Mencken says…

Henry Louis “H. L.” Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, and critic of American life and culture. Mencken is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century.

Here are a few of his most famous observations:

“Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.”
“We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.”

“When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.”

“A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.”

“A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.”

“A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.”

What’s Wrong with States’ Rights?

by Audrey Pietrucha

First there were “Truthers” andthen “Birthers,” and now there are “Tenthers.” To be accurate, the “Tenthers” actually came first, since this newly coined term (which is supposed to denote a “fringe” position and is therefore derogatory) refers to those who believe the 10th Amendment to the Constitution actually means what it says, that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.

By this definition, today’s “Tenthers” may consider themselves in good company since we can assume many, if not all, of the founders themselves agreed with this concept.

The history of the “Tenthers” dates back to 1789, when the Constitution was being considered for ratification throughout the former colonies. Though the enumerated powers listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution seemed concise enough to limit federal power, Americans were still wary of government’s tendency to grow and liberty to yield.

Wikileaks Soldier Reveals Orders for “360 Rotational Fire” Against Civilians in Iraq

By Ralph Lopez

Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers seen in the now-famous Wikileaks video in which two American Apache helicopters fire upon a relaxed, unhurried gaggle of men in Baghdad, has stated in an interview with World Socialist Website that he witnessed numerous times the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Iraq after IED attacks. McCord is on of the soldiers seen helping two wounded children after the attack. He has stepped forward with open opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and written a letter of apology for his part in the incident to the mother of the children, who has accepted his apology. The mother’s husband was killed in the attack and found with his body shielding that of one of his children.

McCord said to reporter Bill Van Auken:
“we had a pretty gung-ho commander, who decided that because we were getting hit by IEDs a lot, there would be a new battalion SOP [standard operating procedure]. He goes, “If someone in your line gets hit with an IED, 360 rotational fire. You kill every motherf*cker on the street.” Myself and Josh and a lot of other soldiers were just sitting there looking at each other like, “Are you kidding me? You want us to kill women and children on the street?” And you couldn’t just disobey orders to shoot, because they could just make your life hell in Iraq. So like with myself, I would shoot up into the roof of a building instead of down on the ground toward civilians. But I’ve seen it many times, where people are just walking down the street and an IED goes off and the troops open fire and kill them.”

Arizonans Dare to Defy the Feds Again!

by Derek Sheriff
tenthamendmentcenter.com

Just when you thought Arizona couldn’t get any more provocative, or push any more of the federal government’s buttons, it looks like America’s 48th state may actually become the 15th state to adopt another very controversial law!

This proposed law, on the other hand, may actually make some people on the Left, as well as the Right, happy for a change. I have my doubts about whether it will make those who put party above principle, or anyone_employed by the U.S. Department of Justice happy, however.

While Arizona was getting tons of media attention related to the passage of its high profile immigration enforcement law, (SB 1070), the grassroots activists that were delivering more than 100 boxes of petitions containing 252,000 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office received little.

Hemp for Victory!

by Patrick Reagan

This past week, hemp advocates and aficionados nationwide engaged in educational and awareness building exercises during their annual “Hemp History Week”. The aim was to enlighten the public’s perception of hemp by demonstrating its versatility in several facets of everyday life and drawing attention to its pivotal role in American agriculture up until the mid-20th century. Before hemp can be understood in its contemporary context, a stroll down memory lane may refresh the reader on this critical crop.

While the history of hemp and humans goes all the way back to the Neolithic Revolution ~10-12,000 years ago, for brevity’s sake, the focus of this reminiscence will remain on hemp’s history in the New World. Hemp helped propel European explorers to America’s shores by providing tough and durable sails and rope for riggings on long, trans-Atlantic voyages. The climate proved suitable, and in 1564, King Philip II of Spain proclaimed that hemp be cultivated in his New World possessions, ranging from the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the Willamette Valley.

The Best Introduction to Economics in Print

Thomas Eddlem reviews “How and Economy Grows and Why It Crashes” by Peter and Andrew Schiff

If this writer were to claim that Peter and Andrew Schiff have created the master work of introducing basic Austrian economics that could be clearly understood by anyone of middle-school age and older, I would be only partly incorrect in describing their new book, How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes.

The genius of this book comes from neither Peter nor Andrew Schiff, however. Much of the credit belongs to Irwin A. Schiff, who created the first draft of this introduction to Austrian economics back in 1985. The Schiff brothers acknowledge that “this story would best be described as a riff on the original.” But Peter and Andrew Schiff have perfected their father’s already brilliant work, which had some presentational shortcomings. The sons have new illustrations by Brendan Leach, and additional material that brings the text up to date.

