COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, August 09, 2012

If the government derives its powers from the consent of the governed, how can it do things to us to which we have not consented?





What Rand Paul Learned From Secret Security Hearings

The number of Americans who have been spied on is too high to count.




Gazillions. That's the number of times the federal government has spied on Americans since 9/11 through the use of drones, legal search warrants, illegal search warrants, federal agent-written search warrants and just plain government spying. This is according to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who, when he asked the government to tell him what it was doing to violate our privacy, was given a classified briefing.

The senator -- one of just a few in the U.S. Senate who believes that the Constitution means what it says -- was required by federal law to agree not to reveal what spies and bureaucrats told him during the briefing. The rules for classified briefings of members of Congress on areas of government behavior that the government wants to keep from its employers -- the American people -- are a real Catch-22.

Those rules allow representatives and senators to interrogate government officials about government behavior that they are afraid to reveal, and they require those officials to answer honestly and completely. But the rules keep the interrogations secret, and they expressly prohibit members of Congress from telling anyone what they have learned. So Paul and his colleagues who joined in the secret briefing now know the terrible truth about the government watching us, but they cannot reveal what they know.

Paul -- who is the son of Rep. Ron Paul, the greatest congressional defender of limited government in our era -- when asked what he learned at these secret briefings and aware that he could be prosecuted for telling the truth, chose a fictitious word to describe the vast number of violations of privacy at the hands of federal agents: gazillions. Paul's personal courage in using a word like gazillions to convey an oblique message of truth in the face of an unjust law that commanded his silence reminded me of St. Thomas More’s silence in the face of an unjust law that commanded his assent to the king’s headship of the church. The feds are no happier with the senator's personal courage than the king was with St. Thomas More’s, but there is not much they can do about it.

If you check out your dog-eared dictionary, you will find that if it is listed at all, it gets a mention as slang. Yet most of us hearing or seeing that word understand it to mean some huge -- perhaps even incalculable -- number. The point here is terrifying. If the government derives its powers from the consent of the governed, how can it do things to us to which we have not consented? And when it does these things -- like send a drone over your back yard to learn who is coming to your Saturday barbeque or to see what fertilizer you are using in your vegetable garden or to take a peek into your living room or bedroom -- and when the laws the government has written prevent our elected representatives from telling us what it is doing, we are at the doorsteps of tyranny.

 The government gave Paul the distinct impression that it was afraid of our exercise of our personal freedoms, and thus it needs to watch us as we do so. This is the same government whose stated principal purpose is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, and thus personal freedom. What has become of the Jeffersonian value of the primacy of the individual over the government in a free society?

How have we lost the American value that the government works for us, and we don’t work for the government?

What remains of the constitutionally guaranteed right to be left alone?

 The answer to these questions goes to the nature of human freedom and personal courage. Freedom lies in our hearts, but to survive, it must do more than just lie there. Its essence is the exercise of unfettered choices, and the unfettered choices we make address our perpetual yearning for truth. This is a natural process that -- just like the muscles in our bodies -- will atrophy if unused. So, when the government scares us into the disuse of freedom, we have only ourselves to blame when Big Brother comes calling. And when he does come, on his face there will be no smile.

135 comments:

  1. George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney and the result is we will probably continue to be stuck with the feral Barack Hussein Obama. These are the best the Republican establishment can find?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was Michelle Bachmann, but she didn't get the votes. There was the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, but he couldn't remember what agencies of government he wanted to shut down. There was Santorum, but he seemed to be running for Pope more than President. There was big ideas Newt, flip flopper par excellence, backed by Adelman, but he faded too. We got what we got, not the best, better than Obama.

      Delete
  2. It's positions like this that I like about Ron/Rand Paul. He may be a little whacky, Ron, but he is right on there. Also, audit the Fed. The House passed a bill to do just that. By a big margin. I believe The Bernanke said it would be a disaster, too much trouble. More reason to do it. After all, everything is, supposedly, on computer chips, so what's the real problem? Maybe the Fed itself ought to go. To be replaced by what? The United States Bank, beholden to whatever political party happens to be in power? The United States Bank, run by Obama and Company? But, audit away, and let's keep our privacy.

    The Republican establishment didn't find Romney. Ron Paul was right there as an option for the voter. Romney got more votes. And the idea Ron Paul might be able to upset Obama seems a little far fetched.

    Vote the Tea Party-est of candidates for Congress, if you want to try to protect your privacy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. .

