US in the UN: What fellowship has light with darkness?

As President Obama has stated,  “I’ve now been in 57 states” , he reminds us that there are 57 Islamic member states in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).  How many Islamic majority nations are in the United Nations?  Of the 193 UN member nations, over 40 are Muslim majority.  Many of the rest are aligned with socialist or Marxist nations that are no friend of the United States.

The UN’s Human Rights Commission is increasingly dominated by Islamic Nations – go figure THAT one out.

Christians are struggling to have an influence in our increasingly Godless society.  I am no Bible scholar, but several verses from 2nd Corinthians stand out like lightning to me regarding our country’s cavorting in the UN.   These verses are familiar to some as applying to marriage, but they apply even better to nations:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  What accord has Christ with Belial? [an ancient name for Satan]  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? 

Many may try to deny we have ever been a Christian nation, but those of us who believe otherwise need to take these verses to heart in our relationship with the United Nations.

Ann Barnhardt once again has some excellent observations about politicians who want to continue to not only cavort with but support the enemy.  Here she goes…

The U.N. Has To Go

Posted by Ann Barnhardt - August 30, AD 2011 11:25 AM MST

Well, I must admit that I am quite tickled to see Rick Perry calling Social Security a Ponzi Scheme and a "monumental lie". This is progress. I don't trust any politician any further than I can throw him - by his toe knuckle hair. But, just the fact that these words of truth are being uttered at all is encouraging. If you haven't seen my YouTube videos on SocSec, they are on my YouTube channel, and the link is on the nav bar to your left.

Here is the next DEMAND that MUST be made of politicians. The United Nations is a criminal organization. It is an evil mafia. Straight up. It has no legitimacy and serves no good purpose whatsoever. Not only that, but the U.N. is actively engaged in sedition against the United States and its constitution via the Small Arms Treaty, Agenda 21, and the "Resolution Against Religious Defamation", which is Sharia Law, among other things. The U.N. is also embezzling and redistributing U.S. tax dollars to criminal and corrupt regimes, many of which are engaged in war, both overt and covert, against the United States, and in genocides against their own people. The U.N. is also using the United States military as its de facto mercenary force (see Libya and Yemen). This MUST stop.

Let's start with the presidential candidates and ask the following simple question: As president, will you permanently withdraw the United States from the U.N. and permanently expel the U.N. from American soil? Yes or no. And it damn well better be "yes".

Any politician who doesn't have the guts to stand up to the U.N. evil mafia isn't worthy to be president. Period.

Finally, let's hear another round of awesomeness from Pat Condell regarding the U.N. and their "human rights council". The insanity that Mr. Condell outlines truly boggles the mind. The only clarification I would make to Mr. Condell's words is to remind him that islam is NOT a religion, but a totalitarian, militaristic, expansionist, seditious political system with an attached faux-religious mythology. As an atheist, Mr. Condell would argue that point as being moot. And then I would pray that someone would drop a copy of the Summa in his lap. And then we would go get some fish and chips.

Condell: Mostly correct except for incorrectly characterizing Islam

Why I am a pessimist about our nation’s future

Most current books written by conservatives about the troubles our nation is experiencing end on a positive note.  In essence, most offer a Pollyanna-esque outcome such as the constitutional republic being restored, fiscal sanity being reborn, and everyone living happily ever after.

And then there are some authors who have no interest in the wellbeing of the nation at all, only in plying books that promise personal profit – mostly for themselves.   These irritate me the most - the ones with the theme of  “How to Profit from the…”  Pick an ending: …from the coming economic collapse; …from Islamic beheadings; …from the decline of morality; …from the fall of Capitalism.

I don’t see the bright side of any current trend in this nation.  Lets look at the megatrends we face…

Decline in the basis for morality and rule of law:  Loss of the religious and moral underpinnings that served as the  motivation and the methodology for the founding and the sustaining of our nation.  Signs of decay began with progressivism and over-reaching government in the 1930’s and was in full bloom in the moral revolution of the 1960’s.  With the demise of these Judeo-Christian underpinnings our morality, our legal system, our individual rights and spirit are rapidly disintegrating and becoming something never intended or imagined by our founders or even by our parents.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

Runaway dependence on government:  Government tax-payer funded educational institutions, from pre-school through universities are promoting dependence on government and ridiculing parental authority, religion, and moral absolutes.  These institutions are raising up  hoards of future teachers and professors who will instill the values of socialism, communism, progressivism, and moral relativity in the minds of the millions of students yet to come.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

Institutionalized reliance on unlimited debt:  A government expectation that our national debt can increase to infinite proportions and personal expectations of entitlement by a near majority and increasing portion of our population.  National debt is increasing at an accelerating rate while production and productivity by our industries and workers is declining.  The combination of the mushrooming number of government employees, those on welfare, those on food stamps, those receiving unemployment compensation, and those receiving Medicare, Medicaid, and social security payments are all voters who will vote to assure continuing government largesse in their favor.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

Delusional shift from producing to consuming economy:  During the several preceeding decades we have been told that the shift from a manufacturing economy to an information technology was a positive progression and should be embraced.  But while we shed our production and manufacturing capacity, the transition to an information economy was  overshadowed by a growing service and consumption economy.  The higher paying manuracturing sector has been replaced in large part by a lower paying service sector.  With instantaneous communications anywhere in the world, we have virtually relingquished any benefit of the communicatons sector – that, too, along with manufacturing, has been outsourced to other nations.  We are left with a low-paying service economy and a rabid and spoiled consumer society.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

Illegal immigration continues unabated.  The federal government sues states that attempt to enforce the law.  Businesses lobby to keep the borders open to maintain cheap labor despite our high unemployment rate.  The thought of deporting illegal aliens is politically incorrect in the minds of the majority in Congress and perhaps the majority of major companies.  Our laws are mocked and our resources are being drained by the hoards of illegals.  An unknown many may also be less benign than Mexicans looking to send money home to mama.  Many are known to be Islamists who intend to undermine our culture and government by seditious or violent activities.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

Institutionalized ignorance of Islamic sedition:  Speaking of seditious activities, Islam is an undiagnosed problem.  As long as we refuse to identify the disease, there will be no cure.  Islam is the disease.   Identifying Islam as the disease is the beginning of finding a cure.   The problem is not “radical Islam” or “Jihadists.”  The problem is Islam.  Islamist Muslims have infiltrated the highest levels of our government, military, educational systems, and media.  As long as we treat Islam is ‘just another religion to be protected and defended”, we will continue allowing seditious Islam to undermine our country.  Do you see any reversal of this trend on the horizon?  I don’t.

