"There is nothing left here, not even our pride."

The esteemed and incomparably valuable FerFAL would like to share the following story written about the Argentinian state in 2002, or, mayhaps, his intention is not to teach history, but to to warn us exactly what is at stake, in the United States as we enter 2009.

Please read it here.

Dangerous Instruments and the Gages of History

"There are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors that those governors, whether legislative or executive, should be restrained from keeping such instruments on foot but in well-defined cases. Such an instrument is a standing army."

--Thomas Jefferson to David Humphreys, 1789.

We first talked about the decision to stray from hundreds of years of prudence and tradition, namely the stationing of active combat troops in the United States, back in September, before the battle-tested 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, (formerly in charge of running the Iraqi province of Faluja) was transfered to the command of NORCOM, The North American Unified Command, which itself is a fairly recent creation. Some time has passed now since the death of Posse Comititatus on October 1st, 2008, and the Washington Post has recently offered a hodpodge cut and paste of government press releases it is choosing to pass off as an article on the subject, that may illuminate what other steps lay in the future of a further militarized america.

You can read the whole article here, and id recomend it, but what really stuck me, and I mean struck me, laugh out loud hit me between the eyes, was right in the first lines.

The U.S. Military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United
States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a
nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to
Pentagon officials.

If you dont really understand what I found amusing about that, in a very sad, but unstiflable laughter, maybe i should explain myself as i know not everyone enjoys history as much as myself.

Consider the following:

In November of 1774, General Gage, the acting military governor of boston since his disbanding and outlawing of the provincial democratic government of that city, wrote a letter to the British Ministry stating that if he were to be able to subdue the rebellion and retain control of the colony, he would require, at the least, 20,000 troops.

Are you still with me? Hah. History does have a tendency to repeat itself, doesnt it... General Gage did not receive his 20,000 troops, and infact, nearly the same number of colonial militiamen, farmers and other free citizens, took the city of Boston, restoring its provincial government, after laying seige to it. We can only hope those who wish to "retain control" today will find themselves with like luck.

Of course, the numbers of free militiamen who might respond to a call such as that one that went out after april, 19th, 1775, if it went out today, is not known to me. i can only hope, that if any of them are reading this article, they might take a page out of the pentagon's playbook, and look to over trippling their numbers in the next 3 years.

As Jefferson also said: "Our duty is to act upon things as they are and to make a reasonable provision for whatever they may be."

III

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

America's Defense Meltdown

America’s Defense Meltdown: Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress

The Overburden of America’s Outdated Defenses

Lt. Col. John Sayen (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.)

Most of America’s military problems are not new. The most important problems can briefly be summarized as follows:

• Our military has broken its constitutional controls. Our Founding Fathers wanted no more than a very limited size and role for a federal military. They feared standing armies not only because they might be used against the American public, i.e. to establish military rule, but also for their potential to involve us in costly foreign wars that would drain our treasury, erode our freedoms and involve us in the “entangling alliances” that George Washington warned of in his farewell address. At that time our armies were composed mainly of state militias that the president needed the cooperation of Congress and the state governors in order to use. Today, we have one large all-volunteer federal Army, which for all practical purposes responds only to the president and the executive branch. It has engaged in numerous foreign wars, involved us in many entangling alliances, drained our treasury and eroded our liberties just as our Founding Fathers foresaw. It has enabled the president to take the nation to war on little more than his own authority. The recent repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 allows him to unilaterally use the military not only against foreigners, but against the American people as well.

• Our military is inwardly focused. This is to say that it focuses on itself and its internal concerns, rather than looking outward at the world and reacting to what occurs there. This is partly a consequence of domestic politics, which determine the military budget, and partly due to a climate of intellectual laziness and complacency that prefers the glories of the past over the unpleasant realities of the present and future. This has made it very difficult for us either to produce or implement a realistic grand strategy or to adjust to changing realities, particularly the emergence of Fourth Generation War (4GW).

• Our military is very expensive. The “official” budget will soon hit $600 billion per year. This approximates the military budgets of all other nations of the world combined. Some have argued that this amounts to only a few percent of our gross national product (GNP) and that it should be increased. One might reply, however, that the military budget might instead be determined by the military needs of the nation (the determination of which requires looking outward at potential threats) more than an arbitrarily determined portion of its economy. Also, the real budget is much higher than the official one. The official budget does not include the Department of Homeland Security or Veterans Affairs, both of which are really military expenses. The current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are paid for by offline “supplemental” budgets so they are not included either. If one adds these costs the budget climbs to about a trillion dollars. It absorbs much of the government’s discretionary spending and has contributed significantly to the depreciation of the dollar.

• As our military gets more expensive it gets smaller and less capable. Although the current military budget, even adjusting for inflation, is the highest since World War II it buys us only modest forces. At the height of the Reagan military buildup in the 1980s the U.S. Army had 18 active divisions. Yet today, with a higher budget, it has only 10. At the height of the Vietnam War the U.S. military maintained over 500,000 men in Vietnam besides a substantial force in Germany under NATO. It fought an enemy with more than half a million men under arms that had armor, heavy artillery, and even small naval and air forces. The North Vietnamese were also receiving assistance from both the Soviet Union and Communist China. Today, it is all the U.S. military can do to maintain 140,000 to 150,000 troops in Iraq and 30,000 in Afghanistan, where they fight enemies whose combined strength (after Saddam’s fall) seldom if ever exceeded 30,000. Unlike in Vietnam these enemies have no air or naval forces, no modern heavy weapons, little or no formal military training, and no outside support. This dramatic decrease in U.S. capabilities should be no less astonishing than the simultaneous increases in the budget. Worse, the strength of the forces we have is eroded by the skyrocketing costs of new weapons. It has resulted in a shrinking inventory of aging weapon systems only a fraction of which can be replaced because their replacements are too costly.

