Henny, Caffeine, Green, Nicotine?

So just how are we going to pay back our massive debts to China? I figure we can just sell them some weapons, we're good at making those. Wouldn't it be funny if, once again, we were selling (or giving) weapons to the very groups that intend to use them against us/our interests?
No, it wouldn't be funny.

National Geographic - 21st-Century Slaves

Saw this a bit ago and forgot to post it. There was something on RawStory about the topic yesterday I think.

I, uh, yea.

Illegal immigrants sue Arizona rancher for $32M for "civil rights violations" centered around him holding them at gunpoint when he found them TRESpassing through his ranch. You guys and gals should read this article. This is pretty sad, but I have to assume there's no way they'll get a thing. The guy has turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants over the last 10 years. Wow...

Dallas folks turn in guns for $50 grocery cards. Justification from sheriff's dept? Now those guns won't be in houses for kids to make mistakes with and, "they might have been used in a crime in the future." Who here blames the pen for bad grammar? There are better ways to avoid those things that don't result in a loss of people's ability to defend themselves from harm. Great.

AH WTF!

Dinner and the Documentary

Hey guys, the details for Sunday are as follows: we'll start the first half of the movie right at 2:30 (so you may want to arrive a bit before), break for dinner, then watch the second half. Let me know by Saturday morning if you can come, just so I make enough food for everyone. If you happen to eat an unusually large amount, then rsvp for two people. :)

If you missed the recent C4L meetings and you don't know what this is about, my family has invited you all over for dinner and to watch a stellar documentary called "The 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs". It's a crash course history of the area since 1948, and includes interviews with many of the important figures of the conflict: Netanyahu, Shimon Peres, Yasir Arafat, Ben-Gurion, King Hussein (of Jordan), Ariel Sharon, etc. It's a very intriguing historical context, and especially so in light of the current conflict.

If you've never been to our house, please don't let that hinder you. You are more than welcome, and it would be great if you would make this your first time. Email me at ixthus01@yahoo.com and I'll send you directions.

See you then!
Hannah

Hope Libertarians Can Believe In

As a believer in libertarianism, I understand that it can be difficult. That people sometimes just don’t care. That some perhaps choose not to see the world as I believe it is. But I see absolutely no reason, whatsoever, to be pessimistic. None. I look at history. I look at what’s happened.

Imagine five hundred years ago, it was not thought people could rule themselves. Self-government? Hah! We need the divine right of Kings. Yet we know this didn’t last. Starting with the Magna Carta, leading to the Declaration of Independence, we established the idea of natural law, of “unalienable rights.” Among them “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Just imagine this: an entire nation founded on principles – the principles of liberty. A nation that I believe has been, and still is, the greatest on earth. Coincidence?

And how could we forget, that at the same time economist Adam Smith was laying the foundations for not only the most prosperous, but the most liberating set of economic philosophy ever devised by man.

Of course these things don’t come easy. Less than a century later Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels laid the foundation of a promise. Alas, this promise resulted in perhaps two world wars and the death of millions through mass deprevation and genocide. Yet these ideas failed. And they failed because they were not on the right side of history: that of liberty, and that of justice.

I look at the last half century, and see the steps we have taken as a people towards ending the ignorance and immorality that is codified segregation. I see the gains the criminally accused have made from the right every man, woman, and child has to an attorney to the growing uneasiness with capital punishment. I see places like Denver, CO ending the prohibition on marijuana. I see the right of a woman to have control of her body protected by the highest authority in the land, the Supreme Court. I have seen this same court rule that individual possession of fire arms is a constitutional right, and I expect soon we will see this same court rule it unconstitutional to deny homosexual couples the right to marry, as has already been done in states like Massachusetts.

Human history can be viewed as nothing but a process of liberalization. I am thankful for the timeless works of von Mises, Rothbard, Hayek and countless others, several of whose works are available in our school library. I’m thankful there is a place where I can go and talk with like-minded individuals about liberty, and I’m thankful this place is just one small chapter of a nation-wide movement.

While every step we take may not be one forward, the marathon our forefathers have run is. Libertarianism is the future because it offers the consistency that people are looking for. It is a flame that burns in us. It burns so strongly that our ancestors fought for it. They died for it. And most of all they simply believed in it. This is why libertarianism cannot, and will not, die. Never again will that spirit of liberty be lost, never will it die. That is why I am optimistic for our future.

Is this real life?

Backs:
Whoever controls the loot, controls the fruit
John Adams, I never trust a guy with two first names...
Why?

