Mike Church interviews Cong. Ron Paul, Part 1/2 (9 Dec '09)

Mike Church interviews Cong. Ron Paul, Part 2/2 (9 Dec '09)

Joining China and Iran, Australia to Filter Internet

FOXNews.com

Australia is forging ahead with plans to filter Internet content, joining such well known repressive regimes as China and Iran.

Under the Chinese-style system, Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country would be legally obliged to filter out banned material.

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It Is Time To Leave Afghanistan

by Ron Paul

Statement before the Foreign Affairs Committee, United States House of Representatives, December 10, 2009

Mr. Speaker thank you for holding these important hearings on US policy in Afghanistan. I would like to welcome the witnesses, Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and General Stanley A. McChrystal, and thank them for appearing before this Committee.

I have serious concerns, however, about the president’s decision to add some 30,000 troops and an as yet undisclosed number of civilian personnel to escalate our Afghan operation. This “surge” will bring US troop levels to approximately those of the Soviets when they occupied Afghanistan with disastrous result back in the 1980s. I fear the US military occupation of Afghanistan may end up similarly unsuccessful.

In late 1986 Soviet armed forces commander, Marshal Sergei Akhromeev, told then-Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, "Military actions in Afghanistan will soon be seven years old. There is no single piece of land in this country which has not been occupied by a Soviet soldier. Nonetheless, the majority of the territory remains in the hands of rebels.” Soon Gorbachev began the Soviet withdrawal from its Afghan misadventure. Thousands were dead on both sides, yet the occupation failed to produce a stable national Afghan government.

Eight years into our own war in Afghanistan the Soviet commander’s words ring eerily familiar. Part of the problem stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation. It is our presence as occupiers that feeds the insurgency. As would be the case if we were invaded and occupied, diverse groups have put aside their disagreements to unify against foreign occupation. Adding more US troops will only assist those who recruit fighters to attack our soldiers and who use the US occupation to convince villages to side with the Taliban.

Proponents of the president’s Afghanistan escalation cite the successful “surge” in Iraq as evidence that this second surge will have similar results. I fear they might be correct about the similar result, but I dispute the success propaganda about Iraq. In fact, the violence in Iraq only temporarily subsided with the completion of the ethnic cleansing of Shi’ites from Sunni neighborhoods and vice versa – and all neighborhoods of Christians. Those Sunni fighters who remained were easily turned against the foreign al-Qaeda presence when offered US money and weapons. We are increasingly seeing this “success” breaking down: sectarian violence is flaring up and this time the various groups are better armed with US-provided weapons. Similarly, the insurgents paid by the US to stop their attacks are increasingly restive now that the Iraqi government is no longer paying bribes on a regular basis. So I am skeptical about reports on the success of the Iraqi surge.

Likewise, we are told that we have to “win” in Afghanistan so that al-Qaeda cannot use Afghan territory to plan further attacks against the US. We need to remember that the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 was, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, largely planned in the United States (and Germany) by terrorists who were in our country legally. According to the logic of those who endorse military action against Afghanistan because al-Qaeda was physically present, one could argue in favor of US airstrikes against several US states and Germany! It makes no sense. The Taliban allowed al-Qaeda to remain in Afghanistan because both had been engaged, with US assistance, in the insurgency against the Soviet occupation.


Nevertheless, the president’s National Security Advisor, Gen. James Jones, USMC (Ret.), said in a recent interview that less than 100 al-Qaeda remain in Afghanistan and that the chance they would reconstitute a significant presence there was slim. Are we to believe that 30,000 more troops are needed to defeat 100 al-Qaeda fighters? I fear that there will be increasing pressure for the US to invade Pakistan, to where many Taliban and al-Qaeda have escaped. Already CIA drone attacks on Pakistan have destabilized that country and have killed scores of innocents, producing strong anti-American feelings and calls for revenge. I do not see how that contributes to our national security.

The president’s top advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said recently, “I would say this about defining success in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the simplest sense, the Supreme Court test for another issue, we’ll know it when we see it.” That does not inspire much confidence.

Supporters of this surge argue that we must train an Afghan national army to take over and strengthen the rule and authority of Kabul. But experts have noted that the ranks of the Afghan national army are increasingly being filled by the Tajik minority at the expense of the Pashtun plurality. US diplomat Matthew Hoh, who resigned as Senior Civilian Representative for the U.S. Government in Zabul Province, noted in his resignation letter that he “fail[s] to see the value or the worth in continued U.S. casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war.” Mr. Hoh went on to write that “[L]ike the Soviets, we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by [the Afghan] people.”

I have always opposed nation-building as unconstitutional and ineffective. Afghanistan is no different. Without a real strategy in Afghanistan, without a vision of what victory will look like, we are left with the empty rhetoric of the last administration that “when the Afghan people stand up, the US will stand down.” I am afraid the only solution to the Afghanistan quagmire is a rapid and complete US withdrawal from that country and the region. We cannot afford to maintain this empire and our occupation of these foreign lands is not making us any safer. It is time to leave Afghanistan.

How to Fix Health Care: Lasik Surgery For The Medical Debate

Obama, are you listening?

President Obama needs to listen to Americans and to Afghans before escalating the war in Afghanistan.

Obama Approval on Afghanistan, at 35%, Trails Other Issues

by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are far less approving of President Obama's handling of the situation in Afghanistan than they have been in recent months, with 35% currently approving, down from 49% in September and 56% in July.

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Many Afghans Say Surge is the Wrong Strategy
Anand Gopal | Dec 1st, 2009 | The Wall Street Journal

KABUL — Some powerful Afghan politicians and tribal leaders have expressed doubts that more U.S. troops can turn the tide of the war, as President Barack Obama prepares to unveil a new Afghanistan strategy Tuesday.

President Barack Obama has been briefing allies about his plans for Afghanistan. He’s expected to tell the public — and lawmakers — how many more troops he’ll send and that it’s not an open-ended commitment. Video courtesy of Fox News.

“We should focus on building the Afghan security forces, not sending more troops,” said Sebgatullah Sanjar, the chief policy adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

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A Case For Secession-Introduction

by Patrick Samuels
November 16, 2009

What I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks may be considered by some, perhaps many, seditious at the least, treasonous at worst. Fortunately we still enjoy freedom of speech in this country and political speech in particular. This will not be the time or place to argue the methods of secession. Should a state currently operating under the contract of the Constitution of the United States find these arguments compelling in the future, or if the national government continues its slide into tyranny and obligates free men to act to preserve their freedom, it is my hope that the attitude of Thomas Jefferson would prevail; “Let them part by all means if it is for their happiness to do so. It is but the elder and the younger son differing. God bless them both, and keep them in the Union if it be for their good, but separate them if better.”

