Hidden treasure

Idealist eMcee - Treasure Coast Cubes

http://soundcloud.com/idealist-mcee

"Mutant, Statist, Corporate Socialism ...

... imposed from above by an unaccountable, dogma-obsessed political priesthood."

Pat Condell, telling it like it is.

Hat tip: UKK41.

Be thankful they don't take it all

Following on from Dick Puddlecote, making a point I fully concur with, with regard to Osborne's 'generosity' towards us poor serfs, by kindly putting off an increase in fuel duty, thereby 'saving' the average family £144 a year, and presuming my dear readers will know exactly what view I'd take on such a notion, I thought I'd satisfy my curiosity towards what the actual price of petrol is.

Thus, courtesy of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and using data from DECC, the facts are as above. The price is in pence per litre, and it's not too difficult to work out what a thieving bunch of greedy bastards the government is made up of.

Take it away, George.

USA: Requiem for a free country

From Business Insider:

Either Monday or Tuesday the Senate will vote on a bill that allows the US military to imprison civilians with no formal charges and hold them with no trial.

The ACLU reports even US citizens wouldn't be immune as the legislation aims to declare national territory part of the "battlefield" in the War on Terror.

Termed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and drafted behind closed doors by Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) the NDAA would:

1) Explicitly authorize the federal government to indefinitely imprison without charge or trial American citizens and others picked up inside and outside the United States;

(2) Mandate military detention of some civilians who would otherwise be outside of military control, including civilians picked up within the United States itself; and

(3) Transfer to the Department of Defense core prosecutorial, investigative, law enforcement, penal, and custodial authority and responsibility now held by the Department of Justice.

Read the whole article here. Also this update.

Hat tip: Infowars.

See Rand Paul speak out:

Hat tip: Tom Woods

What is Hague demanding now?

Foreign Secretary William Hague is blowing hard over the Iranian protests against the British embassy in Tehran. This is not particularly surprising, but what does he want the Iranian authorities to do? Shoot the protesters?

Update: Reading that article, I come to this bizarre paragraph:

"The storming of the British embassy was the latest, and most violent, blow struck in a long-running battle of wits over Iran's nuclear programme. Diplomats had been expecting a major protest in Tehran on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist, Majid Shahriari, one of three killed over the past two years in the streets of the capital. "

How can a protest, leading to criminal damage and a few FO workers being jostled be called 'the most violent blow', when, in the same paragraph, it notes the assassinations of various Iranian scientists?

I am, by the way, aware of the rules about protecting embassies, but let's not get so fucking precious about it, eh.

Colonel Ojukwu: Rest in Peace

I learn that Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the valiant leader of the ill-fated nation of Biafra died two days ago. May God rest his soul. Here he is, in a broadcast during the war.

Land of the rising sun, we love and cherish,
Beloved homeland of our brave heroes;
We must defend our lives or we shall perish,
We shall protect our hearts from all our foes;
But if the price is death for all we hold dear,
Then let us die without a shred of fear.

Haiti: standard UN operation

Via Activist Post, I come across this interesting article on the UN military occupation of Haiti, which has overstayed its welcome to say the least.

Wherever they go, UN troops seem to alienate the locals. In the case of Haiti, causing an outbreak of cholera by dumping raw sewage in a river, shooting people and raping people (in other words, the usual MO) has not helped.

I'm guessing that whenever they do leave, however many billions of dollars they've managed to burn through, Haiti will look much the same.

Why not just nationalise everything and be done with it?

There's nothing like a recession to shake out who really believes in capitalism and who is instead a dirty collectivist central planner. A quick glance at the UK government's agenda reveals which side they bat for.

Not that this is in any way revelatory. It's always been the case that the Conservatives are too anally retentive to allow the market to decide anything, and the so-called Liberal Democrats are nothing but a bastard child of the cuckolded liberal tradition, fathered by sly fabianism. As for Labour, only Tony Blair would argue that they're not dyed in the wool enemies of economic liberty - and who would believe a word he says?

Let me pass on to the source of my ire. Firstly, this Graun article:

Government moves to calm carbon capture funding fears,

which links to this Graun article, from a few weeks back:

Government 'receptive' to carbon tax breaks for industry

We all know that the wheels have fallen off the global warming charabanc, but the unconscionably stupid political class are still sitting in the vehicle pretending it's moving forward, rather than spun off the road into an open sewer. What is not clear is what it will take to make the politicians wake up to reality? Are the political class sworn into some kind of Bacchanalian mystery cult? Is our economy to be offered up as a bloody sacrifice to some destructive god from the pagan past?

Perhaps I should leave such speculation, and return to the salient facts. Our government, by playing along with the ridiculous demonisation of carbon dioxide, is marching down Interventionist Boulevard straight towards the chasm of socialism (utopia awaits down below), and on that particular road, there are no turnings.

One intervention leads to another; the old woman swallows the fly; she swallows the spider to catch the fly etc. Instead of business competing in the market, they must compete for favours from the state; tax breaks and special exemptions, protectionist measures and privileges. The government is putting our economy up against the wall, but if you're lucky they might give you a bullet-proof vest - remember to say 'thank you' and puff out your chest.

We cannot afford this government. It's way too high maintenance.

Osborne's Glorious National Five Year Infrastructure Plan

We all know Cameron, Clegg and the rest of the current Polit Bureau are a long way from free market capitalism, but I thought for a moment I was dreaming when I heard Osborne's latest ruse to 'stimulate' the economy - yes folks, it's time to start digging ditches and filling them in with the National Infrastructure Plan.

Okay, it's more Roosevelt than Lenin (i.e. more fascist model than Soviet model), but still, the fallacy is the same, whether you're taking your collectivism as expresso or with a dollop of frothy Keynesian milk. Putting this together with the government's plan to guarantee loans to small businesses - or rather give more money to the banks under that aegis - it goes to show that Tory governments can get away with leftwing things that Labour governments couldn't, and vice versa with Labour and rightwing policies - in this case the collectivisation of the economy. Still, I shouldn't be too critical of Comrade Osborne - he might have me shot as a running-dog lacky of the exploiter class, and on the positive side he is doing wonders for tractor production, and our chocolate ration has never been bigger, especially since they re-calibrated the weights and measures.

