BLOG OF THE WEEK OF JANUARY 23, 2012   MORE, MORE, MORE

~ Now and then, ’Fork reckons that Chicken Little might could get it right. ~

“There is one person — one American among the 300 million of us — who is not to blame for the state of the union. Everyone else, each of you, in some small or large way, bears some share of the blame, but not this guy. Not one little bit.

This guy is Barack Obama

“. . . Mr. Obama blames everyone but himself. Mr. Bush, he says, left the nation in a ditch, a deep ditch, and he’s been digging out since he took office. And Congress? Those guys are just plain awful, he says. So mean. Wah, they won’t do anything I want done! Mr. Obama feels so sure about it that he’s basing his re-election campaign on bashing Capitol Hill.”

Ed.:  You won’t be getting this in your face at tomorrow’s State of the Union . . . gaw-ron-teed.

“The truly dismal state of the union” By Joseph Curl, The Washington Times.  January 22, 2012

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/22/curl-the-truly-dismal-state-of-the-union/?page=all#pagebreak

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~ Elite more than just rhymes with effete and stinks like . . . well, you know. ~

~ Usual suspects dancing the suspicious. ~

~ Of masters and masses ~

~ Oh, come on.  Doesn’t each of us dwell on illusions, allusions and delusions of grandest grandeur and superiority?  Huh?  Right?  Right? ~

“Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as ‘outdated and crumbling.’

" ‘We have a general morality gap, we are over-leveraged, we have neglected to invest in the future, we have undermined social coherence, and we are in danger of completely losing the confidence of future generations,’ said Klaus Schwab, host and founder of the annual World Economic Forum.

"Solving problems in the context of outdated and crumbling models will only dig us deeper into the hole.

" 'We are in an era of profound change that urgently requires new ways of thinking instead of more business-as-usual,' the 73-year-old said, adding that 'capitalism in its current form, has no place in the world around us.' "

. . .

"Beyond economic issues, the forum will address a plethora of other subjects.

Sessions will range from scientific discoveries expected to shape 2012, to a discussion on the differences perceived when a Beethoven sonata is played on historic and modern instruments, to how virtual games can be harnessed for innovation in the real world.

It will also hear about the profound changes in the Arab world after a series of revolutions swept across the region in 2011.”

“Davos elites to seek reforms of 'outdated' capitalism” by Breitbart, Jan 22, 2012

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.be33fda73987ff722e71ca3a18f1bfaf.351&show_article=1

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“After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military.”  William S. Burroughs

“America... just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.”  Hunter S. Thompson

“I love it when the left and when the president say, 'Don't try to impose your values on us, you folks who hold your Bibles in your hand and cling to your guns.' They have values too. Our values are based on religion, based on life. Their values are based on a religion of self.”  Rick Santorum

“Gun lovers. Herewith are thirteen things to remember when carrying your weapon.  BTW- this list is not original.  I’ve Google[d] up the bullet points but alas …I got nada in regards to who penned it. If and when someone schools me on who the author is you can rest assure that I’ll give him or her proper praise.  Enjoy.

“1. Guns have only two enemies rust and politicians.

“2. It’s always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

“3. Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you.

“4. Never let someone or something that threatens you get inside arms length.

“5. Never say, ‘I’ve got a gun.’  If you need to use deadly force, the first sound they hear should be the safety clicking off.

“6. The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of a .357 is 1400 feet per second.

“7. The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win – cheat if necessary.

“8. Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets . . . You may get killed with your own gun, but he’ll have to beat you to death with it, because it’ll be empty.

“9. If you’re in a gunfight:

-  If you’re not shooting, you should be loading.

-  If you’re not loading, you should be moving.

-  If you’re not moving, you’re dead.

“10. In a life and death situation, do something . . . It may be wrong, but do something!

“11. If you carry a gun, people call you paranoid. Nonsense! If you have a gun, what do you have to be paranoid about?

“12. You can say ‘stop’ or ‘alto’ or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone’s head is pretty much a universal language.

