Here's a link to an event this Sunday, 11/22, that you won't want to miss! http://www.meetup.com/thegreenanchor/calendar/11656276/ Please RSVP to me at dwahlstedt@gmail.com if you will be attending so we make sure to have enough seating. Dave Wahlstedt Categories: Civil Liberties, 3rd Parties, Current Events, Philosophy, Revolution, Social Issues Tags: |
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From Kris Broberg, GOP-endorsed candidate for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 13: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I was just informed of a report that rates Minneapolis precincts for Categories: Election News, Republican Party, Grassroots News Tags: |
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A nice radio appearance by Dr. Paul on the Jason Lewis Show, KTLK 100.3 in Minneapolis/St. Paul: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Y3PbEh-xU
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHWRNgVE6fY
Categories: Ron Paul, Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, Health Freedom, Current Events, Philosophy, Video, War/Military, Economy, Monetary Policy Tags: ron paul, Interview, Jason Lewis, RADIO, video |
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Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve must for the first time identify the companies in its emergency lending programs after losing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled against the central bank yesterday, rejecting the argument that loan records aren't covered by the law because their disclosure would harm borrowers' competitive positions.
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Dear Senator Klobuchar, In August you (or your office) responded to my concerns about the Federal Reserve and the need for true accountability of that quasi-governmental entity. You said that you would consider my views and the views of all Minnesotans. Please consider then the recent news that 3 in 4 Americans favor auditing the Federal Reserve. A look at the poll numbers shows other trends favoring a closer look at one of the most powerful institutions in America: I'm certain that you and your fellow Senators have studied American history and the Constitution. You must therefore be aware of the need for checks and balances. The Federal Reserve as it now exists is unchecked. It can carry out the lending of our currency--the lifeblood of commerce--in closed rooms and only release selected details of meetings years after they have occurred. It can, and does, lend trillions to foreign banks overnight. It's power over interest rates gives it the real power of the purse today and it's transactions with foreign governments and banks give it unchecked power in the realm of foreign policy as well. For these reasons and more please consider signing your honorable name as a co-sponsor of S 604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009. Signing on as a cosponsor will not put you at odds with your party and it can only help win you favor with the concerned voters of this nation. I don't have political clout or a great resume. I'm just a concerned father trying to get by. No mailing list or website told me to contact you today, just my conscience. Please act on your conscience and use the political influence you have to take a stand against corruption, secrecy, and unchecked power.
Tags: Federal Reserve, klobuchar |
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In the midst of the ongoing financial crisis and the embarrassment of Congress's failure to provide oversight over AIG, voters are becoming intensely aware of how their hard-earned tax-dollars are being misused. For too long now the decisions of the Federal Reserve, our nations highest banking authority, have been shrouded in secrecy. The Federal Reserve has been active in buying up toxic assets and providing "stimulus" to struggling businesses, but the exact nature and amount of these expenses are not transparent. Please join the growing bi-partisan support for the Federal Reserve Transparency Act and make sure that when the next oversight scandal occurs, you will be blameless. You will be making a difference for generations to come, holding accountable an entity that controls a major portion of the US economy. Please support S 513 and be a voice for accountability and change. Tags: Federal Reserve, klobuchar |
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Peter Schiff on ReasonTV. And don't forget the moneybomb on Friday: http://schiffathon.com/
Categories: Education, Revolution, Economy, Congress Tags: |
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Check out this video from Minneapolis Expression and let us know what you think!
Categories: Campaign For Liberty, 3rd Parties, Election News, Grassroots News, Revolution, Video Tags: Local Politics |
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aTKrn1jUJwdE I sent this letter to the author to let him know there are deficit critical economists that are speaking out and he should include their point of view in his articles.
Categories: Economy Tags: |
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While on this historic day, I am unsure that we have the freedoms left that countless patriots died for, I will still honor their sacrifices. I will also use this time to restore my faith in that small, tireless minority who will continue the fight for liberty, and remind all tyrants that their days are numbered. Categories: Campaign For Liberty, Foreign Policy, Globalism, Civil Liberties, US Constitution, Ethics, History, Philosophy, Revolution, Congress Tags: |
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Washington D.C. is abuzz with the talk of community service and health care. Every news outlet has its eyes and ears focused on our leaders, to give us the most in-depth coverage of all the latest. Why is this getting so much coverage? Because of a bill scheduled for a vote in the House on Friday for H.R. 2454- The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Huh? What does that have to do with service or health care? Absolutely nothing, and that's the point. H.R. 2454 is the highly controversial Cap and Trade bill. If the public gets hold of this they will overload every phone line in Washington. Two problems: 1) No one knows about it, and 2) it's almost 1100 pages long. Those that do find out have no time to study this bill and give an educated argument to their representative. How do I know this is the Cap and Trade Bill, then? Some simple research turned up this bill which, in its description, says, "To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy." A clean energy economy is Cap and Trade. This bill passed committee on June 19th, 2009. I pulled the following sample from a quick review of the table of contents: Sec. 121. Electric vehicle infrastructure. Sec. 122. Large-scale vehicle electrification program. Sec. 123. Plug-in electric drive vehicle manufacturing. Sec. 144. Smart Grid peak demand reduction goals. Sec. 702. Economy-wide reduction goals. Sec. 703. Reduction targets for specified sources. Sec. 704. Supplemental pollution reductions. Sec. 713. Greenhouse gas registry. Sec. 721. Emission allowances. Sec. 722. Prohibition of excess emissions. Sec. 723. Penalty for noncompliance. Sec. 724. Trading. Sec. 725. Banking and borrowing. Sec. 726. Strategic reserve. Sec. 727. Permits. Sec. 728. International emission allowances. Sec. 737. Issuance of offset credits. Sec. 738. Audits. Sec. 743. International offset credits. Sec. 781. Allocation of allowances for supplemental reductions. Sec. 782. Allocation of emission allowances. Sec. 783. Electricity consumers. Sec. 784. Natural gas consumers. Sec. 785. Home heating oil and propane consumers. Sec. 787. Allocations to refineries. Sec. 789. Climate change consumer refunds. Sec. 790. Exchange for State-issued allowances. Sec. 791. Auction procedures. Reading just the Table of Contents should make you feel uneasy. Don't let this bill pass without your voice being heard. Call your representative today. Disseminate the news down through your networks. These "public servants" are counting on you to not pay attention. Many of us are leaving town to celebrate the Fourth of July, and are consumed thinking about other things. If it passes, this law will make slaves out of us all. Energy prices are going to go up. Water prices will go up. Car prices will go up. Products using electricity, water, and transportation will, you guessed it, go up. I will start in reading what I have time to. If others could read other parts of the bill, post their analysis here, and use this as a group forum to pick this bill apart, it will go a long way to shining light on this thing. It will give us all some talking points for our representatives. Thank you all for fighting for liberty. We cannot allow tyranny to prevail, as it will cost our children the opportunity to pursue the dreams that we have had to set aside in order to fight this ideological battle. Those of you who have been fighting for a while now know exactly what I mean. The full text of the H.R.2454 can be found here: Thank you for your help. Stay encouraged. Categories: Republican Party, Democratic Party, Action Item, Federal Legislation, Current Events, Social Issues, Socialism, World Affairs, Trade, Congress Tags: cap and trade, House, global tax, hr 2454, congress, vote |
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I want to support the Minnesota GOP, but find it hard. Ron Paul and Peter Schiff suggest a take over of the party is the best, but I don't see what the Minnesota GOP has to offer. Perhaps i'm not looking hard enough... Below is a letter I wrote after receiving a call to donate (today).
