We are gathered here today to recognize the death of one of our greatest freedoms- free speech.
The Duck Dynasty debacle is just the latest in the leftist/media attack on anything they disagree with.
Free speech once allowed us to converse like adults. We were not offended by opinions nor did we feel the need to personally attack someone who offered their opinion.
We respected people who shared their opinions with us even when we disagreed. We did not feel "under attack" which is the common thread in today's dialogue. People voice their displeasure and often attack others for their opinions. This attack mentality is brought about by two things.
Insecurity and intolerance.
In short, today's culture takes everything personally. It demands that you agree with it or suffer the consequences.
We can't talk about anything it seems- without offending someone. Either we have become the most insecure nation ever or perhaps and more likely, we have forgotten what is really important.
Diversity. The ability to share thoughts and opinions without suffering an attack. I don't ever tell people what to say nor do I act like a baby when I hear something I disagree with.
That includes terms like nigger, faggot, cunt and all of the other horrible words. I use those three words specifically- because they tend to arouse the most hatred and vitriol- and they are not going to go away anytime soon. They are just words but you'd think that they have some sort of secret, evil power to see the reactions those words conjure up in people. I don't give those words much power. I tend to not use them and what I don't do- is march around the planet like some victim attacking everyone who does use those words. I don't demand your compliance with my unwritten and un-communicated expectations.
Grow a spine America. Quit acting like babies every time you hear something you disagree with.
It's a shame that we have a growing majority who does not understand the utility and importance of free speech. They want to tell everyone how to behave, how to act, and what to say.
Fuck them.
I don't practice conditional tolerance. I practice unconditional tolerance.That includes my card carrying leftist friends who think their opinion is the only one which counts.
Free speech dies when you quit protecting it. Even when you hate it or disagree with it. A lot of people died protecting your right to engage in free speech, Without free speech- we are just a nation of voiceless sheep.
That's one of the big reasons we left England in the first place. Those who hate free speech can always go back.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
The Obama Economy- No QE Taper Possible Before 2014 Elections
Every few weeks, a new Quantitative Easing (QE) rumor begins. I have been following this phenomenon quite closely while consuming and digesting virtually everything that I can read on the subject. In a nutshell...
QE is the FED's way of liquefying the bankrupt banking sector by injecting 85 billion a month. In an inflation sense- this is incendiary. With all of this free money, the bankers and the elite have run the markets to astronomical levels in this pretend recovery. Predictably enough, outgoing Chairman Bernanke (the same guy who saw no bubble in housing in 2007) assures us that the FED can instantly withdraw all of those excess reserves (trillions) sitting around on member banks' computers.
I can virtually guarantee there will be no stop to QE prior to the 2014 elections.
Instead, the FED will simply talk about ending QE by supplying various lines of bullshit to a naïve and unwitting populace. In fact, this has been their modus operandi over the last 9 months or so. Every time the FED talks about ending QE the market tanks- this I suppose simulates a normal market that occasionally sells off.
A risk manager once told me that the best predictor of future behavior occurs when we examine historical fact.
I believe that 2014 will be the year that common sense gets thrown out on it's ear.
Politically speaking, there's not one chance in 100 that the FED will taper or reduce it's treasury or mortgage purchases unless it runs out of supply. If that occurs, they will simply start buying something else- perhaps state debts or student loan debt.
This is a government that manipulates everything- from propaganda in government statistics to the money supply. That is why there is virtually no chance that QE will end in the next year. To stop QE and drive the market to all time lows- would spell disaster for the ruling democratic party. They would lose an unprecedented amount of seats in the 2014 elections.
I don't see any reason to get nervous about the markets or the ultimate economic collapse until the fall of 2014.
Until then, expect the same old bullshit talk about QE ending when it actually won't. Political expediency, or the willingness to forego doing the right thing for your own selfish interests, is the hallmark feature of Obama and the ruling party. There will no reduction in QE prior to Nov. 2014.
I have read nothing about Janet Yellen (and her very liberal husband) to suggest to me that anything will change anytime soon.
Holding stocks seems fairly risk free- at least over the next 9 months or so. I expect gold and silver prices to languish over this time frame as well. The fun won't start until Oct. 2014- then I think things will get quite interesting.
QE is the FED's way of liquefying the bankrupt banking sector by injecting 85 billion a month. In an inflation sense- this is incendiary. With all of this free money, the bankers and the elite have run the markets to astronomical levels in this pretend recovery. Predictably enough, outgoing Chairman Bernanke (the same guy who saw no bubble in housing in 2007) assures us that the FED can instantly withdraw all of those excess reserves (trillions) sitting around on member banks' computers.
I can virtually guarantee there will be no stop to QE prior to the 2014 elections.
Instead, the FED will simply talk about ending QE by supplying various lines of bullshit to a naïve and unwitting populace. In fact, this has been their modus operandi over the last 9 months or so. Every time the FED talks about ending QE the market tanks- this I suppose simulates a normal market that occasionally sells off.
A risk manager once told me that the best predictor of future behavior occurs when we examine historical fact.
I believe that 2014 will be the year that common sense gets thrown out on it's ear.
Politically speaking, there's not one chance in 100 that the FED will taper or reduce it's treasury or mortgage purchases unless it runs out of supply. If that occurs, they will simply start buying something else- perhaps state debts or student loan debt.
This is a government that manipulates everything- from propaganda in government statistics to the money supply. That is why there is virtually no chance that QE will end in the next year. To stop QE and drive the market to all time lows- would spell disaster for the ruling democratic party. They would lose an unprecedented amount of seats in the 2014 elections.
I don't see any reason to get nervous about the markets or the ultimate economic collapse until the fall of 2014.
Until then, expect the same old bullshit talk about QE ending when it actually won't. Political expediency, or the willingness to forego doing the right thing for your own selfish interests, is the hallmark feature of Obama and the ruling party. There will no reduction in QE prior to Nov. 2014.
I have read nothing about Janet Yellen (and her very liberal husband) to suggest to me that anything will change anytime soon.
Holding stocks seems fairly risk free- at least over the next 9 months or so. I expect gold and silver prices to languish over this time frame as well. The fun won't start until Oct. 2014- then I think things will get quite interesting.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Obama Tells Another Lie, Legacy Media Refuses to Publish the Truth Once Again
We don't have media in this country. We have state owned propaganda distributors.
Here's Obama lying about Syria a few months ago. It's almost like we knew it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/seymour-hersh-syria-report_n_4409674.html
Here's Obama lying about Syria a few months ago. It's almost like we knew it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/seymour-hersh-syria-report_n_4409674.html
The Art of Losing- The Sunday Collage
I've had a very interesting couple of weeks. I took a job, which is temporary throughout the winter, moving heavy freight and delivering it. It can be viciously hard work moving a 500 pound gun safe up or down a steep staircase but it is also interesting.
Imagine spending the better part of 25 years as a cop. Virtually everyone I talked to was never happy to see me. Cops deliver a stream of bad news. We aren't Welcome Wagon. Realistically speaking, that experience skewed my view of the world. I began to feel as though the world was full of assholes. It was the anti-thesis of the Stockholm Syndrome.
Everyone is happy to see me now. I am bringing them some new toy. Maybe it's a gun safe, a new bed, a giant plasma tv, or some other hideously large item.
I have always said that one in ten people are assholes. Those numbers have remained constant throughout my working and private life. In the old life it was true- in the new life- it is true also. That has been my observation.
This past week, I delivered about ten items per day. On three days, I ran into three assholes. What did the three have in common?
All three of them were educated and well off. Their homes or ranches were all in the 600k plus category. They seemed annoyed by my presence. Like I was inconveniencing them by showing up with whatever they had ordered. No amount of being nice to these people works. You cannot rehab an asshole. On one occasion, I paid a compliment to one of them on a very uniquely carved interior wall of their home. He told me he didn't like the wall and then made a couple more diminishing remarks that apparently his ego demanded that he make in order to reassure himself of his superiority.
Make other people feel bad so that you can feel better. It is a form of mental illness. In the old days, I let people like that have both barrels. When they took a cheap shot, I put a torpedo in the water.
You know what happens? I always feel bad after igniting a flame war. Wisdom is the art of losing and realizing that you are really winning. I am mastering the art of losing and I gotta tell ya, it feels like winning.
Some people are just miserable. Perhaps they are stressed out, failing, insecure, or maybe they have some wall that their deceased wife just had to have and it cost a fortune to carve. I don't know. The good news is that I don't need to know.
In fact, I used to be one of those people. In my most most depressed days- I'm not sure I could have mustered enough where with all to come off like a decent human being. What I am saying is this. I used to be one of the "one in ten."
Today I have learned not to take anything personally. I accept that one in ten people, for a littany of reasons, is going to behave like an asshole. That has nothing to do with me. These people present growth opportunities. They force you to learn, to develop counter solutions, and to learn that often in life the answer for many mysteries is nothing more than acceptance and trying something new.
Sometimes you must give up to win. That is the art of losing. That type of wisdom does not come easy. Imagine our government saying- this drug war thing isn't working. We should give up and try something different- maybe even legalizing drugs. Can you imagine that? Government does not possess that type of wisdom. Every problem is a nail. Government will never be anything more than a hammer. They might as well sell every other tool in the box because they will never need them.
It's been an interesting month. Meeting people without a badge on. It is an amazing thing to see people happy when you show up. It's like a whole different world for me. The contrast is amazing- it almost makes the job worthwhile. Well, except for pushing 500 pound gun safes up hideously steep staircases.
Imagine spending the better part of 25 years as a cop. Virtually everyone I talked to was never happy to see me. Cops deliver a stream of bad news. We aren't Welcome Wagon. Realistically speaking, that experience skewed my view of the world. I began to feel as though the world was full of assholes. It was the anti-thesis of the Stockholm Syndrome.
Everyone is happy to see me now. I am bringing them some new toy. Maybe it's a gun safe, a new bed, a giant plasma tv, or some other hideously large item.
I have always said that one in ten people are assholes. Those numbers have remained constant throughout my working and private life. In the old life it was true- in the new life- it is true also. That has been my observation.
This past week, I delivered about ten items per day. On three days, I ran into three assholes. What did the three have in common?
All three of them were educated and well off. Their homes or ranches were all in the 600k plus category. They seemed annoyed by my presence. Like I was inconveniencing them by showing up with whatever they had ordered. No amount of being nice to these people works. You cannot rehab an asshole. On one occasion, I paid a compliment to one of them on a very uniquely carved interior wall of their home. He told me he didn't like the wall and then made a couple more diminishing remarks that apparently his ego demanded that he make in order to reassure himself of his superiority.
Make other people feel bad so that you can feel better. It is a form of mental illness. In the old days, I let people like that have both barrels. When they took a cheap shot, I put a torpedo in the water.
You know what happens? I always feel bad after igniting a flame war. Wisdom is the art of losing and realizing that you are really winning. I am mastering the art of losing and I gotta tell ya, it feels like winning.
Some people are just miserable. Perhaps they are stressed out, failing, insecure, or maybe they have some wall that their deceased wife just had to have and it cost a fortune to carve. I don't know. The good news is that I don't need to know.
In fact, I used to be one of those people. In my most most depressed days- I'm not sure I could have mustered enough where with all to come off like a decent human being. What I am saying is this. I used to be one of the "one in ten."
