Observations From The Margin

Posted May 5, 2022 by austrianaddict
Categories: Observations From The Margin
Tags: , , , , , ,

-I don’t like my tax dollars being used for corporate welfare. I have said in the past that Elon Musk has benefited from corporate welfare. Tax dollars have been given to Tesla in the form of subsidizes to help defray the cost of building electric cars. Tax dollars have been given to purchasers of electric cars in the form of tax credits to defray the cost of buying electric cars. So a portion of his wealth comes from you and me, the tax payer. But I have mixed emotions about his purchase of Twitter. Because, as money is fungible, a portion of my tax dollars have helped Musk buy Twitter. And I’m kind of OK with it, because I want unfettered free speech. But what is even better to think about, is the tax dollars of the people who are going crazy because Musk is buying twitter, helped buy twitter. So let’s keep this between us. Because I know how pissed off I get when I think about my tax dollars being used to help fund abortions.

-Speaking of the abortion issue. Here are a few thoughts about the leak of Alito’s draft opinion about abortion.

1) We don’t know if this will be the majority or minority opinion when the decision comes out.

2) Four other justices signed on to Alito’s opinion. Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett all signed on. Sotomyor , Kagan, Breyer and Roberts didn’t. The question is, will any of the four who supported the draft, change their mind and flip the decision? I don’t think that will happen. But if Roberts was one of the four supporters, I would say there would be a good chance he would flip. Since Roberts is the Chief Justice, this is considered the Roberts court. So he is deciding under a different incentive which doesn’t exist for the other five justices. So I could see him flipping making it a 6 to 3 majority to preserve the “integrity” of the Supreme Court, as he defines integrity. Because 6 to 3 is a stronger decision than a 5 to 4 decision.

3) If Roe is overturned it will not outlaw abortion. It will allow every state to make their own law, no matter how permissive or restrictive it is. States have been changing their abortion laws for years. And these changes have been challenged in court by both sides. Some end up in the Supreme Court. Through this process the Roe decision has been chipped away at for years. Roe as written doesn’t exist.

4) The right to an abortion is nowhere in the constitution, including the bill of rights. The Supreme Court created the right to an abortion out of a supposed “right to privacy” which it discovered in the document after being well hidden for over 170 years. What actually happened was the Roe decision overturned the 10th amendment, which states, “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” (Read Here). The Roe decision overturned the abortion laws of all fifty states, no matter how restrictive or how permissive they were, and replaced them with a one size fits all decision. Because of the way it was written, it was inevitable that at some point Roe was going to be overturned.

5) Roe gave power to the Federal government that it didn’t have originally. So one of the reasons the Left doesn’t want this overturned is because it takes power away from the Federal government. Tyrants in both parties never want to give up Government power.

6) Notice I have not made any arguments against abortion outside of the legal aspect. Because this decision is about who should decide this issue, not what should be decided. It is obvious this decision should have never been made by the Supreme Court.

7) The left always tries to impose their one size fits all decisions on people who don’t agree with their positions. Roe is just one example of this. Government force is the process used to enforce agreement. Whether it is an order from the executive branch, a law from the legislative branch, or a legal decision from the judicial branch. It always creates more conflict and animosity then what existed before. They don’t want to persuade people over time. They want to impose ideas categorically using tyrannical government power, instead of allowing them be accepted, or not, incrementally over time. The Market (millions of people making decisions) decided VHS was better than Beta, CDs were better than Vinyl, Streaming was better than CDs, Kerosene was better than whale oil, Electric lighting was better than kerosene lamps, the rifle was better than the bow and arrow, etc. Even though you can still choose to use bows and arrows, vinyl, and kerosene lamps. No government force was used. Why do you think there is a big fight over man made climate change. They are trying to use government force to impose more expensive and less efficient green energy over lower cost and more efficient carbon based fuels. At some point, green energy may be less costly and more efficient than carbon based fuels, but not in the foreseeable future. And that is the problem. They want it now, no matter the monetary cost or the high cost of agreement.

-Sidebar your honor! If the new supreme court justice can’t define what a women is. And lefties tell us men can have children. Than how can we say abortion is about a “women’s” right to choose? That has to be anti something doesn’t it?

– The Federal Reserve has said they are going to raise interest rates to wring out inflation. An Inflation they caused in the first place by their policies that artificially lower interest rates and electronically printing trillions of counterfeit dollars.

-Homeland Security’s new “Disinformation Board” sounds like a great idea doesn’t it????? The left wouldn’t trust this new board if a Republican was president. I would ask if they considered how this board could be used against them when a Republican becomes president again; but the left just wants the federal government’s power to increase period. Because they will have the opportunity to wield that power when they get in. And the left is willing to play the long game.

-I read Biden is starting to buy oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the same reserve he depleted a month ago in an attempt to help himself politically by bringing the price of oil down. Now we are filling the Reserve with more expensive oil. And we, (tax payers,) are paying the cost. Government bureaucrats are selling low and buying high. That is a losing financial strategy. But a viable option when you are spending other peoples money to help yourself and your party politically. Could these tax dollars be considered a donation to a politicians campaign.

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Must Reads For The Week 4/16/22

Posted April 18, 2022 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

–Survivors of Communism Warn About America’s Future: ‘Americans Became Soviet’ Through Cowardice, at justthenews.com. “From the article: “Survivors of communism are concerned about America’s future as they see Marxism spreading”…

“Tatiana Menaker, a refusenik who escaped from the Soviet Union after not being allowed to emigrate, said that when she attended San Francisco State University, she “found such brainwashing machine of Marxism, which I even didn’t have in Russia, in the Soviet Union. American professors are all in delirium of Marxism.”

“Menaker also recalled how she “was kicked five times from Facebook, seven times from Quora. Actually, censorship in America reminds me of my old Soviet Union.”

“I feel I am at home now, finally,” she also said, laughing.”

“Menaker later added: “Americans used to be nations of brave. Now it’s a nation of cowards. [I]t’s not tyrants who create slaves. It’s slaves who create tyrants. And Americans became slavish. We do whatever we’re told to do. They give everything we’re asked to give. It’s Soviet Union.”

What is sad is that many Americans who have lived here their whole lives don’t see this move toward Tyranny.

–Secret Service Agents Knock Jen Psaki’s Response To Attacks By Biden’s Dog, at justthenews.com. If a press secretary would spin or lie about something as unimportant as the presidents dog biting a secret service agent. Do you think they would spin or lie about things that are more politically important?

–Palm Springs Looks To Create A Universal Basic Income Pilot For Trans Residents. at NPR.com. I may be nit picking but, “Universal” mean everyone. Doesn’t it? This is an example of socialist central planning being accepted as a great idea, without any rational thinking.

–AG Committee’s Cammack: ‘Out of Touch’ Dems Ignore Food Crisis, Fixate On ‘Tesla Charging Stations’. at justthenews.com. Democrats are marching down the green energy road to serfdom. Just another example of Socialist economic central planning. Great idea! Lets exchange the decisions of some “experts” for the decisions of 100’s of millions of consumers.

Political Propaganda? Look At The Time Line Of These Articles.

–Biden Wants Congress To Slap Fees On Oil Companies Not Using Drilling Permits On Public Lands, at justthenews.com. This article was published on March 31 2022 at 12:46 PM. –Biden Announces Release Of Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Blames Putin, Oil Companies, at justthenews.com. This article was published On March 31, 2022 at 2:56 PM. –Oil Execs Defend Selves Over House Democrats Claims Of Profiteering, Gouging At The Gas Station, at justthenews.com. This article was published on April 6 2022. –Biden Administration Will Open More Public Land To Oil Drilling, at justthenews.com. This article was published on April 16, 2022.

Blaming the oil companies for not drilling on land that doesn’t have oil under it, is like giving me a permit to fish for Blue Marlin in the Ohio River.

Then the administration decides to release 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease rising gas prices. Which means they do understand the law of supply and demand. But, all of the energy policies put in place by this administration from day one, have caused less oil to be produced in the U.S. So, since they understand supply and demand, can we assert the administration wants the price of oil to go up? The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set up for emergencies. Not for politicians to save themselves from the consequences of their policies. Tax payers are going to get stuck refilling the Reserve with oil that cost around $100 a barrel. Instead of filling the Reserve with lower priced oil like Trump wanted to (read here). Buy high sell low only works when tax payers are paying the bill.

Blaming Putin is spin. The price of oil was in the high 90’s before Putin stepped foot on Ukrainian soil.

And as sure as night follows day, oil executives will be dragged in front of congress every time the price of oil sky rockets. I’ve seen this happen over and over again. Once again this is political theater to find a scapegoat for the consequences of government intervention into the economy.

And now the Administration is going to open up more land for drilling.

