Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“We are taught that 'anarchy' means violence, looting and the aggressive form of chaos that all-too-often flourishes in the wake of natural disasters. We are told that this is what happens given the absence of state control. Nothing could be further from the truth. The state IS control. It is the very incarnation of force and violence from which it purports to protect us.
To those who would argue that coercion is necessary to foster freedom, that force is a prerequisite for peace and that the expropriation of individuals’ property on threat of violence is compulsory to fund an agency that, alone, is capable of guaranteeing safety and prosperity, we say: you don’t know the real meaning of anarchy, you don’t know what voluntarism is and, until you do, you will never know what it means to be truly free.”
Joel Bowman

“Freedom goes in a million directions, in countless dimensions. The lust for power concentrates all like down to a unidimensional line, and, finally, to an excruciating point, with the tyrant’s boot forever on the neck.”
Christopher Manion

“Does doing for your country mean doing something beneficial for one’s fellow human beings who live in the territorial United States? If so, any honest participant in the marketplace is doing it already. He or she hardly needs to be admonished by a president [Kennedy] who himself never made that sort of contribution. All genuine market participants (those who eschew fraud and political privileges) offer goods and services that other people believe will make their lives better. Productive people’s direct motive may not be to do unto others, but that’s what they must do via persuasion if they are to prosper.”
Sheldon Richman

“It's amazing how so many governments don't get it... going out of their way to repel or even prevent talented foreigners from settling, as if the fundamental freedom to work hard and prosper is somehow derived from bloodlines, ethnicity, or irrelevant, invisible lines on a map.”
Simon Black

“If you must live your life under the direction and control of strangers, better they be local strangers than rulers at a distance. Even better: that you live under the dictates of your own well-formed conscience.”
Paul Hein

“’….Civility’ is a one-way concept. The state – and especially the state that imposes a ‘welfare’ vision upon others – is free to engage in violence, use violent rhetoric, and kill or imprison anyone who stands in the way of such a ‘vision.’ One is not ‘uncivil’ unless he or she opposes such a regime, even if the opposition is only in the form of words.”
William L. Anderson

“Statist elites depend on two things to perpetuate their scam: that their oppressive acts can be perpetrated behind a cloak of obscurity and that the productive citizenry should remain too disconnected and disorganized to rebel.”
Steve LaTulippe

“Mainstream politicians are inveterate liars. Their very existence is based on lying. They tell us government works when it doesn't, that we need to attack foreign countries when we don't, that taxes are voluntary, that they've read the bills, that they don't trade favors for money, that they don't sleep with hookers.
Bureaucrats are simply failed politicians. They couldn't lie good enough to get elected so they had their lying politician cronies appoint them to juicy taxpayer-funded jobs.”
Garry Reed

“The fate of those who defy our two-headed official ruling party is no different from those who challenge the single-headed ruling parties that dominate what we call 'totalitarian' or 'authoritarian' states.”
Justin Raimondo

“Regulations are before-the-fact demands by the government that presume the individual and one’s business guilty, in which one must submit one’s private personal or financial information to the government to prove one’s innocence. Government regulations and arbitrary restrictions are literally searches and seizures by the government of information that is none of anyone else’s business, and effect in the stifling of everyday citizens’ growth and prosperity.”

Scott Lazarowitz
"The police are to the government as the edge is to the knife."
David Bayley

“Karl Marx was wrong. Religion is not the opium of the people. Government debt is. The true faith of the West is not faith in God. It is faith in faithfulness of governments – the United States government above all.”
Gary North

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From the Darkness:

"One of water fluoridation's biggest advantages is that it benefits all residents of a community -- at home, work, school or play. And fluoridation's effectiveness in preventing tooth decay is not limited to children, but extends throughout life, resulting in improved oral health."

Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary for HHS

"We think that there are some entities within China that we have brought to the attention of the Chinese leadership that are still not as, shall we say, as in compliance as we would like them to be. And we are pushing very hard on that and we may be proposing more unilateral sanctions."
Queen Hillary, looking to make economic war on the Chinese

“Perhaps socialism was not an alternative to capitalism, but its heir. It will inherit the earth not by dispossessing the rich of their property, but by providing motives and incentives for behavior that are unconnected with the further accumulation of wealth.”
Robert Skidelsky

“That’s the kind of stuff that produces Oklahoma cities, produced two deputy sheriffs being killed in West Memphis.”
Rep. Steve Cohen, commenting on Jesse Ventura’s popular TruTV show, “Conspiracy Theory.”

"It is messy. It causes lots of terrible things to be on the news. The drug traffickers are not going to give up without a terrible fight. And they do things that are just barbaric - like beheading people."
Queen Hillary commenting on the Mexican drug cartels [Yea, Queeny, kinda like you do with your 500 pound bombs.]

“Of course, as we speak, al-Qaida and their affiliates continue to plan attacks against us.”
B. Obama, keeping the fear alive

“….I call on all our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.”
B. Obama, at his goose stepping best

“The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it's because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward and the state of our union is strong.”
B. Obama, having a collectivist orgasm

“Operating under the significantly reduced funding level now being debated would cause severe problems, likely requiring us to curtail critical activities needed to support our troops and carry out our national security mission.”
Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn [I certainly hope so.]

“We should not speak about 30 months, but probably think in terms of 30 years.”
EU Special Representative Vygaudas Usackas, speaking of the EU’s commitment to Afghanistan

"Good citizens who report suspicious activity in good faith, should not have to worry about being sued."
House Homeland Security Chairman Pete King, introducing the "See Something, Say Something Act" as a shield against lawsuits for those "acting in good faith" and with "objectively reasonable suspicion" that a plot may be unfolding.

"That's how you hollow out a military."
Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, accusing Congress of dumping a “crisis on my doorstep" by holding the Pentagon to last year's spending levels. [Let’s make it so hollow that you can hear the wind blow through it.]

"I would not refer to him as a dictator.”
Joe Biden, on Egyptian dictator, Hosni Mubarak

“The concept of national service is not new, nor is it outdated. When America needs it, national service is the personal obligation of every American. And she needs it now.
All of us bear an obligation to serve—an obligation that goes beyond paying taxes, voting, or adhering to the law.”
Gen. Stanley McChrystal [This dude us downright spooky.]

"All governments must maintain power through consent, not coercion."
B. Obama [One you have finished your fit of laughter, ask yourself this question: What are the odds that he really believes this?]

Random Thoughts on Unrepentant Militarists & Statists

"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
-- George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism," 1945

Much has been written about the disease of American Exceptionalism, pertaining to cases of mischief and crimes carried out in the name of US foreign policy. But there is also a subset of this phenomenon- military exceptionalism. Any criticism of this institution is seen by its most rabid supporters as a blasphemous attack on an institution held in religious reverence. I’m constantly amazed at this continued support, respect, and forgiveness exhibited by people towards the military, despite the complicity of the armed forces in these state executed crimes.