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I hold a belief that nobody is above the law, or Constitution, of America. This goes for everybody. Nobody should be above the law. Not even former President George W. Bush. As part of the so-called, and still failing, "War on Terror", Bush and his cronies created Guantanamo Bay. As you likely know, they took suspected terrorists (some of them U.S. Citizens!) and without trial, put them in this off-shore prison. While there, the suspects were tortured, beat, and treated cruelly and unusually. Besides my two other objections - it costs taxpayer money to torture, as well as its just morally wrong - I have a constitutional argument as well. My Constitutional argument is simple as well, but doesn't seem to get through the thick heads of Bush, Cheney, and all the other fools in Washington. In the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, I would like to focus on Amendment Eight. Amendment 8 states this: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Let us focus on the last part. I would call Guantanamo Bay cruel and unusual. Waterboarding and other forms of torture were practiced there, quite a bit. So there's them disobeying the supreme law of the land. Now, lets also not forget that Bush lied to America. Lets go back a few years to the presidency of Bill Clinton. He had engaged in ... inappropriate activities with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. People began to find out. Bill denied having an affair with Monica. Then when real evidence was brought forward, America knew. Billy had lied to them. Republicans vigorously pushed for him to be impeached. He lied to America, he should've been impeached. But lets now zoom forward a couple of years. Bush told us there were WMDs in Iraq. There was little evidence. We sent troops there, and found no Weapons of Mass Destruction. Bush went so far as to push for us to stay in Iraq, any excuse would do. Even as we lost support from allies, he pushed forward. Bush lied to the American people. Bush created Guantanamo. Bush disobeyed the law. Nobody is above the Law. So today I say, put Bush on trial for the crimes he has committed. Hold him accountable. America shouldn't let another chance for justice slip away. Categories: Ethics Tags: |
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it is telling of the pro-war environment we live in when Fox News presents Obama as a defense cutter. in actuality, he has increased DOD funding. let’s look at the numbers. from the DOD: Estimated 2008 DOD Spending: $483 billion (source – page 18) Estimated 2009 DOD Budget: $515 Billion (source) Estimated 2010 DOD Budget: $534 Billion (source) so from 2008 to 2009 there will be a $32 Billion increase, or 6.6%. i’ve heard estimates of 8% and 9%, so perhaps i have grabbed the wrong totals. no matter how you slice it, our defense budgets are increasing at a time when our country is bankrupt. there are rumors that the US will lose its AAA credit rating for the first time since 1917. not a shocker to those who listen to economists that actually predict macro movements (Peter Schiff and Jim Rogers are my favs). but probably alarming to those who are not as politically inclined. in fact, Peter Schiff has suggested that defaulting on our debt could be a good thing because we’re better off admitting the problem with our creditors directly than destroying the dollar by paying bills with a printing press and inflating…but that’s another discussion. Categories: Foreign Policy, War/Military, Economy Tags: Obama, DOD funding, war hawk |
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Robert Higgs posted a personal story about his trip to Turkey than any fan of Ron Paul is going to love: http://lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs116.html Categories: Ron Paul Tags: |
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Melissa Hill is a long-time liberty activist and supporter of Ron Paul who is considering a run for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 3 (NE Minneapolis). She is the local coordinator for the End the Fed campaign and she is a member and activist for more local and neighborhood causes than I can remember. Her political views are in some ways more radical than mine (which means she is awesome, kicks ass, and is a goddess of anarcho-capitalism). I consider Melissa one of the most tireless, uncompromising, and intelligent people in our movement. She has the ability to attract voters from across the political spectrum and from all cultures and economic groups. She is a true leader - she has little desire to have political power but she is willing to serve if we ask her to. She has set up a Facebook group called "Recruit Melissa Hill to run for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 3." We need 250 people to sign up to this group before the end of June as a show of support, so Melissa will agree to run. There are 156 people signed up so far. Please join this group here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=78187098460&ref=mf and let's help Melissa become our next Ward 3 Council Member! Thanks much, Nik Ludwig, Chair, Minneapolis City Republican Committee Categories: Election News, Republican Party, Grassroots News, Action Item, Revolution, Voting Tags: Minneapolis, MN, city council, Melissa Hill |
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Like many of you in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, I recently received an e-mail from Representative Ellison expressing his views on H.R. 1207. Have a look:
Most people that I have talked to about this response have expressed disappointment and anger. After all, it shows little understanding of the Federal Reserve and even less of the word 'accountable.' But it is a response. Our efforts have at least disrupted Ellison's daily routine enough that he took the time to write a letter. Two months ago he was ignoring us. Now he is trying to placate us. So I offer my congratulations to those of you that have taken the time to contact Keith Ellison's office already. We must now continue to call, to write, and to petition our congressman. We need to do so more often, to do so in different forms, and to recruit our friends to join us. We need to challenge Ellison's reasoning when we contact him. We need to challenge his words in the press. I suggest addressing the following two points in response to Congressman Ellison's letter the next time you contact him: First, that the Federal Reserve has led us into the Great Depression, the current economic crisis, and numerous other financial bust cycles. The question of the proper monetary policy for this country should therefore be a topic of debate. Such a debate would require the type of information that H.R. 1207 can provide in order to be conducted in a fair and honest way. Second, that the Congressman's definition of accountability is insufficient. The ability to question is not accountability if those questions do not have to be answered. The ability to advise is not accountability if that advice can be ignored without consequence. Of course, feel free to address whatever issues you have with his response according to your own ideas and beliefs. The most important point to make is that we will not accept poorly reasoned propaganda, but will demand an honest explanation formed from serious consideration. Thanks for your help and congratulations again on this small step towards victory. Keep up the fight and we will soon be celebrating a real victory on H.R. 1207 in the Twin Cities. For liberty, Mike Overland Categories: Ron Paul, Campaign For Liberty, Finance, Law, Domestic Policy, Democratic Party, Grassroots News, Action Item, US Constitution, Federal Legislation, Current Events, Economy, Monetary Policy, Congress Tags: HR, 1207, audit, Fed, Federal Reserve, ellison, Minneapolis, Minnesota, cd5, letter, response |
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These days it seems that most everyone considers themselves open minded. We all would like to believe that we are receptive to new ideas, and especially thoughts that challenge and sometimes threaten, our way of life. But where does one draw the line? Over the past few years I’ve had ongoing conversations with friends about the nature of liberty, rights and the process by which society transforms from generation to generation. Through our conversations we continue to reach an impasse; where do the bounds of individual liberty begin and end? What happens when the will of the mobthreatens a minority? What is the outcome when the State takes advantage of the passions of the mob for political gain? For many people that I’ve met, the bounds of individual liberty are defined by some imagined utilitarian abstract measure of social goodness. Some argue that we should be free to think, and feel as we so choose, but that our actions should be limited by “society” through the use of force, as determined in the best interest of the “greater good”. While I understand the basis behind such reasoning; nonetheless, such arguments perplex me. I then begin thinking of razor-wire bound “free speech” zones,where those who’ve come to petition the state for redress of their grievances can do so hesitantly but still with fear of the policeman’s truncheon, or other state sponsored violence to end their right to free speech and perhaps other civic rights. Despite the civil rights argument, there is something that turns my stomach about such controls being placed in opposition to the natural and organic forces of any society. James Madison once argued that, while Liberty is to Faction what Air is to Fire, it would be just as unreasonable to abolish Liberty as it would be to abolish Air, simply because one may aid the other. Madison’s profound statement not only provides a glimpse into the founders’ desire to build a society free of State violence and government coercion, but it also illustrates that the founders were not “progressive” but rather they were scientific and systems minded. Much like Francis Bacon, they were rationalists, but also empiricists. Unlike the post modern social theorists and activists of today, the founders sought to build a system that would be free enough, and flexible enough, to allow individuals to control their government and the course of their historical destiny. Faction and conflict caused by technological and social change are the forces by which society and mankind evolve. Complex