by Murph
I have written multiple times in the past concerning our constitution. One of the things I have emphasized is that it is a flawed document from several perspectives but nevertheless, was a contract between the citizens and the government concerning how the government was to conduct itself, particularly, in regards to its citizenry. As far as I know, every elected official in this country is required to take an oath to uphold the constitution. Many non elected positions are required to do the same; military and law enforcement come to mind. Despite the fights over the interpretations of what the document says, it should be rather obvious that the document has little teeth and ability to sustain even the most basic concepts that it contains concerning the well being and freedoms of its citizens. For all practical purposes, we no longer have a constitution that is enforceable, at any practical level. What parts are enforced are for show alone, to convince the sheeple that we are truly a nation with laws and principles.
Take a look at the two amendments below. Think they are being adhered to?
Article 9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
As I again read through the constitution, it appears to me that most of it has been violated, at least as I read it. Of course, I am not a constitutional lawyer with a couple of degrees to back up that statement. At least we now have a president (hopefully, maybe) that is a constitutional lawyer. It will be interesting to see how he handles a lot of these issues.
So, in effect we have, as a practical matter, a rogue government, with no limits concerning what it can do. Notice how our rights to redress have been ignored, right to assemble, right to protest, rights of free speech have all been seriously eroded, or the gun rights issue, or freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and confiscation of property, and of course the contentious abortion issue, and holding government officials responsible for murder and illegal wars. Keep in mind that violations of the constitution have been committed almost from the beginning. In comparison, they were minor to what has transpired in the last 20 years, and most distinctly in the last 8 years. If we had a government truly adhering to the constitution our situation would be considerably different than it currently is. Good god, since when does the supreme court have the constitutional right to determine an election?
The ideology around the new administration compared to Bush and crew doesn’t appear on the surface to be significantly different to me. There will be some differences of course, but I expect a further repudiation of our social contract with the government. I hope to be pleasantly surprised but I’ll not hold my breath in anticipation. Just too many of the old guard being appointed to positions of power and influence, that is, those with contempt and disdain for the populace. I doubt that keeping the old guard in positions of power that have created the problems, will solve the problems. They are stuck in a paradigm that is not going to be changed.
Quite a number of the financial people that write on the web are saying that we are now in a depression. George Ure is one of my favorites. I like his style of writing and how he analyzes current events. Even if we technically cannot substantiate that we are in an economic depression, it sure appears we are headed for one at break neck speed. This is going to put tremendous pressure on the incoming administration to “do something”, anything, to keep us afloat and progressing down the road to capitalistic paradise. So far, in the last 8 years, that has consisted in advancing toward a capitalistic dictatorship by the executive branch. I honestly do not expect that to change significantly. I know that Obama has stated that he wants to get rid of all the excessive oppressive bureaucracy that Bush has put in place. Consider how many more unemployed that will create. Currently, the federal government is the single largest employer in this country, and that doesn’t include state government employment. Currently, state, municipalities and county governments are shedding personal at a terrific rate. If the feds start shedding personnel, then unemployment figures will go up dramatically. I simply cannot believe this is going to happen, politically unacceptable. Consider poor Obama’s position. No matter how benign he intends to be, no matter what decisions he makes, he is going to be hated. If he starts pissing on the powerful moneyed people, he is going to be in real danger of being assassinated at its worst, and opposed by very powerful interests at best. If he pisses any more on the populace, he faces rebellion. I really think this is going to be his choices. We are sure going to get to see just what he is made of in a very few months now. In any case, further abridgment of civilian rights and freedoms are ahead of us. For all practical purposes, we will not be operating under any type of final arbitration in the form of a constitution. Undoubtedly, there will be a flurry of court show cases over these issues but the real hard issues will not be addressed because it sure appears to me that the moneyed and influential top of the heap would not benefit. The minute there is talk about limiting severely the elite’s privilege and benefits; there will be hell to pay. The minute Obama starts to talk about a more egalitarian distribution he will have vast and very powerful forces opposing him. Historically, the only means that have been effective has been open rebellion and revolution by the masses, and that has always resulted in more and different bums governing the population.
If we truly want something different, we have got to get away from elitist hierarchy control. I figure that one is going to be a tough one to implement.
Considering how fractionated and divisive our population is, no matter what is done or proposed, it will be opposed. How much divisiveness can be tolerated in a society until it falls apart? It is possible, even in this country, to have a strong push toward race wars of various magnitudes. We already have had two of them; the first was the whites against the Indians, and later the whites against the blacks. Wonder who is going to align against the Spanish speaking people, and/or the Muslims.