These are all megatrends that have been building for decades in this country.  No one or two elections is going to reverse these trends.  You saw the effect of the 2008 victories.  We couldn’t even reverse Obama care.  Nor will the 2012 election, even if conservatives prevail big, have a significant or lasting effect.  If a conservative 2012 administration implements policies that momentarily reverse the above trends, there is near certainty that a leftist, progressive, communist, Islamic, academic backlash will reverse any gains by 2016.

Go ahead.  Call me a pessimist.  You would be right.  In this case there is little difference between “pessimist” and “realist.” 

I thank God I still believe in miracles.  Miracles appear to be our only hope.

Irene: Another example of government over-reaction

Having experienced several hurricanes, tropical storms, and easterly waves while concurrently listening to way over-hyped media reports of the impending doom from such meteorological events, I thought I would make a brief comment on the reporting and ensuing governmental reaction to minimal hurricane Irene.

It is my studied opinion that the Irenian media hype, along with the overbearing and excessive government reaction to said media hype has caused much greater damage to the economy of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states than if the media and federal, state, and some local governments have never existed.

For evidence of this over-reaction, see HERE and HERE.

The government over-reacts to way too many things.  Government too often acts like a scared parakeet let loose in a small room, flying madly, bounding off walls, doing more damage to its surroundings and itself than the situation warrants.

The wings of government need to be clipped.  Government needs a seditive.  It needs to get off the caffeine and speed of excessive tax dollars.  Government needs a detox program – a long and strick one. 

Government’s cure for way too many things is worse than the make believe diseases or weather events.

Terms to turn back on liberals

Liberals have been clever at inventing terms that make morality and defense of our culture appear evil.  Words like homophobe, Islamophobe, racist, intolerant, and  insensitive have been used against Christians and others who are revealing the truth of threats and blatant violations of historical Judeo-Christian morality.  “Twisted” is an apt term for the mind of the liberal/progressive.

Conservatives need to regain the initiative in defining terms.

Those who call those who defend traditional morality by calling us “homophobes” need to turn the terms back on the accuser.  Maybe we need to self-identify with our assigned label and turn it into a positive.  “Homophobes for America” or “homophobes for restoring morality.”  Instead of denying the term, embrace it.  Except the “phobe” part of the term bothers me because “fear” isn’t quite my concern.  As in one who understands the immorality of homosexuality and the destructive fascist ideology of Islam, I don’t fear homosexuals or Islamists.  I believe homosexuals and Islamists are culture killers.  I believe they both undermine our Judeo-Christian heritage as well as the underpinning of our culture and traditions.  Their beliefs and habits pervert and corrupt our civilization.  But I don’t fear them.

So maybe we need to term these perverters of our culture, including their defenders and promoters as simply “perverts”, “depraved”, or “corrupt.” 

Instead of accepting the term “intolerant” for ourselves, insist on the term “caring”,  “discerning”, “thoughtful”, or “perceptive.” 

Instead of tolerating the label of “racist”, insist that the accuser is the greater racist for even suggesting the label.

Instead of accepting the term “politically incorrect” for ourselves, call ourselves “politically discerning” or “politically honest.”  Call them “political hypocrits” or “political deceivers.”

Instead of accepting the term Islamophobe, call ourselves “supremacist-averse” or “fascist-phobe”  and call the accuser “one who doesn’t give a crap” aka “an ignorant useless SOB who is clueless about what the hell is going on.” 

Government is TOO responsive and Christians are TOO nice…

It dawned on me why are government has grown out of control.

It is excessively responsive to the whims of the electorate -

even before it properly understands the merits and consequences of the change it invokes.

Whether addressing demands for new welfare entitlement payments, new health care laws, new speed limits, new environmental regulations, or whatever, government tends to knee-jerk its way into addressing the real or alleged problem in response to demands by a typically narrow segment of our population.  Special interests, both legitimate and illigitimate, make demands, and the elected officals twitch into action – to get votes and keep their jobs – no matter what the longer term consequeneces may be.
A case in point is the ideological movement among the estimated 5 million (1.7%) Muslims in the United States promoting Islamic (Sharia) law.  The oblivious lawmakers and judges TWITCH INTO ACTION to implement Sharia law before they have a clue about its long term consequences to our nation and way of life.
Here is how it works based on analysis from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest technological university.

http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2902&setappvar=page%281%29

Research: 10 percent for Sharia can change a country into Sharia state

How many Muslims does it take to install Sharia in a country? Ten percent, according research shown in the article "Minority Rules: Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas." If everybody else is discussing among themselves whether we should save the whales, decrease government spending, or bomb a terrorism funding dictator, and can not agree on central values, ways and goals, the tail can wag the dog:
Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.
“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,” said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. “Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame." ...
To reach their conclusion, the scientists developed computer models of various types of social networks. One of the networks had each person connect to every other person in the network. The second model included certain individuals who were connected to a large number of people, making them opinion hubs or leaders. The final model gave every person in the model roughly the same number of connections. The initial state of each of the models was a sea of traditional-view holders. Each of these individuals held a view, but were also, importantly, open minded to other views.
Once the networks were built, the scientists then “sprinkled” in some true believers throughout each of the networks. These people were completely set in their views and unflappable in modifying those beliefs. As those true believers began to converse with those who held the traditional belief system, the tides gradually and then very abruptly began to shift.

