The Party of "No"

"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance." ~ Murray Rothbard

So, after a couple of weeks I am back again. I've started and stopped three posts, which just aren't as up to snuff or documented the way I'd like. Since my last post, I've had a few requests to tone down the rhetorical device known as "swearing", and people would like to showcase some of my ideas to friends but are hesitant because of the language. Now, I'm one of these guys that think swearing does have a very useful and colorful place, as often I think it's the quickest and easiest way to make the point, but, as I understand it, some people would take exception. Alright, so I'm going to sell out a little and tone it down. I mean I don't need the colorful language to get my point across. I think it just happens when I get filled with all sorts of righteous indignation.

With that said, let me bring us around to the topic of today's discussion: the extension of the tax "cuts" or more properly understood an abstention on any further raise in federal income taxes. The progressives in congress, of course predictably initially wanted to raises taxes on everybody. I'm not entirely sure if it's because in their efforts to style themselves as helping the "little guy" they find themselves actually philosophically averse to to people actual making and keep the money they earn, or if it's simply a cynical political ploy to appeal to least common denominator class envy, or maybe it's because they are actually naive' enough to think that federal income taxes actually pay for the government (of course they pay some, but we wouldn't have these things called "deficits" if income taxes paid for everything). Furthermore, it's these same progressives who are loathe to cut any of the behemoth, despite the fact that we all know stories of government waste and stupidity (check out Citizens Against Government Waste and their report for 2010). And the fact that it's quite apparent that those in government are doing quite well, twice as well as their respective private sector counter-parts, in fact. In order to keep doing "twice as well" as the rest of us, apparently they think they need more of our money to maintain the lifestyle in which they've grown accustomed. Well. That's nice. But if you think that most people are going to sit back watch their wives have to shop at Walmart while the government employee's wives shop name brand, or watch the bureaucrat's children go to private school, while the rest of us send out kids to the public indoctrination camps, or if these civil servants think I'm going to sit back and take the bus, while they drive a BMW . . . I'm not sure I even know how to properly respond to that kind of magical thinking. But it's even more than that! There is absolutely no way to get back onto economic track by raising taxes. Let me repeat that: there is NO way to back onto economic track by raising taxes . . . on anyone.

So, enter stage left comes the progressives, attempting to style themselves as "reasonable" and make a "deal", a "compromise", by saying, that because the economy sucks so bad, they propose to only raise taxes on those making more than $250k per year . . . *sigh* . . . (here is probably where in the past you would have have witnessed a profanity ridden tirade, and with good reason). Ok, what, exactly are these guys thinking? The Republicans are correctly, and I don't often support anything the Republican party does, are correctly, refusing to go along with this nonsense unless cuts are also extended to those making more than $250k per year. Finally, bringing me around to the whole point of this post in the first place. I was reading an article on the subject this morning, I think on the abc website (who cares really), and I ran into this little gem in the comment section:

"Giving tax breaks to the wealthy has been shown to NOT improve the economy, at least in terms of consumer spending, which is the "engine" of about 70% of the economy. The reason is simple: the wealthy, a tiny minority (about 2%) are already spending as much as they want - a tax break will not increase their spending. A tax break for the middle class, and the poor, does cause an increase in spending on consumer goods (because they can now afford things...), and thus revs up the "engine" of the economy. If you look at how reactive the stock market is to consumer confidence, consumer spending, etc., you would have no doubt of this. The Reaganomic "trickle down" theory has been proven bogus by history"

And after reading that I knew, just KNEW I had to talk about this because this guy's piss-poor reasoning is not only laughably over-simplistic and wrong, but also seems to be the current working understanding of any progressive on this issue, as evidenced by the rest of these mouth-breathing, mental midgets as they parrot each other saying basically the same thing on any story you read about this, on any news website allowing comments after the story.

