattered geopolitically it was only during the Cold War as a potential Soviet base. Today the Castro regime is a human tragedy, not a security threat. Even if the embargo was worth trying a half century ago, it makes no sense today. The embargo has failed. It further impoverished Cuban citizens, but the government has survived. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and end of Soviet subsidies for Havana many people hoped for -- and even predicted -- the imminent collapse of the Castro dictatorship. But the regime only tightened its grip.

Yet embargo advocates continue to sound like a broken record, declaring that the sanctions failed because they weren't tough enough. So successive Congresses and presidents tightened restrictions on Cuba. As Washington tried harder, it lost support elsewhere in the world. Americans cannot travel to or invest in Cuba, but Europeans have enthusiastically filled the void.

If you can't lick 'em, join 'em says Doug Bandow. We tend to punish countries with leaders we don't think well of, but we only empower those leaders and punish their citizens when we impose economic sanctions. Obama seems to be inclined to try a different approach with Cuba. I hope we can start importing those Cuban cigars again.

Homophones

Maybe the problem has to with the fact that I’ve spent almost half of my adult life oversees. Aye was to years in central America with the U.S. Navy and 10 years in Europe. Eye am fluent in 3 languages ( English, German and Romanian ) and get bye with Spanish in the present tense, and tend two confuse and mix the words in each. Sometimes eye can knot even remember the simplest word in English like: all ready, while being able two spit it out immediately inn German, "schon," oar in Romanian, "déjà." Sew, rather than being good at won language, it wood seam eye am mediocre at three with my biggest problem being homophones.

Hear at Bumpy Road, wee no of know problems witch or homophonic inn hour vocabulary.

The Solution to Somali Piracy

The recent rise in Somali piracy confuses me. It confuses me because I cannot imagine entering waters near the coast of Africa without enough firepower to arm a small third-world nation. It confuses me as much as that home security commercial that features a burglar breaking into the home of a married couple. You know the one where the wife gets a call from another man at security headquarters who promises to send someone to help. Meanwhile the husband locks himself in a closet and hopes for the best.

The Somali pirates make very entertaining headlines. They seem to be indiscriminate privateers. Oil tankers, luxury liners and tugboats are all potential targets for the high seas rogues. Crew and passengers armed with only champagne bottles and lobster claws seem to be no match for the gun-totin' swashbucklers. Arrgh! Maybe we should reconsider our policy of disarmament on board ships and arm the passengers and crew with a few Uzis.

Making Sure the Poor Are Always With Us

Could you design a public policy that in both good times and bad, under economic growth or recession, with unemployment rates high or low - in fact, under any possible economic scenario - could you design a policy that guarantees that an alarming number of our fellow citizens lived in poverty?

What could motivate such a hopeless and self-defeating approach to ministering to the poor? And how would you react if you came to understand that the folks who promulgate this approach are the very people most fervently devoted to fighting the War on Poverty?

Policies designed to help the poor are actually discouraging the poor from bettering their circumstances says Bill Frezza.

Messin' Where We Shouldn't Oughta

A User's Guide to Thoroughly Stupid Foreign Policy

How stupid can you get? (The question is rhetorical. Pentagonal stupidity does not converge, but increases without limit.) To improve relations with the Mexican army, we rub its nose in having defeated them. “Haha, Pedro, you got a few of our guys, but we kicked your hindparts good, didn’t we?” The unspoken subtext to any Mexican being, “And we can do it again.”

Let me explain something. To Mexicans, the US is not a friendly nation. The reasons are countless, some valid and some not, but Mexicans do not see America as benign. They fear the US military, which they regard as out of control, invading country after country in pursuit of oil.

Mexico has oil.

Fred Reed now lives in Mexico. He left the US because he wanted to be left alone and has offered advice on making the move if you're interested.

America the Idol

[A]sk many of your fellow citizens their opinion on free speech or gun control or private property. I guarantee that most will say something like, "I believe in free speech, but..."

If private property is a natural right, then the State has no business telling me how I can dispose of my own property. As long as I do not use my speech or weapons or property to infringe on the property or lives of others, I have done nothing to justify threats of violence or the actual exercise of violence against my person. On the other hand, if the State can regulate these rights, then they are not rights, but privileges sanctioned by the State. Given that many of our fellow citizens believe the "but" they demonstrate that they believe in privileges and not rights.