This then begs the question:  Where are the “true beleivers” among our Christian population, the supposed great majority?  Three things have happended:

• The “true belief” of the “true believing” Christians has shifted from God-ordained moral absolutes to a belief in uber-tolerance and niceness.   The video below explains what I mean:

• 

  Ann Barnhardt describing plague of “niceness.”

Absolutes are out; moral relatively (aka immorality) is in – and accommodated by our religion.

• Consequently, few among Christians are true believers.  Most have jettisoned their convictions in favor of relativism.  In fact, “true believers” are now mocked.  And our government promotes this trend by subtle and not so subtle rewards and punishments of Christians who attempt to practice their true beliefs.  Most Christians just don’t seem to care that much about preserving their faith, their culture, or for that matter, their nation.
• Our nation is becoming populated by a species of humanity who possess a “true belief” that is stronger than the beliefs of most Christians.  Muslims are filling the “belief vacuum” vacated by the former majority of believing Christians.  Unfortunately, that belief is also diametrically and diabolically contrary to the principles upon which our nation was founded, our culture, and our form of government.

We are experiencing the consequences of Christian unbelief.  Our Judeo-Christian foundation is nearly gone.  Below is pictured the few devout inspecting the damage and wondering what to do.

Obama lies about our history and Islam…

It is no surprise that Obama, an Islamic sympathizer, finds it easier to lie than to give us facts.  The facts are not convenient to his ideology which is heavily influenced by Marxism and Islamism.

His lies about Islam’s role in American history are especially blatant, almost laughable if it were not for the fact that are electorate is ignorant of history and consequently gullible to the words of their president, as dishonest as he may be.

So here is a history lesson on the role of Islam in the United States as well as the impact Islam has had on the worlds civilizations by Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam
Permalink http://www.politicalislam.com/blog/islam-is-not-part-of-our-civilization/

Islam Is Not Part of Our Civilization

Obama said at the latest White House Iftar dinner:

Like so many faiths, Islam has always been part of our American family, and Muslim Americans have long contributed to the strength and character of our country, in all walks of life.

These words have no basis in fact. Islam is not part of our civilization because its foundational principles are opposite to ours. Our civilization is built on the foundation of critical thought (how we think) and the Golden Rule (ethics). Islam is built on submission (authoritative thought) and ethical dualism.

Let’s compare the principles of these different thought systems, starting with authoritative thought and critical thought. Critical thought (also: analytic thought, scientific thought) is the necessary reasoning or intellectual basis for our culture of democracy. Critical thought is objective--no matter who does the work, they get the same results. It is fact-based, uses cause and effect, and is intellectual, not emotional. Critical thought’s tie into morals is that you don’t lie or cheat about data.

Let’s look at some authoritative reasoning. Authoritative reasoning is based on expert opinion and asserts it truth by power. It is so, because the Establishment says it is so.

The Meccan Koran, the early Koran, has one new idea—Mohammed is the prophet of Allah. (The ideas found in the Koran are derivative.) The proof of Mohammed’s prophecy is repetition of “Mohammed is the prophet” and what happens if you don’t accept that. The reasoning is circular—Mohammed is the prophet of Allah, because Allah says so. (Actually, the archangel of Allah says so.) How do we know what Allah says? Mohammed tells us what Allah says.

The Koran of Medina (the later Koran) contains one new idea—if you don’t believe that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah, then you can be murdered in jihad. If you are not persuaded, then you can be eliminated. Now that is authoritative reasoning.
More on authoritative reasoning can be found in the Sharia. The Sharia says that apostasy (leaving Islam) is a capital offense. And what entails apostasy?

• To be sarcastic about Allah or any verse in the Koran
• To deny the consensus of the Islamic scholars
• To deny that Islam is to be the world’s only religion
• To be sarcastic about Sharia

And people say that Islam just needs to be reformed. Good luck on dealing the authoritative rules of thought and reform. It is not that you are wrong, you are dead wrong. Want more examples of authoritative thought? Try Salman Rushdie, the author of the Satanic Verses, a novel. Islam’s reaction to the novel was a death fatwa. When the Mohammed cartoons were published, people died in riots.

So far in America what happens if you differ with Establishment thought about Islam, you are called names, such as bigot or hater, and insulted as a punishment. However, the Establishment keeps flirting with the expanded versions of hate speech being criminalized. Hate speech is speech that the Establishment doesn’t like.

Critical thought does not deal with punishment, just cause and effect along with Aristotelian logic. If you lose an argument under the rules of critical thought, you have had a learning experience, not a life threatening experience. Nor do insults and threats play a part in critical thought.

Now to ethics, the Golden Rule is that we should treat ALL others as we would be treated. This is a unitary ethic, one rule for all peoples. Islam does not see it that way. Islam has one set of ethics for the Muslim and another set for the Kafir. The Hadith and the Koran are very clear that a Muslim is a brother to all other Muslims. A Muslim is a brother to any Muslim before he is the brother to any member of his Kafir blood family.

Look at Mohammed’s ethics. Mohammed is the divine human prototype, the perfect man, as it says in 91 Koranic verses. How did Mohammed treat his neighbor? In Medina he gave neighboring tribes the chance to become to submit to Islam. If they did not, he attacked them. Submit or die--no Golden Rule.