Afghan Bling!

by Justin Raimondo
www.antiwar.com

Just as John McCain was telling Gen. David Petraeus how worried he is that the US is going to leave Afghanistan before “the job” is done, the General’s head dropped onto the desk in front of him: had he passed out from ennui? McCain had the same effect on the American electorate in 2008. Petraeus blamed it on not having had breakfast, but, in any case, the US government seems intent on having Afghanistan for lunch – and what a rich meal that is going to be! According to a piece by James Risen in the New York Times, there’s gold in them thar hills!

“The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.”

Walking the Peaceful Path of Ludwig von Mises

by Ron Holland

What Would Mises Do?

“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final total catastrophe of the currency involved.” ~ Ludwig von Mises

I believe we are facing a future collapse of our debt and dollar as Mises outlines in the above quote. We should forgo the macho, “Apocalypse Now smelling napalm in the morning rhetoric” and ask ourselves, “what did Mises do in a similar situation?”

Disciple of Liberty: Seven Priorities of a Christian Patriot

The following is an excerpt from the book:

“Disciple of Liberty: Seven Priorities of a Christian Patriot.”

Colonists at a Crossroads
In 1765, The Stamp Act was a tax imposed by British Parliament on the U.S. colonies. It required that most printed materials in the colonies carry a tax stamp. This was a revenue generating scheme that was meant to pay for British soldiers who remained in North America following the Seven Years War. The British citizens weren’t too keen on having standing armies on British soil, nor was Britain ready to continue paying the soldiers’ salaries while they were stationed abroad. So, to avoid bringing fifteen hundred soldiers back to Britain unemployed, it was better to leave them across the pond to keep an eye on those pesky colonists. Since the colonists were the direct beneficiaries of the soldiers’ presence, as they were a source of protection, it was only natural to charge the colonists for the soldiers’ services. At least, that was the King’s line of thinking.

King George used Writs of Assistance to enforce the Stamp Act. The Writs of Assistance were essentially transferable search warrants with no expiration date. They allowed British troops entry into private homes to make sure the colonists were complying with the Stamp Act. These violations of personal privacy turned many of the colonists against the British government. The Stamp Act is credited with bringing together numerous underground patriot groups who opposed the growing tyranny of the Crown. Before the Stamp Act, underground patriot groups such as the Sons of Liberty were peppered throughout the colonies but weren’t coordinated in their efforts. As these groups began to work together toward repealing the Stamp Act, they set the stage for the next landmark in the American Revolution: The Boston Tea Party.

Are You Serious?

by Harold Thomas

During the debate on the health-care bill, a reporter asked U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whether she thought the bill was Constitutional. Her incredulous reply was, “Are you serious?”

In the last year, Ohioans have used the Tea Party and other rallies to vent their anger. We have made it clear to the world that we are sick and tired of the federal government attacking the Bill of Rights, fighting endless wars, running up endless debts, and collecting endless taxes.

The U.S. Treasury is Under the Control of the Fed’s Owners!


Bob Chapman says “US, UK and European financial systems are on the way to collapse.”

Were it not for the Federal Reserves purchase of Treasury and Agency bonds the US would already be unable to raise funds to service debt and issue new debt, and it would already have descended into national bankruptcy. It is no wonder the Fed does not want to be audited. Through various artifices the Fed has been purchasing US treasury paper. No one knows how much, because when asked the Fed says it is a state secret. That is what all Americans love. A country run in secrecy. A privately owned corporation operating under the cover of secrecy, and protected by a Treasury Department, that is under the control of the Fed’s owners. How is that for an incestuous relationship?

Government is desperately searching for more revenue to cover its massive deficit spending and to service existing mandatory programs. Taxes are being increased; some 19 new taxes, in the recently passed medical reform legislation. Unfortunately this isn’t enough. Of course, there is never enough.

Myths of the Fourth of July

by Kevin Gutzman

America’s national holiday is the 4th of July, the anniversary of public promulgation of the Declaration of Independence. The 4th of July, like many other government holidays, is surrounded by numerous myths. Some of the most notable:

1. The 4th of July is a celebration of the U.S. Constitution.

Actually, the U.S. Constitution’s purpose was to remake the American governments of the Revolution by making the system less democratic. The delegates from 12 states who met in Philadelphia in summer 1787 had been sent by the states to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they instantly decided to meet in secret, and then the nationalists among them tried to win adoption of a national – rather than a federal – constitution.

