Living Well is the Best Revenge

THE WRITER SHADE OF PALE

2012-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

There's an interesting and fun blog I follow. It is written by The Muse and is her vehicle for discussing both the perils and delights of being a writer. She also writes about lots of other things, too. You can find it here: http://thewritershadeofpale.blogspot.com/

It is well worth a look . . . and I love the clever name (based of course on the old Procol Harum song).

Live well . . .

A New Year . . . and the NDAA is there to greet us

2012-01-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

A New Year is here . . . 2012. I have not posted on here since September last. Sorry about that. I have been busy with Facebook and then Twitter, both great ways to promote my ideas (Southern nationalism) and organization (The League of the South). However, I do intend to start blogging again. I don't think I'll have a shortage of material . . .

On the final day of 2011, President Obama signed into "law" the National Defense Authorization Act, which, among other things, allows him and his cronies to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens for any reason whatsoever. The whole country has now been designated a "battlefield" (this indeed may become a self-fulfilling prophecy). In others words, habeas corpus is dead and we have a tyranny in the good old US of A. Who would have ever thought it (except those of us who have been warning about it for at least the last twenty years).

This is now the salient question: Will you allow it? If not, what will you do about it. Think hard . . . and live well.

Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere!

WE NEED SUCH GOVERNORS TODAY

2011-09-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

New Moral Code From Washington:

“On January 19, 1959, came the legal rejection of massive resistance that Governor [J. Lindsay] Almond expected. Both the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and a three-judge federal district court ruled, in separate cases, that the anti-desegregation statues adopted in 1956 were illegal and invalid. When the beleaguered governor went on television two days later to announce his response to the court rulings, his tone was strident and his message was one of continued defiance. An impassioned Almond told Virginians:

“To those in high places or elsewhere who advocate integration for your children and send their own to private or public segregated schools, to those who defend or close their eyes to the livid stench of sadism, sex immorality and juvenile pregnancy infesting the mixed schools of the District of Columbia and elsewhere; to those who would overthrow the customs, morals and traditions of a way of life which has endured in honor and decency for centuries and embrace a new moral code prepared by nine men in Washington whose moral concepts they know nothing about . . . to all these and their confederates, comrades and allies, let me make it abundantly clear for the record now and hereafter, as governor of this State, I will not yield to that which I know to be wrong and will destroy every semblance of education for thousands of the children of Virginia.”

(The Dynamic Dominion, Realignment and the Rise of Virginia’s Republican Party Since 1945, Frank B. Atkinson, George Mason University Press, 1992, pp. 1104-105)

Well, I do think history has proven the good governor correct. Too bad most of our people can't (or won't) learn the lesson.

Live well . . .

CAN YOU IMAGINE . . . ?

2011-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine peace and prosperity?

Can you imagine America as a republic rather than an empire?

Can you imagine a society without political correctness?

Can you imagine the American public education system actually teaching anyone anything useful about preserving civilization?

Can you imagine getting to keep the fruits of your own labor?

Can you imagine paying a tax rate of 92% just to fund the interest on the US national debt?

Can you imagine a government in Washington,DC, without a large criminal element?

Can you imagine the average public school student reading in Greek and Latin?

Can you imagine the average public school student reading a book originally written in Greek or Latin in English?

Can you imagine an American police/surveillance state?

Can you imagine a local community, State, or nation whose public policies are not based first and foremost on some question of money rather than morality?

Can you imagine an honest politician who cannot be bought by the highest bidder?

Can you imagine a gallon of gasoline at twenty cents and a one-pound t-bone steak for less than a dollar?

Can you imagine gold at $10,000 per ounce and silver at $500 per ounce?

Can you imagine a worthless US dollar?

Can you imagine America in forty years (if not sooner) having a white minority?

Can you imagine clean, healthy, and cheap food grown in your own community?

Can you imagine American gulags?

Can you imagine your church being closed by government decree?

Can you imagine your firearms being confiscated by gangs of heavily-armed government goons?

Can you imagine government bankruptcy?

Can you imagine what a jackboot stomping on a human face forever would feel like?

Can you imagine what the American Founders must be thinking right now?

Can you imagine what standing on the deck of a sinking Titanic was like?

Can you imagine having a lifeboat on a sinking ship and not using it?

Can you imagine a free and prosperous Southern republic?

Can you imagine living well . . . in spite of all else?

JOY TO A BEAUTIFUL WORLD

2011-09-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful early fall day here in the hills and mountains of north Alabama. I'm just north of the Tennessee River (the "Singing River" in the Cherokee language)and about nine miles south of the Tennessee State line. Pretty much everything you hear around here is musical, even the soft breezes.

For all the ugliness and banality in the world, it sure can be full of wonder and beauty, too. I suppose it's all about that on which you choose to focus. The forces of evil will try to grind you down if you let them. Don't let them.

When they start to get to you, remember this: Christ now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning over the earth. He will eventually make all His enemies (and yours, if you're a Christian) His footstool. With this in mind, how can you not be joyful?

Live well . . .

AMERICA'S BROWNSHIRTS

2011-09-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa had some profane, combative words for Republicans while warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday.

“We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner. It’s going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We’re going to win that war,” Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said to a heavily union crowd.

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” Hoffa added.

Live well . . . and watch your back.

MONUMENTAL STUPIDITY

2011-08-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s daughter made a speech recently in conjunction with the erection of that "Made in China" statue of her father in DC. In it, she claims that Abe Lincoln signed the Declaration of Independence.

What can you say to such . . . ?

Live well . . .

IRENE

2011-08-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

The way the media is talking you'd think that Hurricane Irene was a Cat 5 instead of barely a 2. In fact, when she gets as far north as New York City and Massachusetts, she likely will have been downgraded to a tropical storm. Yet you'd think it was the end of the world.

If she was bearing down on Biloxi, Mobile, or Pensacola, then there might be a mention on the news channels and some decent coverage on The Weather Channel (where every weather "event" beyond a summer thundershower is cause for panic). But now that Irene is headed for the northeastern corridor it is a potential national disaster in the making. Is there anywhere up there that hasn't been evacuated already (before the first raindrop has fallen)? I suppose that tells you a lot about how the mainstream media see the north versus the South. One place important, the other not so much.

One thing I never want to hear again is smug Yankees laughing at Southerners trying to deal with a snowstorm. Natural disasters cut both ways, bitches . . .

Live well . . .

ONE BAD POLICY DECISION . . .

2011-08-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

The economic meltdown in the US (and hence the world) is only one bad policy decision away. Don't get caught holding too much fiat money.

Buy gold and silver . . . and take physical delivery.

I suggest contacting Franklin Sanders at moneychanger@wildblue.net. He is trustworthy and has been in the business for many years.

Oh, this weekend offers many opportunities for someone to make that "bad policy decision."

Live well . . .

A LITTLE "NATURAL DISASTER" HUMOR ON AN OTHERWISE BORING DAY

2011-08-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

The US government, through its Department of Homeland Security, has deemed the 6.0 earthquake that shook the financial-political corridor (otherwise known as the Axis of Evil) from Washington, DC, to New York City as a "domestic terrorist."

A spokesman from DHS said: "The very fact that this natural disaster would choose to strike at the very heart of America, from the Pentagon to Wall Street, shows its intent to disrupt the business of America, which as we all know is as necessary as the air we breathe if the earth is to be kept spinning properly on its axis. This act of domestic terror will not succeed, despite all the shaking. Rather, it will cause the American people, once they're clearer to return to their workplaces, to stand firmly together. We recommend that all Americans get out immediately and show their patriotism by buying something on a credit card or by opening a checking account at Bank of America."

We also learned that Congress is contemplating an updated version of the USA Patriot Act that would outlaw unauthorized geological events and those who summon them through what a spokesman called "imprecatory prayer." (Yes, go ahead and blame it on "the Christians.")

On a related note, Hurricane Irene is headed north toward the mouth of the Potomac and likely will make landfall before the weekend.

2011-08-23T07:38:00.001-07:00

Could this be the day (or week) that Bank of America goes under? Its CDS is being hammered thus far today. Perhaps the market is determined to force the banking system to deal with reality instead of the alternate "reality" of "cooked books" that has been the recent stock-in-trade of the Bernankes and Geithners of the world.

An admission that Bank of America (which has the most deposits of any US bank) is indeed insolvent would be a very big and severe event.

Live well . . .

JUST ANOTHER NAIL IN THE ESTABLISHMENT'S COFFIN

2011-08-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Between 2007 and 2010, the US Fed gave away in secret some $1.2 trillion in public monies to their bankster friends, some of them foreign.

We, my friends, have been duped. And we will continue to be duped as long as these criminals and their cronies in the DC political arena are free to continue doing "business as usual." When will justice be done? And who will make sure it's done in a timely manner?

If real justice is not meted out to these criminals, then perhaps there will be a revolution in America. And I'm talking about one where the old, corrupt order is completely destroyed and replaced by one based truly on the consent of the governed. That's how our Founders intended this polity to work.

But from a personal standpoint, I'd perfer that the States simply secede and leave DC, Wall Street, and their sorry allies with no one to abuse but themselves. It can be done if we can only summon the will. We surely have the ways and means.

Live well . . .

AN OLD BEATLES TUNE . . .

2011-08-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Maxwell's Silver Hammer--watch it drop this week!

Live well . . .

BIG NEWS A-COMIN'

2011-08-20T19:44:00.001-07:00

Watch for an important announcement this Sunday evening (21 August). It will have to do with the liquidity issue in Europe. But the wild card in all this will be . . . China. Keep your eyes on the east--there will be panic there.

I may be wrong but I won't be wrong always . . .

Live well . . .

DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THINGS REALLY ARE?

2011-08-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

There will be QE 3 in some form or another beginning Monday, 22 August. In fact, we should have realized this a little while back when the Fed committed to ZIRP for another two years (by the way, ZIRP stands for Zero Interest Rate Policy). Anything to make money cheap and readily available. It is said by his critics that this is all Ben Bernanke knows how to do; it's all the ammo in his gun. And it won't do anything expect make the situation worse in the long run. But he knows this . . .

Today, the Fed opened up a $200 billion dollar swap line to the National Bank of Switzerland, a sure sign that the European liquidity crisis will be the hinge on which a new quantitative easing policy turns. Tomorrow (19 August), the markets will crash further and there will be threats of major Euro-banks going under. Gold will skyrocket. This will be all the cover Bernanke and the Fed need to ride to the rescue with some form of QE 3. It will be a massive worldwide effort (again).

All of this is a manufactured crisis, designed by the Fed and their corrupt bankster buddies. It will permit them to keep in place the inflationary policy that 1) continues the confiscation of assets worldwide by the banksters and 2) sets the stage for an ultimate hyper-inflationary event that will destroy sovereign nations and long-standing political systems.

Can the criminals stage manage such a big show? Can they keep the QE bus between the ditches? Stay tuned for the show. May God have mercy on us all. Live well . . .