interactions within nature contribute to the sustainability of the balance of the ecosystem, just as faction and conflict based change contribute to the sustainability of our human society. Technological change is the result of millions of individuals attempting to solve problems by combining their experiences, labor and capital to bring a new solution to a problem into the world. Among the most significant technological changes in Mankind’s short history include, written word, the printing press and the internet. There are of course many other examples of greater and lesser importance that have had significant direct impact on the social and political order; however, the three innovations that I listed will suffice for the purposes of this article. Without the written word, cultural identity would cease to exist after three or four generations. While the written word is subservient to spoken language, it is forever, or at least as long lived as whatever medium carries it. The written word has allowed the each generation to add something new to a culture rather than replace an existing set of social norms. This is done through literary works, recording the zeitgeist of eachgeneration through a documentation of culture. It is also done through changes to the language. By recording the changes of their generation, our predecessors have left us a description of where we once were, and understanding of where we are going. This is the purpose of history. The development of written language allowed Mankind to document it’s history and as a result understand where it would travel in the future. The development of language also changed the dynamics of human society into one that seldom changed, into one that would face intense change from generation to generation. The technological innovation of the written word, changed the social makeup of human civilization to the point that each generation would contribute continually new ideas to the human historical record. The rise of the printing press allowed for widespread dissemination of individual perspectives in regard to the issues of the day. During the Renascence the merchant class made use of the printing press to spread their ideas. The printing press changed the makeup of Renascence society. For the first time in European history groups of similar minded individuals could communicate with each other. This was perhaps the birth of real economic class. The technological development of the printing press shaped society in a new way. It changed the way in which ideas spread from person to person. During medieval times, most information and education was communicated by the State or by the Church. For the first time in history the merchant class was able tocommunicate and gain community support for their ideas, and especially so when their interests were threatened by the State. This new means of social and economic organization, which developed as a result of an exponential technological rate of change and the resulting impact on society, would soon place stress on the hierarchical “top-down” political order of the time: the fuedal monarchy system. The changing social organization structure of the Renascence and the sudden availability of new knowledge about subjects of everyday life, rather than of religious devotion as in medieval times, would eventually affect the political order of the time. As technology and it’s affects on society are of an emergent and organic nature when examining rates of change they look like exponential curves on a graph. The growing spread of knowledge and the sudden diversity of sources of knowledge would spur specialization. A free market in information and ideas grew. Eventually this force revealed to the merchant class that their economic interests and the interests of the state were growing further and further apart. The growing merchant and commercial class now had expectations that the feudal political structure could not support. The merchant and commercial class would need, economic and political conditions favorable to capitalism, were they to achieve their expectations. They would need to be able to own property, to have enforcement of contracts, and to be able to be free from the interference of the state and to be free to succeed or fail. In essence a Republican form of government would be necessary for the technological and social rate of change to continue, and that would require a realignment of the political order to get it back in line with society and technology. The merchants would soon call Revolution throughout the world, and this would be the birth of our current political and economic system. The birth of the world’s current political system, the republican political system, has it’s roots in the enlightenment. This period of political transformation was the result of the widespread technological and social transformations that began with the Renascence. Our political system which began with a persecuted merchant class, who demanded that the protection of their rights be cornerstone of a new “Republican” form of government, has now transformed into a cooperation of Corporate Power and Big Government power. While the political order has changed very little, the technological order has changed greatly and the social order is changing before our very eyes. The rise of the Internet is our modern day “printing press”, and it’s impact on the way that people organize themselves socially is already being seen. This is amazing when one considers that the Internet is not yet twenty years old. The Internet has personalized the process of receiving and disseminating information. It allows for the voluntary association of a massively diverse body of individuals. Whereas the enlightenment brought about mass media, and majority rule as dominant themes, our era of change will has brought of a new age of individualism and promises to bring about a political order that reflects this. The most significant evidence of a truly changing social order are the phenomenon ofMyspace, Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools. These tools have allowed for the proliferation of small communities everything. For the first time in human history, popularity and mass appeal no longer matter as much as quality and relevance. Ron Paul who has long been considered a “fringe” member of congress has seen enormous support and popularity over the past year or so as a result of massive decentralized support on the Internet. Thousands of meet-up groups, facebook groups as well as others, all working free and independent of the politician himself, have changed the way that the agenda is set. This is the future. If the Internet is allowed to continue to change the way that people communicate and interact socially, then there will be a stress on the outdated “Republican” model of government. In time, there will have to be a realignment of the political order so that it can be in sync with the dynamism of the social order. What this will look like, I cannot know, but I can guess that it will place a greater emphasis on the individual and on spontaneous organization.
Categories: Just For Fun, Current Events, Philosophy, Revolution Tags: |
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The bill to audit the Federal Reserve is gaining a lot of momentum lately. In the past month we've almost tripled the number of co-sponsors, from 63 this time in April to 175 today. And yet, Keith Ellison (our representative in Minnesota's 5th District) has so far refused to co-sponsor H.R. 1207. Even though he is a member of the financial services committee, Ellison has yet to even address the issue. E-mails and calls asking for an explanation have gone unanswered for months now. But it doesn't do any good to simply complain to ourselves. It's our responsibility to make sure our congressman is aware of how important this issue is to us, and to hold him accountable for his actions on H.R. 1207. That means that even if Congressman Ellison's office ignores us, we cannot ignore him. Instead, we must ramp up our efforts to the point that we clog up their phone and e-mail systems until they provide us with the answer we are looking for. We will disrupt their daily routine, their business as usual, until they are forced to take notice and respond. So here's what you need to do to support this cause: First, join our Facebook page to keep up with our efforts and events. We need to be organized and able to communicate to be truly efficient. So go here http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=81926774867 and join up. Second, participate in 'Audit the Fed Fridays.' I know it's not a great name, but it is easy to remember. This event is simple, just call Ellison at 612-522-1212 every Friday and tell him to co-sponsor HR 1207. Go ahead and RSVP for this on Facebook as well to commit yourself and so we can get a headcount. We'd like to jam up his phone lines and keep his staff so busy that they're begging him to co-sponsor the bill and end it. Third, keep up to date and participate in ongoing and future campaigns. For example, we have an ongoing petition campaign. We are looking for more people to help collect petitions, especially at large events such as Juneteenth. Future events include a letter writing campaign and crashing Ellison's town hall events to force him to answer questions on HR 1207. Fourth, talk to other people about this. If they are of like-mind, get them to sign up for the Campaign for Liberty and join us on Facebook. Finally, if you have any other ideas let people know. Remember, it's great to care about something, but unless we take action we are not going change things. Every little bit helps. The key is to have many people doing small things to make a giant impact, not one person trying to do big things. So do a small thing and call Ellison this Friday at 612-522-1212. Then do another small thing and sign up on Facebook. Then do another small thing and talk to a friend. You get the idea. For Liberty, Mike Overland
Categories: Ron Paul, Campaign For Liberty, Finance, Domestic Policy, Republican Party, Democratic Party, Grassroots News, Action Item, Federal Legislation, Current Events, Economy, Monetary Policy, Congress Tags: Transparency, Federal Reserve, Fed, audit, 1207 |
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<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> (Note - with the MN state party elections 2 weeks away, this is even more relevant).
