Free kibbles

FREEDOM OF SPEECH:

The FTC backtracks from proposals to tax electronic devices in order to subsidize newspapers. It looks like the government closely follows LewRockwell.com and mises.org.

TAX AND SPEND:

There is no money.

"On May 17, David Laws, the new British government's Chief Secretary to the Treasury, walked into his office. There on the desk was a note from the previous holder of this high office, Liam Byrne, who had departed along with Gordon Brown's Labour Party cabinet. The note was brief.

"Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam."

Mr. Laws was a bit miffed. He informed the media that it is traditional for an outgoing senior office holder to leave some guidelines for the incoming office holder. This note, Laws said, was not helpful.

On the contrary, it may have been the most helpful note left by an outgoing politician in modern history. It told the truth."

Honesty, too little, too late. We have the same problem here. The American people finally want to put out the fire, but the house has already burned down.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Info on Gaza blockade. More info.

"In the wake of the Hamas takeover, Israel said it would allow only basic humanitarian supplies into the Strip. It has a list of dual-use items such as steel pipes and fertiliser which it says could be used to manufacture weapons.

These are not allowed in, with the exception of "special humanitarian cases". Other than that, no specific list of what is and is not allowed in has been published, and items gaining entry vary over time.

The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees Unrwa's list of household items that have been refused entry at various times includes light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pasta, tea, coffee, chocolate, nuts, shampoo and conditioner.

Many other items - ranging from cars to fridges to computers - are generally refused entry.

Building materials such as cement, concrete and wood were nearly always refused entry until early 2010, when some glass, wood, cement and aluminium were allowed in.

During the six month truce between Israel and Hamas, which began in June 2008, and in early 2010, the volume and range of goods increased with trucks of shoes and clothes entering Gaza."

So Israel blocks whatever it wants and claims that Hamas might use it against Israelis. Convenient.

Israel seizes another aid ship on the way to Gaza and takes it to an Israeli port. A blockade blocks ships; it doesn't seize them. I don't see how this can be considered anything but an act of piracy.

MISC:

Does this stink of corruption or what?

BP's oil cap capturing a significant fraction of leaking oil, but plenty is still flowing into the Gulf.

Commenting on the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson points out how easily the American people are duped by aristocrats and shows his fears of Adams's ambition:

"…I consider those laws as merely an experiment on the American mind, to see how far it will bear an avowed violation of the Constitution.  If this goes down, we shall immediately see attempted another act of Congress, declaring that the President shall continue in office during life, reserving to another occasion the transfer of the succession to his heirs, and the establishment of the Senate for life… (Emphasis mine) That these things are in contemplation, I have no doubt; nor can I be confident of their failure, after the dupery of which our countrymen have shown themselves susceptible..."

I think the problem is most Americans just want to be left alone. That independent nature is one of our tremendous strengths, but when it comes to government, it's a terrible weakness because in the absence of resistance at the polls, aristocrats flagrantly amass power to themselves. But pushed to the wall, the people tend to do the right thing. They replaced Adams with Jefferson. I sure hope the people are wise enough to elect a Jeffersonian in 2012, but Ron Paul is the only candidate who fits the bill. If he doesn't run, we're screwed. I believe the first half of this next paragraph is equally valid today.

"The spirit of 1776 is not dead. It has only been slumbering. The body of the American people is substantially republican. But their virtuous feelings have been played on by some fact with more fiction; they have been the dupes of artful maneuvers, & made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging chains for themselves. But time & truth have dissipated the delusion, & opened their eyes. …Pennsylvania, Jersey & New York are coming majestically round to the true principles. In Pennsylvania, 13 out of 22 counties had already petitioned on the alien & sedition laws. Jersey & N Y had begun the same movement, and tho' the rising of Congress stops that channel for the expression of their sentiment, the sentiment is going on rapidly, & before their next meeting those three States will be solidly embodied in sentiment with the six Southern & Western ones."

The people are waking up. But I'm afraid in our case, it's too little, too late. I'll be surprised if the US as we know it lasts until 2020. I won't be surprised if the breakup starts in the next couple of years. This makes it sound like Adams almost started the first civil war.

"The troops that Adams was sending to subdue those opposed to him were not "federal troops" in the sense we think of them. They were the most virulent members of street gangs calling themselves the militias, and being accepted as such by Adams because of their fervent deadly support. These militias were described by William Duane of the Aurora, this way:

"Their rise was at a season of alarm and political ferment... [M]en of sound republican principles but weak minds were seen enrolling themselves in ranks under the apprehension of their growing power and the consequent danger; and men...were seen disgracing the memories of their fathers and the independence of their country by the elevation of the black British cockade!... This corps, sanctioned by the President... gave a species of law to the public of this city. Weak men feared them... The theatre, the public streets and even the domestic sanctuary was infested with their folly or their violence..."

It wasn’t long before America's Democrats and anti-Federalists were also arming themselves then forming their own private militias to protect against Federalist violence. As early as May 9, 1798, Adams' militias had clashed with Democratic-Republican militias in Philadelphia. As one would guess none of Adams’ militia members were arrested.

This is the "militia" that Adams released into the Pennsylvania countryside with a "do whatever is necessary" order. Twelve hundred violent "friends of the President" were on the loose to "subdue" one hundred "subversives" and as might be expected the results where horrific. Reports of the "troop’s" activities returning to Pennsylvania recounted acts of extreme violence, crudeness, private homes being invaded; men, women, and children terrorized, private property destroyed, and political symbols ("liberty poles") torn down."

This sounds like the kind of "domestic security force" Obama is trying to assemble. There's nothing new under the sun.

"Vice-President Jefferson recounts what occurred next.

"[T]hese friends of order, these enemies of disorganization, assemble a second time to pull down the printing office of the young and amiable widow of the grandson of Benjamin Franklin. On the other hand, a body of real republicans, of men who are real friends of order, assemble in arms, and… mounted guard to protect the office of this widow, the person of the Editor, of his journeymen, his apprentices and his son. "

The presses further reported that during the next two weeks, "the streets of Philadelphia were filled with crowds of people who wanted nothing but the firing of the first musket to precipitate Pennsylvania, and perhaps the continent, into the horrors of civil war.""

That's pretty close to civil war, and it sounds frighteningly similar to the path we're headed down.

"The Federalists lost the election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, but Federalism wasn’t defeated; it simply morphed into another form, raising it ugly head most notably in 1861, 1913, 1933, and 2009. Federalism, by any title, is never far from the surface and always working even when not openly visible.

How can I be sure that this nation will be faced with either a civil war or be broken into independent parts?

The answer resides in the fact that the nature of government is so damnably predicable. What can’t be quantified is when. That depends on how long and how many economic, social and physical beatings those who are productive are willing to take from a chimerical, desultory, and deceptive central government."

They won't take it for much longer.

A statue of Stalin is included in the National D-Day Memorial dedicated in Bedford, Virginia. That's an abomination, and you can our tax dollars are helping pay for it. What role did Stalin play in D-Day? They should have put up a plague explaining why they didn't put up a bust.