Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“Liberty alone can only fail; compassion alone can only fail. Neither is a complete answer for human society. But together, liberty and compassion cannot fail, because the need for that combination is the human truth within us all.”
Glen Allport

“The state is the ultimate expression of violent intolerance against the smallest minority on earth- the individual.”
Jacob Spinney

“As with all governments, the US Federal government is nothing more than a manufacturing facility for generating tyranny. Liberty is its enemy. It is nothing more than a sophisticated program to fine, cage, maim and kill ALL citizens if they happen to fall afoul of the impossibly incomprehensible web of laws and regulations it vomits out on a perennial basis.
There is no reform or repudiation or referendum or reconstitution possible to remedy the vicious and wicked system of laws emanating the Federal government. The only path to redemption is its ultimate self-destruction at its own hands to join the ash-heap of history that the other empires have tumbled on to”
Bill Buppert

“Laws: We know what they are, and what they are worth! They are spider webs for the rich and mighty, steel chains for the poor and weak, fishing nets in the hands of the government.”
Pierre Joseph Proudhon

“A man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years. Neither are a people any the less slaves because permitted periodically to choose new masters. What makes them slaves is the fact that they now are, and are always hereafter to be, in the hands of men whose power over them is, and always is to be, absolute and irresponsible.”
Lysander Spooner

“And so we find that all governments must of necessity continuously violate Jesus' ultimate social commandment even to simply exist. The principle which all governments are founded upon and follow may properly be termed the 'Luciferian Principle.' This logically follows, because to not follow the Golden Rule is to do the opposite of the Golden Rule: i.e., rather than doing to others what you would want others to do to you, you would instead be doing to others what you do not want others to do to you. Hence, if we may term the Golden Rule the ‘Christ Principle,’ or otherwise the 'Christian Principle,' then it certainly follows that the opposite of this principle would properly be termed the 'Luciferian Principle': which is none other than doing to others what you do not want others to do to you.”
James Redford

“The stranglehold that was placed on truth and information is slipping away. State propaganda and disinformation is being rendered useless. Tyrants are like children who hold clay in their hands, the harder they squeeze, the more they lose. This is what every government has failed to understand throughout their tragic and horrible 10,000 year history. Pure tyranny brings with it pure liberty. As awful as it sounds, my desire is that the grip of tyranny continues. Coercive, violent governments have proven to be the best recruiting tool for those who long for liberty, and if liberty is what lies on the other side of this tyranny, the juice is definitely worth the squeeze.”
Chris Dates

“No, the real Greatest Generation hasn't happened yet. The Greatest Generation will be the generation which finally stomps out collectivism and exalts liberty for ALL. Perhaps even rejects the religion of The State altogether. Not a generation that wants to collect all it feels entitled to- which was stolen from its descendants.”
Kent McManigal

"Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves."
Joe Sobran

“People can see that the newspapers and mainstream media broadcasts are pure propaganda that utilizes the Hegelian dialectic to create an illusion of democratic debate – when in fact all it is doing is constraining the discussion in order to arrive at pre-determined conclusions. People can now see the outright lies that spew forth from the mouths of the puppet leaders who pretend to run the State.”
Anthony Wile

“The problem is never what form government takes, nor the details of its composition: the problem is the beast itself.”
Becky Akers

“Do you care what percentage of goods people in your state sell to people in some other state, vs. how much they buy from people in your state? Of course not. Then why should you care about China? What difference does an invisible judicial line make regarding the profitability of your trade with someone else? Why do you care whether the other guy is named Wong or Brown? UPS will still deliver. So will FedEx.”
Gary North

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From the Darkness:

"Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen."

