I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on.
The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
Info about my book. All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans. Please forward and post where possible.
Another Collapse Radio Interview
I’ll be on Thursday, July 14, 2011, 7:30 pm to 8:45 pm EDT., 6:30 pm to 7:45 PM CDT. You cal sign in to their blog on the web to hear and post questions. You can also call The call-in number, 347-857-4364, and press '1' to be placed in the host queue. (If you just want to listen, don’t press ‘1’.) The Friday Interview is still on.
More Collapse Feedback
I have just finished the book. It is only 80 pages with an extensive reference list. I would recommend to all who are concerned about our nation and their own families. I am no survivalist but this is a real wake up call. I am going to get three more: one for my representative in the house and one for each senator. They probably will not read it as their schedules are too busy getting reelected. And yes they are Republicans but this should be required reading for all legislators. Not for Obama though, because I do not believe he is willing to do a thing to head these potential, perhaps probable, events off. –Jim (I appreciate everyone who writes about my book. I’m encouraged by the number of folks who report they are buying extra copies to share with others. ~Bob.
43 Weapons in Phoenix
Video of local news reports. The media held George W. Bush responsible for FEMA’s reaction to Katrina under his administration. Why are they not holding Barack H. Obama responsible for ATF’s actions under his administration? Other, of course, then the obvious fact that they are no longer news organizations but propaganda arms of the statist-left political effort, and still get thrills up their legs over everything BO does. ~Bob.
Obama Orders Launched Fast and Furious
Excerpt: Deputy Attorney General David Ogden admits Obama gave orders for Operation Gun runner.
Obama to use bully pulpit to press lawmakers to back big debt deal
Okay, I’m ready for a deal. What say Republicans give Obama the two tax increases he mentions most. Eliminate the tax break on corporate jets he signed in his stimulus. Eliminate the tax breaks for oil companies. Then he grants all the spending cuts Republicans want. Sounds fair. Then Republicans can run attacks ads against him showing workers who build/service/fly jets who are laid off, and if gas goes up because of increased taxes on oil companies, on that as well. Fair enough? ~Bob. Excerpt:
Quote
Everybody in America
Palin warns Boehner on debt ceiling deal
excerpt: Former Alaska
Excerpt: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) went on the attack Sunday against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), calling into question whether she's qualified to be president. Pawlenty, whose bid for the GOP presidential nomination has taken a back seat to Bachmann's in Iowa
Bachmann fires back at Pawlenty for 'negativity'
Excerpt: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) fired back Sunday evening at former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), chiding her rival for the GOP presidential nomination for "negativity." Bachmann outlined her legislative accomplishments in response to Pawlenty's criticism earlier Sunday that her record during three terms in Congress was "non-existent." "This is an election about the future of our nation - one where voters will have to decide who is best equipped to lead our nation by looking at our records, as well as our vision for the nation," Bachmann responded in a statement. "Instead of negativity, I want to focus on my accomplishments."
GOP presidential candidates lag in fundraising compared with 2007
Excerpt: Are Republicans suffering from an enthusiasm gap? After taking the House last November in a wave of conservative opposition to President Obama, Republicans now appear to be struggling to match the financial muscle of Democrats heading into the contentious 2012 elections. The six GOP presidential candidates who have announced results raised a combined $35.6 million through June 30, including about $18 million by presumed front-runner Mitt Romney. In 2007, Republican candidates had raised more than $118 million by the same stage of the race, according to a new analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Privatizing Federal Government Assets
Excerpt: Most of the debate over the federal government's debt ceiling has taken it for granted that raising the statutory limit is unavoidable, unless the government is willing to engage in savage budget cuts and/or draconian tax hikes. Yet, if the owners of a private-sector operation wanted to stop a downward spiral into debt, one obvious solution would be to sell off assets to ease the transition to profitability. Although the issue is seldom discussed, the federal government currently owns more than $1.6 trillion of liquid assets. At any time, free-market economists have a general presumption that private owners, relying on the profit-and-loss test, allocate resources to their most valuable uses. Especially given the current budget crisis, now is an excellent time to begin privatizing Uncle Sam's colossal holdings. … In his slender book Bureaucracy, Ludwig von Mises explained the fundamental difference between private-sector profit management and government-sector bureaucratic management. On the market, a business must operate through exchanges with suppliers and customers. The business must pay for every input and must convince its customers to voluntarily hand over their money for its product or service.