We need to first define what the real problem is with the economy. Is it a lack of spending? Sure, in the same way that a pneumonia patient is lacking for oxygen, but the pneumonia patient's problem is not really his hypoxia, in much the same way that out economic problem is not "spending". This is what we call a "symptom" boys and girls. The economic sucks because no one is spending money. Ok. WHY? Tell me why people are not spending any money? They don't have enough of it? Why is that? They are tapped making payments on loans they took out while irresponsible with fast and easy credit? Oh, you don't say? What? Some of these people don't even have jobs? Are you telling me that people without jobs, trying to make multiple payments are not able to spend money? Ahhhhh, so what we need are jobs then? How do we create jobs? Genie? Oh, the employers need to hire more people, make more jobs? You mean the people who make over $250k per year need to make more jobs? How do you figure they will do that if they are having to pay more money in taxes? How many jobs were you thinking that people making less than $250k per year were going to create? Have we had enough of the rhetorical question? (Don't answer that! It's rhetorical.)

Shall I connect the dots for those ladies and germs who still do not get it. The problem with the economy is not really spending. Spending is a "vital sign" if you will of how vibrant the economy is - if spending is up it's generally a sign that the economy is healthy, and if spending is down . . . but simply "spending" is NOT the economy. What the economy needs is 1) jobs and 2) a production base, and you can't get 1 without 2. Let me flesh this out for you a little farther. The only way to create real jobs is to start making real things again. The people that invest in and/or make things themselves are the people making over $250 per year. There is no way, unless they have the capital to do so that they will create any new jobs to pay people who will feed the gaping maw of the economy, and this means that with LESS money (how could it be any other way?) that will occur with a tax increase, they will hold off on expanding, investing, and job creation will continue to screech to a halt. In fact, MORE people will likely have to be fired, and that will be even fewer people able to "spend", if those making $250k per year are taxed more. Oh. The. I-ron-nee.

This isn't the new maths. This isn't complicated. This isn't rocket science. If you want the economy to come back, you need to have people who are working and making things. The only way to get people to work and make things is to allow those who do employ people more money to expand and do so. The way to do that is to cut their taxes.

This time, the party of "no" has it right. Till next time . . .

Ok. What the hell is going on here?

"Is it weird in here, or is it just me?" ~ Stephen Wright

Yeah . . . so I've been working up to a really fucking massive nihilistic post, complete with all of the existential angst anyone could ever possibly deal with. But, I've been procrastinating, reading extraneous bullshit, further depressing myself about the general state of the world. Short tangent: if you look around at the world and don't find yourself just a little depressed, you're not paying fucking attention. I'm hitting another wall of small outrage fatigue. I mean how much bullshit can one man take in a day, a week, a month? Reading the news is like every day waking up to see someone beat a puppy with a baseball bat, and while you're working yourself up to deal with that a new person shows up feeding kittens into a chipper-shredder . . . fuck! I just almost can't take it anymore. I read because I think it's important to be informed, but what's a good man to do? I'm serious. Lately I've also taken to listening to music a lot again. I've found a new dj/producer I really like: Sean Tyas and he's got a great weekly podcast, Tytanium Sessions. This is the stuff I fell in love with back in 1999-2000, and it makes an old grown up candy raver's heart happy to hear the kind of music I used to listen to being played again regular (progressive house NEEDS to die a painful death - a PAINFUL one I say!!). Today. Today was also a gorgeous day. The weather was damned near perfect and for a little while I was actually extremely happy to be alive, driving with the windows down, while the late afternoon sun shown through an almost completely azure sky just enough to warm my skin, while the cool air flowed from the windows into the car. I didn't even mind the traffic today on the way home, even if the people here have no fucking clue how to drive (oh! . . . a lament for a California freeway . . .) You could almost forget that there was anything wrong with the world on a day like today. I played outside with the boy before dinner. He giggled and laughed. We had a blast. Damn, it feels good to be a gangster.

So, "what's the point here my man?" . . . good question. I'm glad you asked. I'm getting to it. Tonight after the boy's in bed I sit down for my daily dose of metaphorical live animal mutilation in the form of reading some of the alternative media for what's really going on in the world. I'm mildly deep in the rabbit hole when I run into this:



Huh?!