• Our military is not professional. That is to say its officers, especially the senior ones, are poorly educated in the military profession. U.S. Army training in mechanical skills such as flying an airplane or repairing a truck compares very well to similar training in foreign militaries. However, true comprehension of why things are done as opposed to how to do them, is usually deficient. This makes it much harder to deal with the unfamiliar and unexpected. This in turn relates to the military’s inward focus already referred to. It is easier to focus inwardly on the familiar than outwardly on the unfamiliar. This follows a long American tradition of commissioning officers at the last-minute (usually when a war is just beginning) based largely on civil education and social status, and then giving them training not unlike that of enlisted recruits. Subsequent promotion depends more on politics, social skills and personal ambition than on military and leadership skills. This has left us with a military that has a leadership that has never really learned to “think” in its own profession. Such leaders find it difficult to devise sound strategy or offer advice to their political superiors that they can clearly explain and justify.

__________

Related:

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/11/a_little_thanksgiving_holiday.php

End The Fed

I am not affiliated with or involved in the following, but I thought I should share it with those who are interested in ending the money as debt cycle which invariably results in the total confiscation of all wealth, and the pillaging of an entire planet and resources, including the human ones. The Creature from Jekyll Island is an insidious beast, and it looks as if someone intends once more to try and put a stop to it. I, for one, wish them luck.

On the night of November 22, 1910, a group of bankers met at an elite resort at Jekyll Island, Georgia.

So began the dark conception of the Federal Reserve System, which many economists argue is responsible for devouring the political and financial wealth of America. The U.S. Dollar has seen a better than 98% decline in its purchasing power since that time.

G. Edward Griffin summarizes here: "The purpose of this meeting on Jekyll Island was...to come to an agreement on the structure and operation of a banking cartel. The goal of the cartel, as is true with all of them, was to maximize profits by minimizing competition between members, to make it difficult for new competitors to enter the field, and to utilize the police power of government to enforce the cartel agreement. In more specific terms, the purpose and, indeed, the actual outcome of this meeting was to create the blueprint for the Federal Reserve System." From "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin

On November 22, 2008, ninety-eight years later, End the Fed! will announce the initiation of a grassroots, unfunded, transpartisan citizens movement for Sound Money with rallies at every Federal Reserve Bank and office in the country. Activists will demand an end to private banker control over the nation's money supply and the return to a hard, commodity backed monetary system. Their slogan is simple and direct: "End the Fed! Sound Money for America!"

End the Fed! activists believe that the Federal Reserve Bank, through its inflation of the money supply and the distortion of free markets resulting from its intervention, is responsible for the current financial and economic crisis. They also hold that the current round of "bailouts" and federal government nationalization of large segments of the financial sector further inflates the US dollar and disrupts the proper functioning of the markets and will ultimately serve to plunge the nation into an even more severe crisis, quite possibly even into a serious depression.

End the Fed! supports the passage of Representative Ron Paul's legislation which would repeal the Federal Reserve Act, H.R. 2755.

Rallies will be held in the following 39 cities:

Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Baltimore, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Little Rock, Louisville, Memphis, Minneapolis, Helena, Kansas City, Denver, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Washington, D.C.

The End Begins November 22nd

To sign up for End the Fed go here:

http://www.EndTheFed.US

To find your local ETF group and November 22^nd Rally:

http://www.endthefed.us/organize.php 

http://www.RestoreTheRepublic.net
http://endthefedusa.ning.com

Its A Hybrid

In addition to the funds the Fed Gov is giving Detroit for the development of new Hipocritons, the 25 or so billion dollars of taxpayer money the automotive industry already received, Congress will consider monday handing out another nice fat chunk of "Change".



H/T Chris Horton

Think Green - Limousine

While riding along the campaign trails in his happy hybrids, Candidate Barack Obama had alot to say about the worlds need for a universal CO2 tax, stating that such taxes (which will raise consumer prices, and allow the rich to purchase indulgences to continue on their jet-setting ways and further the developmental poverty divide) "are essential to reverse runaway climate change and avert resulting severe weather events, inundation of coastal areas, spread of diseases, failure of agriculture and water supply, infrastructure destruction, forced migrations, political upheavals and international conflict."

But now it looks like the next President will be rolling in a much dirtier limousine, and a much less green version than either our current president or any of his predecessors. the New York Times reported last week, rumored Obama-mobile is a brand new souped-up, up-armored limo that looks like a Cadillac DTS but is actually based on GM's line of heavy-duty 2500 trucks, which received the lowest rating possible on the EPA's federal scale of "green", getting single digit gas mileage, and emitting a staggeringly high 16 tons of Carbon Monoxide per year.

Of course, those figures don't take into account the significant (and unknown) additions in weight from all the security and safety measures that have also been tacked on to what is most likely at least 6 Presidential Caddies and Decoy Caddies for codename "Renegade". These (and we are speculating here, based on presidential presidence, as details of defenses are not revealed) include 5 or more inches of bulletproof glass over each of the windows, ceramic/metal armor plates in all body panels, steel overlaps on the doors, reinforced chassis, aircraft tie downs, a large battery bank, radio and communication system, cell-phone-jamming equipment, a very impressive Public Announcement system, a bank of fluorescent lighting, and a steel run-flat system.

