STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

I haven't had time to write anything today. Our dog finally died (she's had cancer for the last year) so I had to deal with that and I'm going to go trout fishing tomorrow so all of the normal Saturday stuff got moved to today. Anyway, the info below is from the St. Louis Tea Party. They're right on the money. We all need to turn out on the 22nd. This government has to be stopped; for the sake of our kids, grandkids and everyone else. We can't let this country be destroyed. It would dishonor all those that fought and died for our freedom.

August 22, 2009: A Date That Will Live In Liberal Infamy

by Bill Hennessy on July 30, 2009

JOIN THE BATTLE

On August 22 at noon local time in cities across the country, the Tea Party movement will hold a simultaneous, mass demonstration in front of hundreds of local Congressional offices.

The St. Louis Tea Party will target Claire McCaskill and Russ Carnahan. We will target McCaskill’s St. Louis office on Delmar and both Carnahan offices: 8765 Manchester Rd. in Brentwood and 517 Bailey Rd. in Crystal City.

This is THE event of 2009, patriots. February 27, Tax Day, July 4 . . . think of those as recruiting drives. They were rallies. They did not move the needle.

August 22 moves the needle and moves mountains. IF YOU COMMIT to this event, you will change history. IF YOU STAY HOME, you will lose your country.

This is THE demonstration against un-Constitutional government, elitist Congress, unread legislation passed in the dead of night by vacuous Congressman. This is where the statists takeover of America ends.

March on August 22!

Commit to taking back your country!

The government screwed up TARP, screwed up stimulus, and bankrupted Cash for Clunkers in less than a week. This administration and its myrmidons in Congress are wicked idiots who will kill innocent people if healthcare passes. They will destroy American industry if Cap and Trade passes. WE ARE THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE!!!!

Commit to bringing at least 2 people with you to Delmar, Manchester, or Bailey Rd.

Overflow events will include Lacy Clay’s offices and Todd Akin’s offices. (Todd Akin, btw, will be on our side BIG TIME on this one.) If going to Akin’s, please THANK TODD for his unwavering fiscal conservatism.

Carnahan and McCaskill will vote NO on Healthcare; McCaskill will vote NO on Cap and Trade. Or Carnahan and McCaskill will vote NO on their next term in office.

Carnahan and McCaskill have a choice between hearing and following the people or RETIRING FROM PUBLIC LIFE.

They are OUR SERVANTS!

Get your walking shoes on and your signs ready.

FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO 10 PEOPLE YOU KNOW.

You must bring at least 2 people to this event.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

We will never surrender our Republic!

ROLLING THE DICE

From Karl Denninger at Market Ticker further proof that the markets can't be trusted. The numbers no longer reflect any sort of economic reality but have devolved into a computer gambling game biased towards the house (Big Banks).

OBAMACARE!

EVIL INCARNATE

St. Louis Tea Party

Ezekiel Emanuel: Doctor Death

by Bill Hennessy on July 28, 2009
in Socialized Medicine

Read this paragraph:

"This civic republican or deliberative democratic conception of the good provides both procedural and substantive insights for developing a just allocation of health care resources. Procedurally, it suggests the need for public forums to deliberate about which health services should be considered basic and should be socially guaranteed. Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the polity — those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberation — are to be socially guaranteed as basic. Conversely, services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."

Those are the words of Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ezekiel. Ezekiel is an MD who helped craft the House socialized medicine bill. He is a member of Obama’s inner circle who will likely be the triager-in-chief should the government take over medicine.

This guy is evil incarnate. Shun anything with his name on it. Give this enemy no quarter.

BARACK SENT ME A LETTER

Lookee, I got a letter from the President. Boy, it sure doesn't seem like it would take over a thousand pages to do for me the few simple things he lists below. Well, maybe since I'm his friend I can invite him over for a beer and we can talk this over. Maybe it could be a "teachable moment". Golly, I hope the scare tactics from those seeking to perpetuate the staus quo don't make me lose any sleep.



Dear Friend,

If you’re like most Americans, there’s nothing more important to you about health care than peace of mind.

Given the status quo, that’s understandable. The current system often denies insurance due to pre-existing conditions, charges steep out-of-pocket fees – and sometimes isn’t there at all if you become seriously ill.

It’s time to fix our unsustainable insurance system and create a new foundation for health care security. That means guaranteeing your health care security and stability with eight basic consumer protections:

No discrimination for pre-existing conditions
No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays
No cost-sharing for preventive care
No dropping of coverage if you become seriously ill
No gender discrimination
No annual or lifetime caps on coverage
Extended coverage for young adults
Guaranteed insurance renewal so long as premiums are paid
Learn more about these consumer protections at Whitehouse.gov.

Over the next month there is going to be an avalanche of misinformation and scare tactics from those seeking to perpetuate the status quo. But we know the cost of doing nothing is too high. Health care costs will double over the next decade, millions more will become uninsured, and state and local governments will go bankrupt.

It’s time to act and reform health insurance, drive down costs and guarantee the health care security and stability of every American family. You can help by putting these core principles of reform in the hands of your friends, your family, and the rest of your social network.

Thank you,
Barack Obama


Unsubscribe Privacy Policy
Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

BANKERS DON'T GET IT EITHER

I was at the bank today, depositing my measly earnings from working at nearly subsistence levels, complaining about how slow things are. The banker pointed to the T.V. and said "The markets are moving up. Looks like we're in the beginning stages of a recovery." I asked him if he thought that this was really what was happening and asked if he had been following the reports about front running, Goldman Sachs and market manipulation. He was shocked and wanted to know where he could find out about this. Even the bankers aren't paying any attention.

He said that the uptick in the market was due to the good earnings reports that were recently released. Now, he admitted that the earnings reports that showed increases in profit mostly were reflecting cost savings through layoffs. He said that he didn't know how these companies would stay in the black when the next reports come out. He admitted that laid off employees were not going to be out spending thus demand for products and services should decrease. But the market is over 9000 so everything is coming up roses. He said that the stimulus money was being injected back into the economy by the banks. I asked him if his bank was lending a whole bunch of money out and he said no. Yet he still believes the banks are putting the money out so that small businesses can expand and the country can grow. He believes the government propaganda and not his own eyes.

I posted the snippets below just so that the rest of us can start to understand the lies we are being sold. If you are invested in the market, just be aware that it is not reflecting reality, it is reflecting the manipulations that benefit the big players. Sure, there's money to be made, as long as you get out in time. This manipulation has created an environment that is unstable. I believe that when it comes apart it will do so quickly. With the weakness that really exists in the economy, I don't think we are going to see anywhere close to Dow 14,000 this time around. So, enjoy the ride, just make sure your parachute is properly packed.

Zerohedge
"...by using Goldman 360 a client voluntarily allows Goldman to provide keystroke by keystroke data of everything the client does, even if that includes launching trades via REDI, to Goldman for the internal business purposes? The third thing everyone on Wall Street agrees on is that "internal business purposes" usually (and in Goldman's case, almost exclusively) means proprietary trading."

True/Slant
"Front-running takes place when a bank or broker-dealer– say, Goldman, Sachs — executes a trade for its own account before filling its customer’s order. Since a large enough trade (executed by institutional investors, for instance) can actually move the price of the security in question, front-running can be a very profitable activity. It’s sort of like fast-food insider trading. It is common knowledge that front-running on Wall Street is rampant, and I interviewed more than one person for my recent Rolling Stone story who accused Goldman of front-running its big clients in all sorts of arenas, from the internet IPO years to the commodities markets."

