No State: Israel and Palestine

There is a sick irony in that the Israeli government has become an aggressor against another culture after the historical persecution against the Jewish people (though not all Israeli and Palestinian people are violently opposed to each other). Somehow, I don't see sympathy for Israel during this campaign of violence toward another culture:

Israel's interior minister has publicly vowed to "send Gaza back to the Middle Ages" as the aerial and naval bombardment of the besieged enclave, as well as the Palestinian rocket barrage against Israel, continued into Sunday.

There was no calm in Gaza as 'Operation Pillar of Defense,' Israel's air and sea bombardment of the densely populated enclave, entered its fifth straight day on Sunday. Israel has carried out 950 air strikes targeting Palestinian militants who have launched more than 500 rockets into Israel during the course of hostilities.

Reuters reports that the Palestinian death toll stood at 47 going into Sunday morning. Around half of those deaths were civilians, including 12 children. Gaza health officials said that 385 Palestinians have been wounded.

And end to the governments of Israel and Palestine would put and end to the violence. These acts of war are not by the people themselves, but the warmongers that have come to power. There is no explicit consent by either culture to the aggressive ruling class of either nation which are so violently opposed to each other, just as many Americans do not support the acts of the American military abroad. To put and end to the violence, the people must recognize and oppose the violence inherent in the system, and take steps to dismantle the state itself, replacing it with a voluntary society. 

President Obama Finally Speaks Out on Legalization

Oops, sorry, my bad. That was from 2004

What? Obama hasn't been the Prohibitionist usurper he claimed to be? I'm cool with candidate Obama, but chairman Obama sure isn't my soft of guy. 

The silence from the administration has been deafening. And other states and countries have been stepping into the void to make a case for legalization. The genie is definitely out of the bottle.

It's interesting to watch the silence on Twitter. Rafael Lemaitre, the Communications Director or the ONDCP hasn't tweeted since October 14, except to re-tweet some posts by others that had nothing to do with marijuana legalization. And the other ONDCP twitter account has joked about Director Kerlikowske secretly desiring to guest host NPR's show "Wait, Wait," and yet hasn't commented on the Washington and Colorado votes. The ONDCP blog talked about drugged driving legislation in California, and a Veteran's Day message, but nothing on the elections. Clearly, the ONDCP has been told in no uncertain terms to keep its collective mouth shut.

Source

EPA Regulatory Conflict of Interest

A brief list of senior EPA officials who have formerly worked at environmental interest groups that often sue the EPA:

Nancy Stoner, Interim Assistant Administrator of Water
Formerly Worked for: Natural Resources Defense Council

Glenn Paulson, Chief Scientist
Formerly Worked for: Natural Resources Defense Council

Michael L. Goo, Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy
Formerly Worked for: Natural Resources Defense Council

Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator
Formerly Worked for: National Audubon Society

Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement & Compliance
Formerly Worked for: The Conservation Law Foundation's Advocacy Center

Michelle J. DePass, Asst. Administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs
Formerly Worked for: The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance

Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste
Formerly Served on the Board of: NYC Environmental Justice Alliance

Curt Spalding – Region 1 Director
Formerly Worked for: “Save the Bay” and “Narragansett Bay Keeper”

Judith A. Enck – Region 2 Director
Formerly Worked for: New York PIRG and Environmental Advocates of New York

Susan Hedman – Region 5 Director
Formerly Worked for: Environmental Law and Policy Center and Center for Global Change

Karl Brooks – Region 7 Director
Formerly Worked for: Idaho Conservation League

James B. Martin – Region 8 Director
Formerly Worked for: Environmental Defense Fund

Jared Blumenfeld – Region 9 Director
Formerly Worked for: Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the NRDC and International Fund for Animal Welfare

6 out of the 10 EPA regional directors came right from the radical enviro groups.

Here in Region 6, we have work to do. The EPA regional director just resigned. He’s not listed as one of the 60%, but should have been. He resigned just a couple of weeks ago over a comment he made, that he would ‘crucify’ industries which violated the EPA regulations.

Petraeus testifies that CIA blamed terrorists for Benghazi attack

Holy crap! it takes charges laid by the state on one of it's own before they'll tell the "truth." It's always about the power struggle between the US intelligence agencies, not sex. 

Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus explained Friday that references to terrorist groups suspected of carrying out the violence were removed from the public explanation so as not to alert them that U.S. intelligence was on their trail.