    While this is going on, people here, in talking about their choice for president, worry about the un-Obama, they worry about subsidies or the lack of them, they worry about our tax rates which are some of the lowest in the last half century, they worry about a healthcare program that will neither cover all Americans nor contain or reverse healthcare spending, they worry about friggin ethanol, they worry about a debt problem that neither party really gives a damn about, and on and on and on.


    Nutz.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you Quirk.

      My only solution I can think of is vote the Tea Party-est of candidates. I doubt the federal courts would be much help, though you never know. One can at least try to pressure one's state legislature. One can really pressure one's city, at least if it is small enough, and, the county commissioners!

      We got rid of some traffic cams here. Not much of a victory, but......

      Delete
  4. China's Cnooc Ltd. said it plans to defend its $15 billion proposed buyout of Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc. before U.S. regulators by describing itself as a publicly traded company that has a record of compliance with U.S. law.

    State-controlled Cnooc confirmed Thursday it plans to request a national security review by the U.S., hoping to smooth a path for the deal's completion. While Nexen is based in Canada, it holds oil-drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico...

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Soptic ad does not tell the whole story of the man, meanwhile. Within six months of being laid off he found work as a janitor and with his pension and his new salary he takes in as much as he did when he worked at the steel plant.

    He has also married again.

    Hence, perhaps, the sudden reticence on the part of the Obama campaign. "We don't have any knowledge of the story of the family," a spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said on Air Force One earlier this week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Once the database is created, it can be regularly updated with the names of people who express views like Page's—who talk about tyranny, hypocrisy, or a "sick society," for instance, or who quote inflammatory proclamations like this one, frequently seen on the T-shirts and signs of right-wing lunatics: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants." I don't mean to imply that violent extremism is limited to the right; when you consider the ideas expressed by Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber, it is clear that left-wing critiques of capitalism also lead to murderous violence.

    I am not saying people do not have a right to express these alarming views—just that if they do, they should not be surprised if they are turned away when they try to buy a gun. The Brady Campaign correctly says "it is time we acknowledged" that the Second Amendment "guarantees the right to keep and bear arms."

    But the Supreme Court has said that right is subject to reasonable regulations aimed at protecting public safety. What could be more reasonable than stopping dangerous people from buying dangerous weapons?


    Gun Ownership

    ReplyDelete
  7. This most recent decision follows other high-profile investigations that Justice decided not to prosecute: There was the collapse of AIG and the role of the top executive at AIG Financial Products division, Joseph Cassano, and former Countrywide CEO Anthony Mozillo, who was fined by the SEC in an insider trading case. Citibank and JP Morgan both had multi-million-dollar settlements with the SEC over collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, tied to the U.S. housing market, but Justice has not brought any criminal cases.

    ...

    Goldman has faced stiff penalties from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In April 2010 the SEC filed a civil charge against Goldman Sachs and Fabrice Tourre, a vice president, for making misstatements and omissions from financial records in connection with CDOs that Goldman Sachs marketed to their investors.

    ...

    According to the SEC complaint Tourre, who called himself “Fabulous Fab” wrote to a friend in a January 23, 2007, email: “More and more leverage in the system, The whole building is about to collapse anytime now…Only potential survivor, the fabulous Fab[rice Tourre]...

    ReplyDelete
  8. My girlfriend left a note on the fridge, "It's not working. I can't take it anymore. I am going to my Mom's place."

    I opened the fridge. The light came on. The beer was cold...

    What the hell is she talking about?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Why I'm Divorced

    Last week was my birthday and I didn't feel very well waking up on that
    morning.

    I went downstairs for breakfast hoping my husband would be pleasant and
    say, 'Happy Birthday!', and possibly have a small present for me.

    As it turned out, he barely said good morning, let alone

    ' Happy Birthday.'

    I thought....well, that's marriage for you, but the

    kids.... they will remember.

    My kids came bouncing down stairs to breakfast and

    didn't say a word. So when I left for the office I felt pretty low and

    somewhat despondent.

    As I walked into my office, my handsome boss Rick, said,

    'Good morning, lady, and by the way Happy Birthday!' It felt a little

    better that at least someone had remembered.

    I worked until one o'clock, when Rick knocked on my door

    and said, 'You know, It's such a beautiful day outside, and it is your

    birthday, what do you say we go out to lunch, just you and me.'

    I said, 'Thanks, Rick, that's the greatest thing I've

    heard all day. Let's go!'