2. The 4th of July was the day that the 13 states established their independence.

No, it was not. In fact, Virginia established its independence on May 15, 1776, when its revolutionary Convention adopted resolutions for a declaration of rights, a permanent republican constitution, and federal and treaty relationships with other states and foreign countries. It was because the Old Dominion had already established its independence – had, in fact, already sworn in the first governor under its permanent republican constitution of 1776, Patrick Henry, on June 29 – that Virginia’s congressmen, uniquely, had been given categorical instructions from their state legislature to declare independence. Virginia was not the only state whose independence was not established by the Declaration on the 4th, as New York’s congressional delegation did not then join in the Declaration. In short, the states became independent in their own good time – some on July 4, some before, some after.

Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

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HR5741: Slavery has come back to the US

America- The bill HR5741 is government sanctioned slavery. Read it and weep.

According to opencongress.org, It was introduced on July 15th by Charles Rangel D-NY. You know what to do.

The defining paragraph reads,

‘To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.’

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Obama’s in love with drones

When I broke into news reporting during the 1950s, the advice from veteran journalists was: “Kid, if a story is important, stay with it, even if few other reporters do.” Since news of our pilotless killer drones hurling more Hellfire missiles abroad has largely vanished from our press, here is more evidence of President Obama’s fixation on this dark side of our war on terrorism.

An impressive exception to the inattention to Obama’s favorite weapon is investigative reporter Adam Entous of Reuters. In “How the White House learned to love the drone” (May 18), he quotes two administration officials (who, of course, refused to be named) saying that killing wanted terrorists is simply “easier than capturing them.”

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Repent — The End Is Near

It is a lazy afternoon. Or at least it was until I came across a blog by Mish. There was little in the post that I didn’t know or suspect, but this quote triggered a reaction:

It hides the economic substance of what’s really happening-an unlimited taxpayer bailout.

William Black, a former no-nonsense regulator, described in that statement everything that has happened and continues to happen. It represents the federal government’s approach to “saving” the economy — subterfuge and no limits. Mish went on to add:

To address the situation, the FDIC is going to start selling U.S.-guaranteed FDIC senior certificates. However, it has no Congressional authority to do so according to former thrift regulator William Black.

These quotes summarized the double-speak, unconstitutional acts, bullying, outright lies, and trampling of the Rule of Law that now describes our government.

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Technocrats may set off a rebellion

When historians look back on the period between 2001 and 2011, they will be amazed that a nation that professed to hate bureaucracy produced so much of it.

During the first part of this period, the Republicans were in control. They expanded a vast national security bureaucracy. In their series in The Washington Post, Dana Priest and William M. Arkin detail the size of this apparatus. More than 1,200 government agencies and 1,900 private companies work on counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence programs at around 10,000 sites across the country. An estimated 854,000 people have top-secret security clearance. These analysts produce 50,000 reports a year — a flow of paper so great that many are completely ignored.

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Left-wing Env. Scientist Bails Out Of Global Warming Movement: Declares it a ‘corrupt social phenomenon…strictly an imaginary problem of the 1st World middleclass’

Physicist Dr. Denis Rancourt, a former professor and environmental science researcher at the University of Ottawa, has officially bailed out of the man-made global warming movement.

In a hard-hitting and exclusive new exclusive video just released by Climate Depot, Dr. Rancourt declares that the entire man-made global warming movement is nothing more than a “corrupt social phenomenon.” “It is as much psychological and social phenomenon as anything else,” Rancourt, who has published peer-reviewed research, explained in a June 8, 2010 essay. (Rancourt’s email: claude.cde@gmail.com)

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Hearing on Arizona immigration law begins


PHOENIX — A federal judge pushed back Thursday against a contention by the Obama Justice Department that a tough new Arizona immigration law set to take effect next week would cause “irreparable harm” and intrude into federal immigration enforcement.

“Why can’t Arizona be as inhospitable as they wish to people who have entered or remained in the United States?” U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton asked in a pointed exchange with Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler. Her comment came during a rare federal court hearing in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer (R).

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Sheriff’s deputies’ disdain for Constitution captured by their own recorded comments


When San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Murphy responded to a “shots fired” call in April 2008, he decided en route that he was going to make an arrest.

He did far more than that. Murphy and other deputies made an unwarranted entry into a home, and then into a locked gun safe. Murphy’s uncensored, darkly disturbing observations and behavior following his Code-3 arrival at the rural home of longtime SLO County resident Matt Hart were picked up by Murphy’s and other deputies’ own recorders. Those recordings provide a rare, frighteningly revealing, behind-the-scenes perspective of how one local law enforcement agency views the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and other laws its personnel are sworn to uphold.

