The playwright turned hero died on December 18,2011. He was described by CNN as “the shy but iron-willed Czech writer endowed with a playful sense of humor and a powerful [...]
ethics
Jan 272012
Another State of the Union speech has come and gone. These speeches are predictable, useless, boring and purely political.
Supporters of the party in power rave about matters such as “vision,” “compassion,” “fairness” and “the future.” Detractors focus more on reality — the present and the distortions, contradictions and, yes, outright lies contained in the message. So it was with the recent SOTU by President Barack Obama.
In the heated political divide, partisan supporters and detractors know no bounds in terms of their defense or attacks. Party and politics, not truth is what matters. Both sides spin, distort and lie in their efforts to gain advantage. The spoils for the victor in politics has become so great as to trump integrity and other sacred values. Truth is the biggest victim. To practice truth in modern day politics is verboten. Loyalty to party and ideology trumps everything elese. Truth is a disqualifier in this racket.
With a President who feels unconstrained by law, the Constitution, economic reality or the truth, interpretations of what he said and its relationship with reality are especially useful. Little of that comes from the so-called mainstream media who Continue reading »
Jan 052012
Slowly and incessantly, recognition regarding the true nature of government is seeping into the consciousness of the public. The internet is certainly an important factor in this change in beliefs, as is the economic devastation that has plagued the nation.
Whether this recognition is coming quickly enough to offset the totalitarian trends is moot. The recognition is beginning after government has taken control of much of the economy and society. As a betting man, I believe the move toward totalitarianism will continue — for awhile. Longer term, probably defined in decades rather than years, the American people will become aroused enough to take back their country and individualism. Freedom is a part of our genetic make-up. When it is apparent to enough people what is happening, Atlas will shrug, or punch back.
The State has a massive propaganda campaign and always had. The ruling elite and their cronies benefit greatly from the current dominance of government. These include elected politicians, lobbyists, the bureaucracy, big business, big labor, welfare recipients and the press among others. All have incentives to support bigger government at the expense of free markets. All have monetary benefits and protective barriers that would not exist in free markets.
Free markets and individualism are threats to these groups. It is not accidental that ventures like Solyndra and other flights of fancy cannot be financed in a marketplace. These ideas were hare-brained schemes to begin with. That is also true of the Chevy Volt and so many other crony capitalist ideas. Someday, I hope, history will record the Edsel as a bigger success than the Volt.
Elitists “know’ they are smarter than the rest of us. Yet people with common sense reject most of their ideas. Massive government is necessary to coerce others to behave according to their wisdom. Force is the only reason we get the wild schemes that become, at best, expensive and, at worst, tragic in terms of the pain imposed on citizens. Few of these schemes would stand a chance in the marketplaces of ideas, free choice or true markets.
Crony capitalism loves big government. Quid pro quos between Congress and business produce near monopoly returns for both sides. Furthermore, restrictive laws are useful to prevent competition. Bailouts enable companies and banks to take risks they otherwise would not engage in.
The State is now rotten to the core. It is the reason why the standard of living has been declining for decades. It is a parasite that has crippled the golden goose and will completely destroy it if not stopped.
Dec 262011
If you don’t hold it, you may not own it.
This video is an interview of Ann Barnhardt by Peter Schiff where Ms. Barnhardt expresses in a “no-holds barred” manner her opinions on what is happening.
She is one angry woman with every right to be so. Her views should be heard by every American whether they invest or not. While the interview deals specifically with MF Global, the implications of what happened here are important to us all.
The Rule of Law no longer is honored. Without that, we are no better than a third-world banana republic subject to the whims of a dictator or dictator-class. Contracts and agreements have no meaning without the effective and impartial force of Law.
Every piece of paper is a contract waiting to be abrogated — stocks, bonds etc. Even segregated, identifiable, tagged assets are at risk. Even they were confiscated (stolen).
How many people are aware that brokerage funds are at risk? What about storage accounts at bullion houses? Is there any place where assets are safe other than buried in your backyard? When the government is starving, it goes hunting. We, unfortunately, are the prey. To the ruling class, we are nothing more than the feedstock to keep their plunder going.
Listen to Ms. Barnhardt and be aware of how far down the slippery slope we have already slid.
Dec 262011
Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com:
Congress is the ideal American institution: it spends far more than it takes in and borrows the difference. We love that. To heck with the future. It means free money, services, wars, and other goodies. At least some of us get to profit from it. And then we blow it or invest it, and lose it or make money on it. It all adds up to that glorious GDP. It’s the American dream.
Lawmakers are so efficient at it that 36% of every dollar in the budget has to be borrowed…. Oh wait. They don’t do budgets anymore. They’re uncool. They do continuing resolutions. Given this bottomless largesse, mathematically speaking, it’s logical that Congress would have sky-high approval rating. Wait…. Oh no!
Only 11% of the people approve of the Herculean job lawmakers are doing, according to Gallup, which has a knack for peeking at our innermost feelings. It’s the lowest score since Gallup started tracking it in 1974.
How can that be? Didn’t we just learn that it’s a virtuous activity for lawmakers to give out privileged information on pending legislation? Profiting from opportunity is an American principle we cherish. So, a few hedge funds were given tradable information about compromises in the healthcare law just before the announcement on December 8, 2009. According to the Wall Street Journal:
They belong to a select group who pay for early, firsthand Continue reading »
 Another Raid of Social Security is No Tax CutThe media scores the debate over the reduction in payroll taxes as a victory for Democrats. That may be true, depending upon how you assess the intelligence of the general [...] |
 When The Rule Of Law Is Dead ….The more one hears of MF Global the more worried one should be. The issues are much bigger and more dangerous than the likely fraud/theft that seems likely in this [...] |
 Richard RussellThe esteemed Richard Russell describes matters as only someone with his longevity can: Nobody in America under the age of 70 has never, ever seen truly hard times. Most under [...] |
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 QOTD — Financial TyrannyCharles Hugh Smith states: … our financial system is fundamentally based on lies, fraud, embezzlement, misinformation, perverse filters and incentives, shadow systems that mock transparency and regulation, class privilege and [...] |
 Meaning of MF GlobalAnn Barnhardt closed her brokerage firm and submitted a damning letter as to why. She has been interviewed by Jim Puplava and provided a “pull-no-punches interview. Here is an excerpt of [...] |
 Government of The Elites, By The Elites and For The ElitesIn the short span of a century and a half, the US went from a government famously described by Abraham Lincoln as “of the people, by the people, for the people” to [...] |
 Government Gone WildOur economic problems rightfully dominate the news. However, they are merely symptoms of a bigger, underlying problem — government. Government is never a solution. It is always the source of [...] |
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