    We went to lunch. But we didn't go where we normally

    would go. He chose instead a quiet bistro with a private table. We had

    two martinis each and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

    On the way back to the office, Rick said, 'You know,

    It's such a beautiful day...we don't need to go straight back to the

    office, do we?'

    I responded, 'I guess not. What do you have in mind?'

    He said, 'Let's drop by my place, it's just around the

    corner.'

    After arriving at his house, Rick turned to me and said,

    'If you don't mind, I'm going to step into the bedroom for just a

    moment. I'll be right back.'

    'Ok.' I nervously replied.

    He went into the bedroom and, after a couple of minutes,

    he came out carrying a huge birthday cake, followed by my husband, my

    kids, and dozens of my friends and co-workers, all singing 'Happy

    Birthday'.

    And I just sat there....

    on the couch....

    naked.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Man arrested after cops spot suspiciously small package in his undies.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oops, Fox news: Obama + 9

    CNN: Obama + 7

    Both polls have Obama +11 with Independents

    ReplyDelete
  12. "a bubble or two off plumb"


    COMMENTS ON AMERICANTHINKER


    Showing 1-40 of 50 comments

    Rickj27

    I've been saying these people are psychotic. I now rest my case. Hearing voices is a symptom of schizophrenia, a psychosis.

    Carl Alexander

    More evidence that Pelosi is a dingbat. Of course, she may be suffering from clinical audio psychosis. And, if so, she needs to be institutionalized before she goes ballistic.

    jmc

    How will we know if she goes ballistic? She is so ditzy anyway, are we certain "ballistic" is not a default setting for her? Most of these Democrats are a bubble or two off plumb.

    DaneChile

    "a bubble or two off plumb". I like that!!

    TiredofBeingSilent

    I wonder if one of the voices she failed to mention was that of Lizzy Borden!

    Token

    That's the first thing that came to my mind! :-) She, Media, and Lucretia Borgia. Ha! Great minds lie in the same gutter. :-)

    rpjkw11

    She obviously helped herself to her coven's stash. I hope she's a bit more sober when she rides her broom.

    NoBlarney

    Pelosi is an abortionist. Hell will be a good place for her ugly face.

    staceycarverd

    Sorry Nancy, but if you're hearing "voices" it's time for some responsible adult to notify the authorities before you become a loose cannon and harm people.... That is with something other than marxist legislation.

    Bear43

    Did she see colors? Maybe it was some bad weed.

    DaneChile

    "Noises". She heard "noises" from the tractor. A little WD-40 oughta fix it. See y´all later.

    etcetcetc


    Pelosi hears voices -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/pelosi_heard_voices_of_suffragists_at_white_house.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. Since the post is about Big Brother, here is a good article from the dreaded American Thinker about how Americans might be coming to spy on other Americans --

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/neighbor_spying_on_neighbor_in_obamas_america.html

    Got any dirt on Rob Portman? Click here, fill in the box with info, and send to ObamaCommand.

    If Quirk would ever read outside his box, he might find this article commendable, given his sentiments expressed above.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "And in 2011, Obama asked folks to send information to #attackwatch and attackwatch.com regarding smears against him that they heard from their neighbors. Touted as a "new way to track and respond to attacks against President Obama" this is and was nothing more than Soviet style tactics designed to undermine the community, pit neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member and give Obama access to enemies he couldn't reach on his own, making Nixon look like a Boy Scout. New way or not, it's still the same wolf in sheep's clothing.

      It would be funny if it weren't so frightening.


      from the article


      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/neighbor_spying_on_neighbor_in_obamas_america.html#ixzz237f2MnCM

      Delete
  14. I find it almost impossible to put up a new post this morning. The children at Google have been playing with the remote over night and they have once again changed the settings. I suppose that they are frightened over Facebook.

    Google changes its internal control board as often as they change their logo. The daily logo change is well past the irritation stage. The Google logo transition went from a predictable and expected look with occasional clever and temporary redesign on their name layout to cute, too cute and then tedious.

    This morning, not only do we have the expected juvenile, “Mommy look what I did.” look, they have rearranged the mechanisms that creates the posts with continuous diversions for us to taste their latest and mostly stupid ideas.

    We all know that Google is a capital wasting enterprise. No one ever explained to the Google boys the beauty and wisdom of “If it works, don’t fix it.”