For those that still advocate a strong central government with some kind of constitution, just what would you put on paper that would stop cold the abrogation of that constitution? Bush was correct, “It’s just a damned piece of paper”. Only the people can stop that abrogation. We sure can see how well that works in today’s world. I have no idea to the extent or how long it will last, but we are surely heading toward some kind of very oppressive government in this country, hah! More than we have now for sure. Would you believe that just recently an Oregon court classified a car as a 'public place'? How nuts is that? I figure as the TPTB become more scared and desperate to retain control you will see more of this kind of insanity. You can also figure that as federal, state and municipal budgets are slashed that enforcement of these kinds of laws will become a bunch more difficult. Just another method of keeping the population in a state of fear whilst our enslavement and impoverishment continues. Oh well, as long as the population goes along with it all, it will continue.
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47 comments:
From Belgium,
Dumb ass me forgot to put the link in my final comment on the last post but since it is relevant here also, I will put it up. Although it mainly deals with the Canadian situation there are parallels and don’t forget, the interesting snippets come at 9’ 25”” in the first video and 9’ 40”” in the second.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/494.html
We have talked before about the possibility of getting Joe six pack off his couch and his indolence does not bode well for any insurrectionist activities. Nor is there largely the organisation in place to arrange a General Strike. Protest rallies are ineffectual at bringing about any form of change and are partly tolerated to give the illusion of constitutional rights and give the participants a feel good factor. The old adage of one law for the rich and one law for the poor is partly true in that the laws, such as they are, apply only to the poor. You only have to look at the tortuous twists of logic Gonzales dreamed up to keep the elite one up and the folks one down to see the truth of this. So far as the new administration goes, it is stated in the videos above that poor Obama is fair and square Brzezinski’s boy; that he will make Cheney look like a glove puppet and his popularity rating is expected to be in the 10% - 20% region after a year in office.
This I can believe since the GEAB people say the master economic crash is still on track for summer 2009, unless, that is, the USA decides to ditch Breton Woods and fractional reserve lending :-)
http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-29-is-available!-Phase-IV-of-the-Global-Systemic-crisis-Breakdown-of-the-Global-Monetary-System-by-summer-2009_a2435.html
Murph wrote “Historically, the only means that have been effective has been open rebellion and revolution by the masses, and that has always resulted in more and different bums governing the population.” I guess you are limiting yourself to the American case and discounting the likes of Chavez and Moreles who appear to be making democracy work as it should – for now at least.
Belgium,
I wasn't limiting myself to America, but I also wasn't thinking of Chaves or Moreles. The African revolutions didn't turn out well, nor the French, trading one despot for another.
Where did you pick up the low Obama ratings in a year? Hadn't seen that.
Yup, unless something radical is done, the depression is on for this next summer. Frankly, even if fractional reserve banking was ended, I don't think the big D can be avoided. We have gone over the edge. This all means that a slow crash is not in the cards. It sure appears to me that this is going to be a historic fast crash.
It seems like critical factors are moving much faster than some predicted. Yup, Bush and his hot shit team are leaving some legacy for the historians to argue over. You see the video of shoes being thrown at him in Iraq by a journalist? The comments on the film are sure interesting too.
Can I say one more time; we are doomed?
From Belgium,
Obama’s popularity ratings were actually quoted as being between 20% - 23% after one year. It came from Webster Tarpley quoting Joe Byden and can be found here at about 2’ 03””:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0YOiRGNgjU&NR=1
What is interesting is that the new administration is still making political plans for after the crash so they are still expecting to be in control with enough money to perform the leading roll on the world stage and laud it over a docile home populous.
Have you got a link for Bush and the shoes, I missed that. It seems like a scene from Wag the Dog.
Painful and disheartening as it is to acknowledge, from a pragmatic, clinical perspective the Constitution is dead and buried. Today the government does just whatever the hell it pleases, and the “court” goes along. Once in a while the court will throw a tiny, denuded bone to the masses to fol them into believing the “system” still works, but the big bones always go to the government.
One critical flaw in the Constitution is that it divided the government into three co-equal branches: executive, legislative and judiciary. There’s just one flaw with this design: they are all branches of the same government! It’s inevitable that over time, incrementally, they will all end up on the same page, which is, opposed to us!
Another critical flaw in the Constitution is that its authors, from the perspective of their own erudite class, not to mention a populace more erudite than today’s, errantly assumed that the populace would remain educated and vigilant. Of course, neither assumption has held up, thanks in part to the government which long ago usurped control over education. Hmm...it certainly makes one wonder if the “dumbing down” of the populace wasn’t part of the plan of public education all along.