Over the years I’ve had many email encounters with militarists who scorn me for my views and my failure to bow to their deified organization. What follows are some random thoughts inspired by such encounters attempting to analyze and explain such rabid, unbending allegiance. You may or may not grasp cohesiveness between these thoughts but I believe they each stand on their own.

The "Call:"
 
Military apologists often bring up the “call” some individuals hear to “serve” in the military. What exactly is this “call?” Is it a demonic voice in their heads that “calls” them to kill for the state? Is it similar to the “call” fanatic Muslims hear, motivating them to kill for Allah? How are the two any different?

As for me, I never "called" anyone to kill in my name yet others feel I have some obligation to be grateful to those who answer this "call." Show me a signed contract where I have agreed to such a "service." I would submit that the only people who hear this "call" have agreed to have their lives and bodies owned by the state. That doesn't include me and millions of others.

The “Protection” Falsehood:

Military apologists claim the country would be in a "shambles" without the military? Please! What do you call this present mess? Militarists, claim that the military is fighting for liberty. If that is so, they're doing a pretty lousy job of it. My liberties grow fewer by the day. Perhaps they're fighting the wrong enemy. The wars militarists support are nothing but wars of empire, not defense, and have bankrupted all those enslaved under the US government's tyranny. The military today has nothing to do with defense but rather is directed to aggressive wars of conquest.

The Militarist Argument is Based on Faith:

Instead of logic and reason the arguments of militarists and statists are grounded in emotion and religious fervor. This delusional devotion also includes an unbending faith in the fantasy of a benevolent state.

I can sense the seething frustration when dissenters attempt to articulate their argument. They cannot provide honest, logical answers to honest, logical questions. The only ammunition left them is carefully crafted slogans, worn cliches, emotional rants, and a faith in a man-made institution, conditioned from birth. The only rebuttal remaining for them is slander, insults, threats, force ,and violence; identical methods used by their enslaving state when its meager attempts at persuasion fail. Nationalism is an affliction that dulls the powers of reason.

Faith is acceptable to defend viewpoints involving spiritual claims of the supernatural. These beliefs cannot be verified by empirical analysis. But it is an inadequate tool to justly defend an earthly, human created institution funded by coercion and maintained by aggression and force.

The Militarist’s Lack of Knowledge and Information:

A characteristic common to statists and militarists is that they are tragically uninformed. They formulate their weak, childish philosophies based on information gathered not from serious reading and study, but from strategically placed, carefully crafted sound bites received from state controlled television. They choose to explain their viewpoint with emotional outbursts rather than thoughtful, reasoned argument. They also have failed to overcome the conditioning and indoctrination they received while held captive in government controlled schools.

Unbelievers are Considered Dishonorable:

My opinions have often been described as “shameful” because I believe that the state and its military are not be respected, recognized as legitimate, and certainly not to be obeyed.

What is shameful are people (the military) who violate their oaths and contracts, then beat on their chests like chimpanzees, loudly claiming how wonderful they are.

What is shameful are people (the military) who arrogantly kill in my name (without my permission or even encouragement) and extract tribute at the point of their guns to pay for their murderous, unjust escapades.

The Militarist’s Unbending Allegiance:

In refusing to fawn over and bow in allegiance toward the state and its military, I’ll ask its supporters just why they agree to do so. Many times I’ve received this reply, “If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand.” The fact is that I'm capable of understanding anything that is logically and rationally explained. Of course, I know state and military apologists cannot do this because the god-state they so fervently believe in (and its mindless, hired assassins) cannot pass the scrutiny of such a discussion. This odious institution (a protection racket run by gangsters) would be exposed for the fraudulent, lying, hypocritical, murderous, demonic institution it is. It cannot survive the truth.

All states are evil, whatever they decide to call themselves, whatever philosophy they claim to hold. The US state has just done a better job of marketing and spreading propaganda to the masses, as well as having the good fortune to exist within an economic system that allows state plunder of extremely productive individuals. And let's not forget the ability to legally counterfeit its fiat currency and endlessly borrow to finance its empire.

Soon it will collapse, as all empires do, and the world will be better for it. After this occurs statists and militarists will be asking themselves, "How could I support and be willing to kill for such an evil institution?

The Falsehood of Military “Service:”

If the military deems itself so effective and confident, why not allow private competitors to emerge as alternatives to the forced “service” they now offer? Why not allow me to pay my hard earned money to a private defense agency who truly has my interests in mind (since they work for me). Wouldn’t this approach be more civilized than pointing a gun to my head to fund an enterprise that couldn’t care less about my interests- an enterprise that chooses instead to carry out the diabolical plans of power-crazed mad men? Members of the military take their orders from the state’s ruling class. A private defense agency would take orders from me, or risk losing my business to a competitor. Which organization do you think would best satisfy and “serve” me?

Even if you must have a state and a collective defense apparatus (the military), its only proper role is to defend geography, not to defend the ruling class or execute its “policy“. Likewise its role is not to defend other, distant governments and geography.

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“That human beings will actually kill in the name of defending the entirely false and fictitious precepts upon which governments rest is a grim and frightening indication of how deep into the psyche repeated conditioning and propaganda can reach.”
Alex R. Knight III

“Governments, like guns, don't kill people; government-using people kill people.”
Garry Reed

“There is no ‘Right’ or ‘Left,’ there is only respect for liberty for all, or support of tyranny for at least some — liberty or authoritarianism — and this transcends the false political spectrum that we are told exists.”
Kent McManigal

“To the state, power comes first, and justice comes somewhere afterward. The state must keep its power intact and the criminal justice system, an obscene farce of revenue gathering and career building, is there to do it. Much has been invested in prisons and police, and the investors are using their position to ensure the profits keep coming. Politicians need muscle to push forth their ambition, and they want a system that keeps the muscle strong.”
Darian Worden

“Democratic politics relies on deception. Without deception of the voters on a comprehensive scale, there could be no politics above the local level, where people know the deceivers personally and are therefore less easy to fool.”
Gary North

“The fostering of fear through the recasting of political opposition as the frothing ravings of madmen is deceitful and little more than the typical use of tragedy as a pretext for tyranny through the promise of safety.”
Joe Wolverton II

“[T]he ‘driver's’ licenses almost all of us carry today are nothing more than the equivalent of the yellow tags you see stapled into the left ears of cows. And serve the same purpose.”
Eric Peters

“….The prime feature of political decision-making is that it's a zero-sum game. One person's gain is of necessity another person's loss. As such, political allocation of resources is conflict-enhancing, while market allocation is conflict-reducing. The greater the number of decisions made in the political arena, the greater the potential for conflict.”
Walter Williams