    This morning I am not in the mood for their cleverness. I’ll figure it out later.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Note to Google: Cut the shit and grow-up.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Krauthammer is worried about the racial divide. Oh dear, how did that happen? How is it that whites are in danger of becoming politically irrelevant? I realize it is very racial of me to notice it and then go so far as mention it but read this or at least some of it and think about the implications to the very concept of freedom:

    http://www.esd.ny.gov/MWBE/Data/122210_MWBE15-ARegs.pdf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That link comes up -


      New MWBE Regulations - Empire State Development - New York

      for me, Deuce.

      Nothing about Krauthammer.

      Beautiful early morning here, half moon, cats having a big fight over at the neighbors, stars, occasional meteor, had B-17 flyby yesterday from the air shown, nice.

      Delete
    2. Well I see it is all about minority hiring, mentoring and such Big Brother stuff.

      Delete
    3. Heh, they got a dude called The Chief Diversity Officer.

      Which race would he be?

      Delete
  17. This entire episode on racial preferences is about as antithetical to a free society as you can get. The first thing we should do to stop it is to end the census. What good is it? There is enough private census data do figure out where you buy your toilet paper.

    The census starts the racial preference system and the political spoils system. It is an expensive needless intrusion and a menace.



    On another matter, Michelle Obama was in PA, working her inner negro stirring up the hood for the cause. Are you in?

    “the cause”

    Romney, never heard of him.

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's time to stand up and demand a WASP on the US Supreme Court!

    Dammit, by diversity standards, there should be three or four.

    It's a Catholic/Jewish conspiracy.

    Three Jews and six Catholics.....is this diversity?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kinda strange economic news this morning. Import, and Export prices Down, Year over Year. Don't often see That. Outside of Global Recession, anyway . . . . . . . . .

    ReplyDelete
  20. I don't believe Romney is ahead by 4, ala Rasmussen; I, also, don't believe Obama is ahead by Six or Seven, ala Fox, CNN, etal.

    I'd bet Gallup is the closest with the National number being very close to a tie, with, maybe, just a slight edge (maybe) to Obammie.

    But, Rat is right; it's a game of "electors," and Obama is looking a little better, there. An "October Surprise" could change everything, quickly, but if the election were held today I believe Obama would squeak it out.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Security, after 11SEP01, trumps everything.
    Even freedom.

    Which isn't free.

    Balance of trade, improving.
    GDP projected to rise to 2% annual growth.
    Dollar strengthening.
    Interest costs remain low.

    55,000 US factories closed since 2000.
    Since 1979, over 8 million manufacturing jobs lost.

    That giant sucking sound ...

    Free Trade plus increased productivity through technological innovation.

    Ross Perot had it more right than wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Security, after 11SEP01, trumps everything.
      Even freedom.



      I have enough respect for you rat to assume this is just witty sarcasm.

      However, if you actually meant it, I would advise you stop licking those frogs as the paraonoia is starting to show and you seem to have bought into the culture of fear.

      From Wiki


      Culture of fear is a term used by certain scholars, writers, journalists and politicians who believe that some in society incite fear in the general public to achieve political goals, for example...[1]

      "The people don't want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country." - Hermann Göring.[2]


      Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski argues that the use of the term War on Terror was intended to generate a culture of fear deliberately because it "obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue".[6]


      Culture of Fear

      .

      Delete
  22. GDP Rising, but

    Family Income Falling.

    I know which is more important to me.

    ReplyDelete
  23. One percent of the U.S. population owns approximately 40 percent of the nation's wealth. That's a distribution that most Americans don't know about, Dan Ariely of Duke University discovered in a recent study. Respondents of all demographic categories mistook Sweden's even wealth distribution for that of the United States.

    ...

    According to many estimates, just 1 percent of the U.S. population takes home almost a quarter of the nation's income, and 40 percent of its wealth.
    ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be worse than that; we have no idea how much more is hid away in Bermuda, and the Caymans, unreported, and untaxed.

      Delete
  24. OH my gosh. I guess we better change the whole idealogy of this great nation and spread all that wealth around. We don't want anyone to feel left out just because he/she/it is some fat lazy lard ass on the government teat.

    Let's do it the Union way, treat everyone the same (like shit). Do not reward effort, do not punish laziness or ineptude. Bailout anyone or thing that fails, criticize anyone or thing that excels. That's the ticket. Vote Barry Soetoro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Don't panic, Gag.

      Nothing is going to change.

      And you can keep on with your Chip Diller impression.

      Assume the Position

      .

      Delete
    2. I'll keep being Chip Diller if you will continue with your Dean Wormer aping. Big fan of that movie :-)

      Delete
    3. .

      Always kinda liked the Dean. :)


      .