Excerpt: An exorbitantly costly rapid transit heavy rail project has been proposed for the small Hawaiian island of Oahu , where the leading metropolis, Honolulu , ranks 53rd in population among U.S. Los Angeles and Long Beach
Summer Campers, Marines Remember Troops
Excerpt: Marines from the Walter K. Singleton Chapter of the Marine Corps League in Memphis team up with campers at St. Agnes-St. Dominic to make care packages for Marines in Afghanistan
Excerpt: In a 21st-century oil boom, the sparsely populated Canadian province of Alberta Alberta United States United States United States North America 's dependence on foreign-energy sources should fall over the next 20 years, despite growing consumption. But that assumes oil-sands output continues to feed U.S. U.S. Alberta United States doesn't want Alberta 's oil, Asia -- in particular, China
Worth reading: These Things I Deny: We hold these falsehoods to be evident through history.
Excerpt: I deny both the right and wisdom of government to “own” any industry. Industry cannot succeed without the threat of failure, and the State never has to worry about going out of business. Ownership is the prerogative of citizens, not the government they authorize to perform certain essential duties. I reject the notion that a just government can exist in the absence of a strictly obeyed Constitution. It is not an archaic document to be evaded when it interferes with the agenda of public officials. A republic must be bound by laws that its elected representatives cannot easily change. I deny the wisdom of the political class to achieve prosperity through economic control. Their failure is massive and evident. I challenge them to relinquish their control, and watch the creativity and judgment of free citizens surpass their own. I do not believe the wealth of a free citizen belongs to the government, to re-distribute in accordance with the moral judgment of the elite.
Quote from The Patriot Post
"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it." --French economist, statesman, and author Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)
Excerpt: "We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude." --Thomas Jefferson. This week, we celebrated 235 years of American Liberty. Conversely, on the eve of our Independence Day, the Red Chinese celebrated the 90th year of tyranny under the Communist Party. A few decades ago, the contrast between the economies of the United States and China
Worth Reading
Excerpt: It is truly fascinating how liberal media members will do anything to protect the reputation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On this weekend's "McLaughlin Group," Newsweek's Eleanor Clift revised history to largely absolve the two government-sponsored enterprises for last decade's mortgage collapse while predictably blaming it on Wall Street and of course George W. Bush (video follows with transcript and commentary): … To quickly refute her claim, let's cite a source she trusts; in September 1999, the New York Times reported: In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York
Hizb ut-Tahrir: Islam Has Replaced Communism as Top U.S.
We may not be at war with Islam, as both Bush and Obama have said. But a large chuck of Islam thinks they are at war with us. ~Bob. Excerpt: A radical Islamist group which claims a presence in nearly 50 countries is so confident it can help establish a global Muslim government – or caliphate – that it distributed a draft constitution during a recent conference outside of Chicago United States United States
Morning Bell : America , the Europe of the West?
Excerpt: Last night, President Barack Obama and U.S. Washington are pushing for higher taxes, unemployment is soaring, the deficit keeps growing, and America is careening toward an economic future as the Europe of the West. That's a future of crippling debt, spending, and permanently high unemployment that some in Congress are trying to avoid. On Saturday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH) pulled the plug on a debt ceiling increase that would have raised taxes in exchange for reductions in spending. It was the right move. Tax increases are the last thing America America 's dismal economic reality--and the policy of taxing and spending--are facts of life the Obama Administration would like America
Buying Gold and Silver
Excerpt: When considering the purchase of gold and silver it’s important to understand why you’re buying it, because that will influence what you purchase. The most typical reasons people consider buying gold and silver fall into three basic categories. (Lots of good basics for precious metals buyers/sellers in this article. Pay particular attention to the section about jewelry. Not mentioned in the article is the best reason to deal with a reputable coin dealer (numismatist); he’s the most likely to be both able and willing to buy it back when you decide to sell. As with any form of risk taking, risk only what you can afford to lose. Ron P. Huh. Now you tell me to, “risk only what I can afford to lose” after your kings up full house took away my liberty money in 1965! ~Bob.)
Price for cutting carbon 'is 32% rise in bills'
Excerpt: DOMESTIC energy bills could soar by over 30 per cent following dramatic energy market reforms set to be announced tomorrow, experts have warned.
Excerpt: The bill, and the rallying cry of “Save the Lightbulb!” have become unlikely hallmarks of the tea party movement, touted by presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann and talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Tea party conservatives have targeted an obscure lightbulb efficiency provision tucked into a broad 2007 energy law as symbolic of what they call government overregulation. They passionately decry the law as a “ban” on the familiar incandescent lightbulbs that Americans have used for most of the last century. Despite all the political crossfire over lightbulbs, it’s unlikely that Republicans will succeed: Monday’s House vote will take place under a procedural rule requiring a two-thirds majority, which makes it uncertain whether it will pass—while it is certain to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate. (…) Of tea partiers’s philosophical argument that the law would deprive consumers of the choice of lighting products, Chu said, these standards are not taking choices away, it's putting money back in the pockets of American families.” (Does anyone remember the two most feared lines of speech in regulation? “I’m from the government. I’m here to help you.” Ron P.)