There is only one solution for people wishing to retain their sanity and their liberty: withdrawal. I don’t mean we literally have to sequester ourselves in caves or anything so melodramatic. There is a viable in-between. Sever as many contacts with the government and business as possible. Stop voting. Stop serving on juries. Send as little money to the government as possible, by reducing income (income taxes), purchases (sales taxes) and living in cheaper houses (property taxes). Similarly, sever as many contacts with big business as possible. Get rid of cell phones, cable TV, insurance, loans, bank accounts, credit cards. Become less dependent on the corporate-government fascist establishment, and more self-reliant. Of course, I’m speaking to the choir about the latter. If enough people follow this path, which is completely non-violent, not to mention self-rewarding, the aforementioned establishment, starved of funds and legitimacy, will slowly whither away and die. As we withdraw from the existing, necrotic establishment, we can simultaneously form new, voluntary communities based on the values we choose and start building tomorrow’s world today.
I’m not so naive as to believe that the “establishment” will quietly crawl off to die. No, it may well lash out at the true progressives among the populace, perhaps even going so far as to equate us with terrorists. Don’t laugh. I can easily foresee a future in which people who prefer to be left alone and take care of themselves are categorized as “uncooperative,” “mentally ill” (and subject to forced medication), “inclined to harbor terrorists” or many other specious, inflammatory labels.
But in today’s world in which the elite establishment holds all the cards and all the power, withdrawal is the only viable avenue, aside from destructive and violent revolution. Harboring any sort of hope that an elitist messiah is going to “fix” all our problems is a fool’s errand. Personally, I have a gnawing fear that our new president will exhibit the worst qualities of both Clinton and Bush!
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
From Belgium,
Dave,
A general strike is another non violent option but who will take part if there is no one to organise it? Besides, the country is in a wait and see mode, by the time it becomes apparent which way the wind is blowing it will probably be too late.
Belgium,
The reason I keep advocating my approach is that it doesn't depend on the government or anybody else to "do something." Withdrawal is something each individual can do for themselves without waiting for anyone else to "organize" it.
And despite the negative sound of the word, I can say from experience that withdrawal can actually result in an improvement to one's life! My "withdrawn" life is superior to my life when I attempted to participate in the "system."
My self-imposed frugality alone has produced positive consequences. For example, in the past I didn't hesitate to just go out and buy new things. Today I actually relish refurbishing things. In just the last few weeks I've refurbished three dirty old cabinets I found in my basement, and I'm using them in my house now.
The other day I wanted to mount a large plastic map of the world in an attractive, but low cost fashion. So I made a frame with some old scraps of wood I had lying around and then bought a small amount of fabric and covered the frame with the fabric. And the result looks really nice. Total cost: $7.50 for fabric and six hours of time, which I have in abundance.
I get tremendous satisfaction out of creatively refurbishing things, reducing waste and lowering costs.
By disassociating myself from corporations I have exactly four bills to pay each month: gas/water/trash, electricity, telephone and internet. And they are all pretty small.
I don't eat in corporate restaurants. In fact, I eat out about once a month and only at the invitation of friends. The thought of going out to eat anymore turns me off. Not only is the cost prohibitive, but the food I make at home is so far superior that eating out is a step down! For instance, today I had homemade mushroom and dill pizza for lunch, and the cost was well under $2, including the glass of wine! Compare that even to any McFastFood corporate establishment.
When the price of gasoline fluctuates wildly I don't get all that concerned because I drive my car at most once a week. When I work for pay, which is rare anymore, it's at home.
Because of my exceedingly low income this year, I don't think I will have to pay any income taxes, for the first time in perhaps 30 years!
I didn't have to wait for anyone to organize this change of lifestyle for me - I elected to do it myself. And I'm honestly much happier as a result.
I could certainly do with a little more money, and I'm thinking about moneymaking options, such as manufacturing furniture in my garage. But there isn't much urgency to do something because my cost of living is low and I have enough savings to tide me over for a few years.
Needless to say, I have no debt or even any credit cards. I hope I never need to use debt again, as long as I live. What an evil invention, debt is! Bondage without chains.
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
From Belgium,
Dave,
I think your efforts at self sufficiency are superb and in line with the things we have been talking about here for quite some time now. If you have been following the comments on previous posts you will know that in January my wife and I are moving to a smaller apartment which will greatly reduce our monthly outgoings. Efforts on my part are on hold for the moment whilst we pack boxes and gradually eat our way through the freezer before stocking up in the new place. Placing furniture is my biggest concern at the moment and deciding what to keep and what to throw but it is getting there bit by bit. When it is all over I will have more time for real cooking instead of just making something to eat. Then I am going to get into storing grains and so on; I have been genning up on several sites to find the best ways of doing it. Now that my former dreams of retiring to a country seat with a crunchy drive have been superseded by reality, I am quite looking forward to the move. We have no car and no credit cards; I do need a bank though for my pension transfers but have virtually dumped the big high street bank which is looking increasingly dodgy in favour of a Post Office account, they are not as naff as they used to be. I figure the government will do all it can to not let the Post Office fall into the water.
