checking on the man behind the curtain
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there are days when one could eat glass. I'm having one today. I should stop posting for the night...I feel like I could spawn the child of Satan and call him a pussy for not being cruel enough to satisfy me right now. I feel....
I gotta go.
Catch ya tomorrow.
I just gotta go.
it already happened.
sometimes the only rational thing to do is to say: I NO LONGER GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THIS FUCKED UP DELUSIONAL NATION! FUCK IT. LET IT BURN TO THE FUCKING GROUND!
I just don't care any more. It's not worth caring for.
selective prosecution?
Homeless Man Returns Thousands in Lost Cash
Dave Tally, a homeless man from Tempe, Arizona, returned $3,300 in lost money -- and was richly rewarded for his good deed.
Dave Tally has no home and few possessions. He rarely has enough to eat. So, when the Tempe, Arizona man discovered an abandoned backpack with $3,300 in cash last week, the temptation to keep the money for himself must have been unbelievable—he could have rented an apartment, picked up some groceries, maybe even fixed his bike. But instead, he did the unexpected: he turned the money into the Tempe Community Action Agency, where he volunteers.
The organization was able to find the source of the cash: a student who’d been planning to use the money to purchase a used car. The student was grateful to have the money returned—and once word spread about Tally’s good deed, the homeless man was richly rewarded.
Strangers around the country have been moved by Tally’s selfless deed, and have sent him donations, totaling far more than the contents of the backpack. He’s been offered jobs to help him get back on his feet. A local dentist has donated a new set of teeth, and a lawyer is working pro bono to help Tally handle an old court case. Most impressively, the city of Tempe proclaimed last Thursday to be Dave Tally Day.
But for Tally, a man who lost his job and home a decade ago after a drunk-driving charge, the best reward he’s received is the newfound respect that he and the homeless community have gained as a result of his actions.
The other day, he said, one of his friends on the street called out: “Thanks, man. You made us all look good.”
http://refreshingnews9.blogspot.com/2010/12/homeless-man-dave-tally-returns.html
NOTE: "So shines a good deed in a weary world" - Willy Wonka ...
when you see /ES moving up in half point increments on no volume...well...it's time to call it a day. ciao.
if /ES breaks 1232 it should move down fast.
Slouching Towards Tyranny: The Juvenile Thrill of Domination
The state of civil liberties and national security in the United States is alarming.
In the American Empire, the former are routinely crippled or lacerated in the false name of the latter. Trust in government plunges. Dangers are magnified manifold to wound constitutionally venerated freedoms. International terrorist suspects who have never attempted to kill an American are treated as existential threats to U.S sovereignty. Predator drones employed off the battlefield in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Yemen are spawning more enemies than are killed. Habeas corpus is suspended. Military commissions denuded of due process and which combine judge, jury, and prosecutor in a single branch of government are substituted for independent civilian courts. Time-honored privacy rights are trampled. Torture or first cousin enhanced interrogation techniques are endorsed. Congressman Peter King (R. N.Y.), slated for the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, insists that prosecutions of alleged international terrorists in civilian courts are intolerable because guilty verdicts are not guaranteed. The worst violations are dared by few, willed by more, but tolerated by virtually all.
The nation needs a new birth of freedom dedicated to the proposition that the life of a vassal or serf -- even in absolute safety -- is not worth living.
At present, procedural safeguards against injustice are jettisoned for the counter-constitutional dogma, "Better that many innocents suffer than that one culprit eludes punishment." A craving for a risk-free and comfortable existence fuels the nation's war on individual freedom. Acceptance of risk, however, is the lifeblood of a free society. Every human sports DNA capable of anti-social behavior -- even the saintly. The United States is headed for the same ruination as Athens for the same reasons penned by historian Edward Gibbon: "In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all -- security, comfort, and freedom. When...the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free."
Contrary to longstanding orthodoxies, civil liberties and national security are more aligned than opposed. Scrupulous respect for freedom works hand-in-glove with national security by evoking unbegrudging loyalty among citizens eager to risk that last full measure of devotion to foil opponents and to maintain government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Patriotic soldiers are superior to mercenaries. Hessians were no match for the Minutemen in the American Revolutionary War. A military that fights more for love of country than fear or money will triumph. And love of country is elicited by the government's securing unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Crushing civil liberties may enhance immediate safety, but future calamity is likely to ensue. The British believed that Writs of Assistance, denial of jury trial, quartering soldiers, and impressing American seaman to fight against American colonists would make them safer. And then came the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of the end of the British Empire.
Prevailing legal doctrines and practices in the United States bear the earmarks of tyranny deplored by the Founding Fathers and hauntingly evocative of The Soviet Union or The People's Republic of China.
The president is empowered to target American citizens off the battlefield for assassination abroad who have not engaged in hostilities against the United States on his say-so alone.
Citizens and non-citizens may be detained indefinitely without accusation or trial at Bagram prison in Afghanistan or in undisclosed locations abroad on the president's say-so alone.
Predator drones kill civilians off the battlefield in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. The protocols for targeting decisions are secret.
Military commissions are established for the trial of alleged war crimes that may be equally prosecuted in civilian courts, for example, material assistance to a foreign terrorist organization. Military commissions combine judge, jury, and prosecutor in a single branch -- the very definition of tyranny according to the Founding Fathers.
State secrets are invoked by the president to prevent victims of constitutional wrongdoing, including torture or kidnapping, from judicial redress for their injuries.
Telephone calls and emails are intercepted by the government without probable cause to believe the target is connected to international terrorism.
Lawyers who defend alleged international terrorist organizations are vulnerable to prosecution under the material assistance law.
The Patriot Act authorizes the FBI to obtain business, bank, or other records by unilateral issuance of national security letters alleging a relationship to a terrorist investigation.
Extraordinary rendition is employed to dispatch detainees to countries notorious for torture.
Individuals or organizations are designated as "terrorists" and quarantined from human intercourse based on secret evidence.
Government crimes -- including torture, illegal surveillance, obstruction of justice, and war crimes -- go unprosecuted despite the President's constitutional obligation to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
The United States was founded on the idea that the individual was the center of the nation's universe; and, that freedom was the rule and government restraints grudging exceptions. The right to be left alone was cherished above all others. The national purpose was not to build an Empire by projecting military force throughout the planet, but to revere due process and the blessings of liberty at home.
These ennobling ideas have been abandoned for the juvenile thrill of domination for the sake of domination and a quest for absolute safety that elevates vassalage to the summum bonum.
Where are the leaders to awaken America to its philosophical peril? Who has the courage to preach, "Better free than safe," "As we would not be tyrannized, so we shall not be tyrants," and, "due process is a higher life form than vigilante justice?"