“Mass man is not a thinker. He is a reactor. He reacts to the weather...to prices...to the economy...to demagogues...and even to ideas. He accepted the system of modern social welfare economies because he was comfortable. But what will he do when the system is unable to make good on its promises? Our guess is that 'the system' in the advanced countries is approaching its final stage... Why? It just can't pay.”
Bill Bonner

“Of course I believe North Korea is an evil police state, but that is not the business of the evil U.S. police state.”
Laurence Vance

“Americans still like to think of themselves as ‘leaders of the free world,’ but in the eyes of many, it's exactly the ‘free world’ to which American policies are so antithetical and threatening.”
Glenn Greenwald

“…..Remember that every single 'law'is backed up, at some point, with the threat that if you do not submit, somewhere along the line, to those who are enforcing that 'law', they will use deadly force to either capture and punish you, or kill you in the attempt. With every 'law', no matter how seemingly trivial, the penalty for violating it is always death.Those who advocate and enforce 'laws' are willing to kill you to see their will imposed on you.”
Kent McManigal
"I couldn’t care less about so-called civility in politics. It’s like being concerned about civility between the Gambinos and the Bonnanos, only those families are of far more social use than politicians. What I want is civility by the politicians toward the people. Start by not threatening us with Devil’s Island in every encounter"
Lew Rockwell

“In preferring to remain in the dark, conservatives substitute patriotic slogans and jingoism for trenchant national security analysis. In this state of willful ignorance, our foreign policy becomes sacrosanct and militarism becomes orthodoxy-giving the Department of Defense carte blanche and with it, unchallenged and unparalleled government power.”
Jack Hunter

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From the Darkness:

"I think the nation's spirits would be lifted if the Congress acted quickly with the president and reinstated the assault weapons ban which also had the ban on these large magazines, these clips that carried 30-plus bullets."

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell

"There is no place for violence in our political discourse.”
Keith Olbermann [That’s like saying there’s no place for violence in a slaughter house.]

"I believe that if Dr. King were alive today, he would recognize that we live in a complicated world, and that our nation's military should not and cannot lay down its arms and leave the American people vulnerable to terrorist attack."
J. C. Johnson, Department of Defense general counsel, claiming that Dr. Martin Luther King would have supported the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He became an echo chamber for stray ideas, amplifying, for example, certain grandiose tenets of a number of extremist right-wing groups — including the need for a new money system and the government’s mind-manipulation of the masses through language.”
New York Times editorial, about the Tucson gunmen

“About one-third [of the improvement in child survival] is by increasing income. The majority has been through vaccines. Vaccines will be the key. If you could register every birth on a cell phone– get fingerprints, get a location — then you could [set up] systems to make sure the immunizations happen.”
Bill Gates, promoting a plan to use wireless technology to register every newborn on the planet in a vaccine database

“Free speech is a Hobbesian jungle. It requires a marketplace where the trade in information, ideas and opinion has a framework of rules, including rules that maintain fair and open competition. Most will be voluntary, but others need enforcement.
Free speech cannot exist without chains.”
Simon Jenkins

“Those lawmakers who advocate ‘Ending the Fed’ might better turn their considerable talents toward ending the fiscal debacle that has for too long run amuck within their own house. The Fed does not create government debt; fiscal authorities do.”
Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank

“They’re being treated pretty darned well.”
U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., after visiting the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley

“I thought that his [Obama’s] speech in Tucson was very effective. It’s what a president should do in a moment like that.”
Newt Gingrich, heaping praise on the Messiah’s heal-the-nation Tucson speech.

“….Throughout our history, one of the reasons the free market has worked is that we have sought the proper balance. We have preserved freedom of commerce while applying those rules and regulations necessary to protect the public against threats to our health and safety and to safeguard people and businesses from abuse.
From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy.”
B. Obama

Super Safe or Super Subjugated?

The federal security arsenal will be on full display in Arlington, Texas for the upcoming Super Bowl. Agents are foaming at the mouth in anticipation of the opportunity to show off and play with their latest technological toys: four mine resistant, armored personnel carriers (got to watch out for those parking lot mines), sniper rifles with scopes, the ubiquitous, obnoxious police canines (to help herd the human sheep and set a good example of obediently serving your master while sniffing the grounds and fans for contraband), a roving robot camera called a "throwbot" (because it's so small it can be tossed through a window), and hundreds of extra agents who will be locked and loaded with shock-and-awe caliber weaponry.

The local thugs with badges may even display a few toys of their own: “Arlington police might even break out their newest surveillance gadgets, including two small remote controlled helicopters. One is designed for outdoor use, but the other is so tiny and light that it could be maneuvered inside the stadium if necessary.”

Cool! Maybe a fleet of these gizmos could pull one of those giant Yankee War Flags across the breadth of the dome’s interior or fly abreast the trained bald eagle while it flies amongst the fawning, starry eyed spectators

I’m getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Or maybe that’s just bile.

It’s rumored that the TSA will make a surprise, guest appearance to sexually molest randomly picked trophy wives accompanying the wealthier clientele. Well, that’s what I heard.

Heaven help us if the Chicago Bears earn a trip to Cryboy’s Stadium. If so, we have been promised to be blessed with the presence of the Messiah, himself, in all his sporting glory. I’m sure aircraft controllers will clear the busy DFW skyways as not to hinder or threaten the successful landing of the Emperor’s lavish 747-200B. Roadways for miles around will undoubtedly be cleared of serf traffic to assure the safe arrival of the Anointed One's lengthy, ostentatious motorcade.

The US police state will be sickeningly omnipresent and its cousin, the US militarist state, will be religiously recognized and glorified at this goofy event. Outside, people will be harassed, searched, prodded, questioned, threatened and herded along like the enslaved livestock they are. Once inside, they will cheer, chant, pray and celebrate how wonderful it is to be "free."

How pathetic.

Urban Renewal- USG Style

Take a close look at these two “before and after” photos. Here you see what the USG ultimately resorts to when it cannot successfully achieve desired objectives through persuasion or even limited violence. It turns to the option of total destruction.

According to the report from Wired (the link courtesy of the indispensable Antiwar.com), “An American-led military unit pulverized an Afghan village in Kandahar’s Arghandab River Valley in October, after it became overrun with Taliban insurgents.”

Apparently, the Taliban Gang occupied and controlled this particular village which was also coveted by the USG Gang. Despite overwhelming firepower and the blessings of the "Christian" god, the skilled, brave, USG warriors were getting their butts kicked and failed trying to overtake this village . Therefore, a nut job by the name of Lt. Col. David Flynn pulled the old “save the village by destroying it” trick out of the Vietnam-era bag of tricks, unleashed 25 tons of bombs and turned the village to dust. Problem solved. No more Taliban and tough cookies for any innocent civilians who may have been present.

Nut Job Flynn defends his actions, in part, with this statement: “As of today, more of the local population talks to us and the government than talk to the Taliban.” Well, why wouldn’t they? What choice do they have? The resident bullies (the Taliban) have all been killed or scattered. Now that the new bully on the block has arrived (the USG) and the local’s homes and businesses have been turned to gravel, who else is there to talk to- Allah?