      Delete
  25. You are right, Deuce. Google is getting worse by the day. Every couple of days, I have to re-enter my password, etc. I think mainly so they can keep asking me for my cell phone number....JUST IN CASE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're missing the story, Gag. The problem here isn't the lard-assed, gummint teat-suckers. The problem is

      THE MEDIAN FAMILY IS LOSING ITS ASS.

      Delete
    2. and you really call that losing it's ass? After the inflation adjustment down 2500 dollars in 10 years?

      Obama wants that chart to bottom out. It is impeding his goal of creating his culture of dependency.

      Delete
    3. Good God, Gag. A family of four, making $52,000.00 - to have it go Down $2,500.00 is a hard pill.

      Besides, that chart just goes to 2010. MFI has continued falling since then.

      Delete
    4. Besides, look at 2007 to 2010. The Median Family took a 6.4% hit in just 3 years.

      Delete
    5. Good God, Rufus, dont you see? this is Obama's plan. More dependency. Turn to the government for help. That's the ticket.

      Delete
    6. Nah, I just don't see that, Gag. In an Obama government I see a government that is more willing to tax the rich, and help the poor (I admit, the two things aren't exactly self-eliminating.)

      I also see a government that recognizes the need to start cutting back on fossil fuels (finite in nature,) and to support the development of renewables.

      And, I think the WHOLE Country will be better off with Obamacare than without it.

      Delete
    7. We will continue to agree to disagree on that big time. Tax the willing, give the unwilling a free ride. NO mention of reducing a bloated government that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. That 15% GNP you harp about could grow if costs were reduced. It is evident this country is unwilling to live with the pain that would go along with any austerity.

      Delete
    8. The thing is, Gag, Outlays are just about the same as they were in 2009. The Gummint really is Not growing (not for the last 3 yrs, anyway.)

      Delete
  26. The Recession was supposedly over, but Median Family Income continued to shrink.

    THAT has Never happened before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is why Obama is going to lose. People won't vote for their own impoverishment.

      Not only income, but net worth.

      Delete
    2. Well, Rufus - "a bubble or two off plumb" - might vote for his own impoverishment, but most people won't.

      Delete
    3. Romney wants to Raise MY Taxes.

      Obama just wants to raise yours, and Gag's.

      Delete
    4. Hell, Rufus is going to vote for his own early demise.

      Make that "three or four bubbles off plumb".

      Delete
    5. .

      You people are nutz if you think electing or re-electing either of these guys is going to make a difference on the economy or anything else.

      On the economy, Bush cut one of our legs off and Obama is currently hacking off the other. Bush blew it and Obama has proven after four years that he hasn't a clue as to how to fix it.

      And those who buy into the GOP bull are either masochists or dullards. The term useful idiots comes to mind. The GOP plans as exemplified in the Ryan budget are proof. All hat and no cattle. Admittedly, the GOP wants smaller government but only because less regulation makes it easier for them to stick it to us without all that pesky complaining. Lower the debt? Good lord, if you believe the GOP cares about that, you need to grow a brain. All they are talking right now are the same things that got us into this mess in the first place.

      As for Obama, even if you assume his intentions were good, he has been a failure on most things he has tried, the economy, healthcare, constitutional rights, taxes, alternative energy, etc.

      The two candidates and their parties are equivalant. (Doug isn't here and I am assuming everyone else knows what equivalant means.)

      Blaming either of these guys or expecting either to be able to affect change is ludicrous. Both of them are impotent in the face of the challenges we have right now. Romney is walking the GOP line and both parties have shown that they are only good at screwing up the economy not at fixing it.

      The only thing that will get us back to even a "new normal" will be time as the economy slowly adjusts and that only if both parties stop doing what they have been doing.

      .

      Delete
    6. Vote: Quirk for President!

      "The only thing that will get us back to even a "new normal" will be time"

      He accuses both parties of basically doing nothing while not knowing what they are doing then advocates doing the very same nothing thing.

      I told ya all this dude was a super-salesman. This is advice worthy of a representative of SoulsRUs.

      (Which I now own, by the way. It having failed in the marketplace and given to me.)

      Listen to it. The advice.

      Just don't follow it.

      Or pay for it.

      Delete
    7. By God, really, you got to hand it to Quirk!!!!!

      Having not a clue what to actually do, he makes it sound like a stroke of absolute genius to just wait.


      bwahahahabwabwabwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

      No one but The Quirkster could have 'thought' of that.

      Delete
    8. New Quirk inspired Obama campaign slogan:

      Just wait. Give it some time, folks!