Another fine mess

From the Independent:

Thousands of people, including women and children, are being illegally detained by rebel militias in Libya, according to a report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Many of the prisoners are suffering torture and systematic mistreatment while being held in private jails outside the control of the country's new government.

Read the article here.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the cheerleaders for bombing Libya to manifest any desire to address the bloody mess they have unleashed, and don't expect any remorse or sense of culpability from the Nato warmongers if or when any of those thousands of SAMs now presumed to be in the hands of the salafists end up getting used. Instead, it's a case of 'onwards and upwards' to Syria and Iran.

The case for cutting all taxpayer funding to universities

Over at Liberal Conspiracy I was alerted to the protest which shut down minister David Willetts' intended speech at Cambridge. Most of the lefties over there were disapproving of such tactics, although a few defended it.

I cannot bring myself to post the YouTube clip of the whole thing, nor can I even watch it in more than one minute segments, as these mindless drones are so spectacularly creepy. The tactic they have adopted has been seen a few times amongst the Occupy people, that being: one leader recites a line, and the collective repeat the line, and on and on ad infinitum, or at least ad nauseum. The speech is absolutely chock-full of monumental stupidity, it beggars belief that people would join together to shout it out. I would quote from it, but it's so bad I'm actually too ashamed for them!

What is also shaming on Cambridge is that, with about one exception, an old fellow who looks a bit like Albert Pike, no one objects to these idiot collectivists. I don't think I could have restrained myself had I been present from trying to disrupt their disruptive action.

Much as this will not be endorsed by those at Liberal Conspiracy who have attacked the moronic behaviour, I see that and I think "cut all the taxpayer funding". Why the fuck should we pay taxes so a bunch of turds like these can loaf around? They're obviously not learning anything that benefits society, quite the opposite. If they want to do that, fair enough - but not on my taxes.

Questions, questions

I've posted this before, but it's worth seeing again - a short clip about accessing the subconscious mind and the power of the question.

Anglo-French military alliance: back door to EU army?

Gone are the days when France was a proud, independent nation. It was indeed symbolic when the poisonous Sarko took France into Nato. He may as well go piss on De Gaulle's grave while he's at it.

But what are we to make of the cosy new relationship between the British and French governments with regard to making war? Is this the way they choose to smokescreen the military clauses in the EU empire? Far better to sell the public that this is a continuation of the old 'entente cordiale' than reveal that it is one of the last remaining sovereign rights that must be gathered into the collectivist hive.

Having said that, I should point out I'm no more a fan of our membership of Nato than I am of the EU, now that it has transformed itself from a defensive alliance to an activist world policeman.

Elsewhere in the Graun piece, I read:

The summit will be held the week before the European Council heads of government meet formally to discuss plans for EU treaty change from Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, designed to strengthen central surveillance of countries' fiscal positions. These include European court of justice-enforced penalties for countries carrying excessive deficits.

The French have been trying to delay treaty talks, but may have to succumb to German demands in return for Berlin's co-operation on the development of eurobonds. A meeting this week between Sarkozy and Merkel appeared to agree on some form of treaty change.

Sarkozy is anxious to understand the British bottom line on what powers it would seek to renegotiate if limited treaty change within the euro-zone were sought. There have been hints that Britain would limit its demands to changes to the working time directive.

I think I can help Sarko out here. Britain doesn't have a bottom line. The Tory half of the current government may require something to wave to their deluded sheep-like, Stockholm-syndromed followers, but the British government will not require any substantial bribe, because they are true-believers in the EU project, and any significant change would force them into revealing their 'referendum lock' was made out of the same metal as Cameron's 'cast-iron guarantee' - i.e. tin foil.

Max puts the boot in Cameron's 'New Deal' for home-buyers

Keiser on form, critiques the UK government's interventionist delusions.

If, like me, you like Max and hate Monsanto, here's a report from back in January 2011.

Is there an anthropologist in the house?

The history of Junior Henry's treatment at the hands of the judiciary is mystifying. He is obviously, demonstrably, a vicious, dangerous enemy of society. There is no mitigation, there is no justification. Even for those who seek explanations for his vile acts in factors external to himself, there is still no escaping the reality that he poses a threat to everyone unfortunate enough to encounter him, and thanks to the judiciary, that threat will be manifest in two years time.

Leaving aside how we should administer justice for the moment, morally-speaking he deserves to be stabbed multiply and left to bleed in the gutter, and whatever sentence is passed on his crimes should take this into account.

This blog has attacked judges many times. On this occasion, I cannot summon the indignation. I have not the ability to explain the workings of the judge's mind. Hence the post title. Perhaps a team of anthropologists could be sent in, and by applying the methods used in analysing obscure New Guinean tribes and their belief systems, we could discover how this judge came to the conclusion that two years incarcerated at public expense is a fitting response to this man's war on the rest of us.

Post Pride

This may help break the maudlin spell cast by Christina below.

The Fall - New Big Prinz

Suffer with me

Christina Perri - Jar of hearts

I hear this song a lot at work, and now it's got into my brain, and I can't shift it. I must be in a sentimental mood, but nonetheless she has a great voice.

Making Obama look good

It is not often that I say anything positive about Obama, but, with the obvious (egregious) exception of Ron Paul, what a bunch of turds the GOP presidential candidates are, falling over themselves to talk tough on Iran, to casually threaten acts of war, as if it's a mere nothing.

Listening to them, Proverbs 8 comes to mind: "All those who hate me (i.e. God), love death" - and, boy, don't they love it. I mean, Newt Gingrich? As Mark E. Smith put it; "check the record, check the record, check the guy's track record" (see above).

The entertaining Mr Schiff

The 2009 Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, presented by Peter Schiff. Recorded at the annual Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 13 March 2009.