For the locals, it might just be easier to deal with the Taliban. Their motives are consistent and easy to understand. The USG, however, offers constantly changing directions and policies. If I were an Afghan, I would still be trying to figure out why the hell the USG was even there in the first place.

Not to worry, if your American bred conscience is experiencing even slight pangs of guilt and regret. The USG will counter their obscene destructiveness with the usual ploy- throw around other people’s money in a grand rebuilding program. Nut Job Flynn has received approval to spend up to one million dollars in this case. No offense to the (still living) people of Tarok Kolache, but does it look like the rebuilding of this village would cost this much?

Of course, 99% of Americans will never hear of this incident. And of those who do, only a minute percentage will understand the obvious, obscene absurdity of it all. To most, Tarok Kolache is/was just some random collection of mud huts occupied by strange brown people on the other side of the world. No NFL football games were cancelled, American Idol wasn’t delayed, an ample supply of sugary foods still line the shelves of our grocery stores, the TV cable still works, and most important of all no Congress Critters were shot.

So why bother being concerned?

Banned in Birdville!

I recently had an experience that the contributors and readers of the Libertarian Standard might get a kick from. I was doing some photography work in a high school in North Richland Hills, TX when I found myself with a long break between customers. I booted up my laptop to catch up on some reading. The school was kind enough to allow me to use their WiFi system, so I thought I’d do some blog reading. I clicked on the “Standard’s” bookmark and this message appeared on my monitor:

“libertarianstandard.com is categorized as violence, weapons.
The requested page has been blocked by the content filter because it is in violation of the internet acceptable usage policy set by the administration.”

I thought how hilarious, considering the site’s masthead reads, “Property, Prosperity, Peace” and the material usually concerns matters such as intellectual property and rarely anything about guns- and never violence. That’s the state’s job! I would safely bet that the word “gun” has never even appeared in any entry on this young blog. I didn’t think of it at the time, but I later wondered if the Birdville School District blocks any military sites.

It’s comical to observe the hysteria the state displays at the prospect that its school captives may be exposed to ideas contrary to state gospel. Their paranoia always seems to find still new ways to expose itself. Their desperation in preventing the spread of superior ideas becomes ever more obvious.

Your Government Cares About ‘Customer Service’

Recently, I purchased a new desktop computer. The machine came with some RSS feeds already programmed from a couple sources, including USA.gov.

Immediately, I decided to delete such a useless source but then changed my mind. Here, I thought, is a possible humorous and ongoing source of blog material. I didn’t have to wait long to find out I was correct.

I received a message directed at government employees about the importance of “customer service in government.” When following the link I found this gem:

“Great customer service happens when you exceed expectations – and expectations are higher than ever. People want to interact with government on their own terms. They want instant, accurate, easy-to-understand information, delivered via their channel of choice.

To deliver great customer service, government agencies must understand the needs of their customers, and adapt to improve the way those needs are met.”

This is a laughable concept, of course, since the government does not have customers, but instead has subjects. “Customer service” is directed toward those who voluntarily interact with an enterprise to purchase a needed product or service. A subject is coerced to interact with the government to locate a needed product or service that the government has a self-made monopoly on providing. The subject has no choice as there are no other legal alternatives to locate his needed product or service.

And just what “service” will the government’s subject be seeking? Apparently, it’s information. The government has loads of information to offer the individual subject. The possible fact that there may be little or no need for this “information” seems a moot point.

“Often, the government is the single source for certain information – so the public has no other option if agencies don’t provide satisfactory service. Some might say this lack of competition results in lackluster service, when in fact, it should engender exactly the opposite reaction. Agencies have a responsibility to the public to deliver great service, especially when there is no other option for help.”

Have you ever seen an enterprise with a monopoly provide “great service” when the “customer” has no other option?

And just what information would the individual subject be seeking? More than likely it would be related to proper procedures to follow in paying tribute (taxes and fees) to your state masters, as well as proper methods to follow when seeking permission for any of the myriad of personal activities the state claims to regulate and control.  In other words, information necessary to prevent thugs with guns from caging you, killing you, or appropriating your property because you didn't obediently follow state directives.

Yes, you are oppressed, spied on, abused, taxed to death, harassed, and suffer state micromanagement of every facet of your retched life. But it’s comforting to know your masters aim to provide good “customer service” while tightening your chains, stifling your freedom, plundering your property, and stealing your soul.

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
"The state and the playground bully operate from the same modus operandi: the capacity to enforce obedience to its inconstant temperaments through violence. Regardless of the venue, the state continues to escalate its indecencies to ordinary men, women, and children in order to forcefully remind us of our subservience to its arbitrariness; to refresh our memory that the state is entitled to do to us anything that it chooses."
Butler Shaffer

“Next time you see a tiny, encircled ‘c’ or a patent number, reflect on how these things actually operate. Are ideas something that — even if we could — we would want to say that some people own? In practice, conveniently for the state’s ruling class, the ownership of ideas means the ownership of people and their personal effects, an Information Age slavery that’s hard to justify within the terms of ‘free enterprise.’”
David D'Amato

“Economic liberty is the utopia that they keep promising to bring us, pending the higher priority of blowing up foreign peoples, jailing political dissidents, crushing the left wing on campus, and routing the Democrats. Once all of this is done, they say, then they will get to the instituting of a free-market economic system. Of course, that day never arrives, and it is not supposed to. Capitalism serves the Republicans the way Communism served Stalin: a symbolic distraction to keep you hoping, voting, and coughing up money.”
Lew Rockwell

“What WikiLeaks is really exposing is the extent to which the western democratic system has been hollowed out. … And when, finally, the veil of secrecy is lifted, their reflex reaction is to kill the messenger."
British columnist John Naughton

“The reality to which increasing numbers of people are becoming aware, is that politics is a violent and corrupt racket that functions on generating fears among those to be ruled. Politicians and other government officials are attracted to political careers not because they want to serve others, but because they have their own visions of what would be ‘good’ for such others, and desire the power to enforce by violence – which is the essence of every government – their expectations. Such people easily find – usually within business organizations and labor unions – people who, unable to prosper in a free market grounded in voluntary transactions, are eager to resort to state violence. ‘Invisible hands’ must be replaced by the ‘iron fist.'”
Butler Shaffer

“With all the sober talk about year-end reviews in Afghanistan, about planning and ‘progress’ (a word used nine times in the relatively brief, vetted ‘overview’ of that review recently released by the White House), about future dates for drawdowns and present tactics, it’s easy to forget that war is a drug. When you’re high on it, your decisions undoubtedly look as rational, even practical, as the public language you tend to use to describe them. But don’t believe it for a second.”
Tom Engelhardt

“Don't assume that just because the government has the legal authority to do something that it will actually succeed. So be careful what you ask for.”
Harry Browne