If not us, who? If not now, when?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-fein/slouching-towards-tyranny_b_795066.html
Big Volume selling in /ES
the technology, however, will not work on politicians since it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have...NO SPINE
I saw that yesterday. Very nice piece. I liked it a lot.
Constitutional Judo (excellent piece of writing)
by Giordano Bruno of Neithercorp Press
In all things, there exists a ‘point of balance’; a line that, if crossed, results in the sudden and expedient loss of our self-determinism and makes us subservient to the fickle whims of social, political, and physical gravity. We are “thrown” into the air, as it were, and the landing is rarely ever pleasant. The U.S. Constitution and the civil liberties it outlines is itself one of these historic points of balance. Its original purpose was to temper the most epic of grappling matches ever ignited; between the relentless constructs of government, and the individual freedoms of the common man. The ultimate problem inherent in this struggle is one of consistency, vigilance, and labor…
While the concept of the Democratic Republic and the Constitution was meant to remove suffocating class warfare from our political life and free us from the numerous dangers of elitism, invariably, those men who thirst for power over others find a way to insinuate themselves into any system, regardless of checks and balances, especially when the populace does not fulfill its necessary role as watchdog and tireless sentinel. Many Americans often assume that ‘the people’ derive their power from the Constitution, but the reality is actually reverse; the Constitution, in fact, derives its power from the people. Our duty (which some have forgotten) has always been to protect the rights and liberties inscribed on those pages of parchment. Not just to know those rights, or recite them, but to implement and defend them in our day-to-day existence. Without the constant nurturing cultural pulse of sound minds and courageous hearts, the Constitution dies.
Many in our society, instead of taking on the responsibility of preserving their freedoms, have instead handed it over to the trappings of government. The fatal error here is obvious; the corporatized and over-centralized political landscape of America’s government today does not hold the same values as the people it is determined to lord over. We have witnessed the parasitic possession of our system, know it to be corrupt, yet still seem to expect this bureaucratic monstrosity to cradle our liberties in good faith!
Government is a tool; a mechanical apparatus that can be used to either preserve freedom, or annihilate it. Its use depends upon those men who wield it, and the men who wield our government today certainly do not have the expansion of freedom in mind. In this article, we will examine the many points of contention (balancing points) brewing as our exceedingly globalist leaning political leaders overstep their bounds. Any one of these points, if allowed to falter by Americans, could throw the whole of our heritage into disarray…
Death By A Thousand Cuts
If you’ve been living at the center of the Earth for the past decade, or playing online games till daybreak battling for dominion of Castle Grayskull, then you may have missed out on the numerous attempts by our Government (under both major parties) to erode our freedoms one precious layer at a time. Some of these attempts have so far fallen flat, while others have been frighteningly successful. Here is just a sample of various recent actions and legislation designed specifically to swindle away your rights, if not the shirt right off your back:
Patriot Acts I & II: The Patriot Act is what I call “chameleon legislation”; it’s designed to be “open to interpretation” by officials and to be modified for whatever purpose they happen to deem fit at the moment. Ultimately, both Patriot Acts opened a terrible gateway to a world where any freedom is expendable, especially if it means stopping terrorists and “evil doers”. Of course, the manner in which terrorism is defined by proponents of the Patriot Act is wildly general. ANYONE could be defined as a terrorist, and any threat could be construed as a matter of national security. The true goal of this legislation was not to protect the public, but to untie the hands of the establishment when implementing further destructive actions, as well as to plant the fog of doubt into the minds of Americans as to the continued validity of the Constitution itself.
The Enemy Belligerents Act: The Enemy Belligerents Act is a perfect example of how the leadership caste of the Democrats and Republicans (who are neo-cons, not true conservatives) work in tandem to institute globalist policy. In this case, the act was introduced by the dastardly duo of John McCain and Joe Lieberman. To put it simply, this legislation, if fully imposed, would allow the government to label any person they choose, even an American citizen, as an enemy combatant. This means you could be arrested without being officially charged, imprisoned without a trial or legal council for an unspecified length of time, and no one, not even your family, would be told where you were. They should just re-name it the ‘Shanghai Act’, because it basically legalizes government piracy. The only problem is that this shanghai is less likely to end with tropical island adventure and more likely to end with you being tossed in a dark stinky hole in the middle of another Abu Ghraib surrounded by Blackwater mongoloids with a penchant for naked man dog-piles. Again, this is the kind of poison your government thinks up on a regular basis…
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-645
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act: A bill passed by George W. Bush in 2007 with very little initial media coverage. Allows the Federal Government at the direction of the president to subvert Posse Comitatus and use the military within the borders of the U.S. as a police force without any consent from state governments. Also gives the office of the president unprecedented powers over the National Guard. Just add any real or engineered national disaster and what you get is a perfect recipe for Hurricane Katrina deluxe. Martial Law, here we come…
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-5122
Establishment Of Northcom: Northcom (United States Northern Command) is, at bottom, the teeth behind legislation like the John Warner Defense Act. If martial law is declared in the U.S., it will be Northcom and its assigned military units that will stand at the forefront. Northcom’s stated mission is to “defend the homeland”, supposedly against terrorism, however, much of Northcom’s focus in annual exercises like ‘Vigilant Shield’ has been to prepare for civil unrest and continuity of government. Meaning, they train under the assumption the YOU will be the enemy. The first person posted to command Northcom was General Ralph Eberhart, the same man who was in charge of NORAD on 9/11. Apparently, if you ignore available intelligence and fail completely in your assigned duties, you get a promotion in the upper echelons of the military today, unless I missed something, and he didn’t fail…
Presidential Directive 51: A presidential action shrouded in secrecy and general cloak and dagger spookiness. When ignorant yuppies accuse the Liberty Movement of “paranoia”, I always point out PDD 51, and ask them if they are at least intelligent enough to be concerned. This order was initiated by George W. Bush and continued by Barack Obama, and is designed to give the president virtual dictatorial powers during a state of “national emergency”. It dissolves all states rights and places the entire country under the purview of Northcom, and Homeland Security. The guise of “continuity of government” is used as a rationale. Also allows the president to declare a state of emergency for almost any reason. Members of Congress and even some members of Homeland Security who have requested to read the entire directive have been denied. The bill is apparently so disturbing that Obama doesn’t even want those with security clearance to view the full document. Though I’m sure there is some grey area that can be exploited where classified materials are concerned, as far as I can tell from my research, Obama’s withholding of information on a directive such as PDD 51 from Congress is wholly illegal.