The State is intrusive and does not base its actions on the Constitution.

Coming to Terms With Term Limits

The issue is term limits. When people first began making a case for them, I was completely opposed. I felt that if the voters were happy with their elected officials, it was only right they be free to keep re-electing them. I have completely reversed my position. For one thing, I have come to believe that incumbents have far too great an advantage over their challengers. These days, I don’t want any of them -- even those few I actually approve of -- staying in office for more than a few years. I also don’t want them to be allowed to run for some other office.

Voters elect the politicians who promise them the most. Politicians pander to the voters to get elected and re-elected. A Constitutional amendment to limit Congress and the President to one term in office should also include a limit on the terms of Supreme Court Justices to a few years instead of life.

Non-Voting as an Act of Secession

Although political pundits might not call it a withdrawl of consent, the fact is that millions upon millions of Americans show their displeasure with their government by not registering for and/or casting a ballot in political elections. Non-voting represents an exit from political society. It is a silent form of "social power" that speaks volumes. Choosing not to vote may be a form of apathy, but it is simultaneously an expression of "what I perceive is best for me."

In other words, millions of non-voters are implicitly stating that voting is a meaningless and unimportant activity, so far as it applies to them and their loved ones in their own lives. After all, government programs, and spending and tax policies will continue regardless of how anyone votes.

We advocated abstinence at the polls before the last popularity referendum. A choice between Republican or Democrat rule does not provide a choice for liberty or honest governance.

The art of survival: Essential skills for the post-apocalyptic world

I couldn't believe classes like this even existed. In the last 48 hours, I'd learned to hot-wire a car, pick locks, conceal my identity, evade attack dogs, and escape from handcuffs, flexi-cuffs, duct tape, rope, and nearly every other type of restraint.

The course was called Urban Escape and Evasion, which offered the type of instruction I'd been looking for to quell my anxieties about the headlines I read in the newspapers every day, threatening riots, terrorism, economic collapse, and citywide strikes. The objective of the class was to learn to survive in a city that had turned into a battleground. Most of the students were soldiers and contractors who'd either been in Iraq or were about to go, and wanted to know how to safely get back to the green zone if trapped behind enemy lines.

We do not expect society to collapse into utter chaos but who knows? It can't hurt to be prepared.

“We the People” Who Prefer Deflation

All of this Fed-supplied inflation in the money supply will – guaranteed! – cause more inflation in prices, which is perversely just what the Fed and Congress want.

I say “perversely” because inflation is the one thing that we, the people, do NOT want. We, the people, like the idea of a deflation where prices go down, or at least no inflation in prices!

But this dreaded deflation in prices means capital losses for the Fed, Congress and their rich friends, capital gains losses for them and their rich friends, and losses of tax revenue to the government, which is also mostly run by them and their rich friends for the benefit of themselves and their rich friends.

The Mogambo Guru explains why the Fed, to our detriment, is inflating the money supply in an attempt to increase prices.

The Theft of a Nation

To put these numbers in perspective, the United States of America, or, more precisely, The American people, are said to own 261 million ounces of gold, supposedly stored in the same Fort Knox vault that Goldfinger found so appealing. At $1,000 per ounce, the people's gold has a value of $261 billion dollars. TARP 1 alone has cost 270% of the entire value of that singular, tangible American asset. The total $13 trillion bailout cost thus far is 4,980% of the value of America's gold asset. Fort Knox has been robbed, not by Goldfinger, but by the cheats who concocted the nuclear financial waste that has crippled America's financial system and economy.

I've been trying to find out how much gold is in Fort Knox. If this number is accurate, it is a surprisingly small amount of gold in relation to the $11+ trillion national debt.

Lessons From the Recovery of 2001

And so the next morning, Monday, Sept. 17, 2001, the New York Stock Exchange opened with a podium full of firemen, cops, emergency medical workers and elected officials. A Marine Corps major sang "God Bless America." There was silence. Then a Port Authority police officer, one of the last guys to come out of the pile, began to ring the bell. The others on the podium joined in. And as the bell rang out in triumph, the traders on the floor began to cry and cheer and shout themselves hoarse. Catherine Kinney was below the podium. "Was there a cheer—oh my God, you wouldn't believe. I cried, I did. And prices start to go across the tape . . ."

America was open for business again.

It was a great moment in Wall Street history.

Peggy Noonan remembers...