Mohammed repeatedly said that Muslims should lie to Kafirs if it would advance Islam—pure ethical dualism. Here we have the hadith:

Bukhari 5,59,369 Mohammed asked, “Who will kill Ka’b, the enemy of Allah and Mohammed?”
Bin Maslama rose and responded, “O Mohammed! Would it please you if I killed him?”
Mohammed answered, “Yes.”
Bin Maslama then said, “Give me permission to deceive him with lies so that my plot will succeed.”
Mohammed replied, “You may speak falsely to him.”…

Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights is an expansion on the Golden Rule. We eliminated slavery based on the Golden Rule. Do we live up to the Golden Rule on every occasion? No, but that does not diminish its guidance, because we can use the Golden Rule to criticize those that fail to meet it.
To sum it all up: our civilization is based on the principles of the Golden Rule and critical thought. Islam is based on dualistic ethics and authoritative thought. There is no compromise between the opposites of the Golden Rule and dualistic ethics. There is no half-way between authoritative thought and critical thought. Islam’s principle of submission means that only active resistance can let us survive.

We have a 1400 year history of the interaction between Islam and Kafir nations. The data matches the theory. Centuries after Islam enters the culture the host culture is annihilated--see Turkey. There is no compatibility between Islam and us. Islam is not now, nor can it ever be, a part of our civilization. It is the final goal of Islam to annihilate all Kafir civilizations. Its first stage of--we are just like you, only different—should be seen for what it is. No amount of preaching by apologists can change Islam’s political doctrine and history.

Laffer curve frowns at reality

 

The “Laffer Curve” is an accepted portrayal of the law of diminishing returns caused by higher taxes.   But its misuse also explains our dismal economy.

Here is the Wikipedia description of the Laffer Curve:

In economics, the Laffer curve is a theoretical representation of the relationship between government revenue raised by taxation and all possible rates of taxation. It is used to illustrate the concept of taxable income elasticity (that taxable income will change in response to changes in the rate of taxation). The curve is constructed by thought experiment. First, the amount of tax revenue raised at the extreme tax rates of 0% and 100% is considered. It is clear that a 0% tax rate raises no revenue, but the Laffer curve hypothesis is that a 100% tax rate will also generate no revenue because at such a rate there is no longer any incentive for a rational taxpayer to earn any income, thus the revenue raised will be 100% of nothing. If both a 0% rate and 100% rate of taxation generate no revenue, it follows that there must exist at least one rate in between where tax revenue would be a maximum. The Laffer curve is typically represented as a graph which starts at 0% tax, zero revenue, rises to a maximum rate of revenue raised at an intermediate rate of taxation and then falls again to zero revenue at a 100% tax rate. However, there are infinitely many curves satisfying these boundary conditions. Little can be said without further assumptions or empirical data.

One potential result of the Laffer curve is that increasing tax rates beyond a certain point will become counterproductive for raising further tax revenue. A hypothetical Laffer curve for any given economy can only be estimated and such estimates are sometimes controversial. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics reports that estimates of revenue-maximizing tax rates have varied widely, with a mid-range of around 70%.^[2]

Here is the traditional portrayal of the Laffer Curve:

Note the high tax rate (70%) that is portrayed as the “optimal” tax revenue-generating rate before the point of diminishing returns is reached.  That may be the result in a vacuum, as if the United States is the only nation that existed.

However, the reality is other nations exist.  Other nations compete for the manufacture and sale of goods and services.  Other nations may have and do have lower tax rates than we have.  So, while in a vacuum we may be able to reach 70% as the optimal tax rate for generating the most revenue, international competition makes that tax rate impractical and counterproductive.

If we are competing with countries that tax their manufacturing sector at only a 20% or 30% rate, we cannot compete with a 70% tax rate, everything else being equal.  If we can’t compete with the theoretically “optimum” 70% rate, it stands to reason that our “optimum” tax rate needs to be lower.  The stock Laffer Curve that makes the rounds showing an optimum 70% tax rate is not just misleading but overly simplistically ignores the impact of world wide competition.

A more accurate Laffer  Curve which takes international competion into consideration would also consider the lower tax rates of our competion.  For example, instead of assuming an optimum US tax rate of a 70% as shown in blue, we might need to consider the optimum rate closer to 40% or less as shown in red.

 

Looking at the red line, which assumes competition, if the tax rate remained at 70%, tax revenues would be significantly less than if tax rates were at 40%. 

Of course, there are myriad other factors in addition to tax rates that compound the complexity of competition, not the least of which is the cost of environmental regulations.  The greater the cost to business of environmental reguilations, the lower the tax rate needs to be, all things being equal.  With the level of environmental regulations we have in this country, the tax rates need to be much lower than they are now for our business to remain competitive in world markets.   Given our excessive regulatory climate, our tax rates might need to be closer to 20 or 30% or less for us to be sustainably competitive.

Is there any wonder why we ship so many jobs overseas and have such a small and continually shrinking manufacturing sector?

Difference between Kosher and Halal–and Rick Perry’s problem…

Texas Governor Rick Perry will make a great President, especially compared to our current seditionist-at-large.  However, he has one MAJOR problem I am aware of.  He made buddies with a number of influential Muslims and has promoted legislation that enables the implementation of Sharia law and Hallal (Islamic-sanctioned) foods.  See additional info HERE.

Hallal is just like Kosher, right? Hardly.  Kosher is subject to rigorous cleanliness standards.  Hallal is subject to Islamic blessings and other filth. 

Perry apparently believed if we have special food categories for Jews we must do the same for the Muslims.  Hogwash!

Here are some insights into the nature of Islamic Hallal foods that the esteemed Texas governor facilitated in his ignorance of Islamic ideology and practice, courtesy of Ann Barhardt:

NEVER buy meat that is marked as "Halal". "Halal" is the term for muslim-compliant food and meat.

Some people think that "Halal" must be basically the same as "Kosher". No. Halal meat is slaughtered while the butcher is facing Mecca and screaming "allah akbar". But that isn't the worst of it. I am in the cattle business, and believe me when I tell you that Halal kill plants are CONSTANTLY being cited and shut down by the USDA for horrific, horrific infractions. Most of these plants are in Michigan and upstate New York.

One of the things that halal kill plants are notorious for is putting already-dead animals in the human consumption line. They will go pick up a dead cow off of a farm or ranch and instead of putting it in their rendering tank where the resulting "tankage" is worth pennies on the dollar as pet food or industrial products, they will shackle the dead animal on the normal kill line and process it as human food which is the highest-dollar product.