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-51.htm
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): Supported by both Bush and Obama. The word “foreign” is highly misleading. FISA allows telecom companies to supply the personal data and communications of anyone, including Americans, to the government without threat of civil retribution (lawsuit). Under Constitutional law, any invasion of privacy by government authorities must first be approved through an individualized warrant. The person or premises to be monitored must be specified, and the reason behind the surveillance must be clearly explained. FISA does away with all of these protections to your privacy and gives free reign to government to spy on whoever they choose without any oversight whatsoever. It even allows for mass surveillance, or data collation, on entire subsections of the populace. What I find most interesting about FISA is the way in which it brazenly breaks the barrier between government and corporate power. We all know about the revolving door in Washington, but in the past, the idea of the barrier was at least somewhat maintained for appearances, if nothing else. The trick to FISA is that “technically”, it is the telecoms that are doing the actual surveillance, and not government. This is, I’m sure, the argument that will be used by the Feds if FISA is ever taken to the Supreme Court under the Fourth Amendment. The reality, though, is that the telecoms and the government are one in the same, and to treat them as two separate legal entities is to blind one’s self to the facts. Now, Mussolini’s definition of fascism (the melding of government and corporate infrastructure into a single entity with a single purpose) absolutely seems to apply to the U.S.
Big Brother Technotronic Super Villain-esqe Surveillance Grid: Ever feel like you are being watched? Get used to it, says Homeland Security! CCTV cameras have doubled in most U.S. cities over the past two years, while New York has tripled theirs in only six months. The TSA has been given invincible IRS-like goon squad status and now fondles and x-rays airport travelers at will, storing biometric data without consent and generally treating people worse than cattle. Don’t care because you don’t fly? Don’t worry! Naked body scanners are coming to bus and train stations near you! Hell, if we don’t put a stop to this horror soon, the TSA may roll scanners out on street corners.
A friend of mine was recently on a trip to Boston and went to see the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest commissioned American war vessel still afloat. He related to me that his excitement was soon smothered when he realized visitors had to pass through metal detectors and security just to see the boat. I’m sure that the government is merely trying to prevent Al Qaeda from sneaking on board with box cutters, hijacking the ship, and sailing it into the Sears tower, causing the building to implode at near freefall speed.
The reason he was disenchanted with the experience was because he knew the metal detectors and security served little purpose, except to condition people into accepting that this was the norm. Everywhere you go, there DHS is.
Next of course would be easily tracked national ID cards, which were attempted a couple of years ago with little success under the Real ID Act. State compliance for the Real ID was postponed until May 2011, which is right around the corner. We’ll see if the states cave, or stand their ground. Finally, no surveillance society would be complete without citizen spies. Homeland Security is establishing its new “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign in your local Walmart. Yes, imagine the ghoulish face of cave troll Janet Napolitano leering down at aisle five as you attempt to save a dollar on frozen buffalo wings. She slobbers rhetoric about how you are surrounded by terrorists while you try to find that economy sized box of Count Chocula. Wouldn’t we all just feel safer?
Bailout Bills (All Variations): I find that a lot of people like to blame our current economic doomfest on one political party or the other, stumbling about in the dark in a sad attempt to trace the roots of the credit and mortgage collapse back to Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, etc. Everyone is desperate to play cheerleader for their team, not realizing that both teams are fake and almost every president since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 is to blame for selling out the American people to global banks. Let’s not forget, both Obama and Bush supported bailout legislation which is now widely considered to be an abject failure. The majority of Americans according to most polls apposed these bills, and yet they were still passed. What do the bailouts have to do with the loss of Constitutional rights? When the entirety of your country’s financial future is poured into the coffers of international banking elites and your currency is subsequently debased if not destroyed, leaving you with nothing but debt and supranational centralization, it is a certainty that a total loss of your rights will soon follow.
FDA Food Safety Modernization Act S. 510: Currently being considered for passage in the House. Yet another bill written in such a way as to make it wide open for interpretation by the authorities. First of all, the FDA has never been synonymous with “safety”, considering half the products they approve end up causing cancer or shrinking your testes. They would approve rat urine for mass consumption if a company like Monsanto wanted to market it. The FDA’s true roll has been to let major corporations violate safety regulations unobstructed while ruthlessly bringing the hammer down on smaller businesses. Now, the FDA has set its aim upon not just small farms, but personal gardens!
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510
The bill gives the FDA far reaching powers over what it terms “food production facilities”, which are defined as “any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation”. It also places all food production under the control of Homeland Security in the event of a “national emergency” (there’s that poorly defined phrase again). I have heard some organic growers and ranchers shrug off the bill, believing that the FDA would never take advantage of the broad interpretation and bring pressure on private gardens or food trade. This kind of naivety is always astonishing to me. When has a society ever opened a door to power that its government has not taken quick advantage of? In fact, the FDA has already begun harassing the Amish, of all people, for private farm trade, even without S. 510:
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/fda-agents-invade-amish-farm-in-pa/
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/05/01/2008-05-01_raw_milk_lovers_upset_over_amish_arrest.html
These are non-commercial farms, yet the FDA believes it has the authority to dictate their food production activities. If the government is willing to set its laser guided sites on a pacifist group that still rides around in horse and buggy, then they’ll definitely have no qualms going after the rest of us.
Anti-Constitutional Arguments For Dummies
Most people enjoy the advantages of freedom and are naturally conservative towards government, whether they realize it or not. Because of the rather unsavory past actions of the neo-cons (globalists), the word “conservative” has been sullied, and is now associated with corporatism and big government. However, real conservatism has always been quite revolutionary. True conservatives believe in the principle of limited government, and individualism above collectivism, which means they usually find themselves the target of establishment fury. True conservatives are almost always in rebellion against the system, because the system is almost always operated by those who are anti-freedom. Show me a self proclaimed conservative who supports proliferation of government with a smile and I’ll show you a very confused man.
The label “Conservative” should really be interchangeable with “Constitutionalist”, and once this is understood, anti-Constitutional arguments can be viewed without the blurred distractions of the false left/right paradigm. We begin to understand that the conflict is not between Democrat and Republican, Liberal or Conservative, because those terms have been warped and their meaning eroded. The conflict we face is instead between individualists (Constitutionalists), and collectivists (globalists).
We’ve all heard the gamut of anti-Constitutional arguments in the past, but almost always through the left/right filter. Let’s set that filter aside for a moment and consider a few of them once again more objectively…
Argument 1 – The Constitution is an outdated document and is no longer practical for the modern world:
I’ve heard this argument from both sides of the aisle once again indicating that left vs. right is all fantasy. Does a good idea ever become outdated? What about inborn instincts? Can the desire for freedom ever be impractical?