Migraine-Michelle Bachmann

"I think there is a path to citizenship for those young men and women who have served their country. That is a very unique set of individuals, and different than folks who have come here illegally and not given back in that particular way."
Rick Perry, claiming “illegal” aliens should be made citizen slaves if they have served time as US military slaves

“Looming over the interesting and appealing ideas of the [Ron] Paul campaign is a veritable political tornado of allegations involving anti-Semitism, racism, pacifism, far left-wingism and, at the edges, a tiny flicker of intimidation.”
Jeffrey Lord, American Spectator

"Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police."
From a warning issued by the city of Westminster, England.

“Laws are written for a reason, usually to help keep us safe. Parents who find ways to circumvent the laws should be held responsible when their children suffer because of their actions.
But to buy this product [raw milk] and feed it to your children? Might as well lock them in your car on a 100 degree day while you stop by the casino to try and win the jackpot.”
Richard Raymond, Real Raw Milk Facts

“There is no question that our troops are courageous and selfless. They expose themselves to inconceivable dangers under conditions of enormous hardship and fight because they want to keep the country safe. We owe them respect and gratitude—even if we think the wars they’re asked to fight are often wrong."
William Deresiewicz, NY Times, Sunday Review

"I would strongly support using it [waterboarding] again if circumstances arose where we had a high-value detainee and that was the only way we could get him to talk."
Dick Cheney, still in love with torture

"In New York, so-called leaders are talking about human rights. But what they do is abuse the very meaning of this phrase. They condemn tiny Israel, democratic Israel, free Israel – Israel which values human life above all others."
Glenn Beck [Tell that to the Palestinians, who they slaughter daily.]

“[Hurricane] Irene’s got a middle name, and it’s Global Warming.”
Bill McKibben, Daily Beast

"I think the economy does need more stimulus. Everybody says we should've (had)...a bigger stimulus package. Yeah, we should've. I was pushing (for) it."
Joe Biden

Come Forth and Kneel

Surely, this video illustrates the arrogance and abuse from those who claim to rule us. Make note of it. But what really caught my eye was the wide camera shot of this council of lords, this panel of oppressors, this board of brutes, this chamber of sociopaths, this assembly of assholes.

Sitting up high, giving themselves an air of regal superiority, I half expect the servile class attending this masquerade to bow and kneel before them in obedient supplication. Given the described setting, such action would certainly be appropriate and unsurprising.

When lowly citizen serfs attend one of these meetings, it is for one of two purposes: either the individual or group aims to convince these lords to bless them with the property and/or wealth belonging to other individuals (tax revenue and property transfers) or they are there to desperately beg and plead to retain a precious scrap of remaining freedom that is threatend or to regain a previously lost liberty. Such is the essence of collectivist government.

Neither action is worthy of a free living, peace loving, sovereign individual.

“Resolve to serve no more and you are at once freed.”
Étienne de La Boétie

Western Terrorism in Tripoli

“There is a clear program of state terror. This is the business of which NATO is involved in, in Libya, in Afghanistan, and anywhere else it operates. It’s state terrorism, pure and simple.”

And the violence is just beginning as we can look forward to a bloody civil war. The present union of tribal factions will begin to turn on each other. As a result, western troops will march in and the corporate occupation and looting will begin. The Obamatrons are getting a war hard-on as you read this.

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“The liberal critique of the argument in favor of war is fundamentally different from that of the humanitarians. It starts from the premise that not war, but peace, is the father of all things. What alone enables mankind to advance and distinguishes man from the animals is social cooperation. It is labor alone that is productive: it creates wealth and therewith lays the outward foundations for the inward flowering of man. War only destroys; it cannot create. War, carnage, destruction, and devastation we have in common with the predatory beasts of the jungle; constructive labor is our distinctively human characteristic. The liberal abhors war, not, like the humanitarian, in spite of the fact that it has beneficial consequences, but because it has only harmful ones.”
Ludwig von Mises

“I will state my desire up front: I don’t want the police to be reformed, watched, video-recorded, monitored, disarmed, watch-dogged, controlled, quality checked, investigated, punished, prosecuted or anything else. I simply want them gone. I want their current employment to cease and desist.”
Bill Buppert

