Am I supposed to be afraid to post a topic now, is AmPol a target of NSA

Well, it seems that my worst fears have been realized, what say you, Max, The Scott, Mick, Angie, and all that post on this tiny blog, should we be afraid of Big Brother?  I am beginning to get a bit concerned, should I protect us from 1984 and close down AmPol?

Did MarketWatch shut down AmPol knowing something we don't know?

Clearly there are insiders with knowledge that we don't know, is the NSA monitoring this blog, I sure hope not, I'd be the one that gets arrested.....

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know." JFK "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." Patrick Henry, American colonial revolutionary "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." Patrick Henry "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." Abraham Lincoln  "We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts--not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." Abraham Lincoln  "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." James Madison  They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.  Ben Franklin This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.  Ben Franklin I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.  James Madison If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.  James Madison The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.  James Madison When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.  Thomas Jefferson What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?  Thomas Jefferson

Something to genuinely be outraged about: PRISM

Well, I was complaining about the roll backs in freedom that occurred after 9/11 and then we have this story breaking today http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

Turns out, we have yet another freedom stealing program started under a Republican and continued under Obama. Yet, not a peep from the right. THIS, is something to be outraged about and I hope the press takes it to the entirety of the Democratic party for being spineless shitbags who have supported this kind of stuff since 9/11

Marxist? Communist?

This, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5767/ is a long read, but I think it is worthwhile. I have to admit. I have never read Marx. At least, when I tried to read some, I could not stay engaged with it. On the other hand, I have read just about everything by Rand, a fair amount of Friedman, and other pro capitalist essays. What most of you don't accept is that I agree that capitalism does a lot of what it says it will. Namely it well rewards those who are successful and provides the needed incentive to encourage risk taking. What it also does, however, is establish very sharp gaps between winners and losers and it creates social problems that many are not happy with. Somewhere in the 80's, the attitude that you did not rub your wealth in the face of others was replaced by an attitude of "Fuck you, you're just jealous that you aren't as smart as me." That attitude persists today.

This link here is to Andrew Carnegie's essay called, "The Gospel of Wealth". Nothing I have ever read more succinctly describes my views then this piece. In general terms, Carnegie "preaches" it is right and just for a very few to have enormous control of vast sums of wealth. Moreover, he says it is a natural consequence of markets, and on that score, I agree with him. However, from here, he begins to steer in a much different direction and preaches that the wealth is not really the property of the wealth holder, rather it is an accumulation of community that the wealth holder needs to reinvest wisely in the community.

In the communist world, control of the economy and everything else is planned by bureaucrats and predictably, this has failed. However, now that we have reached a point in our society where the majority of wealth is again concentrated in a small pool of hands, we see communities collapsing everywhere. I believe that some of the best brains of our day are rightfully wealthy and successful. However, I also believe they are essentially just hoarding the money and sitting back contently while the country around them goes to shit. I've frequently made mention that people of my grandparent's generation did not live so selfishly. After the great depression, they basically told the wealthy that if you won't help manage the community with your money, we will take it and do it for you. I don't quite like that solution, but it I see it as preferable to creating a super race of wealthy who will simply spawn and do nothing but sit back and live off the wealth they gained after others paved the way for them. Obama has been endlessly ridiculed for his, "You didn't build that" comment, but the ridicule is fierce solely to stop people from actually considering what he is really saying.

If I'm a Marxist and agree 100% with what Carnegie is saying here, what does that make him?

1984.. Published 64 years ago today

Obama administration collecting phone records of millions daily...
Secret court order requires VERIZON to hand over ALL CALL DATA...
WH defends: Critical tool against 'terrorist threats'...
Specifically targeted Americans, not foreigners...
'Homeland Security': Laptops, phones can be searched based on hunches...
NSA SEES ALL: Phone Sex, Banks, Emails...
FBI WANTS BACK DOOR TO ALL SOFTWARE...
CIA: We'll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher...

'1984' Published 64 Years Ago Today...

Dems at work night and day removing our freedoms every second of every day, in secret, just as they do in every corner of every city in this entire country.

I used to put this little reminder up now and then, seems it is coming true

"If you look at a long term political strategy, one that guarantees you will be the party in power for all time, one only needs to follow the play book. 1. There's a depression 2. Give the voters money to get thru it. 3. Take no real action to fix the problems that created the depression. 4. Convince the majority of voters that they need government to provide the solutions, from taxes, to end the depression. 5. Add voters to the roles of the party that is providing the welfare to a point where the majority of voters are on welfare. 6. Once voted in the majority the party is now in power forever. 

The Democratic Party playbook has just been shown to you, do you debate the realization that this is what is being done to us or do you refute that this is not happening?"

Look at the the headlines pasted above, read the data, do you deny that The Democratic Party is "Big Brother"?