GoldmanSachs666
"Goldman Sachs just raised the S&P target for 2009 to 1,060. Why? It's not because things are "really" getting better. And it's not because they would be buyers in this market. No, it's because they need to pump this market, so they can dump their shares to you . . . at inflated prices that will be big losers for you."

Bloomberg
"Another plus is if the bank tells the feds the security of the U.S. financial markets is at stake. This brings us to the strange tale of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Sergey Aleynikov."

"Aleynikov, 39, is the former Goldman computer programmer who was arrested on theft charges July 3 as he stepped off a flight at Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. That was two days after Goldman told the government he had stolen its secret, rapid-fire, stock- and commodities-trading software in early June during his last week as a Goldman employee. Prosecutors say Aleynikov uploaded the program code to an unidentified Web site server in Germany."

"It wasn’t just Goldman that faced imminent harm if Aleynikov were to be released, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti told a federal magistrate judge at his July 4 bail hearing in New York. The 34-year-old prosecutor also dropped this bombshell: “The bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways.”

Reuters
"Federal authorities contend the computer codes and related-trading files that Aleynikov uploaded to a German-based website help this major financial institution generate millions of dollars in profits each year."

"The platform is one of the things that gives Goldman an advantage over the competition when it comes to the rapid-fire trading of stocks and commodities. Federal authorities say the platform quickly processes rapid developments in the markets and using secret mathematical formulas, allows the firm to make highly-profitable automated trades."

A QUEER SITUATION

One News Now:
"Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.
The Nashville Gay Pride website notes that Home Depot contributed more than $5,000 to help finance the 2009 festival. The retailer also participated by conducting children's craft workshops at a special booth set up for them. The company has sponsored similar children's venues at pro-homosexual events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego."

I give up. Pretty soon I'm going to have to go cut down the trees and mill them myself.

I really don't care about someones personal sexual preference. That's between them and God. Just leave your kids out of it. Don't take them to fairs or anything else which have as their primary purpose the promotion of sexual activity. Of any kind.

I'm getting really tired of corporations supporting and promoting any and all forms of sexual activities. Why do these companies feel it necessary to involve themselves in this? I'm sure it is because they want to make sure they aren't excluded from the gay marketplace. Not being gay myself (I'm trying to type in my most heterosexual and manly way right now. Can you tell?), I don't know, but am going to guess, that just like the rest of us their decision about where to purchase a 2x4 has very little to do with whom they slept with last night.

Home Depot and the others involved in this politically correct idiocy are pandering to gay activists because they are afraid. MAN UP (I hope no one gets exited by this, in any way) and quit supporting stupid causes out of fear because while you may not be offending the tiny militant homosexual lobby you are starting to piss off a bunch of regular folks, gay and straight. The math is on our side; we will spend a lot more with your company than the small special interests that you are so fearful of offending.

HERE'S TO YOU MR. JEFFERSON

POSSE COMITATUS BYE BYE

CNN reports "The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials."

Will the outbreak of H1N1 be the excuse for the military to begin exercising control over the civilian population? This is just the flu, not a major disaster. Or does the government have some information regarding severity that they aren't giving us?

"Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients."

It's the reality of today's political landscape that I have so little faith in my government that I can't look at this without suspicion. This may be just a prudent bit of forward planning, but honestly, I don't trust theses guys; from either party or their bureaucratic minions. It is nearly impossible for me to believe that our government has the best interests of the citizens at heart. I really believe that if they can get the military in place over a large enough area for a significant amount of time they will become a permanent fixture. We will live in a police state run by community organizers with their edicts enforced at the barrel of a gun. We won't see it coming because the supposedly benign military presence will become just so much background noise, just a normal part of our day. Until it is so ingrained that we can't get rid of it. Then the control will become systemic, influencing every move we make.

We will become accustomed to quarantine of flu victims. Because of this we will be less resistant to the quarantine of political dissenters, which will have to be removed from the general population so the infection of their political views can't spread. The need to quarantine the sick will lead to the construction of camps to care for them, because the normal medical system will be overwhelmed. Those camps should come in handy later on, don't you think? Is it possible that some of the powers that the health care bill gives the government are designed to facilitate this?

All of this is tied together. It is happening fast and the pace seems to be accelerating. Can it be stopped in time? I doubt it. The amount of new stuff that is being thrown at us on a daily basis is designed to overwhelm the system. The powers that be don't need to get it all through. Just enough. And they will.

MAKE MINE FREEDOM

The Conservative Mama had this listed on The Conservative Bloggers Club Facebook page. Every kid, no, every American ought to have to watch this. It was made in 1948 and is as current as the healthcare plan.

HEALTHCARE BILL HIGHLGHTS

This was submitted by Kathleen at the Pacific Bureau. She got it from the Economic Policy Journal. all the goodies that our benevolent masters don't want to talk about, probably because they haven't read it.


Shock: Inside the Healthcare Bill

Following the mad recommendations of Peter Singer made in NYT's Sunday magazine, it pays to take a look at what is actually in the healthcare bill.

It's worse than you can possibly imagine. Somehow, it manages to be Singer on steroids. Who wrote this bill? It has Singer's footprints all over it.

Peter Fleckstein (aka Fleckman) is reading it and has been posting on Twitter his findings. This is from his postings (Note: All comments are Fleckman's)

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benes u get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!


Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC Benefits 4 you. U have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided 2 ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access 2 individs finances & a National ID Healthcard will b issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts 4 elect. funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs 4 priv. HC plans in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration ur Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example - Translation 4 illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members - U Health care WILL b rationed

-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will b automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monop

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what u can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into pub opt plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay 4 HC 4 part time employees AND their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyr w payroll 400k & above who does not prov. pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC accrdng 2 Govt will be taxed 2.5% of inc

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv. taxes. (Americans will pay)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access 2 ALL Americans finan/pers recs

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician svcs 4 Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty u have, you'll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr's time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans.

PG 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals 4 what Govt deems preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admiss that results in a readmiss-Govt will penalize u.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl! WTF. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The Govt has a say in how ur life ends

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An "adv. care planning consult" will b used frequently as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may incl an ORDER 4 end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will have at end of life

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment 2 a community-based org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt in2 ur marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs

Here's the full Health Care bill that sits in the House.

GREED IS GOOD, SOMETIMES

This is hot off the wire from Don at the Eureka Bureau. Milton Freidman has long been my favorite voice of the free market. It is good to be reminded why.

THINGS GET CREEPY SOMETIMES

Yesterdays theme of the day reared its pointy little head again. I was at a customers house today when out of the blue she mentioned that something is about to happen, that she can feel it. She said that the people in this country are ready to do something about the way our country is going and that it won't be good. This lady is in her eighties and not real political. Just another verification of the times.