They're not really even saying anything about why the attack occurred. Why focus on the US intervention into another sovereign nation until a generation passes (Vietnam, Nixon, Cambodia, Pol Pot, in that order) and we can criticize the previous version of the state, not ready to question it while we live today. 

A Simple Constitutional Argument For Letting States Legalize Marijuana

Former federal prosecutor Mark Oslet wrote a CNN op-ed that presents a clear and concise argument as to why the U.S. federal government should honor state laws legalizing marijuana.

Last week Colorado and Washington became the first places in the world to remove the the prohibition on commercial production, distribution and possession of marijuana for non-medical purposes. 

Oslet, now a law professor, argues that a central principle built into the structure of the U.S. government through the Constitution "demands that individual and state rights be honored above all but the most important federal imperatives."

In the book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know," drug policy scholars note that the "Constitution does not allow the federal government either to order state governments to create any particular criminal law or to require state and local police to enforce federal criminal laws."

The U.S. government has long argued that the war on drugs is imperative to combating the possession and use of drugs in America.

But Oslet counters that federal and state efforts to curb marijuana use through prosecution "simply haven't worked" since the U.S. has spent $20 to $25 billion a year during the past decade and incarcerated tens of thousands of people "to punish drug possession and trafficking without ever successfully restricting the flow of marijuana or cocaine."

Therefore, Oslet concludes, the Obama administration should "employ that discretionary power in line with our oldest and best principles and step back from continuing marijuana prosecutions in Colorado and Washington."

---

Source

Every President Makes you Nostalgic for his Predecessor

On January 16, 1991, a day which shall live in infamy, George Bush finally got his cherished shooting war. The United States launched an avalanche of mass murder and mass destruction upon a small, impoverished third-world country. Bush and the military finally got to uncork their high-tech devastation; and the military-industrial complex, secure in the vanishing of the short-lived "peace dividend," can stand tall once more. By personalizing the war and narrowing it to Saddam Hussein, Bush has managed to make Americans forget about the countless number of Iraqi civilians he is going to maim and murder. Or maybe there is nothing to forget: one reason why a U.S. war is always depressing to libertarians is because each new war is yet another demonstration that many Americans are only concerned about American lives and body bags, and care not a fig for the annihilation of citizens of other countries.

George Bush was, of course, able to maneuver us into a shooting war by aggressively and viciously, in barracks-room language, denying Saddam anyway out, any compromise, any avenue of negotiation. "Just get out, unconditionally...He doesn't need any face...I'm going to kick his ass." What head of State, ever, is going to submit under such terms? Every promising initiative by a third party was shot down brusquely by Bush; even the last-minute proposal by France that the U.N. simply implement its own resolutions by holding a Mideast conference (as suggested by Tariq Aziz) was shot down quickly by Bush as "linkage" and "rewarding the aggressor."

George Bush worked his evil will in the face of a sharply divided country and of an anti-war movement of unprecedented scope at this early stage of a US war. He was aided and abetted in this course by a supine Congress. The iniquity of Congress was bipartisan. What happened to the conservative Republicans, so defiant in opposition to Bush's tax increase? They folded totally in the face of the power of the president. As for the Democrats, led by George Mitchell and Tom Foley – they deliberately waited cravenly to debate until the last minute, when they could effectively be clobbered by the cry to support the president in his last hours of negotiation. And when they finally did allow a debate, they refused to use any muscle to rally the Democrats behind them. In that way, they could support the president, while keeping their voting records clear in case the war should eventually turn sour.

More from the irrepressible Murray N. Rothbard: MR. BUSH'S SHOOTING WAR

Lew Rockwell Roundup

There are a handful of good articles posted over at Lew Rockwell's site today, including a Ron Paul Farewell to Congress (finally coming out of the closet as a Voluntaryist), Lincoln's Greatest Failure (there are so many to choose from), the Petraeus Scandal (I'll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with sex), and more. Enjoy your liberty? Thank the folks contributing to Rockwell' site for fighting for it on an intellectual level, because your vote means nothing to anyone but yourself. 

Is Obama Asking for Too Much Revenue?

President Barack Obama will be sitting down with CEOs from some of America's top businesses today to discuss strategies for dealing with the fiscal cliff. Congress began a session on Tuesday with seven weeks on the clock before hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts and tax hikes scheduled at the end of the year threaten to turn a struggling economic recovery into a full-fledged recession.

InvestorWords defines recession thusly;

A period of general economic decline; typically defined as a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters. A recession is typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market. A recession is generally considered less severe than a depression, and if a recession continues long enough it is often then classified as a depression. There is no one obvious cause of a recession, although overall blame generally falls on the federal leadership, often either the President himself, the head of the Federal Reserve, or the entire administration.