Since islam teaches dishonesty (taqiyyah) and no regard for one's neighbor, this kind of sickening behavior is standard. Halal plants are also notorious for general citations for filth and uncleanliness. I have toured normal cattle slaughter plants, and guys, you could eat off of the floor. Everything is white and men walk around with water hoses and steam guns constantly keeping everything in a state of spotlessness. Halal plants are filthy and unclean. A lot of Halal meat is also labeled as "organic". Again, don't be fooled into thinking that "halal" means "better". It isn't. I would never, ever knowingly eat halal meat purely from a food safety perspective.

Grayson: Promoter of enabler society and demonizer-in-chief

Promoter of an enabler society…Alan Grayson

This speech, in various forms,  is still being given throughout the State of Florida by this radical racist democrat.

He labels Democrats “the conscience party”, and  the “other” party “the selfish party.”

When democrats like Grayson  see someone in need, they want bigger government to use everyone else's money to do something about it. That is like a virus that ultimately feeds off the organisim and destroys it. That kind of sucking off of taxpayers is not sustainable. Our fiscal crisis is ample evidence, but Democrats are oblivious to this problem. It almost appears that democrats want to destroy this nation, good heart and all.

The Graysons of the world are the enablers, the creators of those people who grow accustomed to unearned government handouts – the path to an unproductive society with a tiny sense  of reality that poses as a big heart.

Instead of discussing issues he disses individuals.  And in the dissing, he demonizes and incites.

The likes of Grayson are not merely enablers, but particularly virulent demonizers.  Very effective demonizers.  Liberals are “kindhearted” – conservatives are “selfish” and “evil.”  That is demonizing.  And demonizing, for the left, results in hate and mob violence as we have been observing in Europe and the US.

Ann Coulter does an excellent job in exploring this mob mentality in her book “Demonic”, which is the subject of the interview, below.

Here is an observation of one who recently attended a Grayson speech in my neck of the woods:

Out of curiosity, I went and listened to his “what it means to be a Democrat” speech. What shocked me the most was the …[auditorium]…was filled to capacity with mindless morons who actually believed every false statement coming out of Grayson’s filthy lying mouth. It was class warfare at its finest, racism at its finest, and victimhood beyond belief. He played to the crowd beautifully. Mr. Grayson …also vilified the …[founding family of this community]…for donating so heavily to Mitt Romney and included them in “the evil rich” category. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I thought to myself, if they don’t like [that] family for creating this beautiful community, they should pack their bags and get out!!! During the question and answer period, some of the questions were aimed at the Republicans who live …[here]…and how screwed up they are for not being libtards like they are. The room was filled with North Eastern liberals who if not stopped dead in their tracks, will destroy this community. They are like locust who destroy everything in their path. I saw it happen in the Cary, NC Del Webb community where I lived before moving here. [They]…even had a table set up dedicated to organizing neighborhood grass root committees gearing up for the 2012 elections. Scary stuff if the Republicans aren’t doing the same. Grayson even went so far as to vilify Barack Hussein Obama on several occasions for not being liberal enough and the idiot received thunderous approval from the sheeple in attendance. I couldn’t take it anymore and left before the end of the question and answer session.

Signs of Obama’s Islamic Heart…

Before I list some of the signs of Obama’s Islamic heart most obvious to me, I have to admit that an exhaustive list would consume multiple lengthy blogs.   And I realize you could list many that I have not included.

Here are just a few that come to mind:

Obama’s favoritism toward Islamic nations over Israel.

Most of us have heard about what we perceived as a simple Obama brain fart when he said there are 57 states in the US.  Did you also know there are 57 Islamic states in the world?  The heart of Obama.

Obama’s Muslim heritage.

You remember in Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope” where he proclaimed that if the political winds become ugly in America he will stand with “them”, referring to Muslim immigrants.

Obama’s pensive claim that the Islamic call to prayer at sunset is the prettiest sound on earth.

Obama did not wear his gold wedding ring or gold watch on Ramadan.  Again Snopes shows its taqiyya-esque Obama bias by claiming that Islam does not prohibit the wearing of jewelry during Ramadan, so this could not possibly be true.  Snopes failed to mention Islam prohibits the wearing of gold. 

A new Gallup poll determines that Muslim Americans Give Obama 80 Percent Approval, Highest of Major Religions.  Muslims share the heart of Obama.

And now this:  At his third Iftar dinner Obama honors Muslims for the sacrifices they have made for America.  And  this, right after the loss of American seals in Afghanistan fighting against Muslim bastards.  Bring our boys home and send the American Muslims to Afghanistan where their sacrifices will be real.  We wouldn’t have been in any of these wars if we recognized Islam’s intent against the US 10 years ago and took appropriate action.

Speechless.

If I ran for president…

I reviewed several websites of Republican presidential candidates.  If the names of the candidates were removed from these sites, we would be hard pressed to  correctly guess which web site belonged to most candidates.  Most use the same generic prosperity, national defense, cut spending verbiage.  None are specific or unique enough to identify a personality, except perhaps foreign relations-challenged Ron Paul.

If I ran for president, this is what I would put on my website under the “Issues” menu:

Role of Federal Government:

The role of the federal government has grown to dysfunctional proportions – radically beyond anything our founding fathers and generations after them ever had nightmares about – until the 20th century “progrssive era.”  Words that now describe the size of the federal government include  bloated, wasteful, usurpers, meddlers, busybodies, unwelcomed.

The federal government desperately needs a crash fiscal diet and lessons in constitutional intent and free enterprise.  Several departments and agencies need to be drastically reduced in size or totally eliminated.  Among these are the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.  Grants and handouts to the so-called “arts”, controversial women’s abortion advocates, and other entities who’s interests clash with the great American Middle Class must be stopped.  The military’s mission must be redirected from “nation building” in areas whose populations despise us no matter what we do - to protecting our own borders.  Three quarters of our troops could go home to their families, saving billions of dollars.