In the 2008 Presidential election, I, like many others, supported 20 year Congressman Ron Paul. Like most of his supporters, I wished that all those who supported him were, in belief and practice, like him. But, the sad truth is we are all human. Some look for personal gain whether it is jobs, money, influence, or just ego satisfaction. Some never had the right values, and supported RP because they saw him as better than the other choices, while a great many professed to believe in the solid principles that RP stood for. Some are, unfortunately just naive, or swayed by arguments that have no real merit, but sound good. I refer to this as “shiny”. Pawlenty does it, Obama does it. It is not a party issue, it is part of politics, and smart players know better than to buy this theatrical show. When I see otherwise well intentioned people supporting things that not too long ago were considered reprehensible to them, I question if they know something I don’t, or if they have allowed their perspective to be distorted. I live in a world that does have a fair amount of black and white, and I do not forgive transgressions of trust or integrity easily, if at all. Rigid? Perhaps. But then again, it's my little world, and I will set the parameters as I like. I do not believe that I am unreasonable for judging someone on the basis of their actions, and holding them accountable. What I have also learned is that politics is not for the weak of stomach. To see RP repeatedly stand alone in votes against the entire house, I have to think, what is the pressure like? My brief involvement in politics has brought some pressure onto me and those around me, especially being a RP delegate to the RNC. Some of those who withstood that pressure have now caved and traded in their integrity for something else. Why is Ron Paul so unique in his ability to withstand the pressures (and likely bribes) that come with elected office? I suspect that even those holding office who profess liberty would find it difficult to withstand the onslaught, so I can see how volunteers, party officers, and delegates could succumb to the siren’s call. If a number of our own (who can thankfully be counted on one hand) have strayed from the path so easily, will this movement will produce enough people willing to stand their ground no matter the amount of pressure brought to bear? Enough to make a difference against the collection of the ignorant, the misinformed, and the corrupt? Those of us that remain from the Ron Paul campaign, along with those with like beliefs who have been there all along (and there are a great many), will still make up a formidable force, our willingness to stand our ground, absorb incoming fire, and fight without compromise for what we believe in is what makes us strong. Only time will tell. Stand fast, my friends. Stand fast. Categories: Ron Paul, Campaign For Liberty, Election News, Republican Party, US Constitution, Executive Power, State Legislation Tags: |
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This opinion piece is further proof of why newspapers are failing across the entire country. They are so beholden to those in power, that they have lost sight of the original purpose of our media: to be a watchdog against ALL government. They, instead, have become smitten in the presence of absolute power, and have gotten starry eyes. Marc got one thing right. Taxes haven't risen that high under President Obama... yet. The problem is this: the amount of spending that is occurring is obscene. Taxes will have to be raised across the board to cover our $11 trillion deficit. Yes, President Obama did not start us down this road. True conservatives had been railing against Bush for his spending habits since he decided to abandon his principles. One thing is certain: this spending spree at the expense of the American people must stop. What people like Marc don't get is that both parties are broken. Both parties are at fault. Our leaders don't listen to us. We, The People, are disenfranchised, and rightly so. This tea party is not specifically about President Obama, democrats, taxes, or some other small-scoped issue. People who try and make it such, just don't fully understand it yet. The fact is that the Federal Government has violated the Constitution of the United States of America by overreaching into state affairs. The list of offenses is deep and wide by both parties. The people of America are tired of being ignored by their leaders. I would think the press would celebrate the exercise of our first amendment right to redress the Government for grievances. Free speech is the bedrock principle that keeps our media intact. So rather than trying run cover for our politicians by name calling and shaming people into silence, maybe it's time for the media to take a stand with the people. Maybe it's time for the press to hold all of our politicians' feet to the fire... or don't, and continue to shrivel away into obscurity.
Categories: Media, Grassroots News, Current Events, Philosophy Tags: LA Times, media bias, tea party |
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I've been thinking a lot lately about our purpose here at Campaign For Liberty, and what it means to really focus on Grassroots activism. It starts right here, with the butt that's in this seat. It's about taking action at the lowest level of organization; self. The problem we seem to run into is getting overwhelmed when we try to take on larger issues, and we run out of either time, money, or resources. It's a sure-fire recepie for burn out. It's easy to get starry eyes, especially when there are so many large problems that need to be addressed. This can easily be alleviated, but it will take a complete paradigm shift for most of us. We need to go back to the beginning. I am the only one I can control. How do I get more help? We've got to connect with people. Who better than the people we see everyday? Our neighbors at home, work, or church are ripe for the showering of our love upon them. We hardly know our neighbors anymore. We retreat into our iPods, Wii's, and reality television shows, shutting out the outside world. I'm as guilty as anyone. When we isolate ourselves, we not only deny others the good we can offer, but pre-emptively cut off the blessings coming our way from others. We need to become a force for good in our communities, where we facilitate communication, cooperation, and a sense of community. Inviting your neighbors to a neighborhood picnic at your house or a local park are fun events that will allow people to connect and build relationship. Neighborhood service projects (such as a spring clean-up, landscaping, helping neighbors move in/out, roofing, raking, plowing, etc.) build community pride and reliance upon each other. Community forums and neighborhood meetings to discuss crime, upcoming service projects/picnics, or City decisions are where we can really educate people on the importance of liberty. Once we begin to build our communities at the most basic level, we can begin to free their minds to the concepts of liberty, making it a community-wide value. Then, together, we can easily tackle the bigger issues with a bottom-up groundswell. We were never meant to be an island unto ourselves. Our gifts and talents fit in perfectly with those of others. That is why we get burned out, because we are performing functions we were never meant to. So, that's why we need our neighbors. They are the key to turning our country around. I urge you to start the ball rolling with a neighborhood picnic sometime in the next month. In fact, start with just your block. Comment to this post with the results. I'll follow up later with the results of mine, as well. Good luck! To be continued... Categories: Grassroots News, Philosophy, Revolution Tags: grassroots, community, neighbors, |
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Please if you read this take the time to reflect on the quote and comment below about what this means to you even if you have nothing to say about the rest of my blog. I think it is important for people to become aware of what they truly feel freedom is to themselves. What if our freedom was gone? What would be different and what would be the same? Please share your introspection with everyone so we can better understand what the words liberty and freedom truly mean to ourselves. I know myself, I would miss my options in life. I would miss knowing that it was my decisions that made me who I am today. A Geek saying went: "Those who follow fate, the Fate's lead (indicating the maiden, mother, and crone of Greek lore). Those who fight fate, the Fates drag!" This saying demonstrates the duality of choice and fate. A man who is successful is an inspiration when you show your kid how he does in life, but so does the bum on the street. Do they not both show impact on the woven tapestry of life and fulfill a similar purpose in that sense? Remove the natural ends of the spectrum and people loose sight of something simple, the reason to live. Many people, especially today, don't want to just survive they want to enjoy life. If our country looses freedom, even the man who is fated has lost a path to follow. Our choices mold which path our individual fates follow. Communists and Socialists want you to believe in small choices and for the big choices others should choose that for you. They think that everyone should be able to subsist through the self sacrifice of others (note of others). The problem is obvious, in order for even the lowest and laziest to subsist in society the people working hard must lower their standard till everyone is just surviving, subsiting endlessly. And that's not living, its only existing. The point being that I would miss my choices. The choice to get be an adventurous youth and choose