I do think there are two things going on here. There is the self sufficiency we have talked about but I believe that Murph’s post was about the increasingly less important broader picture. That is why he talked about the possibility of insurrection and I mentioned general strikes. The likelihood of those living in New York condos suddenly taking an avid interest in permaculture and food grade storage bins is not very great even though we can see the advantages and maybe even necessity of such things.
Dave,
In my trolling around on the internet blog sites, very few people seem interested in doing what you have done. Where we live, few are interested in what we are doing. The perception is to do these kinds of powering down indicates a loser. The smarter ones will be forced into it, grumbling and complaining every step of the way as things worsen. The dumb shits will grumble and complain and do nothing different until they have to, and then it might very well be violent. Very few will identify why it is happening, just sort of ride the waves as they come in and drown them.
It looks like we are going to try and get active in the grange locally.
One thing you didn't mention concerning faults in the constitution is all the stuff dealing with property rights. Keep in mind that the framers were mostly men of wealth and property and the Revolution canceled their debts in England.
Check this out.
http://www.devvy.net/audio/dec08/communitarian_hoax.html
-rockpicker
Jeezus, it's COLD. The murphman is stuck outside attempting to put a blanket on the door of the chicken house with a heater to keep their little wattles from getting frost bite, I put a blanket around the rabbit cages. We went to go out to purchase a few things for the Grange potluck, but the damn car door wouldn't unfreeze, so we had to drive holding the door shut. What a bitch. It's zero degrees and going down tonight. That's, like, minus 32 or something in Celsius, Belgium, and it's windy, too. Aargh.
You are so right, Dave. I call it "shunning." Just turn our backs and declare ourselves free, and live the life that we want to live, as much as possible. I still keep a credit card to order stuff from Amazon.com and supplies from the internet. But we pay it off each month so we don't pay interest.
The Grange is a fraternal organization that's been around forever to support rural farmers. We are going to join the organization tomorrow. There is great interest there to organize a farmers market, community greenhouse, trading post, etc. If we can get that to work, we could not have to waste our time with the political process, which I have fading hopes for.
The only place we managed to get to today was the liquor store. So, I think I will just warm up the curried lentil soup and cornbread I made yesterday, and throw some rum in my eggnog after dinner.
Stay warm everybody...
aho
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: Obama won the biggest booby prize in all of history. I think he knows it too. There's a photograph from election night where it looks as if he just really realized he had won, and the look on his face, to me, says he's thinking 'oh shit...'
I also agree with Dave that withdrawal is the only viable answer. Unfortunately, I can't seem to make enough money to support myself right now in my withdrawal. If I can unload this house that will happen, but that doesn't look likely at the moment. If I could come up with about 5k I could buy an acre of land in the country and in this climate that's enough to grow pretty much all my food (save some grains) with leftovers. Of course, I would also have to figure out what to do about a house, but I could live in a camper. Anyway, time to check out of the system if possible...
You know, it's friggin cold here in Kentucky too, although a sultry 20 degrees to you guys in Oregon.
We're having kind of an ice storm and this morning my gate was frozen shut. I managed to get it open, which was nice since it was trash day and I needed to get the gate open to take the trash can out.
My efforts were rewarded with a visit from my neighbor's little dog, Boo Boo. I call her my "girlfriend" because she adores me. When she sees me she comes running as fast as she can from a hundred yards away and literally leaps into my arms. Then she stares longingly into my eyes. She's so adorable!
freeacre, an alternative to having a credit card for online purchases is two bank accounts. That's what I do. One is for internet use, the other is my real account. When I'm contemplating an internet purchase I first transfer money into the internet account. Just a thought...
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
rp,
Hadn't heard of this Devvy before. Listened to her stuff at the link you gave. Interesting rants. She evidently is a student of Ayn Rand and Nathanial Branden. Strange mixture of factualism and fantasy.
Belgium,
Just getting around to reply to the Breton Woods link you put up.
The question in my mind is it realistic to expect governmental controls of currency and economic activity to work over time? Second question is whether another similar type of international agreement could stop the collapse?
