Maritime Gothic

Shocking murder in Saint John NB last week was worthy of a movie script.

Ron Paul's Election Campaign

Go Ron!

Ron Paul's "*Questment" of Fed Chair Bernanke - July 13, 2011

Economists wrestling.
Ron Paul:

•  Unemployed 40 weeks. New CPI - under old method 9%/yr last 3 yrs.
• For Spending $5.1Tr hasn't done much as it bailed out big banks.
• $17,000 gift to everyone may have been better for consumer?

Ben Bernake

• Fed never spent anything - in fact they are "profit center"??
• Avoid Financial Panic.

Ron Paul

• But you created money out of thin air.
• Priceless at 5:00 "Is gold money?"

[* Questment is the often used method of political inquiry. It is a long Statement preceding a "gotcha" type question. (Or at least an attempt at a "gotcha" type question.  Often it is part of a "cross-examination" setup where a "sound-bite" trap is being laid.  This is the reason for having carefully constructed stock reply's so that free-lance errors are not made.)]

Chope

www.usdebtclock.org

The impending debt default rhetoric is spiraling out of control as both Obama and Boehner went on the air to put their positions forward last night.  Unfortunately, both seem anemic as they only involve a couple of billion in savings spread over 5-10 years when the mounting deficits are $1.5Tn.

In truth, many believe (myself included) that the event will not happen - either because Aug 2 is an imprecise date, the Treasury department has a number of practicable options to shuffle cash-flows so that a default will not occur and some kind of compromise will be reached.

However, the unfortunate outcome is that American credibility is being tested due to all the hyperbole, and IMHO Obama is behaving the worst.   Cracks between traditional Republican's and newer, hard-core "fiscal conservatives"  Tea Party representatives are also likely to grow wider.



[A market related consequence of this is that gold is rallying due to the possibility of financial crisis and currency collapse (or at least severe disruption and weakness).  This firm sponsored a very interesting Conference on Gold earlier this year.  Here is text of comments by anarchist libertarian, Dominic Frisby.   On another cautionary note, Frisby included this old book that documents the monetary collapse of the French franc after the French Revolution.]

Time to leave the United Nations?

Encouraging that some people are thinking this way.  Larry Greenfield of the American Freedom Alliance explains to PJTV how the UN is a disaster and that an American Senator will suggest no longer funding the group.  I believe that Canada should do the same.   And unless I am mistaken, we have been instrumental in setting up an alternative international group called "Association of Democratic Countries" that would be an ideal start.

Here were some of his points.

• Does the UN even serve it's own mission and mandate?
• Does it serve US interests - or even those of America's allies?
• Founded on cusp of WWII but supposed to be united.
• To get in you had to have declared war on the German Fascists or Imperialist Japanese.
• It wasn't meant to be a collection of 192 countries - including the most repressive regimes in the world.
• It wasn't meant to fail to prevent war's, genocides, nuclear proliferation, famines etc.
• Hostile to US 1st Amendment with Blasphemy Laws, Hate Speech Codes (critical of Jihad).
• Against the US 2nd Amendment - global gun registry/grab
• They ignore calls to reform (Iran Oil for Food) - and get worse.
• (Some) UN Peace Keepers brutalize kids- offer candy for sexual favours.
• Create an alternative or stop paying for it.
• Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R, FL will be tabling a  motion on stopping UN funding.
• Some people have a romantic notion that it is great to have a meeting place for everyone in the world - but most of them are our enemies so why do we fund them?
• There has been regime change all over the world - except at the UN, why?
• Not arguing against International Affairs, just against the corrupt UN bureaucrats. 
• Start new conversations like G20, soon to be G21 etc.
• Actually takes away from other more important interests - US/Mexican Boarder, Int'l Taxation competitiveness etc.
• Limited Government has been argument for UN but it doesn't work.
• Re-access NATO too.
• Cheap Hawk.  One F-35 Fighter Jet ($250 million+) pays for alot of conventional troops.
• 1st we send in the Navy

Cheating Education

This issue (Teachers juicing their kids SAT scores by cheating) has become top-page news, and here is a teacher from California who backs it up.

Impact of US fiscal confusion

NASA means Not A Space Agency, now that it is charged with crazy objectives including supporting Climate Change.



And here is FAA impact.





And here is another perspective.

Obama re-purposes Jimmy Carter 1979 Malaise Speech

This is scary, and not only because it is a nearly 99% plagarized.   Sun News Media is interviewing a former journalist who recalls the speech and described how it was directly related to Carters defeat to Reagan the following year. (Let's hope).



(h/t Laura Ingram)

Mormonism

The National Post has has a couple of interesting articles about Mormonism, their history and recent concerns due to the coming selection of a Republican Presidential contender next year.  I was intrigued to find one of the locations the Mormons moved to before their trek to Utah under Brigham Young was Nauvoo IL.

Here is Republican hopeful Herman CAIN speaking about Romney's chances.

Secret Bookstore

There's No Place Like Here: Brazenhead Books from Etsy on Vimeo.


Great idea.