Time has past - but the crisis continues. I may have posted this before, but it's all good.

Australia under occupation

An interview with a peace activist who penetrated a top secret military base in the middle of Oz - not that she got too far. The last part of the interview reveals the US is building a massive base at Darwin. I thought they were strapped for cash, but apparently not. Good to see Obama carrying on the work of W and the Project for a New American Century.

Mystic Mike: mate, your crystal ball needs polishing

Apparently we're going to join the Euro after all. Michael Heseltine said so. I'm not quite sure why he thinks this or if he indeed does actually think this. It sounds like desperate wishful thinking, but what I resent is the condescension:

"People have no idea of the scale of money British banks are owed by European banks. If the European banks start going it will be our banks that are on the line, our government on the line."

Personally, if he's trying to scare me, he better try harder. Our government on the line? Cool. Fuck 'em. Who needs that bunch of chisling crooks anyway? Put the Duke of Edinburgh in charge for a while. At least he may sort out the looming energy crisis.

Republic of Fear

An interesting, and chilling account of Iraq under Saddam from Christopher Hitchens.

The title of the post comes from this book, mentioned by Hitchens.

Do you remember Libya?

Trying to discover the truth of what happened and what is happening in Libya has been a frustrating business. I think it is clear that the western establishment media, and the BBC more than anyone else, was taking its orders from NATO throughout the war. Those looking for an alternative view have had to rely on RT and various independent outlets (e.g. this), many of which with their own political agendas. Between the establishment and the independent voices, one has had to pick a path, taking everything with a pinch of salt.

Given that the British state is still keeping secrets from the First World War, it is obvious that we will not learn much from that source until perhaps the year 2111, and it will be left to the realm of speculation and theory as to what motivated the mandarins to overthrow Gaddafi's regime. However, my own belief is that Gaddafi's pursuit of the gold Dinar was where he crossed the line and became a threat to the shadowy powers that be. This was not, of course, a military threat. The idea that Libya posed any kind of military threat was always ridiculous, and clearly indicated by the ease with which NATO blitzed the country. No, the gold Dinar was a dagger pointed at the heart of the rotten world monetary system.

The clip below discusses this plan of Gaddafi, although I have a few quibbles with some of what it says (such as "a country's wealth would depend on how much gold they have": not so!), it certainly indicates the clear and present danger Gaddafi signified to our overlords.

Daily Mail idiots hail 'victory' as UK government hands over millions more to EU coffers

If the Daily Mail did irony, then the headline would make sense. But then I remember: the Daily Mail doesn't do irony. It does rightwing stuff for the benighted Tory faithful, narrow-minded moralistic curtain-twitching prurience and birds in bikinis. Thus:

"Victory for the UK! Millions of pounds saved as EU budget contribution rises by just 2%... after Europe demanded 5%"

Claiming a victory because we, the preyed upon tax-serfs of the sadistic Sir Humphreys and their degenerate political wards, are only going to be ripped off of £X million, rather than £X + £Y million is fooling no one. It's like claiming a victory because the burglars didn't shit in your bed when they ransacked your home.

This is the best we can hope for from the current 'Eurosceptic' rightwing in the media and in the Tory Party. If you shot them up with ketamine and dumped them in a flotation tank for the weekend they couldn't be any more out of touch.

As our struggle for independence continues we must be very careful not to trust for much help from such quarters.

More Austrian Gold

Joseph T. Salerno on international monetary systems. Find out what 'dirty floating' means.

Something for everyone

With a title "Rothbard, Mises, Rand and Me" and Walter Block as well, surely our cup runneth over. This is the speech I linked to just below (the link is audio only). Thanks, as ever, to the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Bill Barnett: Scholar of the Day

Via this interesting speech by Walter Block, on the occasion of his receiving the Gary G. Schlarbaum Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Liberty, I learn of Walter's colleague at Loyola University, New Orleans, Bill Barnett, who Walter praises very highly. Here's an extract from one of Bill's lectures - Part 2. If you want to begin at the beginning, here's the link to Part 1. The sound in Part 1 is a bit scratchy, so you'll have to roll with that.

With thanks to the LoyolaEconClub's Channel.

UPDATE: Most of the rest of that lecture, if you follow it doesn't seem to work. Never mind.

Homo Interius ...

Or something.

Yes folks, it's the QT Challenge!

How long can you watch the Ministry of Truth's Question Time before reaching for the termination button with a cry of 'fucking socialists!'

I managed 6:32. Can you beat it?

Commenting problems?

One of my dear readers has informed me that he has had some trouble getting comments posted on the blog. I don't know what has caused this. My assumption is that it is a problem with blogspot, as I have similarly had a problem a couple of times recently with other blogspot sites. Let me know if this has affected you - you can use the email address at the top on the right.

It may be the net is finally closing, and we must gird our loins for battle, so excuse me while I tape the carving knife to the broom handle (American readers, learn from our folly - don't let them take your guns!), or else it's just a temporary glitch with blogspot.

UPDATE: I think what is causing a problem is, if one tries to leave a comment and log in to blogspot at the same time, so before trying to post a comment when you're not logged in, better copy it, in case it gets lost.

Catching up

I pay little attention to what's going on in music, so it is unsurprising that I'd never heard of The Bamboos until today, when Robert Elms spun one of their tunes on the radio. The above is 'You ain't no good', the below is 'Keep me in mind'.

Germany is not the enemy. The enemy is far closer to home

The Tory press seems to be making out Germany as the villain in the current political shenanigans concerning the disintegrating EU. Those of us in favour of independence should steer well clear of this evocation of the ghosts of past conflicts. This is not about the struggle of nation against nation, but of the parasitical political/bureaucratic class against the common people in this nation and in others.