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10th Amendment Resolution

The following is a sample 10th Amendment House Concurrent Resolution approved by the Tenth Amendment Center. Activists, we encourage you to send this to your state senators and representatives – and ask them to introduce this resolution in your state.

A RESOLUTION affirming the sovereignty of the People of the State of _________.

WHEREAS, in the American system, sovereignty is defined as final authority, and the People, not government, are sovereign; and

WHEREAS, the people of the State of __________ are not united with the People of the other forty-nine states that comprise the United States of America on a principle of unlimited submission to their federal government; and

WHEREAS, all power not delegated by the people to government is retained; and

WHEREAS, the People of the several States comprising the United States of America created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “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”; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government in the Constitution of the United States, and also that which is necessary and proper to advancing those enumerated powers; with the rest being left to state governments or the people themselves; and

WHEREAS, powers, too numerous to list for the purposes of this resolution, have been exercised, past and present, by federal administrations, under the leadership of both Democrats and Republicans, which infringe on the sovereignty of the people of this state, and may further violate the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, when powers are assumed by the federal government which have not been delegated to it by the People, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy; that without this remedy, the People of this State would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whoever might exercise this right of judgment for them.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE _____ OF THE _______ GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ______, WITH THE SENATE

CONCURRING, that we hereby affirm the sovereignty of the People of the State of _______ under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise delegated to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist any and all activities outside the scope of their constitutionally-delegated powers; and, it be further

RESOLVED, that a committee of conference be appointed by this legislature, which shall have as its charge to recommend and propose legislation which would have the effect of nullifying specific federal laws and regulations which are outside the scope of the powers delegated by the People to the federal government in the Constitution; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that a committee of correspondence be appointed, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States; to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship as currently exists; that it considers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly those enumerated in the Constitution of the United States, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of this State’s Congressional delegation with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

Buy Americn Pot

Conservative Magazines and the Presumption of Liberty: A Content Analysis on Sex, Gambling, and Drugs

By Jason Briggeman
Daniel B. Klein

More often than not, National Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, and the now-defunct American Enterprise have failed to oppose government intrusion into America’s bedrooms, gambling places, and drug activities. Whatever political principles these leading conservative magazines have espoused, the presumption of liberty is not among them.

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TSA Changes Rules On Airport Searches ... Very Quietly

Searches Must Be Related To Airline Safety

TSA has changed two rules about airport searches after an aide to Congressman Ron Paul recorded an incident on his iPhone. The rules changes have prompted the ACLU to drop legal action against TSA on behalf of Steve Bierfeldt.
Bierfeldt was detained in March while attempting to board a plane at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport carrying $4,700 in cash. TSA agents spent half an hour questioning him about why he was carrying so much cash, and Bierfeldt recorded the exchange on his iPhone.

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Your New Doctor?

Deputies Hold Boy Who Fled Flu Shot

Student refused; was held down for vaccination

By SHELLEY HANSON Staff Writer
POSTED: November 11, 2009

WHEELING - It took the strength of two sheriff's deputies to keep a middle schooler still enough to receive a shot of the swine flu, or H1N1, vaccine at a recent clinic.

During a regular Wheeling-Ohio County Health Board meeting Tuesday, health department Administrator Howard Gamble told board members about the student's attempt to flee Wheeling Middle School during a vaccination clinic held there last Friday.

He noted the boy's mother could not bear to watch the scene and left the gymnasium. Out of apparent fear of receiving the injection, the student ran out of the building. The school's resource officer, Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy John Haglock, coaxed the boy back inside. Once at the shot station, however, Haglock apparently needed some help keeping the boy still, and another deputy assisted.

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Free Signature Generator

Medina for Texas

Debra Medina

Judge Andrew Napolitano discusses nullification and secession with Lew Rockwell

Justice Department issued secret subpoena for news site's traffic

The Department of Justice earlier this year served and shortly thereafter withdrew a grand jury subpoena that sought information about all visitors to the journalism website Indymedia.us for one day, and also contained a gag order "not to disclose the existence of [the] request," CBSNews.com reports.

In the Jan. 23 subpoena the Justice Department demanded that the Philadelphia-based site’s server administrator turn over "all IP traffic to and from www.indymedia.us" -- meaning the logs of the Internet addresses of all the site's readers -- as well other available information including visitors' e-mail and home addresses, Social Security Numbers, and credit card numbers, for June 25, 2008.

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Free Signature Generator

LANDMARK HEALTH BILL PASSES HOUSE ON CLOSE VOTE

Source: Lew Rockwell Blog

by David Kramer

(All emphasis mine)

The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his signature domestic priority. A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later. [And we all know how "solvent" those two government programs are.]

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees.* [Just what a company needs in bad economic times: another major expense. That should help it keeps its business afloat.] Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government’s mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. [Great! The gunvernment just forcibly removed probably the most important tool for an insurance company to be able to properly allocate risk in its insurance rates. That should really make private health insurance more "efficient."] The industry would also lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation. [We wouldn't want to let the market allocate resources properly; that's what we have a multi-trillion dollar indebted Federal Government for.]

It won’t be long now, folks.
____________________________
*That should be a great incentive for large companies to start replacing all of its permanent employees with temps—who would not qualify for company benefits.

Mike Church interviews Robert Higgs

Mike Church interviews Robert Higgs, Senior Fellow of the Independent Institute, on his daily talk show on Sirius XM on November 5, 2009. They discuss the growing debt, rising unemployment, and "Crisis and Leviathan."

Harborside Health Center

Great hats, great hair.

Free Signature Generator

Matthews vs Oath Keepers

Swine Flu Cases Overestimated?

CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared

By Sharyl Attkisson

(CBS) If you've been diagnosed "probable" or "presumed" 2009 H1N1 or "swine flu" in recent months, you may be surprised to know this: odds are you didn’t have H1N1 flu.

In fact, you probably didn’t have flu at all. That's according to state-by-state test results obtained in a three-month-long CBS News investigation.

The ramifications of this finding are important. According to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, and Britain's National Health Service, once you have H1N1 flu, you're immune from future outbreaks of the same virus. Those who think they've had H1N1 flu -- but haven't -- might mistakenly presume they're immune. As a result, they might skip taking a vaccine that could help them, and expose themselves to others with H1N1 flu under the mistaken belief they won't catch it. Parents might not keep sick children home from school, mistakenly believing they've already had H1N1 flu.