Why would we believe anything a politician or bureaucrat says? History tells us not to trust individuals who have the ability to wield government power (aka politicians and bureaucrats).

–Biden Infuriates Environmentalists, Oil Refiners By Allowing More Ethanol In Gas To Lower Prices, at zerohedge.com. Let’s try to sift through the BS.

The overriding point is, Politicians are not “public servants”. They are self interested actors playing on a political stage.

Biden needs lower gas prices to survive the upcoming election cycle. So he (the EPA) will do away with regulations which disallow high ethanol gasoline being sold during the summer months. Higher ethanol content lowers the price of these blends. But the reason high ethanol gasoline is disallowed during the summer months is because it causes smog. So Biden is willing to sacrifice his beloved environmental and climate change issues on the alter of his parties political future.

Senators Grassley and Ernst, Republicans from Iowa, praised this news. Why? Iowa is the leading corn producer in the U.S. and 33% of our corn crop is used to produce ethanol. So it helps Grassley and Ernst, politically, and everyone involved in the ethanol industry, financially, at the expense of millions of consumers and tax payers who are paying the cost of the ethanol scam.

But let me ask you, does it makes sense to use carbon based fuels to plant, cultivate and harvest corn (which is food), truck it to an ethanol plant, then turn it into fuel used to power cars. Put simply, we use diesel to produce food which is then turned into fuel. Now factor into the equation that a molecule of ethanol produces less energy than a molecule of gasoline or diesel. So even if you pay less for ethanol, you are getting less miles per gallon than what you would get if you used gasoline.

Why are we are going through this whole ethanol charade? We are wasting time, land, labor and resources to produce less energy. It would cost less if we paid everyone involved in the ethanol industry to do nothing. They would be like welfare recipients leaching off the tax payer. But it would be better because we would save all the time, land, labor and resources being wasted on ethanol production. And we would use higher energy gasoline and diesel in our vehicles, all being a net gain.

And what about the potential grain shortage because of the Ukrainian Russian war. We could use the resources to produce ………….. uh………food.

Huh…………

–Soros-Funded Prosecutor In St. Louis Admits To Wrongdoing In Greitens Case, at justthenews.com. Here is an example of using the legal system for political purposes. Just like the Russian collusion hoax.

–In Shadow Of Hunter Biden Probe, Democrats Grapple With Corruption Scandals Galore In Own Ranks, at justthenews.com. Corruption and abuses of power happen to both Republicans and Democrats. But you don’t hear about the corruption on the Democrat side as much because of the cover up by the main stream media. Here are some examples.

–Secret Service Agents Bribed By Men With Iran, Pakistan Visas Pretending To Be DHS Agents, at saracarter.com. Should this be an important story? –Judge Declines To Jail Two Men Accused Of Impersonating Federal Agents, And Giving Gifts, at justthenews.com. I guess not!

–Dozens Of Disney Employees Have Been Arrested For Child Sex Crimes, at thenationalpulse.com. Excerpt from the article: “Amidst Disney’s opposition to Florida’s falsely monikered “Don’t Say Gay” bill – which aims to protect children from exposure to harmful gender ideologies and activism – the company’s long history of employing individuals arrested for a variety of child sex crimes has come under scrutiny.”

Hard to believe that sexual predators and pedophiles would gravitate to a profession that caters to children (their potential victims).

In a totally unrelated article –NYT Writer Admits Schools Are Grooming Children Into LGBT Identities, at thefederalist.com. They are grooming children to be future victims of sexual predators and pedophiles.

–The Left Is Freaking Out Over Elon Musk Because Twitter Rigs The Game For Democrats, at thefederalist.com. Tyrants don’t want any arguments against their ideology. They hate free speech because their world view can’t stand up to scrutiny.

–Robert Reich Goes Full Orwellian: More Freedom Is Tyranny, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Reich explains that it is not about freedom by tyranny. More free speech means less freedom.”

“It is the type of argument commonly used in China and other authoritarian nations–and an increasing number of American academics and writers. Indeed, his column is reminiscent of the professors who have called for the adoption of the Chinese model for censoring views on the Internet.”

“Reich tells people not to be lured by freedom of speech: “Musk says he wants to ‘free’ the internet. But what he really aims to do is make it even less accountable than it is now.” What Reich refers to as “accountability” is being accountable to those like himself who can filter out views and writings that are deemed harmful for readers.”

They can’t lose control of the narrative because their ideology can only survive if it isn’t scrutinized.

–(EXCLUSIVE) Experts: ‘Omicron Covid -19 Likely Came Fro A Lab, Too‘, at sharylattkisson.com. Excerpt from the article: “Now, some scientists examining the virus have concluded “vast” genetic mutations that likely occurred in a lab setting are what makes Omicron spread so quickly.“

“Omicron was first detected in Botswana, South Africa, reported to have been brought by a foreign delegation from a country officials will not identify, making it more difficult for outside observers to track its origin.”

“To many scientists, the genetic differences that made Omicron so quickly transmissible caused it to immediately stand out as unlikely to be a result of a natural evolution…“

Read this article. There is a lot here.

–FDA Panel Mulls COVID Booster Issues Despite ‘Insufficient’ Data, at medpagetoday.com. Excerpt from the article: “Monto backed up his support for an 80% vaccine effectiveness threshold by saying that with the “development of antivirals and therapeutics, you can’t prevent everything with an evolving virus.”

“The need for revaccination will be dictated by the virus more than by us,” he noted.”

“Marks said that VRBPAC would meet again in early summer to discuss “more specific detail” regarding the composition of future boosters to “stay ahead of future variants and outbreaks”

There is a lot to digest in this article. But this sounds like they are chasing all the COVID variants instead of getting out in front of the mutations. It seems like the “vaccines” and “boosters” are more like flu shots. And flu shots have varying degrees of effectiveness, if any at all. But antivirals and therapeutics work to fight the symptoms, so the individual can survive and create natural immunity.

Shouldn’t individuals be given the information and then be allowed to decide what coarse to take? Of course they should!

SATIRICAL HEADLINES.

–Dems Explain They Don’t Want Billionaires controlling Our Media Unless They’re Bezos, Zuckerberrg, Gates, Bloomberg, Buffeett, or Soros, at babylonbee.com.

–Leftists Warn That If They Can’t Ban Opposing Viewpoints They’d Have To Actually Defend Their Beliefs, at thebabylonbee.com.

–State Of California Rejects 100% Of Biology Textbooks For Stating There Are Only Two Genders, at babylonbee.com.

–Economists Starting To Think Shutting Thee Economy For Two Years May Have Had Some Negative Consequences, at babylonbee.com.

–Liberal Worried That Next COIVD – 19 Wave Might Be Too Mild To Use To Push Agenda, at babylonbee.com.

–After Being Denied Tattoo, Sixth Grader Decides To Have Gender Reassignment Surgery Instead, at babylonbee.com.

–Confused Biden Wondering Why Corn Pop Is At The White House, babylonbee.com.

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Must Reads For The Week 4/4/22

Posted April 4, 2022 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

–Clinton Campaign and DNC To Pay Fine For Concealing Payments For Anti-Trump Steele Dossier, at justthenews.com.

So we find out five years later, what we all knew was true. The Steele Dossier was propaganda that was either purchased without knowledge that it was false, or the payment was for the production of this propaganda. So the propaganda was either paid for after it was produced, or the production of the propaganda happened after the payment. And the Media was driving the get away car for the Clinton Campaign. They ignored what we knew from the start. But here is what really irks me.

The punishment meted out by Federal Election Commission was: “The Clinton Campaign agreed to pay an $8,000 fine while the DNC agreed to pay $105,000, and both promised not to violate the requirements in the future.” So they “agreed” to pay what amounts to “walking around money”. That is like me paying a fine of ten cents for a speeding ticket! That isn’t enough to keep me from speeding again. But they also “promised” they wouldn’t do it again. They are laughing at this. the Clintons and the DNC should have said, “Here is a check for double the amount, to prepay the fine for the next time we do this. The legal system is a joke. Different rules for insiders than outsiders.

-Bipartisan Senate Group Presses FBI Over Agents Broke Rules Hundreds Of Times, at justthenews.com.

Lets say it like it is. The FBI is really the KGB. Just another example of bureaucrats abusing their power.

Here is a quote from the article: “Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Judiciary Ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote letters Monday pressing the Department of Justice for answers after an internal FBI audit found that agents violated rules at least hundreds of times over a year and a half.“

If there were that many violations, “found” (how many have not been found?), in a year and a half. How many violations do you think occurred over the last five years? Especially knowing about what the FBI, aka (KGB), the CIA and The Justice Department did with the Russian collusion farce. Do you think the Justice department has any interest in investigating an entity that they helped break the law?