“Remember, too, that to rule over another person means to use force against him. How much force? Well, whatever force is needed to make him yield. If you are not willing to apply enough force--then you no longer rule. This means that if you endorse anything but anarchy you must endorse the killing of those subjects who will not yield to any force but deadly force. Are you willing to kill people, if necessary, to get things done by government instead of getting them done privately? If not, then perhaps you should consider becoming an anarchist.”
Richard D. Fuerle

“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.”
Isabella Paterson

“By seeing and acknowledging the world as it actually is—by accepting a model that is better grounded in reality and by rejecting irrationality—you do the world a great service: You cease to carry forward the abuse. You begin to heal the world. It is frustratingly slow, and many will die before anything can be done, but you did not create the situation and you should not be under the illusion that you can fix it quickly. You just can’t. It is an unbelievably large problem that has been going on for a very long time. There is no quick fix. Quick fixes correspond to the irrational short-cut methods typically enacted through the violent offices of government, enabled by well-meaning, good people that cause the problems to expand, not contract.”
Tzo

“We don't live in a world full of idiots, we live in a world full of unprocessed child abuse, neglect and rejection. Only the traumatized cling to ideology, as ideology is the avoidance of what really happened. It is the navigation around the damaged areas of the brain, because ... acknowledging them, much less the tough work of healing, is too painful for most people to deal with.”
Nathan McKaskle

“In the name of providing us welfare throughout life, they [government] loot us throughout life. In the name of providing us security, they humiliate us and treat us all like animals — and then have the gall to say that this system is all about public service. They manufacture billions of laws that no one can possibly keep and yet put us in jail when they decide to catch us breaking them. They order us to kill each other in the name of patriotism, but they are the only winners in this game
But there's no need for any escape to anywhere. We are already home. It is the state that is the uninvited guest, the interloper who trashed the place, the invader who has distorted reality and violates our rights. We need only to assert our authority over ourselves and claim what is rightfully ours. They will be left to scramble, but their propaganda will have no effect, because we know the difference between the truth and their lies.”
Jeffrey Tucker

“Denying the right of self-defense to a person because he might get hurt is like denying freedom of speech because he might misspeak or denying freedom of religion because he could join the wrong church. The denial is not an act of concern or protection; it is the imposition of social control.”
Wendy McElroy

“The people who snub those who advocate a challenge to the status quo and a challenge to government-controlled money and banking, government-controlled medicine, and a challenge to the U.S. government’s immoral and bankrupting wars of aggression – aggressions that do nothing but provoke foreigners to act against us – the people who close the door to the challenger and keep it open for the statists, despite all the destruction the State has wrought, is further confirmation of my assertion that statism is a sickness."
Scott Lazarowitz

“The idea that people can be equated with their governments is one of the most pernicious beliefs afflicting humanity. It tells us that those who live under an evil or aggressive state are somehow responsible for the acts of that state and that it is therefore acceptable to kill them.”
Bretigne Shaffer

“Statism’s evil lies in that it gives people an excuse to behave badly by transferring moral responsibility onto a fictional being that isn’t real. Anarchism is the rejection of that myth and as a consequence it places moral culpability where it belongs, the individual.”
valhelion

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From the Darkness:

"….Terrorists who commit acts against United States citizens, people who come from foreign countries to do that, do not have any right under our Constitution to Miranda rights."

Migraine-Michelle Bachman

"One thing that distinguishes [Rick] Perry from the rest of the field, for instance, is his military service in the 1970s, when he flew C-130 planes as a captain in the Air Force; no other candidate in the race can boast military service."
Erin McPike, Real Clear Politics [Apparently, it’s not “real clear” to Ms. McPike that Ron Paul did time in the US Air Force.]