THE RIGHTS AND POWERS OF THE STATES

2011-08-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

When our Founders broke the bonds of political association with the British Empire in 1776, the former colonies became free and independent States constituting thirteen separate communities, each asserting its sovereignty. This state of affairs received confirmation by both the Articles of Confederation (1778) and the subsequent Treaty of Paris (1783). Thus Americans themselves, as well as their former British overlords, acknowledged that each State was a separate and sovereign entity.

The sovereignty of the several separate States is crucial to a proper understanding of the process by which these United States gave their consent to a Constitution in 1787-88. When delegates from the States met in Philadelphia in May 1787, they came as representatives selected, directly or indirectly, by the citizens of their respective States. These delegates were not given authority by the people of their States to make any binding agreements; rather, they were only to discuss proposed changes to the Articles of Confederation. Any changes to the Articles might become effective only if they were ratified in convention by the citizens of the separate States.

The result of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was, of course, the drafting and ultimate ratification of the U.S. Constitution. However, that document did not become binding until nine of the original thirteen States had ratified it for themselves. That happened in 1788, and thus the nine signatory States entered into a compact or contract with each other. By doing so, they created a political union for their mutual benefit and security. The four States that initially remained outside this voluntary union for a time were not bound by the compact until they later signed on to it.

It is important to note that no State (or States) could answer for another State. Each State acceded to the compact by its own sovereign will. Moreover, all of them understood that they might secede from the compact by the same means by which they had acceded to it in the first place—a convention of their citizens or their representatives in assembly—if they perceived it in their best interests.

Under the 9^th and 10^th amendments to the compact (part of the 1791 Bill of Rights), the States were further recognized as the repositories of ultimate political sovereignty. All powers which they had not expressly delegated to the general government were retained by the States themselves, including the rights of nullification, interposition, and secession. The power to force a State or States to remain in the voluntary union against their will was nowhere to be found in the powers delegated to the general government or any of its agencies.

Without States Rights, which have been trampled upon since the military defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, we have no rights at all. To be exact, we have no remedy against an encroaching tyranny on either a national or global scale. Until recently, only in the South were States Rights given consideration as an antidote, however quaint and anachronistic, to the growth of illicit power in Washington, DC. In the past year or so, the call for States Rights and State Sovereignty has resounded from Vermont to California. Perhaps the South was right after all?

The legitimate assertion of States Rights is nothing more than the people of the separate States exercising their inalienable rights to change their form of government whenever it ceases to fulfill the purposes for which it was created. In our system, of course, government’s role was to protect our God-given rights to life, liberty, and property.

Those who oppose States Rights today often defend their position out of 1) ignorance or 2) self interest. The former simply does not understand the American founding principles; the latter profit in some way or another from the current centralization of political power in DC. One is a fool, the other a knave. No matter, for they are both liberty’s enemies. Those of us in The League of the South who support States Rights and it natural outworking of nullification, interposition, and secession know that absent this bedrock principle we cannot survive as a free and prosperous people. If others outside the South wish to abandon States Rights, we wish them well in their servitude. As for us, we understand that this hallowed principle, though long languishing, is the key to preserving those blessed gifts God chose to bequeath us through the exertions of previous generations of Southerners. As we Alabamians are fond of saying: “Audemus jura nostra defendere.”

GOVERNMENT IN REBELLION

2011-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

We hear much talk today about dissenters against the U.S. government being labeled "domestic terrorists." That's just another way of saying "rebels." But for the U.S. government to call dissenters by these names is to turn reality upside down. What do I mean, you may ask?

According to the Law of Pre-emptory Accusation, whatever traits the accuser attributes to the accused, you can be sure fits the former and not the latter. Simply put, if the accuser calls you a liar, he is really the liar. If he calls you a hater, he is the real hater. And so forth . . . (reminds me of the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of DC's watchdogs).

My contention here is simple: the U.S. government, since it quit abiding by the Constitution, has been in rebellion against us, the people. If some action is unconstitutional it is, by its very nature, unlawful. And what is unlawful is, ipso facto, criminal. Hence my reason for calling the U.S. government an Organized Criminal Enterprise, Gangster Government, etc., every chance I get.

We, as dissenters against criminal government, are not domestic terrorists or rebels striving unlawfully to bring down a legitimate government; instead, we are true patriots seeking to rein in an overbearing and rebellious government that threatens our lives, liberty, and prosperity. There are several ways of protecting ourselves. For over fifteen years now, the League of the South’s preferred method is secession by the States. It is a time-honored and Constitutional remedy (no matter how loudly the Establishment may deny it). We would be foolish to discard it as an historical anachronism.

We have a perfectly legal and moral means of protecting ourselves. Thus, we have the moral high ground, regardless of what the U.S. government or its lap-dog media and watchdog groups might say.

Live well . . .

BACK AGAIN, FINALLY!

2011-08-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long hiatus; however, my work with The League of the South has taken me away from several pleasurable pursuits for the last few months, including this blog. Not that the workload has let up, you understand; rather, I've simply decided to put aside some other work to revitalize this blog.

Here is a link to my speech given at the League's national conference in Abbeville, SC, in late July:

http://southernnationalist.com/blog/2011/08/09/what-would-it-take-to-get-you-to-fight/

Live well . . .

LET'S NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE AGAIN

2011-08-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome." - Robert A. Heinlein

IS THIS YOUR NIGHTMARE?

2011-03-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home. He knows only The Cause.

Still want to quit?" - Unknown

Found this quote here

Are those of us who call ourselves Southern Nationalists this dedicated? We had better be!

Live well . . .

LAUGHTER . . . YOU REMEMBER LAUGHTER

2011-03-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.

-Eric Idle, comedian, actor, and author (b. 1943)

Know any groups at which the PC police keep you from laughing? Yeah, me too. Makes you wonder what they're trying to get away with. With this observation in mind, it's easy to see why leftist of all stripes (and especially you folks at the SPLC) have no sense of humor and are just no fun at all.

Live well . . . and laugh.

For more go here.

CRIMINAL UPDATE . . .

2011-03-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

Don't believe my long-standing assertion (since 1994) that the US government is an organized criminal enterprise?

Go here and check out the latest misadventures of the BATFE.

Live well . . .

MORE ON THE PRICE OF OIL

2011-03-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

When is oil not just oil? See here, at least as far as price is concerned.

Live well . . .

A NEW WAY OF DECEPTION

2011-03-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

Ever heard the term "biflation?" Perhaps not. For more about this very interesting term, see this.

Live well . . .

AN OBSERVATION AND A QUESTION

2011-03-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

We are past the point where voting matters, especially on the national level.

If the US government does something illegal, who is there to make sure they are punished?

http://dixienet.org/rights/index.shtml

Think about it . . . and live well.

GASOLINE PRICES AND THE COMING EXPLOSION

2011-03-07T13:34:00.001-08:00

Gasoline prices in my area of north Alabama today are just below $3.50 per gallon for regular grade. That's with the price of West Texas Intermediate at about $105 per barrel.

Folks around here have been hit quite hard by the depression since the fall of 2008, and things are not getting any better. Now, we have inflation, the inevitable outcome of QE1 and QE2.

When gasoline hits $4.00 plus per gallon by April (and it seems on track to do just that), what is going to happen to the price of food and other necessary items that must be processed and shipped, both of which directly involve the use of gasoline and diesel fuel? What happens when the price of fuel hits double digits per gallon?

In short, there is going to be lots of misery among the common folks (i.e. those not tied to government or entities favored by government). The bankers and their friends can afford $20 per gallon gasoline and $10 loaves of bread and still live luxuriously--the rest of us will be paupers.

Do the powers-that-be understand that this is an unstable, dangerous situation they have created? I can't believe they are too stupid to know that. Do they simply not care? Well, by their actions they seem oblivious to the suffering of others.

What will finally trigger a popular explosion of violence in America? I don't think anyone knows the specifics; however, I can assure you we're much closer to that day today than we were only a month ago. And when it does come and the genie is out of the bottle, it won't be pretty. So be prepared. The time you have before the deluge is as precious as gold--use it wisely.

And live well . . .

REMEMBER . . .

2011-03-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

the Alamo! 6 March 1836. Do we have the guts of our ancestors? If not, we'd better start acquiring them.

Crockett and Bowie were two of my childhood heroes--still are!

Live well . . .

OPEN BORDERS AND THE SOUTH

2011-03-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Southerner--be honest: Do you really want to live in a Third World country?

I suspect your answer is "no" (or perhaps "hell no!").

Well, you are on the verge of living in such a place (and some of you are already there in Texas and other select areas around Dixie).

You know this is not happening by accident, don't you? It's not that things would be better if the feds could only be persuaded to enforce the law. It is their intention not to enforce it. Theirs is an open borders policy designed to dilute the "old people" (i.e. those Anglo-Celtic and other Euro-Southerners) whose families actually settled the South and to replace us with a "new people" who will be much more malleable and compliant to a dictatorship.

What's at stake here is literally your (and your children's and grandchildren's) future--your life, your land, and your prosperity.

If you can't rouse yourself to take this situation seriously you're a dead man, either sooner or later.

The fundamental solution is for the Southern States to leave this corrupt empire and form their own republic, and the sooner the better.

You say that can't be done for myriad reasons (excuses, really): it's been tried once in the 1860s and failed; it is unconstitutional; it is impractical; it would mean war, etc. etc.

But to toss aside this solution because someone in DC might not like it is to resign one's self to defeat and destruction.

I shall not do that. I hope you'll join me in resistance.

To begin, go to http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com and
http://dixienet.org/rights/index.shtml

Live well. . .

DON'T GO GENTLY . . .

2011-03-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

I have withdrawn my consent from this wicked regime. It is an American Empire, not a republic. It is an organized criminal enterprise, not a republic.

And it does not matter if the Democrats or Republicans (or a combination of the two) are in control of the Presidency or the Congress.

The criminal activity will not stop until enough of us withdraw our consent. What does this mean in reality? It means not acting as the eyes and ear, hands and feet, of the regime. They cannot function without their minions out in the provinces and boondocks. Without hirelings, they are senseless and thus powerless.

Don't help them bring about your own destruction. Do not use their institutions; rather, create your own. Do, use, and buy local as much as possible. Socially ostracize those who continue to cooperate with the regime's criminals--make life uncomfortable for them. Do not spend your "money" with those who support the regime. And finally, be an all-round "problem" for the regime at every turn. Use your imagination and good old common sense. You don't have to submit without a fight! You are a free man or woman, aren't you?

Live well . . .

TEXAS FLOOD

2011-02-26T12:12:00.001-08:00

Race, ethnicity, and culture do matter . . .

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2011/02/texas_demograph.html

We are not interchangeable cogs as the multiculturalists maintain. Rather, we are members of distinct biological/cultural groups that determine what we value and how we live.

When Texas and other States are flooded with Third World immigrants and cease to be dominated by white, European Christians, they will cease to be recognizable (and hospitable) to folks like me. Call me selfish, but little things like this matter to me and my family. And we will defend our patrimony . . . .

Live well . . . .

COURAGE AND TRUTH

2011-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

Check this out . . .

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo202.html

Thanks, Tom

The Sheep

2011-02-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
-H. L. Mencken

. . . and the sheep have bought it.

Herded, fleeced, and slaughtered is no way to go through life.