I might have missed something there, not to mention any performance upgrades they might have ordered to augment the 2500's stock near 400 horsepower. (there is also speculation that it might be a diesel, but even the use of bio-diesel wouldn't reduce the CO2 Emissions.)

While I think the President's safety is important, I would like to point out that arbitrary fuel mileage regulations are precisely why the stellar highway safety ratings of the 60's sedans declined to the crushed can ratings of your typical tin roller skate today. Rather than let the market develop modern, more technically efficient, cars, the federal government mandated more economical cars, now!, forcing manufacturers to cut weight to use existing technology to achieve goals that were in most cases not set by automotive engineers. Where is the easiest place to cut weight, for an automotive manufacturer? Support Structure. with half the weight, the Governments goals were met, but you, the consumer, were left with little to no choices on how safely you wanted your family to travel.

Legislation is rarely the answer to such problems, and it rarely solves them, instead imbalancing the natural development of improvement and inovation.

Also of note, the GM 2500 series was the platform upon which the Autobot Ironhide from the Transformers movie was built, while I doubt this particular limo will "Change" into anything but the beastly monstrosity it is, if it did, id guess this transformer might be a Decepticon, or the here-to unknown Hipocraton. (unless you count Al Gore's limos in the same catagory.) At least, you know, the taxpayers will pay for his carbon offsets, so they can afford less of their own for silly things like getting food to market, or getting to work.

When asked for Comment on his new Presidential Wheels, a cheerful Presidential-Elect replied:

Well, when I'm the president:

You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna get myself a 1967 New Cadillac El Dorado Convertable DTS
Hot pink! Black!
With whale skin hub caps,
An all leather cow interior,
And big brown baby seal eyes for headlights
YEAH!

And I'm gonna drive around in that baby
At 115 miles per hour Getting one mile per gallon
Sucking down Quarter Pounder cheeseburgers from McDonalds in the old-fashioned non-biodegradable Styrofoam containers
And when I'm done sucking down those grease-ball burgers
I'm gonna wipe my mouth with the American flag
And then I'm gonna toss the Styrofoam containers right out the side
And there ain't a Goddamn thing anybody can do about it You know why?

'Cause I got the bombs, that's why!
Two words:

Nuclear Fuckin' Weapons
Okay!?

Ohweohweeohbama

Election Results Are In

And the winners are...


Not you.

Election Day, 2008

100th post, and i hope everyone has a safe and fruitful election day.

I hope everyone out there is able to vote with principle, without constraint of ideology, and makes it home safe, knowing that they picked the right things to support, not the most popular.

Ill leave you today with a post from WRSA and hope everyone remembers that their work here is not done the minute after they walk out of the polls. There's something important at stake here, today, and every day hereafter.

• Commenter Phelps in reply to Knox the Younger's Lesser's bleat:
  "What I want to know is, where are the Washingtons, Jeffersons, Adamses and Hancocks? Who do these Bozos think is going to lead the new America out of the ashes and back to its Constitutional glory, and why aren't these giants running for public office and leading the political revolution?"
  
  Phelps:
  The new Washington is doing the same thing the old Washington was doing -- running his business after an honorable but otherwise undistinguished military stint.
  
  The new Jefferson is doing the same as the old Jefferson -- running a business, and taking up an epistolary hobby, only writing a blog this time.
  
  The new Adams is doing the same as the old Adams -- pursuing a law career, with some part of it dealing with issues of state and freedom.
  
  The new Hancock is doing the same thing as the old Hancock -- smuggling contraband (then, molasses for drugs, now probably the drugs themselves) and evading taxes and laundering money.
  
  The new Franklin is blogging and publishing columns, the new Sam Adams is getting pressured by the local authorities about how to run his bar, and the new Paul Revere is reading this comment, and reminding himself to buy some more ammunition this weekend, just in case.
  
  Let's roll.

They don't get it.

They really don't.

I was going to relax on the whole blogging thing for a while, but I just read this story at WRSA, about some rather affluent people being afraid that maybe, just maybe, Obama might lose the election, and the republican evils would continue, erupting in mass protest and spilt blood, and I just, had, to comment.

The things they don't get is that every single one of the things that rank this Administration as one of the most abusive ever to be beset upon this country, are all things Barack Obama has been silent on.

Obama will not send the 1st BCT 3rd ID out of the US, nor will he act to dissolve the Command structure of the North American Theatre of War that is NORTHCOM

Obama will not rescind the Aug 28 declaration of a National State of Emergency.

Obama will not drastically revise or unclassify the nature of our "Continuity of Government" structure, its unprecedented grant of executive powers, and will most likely let it continue forever.

Obama not only will not act to rescind the forces authorized by the PATRIOT Act, as he voted for its extension, and he URGED the senate, on the floor, to pass it, and he even went so far as to name its essential writer his VP candidate.

He will not cease an illegal, unconstitutional, coercive wiretapping campaign, because he voted to pass the FISA bill and to concretely put it there, without the risk of citizens seeking redress in court.

You know how i know all this? Its not because i am psychic, but because he hasn't said he would, and if he was willing, he would have drug these skeletons out in to the open and painted himself as a hero setting off to slay an abusive totalitarian state. But he hasn't, and he continually dismisses any mention of it. And why? Because that leviathan state is what he voted for, It's secrecy and shadows are what he needs, and its abusive totalitarian power is what he craves.

He entered this campaign with a smoking gun, and all he could think of is how many bullets might be left in the magazine.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

And we so shamefully, still say "We Wont Get Fooled Again"

I do agree, I wouldnt be suprised at violence and bloodshed, mass protests and civil unrest if abuses such as these mentioned were to happen in the next administration. The difference is that it does not matter which despot holds the crown as he announces these measured destructions of principles such as Freedom and Responsibility, and that I am, in fact, suprised that it isnt happening now, in this administration, for the same reason.  