The suggestion that the Constitution is “too old” is ludicrous for many reasons. First, the idea of an independent republic is painfully new compared to the long wash of human empires filled with vast stretches of feudalism and tyranny. Globalism is often touted as the next step in the cultural evolution of man, but it is really a giant leap backwards compared to Constitutionalism, representing yet another old centralist autocracy marketed in a modern way. A global feudal state is still a feudal state.
Second, the guidelines of the Constitution are built upon social necessities that have never and will never disappear. The right to speak openly one’s opinions or observations without fear of government reprisal is not a right that we will ever find ourselves too modern to appreciate. The right to bear arms and defend oneself will always be essential to a culture that wishes to prevent despotism in its various forms. The right to privacy from all people, including the government, will never be programmed out of the public entirely. Every man has an innate need to live without being examined and judged as though he were under constant suspicion. Every aspect of the Constitution is archetypal, and therefore, as much a part of us our own eyes and ears. These things do not lose their usefulness, no matter what era we live in.
Third, I have yet to see a political dynamic that is more sincere and honorable than the U.S. Constitution. I have yet to see a social concept presented as an alternative to the Constitution that does not have an ulterior motive attached. If someone, anyone, can present a new system that improves upon the Constitution while retaining the liberties described in the Constitution, I would love to see it. I hear a lot of criticism of the Constitution by globalists, but I have never seen any of them present a workable replacement that the public would respect, or willingly accept.
Argument 2 – Some rights must be given up for the greater good:
I’ll tell you a little secret; there is no “greater good”, unless you are talking about personal conscience. If your version of the “greater good” demands that you supplant your personal conscience, then it is not “greater”, and it is not “good”.
Safety is usually the catalyzing issue that leads to relinquished liberties, but safety itself is an illusion. No government can promise you true safety. Life is dangerous, and filled with the unexpected. Get over it and stop projecting your fears on the rest of us. If someone really feels that they are in immediate danger of a terrorist attack, then they should build a concrete bunker for themselves and stay in it, instead of trying to impose a collective bunker made out of unconstitutional laws and government surveillance around all of us.
Ultimately, what IS the greater good in this situation? Is it an unaccountable globalist nanny state and the dissolution of all individual and national sovereignty for the sake of a few people’s delusions of security? Maybe I’m just reckless, but I’m not buying it…
Argument 3 – National sovereignty must be removed if we are to achieve world peace:
World peace sounds very nice, I admit, but anyone who thinks removing Constitutional boundaries and bowing to globalism is the cure for war is smoking something laced with a serious amount of something. Almost every war of the past century alone has been funded, facilitated, or outright ignited by the same types of global elitists who now demand that we centralize world economic and political power into their hands to end war. This isn’t irony, it’s actually very well thought out Hegelian gaming; a sort of anti-Karma that rewards evil and punishes the respectable.
We have been led to believe that peace requires some kind of Faustian trade; freedom for harmony. But, legitimate freedom is a harbinger of peace, and nothing, not even the promise of harmony, is worth trading it away.
Argument 4 – The government could never undo Constitutional liberties because we would just vote them out:
This argument shows a serious lack of insight into how our government actually functions. As I have pointed out, most of the anti-Constitutional legislation described in this article was supported by both major parties. Therefore, it would be logical to then consider that voting out one party and replacing them with the other makes little difference as to the policies the government pursues. Unless you are voting for third party or liberty based candidates, your stop at the ballot box was a big waste of time. Sorry, that’s just reality. The people who write in Mickey Mouse have more sense than most of the voting public. The point? Elections change very little on a federal level.
The argument is also sometimes reversed by nihilists, who claim that the American public is to blame for government corruption because they voted for said politicians in the first place. Again, how the public votes has little bearing on most major elections because they have not been given a real choice. I get more excitement when deciding between Coke or Pepsi.
Argument 5 – The Founding Fathers couldn’t live up to their Constitutional ideals:
Yes, Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, and he also tried to implement a gradual emancipation for all slaves. It’s a contradiction. Jefferson, like all the Founding Fathers, was living in the midst of a revolutionary age filled with contradictions and conflict. The fact that they were able to sort through much of this and form a nation that at least aspired towards equal rights and independence is nothing short of a miracle. Washington made many mistakes, and so did Adams. In the context of the era in which they lived, they still did extraordinarily well, and this world is immensely better off because of their contributions.
This argument is perhaps the most dishonest of those I’ve heard, because it seeks to dismantle the very tangible and beneficial accomplishments of the revolutionary period by defaming men who cannot defend themselves because they are long since dead. It is successful when used to target people who know only historical events or dates but do not know more about the characters of the figures involved. That is not to say we should blindly idolize the Founding Fathers, on the contrary, we should endeavor to see them as real human beings with strengths, as well as flaws. Those flaws do not discredit what they built. What men are able to achieve in spite of their flaws is often far more meaningful and valuable than what they lose because of them.
Moral Ambiguity In Times Of Crisis
Liberty is most threatened in moments of great duress. Desperation breeds reckless abandon, and such an atmosphere is suffocating to wisdom. Each point of balance in the struggle for freedom requires considerable focus, and that focus can be twisted, flipped, and wrenched by the shock of disaster. The preservation of Constitutional rights depends greatly on our ability to maintain a sense of integrity and discipline as a culture, even when all the world seems to crumble around us.
Fear makes the insane seem reasonable. Financial collapse, war, civil unrest, all of these calamities can tempt us to silence our dissent, to do things we would not normally do, or to concede that which is precious to us. Even now, that kind of fear has led to many unfortunate compromises. The good news is, there is no freedom taken, that cannot be taken back.
The question is, how much are we willing to endure to see that our ideals survive? How hard are we willing to work? How much of our time, effort, and energy are we willing to expend? If the answer is not “all of it”, then we have failed already. What we have covered so far is the present situation, and by no means does it have to continue. When drawing a line in the sand, that line must first be drawn within. We must promise ourselves that it is here we will not bend, we will not lose balance, we will not be thrown. All liberty depends most on this.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-constitutional-judo
gotta love the Guy Fawkes masks in the crowd I do believe I've had one resting in our i-box since day one here...go figure
IMO: Bankers in Ireland are now officially TARGETS. Expect blowback from this vote.
Irish Parliament Backs EU/IMF Bailout, 81 To 75 Votes
Presumably this means the country agrees to be bailed out by its pension fund, to rescue Europe's bankers, and to become Olli Rehn's latest vassal state. Congratulations. The vote was 81 to 75.