We are The Free and The Unashamed

= A Declaration of Separation =

==== To The Governments & People of Earth: ====
We claim the right to exist, and we will defend it. We do not seek to overthrow anything. We do not seek to control anything. We merely wish to be left alone. All we ever wanted was to live in peace with our friends and neighbors. For a long, long time we bore insults to our liberty; we took blows, we did what we could to avoid injury and we worked through the system to get the offenses to stop. That has now changed.We no longer see any benefit in working through the world’s systems. At some point, working within a system becomes cowardly and immoral; for us, that point has arrived. Regardless of the parties in power, their governments have continued to restrict, restrain and punish us. We hereby reject them all. We hereby withdraw from them all.

A new Declaration of Independence? Read the rest...

Let's All Surrender Our Weapons -- You First!

If a single civilian in that Binghamton community center had been armed, instead of 14 dead, there might have only been one or two -- including the shooter. In the end, the cops didn't stop Wong. His killing spree ended only when he decided to stop, and he killed himself.

"The shooter will eventually run out of ammo" strategy may not be the best one for stopping deranged multiple murderers.

Gun control advocates (you know who you are) will likely not be entertained by this column.

Obama and the Reawakening of Corporatism

In 1970, General Motors was the largest and most profitable company in America. Today, of course, GM is neither. Instead, in 2009 America’s largest company is Wal-Mart, which was still only a regional, privately-held retailer in 1970. Wal-Mart’s rapid rise is not unique, however. Among the 100 largest firms today, a number—including FedEx, Microsoft, Cisco, and Home Depot--didn’t even exist in 1970. So profoundly has the landscape changed that 80 percent of the Fortune 100 companies today are different from 1970.

We should not panic when companies fail. They have to change and adapt or they will fail and others will take their place. At least, that's what happens when government doesn't interfere with stimuli and bailouts.

Budget Expands Government as Economy Contracts

As our mountain of debt is projected to double with the new budget, many are wondering how long our country can keep this up before serious repercussions are felt. Obviously we can’t continue down this road indefinitely. Certainly, no country has ever prospered when their public sector spent half or all of the nation’s GDP. Yet we are saddled with leadership that seems unwaveringly convinced that the key to prosperity is public spending. This will be exposed for the lie that it is when our creditors wake up and call in our debt.

Dr. Ron Paul is concerned about the Congressional spending spree and the cumbersome debt that we are incurring.

Government Based on Coercion Cannot Be Tamed

The U.S. federal government is on a course of self-destruction. People of many political persuasions know this. People who are against coercive government know this. People who favor coercive government know this. People who do not mind if the federal government self-destructs know this, and people who want to save the federal government know this.

From a scientific viewpoint, one of the interesting aspects of a government that is self-destructing is that the process cannot be stopped, even when people who want to stop it, try. Government based on coercion cannot be tamed. It keeps on running until the clock stops ticking and the bomb goes off.

Michael Rozeff offers some dire and gloomy predictions for your reading pleasure.

On Losing My Last Remaining Eye and Getting It Back

Some advice: Don't get shot in the face. I don't care what your friends tell you, it isn't a good idea. Further, avoid corneal transplants if you can. If you find a coupon for one, in a box of Cracker Jacks maybe, toss it. Transplants are miserable things. Unless you really need one. What am I talking about? Eyes, and losing them, and getting them back. On this, I am an accidental authority.

Long long ago, in a far galaxy, the United States was bringing democracy to Viet Nam, which had barely heard of it and didn't want it anyway. As an expression of their desire to be left alone, the locals spent several years shooting Americans. I was one of them: a young dumb Marine with little idea either where I was or why. But that was common in those days.

We've enjoyed Fred's columns for years. This one is highly recommended.

Putting You in Charge of Your Own Health Care

They have heard enough of empty promises from politicians who care only about getting re-elected and having more power. Yet even with all these and other problems, many Americans have given up and figure that it is up to the government to solve the problem. They wonder if the government solution will still allow them rapid access to high quality health care they deserve.

The current proposals for reform are cloaked as big changes, but as it turns out, they are actually more of the same. They can be summed up in this way: turn more control over to the government and insurance companies while politicians and special interests jockey for credit and work behind the scenes to benefit -- at the expense of individual Americans.

Americans don't need government as the middle man between them and their doctor nor between them and their health insurance. David McKalip, M.D. makes the point that Americans buy their own auto, home and life insurance (at affordable prices) but the cost of health insurance is prohibitive due to government involvement.