EASY AS SHOOTIN' TURTLES OFF A LOG

"The dollar fell to the lowest level this year against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners as speculation the global economy is emerging from the recession reduced demand for a refuge.
U.S. home prices probably fell at a slower pace in May, indicating the U.S. economy is recovering. The S&P/Case Shiller index of 20 major metropolitan areas, due for release today, will show property values fell 17.9 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the median forecast of 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The measure was down 18.1 percent in the 12 months ended in April."
Bloomberg

Happy days are here again. Look, the dollar's falling in value! Isn't it great! This has to mean that our economy is getting stronger with every passing day. What a load of crap. Do you think that this could have anything to do with the amount of money that we have printed in the last 8 months or so, just to line the pockets of Goldman Sachs and the rest of the "too big to fail" financial institutions? Maybe the value of the dollar is falling because it really isn't that valuable anymore. But, you say, the value of housing probably isn't falling at as fast a pace. That has to be a sign of recovery. IT'S STILL FALLING!! No probably about it. This is just like the government saying that a program was cut because funding wasn't increased at the same level as the year before, even though an increase still occurred. This double talking pep rally that the government and the bankers are trying to use to get us to spend more of the money that we don't have isn't going to work. We done figgerd out da game. We aren't going to spend because we can't spend and, unlike our Vice President, we know we can't spend our way out of be being broke.

A two-week rally in oil markets sputtered Tuesday and crude prices fell along with the stock market.
Prices first dipped in electronic trading before the market opened and then dropped sharply when new data suggested consumers are less confident than ever about their jobs and the economy as a whole.
The second quarter us usually very strong for companies like Valero, which refines oil into jet fuel and gasoline, because it is usually the three months when people travel most.
But there is much less being shipped in 18 wheelers and Americans are driving far less than they did in past years, even though gasoline is a comparative bargain.
MSNBC

This is as clear an indication of the true state of the economy as you are going to find. If the oil companies and the commodities traders can't even figure out a way to get these prices up and make them stay there, something is seriously wrong. We are in the beginning stages of a depression and the actions of our benevolent masters and the Fed are going to make sure we are in it for a long, long time. How can anyone argue that house prices are increasing when the banks won't lend money and even if they would the people won't borrow. I don't think that I need to be an economist to understand the simple law of supply and demand. Prices cannot rise if there is no demand to drive them. The only houses that are selling are being subsidized through a redistribution of wealth using tax credits and first time home buyer programs or they are being dumped because of repossession.

The sudden rise in the stock market is being fueled by the TARP funds finally being injected into the system. The banks are just trying to make it look attractive enough to get the suckers to get back in. When it gets to the point that sustainabilty is no longer possible, the big boys will come out, which will crash the market leaving the suckers holding the bag. It's virtually the same game they played with the tech stocks as describe by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. Since Goldman Sachs has now installed its people at all levels of the Obama administration this should be easy pickin's.

JUST SHAKIN' MY HEAD IN WONDERMENT

While L’Osservatore Romano (the official Vatican newspaper) is busy always trying to find a new way to explain to us that Obama may, just may, be pro life, lets listen to his own words from US News:

"I'm pro-choice, but I think we also have the tradition in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care. My main focus is making sure that people have options of high-quality care at the lowest possible price." (highlight added)

Since the federal funding of abortion is part of the health care bill that the President is trying to pass, how can he say this? He's a freakin' evil chameleon, that's how. Changes his colors to blend in with the environment. That, and like the rest of our benevolent masters, he hasn't read the bill he's trying to crush us with.

WORDS GO 'ROUND IN CIRCLES

Sometimes, not very often, I have a day filled with either coincidence or something else (I believe that often it is God. I know, that's crazy talk,but I have been left over the years with no other valid explanation) leading me by the hand to see things that I may have otherwise missed. Today seems to be one of those days. Everything that I have read today or seen on T.V. has pointed me toward the same conclusion, my theme of the day, this country is going to blow. I was just reading an article by James Howard Kunstler at 24hgold.com. It's about the latest bit of larceny our friends at Goldman Sachs have involved themselves in, front running trades. You have to know that Mr. Kunstler is from the left of the political spectrum. However he has this to say about the administration:

"As we turn the corner toward autumn, President Obama looks increasingly like a dupe, a tool, or a co-conspirator of Goldman Sachs. If he doesn't instruct the Justice Department to commence investigations of the company, and if he doesn't dissociate himself from their alumni hanging around the White House, the Treasury Department, and elsewhere in the government, he's going to become the object of an awful public wrath."

"Actually, it's not necessary for the whole general public to be fed up with this situation. According to the Pareto 80-20 rule, it only takes one-fifth of the public to set social actions in motion, and only one-fifth of that one-fifth to do the heavy lifting. I think we've reached that point. The sentiment is now overwhelmingly tipped against Goldman Sachs (and Wall Street generally) and the only questions are whether the President of the US ends up lumped in with them, and whether we'll see orderly prosecutions or disorderly persecutions. At this point, it even begins to look as though Mr. Obama is taking cover behind the health care reform debate to avoid answering for his government's association with Goldman Sachs."

"The trouble is, if the thoughtful and trustworthy members of the "Pareto 20 percent" don't stir themselves into action over Goldman's behavior, then sooner or later the thoughtless and reckless will take over. Bill Moyers hosted a fascinating report on his most recent podcast about the savagery of right-wing broadcasting and how it had led, in one instance, to the murder of a doctor who performed abortions. What bothers me is that, sooner or later, the conduct of Goldman Sachs will lead the growing ranks of the unemployed, foreclosed, disentitled, and hopeless into the hands of a savage right wing seeking mindless vengeance, for instance, against "the Jews," (as represented by Goldman Sachs), or brown-skinned people (as embodied by a vilified president)."

OK, the whole right wing thing (I mean, the Nazis were National SOCIALISTS for crying out loud!), whatever, the same stuff will be happening on the left, too. However, today's recurring theme of societal collapse has reared it ugly head once again. My experience has been that when one unconnected thing leads to another unconnected thing and then to another, there is a reason.
Something is about to happen. Don't know when or what but I have a feeling it's getting close. I know, just toss logic out the window. Sometimes you gotta go with your gut. I believe this is one of those times.

POWDER KEG

So, this video was on Glenn Becks show today. It shows a Baton Rouge police officer doing the bidding of ACORN and attempting to silence people that disagree with the health care bill. No surprise here. Shouldn't be this way but I really think that when push comes to shove the police will always side with the government, regardless of their vows to uphold the constitution. Most are too young and poorly educated about our history to even realize what they are doing. I base this opinion on conversations with older officers.

What strikes me about this is not that ACORN is being supported by the officer or trying to squash dissent. At about 1:50 into the video the photographer is having a conversation with someone that supports health care reform. They seem to be having a pleasant disagreement, no anger or loud words, when the officer tells them that they cannot talk to each other. Excuse me? This angers both people. The woman that shot the film said on Becks show that she and the man she was talking to are looking at working together to address this in some way. They may not agree on health care but they can sure rally around free speech.

Which brings me back to what is apparently becoming my "THEME OF THE DAY". The Obama administration is striking matches in the powder room of freedom. They are either badly miscalculating the response of the rank and file American to their socialist, black liberation, community organizing agenda or they are idiots. I doubt that it is the latter. I think that they may even understand how Americans will react to this and are trying to push it through so fast that we can't stop it. Unfortunately, our elected representatives are so focused on retaining their power that they don't want to be bothered. Too much, anyway. Some do seem to be showing some signs of life.

The joining together of these two people in the video to fight for the common cause of their first amendment rights is, I believe, illustrative of the stirring of America. The people are beginning to realize what is being taken from them and will not stand for it. This is just the beginning because it is mostly the politically active that are starting to awaken. As more and more of these incidents occur even the media will be forced to cover it, informing the rest of the people. This powder keg is going to blow. I just pray that the explosion is controlled and doesn't take out the constitution and the country with it.