Wake up, people, and transform yourselves into wolves.

And live well . . .

A SALIENT QUESTION

2011-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

When does Egypt come to the USA? Watch for it . . . it's coming. And sooner than most of the elites care to admit.

Live well . . .

SECESSION CELEBRATION

2010-12-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Check out my speech in South Carolina in November here:

http://dixienet.org/rights/Hill_Speech_Abbeville_Video.php

I was honored to be asked to speak at the 150th anniversary of the active beginning of the secession movement in the South. The first secession gathering took place on Secession Hill in Abbeville, SC, on 22 November 1860. Less than a month later--on 20 December 1860--the sovereign State of South Carolina left the union.

TIME TO STIR . . .

2010-12-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

The criminals in charge of the DC empire are getting bolder with each passing day. They don't seem afraid these days to admit to bailing out foreign banks with our money or threatening our ability to feed ourselves from our own home gardens. Indeed, these self-appointed "Masters of the Universe" are determined to press ahead with their agenda of tyranny in spite of what we think about it. And in January, they plan to raise taxes on us.

Among the common people there is a quiet, yet stirring, desperation. The elites would be wise to pay heed to it. If properly harnessed and led, it could be a very destructive force. And I'm talking about positive destruction. Namely, I speak of the destruction of the current system that supports the organized criminal enterprise commonly known as the US government (writ large to include the multitude of non-governmental hanger-oners).

There is a limit beyond which a people who have known some degree of freedom and prosperity cannot be pushed. I contend that that limit is about to be reached. Once events begin to unfold, I pray that the people will stick together and not be mislead by the lies of the official Propaganda Ministry (otherwise known as the Mainstream Media). The real criminals will brand the people as outlaws in hopes of raising public sentiment against them and in support of the regime. Let us not be fooled by their lies.

We must understand who the real enemy is. Otherwise, we will be set against each other and the tyrants will continue to sit over us. As a Southern nationalist, I hope my own people can awaken and led this fight for freedom on the North American continent.

It is time to get ready for the struggle . . . don't wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, live well . . . .

A POST-ELECTION OBSERVATION

2010-11-03T08:51:00.001-07:00

OK, the elections are over and the GOP is back in control of the House. Let's see how long it takes for them to get down to "business as usual." That means offering just enough opposition to leftism/socialism to fool the people into thinking that there is actually a dime's worth of difference between the two Establishment parties. We already have a hint of this in the new Speaker of the House's comment that he will seek to undo "some" of the provisions of Obama Care. Did you get that? "Some" of the provisions. What that says to me is this--socialist health care is OK; we're just quibbling over the details. This is vintage GOP--get used to it.

Live well . . .

CHILD'S PLAY

2010-10-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

America is being run by children masquerading as adults. Where are the adults, you might ask? Well, they seem to be smart enough to stay away from the mess that's presently dragging the US down to banana republic status. On second thought, we may wish we were a banana republic when all is said and done. It is that bad, folks.

The mortgage industry fraud; the continuing collapse of the dollar; the prospect of more bailouts via a second round of Quantitative Easing (known as QE2); the prospects of hyperinflation; continuing job losses; plummeting industrial production figures; massive trade deficits (especially with China); the thin and heavily-manipulated equity markets, etc. and etc.

In other words, it's too late to stop this runaway train from crashing. The die is cast. The adults are busy making plans to salvage what they can from the remains so that some semblance of order and civilization can survive. The children--from Obama to Bernanke to Geithner and most of Congress--are still playing make believe. Don't let them talk you into playing, too.

The regime is screwed and they (and we) know it. Time the adults bailed out.

Live well . . .

NOT GOOD . . .

2010-10-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

The rise in the US stock market that we are now witnessing is the equivalent of hot gas being pumped into the Hindenburg before her most notable voyage. Think about it . . . and live well.

ART AND ARTISTS

2010-09-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

From Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land:

"Anybody can see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl she used to be. A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is . . . and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be . . . more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo see that this lovely young girl is still alive, prisoned inside her ruined body. He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart . . . no matter what the merciless hours have done." (p. 303)

I was impressed, to say the least . . . Live well . . . .

MIXING METAPHORS

2010-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Fall is almost here, and with it comes the economically perilous months of September and October.

The noticeable changes such as cooler mornings, yellow butterflies, and "the light in August" (to use a Southern literary reference) make me want to wax eloquent and mix metaphors. So here goes:

It's time for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to stick his head up his own arse (hat tip to William Wallace) and wake up and smell the coffee (i.e there will be no recovery). If only such could be the result of the recent Jackson Hole summit of economic and financial big-wigs then we might have hope. Otherwise, we're skrooed.

The truth is not in these people.

Live well . . .

LET'S ALL BECOME . . . NON-CONSUMERS

2010-08-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

There is an entire generation of young Japanese who have never known prosperity. They proudly refer to themselves as "non-consumers."

I think it would behoove us as Americans of all ages to follow their lead. After all, who needs most of the junk and trinkets we buy at Wal-Mart and Target anyhow? Instead of rushing out to spend our dollars on new and useless "stuff," how about either doing without or buying used or local when we must? Let your dollars do your talking for you.

If you want to poke a stick in the Establishment's eye, this is the way to do it. Remember right after 11 September 2001 when George W. Bush, with a panicked look, begged us to keep on shopping to keep the economy afloat? He and his Insider buddies were truly in fear that their debt-based economy would grind to a halt. And there goes their power!

In an economic system based on monetizing debt, the worst thing that can happen is to get rid of debt. All parties--individuals, families, businesses, and governments--must keep spending more and more to keep the economy chugging along. This of course means acquiring more and more debt. But the Bible tells us that the debtor is slave to the lender. We ought to listen to God rather than man.

So, if we become "non-consumers," we make do with what we have. We buy used or local and avoid debt. This will not please the Establishment; however, it will be good for the rest of us in the long run. And by that I mean it might just rid us of the elite parasites among us who make their living off our sweat and ingenuity.

Consider it seriously. Get by on what you have. Find bargains. Be frugal. And live well . . .

WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD

2010-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Bond yields are tanking, personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high, deflation is a reality despite the Feds' futile attempts at inflating the money supply with QEII, and the poor, bedraggled US consumer still makes up 70% of GDP. Yet the powers-that-be still tell us all will be well.

How long will you believe it?

Live well . . .

NO SUMMER RECOVERY

2010-08-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

The establishment elite--Obama, Geithner, Bernanke, etc.--tell us that we're in a summer recovery and the economy will be fine. They are liars. There is no summer recovery, and there will be no fall, winter, or spring recovery either. What there will be is Depression and perhaps revolution and several secession movements. If we are indeed blessed, DC will slide into the Potomac.

From what I'm beginning to see and hear, I would caution the elite leadership (and all who do their dirty work in the far-flung provinces) to sleep with one eye open and a finger on the trigger. The hoi-polloi is getting restless. When they get desperate, watch out . . .

Live well . . .

IMMIGRANTS V. SETTLERS

2010-08-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

We are told that America is a nation of immigrants. That's supposed to end any argument about open borders in favor of . . . open borders. After all, Emma Lazarus's poem--"The New Colossus"-- inscribed on the Statue of Liberty says it all:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Lazarus's sentiments stemmed directly from her campaign to bring into the United States millions of Ashkenazy Jews from the Pale of Settlement in Russia to New York City. Because of the efforts of early "open borders" advocates such as Emma Lazarus, the Golden Door came unhinged between the end of the War Between the States and the 1920s when millions of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe flooded into what was previously a country dominated demographically by Western Europeans (mainly from the British Isles) and negro slaves and their descendants.

The immigration floodtide was temporarily halted by stringent legislation in the 1920s, especially the Johnson-Reed Act (1924) which included the National Origins Act. The latter provision restricted immigration totals to a limit of 2% of the people from a particular country based on the census figures from 1890. This was an effort to keep the demographic make-up of the US primarily northern and western European and Christian. US immigration policy remained fairly static until the revolutionary Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It was in relation to this act that young Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy said:

"First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same.... Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset.... Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived nations of Africa and Asia.... In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think.... It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs."

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the sorry son-of-a-bitch lied. The 1965 act began to change the ethnic and racial demographics of the United States to a degree that few could imagine in that decade. The dire situation we have today stems directly from this piece of treason.

Now, what about the settlers? From the early 17th century to the eve War for Southern Independence, the great majority of the roughly 27 million white people in these United States in 1860 had their origins in the British Isles or elsewhere in Western Europe. They were the mainly Christian progeny of the men and women who had carved a civilization out of a wilderness, especially those we came to know as Southerners. While Yankees huddled close to the coastline in the northeast, bold Southerners laid open the frontiers up to and across the Mississippi River.

My own family came through the Carolinas, across north Georgia, and into the Alabama Territory in the 1790s and early 1800s. By the first decade of the 19th century, they had settled north of the Tennessee River in what is currently Lauderdale County, Alabama. In other words, they were here for more than a decade before Alabama became a sovereign State in this union in 1819.

I've never considered myself the descendant of immigrants; rather, I'm the product of settlers who did most of the dirty work in making this place a fit home for my kith and kin.

Those who came later, after The War, can't claim the same ground. In many cases, they are interlopers. Yes, I understand that many of them came here "legally." However, that does not change the fact that when they got here much of the fundamental hard work in building a country had already been done. They simply took advantage of it. I don't blame them for that.

Historical circumstances, particularly the South's defeat in The War, eventually led to this radical demographic change. Pencil pushing, crooked ciphering, eloquent word twisting became the new postbellum means of acquiring "wealth." My ancestors would not have approved, nor really would they have understood, but they were not given much of a say in the matter.

Today, we settler descendants are fighting to preserve as much land as we can to pass on to our own progeny. Current US immigration policy and the law--especially the incredibly stupid Anchor Baby part--is not helping us. Like our ancestors of old, we settler folk will have to fall back on our own resources. And unlike Emma Lazarus's statue, nothing beckons us to some far-off Golden Door. We are here to live . . . and die, if necessary.

Live well . . .

THE REAL DESIGN OF SOCIALISM

2010-08-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

Socialism, in all its forms, has been proven by history to be an abject failure. China has abandoned it, the old USSR died of it, and the Euro-Zone is now learning the same hard lesson. So why does the Obama regime insist on implementing socialism in America?

The reason is clear to me. Socialism is a purposeful means of destruction. You see, "Hope & Change" meant first tearing down the old. Socialism is the battering ram that will finally destroy the US dollar and economy, thus clearing the decks for whatever sort of politico-economic regime the Progressives have up their collective sleeve.

The real enemy of the Progressives is the small freeholder--small businessmen, entrepreneurs, farmers, craftsmen, and anyone else who desires to be free and independent of the big government-big business nexus. You are slated for destruction, and if you resist you will be cast as an obstacle to "progress." The mainstream media will make sure you and your kind are branded as such.

Be a fierce and principled opponent. Don't give in to fear. Fight back at every step. Don't put your faith in the GOP, the Tea Party movement, or anything else that advocates working within this corrupt system. The Progressives of both the Left and Right control the system and they will not allow meaningful reform to take place.