a GED over high school. The choice to start working from the age of 14 on. The simple choice of living where I want instead of government dictation. I am sure the people in china are missing that right now as they look at the newly flooded valleys around the Yangtze river which took out 25% of all their farmlands, not to mention the lost beauty of thousands of years of their history. But China is not alone in their infringement on the right of the people. Our own government displaces people utilizing "eminent domain" which is only supposed to be utilized under extreme circumstances. Circumstances where the public need of your particular land space is so overwhelming that it may cost everyone else their quality of life, possibly life itself, and only your space will due. Rarely due they ever demonstrate this and yet people every day are being stripped of their lands for far less than the actual value! To me this quote means that to usurp the right of freedom truly it is lost over time and gradually. Once the people become used to just existing, they forget what its like to live. Give them their TV, their entertainment, their illusions of freedom while taking their rights to think and behave for themselves. What your left with is a true loss of individuality. A loss of self so deep that when the chain is removed from around their ankles they wouldn't even know what to do. Is this what we want for our children, to subsist with the other cattle? We are like animals trapped in cages who have never experienced the wild, we just don't know it yet. How free are we? How lost are we? Categories: Civil Liberties, Ethics, Just For Fun, Philosophy, Miscellany, Socialism Tags: reflection, quotes, founding father, founding, father, James Madison, james, madison |
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Several days ago a so called "republican conservative" friend sent me an email about how we should consider bailing out America based companies that have donated money and I went on a rant. I thought I would share the last email with you that seems to have ended the conversation. This interestingly correlates to an interview Dr. Paul gives in which he proceeds to describe how we must have the freedom to fail by our own actions a few days after this was written. I only hope more people begin to feel this way soon. The words in parenthesis and italicized are comments made at a later time so you can better follow the conversation.
Categories: Ron Paul, Finance, Civil Liberties, Domestic Policy, Ethics, Executive Power, Federal Legislation, History, Current Events, Philosophy, Economy, Monetary Policy, Congress Tags: government, dependence, independence, consequences, equal, created, Constitution, Rights, Freedom, out, bail, bailout, corporate, Dr, paul, ron, Gandhi, Mahatma, innate, right |
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"Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free." -Alexander Hamilton (Federalist Papers No. 8) Hamilton went on to explain how the Executive branch will grow in power during these times of heightened "security" above that of both the legislative branch and the states. Initially, after September 11, 2001, we saw this in the enactment of the Patriot Act, warrantless wire-tapping, and secretive (and extreme) interrogation techniques. Congress, however, was not going to be outdone. They started flexing their political muscle as well. The difference is that they did not use it to keep the Executive branch in check, but started in on a race to see who can shred the Constitution the most. It doesn't stop at the federal level. The states engage in the same behavior, as do the city governments. Protecting us from each other (and from ourselves) has become the focus, more so than any outside threat. We face an increasing number of laws that restrict the manner in which we live, in the name of saving others. We are deemed too stupid and too selfish to be able to make our own decisions. Every day, we see the tree of liberty withering from a lack of nutrients. That tree flowers upon the free exercise of our rights, and shrivels as those rights are restricted. We would never give over our rights straight out, but among reasonable sounding proposals that assure our protection, we allow the powers that be to slowly chip away at what little freedom we have left. That is why it is so important to understand history and the ideals behind the founding of this country. People who break laws need to be punished. This does not necessitate the passing of all of these laws that aim to prevent crimes before they occur. These laws only end up restricting the normal behavior of law abiding citizens. I am fighting my city government on a fourth amendment issue, and am told (and I quote), "All of life has some sort of trade-off. Healthy, safe communities require citizens to participate in keeping things healthy and safe." They have no respect for our rights, let alone existing laws. My mayor was also quoted as saying, "I do take issue with your statement that, 'we are based on the rule of law and not feelings, opinions, or beliefs.' We have a legal and government system that is definitely based on opinions and beliefs...". This is the problem with our leaders. They feel no remorse about governing us based on the whims of their own desires. This is the definition of despotism. We can only be truly protected by anchoring ourselves to the rule of law. Not any old law, but law that upholds and protects our God-given rights via the Constitution. Safety is important, but I would rather live in a place with a little danger, and where I can have the freedom to protect myself from it, than to live under the thumb of government oppression under the guise of "it's for my own good". Categories: Civil Liberties, Law, US Constitution, Executive Power, Philosophy Tags: Laws, Freedom, local governments, Constitution, despotism |
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Some people think we're driven by the pursuit of happiness. Others reject that and suggest we act out of self-interest at the expense of others, holding up the sins of the past as proof. Still others would have you believe that we act out of no rationality at all, and that attempting to understand why we behave the way we do is a two-pronged folly of wasting time and delusional arrogance. I say there is nothing mysterious about it at all, but we're certainly all entitled to our opinions. Uneasiness drives us. Like shifting in your chair to relieve a pressure point, we take action based on a perceived discomfort or lack of satisfaction. Where it starts getting interesting is the moment we decide to act: we have decided that our action (shifting our weight) will have an effect on our experience (discomfort), and in so doing we are taking control of our life through conscious action. We're making an effort to change with the idea that it will work. Let that soak in for a second. We're making attempts to change our environment into something we think will be better. Take it one step further and realize that we're acting based on what we perceive individually. For example, some of us can't stand white walls and love to paint, but each individual would have a different idea of what color to splash around in order to look "better." It's subjective. Ok, duh, right? Then why is it that so many of my friends are upset about the actions of others? Why is it shocking to have someone become uneasy in a given situation and react differently than you yourself would, or in a way you don't understand? A near infinite amount of variables have led each of us here to this moment, which in turn have led to all sorts of incompatible viewpoints on courses of action regarding daily life. That's no excuse for being a jerk, but it goes a long way towards explaining things. Conversely, when faced with a situation that disarms the efficacy of our actions we freeze. Our brains don't work well in chaos. We look for patterns, for logic, and for causality. When there is no predictive factor to observe, our motivation for action is diverted towards analyzing our situation in order to make the next correct move toward our goal. We analyze what we have done, what we could have done different, and run through endless scenarios of "what if." Over and over, we stare at the same data and attempt to put it together in some way that makes sense. You can observe this when someone loses a loved one suddenly, or when someone has been battered by life to the extent that they give up and become afraid to move. Enter the current state of our country. At first I was (admittedly) frothing at the mouth about the course of action being taken by the powers that be. Now however, I'm beginning to appreciate how unique this series of events has been because it is bringing large questions to bear about the nature of man. It's like a huge experiment unfolding that we get to watch, with clashes of ideas and wills. Why the change of heart? Well... 1. I've come to the realization that attempting to reason with people is a waste of time. Reasonable people don't need to be reasoned with, because they've taken the time to think things through instead of acting on emotion. Giving myself and friends heartburn about points of view regarding things we have no influence over (i.e. national economic policy, individual rights, the burden of the state) is wasting my precious time. Since I'm not running for office I should just shut my damn mouth. 