What Capitalism Really Looks Like

In a free market capitalist system, businesses and businessmen are allowed to succeed and fail without government interference. Some people soar, while others flop. That's precisely how you figure out the winners and losers- you leave companies (and people) alone and allow them to succeed or fail. If they fail, someone new will come along to pick up the pieces and do it better. How would anyone learn from these failures and mistakes, if government doesn't allow anyone to fail in the first place?

Exactly. What we are witnessing now is not capitalism - it's socialism or fascism or, maybe, it's just politicians providing favors to their lobbying buddies - but it's not free market capitalism.

Obama's Arrogance

I had linked this YouTube just recently, of a laughing, arrogant Obama on 60 Minutes. Though I don't want to detract from his sheer arrogance and self-aggrandizing behavior, someone else has presented another explanation for his attitude.

The second video is, well, hilarious.

TSA Goons Hassle Ron Paul Supporter

The TSA harassed Steve Bierfeldt, a Ron Paul supporter and Campaign for Liberty worker, while traveling from St. Louis for the CFL special event where Andrew Napolitano, Ron Paul, and Tom Woods were among the speakers. Steve ingeniously recorded the encounter on his cell phone. Listen to the TSA losers play the game of Big Shot and threaten to "bring in" the FBI and DEA. What pathetic human beings. Congrats to Steve, a young guy who completely kept his cool.

Another reason we never intend to fly in a commercial airliner again. We just don't like being hassled. This guy sure did handle the situation well and we will try to be equally composed if we are ever in a similar situation.

The G(rasping)-20

We expected little of sense to come out of the G-20 summit, and it met our expectations with flying colors.

When you don’t understand how the economy got into a mess, you are not likely to understand how it can get out. Politicians either can’t or won’t graps the key fact: “the free market” did not cause our problems. How do we know this? It’s logic: the nonexistent cannot be the cause of anything. I’d like someone to show me this free market that brought on all the current turmoil. Please. The banking industry gets most of the blame, but banking has been part of a formal government-sponsored cartel since 1914 and is regulated, as well as privileged, by multiple layers of authorities, among them the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Comptroller of the Currency. An international agreement among the major central bankers, the Basel Accord, controls capital requirements and related matters. (Before 1914 a patchwork of regulations existed.) And let’s not forget the regulators in the states. With perhaps a local or exception or two, there has never been an unregulated banking industry in America (or most anywhere else).

It looks like our pols are going to share our economic turmoil - and our money - with the world.

War on drugs is insane

So how's this war on drugs going?

Someone described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. That's a perfect description of the war on drugs.

The United States is the largest illegal drug market in the world. Americans want their weed, crack, cocaine, heroin, whatever. And they're willing to pay big money to get it.

The drug suppliers are only too happy to oblige. The Mexican drug cartels now have operations in 230 American cities. That's 230 American cities!

And we're not just talking about border towns, but places such as Anchorage, Alaska; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Billings, Montana. They're everywhere. And they don't just bring drugs, but violence and crime as well -- lots of it at no extra charge.

Even CNN is calling for an end to the drug wars. You may wonder why we spend so much time on this site with the War on Drugs. It's about freedom. We don't believe the government should imprison you for making a decision to try a drug which may cause you harm. That should be your decison and, if it is a stupid decision, you should be responsible for it. But if you cause no harm to anyone but yourself, you should not be arrested for being stupid. If you do cause harm to others, there are plenty of laws for those violations.

U.S. incensed over census

"The census count is already breaking down. People are in revolt! Calls are flooding into our office. ... They are very upset about the intrusive nature of the questions, such as how a person gets to work, whether they have any disabilities, how many cars they own, what their income was and who they work for!"...

"It's time for some polite, patriotic civil disobedience," said Dasbach. "If you care about privacy, genuine equality, and old-fashioned American liberty, the arrival of the Census form is your chance to literally stand up and be counted. Tell them how many people live in your home, and that's all."

"Maybe $100 is a small price to pay for making a principled stand for privacy and freedom," he concluded.

We haven't received our census form yet but we concur that any information requested other than a head count of the household is an invasion of privacy. The Constitution calls for an enumeration every 10 years in Article I, Section II (later amended by th XIV amendment) for the purpose of apportioning the Representatives of the several states. I can find no other purpose in the document.