“If we discovered that space aliens were planning to attack and we needed a massive buildup to counter the space alien threat and really inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months. And then if we discovered, oops, we made a mistake, there aren’t any aliens, we’d be better. There was a Twilight Zone episode like this in which scientists fake an alien threat in order to achieve world peace. Well, this time…we need it in order to get some fiscal stimulus.”
Paul Krugman, looking for more war “stimulus.”

"Before we get started, let's all say 'Happy Birthday to Elvis Presley' today. We played you a little bit of Promise Land when we pulled up. You can't do better than Elvis Presley and we thought we would celebrate his birthday as we get started celebrating taking our country back to work."
Migraine-Michelle Bachmann, speaking at a political rally on Aug. 16, the date of Elvis’ death

"We are a nation that has a special role in the world - a special role because of our military power, a special role because of our diplomatic power.”
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, pushing American exceptionalism

“I went to work in that system [the IRS] because the first rule of war is ‘know your enemy. So I went to the inside to learn how they work because I wanted to beat them.”
Migraine-Michelle Bachmann, defending her time working as a tax lawyer for the IRS [Yea, right. We believe you.]

“What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.”
Migraine-Michelle Bachmann [The Soviet Union has been dead for 20 years. Is it rising from the dead?]

"These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets."
From a NASA report suggesting that the Earth's rising levels of greenhouse gases could provoke an alien attack [You’re stolen tax dollars at work. This does illustrate just how desperate the anti-carbon climate kooks are about keeping their scam alive.]

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“Yet although the connection should be obvious – an institution that instills into people the capacity to see other people as subhuman enemies to be killed is going to breed people with problems handling their violent impulses – it is never asked outright if the military, and especially its wars, encourage acts of violence. But as long as we are at perpetual war, living with a permanent warfare state, there will be more Abdos, Nissans, and McVeighs.”
Anthony Gregory

“No taxpayer alive today had anything to say about repaying any money the government borrowed to keep it’s promises. We did not have any choice in the matter. We did not choose to accept this obligation. It has been forced on us. It was manufactured for us by a government that spends the peoples’ money not on the people,. but on wars of conquest, gifts to Israel, and endless bailouts for Wall Street and European bankers.”
Michael Rivero

“As a ‘stealth tax,’ inflation requires no legislation to impose, no agency to collect, and diverts responsibility for damages onto politicians’ favorite whipping boys. It gives government the ability to buy almost anything for nothing, while creating endless problems that serve as a pretext for intervention. Inflation is the foundation of arrogant government and a prescription for our own demise."
George F. Smith

“The State is not MY enemy, I am The State's enemy. The State is the enemy of Liberty and all those who understand it. I did not go looking for a fight; The State brought the fight to me when it declared me and all the things that I value to be its enemy. The State started the fight and declares that any who defend themselves from its attacks are ‘terrorists.’”
Kent McManigal

“The primary concern of every government is to ensure its continuance in power, irrespective of the men who form it. If they are bad, they want to remain in power in order to enrich themselves and to satisfy their lust for authority; and if they are honest and sincere they believe that it is their duty to remain in power for the people. ... The anarchists ... could never, even if they were strong enough, form a government without contradicting themselves and repudiating their entire doctrine; and, should they do so, it would be no different from any other government; perhaps it would even be worse.”
Errico Malatesta

“The right to withhold your identify, like the right to remain silent, is not the sign of a thug or child predator. It is the sign of a free human being.”
Wendy McElroy

“Time and time again we see that the people who make decisions to send troops to war are the very people who profit financially from such wars. Today's troops can see this. It is part of the public record, yet they still do not question their missions. They join the military with a promise never to question orders. Taking history into account, I see no pride in this kind of service.”
Jesse Richard

“To issue a paper currency not redeemable in specie is a fraud. Issuing paper dollars with no underlying value steals the very value of the nation’s money. For this action alone, each Governor, officer and employee of the Federal Reserve Bank, Treasury officer and employee, each officer and employee of the US Mint, and each member of Congress should be deemed guilty and put to death. Otherwise, there is no justice in America.”
Russell D. Longcore