This just doesn't make any sense to me. Why would this particular spot in the google earth sky be blank? Those who know me well, know that I wear my foil hat pretty tight, but this one is almost too fucking weird for me . . .

Ok. So, "what's this going on about, anyway?" Another excellent question; we all seem to be very good at these questions this evening. What the video is referring to is Nibiru (feel free to gander at some of the links) or sometimes apparently referred to as "Planet X", and basically as I understand it, and I understand very little of it, there is an extra planet that we basically know nothing about. However, all the ancient civilization knew about this planet. Apparently this planet moves in a very large orbit around the sun and in a different direction from the rest of the planets - the general theory here is that this is a planet that was "captured" by our solar system as it moved through, apparently minding it's own business millions of year ago, perhaps colliding with a planet that used to exist where the asteroid belt does now . . . it's all pretty speculative. Here's the dealie-oh . . . it's coming back into our space again, and when it comes back it causes like a shit-ton of problems. Some have said it supposed to coincide with the end of the Mayan long calendar on December 21, 2012. Apparently we will see the end of this age with the galactic realignment and the approach of Nibiru and we will be brought into the Age of Aquarius, complete with further implications for humanity and out enlightenment. This is some pretty fucking wild shit here. It's a whole corner of the rabbit hole that I don't even poke around in much, and I'm not sure I'm going to . . . maybe I'll make a post about it all later, but in the meantime you all know about google and how to use it. There might be something to a legitimate galactic alignment with the 2012 date but NASA seems to disagree, and while I don't trust them that much, I don't see what advantage they have about lying about this in particular.

And all of this again brings me back to the first question: Why? Why is that particular section of the sky blacked out? I'm extremely skeptical of this "Planet X" stuff. Ok so the accusation goes that the government knows about this and is intentionally keeping it secret. Or is this possibly cointelpro simply running a honeypot trying to make certain segments of society look especially nutter when nothing shows up. I mean, all you would have to do to stir things up is to simply block that part of the sky . . . Could this simply be the folks at google fucking with people? Could it just be a survey glitch? Yeah, sure why not, right. You've got to admit it's all pretty fucking coincidental approaching the threshold of high strangeness indeed that this occurred the way it did.

Anyway . . . that tonight's post. I'll see you all again soon. Peace.

Resistance is not futile

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them." ~ Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking up Arms, July 6, 1775

Who remembers Star Trek: The Next Generation? I'm dating myself a little bringing this up - used to watch it on Saturday nights with the old man before I got "too big and cool" to hang out with him anymore . . . teenagers are shitty little creatures and it's a miracle of love that any of our parents allow us to live through these times in our lives without beating the living shit out of our ever deserving, smug, self-satisfied faces. They must figure someone needs to look after them when they're old, and maybe we won't, but, hey, it's like buying a lottery ticket maybe we will - can't win the lottery if you burn the ticket. I digress. Who else remembers the Borg? These guys brought into the collective popular consciousness the saying, "Resistance is futile". Obviously, yeah, well, that was, like, just their opinion, man. Which brings me to the topic of today's post . . . is it? Resistance, I mean. Is it futile?

This post was inspired by a small piece I found over at Activist Post by Sally O'Boyle entitled: Dear Southern Poverty Law Center and Department of Justice. It was an open letter responding to the publications by the Southern Poverty Law Center which paint anyone who's not a progressive meathead into the box of "possible terrorist". I'm not even joking. If you think government is getting out of control, and would like to reign it back, and, oh(!), are a little angry about it all . . . well, you sir are probably a terrorist according to the filth at the SPLC. But surely this is just a few lefty, anti-american nutters, right? Sadly no. If you weren't paying attention you might have missed this little ditty spring of 2009 . . . the MIAC report (go here to see the scanned document which was leaked to Infowars). And who exactly is this garbage publication motherfucking? Well, let me tell you . . . people that have a problem with 1) The United Nations, 2) Gun Control, 3) The violation of Posse Comitatus, 4) The Federal Reserve, 5) The Income Tax, 6) Abortion, 7) Illegal Immigration . . . name just a few. Also of note are people who support third parties and their candidates. If you do not believe me, you may read through the document at the link provided above. At this point you should be scratching you head and saying, "What the fuck?" because if you are not, you have FAILED to pay attention and will need to try again. "Wait a minute!" you exclaim as the dots connect, "This piece of shit says I should be profiled as a terrorist!" Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! You win the prize.