The antidote to American socialism, whether from the Democrats or Republicans (yes, I said "Republicans"), is secession and independence. It is not half measures such as States Rights or State sovereignty within the current "union." It is certainly not Tea Party-style "elect more conservative Republicans" reform.

You have a clear choice. Live well . . .

SERFDOM, REVOLUTION, OR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE

2010-03-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

As the boot of centralized fascist-socialist tyranny pushes harder on our necks, we have three choices: 1) serfdom; 2) revolution; or 3) Southern independence. I would hope those reading this would have already omitted option number one from consideration.

However, serfdom will likely be the choice of the majority of Americans (and maybe even of Southerners). Why? It is the easiest path. It requires one to do nothing out of the ordinary, to take no risks nor face any danger. Because most people like their bread and circuses and don’t want to be taken out of their comfortable day-to-day existence, they will chose serfdom and convince themselves it is the reasonable and even the patriotic thing to do. Others who might know better will choose this path because of fear.

The revolution option is infinitely better than serfdom, but it has its downside, too. Most revolutions, historically speaking, are bloody affairs that often, as it is said, “devour their own children.” Before you remind me of the successful American Revolution, please remember that that event was a secession movement against the British Empire and not a turning of the world upside down as was the French Revolution. Modern revolutions normally degenerate very quickly into chaos. Before you advocate letting the revolution genie out of her bottle, know this: the Feds may be inept at most things, but they have proven themselves expert at killing people and destroying things. Yes, it may have to come down to an armed stand off; however, there is a better way than out-and-out revolution that leads to this point.

I prefer option three: Southern independence. Our States are historically the loci of ultimate temporal sovereignty within our federated, constitutional republic. The Founders intended it to be that way. Any of the Southern States (or any of the fifty) can assert that sovereignty anytime it wishes by withdrawing from the voluntary union of the States united. By withdrawing (or seceding) through the action of its legislature or another body elected for that specific purpose, the State is on solid legal and moral ground. Our lesser magistrates would be doing exactly what they should to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the State’s citizens against the encroachment of tyranny.

A proper prelude to secession might be Nullification and Interposition. If the federal Congress, the President, or the federal courts (or any combination of the three) should commit unconstitutional acts against the States and the citizens thereof, a State could simply declare that action, be it a law, an executive order, or a legal ruling, to be of no effect within the State’s borders. Should the feds press the issue (which they likely would), then the State government (again, the lesser magistrate) would have the duty to interpose itself between its citizens and the federal forces arrayed against them. This might take the form of the mobilization of a true State Militia (not the National Guard, which can be “federalized”). This is why you should take the right to keep and bear arms seriously.

The use of Nullification and Interposition (and a subsequent secession) might, it is true, lead to armed conflict just as revolution would. However, the former would have the force of history and law on its side whereas the latter, though justifiable, would be more desultory, disorganized, and chaotic. I think it’s always better, at least for as long as possible, to have some lawful and time-honored precedents on your side.

Under present circumstances, brought upon us by both major political parties and our own lack of vigilance, I don’t see any other options but the three I’ve briefly outlined above. Because serfdom is out for most of those who will read this, we had better think long and hard about the other two options. We will have to choose one. I pray we choose wisely. Live well . . .

Audemus jura nostra Defendere!

BUY! BUY! BUY!

2010-03-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I am no investment adviser, but I do have some good investment advice: Buy bullets, NOW! A good place from which to buy is Georgia Arms (1-888-623-6861). They are good folks who'll serve you quite well. Also, they sell high quality ammo at fair prices. Check them out! You can find them on-line at www.georgiaarms.com.

Live well . . .

Audemus jura nostra Defendere!

THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

2010-03-04T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Obama regime seems a bit itchy to get some sort of Health Care Reform passed by Easter. We are told that his compassion for the American people compels him to act now. But would these health care reform provisions kick in immediately? No, it would actually be several years before anything happens to effect your physical health. However, something would begin right away to effect your financial health--the new taxes contained in the overall plan.

What are we to make of this? First, that "health care" is not the central focus of the Obama regime's efforts. Second, that they need money (i.e. your taxes) and they need them . . . yesterday. In other words, this is not about health; it is about money in a hurry. And why is this? Because the US government is broke and desperate.

As I (and many others) have said before, it is an alarming state of affairs when the US government is buying massive amounts of its own debt to keep things afloat. The bubble-blowing charade known as Quantitative Easing may last for a while, as it is not yet common knowledge among the people. However, math always trumps politics. And there is the equivalent of a weapon of mass financial destruction ticking closer and closer to detonation--the bond market. And no one--not even the President--can mess with the bond market and win.

To prevent an utter collapse in bond prices, the Fed will find it necessary to significantly increase its buying of US debt (i.e blowing the bubble bigger and bigger). And when (not if) the bond market bubble bursts, it will be the US government itself that will need the grandfather of all bailouts. If US taxpayers or foreign creditors are unwilling or unable to pay up (and they will be unable), and if massive hyperinflation is to be avoided, a US government default will be the only option. At that point, the dollar dies, as do all other paper fiat currencies. What then happens to all those Credit Default Swaps and other derivatives taken out as insurance against such a calamity? They, like the dollar, become meaningless. Chaos reigns.

When this happens, you must have land, food, water, and the three precious metals--gold, silver, and lead--if you expect any chance of survival. Currency and things denominated in such terms will be worth less than the paper they're printed on. At that point, we and the elites who brought on this hell will finally understand what is real wealth and what is merely a mirage. We'll also understand who has been producing that wealth for the last 30 years--the lowly farmer or the high and mighty Goldman Sachs trader.

Live well . . .

Audemus jura nostra Defendere!

WHAT THE HELL IS A CDS?

2010-02-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered what a CDS is? First, CDS actually stand for "Credit Default Swap." We are told that the purpose of a CDS is to provide insurance against investor risk. So how could this be a bad thing? Don't most people buy insurance on their homes, cars, lives, etc.?

But a CDS is not your normal form of insurance. Historically, folks who purchase insurance have been required to have what is called an "insurable interest." In other words, you must own or at least have a legally binding interest in whatever it is that you choose to insure. You cannot buy insurance on your neighbor's house because you have no insurable interest in it. If you were allowed to do this, you might be tempted to burn you neighbor's house to collect on the policy. This would not be good for neighborhood relations, to say the least.

But things changed in the 1990s. At that time, Wall Street introduced the CDS market and pretty much ditched the concept of insurable interest. Why, you could now bet on anything by taking out an "insurance policy" on it! Want to see a company fail and profit in the bargain--no problem. There was a bet out there just waiting for you. Wall Street, with DC's compliance, had legitimized a new game: "Let's Burn Down Our Neighbor's House And Profit From His Misfortune." Smell the smoke in your town yet? You will . . .

Continue to live well . . .

Audemus jura nostra Defendere!

S%$T ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN?

2010-02-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Goldman Sachs in trouble? Check out what Porter Stansberry has to say below:

By Porter Stansberry in the S&A Digest:

One of the best lessons I've learned over my career as an investment analyst is the myth of excellent management or "great execution" is really just that – a myth.

When I see companies in troubled industries reporting quarter after quarter of great results, while all of their peers are getting killed, I know a fraud is going on. I remember in the early 2000s, WorldCom kept reporting profits when all of the other long-distance carriers were getting killed. I knew it couldn't last. And it didn't. WorldCom's accounting was revealed to be a fraud – the company was counting its network access costs as capital expenses. Once the real numbers came out, the company collapsed in what was the largest bankruptcy in American history at that point.

About three years ago, I saw Goldman Sachs reporting quarter after quarter of unbelievable results when all of the other investment banks were hurting. I spent a lot of time looking at its numbers – which didn't make any sense. It reminded me of Enron. It kept reporting bigger and bigger profits, but lost more money every year in cash. And its debt balances kept growing.

I wrote a lot about this in The Digest, but I never officially recommended shorting Goldman in my newsletter because I literally couldn't figure out how Goldman Sachs was doing it. I couldn't find the smoking gun... but I knew a giant fraud would be discovered there, eventually.

In October 2008, I figured out part of the big secret: Goldman had insured all of its subprime exposure via AIG. This allowed it to book huge profits on its subprime investments long before they were actually paid off because the bonds were insured. Of course, it was all a sham – AIG didn't have nearly enough money to pay off any of the insurance. (See the October issue of PSIA for more details.) A source close to the company even told me how big the exposure to AIG really was – $20 billion. That's roughly 100% of the profit Goldman claimed in 2006 and 2007, at the height of the credit bubble. Goldman completely denied my report and claimed it had zero exposure to AIG.

As was subsequently revealed in the spring of 2009, my report was right on the money. Goldman had roughly $20 billion in exposure to AIG and received roughly $14 billion of money the federal government used to bail out AIG.

But I completely missed one big part of the story... And once this fact becomes common knowledge, it will probably mean jail time for several leading Goldman executives and the end of the firm. What did I miss? The entire Goldman-AIG relationship was a complete sham. Let me explain...

Goldman eventually admitted it had insured roughly $20 billion worth of subprime CDOs with AIG and had major exposure to the firm. But the New York Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs never revealed this critical fact: Goldman didn't merely buy insurance on a bunch of random subprime CDOs. It actually bought insurance on special CDOs it had put together and sold to its own clients. In other words, Goldman knew more about these CDOs than anyone else. Goldman bought insurance on these CDOs because it knew they'd collapse.

This is tantamount to building a house, planting a bomb in it, selling it to an unsuspecting buyer, and buying $20 billion worth of life insurance on the homeowner – who you know is going to die!

These facts all came to light because of research done by the office of Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. These new documents will certainly lead to a full investigation of the Goldman-AIG dealings and the subsequent $180 billion bailout led by the New York Federal Reserve. My bet? Heads will roll. If you own Goldman Sachs, you'd better sell.

Crux Note: The S&A Digest comes FREE with a subscription to Porter Stansberry's Investment Advisory. In just the past few years, Porter has shown readers how to make huge gains in gold stocks... how to profit from the demise of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and General Motors... and the best ways to protect themselves from inflation and the unavoidable collapse of the dollar. You can learn more about a subscription here.

LIARS ALL

2010-02-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

The US government is broke. For that matter, so are the big banks. Why doesn’t the general public know this? It’s simple—they have been lied to about the real situation.

What they’ve not been told is this: 1) that the Fed is buying virtually all of the US bond auction offering through a scam known as “Indirect Participation.” IP is designed to cover the fact that off shore purchases of US Treasury debt are being done with US dollars sent abroad for that specific purpose. This covers the hard fact that there are no takers for US debt and that the US is now forced to finance its own doomed spending spree. 2) The acknowledged national debt is somewhere near $14 trillion; the “off the books” national debt is several times that amount. Our rulers say that the national deficits for 2010 and 2011 will be between $1.6 and $1.8 trillion. That would be bad enough if it were true. But it, too, is a lie. The real budget deficits will be at least twice that large. Where is the money coming from to pay these deficits? Washington and Wall Street have three options, the first two of which are a) Continued borrowing (mainly from ourselves, however much sense that makes). Needless to say, this policy of creating money through the issuance of debt is highly inflationary. When this “money” finally hits Main Street we are likely to see hyperinflation; b) Much higher taxes and reduced services. Option c) is simply to default on the debt, partially (e.g. China) or completely.