I guess thats the difference between Ideology and Principle.

I can only hope, that when change doesnt come, for what ever reason, these people will wake up, and see that if it can come, and i can only say it must, that it has to be them that creates it, the only way real change has ever come, from the bottom up, replacing those at the top.

III

Animum Debes Mutare, non Caelum

The Object of Voting.

"We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?"

-- George Orwell, 1984

Dont Vote, It Only Encourages Them.

Or so says Claire Wolfe in the excellent book "101 Things to do 'till the Revolution", pointing out, as a now dead, but once famous anarchist said "If voting could change the system, they would make it illegal."

Id also add that a very good piece of brain food, about the combination of freedom and democracy, is that in several very severe military style dictatorships, is that not only are their regular elections, but that participation in the voting process is compulsory.

Today, here, while I can see where Claire Wolf is coming from, after all, we voted for all those people who got us here in the first place, im not sure that is necessarily true, and the situation is not so dire, at least not yet, and i do think i would highly encourage y'all to get out and get your votes heard in direct response to the steps your representatives took in your name, in a sort of financial coup d'etat that took part earlier this month. (in the midst of many other developments) Please, vote out those people who voted to sell you out.

This is one of the few times you really can shape the policy of the country, directly, and it is obvious something must be done.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._House_election,_2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Senate_elections,_2008
These are the areas we can make the largest difference, now.

As far as POTUS goes, which, lets face it, is what most people turn out to vote for, i have to say, we are pretty much screwed. And while I can understand why many of you will swallow your pride and vote for one of our two evils, to keep out the perception of another, i cannot so compromise myself. I have principles i support strongly, and both of these men stand in direct opposition to many of these principles, and neither will receive even the slightest amount of support from me. If you think i am only wasting my vote, that is fine, but at least i wont be compromising my integrity, and in this free for all take from the taxpayer era, that may soon be all i have left.

Columnist and South Carolina radio personality Jack Hunter, takes on the myth of the wasted vote in his latest piece for the Charleston City Paper.

I have many Republican friends who are disgusted that I'm voting third party this election year. They believe stopping Barack Obama from becoming president outweighs all else. Meanwhile, I have many Democrat friends who are equally disgusted; for them, seeing John McCain defeated is more important than who wins. They are all wasting their votes.Imagine a reckless teenager who constantly runs up his parents' credit cards, smashes the family car every Friday night, is failing in school, and has serious drinking and drug problems. Now imagine that no matter how reckless and dangerous that teenager became, his parents believed his behavior was worth tolerating simply because he was "their" kid. No reasonable person would consider this good parenting. And yet this is exactly how otherwise reasonable people vote.

Continue reading...

Keep thinking,
and whatever you do with your votes, Dont waste them.
We might not get very many more.

Well, not the kind that can change anything.

and please, dont think that a vote is enough, and dont just stand, with your back to the front

Tempus Fugit

Bailout Slim Jims - Vote them out.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday told Congress another wave of government spending may be needed following a first stimulus package earlier this year.
--from Reuters

Congress and the Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass a terrible terrible bailout bill, setting a terrible precedent of handing out taxpayer money and extending public debt with wanton disregard - to benefit wall street and other big business interests, not to mention the quickly accelerating consolidation of federal powers, and even worse (as if it was possible) federal ownership.

Campaign for Liberty is proud to announce the release of their new slimjim - "Congress Bails Out Wall Street" - for download.

This slimjim has information about the bailout and a call to action on one side, and an introduction to C4L (our mission statement and a statement of goals and principles) on the other side. There is a slimjim for each of the legislators who voted for the bailout - with their name in bold and a local office number for their constituents to call.

To download, click on the Campaign's "States" page and look for your state. The pdf pertaining to your district can be found beside your representative and senators' names on our list. They will be listed as "Download color handout" and "Side 2."

Last week, C4L President John Tate announced that we want to produce and distribute these slimjims in key districts.

If you haven't yet contributed to this program, please consider doing so today here. There is also a simple, short version available that can be quickly handed out. These can be found right above the slimjims, and are marked as "Download handout." Special thanks to Adam Kokesh for designing the slimjims and for his many hours of hard work, as well as to Don Rasmussen, Adam de Angeli, and Andrew Ward for all of their efforts on getting these together and ready for download. Print them out, pass them around, and spread the word! Let's make good on our promises to hold our legislators accountable.

-- From C4L

Politicaly Incorrect Guide To Politics

Pass these on, if you could. John Stossel, as always, takes a good look at what the problem is, with much more humor than I can ever muster.

Part 1 of 6:

Part 2 of 6:

Part 3 of 6:

Part 4 of 6:

Part 5 of 6:

Part 6 of 6:

Standing With Your Back to The Front.

The month of October has often held, historically, frequent and unpredicted political surprises, from Russia's transformation into the CCCP in what is now called the October Revolution, to the American tradition of October Surprises in tight election years. October, 1789, saw the women of France march on versailles, the subsequent removal of the king from palace lands, and the legitimization of the National Assembly, leading to the democratization of that country. October 1990 saw the "die Wende" and the reunification of the German state for the first time since WWII, and in October of 1956, a group of protesting students in Hungary lead a spontaneous revolution against their Soviet occupiers. They very nearly succeeded in forcing the withdraw of Soviet forces, before the Kremlin reversed their position and, with mechanical brutality, quashed the movement. In China, October 1st is celebrated (More often by the government, than by the people) as National Day, the anniversary of the creation of the leviathan People's Republic of China. A quick glance shows that more than a dozen other modern states celebrate their independence or creation in October, a historical month indeed.