“The use of the State, with its compulsory monopoly powers of aggression, has enabled the people to realize their infantile, primitive drives without regard to the lives, liberty or property of others. Statism is the sickness that has made criminals out of decent people. And statism is the sickness with which society has afflicted itself to ruin itself.
Statism is a pathology of human thought and behavior that causes people to passively and obediently lie on the ground while the rulers and their obedient servants walk all over the people, and enslave their labor and torture them with impunity.”
Scott Lazarowitz

“To be a citizen is to rationalize irrational aggression. Coercion, theft, and murder are elevated to virtues. This inverted state of ethical affairs should be troubling to a society full of good people, and yet it seems not to be.”
Tzo

“It is not enough to appeal to those who start and live by wars to make them stop. We must identify the real source of all war: Not a particular nation or even a particular kind of weapon, but the institution of the state itself, with no real mechanism to hold it accountable, that enables some people to rain death and unimaginable misery upon others with impunity.”
Bretigne Shaffer

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From the Darkness:

"The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default."
Alan Greenspan

“When you go and talk to any audience about climate, you hear them washing back at you the same crap over and over and over again. There’s no longer a shared reality on an issue like climate even though the very existence of our civilization is threatened. People have no idea! … It’s no longer acceptable in mixed company, meaning bipartisan company, to use the goddamn word climate. It is not acceptable. They have polluted it to the point where we cannot possibly come to an agreement on it.
It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!”
Al Gore [The Climate Toad is finally starting to lose it and admit defeat. And it’s so fun to watch!]

"John [McCain] and I feel as if we have lost members of our families."
John Kerry, commenting on the downing of a US helicopter by the Afghan resistance [Yea, right.]

“These men and women [lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanstan] put their lives on the line for the values that bind us together as a nation,” the president said. “And some of them, like the 30 Americans who were lost this weekend, give their lives for their country.”
B. Obama, reminding us of the evils of collectivism

“This [helicopter crash killing 30 US soldier boys] is a reminder, a reminder to the American people that we remain a nation still at war.”
Leon Panetta, reminding us of the evils of collectivism ["…….and 'we' remain at war whether you like it or not.”]
 
“I believe this is, without question, the tea party downgrade.”
Sen. John Kerry, shifting the blame for Standard and Poor’s downgrade of the USG’s credit rating

“Ron Paul continues his effort to crash the world economy. The only change in recent days is proof positive that major players in both parties are acting as silly and irresponsibly as Dr. Paul. If anyone were foolish enough to follow Paul's advice and destroy any attempt to reach a bipartisan agreement through a committee, every rating agency would downgrade the U.S. The American and world economies and global markets would crash.”
Brent Budowsky, The Hill

"We would welcome any kind of explanation that China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment [an aircraft carrier]. This is part of our larger concern that China is not as transparent as other countries. It's not as transparent as the United States about its military acquisitions, about its military budget. And we'd like to have the kind of open, transparent relationship in military-to-military affairs. In our military-to-military relations with many countries around the world, we have the kind of bilateral dialogue where we can get quite specific about the equipment that we have and its intended purposes and its intended movements."
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland

“If we have learned anything from the history of the presidency, it is this: experience matters. Judgment matters. Achievement matters. Integrity matters. The wisdom to see the truth, the clarity to state it and the courage to fight for it matter above all in the presidency. Voters would know, before [Al] Gore even announces his candidacy, that he already qualifies for a lifetime achievement award that would help informed Americans make the wisest decision about who should lead the nation.
Let’s begin a draft movement to make Al Gore president in 2016. While times are tough today, let’s stop selling short our aspirations and start planning for the next New Frontier.”
Brent Budowsky [As far as I know, Mr. Budowsky does not write for The Onion.]

“Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. Everyone watching these horrific actions [street rioting] will be struck by how they were organized via social media. We are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron

“I don’t understand why it is even controversial to talk about dismantling industrial civilization when it has shown itself for 6,000 years to be destroying the planet and to be systemically committing genocide.”
Lierre Keith, environmental wacko

“If it were up to me, all the people associated with the Gulf oil spill, which is murdering the Gulf, would be executed. That would be part of the function of a state.”
Derrick Jensen, environmental radical [How can that be when the “state,” being involved in oil extraction, was part of the cause?]

“Representative Ron Paul ridiculously claimed that the United States is bankrupt.”
From NY Times editorial reviewing the recent GOP presidential debate [“Ridiculous” only to those who live in a fantasy world.]

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“America is, despite the conservative and liberal propaganda to the contrary, essentially as much a welfare state as most other nations of the West, and the hugest chunk of the entitlement expenditures are going not to the easily scapegoated classes, but rather to the respectable masses.”
Anthony Gregory

“It is the duty of the state to always feign crisis wherever possible so as to justify their existence and the employment of their multitude of divine agents who exist to protect us from annoyed sisters, unlicensed lemonade sellers, raw milk, unapproved advertising slogans, and the Muslims hiding in our closets. Thus, the state has fostered a dependency on itself, on the part of the masses, in order to warrant its immense growth and intrusive deployment. The state has created a need for the state by the masses who can no longer survive daily rituals, let alone modest abnormalities. The masses have been dumbed-down, made into milksops, and turned into yellow-bellied flakes by the paternal state that enslaves them.”
Karen DeCoster

“In every time and in every country the ruling class forcibly extracts what it wants from its domestic livestock: eggs from chickens, milk from cows, wool from sheep, honey from bees and taxes from humans.”
Garry Reed

“All great systems of commerce are fractured: It is their eventual cohesion that gives rise to empires. But the natural state of humankind is one of dissipated authority. It is from this that freedom arises, and freedom midwifes wealth.”
Anthony Wile

“Accepting the idea of sovereignty of the individual brings much responsibility, but that responsibility leads to a freer society. A freer society leads to a society based upon voluntary cooperation. Voluntary cooperation is the basis for free markets. Voluntary cooperation and free markets leads directly to prosperity.”
Gary D. Barnett

“Political government is the past. Anarchy is the future.
Political government brought you hundreds of millions of murders in the last century, and sent you the butcher’s bill.”
Thomas L. Knapp

“At bottom, the success of despotic governments and Big Brother societies hinges upon a certain number of political, financial, and cultural developments. The first of which is an unwillingness in the general populace to secure and defend their own freedoms, making them completely reliant on corrupt establishment leadership. For totalitarianism to take hold, the masses must not only neglect the plight of their country, and the plight of others, but also be completely uninformed of the inherent indirect threats to their personal safety. They must abandon all responsibility for their destinies, and lose all respect for their own humanity. They must, indeed, become domesticated and mindless herd animals without regard for anything except their fleeting momentary desires for entertainment and short term survival. For a lumbering bloodthirsty behemoth to actually sneak up on you, you have to be pretty damnably oblivious.”
Brandon Smith

“Ideas, be they right or wrong, are indestructible. The only possible change is people's attitude toward them. There is indifference or acceptance or rejection. Ideas on liberty are greeted more by indifference than by rejection, an attitude that tends to harden if left undisturbed. But when we try to turn indifference into acceptance by obtrusive and officious methods we get only rejection for our pains and, for good reason: these are not the methods of liberty.
The sole force that will turn indifference into acceptance is the power of attraction. And this can be achieved only if the eye is cast away from the remaking of others and toward the improvement of self. This, as an aim, is in harmony with personal and human evolution; the effort demanded of each individual is not a sacrifice, but the best investment one can make in life's highest purpose.”
Leonard Reed

“In the same way that some battered wives cling to their abusive husbands, the more debacles the government causes the more some voters cling to rulers. The craving for a protector drops an iron curtain around the mind, preventing a person from accepting evidence that would shred his political security blanket.”
James Bovard