FULL STORY HERE:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ireland-parliament-back-euimf-accord-81-75-votes
But they love him in Israel...and that's all that matters when running for a US Senate seat.
Santa Claus, Kids, Wall Street...how they merge.
Kids write Santa this year for basic needs instead of toys
Santa Claus and his elves are seeing more heartbreaking letters this year as children cite their parents' economic troubles in their wish lists.
U.S. Postal Service workers who handle letters addressed to Santa at the North Pole say more letters ask for basics — coats, socks and shoes — rather than Barbie dolls, video games and computers.
At New York City's main post office, Head Elf Pete Fontana and 22 staff elves will sort 2 million letters in Operation Santa, which connects needy children with "Secret Santas" who answer their wishes.
Fontana, a customer relations coordinator for the Postal Service, has been head elf for 15 years.
"The need is greater this year than I've ever seen it," he says. "One little girl didn't want anything for herself. She wanted a winter coat for her mother."
At more than 20 post offices, workers log every letter, black out identifying information except first name and age, and ask the public to respond. Lobby displays promote the program. People return with gifts and letters, which carriers deliver.
Cesar, 7, wrote for himself and his baby sister.
"This year my moom don't have much money to spend on Christmas gifts so I'm writing to you," Cesar told Santa. "It would make us very happy if you and your elves would bring us toys and clothes."
There are more letters from unemployed parents asking for kids' gifts they can't afford, says Darlene Reid of New York City's main post office.
One mom sent a turn-off notice from the electric company, Fontana says. A single mother of a girl, 8, and a boy, 2, wrote that she recently lost her job. "I am unable to buy my children toys and clothes," she said. "Santa may you help me with my family?"
Tough times are shrinking the number of Secret Santas, Fontana says. Meanwhile, "the percentage of people who need help has increased," says Mark Reynolds at the Postal Service's Chicago district, and about half the letters won't get answered.
Melanney, 9, asked Santa for a coat and boots. "I have been a very good girl this year," she wrote.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-15-1Asantaletters15_ST_N.htm
NOTE: GODDAMN THIS IS HEARTBREAKING.
Santa Claus, Kids, Wall Street...how they merge.
Kids write Santa this year for basic needs instead of toys
Santa Claus and his elves are seeing more heartbreaking letters this year as children cite their parents' economic troubles in their wish lists.
U.S. Postal Service workers who handle letters addressed to Santa at the North Pole say more letters ask for basics — coats, socks and shoes — rather than Barbie dolls, video games and computers.
At New York City's main post office, Head Elf Pete Fontana and 22 staff elves will sort 2 million letters in Operation Santa, which connects needy children with "Secret Santas" who answer their wishes.
Fontana, a customer relations coordinator for the Postal Service, has been head elf for 15 years.
"The need is greater this year than I've ever seen it," he says. "One little girl didn't want anything for herself. She wanted a winter coat for her mother."
At more than 20 post offices, workers log every letter, black out identifying information except first name and age, and ask the public to respond. Lobby displays promote the program. People return with gifts and letters, which carriers deliver.
Cesar, 7, wrote for himself and his baby sister.
"This year my moom don't have much money to spend on Christmas gifts so I'm writing to you," Cesar told Santa. "It would make us very happy if you and your elves would bring us toys and clothes."
There are more letters from unemployed parents asking for kids' gifts they can't afford, says Darlene Reid of New York City's main post office.
One mom sent a turn-off notice from the electric company, Fontana says. A single mother of a girl, 8, and a boy, 2, wrote that she recently lost her job. "I am unable to buy my children toys and clothes," she said. "Santa may you help me with my family?"
Tough times are shrinking the number of Secret Santas, Fontana says. Meanwhile, "the percentage of people who need help has increased," says Mark Reynolds at the Postal Service's Chicago district, and about half the letters won't get answered.
Melanney, 9, asked Santa for a coat and boots. "I have been a very good girl this year," she wrote.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-15-1Asantaletters15_ST_N.htm
NOTE: GODDAMN THIS IS HEARTBREAKING.
Youtube Learning to Love Big Brother (troubling development)
YouTube Gives Users Ability To Flag Content That Promotes Terrorism
In response to concerns it's become a means of radical promotion, YouTube has now added an option for flagging content that is terrorist in nature.
When you flag a video as inappropriate, "promotes terrorism" now appears as an option under the "violent or repulsive content" category on the Google-owned website (see screenshot below).
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) called the new terrorism flag a "good first step toward scrubbing mainstream Internet sites of terrorist propaganda."
Lieberman first voiced concerns about radical Islamic videos on YouTube in May 2008, according to a YouTube blog post.
The site opted to make no changes at the time but encouraged users to use the flagging feature. Now "promotes terrorism" is a flag option.
But not all are fans of the change, according to the Los Angeles Times.
George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen says it is "potentially troubling" and that the phrase "promotes terrorism" can be subject to interpretation.
Some have criticized the move of giving YouTube's massive audience this ability:
For starters, by putting the "crowd" in charge of this, YouTube is effectively throwing its hands up and saying it's no longer the site's job to determine what content belongs and what doesn't. And, as we all know, the main thing we learn when we trust the "wisdom of the crowd" is that the crowd doesn't have much wisdom.
FOR IMAGES AND LINKS GO HERE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/youtube-terrorism-flag_n_796128.html
NOTE: THE MEGAPHONE CROWD IS GONNA HAVE A FIELD DAY WITH THIS NEW BUTTON. AND REMEMBER...JOE LIEBERMAN LIKES IT...AND IF JOE LIEBERMAN LIKES IT...YOU KNOW IT CAN'T BE GOOD.
The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America (thought provoking video)
Air Force Blocks Sites With Leaked Cables
By SPENCER E. ANTE And JULIAN E. BARNES
The U.S. Air Force is blocking its personnel from using work computers to view the websites of the New York Times and other major publications that have posted secret material obtained by Wikileaks, people familiar with the matter say.
Air Force users who try to view the websites of the New York Times, Britain's Guardian, Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde or German magazine Der Spiegel instead get a page that says, "ACCESS DENIED. Internet Usage is Logged & Monitored," according to a screen shot reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The notice warns that anyone who accesses unauthorized sites from military computers could be punished.
The Air Force says it has blocked more than 25 websites that contain WikiLeaks documents, in order to keep classified material off unclassified computer systems. Major Toni Tones, a spokeswoman for Air Force Space Command, wouldn't name the websites but said they may include media sites. Removing such material after it ends up on a computer could require "unnecessary time and resources," Major Tones said.