Today I have learned not to take anything personally. I accept that one in ten people, for a littany of reasons, is going to behave like an asshole. That has nothing to do with me. These people present growth opportunities. They force you to learn, to develop counter solutions, and to learn that often in life the answer for many mysteries is nothing more than acceptance and trying something new.
Sometimes you must give up to win. That is the art of losing. That type of wisdom does not come easy. Imagine our government saying- this drug war thing isn't working. We should give up and try something different- maybe even legalizing drugs. Can you imagine that? Government does not possess that type of wisdom. Every problem is a nail. Government will never be anything more than a hammer. They might as well sell every other tool in the box because they will never need them.
It's been an interesting month. Meeting people without a badge on. It is an amazing thing to see people happy when you show up. It's like a whole different world for me. The contrast is amazing- it almost makes the job worthwhile. Well, except for pushing 500 pound gun safes up hideously steep staircases.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Icelandic Cops Shoot Man, First Ever
I read an interesting story this morning. In recorded history, Icelandic cops have never had to shoot a suspect. Until yesterday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25190119
As soon as I read this, I remember that some people with mental illness are responding to a drum that nobody else hears. That doesn't make it any less real for them. I think this was one of those guys.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25190119
As soon as I read this, I remember that some people with mental illness are responding to a drum that nobody else hears. That doesn't make it any less real for them. I think this was one of those guys.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
The Dangers of Anal Sex
A woman went to her doctor for advice. She told him that
her husband had developed a penchant for anal sex, and she was not
sure that it was such a good idea.
"Do you enjoy it?" The doctor asked.
"Actually, yes, I do," she answered.
"Does it hurt you?" he asked.
"No. I rather like it," she responded.
"Well, then," the doctor continued, "there's no reason that
you shouldn't
practice anal sex, if that's what you like, so long as you take care
not to get pregnant."
The woman was mystified. "What? You can get pregnant from anal sex?"
"Of course," the doctor replied. "Where do you think people
like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Debbie Wasserman
Schultz and Barak Obama come from?"
her husband had developed a penchant for anal sex, and she was not
sure that it was such a good idea.
"Do you enjoy it?" The doctor asked.
"Actually, yes, I do," she answered.
"Does it hurt you?" he asked.
"No. I rather like it," she responded.
"Well, then," the doctor continued, "there's no reason that
you shouldn't
practice anal sex, if that's what you like, so long as you take care
not to get pregnant."
The woman was mystified. "What? You can get pregnant from anal sex?"
"Of course," the doctor replied. "Where do you think people
like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Debbie Wasserman
Schultz and Barak Obama come from?"
Saturday, November 30, 2013
"If I don't write you a ticket, who would I write one to?"- The Sunday Collage
Today, I thought I'd use an old cop story as an illustrative tool. I hope you enjoy it.
Many years ago on a Monday morning, I donned a new uniform and went to work patrolling city streets. It was probably about 7:30 when I saw this old pickup truck roll through a stop sign. His windows were still frosted up, I remember him peering out a hole near the dash.
In the old days before complete paranoia set in among the police culture, I would often ask motorists to sit in my car rather than freeze my ass off while talking to them outside. Oddly enough, this practice often resulted in cops and motorists actually getting acquainted and having civil conversations. This then... is how I handled this traffic stop.
When I asked this guy for his driver's license, he handed me an old driver's license before the days when we laminated them. I hadn't seen one of these in years. As I squinted down and saw the expiration date, I bellowed out that this thing had been expired for 17 years! The motorist, now looking very sheepishly about the patrol car and at me, remarked that he had never been stopped in 17 years. Of course that degree of traffic obedience was not lost on me. However, I told him that I would have to give him a ticket and I added, "If I don't write you a ticket, who would I write one to?" Perhaps I would have to draw the line with motorists once their driver's licenses had been expired 20 years or more. That seemed a little foolish.
So I felt around my shirt to get one of the pens I normally put in my pocket and realized I had forgotten to put them in my new shirt this morning. I immediately checked my console and equipment bag. The glove box also. I could not find a pen anywhere and my passenger was now smiling. When I asked him if he had a pen on him, this is what he said. "Dude, if I was a fucking pen salesman, I wouldn't give you a sample pen right now!"
Such was my embarrassment that I handed him back his useless license. I told him that if he didn't get a new one TODAY...I would see him tomorrow, with a pen, and issue that ticket. I saw him at DMV later that day.
This evening, I actually read a Washington Post editorial piece written by a college professor who was making his case for the repeal of term limits so that President Obama could run again.
Like a license that was expired 17 years prior- it should be obvious to all by now- that term limits were designed especially because of people like Obama. He is the poster child for the genesis of term limit laws.
I am in complete awe. I am in awe that a college professor could write something like that. Awe that a widely circulated newspaper would print something so ridiculous. I am in awe of anyone, anywhere, that thinks Obama is anything but a useless, self serving liar who couldn't find his ass with both hands in a well lit room. The days when he does absolutely nothing- are his best days. But mostly I am in awe at anybody who thinks this guy is actually a good president.
But then again, there are people who actually bought AMC Pacers.
I can't link the WaPo piece. If you want to read it, you can find it.
Obama should probably have been impeached back when he stonewalled Congress for the government's criminal activities in Fast and Furious which includes Agent Terry's un-necessary death. How may subpoenas has he disobeyed? How many people have been targeted by the IRS or have to die at places like Benghazi while Captain Do Nothing gets some beauty sleep before his Vegas golf outing the following day?
If Obama were white, he'd be gone. We all know it and thankfully I can say it. Had George Bush committed just one one of the many scandals that Obama has been involved in- the liberals and collectivists would be calling for his head. Nixon and Bush were pikers compared to this guy.
What level of maliciousness, corruption, dereliction of duty, incompetence, or outright dishonesty does one have to engage in before the American people say enough is enough?
I'm not sure. I thought we were well beyond that point where it was obvious. Nixon would be in complete awe of Obama and the fact that a nation full of idiots would most likely re elect him.
Mob rule is here.
There used to be a time in our culture that when you screwed up, you clearly understood what that meant and you were willing to suffer the consequences. You were taught some level of responsibility and healthy shame. In today's culture, taking responsibility for your poor decisions is unheard of. Humility and shame do not exist. In fact, if you can convince people that none of this is your fault- they might be stupid enough to believe it.
We have rules with good reasons. While I don't necessarily agree with taxing citizens for a new license every four years- at least it provides a system of checks and balances for the ill or the elderly who unfortunately, should no longer drive. Term limits were installed after FDR essentially turned our society into a socialist paradise- seizing gold, printing money, and installing programs with the help of Congress. Programs that we can no longer afford and which Congress as usual- has ruined.
Kind of like Obamcare. The difference is, we won't have to wait 70 years to see this program fail.
Many years ago on a Monday morning, I donned a new uniform and went to work patrolling city streets. It was probably about 7:30 when I saw this old pickup truck roll through a stop sign. His windows were still frosted up, I remember him peering out a hole near the dash.
In the old days before complete paranoia set in among the police culture, I would often ask motorists to sit in my car rather than freeze my ass off while talking to them outside. Oddly enough, this practice often resulted in cops and motorists actually getting acquainted and having civil conversations. This then... is how I handled this traffic stop.
When I asked this guy for his driver's license, he handed me an old driver's license before the days when we laminated them. I hadn't seen one of these in years. As I squinted down and saw the expiration date, I bellowed out that this thing had been expired for 17 years! The motorist, now looking very sheepishly about the patrol car and at me, remarked that he had never been stopped in 17 years. Of course that degree of traffic obedience was not lost on me. However, I told him that I would have to give him a ticket and I added, "If I don't write you a ticket, who would I write one to?" Perhaps I would have to draw the line with motorists once their driver's licenses had been expired 20 years or more. That seemed a little foolish.
So I felt around my shirt to get one of the pens I normally put in my pocket and realized I had forgotten to put them in my new shirt this morning. I immediately checked my console and equipment bag. The glove box also. I could not find a pen anywhere and my passenger was now smiling. When I asked him if he had a pen on him, this is what he said. "Dude, if I was a fucking pen salesman, I wouldn't give you a sample pen right now!"
Such was my embarrassment that I handed him back his useless license. I told him that if he didn't get a new one TODAY...I would see him tomorrow, with a pen, and issue that ticket. I saw him at DMV later that day.
This evening, I actually read a Washington Post editorial piece written by a college professor who was making his case for the repeal of term limits so that President Obama could run again.
Like a license that was expired 17 years prior- it should be obvious to all by now- that term limits were designed especially because of people like Obama. He is the poster child for the genesis of term limit laws.
I am in complete awe. I am in awe that a college professor could write something like that. Awe that a widely circulated newspaper would print something so ridiculous. I am in awe of anyone, anywhere, that thinks Obama is anything but a useless, self serving liar who couldn't find his ass with both hands in a well lit room. The days when he does absolutely nothing- are his best days. But mostly I am in awe at anybody who thinks this guy is actually a good president.
But then again, there are people who actually bought AMC Pacers.
I can't link the WaPo piece. If you want to read it, you can find it.
Obama should probably have been impeached back when he stonewalled Congress for the government's criminal activities in Fast and Furious which includes Agent Terry's un-necessary death. How may subpoenas has he disobeyed? How many people have been targeted by the IRS or have to die at places like Benghazi while Captain Do Nothing gets some beauty sleep before his Vegas golf outing the following day?
If Obama were white, he'd be gone. We all know it and thankfully I can say it. Had George Bush committed just one one of the many scandals that Obama has been involved in- the liberals and collectivists would be calling for his head. Nixon and Bush were pikers compared to this guy.
What level of maliciousness, corruption, dereliction of duty, incompetence, or outright dishonesty does one have to engage in before the American people say enough is enough?
I'm not sure. I thought we were well beyond that point where it was obvious. Nixon would be in complete awe of Obama and the fact that a nation full of idiots would most likely re elect him.
Mob rule is here.
There used to be a time in our culture that when you screwed up, you clearly understood what that meant and you were willing to suffer the consequences. You were taught some level of responsibility and healthy shame. In today's culture, taking responsibility for your poor decisions is unheard of. Humility and shame do not exist. In fact, if you can convince people that none of this is your fault- they might be stupid enough to believe it.
We have rules with good reasons. While I don't necessarily agree with taxing citizens for a new license every four years- at least it provides a system of checks and balances for the ill or the elderly who unfortunately, should no longer drive. Term limits were installed after FDR essentially turned our society into a socialist paradise- seizing gold, printing money, and installing programs with the help of Congress. Programs that we can no longer afford and which Congress as usual- has ruined.
Kind of like Obamcare. The difference is, we won't have to wait 70 years to see this program fail.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
The Last Issue of Harley Enthusiast
It's not everyday that you make the last cover of a magazine.
In 2007, eleven of us toured the Lost Coast of California. The only thing that remains- is my right leg and one Chippewa boot. And maybe Troy. I think that's Troy in front of me.
Funny how you stumble into weird things on the innartubes.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FALL-2008-HARLEY-DAVIDSON-ENTHUSIAST-MAGAZINE-LAST-ISSUE-105TH-ANV-2009-ULTRA-/380763470452?pt=Motors_Manuals_Literature&hash=item58a7457a74&vxp=mtr
In 2007, eleven of us toured the Lost Coast of California. The only thing that remains- is my right leg and one Chippewa boot. And maybe Troy. I think that's Troy in front of me.
