Pickin' and Singin'

“We believe the average man and woman can make his own music. In this machine age, its doesn’t all have to come out of a loud speaker. You can make it yourself. Whether you want to shout or croon, sing sweet or rough. And it can be your own music. And when I say your own music- the music of your own kind. Whether its your family, your town or region, your race or your place, your religion or wherever it is.”
Pete Seeger

DVD Reviews

Endgame- Blueprint For Global Enslavement:
Alex Jones’ comprehensive look at the philosophies that inspire the actions of the global elites, particularly, the Bilderbergers. The one fact that Alex seems to miss is that none of these elite’s evil plans would have any success in this part of the world without the cooperation of the state to which he claims faithful allegiance.
Recommended

Body of War:
Moving documentary about a paralyzed Iraq War vet as he deals with his handicap and medical problems while becoming increasingly involved in the anti-war movement. Mr. Young makes the standard mistake in believing political involvement will bring change- but he’ll get over that.
Recommended

Seraphim Falls:
Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan star in this western that follows two Civil War vets fighting a long standing feud. One chases the other from the high, cold, snow covered mountains all the way to the hot dry, desert. A very gritty story with a definite anti-war sentiment.
Recommended

Lake City:
A well acted and written drama of the prodigal son variety. A sometime moving testament to the strength of family unity surviving tragedy.
Recommended

The Death Of America:
Author Naomi Wolf hosts a documentary on the disappearing liberties within the US. She discusses the ten points that dictators have followed in the past to achieve absolute power- all ten of which have been placed into operation in the US.
Recommended

Look:
The multi-plot feature follows the lives of a number of characters- all filmed from the perspective of surveillance cameras. It gives you the strong impression that there is just about nowhere you can go in public without being photographed.
Recommended

Lonely Are The Brave:
This 1962 Kirk Douglas film was just released on DVD. An excellent story about an individualist striving to live free and primitive in an increasingly conformist, controlled, technological society.
Recommended

I Am David:
Fictional drama follows a young boy as he escapes a Post-WWII Bulgarian gulag, traveling across Europe to find his long-lost mother.
Recommended

The Real Dirt on Farmer John:
I fortunately came across this documentary which is a real pleasure. It follows the life of a rather off-beat farmer and his trials and tribulations struggling to maintain and hold on to his family’s farm. A great testimonial to the strengths of family, community, and individualism.
Recommended

Taken:
Liam Neeson’s acting seems pretty mechanical in the opening minutes. But there’s a reason- his character is a no-nonsense, bad-ass, ex-CIA operative with a “special set of skills.”
Recommended

Knowing:
Some fine CG work is marred by bad writing and acting. It made me almost glad to see the world end.
Not recommended

Grateful Dawg:
This documentary was filmed shortly before the death of Jerry Garcia. It consists of relaxed interviews and lots of great musical performances with his long time friend, mandolin player, extraordinaire, David Grisman. Playing together seemed to bring the best out of each other’s talent.
Recommended

The Whole Shootin’ match:
The DVD is a restored 16mm film, supposedly one of the first from the Austin film industry. Nicely acted story about two buddies in central Texas, always scheming a way to get rich but never quite getting there.
Recommended

Frozen River:
A mother, abandoned by her gambling husband, resorts to smuggling illegal aliens from Canada into upstate New York to support herself and her children.
Recommended

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

“Without the initiation of force, there can be no state, and without a state, all that will remain is a voluntary society. This doesn't mean that certain individuals, or even groups of individuals, won't try to hit people and take their stuff, but what it does mean, is that such persons will be denounced as violent thieves instead of praised as ‘service providers.’”
Daniel J. Lakemacher

“Vesting the exercise of power in a monopoly institution, however representative or seemingly well-intentioned the people composing that institution might be, is a recipe for disaster. Such an arrangement is bound to compound error and exacerbate injury on the one hand, while on the other it fails to give full scope to the individual’s potential for innovation and advancement.”
Thomas L. Knapp

“Government is a big and bloody, electrified fence around rank incompetence.” Stefan Molyneux

“Consuming wealth is not the way to get rich. It's the way to get poor. But it would take someone without a PhD in economics to see such a simple and obvious truth. Given a fellow a computer and an advanced degree in economics and he's ready to believe anything…”
Bill Bonner

"You seem like a conscientious and well-intentioned person but this is an adversarial situation, and I can't allow you to have access to my home in the absence of a warrant, and until I've consulted with legal counsel."

Will Grigg, speaking to a CPS investigator requesting access to his home.

“If giving people money so they could buy things actually made people prosperous, welfare recipients would be the richest people on the planet. Obviously, it doesn't work that way. What makes people rich is the ability to earn money...not their ability to get handouts. And remember, too, the feds don't really have any money to hand out. They can only get money by taking it from its rightful owners - either in taxation or loans. Or, they can print it up themselves. In any case, the money adds nothing real or extra to the economy. It merely distorts the economy...twists it...misleads it...and makes it a bigger mess than it was already.”
Bill Bonner

"The ground zero true meaning of patriotism is the legalized murder of women and children, and other unspeakable atrocities which turn us into some kind of cruel and mindless subhuman creature."
Jeff Knaebel

"So when lefties do it, it's called "community organizing."
When conservatives and libertarians do it, it's 'AstroTurf.' Give me a break."

John Stossel

"A false flag attempt, a genuine crisis, or a declaration of war, may slow the momentum of the 'Second American Revolution,' but nothing will stop it. "
Gerald Celente

"You can't fight city hall, but you can pee on the steps and run."
Gary North

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

From the Darkness:

“That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the 'birther' movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.”
Paul Krugman

“The Fed is expected to do nearly nothing as its members meet during the middle of this week. That nothing is in the face of what is now almost certainly a recovery which is beyond the wildest dreams of most economists. The Fed, by most accounts, was instrumental in saving the financial sector and economy by providing liquidity to banks and parts of the fixed income markets.”
Anonymous author, at MarketWatch.com

"For all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary is if we do nothing.
Where we disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that don't bear any resemblance to anything that's actually being proposed"
Barry Obama, pushing his health scam.

“Our Constitution respects freedom of thought and freedom of expression, but that should come with respect for society as a whole, and for moral behavior, It is not easy to balance security and democracy. It is like being a tightrope walker.”
Taher Naser al-Hmood, Iraq’s deputy cultural minister

"When a president is endorsed by the vali-ye faqih (religious jurisprudent),
obeying the president is like obeying God."
Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi

“We've averted the worst, and there are clear signs the stimulus is working.”
Kenneth Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board in New York

“Cash-for-clunkers was the icing on the cake. It's well- timed stimulus syncing with cyclical forces leading to a ramping up of production.”

David Greenlaw, chief fixed-income economist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

Image Review of the Week

Still good advice for kids- never talk to strangers:



Climate kooks resort to ordering the weather to stop misbehaving:

You’ve put your finger on the problem:

Tis the season- Time to vacation with a friend:

Good start. Next step- join a militia.

Looking for a dress with the right seat size:



Killing disobedient livestock is exhausting work:




The First Death Panel? Obama strangles Native American- Film at 11:00.



"Death hath a thousand doors to let out life: I shall find one."
Philip Massinger



Obamacare- May the bloodletting begin:

After 200 years- his mug is just as ugly and his coin even more worthless:




Just waiting for you to step out of line.....

.....so they can close in and swarm:

Declaring the obvious:

And water it deep to insure its future health:

Lenin and Stalin can’t resist those Freedom Fries:

A prelude to Obamacare:

"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe."

Lao Tzu

40 years- and still looking for Freedom:

Light Flashes

Officials see rise in militia groups across US

This development comes as no surprise. Just as insurgents in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere organize to defend their homes and families from state aggression, militias in this country are preparing to do the same. The ever encroaching reach of a totalitarian US government demands it.

"All it's lacking is a spark."

Exactly! And I’m sure the FBI is quickly planning how to infiltrate these groups and do just that- instigate and encourage some kind of violent event to justify an Obama-led, jackboot blitzkrieg. This manufactured event will give our state masters even more ammo to crack down on civil liberty and gun law “loopholes” in the name of “protecting our freedom.”

North Texans go hungry in wait for food stamps

During this “wait” perhaps these folks will take the time to figure their way of OUT of this predicament of being dependent on the state for their groceries. It’s bad enough to be reliant on the state’s education, health care, etc. but to actually be dependent on your very daily sustenance to remain alive is the epitome of slavery.

If Obamacare passes, it won’t be long after you will be reading this similar, heart tugging headline:

"North Texans Die In Wait For Health Care."

Court backs political T-shirt ban at Waxahachie HS

I can comment on this story by simply analyzing the idiotic statements and Orwellian double talk from government edu-crats:

"The district also values student speech rights. ... Our schools, however, are not unbounded forums for practicing student speech, and our primary focus remains creating and maintaining an environment conducive to learning."

How can you say you value “speech rights” when you are actively suppressing them? The whole idea of t-shirts with messages is to communicate ideas. Doesn’t this contribute to the learning environment? Or are edu-crats fearful of competition- that the ideas presented by others may be chosen superior over the school’s indoctrination? Schools are always encouraging students to get involved with and participate in politics. Yet, they’re not allowed to show the partisan direction they’ve chosen to take?

Schools want to avoid disruption to their orderly indoctrination by avoiding any possible disagreements between students. (students freely discussing their differences produces static, interfering with the state-produced message and viewpoint). This will serve the school produced automatons well when they are adults. Any time they witness individuals professing a “non-state message” (formerly a “non-school message“) they will be conditioned to see that it is terminated. Having their school created, statist world view challenged and threatened, causes discomfort and “disruption.” The auto-response will be to silence the message.

“Students "have a number of opportunities to express themselves through the wearing of buttons, jewelry or other symbols, forming a school-sponsored club, and speaking at limited public forum opportunities available during the day."

So why not T-Shirts? How is a button with a message any different than a t-shirt with a message?

"This would allow Pete the opportunity to express support for the political candidate of his choice through a school-sponsored organization." [The principal wrote that he was available to assist Pete with forming an approved club or organization.]

You must be part of a collective in order to express any opinion. Stating opinions strictly as an individual cannot be tolerated. What if Pete prefers to promote his candidate by himself and convince others through his own means to support his candidate? Of course this cannot be allowed. Individuals promoting their ideas in a solitary fashion are nearly impossible to regulate or control. The state and its corrupt ideas and actions cannot survive non-centralized opposition (as it cannot survive or defeat 4th-generation warfare). However, if like-thinking persons are herded into groups, then the state can more easily assert its authority.

"Pete was never punished for the message on that (Edwards) shirt. He was simply asked to comply with a dress code that prohibits all non-school messages on clothing, regardless of the message conveyed."

Classic lawyer double speak. If Pete was prohibited from wearing a t-shirt with a “non-school” message than he surely was punished “for the message on his Edwards shirt!” His message is a non-school message, therefore he IS being punished for his message!

Three judges bought this nonsensical argument.

Iraq Moves to Ban Books, Censor Internet

The Bush Dream is realized! Democracy has been achieved in Iraq! Soon, every facet of Iraqi life will be micro-managed by the benevolent state. Only those activities and products deemed worthy by the ruling regime will be allowed.

Hey, Gold Star Mothers- are you still proud of your son’s and daughter’s “sacrifice”? Are you still content with the justification of why they now lay dead in the ground?

Frisco middle school faculty making house calls

To allow ANY government employee into your home without a warrant is absolutely INSANE!

If you do, don’t be surprised if there’s a second knock on your door a day or two later. You’ll be speaking to one of the CPS child molesters who insist on inspecting your home as a suitable place to raise children. They’ve been “tipped off,” of course by the warm, pleasant teacher you spoke to earlier. Perhaps, the home wasn’t quite as neat and orderly as the state masters require.

Before you know it, the CPS kidnaps your children and locks YOU in a cage.

The Boy Scouts Are Still Off Track

Re: Boy Scouts handbook offers new high-tech features
　
1) I’m an Eagle Scout (1969)

2) The Scouts seem to get more limp-wristed by the year. A GPS? A person with cow dung for a brain can operate one of these. What happens when it breaks or the batteries fail? What is far more useful is being skilled with a compass and map. One of the worthy goals of Scouts is to develop independence and self-reliance. This will not be accomplished by teaching young men to become more reliant on technology.

Unfortunately, the Scouts still promote the “God and Country” nonsense. You can’t serve two masters. The state is anti-God and God is anti-state. How can you possibly maintain allegiance or obedience to both?

And what the Scouts promote as “citizenship and patriotism” are in reality, individual slavery (through blind obedience to the ruling state collective) and bloody, belligerent nationalism (unthinking commitment to unity and common cause). Neither concept is conducive to living as free, sovereign individuals.

Vaya con Dios, Les Paul

A giant of the music industry has passed. Les Paul has died at the age of 94. If you are a lover of popular music of ANY genre and are not familiar with the contributions of Les Paul, it’s time to do some studying. If you are a fan of the guitar as a lead instrument and marvel at the variety of sounds and nuances the instrument offers, AND you are not familiar with the work of Les Paul- SHAME ON YOU!

If there truly is a “Guitar God,” it is not E.C., it is not Jimi, it is not Duane, it is not Stevie Ray. It most certainly is Les Paul. There is not a rock and roll guitarist who ever lived that does not owe gratitude to Mr. Paul. The man was the primary innovator of the solid body, electric guitar, which allowed guitarists to play out front as lead instrument, rather than being content to remain in the background as strictly accompaniment. That would be enough of a contribution. But Mr. Paul also developed the 8-track recording equipment which allowed multi-track mixing. This allowed the recording artist more freedom in developing his “sound,” limited only by his imagination.

I used to have a couple records by Les Paul. One was “Chester and Lester,” a duet with another innovative genius, Chet Atkins. Both men were quite witty and funny, so they not only exchange brilliant guitar riffs throughout the recording, but jokes and good natured insults, as well. I’ll not only not forget Les Paul’s unparalleled guitar talents, but will also happily remember his robust laughter. Here was a man who truly enjoyed life.

A documentary I would recommend watching is “Les Paul-Chasing Sound.” It not only adequately covers Les’ great music, but his electronic and technical contributions to the art.

I’m a fan of a number of guitarists, all with their own style and sound. But I’ve never heard one who could play with Les Paul’s smooth fluidity. Even when playing runs at his patented breakneck speed, every note could be clearly heard. May those wonderful notes play forever.