Stonehead

[video:youtube]v=0zBh3g9kpWw versus [video:youtube]v=C3Y-6JaDY24

Citizen, welcome to the pleasure palace (Fr. abattoir) .

Do you apply this same logic beyond simple things such as drywall and plastic kids toys towards more complex things such as electronic control systems? Luckily there were not many casualties but there was a fairly high fear factor. In a somewhat similar situation, a big unnamed software company could be faulted for pushing out a product chock full of bugs and vulnerabilities then waiting for the captive market to gobble it up while they throw out patches every Tuesday or so. Really though, should the onus be on the producer or the consumer?

One wouldn't normally see any connection between the gaffe uttered by that congressman and that of some recent comments by another Democratic congressman but there is a common thread. [video:youtube]v=lp-USKnPDbY

It doesn't seem the culprit is so much a free market ideology of competition as it is a globalist attitude where corporations are transnational and arbitration is determined by world bodies. On the other hand, the simplistic protectionist approach is a blunt weapon that's just as likely to harm us as help us. Truth Has Fallen and Taken Liberty With It This is the progress that's touted as "the tide that lifts all boats".

The Myth of Progress [video:youtube]v=IT1ZkFfZNWs Hi Res here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQJVr8Lvce0#

But...but...but, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sketched out Obama's plan: “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.” Sounds like LaHood is on the same page as Seattle mayor McGinn. US Department of Transportation Calls For End to American Car Culture

Our continued safety demands COINTELPRO tactics. While we're at it, the justice system should be streamlined to one where law enforcement gathers sufficient evidence (including evidence of thought crimes) and the guilty are offered the plea bargain in lieu of a jury trial where the sentence may be harsher. All it takes is one good confession. You can tell just by looking at them that they're degenerate. And those pictures! Trailer park trash! A trial is too good for them. Don't waste the money. Everything I've read in the media points to guilty. The supermax is too good for this seditious rabble. Homeland Security uber alles!

Think of the implications. Moral judgments can be altered ... by magnets OMG! I gotta incorporate a degaussing component into my tinfoil hat!

All joking aside, isn't this the true face of representative democracy? There are two alternatives, one being that the elected official is a product of his district and truly representative of his constituency. The other is that some intelligent but amoral shyster relocates to an area where he's assured the win. In the latter instance, the elected official under the guise of representing his constituents may quite likely be a tool of monied interests.

There are a lot of ignorant tools in the teabagger movement and there are those who joined thinking the teabaggers provide convenient cover for their bigotry. However, for those who hold the assumption that Libertarianism is only a philosophy allied with the Right: Freedom is not a conservative idea. It is not a prop for corporate power and the political-economic statist quo. Libertarianism is, in fact, a revolutionary doctrine, which would undermine and overthrow every form of state coercion and authoritarian control. If we want liberty in our lifetimes, the realities of our politics need to live up to the promise of our principles — we should be radicals, not reformists; anarchists, not smaller-governmentalists; defenders of real freed markets and private property, not apologists for corporate capitalism, halfway privatization or existing concentrations of wealth. Libertarianism should be a people’s movement and a liberation movement, and we should take our cues not from what’s politically polite, but from what works for a revolutionary people-power movement. http://radgeek.com/gt/2010/03/23/the-revolution-will-be-on-youtube/ Non-violent resistance to ObamaCare http://fee.org/from-the-archives/lessons-from-the-french-revolution/ Liberals with guns: scarier than Tea Partiers Crushing Collectivtist Thought [Yeah, all that stuff is kind of thrown together but it's to get a point across that even those on the Left oppose the statist tendencies of the dominant powers. BTW, I don’t support the commonly held view of the anarchist as balaclava wearing, black clad, rock throwing vandal or 19th century bomb tossing caped nihilist villain. Despite occasionally displaying communal instincts, wasn't the hippy primarily a libertarian?]

One aspect of the health care reform bill that should give pause to anyone is the expansion of the IRS into health care matters. So even though the Democrats should rightly get credit for getting the ball rolling, one day they’ll catch hell for the increase in government intrusion in private lives. Reference: COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS Something tells me it won’t be a fairytale ending especially with stories such as this ( IRS seeks shotguns) floating around the Internet. Note also that illegal immigrants will not be subject to the Individual Mandate Tax (IMT) that will be assessed against US citizens who fail to obtain the minimum required coverage. So, if that’s not a fly in the ointment, I don’t know what is. How do we tell if you’re legal or not? Why, a national ID card, of course. Now if it doesn’t come under the guise of health care or homeland security (REAL ID) then it’ll come under employment verification ( National ID). Just like the driver’s license and the Social Security number, the function of the ID card will expand well beyond its original intent. Believe all you want about all the public good that's gonna come from Washington. The health care bill will ultimately enrich the corporate oligarchy at the people’s expense. Yes, there will be health care rationing and government control over your health care choices. You might even live to see government intrude into your freedom to climb. The Who had it right: meet the new boss, same as the old boss. You can change the face and the party every four years or so but the real interests and power movers remain the same. You haven’t seen anything yet, if you thought the takeover of the levers of government by the banking interests, a transformation which resulted in what could rightly be called a kleptocracy, were a revolutionary sign. [video:youtube]v=aY7TBZm1c5g

