Thought For the Day

[Terry]

Thank you Sassy. I wish I could call my mom. I miss her alot. April 2nd will have been a year. 

[Sassy]

"The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."

Carroll Quigley

[Redoverfarm]

It's not important what people think about you when you are not around. It's only important that they do think about you when you are not around.

[Sassy]

Harry 51 sent me this...
The Wagon Analogy
By Mike Williams

The westward-bound Conestoga wagons of the 19th century are an emblem of America's expansion. They also offer a useful analogy for our current situation.

Several years ago, I was stationed at Fort Leavenworth Kansas.  Fort Leavenworth was a major crossing point on the Missouri River for settlers and their wagons as they headed west. There are still massive ruts cut into the river bank where the wagons wore down the hill side as they struggled to climb out of the river bottom to higher ground on the western side of the river bank.  I often stood in those ruts and imagined the determination, excitement and fear of the pioneers who passed through that site.   

If you have made the drive across Kansas you know how barren and desolate it is.  If you have walked or ridden a horse on the prairies of Kansas, you know that Kansas is not flat. The terrain is very challenging.  It is inconceivable that families with small children made that journey which lasted months.  I am in awe of the mental and physical toughness of those Americans from our very recent past. I am also in awe of the material sacrifices they made.  The Fort Leavenworth area is laden with antiques and antique shops.  Some towns on the east side of the river are dominated by antique shops.

Why is that?  In order for the pioneer family to successfully cross the Kansas prairie, they had to leave the family heirlooms, trunks, pianos and chest behind.  Space had to be opened up for food and supplies for the family but the item that was most essential was grain for the teams that pulled the wagon. Care of the team, whether they were oxen, mules or horses was the most important factor. Without them, the wagon and the family were lost.  If the team failed, the family was stranded on the prairie and they faced starvation and death.  The pioneer also had to take great care of the wagon, a broken wheel or cracked axle meant disaster. Contrary to the movie depictions, the family walked beside the wagon. The women, children and pets walked. The only people who were allowed to ride were the sick and the injured. As soon as they got better, they had to get off and walk. Why? They couldn't afford to burden the team with the extra weight. The survival and fitness of the team equaled success and survival.

These pioneers also had to count on themselves for protection.  They faced many dangers and had no one to protect them from wild animals, Indians and thieves.  As a result, they were heavily armed.  Firearms were tools just like the axe and the shovel.  They didn't have the government to defend them, feed them or house them.  Most of them survived and prospered. The ones who refused to drop the piano off at the river crossing and insisted on taking the extra baggage with them at the expense of food for the team usually failed.  The team died or the wagon broke down and they were left in the middle of the prairie to face the winter with no food or shelter.  There were no anti-gun advocates on the wagon trail either. Guns were their  best friends.

Now look at the country a mere one hundred and fifty years later.  We are in the middle of the prairie.  The team pulling the wagon (the tax payer) has been pulling hard for years and they are getting tired.  The wagon (the government) is loaded down to the railings. It is full and can't hold any more.  The axles are buckling under the strain and the spokes of the wheels are failing.  There are some people riding the wagon that need to be there.  They are the old, the sick and the unfortunate (social security, Medicare and temporarily unemployed).  Unfortunately for the team, there are far too many who are on the wagon that shouldn't be there.   They have been on the wagon for generations and never plan to get off.

When the team dies, they will sit with the wagon until it rots and someone comes to save them. If a savior never shows up, they will die in place feeling sorry for themselves until their last breath.

So here we are in 2009. The team is faltering under the strain and it looks like they can't pull the wagon much further.  There isn't much more they can give.  The wagon is maxed out. The people on the wagon refuse to get off, in fact they demand more even when their doom is staring them in the face.  The snow clouds are gathering and it looks bleak.

At least settlers in wagon trains were sometimes saved by the cavalry.  Our so called leaders just arrived on the scene and put a 100 ton mill stone (stimulus package) in the wagon.

We are stuck here for the next two winters.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/02/the_wagon_analogy.html at February 21, 2009 - 09:38:33 AM EST

[glenn kangiser]

'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.'
-Thomas Jefferson -

[Redoverfarm]

Foresight on Behalf of Thomas Jefferson. John Kennedy once said to a
assembled group of scholars in the White House, "I think this is the
most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has
ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of
when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

The Thomas Jefferson quotes below prove his point.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we
shall become as corrupt as Europe.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and
give to those who would not.

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted
on would save one-half the wars of the world.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from
wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of
them.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear
arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in
government.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

And here's a Very Interesting Quote: In light of the present financial
crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

Banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing
armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the
issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the
banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive
the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the
continent their fathers conquered.

One more...

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are
neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes ... Such laws make
things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve
rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be
attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

Thomas Jefferson Brilliant!

[Sassy]

Here, here!  Indeed brilliant, thanks for posting, Red!

Think I will post these on Facebook, if you don't mind...

[MountainDon]

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. -- John Adams

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

[glenn kangiser]

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."  Patrick Henry 1736-1799

"The Constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."  Samuel Adams 1722-1803

"Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory.  The federal government is our servant, not our master!"   Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826



......

"The One World Government leaders and their ever close bankers have now acquired full control of the money and credit machinery of the U.S. via the creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank."
- Curtis Dall, ex-President Franklin Roosevelt's son-in-law

[glenn kangiser]

"The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."

Winston Churchill, Nov. 21, 1943

Obama Proposes New Law: 'Prevention Detention'

[glenn kangiser]

I just thought this economists advice was interesting - similar to what many of us in the US think, I guess because it makes sense no matter where you are from..