Front:
Scary Face

Ha, ok well so I print em by putting the images in ms word, doesn't matter which comes first, edit the margins to 0.18" which is the minimum, then print double-sided, don't forget to select that in the printer options. Andrew might know of a better/easier way so go for it. The slicers in there work well, I'm blabbing.
I'll see you folks tomorrow, and yea, Adam, I'm gonna just bring a crock pot/ask for others' crock pots. You should do the same, otherwise, minimal soup will be cool anyway. Burner=bad idea, I'm not trying to get my brewing equipment confiscated. The rules are clear, and surely enforced.
Later folks.

Really Kellogs? Really?

Submit you articles

You can post them as a comment to this post, or send them to appliberty@gmail.com.

Remember, I really need them by tomorrow.

A strange time in our history...

I found myself digging through the Annals of Congress last night (haha), and just basically search through what seemed like interesting topics... One, linked to above, was the slave trade. You should definitely go to that link and read through it a few pages. The way they described the "negro property" and its possibly "increasing or decreasing value" due to government action is, well, I don't know what it is. Just check it out, and look through for mint/currency/banking stuff as well. There's a rich historical background to find there...

Also, anyone interested in taking some stake in a Belgian Golden Strong Ale recipe that I've conjured up? I put it together using three other good-looking recipes as loose guidelines, but the total cost of ingredients will be something like $60, which I'd like to avoid having to spend. So, we can split it between a few folks and of course split the ensuing beerage! A 5-gallon batch like we'd be brewing equals about (50) 12-ounce brewskis (actually more like 48 once you use some of it for gravity testing,etc.), so maybe 3 can get a stake in it? That means $15 a piece for 12 AWESOME homebrews! And you can of course help with the brew and all other related processes and get some knowledge/experience. It's really a pretty easy thing to do, which you'll see... So yea, let me know you're committed with a reply comment or something and I'll place the ingredient order...

Edit:
By the way this Belgian Golden Strongs will achieve approximately 8-10% ABV (a good thing) and will not have the strong alcohol burn as some "high gravs" do. We use straight Belgian candi sugar to achieve the portion of that alcohol above say 6%, so it's a little more dry and light than if we had used grains to get there. If you want to try something of the style, shoot for a Duvel or Hoegaarden Grand Cru, which are NOT quite the same, but similar to the taste we should be achieving... Another crucial note here is that if you wanted to get the same beer at the store, you'll doubtlessly pay between 4 and 5 times more than the $1.25ish per beer when homebrewing this style. (which you'll definitely find out if you go and get something at the grosh.)
Ok that's it for me, I'm gonna crack open one of the last bottles from my first brew ever, a pilsner that has now been aging for about 5 months, it should be damn fine...

Wheelbarrow Duty?

I cannot remember who claimed responsibility for decorating the wheelbarrow, but I think it may be best if I get it to you before I leave town. Otherwise, you won't have much time to fix it before the rally. We're leaving Friday morning, so let me know who you are and we can work something out.

Keepin' it real.

I love Peter Schiff. He is one of very few actual educated individuals talking about the economy in our media. The preceding link is just him talking about our issues here and using an informed historical perspective to propose what's about to happen. Every time you see him speaking with a panel on the news or whatever, it's hysterical to listen to the other idiots around the table with the "US economy can't possibly collapse" attitude that is leading us over the cliff.

All you have to do with anyone that thinks they know what's going on with the economy and saying the stimulus will work is to ask them if they've ever read an economic history book, or if they understand how our monetary system works even at a basic level. They'll say, "no, that's boring," or "I listen to the news and understand finance" and they, too, will not have food to eat when the time comes.
I hope I have enough time to get out and become less reliant on the system, because if not, that will be sad. So here I go to find cheap land. And with that...

---------------------------------------

Good luck to you all. I'm about to get out, at least in terms of my current involvement and methodology, of the education campaign that I've been trying so hard to further. I have mostly lost hope with people's current ability and willingness to learn and change anything without a massive catalyst for change, and it ain't Barack Obama's Change You Can Deceive In™, that's for sure. They will understand, eventually, and I think we all know this with our varying but nonetheless functional knowledge of this doomed system. I'm going to do what is right for myself and the people that I love which is to insulate myself from what is coming (which I believe is what is right anyway in this unsustainable world), ride it out with relative ease with some planning and execution beforehand, and to rebuild and reeducate when the time comes.