[video:youtube]

You gotta wonder why people here aren't agitating for banking reform. [video:youtube]v=9IRqwhxlarU Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, UBS Are Charged With Fraud (Bloomberg.com)

Killing Slaughterhouse (Reason.com) Gura is asking SCOTUS to not rely solely on stare decisis but to actually address the meaning of the Constitution, in particular, the privileges and immunities clause of the 14th Amendment. Could have far-reaching implications beyond gun rights. Check out Justice Scalia's questioning of Gura: source: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-1521.pdf

Common denominator? Goldman role in Greek debt crisis probed (CNN.com)

[video:youtube]v=D1ad4as6Af4

Isn't the tactic of fear, real and imagined, used by both parties whether emphasis is from the Right (foreign terrorism) or from the Left (domestic terrorism)? The combined effect is effective control. It wasn’t long ago to speak of a Pax Americana, an empire built on the back of the Bretton Woods monetary system. This monetary system rose out of the experiences of the Great Depression, to be constructed to liberalize global trade and to foster an international economy that relied on regulation to maintain tight control of the value of currencies (fixed exchange rate). In 1971, Nixon closed the gold window and the US dollar replaced gold as the de facto currency peg. The value of the dollar thereafter responded vis-à-vis its status in petroleum transactions. The hegemony of the dollar and by proxy American influence is maintained through legal means but is primarily underwritten by the full force of our military machine. Is the price of empire worth the sacrifice of the republic? A short radical fiction of the not so distant future: Northern Command was set up to allow the success of a military coup aimed at restoring the Republic and to reestablish the proper function of government following along the original dictates of the U.S. Constitution. The crisis was precipitated by the nexus of a variety of events but most importantly by the currency collapse of the Federal Reserve note. An Article V convention was then held to amend the Constitution for a more lasting union. Consequently, a second Republic was successfully established but the necessary severing of international agreements and the resulting realignment of power led to the outbreak of the Third World War. Liberty is a two-edged sword…

Nice troll. This is where you expect to get an argument that the SPLC has a vested interest in trumpeting the threat of the white supremacy bogeyman. Certainly, there might be some truth in their message but the greater part of their message has the disservice of marginalizing popular discontent with the operation of government. A more astute reader might see things differently but for the causal reader, the article has the effect of blackballing people with legitimate grievances by lumping them together with the extremists. Co-opted by extremists? Maybe the reality is that the very real emotional energy has been co-opted by authority. So, the tactic appears to be to effectively neutralize discontent through bomb lobbing from the media. In many aspects this tactic closely resembles the strategy of tension, sort of a cat and mouse game played by the one in control. Actually, my question is: Is the phenomenon being dealt with in such a way as to address any real grievances then to seek and to incorporate viable solutions to yield the best reconciliation? Consider that opposition on the Left (not through the official halls of power but evidenced through the chatter on the internet) was very vocal during the Bush Administration but which has fallen presently to a barely noticeable whisper. What happened to those on the Left who voiced their concerns over encroaching government under the Bush Administration? Honestly, did the election of the Man solve all of their problems? How truly effective was the leadership of the Left in channeling the discontent? You may find that it’ll come back to bit you on the ass if and when the People get a clue. Banking reform, anyone? The natural dichotomy in this case is populist versus elitist and furthermore, the identification has been: populist = wrong; elitist = right (because hey, topdown authority can’t be seen as wrong in the end despite its many missteps along the way. You just can’t lose faith. It’s a secular sin and it’s blasphemy to speak of a second Republic.).

[video:youtube]v=i48BP1PUoFI

Aren't these problems inherent as one transitions from undeveloped to fully developed? It's roughly similar to the S-shaped demographic transition that occurs as the rate of population increases rapidly then decreases as the standard of living rises. So, you can't get there from here without some downside. Not saying it's right just acknowledging the reality. (But, I am against deconstruction in many of its aspects although it might not be all bad.)

I think the problem might be trying to deal with unknowns. This issue seems to be more about fear than a rational response to the change in regulation. The mere sight of a gun shouldn’t, in itself, cause alarm. Perhaps the cumulative consumption of mass media which portrays firearms in a particular context (one which invariably leads to violence and/or death) has lead to sensitization. On the contrary, if one were familiar with the life of hunters, he would realize that one can possess many firearms yet not pose an imminent danger to society. You do realize that a hunter may possess four or more guns including ammo for such? One could have a 12 gauge or 20 gauge for duck hunting, a 410 or 22 for small game, a 30-30 or 30-06 for large game, etc. Granted, pistols are a different matter. So you might have something here. And I do agree with you that control is essential. It appears in the Swiss video that ammo is present in the gun safe along with multiple firearms. Perhaps it is training and requisite responsibility that is a crucial difference. The regulation was relaxed to bring federal law in synch with state laws. This is especially pertinent in the western states where one may easily travel in and out of federal lands as one traverses the territory. At this point I think the matter is a non-issue for the majority of people who will visit the national parks. The change will not be evident despite fears of seeing a gun toting public.

Well now, we do have provision for the Article V Convention.

The problem with the libertarians is that they don't fit into big one mold. So don't even bother too hard to try to organize them.

Fixed it for ya.