Those options all will be painful, especially when the real unemployment and under-employment figures are nearer to 25% than to the officially acknowledged 10%. Moreover, nearly all the States are facing severe budget crises, and the States can’t print their own money like the Feds can.

The banks (and other big corporations) are in bad shape, too. But because they have been allowed by Federal regulators and ratings agencies to “cook their books,” this is not yet apparent to their customers, clients, investors, and the general public. One example will suffice to prove just how bad off the big banks are: the rationalization for the bailouts was to allow the banks to improve liquidity in order to get the Main Street economy moving again. But the big banks have hoarded these taxpayer funds rather than loan them out to intermediate and small businesses. Why is this? Simply put, it is because the banks needed every bit of that money in 2008-2009 to keep their balance sheets solvent. They were (and are), by any rational accounting standards, broke.

As long as the US government and the big banks can continue to lie their way through this crisis, things will hold together to some degree. There may be lots of angry rhetoric from spokesmen for the public and an occasional violent act of desperation. But things will hold together. As Mr. Jefferson told us, people are prone to bear up under abuses until they become unbearable. But when the truth comes out and things hold no longer, the breaking will be hard.

I have been told by some reliable sources that the Feds and their minions at the State and local levels are taking this “breaking hard” scenario pretty seriously. In other words, they are planning for the contingency that their illegitimate power will be challenged when things indeed become unbearable to the general populace. Because they are making plans to keep themselves in power and not take responsibility for their criminal lies and actions, I would suggest that you do the same in the name of preserving your lives, liberty, and property from the hand of this organized criminal enterprise. Oh, and help your friends and neighbors see through all the lies and obfuscation before it’s too late for them to prepare.

Audemus jura nostra Defendere! Live well . . .

IS THIS REAL WEALTH?

2009-09-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hedge funds and the purveyors of other such arcane financial instruments are "making a killing" off the upswings and dips in the markets. With the estimate of over a quadrillion dollars worth of these financial instruments in existence, it boggles the mind how much "money" can be "made" by playing the roller coaster markets with super-fast computers and inside information.

But what does in mean to "make money" in this sense? All you have is a bunch of fancy pencil-pushers doing the equivalent of casino gambling (and they are the insiders, the House, as it were); nobody is actually creating any tangible wealth. Farmers produce crops, manufacturing plants make finished goods, and miners dig coal and iron ore. But these financial big-wigs spend their days accumulating large numbers of electronic "dollars" that are linked to nothing we can actually hold in our hands or put to any practical use. Yet they are considered the wealthy among us, the self-proclaimed "best and brightest."

But the day is coming when they will in vain try and trade some of those trillions of electrons for something tangible, say, a loaf of bread. Then we'll see if they're really The Masters of the Universe they claim to be. At that point, I'd say that the plain old farmer might have a bit of advantage on them.

I must admit that I'll relish seeing the "suits" squirm. Too bad a lot of innocent folks will probably go down with them. Live well . . .

THE MUSE IS AT WORK!

2009-08-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Glad to be back after some serious dental work and a lot of time on the road.

As I was driving back to north Alabama through the mountains of NC and Tennessee last weekend, the Muse began calling (not on my cell phone). When I got home, I unpacked, kissed my wife (aka the real Muse) and daughter, ate a bite of supper, and then went to work writing a song that was percolating in my head. When my "boys" came over for our weekly practice/jam session, I played them the song--"Don't Fight Fair"--and we ended up working on it for about three hours. Everyone seems to think it's a pretty good song. I really don't know what group/artist the song reminds me of; but, as the Bible tells us, there's nothing new under the sun.

Since then, I have written another song called "The Devil's Chasin' Me." It is full of frightening imagery but resolves well into the "light." I hope the boys like it, too. We'll see Wednesday night, God willing.

So far, we've done mainly covers--several Yardbirds' songs--"Shapes of Things, "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I," "For Your Love," and "Heart Full of Soul." Soon we'll start on "Over, Under, Sideways, Down." Also, we can do "The Weight" (The Band), "Willin'" (Little Feat), "Drive My Car" (The Beatles), "Dead Flowers" (Stones), "For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield--the first song I ever played on stage at the age of 15). We also do a lot of free-form fusion and blues. I really like Jeff Beck.

One day, we'll be ready to take the stage (at least for an hour). All of us miss it (except Bill, who already plays with two other bands--but he really likes playing with us, too).

We're all old, as you might guess from the above titles. But we can still rock! I love having the Muse around. Live well . . .

GOVERNMENT IN REBELLION

2009-08-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

We hear much talk today about dissenters against the U.S. government being labeled "domestic terrorists." That's just another way of saying "rebels." But for the U.S. government to call dissenters by these names is to turn reality upside down. What do I mean here?

According to the Law of Preemptory Accusation, whatever traits the accuser attributes to the accused, you can be sure fits the former and not the latter. Simply put, if the accuser calls you a liar, he is really the liar. If he calls you a hater, he is the real hater. And so forth . . .

My contention here is simple: the U.S. government, since it quit abiding by the Constitution, has been in rebellion against us, the American people. If some action is unconstitutional it is, by its very nature, unlawful. And what is unlawful is, ipso facto, criminal. Hence my reason for calling the U.S. government an Organized Criminal Enterprise, Gangster Government, etc.

We, as dissenters against criminal government, are not domestic terrorists or rebels striving unlawfully to bring down a legitimate government; instead, we are patriots seeking to rein in an overbearing and rebellious government that threatens both our liberty and prosperity. There are several ways of protecting ourselves. My preferred method is secession by the States. It is a time-honored and Constitutional remedy (no matter how loudly the Establishment may deny it).

In other words, we have the moral high ground, regardless of what the U.S. government or its lap-dog media might say. Live well . . .

THESE LIARS CAN'T FIGURE

2009-08-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Been away for a while. Glad to be back.

The U.S. government (and its many minions) is an Organized Criminal Enterprise. Let that soak in for a minute.

As a bit of evidence, see the following blog article: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/08/real-economy-versus-fake-economy-of.html

Lying has apparently become a virtue in DC. However, in the case of the current financial/economic mess, the math will win out over the lies in the end. I suggest you and your family be prepared. Live well . . .

DRIVE BY TRUCKERS, ETC.

2009-07-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

I saw the Drive By Truckers last evening at the Shoals Theater in Florence, Alabama. It was a homecoming for Pat Hood, Mike Cooley, and the band, and they didn't disappoint. Starting at 9:15, they played for almost three hours to a packed house. Sitting in on piano was Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee (2009) Spooner Oldham.

Three friends and I got free tickets. It's hard to beat that! One of my friends, Tom "Pizza" Hillmeyer was actually offered the job of playing bass for the DBT when they first started. He politely turned the offer down because he didn't want to tour anymore. He previously played all over the South with his punk band called The Chromatics. He is a marvelously talented musician. We play with a couple of other friends every Wednesday night. Once we get an hour set list down, we'll try and do some local gigs in the Shoals . . . Yardbirds, Beatles, Stones, and other old stuff.

By the way, Patterson Hood is a first rate entertainer. Mike Cooley reminds me somewhat of the late Gram Parsons. If you haven't seen the DBT yet, I recommend you do so. They are a great act, Southern to the core! Live well . . .

IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE?

2009-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

American "exceptionalism" often blinds us to historical reality. No nation (or people) is immune to tyranny or other traumatic events.

Back in 2003 when Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore refused to obey a federal court order and remove the Ten Commandments monument from the State Judicial Building, I had the opportunity to address that issue on several radio talk shows across Alabama.

These were "conservative" talk shows, and most of the callers were evangelical Christians. A typical response to the ruling went something like this: "Yes, I support Judge Moore and want the monument to stay where it is. But the court has made its ruling and we have to obey the law whether we like it or not."

To counter, I made the following points: (1) it was not the business of the federal courts to rule on such matters and (2) that a federal court ruling (even one issued by the Supreme Court) was not necessarily the final say on a matter of law because the Legislative and Executive branches, as well as the States, also have the right to a say themselves. However, I did not get far with this argument (even though it was correct).

I had to fall back on something a bit more simple and direct. I said something like this: "Well, let's suppose that a federal court rules that you must close the doors of your church and stop worshiping God on Sunday. Would you consider this a legitimate ruling and would you obey it?"

The reaction stunned me. Instead of saying "no," most of the callers said that this was America and something like that "could never happen here."

How do you reach such people? Do they really believe that we, as Americans, have received a cosmic King's Exemption from the realities of history that effect the rest of the world? Can really bad things like tyranny just not happen here? Are there no evil men in American public life who would like to control us all? Is our "democratic" nation indispensable to the outworking of God's providential plan for His Creation? Or, are we merely fools for believing such infantile rubbish?

Live well . . .

OUR FANTASY WORLD OF FINANCE

2009-07-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

It used to be that "cooking the books" was an illegal practice. I suppose it still is for you and me. But apparently it is not for the Gangsters and their buddies in DC and on Wall Street.

In May, The Chosen One (aka Barry Obama) signed off on a writ that permitted banks to "restructure" loans in Mortgage Backed Security bonds (MBS bonds) with no legal consequences from MBS bondholders. In the past, MBS bondholders could sue if the bonds they held were altered or changed. No more.

What does this all mean? It means that "loan modifications" will be allowed that will permit banks to carry bad mortgages (those that are either "underwater" or in arrears) on their books as worth 100 cents on the dollar after they are "restructured." Nevermind that many (if not most) of these mortgages are worth less than 50 cents on the dollar. Under Obama's Writ, the banks will not be forced to do "mark to market" accounting on these assets. The result? Inflated balance sheets for the banks and more hefty bonuses for the fat cats who run them.

Because of this accounting trick, I'd be willing to bet that the second quarter earnings of, say, a Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan will be just as rosy as their questionable first quarter stats.

How long can the "smoke and mirrors" approach to creative accounting continue to fool the American taxpayer? Probably for a while. But those in the know in Europe and Asia will not be fooled; and they are the ones the Fed and Treasury depend on to buy our debt instruments. And they cannot be happy about the official policy of lying about asset valuations being perpetrated by DC and Wall Street.

Our fantasy world of finance may be about to crumble. It can't come too soon. Then perhaps some sort of rebuilding can begin.

Live well . . .

A TIMELY QUOTE FROM MR. JEFFERSON

2009-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

In light of the current criminal activity by the Fed, the Treasury, Goldman Sachs, et al, I think a quote by Mr. Thomas Jefferson is in order:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

-Thomas Jefferson

We had better heed his words. Live well . . .

A FEW LYRICS FOR THE MUSE

2009-07-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

"You're my blue sky, you're my sunny day.
Lord, you know it makes me high
When you turn your love my way,
Turn your love my way . . ."

(now imagine Duane Allman's beautiful solo . . . )

From "Blue Sky, " Richard "Dickie" Betts, The Allman Brothers Band (1971)

Thanks for all the good times, Muse.