–Ex-CIA Official Who Signed Letter Warning Hunter Biden Laptop Story Was Disinfo Proud Trump Lost, at justthenews.com.

If we call the FBI the KGB. We should call The CIA the GRU. The GRU was the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet Union. Its job was to collect and handle military and political intelligence from sources outside the Soviet Union. So the FBI and KGB deal with domestic intelligence. And the CIA and GRU deal with foreign intelligence. Our FBI and CIA are corrupt bureaucracies. They are abusing their power.

This CIA official lied when he said the Hunter laptop looked like Russians were involved. Just as the FBI lied when they pushed the Steele Dossier. Nothing will happen. These agencies and the Justice department are protecting each other.

–IRS Gave $64 Million In Stimulus Checks To Dead People Report, at justthenews.com.

Another example of the inefficiencies of bureaucracies. Public funded bureaucracies have no incentive to watch their bottom line, like businesses have to in the market.

–Biden Signs Bill Making Lynching A Federal Crime, at yahoo.com.

I thought murder was already illegal!

–CDC Ends Warning On Cruise Ship Travel, at justthenews.com.

Here is a quote from the article: “The agency said in announcing the change that taking a cruise will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission but “travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings.”

Shouldn’t this have been the policy reguarding COVID from the start? Allow people to assess their own risk. If we would have done this, we wouldn’t be in the economic mess we are in right now. People want to blame our economic problems on COVID. But it was Governments response to COVID, not COVID, that blew up our economy.

–TSA Announces Plans To Implement Gender-Neutral Screening At Airport Checkpoints, at justthenews.com.

I don’t know how to explain this. So lets just quote the article: “TSA also said the new standards will go into effect after the implementation of new technology that will in part replace the current, gender-based system, which will be more accurate and “advance civil rights and improve the customer experience of travelers who previously have been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas.” But wait. There’s more: “Over the coming months, TSA will move swiftly to implement more secure and efficient screening processes that are gender neutral, as well as technological updates that will enhance security and make TSA PreCheck® enrollment more inclusive,” agency Administrator David Pekoske said. “These combined efforts will greatly enhance airport security and screening procedures for all.”

This should make the pat downs more enjoyable for everybody!

–Election Watchdog Finds 137,500 Ballots Unlawfully Trafficked In Wisconsin, at zerohedge.com.

In a presidential election that was decided by a little over 20,000 votes. 137,500 votes were unlawfully trafficked! “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for“!

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Central Planning vs. Voluntary Cooperation

Posted March 16, 2022 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101, Government and Politics
Tags: , ,

I haven’t posted an article for over a year.

Why? Because I started to value other activities more than I valued writing.

Why? Because all the economic and social problems we have in the U.S. can only be made better by 1) Allowing individuals to make decisions concerning their day to day lives. And 2) Stopping politicians and bureaucrats who wield government power from making decisions for these individuals.

I also found it difficult to come up with new ways to say the same thing over and over again.

But I know that the only way to learn anything is repetition. Monotonous monotonous repetition.

So I’m going to jump back in to the game and see how it goes.

WHO SHOULD MAKE ECONOMIC DECISIONS.

On my site I have a one sentence quote from F. A. Hayek. Volumes have been written on the subject of this quote.

This quote sums up the decision that civilizations have to make on how their societies are going to coordinate their activities.. Here is the quote.

“THE COORDINATION OF MEN’S ACTIVITIES THROUGH CENTRAL PLANNING OR THROUGH VOLUNTARY COOPERATION ARE ROADS GOING IN VERY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, THE FIRST TO SERFDOM AND POVERTY THE SECOND TO FREEDOM AND PLENTY.”

We have never had a society where there were no government enforced rules. Just as we have never had a society where all decisions are made and enforced by individuals wielding government power.

Even though The Soviet Union was centrally planned, they still had black markets and at least the government allowed some industries to have a little freedom to make decisions.

The Unites States constitution set up a free market economy, with some governmental rules.

So neither was totally centrally planned nor totally free.

The quote states that every society is moving in one direction or another. We never arrive at a utopian paradise, because time passes and change happens. But no matter what the changes, we have to understand that the more government decision making we allow, the poorer and less free we become. But if we allow individuals to decide how to order their lives, we become more free and prosperous.

The history of the world is all about this battle of who should make decisions. The consequences on who wins this battle does not just decide what our standard of living will be. But also who lives or dies.

Free market capitalism has lifted multiple millions of people out of poverty. It has also allowed more people to be born. If it wasn’t for the industrial revolution, you and I may never have been born.

China is an example of what we are talking about. Mao killed 10’s of millions of people to bring about his centrally planned communist society. People in China lived in poverty, if they lived at all. But over the last thirty years or so, China has allowed some free market reforms which has lifted the standard of living in China above mere substance living. Even though these people are still not free.

The opposite has happened in Venezuela. Venezuelans standard of living and freedom started being destroyed after Chavez started nationalizing industries. AKA government central planning.

Cuba’s standard of living and individual freedom was destroyed when Castro took control of their economy.

So what direction do you think the U.S. is heading? With The amount of decision making taken over by government central planners in the last thirty years, there is no doubt what road we are traveling.

The question is, do we have enough people in the country who understand that decision making by individuals in a free market is the only way out of our problems?

We have to fight against all government central planning, championed by both Democrats and Republicans

Because if we allow politicians and bureaucrats to take over more and more economic decisions, our standard of living will go down and our individual freedom will go away. And the fact is, this is already happening.

Related Article – Milton Friedman, Moving toward Serfdom.

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The Great Walter E. Williams

Posted December 6, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101

The total intelligence of the world declined this past week with the passing of the great Walter E. Williams. I came across Walter E. Williams when I started reading his columns in the editorial page of my local news paper in the early 90’s. I was hooked the first article I read.

Walter E. Williams had the rare ability to explain complex concepts in a way we regular people could understand. Reading the writings of Walter E. Williams and his friend Thomas Sowell allowed me a base of knowledge about economics and individual liberty that allowed me to understand the writings of F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Murray Rothbard.

You can learn something from his weekly articles. Many of the things he wrote about decades ago are even more applicable today. He saw the tyranny of big government, and never backed away from stating it.

The main stream media, government insiders, bureaucrats, and the education establishment didn’t take on Walter E. Williams. I think for two reasons. One is they knew he could intellectually destroy them. And two is because they didn’t want anyone to know who he was because of his ability to persuade regular people that free markets, individual liberty, property rights and the Constitution are superior to Socialist central planning.

Click here for the archive of Walter E. Williams weekly columns dating back to the late 90’s.

Here is a video about Walter E. Williams.

Here is what Thomas Sowell wrote about his friends passing.

Walter E. Williams – 1936 – 2020

by Thomas Sowell

Walter Williams loved teaching. Unlike too many other teachers today, he made it a point never to impose his opinions on his students. Those who read his syndicated newspaper columns know that he expressed his opinions boldly and unequivocally there. But not in the classroom.

Walter once said he hoped that, on the day he died, he would have taught a class that day. And that is just the way it was, when he died on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

He was my best friend for half a century. There was no one I trusted more or whose integrity I respected more. Since he was younger than me, I chose him to be my literary executor, to take control of my books after I was gone.

But his death is a reminder that no one really has anything to say about such things.

As an economist, Walter Williams never got the credit he deserved. His book “Race and Economics” is a must-read introduction to the subject. Amazon has it ranked 5th in sales among civil rights books, 9 years after it was published.

Another book of his, on the effects of economics under the white supremacist apartheid regime in South Africa, was titled “South Africa’s War Against Capitalism.” He went to South Africa to study the situation directly. Many of the things he brought out have implications for racial discrimination in other places around the world.

I have had many occasions to cite Walter Williams’ research in my own books. Most of what others say about higher prices in low income neighborhoods today has not yet caught up to what Walter said in his doctoral dissertation decades ago.

Despite his opposition to the welfare state, as something doing more harm than good, Walter was privately very generous with both his money and his time in helping others.

He figured he had a right to do whatever he wanted to with his own money, but that politicians had no right to take his money to give away, in order to get votes.

In a letter dated March 3, 1975, Walter said: “Sometimes it is a very lonely struggle trying to help our people, particularly the ones who do not realize that help is needed.”

In the same letter, he mentioned a certain hospital which “has an all but written policy of prohibiting the flunking of black medical students.”

Not long after this, a professor at a prestigious medical school revealed that black students there were given passing grades without having met the standards applied to other students. He warned that trusting patients would pay — some with their lives — for such irresponsible double standards. That has in fact happened.

As a person, Walter Williams was unique. I have heard of no one else being described as being “like Walter Williams.”