Freedom is "free" not being spied on and controlled at every corner, want to smoke and die, do so.. want to eat yourself to death, do so... want to make lots of money and be a Republican, not so fast, the IRS is in the hands of control freaks, so is the White House.  

Now our healthcare is in the hands of the IRS!  Is this really what you wanted Max?  Really?

It is time to stand up and be counted, counted as being "free" not "Democratic Party Free" but really free.  Throw these liars out of our government, might I go to far to state that the actions of the IRS in stalling Tea Party tax status cost The Republicans the White House? 

 How much money was not raised as a result  of zealots cheating for "The Playbook" above

 

Karl Lagerfeld wants to marry his cat

By Bonnie Malkin

1:26AM BST 05 Jun 2013

The eccentric creative director of Chanel said the one-year-old white Siamese cat was his most prized possession.

Choupette has its own staff, including three maids who are tasked with noting down everything the feline does while Largerfeld is away from their home in Paris so that he can check up on how his beloved pet is spending its time.

"There is no marriage, yet, for human beings and animals… I never thought that I would fall in love like this with a cat," Lagerfeld told CNN's Fashion Week: Backstage Pass.

When asked if the cat flies by private jet, Largerfeld said: "Yes, why not?"

Choupette is well known among fashion circles. As well as its own maids, the cat has 27,000 followers on Twitter. It has its own pillow and dines with Largefeld twice a day, eating food that has been specially prepared.

Obamacare nullification bill on SC Senate agenda

South Carolina this week could become the first state in the country to restrict the enactment of Obamacare since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that law last year.

A proposed bill, on special order in the state Senate, would allow the state attorney general to take businesses, including health insurers, to court if he “has reasonable cause to believe” they are harming people by implementing the law. The bill already has passed the House.

If it passes, the bill could push South Carolina to the forefront of Obamacare resistance, giving the state’s Republican leaders a national stage. It also could push South Carolina into yet another costly legal battle in the federal courts that, critics say, is unnecessary and avoidable.

“It is going to get us in court, as we all know. But ... it is worth the risk to see if we can protect our state from this far-reaching federal legislation,” state Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, one of the lawmakers pushing for the Senate to pass the bill this week before it adjourns for the year.

Many Senate Democrats, and some Republicans, dismiss the bill as nothing more than a symbolic political salvo meant to provide fodder for lawmakers’ legislative newsletters and campaign signs. But health-insurance companies are worried the bill could complicate further their efforts to navigate the regulatory landscape.

“We need to make sure that companies – health-care providers in South Carolina – aren’t faced with situation where the federal government says you must and the state government says you cannot,” said Bob Coble, an attorney for Nexsen Pruett who represents several hospitals.

For example, some health-insurance companies say the bill would prevent them from helping customers buy insurance through a federally operated health-care exchange, designed to lower costs by federal subsidies and pooling insurance.

“If all of a sudden it becomes illegal for me to help a citizen go through an exchange and get a subsidy, that kind of defeats a lot of the purpose of trying to help them get coverage,” said Mark Riley, legislative chairman for the S.C. Association of Health Underwriters.

But state Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said nothing in the bill would prevent a business from participating in a federal health-insurance exchange, rejecting the suggestion the bill would make businesses “choose state law or federal law.”

“That doesn’t seem to be in there,” he said.

What is troubling about the bill, Martin said, is a provision that effectively would wipe out federal tax penalties for not complying with the law. For example, if someone refuses to buy health insurance, that person would have to pay more in federal taxes. But if South Carolina passes the proposal, that person would get a state tax deduction to offset their increased federal taxes.

Martin said he cannot support that. “No. 1, it is an unknown amount of money involved, and No. 2 ... all you would be doing is encouraging folks not to pay for insurance so their fellow South Carolinians can pay the premium for you.”

But Bryant compared the tax deduction to the economic incentives the state awards to companies to locate in South Carolina.

“Every time we give a tax credit, the taxpayer pays for it, essentially,” Bryant said. “You can get a tax credit for everything under the sun.”

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley was an outspoken opponent of expanding the state’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. Haley’s spokesman would not say Monday if Haley would sign the anti-Obamacare bill if it comes to her desk.

“The governor has also been very clear about her priorities this session – blocking Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, restructuring and ethics reform,” Rob Godfrey said in a written statement.

Haley might not have to decide whether to sign the bill this year.

The Senate is scheduled to adjourn for the year at 5 p.m. Thursday. While the bill is on special order – making it harder for lawmakers to pass it over – it is behind the ethics reform bill, which could take several days to debate and pass.

“I can’t venture to see any type of possibility that it passes this session,” said state Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, who said he likely will oppose the bill. It could pass next year, Malloy added, but only after “one of the most extensive debates we have had in recent times.”

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/06/03/2800482/obamacare-nullification-bill-on.html#storylink=cpy

A RINO post?

Thought this was an excellent article http://newsok.com/state-rep.-doug-cox-the-gop-and-abortion-legislation/article/3835587

I have no idea what the full political views of this guy are, but this article represents something that has been almost completely destroyed in the Republican party, that something is  independent rational thought. I don't post this to glorify abortion. Instead, I post it because it is a rare display of honesty by a man who questions his party's refusal to accept how detached their views are from the real world.

Who is Richard Windsor?

Move Over Marx, Here Comes Obama

Ronald Reagan would be turning in his grave, wouldn’t he? In what became known as the most anti-communist speech of all time given by Reagan in 1987 on the 70^th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), the former President of the United States of America said that the Soviet Union was the ‘evil empire’. If we could bring that President back to life in true-Hollywood fashion (in fitting with his previous job! A leopard never changes its spots), he would certainly say that it was not Russia today that was the evil empire of communism, but the United States itself! Funny how, as time goes on, people seem to change their attitudes and forget what they once criticized in the past, isn’t it?

http://www.tothetick.com/move-over-marx-here-comes-obama

The Question that Obama is begging us all to answer these days is: has the good old US of A gone Commy? Pinko?Lefty? You know what I’m hinting it, don’t you? Don’t go getting all bashful, some might say that there is nothing to be ashamed of. Shame it just didn’t happen fifty-odd years ago, you might have saved us all the heartache of the Cold War, shivering out in the freezing temperatures of two ideologies that were at loggerheads with each other, vying for a place of supremacy.

Now the US has gone the other way. Move over Marx! Marx is so yesterday, anyhow, dontcha know? Obama is the new manna; he’s a happening all in himself, food from heaven and the best thing about it all is that it came at a time when nobody expected it at all.

Obama’s new tax policy will raise $800 billion over a decade. But, it’s the rich and the middle class that are going to be hit the most. The People’s Bank of the Soviet Union shortly after the Revolution was created by the merging of banks that were nationalized by force. Only difference with Obama and the US banking system is where the forcing came from. The banks in the US have been to all intents and purposes nationalized. Obama has bailed out the banks to the tune of $780 billion each year since the recession according to research. They get $360 billion in Federal Reserve subsidies and $120 billion in federal deposit insurance. You can add another $100 billion in government-guaranteed loans and the same sum in monopolistic advantages. Lastly there’s $100 billion in fees in the OTC (over-the-counter) derivative market. That all adds up to trillions. Literally.

Remember they were “too big to fail”. Where’s the free-market economics that were the pride of neoliberalism? Reagan would be turning in his grave! Didn’t we believe in the US at one time that printing money would do nothing more than increase inflation. Whatever happened to those principles of the USA, so dear to their hearts, so exportable to the rest of the world? It was the model that we all had to follow. Now, the US is turning in on itself, coming full circle, turningcommy. Who would have thought?

Obamacare was an admirable pledge for his election. Even though he is far from succeeding and there are still million without access to health in the USA. There were 45 million in 2012 that still didn’t have healthcare cover. But, in the process of setting up healthcare Obama has created a hoard of bureaucrats that are employed daily as civil servants to deal with the implementation of new policies. Federal employment has increased under Obama by 11.7% on average since 2009. If the shrinking private sector of liberals can’t employ you (there’s been a fall of 7.5 million jobs), then the state will happily do so. Can we all join the bandwagon?  There were 2, 790, 000 federal workers in January 2009 (when Obama took office). Now there are 2, 804, 000. Every month has seen an increase in the number of federal workers since that date. Where’s the neoliberal attitude gone?

What happened to free trade? Where are the open markets, privatization and deregulation? Where’s the reduction in the public sector gone? Where’s the meritocracy in life? Where’s the employee of the month hanging on the wall out of just deserves? That’s so old-hat, isn’t it just! Everyone gets protected, helped, boosted, aided. That’s the wonderful thing about Communism. Old-School style. Now that’s fashionable, isn’t it? Old-school!

The Obama administration has sent the welfare state through the roof, costing nearly $1 trillion a year. That’s an increase of 19%. Is the US becoming an assisted state? Is the state become the people’s nanny? Federal and state spending have grown from $779.9 billion to $927.2 billion. Debt is growing, spending is increasing and the welfare state is expanding. The answer in true Soviet fashion is to print the bills and provide for the people.

This reads like a fictional piece. A Hollywood film featuring Obama and everybody gets to eat the popcorn…well sorry, the rich pay, the poor eat the popcorn. But, it’s not a movie. It’s what’s happening today.

Had the Soviet Union still been in existence, the USA would have been annexed as a wonderful example of the ideology that they invented. Today, that’s not possible. So, Obama is going to have to go it alone.

But, as we look on and watch in awe at what is happening with the QE, the state intervention(s), the money-printing, the bolstering of the banks, the massive shore-up policies to save the failings of their system, we wonder how Stalin must have (somewhere, wherever he is in that Communist paradise) a wry smirk on his face. Can you hear The Internationale? Obama is humming it as we speak! The USSA?