Mikhail Khazin: A New World Order – or a Return to Feudalism?

His site, worldcrisis.ru, has a collection of his publications, and also hosts advice from others on how to survive the crisis – namely by moving as far away from the dubious fruits of civilization as possible and relying on yourself and your land.

http://www.mosnews.com/minority/2009/03/03/khazin/

[Sonoran]

Terrorists are a group of people with bombs, but no airforce.

[Sassy]

This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.

The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President:

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!

If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their constituents pay their taxes...

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

If not, please disregard.

[glenn kangiser]

Bird flu can survive up to 2 years in bird carcasses. Safety tip: Do not eat two year old bird carcasses.

[Pox Eclipse]

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

Uh, that's gonna cost $40 TRILLION , or the entire gross national product for almost four years.  

Must be that California math...

[Sassy]

Ummmm, I never said I was a math wizard    it sounded good, anyway...   here's something from Whiskey & Gunpowder


Now: two Whiskey tenets collide.

How does one balance the idea of resource scarcity and the free market? The ceaseless yearning for liberty with the grown up acceptance of natural limits?

Hello Gary,

Somehow I got the idea that many people who write for W & G are libertarians in the sense of the Libertarian Party.  That is they still support the basic idea of capitalism, namely, that men and women have the right to accumulate as much wealth as they are able to, including the means of production, the tools that workers use to perform useful tasks.  They have not figured out that Capitalism is inconsistent with Peak Oil; therefore, practically everything they write is a little wrong if not completely wrong.  On my website, a sequence of energy papers prove this in terms of inequalities that divide the space of all possible worlds into half spaces by means of infinite dimensional hyper-planes, although such sophisticated Hilbert Space machinery is never mentioned.  I keep track of it mentally to deepen my personal understanding and for other purposes of my own.

You're not the only one wondering, Shooter...

Hey...on the climate/carbon bill...we got to start somewhere. What does it matter if we have $$ but not clean air and water??? We are the polar bears.

"Only after the last tree has been cut down,
  Only after the last River has been poisoned,
  Only after the last fish has been caught,
  Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

A Cree Indian Prophecy

How about writing about prosperity without growth?

I will go to my grave defending this idea...

Nothing encourages the marshaling and stewardship of finite resources better than a system of individual property rights in a free market.

Governments—despite the feverish wish of the statists—are not in the business of making long-term wise decisions for the good of all mankind and the little blue ball we call home.

Governments are at their core systems of expansionism, resource grabs and transfers of wealth for political reasons in the stead of market forces.

Governments are concerned with the false promise of eternal growth. And politicians are concerned with staying in power by spending other people's money to make the voting majority happy.

The private individual is concerned with doing for himself and his loved ones. You can lament that a man of talent and drive "has too much" all you want. Such men are not anybody's problem when they have a mansion and a fleet of German cars. It's the prideful boobs who get the majority vote that you have to watch out for.

Political power is the opposite of the wealth and esteem that markets can bring. Political power goes to the best liars with gleeful murder and mischief in their hearts...but who pass themselves off as the greatest lovers of their fellow men.

Capitalism is often accused of having a junkie's dependence on endless growth. But nothing could be further from the truth. Capitalism, as Bill Bonner so poetically put it, is a hanging judge who's out to make sure that everybody gets what he's got coming...good and hard!

Endless growth? That's the purview of governments. The idea that consequences and limits can be managed away is a lie told by the sociopaths in nice suits whom the masses elect with the simple faith of children.

Capitalism, property rights, individual liberty, free markets, sound currency...All those quaint little notions we bandy back and forth across the bar each day...They don't make for a perfect world, but they correct mistakes before they get big enough to destroy the world.

Without centralized governance there to compound the errors, your cities wouldn't be so big. Your nations wouldn't become states. Your errors wouldn't gather and coalesce into worldwide depressions and wars.

Fiat currency, artificially low interest rates, federal welfare programs...these are tools from the Political Pit with which djinns make men's wishes real...for a while.

And now the wishes are going sour. And Capitalism and liberty get the blame.

My little libertarian heart is okay with what has to come. When the market tells me something is no longer affordable or that it's coming off the menu, my heart is not troubled.

No fancy car, no big suburban house, no problem! Your editor — like everyone else — will make do with what's available and ply what talents he has in exchange for whatever he can.

He'd still rather not have the State dictating what he can have and how to manage any of his affairs no matter what.

Regards,
Gary Gibson
Managing Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder

[glenn kangiser]

Subject: Australian Shooter Magazine

Australian Shooter Magazine

An interesting letter in the Australian Shooter Magazine this week, which I quote:   "If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington , DC , is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means you are about 25 per cent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US .

Conclusion:  The US should pull out of Washington ."

[rick91351]

Conclusion:  The US should pull out of Washington ."

I raise my coffee cup this morning in hardy agreement.

rlr

[Squirl]

I thought most deaths in Iraq were due to bombs.

[glenn kangiser]

Some, but near all except natural are directly related to the US invasion and sanctions since the first one in GHWB's day.

My friend from Covert Ops said we are not there to help those people.  We are there to kill them.  Currently



Casualties on our side are a result of a misguided effort in support of big oil and the military industrial complex..  

We sent study groups in to monitor the deaths of their children due to our degradation of their water systems and our prohibition of them getting purification supplies - chlorine etc. 

[StinkerBell]

You know its going to be a bad day when you put your bra on backwards and notice it fits better.

[Redoverfarm]

Maybe that's the way they wear them in Tx.

[glenn kangiser]

Pix?

[Redoverfarm]

[glenn kangiser]

Nice one, John.