While some of these histories are joyous ones, and some are not, they do have on thing in common, the coming of the month of October has often carried with it, massive, systemic, political change.

This October will go down in history books as no exception.

Allow me to provide an excerpt from Syd at Front Sight, Press:

A coup d’état took place in this country during the past two weeks.

If you didn’t notice, perhaps you were distracted by the Dolphins whipping the Chargers, or Tina Fey’s grotesque parodies of Sarah Palin, or perhaps you were immersed in blogs trying to prove that Barak Obama is a domestic terrorist.

Regardless of the distraction, while our attention was diverted, a revolution took place. No shots were fired, but plenty of blood was shed. The United States ceased to be a capitalist economy and became a managed socialist state. The nation’s financial system has been nationalized.

The government now calls the shots on who sinks or swims, who will have credit, where money is to go, and how much the robber barons of Wall Street will be compensated for their tender ministrations.

The odds are good that the government owns the mortgage to your house. If you receive a paycheck a month from now, it will likely be possible only because the government insured the business loan that allowed your employer to cut your check.

Read the Rest Here

Those who have perpetrated this coup have subjugated the financial sovereignty of the individual taxpayer to that of of banking interests, they have announced sweeping changes to the very heart of how America will function economically (and dont think much happens in this country that isnt economic), last week Paulson announced that the state will purchase a premium interest in private banks, (and possibly private corporations, or, I shit you not, State Governments) even as it continues to control the federal reserve cartel (or is it vice versa?) The free market is dead. Long live the free market.

Also of note, this October, is the surprise announcement of the deployment a domestic military police force, for the first time since the Reconstruction, and the subsequent drafting of the Posse Comitatus Act, which swore that no more would a sovereign state have to fear the occupation of a federal military force. This is mentioned HERE and, better HERE Whether this creates a serious threat, is not a subject we will touch on here, but it still, fundamentally, through the recreation of the posibility of occupation, represents a return to that age of fear, in this, the grandest age of fear of them all.

Some time ago, Naomi Wolf wrote a book called The End of America, in which she stated that, historically, ten steps must be taken in order to close a free society and institute a fascist and closed dictatorship.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
3. Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system.
5. Harass citizens' groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Treat all political dissidents as traitors.
10. Suspend the rule of law.
    

Well, now that the End is here, has Naomi's viewpoint changed? (from about 4 days ago)

So, now, today, our own October Revolution is healthily underway, but is it a financial revolution or is it a military one?

Are we at risk of being servants to a financial system that is not now almost state controlled, but IS state controlled, or will we enter into a modern police state where all of our actions can and will be monitored, where no civil protections supersede state security? What about the continuing state influence over the media, the manipulation of the welfare state? Where are the front lines? As Americans, we have always been told that, in life, and in the world, there is always a clear front line, a clear enemy, and clear rules by which to engage him, but in fact reality has never been so clear or so kind.

"There are no rules in war, and that all war is total war, encompassing and consuming all aspects and facets of life. War, properly fought, is fought in the schools, social clubs, the workplace, at sports events, etc., etc. Even churches are not immune." says Paul W. Davis, just today, when commenting on this letter.

He is correct, and this war, this campaign against the free society we have always aspired to live in, has not been fought on one front.

It is fought in P.A.T.R.I.O.T. acts, and military tribunals, in the militarization of domestic police forces, in the erosion of Posse Comitatus, in the federalization of "Emergency Management" and its stacks of coffins. It won many battles in the homogenization of culture through sitcoms, in the lessons we are taught, but cannot recite, while we rotted in the school systems.

It's spearheaded in thinly veiled campaigns against individualism in the name of the war on terror, as no illustration of extreme viewpoints can exist if there are no other viewpoints. This war has soldiers active in the corporatization of America, in the engineering of perceived obsolescence and the creation of a consumer culture that cannot subsist in a closed system and requires the creation of slavery as credit and debt, simply to continue the status quo. It has fought for prison infrastructure, and for civilian forced labor camps, and the fundamentally repulsive concepts of Imminent Domain and Civil Forfeiture.

It is fought by a media that does not blink, when, this August, our great president signed an executive order extending a national state of emergency that has existed, almost undiscussed, for the last 7 years, again applying the Continuity of Government (COG) rules of NSPD-51, the details of which, by the way, are classified.

"What kind of government did we get," they asked Franklin as he walked out of those great halls, and im sorry to say, he did not answer "Im sorry, thats classified."

Many of us are not sure, and I will not discuss here, if these battles are waged by a concerted party, or simply are a result of the law of unintended consequences invoked by a long line of social do gooders and profiteers and American'ts. Whether their effects are intended or not, those actions that would deny you that aspired liberty have won, in many of these battles, but the war is not yet lost.

And so, there America stands, with its back to The Front. Not knowing which way to fight back, through this confusing and multiheaded throng of attacking forces, the principles of liberty and freedom stand, but do not move, and instead of pushing back against these real threats, they are instead pushed slowly and surely into a world that is increasingly devoid of freedom, personal liberty, or a people's right to self determination.

We are not alone in this struggle, either with our apathetic lack of real response, or in the October Revolution we have, this month, been handed. Germany and the formerly Great Britain have both vowed to offer up from their taxpayers for more than their entire national annual tax base as an offering to the now gods of the global financial network, (and i think our own learless feeders may soon offer the same) even as they also start the long process of removing any remnants of a free market and nationalize their own banks. A global community, there can be no doubt. A global community searching for a light in this age of fear and darkness.

Turn around America.

Turn around, to not only see what greatness has passed, and to learn from history's lessons, but turn around to face those forces who would, and will, if unchecked, push you into oblivion. Face The Front. For, as I said, there are many fronts, and so there are just as many ways to fight back. There is room for many battles, battles that must be fought in a war that will never be won by bitching, or pointing out what is wrong, but if not fought, can never be won, at all. We must look forward into the future, and make it ours.

So, which front will you take?

Have you minimized your pointless consumption and begun to prepare to take care of yourselves and your families? Have you looked into minimizing your exposure to financial markets and invest instead in tangible goods? Have you minimized debt? Have you looked into suspending your income tax withholding, in part or total, as a first step to dropping support for the federal reserve system and its corresponding inflationary tax? Have you started a letter writing campaign, or petition to recall a not so representative? Do you support foundations like the EFF who are willing to fight these battles in court, to protect freedom of speech and the rights of Habeas Corpus? Have you turned your TV off and started to look into things you want to learn, instead of what they want to program (teach) to you? Have you introduced yourself to a neighbor, or gone for a walk, or written an email to an old friend about what is concerning you? Have you looked into joining Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, or Naomi Wolf's My America Project, or into getting involved in local political groups? Have you considered homeschooling your kids, or talked to someone who has? Have you looked into your rights as they relate to the police, and how best to respectfully assert those rights? Have you learned how to better cook for yourself, or preserve foods?

Have you thanked someone who is already fighting, if, even you once didnt know why?

Or will you stand, as you are, with your back to the front, as The End of America is pushed upon us?

There has been a coup,

They say,

And what,

Oh what,

Will you do?

Myself, id like to begin by thanking all those who have already begun to fight, the battle may be long, but deep down we must know:

~Libertas Quae Sera Tamen~ ~III~

Former President Andrew Jackson Comments on What to Do Now

Well, not quite, but the warnings against the banking system made in his 1837 farewell address can be directly transferred to our day.

"The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the bank are some of the fruits of that system of policy which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of the Federal Government beyond the limits fixed by the Constitution. The powers enumerated in that instrument do not confer on Congress the right to establish such a corporation as the Bank of the United States, and the evil consequences which followed may warn us of the danger of departing from the true rule of construction and of permitting temporary circumstances or the hope of better promoting the public welfare to influence in any degree our decisions upon the extent of the authority of the General Government. Let us abide by the Constitution as it is written, or amend it in the constitutional mode if it is found to be defective...."

"The paper-money system and its natural associations--monopoly and exclusive privileges--have already struck their roots too deep in the soil, and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth and to eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire to perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in the General Government as well as in the States, and will seek by every artifice to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuating your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the sovereignty of the country, and to you everyone placed in authority is ultimately responsible."

An ominous task nowadays to be sure, but one which Jackson was confident the people could win if they stuck at it.

"But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of the paper system and to check the spirit of monopoly and other abuses which have sprung up with it, and of which it is the main support. So many interests are united to resist all reform on this subject that you must not hope the conflict will be a short one nor success easy. My humble efforts have not been spared during my administration of the Government to restore the constitutional currency of gold and silver, and something, I trust, has been done toward the accomplishment of this most desirable object; but enough yet remains to require all your energy and perseverance. The power, however, is in your hands, and the remedy must and will be applied if you determine upon it."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=67087

Sign Of The Times.

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers. - Richard Feynman

From AP:

NEW YORK - In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.

As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure — the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion.

The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.

The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.


Sign of the times indeed, They are running out of digits, you are running out of time.

Prepare.

Tempus Fugit

Headlines in the Sand

It may not be the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) yet, but a quick glance at headlines around the world is enough to make some think twice about not setting aside a little something, "Just in Case." Heres a quick rundown and just a sampling of what our fearless media is downright scared about, just the first business days after the President signs into law the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) and assures us the government has everything under control, and the shit, will not, in fact hit the fan. (SHTF)

Heres just a whiff of whats already in the air.

Panic engulfs global stock markets.  

Investors Expect Market Volatility As Global Credit Woes Persist 

Analysis: More Banks To Fail Next Year Despite Bailout 

Euro Crisis Deepens: Officials Vow To Save Banks 

Euro Unity Collapses: Every Country For Itself  

$700 Billion Printing Of Bailout Monopoly Money: Hedge Your Wealth  

Credit Chaos Next? The Mother Of All Bank Runs  

Fear Grips Stock Markets As Economies Tip Into Recession  

Asia Stocks, US Futures Drop As Europe Forced To Help Banks  

Yen Unbeatable As Credit Seizure Kills Carry Trade  

Panicked Global Markets Reel; Dow Slumps Below 10,000 ("There is all-out panic," said ING senior strategist Adrian van Tiggelen.") 

Veteran Wall Street Adviser Gives Advice For Surviving Crisis  

Fed Sees States, Companies As Next Crisis Points  

Hank Paulson Has One Month Left To Get Banks Lending Again  

London Plunges As Banks Pump Billions Into Markets  

Euro And Pound Dive As Banks Falter  

Iceland Sinking As Bank Rescues Evaporate (Trading in Icelandic Banks Halted)  

Savers Frozen Out As IceSave Website Collapses  

Asian, Euro Markets Dive On Fears Crisis Is Spreading 

The $55 trillion question. The article begins: "The financial crisis has put a spotlight on the obscure world of credit default swaps - which trade in a vast, unregulated market that most people haven't heard of and even fewer understand. Will this be the next disaster?"  A much bigger problem than mortgage loans could ever be. 

Prices Of 16 Basic Food Items Rocket In 3Q  

Hedge funds wilt in credit drought--Investor redemptions could cull herd of hedgies; 700 to 1,000 funds may disappear by year-end. (There are $3trillion US in Hedge Funds, none of which is insured, a spike in failures or a suspension of redemption could very well trigger a systemic or stock market crash)

Bolling: Nowhere To Run (" ...now is not the time to take chances.) 

Tent Cities Rising Up Across America -- 'Hoarding' Is Out (The Mogambo Guru)  

LIBOR Mystifies Americans as Mayor Reads `Doomsday' (the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rate spiked this week, tripling. The LIBOR is the benchmark rate at which banks loan money to other banks. The spikes illustrates the absolute peril that the credit collapse has created, and the unprecedented level of distrust between banks. 

More: LIBOR Soars, Commercial Paper Slumps As Credit Freeze Deepens Across The Globe (It will be interesting to see what this higher cost of inter-bank borrowing has as it trickles down to credit card interest rates and Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs). It is conceivable that monthly ARM payments could double."The global credit market has just suffered the equivalent of a massive myocardial infraction.")

Bailout Fraud (From Russia: "This is a default crisis. Banks and large corporations are going to default. The banks know that. The public does not yet.")

Settlement Day Approaches For Derivatives  

Overnight Commercial Paper Rates Advance As Bailouts Spread Globally  

Financial Tsunami: The End of the World as we Knew it.

Fed Doubles Cash Sales To $900bn, Plans More Steps To Unlock Market 

Deflation Threats Mount As Commodities Tumble By Most In Half-Century  

Bush Predicts Restoring Confidence Will 'Take A While'  

Bailout Bill Will Do Nothing For The Real Economy  

Stock Market Investing Safety Over 5yr and 10yr?  

Meanwhile, in addition to the congressionally-funded TARP bailout, the Fed is pumping liquidity like there is no tomorrow, promising $900 billion in TAF lending: U.S. urges global action on credit crisis. 

And even the perennial bulls are sounding bearish: Jim Cramer: Time to get out of the stock market. Cramer has also declared this a worldwide crash. 

Lastly, it is quite indicative that spot gold jumped $35+ per ounce. That in itself is not too unusual, but this is happened at the same time that other commodities were dropping, and while the US dollar was gaining against the Euro and British Pound. Here, we can see that gold truly isthe island of safety in the economic maelstrom.

Germany takes hot seat as Europe falls into the abyss It begins with this ominous tone: "We face extreme danger. Unless there is immediate intervention on every front by all the major powers acting in concert, we risk a disintegration of global finance within days. Nobody will be spared, unless they own gold bars."

As of October 1st, journalist Glenn Beck reported brisk sales of guns and home gun vaults in the US. Given the recent economic news, I wouldn't doubt it. A reader of Survivalblog.com, which is where most of this was collected, recommended that we should take a look at Beck's analysis of what caused the liquidity crisis, in a letter to his family members: What happened?

Ive been paranoid about this situation for years just based on my rudimentary understanding of government economic interference and its effect on our current (corrupt) system, but even if you werent, all these headlines, coupled with our own government passing a bill mandating the assignment of 850 billion dollars of debt (more like 1.9 trillion, as i covered here, with a potential cost that is even greater, and not counting the billions of dollars the Fed is Lending out every single day in intra-bank loans, which serve as an inflationary tax, as well as increasing the ammount of debt the GOVMNT will seize and hold YOU liable for, when even more of these banks fail) to american Taxpayers with absolutely ZERO effect on overall market trading and in fact a huge drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today (see Can it Work?), would be enough to make you think about packing up and moving to and living in a cave in Idaho.

See you there. 

I hear they havent cancelled thanksgiving there, yet.

Tempus Fugit

Elvis Lives!

No, Really, i saw him at the airport... Well, his passport, at least...


In a stunning demonstration of the governments continuing failure to secure anything but the ability to invade the privacy of law abiding citizens, a member of the group The Hacker's Choice (THC) has provided proof of concept of a hack first introduced by Jeroen van Beek in las vegas two month ago. Below is a video showing a machine in Amsterdam's airport reading Elvis Presley's personal information off a hacked RFID passport chip.



You will notice the lack of alarms or errors.

The process, as described by someone going with the handle VonJeek, is pretty straightforward. Software that emulates passport RFID behavior, apparently written by van Beek, is uploaded onto a blank card. Using a free Python application, an existing passport's chip is read and the data transferred to the emulator. In the process, the bits that call for active verification of the encoded information can be shut off, limiting the verification process when the card is read in the future. Instructions for modifying the information prior to uploading it are also provided.

These are the same RFID chips now used around the world in passports, that were previously proven to be insecure to invasions of privacy at distances of up to 30 meters. This is also the same system that has been proposed for the now delayed REAL ID act, which would gradually replace the current drivers licence system with a national identification system and database.

Agian, this proves, quite obviously, that the systems they are designing are only intended to track (and possibly restrict) those who have no reason or will to evade them, and will in fact, as automated checkpoints become more and more in use, facilitate the free movement of criminals and international persons of interest. They will in no way protect you, as it is said, from the invasion of those who might do you harm, or to discourage identity theft, as now the highest form of identification in the land, the passport and proof of citizenship of the country of your birth, can be comprimised for a mere $120.

The old, manual, system was far more secure, but it did not facilitate or provide cause for a national database or tracking system for law abiding citizens.

For more information on the techniques used, or to find out how you can duplicate the experiments, see the following links.

http://freeworld.thc.org/thc-epassport/

http://blog.thc.org/index.php?/archives/4-The-Risk-of-ePassports-and-RFID.html

Refuse the mark.

Tempus Fugit

R.I.P. Posse C

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat will start a new mission in a new theatre this October. They have served several tours of Iraq and spent time in Afghanistan, are currently training at home, and now they will be doing that thing they do, but with a twist.

They will do it in their own country.

This is the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and to coordinate civil authorities. Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes various scenarios they may be called upon to help with such as civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios like terror attacks or plague.

The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded, referring to a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets. The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”)



for more information on CCMRF see:http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/


For more info on NORTHCOM see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Northern_Command
and
http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/021408.htmlandhttp://www.towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911/



any thoughts?

Money as Debt

A simple and entertaining explanation that serves as a great introduction to what can seem a very complicated and conviluted system.



Dont Buy Federal Reserve Notes.

Where Is My Money Going To Go?

In Case you wondered where the Largest Market Socialization in history was happening, or have been asleep for the last two weeks or so, you might find yourself asking:

"What happened?"

You see, the government, which, by definition has Zero Monies of its own has decided that the poor anti free market decisions they have been making, the huge risks that they promoted, well, those are your fault. The bad investments Global Banks made in supporting the biggest debt economy of all time? those are your fault too. and now, they have anounced they are finally going to make you pay for your Mortgage Crisis, and the damage wreaked by its involved and precarious global finance shell games.

So, now that the decided who is going to pay, you might wonder:

"Where is my money going to go?"

Ill admit, i havent been covering this from the front lines like i hoped i would, ive really sat back in shock and wondered, what, possibly, do they have the balls to do next. The following is a primarily a large hat tip to WesternRifleShooters,

who has been holding the line and reporting dutifuly, In fact this is only posted here for the convieneince of it, and for more information please go to his page and read the near volumes posted there.

So, this is where they decided your money is going:

Up to $700 billion to buy assets from struggling institutions. The plan is aimed at sopping up residential and commercial mortgages from financial institutions but gives Treasury broad latitude.
—Up to $50 billion from the Great Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee principal in money market mutual funds to provide the same confidence that consumers have in federally insured bank deposits.
—The Fed committed to make unspecified discount window loans to financial institutions to finance the purchase of assets from money market funds to aid redemptions.
—At least $10 billion in Treasury direct purchases of mortgage-backed securities in September. In doubling the program on Friday, the Treasury said it may purchase even more in the months ahead.
—Up to $144 billion in additional MBS purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The Treasury announced they would increase purchases up to the newly expanded investment portfolio limits of $850 billion each. (On July 30, the Fannie portfolio stood at $758.1 billion with Freddie's at $798.2 billion.)
—$85 billion loan for AIG, which would give the Federal government a 79.9 percent stake and avoid a bankruptcy filing for the embattled insurer. AIG management will be dismissed.
—At least $87 billion in repayments to JPMorgan Chase (JPM) for providing financing to underpin trades with units of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers (LEH).
—$200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury will inject up to $100 billion into each institution by purchasing preferred stock to shore up their capital as needed. The deal puts the two housing finance firms under government control.
—$300 billion for the Federal Housing Administration to refinance failing mortgage into new, reduced-principal loans with a federal guarantee, passed as part of a broad housing rescue bill.
—$4 billion in grants to local communities to help them buy and repair homes abandoned due to mortgage foreclosures.
—$29 billion in financing for JPMorgan Chase's government-brokered buyout of Bear Stearns in March. The Fed agreed to take $30 billion in questionable Bear assets as collateral, making JPMorgan liable for the first $1 billion in losses, while agreeing to shoulder any further losses.
—At least $200 billion of currently outstanding loans to banks issued through the Fed's Term Auction Facility, which was recently expanded to allow for longer loans of 84 days alongside the previous 28-day credits.

A quick check of the totals shows that is $1.809 trillion of your dollars that no one asked if you wanted to spend.

And they have no choice, they are told, Not the people, not the taxpayers, not their ellected officials, the ones in charge are now the ones who have been slowly manuvering, the Financial and Beaurocratic Elite. Power Players, who play with the power stolen from the people.

And you pay for every step they take.

Dick Fuld, CEO of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, walked off with $490 million for his term of office, but if you cant make your housing payment, you dont get to keep it. No, the government buys it with your tax money, and then they will sell it to another bank or corporation to sell back to you, at a small (inflationary) profit, as long as housing prices dont fall back to what they were before companies like Goldman Sachs set about selling toxic securities to unsuspecting pension funds, companies and individuals around the world, while at the same time selling “short” these securities, i.e., betting that their value would decrease. It is estimated that Goldman Sachs made billions of dollars on this scheme alone, which, if not constituting fraud, certainly borders on it. They Inflated these values with fraud, and now they will make you pay for your losses, not once, but twice.

And everything is going to plan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business...amp;oref=slogin

Its not hard to see who the winners are:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

That sounds like it belongs in a constitutional republic, doesnt it?

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/10687/...hello+feudalism

Its not that hard to see who the losers are either:

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2008/Defau...ment21sep08.htm

And to see how the view looked from 2006, see if we are that much closer, yet:

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/23259

Paulson looks a little like Putin, ill admit.

And they want to tell us who is to blame? hah, i laugh, at all of them, and hope, we never forget who took us this far, even as i never stop hoping that we can make it back to where we once were.

Free.

Once.

There is much that can be done, but not to save this ship.

To build our own

III