Sheriff’s spinner Rob Bryn declined to confirm the identities of any of the deputies appearing or heard in the recordings, or to discuss any aspect of the Hart home invasion. So we’ve done that for you. (Bryn, ever the public servant, eventually stopped responding to e-mails from a KCCN.tv reporter.)

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THE CIA: BEYOND REDEMPTION AND SHOULD BE TERMINATED


The Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) has confirmed the worst fears of its creator President Harry Truman that it might degenerate into “an American Gestapo.” It has been just that for so long it is beyond redemption. It represents 60 years of failure and fascism utterly at odds with the spirit of a democracy and needs to be closed, permanently.

Over the years “the Agency” as it is known, has given U.S. presidents so much wrong information on so many critical issues, broken so many laws, subverted so many elections, overthrown so many governments, funded so many dictators, and killed and tortured so many innocent human beings that the pages of its official history could be written in blood, not ink. People the world over regard it as infamous, and that evaluation, sadly for the reputation of America, is largely accurate. Besides, since President Obama has half a dozen other major intelligence agencies to rely on for guidance, why does he need the CIA? In one swoop he could lop an estimated 27,000 employees off the Federal payroll, save taxpayers umpteen billions, and wipe the CIA stain from the American flag.

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Smoking Guns of U.S. Treasury Monetization

A significant feature of fiat money systems is the privilege for the custodian of the reserve currency to engage in regular practices of ham-fisted monetary management, even permission for fraudulent centers to flourish, surely developing a debt monster that an economy grows dependent upon. Fannie Mae might be the most offensive blight on such privilege. Unfortunately, many shenanigans have matured into grand fraud. They are smoking guns of USTreasury fraud and counterfeit, with strong whiffs of monetization. Much more monetization is to come, fully endorsed and sanctioned. Other clever techniques are being used, given the Quantitative Easing has officially been halted. A close look reveals that Excess Cash Reserves at the USFed are being drawn down, which are thus funding the USGovt deficits in the last couple months. Ironically, such reserves held by big banks at the US Federal Reserve were the only thing preventing vast insolvency. Now that cash is being used, and the USFed insolvency is slowly exposed. Details can be found in the July Hat Trick Letter reports. Evidence is compelling, and grand motive for foreign creditors to reject the USDollar, whose active control strings are traced to Wall Street. When recognized monetization destroys the last vestige of trust and confidence in the USDollar, when more official rounds of sponsored Quantitative Easing arrive, the USDollar will be on a downward spiral. In fact, all major currencies face the same prospect of vast monetary expansion. They will all fall sharply in value, and by counter-effect, the Gold price will rise powerfully.

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Freedom of information is a public right


Our view: This is a government of and for the people – not political appointees

News that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s office allowed political appointees to review hundreds of public records requests is shameful. Political considerations have no place in the government’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.

Of all people, Napolitano, a lawyer, former U.S. attorney, Arizona attorney general and governor, should know that.

An Associated Press investigation found that requests for information and documents that were flagged as being politically sensitive – not sensitive for national security reasons, but politically sensitive – were scrutinized by eight appointees for “awareness purposes.”

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On the Disconnect Between the Market and the Economy

It has been an interesting 24 hours.

The index of leading economic indicators fell 0.2% in June, the second drop in three months. A negative surprise.

Unemployment claims rose to 464,000, more than expected.

Uncle Ben said we are facing a period of “unusual uncertainty.” No kidding.

Uncle Ben said we need continuing stimulus to a Congress unwilling to stimulate anyone or anything other than lobbyists with cash to contribute.

Home sales fell 5.1% in June.

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Leaked G20 Documents Show Carbon Taxes Still High on Globalist Agenda

This week The Corbett Report was sent documents purported to be the notes of an attendee of the recent Toronto G20 meeting. The documents, if genuine, show that the recent meeting once again gave the G20 a chance to discuss global government as an answer to the ongoing economic meltdown and reaffirm that carbon taxes are high on the globalists’ priority list.

The notes were obtained from a source inside a South African bank whose CEO was a confirmed attendee of the Toronto meeting. According to the source, they are most likely notes from a feedback session between the CEO and bank officials upon the CEO’s return from the conference.

