As we come into Thanksgiving, one question arises - what are we giving thanks for? Is the basic set of liberties that our forefathers fou9ght and died for still alive? We'll explore the implications of not only the TSA nonsense but also the other loss of liberties over the decades - and how we, as sheep, quietly consent as we meander toward literal slavery.
Our policy on reciprocal links: Send us an email with your
information and why you think your blog or news site would make a
good addition - in most cases reciprocal link requests will be
granted.
Legal Disclaimer
The content on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied. All opinions expressed on this site are those of the author and may contain errors or omissions.
NO MATERIAL HERE CONSTITUTES "INVESTMENT ADVICE" NOR IS IT A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO STOCKS, OPTIONS, BONDS OR FUTURES.
The author may have a position in any company or security mentioned herein. Actions you undertake as a consequence of any analysis, opinion or advertisement on this site are your sole responsibility.
Looking for "The Best of Market Ticker"? Check out Ticker Classics.
Visit the forum to discuss this and other investing-related topics; see the FAQ on the forum for information about Gold Donor status including access to our technical analysis video server.
Market charts, when present, used with permission of TD Ameritrade/ThinkOrSwim Inc. Neither TD Ameritrade or ThinkOrSwim have reviewed, approved or disapproved any content herein.
Market Ticker content may be reproduced or excerpted online provided full attribution is given and the original article source is linked to. Please contact Karl Denninger for reprint permission in other media.
Submissions may be sent "over the transom" to The Editor at any time. To be considered for publication your submission must include full and correct contact information and be related to an economic or political matter of the day. All submissions become the property of The Market Ticker.
Leads on stories of current economic and political interest are always
welcome. Our fax tip line is 850-897-9364; please include contact information
with your transmission.
Jstanley01
Posts: 8178
Incept: 2008-07-30
San Antonio, Texas
Quote:
...This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House?
Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation -- the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?
No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the subject? Nothing.
We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.
Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.
Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.
If we wish to be free -- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending -- if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Workerbee
Posts: 1398
Incept: 2009-03-18
* Winter is Coming *
Good topic,love your show Gen; anytime I cannot hear it live, I download....always look forward to it!
----------
Prepare for Our Valley Forge *~* Appeal to Heaven *~* ...that those "who having no appeal on earth to right them, they are left to the only remedy in such cases, an appeal to heaven." ~John Locke
I personally have no problems with using the machines if you target likely candidates for terrorism. I see absolutely no problems with profiling. It has been done for centuries to target likely suspects. Why not use it to target likely terrorists. If a non Arabic citizen of the United States does not want to be sent thru the radiation chamber or patted down they should be free to fly without undergoing this. If it is someone without citizenship then I'm not sure they are entitled to the same liberties in this case. Does our constitution guarantee the liberties of non citizens? Just asking because I don't know.
And personally I think if I would enjoy a good groping and fondling I should be able to request it.
----------
I'm already visualizing you with duct tape over your mouth.
I have a problem with all of this crap. I have a problem with going to baseball games and being wanded. To my knowledge, the biggest disaster that happened at a game was either a riot, a structural collapse or the 1989 SF earthquake during the world series. We have to do it? Why? The movie 2 minute warning? Then you have the metal detectors at court houses. Why? Because many lawyers are in the business of screwing people. .When the law ceases to be applied correctly, people get mad. Is this to protect us or the lawyers? Then there are the red light cameras. This is a civil suit, not a criminal suit. Damages, penalty clause or actual? Look up Penalty Clause in Blacks Law Dictionary. Look up Nudum Pactum Orito. Appeal the claim in court and ask them to show their damages. This definition applies to fines as well as private contracts.
This said, there should be some care and control dealing with air planes, but how much? There should also be an attitude of the passengers that the plane belongs to them and there isn't anyone going to hijack it. The Airlines should find out what is on the planes before they are boarded. I didn't like the system before all this crap came down and to be honest, I didn't think I was going to get through Newark when I was there in 1999, because the sensors were giving a false alarm and wouldn't stop. I don't have a metal rod in me, so I am clueless as to what caused that read. The idea of a police state disturbs me much more than terrorism.
Wish I could attend today Karl. I will play it back, but I might get my charger and take an hour off at 3:30. I am sure you are going to tell us to grow some balls. I find it absurd that we write history about keeping the world safe for democracy while cashing several hundred thousand lives and maiming millions physically and mentally, then we sit here and let them boil us like frogs in a pan of cold water with the fire blazing under the pan. All the patriotism is useless if we let the government usurp our rights under the rule of necessity. People in general don't understand that the Constitution didn't grant rights, but prohibited the government from usurping them. There were to be no Titles of Nobility, in accord with the idea that all men were created equal.
For reference, you might read the latest Michael Hudson interview that I am sure is on his website. He contends that the bankers are using the Fed credit to inflate foreign assets and buy up the minerals and such in these countries. Dollars flow in, then dollars flow out and collapse the domestic currencies. The US became great before they resorted to this kind of looting, set up at the end of World War II. This is behind the majority of messes we are in around the world today, including the financial crisis we have. They don't seem to care the next bubble burst will be worse. Have they taken so much of our **** that w we don't have the will to resist?