“A gang is a group of men under the command of a leader, bound by a compact of association, in which the plunder is divided according to an agreed convention. If this villainy wins so many recruits from the ranks of the demoralized that it acquires territory, establishes a base, captures cities and subdues peoples, it then openly arrogates to itself the title of kingdom, which is conferred on it in the eyes of the world, not by the renunciation of aggression, but by the attainment of impunity.”
St. Augustine

“There is nothing moral or peaceful about using government as a vehicle by which to shape the world in your image at the expense of someone else’s liberty. To suggest otherwise is a pathetic sham, and flagrant dishonesty – to say nothing of intellectual bankruptcy.”
Alex R. Knight III

“Note that China has that perfect government, an intelligent dictatorship concerned with advancing the country. The American government consists of self-interested lobbies and Wall Street looters. China is run by engineers, America by lawyers.”
Fred Reed

“The violence of government is all around us, 24/7. From taxation to regulations to military adventurism, the federal government has become a role model for individuals prone to violence. If the government can use violence to achieve its goals, then violence becomes acceptable in the minds of the unstable. If the government can perpetuate Ponzi schemes, then some in the financial community will try to create their own fraudulent investment programs to enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens.
The role model for violence is not heated political rhetoric, but the actions of government officials who assert they are doing ‘good’ by taxing, spending, regulating, borrowing, debasing the currency and invading other nations.”
Murray Sabrin

“The confusion between politics and economics has never been greater. We are no longer citizens but shareholders. This is precisely how American politics works for some time. Instead of buying shares, politicians buy votes. Money and efficiency now define a system never intended to deal with such things."
Cristian Gherasim

“When people are creating wealth they have little reason to get mad at one another. Sure, someone takes a shot at a Congressman from time to time, but it tends to be a personal matter. And the politico probably has it coming.”
Bill Bonner
 
“I love the smell of gunpowder [from fireworks] on Christmas; it's the smell of a free country.”
Doug Casey

**********************************************************************

From the Darkness:

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
Pima County, Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik

“The United States, if the Afghan people want it, are prepared and we are not leaving in 2014. Hopefully, we will have totally turned over to the Afghan security forces the ability to maintain the security of the country, but we are not leaving if you don’t want us to leave.”
Joe Biden [Translated: If you want us to stay, we will stay.  If you want us to go, we will stay.]

“What I’d like to see is if we could all get together on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, and really talk about what we can do to cool down the country. Part of that has to be what they’re hearing over the airwaves.”
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.)

"You have to ratchet up the pressure and ... I don't think that this pressure will be sufficient to have this [Iran] regime change course without a credible military option that is put before them by the international community led by the United States."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, still encouraging war on Iran

"We face a common threat posed by the terrorists and al Qa'eda, but our partnership goes beyond counterterrorism. We are focused not just on short-term threats but long-term challenges. We support an inclusive political process that will in turn support a unified, prosperous, stable, democratic Yemen."
Queen Hillary

"We all have to take responsibility for our remarks. I do, the Tea Party does, every elected official, every talk show person. These words have consequences and they especially have consequences on unstable people, like apparently this shooter was."
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), despite offering NO proof that the Tuscon shooter had any connection to the Tea Party or listened to any talk radio.

"At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized — at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do — it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wound.”
B. Obama [This from a man that is responsible for the deaths of thousands and claims the power to assassinate those who disagree with or disobey his policies.]

“To foster its imperialistic goals, China for the past two decades has funded an unprecedented military expansion program.”
Retired Navy Admiral James A. Lyons [So? You clowns have been doing this for over six decades.]

"I'm fighting the criminalization of politics.”
Former House Republican leader Tom DeLay, after being sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy and 10 years probation for money laundering. [Hey, goofball.  Politics is criminal.]

Suck It Up, Marine

It seems that one of the state’s empire warriors is miffed that his sacred costume was damaged by Delta Airlines during his flight to the Homeland from Japan. It’s hard not to chuckle thinking about one of “the few, the proud” calling a local television station to whine about such an unbearable hardship. The well constructed image of the hard nosed Marine, able to withstand any challenge or hardship, definitely takes a beating while reading his complaint.


Tough luck, soldier boy. This is the work of your comrades-in-arms at the TSA. I'm sure they had a good reason for the destruction of your property just as all Uncle Sam's warriors have good reasons for killing other people, destroying their property, spying on them, torturing them and generally making their lives miserable. I'm sure this act was done "for your own safety and security." At least, that's what your comrades always tell us mundane civilians who foot the bill and suffer the abuse. This is SOP for how state agents treat those (and their property) they may encounter during their daily duties.

So, suck it up, shut up, and serve your "country."

Willie’s Journey is Our Journey

I recently expanded on my November post about Willie Nelson being accosted on the road by state agents. It was published this week at Michael Kleen's new site, Untimely Meditations:
Willie’s travails illustrate several common acts of state aggression against individuals that the average, clueless, obedient statist now takes for granted as legitimate and even necessary:

1) Restrictions on freedom of movement. Willie was peacefully traveling down the highway until forcibly stopped with absolutely no justification whatsoever. The bus was not operating in a dangerous manner and no individuals on board were committing acts of aggression against any other individuals.

2) Illegal and unjust search of property. The sanctity of Willie’s private property (tour bus) was violated by the uninvited intrusion of meddling state agents.

3) Theft and/or confiscation of private property. Willie’s weed was literally, blatantly stolen from him without hesitation. The state thereby commits an act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

4) Unjust arrest. Willie was arrested and detained for possessing plant material that busy-body tyrants and self-professed “leaders” (politicians) in some far away land (District of Columbia) claim are dangerous and should not (and will not) be consumed. Willie is literally kidnapped to satisfy an unjust law that violates his individual right of self-ownership- the right to consume and imbibe whatever substance he deems appropriate. The state thereby commits still another act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

5) Kidnapping and imprisonment. Willie is forcibly removed from his tour bus and transported to a gulag (county jail) and held under armed guard. Any attempt to leave such a facility at his discretion may very well result in being killed by state agents.

6) Extortion. Willie is forced to hand over $2500 to his kidnappers before they will allow him to leave his cage. Still more of his property (cash) is stolen. Still another act of aggression against the property rights of Willie Nelson.

7) Arbitrary change of charges. Willie’s stolen, prohibited plant material now weighs in at four ounces, not six, as originally claimed. The charges are therefore reduced. The state thereby arbitrarily enforces its unjust edicts. This could only occur when prosecuting a victimless crime. The state creates its own reality. Just as the state claims to miraculously make people’s problems disappear, apparently they can also make two ounces of plant matter disappear. Of course, they can also (and often do) create even more plant matter. I guess Willie is lucky the drug warriors didn’t create a few more pounds of plant matter to increase the fine and the profitability of their shakedown.