“13. You cannot save the planet, but you may be able to save yourself and your family.”

“13 Politically Incorrect Gun Rules” By Doug Giles, dailycaller.com, 01/16/2012, republished (?) 1/23/12

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/16/13-politically-incorrect-gun-rules/ 

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~ Blast from the (not too distant) Past ~

“In Entitlement America, The Head Of A Household Of Four Making Minimum Wage Has More Disposable Income Than A Family Making $60,000 A Year” by Tyler Durden, zerohedge.com, 11/22/2010

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/entitlement-america-head-household-making-minimum-wage-has-more-disposable-income-family-mak

. . . . . . .

~ “Rules is rules.  Yah.”

“Please, sir, but where does the U.S. Constitution fit in to your way of thinking and your big badge and big gun?” ~

PART THE FIRST

“Sen. Rand Paul told his communications director this morning he was being detained by TSA at the Nashville airport.

. . .

“The Twitter account associated with Paul staffer Moira Bagley . . . ‘I just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.’

“A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever ‘detained.’ But he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport when he tried to board a flight Monday morning.

“The standoff was short-lived. By late morning, according to TSA, Paul had been booked on another flight and made it through the screening process.

“The TSA version of events is that Paul triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process (pat-down) in order to resolve the issue.  Paul was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement.

. . .

“The U.S. Constitution actually protects federal lawmakers from detention while they’re on the way to the capital.

“ ‘The Senators and Representatives…shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same….’ according to Article I, Section 6.

“The Senate is back in session today at 2 p.m., with votes scheduled at 4:30 p.m. It is not clear if Paul will make it to Washington by 4:30 p.m. on his new flight.

“The issue of pat-downs has been an important one to Paul, the son of libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Sen.  Paul brought this issue up at a hearing earlier this year.
 

“Rand Paul’s Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville Ends” by Sunlen Miller, abs.go.com, Jan 23, 2012

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/rand-paul-in-pat-down-standoff-with-tsa-in-nashville/ 

. . .

PART THE SECOND

~ “Where does the U.S. Constitution fit in to my way of thinking and such?”

“Yes, sir, please?”

“Go away, kid.  I gotta job to do.” ~

“White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that he didn't have any reaction to Paul's comment about ‘police state.’
“But Carney sided with the TSA saying, ‘I think it is absolutely essential that we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe.’ ”

“White House sides with TSA in Rand Paul standoff” By Keith Laing, thehill.com, 01/23/12

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/tsa/205813-white-house-sides-with-tsa-in-rand-paul-standoff

. . . . . . .

~ Sold. . . To the old fat guy blowing kisses to the tall guy to his left. ~

~ File:  Bes’ gubmint mo-ney cain buy. ~

“With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.

“ ‘Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,’ Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said in an interview. If Keystone XL ‘doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul.’ ”

“Buffett’s Burlington Northern Among Winners From Keystone Denial” By Jim Efstathiou Jr., Jan 23, 2012

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/buffett-s-burlington-northern-among-winners-in-obama-rejection-of-pipeline.html 

. . . . . . .

~ File: D’uh

. . . than dirt.  How’s democracy working for ya? ~

“Egypt‘s newly elected interim People’s Assembly elected Muslim Brotherhood’s Saad Katatni to be its new Speaker. The Brotherhood won 235 seats in the 498 seat chamber. The dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s new parliament, however, has many Egyptians worried because of the Islamic group‘s longstanding stances on issues like women’s rights, minority rights, Islamic shariah law. In addition to the list of concerns, westerners also fear the Brotherhoods own self-proclaimed anti-West, anti-Israel positions.

. . .

"Meanwhile, Egypt’s business community and affluent secular communities are scrambling over fears tha[t] shariah law will set the country back into the Stone Age.  Some businessmen have reportedly been quietly trying to funnel their money out of the country, and some Christians and Western-educated individuals have been emigrating as inconspicuously as possible."