      Same for Romney I suppose.

      Sounds like a winner.

      Delete
    9. What this country needs if a do-nothing Congress.

      I've advocated that, myself.

      Delete
    10. .

      (Which I now own, by the way. It having failed in the marketplace and given to me.)

      Sorry, my lawyers inform me that there were never any legal documents signed to that effect and I, like so many members of Congress in similar circumstances, have no memory of the incident you are talking about.

      Likewise, since you are a computer illiterate and have the attention span of a gnat, I am confident you will find nothing referencing the transfer you are referring to within the EB archives.

      .

      Delete
    11. This kind of platform and sloganeering would surely appeal to the vast multitudes who sit on their asses and do nothing that Gag often references.

      Delete
    12. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    13. Thou rank pox-marked lout! Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog! Thou art baser than a cutpurse. Thou venomed rough-hewn miscreant!

      Be put in a cauldron of lead and usurer's grease, amongst a whole million of cutpurses, and there boil like a gammon of bacon that will never be enough.

      Pall thee in the dunnest smoke of Hell!

      Delete
    14. .

      Since I have clarified the Souls-R-Us ownership issue you referred to, let me offer you some advice.

      We are currently offering a six-week course through Souls-R-Us Online entitled Reading Comprehension for the Literary Challenged, subtitled Learn to Read Darn It! Why keep embarassing yourself? The course was specially designed with fellows like you in mind, and I firmly believe it could do you some good.

      Your need for this course is clearly shown in the following sentence from your previous post. Referencing my post you state,


      He accuses both parties of basically doing nothing while not knowing what they are doing then advocates doing the very same nothing thing.


      The first 8 words in the referenced sentence clearly show your lack of reading comprehension. I did not accuse either party of doing nothing. I accused them of not doing anything effective. In fact, both parties have done a great deal and the net effect of their actions has been to exacerbate our current dire situation. Worse, both parties continue to promote their agendas unchanged, the same agendas that got us into this mess in the first place and/or have failed to get us out of it.

      As for your comment that I advocate "doing the very same nothing thing", while in a broad sense you are technically correct (since no one private individual can affect the macro economy) you lack the nuance to grasp the point I made in my post, that point being that over time market forces will self-correct and tend to normalize the economy at some level. Of course, that assumes neither the Dems nor GOP nor their joint effort gives us some major new screw-up.

      I think our course could really help you with that nuance thingy. (Of course, given your age, I don’t want to promise any miracles.)

      In closing, for you and any others who downplay the value of sometimes doing nothing and opt instead for the ruinous policies of either the Dems or GOP, I can only point out that we have seen the results of both parties actions as they have played out before us today and I once again offer you up Einstein’s definition of insanity as a caution.

      .

      Delete
    15. Folks, a short report on the current status of SoulsRUs. Having failed in the marketplace, the company was donated to me by the previous owner with the parting words: "Bob, you are a turn around artist. Nurse my baby back to health, please!" Well, I have stabilized the situation, stopping the hemmorraging of cash and stockholder assets. Many employess have been let go, and the CEO's confiscatory salary has been elimintated. Gone are the psychomanteum, and the large cauldron of pure 'Rocky Mountain Spring' tap water, in which one could gaze and hear voices predicting one's future. The 'priests' under the cauldron reading script are gone, as is the Ouija Board, the many packs of Tarot cards, the fancy star charts, the seance costumes and attendants. Also the 'Orphic Bowl', which was an out and out fraud from the git-go. All sold at action. I did go to the trouble of having an audit performed by my accountant. He found 'massive fraud, waste, and abuse of stockholders' and, to be honest about it, outright theft. So, it is now at an 'on hold' status, not losing, but not making money, but still in being.

      Will entertain any and all offers to purchase. (Disclosure: It has no 'good reputation' of any marketable value. Sale by current owner, no realtors please)

      Delete
    16. .

      Bob, seeing your latest post, I would like to offer one more course recommendation, this one from one of the newer sub-sections of our Idiot Savant School of unique pathologies. This one is also available from Souls-R-Us Online and is titled Living with Anachronistic Tourettes Syndrome subtitled Why Say "Take to Bed" when you can just say Fuck although you shouldn't say either given that we are a polite society and try to avoid such things except posibly in the heat of the moment but definitely not all the time or whether we want to or not."

      .

      Delete
    17. Forgot to mention the real estate holdings of SoulsRUs: one 100' by 300' weedy vacant lot with a false storefront facade held up by 2x4's in Detroit, Michigan

      Delete
    18. .