A SOUTHERN DINNER (AT NOON)

2009-07-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Our dinner today was almost all from the first fruits of our garden. Fresh red, ripe tomatoes, an old heritage strain of Mississippi field peas (seasoned with bacon, salt, and pepper and cooked for a couple of hours), a small pone of cornbread cooked in an old black iron skillet, and fresh cabbage (seasoned with black, white, and cayenne pepper, and a little bit of sugar and bacon grease). Oh, and those peas and pot likker were served over the cornbread. That's the gourmet way of doing it!

It is remarkable how good real food tastes! I'm glad no one was videotaping me; I ate like a hungry barbarian.

Soon, God willing, my okra and Mississippi pink-eye purple hull peas will be ready. We've already had a good crop of blueberries, and the muscadines are plentiful for the autumn harvest.

So far, I've shot two rabbits that were eating in my garden. The second kill was a head shot--using iron sights--from forty yards with an old Springfield .22 rifle given to me by my grandfather when I was ten. I used .22 long rifle hollow points. I am justifiably proud of that shot! The target was only partly visible behind a large tomato plant. I can't shoot a pistol very well, but I am still deadly with a rifle (and have been since all those childhood hunting trips with my Daddy, Granddaddy, and Uncles).

I hope you all eat well from your gardens this summer (and into the fall and winter, if you put things up). And watch out for those pesky rabbits. Live well . . .

WHAT I DID AND DID NOT DO TODAY

2009-07-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral today. Someone told me that it was happening, but I did not watch. Instead, I cooked breakfast for my sweet wife while she spent time writing. I carried my youngest daughter to her voice lesson. I spent an hour talking with a close friend. I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral.

I ate leftovers with my wife for dinner ("lunch" to you non-Southerners) while we talked about her latest writing project. I worked at my job. I went to the bank and post office and filled up my car with gas. But I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral.

I called my oldest daughter and wished her a happy birthday. I watched a video of my two-year grandson (her son) say "Roll Tide, Pop." I picked a fresh tomato from my garden. But I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral.

I had a phone conversation with an old high school friend. I picked up a few things for supper at the grocery store. I cut my grass. But I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral.

I ate supper with my wife. I watched a war movie from Netflix. I checked my e-mail. But I did not watch coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral.

All in all, I had a good day. Hope you did, too. Live well . . .

A SOLEMN WARNING . . .

2009-07-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Below is a solemn warning to the Gangsters--financial, economic, and political--who are fleecing the American taxpayer and think they can get away with it:

PSALM 2 (KJV):

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed.

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

Powerful and ambitious men often forget where the real power lies and who owns every bit of the Creation. They also forget there is such a thing as true justice. May God's will be done in this and all other matters. And may He have mercy on all those suffering from the criminal actions of the Gangsters.

Live well . . .

ON BEING ROBBED

2009-07-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sayings is this: "A poor man robs you with a gun. A rich man robs you with a lawyer." Broadly speaking, this means that it is easy to understand what is happening to you when a robber sticks a gun in your ribs and says "give me your money." But it is not so easy to understand the process when men in expensive suits, using arcane words (and often mathematical formulas), are the criminals.

Let's apply the above to the current economic/financial scandal. We are being robbed by the equivalent of lawyers, guarded by men with guns. It is, as it were, a double whammy on us. If the American people understood the extent to which they were being robbed, there would be a revolution tomorrow (at least I'd like to think there would be). But the robbers have obscured their game in such a fog of technical jargon and impenetrable financial shenanigans that the average man on the street has no idea of what's going on. And that's the way the Establishment elite likes it.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no financial or economic guru. I did teach some classes in American economic history on the college level, and I do understand some of the fundamental issues involved. But I do know where to go to find men who do understand what the Gangsters are doing to us. These men can talk all the jargon (and that's why they understand the con game that's going on) but they also can cut through the bullshit and explain things in laymen's terms.

Two of the best sites are Tyler Durden's "Zero Hedge" (http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/) and Karl Denninger's "The Market Ticker" (http://market-ticker.denninger.net/). Both Durden and Denninger are great at exposing the con game in such a way that you and I can understand it. Morever, they research and report on issues that the Mainstream Media will not touch. I don't know much about either man's politics, but I do know that they are against the corruption that is going down in DC and on Wall Street. That's enough for me.

I have been following both men (and others) since last fall, and they have helped me connect the dots. The picture that has emerged is not a pretty one (but one I suspected all along was there). It is this--the bankers (including, of course, Bernanke and Geithner), the banks (especially Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan), and the US government (including the regulatory agencies who should be monitoring this con game and the enforcement agencies who should be prosecuting the criminals) are all in cahoots. They are robbing us blind with impunity. And the Chosen One--Obama--surveys it all.

Oh, and back to the man with the gun in my opening quote. He may not be doing the actual robbery but he is there to protect those who are. A pertinent question--who is going to march into the halls of power in DC or New York and bring these criminals to justice? What do we, the concerned taxpayers (many of whom have been tarred as potential "domestic terrorists"), do when the criminals have the armed forces and law enforcement in their back pockets? They also have the courts. Hell, they control all the institutions that might be used to stop the con game. How does one begin to reform such a monster when the monster itself controls all the avenues of reform? States Rights and secession, anyone . . . ?

Just a little something to ponder on this day after Independence Day. Live well. . .

HAPPY SECESSION DAY!

2009-07-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Secession Day! Though most pundits claim that the Declaration of Independence's most important idea is "all men are created equal," I believe it is the right and necessity of secession from tyrannical regimes. And that principle applies as readily today as it did in 1776 or 1861.

Secession, or, more bluntly, independence from DC, is a growing movement in America.

I wonder how many folks celebrating this holiday really understand what it means? Let's hope that number is growing larger with each passing hour. We may not have much time to act to restore our liberty and prosperity.

Today, my family and I will raise a toast to Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Washington, and a whole generation of men who were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor so their descendants could live free. I hope you'll do the same. Live well . . .

NO MORE FREE MARKETS

2009-07-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

There are no more "free markets" in America, at least outside of emerging underground ones that will be necessary for survival. There is only intervention and manipulation by the Fed, Treasury, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan, et al. I would not invest in "the market" with your money, much less my own.

I can't decide if the US is becoming fascist or socialist--maybe a little of both? I do know this, however: it's time that reasonable people think about secession and independence. It may be the only sane course. Let DC and its corrupt allies stew in their own juices. The rest of us can do better on our own.

Question for the day: How much gold is there in Fort Knox?

Quote for the day: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."--Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (1776).

Thought for the day: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; the fear of death is the beginning of slavery.

Live well . . .

CALL HIS BLUFF!

2009-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Chairman Ben Bernanke says the US economy will collapse if Congress decides to audit the Fed.

Message to Congress: Call the bastard's bluff!

See full story here: http://www.prisonplanet.com/bernanke-threatens-economic-collapse-if-fed-audited.html

Live well . . .

STOP FEEDING THE BEAST!

2009-06-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

How do we fight back legally and effectively against this Gangster regime and its banking and business allies? By withdrawing our consent to be ruled and governed by them. You can do this psychologically and physically. The psychological part is of course more personal; everyone does it in a different way. But the physical withdrawal of consent, if it is to be effective, depends on a large number of people doing the same thing at the same time.

The Gangster regime (otherwise known as the American Empire) sees its subjects as three things: taxpayers, consumers, and cannon fodder. To legally oppose this regime, you can logically do three things: (1) reduce your tax liability; (2) reduce your consumption of consumer goods; and (3) keep yourself and your loved ones out of the US military.

Numbers 1 and 2 center on your dollars and how you decide to use them. Seeing that the dollar has lost about 90% of its value in the last 40 years, it does not take a Ph.D. in finance to understand that holding dollars makes no sense. But rushing out and spending them indiscriminately only props up the consumer economy and the vampire businesses that profit from such an economy. What to do? Consider bartering with friends and neighbors. Of course, to be lawful about it you must report the transaction to the tax authorities; however, I'd bet that most people don't. Buy needed goods at yard sales and flea markets. That way, you help your neighbors by keeping money in the community and cutting big business out of the equation. Buy things that last. We live in a throw-away society. Refuse as much as possible to be a part of such wastefulness.

Trade those depreciating dollars for gold, silver, tools, guns and ammo, non-hybrid seeds, land, and other goods that will get you through hard times. Cut your consumer spending down to the bone--only buy those things absolutely necessary for day-to-day living and survival. This also cuts your tax liability in two ways: (1) sales taxes are not paid on items you don't purchase; and (2) you need to earn fewer dollars to make it, thus reducing your income tax obligations. Financially strangling bad government and predatory businesses is a positive activity.

If we use the power at hand--the decision about how we employ our dollars--we perhaps can force the Gangsters to come clean. Remember, consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. We--the consumers--have direct power over this part of the economy. Let's use it for our benefit and not our oppressors. Live well . . .

A GANGSTER GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY

2009-06-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just back from hiking beautiful Dismals Canyon in northwest Alabama. It was nice to be away from "civilization" for a few days.

A question: what does the average American do to protect his livelihood and life itself from the gangsters who are running our political, economic, and financial systems? If you look closely at what has happened over the past decade or so, you will see that we've become a Third World banana republic (and I use the term "republic" as it was used in, say, the old USSR). The American people have been and are still being robbed in broad daylight by the Elite Insiders who pump up and then deflate one bubble after another. They win and the little guy loses. And it's all sanctioned and protected by DC. The next bubble? Cap-and-trade. You can bet that the Insiders have already positioned themselves to screw us in this multi-trillion dollar scam over the next few years. Bank on it.

As I've said before, these criminals are not going to stop until we make them. Withdraw your consent from this corrupt regime (Democrat and Republican), get your assets out of their grasp (i.e. turn your money into tangible, usable things that will assure your survival), and prepare to tell them to go to hell when they come around trying to loot you (0r worse) in person.

John C. Calhoun, the greatest American political philosopher, once said that "only power can check power." He was right. Gangsters and criminals in high places understand only one thing--power. We have the numbers if we have the will to use them. As Charlie Daniels once said: "There's more of us [rednecks] than there are of them." Get up off your sofa and get busy. Your liberty and prosperity are at stake. Live well . . .

KNAVES OR FOOLS?

2009-06-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

The people in charge of running America and its financial and economic business are not doing such a good job for the people they purport to serve--us. The lapdog mainstream media, the fourth branch of government, have been telling us for weeks that a recovery is underway and all will be well by year's end if not before. Numerous commentators have told us about "green shoots" coming up amidst the dried out foliage that has accumulated on the economic terrain since 2007. Politicians, cabinet secretaries, high-level bureaucrats, and bankers all trumpet that flush times are a-comin' if we'll just let them do more of what they've done already.

Are they telling us the truth? I don't think so. Is it because they are trying to fleece us or is it because they simply don't know what's going on? In other words, are they knaves or fools? I suspect the former. Does it really take a balding Fed Chairman to understand that printing trillions of dollars will eventually cause terrible inflation? Does it take a baby-faced, curly-haired Secretary of the Treasury to see that, despite "quantitative easing" (printing money to buy our own Treasury debt) there is a growing liquidity shortage and virtually no new economic activity? Can only The Terminator himself know that California--the sixth largest economy on earth--is on the verge of bankruptcy (and there's not Chapter 9 or 11 for States)? I could go on, but you get the general idea. If you and I can see these things why can't the "experts?"