“World Worries Spread as Egypt Elects Muslim Brotherhood Parliament Speaker” by Tiffany Gabbay, theblaze.com, January 23, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/worries-spread-as-egypt-elects-muslim-brotherhood-parliament-speaker/

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~ It is a matter of time; not so much time. ~

“Clearly, global trade is collapsing as evidenced by the near historic lows being placed by the BDI.
“If the Fed disappoints next week and fails to officially announce QE3, look for the BDI to plunge further to all-time lows.
“So much for those green shoots.” 

“Baltic Dry Index Plunging to Near Historic Lows by The Doc, silverdoctors.com, January 21, 2012

http://silverdoctors.blogspot.com/2012/01/baltic-dry-index-plunging-to-near.html

. . . . . . .

~ Is, too.  The best DOJ money can buy and buy again.  Is, too. ~

“U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who's Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows.”

“Insight: Top Justice officials connected to mortgage banks” By Scot J. Paltrow, reuters.com, January 20, 2012

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-holder-mortgage-idUSTRE80J0PH20120120

. . . . . . .

~ Ya think?  Ya think, again? ~

“ ‘I think you can write a psychological profile of me,’ he once told interviewer Gail Sheehy, ‘that says I found a way to immerse my insecurities in a cause large enough to justify whatever I wanted it to.’

“This qualifies him as a terrific subject for a newspaper interview. But for a president, not so much.”

“PRUDEN: Newt Gingrich and the ‘moral thing’ By Wesley Pruden, The Washington Times, January 24, 2012

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/24/pruden-newt-gingrich-and-the-moral-thing/ 

. . . . . . .

~ Are you ready? ~

“ ‘At times like these, survival is the most important thing,’ he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesn’t just mean it’s time to protect your assets. He means it’s time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history—a period of ‘evil.’ “Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether.”

“George Soros on the Coming U.S. Class War: The situation is about as serious and difficult as I've experienced in my career.' ” by John Arlidge, thedailybeast.com, January 23, 2012

. . . . . . .

~ Precrime?  Like whassup with this?  Pretyranny?  Prejackboot?  Prenoway? ~

“In a glowing review of the rising prevalence of high-tech big brother surveillance gadgets in police force use, the Associated Press reports that East Orange, New Jersey plans to cut crime by highlighting suspects with a red-beamed spotlight– before any crime is committed– a ‘pre-crime’ deterrent to be mounted on nearby street lights or other fixtures.”

“Red Spotlights to Mark ‘Precrime’ Suspects:  East Orange, New Jersey to beam suspects of future criminal activity with flashy, hi-tech police surveillance equipment by Aaron Dykes,” Infowars.com, January 23, 2012

http://www.infowars.com/red-spotlights-to-mark-precrime-suspects/

. . . . . . .

~ Jus’ doin’ The Geithner.  Hubbahubba, cha, cha, cha.  So swee’ to be me. ~

“Internal Revenue Service data show that 3 percent of Senate staffers and more than 4 percent of House staffers owed taxes in 2010, adding up to about $10.6 million in unpaid taxes. More than 98,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their taxes in 2010, adding up to more than $1 billion in taxes owed, according to the IRS.”

“Hundreds of Capitol Hill Staffers Didn't Pay Taxes in 2010” by foxnews.com, January 24, 2012

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/24/hundreds-capitol-hill-staffers-didnt-pay-taxes-in-2010/

. . . . . . .

~ Know these spooks and goons?  Know these spooks and goons. ~

“Eventually, before the citizen knows it, he will have become everything his state wants him to be. When black is white, and he knows it to be so, he will finally be a patriot.”

“Knowing Your Role as an Obedient Citizen” By Joel Bowman, dailyreckoning.com, January 23, 2012

http://dailyreckoning.com/knowing-your-role-as-an-obedient-citizen/

. . . . . . .

~ Army running out of camps in California? ~

~ Mebbe it’s that 1000 days without a federal budget thingy. ~

~ See the nice men morph to more thugs and goons.  No, honey, they used to be Americans. ~

“Joint military training exercises will be held evenings in downtown Los Angeles through Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

. . .