2. But just because I'm not going to try to convert people doesn't mean that I can't track the news and read up on praxeology (google it) and empiricism while observing the demise of the American experiment. So it's pretty interesting for me to grab a latte and think deep thoughts without the pressing urge to puke my opinions on anyone that will listen. That being said, here's what I think is going on. At the moment, there are approximately 550 people (the President, VP, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Supreme Court) that are gleefully throwing ideas out about how they're going to fix everything. Nevermind that most of them have never had a real job working for an actual business like you or I. The important thing is that as these ideas get strewn around they carry a lot more weight than your average person, because the strength of law is behind them. So when Tim Geithner pops out and says "stress test the banks," and no one knows what the hell that means, we all freeze. We wait for things to make sense. And the next day when Barney Frank says we need to help the automakers for unclear reasons, we freeze. And when Ben Bernanke exchanges little jibes with Congress about having an unspecified plan that should work, we freeze. We wait. And when President Obama goes on TV and informs us that he has a plan to save us from ourselves, we wait. We watch. We don't get on with things because we're waiting for the new rules of the game. Green jobs? Great! Where are they? Where do I sign up? How much does it pay? Blank out. We're going to get government healthcare? Sweet! How much does that cost? Who's running the show? When does it take effect? How will that dovetail with my current insurance? Blank out. Some girl in a town I've never been to has a crummy school? That sucks! How did it get that way? Who is accountable? How many schools are like that? How much will it cost to fix them all? Blank out. Uncertainty. No clear course of action. Except of course from the White House... they have a plan. Trust them. Just hand over the keys to the bank, and we'll take care of it all so you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming. We have a whole new team that's immune to influence and the seduction of power. Plus they're infallible. Well yes of course they're human, but they're GOOD humans that have your best interest at heart. Really! Look, I don't think President Obama is a bad guy. Or anyone in the government necessarily. But there is a reason why there are limits on government, and it's to protect us from just the sorts of things that are happening. Businesses are nervous about what to do (because you know, there's no rhyme or reason to who's getting bailed out), so they're taking the same course of action you and I are: they're cutting expenses and waiting to see what happens before they place any bets. The difference is, you're average business is much better suited for slowing down than your average employee. They can hibernate on paper for years if need be, whereas you and I need food and shelter and a means to pay for it. We can only cut expenses so much, whereas a company can cut to zero. They don't need us. Period. And when this mess calms down, they'll come back and fix everything like they always do. Because that's what businesses do... they solve problems at a profit. It takes a very humble person to admit that they don't have the solution to a problem. To step aside and let someone do a good job on their own without your help can make you feel sort of useless. And it can lead to others asking tough questions of you, especially if you've been running the show. If you didn't want to give up (perceived!) control of an economic juggernaut and were faced with the decision of relenquishing power or increasing it, it would take a very courageous individual indeed to give it up. Throw in some peer pressure from your colleagues and some reassuring talk about what "we have to do to fix this for everyone, they're counting on us," and the task becomes almost superhuman. Almost. This administration came in on the premise of change, but so far I haven't seen any to speak of. Change would be NOT forming new commitees and task forces. Change would be NOT raising taxes and spending. Change would be NOT lecturing us on national television about our potential that we can't achieve without help from movers and shakers. Change would be NOT looking at blueprints from 80 years ago that stalled our economy for a decade. And finally, change WOULD be putting the power to move forward back where it belongs: in the hands of you and I, the private citizens who are the country, instead of concentrating it more and more in Washington DC.
Categories: Law, Ethics, Federal Legislation, Philosophy, Social Issues Tags: arithmetic |
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"We are in the midst of a phase of history in which nations will be redefined and their futures fundamentally altered," stated Rupert Murdoch in a recent memo to his News Corp management staff. I sure hope that he is wrong. There is nothing more frightening than for nations to be "redefined" under present management. You see, the push has been to globalize everything. We are told that we are world citizens in a world community. We are made to feel shameful for ruining the earth with our carbon-heavy lifestyles. All of this is a calculated move to fear monger us into backing away from the battle over big spending, big control government. We don't need to be "re-made", as President Obama has supposed, or "redefined", as Mr. Murdoch has stated. We need to be "renewed" or "reset" in the Constitutional foundations that we were built upon. People are putting more and more hope in the government. We want them to take care of our incomes, housing, health care, transportation, and anything else that we think we have a right to. The problem is this: the funding has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately the only place you can go to get that funding is from the productive population of America. Our government is continually asking those that do contribute to shoulder more and more of this burden. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I fully understand that these are tough times and will probably get tougher before they get better. People aren't sure what to do, and are panicking. Can we honestly say, however, that our best option is to forcibly take the fruits of others' labor for our own? Can you feel good about that? Why aren't we having total looting of stores, if this is acceptable behavior? Because, the legalization of stealing money out of the pockets of hard working families is legitimized by a government that keeps its victims faceless. If you could see the over-burdened faces of the families where both people work, sometimes two jobs, just to afford to take care of their family and yours, would you still feel entitled to that money? The only true answer is to return to the fiscal principles that kept us strong for so many years. We cannot spend more than we earn. We must be willing to work hard. Even the unemployed have marketable skills that can help them to get a leg up, if they think innovatively about what they are able to do. Those that refuse to work destroy the willingness of the generous to help out. Charity should be a personal decision, not a forced one. We should be able to help out who we want, how we want, and when we want. After all, how many politicians choose not to pay taxes at all, while enjoying the benefits of cars, drivers, planes, homes, cash, and lucrative business deals? Best of all, when they do get caught, nobody in power cares. They get off with little to no attention paid. If they believe that they are in the right, why are they not chipping in? If our nation is remade as the cries continue for a one- world economy, as has been stumped for by Gordon Brown, Nicholas Sarkozy, and other European leaders, you can be sure that another level of taxation will be added upon the working class and the ability to gain control moves further away. America will surrender sovereigty to a world community that will hold money over our heads until we comply. We already see this top down approach in our state, county, and city governments, as they cave to receive promised funding for meeting certain demands. They are already too willing to sell themselves for a little cash. We cannot believe that they will stand for us in the face of an even more powerful governmental body. The time is upon us to return to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and other writings of our founding fathers, so that we can understand how to right ourselves and find our way out of this storm. We must come together to build strong communities. Get to know your neighbors. The more we can depend on each other, the less we need the government. The less we need the government, the more power we can take back for ourselves, but it has to start at home. Let's redefine ourselves to renew America. Categories: Globalism, Ethics, Philosophy, Revolution Tags: globalization, responsibility, action |
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Please read the attached article and see the linked video for a better understanding. We are under attack from every side. This has received little to no coverage in the media, and we are dangerously close to seeing this come to fruition. This would no doubt alter life for each and every person in this country, and indeed, the world. This needs to come to light. I'm trying to find which states have approved, disapproved, and not voted on the measure. If anyone else out there has details, please let me know. Thanks. U.S. now only 2 states away from rewriting Constitution By Bob Unruh http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83364 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoD0gRsd90Q ' Categories: Globalism, Civil Liberties, Action Item, US Constitution, Current Events, State Legislation Tags: Constitution, convention, Globalism, Rights |
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Call me crazy, but I don't like this one bit...