The move was ordered by the 24th Air Force, commanded by Major Gen. Richard E. Webber, following the late November publication of U.S. diplomatic cables. The Army, Navy and Marines aren't blocking the sites, and the Defense Department hasn't told the services to do so, according to spokespeople for the services and the Pentagon.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense has issued guidance against visiting WikiLeaks or downloading documents posted there, according to defense officials. The Air Force told its own personnel in August to avoid those actions.
One senior defense official questioned the wisdom of blocking the newspaper sites or even prohibiting service members from visiting them on military computers. The defense official said blocking the New York Times was a misinterpretation of military guidance to avoid visiting websites that post classified material.
The 24th Air Force is responsible for maintaining Air Force computer networks and the military's cyberspace operations. Service commanders have latitude to go beyond the Pentagon guidance and issue orders to protect classified information.
The new order doesn't prevent Air Force personnel from viewing the media websites on nonmilitary computers, one Air Force official said. The block can also be lifted if accessing one of the news sites is essential to a person's job, according to the screen shot.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576019944121568506.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLTopStories
NOTE: "Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy." Henry Kissinger, quoted by Bob Woodward in The Final Days, 1976
watch $DXY @ 79.50. breakout or breakdown point there.
heads will roll at 33 Liberty Street tonight.
Market Talk US Justice Department To Go After BP
Headlines from the FTSE: Market talk that the US justice dept. is going after BP (BP/ LN). And the WSJ chimes in that the US justice dept. is expected to join civil lawsuits resulting from Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
More as it comes in.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/market-talk-us-justice-department-go-after-bp
if the threat of US rioting emerges, it will be promptly halted by news that ABC will broadcast a day long "Dancing With The Stars" marathon. That should chill everybody out in a heartbeat.
Rome is Burning (for real, not metaphorically)
Riots break out in Rome after Silvio Berlusconi survives confidence votes
Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charge demonstrators in several parts of capital's historic centre
Rioting today swept Rome after Silvio Berlusconi's rightwing government narrowly survived a censure motion in parliament amid claims he had bought his way out of trouble.
Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charged demonstrators in several parts of the capital's historic centre. Cars and council vehicles were set alight, and officers fired teargas at protesters.
Initial reports spoke of at least 80 police and demonstrators injured in the disturbances.
Some demonstrators wielded iron bars and threw paving stones during the most violent disturbances seen in Rome for many years. The normally sedate city rang to the sound of exploding firecrackers hurled by protesters.
By mid-afternoon two thick columns of smoke rose from the remnants of a barricade at the entrance to the historic Piazza del Popolo. At least two protesters, and an unknown number of police officers, were hurt.
In at least one incident police were reported to have been surrounded and beaten with bars and sticks. Elsewhere, eyewitnesses said police had turned on young people who were nothing to do with the demonstration and had beaten them.
The protesters included students demonstrating against a recently-approved university reform bill, trade unionists, victims of last year's earthquake in the Abruzzo region, and members of a revolutionary Marxist party.
Berlusconi had earlier survived a second of two votes of confidence in the Italian parliament, beating off a censure motion in the lower house by three votes.
The chamber of deputies voted against the resolution amid tumultuous scenes, with Berlusconi loyalists and rebels brawling inside the house.
The vote – 314 to 311 – was greeted by scenes of wild jubilation among the prime minister's followers, who waved Italian flags and shouted in chorus for his former ally Gianfranco Fini to resign as the Speaker of the house.
Fini led the rebellion against the governing majority that brought it to the brink of collapse.
The opposition, joined by Fini's mutineers, failed in their bid to unseat Berlusconi despite the efforts of three women deputies in the last stages of pregnancy who turned up to cast their votes against the government.
One, Giulia Cosenza, arrived in an ambulance. Another, Giulia Bongiorno, was helped into the chamber in a wheelchair.
The third, Federica Mogherini, of the Democratic party – Italy's biggest opposition group – who is nine months pregnant, won a round of applause from her colleagues after fulfilling a promise to get to parliament "unless my water breaks".
Police vans ringed Berlusconi's official residence and blocked the street in front of his private home. Surveillance helicopters hovered overhead.
During the ballot in the lower house there was a scuffle between members of Fini's faction and deputies belonging to the Northern League after a member of Fini's group switched her vote to the government.
Four members of the lower chamber had to be separated after one of them apparently called the defecting politician a "whore".
The prime minister and most of his followers had earlier walked out of the lower house in the final stages of the debate in protest at the heated rhetoric of Berlusconi's most implacable enemy Antonio Di Pietro, the leader of the Italy of Principles party.
"We have a prime minister derided and ridiculed abroad," Di Pietro said, going on to allege that Berlusconi had "bought opposition deputies to assure himself of a majority". Two politicians from the Italy of Principles party switched their votes in the runup to the ballot, prompting opposition claims of foul play.
Earlier, Berlusconi survived a confidence vote in the senate, the upper house of the Italian parliament. His coalition won comfortably, by 162 votes to 135. But its path was smoothed by the rebel group loyal to Fini – which opted for tactical abstention – and by four opposition members who unexpectedly switched their votes at the last minute.
A senator who did so was promptly expelled by his party, the Sicilian-based Movement for Autonomies. His whip accused him of "one of the most squalid examples of this buying and selling [of votes] that has turned parliament into a sort of cattle market".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/riots-rome-silvio-berlusconi-confidence-votes
Rome is Burning (for real, not metaphorically)
Riots break out in Rome after Silvio Berlusconi survives confidence votes
Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charge demonstrators in several parts of capital's historic centre
Rioting today swept Rome after Silvio Berlusconi's rightwing government narrowly survived a censure motion in parliament amid claims he had bought his way out of trouble.
Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charged demonstrators in several parts of the capital's historic centre. Cars and council vehicles were set alight, and officers fired teargas at protesters.
Initial reports spoke of at least 80 police and demonstrators injured in the disturbances.
Some demonstrators wielded iron bars and threw paving stones during the most violent disturbances seen in Rome for many years. The normally sedate city rang to the sound of exploding firecrackers hurled by protesters.
By mid-afternoon two thick columns of smoke rose from the remnants of a barricade at the entrance to the historic Piazza del Popolo. At least two protesters, and an unknown number of police officers, were hurt.
In at least one incident police were reported to have been surrounded and beaten with bars and sticks. Elsewhere, eyewitnesses said police had turned on young people who were nothing to do with the demonstration and had beaten them.
The protesters included students demonstrating against a recently-approved university reform bill, trade unionists, victims of last year's earthquake in the Abruzzo region, and members of a revolutionary Marxist party.
Berlusconi had earlier survived a second of two votes of confidence in the Italian parliament, beating off a censure motion in the lower house by three votes.