David Cameron, clueless puppet though he is, should be the object of our ire, not Angela Merkel. He is the point-man for the EU's continued take-over of this country. The fact is that events are blowing gaping holes in the political position of the pro-Brussels gang. In this country they have forever lied to us that the EU was not about ever-closer union, leading inevitably to something resembling the United States of Europe. Elsewhere this has been discussed openly, but the pro-Brussels gang have not wanted such a debate. Far better to mislead the public for as long as humanly possible as to the true nature of the 'Project'.

What these traitors in our midst have fed us for decades is the mythical 'third way', that there existed a happy medium between the United States of Europe and the terror of our original independence, and that 'we' (by which they meant 'them') needed to be inside the tent arguing for the right reforms. This illusion is crashing down around their ears, as the Eurozone nations face up to abdicating the last meaningful shreds of their former sovereignty or splitting. In the first case, this will create the hardcore EU, booting out the 'third way monkeys' to the periphery. Such a result can only amplify the calls by all good people for this nation to slip off the leash and return to the status of free country.

To reiterate the original point: our struggle for independence is not with the Germans and the French.

It is with the enemies within.

Thick Britain: monolingual (if not monosyllabic)

It's easy to accrue data on how ignorant the proverbial man in the street is, although the accuracy of such data is often debatable. Young people certainly seem to know very little about anything other than themselves, and anecdotal scraps of evidence pile up around me. So I am not surprised to read in the Daily Mail that two out of three British people claim not to know a single foreign word.

Such a notion is, in one way, preposterous. Our language is built out of foreign words. To know English is thus to know Latin, French, German, Dutch etc, and then there are all the additions, such as 'kosher', 'assassin', 'tsunami', which have been assimilated.

Elsewhere in that report it states just under half of older people are happy to try to speak the lingo when abroad, but those people were schooled in a different age, before the influence of belly-button gazing, child-centric methods completely took over.

When the teaching of facts is systematically stripped out of education, and replaced with the concept of self-expression, it's no wonder so many youngsters are incapable of conjugating a foreign verb, regular or irregular, or even recognising the French for 'hello'. Rousseau would most likely be very proud of these 'noble savages', notwithstanding the gulf of incomprehension which would separate him from them.

BMA back away from "23 Times" lie - but too late!

Just as so many members of their profession like to re-write the wills of their recently deceased patients, the BMA is attempting to tippex their latest public proclamation, but the damage is done.

The BMA have been outed as lying propagandists for the Puritan Tendency, and their belated attempt to "correct" the lie only makes them more contemptible. As this blog and others reported, their headline statistic was made up, and known to be made up by all those who study the medical journals, having originated in a newspaper report, backed by no research.

What these Bloody Mendacious Arseholes want Winston Smith to snip out and burn is the following sentence:

“Further studies demonstrate that the concentration of toxins in a smoke-filled vehicle is 23 times greater than that of a smoky bar, even under realistic ventilation conditions.”

Why? Because they didn't do any such studies, they are merely repeating without checking something they've picked up from other organs of the Puritan movement. The "23 Times" claim is thus rather like the 'superbugs' that infest NHS hospitals: spread by doctors in (scientifically) unsanitary conditions.

Hat tip: Dick Puddlecote

I pity Cameron

They must have him fed on elephant tranquillizer to keep his brain from finally adding two and two together when it comes to the EU - or in his case the nemesis of his political career.

This man has taken doublethink to whole new vistas. For all his histrionics over Britain being freezed out of the Euro hardcore and theatrical posturing over minor matters, he remains resolutely opposed to our nation's sovereignty and our own status as electors.

All such media discussion is for foreign consumption. Surely there's no one left on this side of the Channel who takes the clown seriously? Who cares what he says? We know what he's doing: resisting the popular will to take back our sovereignty and ignoring the screamingly obvious conclusion that we, this nation, would be better off outside the EU bloc.

Cameron is standing with one foot each side of a fault-line, and with every passing shudder that crack gets wider, and the moment draws closer when Cam will tumble down, swallowed up in bubbling lava.

Around the world with Henry Rollins

Interesting fellow.

BMA make arse of themselves by repeating the "23 times" claim: find out where that number came from!

Via Dick to Nigel and thus to the Canadian medical journal CMAJ, I find an article investigating just where the oft-heard "smoking in a car is 23 times more toxic than a smoky bar" datum came from.

After much digging, they come to the conclusion that it does not exist in any peer-reviewed paper, but cropped up in a Rocky Mountain newspaper and has been quoted as fact ever since.

It concludes in its recommendations:

"We recommend that researchers and organizations stop using the 23 times more toxic factoid because there appears to be no evidence for it in the scientific literature."

This was written over a year ago, but the BMA - the sawbones syndicate - hasn't caught up yet.

Doctors - go wash your hands.

Doctors: 23 times more likely to lie, cheat, steal and murder

Back in the good old days, doctors were known to be a bunch of dipsomaniac, junkified, will-forging misanthropes. They still are, but sadly this knowledge has become obscured by a strange veneer of societal respect.

But not from me. As for banning smoking in cars, FUCK OFF.

Doctors, stick to what you're good at (murdering old people and spreading MRSA), and keep your puritanical opinions to yourselves.

And the rest!

I learn 100 MPs are bewailing the coming £0.03 per litre (plus VAT) tax hike planned by the greedy, gluttonous gov.

What about the rest? Remember; the £50 you pay to fill up your car buys £20 of petrol. The other £30 goes straight to the government. They like to blame the oil companies for high prices but the truth is very different. It is the government's avarice.

People who don't like the oil companies should note how the high tax rates work to force out competition to the handful of majors. The government, by squeezing the pips out of petrol sales, drives up the margin, knocking out the marginal suppliers.

Labour fumbles with eurosceptic bra catch

So Labour have decided to re-badge themselves as quasi -Euro-sceptics.

And?

Should I respond?

Should I point out the depth of their collective treason and unexpungable guilt?

They are still, however, defending their criminal theft of the referendum they promised us, and still all members of the anti-democracy, anti-sovereignty, pro-Brussels faction, but they are aware that their position is unpopular. They need to reposition, all the better to betray the people.