Guardsmen to conduct urban training at Arcadia in April BUTCH HEMAN The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia. The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company. Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate. Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer. The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect. Soldiers will knock only at households that have agreed to participate in the drill, Kots noted. "Once credible intelligence has been gathered," said Kots, "portions of the town will be road-blocked and more in-depth searches of homes and vehicles will be conducted in accordance with the residents' wishes. "One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him." During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons. The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs. The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer. Alpha Company will conduct a review of the drill on Sunday, April 5. A meeting to give residents more information and accept volunteers will be held 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Arcadia American Legion hall. Kots said the exercise will replace Alpha Company's weekend drill for April. "We have a lot of extended drills this coming year," he added. In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment. "This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations." The pre-drill work with residents is as important at the drill itself. "It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing." "We really want to get as much information out there as possible, because this operation could be pretty intrusive to the people of Arcadia." Categories: Civil Liberties, Current Events, War/Military Tags: urban warfare, military, 2nd Amendment, firearms, Iowa, National Guard |
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I am currently watching it, so I don't have much to say, but it is probably good due to the lineup of free market all stars. From the info on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw7U8JS1a4A (1 of 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h0s2TR3QGM (2 of 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Vie-zANyc (3 of 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-oaVbgzBU0 (4 of 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKQ4-COtwI (5 of 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE3w7jzBQvg (6 of 6)
Categories: Education, Finance, Economy Tags: |
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Hey look! It is fellow citizens rehabilitating each other, not the prison system. Just posting an example of liberty in action.
This very much reminds me of a John Stossel piece on 20/20 called "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics." Below is part 3 of 6, where Stossel reveals how volunteers played a major role in building shelter/homes for victims of the Katerina Hurricane
Categories: Education, Media, Video Tags: |
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1030859154 Categories: Economy Tags: |
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Hey folks, my sister pointed me towards this video the other day: Tyrannosaurus Debt. I wish my six year old was getting this sort of education from more places than just me.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" Categories: Finance, Just For Fun, Monetary Policy, Congress Tags: |
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From Kent Berdahl -
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It's true. Things are bad. We watch day after day as those we've elected to protect us, exploit our weaknesses to the world. They strip us of what little we have left, as they greedily devour it in front of our faces. We feel weak and powerless. Many have checked-out, placing their trust in drugs, television, video games, or some other opiate to try and numb the pain. Watching the cloud of hopelessness advance over the horizon puts fear into our hearts. Once confident, we have become unsure of our future. We feel the pressure of the walls of poverty, government control, and corporatization closing in on us, with no chance of escape. This is exactly what our Founding Fathers warned us about. We have allowed our government to amass power without check. Like a starving bear, it has ravaged the breadth of the country for what it can take from us to feed itself, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The oppressive nature of our system of taxation has kept many from attaining the American dream. If you couple that with over-reaching laws that tell us how we are allowed to live, while the rich, powerful, and famous continue to walk free and unpunished for their many transgressions, there is little hope to dream of. American companies are trying to stay afloat on the backs of American workers, without regard for the numbers of us that they drown along the way. The few have all the power and all the money. We are the many. We should have no problem taking control away. The problem, however, lies in the path to taking it back. We've got to commit to laying aside our opiates. We cannot go further until we decide to face our fears head on. Once we face our fears, we can move forward. We are Americans. Our heritage is one of hard work and high ideals. The road ahead will be dangerous and full of risk. We will have to decide that our freedom is worth the sacrifices we will have to make. For some of us, it will mean less time with our families. For others, it will mean forging our own way, as we return to the principles we were founded on of self-employment and community involvement. Still others of us may have to stop going out and spending money to adopt our own fiscally responsible policy. To take power away from these behemoths, we must be willing to rely on each other, rather than these entities to provide for us. People of principle must step up to serve in our governments, starting at the local level. We must be willing to support our local businesses that provide jobs and put money back into local economies. We cannot let people skate, just because they have all the money and power. We must call them to account through letters and phone calls. This means, however, that we have to stay engaged with what is really going on. You see, the power to take control back has been with us all the time. The problem is that we freely give it away to those that desire it for themselves, because it's easy to let someone else take care of it. Our liberty is not supposed to be free or easy. Upon the inception of our fledgling country, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government we were given. He replied, "A republic, if you can keep it". The question that rings out loudly across the land today is "Can we keep it?" Are we willing to do the hard things to call these people into account and to support and lift up those that want to work toward the saving of this country? Are we willing to make the needed sacrifices? These sacrifices are not the ones requested of us by government. They are not higher taxes and shrinking freedoms. They are hard work, helping your neighbor, serving others, and living a life of integrity at all costs. The less we delegate to government and corporations, the more we'll have for our children, and our children's children. As soon as we face our fears, we can move forward. I believe that America is full of good people that want to live freely and have not yet given up hope. I call on each and every one of you to take a stand against this impending cloud of hopelessness. Do the difficult things that will reset the balance again. We outnumber them, and we can do this, if stick together. Categories: Action Item, Ethics, Philosophy, Revolution Tags: activism, revolution, motivational, Liberty, Freedom |
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4 February 2009
Categories: Philosophy, Economy Tags: |
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Politicians understand economics in the same way that astrologers understand astrophysics. Tags: |
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Those of you in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District who haven't done so yet, please check out the MN CD5 blog, which has several new post on it just today. I'm just getting up to speed on the coordinator tools available here on the C4L site and got caught up on one of them - the one-stop review of blogs of all members in CD5. I'll do that on a regular basis now, so anything you post to the blog on your own profile, I will see, and I'll post the best of the bunch to the CD5 blog. To access the CD5 page, log in to your C4L account, and from the main page click on "States", then "Minnesota" then "CD5". For all of us as C4L members, the best way to stay up-to-date on messages, blogs, events, etc., is to sign up for the daily e-mail update. If you haven't done so yet, I strongly recommend it. To sign up, log in to your C4L account and select "My Dashboard" and "Settings". Go through all of those, if you haven't already. One setting listed is a checkbox for the daily update. With that, you'll get a rundown of everything that is new on your profile each day sent to your regular e-mail. It's essentially a look at your dashboard that you don't have to manually log in to your account to see. Look for much more activity from the C4L site as we all get familiar with the tools and opportunities available here. Dave Wahlstedt Categories: Campaign For Liberty Tags: |
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Nature is a tinker not a master architect, the constructions she has allowed to thrive are not masterpieces, but instead they are simply sufficient. A key strategy for survivability is a diversity of aptitude and ability. These varying traits make us all unique and unpredictable, and unpredictability is essential to a healthy population.