8) A protection racked financed through the forced extraction of privately owned wealth. Let’s not forget that all the manpower and equipment used to steal from, kidnap, cage and extort Willie was, in part, paid for by wealth previously extracted from Willie through taxes.

This arrest will surely not tarnish Willie’s “outlaw” image. But what the mainstream considers “outlaw” is really nothing more than an individual freely living and making choices- all while not aggressing against other’s lives and property. These choices are not made to appease and obey the commands or suggestions of those who claim to rule, but rather to satisfy the desires, needs, creativity, and ambition of the individual.

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“The more we allow institutional purposes to preempt our own, the more detrimental our organized behavior becomes to the processes that sustain us. There is nothing quite so characteristic of life, itself, as resiliency, the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. The maxim expressed by geneticists – 'cherish your mutations' – applies to social systems as well. It is the changefulness of life – not the permanency demanded by institutions – that is central to our survival, both as individuals and a species.”
Butler Shaffer

“When men face challenges they are at their best. When everything is given to them, all sorts of pathologies appear.”
Paul Bonneau

“The separation of church and state benefits the church more than it benefits the state. States with close ties to religion do not suffer; the religious organizations which ally themselves with the state do. They begin to take on the characteristics of the state: the lack of accountability, the lack of personal involvement in the lives of people they supposedly serve.”
Robert Wicks

“Always remember with cops and soldiers: their first loyalty is to each other. Their next loyalty is to their employer. They aren't there to 'protect and serve' the people in the street. People are all potential criminals and rioters. The people are the last priority, contrary to the fairy tales.”
Doug Casey

“The state is neither a factory nor a business. The logic of history is not quantitative. Economic rationality depends on the relationship between expenditure and production, investment and earnings, work and savings. The rationale of the state is not utility nor profit but power — gaining it, conserving it and extending it. The archetype of power does not lie in economics but in war, not in the polemic relationship of capital to work but in the hierarchical relationship of commander to soldier.”
Ottavio Paz

“Marxism endorses violence against property owners based on purely theoretical grievances. It comes up with theoretical reasons as to why current property owners are not legitimate owners, and thus gives moral sanction to the theoretical victims to violently reclaim what has been 'stolen.' Usually this is done by taking over the state in the name of the theoretical victim class, and from there just taking over everything. Marxist political economy always ends in bloodshed and tears."
Mike P.

“To ask for the economic strengthening of a fictitious middle class means to clamp down on innovation, opening the door to arbitrariness. It is precisely the kind of made-up objectives that justify needless state intervention and limited personal freedom. The people who have a vested interest in propagating the 'class' myth are those who will profit by it in terms of money or power. Making people believe they are in a static class, a caste, from which there is no escape, allows politicians to more easily sell the idea of redistribution in its many forms (health care, progressive taxes, regulation, etc.). There is no such thing as the middle class because social classes don’t exist.”
Cristian Gherasim

“The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.”
Hannah Arendt

“No longer can you enter the world as a man (or for that matter, a woman). As captains of our destinies, masters of our fates – beholden to none, free to go in peace. And even more important, able to talk back, to refuse, to question – and to demand to be left in peace if we're not doing anything to cause harm to anyone else.
We are all children now – fearful, obedient – and to be punished, if we're not.”
Eric Peters

*********************************************************************

From the Darkness:

“The idea of putting permanent military bases [in Afghanistan] on the table in 2011, I think, would secure our national interests and tell the bad guys and the good guy(s) we’re not leaving, we are staying.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham

"I suggest a new concept: housing footprints. Your housing footprint is the number of bedrooms divided by the number of people in the household. Like ecological footprints, it reminds us that the resource is finite, and that if some people take more than they need, others are left with less than they need."
George Monbiot, environmental activist (who happens to live in a four bedroom home)

"An allegiance to the country has to go hand in hand with being born on our soil to actually be granted citizenship.”
Daryl Metcalfe, Pennsylvania lawmaker

"The rationale is to take advantage of the gains we have made over the last several months and apply more pressure on the enemy at a time when he is already under the gun."
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell, defending the decision to send 1400 more US troops to the Afghanistan quagmire

"Every family choosing to have more than a defined number of children should be charged a carbon tax that would fund the planting of enough trees to offset the carbon cost generated by a new human being. They should pay 5,000 dollars (4,400 US) a head for each extra child and up to 800 dollars every year thereafter.”
United Nations Eco-Nazi Professor David Shearman

"We are not talking about a national ID card,. We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, on a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans [Yea, right. I believe you.]

Another Unworthy Selection for ‘Texan of the Year’

The Dallas Morning News, in their annual salute to state rulers, has once again confirmed themselves as loyal promoters of mythical, state benevolence. For 2010, the dubious winner of “Texan of the Year” is Texas Head Gangster Rick Perry (here’s another link if you’re hassled by registration).

Last year, the honor was bestowed to the government gang’s hired assassins at Ft. Hood who couldn’t even protect themselves from a single assailant carrying a hand gun. For this incompetence, the Morning Ooze deemed them “heroic,“ This year, they honor one of the states leading politi-gangsters who claims the illegitimate power to rule others under the threat of violence. The MSM loves terrorists! At least, the domestic variety.

The Ooze recognizes Perry for “his ‘Texas tough-guy’ image and firm grip on the state's highest office,” and for becoming “the quintessential Texas politician and face of the state. In 26 years in public office, he has never lost an election.”

To translate: Perry has generated a mythical image through relentless public relations and well placed media sound bites, despite saying and doing nothing substantive. I don’t see how becoming the “quintessential politician” (i.e., perfect gangster) is any kind of compliment nor is being declared a “face of (any) state” something to be emulated or recognized.

The Ooze declared, "While his record as governor remains open for discussion, Perry's political instincts have been nearly infallible.” Translated: He plays the gangster game well, knowing who best to ally with (as pertains to bribes and political power) and who best to destroy as his enemy.

It would seem to me, a “Texan of the Year” honor should recognize individual achievement, accomplished through peaceful voluntary actions with others, benefiting not only the recognized individual but others who may share his/her community. This standard should immediately disqualify anyone employed or closely intimate with the criminal syndicate known as “the state.”

Let’s look at some of the other nine candidates for this honor and how they stack up against the winner. I think you’ll notice a trend toward recognizing those who actively promote, defend and initiate state sponsored violence against individuals:

Ron Washington: As manager of the financially bankrupt Texas Rangers, he led the team to it’s first ever appearance in the World Series. The team's financial woes are a bit comical considering the millions stolen from tax serfs to help pay for the Ranger’s stadium. Mr. Washington certainly didn’t accomplish this successful season on his own, seeing baseball is a team game and he never swung a bat or threw a ball. I therefore deem this candidate unworthy.