On the one hand, if I am wrong and these people are merely fools, they should be immediately replaced in their positions of responsibility by adults (and then given a good spanking and sent off to bed without any champagne and caviar). Then perhaps we could at least begin to find a commonsense way out of this mess. If, on the other, they are knaves guilty of starting and managing this crisis for their own power, ambition, and wealth, they should be treated as common criminals.

Let me state my opinion plainly--the US government and its allies in banking and big business constitute an organized criminal enterprise that has pulled off the biggest con job in the history of the world. And they're still at it.

But the real culprits in this sorry episode will be us--We the People--if we let them continue unopposed with the swindle. The American ruling elite will stop their looting only when we make them stop and not a second before. Remember, they work for us and not we for them. Constitutionally speaking, we, the citizens of the separate and sovereign States, are the Master and the general (or federal) government is the Servant. Somehow, things have gotten reversed. It's time to turn things back right-side up. In other words, we need a true revolution to put the Master--We the People--back in our constitutionally-mandated place on top. If that doesn't happen soon, the Republic is lost (perhaps it already is). Don't let the knaves and fools in DC and on Wall Street destroy every shred of our dearly-won liberty and prosperity. Act like a free man or woman. Your ancestors did. Time may be short, so don't delay in doing your duty to yourself, your family, and future generations.

Oh, I forgot one other solution--secession and independence from DC. Let them loot and plunder each other while we start over. Live well . . .

MUSIC FROM THE SHOALS

2009-06-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite books is entitled I’ll Take My Stand, by Twelve Southerners. A close reading of the book ought to cause traditionalist Southerners and other Americans not only to look closely at the current state of our general society but also at their own personal spheres of community, family, and church. The authors of ITMS warned the South that it was in danger of being snatched from its authentic and organic agrarian roots and given over to the artificial and contrived if it accepted modern industrialism. Culturally speaking, music is one of the areas deeply affected by the triumph of modern industrialism.

Andrew Nelson Lytle, one of the Twelve Southerners who contributed to ITMS, admonished his fellow Southerners in 1930 to “Throw out the radio and take down the fiddle down from the wall.” I now live in a place that, though perhaps unwittingly, has taken Lytle’s sage advice for some four decades. The Shoals, a four-city area (pop. 63,000) in northwest Alabama, is comprised of Florence (on the north bank of the Tennessee River) and Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals (on the south bank). It is a largely white but poor region set in a naturally beautiful river valley bordered on the south by a range of hills and mountains along the Tennessee River Divide. Since NAFTA, the area has lost some 5,000 textile jobs and the economic prospects of the Shoals are not favorable. Life has always been tough here for the Scots-Irish and others who settled afterwards because of poor soil and rugged terrain. But the hard conditions have produced a character in the people that spills out into their music. It is rough, passionate, sweet as honey, sharp as vinegar. It can knock you down like a set of brass knuckles at a country juke joint. But it can lift you up again like a choir of heavenly angels. Like the South, it is its own contradiction

I’m sure that when Mr. Lytle admonished his readers to “take down the fiddle” and make their own music, he didn’t exactly have in mind the types of music—soul and R&B, rock and blues (in addition to bluegrass, country, and gospel)—that has come out of the Shoals. But those musical genres, like the traditional music of Lytle’s South in the 1920s-1940s, come out of the folk traditions of the rural parts of Dixie. It is not the vapid, deracinated product that comes out of Los Angeles, New York, and even Nashville today; rather, it is the story of real people—written, sung, and played by real people—set in song.

Having grown up in this rich and fertile musical setting in the 1950s and 1960s, I couldn’t wait to get back here after some thirty years in exile. Upon my return in the spring of 2003, I began to establish (and in some cases, re-establish) contact with the folks in the Shoals music community. My first contact was with famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section bass player David Hood. Hood, along with guitarist Jimmy Johnson, drummer Roger Hawkins, and keyboardist Barry Beckett, were immortalized as “the Swampers” in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s anthem “Sweet Home Alabama” in the 1970s. Hood also is chairman of the Muscle Shoals Music Association (MSMA) and currently plays bass with The Decoys, a local five-piece group that I will discuss a bit later.

Anyhow, my contact with Hood and the MSMA gave me an opening into the Shoals still vibrant and vital music scene. Though things have certainly changed since the mega-hit days of the 1960s and early 1970s when the likes of Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones could be seen on Jackson Highway and Avalon Street, there is still something truly special about the place and its music.

Understand this. Though there are many “stars” in the musical constellation hereabouts, this ain’t Hollywood or New York City. In other words, these folks are approachable and often quite humble, considering many of them are recognized worldwide by name (if not by face) as the creators of something known and revered as the “Muscle Shoals Sound.” I’m sure that a young Van Morrison, way over in Ireland, would have swam the ocean to have been in the Shoals in 1965 instead of only listening in on European radio to the soul and R&B hits coming out of northwest Alabama.

A particular event held a few years back in the Shoals will illustrate my point that the music makers here see themselves as merely kinfolk and friends and not as some type of rock & roll royalty. A local bar in Florence hosted a Hurricane Katrina relief jam on a Sunday afternoon and evening in mid-September 2005. As I got out of my car in the overflowing parking lot, the first person I saw was Spooner Oldham (since inducted as a sideman into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), the legendary songwriter and keyboardist. Growing up in Center Star, Alabama, about six miles from where I live at present, Spooner collaborated with Dan Penn (Pennington, of the Pennington clan of Lamar Co., Alabama, which makes him my distant cousin) on such soul classics as “I’m Your Puppet,” and “Out Of Left Field.” I told you all this stuff was close and personal.

Upon entering the crowded bar, I literally ran into Scott Boyer, lead singer and guitarist for The Decoys. They were scheduled to play a set that afternoon. Scott had founded a Southern rock band back in the 1970s called Cowboy, toured and recorded with Gregg Allman, and penned a hit song for Eric Clapton called “Please Be With Me.” To describe The Decoys as merely a “local band” is to give the impression that they are small time. But everyone and every band must be from somewhere. This reminds me of when I was at the Atlanta Pop Festival in July 1970 and explained to a fellow sitting next to me from New Mexico that the group taking the stage was a “local band” from nearby Macon—the Allman Brothers Band. He was amazed that a bunch of local boys could be so good!

So, The Decoys, too, are a local band from the Shoals. Besides Scott Boyer and David Hood, the band lines up with Kelvin Holley on lead guitar (the Little Richard Band, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and The Amazing Rhythm Aces)—one of the most incredible players I’ve ever seen live; N. C. Thurmond on keys (Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, and Hank Williams, Jr.), and Mike Dillon on drums. On this particular day, The Decoys played a crisp 45-minute set of both originals and covers and then backed acclaimed Shoals performer Donnie Fritts on some of his tunes. Besides being a terrific songwriter for the likes of Ray Charles, Charlie Rich, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dolly Parton, and The Box Tops and one of the original movers and shakers in the Shoals music scene (along with Rick Hall of FAME studios, Billy Sherrill, Norbert Putnam, Arthur Alexander, Jerry Carrigan, David Briggs, and Dan Penn), Fritts co-starred in several 1970s-era Sam Peckinpah movies, including a role (along with buddy Kris Kristofferson) as a motorcycle tough in the cult classic, “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.”

Fritts, who stood and talked with Wayne Counts (of The Midnighters, and the damn best slide guitar player in town) and me before taking stage with The Decoys, held forth on just how real and natural it was playing in such a venue and mixing with his friends, fans, and fellow musicians in such an informal manner.

The Shoals area has many events each year that bring the local musicians into close contact with their fans and friends. The world-renowned W. C. Handy Blues Festival is an annual weeklong celebration of north Alabama’s rich musical heritage. Over the past several summers I have had the pleasure of seeing (and occasionally being allowed to play with) some of the talented performers who grace the many stages throughout the area. One of the most loved and admired local bands is The Midnighters, a sextet that includes brothers Wayne (guitar) and James Counts (drums). Their business, Counts Brothers Music, is one of the favorite hangouts for local players in the Shoals. On a typical day, there is no telling who you will see strolling into the place from the local music scene or from out of town. The Midnighters have been around now for nearly twenty years and play some of the best down home soul and funky blues you’d ever want to hear. Not only do the Counts Brothers hit the note at the local nightspots but their store provides a crucial hub for musicians to meet and to acquire the goods and services to keep them playing. And by the way, all the fellows who work there are great players themselves, especially bassist extraordinaire Terry Richardson. Feel like playing? Just walk in and someone will surely oblige you.

The tight-knit Shoals music community benefits greatly from places like Counts Brothers Music in Muscle Shoals and Max’s Music in Sheffield. The latter, owned and operated by local music legend Max Russell, is a Mecca for impromptu late night jams and recording sessions by some of the Shoals best pickers, including famed California transplant bass player and vocalist Tom “Pizza” Hillmeyer. The jams that happen at Max’s and other venues best illustrate what Mr. Lytle meant when he advised Southerners to eschew “canned” entertainment and to make their own.

The creative genius of true “folk” music, as opposed to the antiseptic forms of popular music such as pop, hip-hop, rap, and heavy metal, among others, has always been found in the musicians’ ability to work improvisations off of a skeletal framework. While some musicians make a career by recording three-minute songs in the studio and then duplicating them note for note night after night in live performances, this formula does not allow for the spark of creative genius that gave us, say, a Duane Allman. Allman, the founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band from 1969 to his untimely death in October 1971, was known for his brilliant, highly original extended guitar solos. Along with Jimi Hendrix, Allman was unquestionably one of the two most original electric guitarists of the period.

What Allman, following the path blazed by jazz impresarios such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, did for “rock” music can still be seen (or rather heard) in the many late-night jam sessions in towns like the Shoals, Memphis, Macon, and countless other places where the music communities pay homage to the old forms and structures of blues, jazz, R&B, and soul. On any given night hereabouts, one can find several jams open to anyone who can play. There is no pretence, no professional jealously, no egotism. Rather, there is a celebration of the good music that permeates this place like hickory smoke does good pork barbecue. Hell, you might even find yourself jamming with Bobby Whitlock, keyboardist for Derek and the Dominos and co-author of the classic rock anthem “Layla.”

The Shoals is but one small point on the map in today’s burgeoning worldwide music scene. And though the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s are well behind her now, this northwestern corner of Alabama still has some magic left, at least on certain warm, humid nights when the cicadas find themselves competing with the sweet notes of a blues guitar and vocals so deep and soulful that you’d swear that they were oozing up from the mud of the Tennessee River. People here may not be familiar with Mr. Lytle’s words, but you can bet they know the music. Live well . . .

LIVING WELL IN HARD TIMES

2009-06-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

The financial/economic mess that we're in is not likely to end anytime soon. In fact, it's my opinion that it will get much worse before it gets better. How, then, should you best prepare to take the edge off the hard times and continue to live well? I have a few basic suggestions below.