Hence this recent talk about ‘re-negotiation’ and ‘no further transfers of power’, ‘repatriation of powers’ etc. The aim is to craft a third way between sovereignty and the destruction of sovereignty. It goes without saying that there is no such third way.

There are, certainly, a handful of stalwarts in the Party, such as Kate Hoey and Austin Mitchell who have been vilified for years. All the rest are party hacks and traitors. See what Douglas Alexander says:

"There's even a tendency … to say people keep rejecting pro-European propositions because they aren't proposed in a pro-European enough way."

Really? A tendency? Well, there you have it. Our enemies don’t like being burdened by defending the status quo. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They don’t want to deal with the reality, but keep focused on the long-term goal of continent-wide Empire.

More twaddle from Barroso

Manuel Barroso, Duke of Brussels, casts some pearls of wisdom before us swine, writing in the Observer. To save you all the trouble of reading it yourselves, I've done it for you and can report there is nothing of note worthy of relaying.

It's the same old cracked record about how 'Europe' must advance together or face catastrophe. According to Barroso and all the rest of the nest of leeches, there is only one choice: allow Brussels to finish destroying democracy and independence or return to 1930s Europe. Inherent in this false choice is the threat that Barroso and gang would rather see Europe destroyed than lose their grip from its throat.

There is also another hint at the Brussels agenda in the title of the piece, which talks about 'the speed of the European Union'. No matter how far we've already gone, the journey continues to its ultimate destination - the nations of Europe dissolved into a centralised, imperial state. As Barroso and fellow centralisers struggle to consolidate control over the Eurozone countries, they realise that a risk exists that this nation, for one, may wriggle free. Not that the chance is great at the present moment, due to the entrenched treason at the heart of the Tory and Lib Dem parties. But with the electorate largely pro-independence, there is always hope. When the brush is dry, any spark will do, and it's not yet clear that both Greece and Italy will bow down in front of their newly-installed bankster bosses.

Jesse for President - Ron Paul for Vice

I've worked it out - the above combination is the solution. Jesse can get fighting, and Ron Paul can slip in as Vice at any time. Jesse's strong suit is not the economy, but he's smart enough to know who to listen to and who to put in charge, and that is Dr Paul.

Given the huge importance of grabbing hold of the American military machine that any sane President would see demands to be done, who would you rather put in charge; Jesse or Ron? It's got to be Jesse, given his background.

With Jesse nominally in charge, able to do the whole global schmooze, while the Doctor runs the back-office, the team would be perfect.

For Jesse, think Jackson; Andrew Jackson. This last gentleman wasn't a perfect theoretician of liberty, but he felt it in his gut. Fortunately he was surrounded by others who were also sound but with the theoretical knowledge to back it up. Jackson favoured sound money, because it was simple horse sense. The Jacksonians did so, because they had grasped the rudiments of monetary wisdom.

Snide remark at Shirley Williams

As is usual, I couldn't bear to watch the whole "Question Time", but if Shirley Williams wants to comment on the situation in Italy and the ouster of Berlusconi, she ought to know that he's not the President, he's the Prime Minister. She repeated it more than once, and no one corrected her.

EDL need to challenge the unlawful arrests in Westminster

Whilst I am no particular fan of EDL, it seems they are being used as the canary in the coal mine for the overt authoritarianism of the state police. How else are we supposed to interpret the arrest of 170 people who were doing nothing wrong, breaking no law and not in any way likely to break any law?

Whether or not you share the EDL's view of our nation, what cannot surely be doubted is that the members consider themselves patriots, and as such - and as evidenced by all their official statements on the matter - they were not in Westminster to cause trouble but to pay their respects to the nation's war dead. Although it is no doubt the case that a poppy-burning salafist would have provoked a reaction, there is not one shred of evidence that any of the arrested were doing anything wrong.

Consulting the Great Oracle (Wikipedia), I learn:

"In England and Wales, breach of the peace is not an offence, in the sense that it is not punishable either by a fine or imprisonment either at statute or common law and nor do proceedings for breach of the peace give rise to any conviction. In England and Wales, constables (or citizens) are permitted to arrest a person to "prevent a further breach of the peace" which allows for the police or the public to arrest a person before a breach of the peace has occurred. This is permitted when it is reasonable to believe should the person remain, that they would continue with their course of conduct and that a Breach of the Peace would occur."

This is very important. We were told, through the media, that the arrests took place "to prevent a breach of the peace" NOT a further breach of the peace. If words have meanings, it is clear that the only occasion that someone can be arrested to prevent a breach of the peace is if they are already committing or have already committed such a breach.

EDL have some thinking to do. My advice to them would be to pool their resources and get some proper legal advice and challenge the lawfulness of these arrests. They must be mindful of being manipulated as 'useful idiots'. They might also want to re-think who the real enemy is - the authoritarian state.

(P.S. According to that Wikipedia clip, citizens have the same power of arrest, so next time maybe EDL should arrest the cops on the same charge.)

"They pulled the poll"

Found on Azascan's Channel -Politics or Poetics - You Decide.

Why were EDL members arrested?

There's something very fishy in the arrest of 150 EDL supporters for the crime of ... err ... what exactly? According to the Graun, the fuzz stepped in and arrested 150 "to prevent breach of the peace". So ... not actually for breach of the peace.

The cover story is that the EDL members, in London to pay their respects on Armistice Day, were planning to steam over to St Pauls and ... what? Commit a breach of the peace?

However, this does not square with EDL's comments prior to the day.

"To those of you who will still be attending London in the morning to pay your respects,‭ ‬please make your way to Westminster and not Kensington as originally planned.‭ ‬We wish to remind you to conduct yourselves accordingly by dressing smartly‭ (‬suit and tie if possible‭) ‬and acting respectfully and responsibly.‭ ‬This is not an EDL march and EDL colours/hoodies and banners should not be bought along.‭ ‬Above all wear your poppy with pride‭!"