Let me connect one more set of dots for you out there who are ignorant. The MIAC report was the product of what is called a "threat fusion center". Or, in layman's terms . . . the federal government working with state and local law enforcement to paint patriotic Americans as the enemy. Are you pissed yet? Because you fucking should be - there are fusion centers in all of our states. This is not an isolated to missouri incident. Your friendly, local, secret police are watching you too. O'Boyle's response to all of this: "Would you please tell me who else is on your lists, so that I might meet them?" Ha! Fuck the fuckers. I don't doubt for a second that part of the psychology here is to attempt a "chilling effect". Well . . . fuck them! Fuck them 1000%. Because, you see, resistance is not futile.

The answer to all of these reports and the encroaching central monopoly of power is to simply not play along. It's a helluvah concept. At the state level simply say, "No thank you". Seriously. What are they going to do? Invade Arizona? And even if the Feds not only had the man-power and political will to invade a single state, would they have the same nutzack to go do it to 10 or 20 states? "Oh, but this was tried and failed during the Civil War," you may interject. I'm not talking about secession and armed conflict (which is probably where the south went wrong on a purely practical level - all the mistakes of the south before, during, and after the civil war are beyond the scope of this blog). The states just say, "No," and there is not a fucking thing Washington can do about it. What are they going to do? Withhold money we don't even have in the first place? We're broke, and we don't want it anymore. Removing ourselves from the central government teat would be well worth the lack of a devil's deal to be on the dole in the first place. We live in a Constitutional Republic, and we have a solution written into the law of our land. The 9th and 10th amendment says, we say, "No. Go fuck yourself, you have no authority here," and then we wait. The change will happen if we simply peaceably resist.

The best way to recognize a tyrant is to make one, act like one. Remember the one who fires the first shot loses. Not only that, but we can show the country and the world that the degenerate minds that brought us the SPLC and MIAC reports were wrong, dead wrong, and we weren't interested in armed revolt at all, merely a political change that respected our wishes . . . we don't fire unless fired upon first . . . heh . . . either way, we win.

Steady as she goes boys. We're holding all the cards.

Bigger Stakes

(Robert A. Martin/The Free Lance-Star/Associated Press)

“The enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

For those of you who have not been paying attention (I do, again, implore you to pay attention if you have not), allow me to point out that Glenn Beck held some sort of . . . what? . . . a nationalistic masturbation session? in D.C. this weekend. Basically, Beck and many of his mouth-breathing, short-bus riding, brainless retards showed up and thumped their chests and ran around grabbing their erect cocks while shouting, "Ohhhhhh rah!". And what I find so depressing about it all is that this has been dubbed a "Tea Party" event. If the grassroots liberty and individual sovereignty movement were not already maligned enough by the corporate controlled mainstream media . . . we have to deal with the likes of Beck and even worse Palin (who, I am sorry, is kind of hot . . . she's got the "naughty schoolteacher" thing going on). Even if Tea Party types and those in favor of the Tea Party ideas found their way innocently and unintentionally enough to this event, thinking it was a good thing, they are likely missing the bigger picture when it comes to Beck (and Palin).