Funny how you stumble into weird things on the innartubes.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FALL-2008-HARLEY-DAVIDSON-ENTHUSIAST-MAGAZINE-LAST-ISSUE-105TH-ANV-2009-ULTRA-/380763470452?pt=Motors_Manuals_Literature&hash=item58a7457a74&vxp=mtr
Friday, November 15, 2013
The Single, Greatest Mystery of the Obama Presidency
Forget the birth certificate, his 17 year old mother (at the time of conception) or who exactly the father of Barack Obama was.
Forget the name Barry Soetoro, forget his missing passport, and forget where he got the money to go to Columbia and Harvard. All of these mysteries are interesting but not particularly useful to the 300 million of us who currently inhabit the United States.
The single greatest mystery of Barack Obama is this. How could a newly anointed President completely ignore the greatest economic collapse of the last 80 years, and rather than prosecute bankers and restore confidence- he sets about the business of implementing government run healthcare with a bill that nobody read?
How?
It is a mystery for the ages. I have mulled it over extensively. Either Obama was a complete idiot or he was bought and paid for by the nation's banking interests. In a malicious sense, perhaps he was even trying to bring about the complete and utter collapse of the United States in a Cloward- Piven sort of way. If that is true- then he is a most sinister man.
In 2008, this country was in complete collapse. Our people were completely in debt up to their eyeballs. The bankers had completely corrupted the banking system and the entire mess was on the verge of imploding, the stock market (DJIA) was at 6300.
Is that the time to bring about some sort of nationalized health care system that will cause an already heavily indebted people to go into debt even further? Does that make any sense to anyone?
Of course not.
I have absolutely no sympathy nor compassion for Obama and his army of largesse seeking sycophants. This is exactly what happens when you ignore a huge problem and create a new problem instead. Obama is getting exactly what he deserves.
Eventually, the ACA will be completely abandoned. That may occur about the time Obama leaves office and yields to history. I don't think history will be very kind to Barack Obama and I am encouraged that we only have 3 years left on this rudderless, leaderless administration.
And I thought George Bush Jr. was bad. It's like a 16 year nightmare.
Forget the name Barry Soetoro, forget his missing passport, and forget where he got the money to go to Columbia and Harvard. All of these mysteries are interesting but not particularly useful to the 300 million of us who currently inhabit the United States.
The single greatest mystery of Barack Obama is this. How could a newly anointed President completely ignore the greatest economic collapse of the last 80 years, and rather than prosecute bankers and restore confidence- he sets about the business of implementing government run healthcare with a bill that nobody read?
How?
It is a mystery for the ages. I have mulled it over extensively. Either Obama was a complete idiot or he was bought and paid for by the nation's banking interests. In a malicious sense, perhaps he was even trying to bring about the complete and utter collapse of the United States in a Cloward- Piven sort of way. If that is true- then he is a most sinister man.
In 2008, this country was in complete collapse. Our people were completely in debt up to their eyeballs. The bankers had completely corrupted the banking system and the entire mess was on the verge of imploding, the stock market (DJIA) was at 6300.
Is that the time to bring about some sort of nationalized health care system that will cause an already heavily indebted people to go into debt even further? Does that make any sense to anyone?
Of course not.
I have absolutely no sympathy nor compassion for Obama and his army of largesse seeking sycophants. This is exactly what happens when you ignore a huge problem and create a new problem instead. Obama is getting exactly what he deserves.
Eventually, the ACA will be completely abandoned. That may occur about the time Obama leaves office and yields to history. I don't think history will be very kind to Barack Obama and I am encouraged that we only have 3 years left on this rudderless, leaderless administration.
And I thought George Bush Jr. was bad. It's like a 16 year nightmare.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Smartest Guy In the Room- Now Making Idiots Everywhere Feel Good*Updated
I took on a new job a couple weeks ago. It involves driving and moving very heavy freight. I had been looking for a job that would help me to stay in shape and I found one.
Unfortunately, I haven't felt like writing. The truth is, I haven't felt like writing for quite some time.
I have just been sitting on the computer reading about one ACA disaster after another and enjoying it.
The smartest guy in the room. Thank gawd for Obama.
The Affordable Health Care Act might be the single most ruinous piece of legislation to occur in the last 100 years. It is such an utter disaster- that when Obama calls it his signature legislation- I cannot think of a better way to describe this Presidency. Obama and the ACA, forever linked, just as it should be. Very fitting.
The President's approval ratings have found new lows ever since it dawned on Americans that Obama had been lying to them since 2010 about keeping their health plans and their doctors. It's pretty hard to escape 30 or so You Tube videos. What excuse could Obama use? You either lied to everyone or you did not know the contents of your own bill. Either way- you hardly appear to be the genius that the collectivists say that you are.
So let me do a brief recap.
The government had a 2500 page bill written that hijacked 1/6th of the American economy. Nobody read the bill and several politicians admitted that. The democratically controlled legislature used strong arm tactics and bribes- in the case of votes in Nebraska and Louisiana- to get the bill passed. The bill passed without any bipartisan support.
A year or two later, the Supreme Court acted on this bill and most of us thought this law would simply get tossed out until Justice Roberts cast the tiebreaker- and for reasons still inexplicable- allowed the ACA to stand and labelled it a tax.
The government waited until after the 2012 elections to implement the ACA. As they began to roll it out last year, corporations and unions realized that they could not comply with the onerous law as they began to read and comprehend it for the very first time. It was too expensive. The administration began nullifying their own law by granting exemptions to various friendly corporations and other entities- although the ability to grant those exemptions was not something contained in the bill. It has not been lost on all of us that the Obama administration has never been too concerned with the letter nor the spirit of the law. To this administration- the rule of law is similar to a suggestion. If they don't feel like complying with a law- then they simply don't. Like supplying guns to Mexican drug lords while ignoring half of the federal firearms code.
They are above the law.
The problem Obama faces is the same problem that every self centered egotist on the planet eventually faces. He can't out run his own bullshit and he's gonna drown in it.
The ACA website is a disaster. It won't be fixed by Nov. 30.
Today it was announced that over one million privately held health insurance policies are getting cancelled in California because they're "substandard." It doesn't break my heart at all to see the California statists take one in the tailpipe. Finally, they get to put some skin in the game. Suddenly, we are starting to hear the collectivists whine. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear here.
Can you imagine if Obama hadn't extended the employer mandate for one year? Millions upon millions of employer paid for plans would have been declared "substandard" just as the privately held individual plans are getting tossed out. At least 100 million people would have collectively lost their insurance at once. The lynch mob would have been enormous.
Healthy people aren't going to buy 600 a month insurance unless it's subsidized and paid for by Uncle Sugar. Premiums will skyrocket this year as the only people coming in will be getting free coverage and fixing all of those health problems they have been putting off for 5 years or longer. Everyone else is going to pay the penalty.
And get this. If you know your health premium is based on your income- what incentive do you have to report all of your income? Answer- zero.
The ACA premiums are based on income. If you can trade work, barter, pay in cash, or do anything to hide your income from the IRS- then the net cost of healthcare goes down. Quite simply, millions of Americans are de-incentivized to work or if they do work, they will be busy figuring out ways to not report their income. If you are making 10-15 bucks an hr and dropping your two kids off at daycare- you'll end up quitting your job, saving the lost daycare expenses, and reducing your income for healthcare premiums. You'll be money ahead.
The smartest guy in the room lied his ass off to get the ACA passed and today even his party faithful are turning on him and demanding that he come up with a plan for Americans to keep their health plans as insurance companies send out pink slips.
So no matter where you are in the world, no matter what you do for a living, be thankful for this.
You did not lie to millions of people. You did not bribe or coerce legislators into passing a law that nobody bothered reading and that everybody hates. The only body of work that you have ever managed to finish is crumbling before your very eyes and no matter what you do- you can't fix it. Because at the end of the day- it was a bad idea and you were insane enough to make it into a bad law.
So no matter what happens to you today, be thankful. Things could always be worse. You could be Barack Obama.
I am enjoying every minute of this.
*Update. Zerohedge now stating that Obama has capitulated this a.m. Will allow people to keep "substandard" policies for one year but warns them they will be cancelled. (Small consolation to those that have already bought new plans.)
Zerohedge commenters noting that Obama simply changes the law at will. Like I've always said- Obama treats any law like a suggestion. Here's a clip from the ZH article:
Each and every day, my enjoyment level rises. Could not happen to a more fitting nor perfect administration.
Unfortunately, I haven't felt like writing. The truth is, I haven't felt like writing for quite some time.
I have just been sitting on the computer reading about one ACA disaster after another and enjoying it.
The smartest guy in the room. Thank gawd for Obama.
The Affordable Health Care Act might be the single most ruinous piece of legislation to occur in the last 100 years. It is such an utter disaster- that when Obama calls it his signature legislation- I cannot think of a better way to describe this Presidency. Obama and the ACA, forever linked, just as it should be. Very fitting.
The President's approval ratings have found new lows ever since it dawned on Americans that Obama had been lying to them since 2010 about keeping their health plans and their doctors. It's pretty hard to escape 30 or so You Tube videos. What excuse could Obama use? You either lied to everyone or you did not know the contents of your own bill. Either way- you hardly appear to be the genius that the collectivists say that you are.
So let me do a brief recap.
The government had a 2500 page bill written that hijacked 1/6th of the American economy. Nobody read the bill and several politicians admitted that. The democratically controlled legislature used strong arm tactics and bribes- in the case of votes in Nebraska and Louisiana- to get the bill passed. The bill passed without any bipartisan support.
A year or two later, the Supreme Court acted on this bill and most of us thought this law would simply get tossed out until Justice Roberts cast the tiebreaker- and for reasons still inexplicable- allowed the ACA to stand and labelled it a tax.
The government waited until after the 2012 elections to implement the ACA. As they began to roll it out last year, corporations and unions realized that they could not comply with the onerous law as they began to read and comprehend it for the very first time. It was too expensive. The administration began nullifying their own law by granting exemptions to various friendly corporations and other entities- although the ability to grant those exemptions was not something contained in the bill. It has not been lost on all of us that the Obama administration has never been too concerned with the letter nor the spirit of the law. To this administration- the rule of law is similar to a suggestion. If they don't feel like complying with a law- then they simply don't. Like supplying guns to Mexican drug lords while ignoring half of the federal firearms code.
They are above the law.
The problem Obama faces is the same problem that every self centered egotist on the planet eventually faces. He can't out run his own bullshit and he's gonna drown in it.
The ACA website is a disaster. It won't be fixed by Nov. 30.
Today it was announced that over one million privately held health insurance policies are getting cancelled in California because they're "substandard." It doesn't break my heart at all to see the California statists take one in the tailpipe. Finally, they get to put some skin in the game. Suddenly, we are starting to hear the collectivists whine. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear here.
Can you imagine if Obama hadn't extended the employer mandate for one year? Millions upon millions of employer paid for plans would have been declared "substandard" just as the privately held individual plans are getting tossed out. At least 100 million people would have collectively lost their insurance at once. The lynch mob would have been enormous.
Healthy people aren't going to buy 600 a month insurance unless it's subsidized and paid for by Uncle Sugar. Premiums will skyrocket this year as the only people coming in will be getting free coverage and fixing all of those health problems they have been putting off for 5 years or longer. Everyone else is going to pay the penalty.
And get this. If you know your health premium is based on your income- what incentive do you have to report all of your income? Answer- zero.