Why the uncertainty about who has and who hasn't had H1N1 flu?

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John F. Kennedy proposes TAX CUT??

Oh my...someone must have dubbed these words into JFK's audio.

Dow at 10K...whooptidamndoo

"The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United
States. It was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the
nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary
and financial system. Over the years, its role in banking and
the economy has expanded...

During the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth cen-
tury, financial panics plagued the nation, leading to bank failures and
business bankruptcies that severely disrupted the economy."

Above is taken from the ninth edition of "The Federal Reserve System:
Purposes and Functions," and may be downloaded at Federal Reserve.

The Dow average hit 10,000 yesterday. When the Dow first hit 10K in '99: total U.S. debt was $24.6T vs $50.8T now, gold was $280 vs $1,070, oil $16.44 vs $74.80. I have seen in my short life: 21% interest, 1% interest, Cokes for a nickel, movies for a dime, coffee for a nickel, and the Dow at 1000. I've recently seen financial panics, bank failures, business bankruptcies, and even the federal government taking over General Motors!

Maybe the Fed should read their own book. Better yet, END THE FED!

New York Nurses Suing State Over Forced Vaccinations

They say more staff have become ill from vaccines than from the actual flu

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009

A group of nurses is suing the State of New York over mandatory H1N1 vaccinations, claiming that the threat of being fired for refusing is a violation of their civil rights.

The nurses, based at Albany Medical Center, say they have been told they will face a week of suspension without pay, followed by termination if they don’t get both the H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccines by the end of October.

The New York mandate requires all health care workers to receive the vaccinations before the end of November.

The nurses say that they do not believe the vaccines are as effective as maintaining a good level of hygiene in preventing the flu.

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A Path to Downward Mobility

By Robert Samuelson

WASHINGTON -- Every generation of Americans should live better than its predecessor. That's Americans' core definition of economic "progress." But for today's young, it may be a mirage. Higher health spending, increasing energy prices and stretched governments at all levels may squeeze future disposable incomes -- what people have to spend -- and public services. Are we condemning our children to downward mobility?

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Dr Oz's Children Will NOT be Receiving H1N1 Vaccine!

New Jersey considers a medical marijuana law

New Jersey considers a medical marijuana law

A Poisonous Cocktail

Peter Schweizer, 10.05.09, 12:01 AM EDT
Expanding the Community Reinvestment Act.

As we try to shake off the financial crisis, here's a bright idea. Take a law that has led to the writing of an enormous amount of bad mortgages and expand it. Then take enforcement away from bank examiners and give it to housing activists.

Sound like a poisonous cocktail? Well, it is what the Obama administration and Democrats are currently stirring up on Capitol Hill.

The White House and Congress want to expand a 30-year-old law--the Community Reinvestment Act--that helped to fuel the mortgage meltdown. What the CRA does, in effect, is compel banks to seek the permission of community activists to get regulatory approval for bank expansions and mergers. Often this means striking a deal with activist groups such as ACORN or unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and agreeing to allocate credit to poor and minority areas that are underserved.

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Civic Literacy...Take the test

This year, ISI sought to learn more about the real-world consequences of this collegiate failure. ISI crafted a study to measure the independent impact of college on the acquisition and maintenance of civic literacy over a lifetime. First, a random sample of 2,508 American adults of all backgrounds was surveyed, allowing comparisons to be made between the college and non-college educated. They were asked 33 straightforward civics questions, many of which high school graduates and new citizens are expected to know. Respondents were also asked several questions concerning their participation in American civic life, their attitudes about perennial issues of American governance, and other behaviors that may or may not contribute to civic literacy. Finally, the results were run through multivariate regression analysis, allowing ISI to compare the civic impact of college with that of other societal factors.

Do Americans possess the knowledge necessary to participate wisely in the affairs of the nation?

Major Findings

Finding 1:
Americans Fail the Test of Civic Literacy

Finding 2:
Americans Agree:
Colleges Should Teach America’s Heritage

Finding 3:
College Adds Little to Civic Knowledge

Finding 4:
Television—Including TV News—Dumbs America Down

Finding 5:
What College Graduates Don’t Know About America

Additional Finding
Elected Officials Score Lower than the General Public

Conclusion
A Call to Reform

ISI calls on administrators, trustees, donors, faculty, parents, and elected officials to reevaluate curricula and standards of accountability so that colleges can better prepare their graduates for the responsibilities of informed citizenship.

* Do colleges require courses in American history, politics, economics, and other core areas?
* Do colleges assess the civic or overall learning of their graduates?
* Do elected officials link college appropriations to real measures of civic or overall learning?
* Do parents make college selection choices based upon a school’s actual academic performance?


After all the time, effort, and money spent on college, students emerge no better off in understanding the fundamental features of American self-government.

TAKE THE ISI TEST

Fusion Center Encourages Improper Investigations Of Lobbying Groups And Anti-War Activists (2/25/2009)

WASHINGTON – A Texas fusion center's “Prevention Awareness Bulletin” made public last night is the latest example of inappropriate police intelligence operations targeting political, religious and social activists for investigation. The North Central Texas Fusion System bulletin states that it is “imperative for law enforcement officers to report” the activities of lobbying groups, Muslim civil rights organizations and anti-war protest groups in their areas.

“This memo is not a plea for legitimate intelligence, and seems to endorse discrimination against Muslims,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The idea that the tolerance advocated by the groups being targeted would be treated as a menace to American security demonstrates a disregard for civil liberties and a disdain for democracy itself. The kind of indiscriminate and unlawful investigations this bulletin calls for always results in a chilling effect on free speech and association.”

The federal government has facilitated the growth of a network of fusion centers since 9/11 to expand information collection and sharing practices among law enforcement agencies, the private sector and the intelligence community. There are currently 70 fusion centers in the United States.

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Fusion center approach could be effective in other areas

Common data formats could enable sharing data of everything from bridge sensors to business reporting

* By Shawn McCarthy
* Sep 28, 2009

Despite some documented shortcomings, fusion centers have worked fairly well for homeland security issues -- so much so that maybe it's time to extend the concept to other civilian uses. The fusion center idea could even be applied to government functions that aren't security related, but which need real-time delivery of data and detailed analysis tools to make sense of the incoming data.

Homeland security fusion centers were suggested as part of a National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan issued by the Justice Department in 2003. The concept quickly spread across multiple security and justice-related agencies as they worked to import multiple data sources for analysis.