Let me take a moment to talk about these two, Beck and Palin. First off, I know Palin got a beating from the press during the last presidential election because the people who were supposed to be coaching her dropped the fucking ball. Was this intentional? I have my tin foil hat firmly in place when I say that I think it was. Sweet, sweet, little Sarah Palin was picked for a ringer. Am I really that cynical? Of course I fucking am! What I want to know is why you aren't too? Remember I'm asking you to start paying attention here, and this is American partisan politics at its best, or worst of you like, but I mean the same thing either way. And those of you who think Palin is an "idiot" or "moron" are fucking stupid. Yeah . . . she's an "idiot" and a "moron" laughing all the way to the bank and power as she increases the size of her political capital and media cojones roving around the country expertly playing into the sympathies of the grassroots angry and changing primary outcomes in many, many races while you sit there asleep, underestimating the little lady from Alaska. How do you fucking boneheads like "idiot" and "moron" now? You enjoy fruit? How about them apples? Again, shall we pay a little bit of attention? M'kay?

Beck . . . shit Beck's been in this for Beck since the beginning. And you can bet your sweet little ass I'm a cynic about fake crocodile tears Beck. Beck largely has the same discontent cohort, many well-meaning, watching his show and eating out of his hands. Bottom line he threw Ron Paul supporters under the bus with terrorists and character assassinated Debra Medina in the Texas GOP Governor primary the "Tea Party" candidate against the establishment Rick Perry because she would not say she'd fire someone who had questions about government involvement in 9/11 (and if you don't question the events of that day, you need to pay more attention - were malignant elements deep within the government intelligence structure involved? Hard to say for sure, but it's clear for whatever reason that the "official story" is odd, and there may be a completely and totally logical and non-false flag centered explanation for that day, but I haven't heard it. Ask yourself: why? Moving on). Fuck Glenn Beck, seriously. Fuck him 1000%. He's either inconsistent, which makes him a hypocrite, or he's playing by a very specific playbook in my opinion. And I don't buy the hypocrite angle for a single cynical second.

For whatever little good these two may do by bringing attention to issues that are important to those who love freedom and liberty they are out of the other side of their mouths continuing with rhetoric of your classical big government neo-cons, supportive of the police state, it's phony war on "terror", meaning, "even, you, could be a terrorist," and the foreign wars of empire aggression that make billions for the international conglomerates and do nothing for me, or you, or anyone else you know, unless they happen to be a billionaire. Blowing up brown people half a world away doesn't make me safer. I promise. The poppies and oil pipeline, I do notice, are doing fine.

I don't trust Beck or Palin, and you shouldn't either. You see the stakes here are high. What we have is a Constitutional Republic that has been hijacked. And to what end? You need to look no further than where the money went the last few years. Who got richer, who got poorer? Does anyone find it more than coincidental that the folks who got richer did so because the government passed laws and regulations that facilitated this transfer of money? Is it not yet clear to you that our Republican form of government based upon a Constitution of recognized natural rights has been turned into a fascist machine against it's will and this has been done while we were asleep after the gluttonous good years? Why were so many so naive' to think that the good times could only continue? Well the good times have not continued, and, in fact, they have come to a screeching halt . . . enter stage left the Tea Party. Which is really nothing more than the phenomenon of libertarians, paleo-conservatives, and the center right (the media like to call these folks the "independents", but I think these people are really center right) coming together on the same big issues for the first time, and it has caught the establishment off-guard. And I'm totally gonna channel "the Gandhi" here . . . “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” If you start paying attention, you see this phenomenon firmly in place, and this is why the establishment needs the Becks and the Palins. Someone to bring along the diseffected "Tea Party" movement back into the neo-con pen, where its energies may be channeled and controlled to further the big government agenda, because you see . . . the pigs are still at the trough, and the stakes are such that if the political class loses control of the new liberty and freedom movement, they're screwed . . . and as the last bastion of any semblance of real freedom and liberty left in the world, if the domino falls in the US, that's it game over, don't pass GO, don't collect $200 . . . liberty lives or dies HERE.

Sound extreme? I don't think so. Those are the stakes as I see them, and why we should not trust the obvious enemy within our own gates. Beck may sound good, but you need to pay attention . . . he's not our friend. Don't be another poor, sucker dupe. Look at all the people who bought into "hope" and "change" embodied in a man, a liar, our current president. Apply the same rules to Beck.

