Free kibbles

ECONOMY:

Iceland is the canary in the coal mine for what is going to happen to all the government-dominated, debt-ridden western countries in the world including the US.

"It was a modern thriving economy one day, and then, suddenly, the food disappeared from the shelves, the banks closed, and the ships stopped arriving. Iceland in 2008 experienced an unprecedented economic meltdown that struck fear in the hearts of people all over the world. If it could happen here, it could happen anywhere."

Coming soon to your country. The good news is Icelanders survived, and so will we. Here's one reason why.

"The economic crisis led to a political crises, with resignations galore."

When's the last time somebody in the US government resigned because our government failed to perform? We could avoid an Icelandic collapse if we would reject the two looting parties and replace them all with libertarians, but that's going to happen. And once we collapse, we could quickly recover if we reject the two looting parties and replace them with libertarians, but I doubt US voters will be that smart even while starving.

"In Deep Freeze, economists Philipp Bagus and David Howden demonstrate that the real cause of the calamity was bad central bank policy. Rates were way too low, banks were too big to fail, housing was implicitly guaranteed, and banks were borrowing short term from abroad to finance long term bonds."

Sound familiar?

The collapse of the US economy is wiping out the corporate hegemony on products. In this case, as Border's bookstore collapses, more mom and pop stores are selling books.

"While big-box bookseller Border has filed BK and announced it’s closing 200 of its superstores in the US, more nonbook retailers are selling books. Stores peddling apparel, food and most anything are starting to offer books. Grocery stores and Wal-Mart have been selling books for a while and now “Coldwater Creek, Lowe’s, Bass Pro Shops and even Cracker Barrel are adding new books,” the New York Times reports."

This illustrates that the corporate hegemony on our economy is a product of government violence because centralizing economic power in government necessarily centralizes economic power in a few big corporations.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

In his questioning of Ben Bernanke, Ron Paul looks way older all of the sudden. That tells me he's decided to run for president in 2012.

Investors no longer consider the dollar a save haven asset.

"Fast forward to today. Mubarak. Gaddafi. Khalifa. Al Said. Ben Ali. Etc. There is no shortage of turmoil right now… yet we are seeing the dollar get clobbered while gold, silver, and smaller currencies like the Swiss franc rise. This represents a major shift in the way that the market views risk."

The author suggests governments will more quickly intervene in commodities than precious metals.

"It is simply BECAUSE you cannot eat gold, cannot fill your gas tank with gold, etc. that governments will be more concerned about regulating high oil, wheat, and soy prices. If gold has no real benefit to the masses, the political consequences of high gold prices are less significant."

But when gold becomes an alternative money, governments will move against gold owners as Roosevelt did.

HEALTH CARE:

How USDA's unscientific guidelines have made Americans fat and sick.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

Government lies.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claimed today that it is saving millions of lives and making the U.S. trillions of dollars through the Clean Air Act."

It would be funny if it wasn't so destructive.

WAR ON DRUGS:

Tobacco taxes in Australia have prompted a vibrant black market in tobacco.

POLICE STATE:

Gunman from Kosovo kills an American airman and driver after an argument on a bus at Frankfurt airport.

"Patrick Meehan, a member of the US homeland security committee, said it looked like a terrorist attack."

More blowback.

More on the Australian body cavity scanners soon to be introduced here.

"Australian airports are set to begin using the devices should legislation before Federal Parliament be passed, enabling customs officers to use technology previously only operated by doctors in controlled conditions."

You know how they say you shouldn't have exrays frequently or too many in your life? TSA doesn't care.

Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender, but government toll roads won't take them. You and I are forced to accept the worthless scraps of paper at the point of the government's gun, but laws are for you and me. Government doesn't bother to obey them. The government tollways force drivers to use RFID cards so they can be tracked everywhere.

"It's not just that the government wants to "reduce operating costs," as claimed by FDOT and Faneuil, Inc. It's that they want to have the ability to identify and track every car on the road, for purposes that will become apparent as time goes by. The shyster insurance cartels have been drooling like Pavlov's dogs for years at the prospect of being able to know, in real time, just exactly how fast you're driving – and (super chubby here) debit you every single time you "speed" or otherwise give them an excuse to jack up your rates. Meanwhile, the state will take its cut – withdrawing the funds from your account automatically. Due process, schmoshes. If we want your money, we'll take your money."

Isn't government fun?

FOREIGN POLICY:

More hypocrisy from Obama on Libya.

"Obama says that the “government has a responsibility to refrain from violence.” Mrs. Clinton says that the government should “call off the mercenaries.”"

Obama supported Qaddafi the tyrant up until a couple of weeks ago, and he loves to use violence against others. Obama sending warship to commit acts of violence in Libya. Libyan rebels consider asking for UN air strikes, but claim this would not be foreign intervention.

Insight into Qaddafi.

"In 2003, in a brilliant ploy, Gadaffi bought a pile of nuclear junk on the black market, then told Washington he was giving up his nuclear weapons program. The Bush administration fell for this ruse and ended its punishing boycott of Libya, thrilled it could claim a nuclear victory after finding no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

Oops. I never heard that in the news.

"Col. Gadaffi bought peace with the western powers by cutting them into Libya’s rich oil fields, investing billions in European industry and banking, and joining George Bush’s faux "war on terror.""

That's how you go from a terrorist to the darling of the western ruling class. It kind of reminds me of Yassar Arafat winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

"While Libya burns, there are serious discussions afoot in Washington and Europe about imposing an Iraq-style "no fly zone" in Libya, followed by possibly western military intervention. Libya would be "stabilized," a client regime made up of CIA-organized exiles installed, and Libya’s oil fields made safe for western companies. A western invasion and occupation would be decked up as a peacekeeping/humanitarian mission."

How often are we going to play this same, counterproductive game, creating more terrorists who kill more Americans?

Middle Eastern revolution threatens the House of Saud as well.

MEDIA:

Another form of media bias: CNBC shows Bernanke's testimony in full until Ron Paul begins to question him, then it cuts to commercial, only to resume coverage after Paul's time is up.

LOCAL:

Socialist dentist at VA gives patients hepatitis.

Tom Woods brings his nullification argument to Cincinnati.

MISC:

Bing passes Yahoo for second place in the search engine race with 4.37 percent of the market. Google holds 89.94 percent.

If cameras beautify images of people, how can they be used as evidence in a trial?

In an essay on history, Ludwig von Mises casually lists the fundamental human weakness that enables the predators in government to prey on the people.

"A realistic philosophical interpretation of history must abstain from any reference to the chimerical notion of a perfect state of human affairs. The only basis from which a realistic interpretation can start is the fact that man, like all other living beings, is driven by the impulse to preserve his own existence and to remove, as far as possible, any uneasiness he feels. It is from this point of view that the immense majority of people appraise the conditions under which they have to live. It would be erroneous to scorn their attitude as materialism in the ethical connotation of the term."

To remove any uneasiness he feels. It's that instinct that enables governments to loot the people in trade for providing a false sense of security.

"What is called economic progress is the effect of an accumulation of capital goods exceeding the increase in population. If this trend gives way to a standstill in the further accumulation of capital or to capital decumulation, there will no longer be progress in this sense of the term."

That's why the US is in decline today. Rapid decline. Much more rapid decline than is readily apparent thanks to the illusion of wealth created by unprecedented debt and the Fed papering over the holes in the structure of our economy.

Sirhan Sirhan claims he was hypnotized into killing RFK.