It appears to me that we have a rather different set of circumstances to deal with, namely energy,climate change and environmental degradation. Energy depletion did not exist in the '40's, there was no severe climate alterations forecast and while the environment was being degraded by industrialization, it was not near the severity we are experiencing. Even if another such agreement was agreed upon, (reestablishing the dollar as international currency and for the most part freezing monetary exchange rates) that would not remove the extreme amount of toxic debt that countries have bought into. A ponzi scheme is a ponzi scheme by any other name. The IMF that was established by Breton Woods has been one of the great destabilizers world wide and facilitated the great looting of third world countries and the huge economic disparity we see.
At this point I can't buy into that idea at all.
Belgium,
Check out this article by Steve Pizzo.
http://newsforreal.com/
From Belgium,
Freeacre,
I believe you have made a slight mathematical error there, 32°F = 0°C. Minus 32°C = minus 26°F if my calcs are correct. Here are some not so interesting facts re temperature, The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales cross over at minus 40 so -40°F = -40°C. At minus 50°C spit freezes before it hits the ground and at minus 53°C a peculiar and little known phenomena occurs called explosive freezing. If you take a container of boiling water and throw it in the air it will instantly explode into tiny ice crystals. Some years ago on an old hard drive I used to have a picture of this as my desktop wallpaper, I will try to find the link again and put it up.
Anyway that’s enough showing off; let me quickly make a comment about Breton Woods. I agree with Murph that it is the root of present day evil and should by rights be done away with. It is not intrinsically evil; it is so because it invites temptation. The problem with fiat currency is that it is so easy to overprint and even today add electronic digits, thereby causing inflation. FR bills are only a rehash of Lincoln’s green back dollars and many of the small alternative currencies which exist locally throughout the USA. The difference is that Lincoln et al regulated the money supply to the level the economy could bear without causing inflation. To address your financial questions, I really don’t know at this stage but anything that helps, helps. As you have previously said, one solution is to withdraw money from the economy and starve the people. Perhaps something less severe might bring the ship into an upright position. The GEAB people are advocating as essential, an immediate change of 20% of the world’s leaders but I wouldn’t expect any falling on swords in the near future. Re toxic waste and resource supplies, perhaps a cull would right the minds of those who are left but this is a question nobody wants to pick up.
All in all it is a question of externalities, which is a fancy way of saying it is those who are left who will be the ones to wipe the asses of the bankers; unless, that is we all follow Dave’s withdrawal method.
Belgium, you're as big a geek as I am. When I was in my teens I read a lot of Jack London, and one of the things that fascinated me in one of his books was a detailed discussion of what liquids froze as what temp and how they used to tell the temp in Alaska using that method! I guess you could say I'm easily entertained, lol.
Arctic Front Grips The State While Great Depression II
Engulfs America and Gaza Waits For The World
Cold pools around us dense as guilt,
an inconvenience we can not fix,
but only witness through icy glass
and wait long nights for a cleansing mix of air.
Two whitetails have moved in here.
They take turns nibbling garden waste
and elm leaves banked to trim
the old plum's hem. Neither
fears the dog. They are game,
and cowdogs can be played.
They've claimed the pathway dug
between compost and the beets
for snowy beds. I watch videos
of Palestinian homes crushed
to rubble by the sons of tatooed men
and think, my new tenants have it easy.
12/15/08
-rockpicker
From Belgium,
Ras, I really did laugh out loud at your comment, you must be easily entertained to not only read but add to my meandering drivel. Anyway, I found the link back but before I get to it I have to admit that it was my turn to make a mistake over temperature, the explosive freezing occurs at minus 51°C but what is two degrees between friends?
http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/gallery2/polar/phenomena/rv0019-29.htm
Minus 53°C is another Arctic Phenomena called sound inversion. Completely off topic, here is a nice little story about it called Horses under the Whispering Stars.
http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/stories/horses/horses.htm
This is a wonderful site, wander through the picture galleries and enjoy.
Rp,- poignant.
"Our social contract is dead."
Exactly. That means all the rules have changed, and assimilating the new order may require us to venture into some pretty dark places, imaginatively.
We all understand this is no temporary "recession," but a nasty black hole of a world-wide financial calamity we will be dealing with for a long, long time to come.
The ship is going down, and there are not enough life boats for us all. Simple fact.
We can expect nothing of the assholes in Washington who, with open disdain, ignore us, or of the Madoffs and Rubins of Wall Street, who steal, even from their own kin, without remorse.
The system doesn't need tweaking, to make it "right." It needs to be utterly destroyed, and soon. Time is running out.
Playing along with a corrupt system legitimizes the corruption. I'll be damned if I will self-impose disenfranchisement in order to fly under illegal and immoral radar.