Kelly Siegler: The woman is a former prosecutor employed in Harris county. This fact alone should disqualify her. However she did show some worthiness in helping uncover juridical misconduct by another prosecutor in an 18 year old murder case. However, you have to wonder how she could have been so surprised and disgusted that such a “travesty’ could have occurred. She obviously hasn’t been paying much attention to prosecutorial misdeeds and fraud occurring at an increasing rate around the country. Nor, obviously, has she been reading the works of Will Grigg and William Anderson. I therefore deem this candidate unworthy.

Ed Whitacre: This gentlemen answered the call to be B. Osama’s “auto czar” to lead the fascist takeover and criminal bailout of GM. The Morning Ooze deems Mr. Whitacres worthy because of his “trailblazing” actions, “shaking up the corporate culture,” and restoring “faith in the company” Hilarious! I confidently deem this candidate unworthy.

Border Heroes: These are the folks suffering the effects of the state’s War on (Some) Drugs along the Texas/Mexico border. The Morning Ooze, of course makes no mention of the state’s complicity in such violence due to its absurd laws of prohibition. These folks are the direct victims of drug prohibition and state influenced violence yet insist on living their lives as normally as possible. For this noble attitude I deem these candidates worthy.

Greg Hall: Using his expertise in drilling, Mr. Hall was largely responsible for the successful rescue of the 33 miners trapped in a Chilean coal mine. This is true individual achievement resulting in direct, life saving benefit to others. I hereby declare this candidate as worthy.

Dick Armey: His days as a US congressman are over but Armey has found a way to keep feeding at the Washington teat- by directing the political action of others. Armey hitched his wagon to the lame Tea Party movement and gave it “direction,” according to the Ooze. Armey instructed others how to use political violence and the democratic mob to obtain the power necessary to control others. For this, I deem this candidate unworthy.

Jennifer Smith: She is some kind of crusader against “distracted driving.” Not such a bad cause, but like too many who find a cause to work for, Ms. Smith does not just educate but seeks to legislate. The Ooze recognizes her for working “for stronger laws and, especially, strict enforcement.” For this, I deem this candidate unworthy.

Amy Chyao: This young lady, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, has become quite accomplished in the field of scientific research, despite being just a high school student. I admire her hard work and diligence and I therefore deem this candidate as worthy.

Joel Burns: Mr. Burns is a local politi-gangster on the Ft Worth City Council who is also its first openly gay member. Of course, for this fact only, the Ooze considers the man some kind of “hero.”
Apparently, Mr. Burns is helping lead a campaign against bullying of gay teens. But like Ms. Smith, this campaign has gone beyond education to unwarranted legislation. I hereby deem this candidate as unworthy.

All but four of the candidates have close ties to the state. The mainstream media continually publicizes actions by such actors and in a manner that claims their actions as legitimate and even necessary. In a state of over twenty million people, I’m certain there are people accomplishing things that are far more worthy of recognition than babbling, loud mouth, pushy political actors and pols.

Instead, when looking at past winners, we’re given two war criminals (GW Bush and Karl Rove), city and county politicians and bureaucrats falsely given credit for a city surviving a hurricane (Houston), a father who “sacrificed” two sons to the US state’s wars, a Dallas DA who admirably help overturn at least 19 wrongful convictions yet still pursues the death penalty in some of his cases despite it going “against everything I've been taught," and of course the incompetent Ft Hood hooligans. The only worthy winner was “The Illegal Immigrant” who couldn’t even be given a decent name. The Ooze seems to buy the absurd idea that a human being can be legitimately described as “illegal” simply because his feet rest on a patch of dirt claimed by a criminal gang. How about “Hopeful Migrant” instead?

Awards and recognitions such as this are fun to analyze and pick apart. They are also quite useful in illustrating the statist world view infecting all corporate media.

Translating Tyranny

Nosey government sociopaths in fast growing Collin County, Texas have been busy harassing honest businessmen. It seems that a couple small slaughter houses are suspected of health and environmental violations despite already being cleared by Texas state regulators.

Read through this article and see if you can’t identify and translate the “statist-speak” emanating from these tyrannical busy bodies:

Government hack: “We’re powerless to do anything.”
Translated: “There actually exists a situation in the lives of free-living individuals that cannot be controlled, restricted, inspected and managed by us. We don’t have enough power to force others to do as we command. Give us more!”

Government hack: "It's a regulatory loophole they're slipping through."
Translation: As pertains to operating this kind of business, there appears to still be one shred of freedom remaining to these businessmen.”

Government hack: "It looks like the eastern part of Collin County has become a dumping ground for these under-the-radar operations."
Translation: Despite operating a legal business meeting all regulatory requirements, these businesses still have the gall to operate in our county contrary to our wishes.”

Government hack: "People move to the country to experience country life, not to live near a slaughterhouse,”
Translated: “I have absolutely no clue where meat comes from. I guess meat comes from meat factories in the city or delivered to store customers by the meat fairy.”

State gangsters, at any level, are ignorant, evil, power mad, violence loving WACKOS who should by shunned from civilized society.

TSA Allows Potential Evil-Doer to Escape

Excuse me while I get caught up……..

The TSA thugs gave a special Christmas gift to holiday travelers at DFW International Airport. Some flights were delayed up to two hours when “[T]he airport mobilized its command post while officers searched the terminals for a passenger described as an elderly woman.” Yikes!

“The Transportation Security Administration said agents spotted something suspicious when she went through a body scanner. But by the time they attempted to pull her aside for additional screening, the woman had already moved on into the terminal.”

“Which way did (s)he go, George. Which way did (s)he go?”

It would seem to me the whole purpose of viewing your naked body on the scanner is to detect any “irregularities.” When such an irregularity is discovered is there not some immediate way to detain the person in question? Apparently not. Which seems to indicate that this naked body scanner process is totally useless, inefficient, and ineffective, on top of being an attack on the bodies and liberties of sovereign individuals.

DVD Reviews

Iron Man 2:
Robert Downey Jr. returns in his role as the wealthy inventor whose revolutionary technology has “privatized peace.” The US state, of course, see this as a threat to their protection racket and plots to force Downey to turn over his technology to them.
Recommended

Pig Hunt:
A group of young friends travel to the northern California wilds to hunt wild hogs. They wind up terrorized by a giant man-killing hog that is also worshipped by a group of naked, drug crazed hippies. Oooo-kay. This one is only for those with an insatiable appetite for goofy creature features.
Not recommended

Hop:
A France-based drama about a young boy who is pushed to extremes to keep his father from being deported.
Recommended

Frontline- Digital Nation:
A very interesting look at how the digital world of the internet and instant communication has changed how we live. Some good information on how you may use the technology without losing your humanity.
Recommended

