The Longest War

When will the Great Men realize that Afghanistan is a quagmire?   As our dear boys spend their blood in those god forsaken mountains,  billions of our tax dollars are channeled out of the country into private accounts, elections are rigged, warlords are enriched with  profits from poppy production.  Sweet Jesus!

The idiocy of this war is mind boggling.

Afghanistan Not Vietnam?.

America Loves War or Where Have all the Doves Gone?

When the New York Times, one of the more liberal newspapers in the country, seems to have little more to say about our war in Afghanistan than “General McChrystal is going to have to do a much better job in Kandahar,” then the end of the world must certainly be near.

When I was a young man  in the US Navy (1970-1974), there was a movement called the “Peace Movement”.  What the hell happened?  Has America Entire (that means everybody) bought into the idea of US Global Military Hegemony preached and supported  by the Republicrats in DC?  This much to the Economic detriment of our country.

As a  serviceman during the last “necessary war” that proved so unnecessary, I watched in dismay as helicopters removed the last of our people from the roof of our embassy in Saigon.

I’m wondering if this is the same exit strategy we have for Afghanistan.

Editorial – Taking Stock in Afghanistan – NYTimes.com.

The U.S. Is Not Too Big To Fail

If you were to ask most any of the big government hacks (republicrats) in Washington the definition of “Fiscal Responsibility”, I am quite certain that all you would get would be a vacuous stare.  For decades, politicians have been assured by our central bank that it doesn’t matter how much money they spend, the bank can handle it…  Right…  They create paper to pay off the debts that they created with other paper, to pay off the debts that they created with other paper to pay off the debts…  ad infinitum.  This is a very sophisticated ponzi scheme that doesn’t even require other investors to pay off previous investors.  They just create more digital dollars…  a house of cards, and trust me folks, eventually it will fall.

The U.S. Is Not Too Big To Fail | The New Republic.

The absence of debate over war – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com

Since the year of my birth, 1951, our nation has been in perpetual war.  Government uses this to grow itself, and increase its control over us, the people.  The founders feared standing armies, and they were right to do so.  As their experience with the european powers had shown them, war is  a noose around the peoples neck.

Read the article below for a critique of this point.

The absence of debate over war – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.

Economic Implosion? or Go Long on Gold and Silver

As the sovereign debt crisis unravels in Europe, the dollar has seen a resurgence against foreign currencies.  Long perceived as a safe haven, the United States profits from European economic uncertainty, but how long can this last?

You’ve heard of Black Friday… Well now you’ve seen Souvlaki Thursday (the Greek Debt Crisis is making its presence felt in the international markets) With a drop in the Dow this past Thursday of almost 9.2% (though it did rebound to a 3.4% loss) the market has shown its fragility. 9.2% is not small potatoes folks, and I can assure you that the big boys in DC are running scared.

As previously mentioned, however, the dollar is remaining strong against other currencies, but not against gold and silver. These two metals continue to rise, or rather hold their own against an inflating currency.

Throughout the history of mankind, no (that means not one) fiat (by order of government) currency has survived. Why is this? Well, the reason is that governments who have the power to “make” (in our case print) money have never been able to restrain themselves. When they need more money for their wars or their social programs… well they just crank up the printing press. And by the way, the constitution gives the Federal Government the responsibility of coining money… not printing it.

Since the federal government went off the gold standard (starting first with the Breton Woods agreement in 1945 and ending in 1973 with Nixon’s repudiation of the gold standard) we have had a fiat system. In the past several years, the money supply has nearly doubled courtesy of Mr. Ben Bernake. This causes inflation.

Inflation is a concept that exists primarily in fiat money systems (and baloons, tires, etc.) Essentially this means more money chasing fewer goods. As a simple guy, I like to think of it using the Coke Index. When I was a child in the late fifties, I could buy a Coca Cola for 5 cents… That same Coke today costs me 20 times that much. This is not due to scarcity of Coca Cola… They make lots more than they did when I was a child. This is not due to increasing corporate profits. If you look at those in inflation adjusted dollars, it’s about the same. Nope, it’s due to the decreasing value of our fiat dollar caused by the rolling presses in DC. Rolling to fund their wars (spreading freedom? what hogwash), rolling to fund their social programs (helping to fund the needy? more hogwash… funding votes).

I am getting away from the thrust of this blog, though. What you saw thursday is a shift along the seismic crack that is the world economy.  When the fault line opens?…   All these riches based on a house of cards. What happens when one of the bottom cards is pulled out?