“The training, which a department official said would involve helicopters, has been coordinated with local authorities and owners of the training sites, police said.

. . .

“The exercises are closed to the public, police said.

“The exercises are designed to ensure the military's ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments, and meet mandatory training certification requirements, police said.”

Ed.:  ‘Operate in urban environments’ like America urban environments?  ‘Prepare for upcoming overseas deployment’ in locales like downtown LA?  ‘Meet mandatory training certification requirements’ like all the military’s been doing for oh so very long all over the American landscape?  Lies, lies, and more lies.  ‘Just get on the train.  There’s a better place for you just down the tracks and around the bend.’  

“LA Military Exercises” by David Perez, kfiam640.com, January 24, 2012

http://www.kfiam640.com/pages/NEWS.html?article=9653697

. . . . . . .

~ The Supremes shirk, shy away, and shrivel where another Sorosianista no longer fears to tread ~

~ To be fair about ‘failure to perform,’ recusal should have been embraced from the get-go ~

~ Corruption pervades for so long that the ‘new normal’ is now simply ‘normal.’ ~

“Supreme Court says no to debate over Elena Kagan health care role” by JENNIFER HABERKORN, politico.com, 1/23/12

. . . . . . .

~ In ‘Fork’s opinion, unlike the piles of articles on petrodollars this and petrodollars that – filled with numbing numbers, Godawful graphs, and jibber-jargon – this one veers into relative simplicity albeit somewhat speculative simplicity and a surprise or two. ~

“Rumors are swirling that India and Iran are at the negotiating table right now, hammering out a deal to trade oil for gold. Why does that matter, you ask? Only because it strikes at the heart of both the value of the US dollar and today's high-tension standoff with Iran.”

“The Demise of the Petrodollar” by Marin Katusa, Casey Research, January 24, 2012

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/demise-petrodollar

. . . . . . .

Ed.:  Yes.  ’Fork thought wrong that he’d passed this beauty along to you already.  Cain’t find it nowhere.   In the old guy’s opinion, David Galland does a better job than most would to lay out terms and conditions.  While it seems to ’Fork that this one takes its good time to wind up and it ends with a whimper and not a bang, ’Fork appreciates that it eschews a rant to push around on the dark side of considering the extent to which there might could be American military boots on American civilian necks.  The excerpt to follow sets up the piece admirably. 

“The Praetorian Class includes members of the Armed Services, federal, state and local law enforcement personnel as well as numerous militarized officials including agents from the DEA, Immigrations, Customs Enforcement, Air Marshalls, US Marshalls, and more. It also includes, although to a lesser extent, various stage actors in the expanding security theater such as TSA personnel. The main mission of the Praetorian Class is to keep the order of the day. This requires displaying an intimidating presence in their interactions with the Economic Class.

“As the Praetorian Class ascends, the clear, albeit unstated, message that emerges is that actions and events in the Economic Class only occur with its tacit consent. Whether driving on roads, traveling in the air, visiting public land, walking down the street or even living in your own home, every action you take is predicated on its permission. By preconditioning the populace to enforcement of its edicts, most of which are completely arbitrary, the Praetorian Class sets itself up for a high degree of autonomy in its actions.”

“The Rise of the Praetorian Class” by Pete Kofod, Casey Research, January 17, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/orig12/kofod2.1.1.html   (Casey’s URL would not connect for the geezer, and the original of the article in Casey Daily Dispatch had too much jabber-jabber leading up to the good stuff to ’Fork’s liking.)

. . . . . . .

~ Robert Joseph Dole : Republicans :: James Earl Carter, Jr. : Democrats ~

~ Beware of bitter old men.  They didn’t get what was owed ’em, and neither should the next guy – owed or earned.  Else, what’s the dark side of Establishment for? ~

“Politics Bob Dole: Picking Gingrich Would Lead to a ‘Sweeping Victory’ for Obama” by Madeleine Morgenstern, theblaze.com, January 26, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/bob-dole-picking-gingrich-would-lead-to-a-sweeping-victory-for-obama/