Today, more than 70 fusion centers have been set up across multiple security-related agencies. The centers serve as terrorism prevention resources and function as information sharing hubs -- gathering, digesting and comparing data from both government and private-sector resources. In the process, the centers also promote data sharing between federal, state and local government offices, the military and intelligence agencies.

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Fusion centers to provide classified intelligence to local police

by rawstory
Thursday Sep 17th, 2009 6:43 AM

In a move raising eyebrows among civil liberties advocates, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it would give so-called local and state “fusion centers” access to classified military intelligence in Pentagon databases.

Fusion centers are hubs for local law enforcement, the private sector and the intelligence community, and were created in an effort to fight terrorism. There are more than seventy known centers across the United States.

The decision to give fusion centers access to classified intelligence appears to a shift in policy by Homeland Security. In July, Secretary Janet Napolitano “that fusion centers were not intended to have a military presence, and that she was not aware of ones that did,” according to the New York Times.

The centers have been a flashpoint of criticism from civil liberties groups. The American Civil Liberties Union, in particular, has been a vehement critic.

“As fusion centers gain more and more access to Americans’ private information, the information about them being made available to the American public remains woefully inadequate,” Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement. “There is a stunning lack of oversight at these fusion centers and, as we’ve seen, these centers are rapidly becoming a breeding ground for overzealous intelligence activities. Opening the door for domestic law enforcement to gain access to classified military intelligence coupled with no guidelines restricting the military’s role in fusion centers is a recipe for disaster.”

In February, the ACLU highlighted a bulletin issued by a West Texas center. The Texas bulletin said it was “imperative for law enforcement officers to report” the activities of lobbying groups, Muslim civil rights organizations and anti-war protest groups in their region.

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The end of privacy?

Forget Street View, there is a far more subtle - and pervasive - invasion of your private life being carried out - this time through your mobile phone

When the furore about Google Street View washed across the UK last month, Google must have been pleased. For a much more sinister invasion of privacy had gone unnoticed. A week before, Google had, without any fanfare, released 11 software applications for mobile phones that spell a fundamental change in our lives.

Among the applications were functions such as text messaging, web browsing, a diary, Orkut - the company's social networking offering - and a program for Google Maps. Innocent enough, perhaps. But combined they would allow Google to know what you are doing all of the time. A truly Orwellian development that has been described by privacy campaigners as "a catastrophic corruption of consent".

Far-fetched? Not at all.

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The Tech Lab: Bruce Schneier

bbc.co.uk

Bruce Schneier is the chief security technology officer at BT and a celebrated writer and speaker on privacy, cryptography and security issues.

Welcome to the future, where everything about you is saved. A future where your actions are recorded, your movements are tracked, and your conversations are no longer ephemeral. A future brought to you not by some 1984-like dystopia, but by the natural tendencies of computers to produce data.

Increasingly, you leave a trail of digital footprints throughout your day. Once you walked into a bookstore and bought a book with cash. Now you visit Amazon, and all of your browsing and purchases are recorded. You used to buy a train ticket with coins; now your electronic fare card is tied to your bank account. Your store affinity cards give you discounts; merchants use the data on them to reveal detailed purchasing patterns.

Data about you is collected when you make a phone call, send an e-mail message, use a credit card, or visit a website. A national ID card will only exacerbate this.

More computerised systems are watching you. Cameras are ubiquitous in some cities, and eventually face recognition technology will be able to identify individuals. Automatic licence plate scanners track vehicles in parking lots and cities. Colour printers, digital cameras, and some photocopy machines have embedded identification codes. Aerial surveillance is used by cities to find building permit violators and by marketers to learn about home and garden size.

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CCTV: the worst of all possible worlds

This surveillance isn't working, so what next? More cameras, watched by us online? Or a mix of publicly controlled methods

by Michael Cross
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 August 2009 18.00 BST

Immanuel Kant lived his public life under surveillance. When the Enlightenment's greatest philosopher took his regular afternoon walk, everyone in the city of Königsberg knew his identity and routine – to the extent, according to legend, of setting their clocks by his time of passing.

Such public scrutiny wasn't particular to philosophers, or to 18th century Prussia. For most of human history, most people lived in settings in which every individual who stepped out automatically revealed to the world their station in life (Shakespeare's audiences knew well what was meant by "the sign of your profession") and probably their identity, too. And who knew that if they behaved inappropriately, they or their families would suffer the consequences.

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Web Censoring Widens Across Southeast Asia

Governments Lacking Technical Means Use Coercion and Intimidation in Efforts to Suppress Criticism Online

By JAMES HOOKWAY

BANGKOK -- Attempts to censor the Internet are spreading to Southeast Asia as governments turn to coercion and intimidation to rein in online criticism.

Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam lack the kind of technology and financial resources that China and some other large countries use to police the Internet. The Southeast Asian nations are using other methods -- also seen in China -- to tamp down criticism, including arresting some bloggers and individuals posting contentious views online.

That is distressing free-speech advocates who had hoped that Southeast Asia -- until recently a region where Internet use was relatively unfettered -- would become a model of open debate in the developing world as its economies modernize.

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Feingold: 'Sneak-and-peek' searches being used for regular crimes

The Justice Department made 763 requests for "sneak-and-peek" warrants in 2008, but only three of those had to with terrorism investigations, Sen. Russ Feingold told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.

"Sneak-and-peek" warrants allow law enforcement officials to break into homes and businesses and search the premises without the investigated party knowing. The authority for them was passed as part of the USA Patriot Act in late 2001, ostensibly as a counter-terrorism measure.

The revelations strengthen the arguments of opponents of the Patriot Act, who have long said that the powers granted the government to fight terrorism in the wake of 9/11 would end up being used for other purposes. Now, it appears that one of those powers -- sneak-and-peek searches -- was never meant for terrorism investigations in the first place.

"It's not meant for intelligence, it's for criminal cases," Kris told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "So I guess it's not surprising to me that it applies in drug cases."

"That's not how this was sold to the American people," Feingold responded. "It was sold -- as stated on the DoJ's Web site in 2005 -- as being necessary 'to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists.'"


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Lao Tzu - Libertarian

Was Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who was born as early as 600 B.C., the world's first libertarian? He very well might have been, according to libertarian scholar Murray Rothbard.