If we are not in a recession, I don't know what to call it. 

Time is of the essence in finding a solution, but politics as usual will have lawmakers on both sides of the isle lobbing grenades at each other for a few weeks before serious discussions are expected to begin.

[...] 

More

Less than One in Five Voted for Obama

That's my tentative estimate (based on Google election result and population statistics) of the percentage of Americans who voted for nobody for President of the United States on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama knocked down about 60.7 million votes.

GOP challenger Mitt Romney polled about 57.8 million.

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, 1.14 million.

Green candidate Jill Stein, about 400,000.

A few others, a few thousands or tens of thousands.

About 38.8% of the population supported one of the candidates; about 19.5% of the population supported the alleged "winner."

61.2% of the population did not consent to be ruled at all, and fewer than one in five Americans consented to be ruled by Barack Obama. The figures are likely similar for most or all of the 435 US Representatives and 33 US Senators "elected" on Tuesday.

If these politicians support the system of government they claim to support — one in which governments "deriv[e] their just powers from the consent of the governed" — then the only order of business they have to discuss is who will turn the lights off as they depart Washington.

Don't bet the ranch on it.

http://c4ss.org/content/14117

As voter turnout reduces, that consent is more apparently not given to politicians through the vote, and confidence in politicians and their government is fading. Getting the support of less than 20% of the population is a sign that the consent of the governed is being withdrawn en masse.

Vote no confidence by not voting.

WA and CO Recognize that Marijuana is not a Drug

Colorado and Washington became the first U.S. states to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.

But another ballot measure to remove criminal penalties for personal possession and cultivation of recreational cannabis was defeated in Oregon, where significantly less money and campaign organization was devoted to the cause.

Supporters of a Colorado constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana were the first to declare victory, and opponents conceded defeat, after returns showed the measure garnering nearly 53 percent of the vote versus 47 percent against.

Polls for the last couple of years have shown that marijuana has been gaining acceptance by a majority of the population, even those who do not condone the activity, but recognize that deeming something illegal where there are no victims is an abuse of government power. That doesn't even get into the idea that alcohol and tobacco are legal and regulated, but have negative health and social effects that marijuana does not.

The state has no real authority to regulate drugs, they have seized this for themselves without the consent of the population. This was not an enumerated power. In addition, a naturally occurring plant is not a drug. The number of real drugs that the government approves through the FDA that have negative health effects on users far overshadow those which are outside of it's invalid jurisdiction (any non-consensual act by an outside force is immoral and unjust).

"Colorado will no longer have laws that steer people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they prefer. And we will be better off as a society because of it," said Mason Tvert, co-director of the Colorado pro-legalization campaign.

The economic benefits of the end of prohibition will be significant, including a decrease in the amount of wasteful cases ending up in the court system. I only hope that it becomes applied retroactively, and that anyone serving time for possession charges is able to appeal and gain the freedom they deserve.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy group that backed the initiatives, said the outcome in Washington and Colorado reflected growing national support for liberalized pot laws, citing a Gallup poll last year that found 50 percent of Americans favored making it legal, versus 46 opposed.

I see it as only a matter of time before the Tenth Amendment is once again seen as being the way in which the Constitution was intended to limit the power of the federal government, allowing the states the final say on issues such as this. 

Supporters of Washington state's pot legalization initiative declared victory after the Seattle Times and other media projected a win for marijuana proponents.

Early returns showed pro-legalization votes led with 55 percent versus to 44 percent opposed with about 60 percent of ballots tallied in the state's all-mail-in election system.

The outcomes in Colorado and Washington, which already have laws on the books legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, put both states in further conflict with the federal government, which classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

It is the federal government which is in conflict, and as more states refuse to oppress their residents, the federal government begins to lose consent and power. Small moves, Ellie.


Read on: Colorado, Washington first states to legalize recreational pot | Reuters

Netanyahu Says Bring it on

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday granted a pre-election interview to Channel 2 in which he spoke more tough than ever on Iran, and firmly positioned himself as the "security" candidate ahead of the January 22 poll.

Asked about Israel's perceived reluctance to take military action against Iran's defiant nuclear program without American consent, Netanyahu made clear that he was prepared to act without anyone's permission.

Preemptive strikes are acts of aggression, not defense. It really is that simple. Until a person or group of people is attacked or attack is imminent, there is no justification to instead become the aggressor. 