The ACA premiums are based on income. If you can trade work, barter, pay in cash, or do anything to hide your income from the IRS- then the net cost of healthcare goes down. Quite simply, millions of Americans are de-incentivized to work or if they do work, they will be busy figuring out ways to not report their income. If you are making 10-15 bucks an hr and dropping your two kids off at daycare- you'll end up quitting your job, saving the lost daycare expenses, and reducing your income for healthcare premiums. You'll be money ahead.
The smartest guy in the room lied his ass off to get the ACA passed and today even his party faithful are turning on him and demanding that he come up with a plan for Americans to keep their health plans as insurance companies send out pink slips.
So no matter where you are in the world, no matter what you do for a living, be thankful for this.
You did not lie to millions of people. You did not bribe or coerce legislators into passing a law that nobody bothered reading and that everybody hates. The only body of work that you have ever managed to finish is crumbling before your very eyes and no matter what you do- you can't fix it. Because at the end of the day- it was a bad idea and you were insane enough to make it into a bad law.
So no matter what happens to you today, be thankful. Things could always be worse. You could be Barack Obama.
I am enjoying every minute of this.
*Update. Zerohedge now stating that Obama has capitulated this a.m. Will allow people to keep "substandard" policies for one year but warns them they will be cancelled. (Small consolation to those that have already bought new plans.)
Zerohedge commenters noting that Obama simply changes the law at will. Like I've always said- Obama treats any law like a suggestion. Here's a clip from the ZH article:
As CNN reports:
Mad that his signature legislative achievement is stuck at the gate, frustrated that he's running out of time to fix it and angry that he's got a second-term agenda now going nowhere. He's so furious, in fact, that he stepped out of character to vent to an assembled group of top aides. "If I had known (about the website problems)," the steaming President reportedly said, according to The New York Times, "we could have delayed the website."As the story of the Obamacare website fiasco unfolds, senior administration aides tell me that the President is "mad, frustrated and angry."
Each and every day, my enjoyment level rises. Could not happen to a more fitting nor perfect administration.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
GDP and the Greater Fool Theory
National GDP came out today at 2.84%. That was certainly a beat of the expected 2.5%.
The numbers once again proved that nutters like me- are wrong, didn't they? Our economy is excellent and the stock market is fairly priced near 16,000. The Twitter IPO with virtually no earnings is worth 35 bucks a share, right?
Enter the Greater Fool Theory. There must always be a greater fool than you who will buy Twitter at 45- so that you can profit at 35. That fool in turn must need someone willing to pay 55.
GDP numbers have always been cooked and inflated with the use of inventory. Most of us know that and when today's 2.84 print came out I was a little shocked. At first I was puzzled, because everything I am seeing and reading does not support that kind of number. Then it hit me. The latest government manipulation- thanks to this commenter.
The BEA's GDP tables tell us that the gross change in GDP from 2Q -> 3Q was $196.6 billion. But the Fed's QE program injected $255 billion, so in fact the economyshrank during the 3rd quarter.
And then I remembered the government's latest charade announced last summer that most of us forgot about.
They re-configured GDP "intangibles" all the way back to 1929. That way they could manipulate and boost GDP figures with such things as film royalties, research and development, and garage sales. They literally positioned themselves to manipulate the data with items that do exist but that nobody has a firm way of counting and never has- thus the term "intangibles."
Here's a link. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/52d23fa6-aa98-11e2-bc0d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2jwd2twHW
When you change the measuring rules- such as the input numbers- you are nearing the end. It is the last gasp of a power structure that is willing to try any trick imaginable to retain power. In this case, manipulating this nation's last bastion of wealth- retirement assets and ultimately destroying them- at the same time picking our pockets with a newer, giant, healthcare bill that they are willing to punish you for if you do not buy it.
All of that greased with fraudulent inflation, employment, and GDP figures. Of course it's a sham but then again- what else would you expect from our government masters?
All of this is going to come together in 2014. Get ready. The stock market's blow off top is here and not one responsible person has received an Obamacare bill or sent in an Obamacare check yet.
All of this as the middle classes' income shrinks monthly. This is gonna be good.
We are near the end. I will give this faux economy one more year subject to change if the government pulls anymore of it's tricks.
The numbers once again proved that nutters like me- are wrong, didn't they? Our economy is excellent and the stock market is fairly priced near 16,000. The Twitter IPO with virtually no earnings is worth 35 bucks a share, right?
Enter the Greater Fool Theory. There must always be a greater fool than you who will buy Twitter at 45- so that you can profit at 35. That fool in turn must need someone willing to pay 55.
GDP numbers have always been cooked and inflated with the use of inventory. Most of us know that and when today's 2.84 print came out I was a little shocked. At first I was puzzled, because everything I am seeing and reading does not support that kind of number. Then it hit me. The latest government manipulation- thanks to this commenter.
The BEA's GDP tables tell us that the gross change in GDP from 2Q -> 3Q was $196.6 billion. But the Fed's QE program injected $255 billion, so in fact the economyshrank during the 3rd quarter.
And then I remembered the government's latest charade announced last summer that most of us forgot about.
They re-configured GDP "intangibles" all the way back to 1929. That way they could manipulate and boost GDP figures with such things as film royalties, research and development, and garage sales. They literally positioned themselves to manipulate the data with items that do exist but that nobody has a firm way of counting and never has- thus the term "intangibles."
Here's a link. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/52d23fa6-aa98-11e2-bc0d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2jwd2twHW
When you change the measuring rules- such as the input numbers- you are nearing the end. It is the last gasp of a power structure that is willing to try any trick imaginable to retain power. In this case, manipulating this nation's last bastion of wealth- retirement assets and ultimately destroying them- at the same time picking our pockets with a newer, giant, healthcare bill that they are willing to punish you for if you do not buy it.
All of that greased with fraudulent inflation, employment, and GDP figures. Of course it's a sham but then again- what else would you expect from our government masters?
All of this is going to come together in 2014. Get ready. The stock market's blow off top is here and not one responsible person has received an Obamacare bill or sent in an Obamacare check yet.
All of this as the middle classes' income shrinks monthly. This is gonna be good.
We are near the end. I will give this faux economy one more year subject to change if the government pulls anymore of it's tricks.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
The Spiritual Experience- The Sunday Collage
Imagine for just a moment, the possibility that the human experience is just a random event. That there is no purpose, no real reason for any of us to be here.
That we simply crawled out of some primordial ooze and wound up here- doing this. We live our lives without any real purpose and when we leave- there is no such thing as St. Peter handing us an exit interview to complete. No review, no pop quizzes, no heaven or hell. You simply live one life and when it's over- it's over.
Can you imagine the futility of that? Who envisions that sort of ending or who hopes to live some unmeasured life? Answer- nobody.
So the artists make art, the bridge builders make bridges, the plumbers make plumbing, the law makers make law, the philosophers create philosophy, and the writers write. And each of us wants to produce a quality product because we think these things are measured. We hope they are.
And if somebody asked me, and rest assured that they never have or will,
"Brian, what was your greatest triumph? What did you do that needs measuring?"
This is what I might say.
I discovered that each one of us is having a spiritual experience. That little babies die and so do old men. Some folks get incredibly sick, some people become incredibly wealthy, some people die at Wounded Knee in six inches of snow, some innocent folks die in labor camps and in prisons.
That life isn't fair and I don't think it was ever meant to be.
If life were fair, there would be nothing to measure. We would all live the same crappy, mundane, ordered lives. We'd all be living some identical, fair and impartial existence. Who wants that?
I would tell people to quit taking everything so personally. That everyone is here adhering to some crazy script in their heads and that what they do or say- never, ever, has anything to do with you.
I would tell people to quit worrying about everything. Quit worrying about stupid shit and it's all stupid shit.
Quit ignoring the base. Quit thinking that the only people who know anything must have some state issued credentials or money. Quit believing your corporate and government masters. They never have your best interests at heart.
The single greatest moment in my life occurred when I realized I had been living the life of an unconscious idiot. It was humiliating to see the mistakes and the wrong that I had done- yet incredibly freeing to know that I never would have to be that way again. And you can't just apologize for all of that stupid shit and even if you could- why would you?
Acceptance is the key to every problem that we have.
Quit feeling guilty for enjoying life. For not doing 9 million tasks every week of your life. Don't live in fear of the judgers.
The world is driven by ego (a false sense of self wherein the individual believes his own bullshit) and self centered-ness. These two things account for virtually all of the human drama and misery on the planet.
If you had a bad parent lottery draw and got screwed up- it's your job to fix it. Nobody is going to give you reparations or a clean emotional bill of health. Identify and accept your shortcomings and fix them.
Mistakes are good. Virtually everything worth learning came to me because of a mistake I made. Let people in your life make mistakes, let them learn. Don't crucify them for trying and failing.
You cannot have an undiscovered false sense of self (ego) and be hugely self centered- and also claim to be spiritual. They are mutually exclusive concepts.
Let the world be. If Bill Gates and Steve Jobs hadn't invented personal computers and the software that they run on- would we still have computers and software? Of course we would. Those inventions would have taken place irrespective of Gates or Jobs. Everything has a season.
Things must run their course. Be aware of that moment when there is nothing left to say or do.
That we simply crawled out of some primordial ooze and wound up here- doing this. We live our lives without any real purpose and when we leave- there is no such thing as St. Peter handing us an exit interview to complete. No review, no pop quizzes, no heaven or hell. You simply live one life and when it's over- it's over.
Can you imagine the futility of that? Who envisions that sort of ending or who hopes to live some unmeasured life? Answer- nobody.
So the artists make art, the bridge builders make bridges, the plumbers make plumbing, the law makers make law, the philosophers create philosophy, and the writers write. And each of us wants to produce a quality product because we think these things are measured. We hope they are.
And if somebody asked me, and rest assured that they never have or will,
"Brian, what was your greatest triumph? What did you do that needs measuring?"
This is what I might say.
I discovered that each one of us is having a spiritual experience. That little babies die and so do old men. Some folks get incredibly sick, some people become incredibly wealthy, some people die at Wounded Knee in six inches of snow, some innocent folks die in labor camps and in prisons.
That life isn't fair and I don't think it was ever meant to be.
If life were fair, there would be nothing to measure. We would all live the same crappy, mundane, ordered lives. We'd all be living some identical, fair and impartial existence. Who wants that?
I would tell people to quit taking everything so personally. That everyone is here adhering to some crazy script in their heads and that what they do or say- never, ever, has anything to do with you.
I would tell people to quit worrying about everything. Quit worrying about stupid shit and it's all stupid shit.
Quit ignoring the base. Quit thinking that the only people who know anything must have some state issued credentials or money. Quit believing your corporate and government masters. They never have your best interests at heart.
The single greatest moment in my life occurred when I realized I had been living the life of an unconscious idiot. It was humiliating to see the mistakes and the wrong that I had done- yet incredibly freeing to know that I never would have to be that way again. And you can't just apologize for all of that stupid shit and even if you could- why would you?
Acceptance is the key to every problem that we have.
Quit feeling guilty for enjoying life. For not doing 9 million tasks every week of your life. Don't live in fear of the judgers.
The world is driven by ego (a false sense of self wherein the individual believes his own bullshit) and self centered-ness. These two things account for virtually all of the human drama and misery on the planet.
If you had a bad parent lottery draw and got screwed up- it's your job to fix it. Nobody is going to give you reparations or a clean emotional bill of health. Identify and accept your shortcomings and fix them.
