Libertyaholic

Seems that high levels of enterococci, (an indicator that the water is contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria) is in abundant supply in Martha’s Vineyard’s Beach Waters.

The good news is that I doubt this will diminish the Obama Family’s festive mood! What with record numbers of Americans receiving Food Stamps, generational record breaking unemployment, unsustainable government debt loads, bankrupt states, general populace despair regarding foreclosures, and ongoing wars, nothing is going to keep the Obama Family from enjoying their 6th (sixth) vacation of the year!

Why, don’t all Americans take multi-hundred thousand dollar vacations 3, 4, 5, or 6 times per year?

Spend a few minutes with Charlton Heston.  One of his best Second Amendment talks.

“We must tell it, teach it, live it, breathe it.”

We’re very pleased to announce that GunBlogs.org is now following the writings of Rob Reed.  GunBlogs.org is following both of Rob’s great publishing platforms:

Michigan Firearms Examiner & Detroit Gun Rights Examiner

We’re looking forward to reading his work.

School teachers and state employees being laid off en masse, private businesses still firing people at stunning rates, dollar strengthening compared to our export market in Europe, US Gulf coast economy soon to be destroyed,  house prices declining again, riots in Greece and Thailand, drug gang wars in Mexico and Jamaica, war and terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, tensions between South and North Korea the highest in 50 years, Iran messing around with nukes…

I feel a recovery coming on.

Just when you thought the Euro was the big story of the day over in Europe, we find out that Iceland’s famous volcano is acting up again and disrupting travel.

Incredibly enough, there are rumblings (yes, that’s a pun) that Katla (Eyjafjallajokull’s BIG sister) is making noises.

Hang onto your hat, this may get interesting.

If you are interested in viewing a live feed – Just click here.

Every once in a while, a representative of the MSM actually let’s the truth slip out.

Feeling proud Pennsylvania?  Definitely “liberty off”.

A self evaluation form from the talented WilliamBanzai7 Blog:

The forgotten lessons of 2008

The four most dangerous words in investing are, “This time is different.” 

In this spirit, we highlight the lessons that should have been learned from the turmoil of 2008, complements of Seth Klarman.  The excerpt below is from his annual letter.  While most market participants have immediately forgotten these lessons, more prudent investors (who may still suffer from short term memory loss) should consider dusting this list off on an annual basis!

The original Crack Shack or Mansion game.
The game features real Vancouver real estate listings, as of April 10th, 2010.

Can you tell the difference between a crack shack and a Vancouver, BC mansion, listed for one or two million dollars? Find out!

Dr. Strangelove: Sir! I have a plan!
[standing up from his wheelchair]

Dr. Strangelove: Mein Führer! I can walk!

[discussing the Doomsday machine]

President Merkin Muffley: How is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically and at the same time impossible to untrigger?

Dr. Strangelove: Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy… the FEAR to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision-making process which rules out human meddling, the Doomsday machine is terrifying and simple to understand… and completely credible and convincing.

[Strangelove's plan for post-nuclear war survival involves living underground with a 10:1 female-to-male ratio]

General “Buck” Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?

Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.

Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn’t you tell the world, EH?

Ambassador de Sadesky: It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves surprises.

President Merkin Muffley: You mean people could actually stay down there for a hundred years?

Dr. Strangelove: It would not be difficult, Mein Führer. Nuclear reactors could – heh, I’m sorry, Mr. President – nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.

It is a foretaste of what may happen across the world as governments discover that tax revenue, and discover that the bond markets are unwilling to plug the gap. The G7 states are already acquiring an unhealthy taste for the arbitrary seizure of private property, I notice.

Read the rest here.

See if you can wrap your head around this:

One Million seconds equals about 12 days.

One Billion seconds equals about 31 years.

One Trillion seconds equals about 31,000 years.

How’s your trading been going the past few years?  Were you aware that you were up against hedge funds that were actively manipulating the market (probably) against you?

Words to live by.

Tactical Intelligence reports:

Hundreds of Chilean survivors are forming organized neighborhood watch groups, arming themselves and barricading streets to protect their homes from looters.

The groups have taken over the role of security since the police were overwhelmed by looting and soldiers were not able to restore order quick enough after the disaster.

He goes on to discuss what this means for all of us during any type of disaster.  Worth a read!

CNBC: 

“You see sir, I am a huge fan of yours, but I have a real difficulty here that I’d like you to help me out with. If I’m looking to invest in my retirement, I have a choice of investing the American stock market, which is basically a play on change, bright people, working internationally in teams, around the world, and chasing the margin every day of their lives… OR… I can do what you’re suggesting and buy an inanimate object that sits in a dark, damp cellar somewhere, that may or may not be in short supply, may or may not glitter in the correct light, but really has no productive power. Isn’t gold the ultimate Ponzi scheme?”

At first I thought this was a joke – but alas – CNBC journalists know full well the definition of a  Ponzi Scheme (and gold is the antithesis of a Ponzi Scheme) and shamelessly cheerlead the equities market in spite of  fundamental flaws.

But then again, I’ve already reported that listening to CNBC can be dangerous to your financial health.

Wired magazine has a great article on the dangers of cell phone radiation.  Mind you, this is close-proximity exposure.  Christopher Ketcham went on to say:

It’s hard to talk about the dangers of cell-phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. This is especially true in the United States, where non-industry-funded studies are rare, where legislation protecting the wireless industry from legal challenges has long been in place, and where our lives have been so thoroughly integrated with wireless technology that to suggest it might be a problem—maybe, eventually, a very big public-health problem—is like saying our shoes might be killing us.