Holding a black belt in karate, Walter was a tough customer. One night three men jumped him — and two of those men ended up in a hospital.

ARTICLES AND VIDEOS POSTED ON MY SITE.

I have posted many Walter E. Williams articles and videos over the years. I will link to a few. But you can go to my archives (click here) to see the rest.

Economics For The Citizen, Parts 1 through 10.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10.

Article: “Liberty Is Not For Wimps” – Walter E. Williams

Article: Let’s Fight Tyranny – Walter E. Williams.

Article: Rights Versus Wishes – Walter E. Williams.

Article: The Long, Tragic, Ugly Story Of Government – Walter E. Williams.

Here are some videos posted on my site.

A Path Toward Totalitarianism.

The State Against Liberty

The Function Of Profits

The Economics Of Liberty

Economic Rape And Seduction

There are many videos on YouTube by Walter E.Williams. One word of caution. Once you start watching them you can’t stop.

Walter E. Williams was a great man. Thankfully his knowledge and insight will live on in his writings and videos.

Rest In Peace.

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Thomas Sowell: Recent Interview on Life Liberty and Levin.

Posted July 20, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Hall of Fame, Miscellaneous
Tags: , ,

 

Thomas Sowell

There is no word, or words, in the English language that can define Thomas Sowell. The only words that do him justice is his name, Thomas Sowell. You have to experience Thomas Sowell, he can’t be defined by words. He is beyond the limits of words in the English language.

I had read his weekly column for years until he stopped writing it. I have read thirty plus books written by this man. I have watched numerous videos of him being interviewed. Unless you have spent time reading what he has written you can’t even understand what I am trying to say.

If you want to expand your mind, consume everything this man has written. To get started you can go to jewishworldreview and read his archived weekly articles (click here). Or you may be able to start with these two books, Basic Economics, and The Vision Of The Anointed.

If you have any intellectual curiosity at all, you will not stop with these books.

Here is a recent interview with Thomas Sowell on Life Liberty and Levin. He talks about the new book he has written titled, Charter Schools and Their Enemies. But he talks about much more than Charter Schools.

If video is taken down click here.

Here is a quote from the interview: “Competition is enormously important because human beings are so fallible. If you insulate people from the price of being wrong, you’re going to get a lot of wrong things done. And particularly you’re going to get institutions being run for the benefit of the people who run the institutions rather than the clientele they are designed to help.”

 

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July 4th – 2020

Posted July 4, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics, Miscellaneous
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Statue of Liberty on the background of flag usa, sunrise and fireworks

I reread the fourth chapter in Thomas Sowell’s book, “The Quest for Cosmic Justice”, every 4th of July. The fourth chapter is titled “The Quiet Repeal of the American Revolution”.

The quiet repeal of our founding principles started in earnest with the progressive era just before 1900. It has picked up momentum over the last 50 years. The Marxists and socialists ideology that was latched onto by the generation from the 60’s, has entered our educational system.

Not surprisingly, a couple of generations have been brainwashed into hating America’s founding principles.

I wish the difference between the American Revolution and all other revolutions was understood by all Americans. Here is what Dr. Sowell writes about these differences.

“The war for American independence was not simply a landmark event in the history of the United States. It was a landmark in the history of the world – and especially a landmark in the history of the evolution of free and democratic societies. It’s international significance was symbolized by France’s donation of the Statue of Liberty to the Unites States on the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and by the creation of a facsimile of this state in China, more than a century after that, by protesters vainly seeking to create a free and democratic government in that country”

 

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS

“The American revolution was in some ways the most far-reaching of all the great revolutions in history. Other revolutions may have had more sweeping rhetoric, or greater extremes of violence and terror, or more categorical claims of change. They may even have had more radical changes of personnel, as in the change from czarist to Communist rulers in Moscow, while replacing one form of autocratic despotism with another and more bloody from.”

“The French Revolution of the succeeding decade used similar rhetoric, and was supported by such prominent figures in the American Revolution as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine, but nevertheless the French Revolution was grounded on entirely different assumptions and of course took a different path all to characteristic of later revolutions that began with lofty ideals and ended with new and more ruthless despotism.”

  “The American Revolution, however, went further in rejecting a basic conception of man and society that goes back thousands of years, and which is still with us today…people with the most diverse philosophic persuasions have proceeded as if what was needed was to replace false doctrines with true doctrines and false leaders with true leaders – the heathens with the faithful, capitalists with socialists, royalty with republicans, and so on. But, unlike the French revolution and the Bolshevik revolution, for example, the American revolution and its resulting constitution established was not simply a particular system but a process of changing systems, practices, and leaders, together with a method of constraining whoever or whatever was ascendant at any given time…. it gave to the common man a voice, a veto, elbow room, and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of his “betters”….. it was seen by others in the world at large as a landmark in the general struggle for human freedom. That is why it must be opposed by those with more ambitious visions (even if they do not consciously feel any animosity against constitutional freedoms) because, on issue after issue, those freedoms stand between the morally self-anointed and the realization of dreams which have overwhelming importance to them. Some of these dreams revolve around the quest for cosmic justice, in which constitutional constraints may be seen as technicalities to be finessed. Other dreams may be about personal ambitions that can be fulfilled only in a very different kind of society from that established by the Constitution… Ego and ideals are of course not mutually exclusive but may readily exist in the same individual, who may even mistake the former from the latter.”

America was based on the idea that the individual was sovereign. Our founders knew that Government power had to be restrained or else it would be used arbitrarily by politicians and bureaucrats who were in position to wield it. Our Government was established to protect the individual and his property from aggression by these individuals.

In this chapter Sowell quotes a little known speech by Abraham Lincoln given in 1838 (read here) a mere sixty two years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln fears the dangers to our freedom would not come from foreign enemies, but from internal threats.

“If and when the fundamental principles and structure of American government should fall under attack, “men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity” and “strike a blow” against free government.”

“What is particularly significant about Lincoln’s warning is that is was based on the vision of what human beings are like and especially what talented and ambitions leaders are like. To Lincoln, the historic achievement of American society in establishing a new form of government in the world was in jeopardy from later elites precisely because that achievement was already history:”

“Lincoln said: The field of glory is harvested, and the crop is already appropriated. But new reapers will arise, and they, too, will seek a field. It is to deny, what the history of the world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and talents will not continue to spring up amongst us. And , when they do, they will as naturally seek the gratification of their ruling passion, as others have so done before them. The question is, can the gratification be found in supporting and maintaining an edifice that has been erected by others? Most certainly it cannot.”

“While the ambitions of some might be satisfied with “a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair,” Lincoln said, “such belong not to the family of the lion or the tribe of the eagle.”

“Lincoln added: “What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon? – Never! Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. – It sees not distinction in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, erected to memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if possible. it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves, or enslaving freemen.”

“Lincoln thought safeguarding those institutions would require a public sufficiently united, sufficiently attached to freedom, and sufficiently wise, “to successfully frustrate his designs.“

We are not just talking about a single person with a tyrannical idea. We are also talking about a tyrannical idea which has many people with political power who want to implement this tyranny.

 

OUR HISTORY OF LIBERTY IS FADING

But for me here is the part of Lincoln’s speech that really hit me. He is talking about how the spirit of “76” will fade as time passes.

Lincoln said: “I do not mean to say, that the scenes of the revolution are not or ever will be entirely forgotten; but that like every thing else, they must fade upon the memory of the world, and grow more and more dim by the lapse of time. In history, we hope, they will be read of, and recounted, so long as the bible shall be read; but even granting that they will, their influence cannot be what it heretofore has been. even then, they cannot be so universally known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the generation just gone to rest. At the close of that struggle, nearly every adult male had been a participator in some of its scenes. The consequence was, that of those scenes, in the form of a husband, a father, a son or brother, a living history was to be found in every family – a history bearing the indubitable testimonies of its own authenticity, in the limbs mangled, in the scars of woulds received, in the midst of the very scenes related – a history, too, that could be read and understood alike by all, the wise and the ignorant, the learned and the unlearned. – But those histories are gone. they can be read no more forever. They were a fortress of strength; but, what invading foeman could never do, the silent artillery of time has done: the leveling of its walls. They are gone. – They were a forest of giant oaks: but the all-resistless hurricane had swept over them, and left only, here and there, a lonely trunk, despoiled of its verdure, shorn of its foliage; unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a few gentle breezes, and to combat with its mutilated limbs, a few more ruder storms, then to sink, and be no more.”