WE'LL ALL BE SINGING "THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG" BEFORE LONG

Omaha.com has an article today about my favorite political movement, states rights. The number fo state lawmakers that are getting involved in this is growing. According to the article:

"Seven states passed resolutions this year affirming their sovereignty, and resolutions were introduced in 30 others. Some states have filed lawsuits or taken legislative action to challenge federal laws."

Doesn't it just warm your heart to hear this?

"At least three Nebraska lawmakers want to send a message to the federal government:
Butt out of state business.
Next year they will see if a majority of their colleagues agrees.
The senators are working on resolutions asserting Nebraska's sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.
Nebraska wouldn't try to secede from the union under their proposals but would go on record objecting to federal laws that they say go beyond constitutional authority."

Of course, the oposition won't argue about this on merit. Guess where they're going?

"State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln said the proposals sound disturbingly similar to the states' rights arguments made in defense of racial segregation and laws blocking blacks from voting."

“The history of this movement is rife with racism in the name of states' rights,” he said. “I'm not saying that the people making the case now are racist, but I don't think Nebraska needs to be getting in bed with these kinds of resolutions.”

It was sort of this kind of issue that established your state in the first place. Does the Kansa-Nebraska act ring any bells for you there, professor? Like it or not, Nebrasksa has been at the center of the states rights issue since it's inception. It was just on the wrong side before. Glad to see you guys are going to join the party.

"Online petitions urge Nebraska's state lawmakers to act.

“Either states can use the Constitution to maintain the power they have always had, or they can give it up,” said Gregory Boyle of Omaha, who started one online petition this spring."

Leave it up to a scholar to point out the obvious:

"A constitutional scholar questions the effectiveness of legislative resolutions and legal challenges.

“This is an outlet for those who are worried that the federal government will take over everything,” said Mark Kende, director of the Drake University Constitutional Law Center in Des Moines."

I wonder if he means those nervous Nellies, THE FOUNDING FATHERS!!

"Richard Duncan, a constitutional law professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law, said legislative resolutions send valuable political messages even with no legal weight.

“It's kind of a nice warning that people are growing tired of the size of the federal government,” he said."

The scholar club is going to take back this guys decoder ring.

This is all just further proof that this country is dangerously close to exploding. How issues like this are treated by our benevolent masters in Washington will determine whether this is a peaceful revolution or not. Our masters need to get out of their protective bubble and see what's happening out here. Of course that would mean actually associating with the rabble, lovey. How crass!

QUESTION OF THE DAY

The question of the day: Do these elected idiots realize just how close this country is to an explosion? If they continue to refuse to address the concerns of the people, don't they know what is coming? THIS IS AMERICA!!! We are the sons and daughters of the people that couldn't get along in Europe. Our ancestors came here because they wouldn't go with the program. We are genetically predisposed to cause problems when we know we are being lied to. From large towns to small we are beginning to awaken from our stupor. If all of these instances of unrest don't get the attention of the ruling elite we are going to see things move in a direction that will unleash forces that are best left contained. All sides of the political spectrum are starting to come together in a common cause. If the powers that be lose their ability to play us against each other we are going to rise in righteous anger in disgust at what we have allowed our country to become. This is the same thing that always happens when we are attacked, whether it is Pearl Harbor, the World Trade Center or by our own government. The people will NOT be trifled with. Remember government, we brought you into this world, we most assuredly can take you out.

\

HER SHE COMES TO SAVE THE DAY (I HOPE)

I saw this on Gateway Pundit and followed it back to You Tube to watch the entire speech. I just hope that this isn't some sort of game that she is playing. I hope that she really is as straight forward and normal as she seems. It has been quite awhile since I have listened to a politician speak and actually believed what was being said. Palin seems to speak from her heart, not from a script (I know these are prepared remarks but they still sound honest, not rehearsed and massaged, unlike our President).

She is so similar to Reagan in this regard and the reaction to her only points to this. She is loved or hated, respected or reviled. There is no middle ground.

I am waiting for the one defining moment. It'll come. When she has had enough of the crap that's been thrown her way. The lies about her, but mostly about her family. The innuendo, the smears, the baseless rumors. At heart, she's a blue collar girl. She hunts, fishes, her husband works construction. I guarantee she is not a stranger to colorful language. Sometime, and I hope it's not planned in any way but a natural outburst of emotion, she's going to unstrap her toolbelt, let it hit the floor and come out swinging. Win, lose or draw she will be the nations hero. We need someone that will FIGHT!!

So Sarah, lose the handlers and advisers. Show us that you are a leader, not a politician. We're losing faith in this country and the system. We need you to either prove yourself quickly to us or get out of the way. There is hardly any time left at all.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I'm going to submit this letter to the Washington Missourian (I know that they have to be tired of hearing from me) in hopes of moving the discussion about meth along. I'm also going to send copies to the Sheriff and County Prosecutor. Figured since I wrote it I might as well put it on here, too.

To the Editor:

The recent discussions held in the editorial section of your paper regarding the restrictions on pseudoephedrine sales in the City of Washington and Franklin County have been robust and instructive. I think it fair to say that there is a high level of interest in this topic among the citizens of our county. This leads me to the conclusion that the time may be right to have an open and serious discussion regarding crime and our response to it as a county.

I believe in the axiom that all politics are local. I would extend this to include law and law enforcement. We cannot allow politicians and law enforcement from outside our county to handle issues that we should handle ourselves. The meth problem in Franklin County is most directly affecting us and so we should develop solutions that are peculiar to our situation.

I would like to hear from the County Prosecutor and the Sheriff. I would like to know exactly what would be required of the people of Franklin County to get the problem of meth abuse under control. I would also like to know what areas the law enforcement community believes need improvement in the county and what would be required to rectify problems in the areas they believe deficient. We need to know the cost and the proposals for funding. We need to know if cuts can be made or if we need to raise taxes. I would say to law enforcement that if you cannot make the case for these sacrifices to the citizens of the county your cause is hopeless. If we will not pay the cost to protect ourselves then we don’t deserve the protection.

Franklin County, if it is serious about ending the meth related problems, needs to develop a reputation as the last place in the country that anyone wants to commit a crime. Now, I’m just a carpenter and have no degree in criminal science or anything else for that matter. But I do have a least a modicum of common sense. To make our county as inhospitable to the criminal as possible I propose the following:

1) Re-establishment of work farms and chain gangs. I assume that this is still legal because they are used in the southern states. Anyone convicted of using methamphetamine should do his/her time at the county farm. I want these prisoners working, in full public view, with chains around their ankles and armed guards watching their every move. I want our kids to see them everyday as a constant reminder of the cost of crime. This isn’t going to kill anyone and is not cruel and unusual. This will by necessity cost the jobs of some county employees who would otherwise be doing the work that the prisoners are now doing. These employees should be allowed to find other jobs in the county system until they retire or find other employment. This may not be efficient but it will be just. Eventually, the county will see some benefit in reduced cost from the use of prison labor.

2) Those that manufacture and distribute methamphetamine need to have the full weight of the law come crashing down on them. I don’t know to what extent counties have authority to sentence criminals but I do believe that this constitutes a capital crime. If sentencing criminals to death is not within the purview of county law then Franklin County should begin a vigorous and public campaign to allow it to have this option in the sentencing guidelines. If nothing else, we’ll get a whole bunch of media coverage furthering our reputation as a place criminals don’t want to be. And who knows, maybe we could change the law.

3) The citizens of our county need training in ways to assist law enforcement. This is a huge county and one where the police cannot be everywhere at once. Our founding fathers envisioned citizen involvement in keeping the peace and enforcing the law, hence the second amendment. A well organized group of highly trained deputies would be an asset to the county and an additional set of eyes for the Sheriff Dept. This system of volunteers works for the majority of the county fire fighters and I see no reason it wouldn’t work for law enforcement. There would be some cost involved, but again, put the issue before the people. Meth production is prevalent in this county because the bad guys know that the chances of law enforcement coming across them are slim. If there are a large number of deputized citizens scattered all over the county this advantage disappears.

I want to make it clear, and I think I speak for the majority of Franklin County, we are grateful for the work done by the Sheriff and the County Prosecutor. You are doing everything that you can with what you have to work with. You can’t do it alone. It’s time that the citizens step up and assume our responsibility.

This is Franklin County’s problem and the solution needs to come from Franklin County. We must take responsibility for our own problems and not turn to others to find solutions. Like politics, all solutions are local. We will have to brace ourselves for the onslaught of self appointed, self important interlopers that will try to sue and harass us into submission. Remember, Franklin County belongs to us and we belong to her. If someone attacks your home you have the God given right to defend it. Franklin County is my home and I do not feel disposed to let her be destroyed by the people that commit crimes and those that defend them.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Remember these great old hits? I'm uploading all of this not because I necessarily agree that there is some vast conspiracy to infect the world and profit from the disease. However, I wouldn't be surprised. We will all have to make a choice soon as to whether we will get a flu shot, or not. I never get them because I haven't seen any real solid evidence that the shot will do more good than harm. My wife thinks that I'm an idiot (for this and a number of other valid reasons). She gets a flu shot every year. I get sick less often than she does. Flu shot or genetic predisposition? Don't know, I'm just a carpenter. I do, however, remember the flu scare of '76 and the deaths that resulted from the vaccine.

There seems to be an awful lot of news out of Europe and Asia regarding the spread of this newest possible pandemic. Is this hype being used to line the pockets of drug manufacturers or the beginning of a great and awesome threat to each and every one of us. Only time will tell.

Todays headline from Fox News:

"Health Officials Say 40 Percent of Americans Could Get Swine Flu This Year"
"ATLANTA — In a disturbing new projection, health officials say up to 40 percent of Americans could get swine flu this year and next and several hundred thousand could die without a successful vaccine campaign and other measures.

The estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are roughly twice the number of those who catch flu in a normal season and add greater weight to hurried efforts to get a new vaccine ready for the fall flu season."

Capital Century has this recollection:

"On the cold afternoon of February 5, 1976, an Army recruit told his drill instructor at Fort Dix that he felt tired and weak but not sick enough to see military medics or skip a big training hike.

Within 24 hours, 19-year-old Pvt. David Lewis of Ashley Falls, Mass., was dead, killed by an influenza not seen since the plague of 1918-19, which took 500,000 American lives and 20 million worldwide.

Only young Lewis died from the swine flu itself in 1976. But as the critics are quick to point out, hundreds of Americans were killed or seriously injured by the inoculation the government gave them to stave off the virus."

Mercola reports that "Austrian investigative journalist Jane Burgermeister has filed criminal charges against the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), and several of the highest ranking government and corporate officials, charging them with bioterrorism and attempts to commit genocide."

"A review of the documentation Burgermeister provides makes at least one thing crystal clear, and that is this: there are enough legal provisions already in place to make a mandated, forced vaccination program a reality, giving certain agencies the authority to go as far as using deadly force to ensure compliance."

"And, in return for your submitting to the jab under duress, there are no actual guarantees of the safety of the vaccine, and if things do go wrong, you have no legal recourse whatsoever to sue anyone, anywhere, for damages."

"This would be an absolute nightmare and nothing short of a crime, no matter how “legal” and “in the best interest of the people” it has been set up to appear."

"So no matter how you feel about Jane Burgermeister or her allegations in totality, the real and urgent problem we face right now is the possibility of forced vaccinations against the swine flu – a threat that is being unreasonably hyped by WHO and health agencies around the world, despite the fact that your chances of being struck by lightning is 2,300 percent higher than your risk of contracting and dying from the swine flu… "

"Even former Presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul (who is also a doctor) has gone on record stating that the swine flu is little more than hysterical hype for financial gain. In his video address he also reminds you about the outcome of the last swine flu vaccination program, which took place in 1976."



"As for her more recently filed criminal charges with the FBI against the WHO, the United Nations (UN), and several of the highest ranking government and corporate officials, evidence is presented to show that: … an international corporate criminal syndicate, which has annexed high government office at Federal and State level, is intent on carrying out a mass genocide against the people of the United States by using an artificial (genetic) flu pandemic virus and forced vaccine program to cause mass death and injury and depopulate America in order to transfer control of the United States to the United Nations and affiliated security forces (UN troops from countries such as China, Canada, the UK and Mexico)."

"There is proof many organizations - World Health Organization, UN as well as vaccine companies such as Baxter and Novartis - are part of a single system under the control of a core criminal group, who give the strategic leadership, and who have also funded the development, manufacturing and release of artificial viruses in order to justify mass vaccinations with a bioweapon substance in order to eliminate the people of the USA, and so gain control of the assets, resources etc of North America.”

"Again, whether or not the real reason behind the frantic push for mass vaccinations is to reduce population, there’s no doubt that the swine flu vaccine will line the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and other involved parties."

"One financial analyst has estimated that Tamiflu sales will amount to about $388 million worth of sales in the near future, and sales of the swine flu vaccines being prepped as we speak will likely run in the billions of dollars, as WHO declared the swine flu “unstoppable” in a July 13 press conference, and is instructing all 194 member countries to stock up."

"According to a report from CNN, the U.S. demand alone may be as high as 600 million doses of swine flu vaccine. That would be two doses each for 300 million Americans, on top of the 115 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine."

RECOVERY ACCORDING TO OBAMA

Politics Daily
"Traditionally, as the economy gathers momentum after a recession, jobs are slow to bounce back, a lagging indicator in economic lingo. What is difficult to figure this time around – and Summers acknowledges that there is not yet enough data to make a determination – is how reluctant businesses will be to hire new workers. It can be argued that because the layoffs were so much faster and graver than the economic models would suggest, the recovery in jobs will be equally accelerated. But there is also the more alarming prospect that companies are growing adept at doing more with fewer workers (the equivalent of an old-fashioned speed-up on the assembly line) – and that this largely may be a jobless recovery." (highlights added)

I'm really confused at this point. If 70% of our GDP is based on consumer spending, how can a jobless recovery be a recovery at all? People without jobs don't spend money. People that know people without jobs are not going to spend more than they have to, either. Perception becomes reality. Unless of course, the main concern of Summers and the rest of the elite is to see that the bankers recover, that their balance sheets become healthy once again. Just as the left constantly chided the Bush administration, and rightfully so, because there seemed to be no clear definition of victory in the war on terror; perhaps the Obama administration needs to define for us exactly what they consider a recovery to be, provide a clear definition of victory in the war against the collapsing economy.

BRAZEN,ISN'T SHE?