“There is no such thing as a courageous politician because they are self-selected strata of psychopathy whose prime directive is preservation and expansion of power at everyone’s expense except their own. Any expectation otherwise will always result in severe disappointment on your part. It is ironic that the worst elements of humanity are those in charge but history is rife with such folly.”
Bill Buppert

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From the Darkness:

“When times are good and the ship of state only needs to sail straight, mentally healthy people function well as political leaders. But in times of crisis and tumult, those who are mentally abnormal, even ill, become the greatest leaders. We might call this the Inverse Law of Sanity
Great crisis leaders are not like the rest of us; nor are they like mentally healthy leaders. When society is happy, they toil in sadness, seeking help from friends and family and doctors as they cope with an illness that can be debilitating, even deadly. Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down, but they are never quite well.”

Nasser Ghaemi

"A Norway incident could definitely happen here; the same things that played into the Norway suspect's mindset are here in this country. If anything, extremists are much more capable of committing violent acts here due to their access to weapons and ammunition, which they don't have in Europe."
Daryl Johnson, DHS domestic terror analyst

"Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police."
From a flyer issued by the London Metropolitan Police

“We may come to a point where defense is more actively and aggressively defined even for the private sector and what is permitted there is something that we would never let the private sector do in physical space… Let me really throw out a bumper sticker for you. How about a digital Blackwater?”
Gen. Michael Hayden, suggesting that mercenaries were needed to deal with growing cyber threats

“We have negotiated with terrorists. This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.”
Rep. Mike Doyle, lasing out at tea party Republicans
 
“Robert E. Lee is important historically because he devoted himself to a cause that was, at its core, anti-American; yet he -- among countless other Confederates -- was convinced that he acted only as a paragon of patriotism. It’s the essential delusion of every traitor.”
Glenn W. La Fantasie, Salon

"He's nobody's boy. He's your president and he's our president. And that's what y'all have got to get through your head."
Al Sharpton, responding to Pat Buchanan describing Obama as “your boy in the ring”

“I am appalled by the Syrian government’s use of violence and brutality against its own people. The reports out of Hama are horrifying and demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime. Once again, President Assad has shown that he is completely incapable and unwilling to respond to the legitimate grievances of the Syrian people. His use of torture, corruption and terror puts him on the wrong side of history and his people.”
B. Obama, ignoring the log in his eye

“Alas, that is the Tea Party. It is so lacking in any aspiration for American greatness, so dominated by the narrowest visions for our country and so ignorant of the fact that it was not tax cuts that made America great but our unique public-private partnerships across the generations. If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the Tea Party will take the G.O.P. on a suicide mission. No American politician was more allergic to debt or taxes than Thomas Jefferson, but he also appreciated the need to have the resources to make the Louisiana Purchase and insisted that on his tombstone it be written that he founded the University of Virginia.”
Thomas Friedman, NY Times

DVD Reviews

Bomber:
This light hearted British comedy follows an elderly couple and their adult son on a journey of atonement. The father travels to Germany to apologize to the village in which he, as a British bomber pilot in WWII, dropped his bomb load. The son also works to help his parents communicate with each other after years of growing more distant.
Recommended

Surfwise:
This documentary covers the life of 85 year old Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, doctor and surfing legend, who along with his remarkable wife raised their nine children in a camper while traveling the country. All parties involved (the children now as adults) are interviewed, relating both the advantages and disadvantages of such an unconventional upbringing.
Recommended

The Rape of Europa:
A very interesting documentary chronicling the pillaging of artwork throughout Europe by the Nazi regime as they conquered most of the continent in the 1930’s and 40’s. It also describes the efforts of individuals who worked to protect these works from war’s destruction, as well as to locate and return the huge numbers of stolen works.
Recommended

Bill Hicks- Sane Man:
A blazing set of stand up comedy performed in Austin, TX in 1989. Hicks had many fans in Austin so this set found an appreciative, attentive, and responsive crowd.
Recommended