In an essay in The Journal of Libertarian Studies (Fall 1990), Rothbard wrote: "The first libertarian intellectual was Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism... For Lao-tzu the individual and his happiness was the key unit and goal of society. If social institutions hampered the individual's flowering and his happiness, then those institutions should be reduced or abolished altogether. To the individualist Lao-tzu, government, with its 'laws and regulations more numerous than the hairs of an ox,' was a vicious oppressor of the individual, and 'more to be feared than fierce tigers.'"

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When taxes are too high,
people go hungry.
When the government is too intrusive,
people lose their spirit.

Act for the people's benefit.
Trust them; leave them alone.

What to do If You Are Forced to Take Swine Flu Shot

Ron Paul Q&A: Audit the Fed, Then End It

By Sudeep Reddy, Wall Street Journal

For three decades, Rep. Ron Paul has waged a lonely battle in Congress
to abolish the Federal Reserve. But he has more foot soldiers across the
nation today, particularly after the financial crisis, who are leading
the drive for wider congressional audits of the central bank. (See
today’s Journal story for more on their movement.)

In his new book — “ End the Fed” — released today, Rep. Paul walks
through his critique of the central bank and lays out a strategy
(briefly) for eliminating it. We sat down with the congressman to hear
his views on a money system backed by gold, the Fed’s challenge of
withdrawing its stimulus and his legislation to audit the central bank.
Excerpts of the interview:

What would a world without the Fed look like?

You’d go back to the day that if you wanted to borrow money to build a
house, somebody would’ve had to save some money. You wouldn’t have zero
savings and all the credit in the world. That’s just a total distortion
of capitalism. Capital comes from savings. The part you don’t use for
everyday living which you have left over, you reinvest and you save or
you loan it out. We were living with something absolutely bizarre that
had nothing to do with capitalism. We had no savings whatsoever yet
there was all the credit in the world.

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Your New Doctor?

Proposal of Smoking Ban Stirs a Sense of Tolerance

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: September 15, 2009

We’ve come such a long way that in New York City, even many smokers feel guilty about smoking these days — if a walk through City Hall Park on Tuesday was any indication.

But what of the city health commissioner’s proposal on Monday to ban smoking in public parks? In a city where people — tall, short, fat, thin, rich, poor, pregnant, stinky, perfumed — have turned peaceful coexistence in crowded quarters like subways and sidewalks into an art, there was a widespread feeling that public parks should also be a place of tolerance.

Banning smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces is one thing, people said, but banning cigarettes in parks and on beaches might be going just a step too far — except near children — on the road to a nanny state.

More >>>>

Joe Scarborough: "Ron Paul was right all along!"

Listening to a Liar: Part II By Thomas Sowell

"Hubris-laden charlatans" was the way a recent e-mail from a reader characterized the Obama administration. That phrase seems especially appropriate for the Charlatan-in-Chief, Barack Obama, whose speech to a joint session of Congress was both a masterpiece of rhetoric and a shameless fraud.


To tell us, with a straight face, that he can insure millions more people without adding to the already skyrocketing deficit, is world-class chutzpa and an insult to anyone's intelligence. To do so after an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office has already showed this to be impossible reveals the depths of moral bankruptcy behind the glittering words.

More >>>>

Wisest Latina or wisest judge?

Much has been said and written about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comments in her speeches. She has been called "bigoted" and "racist" by those opposed to her confirmation to the Supreme Court.

I don't think her opinions and judgments warrant such name calling and I believe her explanations to the Senate committee.

What bothers me more is the silence about the nomination itself. Was President Obama completely sex and color blind in nominating her? Was she the very best candidate in all the land to be nominated to the court? Or was she just the best female person of color he could find? I hope she is the best in both categories.

Atlantic City, NJ High School Dress Code

Robert's Note: The colors allowed last year for pants were navy blue or khaki. Since there was some confusion between dark blue and navy blue and between khaki and tan, the Board of Ed solved the confusion by allowing only black for pants and black or white for shirts. Wouldn't it have been easier to allow dark blue or light brown? Or how about giving the students some freedom and letting them choose their own clothes? These are the adults in charge of educating the children. I am speechless.

Revised Dress Code for 2009-2010 School Year

Shirts for Students

Acceptable:
-Three Buttoned Collared golf shirts (long or short sleeved).
-Shirts must be loosely fitted and midriffs must be covered and dress shirts must be buttoned above the chest line.
-Shirts colors are only solid white or solid black.
- Items worn under golf shirts must be solid colors: white or black.

Not Acceptable:
-Turtlenecks, No branding or logos of any kind (i.e. Nike symbol, Polo symbol, etc.)
-Tank tops, T-shirts, thin-strapped tops, tube tops, mesh, fish-net styles, spandex-type materials or clothing which exposes the back, chest, shoulders or midriff and low cut shirts.
-Material cannot be sheer, see-through, or shiny nylon denim or denim-like.
-Shirts may not be altered.

Sweaters and Sweatshirts for Students

Acceptable:
-Crew-necked, V-necked or cardigans over collared shirts. (colors as specified)
-Sweaters and sweatshirts must be loosely fitted.
-Sweater and sweatshirt colors are only solid white or solid black.

Not Acceptable:
-Hooded sweaters and hooded sweatshirts.
-Jackets, coats, windbreakers, warm-up jackets, hats, gloves and any type of outer garment may not be worn in the classrooms, hallways, or the cafeteria during the regular school day.
-Material cannot be sheer, see-through, or shiny nylon denim or denim-like.

Pants and Shorts for Students

Acceptable:
-Docker-style, corduroy, or dress pants with no more than five regular size pockets.
-Capri pants
-Pant cuffs must be within the heel to toe of student’s footwear.
-Pants must be approximately sized and worn at the waist.
-Pant colors are black only.
- Bermuda or walking shorts must touch the knee.
(September 1 – November 1 and April 1 – End of the Year.)

Not Acceptable:
-No Skirts and skorts
-Shorts above the knee or gym shorts.
-Material cannot be sheer, see-through, or shiny nylon.
-No chain, link or personalized belts.
-Stretch type material (i.e. dance pants) will not be allowed.
-No cargo pants, no parachute pants, no outside side pockets, no painter’s pants, no overalls, and no hip-huggers.
-Sweatpants
-Leggings
-Pajama pants
-No drawstrings on the bottom of pants.

Footwear for Students

Acceptable:
-Socks must be solid white or black.
-Shoes with rubber or hard soles and sneakers.
-Boots that are soft leather with rubber soles (i.e. hiking boots, Uggs, etc.).
-Dress sandals must have a heel-strap and toes covered.