US Trade Deficit according to the CIA
This link gave me trouble. It’s a link to the US Trade Deficits. Excerpt from the e-mail I was send from MajGen Geoff Higginbotham, USMC (Ret.): If this doesn’t get your attention, nothing will. Just another example why we are heading towards a collapse of the Republic. Gbh. Subject: CIA Data on Trade Balances. The United States America
Bad Link: It was reported to me the link to this great column in yesterday’s Digest didn’t work. Sorry. Trying again.
See no evil: A nation where no one is held responsible and no one takes responsibility
Excerpt: “It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” — Moliere ... When did accountability become such a quaint idea? It’s as old as civilization, the bulwark upon which governments and financial transactions have always been set. Every major world religion espouses it as a mark and essential component of true maturity. It motors the social contract — without believing that each person or institution you interact with has a sense of accountability, there is no trust — and yet, in ways big and small, it seems to be further eroded on a daily basis. In a June 2010 piece on Psychology Today’s blog, psychiatrist and psychologist Steven Reiss theorized that current modes of parenting and education — in which discipline has softened into negotiations with toddlers and losing teams are awarded trophies for simply showing up — have left younger generations with a sense of entitlement that overwhelms, if not replaces, appropriate feelings of shame, regret or apology. Technology, too, has loosened the parameters of societal shame meant to keep even the ugliest id in check: Read through the comments section of any blog or newspaper, and the level of vitriol found there never fails to shock, the vicious attacks on everything from an individual’s race to political leanings to personal attractiveness, all unleashed under the anonymity of the Web.
Can jobs news get worse? Just wait and see
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/can_jobs_news_get_worse_just_wait_kujJq1I8GMMrUtceqERkmJ#ixzz1RjNeeUDt
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/can_jobs_news_get_worse_just_wait_kujJq1I8GMMrUtceqERkmJ#ixzz1RjNeeUDt
Excerpt: Now for the really bad news: that 18,000 gain announced by the government yesterday isn't real. For one thing, the number of jobs increased in June only because the Labor Department simultaneously revised downward the number of jobs that existed in this country during May. It's like moving the fences at Citi Field so the Mets players can hit more home runs. It might make Jose Reyes feel better, but it doesn't actually make him more powerful. Without the fence-moving operation in the May employment report, the June number -- yesterday's number -- would have shown a decline of 26,000 jobs.
Then there's another problem with June's employment report. Included in the 18,000 headline number is a guesstimate that 131,000 jobs were created by newly formed -- and, therefore, invisible -- companies. If you want to send your resume to one of these companies, don't bother. They probably don't exist, and neither do the jobs the government thinks they are creating.
It’s Still About The Economy Stupid!
Excerpt: Why is it that President Barack Obama and his minions just can’t seem to comprehend that his entire reelection is based on the economy and whether people are working? How could the Obama Administration continue to be so obtuse when it comes to the economy and jobs? It is as if they actually do not want to create jobs, if one did not know any better. June’s increase of the unemployment rate to 9.2% and a pathetic 18,000 jobs created is a complete embarrassment. Or, at least it should be. However, sadly for the United States Barack Obama and his peeps have been clueless from the outset and continue to spew their BS. Following the terrible job numbers, Obama mouth piece Jay Carner continued to insult the common sense of Americans. … Make no mistake about it, the American voters will remember that Obama said that the $878 billion stimulus would keep unemployment below 8% and that then Democrat Speaker of the House Pelosi said that Obamacare would create 400,000 jobs instantly. Come 2012 there will be a reckoning and Democrats are going to pay an even steeper price than they did in the 2010 midterms.
Michelle Obama orders 1,556-calorie meal at Shake Shack
From Al gore’s hoggy carbon footprint to Michelle’s blubber burger, the mantra of the left is, “Do as I say, not as I do.” ~Bob., Excerpt: First lady Michelle Obama ordered a whopper of a meal at the newly opened Washington
Excerpt: I think we ought to be harder when minor functionaries of a failed leviathan reveal themselves to have a defective understanding of the role of government in free societies. Steven Chu, the Energy Secretary who came into office saying “we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe“, has now offered up another soundbite for our times. On Friday, he defended the ban on Edison’s iconic incandescent in economic terms: We are taking away a choice that continues to let people waste their own money. So what? I waste my own money on all kinds of things. If I wanted Steven Chu to have a say in it, I’d get Parson Bloomberg to marry us at Gracie Mansion. More to the point, I wonder if Secretary Chu has any idea how stupid this argument sounds from an administration that has wasted more of other people’s money than anybody else on the planet. (Why do they get to decide for us what is wasteful? This is the very definition of tyranny. ~Bob.)