The chamber of deputies voted against the resolution amid tumultuous scenes, with Berlusconi loyalists and rebels brawling inside the house.
The vote – 314 to 311 – was greeted by scenes of wild jubilation among the prime minister's followers, who waved Italian flags and shouted in chorus for his former ally Gianfranco Fini to resign as the Speaker of the house.
Fini led the rebellion against the governing majority that brought it to the brink of collapse.
The opposition, joined by Fini's mutineers, failed in their bid to unseat Berlusconi despite the efforts of three women deputies in the last stages of pregnancy who turned up to cast their votes against the government.
One, Giulia Cosenza, arrived in an ambulance. Another, Giulia Bongiorno, was helped into the chamber in a wheelchair.
The third, Federica Mogherini, of the Democratic party – Italy's biggest opposition group – who is nine months pregnant, won a round of applause from her colleagues after fulfilling a promise to get to parliament "unless my water breaks".
Police vans ringed Berlusconi's official residence and blocked the street in front of his private home. Surveillance helicopters hovered overhead.
During the ballot in the lower house there was a scuffle between members of Fini's faction and deputies belonging to the Northern League after a member of Fini's group switched her vote to the government.
Four members of the lower chamber had to be separated after one of them apparently called the defecting politician a "whore".
The prime minister and most of his followers had earlier walked out of the lower house in the final stages of the debate in protest at the heated rhetoric of Berlusconi's most implacable enemy Antonio Di Pietro, the leader of the Italy of Principles party.
"We have a prime minister derided and ridiculed abroad," Di Pietro said, going on to allege that Berlusconi had "bought opposition deputies to assure himself of a majority". Two politicians from the Italy of Principles party switched their votes in the runup to the ballot, prompting opposition claims of foul play.
Earlier, Berlusconi survived a confidence vote in the senate, the upper house of the Italian parliament. His coalition won comfortably, by 162 votes to 135. But its path was smoothed by the rebel group loyal to Fini – which opted for tactical abstention – and by four opposition members who unexpectedly switched their votes at the last minute.
A senator who did so was promptly expelled by his party, the Sicilian-based Movement for Autonomies. His whip accused him of "one of the most squalid examples of this buying and selling [of votes] that has turned parliament into a sort of cattle market".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/riots-rome-silvio-berlusconi-confidence-votes
LOL!!!!! perfect
If E/U breaks below 1.3350 I'll go short. Otherwise...sitting on hands.
ramp the market, kill the dollar, pass the gravy. Business as usual at Strumpetocracy Central command.
Elvis is alive and well and running a boutique hotel in one of the Bahamian out Islands
Icelanders vote for ordinary people to draft constitution
REYKJAVIK: Icelanders voted Saturday for dozens of ordinary people who will draft a new constitution, amid enduring public anger towards the political elite over the collapse of the country's major banks.
The once-wealthy nation is still trying to shake off the deep economic malaise that set in after the late 2008 bank crisis.
"People at all levels are among the candidates," justice ministry spokesman Hjalti Zophoniasson told AFP, describing the vote as "exciting" but acknowledging that voter turnout appeared to be low.
"We may be looking at something like 50 percent" of the some 230,000 Icelanders eligible to vote, he said about halfway through the voting day, stressing however that "polls are open until 10 o'clock tonight (2200 GMT), so we can't really say until later."
Among the 522 candidates competing for the between 25 and 31 seats on the assembly that will draft the new constitution, "there are plumbers, sailors and so on. A lot of people have university degrees, but that is absolutely no requirement", Zophoniasson said.
The only conditions were that each candidate had to be over 18 years of age and have at least 30 people nominate them, he explained, adding that people with affiliations to political parties were not in the running.
The assembly is set to convene in mid-February and work for between two and four months on drafting a new charter to replace the one adopted when Iceland gained independence from Denmark in 1944, which has previously only been slightly amended six times.
It is expected to propose a complete overhaul of the constitution.
Among the many suggestions that have been put forward ahead of Saturday's vote is the separation of Church and state and the placing of all natural resources under public ownership, as well as a clear separation between the legislative and executive branch.
"I definitely don't want separation of Church and state, so I voted for people who are not emphasising that," Inga Maria Valdimarsdottir, a housewife in her 30s told AFP at a polling station in the small town of Kopavogur, not far from the capital.
"I voted for a priest, a few lawyers, farmers and professors," she said. Once complete, the draft constitution will be presented to parliament before it ends its session in May, but the house is not likely to vote on the bill until the second half of the year, Zophoniasson said.
Although the assembly of ordinary Icelanders have not been given the final word on the charter, a unanimous and well-drafted proposal will probably be "morally binding", the justice ministry spokesman said.
"Parliament is not legally bound by this, but could be morally bound," he said, adding however that if the assembly is unable to agree on a clear proposal, the house "will basically do whatever it wants."
The counting of the votes would not begin until Sunday morning and the final count was not expected to be made public until late Monday, Zophoniasson said.
Read more: Icelanders vote for ordinary people to draft constitution - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Icelanders-vote-for-ordinary-people-to-draft-constitution/articleshow/7002961.cms#ixzz187D7o1Yv
NOTE: AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS CALLED DEMOCRACY. UNLIKE THE FARCE WE HAVE IN AMERICA WHICH SHOULD MORE APPROPRIATELY BE CALLED A STRUMPETOCRACY.
Icelanders vote for ordinary people to draft constitution
REYKJAVIK: Icelanders voted Saturday for dozens of ordinary people who will draft a new constitution, amid enduring public anger towards the political elite over the collapse of the country's major banks.
The once-wealthy nation is still trying to shake off the deep economic malaise that set in after the late 2008 bank crisis.
"People at all levels are among the candidates," justice ministry spokesman Hjalti Zophoniasson told AFP, describing the vote as "exciting" but acknowledging that voter turnout appeared to be low.
"We may be looking at something like 50 percent" of the some 230,000 Icelanders eligible to vote, he said about halfway through the voting day, stressing however that "polls are open until 10 o'clock tonight (2200 GMT), so we can't really say until later."
Among the 522 candidates competing for the between 25 and 31 seats on the assembly that will draft the new constitution, "there are plumbers, sailors and so on. A lot of people have university degrees, but that is absolutely no requirement", Zophoniasson said.
The only conditions were that each candidate had to be over 18 years of age and have at least 30 people nominate them, he explained, adding that people with affiliations to political parties were not in the running.
The assembly is set to convene in mid-February and work for between two and four months on drafting a new charter to replace the one adopted when Iceland gained independence from Denmark in 1944, which has previously only been slightly amended six times.