      Of course, my last post referred to Bob's post at

      bobFri Aug 10, 05:59:00 PM EDT

      The one that started out with

      "Thou rank pox-marked lout! Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!"

      .

      Delete
    19. I did not accuse either party of doing nothing. I accused them of not doing anything.......

      Oh! Now I get it, the nuance thingy.

      As for your comment that I advocate "doing the very same nothing thing".....in a broad sense you are technically correct

      But of course I am.

      Delete
    20. .

      Bob, based on you last couple of posts, I would also recommend some courses from the our Napoleonic Complex and Related Pathologies Section. One that might help you is Alternate Reality as the Basis for Delusions of Grandeur and Vice Versa.

      .

      Delete
    21. In short, folks, never let Quirk near your fish bowl. This advice also holds for the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

      It being T-Shirt Friday at the Casino, I must break the conversation off at this point, alas.

      Delete
    22. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    23. .

      By the way, I have notified security personnel at all Souls-R-Us offices, warehouses, retail locations, seminars, affiliates, and tanning booths, that they are to notify the authorities if they see you lurking around.

      As you know, that court order issued against you at my request banning you from coming within 25 yards of our facilities and/or personnel is still in effect and will be so indefinitely.

      By the way, the expansion of that ban to include, zoos, schools, county fairs, Lady Gaga concerts, and Pancake House restaurants was not my idea but something our lawyers threw in as what they considered "The right thing to do." Sorry.

      .

      Delete
    24. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    25. That's a hell of a way to talk back sass to the Gentleman that provided you with your Golden Parachute, you whoreson mandrake, who art fitter to be worn in my cap than to wait at my heels.

      I gave you $200 bucks for a bus ticket to Vegas to stop your incessant whining about how you had to met someone,there, you were on 'a mission'.

      Turned out you used the money for a fancy shave and haircut at an Italian barbershop, where they said you hung around for days listening to the mafia gossip.

      Don't bother me any more, I have an e-mail on my other screen from an interested sucker buyer.

      Delete
    26. A shoe shine too. They said you paid $18.00 dollars for a fancy shine for your tennis shoes. And talked about how you'd just got back 'from fishing Idaho and Montana', and how the Royal Coachman was the fly to use there to catch the big ones. Said you were going to throw a fish fry for all your buds. Which never happened of course.

      Delete
  27. If you'll go

    Here

    You'll see that Gov. Receipts are still running about 15% of GDP.

    You can't run This Railroad on 15%.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Presidential Job Approval

    Gallup: 43% Approve - 51% Disapprove
    Rasmussen: 45% Approve - 53% Disapprove

    Chortle, chortle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A local TV poll in Northern Virginia has Obama just slightly ahead, which is a disaster for Obama.

      Rasmussen now has Romney ahead in Iowa.

      Delete
    2. Always has, but has him well behind in Ohio, and Nevada, which is all the Swing States Obama needs to get to 271.

      Delete
    3. In reality, as unlikeable an asshole as Romney is, it seems awfully problematic that Anyone could get reelected with as low an approval rating as Obama has. We'll see.

      Delete
  29. the US is pulling away from China Medal wise. The gap would be bigger if china would not let their men compete in the women's events. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be bigger still if we allowed our Women to compete in the Men's events. :)

      Delete
  30. "In the United States, there are nearly three (2.98) gun murders per 100,000 people. In Britain, by contrast, where there were 18 gun homicides in 2009 (a rate of nearly zero — actually 0.03 — per 100,000 people), civilians can’t even possess pistols or revolvers. And there are records of gun acquisitions, sales and transfers."

    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/bittman-guns-butter-and-then-some/?hp#h[]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What they lack in gun-related homicides, Ash, they more than make up for by the British National Health Service bumping off the aged, and, not so aged, through neglect and incompetence.

      So, Churchill was right again. In the end, everything evens out.

      Delete
    2. Then again, any self-respecting redneck would rather get his nuts "shot off," than "froze off."

      Delete
    3. Apparently We have more people who need to be shot than they do.

      Delete
  31. 'Black Jesus'...
    GALLUP: APPROVAL SLIPS TO 43%...


    (For Hemingway aficionados - the peasants in Pamplona called Hemroid 'the black Christ' because he was handsome and had black hair at the time)

    ReplyDelete
  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  33. China Ahead On Solar! --


    China Is Winning the Race to Lose Billions on Solar Power

    Scott Shackford|Aug. 10, 2012 1:15 pm

    Race to the bottom!America’s failed government-subsidized ventures into solar panel manufacturing have been blamed on that massive Chinese industrial juggernaut, flooding the market with cheaper goods and making it impossible for us to compete. (And not because of poor public investment decisions and lack of accountability due to crony capitalism, no sir!)