“They were the pillars of the temple of liberty; and now, that they have crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, their descendants, supply their places with other pillars, hewn from the solid quarry of sober reason. Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence. Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws:…

“Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, as the rock of its basis; and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The Marxists and socialist insurgents have a great deal of passion but no sober logic and reason. The side that is supposed to be for individual freedom and liberty and the rule of law has lost its passion. But more importantly it has lost the ability to supply the sober reason necessary to combat the passion of the Marxist and socialist insurgents in our midst.

The party of Lincoln, the Republicans, are supposed to be the party of small government. But very few Republican politicians can articulate why freedom is superior to government central planning aka tyranny. So most have neither passion or reason. That’s a bad combination.

Will people on the side of individual liberty become passionate enough to learn the sober reasoning for freedom and liberty, before the passion of the Marxists and socialist insurgents win the day? Only the passage of time will answer that question.

 

THE CASE FOR FREEDOM

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (read here) was our statement of freedom form tyranny. This document is talking about today as much as it was appropriate in its time. On July 4th, Independence Day, take some time to read the Declaration of Independence. Then tell me it isn’t speaking about the present. This document applies to the past, the present and the future.

 

BONO TALKS ABOUT THE IDEA OF AMERICA

 

 

RAY CHARLES – AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

This gets me everytime.

 

 

Related Article: July 4th 2018: Independence Day, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: July 4th: What Does Independence Day Mean? at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: July 4th – Our Choice: Liberty or Tyranny, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/16/20

Posted May 18, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

LET’S LAUGH

Starting with this George Carlin video.

Germs And Our Immune Systems

Click here if this is taken down.

Some more. This George Carlin video is one of my favorites.

Saving The Planet.

Click here if taken down.

One more.

Jim Carrey is Environmental Guy. From the show In Living Color.

 

COVID REVEALS TYRANNY and LIBERTY PUSHES BACK

I’ve read about how the Berlin wall went up. The communists just strung some barbed wire between East and West Berlin. A couple days later they started to put up a more permanent  concrete wall. If President Kennedy would have had the barbed wire torn down when it first went up, it probably would have deterred the Communist government.

You can’t appease tyrants. Every little power grab will lead to bigger power grabs. They must be stopped when they first attempt to take your liberty.

 

Gov. Inslee To Washington Restaurants: Want To Reopen? You’ll Have To Help Us Track Citizen’s Movements, by Chris Field, at theblaze.com.     There are not enough government employees to implement all of these tyrannical rules. Government can only become tyrannical if we allow it.

HU Facial Recognition Software Predicts Criminality, at archive.is/N1HVe.     This is the movie Minority Report.  This is unconstitutional on many levels.

Twitter Takes Its COVID-19 Censorship Into Overdrive, at zerohedge.com.        Big media pushes the Big Government party line. These “free speech platforms” don’t like free speech.

More People Dying At Home during Covid-19 – UK Analysis, at theguardian.com.       To politicians and “experts”, these lives are not important. They are collateral damage in our war against COVID-19.             Excerpt from the article:

“About 8,000 more people have died in their own homes since the start of the coronavirus pandemic than in normal times, a Guardian analysis has found, as concerns grow over the number avoiding going to hospital.”

“Of that total, 80% died of conditions unrelated to Covid-19, according to their death certificates. Doctors’ leaders have warned that fears and deprioritisation of non-coronavirus patients are taking a deadly toll.”

Georgia COVID Hospitalizations Drop After State Reopens, at zerohedge.com.       This is a short time sample. But it looks promising. Maybe we have built up enough herd immunity to make a difference in spite of Government edicts that made herd immunity more difficult to acquire.

If US Is Unprepared For A Second Wave Of Coronavirus, Fauci Warns Country Could Be In For ‘a Bad Fall and A Bad Winter’, by Christina Maxouris, at ccn.com.           To add to my above comments; Fauci has almost guaranteed a second wave because of his ‘flattening the curve’ policy. By flattening the curve he extended the curve. I hope we have built up enough herd immunity so we don’t have a second wave.

As Waffle Restaurant Defies Closure, Video Shows Fresno Officer’s Confrontation With Angry Customers, at abc7.com.        I am glad people are taking a stand. But these rules are putting police in a no win situation. They are tasked with enforcing arbitrary rules made by power hungry politicians. People are going to push back and someone will get hurt. Why don’t we make the rule makers go out with the police so they can deal with the consequences of the rules they came up with. Let’s see it they can explain their arbitrary rules face to face to the people who are taking a stand.

Seattle Cop Prepares To Be Fired After Refusing To Remove VIral Video Reminding Officers Not To Obey Tyrannical Orders, at zerohedge.com.          Watch this video. This cop gets it.

The Worldwide Lockdown May Be The Greatest Mistake In History, by Dennis Prager, at pjmedia.com.        Excerpt from the article:

“That’s the way it is today on planet Earth, where deceit, cowardice and immaturity now dominate almost all societies because the elites are deceitful, cowardly and immature.”

“But for those open to reading thoughts they may differ with, here is the case for why the worldwide lockdown is not only a mistake but also, possibly, the worst mistake the world has ever made. And for those intellectually challenged by the English language and/or logic, “mistake” and “evil” are not synonyms. The lockdown is a mistake; the Holocaust, slavery, communism, fascism, etc., were evils. Massive mistakes are made by arrogant fools; massive evils are committed by evil people.”

“The forcible prevention of Americans from doing anything except what politicians deem “essential” has led to the worst economy in American history since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is panic and hysteria, not the coronavirus, that created this catastrophe. And the consequences in much of the world will be more horrible than in America.”

 

RUSSIA PROBE, FLYNN CASE, OBAMAGATE

 

Open Memorandum To Barack Obama, by Sidney Powell

Former President Obama said he can’t find precedent for Flynn dismissal. Flynn’s lawyer Sidney Powell calls him out.

Here is what former President Obama said…….“there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”

Her is some of Sidney Powell’s response:

“General Flynn was not charged with perjury—which requires a material false statement made under oath with intent to deceive.1 A perjury prosecution would have been appropriate and the Rule of Law applied if the Justice Department prosecuted your former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his multiple lies under oath in an investigation of a leak only he knew he caused.”

“McCabe lied under oath in fully recorded and transcribed interviews with the Inspector General for the DOJ. He was informed of the purpose of the interview, and he had had the benefit of counsel. He knew he was the leaker. McCabe even lied about lying. He lied to his own agents—which sent them on a “wild-goose-chase”—thereby making his lies “material” and an obstruction of justice. Yet, remarkably, Attorney General Barr declined to prosecute McCabe for these offenses.”

“Applying the Rule of Law, after declining McCabe’s perjury prosecution, required the Justice Department to dismiss the prosecution of General Flynn who was not warned, not under oath, had no counsel, and whose statements were not only not recorded, but were created as false by FBI agents who falsified the 302.”

 

“It would seem your “wingman” Eric Holder is missing a step these days at Covington & Burling LLP. Indelibly marked in his memory (and one might think, yours) should be his Motion to Dismiss the multi-count jury verdict of guilty and the entire case against former United States Senator Ted Stevens. Within weeks of Mr. Holder becoming Attorney General, he moved to dismiss the Stevens prosecution in the interest of justice for the same reasons the Justice Department did against General Flynn—egregious misconduct by prosecutors who hid exculpatory evidence and concocted purported crimes.”

“As horrifying as the facts of the Stevens case were, they pale in comparison to the targeted setup, framing, and prosecution of a newly elected President’s National Security Advisor and the shocking facts that surround it. This case was an assault on the heart of liberty— our cherished system of self-government, the right of citizens to choose their President, and the hallowed peaceful transition of power.”

 

“The inability of anyone in your alumni association to find “anybody who has been charged [with anything] just getting off scot-free” would be laughable were it not so pathetic.”

“………..the egregious prosecutorial misconduct of your longest serving White House Counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler; your counter-terrorism advisor Lisa Monaco; Loretta Lynch’s DAG for the Criminal Division Leslie Caldwell; and Mueller protégé Andrew Weissmann. While they worked as federal prosecutors on the Enron Task Force—under the purported supervision of Christopher Wray—they destroyed Arthur Andersen LLP and its 85,000 jobs; sent four Merrill Lynch executives to prison on an indictment that criminalized an innocent business transaction while they hid the evidence that showed those defendants were innocent for six years. Both cases were reversed on appeal for their over-criminalization and misconduct. Indeed, Andersen was reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court.”

 

“The Mueller special counsel operation led by Andrew Weissmann and Weissmann “wannabes” specializes in prosecutorial terrorist tactics repulsive to everything “justice” is supposed to mean. These tactics are designed to intimidate their targets into pleading guilty—while punishing them and their families with the process itself and financial ruin.”