Gold and silver can help to protect you, my friends, from the economic unravelling that is currently in progress, and will continue to progress. I urge you to have a garage sale, get rid of the stuff that’s filling your basement… buy silver coins. The cash that’s in the bank… buy silver coins with it. Load up… protect your wealth… you’ll be glad you did.

Karzai Slams the West Again – WSJ.com

Our presence in Afghanistan is neither winning the hearts and minds of the people, nor is it winning the support of one of the most politically corrupt nations in the world.

Even as we prop up Karzai’s government, he assails us.  He enriches himself, his family, his friends, as we spend blood and treasure.  For what, I ask?

Karzai Slams the West Again – WSJ.com.

Wind or Nuclear?

Certainly one of the greatest (though rarely admitted)  reasons for this nations international mischief making is to secure for ourselves a steady supply of energy.

France, a country of which I am not particularly fond (their holier than thou attitudes are a little too much for me)  supplies the majority of their electrical needs through the use of  Nuclear Power.  If the Frenchies can do it why can’t we?

The last Nuclear power plant built in the US was finished over thirty years ago.  Every American plant has been built with a stand alone design.  What we need is a single design that can be replicated across this country.  Nuclear energy is inexpensive, and the newer designs reuse much of their own waste and are cleaner than coal and oil.

Read this article from the Mises Institute.   It is a simple, coherent and cogent argument for the necessary development of Nuclear Power in this country.

Wind or Nuclear? – Ray Harvey – Mises Institute.

The Afghanistan War – Obama the Neo-Con

The sheer idiocy of our continued involvement in Afghanistan is simply mind-boggling.  This article describes how the US strategy of building a state is progressing.  General McChrystal,  in reference to the new offensive in Marja remarks that “We’ve got government in a box”.  He will plant it in Marja after the Taliban there are dispersed.   I hope he plans to fertilize it well.

Afghanistan, according to Forbes Magazine, is in the top ten nations in the world with regard to government corruption.  I have read numerous articles where villagers have remarked that they preferred the opressive tactics of the Taliban to the more opressive Afghani police. Will this “Government in a box” be any different?  I should think not.

The idea that one can impose government on a people is antithetitical to my understanding of freedom and liberty, individualism and self government.  This strategy by our Nobel Peace Prize winning  Democratic president is simply  more neo-con elephant turds wrapped in donkey shit.

In today’s political landscape, the hawks have pushed the doves to extinction.

News Analysis – Afghan Offensive Is New War Model – NYTimes.com.

Big Government’s Big Shortfall / Our National Debt Crisis

Here in Vermont, the highest tax state in the nation, I am feeling the burn.  Yep, it’s that time of the year again… the big government boys want me to file my taxes.  This legalized plunder of theirs is starting to hurt.  Yeah, I know…  they take my money and do  good things with it.  I mean, somebody has to take care of those in need, right?  And of course, somebody has to protect South Korea, and Europe and Taiwan, and well…the rest of the whole damned world, right?  And of course, someone has to provide for Homeland Security, and pay for the total body scanners so leering security guards can probe my daughters without using their fingers…  Oh, yeah, I just love the gummint boys.

If I spent money like these fellas do, hell, I’d be out on the streets begging for food.  What are the people in the congress, the senate and the executive branch thinking?

Fact 1:  We have unfunded liabilities of over 100 TRILLION DOLLARS coming due in the next ten years!

Fact 2:  OUR  NATIONAL DEBT IS 14 TRILLION DOLLARS, AND SET TO DOUBLE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

Fact 3:  AND DOUBLE AGAIN THE FOLLOWING 5 YEARS.

We’re talking serious and very real money here, folks.  That many trillions works out to around $150 a second for the next 32,000 years.  Whoa!…  Now that is a sum that is downright mind boggling.

If the government boys managed their personal finances like they manage the public’s finances, they’d all be living in tents on the great lawn with their hands out. They just don’t seem to understand simple math.  You CANNOT SPEND MORE THAN YOU EARN!  I mean, I can’t.  Can you?  What has happened to fiscal conservatism?

These people are driving us into a hole that we may very well may not be able to dig ourselves out of.

RealClearPolitics – Big Government’s Big Shortfall.

The War on the Young – Brian Foglia – Mises Institute

Paying for our war machine and our social programs has  increased our National Debt to around 14 trillion dollars with  unfunded liabilites of over 100 trillion dollars, we have mortgaged our childrens’ future.

The War on the Young – Brian Foglia – Mises Institute.