The three basic needs are, of course, food and water, clothing, and shelter. Be sure to store away at least a three-month supply of non-perishable food items such as rice, dried beans, pasta, grits, flour and cornmeal, canned meats, fruits, and vegetables (rotate your supply of these items), salt, sugar, coffee, lard, etc. Don’t forget to store up a supply of non-hybrid seeds for planting a garden. You might want to plant some fruit trees, bushes, vines, and canes as well. Also, you might consider some sort of camp stove and fuel or a grill and a good supply of charcoal for cooking. If you have a well or spring you are pretty much set for drinking water. Be sure to make provision for getting water from your well minus an electric pumping system, however. If you don’t have a well or spring, I suggest you store up some bottled water for the short term; however, for a longer duration you might consider getting a high quality water purification system such as those used by missionaries and others who regularly travel to Third World countries. These things will make muddy water drinkable in short time and have the capacity to handle several thousand gallons of water before a filter change is necessary.

Make sure you have a good supply of sturdy clothing (including boots, shoes, and plenty of laces) for all weather conditions and seasons. When hard times come, you’ll most likely be spending a good deal of time out of doors. Also, make provision to mend items you will not be able to replace. Fashion will be out and practicality will be in.

As for shelter, the first thing you should do is pay off your mortgage and own your home and some land (even if it’s just a half an acre on which you can plant a garden or have a few chickens) free and clear. Make sure you do needed repairs before the trouble begins. Remember, too, that if the power goes there will be no air conditioning and that most modern houses are not constructed to deal with the Southern summer heat minus AC. It can get miserable in a hurry. As for heating, don’t count on a ready supply of natural gas. Rather, you will need to have access to a steady supply of wood for fireplace or wood stove or heater. That means stockpiling several cords or having the implements to cut your own. If possible, you might be able to have on hand enough gasoline and oil to power a chain saw for a while; however, don’t neglect those old fashioned axes and crosscut saws.

A few closing thoughts. . . . First, get yourself in decent physical shape and get off any unnecessary medications. The foundation for sound health is eating good, natural food. Change your eating habits, if necessary. Second, buy a gun and lots of ammo (.223 or .308 caliber is the most common for long arms and 9mm, .357 or .45 for side arms) and learn to shoot and defend yourself and your family. Be sure to abide by your State’s gun laws. Third, begin forming local communities. If you live in the heart of a big city or even the suburbs, consider getting out to a small town or rural area, preferably an area in which you know someone already living there. You don’t want to be “behind enemy lines” when the trouble starts. Fourth, get out of debt as soon as possible. The debtor is a slave to the lender.

Live well . . .

SOME REFLECTIONS ON DUANE ALLMAN AND SOUTHERN MUSIC

2009-06-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

The Middle Georgia Raceway, near the little hamlet of Byron, became the second largest city in Georgia on the weekend of 3-5 July 1970. The 2^nd annual Atlanta International Pop Festival was in town.

For an aspiring eighteen-year-old guitar player Byron, Georgia, was the place to be on that particular weekend. Without an automobile myself, I persuaded a high-school buddy to give me a ride. As we set out from northwest Alabama on Thursday, 2 July, I knew this was going to be a special trip.

The first day of music was truly an inspiration—Hendrix, B. B. King, Ten Years After, Mountain, Procol Harem, Spirit, Bob Segar, and a local group from nearby Macon, the Allman Brothers Band. Looking forward to another dose of rock & roll and blues on Saturday, I had no idea of what was in store. My buddy and I made our way in the general direction of the performance area. On the north edge of the huge pecan grove that bordered the raceway we stopped to check out the wares displayed on the numerous vendor tables. Suddenly, and to my great astonishment, there before my eyes were the six members of the Allman Brothers Band. They had put on a tremendous show the previous afternoon and were not scheduled to play again until Sunday evening.

Gregg, Dickie, Butch, and Jaimoe were browsing at the vendor booths as Duane and Berry sat beneath a large pecan tree chugging Ripple. Since hearing the opening notes of “Don’t Want You No More/It Ain’t My Cross To Bear” from their first album on an underground FM station out of Tuscaloosa, I had become an instant Duane Allman fan. I had already heard his guitar work with various artists in Muscle Shoals, where he had been a session player at Rick Hall’s Fame Studios in late 1968-early 1969.

Muscle Shoals was the music Mecca for north Alabama in the late 1960s, and every aspiring player from the area was drawn there if for no other reason than to breath the very air and perhaps run into one of their musical heroes. Some of my band mates had seen Duane in the Shoals in his pre-ABB days. His presence there was not hard to detect because he was virtually the only longhaired musician in town, and his “hippie” looks in rural northwest Alabama made him stick out like the proverbial “sore thumb.” But again, this was before his role as founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band catapulted him to the forefront of the contemporary Southern music scene.

My encounter with the man I considered as rock’s premier guitarist in the summer of 1970 struck me simultaneously with delight and trepidation. I surely was not going to miss the chance to say hello, shake his hand, and tell him how much I admired his craft. The hundreds of other folks milling around in our immediate area either did not recognize Duane & Company or simply were not awed by their presence. Gathering my nerve, I approached him and Berry. Truth be known, I don’t remember exactly what words came out of my mouth as I introduced myself. But I do recall as if it were yesterday Duane’s reply: “Hey, have a seat, man, and have some of this wine.” The Ripple soon soothed my nerves, and for the next couple of hours I talked “shop” with a young man who saw himself as anything but a star.

The things I took away from my conversation with Duane Allman spurred me to an appreciation and enjoyment of popular music that has not waned over past thirty odd years. Three distinct points come to mind: 1) Don’t be afraid to take chances with your music. Improvisation, working off a skeletal framework, is how you learn to “hit the note.” 2) There is something to learn from every guitar player with whom you play. Jam whenever you have the opportunity. Never miss the chance to learn from another player, and, when possible, play with those who are better than you. And 3) no matter how good you get, there is always somebody out there who is better than you. Some of the best musicians will labor in relative obscurity for their entire careers. Playing music is not a competition; rather, it is about reaching your own potential and giving pleasure to your audience. Duane’s final words to me on that occasion were “Keep on playin’ everyday, man, and you’ll find those sweet notes that’ll make it all worthwhile.”

Though Duane Allman was born in Tennessee, raised in Florida, and spent his most creative and productive years in Georgia, his legacy to the musical heritage of my home State of Alabama is undeniable. David Hood, legendary bass player for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (the famed “Swampers”), once told me that he and the other session men in the Shoals area knew at once that Duane was a special man and guitar player. His short but influential tenure at Fame Studios brought critical acclaim—Eric Clapton sat up and took notice of his lead work on Wilson Pickett’s cover of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude--and launched his career. Shortly after he left Muscle Shoals (with drummer Jai Johnny Johnson at his side), he formed the original Allman Brothers Band.

But perhaps more significantly than all the tracks he laid down in Alabama during his short career, Duane’s attitude toward music and life has been a touchstone for musicians of every stripe during the past four decades. Firmly rooted in the folk culture of the South, these men and women who make this beautiful and soulful music have kept in touch with those permanent things—family, friends, faith, place, and the poetry that is everyday life down here in Dixie. Upon his first visit to the South, Robbie Robertson of The Band (a native Canadian) noted that everything he heard, from the flowing waters, to the wind, to the vocal inflections of the people, was musical.

Perhaps we Southerners have taken this blessing for granted. When you live amidst something special it sometimes tends to become commonplace. From time to time we need to be reminded of just what a rich musical—and overall cultural—heritage we possess in the South. When life gets heavy and begins to weigh us down, all we have to do is open our ears and listen. There is much joy and familiarity there. This wonderful music, and those who continue to make it, is readily accessible. These folks who sing and play it are not the unreachables of rock royalty. They are our family members, friends, and neighbors who came up just like the rest of us. That makes our Southern musical heritage, be it Rock & Roll, R&B and Soul, Blues, or Country and Bluegrass, a real close and personal thing. And that’s how it ought to be. Live well. . .

Living well . . .

2009-06-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Living Well is the Best Revenge Blog! I hope at least a few people will read this blog and get something good from it.

In these days of financial, economic, and political turmoil we often forget those things that make life worth living. We tend to worry too much about things way beyond our control. Consequently, life becomes a burden rather than a joy. This is not to say that we ought not be concerned about things going on around us--we certainly should. But the way we choose to react can make the difference between a life of misery versus one of happiness and contentment.

THE PROBLEM WITH MONEY

The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. I believe this with all my mind and heart. It is idolatry, pure and simple. But money itself, at least the modern manifestation of it in federal reserve notes ($FR), can be a great evil. Let's look at it this way. He who creates the money owns not only the money but also those who use it. In our system, it is fiat money, which means that it is "money" because the government says it is. And if you choose to participate in the economy you doubtless will have to use it. When we use the American Empire's money, we give power to those who created the money.

But there is more. We also give great power to those who are in positions to manipulate the money through laws and arcane mathematical machinations (lying about asset values, cooking the books, setting interest rates, etc.) These are people who have never had any dirt under their fingernails, and thus have never produced anything really usable for anyone's benefit. You know the type. But under cover of all this abstraction, they deal out more misery than a marauding army. The proof? In the past year, everything denominated in $FR has lost about one-third of its value. By the end of 2009, its likely to be much worse.

How do you live well under these dire circumstances? First of all, make a determined effort to exchange those depreciating $FRs for things that are actually useful to you. The longer you wait, the less you are likely to receive in real value for your paper. But once you understand that money--$FR--has little to do with real wealth and happiness, then you can quit worrying about the rat race and the accumulation of something that actually enslaves you. Remember, he who creates the money controls those who use it.

OVERCOMING THE PROBLEM OF MONEY (AND ALL ELSE)

So stop worrying about someone else's money and get busy living well. And how, you might ask, can I do that? No matter how threatening the future looks, I recommend the following: (1) Quit running yourself ragged. Slow down, get plenty of rest, and enjoy the simple things around you. (2) Don't live your life by the punch-clock. Modern industrial and post-industrial society demands that our work be separated from our real lives. That's not how our ancestors lived in a much simpler time. Don't consent to be a rat in this race. Life and work should be one seamless endeavor, and they both should be pleasurable (note: I did not say "easy"). (3) Be flexible. If you are the sort who has to do everything from a pre-arranged list, then you will miss opportunities to enjoy life. I'm not saying to avoid making any plans at all; rather, I am urging you to be willing (and able) to move in a different direction at the spur of the moment. (4) Avoid the "herd mentality" that ensnares most of society. There are unscrupulous people out there who make their livings by giving you false information which, unfortunately, becomes the "conventional wisdom" of the day. Learn to think for yourself and take the consequences. Life is no fun when you are a mental robot. And finally, (5) be happy in spite of all the bad stuff going on around you. Smile and be thankful for the blessings you do have (and they likely are many). Also, draw unto yourself other happy people, while avoiding those who are always glum and pessimistic. Life is too short to frown.

Thanks for reading my first post. Now, I'm off to listen to some Led Zeppelin and cook a couple of range-fed, hormone-free ribeye steaks on the grill. Live well . . .