Mistakes are good. Virtually everything worth learning came to me because of a mistake I made. Let people in your life make mistakes, let them learn. Don't crucify them for trying and failing.
You cannot have an undiscovered false sense of self (ego) and be hugely self centered- and also claim to be spiritual. They are mutually exclusive concepts.
Let the world be. If Bill Gates and Steve Jobs hadn't invented personal computers and the software that they run on- would we still have computers and software? Of course we would. Those inventions would have taken place irrespective of Gates or Jobs. Everything has a season.
Things must run their course. Be aware of that moment when there is nothing left to say or do.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
What Are Your Chances of Needing Hospitalization?
In America, where data sets are manipulated with regularity, it is nearly impossible to find hospitalization and discharge information.
You can damn sure bet, that the risk pools, actuaries, and insurance companies have that data- but they are not about to give it to you.
This morning while making my rounds, I ran across this chart on the Economic Policy Journal website. Singapore apparently keeps such data.
Here then is the basis for Obamacare. The people paying all the dough- are not the people requiring the care.
Simply stated, Obamacare is just one more giant PONZI scheme where new suckers must be lured into the scheme to pay for the people already in it.
Michigan Man Tells Government Where Bin Laden Was Many Years Ago, Gets Stiffed
I had to re-read this story 3 times.
A Michigan man is claiming that he told the government (IN 2003!!) where Osama Bin Laden was hiding and some 8 years later- they shot and killed Bin Laden at that exact address.
He has filed a lawsuit to recover the 25 million the government offered as a reward.
The possibility that the government failed to act on this information or completely discredited it- defies belief. You get the feeling that this story is either fantastically true- or complete bullshit. Oh how I'd love to see this guy on the Today Show.
http://news.yahoo.com/man-claims-he-helped-fbi-find-bin-laden--seeks--25-million-reward-171509676.html
A Michigan man is claiming that he told the government (IN 2003!!) where Osama Bin Laden was hiding and some 8 years later- they shot and killed Bin Laden at that exact address.
He has filed a lawsuit to recover the 25 million the government offered as a reward.
The possibility that the government failed to act on this information or completely discredited it- defies belief. You get the feeling that this story is either fantastically true- or complete bullshit. Oh how I'd love to see this guy on the Today Show.
http://news.yahoo.com/man-claims-he-helped-fbi-find-bin-laden--seeks--25-million-reward-171509676.html
Friday, November 1, 2013
ROTFLMAO! A Total of SIX People Enroll Oct 1 for Obamacare
And you can damn sure bet these were non paying, fully subsidized citizens.
After the hundreds of millions of dollars, and Kathleen Sebelius lying under oath, we find that the government's website signed up just 6 people on day one. On day two, it managed 248.
At that rate- we will all die of natural causes before enrollment.
Here's the story from Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/11/01/the-truth-comes-out-obamacares-website-enrolled-a-grand-total-of-six-people-on-oct-1/?partner=yahootix
After the hundreds of millions of dollars, and Kathleen Sebelius lying under oath, we find that the government's website signed up just 6 people on day one. On day two, it managed 248.
At that rate- we will all die of natural causes before enrollment.
Here's the story from Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/11/01/the-truth-comes-out-obamacares-website-enrolled-a-grand-total-of-six-people-on-oct-1/?partner=yahootix
Crafting a Gold Strategy For the Near Term
I have always enjoyed Halloween. I am not sure why exactly.
I only had about 20 trick or treaters last night. That was up a little bit from last year. Secretly, I have always wanted to buy one of those theater sized boxes of Mike and Ike's candy. When the little shitheads arrive at my door, I want to shake one of those Mike and Ike candies out and place it very proudly in their bags. I think the look on their faces would be hilarious.
This is the kind of stuff that I do to amuse myself.
I have noticed that not only has gold been getting it's ass kicked all year- but there is simply no explanation for it. Demand has been extremely heavy, the money printing and skyrocketing debt continue upward, and yet gold cannot break 1400. A level it was at just a few years ago.
Do I think gold's head is held underwater by bankers and unlimited short positions? Yes, of course I do. You would be an idiot to believe otherwise. When will it end? I'm not sure.
Here's what I know for sure. I cannot buy gold at these levels and I'll tell you why.
This country has not had a deflationary event since the 2008 crash. This country cannot get economically well until that entirely normal, deflationary, event takes place. Five years of stimulus and QE has done little more than create another bubble. Bernanke's hypothesis was wrong.
Bernanke and the FED have been able to delay the deflationary event- but they cannot prevent it. I think most people who follow markets realize this.
There are only two alternatives for the US economy right now. End QE and watch equity markets fall off a cliff (deflation) or continue QE indefinitely and watch as every last sheep in the world gets funneled into equity markets while chasing return. (hyperinflation)
I think the first scenario is most likely. In a deflationary event, the price of everything will drop dramatically. This is a normal consequence of bankers trying to delay the inevitable pain of their pre- 2008 credit expansion and recklessness.
Only after the deflationary event takes place- will the table be set for the hyperinflation stage.
I think it's really that simple.
Why buy gold now when you can pick it up 30 or 40% cheaper after QE ends? Why, indeed.
Very often, I laugh at people who price gold against the American dollar. Why? Because the American dollar is a worthless currency that for lack of any better alternative- people are still accepting.
Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be- we still use currency to buy gold. We can buy more gold as the price reduces. If you already own some gold- I see no immediate or compelling reason to add to positions here. You are protected somewhat already. If you do not own any gold- I would suggest averaging in right away. Buying a half ounce, or quarter ounce, per month over the next 12 months would be a sound strategy. If the price drops suddenly- buy more.
Regarding price.
As for the daily, weekly, monthly and now yearly fluctuations- don't worry about the price of gold based on an unbacked and worthless currency. I don't buy gold to speculate with. I buy gold to hedge against the greatest global and inflationary event in the history of the world. It is going on right now.
The bankers do not have a solution. Sooner or later, they will have to take their medicine for the shit they pulled prior to '08. Do not be fooled simply because they have been able to delay the inevitable and pretend like nothing's wrong. Plenty is wrong.
Don't be fooled and don't get depressed if the price of gold drops. It's going to- particularly if we get a full blown deflationary event.
There are folks who are calling for 55,000 dollar gold in a hyper-inflationary event and relatively soon. Their chances of being right on both counts? Probably slim and none. Can you imagine paying off your mortgage with a couple of ounces of gold?
One day the world is going to wake up and figure out the truth. The world's debts are not going to get paid by people without jobs or with GDP that does not exist. People will begin to figure this out. I don't know when that will happen exactly- but it will sure be nice to have a little insurance for that moment when it arrives.
I only had about 20 trick or treaters last night. That was up a little bit from last year. Secretly, I have always wanted to buy one of those theater sized boxes of Mike and Ike's candy. When the little shitheads arrive at my door, I want to shake one of those Mike and Ike candies out and place it very proudly in their bags. I think the look on their faces would be hilarious.
This is the kind of stuff that I do to amuse myself.
I have noticed that not only has gold been getting it's ass kicked all year- but there is simply no explanation for it. Demand has been extremely heavy, the money printing and skyrocketing debt continue upward, and yet gold cannot break 1400. A level it was at just a few years ago.
Do I think gold's head is held underwater by bankers and unlimited short positions? Yes, of course I do. You would be an idiot to believe otherwise. When will it end? I'm not sure.
Here's what I know for sure. I cannot buy gold at these levels and I'll tell you why.
This country has not had a deflationary event since the 2008 crash. This country cannot get economically well until that entirely normal, deflationary, event takes place. Five years of stimulus and QE has done little more than create another bubble. Bernanke's hypothesis was wrong.
Bernanke and the FED have been able to delay the deflationary event- but they cannot prevent it. I think most people who follow markets realize this.
There are only two alternatives for the US economy right now. End QE and watch equity markets fall off a cliff (deflation) or continue QE indefinitely and watch as every last sheep in the world gets funneled into equity markets while chasing return. (hyperinflation)
I think the first scenario is most likely. In a deflationary event, the price of everything will drop dramatically. This is a normal consequence of bankers trying to delay the inevitable pain of their pre- 2008 credit expansion and recklessness.
Only after the deflationary event takes place- will the table be set for the hyperinflation stage.
I think it's really that simple.
Why buy gold now when you can pick it up 30 or 40% cheaper after QE ends? Why, indeed.
Very often, I laugh at people who price gold against the American dollar. Why? Because the American dollar is a worthless currency that for lack of any better alternative- people are still accepting.
Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be- we still use currency to buy gold. We can buy more gold as the price reduces. If you already own some gold- I see no immediate or compelling reason to add to positions here. You are protected somewhat already. If you do not own any gold- I would suggest averaging in right away. Buying a half ounce, or quarter ounce, per month over the next 12 months would be a sound strategy. If the price drops suddenly- buy more.
Regarding price.
As for the daily, weekly, monthly and now yearly fluctuations- don't worry about the price of gold based on an unbacked and worthless currency. I don't buy gold to speculate with. I buy gold to hedge against the greatest global and inflationary event in the history of the world. It is going on right now.
The bankers do not have a solution. Sooner or later, they will have to take their medicine for the shit they pulled prior to '08. Do not be fooled simply because they have been able to delay the inevitable and pretend like nothing's wrong. Plenty is wrong.
Don't be fooled and don't get depressed if the price of gold drops. It's going to- particularly if we get a full blown deflationary event.
There are folks who are calling for 55,000 dollar gold in a hyper-inflationary event and relatively soon. Their chances of being right on both counts? Probably slim and none. Can you imagine paying off your mortgage with a couple of ounces of gold?
One day the world is going to wake up and figure out the truth. The world's debts are not going to get paid by people without jobs or with GDP that does not exist. People will begin to figure this out. I don't know when that will happen exactly- but it will sure be nice to have a little insurance for that moment when it arrives.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
The Obama God Mystery Revealed
In a meandering sort of way, I think I have solved the Obama God riddle today. This was all prompted by a statement of Valerie Jarrett's that simply floored me and enlightened me- all at the same time. A slight meander might work here...
He was so slight of stature that we didn't have any uniforms in inventory to fit him- which is what we did for new officers while ordering new apparel that fit. Thus his temporary uniforms hung off him much like a king sized comforter wrapped around a dwarfed Ethiopian.
On the second or third night of his field training program- two critical events happened to this young man which would scar him for life. The first was a traffic stop. Our young kid stopped a long time area rancher for speeding. When the rancher saw this skinny kid who stopped him- he looked him up and down from his pickup and said, "Boy, does your daddy know you've got his uniform on?"
The other thing that happened was that our field training officer, or FTO, assigned our new kid with a nickname. The nickname resulted from the new officer's inability to grow a mustache. His mustache came in very light and mostly hair free to such a degree- that from the third night of his career forward- our new hire was forever known as "Frenchy." For the next four years, I don't think I ever used his proper name. When the Idaho State Police were preparing to hire him years later, they called me up and referred to Frenchy by his proper name. I almost told them that I had never heard of anyone by that name.
Now the reason that Frenchy rises to the forefront of my memory banks has something to do with a statement he made to me once. Frenchy had made an observation about a fellow patrolman wherein he told me how smart that fellow patrolman was- based almost entirely on that officer's self promotion and self centered-ness. His co-worker I was convinced, would lie to his own mother if there was something in it for him. It was at that moment, somewhere in my mid thirties, that I made the distinction between intelligence and the willingness to take advantage of others by using any means available which includes a number of different deceptive methods. I cemented that thought when I explained to Frenchy that intelligence and self centered behavior were two different things.