Fuck them. I prefer to be shot down flying high, dropping leaflets urging resistance, than to lie awake waiting for the knock at the door.
Disorganized civil unrest is coming soon to a theater near you. It will be handled so brutally, it will shock your civilized senses.
David Icke, Karl Schwartz, Webster Tarpley, Devvy Kidd, Mike Ruppert and a host of others have been trying to warn us about the coming catastrophe. For us, the financial aspect is trivial. The meltdown is being used to reorder the world socially, and we, in our roles as obedient serfs, are of
damned small significance.
-rockpicker
ps.- google Main Core
Heres a good one to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PIEGK0IbA4
-rp
And this one is precious.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/willie/willie121608.html
-rp
Sounds like you're ready to read Lysander Spooner's take on it. He pretty much came to the same conclusion you did... back in 1867!
"No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority"
http://www.lysanderspooner.org/notreason.htm
it's even friggin cold in LA..!
haven't been keeping track of you guys this week...
seems like more and more people are finally realizing the gig is up..so it's easier to be around the civilian population than it was pre-crash.
I'm not sure any can really predict much of the details involved in the coming year..it's going to be very non-deterministic with lots and lots of Black Swans and chaotic attractors. I'm inclined to think that the unravelling will be very slow-motion punctuated by occasional high intensity and dramatic events.
I just watched the documentary "Maxed-Out" made in 2006...predicted all of this.
tbiggs,
I had not read Spooner before. That is something else!! He sure has a good rational for his assertions.
From Belgium,
I would like to express my thanks to tbiggs for bringing Lysander Spooner to our (my) attention. Like Murph he was previously unknown to me. I have been busy today and so far have only read parts 1 & 2 and am about to launch into part 6. Many renowned philosophers are lacking in such clear thought lines.
Here are a few ponderings on situations from more modern times and I am questioning how they relate to what I have so far read.
Part 2 chapter 1 para 11 states:
“There is no escape from these conclusions, if we say that the adoption of the Constitution was the act of the people, as individuals, and not of the States, as States. On the other hand, if we say that the adoption was the act of the States, as States, it necessarily follows that they had the right to secede at pleasure, inasmuch as they engaged for no specific time.”
About a year ago the Governor (I think) of Vermont, was so frustrated and fed up with the present administration, he threatened to secede from the Union. He was clearly of the opinion that States joined as States weather or not people joined as individuals. This was one of those items which came into the news and then went out, so he either changed his mind or it was changed for him. Does anybody know the follow up to this story?
Here is a little bit of background before I ask a question. Towards the end of WW11, US General Smedley Butler was one of the most decorated military persons in history. He once boasted that “Al Capone thought he was a big guy because he ran three cities, I ran three continents.” When his son joined the marines and was sent into harms way he began to question the whole rational of military regimes and quit the military to go on the lecture circuit speaking out against his former profession. Later, at some clandestine meetings with the elite of the day who didn’t like the ‘New Deal’; he was persuaded to mount a coup d’ état against Roosevelt. Here is the question. Had he gone through with this plan would he have been a de facto traitor. This falls into two parts; firstly there is the question of whether he would have forewarned Roosevelt or not and the answer to this is fairly clear. More interestingly there is the matter of the oath of allegiance he took to uphold the constitution. Did the manner of his leaving the military and his subsequent stance against it absolve him from this oath as an individual, according to Spooner’s analysis?
From Belgium,
Here is a story for all the survivalists amongst us.
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=9829
No comment.
Belgium,
Have you read Butler's small book "War is a Racket"? I actually think I still have a copy of it.
Belgium,
Your question concerning Butler seems to fall under Spooners concept of treason. Declaring yourself in opposition to a governmental body is not treason, even if you follow through with active rebellion. What is treason according to Spooner is declaring allegiance, and then in hypocrisy undermining or actively opposing the government. Sort of like what the government does by paying an agent provocateur?
From Belgium,
Yes Murph, I have read it, it can be found here:
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6021
What amazes me is that he was almost persuaded to do the bidding of the profiteers he was speaking out about by mounting a coup against Roosevelt. Maybe he thought he could run the country along more honourable lines and those who had backed him would not want their price. A bit like Obama today.
Anybody going to put some shoes in the mail? I can't decide whether to send them to the White House or to Pelosi... and maybe I'll write CONGRESS on the sole of one and mount it on the trailer hitch on the back of my car... hummm...
Anyone seen Obama's latest picks? Vilsack for Agriculture and Warren to do the invocation at the inaugueral. Oh yes, that's change we can believe in.