This article discusses the government's proscription of Muslims against Crusades, so the plan to disrupt the poppy burners was no longer necessary. Thus, as far as I can see, the EDL had only one objective - to align themselves with the sentiment of Armistice Day, which dictates respectful behaviour. Getting into fights at St Pauls Cathedral would hardly be fitting. Also these arrests took place in Westminster, two miles down the road, outside the jurisdiction of the police in Westminster incidently.

Ron Paul Rocks The Debate - but media misses the story!

CNBC scuttles its own poll, because the Good Doctor was winning by a wide margin.

The Guardian yet again falls over itself not to allow his name to be printed. He is lumped in with all the rest who didn't make an impression. In the above clip you can also see Rick Perry tripped by an invisible leg, metaphorically speaking.

UPDATE: I NOTE CNBC HAS BLOCKED THE VIDEO CLIP. THEY REALLY DON'T LIKE RON PAUL'S MESSAGE GETTING OUT TO THE PEOPLE.

FOR KILLING THE POLL AND NOW KILLING THE CLIP; CNBC - SHAME ON YOU!

UPDATE 2: I've found another version of the video. Get it while you can, folks.

Nothing enflames the state-worshippers more than self-defence

It's probably not hugely important, but the Mail covers a story about a US self-defence expert who various knicker-wetting Labourites are trying to get banned from the country, simply because he teaches to meet violence with bigger violence. Here's one of them:

Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said: 'I'm shocked that someone would come to Britain with the sole purpose of profiteering from the troubles this summer.

'This kind of inflammatory rhetoric has the potential to incite violence and make our streets more dangerous not less.

'The real story of the disturbances was told - not by those who caused the damage - but by the hundreds of people who came out onto the streets in the days afterwards to clean up and take back their communities.'

Bollocks. The real story was that the riots were stopped by valiant citizens defending their properties and not allowing the scumbag looters to trash, burn and steal. Those who worship the state despise self-defence. They consider the disarmed victims of scumbag criminals to be a price worth paying to ensure that citizens can't defend their liberties against the biggest and most predatory criminal of all ...

the state itself.

UK Borders; the scandal they don't mention

I see the Home Secretary and some of her overpaid tax-leaches are in hot water about relaxing the passport checks. What no one seems to be mentioning is that this was in response to passengers being kept for hours on end waiting to get through the checking process.

As someone who rarely flies these days, and viscerally hates airports, now they have been transformed into Stasi-Land theme parks, my sympathy is for the passengers. What kind of introduction is it to this country, that they are kept for hours, due to the inefficiency and callous disregard of the border goons?

All this bed-wetting, fear-mongering 'security' achieves is to piss off ordinary people (and if it doesn't piss you off, it fucking should), and does very little to detect actual criminals or bone fide terrorists, especially if they're holding EU passports.

So, border goons, if you must do all your pointless security checks, get a move on with it.

"The left must abandon the EU"? Well, of course

I note this article from Ian Dunt, calling for the left to abandon the vampire squid of Brussels, where he writes:

The turning point came last week, when the elected prime minister of Greece was marched into an office and dressed down by the leaders of a foreign state. His plans for a referendum of the Greek people were scrapped. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said he expected a government of national unity – one without any mandate whatsoever – to be installed with all the off-hand arrogance of an emperor. And so it came to pass, with Loukas Papademos, one of those technocrats which the androids in Brussels consider reliable, primed to take over the top job.

Such would be a good thing. The arguments I have been making in favour of national independence and democracy should resonate with left-wingers, or at least are not in any way anti-left. Neither should left-wingers support the now-numerous occurrences of innocent citizens being abducted under the European Arrest Warrant and rendered unto foreign jails for long spells without a shred of evidence having been produced, and there's something faintly absurd to hear them denouncing a referendum on the grounds that it harms our beloved system of (un)representative democracy.

So, come on over, lefties! Join the fight for liberty, democracy and independence.

Regulatory Idolatry

The fatal pile-up on the M5 has unsurprisingly led to calls from the usual suspects to ice the government’s plans to increase the maximum speed limit. As the cliché goes; speed kills.

However, this terrible accident does not have any bearing on the issue of changing the speed limit. Only those who have succumbed to what I would call regulatory idolatry would think it any way connected. The sin of idolatry involves making a statue of God and then worshipping the statue. In terms of the metaphor here employed, the god is road safety. As any decent driver knows, driving safely means driving at an appropriate speed notwithstanding the speed limit. Unfortunately, the rule-loving idolaters seem to have twisted this simple wisdom into something very different, that driving safely means driving within the speed limit.

The danger inherent in this creed is not so much that people are prevented from driving as fast as they wish, but rather that they will be deluded into obeying the speed limit without due regard to the conditions. I cannot pass much comment on the M5 crash, but it is, I would say, incontrovertible that some drivers were driving too fast, irrespective of any speed limit. Given the reported conditions of low visibility, the speed limit i.e., the maximum speed you are permitted to go by regulation, is irrelevant. Only a fool or an idolater could think otherwise.

UPDATE: It may be worth reading this at Longrider's

EU arrest warrant exposes authoritarian agenda behind Brussels ... again

The story of a British woman arrested and held by German authorities for two weeks is just another example of many why ordinary people should despise the Brussels regime and all who serve it (e.g. David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband etc.)

Our rights and liberties are not the gift of the state. They pre-exist any state. Indeed they furnish the only justification that a state has to exist in the first place. Nonetheless, states have always sought to deprive us of these rights and liberties, as they hold back the illicit privileges of those who use the state for their own private benefit gain.

European integration is happening at one level above all; the level of authoritarian jackboot-lickers, who want to use modern technology to track and trace us, all the better to prey upon us, shake us down and abuse us for their sadistic pleasures.

The main parties are dominated by traitors who serve Brussels. No hope of change lies with them. Members and supporters of the main parties have a lot to answer for - they are the enablers, who through their lazy tribal loyalty, are sitting on their hands while the crooks are taking what's left of our birthright.