“Most important, General Flynn was honest with the FBI agents. They knew he was—and briefed that to McCabe and others three different times. At McCabe’s directions, Agent Strzok and McCabe’s “Special Counsel” Lisa Page, altered the 302 to create statements Weissmann, Mueller, Van Grack, and Zainab Ahmad could assert were false. Only the FBI agents lied—and falsified documents. The crimes are theirs alone.”

“These are just a few obvious and well-known examples to those paying any attention to criminal justice issues.”

Eric Holder partner at Covington & Burling Law Firm.      Obama’s former Attorney General Eric Holder is a partner at the law firm that originally defended General Flynn. The incestuous relationship of everyone in Washington D.C. should make us suspicious of everything that goes on in that swamp.

Obama-Era Surveillance Timeline, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com.        Read what happened over Obama’s eight years before you decide what to think.

Collusion Against Trump Timeline, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com.      No comment needed. Just read what happened.

Media Mistakes In The Trump Era: The Definitive List, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com.             Can all these “mistakes” be, well, mistakes?

Top Six Revelations From House Russia Probe’s Newly Declassified Witness Interviews, by Sophie Mann, at justthenews.com.              Do you really need to see more evidence that Trump Russia collusion was nothing more than a made up hoax by politicians with the help of the main stream media?

Obamagate! Trump Tweets Carlson’s Crushing Breakdown Why The Former President Should Be Panicking, at zerohedge.com.          There is no way former President Obama will ever be held legally responsible for anything that happened during his presidency. We don’t do that to former Presidents. But Trump is using Obama’s tactics against him. He is prosecuting him in the court of public opinion. Sal Alinsky tactics?

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

From the babylonbee.com.

Socialism Victory! Workers No Longer Being Exploited Thanks To High Unemployment, at babylonbee.com.

Biden Campaign Hires Interpreter To Translate His Speeches Into English, at babylonbee.com.

Breaking: Dangerous Fascist At  Large At Michigan Capital And Also Some Peaceful Protesters With Guns, at babylonbee.com.

Governor Newsom Orders Ballots To Be Sent To Every Cemetery In State, at babylonbee.com.

68% Say Lockdown Shouldn’t end Until All Diseases Are Eradicated And There Is No War, Hunger, Or Suffering, at babylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Tom Stiglich

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Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Political Cartoons by Pat Cross

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/9/20

Posted May 11, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

FLYNN CASE DISMISSED

No matter how much evidence comes forward proving wrong doing by the deep state starting with the FBI. I know people who will never believe individuals in government used their power to get rid of him. But the evidence can’t be denied.

These individuals in government, included President Obama, couldn’t allow Flynn to be Trumps National Security Advisor. Why? Because he was Obama’s Director Of Defense Intelligence Agency and knew too much. He also understood the intelligence community, which meant he could see what Obama’s FBI, DOJ, and CIA had done and were still doing.

When you look at the Flynn case, think of The Duke Lacrosse Rape case and Prosecutor Michael Nifong. Do you remember that Nifong was disbarred and convicted for contempt of court. Why? Prosecutorial misconduct. He failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys (click here). That is what the prosecutors did to Flynn. But what the FBI did is worse.

I know these articles won’t change some peoples minds about this case. But if you are interested in knowing what government is capable of doing to you, read these.

The FBI, and other individuals in the food chain, thought they would get away with this. They probably would have if they would have not gone after Flynn once they got him fired.

Never trust individuals who have the ability to use government power. Even though they are portrayed as ‘public servants’ they aren’t. They serve their self interest which is to keep and grow their power.

It blows me away that some people are just hearing about the corruption in this case. Many of us have known all of this was B.S. for three years.

 

ARTICLES ABOUT FLYNN CASE

Much Of The FBI’s Treatment Of Mike Flynn Was Business As Usual, And That’s The Scandal, by Scott Schakford, at reason.com.     Excerpt from the article:

“Whether or not there were individuals or factions within the agency that wanted to attack Trump, what the FBI did to Flynn is normal FBI behavior for interviewing suspects. They’ve been doing it for decades. (Remember Martha Stewart?)”

“Federal statute 18 USC 1001 makes it a crime to lie to the feds on a “material” matter, even if the FBI already knows the truth, aren’t misled, and the lie doesn’t affect the investigation. This incentivizes the FBI to play these games in the first place, to try to trick suspects into a lie that could be used against them.”

The Most Complete, Concise, Least-Biased Timeline On The Flynn Case, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com.       No comment needed.

Dirty Dozen: The 12 Revelations That Sunk Mueller’s Case Against Flynn, by John Solomon, at justthenews.com.       No comment needed.

Your Guide To The Obama Administration Hit On Michael Flynn, by Margot Cleveland, at thefederalist.com.          No comment needed.

House Intel Committee Ranking Member: FBI ‘Doctored’ Flynn’s 302 Interview Form, and It’s ‘Missing‘, at dailywire.com.          A 302 is a summary of an FBI interview. The Flynn 302 is missing. Why? Probably because documents show that messages between two agents reveal them talking about  ‘editing’ them to make it look like Flynn lied.

Adam Schiff: DOJ’s Decision Doesn’t Exonerate Flynn, But Incriminates AG Barr, at truepundit.com.     These people accuse their enemy of the exact thing they are doing or what they did.

Chuck Todd Faceplants With Deceptive Video Of William Barr, by David Marcus, at thefederalist.com.      The main stream media is more dishonest than ever. They have no credibility.

Flynn’s Attorney Sidney Powell Sums Up What Individuals With Government Power Did To General Flynn.

 

OTHER STUFF

Do The Media Even Exist? by Victor Davis Hanson, at amgreatness.com.         Escerpt from the article:

“If we lived in a fair and just world, most of the current media would simply go away and try something else.”

“The problem is not that reporters are human and therefore sometimes err. The rub is not even that they are poorly educated or rarely write well.”

“We also expect officials to leak one-sided stories and then the media to print them without edits. These are all things baked into the media cake and the public understands, even if it does not quite accept them.”

“The crisis instead is that they are now almost always wrong, and predictably wrong because they are lazy and biased—and they deny it to the point of self-delusion. The result is that, for all practical purposes, journalists no longer exist for the general public as sources of news.”

“More than half the country now assumes that the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, the networks, and the cable news outlets are culpable not of merely failing to tell the truth but of being incapable of telling the truth. Even if they wished to, or had the skills to report empirically and dispassionately, they simply cannot, given their investments in the progressive agenda, and its investments in them. In other words, they are owned—creatures of that agenda.”

Unbearable Truths About Our Current Political Moment, by Victor Davis Hanson, at amgreatness.com.         Excerpt from the article:

“Sometimes the truth is like mythical kryptonite. It radiates power and yet promises great destruction. And so reality is to be left alone, encased in lead, and kept at bay.”

Coronavirus Response: War Between Experience And Credentials, by Victor Davis Hanson, at national review.com.        Excerpt from the article:

“Credentialed Incredibility”

“One of the most depressing aspects of the coronavirus epidemic has been the failure of the credentialed class — the alphabetic transnational and federal health organizations, the university modelers, the professional associations, and their media enablers. Their collective lapse was largely due to hubris and the assumption that titles and credentials meant they had no need to accept input and criticism from those far more engaged in the physical world — they saw no need to say, “At this time, I confess we are as confused as you are.”

“In sum, the ER doctors, the nurses, and the public in general all eagerly welcomed the research of the experts. But the reverse — in which experts would listen to those with firsthand experience — was not true. The asymmetrical result is that we all have paid a terrible price in misjudging the perfidy of China; the rot within the World Health Organization; the origins, transmission, infectiousness, and lethality of the virus; and the most effective, cost-to-benefit response to the epidemic in terms of saving lives lost to the infection versus the likely even more lives lost through the response.”

“The problem was not just that we were supposed to accept expert, scientific, loud gospel on Monday, which grew muted and doubtful on Tuesday, and in near silence became impossible on Wednesday.”

“In addition, our experts learned nothing and forgot nothing, and so repeated their entire cycle of credentialed haughtiness on Thursday.”

NYTimes Wins Another Pulitzer For Falsifying History, by Kristina Skruk, at thefederalsit.com.        Is anyone shocked by this headline?

Rose McGowan: The Democrats And The Media Are A ‘Cult’, at breitbart.com.       Actress and MeToo activist Rose McGowan has finally figured out what a lot of us have known for a while. The battle isn’t between the D’s and the R’s. The battle is between Us and the elitists in the Democrat and Republican parties, the media, and government bureaucracies. Welcome aboard Rose! Don’t trust anyone with government sanctioned power.

The Real Climate Change Deniers, by Paul Dr Driessen, at cfact.org.        Excerpt from the article:

“Fifty years ago, I helped organize Earth Day #1 programs on my college campus, calling attention to serious pollution problems that afflicted much of the USA. Over the ensuing decades, laws, regulations, and changed attitudes, practices and technologies Reduced most of that pollution, often dramatically.”