I do not intend on entirely giving up on the masses right now, because after all, I'm still deeply in the system and have the ability to get ideas out there, which is all that is really important anyway. There are folks out there who are listening to us! (although most just hear us, which is altogether different) On the other hand, I will no longer waste my time preaching to the choir or to people who are too blinded to pay any attention whatsoever. I intend on narrowing my target audience, blocking out those who I deem not to be listening, and focusing on those who are at least swayable. (defining these folks is something I'm thinking about lately)

So, my time will be spent reading history, economic theory, basic governmental structure, and mostly... sustainability and self-sufficiency measures that I began studying and got my degree in here at ASU. Honestly, an economy is no economy, a government is no government, and life on earth will not be life on earth for long without environmental sustainability. We have the ability to get there as a society, but the barriers currently hindering it are too great and must be allowed to fail before the rebuilding can really begin. So I will accept that real change must start with the individual and take action in my own life to make things happen. People will not, as a whole, open up their minds to real change through education and lifestyle readjustment until their existence is threatened. We are on our way to that, but are not quite at a point where critical mass can be achieved.

A question that I often struggle with in my mission to spread the word is "Why has the general public not woken up to the situation that they face? I came from the same or a similar background, and I changed my mindset. I realized our problems as a world, and gradually and through honest examination and a willingness to accept what is wrong I have become determined to change it because of a moral imperative to make the world a better (or at least livable) place from my children. The answers are there, staring us in our faces, yet collectively, we turn the other cheek."

My answer that I have arrived at over time is one that makes me very upset. And beware of some big-time generalities that I must use in an effort to describe my take on the situation. It is apparent to me that it is not simply a lack of information or education that we (C4L, Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, etc.) face, it is the prevalence of an apathetic, willfully ignorant mindset, coupled with people's overarching inability to believe that economic collapse and hardship can exist. And our method for achieving our goals of creating a better, sustainable and free world, so far, has been to try to educate people, when indeed we should have started by changing the mindset itself to even first open the door through which we can educate and inform. (And I'd argue that the methodology of our movement as yet, not just in Boone, has been too limp to make an impact, another reason I am distancing myself and attempting other approaches to this issue. Again, I believe the immediate issue that we face is not education but awakening. The latter must lead to the former, and that requires highly educated loud voices, widely reaching techniques, and sometimes startling tactics to achieve - of course all while not scaring people away. But remember, the whole point is to awaken them from a dream that does not represent reality, and this means opening them up to things that are sometimes scary or hard to swallow. You cannot be weak and yielding when raising children, and it is the same with educating those who are blind to the truth.)

Changing the mentality of the populace is a goal that is much harder to achieve than education, for a person's outlook or philosophy in life is created over a long period of time experiencing life in a certain way. And we face an audience with a very cushy idea of the way the world works and how easy it is to get by. Indeed it has been easy for us. Our generation (really baby boomers on up) was raised, in large part, in a "strong" economy and by parents that were financially capable. And financial capability even now is the most important aspiration for most people, even though it often means nothing about what the person actually contributes to the survival of society or themselves. (eg. farmers, manufacturing personnel, construction workers, and programmers actually contribute whereas accountants, day traders, fractional reserve bankers, and speculators only leech off of the rest of us, skimming from the top and making society as a whole worse off) It is even worse that this financial capability of our countrymen (even the productive ones) is inflated by both a banking system that creates artificial prosperity through a false currency and through the theft of resources from the rest of the world. Of course as we all know, it must stop. But anyway, if you look at it hard enough, you'll see that it will stop, and not necessarily (probably not) from the intervention of the enlightened minority, but based on inherent flaws in the system making life very difficult for the sheepish majority. Among these flaws are the aforementioned false economy, people's eventual acknowledgment of TRUTH that has been kept from them all along, and HOPEFULLY NOT resource and environmental degredation.

So we face the task of educating a generation of people that have no understanding of how hard the world really is without our fake economy, and who through this basic ignorance have adopted an expectation of given success without true enlightenment of the world's workings (eg. science, economics). Of course this problem is not created only by the life that has been given to us, as I mentioned earlier, but from a system of primary education and other ineffective or often irrelevant institutions which conveniently leaves out or poorly covers a few important things (basic economics, science, math, technology, critical thinking, reason, logic, a real and not biased overview of history) and that doesn't do enough to really nurture education and psychological growth. (Why is it that kids going through school simply don't seem to enjoy it? No one wants to go to school, do homework, or even read books for cryin' out loud! It's not some inherent quality of human beings, it is created in the system in various ways. And here's a funny clip saying the same thing. RIP George Carlin. You were a prophet and made terrible things seem at least funny in some sick way. Thank you)

These folks simply don't know how important it is for them to be educated on those things, and so they must first be reminded of this. And how do we do that?
That's a toughie, and one for which I am beginning to think the answer is, "just let the SHTF, they'll then learn."