It was a lesson and a distinction that I am convinced confuses most people to this day. Thus we have the topic du jour of October 29. The Obama God mystery revealed. So here it is- the most outrageous thing I've read yet- about the Obama God from Valerie Jarrett. Here is the National Review on line link where I snatched this quote from. A very good read. http://nationalreview.com/corner/362203/obamas-valerie-jarrett-often-whispered-about-never-challenged-john-fund
“I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. . . . He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. . . . So what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. . . . He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”
Ever since Obama was elected, I have heard untold numbers of leftists from personal friends, to Chris Matthews, to untold Huffington Post minions- tell me how smart Obama is. The "smartest guy in the room" I've heard them say.
I disagree. Intelligent people do not lie and mislead the people who trust them. They do not pretend ignorance whenever a tough issue like Fast and Furious comes about nor do they sign off on lies about idiot Islamaphobes causing American deaths in Benghazi. Intelligent people do not get to say I am smart and aware most of the time- but only when that perception is beneficial to me. However, I do get to claim ignorance when the IRS gets busted targeting my enemies or the NSA eavesdrops on every leader in the developed world, or gets caught lying about the ACA as people lose their health plans and doctors. Like Sergeant Schultz in Hogan's Heroes, the Obama God simply says, "I know nussink!" whenever he needs to reap the benefits of ignorance.
And with the precision of mutual masturbation, Valerie Jarrett tells us that Obama- God that he is- is simply too talented to do what ordinary people do. To dwell among the minions and the hoi polloi who desperately need his leadership. This level of infatuation whether real or imagined, certainly allows Ms. Jarrett access to get what she wants and needs in terms of ego and job security, in that small circle jerk that runs this country.
Some 20 years ago, I made the distinction between self centered people and highly evolved intelligent people. I was able to do this because I have seen both types and I was in a position to witness them in action unlike today's crowd- fiddling around on their fucking cell phones and posting stupid shit on Facebook.
I can think of no better way to end this rant than with my new all time favorite quote. It comes courtesy of the minions who still confuse intelligence with self centeredness.
Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession – their ignorance.” - Hendrik Willem van Loon
Sunday, October 27, 2013
He Who Panics First, Often Panics Best- The Sunday Collage
It's really been a bizarre year.
Everywhere you look, things are crumbling. Taxes and inflation are rising, wages are going down. Obamacare is every bit the disaster many of us thought it would be and getting worse by the day. Half a million people have lost their current insurance.
I think what really pisses off most Americans are the lies. This administration is willing to hide, obstruct, and lie about virtually everything of importance. Government officials like Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius routinely thumb their noses at the American people. The ice queen, Hillary Clinton, is readying herself for another run and gaining mob support. The media is of no help- it serves no watchdog function. In fact, those watchdog days are over. The media is owned by the corporate oligarchy. The oligarchy writes checks for protection.
In the meantime, the mob is growing. It is angry and it is composed of snot nosed liberals and welfare gathering minorities.
They see nothing wrong with appropriating your wealth and giving it to themselves. And you know what really pisses me off? They don't say thank you, or "sorry", or anything else- they say tough shit in the most brazen, shameless way. Go read the ignorant and vitriolic comments on Huffington Post. That's the way it is.
In a country where the mob's leaders tossed the rule of law out on it's ear, the mob has the advantage.
Many of us are angry. In fact, the more you know- the worse it gets. If you are a regular reader of this blog- then you know the difference. You know what QE and a fraudulent economy look like, you know the FED is nothing but a private banking cartel enriching it's owners, and you know that when we were pledging allegiance to our flag and watching Walter Cronkite count the Vietnam dead- Barack Obama was living in Indonesia attending a Muslim school. We have no common, shared history.
These are not opinions.
The problem with a mob government is that it does what it wants. It spies on it's people, it seizes your work product, it ignores laws which are inconvenient, it coerces and oppresses you.
Six years ago, I developed some internal methods for dealing with all of this insanity. Your emotional health must always come first.
I have never found a definition for spirituality that I thought was precise. In fact- even wikipedia has a hard time defining it. (The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition)
I define spirituality as acceptance and understanding.
I have accepted the fact that our country no longer adheres to a rule of law. It does what is convenient. We have no ethical or moral leaders. We have "what can we get away with?" leadership.
I accept this unflinchingly. I also understand that the vast majority of people in this country- well over 90%- are completely unaware of history. They have no understanding of the genius that conceived this country. They are simply concerned with the same superficial and self centered micro view that their political leaders are. This is the mob. This is how it thinks and reacts. There is never any thought of the minority because the minority is the enemy. The vanquished. The losers.
When you realize you are on the losing, minority side and that the mob is going to try and take everything it can from you- you can no longer negotiate. You have no power. You have to accept the fate that they give you- or you must leave. That's really all you can do short of risking a prison sentence or dying some untimely death.
Thousands of people are going to leave the United States this year. These are people who can no longer accept what the United States has become- a tyranny which coerces compliance with the threat of a prison sentence. These are people that know that if your government is willing to do that, it most likely won't get better any time soon. They get out before it gets worse. They see a developing trend.
Very often, the people who panic first, panic best.
Everywhere you look, things are crumbling. Taxes and inflation are rising, wages are going down. Obamacare is every bit the disaster many of us thought it would be and getting worse by the day. Half a million people have lost their current insurance.
I think what really pisses off most Americans are the lies. This administration is willing to hide, obstruct, and lie about virtually everything of importance. Government officials like Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius routinely thumb their noses at the American people. The ice queen, Hillary Clinton, is readying herself for another run and gaining mob support. The media is of no help- it serves no watchdog function. In fact, those watchdog days are over. The media is owned by the corporate oligarchy. The oligarchy writes checks for protection.
In the meantime, the mob is growing. It is angry and it is composed of snot nosed liberals and welfare gathering minorities.
They see nothing wrong with appropriating your wealth and giving it to themselves. And you know what really pisses me off? They don't say thank you, or "sorry", or anything else- they say tough shit in the most brazen, shameless way. Go read the ignorant and vitriolic comments on Huffington Post. That's the way it is.
In a country where the mob's leaders tossed the rule of law out on it's ear, the mob has the advantage.
Many of us are angry. In fact, the more you know- the worse it gets. If you are a regular reader of this blog- then you know the difference. You know what QE and a fraudulent economy look like, you know the FED is nothing but a private banking cartel enriching it's owners, and you know that when we were pledging allegiance to our flag and watching Walter Cronkite count the Vietnam dead- Barack Obama was living in Indonesia attending a Muslim school. We have no common, shared history.
These are not opinions.
The problem with a mob government is that it does what it wants. It spies on it's people, it seizes your work product, it ignores laws which are inconvenient, it coerces and oppresses you.
Six years ago, I developed some internal methods for dealing with all of this insanity. Your emotional health must always come first.
I have never found a definition for spirituality that I thought was precise. In fact- even wikipedia has a hard time defining it. (The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition)
I define spirituality as acceptance and understanding.
I have accepted the fact that our country no longer adheres to a rule of law. It does what is convenient. We have no ethical or moral leaders. We have "what can we get away with?" leadership.
I accept this unflinchingly. I also understand that the vast majority of people in this country- well over 90%- are completely unaware of history. They have no understanding of the genius that conceived this country. They are simply concerned with the same superficial and self centered micro view that their political leaders are. This is the mob. This is how it thinks and reacts. There is never any thought of the minority because the minority is the enemy. The vanquished. The losers.
When you realize you are on the losing, minority side and that the mob is going to try and take everything it can from you- you can no longer negotiate. You have no power. You have to accept the fate that they give you- or you must leave. That's really all you can do short of risking a prison sentence or dying some untimely death.
Thousands of people are going to leave the United States this year. These are people who can no longer accept what the United States has become- a tyranny which coerces compliance with the threat of a prison sentence. These are people that know that if your government is willing to do that, it most likely won't get better any time soon. They get out before it gets worse. They see a developing trend.
Very often, the people who panic first, panic best.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Let the Obamacare Implosion Begin!
For months I have been on this site telling folks that Obamacare would be little more than a grand disaster.
The GOP's efforts to stop the ACA were a waste of time. Just let it proceed.
Obamacare is unaffordable, unsustainable, and the government can't even find a workable way to enroll anyone. The administration has issued waivers to it's corporate pals and to Congress- ignoring any part of the law it finds inconvenient.
Willfully breaking the law is something a citizen cannot do- yet this administration breaks it's own laws with impunity.
Here then is a lawsuit- based in whole- on this administrations willingness to ignore the law. You will love it. http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/56-health-care/2006-a-stunning-new-court-defeat-for-obamacare
Another funny piece from the Ron Paul site. Hannity gets an Obamacare telephone worker fired after he calls and she states nobody likes the ACA. http://www.dailypaul.com/303608/sean-hannity-offers-fired-obamacare-operator-26000-after-his-call-got-her-canned
The GOP's efforts to stop the ACA were a waste of time. Just let it proceed.
Obamacare is unaffordable, unsustainable, and the government can't even find a workable way to enroll anyone. The administration has issued waivers to it's corporate pals and to Congress- ignoring any part of the law it finds inconvenient.
Willfully breaking the law is something a citizen cannot do- yet this administration breaks it's own laws with impunity.
Here then is a lawsuit- based in whole- on this administrations willingness to ignore the law. You will love it. http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/56-health-care/2006-a-stunning-new-court-defeat-for-obamacare
Another funny piece from the Ron Paul site. Hannity gets an Obamacare telephone worker fired after he calls and she states nobody likes the ACA. http://www.dailypaul.com/303608/sean-hannity-offers-fired-obamacare-operator-26000-after-his-call-got-her-canned
Friday, October 25, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The Economy in Pictures, Mostly
Excellent link showing that QE is essentially responsible for everything occurring in financial markets. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-22/spot-odd-one-out
Here's one from Doug Ross, saw it posted over at Asylum Watch too- I believe.
Here's one from Doug Ross, saw it posted over at Asylum Watch too- I believe.
I nabbed this from Zerohedge since we are coming up on the 100th year anniversary of the greatest fraud ever foisted upon the American people- the Federal Reserve Bank.
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
As we’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Federal Reserve, one thing has become abundantly clear– these guys are horrible at their jobs.
According to the popular lie, the Federal Reserve was supposed to have been established to smooth out the economic cycle, thus preventing booms, busts, recessions, and depressions.
It hasn’t really worked out that way.
In the 100 years prior to the establishment of the Federal Reserve, there were 18 distinct recessions or depressions:
1815, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1833, 1836, 1839, 1845, 1847, 1853, 1860, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1887, 1890, 1899, and 1902.
Since the establishment of the Federal Reserve, there have been 18 recessions or depressions:
1918, 1920, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1937, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1990, 2001, 2008.
So in other words, the economy experienced just as many recessions with the ‘expert’ management of the Federal Reserve as without it.
And this doesn’t even begin to capture all the absurd panics (the S&L scare), bailouts (Long-Term Capital Management), and ridiculous asset bubbles that they’ve created.
Hardly an impressive enough track record to justify conjuring trillions of dollars out of thin air, and awarding nearly totalitarian control of the money supply and economy to a tiny banking elite… wouldn’t you say?
Monday, October 21, 2013
This Is What Is Wrong With America*Update With More Funny Stuff
I've been on the annual hunting trip to North Dakota. There have been some casualties in the pheasant world.