Dept. of State
"I have been often to, I guess, the mother ship in New York City, but it’s good to have an outpost of the Council right here down the street from the State Department. We get a lot of advice from the Council, so this will mean I won’t have as far to go to be told what we should be doing and how we should think about the future." (highlights added)

Hillary Clinton in a speech given before the Council on Foreign Relations, July 15,2009.

IF YOU REPEAT A LIE OFTEN ENOUGH PEOPLE WILL START TO BELIEVE IT

Catholic Culture
"Vatican newspaper columnist: Obama’s words show tide is turning against abortion."

Isn't that special. What do his appointments say to us? Read this article from Life News to find out about the people Obama has appointed and the bills he has signed. The Vatican needs to either very publicly disassociate itself from L’Osservatore Romano or quit trying to have it both ways. This paper is consistent in promoting this twisted fantasy of a pro-life American President. He is not pro-life; never was, never will be. When one wonders why there is so much confusion among the laity in the Catholic Church I think that this paper and its bizarre editorial policies would be a good place to start looking for answers.

JUST BECAUSE IT'S FRIDAY

DARN THING PROBABLY DIDN'T WORK ANYWAY

CBS3
Health: 77-Year-Old Gets Transgender Operation
"She used to be Richard; a green beret specialist in Vietnam. A tough guy who privately dreamed of wearing dresses."

I know that there's a Lifetime Channel movie in here someplace.

PUT ON THE BOB WILLS AND GRAB ME A CERVEZA, I'M HEADING FOR TEXAS

Star Telegram
"AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas."

I am so freakin' glad to see states start to stand up to this obnoxious, overbearing government that we have elected in Washington. And, wouldn't you know, Texas is leading the way. The state that had the grace and good manners to host our legally elected state government after they were forced from Missouri by federal troops the last time we tried to exert our sovereignty, is going to help out the whole country this time. God Bless 'Em.

BENEFITS ARE DISAPPEARING

Reuters
"NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose roughly as expected last week, but the data was distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive industry.
KEY POINTS: * Initial claims for state unemployment insurance rose by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 in the week ended July 18, the Labor Department said on Thursday. * Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to increase to 550,000 from a previously reported 522,000."
The Australian
"The number of US workers filing new claims for state jobless benefits began climbing back up last week, confirming that dramatic declines reported earlier this month weren't necessarily signs of an economic revival. Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 30,000 to 554,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended July 18, the Labour Department said.
The weak labour market and tighter credit markets are bound to weigh on home sales and hinder efforts to stem foreclosures."
PBR
"As many as one hundred thousand people will run out of unemployment benefits this year, according to the state's Unemployment Insurance Agency."
Public Opinion Online
"People whose unemployment benefits have expired must wait for the state Senate to pass legislation extending their benefits another seven weeks.
This past week, 110 people in Franklin County and 160 in Cumberland County exhausted their jobless benefits, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Their average weekly benefit is $309.
Pennsylvanians out of work currently can qualify for as many as 72 weeks of benefits. Benefits for about 20,000 expired before this week."

So, I could go on with this for quite a long time. The country is facing a HUGE problem that I don't see being addressed. A big group of people, those that were caught in the first wave of layoffs, are beginning to see their state unemployment benefits expire. Most of these people are living on the money supplied to them by the state and have no other source of income. In most cases these people had skills that are not really marketable outside of the industry that they worked in or have skills for which there is no demand. In a number of cases, these people exhausted what little savings they had waiting for their benefits to begin. They have no safety net left and will be, for all intents and purposes, destitute when their checks stop coming in.

In all honesty, most states cannot extend these benefits any further because the states are either on the verge of bankruptcy or bankrupt. To make matters worse, as the number of unemployed continues to grow, there will be more filings for the benefits that can no longer be paid.

The states will be forced to turn to the Federal Government for a bailout. This will cause the Fed to issue more freshly printed, constantly devaluing currency. It will also give the Fed the opportunity that it needs to seize more power form the states. This money will have plenty of strings attached to it.

As the number of families that are barely hanging on cross the line to destitution another effect will be the drastic downturn in consumer spending. Credit cards have tightened up to the point that most people will have no credit available to them and no cash to spend on anything but the absolute essentials, maybe not even that. This will cause more businesses to lay off workers due to lack of demand for their product which will of course put more pressure on the states for unemployment benefits which they can no longer afford.

70% of our GDP is created through consumer spending. As we watch the markets go up, up, up one has to wonder; is anyone stupid enough to believe all of this "green shoot" BS? This bullish attitude cannot be based on any rational economic reasoning. How can any sort of sustainable recovery be occurring when the consumers don't spend? Statistics show that most people are paying down debt, not increasing it. The only way this can happen is through a cessation of all nonessential spending. This will be good for the country in the long term, but as far as stimulating some sort of miracle recovery, it ain't gonna happen.

Karl Denninger at Market Ticker has this to say:

"But consumers have "pulled forward" demand using credit for the last 20 years. This practice accelerated right into the maw of this recession; indeed, it was the reason for the recession, when credit outstanding and its debt service caught up to and surpassed earnings power. That is what began the chain of defaults that started with subprime and has spread through the economy (and which isn't over, by the way, since we've been hiding so many of them.)"

In other words, if we wanted it, chances are we already bought it, thus removing additional demand for nonessential items from the market place. Demand, which is absolutely essential to our recovery, does not exist, and will not in any appreciable form, for the foreseeable future.
The big boys are playing a game with our money right now, trying to induce us into investing in a market that cannot be sustained. Don't do it! We've got a long way to go before we see any real growth in our economy.

I SAW THE WITCH DOCTOR

From: Gateway Pundit

TPM Muckraker
OK, so before you get all screamy about racism, how come nobody on the left has any problem with the picture below?
Maybe it's because the title of the article just wasn't all that offensive; "Negro Condoleezza Rice’s anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems." Ronatvan
I'm sure that the NAACP did everything they could to support Ms. Rice. And, do you remember the outcry from NOW? It was deafening!

PASS THE STICKS, PLEASE

From Reuters via Campaign For Liberty:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers and foresters could earn more money from carbon contracts than they pay in higher costs from legislation to control greenhouse gases, the Agriculture Department estimated on Wednesday.

So it looks like the primary business of farmers will be trading in carbon offsets, not producing food. Is it just me, or does anyone else see the potential for a problem here? I understand that farmers have for a long time needed to be involved in the commodities trading markets. I know that acreage set asides have been an important tool in preserving wildlife corridors and helping to slow erosion. I know that the dust bowl SUCKED! However, when government interference in the free market distorts the business of farming to such a large extent that it becomes more profitable for the farmer to grow trees than corn we are all in for a long, hungry winter. Of course, I suppose that this would help fulfill some of the ambitions of our new science czar, vis-a-vis population control.

HERE FISHY FISHY

From: The Daily Bell
Dow 15,000, here we come: Stocks going to new highs, says Wall Street execs-Politico
From: The Chicago Tribune
Dow tops 9000 as optimism reigns
From: Yahoo
Dow tops 9,000 as home sales rise for 3rd month

Keep in mind that you are reading the incoherent ramblings of a poorly educated carpenter but I just gotta say that the above headlines are the equivalent of catfish chum. The banks are using all of the money that we have given them to sweeten up the water and bring in the fish. Are your taste buds tingling yet? Do you want to take some of the money that you were able to get out of the markets after you got burned a few months back and get back in? Doesn't that chunk of chicken liver dangling there in front of you look tasty, just like you remember? I'll bet if you're real careful you could take just a bite or two without getting hooked.