Restoring fiscal sanity:

Picture the US Government as a faimily.  They would be making $58,000 a year, they would spend $75,000 a year and have $327,000 in credit card debt.  They are currently proposing BIG (ha!) spending cuts to reduce their spending all the way down to $72,000 a year.   Don’t laugh.  These are the actual proportions of the federal budget and debt reduced to a level that we can understand.  This is insane!

Once the federal government is downsized to entrepreneurial-friendly size it will become much easier to restore fiscal sanity.  We should not spend more than our revenues.  Our budgets should be balanced.  In fact, at least 10% of our budget should go toward paying down the national debt each year.  We need to amend the constitution to require a 2/3 super-majority of both houses of Congress to exceed that constraint – and only in the event of a Congressionally declared war or national emergency.

Restoring The Great American Middle Class:

The middle class is shrinking.  Federal policiees discriminate against personal initiative, marriage, child rearing, and the middle class in general.  The federal government encourages an entitlement dependency attitude on its “subjects.”  This must change.  Once federal policies encourage independence, personal initiative, and self-sufficiency, the shackles will be removed from the human spirit and the middle class will increase and thrive once again.  Those trapped in a federally controlled entitlement menatality will find new opportunities to merge with The Great Middle Class.  This is a far cry from the teaching of the church where President Obama spent 20 years which declared war on “middle classedness.”

Believing in America and her values:

Closely allied with restoring The Great American Middle Class is restoring the Great American Values.  The latest “in thing” is mocking our values, our Judeo-Christian religious ideals our country was founded on, and our national pride.  Even the mere  attempt to define our values is belittled by those who don’t distinguish between the reasons for our historical successes and the ideology of 3rd world Middle Eastern backwaters.  Attention of federal policy needs to be directed toward enhancing our historical values, not tearing them down.  The ethnic, religious, a moral fringes of our society should be encouraged to appreciate traditional American values, not the other way around.

Foreign and domestic defense:

Our military “nation-building” adventures are a waste of lives and resources.   They are a waste because we have not yet come to grips with the enemy who has declared war on us.  The enemy is traditional, orthodox, Muhammadan Islam – not “radical Islam”, not merely the so-called “terrorists.”  Islam is not a relgion as much as it is a fascist, supremacist ideology that through seditious design is intent on replacing our system of law, morality, and governance into a dark ages hell.   It is a fascist ideology that substantially destroys the liberties and prosperity of any country it rules.  Our nation must face the facts and develop and carry out military and domestic defense policy accordingly.

So, that is my set of issues if I ran for President.  Would any candidate, even if he is worthy presidential material, be elected with that platform?  Snowballs chance in hell.  Such platform would offend too many ignorant and self-absorbed people.  We as a nation are beyond consensus building unless we come across some sort of Messiah (which the left and clueless middle saw in Obama.)  All that remains for us to do is change our national motto from E Pluribus Unum to E Unum, Pluribus.  The Congressional debt ceiling fiasco amply demonstrated that condition.

Where is the passion; where is the outrage?

 

I witnessed two sets of inert masses tonight at a local Tea Party meeting.  One was a Tea Party Congressman who voted for the debt ceiling increase that resulted in our credit downgrade, and the other was a Tea Party audience who showed the passion and outrage of a Boy Scout troop after a 50 meter march.

Rich Nugent, Congressman representing the 5th District of Florida, spoke to an estimated 250 Tea Party followers this evening.  After a mild-mannered 15 minute speech to the audience touching on the credit problems of the US, he opened the floor to questions.  The first two questions dealt with the nation’s credit problems, to which he provided a succinct three or four minute reply to each.

The third question dealt with oil drilling.  Nugent’s reply devolved into a 15 minute story about environmental protection of the manatee.  One Tea Partier questioned “Congressman, don’t we have bigger fish to fry than the Manatee.” (no pun intended despite the Manatee being a mammal)

What seemed outrageous to me was the amount of time the Congressman devoted to an issue that was on the mind of no one except perhaps the one questioner who probably never expected the answer to consume half of the question and answer period.  And this in the midst of one of the worst if not the worst financial disasters in this nation’s history.  Where is the Congressman’s sense of priority?  Is he that out of touch?

My question to him demonstrated to me that he is indeed out of touch.  I asked:

“Now that you know the consequence of  YOUR vote (for raising the debt ceiling) will you do all you can to urge the reconvening of Congress to make the changes necessary to reverse the credit downgrade?”

His answer:  “We have been discussing that.”  Essentially he continued “…we are waiting for the Senate to take action…” implying that the House did all it can and the whole issue is in the Senate’s court.

That was indeed a lame answer.  No passion, no outrage, no sense of urgency.  And this from an alleged Tea Party candidate.

What was equally outrageous was the relatively benign mood of the 250 in the Tea Party audience.  Again I ask:  Where is the passion?  Where is the outrage?  Where is the anger at what Congress is allowing to happen to our country.? Why isn’t every one of those elected officials back in Washington tomorrow with a vow not to leave the halls of Congress until they come together with legislation that reverses our nation’s credit downgrade?

Is that too much to expect?

London Punk Bastards–Who are they?

The August 2011 riots in London  are instigated by an odd coalition of rich spoiled liberal brats, immigrant Muslims from north Africa instigated by Jihadists and leftist “social-justice” aka “give me all you’ve got” radicals.  Unfortunately, a number of media reports refer to rioters merely as “Blacks.”  Talk about painting a group with an undeserved offensive racist broad brush! Yes.  We must defend the easily offended Muslims, even if at the expense of slandering other racial/ethnic groups.  It is not so much that these uncivilize Muslim immigrants and leftist radicals give Blacks a bad name, it is the lazy, sloppy politically naive media reporting doing the dirty work.