Cry, the Beloved Country:
Based on a novel, this drama takes place in 1946 South Africa. Richard Harris and James Earl Jones play two fathers, one black and one white, who suffer closely related family tragedies. The tragedies help promote a personal bond between the two, despite living in a world of racial apartheid.
Recommended

A Shine of Rainbows:
This is one of those “family” dramas that succeeds by having just enough of an edge to the story to avoid a lot of syrupy sentiment. The story takes place in 1950’s Ireland when a couple adopts a young boy who must then deal with the loss of his new mother.
Recommended

Wild Bill:
This 1995 film version of the Wild Bill Hickock story gives us Bill tripping on opium while avoiding constant assassination attacks and the squirrelly harassment of Calamity Jane. Jeff Bridges does much better work in the recent and much better executed remake of True Grit.
Not recommended

Bill Hicks Live- Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-up Comedian:
This disc includes several performances by the brilliant comic as well as some interviews with family and contemporaries. You can always count on a unique “ride” when listening to Hicks perform.
Recommended

Captain Abu Raed:
This nicely made drama, filmed in Jordan in Arabic, centers around the dreams of young boys who are inspired by the stories shared by a supposed airline pilot who in reality is a janitor at the airport. The “Captain” also takes an active role in the less than desirable home lives of some of his young friends.
Recommended

Science and the Swastika:
This two-disc series examines the heavy emphasis on scientific and medical research by the Nazi regime in Germany. The series covers in great detail the absolute corruption of the medical profession, medical euthanasia of “useless eaters,” experimentation on prisoners, and the attempted development of a nuclear bomb.
Recommended

Clapton- Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010:
Another fine effort by EC and company celebrating the most versatile music instrument. Some interesting collaborations of guitarists here to listen to. One of the best is Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes (of the Allman Bros.) with Caesar Rojas and David Hidalgo (of Los Lobos). Another stand out performance is by the incomparable Jeff Beck.
Recommended

Omagh:
A very emotional drama about the brutal 1998 IRA bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The victims family unite and demand answers and accountability from the powers that be, but are met with stonewalling and corruption
Recommended

Army of Crime:
A French film about the immigrant led civilian resistance to the Nazi occupation of Paris. All characters are real life. You come away impressed and inspired by the actions of these martyrs against tyranny.
Recommended

The Most Dangerous Man in America- Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers:
A must see documentary about the life of Daniel Ellsberg and his releasing of secret documents that exposed truths about the Vietnam War.
Recommended

The Hired Hand:
This restored 1971 western was Peter Fonda’s first directorial effort after Easy Rider. Not a typical shoot-‘em-up western, the storyline is based around basic human emotions using symbolism that wasn’t apparent to me until I listened to Fonda’s commentary (which is really worth the time). Fonda isn’t much of a lead actor, but is assisted ably here by Warren Oates and Verna Bloom. The film includes some excellent cinematography for a low budget film.
Recommended

Bloodworth:
Kris Kristofferson stars as a songwriter/musician who returns to his wife and sons 20 years after he abandoned them. Instead of enjoying his final days of life, his return causes more chaos to his already dysfunctional family. His grandson seems to be the only stable one of the bunch. An excellent screenplay based on a novel.
Recommended

John Hammond-The Paris Concert:
The veteran blues guitarist and singer (now in the business for 50 years) gives a rocking live performance at a club in Paris. Hammond primarily does covers from some of the early blues composers, so it’s like a watching a living history of the genre being performed for you. Hammond is one of those unique, veteran performers who has his chops down to such a fine art, his soulful playing and singing seem effortless.
Recommended

Battle Los Angeles:
Aliens land on earth, disguised as meteors and immediately attack a number of major cities. Though the fighting sequences are entertaining, the drama winds up being a recruiting film for the US Marines with all the hokey, goofy, hooh-rah dialogue you would expect.
Not recommended