Yes, RAS, I came over to this blog just to comment on Obama's Ag pick. We are all totally screwed. I was glad to see Freeacre's comments about food recently because I think the danger to a healthy food supply is one of the very basic catastrophes lined up like hurricanes in the Atlantic, and not many are paying attention to it.
If all of the other catastrophes worried about on this and other blogs don't finish us off, the poisoning of our food supply by Monsanto certainly will. By picking him, Obama is showing all of those who are cautioning patience that he certainly has no intention of doing other than continuing on our present path -- which leads to extreme peril.
My field is nutrition and for years I've been watching with dismay as Monsanto works at taking over the world's food supply by various toxic methods. Putting this company in charge of our ag policies is exactly the wrong way to go. We need someone who'd work for small, diverse organic farms.
Organicconsumers. org is working on this, if anyone wants to get more info.
From Belgium,
Fourteen days to Codex Alimentarius and counting.
A few days ago we rented "Soylent Green" from Netflix, and were amazed at just how prescient the movie was. Produced in the 70's, the movie portrayed global warming due to polluting the atmosphere, the decline of the world economies, decay of the cities, widespread homelessness and hunger due to overpopulation, and the takeover of the world's food supply by a corporation called "Soylent." It may as well have been called "Monsanto."
I have been giving President-elect Obama the benefit of the doubt in terms of his appointment. I understand his attempts to reach out to diverse groups and reduce the partisanship of the past, etc. etc. But, appointing Vilsack as head of the Dept. of Agriculture just makes me sick. If Vilsack is, indeed, a shill for Monsanto, this is an outrage.
Their Frankenfood creations are an abomination. Propritory crops, genetically altered seeds that contain pesticides that poison your system, ones that are sterile and require more water that Indian farmers are committing suicide over, hellaceous mixtures of genetics with all sorts of ill effects are just horrific.
And, now, there is this article regarding Morgellon's disease...
http://waronyou.com/2008/12/gm-files-horrifying-new-disease-contains-identical-material-to-gm-%E2%80%9Cfood%E2%80%9D/
It says that these Morgellons fibers that "grow" out of peoples' skins are some sort of mutant silicone-based fibers that have "come to life" and grow and reproduce in people's bodies!
My God! I thought eating the commercial equivalent of roadkill and offal was bad, but this is truly horror movie stuff that makes Soylent Green look tame.
This guy, Vilsack, is unacceptable. No, no, no, no, NO.
If you ever needed another reason to grow your own food, this is it, people.
aho
organicconsumers.org site has a petition to sign against the appointment of Vilsack. Thanks for your comment, anonymous 7:03. always room for you at the campfire.
Winter Solstice is approaching on the 21st. May want to break out the mistletoe and pine boughs to honor our Mother, the Earth, and to acknowledge the shortest day of the year, and the subsequent New Sun...
We
Are
So
Freaking
DOOMED!!!
From Belgium,
I do not know very much about Morgellon’s disease but I can tell you a little bit about silicon I remember from my college days. It is a non metal which sits directly below carbon in the periodic table of elements and shares a limited number of its properties. It can combine with itself as carbon does but only to a very limited degree and these small chains can combine with hydrogen to form the equivalent of paraffins. These can also form other compounds with oxygen. All of these compounds are a lot more difficult to form, are of rather limited application and tend to be a lot more inert than their carbon equivalents. In other words they will not form a organic soup. The mention of coloured crystals in the article made me immediately thing of the so called chemical garden. This is formed when metallic salts are dropped into water glass or sodium meta-silicate resulting in long vertical strands growing from the bottom of the container. These are differently coloured depending on what metal is used. This may not be connected directly to Morgellon’s, but connection of silicon and coloured fibrous growths suggests some reaction which is akin to this.
The Belgian parliament is in crisis again, still over the Fortis affair. Last week lawyers who were tying the nuts and bolts of the deal together declared that the whole deal was not legal, the reason was not explained. It now appears that the executive branch has been leaning heavily on the judiciary to get the thing through, even to the extent of the PM’s office trying to influence judges. Yves Leterme, the PM tried to clarify things in parliament today but found he had dug himself into a hole by disclosing aspect of the deal of which parliament was unaware when they approved the deal. This sort of thing seems to be commonplace in the USA but over here they still get upset about it. It is possible but unlikely Leterme will go since it is to nobody’s advantage at the moment not even the opposition parties.
Winter solstace, what about another bonfire?
I know, I know... I was feeling like going back to bed and just pulling the covers over my head. Then the murphinator came in with our very first Araucanna (sp?) egg! We've been feeding these young ones for six months with no eggs to show for it, and I was about losing hope. But, we got our fist little deep blue/green egg - just lovely! So, there's hope for those young'uns yet! Thank God for small pleasures.