Being a Ham Radio operator, I’ve been wary of cell phones since day one.  To become an Amateur Radio Operator, you have to study and pass a test.  If you want to increase your operating privileges, you are required to study and then test for these increased privileges.  A basic and important part of our knowledge revolves around RF Radiation and Electromagnetic Field Safety.

We have basic guidelines and tools to evaluate our stations for compliance with the FCC’s RF exposure guidelines.  Has this ever been discussed or provided for cell phone users?

Yes, the RF power levels are less than your average amateur radio handie-talkie, but instead of the device (your walkie talkie) radiating at 144 mhz or 440mhz, you are holding a device (your cell phone) against your head that is radiating in the microwave range. That’s right, in my opinion, you essentially have a little microwave oven right against your face.

Still not convinced?  Let’s take a peek at the frequencies involved.

Cell Phone Frequencies

GSM usually operates in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz bands.
TMobile is reported to use 1700 MHz and 2100 Mhz.

Microwave Oven Frequencies

The Microwave Oven in your kitchen usually uses:  2450 MHz.
Commercial Microwave Ovens usually operate around 915 MHz.

Still not sure why this matters to you?  Let’s review how a Microwave Oven works: (From Wikipedia)

A microwave oven works by passing non-ionizing microwave radiation, usually at a frequency of 2.45 gigahertz (GHz)—a wavelength of 122 millimetres (4.80 in)—through the food. Microwave radiation is between common radio and infrared frequencies. Water, fat, and other substances in the food absorb energydielectric heating. Many molecules (such as those of water) are electric dipoles, meaning that they have a positive charge at one end and a negative charge at the other, and therefore rotate as they try to align themselves with the alternating electric field of the microwaves. This molecular movement represents heat which is then dispersed as the rotating molecules hit other molecules and put them into motion.

Sounds like a great way to stimulate the old brain flesh and agitate yourself a home-grown tumor.

President Barack Obama is spending $2.1 million to help Suntech Power Holdings Co. build a solar- panel plant in Arizona. It will hire 70 Americans to assemble components made by Suntech’s 11,000 Chinese workers.

That gap shows the challenge Obama faces as he works to create “green” jobs. Asia makes more than half the world’s wind and solar energy equipment, and is gaining ground as U.S. factories lose out to cheaper labor and higher demand for clean energy. China for the first time topped the U.S. in wind-turbine manufacturing and installations last year, the Brussels-based Global Wind Energy Council said yesterday in a report.

President Obama speaks without a teleprompter.

The DMV was just a dry-run.

With the amount flood damaged and ex-wrecked and ex-junked cars and trucks out there in the market, this is a good thing:

A national database that allows consumers to view the history of used vehicles went into effect this year, but federal official said Tuesday that some states are not contributing vehicle records to the system.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System allows potential used car buyers to check the title, odometer reading, accident history and other information for a fee of less than $5.

The system was first proposed in the early 1990s, but was stalled until consumer protection agencies took legal action forcing the federal government to enact the program. It is currently administered by the Justice Department.

All states, insurance carriers and junk yards are required to submit data on vehicles to the system, and states were required to comply by Jan. 1.

But the District of Columbia and four states—Oregon, Illinois, Mississippi and Kansas—have yet to submit records, saying they don’t have enough money for the computer upgrades and clerical work needed to take part.    Even without their participation, roughly 80 percent of registered vehicles in the United States are included.

——————————-  From the Website:

Don’t Be Fooled. Protect Yourself.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is designed to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold. NMVTIS is also a tool that assists states and law enforcement in deterring and preventing title fraud and other crimes.

Use NMVTIS to access important vehicle history information. Data available to consumers include:

* Title data
* Brand history
* Odometer reading
* Total loss history
* Salvage history

A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men … [W]e have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.

All of the above is from Woodrow Wilson’s The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (New York and Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1913).

In this same work, Wilson also wrote:

Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.

This video has made its rounds over the years, but may be new to some of you.

Only from the UK:  Restaurant outlaws the “dangerous” toothpicks.

Tracey Porreca at Finding Myself in Alaska posted this light-hearted video.

Take heed, please.

You may remember my last post regarding the TSA.

Now we have a TSA Jokster terrorizing a young woman.

Wow.

Paul Krugman (The Conscience of a Liberal at the New York Times) writes:

He Wasn’t The One We’ve Been Waiting For

And across the great and mighty pond, the Germans proclaim:

The World Bids Farewell to Obama

It’s amazing how Washington D.C. gives the chosen few on Wall Street unlimited funds – paid by the American Taxpayer.  Where is the change?

The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so. Indeed I would go so far as to say that the underdog is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order.”

~ Adolf Hitler, April 11, 1942, in “Hitler’s Table-Talk at the Führer’s Headquarters 1941–1942,” Dr. Henry Picker, ed. (Athenaeum Verlag, Bonn, 1951)

President Obama said today that he believes he lost a direct connection to the American people in his first year in office because he focused too heavily on policymaking.

Did he lose the connection because of focusing too heavily on policymaking – OR – Did he lose the connection because of his policymaking?

Like a man with severe frostbite, Obama has indeed lost touch with the conservative and independent  American.  We’ve been trying to throw him a lifeline for a year, but he just can’t get a grip.

Watch the video here:  http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9613937