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour- The Best of Season 2:
I have fond memories of watching the prime time Smother Brothers show while a young teen. I vividly recall how the whole family enjoyed it, even when some of its material was a bit controversial at the time. These episodes aired in 1967-68. The brother’s stand up is still funny, but most of their more extensive skits come across a bit lame. It’s was fun to see some of the more popular rock groups of the time, even though some of their performances are lip synched. The Who’s famous and destructive appearance is here. The musical highlight- Pete Seeger performing his previously banned “Big Muddy.” Some guests to be enjoyed- Pat Paulsen, Leigh French, Don Knotts and Don Rickles.
Recommended

The X-Files, Seasons 1-9:
I was a big fan of the X-Files during its television run and it was quite enjoyable to review all 200-plus episodes; some I remember, many I don’t and probably hadn’t seen. All are wonderful, finely crafted, and imaginative stories about alien abduction and invasion, the paranormal, and various government conspiracies. With the X-Files, you could always count on excellent direction and movie quality production values, all to help remind you “the truth is out there.”
Recommended

Arranged:
Two young woman teachers, one an Orthodox Jew, the other a Muslim become fast friends and work to deal with the cultural and religious tensions between their families, as well as both religion’s tradition of arranged marriages.
Recommended

Toy Story 3:
More fun and creative brilliance from the geniuses at Pixar. A great, well selected cast executing another solid story line.
Recommended

Restropo:
Two journalists, embedded with a US Army platoon in Afghanistan, record life and death during a fifteen month deployment in one of the most dangerous valleys in the country. It’s all here in full view; the arrogance, the ignorance, the bureaucratic foul-ups and ultimate futility of an imperialist military occupation. Ultimately, when their deployment ends, nothing is accomplished but creating martyrs and more enemies.
Recommended

Harlan- In the Shadow of Jew Suss:
This German documentary takes a look at the life and work of German film maker Viet Harlan who was tried for crimes against humanity for his 1940 Nazi propaganda film, Jew Suss.
Recommended

Shrek Forever After:
The final installment of the Shrek legacy. More animated genius to be enjoyed by all ages.
Recommended

Generation Kill:
This HBO series follows a Marine recon unit during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, based a on a book written by a Rolling Stone writer embedded with the unit. Superb acting and writing throughout, including some of the funniest, wittiest dialogue I’ve heard in any TV miniseries or movie. It was also encouraging to see individualism represented here among the characters (based on real people) despite serving an institution requiring a collective conscious.
Recommended

Invisible Empire- A New World Order:
Alex Jones compadre, Jason Bermas takes a long, detailed and well researched look at the global elites who have worked and conspired to rule the individual lives of millions.
Recommended

The People vs. Larry Flynt:
This 1996 film stars Woody Harrelson as the smut king who boldly challenged the establishment. Whatever you may think of Flynt’s enterprise, you have to admire his defense of free individual expression and his exposing the hypocrisy of violent, puritanical religious extremists.
Recommended

Older Than America:
An Indian woman in Minnesota starts having visions that ultimately help to expose the crimes committed against Indian children at a Catholic run boarding school. Not the best executed film but worth seeing if you had no idea how the institutional churches attempted to whitewash young Indian minds to “kill the Indian to save the man.”
Recommended

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“Where once our forefathers, upon entry into New York harbor, came up from steerage to gather on the ship’s deck and watch the Statue of Liberty slide by, today’s immigrants come through an airport. What do they think when they first spot a line of freedom-loving Americans, standing meek with shoes in hand and pants around the ankles as surly TSA agents bark orders and jam their hands into our crotch? Do any of them take a moment to think about the lawlessness they had fled and wonder, ‘Why did I bother?’"
CJ Maloney

“While the government has a lot of weapons at its disposal, its insecurity is evident in its reaction to the truth. The government shows more than embarrassment, it shows fear – fear of its own words being exposed and people knowing what it does. Every day that a truth is revealed, the government loses power and influence. It is a problem of its own making. Do not blame the messengers.”
Kevin Zeese

“Open political competition favors aggressive, hence dangerous, rather than defensive, hence harmless, political talents and will thus lead to the cultivation and perfection of the peculiar skills of demagoguery, deception, lying, opportunism, corruption, and bribery. Therefore, entrance into and success within government will become increasingly impossible for anyone hampered by moral scruples against lying and stealing.”
Hans-Hermann Hoppe

“War, genocide, persecution and human degradation are directly the result of decisions made by those who control the apparatus of power, whether the power manifests itself as intellectual, ecclesiastical, spiritual, militaristic, or scientific. The most malevolent and ruthless power is that over the free human mind: if one controls how one thinks, they control the individual itself.”
Andrew Gavin Marshall

“We kid ourselves when we pretend that history began on September 11, 2001. Can anyone say with a straight face that before that date America was minding its own business according to the noninterventionist guidelines set out by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson? Read some history. Or does American exceptionalism mean not having to know anything before dropping bombs on people and torturing detainees?”
Sheldon Richman

“Today no one believes that our country’s success depends on an informed public and a free press. America’s success depends on its financial and military hegemony over the world. Any information inconsistent with the indispensable people’s god-given right to dominate the world must be suppressed and the messenger discredited and destroyed.”
Paul Craig Roberts

“Children should learn what happened in places like Germany, Cambodia, and Rwanda (as well as places like Sand Creek and Wounded Knee) when people willingly surrendered their guns to their rulers – but a government school classroom is no place for lessons of that kind.”
Will Grigg

“When coercive social systems are revealed to be tools of exploitation by the elite, the masses must decide whether they prefer liberty or submission. Liberty is always the more difficult path, while submission to the status quo is the path of least resistance. Not just physically and intellectually, but spiritually. This is how the inevitable cognitive dissonance that individuals feel when they are ruled by others is soothed by emotional slogans and familiar forms. Psychological and social conditioning over a lifetime buttressed by constant media bombardment that some collective consciousness can better serve as your guiding light than what your own mind provides can seem insurmountable. But some always do and they serve as a reminder to others that they can too. Thus the light of liberty is in each of us, not in some scrap of paper or piece of cloth pretending to represent that light.”
Mark Davis

*********************************************************************

From the Darkness:

"We're always looking to improve systems and so forth. But the new technology, the pat downs, is just objectively safer for our traveling public."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
"He wants to expose to retribution those who cooperate with us on the ground in war zones. He wants to undercut domestic support for our wars. He wants to embarrass our foreign allies and exact a price for their trust in us. He wants to complicate sensitive operations like securing nuclear material in Pakistan and attacking terrorists with missiles in Yemen.... Confronting a dangerous world is difficult enough without the brazen exposure of the nation’s secrets.... Surely, the same Justice Department that sued Arizona for daring to enforce the nation’s immigration laws can find a creative way to harry and shut down [Julian] Assange."
Rich Lowry. Editor, National Review

"This is not…this is not a game. You know, the debt ceiling is not…is not something to toy with. That's the…the…if we hit the debt ceiling, that's the…essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008.
As I say, that's not a game. I don't see why anybody's talking about playing chicken with the...with the debt ceiling.
If...if we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States, that would...that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity."
Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers