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Showing posts from 2009

Obama's Hell-Ride to War on Iran

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Daniel McAdams LRC Blog September 26, 2009 Faced with the uncomfortable and politically unacceptable reality that there exists no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, confirmed by his own intelligence community, President Obama has taken a page from the book of his predecessors FDR, LBJ, GWB, and so on: he simply made something really scary-sounding up to justify his push toward war. It is 2002 all over again, but worse. This time it is the artificially manufactured hype around an Iranian uranium enrichment facility that is under construction. Keep in mind that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Iran, under Article IV of said treaty, has every right to enrich uranium to its heart’s content. The treaty clearly states: “Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity

The Jobless and Recoveryless Recovery

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Reality Receding By James Howard Kunstler on September 14, 2009 6:33 AM Now that everybody in the USA, from the janitors in their man-caves to the president addressing congress, has declared the "recession" over, is exactly the moment when what's left of the so-called economy is most likely to implode. If there were still shoeshine boys on Wall Street, they'd be starting their own hedge funds now, and CNBC's Larry Kudlow would be toasting them in the Grill Room of The Four Seasons. What we've seen in the vaunted rally for the last six months is the triumph of wishing over facts, combined with the most arrant market manipulation by floundering banks backstopped by a panicked government -- all pounding sand down a rat-hole of hopeless non-performing debt, while pretending that the machinery of capital finance still grinds on. Despite what a few elderly Mr. Naturals may say about abolishing "capitalism," we're not going to have an advanc

The Marycrest Community Remembered --- and its Post-Vatican II Death

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A Vision on a Hill Recalling Marycrest, an inspiring experiment in Christian community By Jack Holland There is still only one road through Marycrest, the Catholic community that for more than 50 years has lain buried in the woods of Rockland County about 25 miles north of New York City. The woods have thinned somewhat since 1950, when the first Marycrest members dug the foundations for the first house. But the leafy canopy is thick enough on a summer’s evening to remind a visitor of what it must have been like five decades ago when they came, from the Bronx mostly, city slickers with a vision of a Christian life they thought they could realize here in the tranquility of the tree-covered countryside that was Rockland before it was a suburb. Of the 12 original members of the community who shared that vision, only three are still alive -– Alan Hudson, Jack Dermody and Phil O’Brien; two of them, Dermody and O’Brien, still live in Marycrest, in the homes they constructed with their own han

America's Widening Income Gap -- Not Then, Now!

The Widening Gap In America’s Two Tiered Society Emily Spence Thomas Paine’s Corner September 7, 2009 Americans, particularly ones from the middle class, need to realize that there are no core entitlements imparted by their government representatives, nor any other sources. They have none and should adjust their expectations accordingly. If the U.S. populace somehow imagines that its members are viewed any differently than any other populations across the world that are used to produce maximal profits for the top economic class, there’s a rude awakening in store ahead. Further, most legislators simply do not care whether middle and lower class interests are or aren’t well served as long as they, themselves, can somehow make out well in the times ahead. Besides, why should any Americans feel that they deserve to be treated more favorably by the transnational moneyed elites and their government backers than their counterparts across the rest of the world? As A. H. Bill reminds: “The rich
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Legendary Spanish Civil War Photograph Faked

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‘Anti-Fascist’ Legend Falls in Spain By K R Bolton Academy of Social & Political Research, Athens As has been commented upon repeatedly by sundry historians and authors, the Spanish Civil War served as a prelude for World War II, giving the Big Powers and competing ideologies the opportunity to test out their weaponry and tactics. Spain also served as a testing ground for propaganda, and the Franco side has expectedly come off second best, as the Popular Front are still portrayed as noble champions of liberty, regardless of the Masonic-Bolshevist assaults that were perpetrated with the same sadism that had already been manifested in Russia and Hungary. Like World War I, with the British-US propaganda depictions of Germans bayoneting Belgian babies, and World War II with the Soviet-Allied propaganda which is still being presented to the world as though the war against the Axis remains in full swing, there are several salient propaganda devices deriving from the Spanish tragedy which

Pius XI's Words of Wisdom on Hollywood

In his encyclical, Vigilanti Cura , Pope Pius XI wrote that he was “deeply anguished to note with each passing day the lamentable progress of the motion picture art and industry in the portrayal of sin and vice.” That encyclical regarding film immorality was issued on June 29, 1936. The Pope lamented that “the road seemed almost closed to those who sought honest diversion in the motion picture.” The situation has hardly improved in the ensuing 70-plus years. The best we can hope for today is that Catholics everywhere will be judicious in the choice of movies they attend – and especially those they allow their children to see – in hopes that, as Pius XI said, movies become a “valuable auxiliary of instruction and education rather than of destruction and ruin of the soul.” In the Pope’s judgment, the art, science, and technology of movie making were all true gifts of God. Yet he admonished that these talents be used “to promote the extension of the Kingdom of God upon earth.” Perhaps t

Income Inequality Worst Since 1917

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No Wonder the Poker Game is Ending: The Wealthiest Have Taken All of the Chips Washington’s Blog Saturday, August 15, 2009 A new report by University of California, Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez concludes that income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression. The report shows that: Income inequality is worse than it has been since at least 1917 “The top 1 percent incomes captured half of the overall economic growth over the period 1993-2007″ “In the economic expansion of 2002-2007, the top 1 percent captured two thirds of income growth.” As others have pointed out, the average wage of Americans, adjusting for inflation, is lower than it was in the 1970s. The minimum wage, adjusting for inflation, is lower than it was in the 1950s. See this. On the other hand, billionaires have never had it better. As I wrote in September: The economy is like a poker game . . . it is human nature to want to get all of the

Local Currency Most Popular Since Great Depression

Communities around the country are printing “scrip” at the highest rate since the Great Depression says Agora Financial Behold the “Plenty” an alternitive currency printed and exchanged exclusively in Pittsboro, N.C., population 2,500. A couple dozen Pittsboro stores accept it as a dollar alternative, like the local feed store and a produce co-op. The idea is nothing new… we’ve chronicled scrips like the Ithaca HOUR and Western Mass’ BerkShare for some time. Both have millions worth in ciculation. But according to the LA Times, scrips haven’t been this popular since the Great Depression. They’ve gained significant traction in New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and Massachusets, with many more commonities beginning to experiment. And we’re noticing a decidedly less hippie, more snarky feel: "The Plenty is not going to get siphoned off to Wall Street,” says B.J. Lawson, president of The Plenty co-op board, “or Washington, or make a stop in Bentonville on its way

Announcement from "In the Spirit of Chartres Committee"

The “In the Spirit of Chartres ” Committee, year three of... Catholic Restoration Conference V featuring TRAVIS YAGER Ph.D. Candidate in Music History Indiana University Teacher, Choir Director, Church Organist Mr. Yager may be reached through ISOC (isoc.com@verizon.net) Modernism and Catholic Sacred Music www.isoc.ws ISOC is in its third year of interviews with some of the foremost traditional Catholic (and non-Catholic) scholars and thinkers — right into your own home. No traveling, no conference or hotel fees. Just log on and listen in. The purpose? Catholic culture, history, politics! All from a “traditional Catholic” perspective. Hear more stimulating, informative lectures on such topics as the Spanish Civil War, the plot against the Church, the Catholic State and farming, Fr. Fahey and the anti-Catholic forces in the world today, and lots more. Even the Talmud. Visit www.ISOC.ws today and tune in to these exciting online interviews and oral essays, recorded

Bernanke Redistributes Income Upwards: The Impoverishment of Middle America

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Unemployment is rising, wages are falling and credit is contracting. In other words, the system is working exactly as designed. All the money is flowing upwards to the gangsters at the top. Here’s an excerpt from a recent Don Monkerud article that sums it all up: “During eight years of the Bush Administration, the 400 richest Americans, who now own more than the bottom 150 million Americans, increased their net worth by $700 billion. In 2005, the top one percent claimed 22 percent of the national income, while the top ten percent took half of the total income, the largest share since 1928 Over 40 percent of GNP comes from Fortune 500 companies. According to the World Institute for Development Economics Research, the 500 largest conglomerates in the U.S. “control over two-thirds of the business resources, employ two-thirds of the industrial workers, account for 60 percent of the sales, and collect over 70 percent of the profits.” … In 1955, IRS records indicated the 400 richest people i

The New Freedom of Obama Nation --- Pharmacists Will Now Be Forced to Dispense Abortifacients

Pharmacists lose pill ruling By Carol Williams, LA Times Pharmacists are obliged to dispense the Plan B pill, even if they are personally opposed to the "morning after" contraceptive on religious grounds, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. In a case that could herald judicial policy across the Western states, a supermarket pharmacy owner in Olympia, Washington failed in a bid to block 2007 changes to pharmacy regulations requiring all Washington pharmacists to stock and dispense the contraceptive. Family-owned Ralph's Thriftway and two women employed at other pharmacies sued Washington state officials to assert that their Christian beliefs prevented them from dispensing the pills that can prevent implantation of the recently fertilized egg. They claimed that the new regulations would force them to choose between keeping their jobs and heeding their religious objections to a medication they regard as a form of abortion....On July 8, 2009, a 3 judge panel of the 9th U

Benedict XVI calls for World Government to Fix Economy

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Benedict's Globalist "Solution" is One World Government with Totalitarian Powers. Where is the Principle of Subsidiarity? See Comments Below. Why do we have the Pope agreeing with Al Gore and Barack Obama? Pope calls for a "global authority" on economy By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict called on Tuesday for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat. The pope made his call for a re-think of the way the world economy was run in a new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations. Parts of the encyclical, titled "Charity in Truth," seemed bound to upset free marketers because of its underlying rejection of unbridled capitalism and unregulated market forces, which he said had led to