There is no reason for a 10% jump in the Dow over the last few days. At least no reason that makes sense from the standpoint of a normal human being. The unemployment levels are creeping up to historic highs. Oh, I know, we're still below 10%. Really? I don't need numbers massaged by the government to tell me that at least in the St. Louis area it's one hell of a lot higher than that. What used to be rush hour now looks like a Sunday afternoon drive. The construction industry has all but shut down. I've never seen it this slow and I have been around it all of my 50 years. There is only one car factory still open (barely) in St. Louis. We used to be #2 in production, second only to Detroit. Fuel is cheap. The economy is so weak that even Goldman Sachs can't inflate the price. Nearly everyone I know is unemployed or underemployed. I've got time to sit here typing on the computer instead of grabbing my tools and heading out the door.

The American people are being toyed with and treated like suckers at the carnival sideshow. The bankers are trying to suck every last penny out of us by using our money to falsely inflate the market and draw us back in. When they get it to the point that it is about to collapse under the weight of this fiction they will set the hook, gut the people and fill their freezers for the long winter ahead.

In the words of the failed Governor of the bankrupt state of California, "Get out, get out NOW!!!"

I'M GOING TO THROW A FIT IF I DON'T GET MY WAY

Fox News
"President Barack Obama said Wednesday that police acted "stupidly" in the arrest of prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and that despite racial progress blacks and Hispanics are still singled out unfairly for arrest."

Fox News
"Gates has demanded an apology from Sgt. James Crowley, who had responded to the home near Harvard University to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded the scholar show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused and then accused the officer of racism.
Gates said Crowley walked into his home without his permission and only arrested him as the professor followed him to the porch, repeatedly demanding the sergeant's name and badge number because he was unhappy over his treatment.
Police say Gates yelled at the officer, accused him of racial bias and refused to calm down after the officer demanded Gates show him identification to prove he lived there. Gates denies that he yelled at the officer, other than to repeatedly ask his name and badge number, and he says he readily turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID to prove his residence and identity.
Gates said he was "outraged" by the arrest, wants an apology from Crowley and would use the experience to help make a documentary about racial profiling in the United States."

I really like Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I have enjoyed his work both in print and on television. I respect him and have found his obvious Afro-centrism to be a welcome addition to his fine historical research.

This being said, GET OVER IT!! I don't doubt for a minute that the police overreacted in this situation. The nature of their job calls for a bit of overreaction in nearly all situations. A little bellicosity generally helps to control what could always become a violent situation. I also suspect that Prof. Gates felt put upon to be questioned at his own place of residence, as would most people. Apparently, the situation got out of hand and resulted in arrest. Had everyone acted as rational adults this wouldn't have happened. I've been in situations with the police. I've found that if I acted as they wanted me to, swallowed my pride and just tried to be polite, I've never had a problem. Even when I was arrested, I saw no reason to complicate the situation by shooting off my mouth. Either way, I was going to jail. Why have a cracked skull on top of it?

Both parties need to man up and apologize, then move on with their lives. Of course, that won't happen. Too many groups have a vested interest in seeing this blown into a major civil rights knock down, drag out. This is a microcosm of the problems facing our country. Truly rational decisions are never made because competing special interests will not allow it to happen. The threat of anarchy seems to be the preferred tool to use in almost all negotiations.

As seen in this instance, even the best educated in this country are incapable of acting as adults. Why do Americans all revert to children when things don't go their way? How did we develop this singular, national character flaw?

YOU GO GIRL!

World News Daily
"Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution declaring Alaska's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – and now 36 other states have introduced similar resolutions as part of a growing resistance to the federal government."

So, how far will the federal government allow states to go in asserting their 10th amendment rights? For those that left their pocket constitution in their other pair of pants let me give you the 10th amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it. Just like the rest of the original ten amendments. Of course, the commerce clause has been used to override the tenth amendment. Here is the commerce clause:

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.

The regulation of commerce has been construed in such a way as allow the federal government to gather to itself all of the powers reserved to the states in the tenth amendment. Instead of serving as a referee in disputes between the states it has become, regardless of the simple language of the Constitution, the real power to which all of the states must bend their knee.

Abraham Lincoln, in a speech before the House of Representatives on January 12, 1848, said this: "Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up,and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better." (Of course, somewhere along the line he apparently changed his mind about this.) I hope that the states will do as the constitution requires and reassert their sovereignty. Maybe these resolutions are the beginning.

Auto-Tune the News #6: Michael Jackson. drugs. Palin.

How do people come up with this stuff?

A TIME OF CHOICE

From 24hGold we get these happy words of encouragement:

"Starting in the next 6 months and culminating in 2011-12 the world will experience a series of tumultuous events which will be life changing for most people in the world. But 2011-12 will not be the beginning of an upturn in the world economy but instead the start of a long period of economic, political and social upheaval that could last for a couple of decades."

The author goes further and maybe more to the real point when he states:

"We will discuss the three areas that we for some time have argued will determine the faith of the world for the foreseeable future..." (highlight added).

The author, Egon von Greyerz, goes on to say that true unemployment numbers are now around 20% and that he expects to see these numbers rise to over 35% over the next few years. He continues:

"But even the current figure of 30 million unemployed is a catastrophe. Adding dependants to every unemployed person there are currently 100 million people affected by unemployment in the US. In the next three months 3 million unemployed will fall out of the social security safety-net. These are the people who were laid off in the second half of 2008. Including their families this means that around 10 million people will become destitute between now and September with no social security and no savings. If we then add the 4 million that were made redundant in the first half of 2009 that will result in an additional 13 million people including families will become destitute around Christmas. This is a disaster of unimaginable consequences that will affect the whole fabric of American society."

Von Greyerz predicts that over the next 6-9 months unemployment will severely affect most of the world. This will lead to a dramatic downturn in demand for goods which will only lead to more unemployment. Tax revenues will sharply decrease just as the need for social programs to feed and house the unemployed explodes. This will cause an eruption of civil unrest, disease and starvation on a scale never before seen.
He believes that because the bankers have not changed their ways but have returned to the same toxic investment devices and bloated paychecks that got us into this in the first place we will enter into another round of banking collapses sometime this autumn. Because there are no private investors all of the money needed to prop them up will come from the printing presses. This will cause hyper-inflation and the collapse of the dollar and the pound first, with others to follow. We will then enter into what the author calls "The Dark Years." Von Greyerz continues:

"In the next few months we will see the start of the Dark Years. For the first time in the history of the world there will be a synchronised downturn affecting all nations (although some a lot worse than others).This is the culmination of the world and especially the Western world, living above its means for decades in a mania of credit bubbles, asset bubbles, real estate bubbles as well as excesses leading to decadence and a society with very weak moral and ethical values. (Of course no society recognises this as it is happening but only afterwards). Governments have fuelled this process by printing unlimited amounts of paper thus destroying the money and purchasing power of most nations.


The Dark Years will be extremely severe for most countries both financially and socially. In many countries in the Western world there will be a severe depression and it will be the end of the welfare state. Most private and state pension schemes are also likely to collapse. It will be a worldwide depression but some countries may only have a deep recession. There will be famine, homelessness and misery resulting in social as well as political unrest. Different type of government leaders and regimes are likely to result from this.