“I didn’t buy the 1970 end-is-nigh, doom-and-gloom, billions-will-die hysteria that Ron Stein and Ron Bailey recapture so deliciously, including the manmade global cooling crisis. I don’t buy it today, either – certainly not this year’s Earth Day focus on the alleged man made global warming crisis, also blamed on emissions of carbon dioxide and water vapor, the same gases that humans and animals exhale, and plants use to grow. We’re told the crisis is unprecedented, and poses existential threats to humanity and planet.”

“What I find fascinating in all this is the steadfast, often nasty determination of scientists, politicians and interest groups promoting alarmist themes – and profiting immensely from them – to reject and deny any science, history and evidence that undermines their claim that nothing like this ever happened before.”

Study Finds ‘Historic’ Drop In Math, Reading Scores Since Adoption Of Common Core, at zerohedge.com.              No comment needed.

America Is Awash In Overmothered Men, by by Suzanne Venker, at washingtonexaminer.com.        Excerpt from the article:

“Growing up fatherless, or with a father a son rarely sees due to divorce or workaholism (yes, that’s a thing), almost invariably stunts a boy’s growth. The end result is almost always too much mother, which means boys will absorb too much femininity and none of the masculinity they need. Ergo, he will spend years trying to figure out what it means to be a man.”

“It’s a tough subject, and thus taboo. But at some point, we will have to answer why there are so few strong, grounded, purposeful men among us when they used to be a dime a dozen. Video games have nothing to do with it.”

“We have a hard time in this country acknowledging the problems that plague our boys and men; we’re too focused on women and girls to notice. But women suffer, and currently do suffer, just as much from men’s failure to launch as do men themselves. We know this because we’re forever hearing women ask where all the good men have gone.”

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

at thebabylonbee.com.

Chinese Government Lays Off Entire Propaganda Tea As American Media Doing Their Job For Them, at babylonbee.com.

Lockdown Made Permanent To End Traffic Deaths For Good, at babylonbee.com.

‘Those Dumb Red-Staters Going To The Beach Deserve To Die,’ Man Tweets From New York Subway Train, at babylonbee.com.

‘It’s Worth It If It Saves Just One Life,’ Says Woman Who Supports Abortion On Demand, at babylonbee.com.

Chinese Officials Violently Raid Another Church But Don’t Worry That Will Never Happen Here, at babylonbee.com.

 

What It’s Like To believe Everything The Media Tells You,

at AwakenWithJP

I’ve seen a few of JP’s videos. They are really good. Here is one of my favorites.

If Meat Eaters Acted Like Vegans.

 

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LIBERTY vs. TYRANNY

Posted May 7, 2020 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics, Miscellaneous
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

statue of liberty, new york, usa,

Tyranny orange mosaic emblem with background

 

 

 

THE BATTLE FOR FREEDOM

Thomas Jefferson – “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.”

F.A. Hayek – “The battle for freedom must be won over and over again. The socialists of all parties must be persuaded or defeated if they and we are to remain free men.”

These two quotes describe the existential battle between Liberty and tyranny. As demonstrated in the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, this battle existed in the hearts of men from the beginning. Many people like to tell people what to do. Many people don’t like to be told what to do. And many people are a combination of both.

Each of us accepts varying degrees of governmental tyranny because fighting it has a cost. Each of us assesses the value of liberty differently. For most of us an incremental increase in tyranny isn’t worth the cost of fighting it. But when the value of liberty out weighs the cost of fighting it we start to take a stand and push back.

Tyranny is part of mans DNA. So tyranny is always trying to take away individual liberty. It is like lava flowing from a volcano. Just as it is the nature of lava to consume the ground. It is the nature of tyranny to consume liberty.

This is why, as Hayek states, the battle for freedom must be won over and over. We never arrive at a point where we win the battle, and liberty becomes the normal state of life. Because tyranny is always alive no matter how many stakes have been driven through its heart. It will never die, it is part of the nature of man.

Covid-19 has clearly exposed this battle between liberty and tyranny. Just as the push for Obamacare exposed the battle and was fought by the tea party. Brexit was the push back against the tyranny of the European Union. The election of Trump was the push back against the tyranny of the ruling elites in both parties and the tyranny of the main stream media.

Covid-19 is exposing many of our elite central planners as petty tyrants instead of the ‘public servants’ they claim to be. Many have gotten a taste of power and they like it.

Gov. Whitmer from Michigan, Gov. Coumo from New York, Gov. Beshear of Kentucky are a few examples of tyrants thirsting for more power.

These people think we must bow down to them. We should be thankful that they are public servants sacrificing so much of themselves to help us navigate life’s mine field. Because there is no way we commoners could accurately assess risk, let alone make proper decisions based on that risk. We need our anointed betters to dictate which paths to take. And when these paths lead us either over a cliff or into a cul-de-sac it’s never their fault. And the mainstream media won’t report the failures of the planners. It must be comforting to know that you will never be held accountable for a bad decision because the media is on the side of tyrants.

It is amazing that liberty has survived in America. We fought the tyranny of King George. But the battle didn’t create a permanent state of liberty. John Adams, one of our founders and our second President, got the Alien and Sedition Act passed. The act abridged first amendment free speech rights. It forbade conduct or language leading to rebellion. It was used to arrest, try, and convict news paper editors who were critical of the administration. The constitution was passed in 1787 and the Alien and Sedition Act passed in 1798. That’s eleven years. Obviously tyranny had not been wiped out because we won the battle for freedom against King George.

As far removed as we are from our founding principles, this quote: “Eternal Vigilance The Price Of Freedom”, is more important today than ever. Although we may not have been asleep in our battle for freedom for all these decades. We have taken occasional naps which has put us in our present position of fighting tyranny.

Here are some articles that show us the tyranny of the anointed and the push back by the commoners. The battle is never over.

 

TYRANNY

This list below could almost be endless. You don’t have to read these if you don’t want to. It is a list to show how much is going on. The headlines say it all.

Dallas Salon Owner Sentenced To 7 Days In Jail, Hit With Thousands In Fines For Refusing To Close, by Breck Dumas, at theblaze.com.    Having said what I just said. You have to watch the videos of this arrogant judge lecturing this woman. He is a tyrant.

The Judge said: “..he would consider not giving her jail time if she would agree to close until the governor’s order was lifted and “if she admitted that she was wrong, that she was selfish, and that she should apologize to the elected officials whose orders she violated.”

In other words,  “If you bow to authority. Plead for forgiveness for your sins against your anointed betters. I won’t put you in jail.”

Her response is great. She basically told him to go f~<! himself. But in a nice way. His reaction shows how pissed off he is that she didn’t genuflect and beg.

Fortunately this happened today. Texas Supreme Court Orders Dallas Salon Owner Released As Abbott Bans Jailing Citizens For Lockdown Violations, by Tyler Olson, at foxnews.com.

California Liberals Using Corona-Crisis To Transform State, at zerohedge.com.    Never let a crisis go to waste.

Media Attack Kristi Noem For Not Panicking And Destroying Her State, by Mollie Hemmingway, at thefederalist.com.        Gov. Noem didn’t tow the line with the conventional media wisdom. She must be destroyed.

Kentucky Parents Of 7 Investigated For Abuse After Breaking Social Distancing Rules, by Breck Dumas, at theblaze.com.           I’m surprised the FBI hostage rescue team or the SWAT team wasn’t called to “save the children”.

Harvard Law Prof: Coronavirus Is An Excuse To Dump Free Speech, Property Rights From Constitution, by Alana Mastrangelo, at breitbart.com.        Never let a crisis go to waste.

 As Murder Skyrockets And Criminals Are Released In Chicago, Mayer Threatens Political Dissenters With Arrest, by Daniel Horowitz, at theblaze.com.         You release convicted criminals. But threaten to arrest people exercising their First Amendment rights? That doesn’t make sense to me. But it obviously makes sense to tyrants.

Texas Sheriff Sends SWAT Team With Guns Drawn To Arrest Armed Lockdown Protestors, by Breck Dumas, at theblaze.com.         Now this is more like what a tyrant would do. You intimidate people with a show of force. And you also don’t care if these situations could escalate and someone may get killed.

 

FIGHTING FOR LIBERTY

Americans Are Returning To Normal Life Whether State And Local Officials Like It Or Not, by Phil Shiver, at theblaze.com.          There is not enough of them to arrest all of us.

NYPD Union President Calls de Blasio ‘An Idiot’ For Asking Officers To ‘Violate People’s Rights‘, by Jeannie Taer, at saraacarter.com.           This guy knows that enforcing deBlasio’s  law will get citizens pissed off at the police even more than they are.