----------
The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.---John Kenneth Galbraith
And from the Patriot Act, the national security letters, the suspension of habeas corpus, indefinite detention without trial (material witness warrant), touchless torture, and non-touchless torture. "Material support of terrorism". WARRANTLESS wiretaps and immunity for the telecoms. Now extra-judicial assassination. Extraordinary rendition.
Thunderous applause, or total silence. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance but instead we have been unlocking the gate.
I thought only the banksters were important. The only issue candidates should talk about? How is anything involved with the TSA going to bring the mortgage banksters to justice. That was the only thing anyone should care about.
The gate******and nuking is helping catch Osama! Just like all the above.
None of the stuff in the first paragraph is likely to have harmed anyone here, so few spoke up. So now that they have finally gone over some line and you have awakened why should I care? You are already slaves since any of the above can happen to you - and has happened to citizens. I suppose it will be like the TSA - some line will be crossed, there will be some loud controversy, there will be some financial shenanigans so we will be all called to ignore the KGBisms at the time, and then shock! shock!.
You can't only unshred 10% of the constitution, or unshred a different 10% than now and expect to have any liberty.
We either have the full rule of law, complete with full judicial review for everyone and in every case following the constitution - for the banksters, but also for the telecoms and war criminals even if they are in the white house, or we have no rule of law.
Ignorantsavage
Posts: 702
Incept: 2007-11-27
united States
On the topic of people being willing to take a stand in defense of their Creator-given untransferrable rights:
Do communities support those among them who choose to take a stand for invididual liberty? In cases I've been able to follow in more than a little detail, moral support is the best that can usually be hoped for perhaps with a bit of financial support thrown in. Very few at all have been willing to stick their neck out and risk their own freedom by taking a stand against the illegality and insanity of governments.
Of those that have, such as Len Savage (testified in defense of several individuals who the BATFE was trying to railroad on firearms charges, all of which are of course unConstitutional, with the charges in question being particularly egregious) several have been subject to "economic Waco" events where their livelihood has been threatened or destroyed in retaliation for their defense of others.
How can a healthy community of librty-minded individuals take a stand that would meet with the approval of at least the "typical live-and-let-live" American, if there are any? Every time I hear about confrontations against unlawful acts of the police, for example, the focus is almost always on those dirty, smelly hippies who should have gotten a job and just have done as they were told.
I have my own answers to such questions, but they only apply to one individual, me, and really won't do much to help anyone else unless those others have also been brought to the point of understanding of the rule of law as specified by the US Constitution and colored by the Declaration of Independence.
Your work in disseminating such information is fantastic, and a critical focus, I believe, for the upcoming "interesting" times.
You missed some reasons to axe you off the insurance list:
infractions of the draconian bills...
patriot act food bill future cap n tax bill health bill
refusing to cooperate w/ goons operating under color of law hate speech (your site once 1st amendment is nuked)
You've been on their turf outside your house. Now the field is spreading into your home. food bill, cap n tax both offer inroads to "inspectors"
Being a "bad citizen" will get you tossed off the list. Everything is being setup so ambiguous that you're screwed 3 ways from Sunday just for breathing.
This video always stuck with me once I saw it. It's about the Weather Underground group and their takeover plans from an, undercover.
Doesn't look like the plan has changed much. They are attempting to educate us. Obama is cut from this cloth.
Edit: you touched on this at the end w/ the food bill. great show, nice break from financials.
Asimov
Posts: 103942
Incept: 2007-08-26
East Tennessee Eastern Time
What about the "list" of guns that were confiscated during katrina?
(Sorry, just listening now.)
----------
It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity. If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.
Jonathanr
Posts: 3168
Incept: 2008-05-16
Melbourne, Australia
Banned
When people trot out with the words liberty and freedom, I say:
If anyone supports taxation in any form and in any amount, for the purposes of financing spending for the public good, then there is no liberty.
If you have no say in how the taxation monies are spent, then that money is nothing but proceeds of crime.
That you can elect somebody to vote on how that tax money is spent, means little. It simply means you're tax dollars are nothing but the compulsory purchase of a ticket in a lottery. You have a nearly infinitesimally small chance of seeing the services you require, at the price you're willing to pay. This does not change the fact that tax monies are proceeds of crime.
All of society's ills and requirements can be dealt with on a voluntary basis. That charity organizations can feed, clothe and educate poor people in other counties, and then in the face of obtaining charitable funding in competition with compulsory taxation, means that voluntary organization and charitable donations work.
For the most part, expansion of government bureaucracy is almost always an attempt at usurping existing private-sector services, for the sake of uniformity and consistency. That comes at an enormous cost, and is always much more than the public is willing to pay - which is why taxation must be compulsory.
Pat down and grope at those ideas...
----------
Why do you complain? It's the criminals who decide how proceeds of crime are spent, not the victims.
When people trot out with the words liberty and freedom, I say:
If anyone supports taxation in any form and in any amount, for the purposes of financing spending for the public good, then there is no liberty.
****in' AMEN.
BTW, Thanksgiving has nothing to do with America, religious freedom, liberty in general, or the founding fathers. It was celebrated as early as 1565 by the Spanish -- over 200 years before the US even existed.