More Chili

After posting the tune below, I have been listening to quite a bit of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is 'Dani California' with some great playing by John Frusciante (as ever).

Antique gun collector jailing stinks of malicious prosecution

Here's a guy with 140 legally held firearms, and he's raided, prosecuted, convicted and now jailed for two years for holding four air rifles without the 'proper certification'?

Bullshit. Here's my guess: the police didn't like the guy holding guns so they raided him looking for something, anything to bust him, so they could grab his property, thereby sending a chilling effect through other gun collectors.

One man speaking sense

I've been looking around to see what criticism is being made and what mud thrown at Ron Paul, and found they've still got nothing on him - unsurprisingly. On the journey I saw this in support of Dr Paul, from the 85allthewaylive YouTube channel.

Part Two

In case you missed it...

Foo Fighters, Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones - Rock 'n' Roll

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground

A snippet from Livy

I found the following passage interesting from Livy's History of Rome (Book XLIV), written in the reign of Augustus. It takes place prior to the decisive battle between the Roman forces and the Macedonians in 168 BC. Perhaps my dear readers will agree.

"When Aemilius Paulus saw that the site of the camp had been marked out and the baggage collected, he first quietly withdrew the triarii from the back of the line, then the principes, leaving the hastati standing in front, in case the enemy made any movement. Finally he retired these also, withdrawing those on the right first, maniple by maniple. In this way the infantry were withdrawn without creating any confusion, leaving the cavalry and light infantry facing the enemy. The cavalry were not recalled from their position until the rampart and fosse in front of the camp were carried their full length. The king was quite ready to give battle that day, but as his men were aware that the delay was due to the enemy he was quite content, and he too led his men back to camp.

When the fortification of the camp was completed, C. Sulpicius Gallus, a military tribune attached to the second legion, who had been a praetor the year before, obtained the consul's permission to call the soldiers on parade. He then explained that on the following night the moon would lose her light from the second hour to the fourth, and no one must regard this as a portent, because this happened in the natural order of things at stated intervals, and could be known beforehand and predicted. Just in the same way, then, as they did not regard the regular rising and setting of the sun and moon or the changes in the light of the moon from full circle to a thin and waning crescent as a marvel, so they ought not to take its obscuration when it is hidden in the shadow of the earth for a supernatural portent.

On the next night - September 4 - the eclipse took place at the stated hour, and the Roman soldiers thought that Gallus possessed almost divine wisdom. It gave a shock to the Macedonians as portending the fall of their kingdom and the ruin of their nation, nor could their soothsayers give any other explanation. Shouts and howls went on in the Macedonian camp until the moon emerged and gave her light."

"So many targets, so little time"

Hickok45 having fun with his Gen 4 Glock 21

Elsewhere Hickok continues his war on pumpkins.

Science and Technology: Economics and Liberalism

The following is taken from 'Epistemological Problems of Economics' by Ludwig von Mises, from the section entitled 'The task and scope of the science of human action; Science and value'.

I think it's worth reflecting upon, as the issue of economics being value-free, which is discussed here, comes up quite often, usually in my case as a defence against an accusation of heartlessness or of despising the poor, when arguing against a particular act of state intervention. The free market liberal position meets with a great deal of hostility, but I believe this is mainly due to a misunderstanding of what that position really is and is not. Certainly it has been misrepresented by its opponents, and no doubt poorly represented by its adherents.

I recognise grappling with epistemological problems is not for everyone - but someone's got to do it! With a proper grasp of the fundamentals, it is then possible to convey the arguments to others in consistent, coherent and simpler terms.

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Science and Technology: Economics and Liberalism

Whether science seeks knowledge for its own sake or in order thereby to obtain information for the sake of action, or whether it aims at both ends at the same time, it is in any case permissible to make practical use of the results of scientific investigation. Man thinks not only for the sake of thinking, but also in order to act. There would be no need to repeat these truisms were it not for the fact that antiliberal, partisan propaganda in the guise of science day after day vehemently seeks to deny them.

The fact that economics, as a science, is neutral with regard to judgments of value and that it can express neither approval nor disapproval does not prevent us from trying to learn from economics how we must arrange our action in order to achieve the ends at which we aim. The ends can be diverse. Caligula, who wished that the whole Roman people had but one head so that he might decapitate them at a single stroke, had different ends in mind from those of other mortals. However, such exceptional cases are rare; and their tendency to be self-destructive (Caligula, indeed, would hardly have long survived the fulfillment of his wish) makes an exhaustive concern with their ideals unnecessary. No matter how much their wishes, desires, and valuations may differ in details, men aim, for biological reasons, at the same basic ends. Regardless of world view, religion, nationality, race, class, position, education, personal abilities, age, health, or sex, they aspire above all to be able to pass their lives under the most favorable physiological conditions possible. They want to eat and drink; they seek clothing, shelter, and various other things in addition. Moreover, they are of the opinion that more food, clothing, and the like, is better than less.

Every individual desires life, health, and well-being for himself and for his friends and close relations. At the same time, the life, health, and well-being of others may be indifferent to him. Filled with the atavistic instincts of a beast of prey, he may even believe that others stand in his way, that they are depriving him of foraging grounds, and that the satisfaction of his wants must involve the killing and robbing of his fellow men. But the technology based on the cognitions of the science of human action shows him that this is not so. Work performed under the division of labor is more productive than the isolated labor of the individual. Even when superior men combine with those less favored in every respect and inferior to them in capacity for work and intellectual and physical abilities, both sides gain, as is demonstrated by Ricardo's law of association (usually called the law of comparative costs). Consequently, every individual is better able to attain his ends by the social cooperation of labor than by isolated work.

Social cooperation, however, can be based only on the foundation of private ownership of the means of production. Socialism - the public ownership of the means of production - would make impossible any economic calculation and is therefore impracticable. The absurdity of syndicalism is undisputed. As for interventionist encroachments, they prove - when judged from the point of view of those who advocate them - senseless and contrary to purpose, because they not only do not bring about the results desired by their supporters, but involve consequences that they themselves must deprecate.