Yes, yes, Belgium...a bonfire would be good. Just have to find someone to keep me from hurling myself into it. I'm a little "down" today.
What with being unemployed, I have had time to go back and read much of the material posted on the Trout Clan blog and the Real Deal blog before it. I have really enjoyed the thoughtful and insightful writings of Freeacre, Murph, Spirit Acrosst the Sea, and the many other contributors.
While I try to take my conspiracy theory with a grain of salt, the most striking point of all that jumped out at me was this statement: ‘It is really of no importance what your personal religious views are or whether you do not have any. What is important is that you recognise what the world’s power brokers believe, how world events are being manipulated and how that will affect you.’ This rings terrifyingly true.
The recent story on OPED News about heavy-handed enforcement of NAIS ‘premises registration’ and the connection to debt collateralization of land through a World Conservation Bank is just the latest of the numerous wild-sounding conspiracies that I don’t even have the good humor to doubt anymore. They didn’t hesitate to asset-strip and starve out other resource rich countries such as Argentina, so why not devour the USA? They have just about got every market in the world cornered, so the USA is just the final frontier.
Regarding social contracts, I came across another interesting piece about a possible Convention to revise the Constitution... what do you folks make of this story?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83364
anazuzo
FA, I too am a little down today. I think it's going around. ;-)
Add stress togheter with the holidays, the darkest time of the year and (here at least) weather that can only be accurately described using profanity, and I get a bit depressed. I haven't seen the sun in two weeks. It's been that bad.
I keep thinking of this song:
One planet is turning
Circle on her path around the sun
Earth Mother is calling her children home
Light is returning
Although this is the darkest hour
No one can hold back the dawn
Let's keep it burning
Let's keep the light of hope alive
Make safe the journey through the storm
Other than that I'm listening to Creed, the Indigo Girls and some other similar music. My little dog is sleeping in my lap and that always helps.
Here's to the newborn sun and the return of the light!
if anyone want's to get even more depressed or angry they should watch this link from LATOC:
Goldman Sachs Using Bailout Money for Employee Bonuses
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PostOilBulletin/GoldmanSachs.html
what a load of crap
From Belgium,
Belgium is up to its neck in a political crisis. This goes over the Executive Branch abusing the separation of powers to influence the Judicial Branch to push through the Fortis Bank nationalisation and subsequent sale of a 75% to the French bank PNB Paribas. Earlier the justice minister resigned on the grounds that in the present circumstances, his office could no longer function. It was expected that the finance minister Didier Reyners would also go but so far he has not offered his resignation but as the crisis built throughout the afternoon Yves Leterme, the PM left the chamber to offer the whole government’s resignation to the King. This is where the situation is at present. The King apparently can accept or refuse the resignation or request that a new administration be formed without an election (I am not sure how this works, maybe a new administration from amongst the same party but with different players).
One problem is that Belgian politics is so fragmented with dozens of parties some of which have loose associations with one another. One problem for the King is that by far the largest single party is the Vlaams Belang (National Front) whom all the other parties try to ignore but if they forced their way through they could constitutionally break up Belgium and cut the French speaking south adrift. It could be in a couple of months I am introducing these comments with the handle ‘From Flanders’. As one report commented “There is a lot more to this situation than meets the eye”. It looks like Leterme broke the golden rule of not getting caught.
Good grief, Belgium. What happens when the government falls apart? Citizens still getting their pension checks? Bureaucrats still getting paid? Lights still on?
Did you see on cryptogon that the under-the-Mediterranean-Sea communications cables have been cut again? Uh oh...
Also, many good UFO sitings out there right now. My weird-shit-o-meter is getting pegged again.
Tonight is the longest night of the year. At 6:04 am tomorrow morning (CST) the sun will reach its farthest point on the ecleptic and start coming back. From that moment on, there will be a little more light and a little less darkness evrery day. (For those in the northern hemisphere.) The same will eventually be true of the human world; our cycle just lasts a little bit longer.
Deep in the dark of the darkest night/We keep our vigil by candlelight/Waiting to sing to the newborn sun/The universe will birth when the night is done
Happy Solstice all!
Blessings to all who attend this sacred fire. We have made it, collectively, to this longest night.
Snuggle in and dream deeply the future you wish to see. Know, you are powerful beyond your dreams.
http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8441
Holes in the magnetosphere, the electric universe, ufo's, the illuminati, global warming, global financial collapse, free energy, crop circles, end of the Mayan calendar, etc., these twine, like the fingers of hands clasped in prayer.
Peace.
Ajau.
-rockpicker
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