And that's why I'm slowing down my involvement in the liberty propaganda machine to get ready for what is surely to come. This is no "the sky is falling" madness. This is history staring us in the face and saying, "learn from me or you'll be sorry." And our elected leaders are either absolutely ignorant of said history and economic fact (this is not opinion) or think that they stand to gain in some way from the ensuing chaos. And I'd argue that they're probably right in the latter attitude. The Obama administration's big gov't policies, for instance, will surely have more backing from the populace when they are scared and hungry. (and actually I'd say this is already true in our current economic state, I only fear for what it might mean when things get worse) And it is my belief, and I think this is shared by others, that even if all government officials were switched out for those with the people's interests in mind TOMORROW, we would still be heading down a dark road, the exit for which is miles away.

So off I go to use the machine for as long as it still stands to get prepared, so that I can live beyond the chaos and emerge as an educated, morally sound, and inspirational leader so we can get back on our feet again and actually move forward as a civilization. We have the ability to succeed as a species, to maintain this earth for future generations of individuals to enjoy, if we only apply the knowledge and technology we have gained though the past. We cannot allow our past mistakes to be repeated once again in the future. It has already happened in monetary policy; we have had many chances to get to a real gold standard, for instance, (a good monetary system is the foundation for the responsible growth of society) and move forward, but we have allowed contrary interests to take hold each time we have had a good chance to get on track. Never again.

This system will fall, without question. What is important now is that we nurture within ourselves a very, extremely, immensely thorough understanding of why it is failing and how to best tackle the issues in our future efforts to build a new society with the goals of equality of opportunity, liberty, strong education, and sustainability guiding every single decision. As I always say, the answers are there, whether it be economy, technology, or government; the groundwork is laid for us to build upon. This is right now the most frustrating part of it all, but later it will be the most uplifting force humanity has ever seen... if we promote it effectively.

Let us continue to educate ourselves, as I know we have all been doing, and focus hard on determining the most effective use of our energy, time, and intelligence on fixing these problems. We all have different ways of doing this, for sure, and that is what makes things so interesting.

Keep it real, and I'll see you guys at the next meeting to talk about this rally. I'll be in town for a bit longer, for sure.

Ever questioning reality,
Cory

Just In Case

I believe this was mentioned during the meeting on Monday?

Obama, what happened to the "green energy stimulus"

This is a good blog post, and has a lot of links to broaden your perspective on the issues.
Those being "clean coal" madness, economic downturn leading to less initiatives in green energy, etc.
Check it out

I thought these were on the nose...

http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/gm/
and
http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/bs/

Media

Hey its Russell. First time post! I was thinking about doing a short piece on the media ban on photo's of coffins coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

I don't want to offend anybody, so I won't say

This guy is a psychopath

The economic downturn is a test from god onto his people.
("I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world."
— Richard Dawkins
"Finding that no religion is based on facts and cannot therefore be true, I began to reflect what must be the condition of mankind trained from infancy to believe in errors."
— Robert Owen, reformer and philanthropist)

Bad economy: bad for you pocketbook, bad for your tummy, bad for your ego, good for your soul.
("Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."
— Napoleon Bonaparte)

Don't be anxious for what you should eat, what you should drink, what you should put on. Believe in god and he'll give it all to you. What?
("Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?"
— Epicurus (ca. 341-270 BCE), Greek philosopher)

He says if you're not Christian, this is a good time to come to Christ. Why is it that people are maybe most often roped into Christianity when they're down and out?

"Philippians 4: My god will supply all your needs, according to his riches and glory in christ jesus." (Are we not talking about nature here but putting the glory falsely into a god?)

Real need v. Perceived Need? Tell me that my need for food is a perceived need...



Please remember:
"If somebody votes for a party that you don't agree with, you're free to argue about it as much as you like. … But on the other hand, if somebody says, 'I mustn't move a light switch on a Saturday,' you say, 'Fine, I respect that.'"
— Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."
— Thomas Paine

Just a little fun with quotes, etc. Religion never ceases to give people who use their power of reason something fun to laugh at. I guess there comes a point when it's just not funny anymore.

Hey Shimco, you want to get in the tunnels this week? Hit me up.

I'm gonna go get the mail through Flying Spaghetti Monster who strengthens me.

Meeting Tonight

In case anyone didn't know, the meeting is in Walker Hall 309 again (if the weather cooperates).