Till next time . . . be wise like serpents, harmless like doves . . .

I didn't sign up for this shit

"I have an existential map. It has 'You are here' written all over it." ~ Steven Wright

Almost two years since my last post. I know any "regulars" have long since dropped off. However, I hope to pick up new regulars as I attempt my hand at this blogging thing again. Since my last post, life got really, really, really busy. Work, ya know? Which is too bad because there was so much going on in the world that needed my opinion stamped on it in this little hole in the innerwubz. The boy. He now lives with me full time, and he likes to play, not blog. His mother has strong opinions about the use of my time, and apparently blogging is not high on her list (she doesn't understand me - never has, never will, topic for another blog, if I ever have the energy to get into it), which is all too bad because I'm actually kind of good at this. I strongly considered restarting the blog this last winter, but I went through what can only be described as, "outrage fatigue" . . . there was just too much going on in the world that I found horrifying that I just couldn't even bring myself to read the news for a few weeks. The muse slept and has reawakened, though I know for how long exactly is difficult to say . . . at the moment though, I am in need of an outlet . . .

Every day I wake up and I feel like I'm in the middle of one of those horrible 1980s B movies about some future, strange dystopia where everything has gone awry and no one is happy. I mean seriously . . . what the fuck is going on in the world? Am I the only one who can't wrap his mind around the insanity all around me? I don't know if all of the preservatives in the boxed food, the fluoride in the water, and auto-immune provoking components in the vaccines have come together to make the perfect fucking shit storm in the brains of many people, or what, but the shit that's going on in the world, especially by our so called, "leaders", is nothing short of insane. What I find even more insulting is that these people actually have the fucking temerity to attempt to explain themselves as if they actually believe in the shit that they do . . . and that's probably the bigger problem . . . most of these people do believe in the nonsense that they espouse. It's nothing short of mental illness, and I strongly suspect too often of an organic brain disorder from our poisoned food, but some people are taught to think this way at university, and others . . . well . . . they came up with this shit on their own. Beautiful. Just. Fucking. Beautiful.

What am I going on about? If you don't know, then you are either 1) one of the brain damaged, 2) actually think nothing is going wrong because you are a true believer, or 3) not paying enough fucking attention(!) (start paying fucking attention!). Everywhere you look you can see the encroaching of the State, and the men with guns the State needs to necessarily employ in order to make you do what is in the best interests of the philosopher kings, because there is no way you'd actually go along with this shit willingly. Who are the philosopher kings you ask? Good question. You know them. You know them very well, these are the folks that insist on telling you what is best for you and for your family. These are the people who will vote for and pass banking bailouts despite the people overwhelmingly being against it. These are the people who will pass a government mandated health insurance for everyone despite the majority of the people being against it. These are the people who are talking about "cap and trade" despite what one more tax will do to the economy of this country, and despite that the majority of people are NOT interested. What is even more galling is that the Washington insiders are not even apologetic about any of it, because they think they know best . . . even more frightening are the people who agree.

The BEST recent, modern discussion of this topic comes to us by Angelo M. Codevilla at The American Spectator: America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution. Codevilla essentially establishes in a completely cohesive and rational manner the attitude of the elites, philosopher kings, the powers that be, or as he terms them . . . "the ruling class" and the disconnect between them and the electorate. It's a long article but worth reading, and I highly recommended it.

At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself: What kind of world do I want to live in? I woke up today, much the same way I've woken up for the last few years, saying, "No! Hell no! I didn't sign up for any of this shit - the bailouts, the taxes, the foreign wars, the police state with warrantless wiretaps and GPS tracking of vehicles. And I'm sick and tired of it!" I think there is good news because I see the folks who are winning primaries and I think there is some hope - lots of hope actually.

But then, I'm a cynic . . . till next time . . . I leave you with this

Hey Guis! We're from the government and we're here to help you!