Not Acceptable:
-Flip-flops
-Shower shoes
-Bedroom slippers
-Work boots (i.e. hard leather with hard soles).

Athletics

Acceptable:
Students participating in athletics may wear their team uniform top only on the day of the event.

Not Acceptable:
-Wearing team uniform out of season.
-Wearing any team apparel other than the team uniform (i.e. team t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, or warm-ups, etc.).

An Open Letter to the President

The author is State Representative Samuel E. Rohrer - PA 128th District (R-Berks) and House Republican Finance Committee Chairman.

An Open Letter to the President-

July 3, 2009

Dear Friends,

In just another day, we will all observe Independence Day. Yet, like you, we all realize that our freedoms have never been so threatened both from within and without. We wonder what actions we should take. We wonder what happens if we wait too long? I know we all wish for some clarion call from some leader with a response commensurate to the challenges we are seeing. A recent news analysis from Rachel Maddow (MSNBC News) of a major policy speech made by our President in May prompted me to write this open letter to the President as my next step. I hope my letter will further develop your thinking as we celebrate Independence Day. While I stop short of suggesting a specific collective action that American citizens can take, I believe that history lays out the pattern.



Dear Mr. President,

I write to you as one elected official to another on behalf of average American citizens. We listen to your words and measure them carefully. With hope, we watch your actions. We then look to history and compare the events of our day with the events of yesterday. We look to our Founders and read carefully their intellectual discourses and their moral debate. They ultimately concluded that the actions of the king were best described as tyranny, because they could not be honestly described any other way. Having come to such a serious and reasoned conclusion, their path was charted—unknown as to its outcome—but certain as to its demand upon them. Mr. President, we are doing what Americans have done before.

Many of your words, at face value, inspire and offer some level of hope. This is why many Americans cast their vote for you. Yet, now that you are in office, your actions are inspiring fear and distrust. At nearly every level, Americans, regardless of political party, are being forced to walk down the same road our Founders were forced to walk – questioning, analyzing, and looking deep within their souls. The similarities between the past and the present are amazing. If you desire to test the American people’s resolve and challenge their patience, you are accomplishing your goal. You know what is happening within the hearts and minds of the average American. That is why state legislatures are offering and passing resolutions, re-affirming the 10th Amendment and state sovereignty issue. That is why the Tea Party movement is growing by the day and is attended by rich and poor alike. That is why you and Congress are hearing from the American public in record numbers on an increasing range of major issues including the bail-out, the stimulus plan, “cap and tax”, and government intrusion into health care.

Your speech sounds sensitive to the economic and emotional needs so heavy on our people. Yet, your continued references to being guided by the “Rule of Law” (our Founders knew this meant God’s Higher Law and the Highest Law of the Land – the Constitution) are hollow and disingenuous. Your recent speech in front of the original Constitution of the United States of America in the National Archives makes it all so clear that your words mean nothing. Your agenda and you yourself appear to be that “rule of law” – effectively setting aside all Constitutional constraints. It’s unfortunate that I must be so direct, but you are leaving the American people with very few options.

Mr. President, it is clear by your speech and actions that your oath to the Constitution is not binding to you and, therefore, is a broken oath. On many fronts, so much of significance has happened in such a short time. You (and the Congress) are overriding state sovereignty and encouraging the states into unsustainable programs through Stimulus Funds: this will force them to beg you and the elite in Washington for help when the funding runs out. Your policies are destroying the wealth of hard-working Americans by plunging this nation into inescapable debt to our enemies and by justifying the disastrous printing of trillions in fiat money. What you and the Federal Reserve do not destroy immediately by exploding our debt, will be completely devoured by the ensuing hyper-inflation. What an insidious way for you and Congress to spend what you do not have by robbing it from every hard-working American who has responsibly worked and saved!

You have violated historic contract law by choosing who wins and who loses, while Chrysler and General Motors is eviscerated and turned into ‘Government Motors’. You have thumbed your nose at the ‘Balance of Power’, so carefully conceived and implemented by our Founders, by appointing unaccountable “Czars” to function as your direct emissaries over fundamental areas of public policy, thereby blatantly by-passing the checks and balances of Congressional oversight. You pursue special interest agendas motivated by the faddish science of “Global Warming” or “Climate Change”, or whatever it will be called next. In the ‘cap and tax’ plan, you justify the biggest tax assault on the American people ever conceived. Yet, you boldly assure the American people that it will cost them nothing, since only the “polluters” will pay. But, in the process you will destroy thousands of truly sustainable jobs (in exchange for temporary “green” jobs – like insulating buildings and re-caulking windows). Bringing America to its knees in financial dependence, in energy dependence, and a gutted manufacturing sector is sadly what’s happening. It appears that in reality, the “Change” you promised is just your personal change—clearly not what the American people so desperately hoped for.

So Mr. President, these things that I and the American people have come to observe and conclude are bringing this nation to a point closer each day that resembles the circumstances that forced the hearts, the minds and then the hands of our Founders. As we quickly approach the remembering of Independence Day – July 4, 2009, please remember that as you make your choices, so must we. May you and all the American people reread the Declaration of Independence – very carefully. Identify the principles they clearly stated and then apply them to today. Feel the intensity of the letter sent to the King. Understand the careful steps they undertook to make the moral case for freedom and independence in the context of the history of mankind. Note in particular the foundational precepts woven into paragraph two, written as much for the benefit of Americans yet unknown and unborn as it was a message to King George. As the President who holds the highest elected position in both honor and responsibility in this Republic, place yourself in the position of the King, look in the mirror, and then look across this great land at the faces of our great people and listen to their pleas. The King didn’t know for sure all that Declaration Letter would mean for him, but I am certain that he knew he had ignited the will and passion of a freedom-loving people for which only time would prove the outcome.

So it is today. Now, we have the Constitution against which to compare the words and actions of those in public office. The people, Mr. President, are awaking. They are realigning their priorities, purifying their motivations, and galvanizing their wills. Their freedom and their families are what they love and, thankfully, what they will defend. As to what comes next, I cannot say. I do know that another Declaration Letter is not necessary since this country already belongs to us. Our freedom and this republic are already ours. It is the return of freedom they demand. It is nothing less than the adherence to the Constitution and to the oath we have both taken that they demand. We, continuing to carefully note and compare as our Founders did, are also coming to serious and reasoned conclusions. Our path is charted – unknown perhaps as to its ultimate outcome – but certain as to its demand upon us.