A history of violent persecution has turned a once peaceful culture into one of violence. What a sad world. 

"When former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel, was it with the consent of the Americans? When former Prime Minister Menachem Begin bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor, was that with the consent of the Americans?" asked Netanyahu.

Netanyahu insisted that the Jewish nation's days of pleading for its survival were over. "When we didn't have a state, when we didn't have an army, and when someone threatened to destroy us and then actually annihilated us, we went and pleaded with others. Today we don't plead, we prepare."

[...]

---

More Warmongering

Obama "wins"

I didn't watch any election coverage yesterday.  In fact, I hadn't really thought about it until I got online this morning and saw half of the statist socialists cheering the victory of their candidate and the other half of the statist socialists wringing their hands over the defeat of their candidate. 

As the Freedom Feens say, the desire to be a statist is a birth defect. 

It wouldn't have made one bit of difference had Romney won.  He was Obama's clone.  Just a Big Government socialistic fascist stamped out of the same die as Obama. And the Bushes.  And Clinton.  Etc.  The claims about Obama's secret religion or birthplace were distractions from the things that really mattered- and on those things Romney wasn't just shooting blanks; he was pointing his finger and saying "click".  And only those who were blinded by their hatred of Obama even noticed Romney.

More

Republicans Should Prepare For Obama's Ultimatum

An early winter has descended on the northeast, ushered in by a 100 year storm that has left the coastal portions of much of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states reeling.  Our quadrennial demonstration of the degree to which the entire country is divided and politically irreconcilable was once again upon us last night. 

It's hard to put the political season into words better than those. 

Moving into last night's contest, the only things we could be sure of was that climatic change would leave us exposed to more frequent storms in the future (although half the country seems intent on disagreeing with that statement), and that our federal government would remain deeply divided and dysfunctional.

The most concise description of modern government I've heard thus far. 

President Obama's victory last night provides the country with an opportunity that was, unfortunately, squandered during the president's first term. The White House, chastened by a narrow victory and benefiting from the freedom to operate that historically characterizes second term Democratic administrations, is likely to move into next week and next year with a far more combative message than the milquetoast and entirely elusive "bi-partisanship" of the president's first term.

Moreover, the Republicans in the House of Representatives, and to a lesser extent in the Senate, will today come face to face with the reality that their message could not defeat a Democratic president suffering from a nearly 8% unemployment rate, and a massive 14.5% underemployment rate, to say nothing of a generally anemic economy and a lackluster set of policy responses to same.

[...] 

---

More from BU

Where Did The Voters Go?

It is mindboggling. John McCain and Sarah Palin got more votes than Obama did in 2012. This is a incredible drop in voter turnout in what was to be the election of our lifetime. The numbers are in:

2012 
OBAMA -- 59,651,236 ROMNEY -- 57,028,531

2008 OBAMA -- 69,456,897 MCCAIN -- 59,934,814 

If the same number of voters showed up in 2012 as they did for McCain and Palin in 2008, Obama would have been defeated last night. This is insane!!

I'd say that many voters have become jaded and refuse to participate in electoral politics. I sure have. 

Its from stormfront, so take it with a grain of salt...

The Kill List President

The Kill List President

If Romney Had Won

Everyone is talking about the disturbing Bloomberg Businessweek cover showing an aged and very gray President Obama with the headline "The Next Four Years."

Here's what the cover would have looked like in the event of a Romney victory. 

From Businessweek: 

Source

Lame Duck

With the elections results nearly in, I am no more surprised that Obama won than if it had been Romney. If it becomes official, Obama will in effect become the lame duck, and lacking any motivation to be re-elected, the acts of the administration will likely deviate even further from reason than they have thus far. Some of past president's greatest atrocities have been committed in second terms.

2012 Election

I know I can go to bed and sleep well without knowing which candidate won.

The question is, can you?

Clinton and the Art of Distraction

bill clinton bombed the al shifa sudan pharmaceutical medicine factory to cover up sex scandal with monica lewinsky
…obama and clinton deserve each other!

bill clinton | Tumblr

Obama Campaigner Punches Voter in Face

A woman in a Detroit polling location was aggressively campaigning for Obama. A female voter in line objected. The Obama supporter punched the woman in the face.  

Just the divisiveness that the electoral process promotes...

Police came to arrest her and she smacked the cop.  

Developing... 

Detroit Polls: Obama Campaigner Punches Voter in Face

And that's one more reason not to vote, quite a list we're building...