"Green Shoots": True Unemployment Rate Near 21%

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True unemployment rate already at 20% Posted Jul 06 2009, 01:16 PM by Anthony Mirhaydari Really, how hard is it to find a job? Was June's horrid numbers, in which 467,000 people lost their jobs compared to 345,000 in May, a one-time fluke? Or does it mean that all those Wall Street economists who believe the economic recovery is starting are dead wrong? Not to scare you, but the situation is actually worse than it seems. Over the years, the government has changed the way it counts the unemployed. An example of this is the criticized Birth-Death Model which was added in 2000. The model is designed to account for the birth and death of businesses and the resultant lag in survey data. Unfortunately, the model doesn't work that well during economic contractions (like we have now) and consistently overstates the number of jobs being created each month. John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics specializes in removing these questionable tweaks to the government's statistical

Bishop Williamson writes of "Restructuring in State, Economy, and Church"

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SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2009 Eleison Comments CIII: 81/121 Re-Structuring Tomorrow, or the day after, there is hardly a box outside of which it will not be necessary to think. In Church and world, the mentalities and structures of so-called “Western civilization” are collapsing around our ears. Still the mass of Western souls are preferring to slumber on in their audio-visual dream, but reality is closing in all the time – they may awake not before they are shackled into the New World Order. The USA has for nearly a century acted as the shield and sword-bearer of “Western civilization” . Now its financial, economic and political power structures are melting down in a welter of greed, corruption, selfishness and dissolution slung between Wall Street, New York, and Washington, DC. However -- let it never be said too often – “We the people” have only ourselves to blame. We have wanted the cause: godless materialism. Now we must live with the effects: the final breakdown of fractional reserve “

Afghan Surge Illegal, says Professor of International Law

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OBAMA HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY TO ESCALATE AFGHAN WAR AND IS CREATING “HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE” IN PAKISTAN By Sherwood Ross July 3, 2009(Special)---President Obama has no legal authority either from the United Nations or the U.S. Congress under the War Powers Resolution(WPR) to escalate the war in Afghanistan, a distinguished professor of international law says. “President Obama’s surge of 21,000 troops now engaged in combat in Afghanistan comes on top of the 60,000 we already had there,” says Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law at Champaign. “The Obama Administration simply ignored Section 4(a)(3) of the WPR when it announced the escalation,” Boyle noted. “U.S. armed forces are in Afghanistan originally pursuant to WPR. Its requirement that the President get Congressional consent on substantial enlargement (of forces) was put there to deal with the kind of gradual escalation we saw in Viet Nam that eventually led to 550,000 troops

American Green Cash Behind "Green" Revolution

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June 19, 2009 Who Put the ‘green’ in the Green Revolution? Posted by Daniel McAdams on June 19, 2009 05:35 AM The United States, of course. As in the previous “color revolutions” that seem to tirelessly capture the romantic imagination of US journalists, elites, and the propagandized population, the warm embrace of the US empire is firmly guiding the “spontaneous” Iranian uprising against last week’s election results. While I do not and should not– nor should any other American — care in the slightest who rules a country some seven thousand miles away, when the fingerprints of the US empire show up on these dramatic events overseas it is very much my business. Several commentators have already dredged from the memory hole press reporting at the time on a presidential “finding” on Iran, which is the formal method for the president to initiate covert actions against another country. Back in 2007 — plenty of lead time for this election — the president met with the Congressional Star Chamb

Montana newly asserts Principle of Subsidiarity

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Western states want reins on federal power Eliza Wiley / Helena Independent Record Montana state Rep. Joel Boniek, shown with his mule Jesse, introduced a bill seeking to exempt from federal regulation any firearm made and used within the state borders. An expanded federal role prompts declarations of state sovereignty. Montana goes further with a gun bill defying U.S. firearm restrictions. The goal: Keep Washington on its side of the fence. By Mark Z. Barabak June 16, 2009 Reporting from Bozeman, Mont. -- Frustrated by the expanded power of Washington, a growing number of state lawmakers are defying the federal government and passing legislation aimed at rolling back the reach of Congress and President Obama. While many measures are symbolic ones declaring the sovereignty of states, some Westerners are taking more dramatic steps. One Utah lawmaker wants to limit federal law enforcement in his state. In Montana, legislators enacted a bill that flagrantly ignores federal firearm restric

Monarchy. The Political Solution?

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In Defense of Monarchy By: Brian M. McCall For The Remnant Apparently my recent article concerning the plight of His Royal Highness, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, has provoked some unintended consequences. Some areas of the blogsphere have questioned any favorable comments about a monarch as “un-American.” Although I had not intended the article to be a prompting for a debate on Catholic political theory, the observed reactions have prompted me to do just that. To begin we have to define some terms. Often this discussion is short circuited by people using the term “monarchy” to mean different things. As I use the term it merely means a form of government where some or all of the governing authority is vested in a single person (monarch) who rules the kingdom for the remainder of their natural life or abdication (i.e. are not subject to constant elections). Often the term is conflated with a hereditary right of succession or the principle of inheritance known as primogenitor. These