    So let’s turn to Caijing Magazine, reporting directly from China on all matters business, to tell us how well the nation is curbstomping our struggling green energy capitalists here in the free world:

    China’s top ten photovoltaic makers have accumulated a combined debt of 17.5 billion U.S. dollars so far, leading the whole industry to the brink of bankruptcy, data from U.S. investment agency Maxim Group showed.

    Goodness. That’s 35 Solyndras!

    LDK Solar, the world’s second-largest maker of solar wafers, and Suntech Power, the world’s largest solar panels producer, are the mostly likely to be headed for bankruptcy, Maxim noted.

    LDK reported a net profit loss of 1.08 billion yuan in the first half of this year, with a total liability of 26.7 billion yuan, about 88 percent of its total assets. 2.42 billion yuan of debts will come due in 2013, compared with a cash pile of only 830 million yuan.

    With its debt-to-equity ratio at 7.4, the Jiangxi-based LDK has already been in insolvency based on corporate accounting standards in the Europe and the United States, according to Maxim. A bankruptcy filing or restructuring could be needed for LDK, it added.

    The White House likes to respond to Solyndra’s bankruptcy rather dismissively. It’s one of the risks of venture capitalism investment. Sometimes the risk doesn’t work out. But we must invest! We must not fall behind Europe and China! But if China can’t make it work with its cheap labor, Solyndra is far from an anomaly (as we’re already learning from our parade of misbegotten solar failures).

    So is the United States learning its lesson? This week the Department of Defense announced it would open up 13 million acres of public land for renewable energy development. How much of that will require government subsidies of manufacturers to actually happen? Or will the government listen to Americans begging them to stop it? (Ha ha, fat chance)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please, please, stop Rufus, please STOP IT!

      Delete
    2. Some of these Chinese companies are bankrupting themselves in the quest to be our cheapest supplier, and you, somehow, think that is a "bad" thing? Really?

      Delete
    3. these Chinese companies are bankrupting themselves

      This may be a good thing. I don't, however, see how it can last. They don't want our business that badly. After all, belly up is belly up, in China or American.

      Romney's VP tomorrow, Rufus.

      Maybe Romney will go real 'dark horse' and, to the entire world's surprise, pick Quirk, and get a lock on the doing nothing vote.

      Delete
    4. We're but a passing thought to those companies. All the action is in China. They're installing a ginormous amount of solar in the next ten years.

      Delete
    5. I like solar. I hope it can be made to work for everyone.

      Delete
    6. It's a "utilities" play, right now. "Commercial" is getting there in some areas. "Residential" is a couple of years out in most places.

      I'm talking "sans subsidies."

      Delete
  34. NBC says Ryan's breaking out the $400.00 Wine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bum_wine


      Now, a Ripple commercial --

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciR7Fq2tqJ0

      Delete
    2. Ochoom may be snorting a $400 line.

      Delete
  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Strikes me as a strange pick if it's true. Well, we'll find out in the morning. I'm whupped.

    ReplyDelete
  37. He's probably the best of the boring white guys available.

    Rubio would have been good but he has a scandal a little ways off that might blow up on him.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Steel worker in earlier post was offered a job buyout by Bain --

    In a January 10, 2012 interview with Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!" the anti-Romney steel plant employee revealed he was offered a buyout when Bain decided to close the plant. Joe Soptic, the employee, has been in the news as of late due to an ad he made for the Obama-backed Super PAC Priorities USA. In the ad, Mr. Soptic says his wife died of cancer because he was laid off and no longer had health insurance.

    However, not mentioned in the ad is that his wife found out she had cancer nearly five years after his departure from the plant. She died 22 days after her diagnosis. Transcript below.

    AMY GOODMAN: Joining us now from Kansas City is Joe Soptic, former steelworker at Worldwide Grinding Systems, who has lost his job after a declared bankruptcy under Bain’s control. He’s speaking to us from Kansas City’s PBS station KCPT. Joe, explain what happened.

    JOE SOPTIC: Well, I guess the first thing I noticed after the company was bought out by GST, they became very union-non-friendly. I mean, they started looking for ways to eliminate jobs. In my case, in my department, they actually offered to buy our jobs out from underneath us.


    RCP

    ReplyDelete
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