One-Fifth Of U.S. Personal Income Tied To Government Payments Last Year
Excerpt: With employment only increasing by a net total of 18,000 jobs in June, a new report by Moody's Analytics suggests just how crucial government has become to the average American family's income. Indeed, last year, roughly $2 out of every $10 that went into American wallets came as a result of government payments, according to a report by Moody's, cited by The New York Times. (I actually expected this percentage to be higher. I’m pretty sure it was about the same percentage in the late 70s and early 80s. Of course, there are a lot more of us now than there were then. Ron P. I think it must be higher. Remember government cannot give you anything it doesn’t take from someone else, through taxes, inflation (a tax making your money worth less) or borrowing (creating future taxes and/or inflation.) ~Bob.)
Scientists find first superbug strain of gonorrhea
Excerpt: Scientists have found a "superbug" strain of gonorrhea in Japan that is resistant to all recommended antibiotics and say it could transform a once easily treatable infection into a global public health threat. The new strain of the sexually transmitted disease -- called H041 -- cannot be killed by any currently recommended treatments for gonorrhea, leaving doctors with no other option than to try medicines so far untested against the disease. (There are several versions of this story today. One suggests there are suspected cases in California, though I found no confirmation of it. As if AIDS wasn’t enough to keep us honest. Ron P.)
Memo to Mideast Quartet: The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Train Derailed Ages Ago
What liberals seem incapable of understanding is that it takes two sides to make a peace, only one to make a war. Hamas and Fatah will no more negotiate in good faith than the North Vietnamese communists did in 1973, or the Taliban will, but, like them, will promise anything to get what they want, then break their promises. ~Bob. Excerpt: Obama Administration and its European allies meet Monday in Washington, under the auspices of the Middle East Quartet, in search of a formula to head off a Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood by the U.N. in September. A U.N. vote would be a "train wreck", U.S. officials like to say, setting up renewed confrontation; instead they insist, the only way to Palestinian independence is via Israel's consent, secured at the negotiation table.
Raided Mexican Ranch Linked to U.S. Drug War Corruption
Excerpt: The recent raid of a stash site on the Mexican side of the border suspected of containing a cache of guns and/or drugs is drawing attention once again to the U.S. border town of Columbus, N.M. This is where 11 people, including the mayor, police chief and a village trustee, were recently indicted on gun-running charges. The Mexican stash site was raided this past Wednesday evening, June 15, according to former CIA contract pilot and New Mexico resident Tosh Plumlee, who was present at the scene taking photos. The stash site — actually two warehouse buildings on a ranch just south of the border and some 20 miles east of Palomas, Mexico, which borders Columbus — was allegedly raided by the Mexican military in cooperation with a U.S. military special-operations task force, Plumlee asserts.
Democrats split on Independent Payment Advisory Board
Excerpt: Republicans plan to launch new attacks on the board in two congressional hearings. Democrats are divided over whether to support the health law at all costs or to allow Republicans an opening to repeal a provision. IPAB was created under the health care overhaul law to control the rising costs of Medicare. If costs go up too much, the board’s recommendations will go into effect unless Congress comes up with the same amount of savings. But some Democrats, as well as most Republicans and health care providers, argue the panel could arbitrarily cut services to Medicare patients and payments to providers with little congressional oversight.
In Obamaland, the Past is Irrelevant
Excerpt: President Obama inhabits a very special world. It's a world in which his entire slate of previous statements, policy preferences, and actions is apparently wiped clean every time he delivers a new speech or press statement. As my friend Mary Katharine Ham likes to quip, what Obama said -- or did -- last week, last month, or last year is regarded as irrelevant, so long as he's making himself "crystal clear" today. Call it a transcendent belief in "the fierce urgency of now." I'll illustrate this phenomenon shortly.
Fort Hood jihad murderer's trial: "People will want to hear the other side during the court-martial, but what could he possibly say in his defense?"
Excerpt: Let him speak. Let the world hear him preach Islam and jihad and explain that that was why he murdered thirteen people in cold blood. Let the world see a jihadist justifying his actions.
CAIR Spokesman Turns Blind Eye to "War on Islam" Rhetoric
Excerpt: A Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokesman demanded Friday that the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) either back up its claim that CAIR officials have repeatedly described the war on terrorism as a war on Islam or retract it.
Had CAIR National Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper clicked on a hyperlink included in the original story, he would have found eight pages of previously published examples on that very point. It was Hooper's response to the six examples provided that proved most mystifying. For example, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told CNN in 2007 that "I think there is a growing perception among Muslims worldwide, specifically in Iraq, in majority Muslim countries, that the war on terrorism is in fact, a war on Islam."
Time for free-market populism from the GOP
Excerpt: President Obama, ignoring his own calls to leave rhetoric at the door, has relied on populist demagoguery throughout the debt-ceiling negotiations. But given the President's record of bailouts, his dedication to corporate-welfare handouts, and his calendar filled with $35,800-a-plate fundraisers, Republicans ought to take the populist cudgel from Obama and use it against Democrats.
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