"The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter." ~ Samuel Adams, writing under the pseudonym, "Candidus," in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771

Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it . . . no? How many times have you heard that? Yet, what kind connection have you made? Let us pay attention, shall we . . . the subject of this blog today: the encroaching police and military state.

I've been troubled for a long time by the increasing militarization of out police and now our government has seen fit to merely forget about militarizing the police and bring in the military itself. The prompt for today's blog is this article from the Phoenix Business Journal online entitled: "Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots" . . . nice. The Army War College says that likely the military will be used against the American people if we get upset when the government, through it's own deliberate actions, brings in economic collapse.

Beginning in October the DoD announced 5000 troops for the rapid response in the homeland, reports the Army Times. This article is talking about the 1st Combat Brigade of the 3rd INfantry division, and the article starts by saying, "The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys. Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home." The article further goes onto say, "They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control . . ."

Nonchalant. No big deal. Help with "civil unrest," a "combat team," with the same mission as in Iraq, do, de, do, de, do, de, do . . . (*sound of screeching tires, to a halt*) . . . Wait! WHAT?! What the fuck did they just say?! Yeah. They just said that. Scratching your head yet? We don't need the army to operate the "jaws-of-life" at accident sites, or handing out food, or getting kittens out of trees - we have Police, Fire, Rescue, and National Guard . . . the Army? Don't they blow shit up and break things!

And there is more . . . now on Dec. 1st, the Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon plans to have 20,000 troops here, assigned to NorthCOM by 2011. Does it not keep getting better?

And if that was not enough, how about Marines teaming up with the California Highway Patrol to run traffic stops in San Bernardino County, Southern California? Making this story every more interesting is that the CHP initially issued a press release stating the Marines would be helping out, but then when the predictable shit storm began because people are generally against the military on the street, CHP issued another press release saying the Marines would NOT be in attendance . . . ok . . . then why were the Marines then in attendance after the denial. Don't believe this stuff? Follow the links - CHP press releases here.

So what the big deal? It's only kind of illegal . . . the Posse Comitatus Act makes it illegal for the government to use the military in police actions that maintain law and order on non-federal property. The Insurrection Act of 1807 does allow the President to use the military in the case of "insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy" . . . However, the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill (after a full repeal of the John Warner Defense Act) now gives the president power to use the military also for "natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition" (WTF is "other considtion" anyway? Some definitions here would be nice) and then only if "domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order." I think Cato Institute Vice President Gene Healy said it very well when he said, "There's a notion that whenever there's an important problem, that the thing to do is to call in the boys in green, and that's at odds with our long-standing tradition of being wary of the use of standing armies to keep the peace."

Which brings me to my final point. Why is the government and our military planning to bring troops home for work with NorthCOM? Why have new laws been passed that allow the President powers to maintain "public order" . . . think about it. Think hard about it. These troops are not for terrorists any more than they are for pop-eye the sailor man. These troops - are - for . . . us. We are falling headlong into the wrost economic collapse that the modern world has ever known, and the government knows things are going to get bad. They know there will be riots. You tell me how you get a populace ready for troops on the streets and martial law . . . I'll tell you how you do it . . . look around you . . . just the way it's being done, just exactly the way it's being done.

Now you know.

Looking Back and Reopening for Business

“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” ~ Albert Einstein

I almost forgot about this place. Sitting all alone in the ether that we call the "internet" - posterity of the electronic age, existing only as long as some server somewhere decides to keep it around. I started this on a lark - was on rotation, prior to graduation, with a guy who was having fun with it, and decided to give my hand at it. Some of my earlier stuff is pretty angry - I was. My marriage was bad, and I don't blame her, but between my poor coping mechanisms, a crazy school schedule, a busy little boy at home, and a wife who was horrible to me . . . it came out in those earliest posts. I didn't sense it then, but it's palpable now. Clear to me. That's actually very sad when you think about it . . . very sad. When you go to drug rehab, they often make you do a "relapse autopsy" looking back over what lead up to your using and eventual collapse. I didn't have the money for rehab and I never went - thank God for the rooms of A.A. - but looking back, this mental state was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. While "interesting" today, it doesn't really matter to much because I know that it is all an excuse and always is - I don't need a reason, ever, to get fucked up, but life being bad does make for one hell of a justification . . . does it not?