Therefore, when one reaches the conclusion, strictly by adherence to the canons of scientific procedure, that private ownership of the means of production is the only practicable form of social organization, this is neither an apology for capitalism nor an improper attempt to lend the authority of science to the support of liberalism. To the man who adopts the scientific method in reflecting upon the problems of human action, liberalism must appear as the only policy that can lead to lasting well-being for himself, his friends, and his loved ones, and, indeed, for all others as well. Only one who does not want to achieve such ends as life, health, and prosperity for himself, his friends, and those he loves, only one who prefers sickness, misery, and suffering may reject the reasoning of liberalism on the ground that it is not neutral with regard to value judgments.

The defenders of the prevailing etatist and interventionist system completely misunderstand this. They think that the acceptance of liberalism, on the assumptions mentioned, presupposes a definite world view.[1] Liberalism has nothing to do with world views, metaphysics, or value judgments.

We can imagine beings similar to men who would want to extinguish their humanity and, by putting an end to all thought and action, to attain to the unthinking, passive, vegetative existence of plants. It is doubtful whether there are or have ever been such men. Even St. Aegidius, the most radical advocate of asceticism, was not altogether consistent in his zeal for austerity when he recommended the birds and the fish as a model for man. To be entirely consistent, together with the Sermon on the Mount, he would have had to extol the lilies of the field as the embodiments of the ideal of complete abandonment of all concern for the improvement of one's lot.

We have nothing to say to men of this kind, consistent ascetics who by their self-denying passivity give themselves up to death, just as they would have nothing to say to us. If one wishes to call their doctrine a world view, then one must not forget to add that it is not a human world view, since it must lead to the extinction of mankind. Our science sees men only as acting men, not as plants having the appearance of men. Acting man aims at ends, i.e., he wants to overcome dissatisfaction as far as possible. Our science shows that aiming at ends is necessary to existence and that human ends, whatever they may be, are better attained by the social cooperation of the division of labor than in isolation. (It is worthy of note that no historical experience has been found in conflict with this proposition.) Once one has appreciated this fact, one realizes that no standard of value of any kind is contained in the system of economic or sociological theory or in the teachings of liberalism, which constitute the practical application of this theory to action in society. All objections to the effect that economics, sociology, and liberalism are predicated on a definite world view prove untenable once it is recognized that the science of action is concerned only with acting men and that it can say nothing about plant-like beings living with no thought of tomorrow, whom we can scarcely consider as human.

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[1] E.g., Vleugel's "Probleme der Wertlehre," Archiv f?r Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, LXVIII, 227f. Liberalism has no thought of denying the existence of servilism and its world view. All that liberalism endeavors to demonstrate is that the realization of the goals of servilism would necessarily bring about consequences of whose inevitability its advocates are in ignorance and which, even in their own eyes, must appear as too high a price to have to pay for the attainment of their ideal.

Jesse on the Alex Jones Show

Jesse Ventura talking to Alex Jones on various issues (part 2 of 4), prior to the Federal Court ruling, which went against his right to challenge the TSA's illegal search procedures. From his reaction following that ruling, he ain't happy, and understandably so.

Unnecessary legislation

I couldn't be fagged to watch the whole of PMQs over at Calling England, but one early question (from Jason McCartney of Colne Valley) related to the theft of cabling and memorial plaques, with a call upon the government to legislate to stop such metals being recycled via scrap dealers.

This kind of thing annoys me, because there are obviously laws against such things, and thus no need for additional laws. What is necessary is for the courts to apply the law, and throw the proverbial book at such thieving scum.

Of course, if they want to do something positive about tackling theft, they could restore our right to keep and bear arms, but I won't hold my breath.

Peter Schiff taking the straight line

Peter Schiff takes on Cornel West.

War drums beating louder for attack on Iran

How sickening I find it that our government is preparing to play its supine part in a wholly unprovoked act of war against a country that has never done anything to us. I can already hear the false piety of our politicians, justifying murder.

If Iran displayed even a fraction of the bellicosity that Israel and the USA shove in its face, the war would have already started.

Janet Napolitano on Fast and Furious

Whatever she's on, it ain't a truth drug!



Learn more here.

News Round Up

There's a lot going on in these interesting times of ours. I'm somewhat lacking in energy at present, but a few things caught my attention. Firstly, there's the Greek referendum. Then there's the removal of all the Greek military chiefs. It wasn't that long ago when Greece was under a military dictatorship, so it makes me wonder what provoked the decision.

(Hat tip: The Boiling Frog)

On the Eddie Nestor's Drive Time show (Radio London) I heard an interesting, or should I say disturbing interview with Andrew Symeou, an innocent man bundled off to Greece and held without trial for almost a year, thanks to a European Arrest Warrant, even though there was not a shred of evidence against him, and the British courts knew it, but handed him over anyway, claiming there was nothing they could do. This kind of thing, and his case is not the only one, is why freedom-loving people hate the European Union, and why people who support it are traitors and scum.

Meanwhile, I learn there are plans afoot to criminalise squatting. I must declare myself against such a measure. After the last government, you'd think there was nothing left to criminalise, and it is a shame, albeit one that does not surprise, that the current government is carrying on with the programme. The main problem with squatting is the cost of taking legal action to get them out. This could be addressed by finding ways to reduce those costs. Making it a criminal offence is bound to lead to acts of injustice. It is already, of course, a criminal offence to break and enter, and there may be scope for examining the borderline cases, where the squatters are clearly taking the piss, but I am not convinced criminalising such matters is the answer.

Finally, over in the US, the Fast and Furious scandal seems to be growing, with hideous troll Janet Napolitano lying through her teeth that she knew nothing.

Tony Parsons on form

In case you missed it, Tony Parsons writes a funny piece taking the piss out of the pro-Brussels gang in the Mirror. Check it out, my fellow patriots.

Hat tip: Daniel Hannan