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Those U.N. peacekeeping atrocities

Nobody’s talking about it in the United States. Not even Rush Limbaugh. In the American press, there’s been a virtual blackout of coverage. In fact, only Agence France Presse, the London Telegraph and the South China Morning Post, of all the world’s media, have given any serious attention to the incredible story of United Nations peacekeeping atrocities in Somalia.

You have to ask yourself, why?

How sensational is this non-story? Yesterday, the London Telegraph, in a combined dispatch with AFP, reported that Belgian troops roasted a Somali boy. Roasted him! And what was the sentence for this peace crime committed during an operation dubbed ironically “Restore Hope”? A military court sentenced two paratroopers to a month in jail and a fine of 200 pounds.

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BP trying to legally ‘contaminate’ Gulf scientists: report


A BP plan to hire Gulf scientists could mean that there are fewer experts to testify against them when the oil spill case goes to trial.

The University of South Alabama turned down a BP offer to hire the entire marine science department after they obtained a copy of the contracts. Mobile’s Press-Register reports:

The Press-Register obtained a copy of a contract offered to scientists by BP. It prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists, or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years.

BP plans to fight a lawsuit to be filed by the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, according to Press-Register’s Ben Raines. Putting Gulf scientists on the payroll could mean there are less experts to testify against them.

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US intelligence reliant on ‘contractors’


WASHINGTON: US intelligence agencies are dangerously dependent on contractors, with 30 per cent of the spy workforce potentially bound to shareholders more than the nation.

Despite a ban on private hands performing “inherently government functions”, 265,000 of the 854,000 people with top-secret clearance in the US are contractors, working in all the most sensitive areas, the Washington Post revealed yesterday. The claims came on the same day that President Barack Obama’s nominee to run US intelligence efforts, James Clapper, headed to Capitol Hill for a confirmation hearing.

Contractors can earn up to twice as much as permanent staff, triggering a talent exodus and leaving behind a young, inexperienced intelligence network.

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BP ‘Awarded’ MASSIVE Iraq Oil Contracts in Gordon Brown’s ‘New World Order’


Is anyone still confused as to why we continue the absurd wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

In Afghanistan, the Director of the CIA has openly boasted that fewer than 100 Al Qaida members remain there, yet there are reportedly 102,000 U.S servicemen and at least 120,000 private contractors still stationed there. Incidentally, the recent “discovery” of vast mineral deposits is being touted as a new justification to stay.

Meanwhile in Iraq, with all justifications for the war now totally debunked, the slow drawdown of troops is commencing, but not before they secure the prize for the corporate masters. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that British Petroleum was “awarded” 80-100 oil wells worth at least $500 million:

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Gold Coin Sellers Angered by New Tax Law


Amendment Slipped Into Health Care Legislation Would Track, Tax Coin and Bullion Transactions

Those already outraged by the president’s health care legislation now have a new bone of contention — a scarcely noticed tack-on provision to the law that puts gold coin buyers and sellers under closer government scrutiny.

The issue is rising to the fore just as gold coin dealers are attracting attention over sales tactics.

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will amend the Internal Revenue Code to expand the scope of Form 1099. Currently, 1099 forms are used to track and report the miscellaneous income associated with services rendered by independent contractors or self-employed individuals.

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Drones in U.S. skies – to keep eye on us?

In May of last year, David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency adviser to Gen. David Petraeus from 2006 to 2008, co-authored a strategic analysis (“Death from Above, Outrage Down Below,” New York Times, May 17, 2009). He emphasized that the “public outrage” among Pakistan’s civilians caused by our drone attacks “is hardly limited to the region in which they take place.”

Extensively reported by the news media, “the persistence of these attacks on Pakistani territory offends people’s deepest sensibilities, alienates them from their government, and contributes to Pakistan’s instability.”

A year later, in Foreign Policy in Focus (fpif.org, May 19), Conn Hallinan, reporting on the increase in drone strikes in Pakistan, notes that the continuing controversy over the actual number of corollary civilian deaths “is a sharply debated issue.” Neither President Obama, who authorizes them, nor the CIA, which does the actual killing, directly gives us the numbers. As for the Pakistani government’s figures, Hallinan continues:

“The word ‘civilian’ is a slippery one, because no one knows exactly what criteria the United States uses to distinguish a ‘militant’ from a civilian. Is someone with a gun a ‘militant?’ Since large numbers of males in the frontier regions of Pakistan carry guns, that definition would target a huge number of people.”

I mentioned this life-ending ambiguity in drone strikes to a person who claims to be concerned with human-rights abuses. Shrugging, she said: “I don’t have to worry about that. The drones aren’t coming here; and since they’re pilotless, there are no American casualties. So I’m all for their use.”