Boston Shutdown Protesters To Governor, Mayor: ‘We’re Tired Of You Acting Like Wanna-Be Dictators, by Dave Urbanski, at theblaze.com.               Wasn’t Boston where the Colonists threw tea into the harbor?

Officials Back Down From Enforcing Coronavirus Orders Against Defiant Texas Restaurant Owner, at truepundit.com.

Shutdown Unrest: From CA To NY, Thousands Across Nation Turn Out For Lockdown Protests, by Amanda Prestigiacomo, at dailywire.com.          We don’t like to be told what to do if it seems arbitrary.

New York ‘Snitch Line’ Inundated With Obscenities Memes, at dailydot.com.         Every tyrant figures there will never be push back. Some will cave if we just take a stand.

Michigan House Rejects Lockdown Extension, Votes To Sue Gov. Whitmer Instead, at truepundit.com.      No comment needed.

Michigan Law School Students Launch Lawsuit At Whitmer’s Lockdown, by Tristan Justice, at thefederalist.com.        No comment needed.

Virginia Judge Rules Indoor Gun Range Can Reopen, Dealing A Blow To Gov. Northam’s Shutdown Order, at truepundit.com.           Never let a crisis go to waste.

After Getting Blasted For ‘Nazi-Like’ Order That Churches Keep Lists Of Attendees, KC Mayor Backs Down, by Dave Urbanski, at theblaze.com.                         If you stand up to a bully, there is a good chance he will back down.

 

CONCLUSION

Elvis Was King, Ike Was President, And 116,000 Americans Died In A Pandemic, by Jeffry Tucker, at aier.org.     Excerpt from the article:

“In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in East Asia, triggering a pandemic (“Asian Flu”). This H2N2 virus was comprised of three different genes from an H2N2 virus that originated from an avian influenza A virus, including the H2 hemagglutinin and the N2 neuraminidase genes. It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. The estimated number of deaths was 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States.”

“The population of the U.S. at the time was 172 million, which is a little more than half of the current population. Life expectancy was 69 as versus 78 today. Even with shorter lives, it was a healthier population with lower rates of obesity. To extrapolate the data to a counterfactual, we can conclude that this virus was more wicked than COVID-19 thus far.”

“What’s remarkable when we look back at this year, nothing was shut down. Restaurants, schools, theaters, sporting events, travel – everything continued without interruption. Without a 24-hour news cycle with thousands of news agencies and a billion websites hungry for traffic, mostly people paid no attention other than to keep basic hygiene. It was covered in the press as a medical problem. The notion that there was a political solution never occurred to anyone.”

America Doesn’t Have A Justice System Anymore, by Kurt Schlichter, at townhall.com.         Excerpt from the article:

“The good news is that you might get out of future jury duty, because when you are asked under oath about your own biases during a federal criminal case jury selection you would have to answer honestly by responding, “Your Honor, I don’t trust a damn thing anyone in the FBI says.”

“Oh, and if an FBI agent asks if he can ask you some questions, try not to burst into laughter before you reply, “No, I assert my right to remain silent” and call your lawyer.”

“And this sorry state of affairs is all the FBI’s fault.”

Our Dress Rehearsal For A Police State, by Dennis Prager, at dailywire.com.     Excerpt from the article:

“But the ease with which police state tactics have been employed and the equal ease with which most Americans have accepted them have been breathtaking.”

“People will argue that a temporary police state has been justified because of the allegedly unique threat to life posed by the new coronavirus. I do not believe the data will bear that out. Regardless, let us at least agree that we are closer to a police state than ever in American history.”

“Police state” does not mean totalitarian state. America is not a totalitarian state; we still have many freedoms. In a totalitarian state, this article could not be legally published, and if it were illegally published, I would be imprisoned and/or executed.”

“But we are presently living with all four of the key hallmarks of a police state:

No. 1: Draconian laws depriving citizens of elementary civil rights.

“The federal, state, county and city governments are now restricting almost every freedom except those of travel and speech”

No. 2: A mass media supportive of the state’s messaging and deprivation of rights.

“…… mainstream mass medium ……. have served the cause of state control over individual Americans’ lives just as Pravda served the Soviet government. In fact, there is almost no more dissent in The New York Times than there was in Pravda.”

No. 3: Use of police.

“Police departments throughout America have agreed to enforce these laws and edicts with what can only be described as frightening alacrity.”

No. 4: Snitches.

“How do the police dispatchers learn of lawbreakers such as families playing softball in a public park, lone joggers without face masks, etc.? From their fellow citizens snitching on them.”

“If you love liberty, you must see that it is jeopardized more than at any time since America’s founding. And that means, among other things, that at this time, a vote for any Democrat is a vote to end liberty.”

The Three Nations Of Covid And A Windbag Named Fauci, by David Stockman, at lewrockwell.com.      Excerpt from the article:

“Indeed, with each passing update, the CDC data itself becomes an ever more dispositive indictment of the madness the Donald’s doctors have imposed on the nation. It is now strikingly clear, in fact, that when it comes to Covid-19 there are three nations in America, and that the attempt to shoe-horn them into a one-size fits all regime of state control is tantamount to insane.”

“There is first the Kids Nation of some 61 million persons under 15 years, where even by the CDCs elastic definitions there have been just 5 WITH Covid deaths thru April 28. You needn’t even bother with the zero-ridden fraction of 1 per 100,000 (its actually 0.008) to make the point.”

“That is to say, last year there were about 44,000 deaths among the Kids Nation – so corona-virus accounts for just 0.011% of the total, and in no sane world would it be a reason for shutting down the schools.”

“…..the Parents/Workers Nation. That is the 215 million citizens between 15 and 64, who account for the overwhelming share of commerce, jobholders and GDP.”

“Yet according to the CDC, there have been just 8,267 deaths WITH Covid in this massive expanse of the population, which figure represents a mortality rate of, well, 3.6 per 100,000.”

“But here’s the thing. The normal total mortality rate for the 15-64 years old population is 335 per 100,000. So we are talking about shutting down the entire economy owing to a death rate to date which amounts to 1.1% of normal mortality in the Parents/Workers nation.”

“Finally, we have Grandparents/Great Grandparents Nation, comprised of 52 million citizens. But they account for 32,000 or nearly 80% of the WITH Covid deaths as of April 28 – with 15,000 of these being among those 85 years and older.”

“By way of computation, that’s 61 deaths per 100,000 for the group as a whole and 230 per 100,000 for the 85 years and older.”

“Stated differently, the risk of death posed by Covid-19 is 7,600X greater for Grandparents/Great Grandparents Nation overall than for Kids Nation, and 29,000 times greater for the several million Great-Grandparents afflicted with severe comorbidity and likely as not to be in the care of a nursing home.”

“Needless to say, it did not take a catastrophic experiment with Lockdown Nation to figure this out. It was already known from China and the history of other coronaviruses.”

“If there were any reason or justice left in America, Dr. Fauci and the Scarf Lady and the whole CDC/WHO lobby that brought about this disaster would actually be headed for their own quarantine – the kind that doesn’t happen at home and which can’t be lifted by the whims of the Cuomo brothers or Mayor Robespierre.”

There’s Another Chinese Virus Infecting The Minds Of Intellectuals, by Andrew Klavan, at dailywire.com.             Excerpt from the article:

“……. during this Courtesy-of-Wuhan crisis, American tech companies “are proudly collaborating with one another, and following government guidance, to censor harmful information related to the coronavirus. And they are using their prodigious data-collection capacities, in coordination with federal and state governments, to improve contact tracing, quarantine enforcement, and other health measures.”

“Far from regarding this as an evil, or at least as an emergency contingency that needs to be walked back when the crisis ends, the professors believe that big business’ censoring and surveilling of Americans should become the new normal.”

“The idea of the piece was that during this Courtesy-of-Wuhan crisis, American tech companies “are proudly collaborating with one another, and following government guidance, to censor harmful information related to the coronavirus. And they are using their prodigious data-collection capacities, in coordination with federal and state governments, to improve contact tracing, quarantine enforcement, and other health measures.”

“Far from regarding this as an evil, or at least as an emergency contingency that needs to be walked back when the crisis ends, the professors believe that big business’ censoring and surveilling of Americans should become the new normal.”

“….the Chinese are forcibly harvesting the organs of dissenters and other marginalized groups in their concentration camps. These reports – which sound like something out of some preposterous thriller novel – were confirmed by an international tribunal last year. Mr. Mosher says the Chinese are using technology culled from America to render these prisoners brain dead in order to keep the organs fresh.”

“And yet, many in our academies continue to share our technology and research with China as if they were just another international neighbor.”

 

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