From all those who love their Freedom

Immigrant high school student endures detainment

By HELEN O'NEILL

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — He was born on the Fourth of July, an irony he would learn to appreciate later, during the dark period of his life, when liberty and freedom came to mean something far more real than words in his high school history book.

Daniel Guadron has been fighting the odds all his young life, mostly as a happy warrior, winning admirers and supporters at every turn.

It's not just that he excelled in school: The straight-A student mastered English within months of emigrating from Guatemala at 13, then mastered French. He's aced every math test he has ever taken.

Or that he is blessed with a sunny nature, sparkling mind and ever-flashing smile.

Or that he shines on the soccer field and on the wrestling mat.

The handsome, crewcut young man has always possessed something more, a wisdom that radiates from his deep brown eyes, a thirst for knowledge and for self-improvement, a clarity of vision about the nature of the world, good and bad, and what he can achieve in it.

Everyone could see it — his teachers at Trenton Central High, his coaches, the running buddies who trained with him for his first 10K race, co-workers in the restaurant where he works at weekends, even a lawyer he befriended in the corporate building he cleans at nights. "Mr. Professor," the lawyer dubbed the cheerful teen who swept floors even as he dreamed of becoming an engineer.

Daniel's guidance counselor called him "everyone's shining star."

And then, one chilly day in April 2008, the 18-year-old star disappeared.

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Campaign for Liberty on CNN

The WHO cocaine report the US didn't want you to see

The largest ever study of cocaine use around the globe was carried out in the early 90's by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and funded by the UN Inter-regional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), but under pressure from the US its publication was suppressed when it became clear the report's findings were in direct conflict with the myths, stereotypes and propaganda that prop up the war on drugs

In March 1995 WHO/UNICRI released a briefing kit summarising the key conclusions, as a curtain raiser to the report's imminent publication.

* "Health problem; from the use of legal substances, particularly alcohol and tobacco, are greater than health problems from cocaine use.
* Few experts describe cocaine as invariably harmful to health. Cocaine-related problems are widely perceived to be more common and more severe for intensive, high-dosage users and very rare and much less severe for occasional, low-dosage users." (pg. 1)

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Milton Friedman videos

Milton Friedman provides a direct and to-the-point defense of capitalism and free trade. He explains how governmental regulations, no matter how well-intended, are inevitably infiltrated by business interests which use governmental power to stifle competition. He also explains the economics of why drug prohibition doesn't work to control drugs.

This is first of a five part video from the Donahue show in 1980.

Secession: The Ultimate States' Right

By Ron Paul
Published 04/28/09

Last week the governor of Texas ignited a media firestorm for his remarks involving the idea of secession. He did not call for Texas to secede from the United States. He merely pointed out that the federal government was treading heavily on the sovereignty of the states and that this can not continue indefinitely without a breaking point.

The reaction to Governor Perry's statements has been nothing short of hysterical. He has been called treasonous for making this obvious point and opening up a discussion. I am not calling for secession either, however there is nothing wrong with a healthy and open discussion of this issue.

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The Peoples Republic of New Jersey requires sprinkler systems in new homes

One of these days, New Jersey will break off the continent and fall into the Atlantic Ocean because of the weight of all its rules and regulations. The stacks and stacks of nanny state laws will be too heavy and the state will just dissolve into the waters of the Atlantic and the Delaware River will become the eastern seaboard.

Starting in 2012, all new homes will be required to have a sprinkler system in every room. That's right, a sprinkler system, and we're not talking about a $10 smoke alarm. A $250,000 home's sprinkler system will cost approximately $10,000. I know, it's kinda hard to find a $250,000 home in New Jersey, but by 2012 it will be a lot easier.

The bullshit the sheeple of New Jersey put up with is unbelievable.

I'm going to call Governor Perry of Texas to see if he would come up and give a few speeches in New Jersey.

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Happy Earth Day

"The planet isn't going anywhere. We are!"

San Antonio Tea Party

What happened on 9 April 1865?

Today is the anniversary of a sad day in US history.

On this day in 1865, states' rights in the USA died at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

The United States of America changed from "are" to "is" and we have been unable to reverse the trend toward collectivism.

News from the Future: Government Plan Offers Incentives for Abortions, Suicide

Jan. 28, 2115 – Our most exalted leader President George Handsomefellow Bush III announced today the inception of a new federal program dubbed “Heroes Way Out” that will grant valuable rewards to citizens who choose to end their own lives, that of their fetuses, or both.

Everyone is hailing the new program, which was both conceived and approved by the President, as a breathtakingly brilliant idea that will go far towards alleviating the nation’s overpopulation problem, allowing the non-superfluous segment of the country more space to enjoy their material possessions.

Spoke one American highly in favor of the new plan, “I used to think that every life, regardless of whether it was merely a loose amalgamation of undifferentiated cells or whatever, was precious and that abortion was wrong until the sprawl of the city reached my rural doorstep. That’s when I said ‘Enough is enough’. I mean, why should I, as a reasonably happy and affluent person with lots of inanimate things to live for be forced to choke to death on the toxic fumes of the poor? It’s utterly absurd.”

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Ten Key Ideas: Opening the Door to the Economic Way of Thinking

By Russell Roberts

Introduction

Here are ten fundamental ideas to help you explore and understand the world around us using the economic way of thinking. I've written an essay on each idea and listed some reading and listening suggestions if you want to learn more. The essays are all written for a beginner but some of the ideas are subtle and will be of interest to much more experienced readers. The suggestions for further learning include classic works of economics, podcasts, entries from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics and other resources from this site and elsewhere. Enjoy.

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John Stossel's "Bailouts and Bull****" Part 1 of 6

For Part 2 and links to Parts 3-6, click HERE.

No guessing required

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous
pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a
dust cloud toward him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses
and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you
exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me
a calf?"

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully
grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects
it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the
Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his
location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the
area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and
exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within mere seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the
image has been processed and the data is stored.. He then accesses a
MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email
on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech,
miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and
says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right.. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused
as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bud says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what
your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

*The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government," says Bud.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required," answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even
though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already
knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter
than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd
of sheep....Now give me back my dog.!"

John Kerry, Vietnam War veteran

Remember John Kerry? He was a Vietnam War veteran and he ran for president. And he lost both.

I heard him on the Imus radio show this morning, ranting about the AIG bonuses, and he announced that he was proposing a bill that would "tax the bonuses back to the American people."