But drones are indeed in our skies.

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Confronting both China and Russia: U.S. Risks Military Clash With China In Yellow Sea

Delayed until after the United States achieved a United Nations Security Council statement on July 9 condemning the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, Washington’s plans for naval maneuvers in the Yellow Sea near Chinese territorial waters are forging ahead.

The joint exercises with South Korea, as news sources from the latter nation have recently disclosed, will be conducted on both sides of the Korean Peninsula, not only in the Yellow Sea as previously planned but also in the Sea of Japan. (Referred to in the Korean press as the West and East Seas, respectively.) Confirmation that the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington will participate has further exacerbated concerns in Northeast Asia and raised alarms over American intentions not only vis-a-vis North Korea but China as well.

An exact date for the war games has not yet been announced, but is expected to be formalized no later than when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrive in the South Korean capital of Seoul on July 21.

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A Gulf oil leak follow up

If you happened to read the Liberty Voice and see the article Do you want to see what a “Summer of Recovery” looks like you may have noticed the last paragraph was a not-so-sincere attempt to find some good news amongst the disastrous economic statistics that have been rolling in from virtually every data point in the economy.

For cheerier news I suppose the cap on the gulf oil well is holding and the government says the leak they discovered is insignificant and unrelated. Wait, we might want to continue to check on that situation as well in a later post.

Unfortuantely it did not take long to make good on the last point about monitoring the government’s accuracy in reporting the success of the oil well cap. Today the AP is reporting that the discovered leak may very well be a result, or at least made worse by the cap.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP’s broken oil well is buckling.

Oil and gas started seeping into the Gulf of Mexico again Sunday night, but this time more slowly, and scientists aren’t sure whether the leaks mean the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.

The government’s point man on the disaster, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, will decide again later Tuesday whether to continue the test of the experimental cap — meaning the oil would stay blocked in.

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Do you want to see what a “Summer of Recovery” looks like?

As the summer of recovery rolls on let’s take a look at the government’s short term memory hole. To begin our journey through the land of make believe we will start with the 1st time unemployment number that was being hailed as showing a drop. However, what the government failed to mention, and their media arms in the mainstream must have missed, is that the week of the 4th of July is a shortened week which lowered claims. Additionally, if the number was not seasonally adjusted there is a gain in the number.

“The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 463,560 in the week ending July 3, an increase of 22,560 from the previous week.”

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A hidden world, growing beyond control

The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.

These are some of the findings of a two-year investigation by The Washington Post that discovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight. After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.

The investigation’s other findings include:

* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.

* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.

* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings – about 17 million square feet of space.

* Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.

* Analysts who make sense of documents and conversations obtained by foreign and domestic spying share their judgment by publishing 50,000 intelligence reports each year – a volume so large that many are routinely ignored.

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America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution

As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors’ “toxic assets” was the only alternative to the U.S. economy’s “systemic collapse.” In this, President George W. Bush and his would-be Republican successor John McCain agreed with the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Many, if not most, people around them also agreed upon the eventual commitment of some 10 trillion nonexistent dollars in ways unprecedented in America. They explained neither the difference between the assets’ nominal and real values, nor precisely why letting the market find the latter would collapse America. The public objected immediately, by margins of three or four to one.

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The Serious Tracking of Americans Begins

They have passed the health bill, they have passed the financial regulations bill and they have snuck stuff into the stimulus package bills. They are going to track your money and your body. Here’s the first few things they are doing. This is step one. It will only get worse from here.

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Iran scientist: CIA offered me $50m to lie about nuclear secrets

An Iranian scientist who says he was abducted and taken to the United States by the CIA returned to Tehran yesterday to a hero’s welcome and claimed that he had been pressured into lying about his country’s nuclear programme.

Shahram Amiri said that he was on the hajj pilgrimage when he was seized at gunpoint in the city of Medina, drugged and taken to the US, where he says Israel was involved in his interrogation. In the US, officials were reported to have admitted that Mr Amiri was paid more than $5m (£3.2m) by the CIA for information about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The US claims to have received useful information from him in return for the money, but is clearly embarrassed by his very public return to Iran. The offer of a large bribe is reportedly part of a special US programme to get Iranian nuclear scientists to defect.

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If the Federal Government doesn't respect and listen to the American People's use of the First and Tenth Amendment, they will have no choice but to respect their use of the Second.”
by Jeremiah Arn

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Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

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