Today, I clipped this comment from a Huffington Post article. I clipped it because I think the writer was trying to be honest and genuine about Obamacare but it reveals far more about the thought process of Americans.
“My daughter signed up and starting 1/1/14 she will have a $2000 deductible 80% plan for under $200 a month. She had problems initially, i think she said it took 3 times. She is a new mom who wanted to finish college, had a baby during the start of her 3rd year. She lives with an aunt and the house hold amount made her ineligible for Medicaid. This is perfect. It may take some time to get signed up, but in the end at least in her case, very well worth it.”
I read this comment a couple of times. We have a young woman, not enrolled currently in college, who apparently decided to have a baby first. There is no mention of a father. Her income thresholds are so low that she can afford a gold plan for two people and pay less than 200 bucks for it.
Who plans their life this way? Or more precisely, who fails to plan their life this way?
The liberals love to tell the rest of us that our medical needs should not be borne by society- yet they have no problem at all burdening the rest of us with their poor planning and decision making.
Is there something wrong with going to college first and then after securing a decent income stream- having a baby?
We have a nation filled with people like this.
What makes this comment so prescient is that the writer seems completely oblivious to the possibility that all of these poor decisions are solely their responsibility. Not only that- but they seem to think they are entitled to healthcare at a vastly reduced cost- as long as you pay.
Entitled.
You'll like this video. It is a Mark Dice vid asking people to endorse Karl Marx for President. Very funny.
Today, I clipped this comment from a Huffington Post article. I clipped it because I think the writer was trying to be honest and genuine about Obamacare but it reveals far more about the thought process of Americans.
“My daughter signed up and starting 1/1/14 she will have a $2000 deductible 80% plan for under $200 a month. She had problems initially, i think she said it took 3 times. She is a new mom who wanted to finish college, had a baby during the start of her 3rd year. She lives with an aunt and the house hold amount made her ineligible for Medicaid. This is perfect. It may take some time to get signed up, but in the end at least in her case, very well worth it.”
I read this comment a couple of times. We have a young woman, not enrolled currently in college, who apparently decided to have a baby first. There is no mention of a father. Her income thresholds are so low that she can afford a gold plan for two people and pay less than 200 bucks for it.
Who plans their life this way? Or more precisely, who fails to plan their life this way?
The liberals love to tell the rest of us that our medical needs should not be borne by society- yet they have no problem at all burdening the rest of us with their poor planning and decision making.
Is there something wrong with going to college first and then after securing a decent income stream- having a baby?
We have a nation filled with people like this.
What makes this comment so prescient is that the writer seems completely oblivious to the possibility that all of these poor decisions are solely their responsibility. Not only that- but they seem to think they are entitled to healthcare at a vastly reduced cost- as long as you pay.
Entitled.
You'll like this video. It is a Mark Dice vid asking people to endorse Karl Marx for President. Very funny.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
MSNBC, Statist Obama Network, Caught Lying
This vid speaks for itself. I have not tuned in to watch MSNBC for two weeks now. Missing, nothing.
The ACA is DOA
For months, maybe even years, I have been on this blog telling readers what an expensive nightmare the ACA is.
ACA's sole purpose was to force healthy people back into health insurance pools- to pick up the tab for everyone else. This law is a complete sham and it is horribly expensive. The Affordable Care Act is not affordable nor is it caring. With it's outrageous deductibles and premiums, it hardly qualifies as insurance. It is a sham- foisted upon the American middle class and given a palatable name- to provide windfall profits to healthcare companies while stealing every last dollar and tidbit of personal information it can glean.
I am not going to participate. At any level. My first act of civil disobedience will be to refuse to enroll.
You will enjoy this article. Forbes discovers that the healthcare exchange is crashing because the Obama administration desperately wanted to hide the true cost of the ACA by forcing people into giving up all of their personal data before disclosing plan prices. Deceit is no way to enroll people and then steal their money.
People cannot afford this. The middle class is tapped out. The ACA is DOA.
Very interesting. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/14/obamacares-website-is-crashing-because-it-doesnt-want-you-to-know-health-plans-true-costs/?partner=yahootix
Many states with ZERO signups. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamacare-meltdown-continues-171.html
Here in a nutshell and stolen from Ace's site is the reason Obamacare will implode.
If the exchanges don’t get fixed soon, they could destroy Obamacare -- and possibly, the rest of the private insurance market. The reason that the exchanges were so important was that they were needed to attract young, healthy people into the insurance system. The worry was that if insurance is hard to buy -- if you have to do your own comparison shopping and then call the insurance company, and fax in some paperwork and two years of tax returns -- that the young and the healthy simply won’t do it. Sick people and old people who were getting huge subsidies -- and maybe the ability to buy insurance on the private market for the first time in a long while -- would overcome any obstacles, because if you’re spending $15,000 a year on health care, it’s worth a lot of your time to make sure that you have insurance. But if your biggest annual health-care expense is contact lens solution, you may just decide to skip it and pay the fine.
ACA's sole purpose was to force healthy people back into health insurance pools- to pick up the tab for everyone else. This law is a complete sham and it is horribly expensive. The Affordable Care Act is not affordable nor is it caring. With it's outrageous deductibles and premiums, it hardly qualifies as insurance. It is a sham- foisted upon the American middle class and given a palatable name- to provide windfall profits to healthcare companies while stealing every last dollar and tidbit of personal information it can glean.
I am not going to participate. At any level. My first act of civil disobedience will be to refuse to enroll.
You will enjoy this article. Forbes discovers that the healthcare exchange is crashing because the Obama administration desperately wanted to hide the true cost of the ACA by forcing people into giving up all of their personal data before disclosing plan prices. Deceit is no way to enroll people and then steal their money.
People cannot afford this. The middle class is tapped out. The ACA is DOA.
Very interesting. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/14/obamacares-website-is-crashing-because-it-doesnt-want-you-to-know-health-plans-true-costs/?partner=yahootix
Many states with ZERO signups. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2013/10/obamacare-meltdown-continues-171.html
Here in a nutshell and stolen from Ace's site is the reason Obamacare will implode.
If the exchanges don’t get fixed soon, they could destroy Obamacare -- and possibly, the rest of the private insurance market. The reason that the exchanges were so important was that they were needed to attract young, healthy people into the insurance system. The worry was that if insurance is hard to buy -- if you have to do your own comparison shopping and then call the insurance company, and fax in some paperwork and two years of tax returns -- that the young and the healthy simply won’t do it. Sick people and old people who were getting huge subsidies -- and maybe the ability to buy insurance on the private market for the first time in a long while -- would overcome any obstacles, because if you’re spending $15,000 a year on health care, it’s worth a lot of your time to make sure that you have insurance. But if your biggest annual health-care expense is contact lens solution, you may just decide to skip it and pay the fine.
The administration estimates that it needs 2.7 million young healthy people on the exchange, out of the 7 million total expected to apply in the first year. If the pool is too skewed -- if it’s mostly old and sick people on the exchanges -- then insurers will lose money, and next year, they’ll sharply increase premiums. The healthiest people will drop out, because insurance is no longer such a good deal for them. Rinse and repeat and you have effectively destroyed the market for individual insurance policies. It’s called the “death spiral,” and the exchanges, like the mandate, were designed to keep it from happening.
Without the exchanges, the death spiral seems almost assured.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Washington Post Puts Up Misleading Video- Debunking Follows
In just a minute, I am going to show you a video which apparently targets the American masses and was produced with some sort of 8th grade audience in mind. It was posted on Huffington Post today (10/14/13) where all of the really smart people hang out.
This is the shit that Huffpo readers watch and this is what we are up against. So what's wrong with this deficit spending video produced by the Washington Post?
Please pay attention to the graphing that occurs right around the :46 mark. This is the visual aid that they employ to pacify the sheep who watch shit like this and think it is accurate. Note also how they say the United States has "always borrowed money" as though that makes borrowing seem normal and acceptable. (Please ignore the references made by the video about our poor, victim, President Obama. I mean after all, I clipped this from Huffpo)
First of all, saying that the US has always had to borrow is not entirely accurate. The US has not always had to borrow to pay it's debts. In fact we went through an actual 30 year period where we didn't fight any wars and voila!!! We didn't have to borrow anything because we had no debt. 1830-1860.
Virtually all historical US borrowing has occurred because of wars. This piece, from The Atlantic, details our war spending very nicely, up until our current day. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/the-long-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011-in-1-little-chart/265185/
If you simply read the Atlantic article, you are going to find that near the end of it- it makes this statement. You'll love this- this is the part where your government stole all of the money in the SS trust fund years ago- they note it but for some reason- still don't want to count it.
Because on top of the roughly $11.4 trillion in US government debt, which can be bought and sold and is floating around in financial markets, there's also nearly $5 trillion in debt that the US government owes to itself. Those are largely obligations to the trust funds that are used to pay for programs such as Social Security. These aren't counted in debt-to-GDP charts published here, and are often excluded from such calculations. But if you did include this debt--and there's an argument to be made that we should, since the government is on the hook to pay these claims--the US debt-to-GDP ratio was just under 100% at the end of 2011.
So why can't anybody draw an accurate chart showing today's real debt (16.7 trillion divided by 2012 14.99 trillion GDP= 111%) at the exact same level that we had just after WW2??
Why do they say- well we excluded the 5 trillion the government stole from Social Security so we don't include that in our graphs. Huh? How can you steal 5 trillion that is owed to American taxpayers and pretend that it doesn't exist?
This is the kind of bullshit that passes as journalism.
Either way, the people of this country don't get the truth. The real truth is that current government debt exceeds every historical measure that we have ever employed to measure it. It has never been this high. Period.
And unlike 1946, we don't have the capacity to pay the debt down. The real American economy, primarily corporations and 30 million manufacturing jobs, have all left the US. You can't squeeze trillions out of workers at McDonald's.
We are at a historical point in time where the debt will go supernova. Why? Because we are adding 340 billion dollars a year in interest expense ( at 2%) while watching principal amounts build. We have a giant demographic (boomers) all hitting the debit side of the ledger. Even if the government can somehow manage to hold interest rates steady- a much smaller taxpaying demographic will have to pick up the slack for a much larger retiring demographic. It only pencils out one way- and it's all bad.
If they don't slash and burn federal spending now, it's game over and the truth is- it's probably game over anyway.
It kind of makes you wonder how they are going to graph our debt, 10 years from now- doesn't it?
They'll think of something. They always do.
This is the shit that Huffpo readers watch and this is what we are up against. So what's wrong with this deficit spending video produced by the Washington Post?
Please pay attention to the graphing that occurs right around the :46 mark. This is the visual aid that they employ to pacify the sheep who watch shit like this and think it is accurate. Note also how they say the United States has "always borrowed money" as though that makes borrowing seem normal and acceptable. (Please ignore the references made by the video about our poor, victim, President Obama. I mean after all, I clipped this from Huffpo)
First of all, saying that the US has always had to borrow is not entirely accurate. The US has not always had to borrow to pay it's debts. In fact we went through an actual 30 year period where we didn't fight any wars and voila!!! We didn't have to borrow anything because we had no debt. 1830-1860.
Virtually all historical US borrowing has occurred because of wars. This piece, from The Atlantic, details our war spending very nicely, up until our current day. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/the-long-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011-in-1-little-chart/265185/
If you simply read the Atlantic article, you are going to find that near the end of it- it makes this statement. You'll love this- this is the part where your government stole all of the money in the SS trust fund years ago- they note it but for some reason- still don't want to count it.