How long will the Dark Years last? There is a book called ”The Fourth Turning” written by Neil Howe. He has identified a pattern that repeats itself every 80 years. The pattern has been extremely accurate in the Anglophile world. We have recently entered the Fourth Turning which is the final 20 years of the cycle. According to Howe we are in the early stages of a 20 year period of economic and institutional upheaval. This is a period of Crisis when the fabric of society will change dramatically. Previous Fourth Turnings have been the American Revolution, Great Depression and World War II. According to Howe the Crisis will be substantially worse before it is over and it will last for another circa 20 years.


All of this is not good news and we hope that we and Howe are wrong regarding the severity and length of this crisis. But we fear that we are both right. We must stress again that never previously has the the whole world entered a downturn simultaneously in such a fragile state both financially and economically which is why the Dark Years are likely to be so devastating and long lasting."

At the beginning of this article the author states his belief that the "Dark Years" will determine the faith of the world. Not test, determine. I know that a lot of us sense that things are at a hinge point, a place in history where everything is about to change. Whether Von Greyerz chose his wording purposefully or just kind of backed into this idea of determination I think he has struck upon a frightening truth. This is the time in history when a single determination of faith will be required, from each and every soul. We are entering a time when the fog and ambiguity of faith will be stripped away so that the choice is laid bare. Everyone will know the truth and be able to make a decision based on cold, hard fact. How many will remain blind? How many will turn their back on the truth due to pride? To hate? To love of self? Will I? I pray that I have the strength and the humility to see this through. That I follow Christ and am not distracted by some trap laid by Satan. See us safely through this desert, Lord. Amen.

THE NATIVES ARE GETTING EVEN MORE RESTLESS

You've got to wonder how much of this is going on and isn't being reported? I don't think that Obama is going to handle real resistance to his pronouncements well. However, since I have come to believe that he really is an evil genius and not just some tool for the powers that be, his reaction could be extremely subtle and dangerous.

THE NRA NEEDS TO GET BEHIND THIS

Catholic News

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- From lost causes to the unattractive, patron saints are associated with virtually every occupation, ailment and activity. St. Gabriel Francis Possenti, a 19th-century Passionist monk and patron saint of Italy's Abruzzi region, clerics and youths, is gaining a line of followers who feel he should be recognized by the Vatican as the patron saint of "handgunners." The St. Gabriel Possenti Society of Arlington, Va., is an interdenominational society dedicated to promoting the public recognition of the saint and advocating his Vatican designation as patron of "handgunners." It emphasizes historical, philosophical and theological bases for the right to self-defense. Advocates of the designation base their argument on an often-told story -- not historically documented but believed by many -- of St. Possenti using a handgun to rescue a woman from marauders attacking his village in Italy but without killing any of the attackers. John Snyder, founder of the society and author of "Gun Saint," has advocated for the official patron saint designation of St. Possenti for more than two decades.

Wordpress

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Patron Saint of Students, Young People and Clerics

The saint of the young, The saint of miracles, The saint of the smile

Hello and welcome to this website which is dedicated to spreading devotion to Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Gabriel is little known in the English speaking world, though his memory is preserved amongst Italian immigrant communities. Saint Gabriel was declared a Saint by His Holiness Benedict XV in 1920. He is patron of young people, students, seminarians, clerics, Italian youth and of the region of Abruzzo in Italy. His feastday is celebrated on February 27th.

Saint Gabriel was known in the world as Francis Possenti, son of a professional and respected family. He grew up in a household where devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows was a hallmark of family life. Francis grew up, living the life of a typical teenager, he danced, he hunted, he went out with girls, but he still felt something was lacking. He turned to Jesus and His Sorrowful Mother and felt an inner calling from Our Lady to become a Passionist. This he did after many trials. As a Passionist he grew daily in love with Our Lord and Mary, the Virgin of Sorrows and soon came to the perfection of Christian virtue. He died from tuberculosis at the young age of 24.

Saint Gabriel is remarkable because he went so quickly and perfectly from a life of excess, devoted to the pleasures of this world, to becoming inextricably linked to the Passion of Our Lord. He shows us that we can all fall in love with Our Lord.

Thus this site seeks to spread devotion and knowledge of him so that all may learn from him and be guided to Jesus through him. So please spread the word about this site and help to make Gabriel known to those who can benefit from his wonderful example.

Saint Gabriel! Pray for us!

Saint Gabriel Francis Possenti of Our Lady of Sorrows C.P.

Born: 1st March 1838

Religious Profession: 22nd September 1857

Died: 27th February 1862

Venerable: 14th May 1905

Beatified: 31st May 1908

Canonised: 13th May 1920

WE'RE FINALLY PUSHING BACK

Russ Carnahan held a town hall meeting yesterday in St. Louis. The natives seem to be getting restless. This comes from Reboot Congress. If Obama fails to get this healthcare bill crammed down our throats, which is beginning to look more and more likely, will he lose momentum on cap and trade? Further, if by some wondeful act of God the American people manage to stop these bills, thus upsetting the plans of the one world government masters, what then? Do we see some sort of massive push to bring us in line with their plans are do we see an attempt to completely crush our economy and thus remove us from the world stage? Since it seems that the main action will focus on the Eurasian Continent I could see removing the pesky, freedom loving Americans from the action with the idea of mopping us up later. First though, we have to kill these bills. Call and write your representatives and senators.

XXX

Ok guys, we all need to take a little time out and enjoy, no lust after, some pure toy porn. I really, really want one of these!! I got to wonder about the guys pants, though. Was the length intentional or just really poor fashion judgement?

My brother submitted this video from the Pacific Bureau.

FISCAL CRISIS? WHERE?

The Post Dispatch reports on the current trip to Iraq and Kuwait taken by Governors Nixon and Quinn. I suppose that from the standpoint of a politician a taxpayer funded trip to generate some photo ops with the troops is a worthwhile endeavor.

However, at Mobudget.org we find this little bit of info:

"Due to declining revenues, Governor Nixon recently announced vetoes and withholds in the Missouri Fiscal Year 2010 (FY 2010) budget that began on July 1st. The budget passed by the General Assembly in May was based on a revenue estimate that was higher than what actual revenue collections have been. Rather than increasing by 1 percent, it is likely that state revenue could decrease by 1 percent in the coming year.1 The revenues for Fiscal Year 2009 (which ended June 30, 2009) decreased 6.8 percent from the previous year, as of June 29th. Because the Missouri Constitution requires a balanced budget, the revenue decline required the Governor to take action to balance the Fiscal Year 2010 budget.

On June 24th, the Governor announced line item vetoes of slightly more than $105 million from the budget. By vetoing these line items, the funding is removed from the FY 2010 budget. Governor Nixon also withheld approximately $325 million within other line items. If revenue improves during the coming months, some or all of this funding could be restored to the budget."

Look, I'm all for cutting the size of government and could most assuredly find more to cut than was found in the current budget. The first thing that should be cut is any state funds that were used for this trip.

Governor Quinn has even less business flying around on the public dole. The Huffington Post reports this:

"Facing a massive deficit and an array of unpleasant choices, Illinois officials decided Wednesday to keep state government running with a budget built around borrowing billions of dollars and letting unpaid bills climb to record levels."


Don't any of these self serving, money sucking morons get it? Our states and country are collapsing. We need to solve the problems here and not spend money that we don't have running all over the world for political gain! It is time for statesmen, not politicians. Unfortunately, we don't seem capable of electing people that put state and country ahead of personal ambition any more.