It is natural for the population to sort itself into groups, as humans we have a natural instinct to categorize. In fact categorization is essential to human learning; we are unable to encode the gestalt of any stimuli without some mode of filtering. However, as higher beings we are capable of both denial and empathy, so we can either choose to deny the differences between us, which in my opinion is unhealthy, or we can choose to have empathy.
Empathy does not require us to conform to the lowest common denominator of shared traits; instead it only requires us to understand the differences, and that understanding (or even the attempt) can lead to tolerance.
The term diversity, as used by many in modern politics, is not a celebration of unique human development, but instead is a means of forced integration, in a vain attempt to create a homogonous society. Alas, we are not all born equal in ability or aptitude, and the best we can ever hope for is equality of law.
As a society I believe we should be less focused on diversity and more concerned about tolerance and equality of law; accepting that we are not masterpieces of design, and therefore none of us can be flawed.
Felix Montez, President Log Cabin Republicans of MN
Categories: Civil Liberties Tags: Equality, GLBT |
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Once again, the government, in its haste to please the cause du jour, has caused untold hardship on the people it is supposed to be serving. Today’s example is Minnesota’s mandatory use of 2% biodiesel in all road fuels. I have personally been studying and fighting this for years, to no avail, but a recent cold snap caused the local media to take notice, and tonight it even was a topic on the national talk radio circuit. Sure, it sounds great to mandate the use of a renewable resource, on paper, let’s look at the reality now. In fact, biodiesel gels at a much higher temp than regular diesel (this varies based on its manufacturing components) but, even with only a 2% blend, at around -10f to -15f the biodiesel will come out of solution, and “wax” or clog the fuel filter(s). This is based on a conversation with the chemist at the state department of agriculture, chemists at the local refinery, as well as others. Biodiesel contains about 10% less energy than regular diesel as well. In the recent Minnesota case, this shut down an entire school district in temps that were below -20f. This put children waiting for the bus in danger (skin can freeze in minutes), never mind the other ramifications such as economic costs and disruption to the parent’s lives and their employers when unexpected time off is needed to deal with this. The cost to industry is also worth consideration. The majority of the trucking industry is diesel-powered. When commerce cannot move it affects everyone from the manufacturers to the consumer. The trucks have up to 4 fuel filters, costing from $10 to $40 each, and there is no guarantee that the truck will run for more than a few minutes before clogging again. Extended engine cranking will put fuel in the oil, forcing an oil change which costs around $400. These costs, I assure you, will ALL be passed along to the consumer. So, once again, the nanny state of Minnesota knows best. From its legislature to its governor, democrats and republicans alike, no thought is given to the consequences of their actions, as long as the action sounds good in the media, and satisfies whatever special interest in the current golden child; in this case I suspect the global warming / anti-oil crowd. Is it not time to begin to consider that people have the right not to have their lives disrupted by an over-reaching group of tyrants to satisfy a whim? When I predicted this last year, my uncle thought I was crazy. Until the next morning when his, and a great many other diesels would not start, and his friend’s auto store sold out of fuel filters and additives within 15 minutes of opening. Of course mine did start, I went to Wisconsin to buy my fuel that week. Categories: Civil Liberties, Law, Domestic Policy, Commodities, State Legislation Tags: |
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i'm waiting for the moment of truth. i hope peter schiff has his victory dance ready. UPDATE: the guy peter schiff was talking to was asking for an example of a depression where the government didn't get involved. The example might be the Long Depression. i've heard ron paul mention it as a very short lived depression that no one knows about. Categories: Philosophy, Economy Tags: Peter Schiff |
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http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip127416 Categories: Finance, Philosophy, Monetary Policy Tags: Peter Schiff |
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Mind you this is just my personal experience, and not in any way a sampling. Categories: Ron Paul, Campaign For Liberty, Education, Finance, Domestic Policy, Republican Party, Democratic Party, Action Item, US Constitution, Current Events, Revolution, Social Issues, State Legislation, Economy, Monetary Policy Tags: |
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After reading this article on the effects of the new wounded warrior law, I find it amazing that the people will allow our government to continue. I had thought after the last year or so, I could not become any more upset by the absolute inability of the system to achieve anything positive. Boy was I wrong. When government says that a soldier blown up twice in Iraq suffers "non-combat related injuries" it it further proof that it is not in any way acting in the interests of the people. Even it's own people. And even though I believe we never should have gone into Iraq, I still support those who fight believing that they are defending our nation. Sure most folks are concentrating on the economy right now, and it is dire indeed. However, it occurs to me after reading this that there are likely a fantastic number of other things that are not really seeing the light of day. I hope that we can pull together the enthusiasm and numbers of people that rose up in defiance of the machine to propel Ron Paul well beyond what even we thought was possible to begin the process of waking up America. With everything at stake, and the hour late, I know I am going to redouble my efforts. How about you? Categories: Federal Legislation, War/Military, Congress Tags: |
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Reading Joseph E. Stiglitz, nobel-prize-winning economist, discussing the reasons for our current financial crisis (http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/stiglitz200901), I am struck again by the absurdity of blaming any of this on the unregulated free market. The point that seems almost universally to be missed is that in any financial crisis we are, by definition, talking about money problems, and that every bit of the money that we use today in our "free market" comes from a complete and total, legally guaranteed, government monopoly. Money exists without government, yet governments take it over as a way to line their own pockets - have done so throughout history wherever honest free-market money has popped up. In doing so they always and everywhere have to forbid the use of anything *other* than their notes as money, since real money would beat out their debased or inflated money if left to compete fairly with it. So with that as a basis, when the free market takes what the government monopoly provides and something bad happens, how is it that anyone can blame the market? Folks like Stiglitz who want to keep the government monopoly on money, blame the unfettered market, and add regulation to try to keep things in check, are just compounding the original problem - the government monopoly on money. Sadly, it is only a small fringe of this discussion who even *notice* that a legally guaranteed government monopoly on money is no free market. Imagine if the government took over all the taconite mines and steel mills and other governments around the world did the same - then proceeded to criticize manufacturers who use that steel for building too much product when it's cheap and not enough product when it's expensive, urging more regulation to keep them from using steel irresponsibly. It is ridiculous on it's face, but the same situation in money goes completely unnoticed - mostly because people of the world today know nothing *other* than government money, and don't imagine there was ever anything else. But there was. Mostly, there was gold. I'm convinced that there still would be if you wouldn't be thrown in jail for denominating contracts and commercial transactions in it. A great primer on what money really is, where it comes from, and what governments have done to it can be found at www.mises.org in the form of two short books: http://mises.org/books/fed.pdf Another good resource is the short documentary video by Paul Grignon titles "Money as Debt", which can be found at the following link: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/135.html I am convinced that the problems everyone is talking about regulating would be minimized dramatically (if not eliminated) if the only money that existed was created by the free market and saved by those who had worked hard and earned it. Categories: Finance, Current Events, Economy, Monetary Policy Tags: |
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I think most of us on this site are clear that bailing out Detroit is a bad idea. If you need any help explaining to anyone exactly *why* it's such a mistake, here's a great piece from the Wall Street Journal written by Don Boudreaux, director of the economics department at George Mason University. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122895755096596653.html Categories: Finance, Domestic Policy, Current Events, Economy Tags: |
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