The solution to the rioting, if London and British leadership were not AWOL:  Deport Muslim immigrants.  Problem 50% solved.  The other 50% of the problem can then be solved more easily by demanding kahunas of the police departments.  Right now they actually fear entering the domains of the greatest offenders.  Many neighborhoods are off limits to law enforcement.  Bad idea.

Yes, some “civil rights” may be violated.  But hey, those who don’t respect the civil rights of the majority don’t deserve civil rights for their minority.  My personal civil rights should be removed the moment they conflict with the civil rights of my family, neighborhood, or city.  The same standards should be applied to the misused civil rights of street gangs, ethnic groups, and religious supremacists.   If these violent protestors want justice so bad, social or otherwise, give them justice.  In other words, enforce the damn law everywhere. 

We need more common sense and less pandering to lawlessness applied to these situations.

Update -  August 9: 

Government gloves come off – water cannon and plastic bullets, oh my!

US Credit Rating Downgraded…

Of course Standard and Poors rating service had to wait till after the stock market closed to announce this credit downgrade – or the market would have tanked another 500 points or more.

The question I have is this:

Is our Congress so incompetent that they did not see fit to determine from the credit rating agencies exactly what needed to be done to prevent a downgrade?

Every member of Congress who voted for the kick the can down debt ceiling increase – EVERY ONE – is responsible for this historic credit debacle.  They ALL need to be SHOWN THE DOOR.  EVERY ONE OF THEM.

This is historic and tragic.  It didn’t need to happen.  This downgrade will cost taxpayers billions more than the worst natural disaster we have had to date.

It is doubtful the market has factored in this credit downgrade in its recent decline.  It was caused primarily by Europe’s troubles as evidenced by the Friday bounceback right after Germany promised to bail out Italy.  And gold would have bounced up, not floated down.  Monday’s market reaction to this downgrade will be something to watch in awe – as in awe crap.

And this is not the worst news.  Here is an excerpt of the S & P report:

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to 'AA' within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.

Interest rates are almost certain to rise as a result of this downgrade.  There will be a further reduction in our credit rating if interest rates rise.  Another downgrade within a few months is very likely unless Congress revisits this issue immediately and makes the necessary adjustments.

Here is the Washington Post story.

What should we do about this?   Get on the phone and computers and send a message to your Congressmen to get their royal asses back to DC to fix this problem.  They and the President have created this problem.  There is no one else to blame beyond Congress, the President and his socialist administration.  The President is useless -  beyond help.  He will attempt to blame republicans and probably Bush again.  But remember this:   Obama is the one who threatened a veto of any really effective debt-cutting bill.  Congress is the one who did the voting.  They can fix it.  And if the President vetos it, he ought to be arrested and jailed for being a seditious usurper of office, or if you believe he is a legitimate president, impeached.

Obama Disappoint Mint Free Speech Irony

The Knoxville New Sentinel made made me laugh after they reported on a Congressman demanding that these breath mints be removed from University of Tennessee bookstore shelves.  The Congressman claimed his demand was not a violation of free speech.  A UT law professor took exception when he proclaimed,

"Free speech is free speech. If you make fun of the president in a mint, it is just as much free speech as it is if you make fun of the president in a political cartoon."

Which is true, of course.  But then at the bottom of the Knoxville News Sentinel article we read this message:

Comments on this story are now closed due to flagrant violations of our user policy.

One’s “free speech” is another’s “user policy.”

Financial house of cards is tumbling…

I’ve reviewed a number of current articles concerning weakness of European banks, especially Italy’s, the struggling Eurozone economy, and the influence of US debt limit discussion on the world’s financial psyche.

There is growing consensus that the Eurozone’s structure is to blame and cannot be sustained.  It is a “one-size fits-all” institution.  It is not fully integrated enough for a “central bank” to move money around to where it’s needed.  Critics suggest that “national politics” is in the way.  For example, relatively well off Germany will never agree to sacrifice its own strong economy to save Italy or Spain.  Euro bailouts of Greece, Ireland, and Portugal have exhausted the political will and fiscal capacity of stronger European countries to continue their bleeding into weaker nations economies.

It is likely that Italy’s banks will fail and the economic systems of other Euro countries will follow suit.  This will create additional stresses on the US economy, most prominently in the form of pressure to raise borrowing costs.

There are a number of economic head-scratch provoking situations that have occurred today.

Why did commodities fall along with the stock market?  Commodity prices usually rise when stocks fall.  The popular answer is that the commodity markets are anticipating a decline in production which means a decline in energy usage, i.e. oil.  But that doesn’t explain why gold and silver prices fell significantly.  One explanation is that hedge fund managers had to liquidate anything they owned to come up with cash to cover their positions in the falling equities market.  So they sold gold.

Why did the interest rate in treasuries plummet?  This has brought down the interest rate on home mortgages even lower than recent record lows.  It also has the peculiar effect of creating negative interest rates for institutions that have large amounts of funds in treasuries – in effect these institutions have to pay the government to keep their money.  Weird.  One explanation for these ultra-low treasury rates is European investors believing that the dollar (believe it or not) is a safer investment than the Euro at this point in time.  So funds are pouring into US treasuries, which pushes interest rates lower. 

All this makes the dollar, and thus our economy appear stronger, right?  Relative to Europe, it is.  But “appear” is the operative word.  The fact is, the European and US economies are sinking together.  It just so happens that the European economy is sinking earlier and faster.  But make no mistake.  We are going down as well.

Many experts claim that the cause of all of this financial stress is that money is not circulating.  How can interest rates remain at record lows for so long without causing the hoards of dollars to circulate?  It is being hoarded out of an abundance of uncertainty.  But why is there uncertainty?  Governments have been mismanaged.  Political interest groups have demanded more and more costly government programs.  Governments have spent well beyond any sustainable revenue stream and have entitlement commitments that only sovereign defaults and bankruptcies can erase.  The trust of the people of the nations in their governments and in their government’s fiscal Ponzi schemes is eroding.  You will begin hearing popping sounds in one or two European countries, then in  four or five, and then the US.  There is no one to effectively bail out Italy.  And there is definitely no one to bail out the United States.