But, I'm rambling. I do that. I get off on tangents, now to redirect back. This blog was a tool I used to work through much of what happened to me over the course of the year 2007. For those of you who followed along - thank you. Your comments and support meant more to me than I can express in words. I'm not always the best at showing appreciation, so, I hope it's better late than never. I went through a rearranging process, and out of the other side came a new and improved man. I don't feel the same as I did then. Life is not painful the way it was then, and I'm blessed for having had the chance to experience it, though we often do not recognize this fact when we go through what we do. And I'm not super excited to relive any of it, but it forced me to grow or . . . die. Those were my choices. Am I being melodramatic? Looking back . . . no. It's life or destruction for me - I wish I was a mere mortal, I can be envious of you that are, but I lack power, have a spiritual deficiency that requires me to keep growing. Steven King, writing under the pseudonym, "Richard Bachman," wrote a story called the Long Walk, and in the story, it was a contest, the last one walking won a large cash prize. The issue at hand was that if you fell behind, you were shot by the military - on and on until there was one last guy . . . so it's like that, gotta keep walking. It's not an option for me.

So why'd I stop posting? The muse left me . . . my inspiration was gone, blogging had become a chore, and maybe it's original purpose had melted away. I became much busier with my boy, as his mother had just moved back to California a few weeks before my last post, and those of you who have been around 2 year olds know: it's hard to do much of anything except make sure they don't eat dirt and keep things out of light sockets, while making mac and cheese, and watching cartoons, or getting ready to go play outside.

Also, at that time, my marriage was in the shambles, and I started dating again - that was a nightmare generally, but I met some really cool people - one in particular - and she will always be special to me in a way, but life got . . . complicated (doesn't it always?) I'm not really sure if the story should be told or is even appropriate at this juncture . . . let me say this: by March my wife told me she wanted a divorce, was ready to do it. The funny thing about divorces is that they cost money. I'm not talking the messy divorces either - obviously those cost money, lots of money - I'm talking about a simple filing. Neither one of us had half the money at the same time, and the reason I'm still married today is largely because we couldn't even afford to file the paperwork. My wife even went so far as to get an appointment with a paralegal mediator (which would have been even more money). So, about the time I had met someone new - my wife decides she does not want a divorce. Monkey-fucking-wrench . . . I was largely resistant to this at first, but . . . it's complicated, do I need to say any more than that? We're still married and "working it out" - the only person who was hurt in all this was the "other woman" and through no fault of her own. It was a lesson in collateral damage and I'm ashamed for the pain I may have caused, but I let that relationship drop - I had to, and if I would have had more maturity and forethought, I never would have gotten involved with someone prior to a divorce finalizing. She - the "other" - was sweet and nice and good and mostly . . . she didn't deserve what happened. It is my responsibility that it did. One may only live and learn, and not make the same mistakes again. I may have rambled too much, but I won't edit it . . . it is cathartic to have it out . . .

Last March, I matched to a residency program in Internal Medicine - I love work and I love what I'm doing. I will not say where, specifically, because I have had friends who have already gotten into trouble when blogging about where they work, so I will not be identifying my program and I hope that is ok with people. Obviously those close to me know, but I'm not interested in disciplinary action because someone got all butt-hurt about what I said or wrote. I started in July and since that time I have been busier than a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest. However, things are starting to settle down a bit and I think this place may be a good outlet for me again. So, as long as the muse allows I'll be posting again . . . and I may use this as more of an outlet for things I think are important in the world than an online journal, but Im sure there will be some of both.

Perseverance is an admirable trait . . . me? I think I've merely been surviving, even if it looks very similar. I am blessed. God is doing the heavy lifting, and I'm getting by. Much love people.

(and yes there is more, so much more, but I'm only one man and I've only got so much time [maybe next time] - peace)