Because on top of the roughly $11.4 trillion in US government debt, which can be bought and sold and is floating around in financial markets, there's also nearly $5 trillion in debt that the US government owes to itself. Those are largely obligations to the trust funds that are used to pay for programs such as Social Security. These aren't counted in debt-to-GDP charts published here, and are often excluded from such calculations. But if you did include this debt--and there's an argument to be made that we should, since the government is on the hook to pay these claims--the US debt-to-GDP ratio was just under 100% at the end of 2011.
So why can't anybody draw an accurate chart showing today's real debt (16.7 trillion divided by 2012 14.99 trillion GDP= 111%) at the exact same level that we had just after WW2??
Why do they say- well we excluded the 5 trillion the government stole from Social Security so we don't include that in our graphs. Huh? How can you steal 5 trillion that is owed to American taxpayers and pretend that it doesn't exist?
This is the kind of bullshit that passes as journalism.
Either way, the people of this country don't get the truth. The real truth is that current government debt exceeds every historical measure that we have ever employed to measure it. It has never been this high. Period.
And unlike 1946, we don't have the capacity to pay the debt down. The real American economy, primarily corporations and 30 million manufacturing jobs, have all left the US. You can't squeeze trillions out of workers at McDonald's.
We are at a historical point in time where the debt will go supernova. Why? Because we are adding 340 billion dollars a year in interest expense ( at 2%) while watching principal amounts build. We have a giant demographic (boomers) all hitting the debit side of the ledger. Even if the government can somehow manage to hold interest rates steady- a much smaller taxpaying demographic will have to pick up the slack for a much larger retiring demographic. It only pencils out one way- and it's all bad.
If they don't slash and burn federal spending now, it's game over and the truth is- it's probably game over anyway.
It kind of makes you wonder how they are going to graph our debt, 10 years from now- doesn't it?
They'll think of something. They always do.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
A FG Survey: Are You Entitled to Healthcare?
Or in other words, "Can you compel another person to provide a service to you?"
In a truly free market, with real competition, we normally compel people to work for us by offering a wage that they find attractive and that they agree to. In a system hijacked by government and taxes, the insurance industry, big pharma, medical devices, lobbyists, administrative costs and middlemen, stock holders, and trial attorneys- we are so far removed from a free market that we couldn't unwind this mess with a month long debate.
Which of course is precisely what should have happened before the Affordable Care Tax was unread and passed- which is also known as reform. This fundamental step is key to any number of projects- repairs and reforms are generally undertaken prior to expansion, new ownership, or new management. Here's a great piece on the unconstitutionality of the ACA as a tax bill that did not originate in the House as required by law. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/360460/obamacares-unconstitutional-origins-andrew-c-mccarthy
For months, I have noted a particular thought process among liberals with respect to healthcare. As the great national debate rages on, I watched as a popular theme emerged among Huffing Post commenters. I'm not talking about the usual, "hate the GOP ranting" that goes on there daily. But rather, a different theme emerged. It is a fascinating blend of entitlement that comes from a law that was literally rammed through Congress without bi-partisan support, passed, and then labeled a tax and called "legal" by a Supreme Court which almost without exception- extends the power of the Federal Government every chance it gets. In fact, I can find very few examples of any issue wherein the Supreme Court sided with the hoi polloi as opposed to a Federal Government which has always sought to extend it's power and control.
It is the will of the majority. It is precisely what has unwound every democracy since time began and it is also why our founding fathers believed in a rule of law and a republic which protects the rights of the minority from the oppression and lawless behavior of the majority.
Liberals and statists adamantly believe that seizing your work product (or money) by whatever means is available- is fine so long as some greater good is served.
This is the underpinnings of mob rule democracy. The mob will always seek to get what it wants by using the oppression of their majority.
So knowing the entitled nature of the statists who inhabit Huffington Post, I asked two simple questions.
"Are you entitled to healthcare?" or in other words "Can you compel another person to provide a service to you?" In addition, I had decided in advance that I would be very nice to commenters to encourage them to give their opinions.
This is what they said. I have deleted their "handles" to protect their identities. I have also deleted my replies to them which were simply designed to keep them on topic. Each line constitutes a separate response.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drop the loaded terminology and make it an HONEST question, then.
The nation has already decided that the Government is responsible to provide access to healthcare. You know, DEMOCRACY? Libertarians DO believe in Democracy, right?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
yes, when its healthcare
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gee, libby, I don't know. Are we "entitled" to a police force? A military? To first responders? Clean air? Good roads? Clean food? Clean water?
Here's a thought: put down the mirror and think about someone besides yourself for a change. Ayn Rand is poisonous to the soul, and you've been dosed pretty heavy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are certain things that mature and caring societies do for the "general welfare" of their people. I'm compelled to pay for roadways that I'll never use. But my fellow citizens get to work on them and businesses use them to make money. I'm compelled to pay for schools but I have no children. I pay because I believe every child deserves an education, just like Thomas Jefferson believed, that is free. BTW, I believe that for post secondary and vocational education also.
What I can't understand is why libertarians are so hell bent against those principles. Can you explain that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The question is, "Are you entitled to healthcare?" "Are you entitled to compel another to provide a service for you?" The question is, "Are you entitled to healthcare?" "Are you entitled to compel another to provide a service for you?"
In nature, NO, you are entitled to eat or be eaten. But an enlightened society can and should provide at least minimal healthcare for its people.
Yes, I/we am entitled to compel to provide a service to me/us from that group in Washington. They work for me/us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you drive a car, you have to have insurance. Same thing here. You have to carry some insurance so if you get hospitalized, Americans with insurance don't get stuck for YOUR bill. That's what happens now. People with insurance pay over 20% more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winners in the libertarian world are losers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were a couple of other comments- I think there was a total of 11 until finally- someone came up with the correct answer. I couldn't have written it better, here it is:
In a truly free market, with real competition, we normally compel people to work for us by offering a wage that they find attractive and that they agree to. In a system hijacked by government and taxes, the insurance industry, big pharma, medical devices, lobbyists, administrative costs and middlemen, stock holders, and trial attorneys- we are so far removed from a free market that we couldn't unwind this mess with a month long debate.
Which of course is precisely what should have happened before the Affordable Care Tax was unread and passed- which is also known as reform. This fundamental step is key to any number of projects- repairs and reforms are generally undertaken prior to expansion, new ownership, or new management. Here's a great piece on the unconstitutionality of the ACA as a tax bill that did not originate in the House as required by law. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/360460/obamacares-unconstitutional-origins-andrew-c-mccarthy
For months, I have noted a particular thought process among liberals with respect to healthcare. As the great national debate rages on, I watched as a popular theme emerged among Huffing Post commenters. I'm not talking about the usual, "hate the GOP ranting" that goes on there daily. But rather, a different theme emerged. It is a fascinating blend of entitlement that comes from a law that was literally rammed through Congress without bi-partisan support, passed, and then labeled a tax and called "legal" by a Supreme Court which almost without exception- extends the power of the Federal Government every chance it gets. In fact, I can find very few examples of any issue wherein the Supreme Court sided with the hoi polloi as opposed to a Federal Government which has always sought to extend it's power and control.
It is the will of the majority. It is precisely what has unwound every democracy since time began and it is also why our founding fathers believed in a rule of law and a republic which protects the rights of the minority from the oppression and lawless behavior of the majority.
Liberals and statists adamantly believe that seizing your work product (or money) by whatever means is available- is fine so long as some greater good is served.
This is the underpinnings of mob rule democracy. The mob will always seek to get what it wants by using the oppression of their majority.
So knowing the entitled nature of the statists who inhabit Huffington Post, I asked two simple questions.
"Are you entitled to healthcare?" or in other words "Can you compel another person to provide a service to you?" In addition, I had decided in advance that I would be very nice to commenters to encourage them to give their opinions.
This is what they said. I have deleted their "handles" to protect their identities. I have also deleted my replies to them which were simply designed to keep them on topic. Each line constitutes a separate response.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drop the loaded terminology and make it an HONEST question, then.
The nation has already decided that the Government is responsible to provide access to healthcare. You know, DEMOCRACY? Libertarians DO believe in Democracy, right?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
yes, when its healthcare
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gee, libby, I don't know. Are we "entitled" to a police force? A military? To first responders? Clean air? Good roads? Clean food? Clean water?
Here's a thought: put down the mirror and think about someone besides yourself for a change. Ayn Rand is poisonous to the soul, and you've been dosed pretty heavy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are certain things that mature and caring societies do for the "general welfare" of their people. I'm compelled to pay for roadways that I'll never use. But my fellow citizens get to work on them and businesses use them to make money. I'm compelled to pay for schools but I have no children. I pay because I believe every child deserves an education, just like Thomas Jefferson believed, that is free. BTW, I believe that for post secondary and vocational education also.
What I can't understand is why libertarians are so hell bent against those principles. Can you explain that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The question is, "Are you entitled to healthcare?" "Are you entitled to compel another to provide a service for you?" The question is, "Are you entitled to healthcare?" "Are you entitled to compel another to provide a service for you?"
In nature, NO, you are entitled to eat or be eaten. But an enlightened society can and should provide at least minimal healthcare for its people.
Yes, I/we am entitled to compel to provide a service to me/us from that group in Washington. They work for me/us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you drive a car, you have to have insurance. Same thing here. You have to carry some insurance so if you get hospitalized, Americans with insurance don't get stuck for YOUR bill. That's what happens now. People with insurance pay over 20% more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winners in the libertarian world are losers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were a couple of other comments- I think there was a total of 11 until finally- someone came up with the correct answer. I couldn't have written it better, here it is:
6 hours ago ( 9:13 PM)
No. I am not entitled to healthcare. I do not believe that others should be forced to pay for me, nor I for them. Where does this expansion of newly created rights stop??? What about food? Housing? At some point, we must realize that a continued cycle of progressive programs will only bring about equal poverty; progressivism never raises a populations standard of living in the long term. I also am reminded of a quote attributed to Henry Ford.."if you think the US government is so great at taking care of people, go talk to the American Indians."
My reply and I shall leave you with one last quote which encapsulates the idea of liberty and freedom that founded this country- which is sadly evaporating from our culture.
“A WINNER!!!
After 10 or so incorrect answers, someone nails it and expands it perfectly and caps it with the prescient quote about the American Indian. Had Henry lived long enough, he might have asked Japanese Americans around 1942- just how impressed they were with 'democracy" as the majority of US citizens abandoned the rule of law and plunked them in relocation camps.
You have won. This entitles you to a meat and cheese tray delivered before the holidays. Thanks.”
After 10 or so incorrect answers, someone nails it and expands it perfectly and caps it with the prescient quote about the American Indian. Had Henry lived long enough, he might have asked Japanese Americans around 1942- just how impressed they were with 'democracy" as the majority of US citizens abandoned the rule of law and plunked them in relocation camps.
You have won. This entitles you to a meat and cheese tray delivered before the holidays. Thanks.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Earlier this week, graphs started popping up on X and other places. Most of those graphs showed the steep and dramatic increase in popular ...
-
Several years ago, as Ann Coulter (2016) was being laughed at for predicting the Trump presidential win, I was reading a piece about why wo...
-
There is a giant swath of folks in this country who simply cannot believe what is happening. They cannot believe that a "convicted felo...