This is looking more and more like a world-wide perfect economic storm.

Once the institutions sell the commodities they need to prop up their remaining equity holdings, you will see gold and silver resume their upward trend.

The question of interest to me is to what extent will all this eventually result in civil unrest and societal breakdown in the US.  You’ve seen only the beginnings in several European countries.

There are dozens of insightful articles on these topics published today and available by Googling “Italy bank run” “Euro default” and looking for August 4 or 5 dates.  One article worthy of note is this one from The Blaze.

And a very good insight into what is driving the world’s economy and the likely near-term outcome is a book by Vox Day titled “Return of the Great Depression.”  Get it.  Read it.

Happy financial planning!

__________________

Addendum:

Ann Barnhardt wrote the following a couple hours after I wrote the piece above last night.  And she knows more about the economy than I do…

 

Notes on the Global Market Crash

Posted by Ann Barnhardt - August 4, AD 2011 11:16 PM MST

1. I think metals and all commodities were down hard Thursday (counterintuitively) for two reasons. 1.) Major metals and commodities holders - possibly in Europe - were liquidating long positions in order to get an influx of needed cash and 2.) people are scared of another massive margin requirement increase exactly like what happened on May 2nd when the CME doubled margins in one day. People were scrambling to get out or at least boost their cash position ahead of that.

2. The Hang Seng in Tokyo has opened and is crashing - down 4.75% as of this writing.

3. The worst news though is out of Europe. Italy MAY be facing a full-blown bank run situation.

I'll let KD explain it, quoting Larry Kudlow.

4. Also worth your time is this post at ZeroHedge.com. Copy and paste this URL into your address bar:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/and-what-will-soon-be-scariest-chart-presenting-record-low-mutual-fund-cash-levels  

Mutual funds are carrying hardly any cash - the lowest cash levels ever. What this means is that they have no excess buffer or slack to absorb this selloff. My futures clients understand this. If they have no buffer, they will be forced to liquidate positions (aka liquidating to meet the margin call), which will feed the selloff even more. Very, very bad.

This could be it, guys. We knew a collapse was inevitable, but this may be it. I agree with KD above that we could easily be looking at taking 30% off the market in fairly short order. That would retrace the Dow to 8000. The 2009 low was 6500ish, and beyond that there is a very firm support plane at zero. Interest rates are already at zero. The Fed has absolutely nothing left to do . . . except print money, which we know they will. And then we will be Zimbabwe.

Pray for strength and courage.

Our democracy too messy for Obama

The president clarified to supporters today that “the change we can believe in” that he promised won’t occur tomorrow, or next week.  He gave this rather chilling explanation:  “We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy" to deal with.

Thank God we have a big messy, tough democracy to deal with.  Otherwise his “agenda” would be more of a slam dunk (a term Obama can relate to) than it has been.

But the trouble we should all have with his statement is his apparent irritation that the system is not to his liking.  This most certainly is what he would like to also change so he can implement his socialist/progressive agenda much more efficiently.

Media wrong on effect of raising the debt limit

The media displayed its gross ignorance of economics again this past week by predicting stock market Armageddon would be avoided if the debt limit was increased and a dooms day scenario if it wasn’t.  Well, the Happy Days are Here Again scenario did not result from the debt limit increase as the media expected.  Just the opposite occurred.   They got caught up in the liberal hype and forgot all about reality.

Even FOX News doesn’t get it, with their ignorant headline “Wall Street Continues Slump Despite Debt Deal”  It SHOULD read “Wall Street Continues Slump BECAUSE OF Debt Deal.”

The reality is the markets are more concerned about raising the debt celling to unsustainable levels  than it is with cutting the Federal budget.  The market was reasonably happy as long as there was hope that a rare flash of Washington sanity would provoke significant budget cuts.  But when it learned it was not to be, and instead approved another 2.4 trillion dollar line of credit the US can ill afford, the market tanked.

There might be some mild contrarian bargain hunting in the next day or two that reverses some losses, but the trend will be lower as the market slowly adapts to reality.  In spite of its short term memory lapses, the market cannot avoid the ultimate reality of the corporate bottom line.  And the bottom line ain’t lookin’ so good with federal fiscal irresponsibility running rampant.

The 30-minute memory of stock market traders

This morning (Monday morning), is the morning folks around the world are anticipating an agreement between the US Congress and the President to increase the US debt celling by $2.4 trillion.  Here is the breathless FOX News headline:

URGENT: Optimism Drives Market Rally, But Deficit Deal Still Not Sealed

Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress will meet with their caucuses Monday for a hard sell of a compromise debt-reduction package that gives President Obama up to a $2.4 trillion hike in the debt limit as long as lawmakers can find an equal or greater amount in spending cuts.

Market traders have a “child in the candy shop” mentality.  What is so investor-worthy about the US approval of $2.4 trillion in additional debt?  Oh, wait.  I know.  Market traders (and the federal government) are like the spendaholic spouse receiving an upgrade in the credit limit of her maxed out MasterCard.  The problem is their income for their family of 8 is only $40,000/year and the maxed out card limit is $50,000.


But 30 minutes after the buoyed markets opened, the traders came back down to reality when their daddy, or should I say reality, got their attention with the news that…

Manufacturing data rains on budget deal parade

Manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in July. Congress reaches an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and cut the deficit by $2.4 trillion. European markets swing into negative territory.

It’s as if the market was suddenly poked back to reality – that the US is truly in an economic funk.  But then, in another 30 minutes, this reality will be overcome by another bout of memory loss.

I can’t decide whether market traders suffer from an Alzheimer’s-like short term memory loss, a child-in-the-candy shop mentality, or just plain ol’ opportunistic greed.