I join him in the ant-bonus rants, but his solution is really scary. He wants to pass a law that will target those AIG employees getting bonuses. A law that will not raise my taxes or the public's taxes, but will zero in on only those employees. That doesn't sound right to me, and I hope he doesn't have that much power. Who will be next on his rant list? Does anyone wonder why the IRS is hated and feared by almost all?

Obama, Kerry, or Congress do not have the authority to nullify the employee contracts of AIG. They can rant and threaten, but do we really want them to have that much power?

A Real Freedom Index

Lovers of freedom know that Congressional Representative Ron Paul generally scores 100% in The New American’s semi-annual Freedom Index. This examination of the voting behavior of the Congress can be a useful tool, if one is focused on the federal level. And we should be – the monster state, incarnate in the Dismal City, has a thousand tentacles spread all over the fair land, clawing, digesting and growing fat from its suffocating subjects.

But if decentralization is a natural remedy for what we understand as American federalism, then there is another index we should know about. George Mason University has just published a new study "Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom." Two political scientists – William Ruger (now serving in Afghanistan) and Jason Sorens – have designed the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres.

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Neoconservatives are NOT conservatives

Nanny State 2008

Daylight Savings...Yuck!

This is the bad change. Sleepy all day for a week or three. Wonder if coffee consumption goes up this week.

Don't you feel just a little controlled by the government? A little too much nanny state, controlling our clocks, controlling our lives?

Chairman Mao quote

“Revolution is not a dinner party, not an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be advanced softly, gradually, carefully, considerately, respectfully, politely, plainly and modestly.”

Mao Tse-Tung

Americans to Undergo Preschool Reeducation in Advance of Country’s Conversion to Communism

In the wake of the cataclysmic failure of free market capitalism and the nationalization of the country’s banks, Americans over the age of seven will be forced to complete a reeducation program designed to re-instill lessons learned in preschool that have been deemed essential to functioning in a communist society by the federal government.

“Kids learn a lot about things like sharing and playing fair during their pre-school and kindergarten years that are gradually forgotten as such values simply aren’t congruous with the everyday world of a capitalist society, but will become of paramount importance once again as the United States transitions to communism,” remarked Pat Caufield of the Department of Education.

Caufield proceeded to describe what the reeducation would seek to achieve.

“In today’s America, for example, a person who’s somehow acquired a number of eggs will assume personal ownership of those eggs. They will say, ‘These are MY eggs, and I will do with them as I please. Perhaps I will eat them in an omelet, or maybe I’ll throw them at a house. Regardless, it doesn’t matter, because they are MY eggs,” Caufield explained, “But such will not be the case in the America of tomorrow. In tomorrow’s America, those eggs will be the people’s eggs. Meaning if a neighbor suddenly gets the wild idea to bake some chocolate whoopee pies and he’s minus one egg, he can come over and help himself – hence the importance of sharing.”

Citing Karl Marx, who presaged: "The owners of capital will stimulate the need of the working class to take expensive, collateral loans to buy their condos, houses and technological products; and, at the end, these unpaid debts will result in the nationalization of the banks upon their bankrupcy, and so the state will be on the pathway to communism," Caufield emphasized the exigency of reestablishing preschool values in all post-adolescent Americans.

"Being too young to understand the concepts of capitalism or exchange their labor for money, preschool children are merely taught not to destroy or deface the material objects that comprise their classroom because doing so isn't nice," said Caufield, "The same will be true of the communes most Americans will soon inhabit. Though they may get away with breaking things that are collectively owned, breaking things isn't nice."

Robert's Note: The above is satire, but how did it sound at first glance?

SOURCE

Legalization: Yes We Can

In 2007, over 765,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in the U.S. How much did all these arrests cost us? The average cost per arrest is $10,400. Don't you think we could spend our money more wisely? We spent over seven thousand million US taxpayer dollars against our fellow citizens. Even more important, we caused untold misery, shame, job loss, and embarrassment to our friends and neighbors. Why?



SOURCE: NORMAL.org

State by State Marijuana Laws

The Philosophy of Liberty

War on Drugs

This is one of those "a photo is worth a thousand words" photo. Shows what the "War on Drugs" is about. Would be interesting to know if the person who lost the SUV was involved in illegal drugs.

What Has Government Done to Our Money/ by Murray Rothbard

    

    Publish at Scribd or explore others:            History                  money              History-NorthSouth-A          

America's Great Depression

Applied Austrian economics doesn't get better than this. Murray N. Rothbard's America's Great Depression is a staple of modern economic literature and crucial for understanding a pivotal event in American and world history.

America's Great Depression, by Murray Rothbard    

    Publish at Scribd or explore others:          Business            eBooks                depression            great depression         

History Channel-War on Drugs Part1/5

The train is coming

We the People are this young man jumping the gate and walking across the railroad track. He misjudged the speed of the oncoming train and was a half step ahead of becoming a mess on the tracks.

We are a half step ahead of the far-left takeover of this country and we are unaware of the speed of the oncoming mess. We are tired of the financial crisis. We don't dare open our mutual fund and 401K statements because we know how angry we will be. We deserve to be angry.


Kid Almost Crushed By Train - Watch more Funny Videos

No matter how well-meaning and civic-minded our elected congressmen are before they are elected, their number one goal after election is to be re-elected. Let them know about your anger. If you need some very good assistance in communicating with your congressmen, here is a website that will make it easy. Enter your zip code and the website will find your congessmen. You can send them a message through the website or follow the directions given to contact them by mail.

Congress.org

YOU KNOW IT’S COMING

By Kirby Ferris
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. © JPFO 2009

Presently in this country, an objective observer would have to acknowledge that a distinct (but far too quiet) majority of Americans do not want any further “gun control”. However, this “soft” opinion is malleable.

Americans watched Hurricane Katrina and realized that the armed citizen was very likely safer than the disarmed victims of plunder and rape. And then Americans watched New Orleans police disarm law abiding citizens. This cannot have set well in the common sense area of most peoples’ brains.

Virginia Tech horrifically showcased the disarmed victim. While anti gun politicians got on the gun grabbing bandwagon, bundling their malicious conniving in pages of “feel good” legislation, many States and municipalities judiciously instituted “right to carry” laws. And now, low and behold, violent crime is dropping in nearly all those locales.

The “real” America has actually been growing away from the delusions of personal disarmament. The “ivory tower” America keeps pounding the drums for more “gun control”. Truth be known? The anti gun elitists know that their strategies have somewhat stagnated.

They desperately need an event, a gory spectacle, to fuel their wish list of draconian legislation.

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Radicals for Capitalism - Brian Doherty

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Take Your Money Back