It is expected to propose a complete overhaul of the constitution.
Among the many suggestions that have been put forward ahead of Saturday's vote is the separation of Church and state and the placing of all natural resources under public ownership, as well as a clear separation between the legislative and executive branch.
"I definitely don't want separation of Church and state, so I voted for people who are not emphasising that," Inga Maria Valdimarsdottir, a housewife in her 30s told AFP at a polling station in the small town of Kopavogur, not far from the capital.
"I voted for a priest, a few lawyers, farmers and professors," she said. Once complete, the draft constitution will be presented to parliament before it ends its session in May, but the house is not likely to vote on the bill until the second half of the year, Zophoniasson said.
Although the assembly of ordinary Icelanders have not been given the final word on the charter, a unanimous and well-drafted proposal will probably be "morally binding", the justice ministry spokesman said.
"Parliament is not legally bound by this, but could be morally bound," he said, adding however that if the assembly is unable to agree on a clear proposal, the house "will basically do whatever it wants."
The counting of the votes would not begin until Sunday morning and the final count was not expected to be made public until late Monday, Zophoniasson said.
Read more: Icelanders vote for ordinary people to draft constitution - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Icelanders-vote-for-ordinary-people-to-draft-constitution/articleshow/7002961.cms#ixzz187D7o1Yv
NOTE: AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS CALLED DEMOCRACY. UNLIKE THE FARCE WE HAVE IN AMERICA WHICH SHOULD MORE APPROPRIATELY BE CALLED A STRUMPETOCRACY.
FOMC comment: No change. all is Well. Remain Calm. Ramp the market. Kill the dollar. Pass the gravy.
33 seems to be the magic age to check out:
All these people died at the age of 33
# John Belushi, American, actor and comedian, overdose of cocaine and heroin, 1982
# Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American, wife of JFK Jr., plane crash, 1999
# Big Moe, American, rapper, heart attack, 2007
# Big Mello, American, rapper, car accident, 2002
# Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino, revolutionary leader, execution, 1897
# Leigh Bowery, Australian, conceptual artist, AIDS, 1994
# Eva Braun, German, Adolf Hitler's lover, suicide, 1945
# William S. Burroughs, Jr., American, writer, liver failure, 1981
# Eva Cassidy, American, singer, cancer, 1996
# Catherine of Siena, Italian, Catholic saint, not known, 1380
# Marcel Cerdan, French, boxer, plane crash, 1949
# Charlotte Coleman, British, actress, asthma attack, 2001
# William Kingdon Clifford, British, mathematician (inventor of Clifford Algebra) and philosopher, tuberculosis, 1879
# Sam Cooke, American, soul musician, homicide, 1964
# Roger Cotes, English, mathematician, fever, 1716
# Laurie Cunningham, English, footballer, car accident, 1989
# Steve Currie, British, bassist (T. Rex), car crash, 1981
# Paul Laurence Dunbar, American, poet, tuberculosis, 1906
# Chris Farley, American, comic actor, accidental cocaine and heroin overdose, 1997
# Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach, German, mathematician, unknown, 1834
# Althea Flynt, American, pornographer's wife, drowned due to heroin overdose, 1987
# Blind Boy Fuller, American, blues singer and guitarist, bladder infection, 1941
# Sanjay Gandhi, Indian, politician, member of Nehru-Gandhi family, aircraft crash, 1980
# Gary Holton, English, Musician, actor, depression induced heroin and alcohol overdose, 1985
# Jesus (exact age at death uncertain), Judean, founder of Christianity, crucifixion, ca. AD 30
# Kay Kendall, English, actress, myeloid leukaemia, 1959
# Valery Kharlamov, Russian, ice hockey player, car accident, 1981
# Darryl Kile, American, Major League Baseball pitcher, coronary heart disease, 2002
# Al Killian, American, jazz trumpeter, murdered by landlord, 1950
# Mary Faustina Kowalska, Polish, nun and mystic, possibly tuberculosis, 1938
# Carole Lombard, American, actress, wife of Clark Gable, aircraft crash, 1942
# Hideto Matsumoto, Japanese, musician, hanged, possibly accidental, 1998
# Frank Melrose, American, jazz and blues pianist, probably fight, made to look like car accident, 1941
# Unity Mitford, British, fascist, meningitis, 1948
# Eva Perón, Argentinian, actress, wife of President Juan Perón, cancer, 1952
# Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American, chess player, syphilis, 1906
# Pimp C, American, rapper, Accidental codeine overdose in conjunction with sleep apnea, 2007
# Moana Pozzi, Italian, porn actress, liver cancer, 1994
# Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian, Formula 1 racing driver, crash during race qualifying, 1994
# Keith Relf, British, singer / harmonica player (The Yardbirds), accidentally electric shock while playing his electric guitar, 1976
# Richard II of England, English, king, who was deposed and imprisoned by his cousin, Henry IV, probably homicide or starvation, 1400
# David Rocastle, English, footballer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 2001
# Alma Rubens, American, actress, pneumonia, 1931
# Lev Schnirelmann, Soviet, mathematician, suicide, 1938
# Dutch Schultz, American, gangster, gunshot, 1935
# Bon Scott, Australian, hard-rock singer (AC/DC), Acute alcoholic poisoning. Death by misadventure., 1980
# Derrick Thomas, American, American football linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs), car accident, 2000
# Wolfgang von Trips, German, Formula One driver, car crash, 1961
# Theo Van Gogh, Dutch, art dealer, syphilis, 1891
# Ray Vitte, American, actor, shot by police while resisting arrest, 1983
# John Wilmot, English, Restoration poet, syphilis and alcoholism, 1680
# Robin Hyde, New Zealand, novelist, poet, journalist, benzedrine suicide, 1939
SPY volume = another snoozefest
They've had 8 presidents in the last 10 years and a recent coup attempt. If I'm looking for that kind of political chaos...I'll stay in America
As far as Venezuela goes, the US is already engaged in a soft war via it's proxy puppets in Columbia....Plus they have too much oil for the US to not take an active Military interest in. That's a time bomb just waiting to go off.
I'll PM you some links for your research. As you can probably tell by now...it's a topic I have taken quite an active interest in...if you know what I mean
it will never slide down...but it will freefall.
The main things I look for in a place are:
No substantial Military.
No natural resources the US will one day need to steal.
Year round Tropical climate.
Moderate cost of living.
Low (or better yet NO) tax rate.
Small population.
And multiple methods of travel in and out of the country.
While I like Latin America, the US has too much vested interest there and there is too much history of political upheaval. Costa Rica would have been a great spot to buy property in...10-15 years ago...but now, that ship has sailed.