Friday - March 13, 2009
Access road dispute takes expensive route to High Court. (don’t pass this one by)
Sure, I know at first glance you’ll think huh? Who cares? But really. For something I doubt any American can understand, this might be a funny read.
But ONLY to us. For Brits who live with this and do know about it, I’m pretty sure it’s business as usual. But it sure looks BONKERS to me.
Hey .. we don’t have this anywhere in USA, do we? If we do, I never heard of anything like it and I’ve been around awhile.
Now then, I am familiar with something here called “infilling.” That’s where you may own a home with enough property to have another house built. So, you might sell off part of your property with approval from the city of course. But with space being what it is here, I have seen as many as three homes with just one driveway.
How in heck can anyone
Neighbours’ access road dispute takes expensive route to High Court
March 13, 2009
Jack MalvernWealthy neighbours who once enjoyed a close relationship have gone to the High Court to argue over a trellis in a case where legal costs are estimated to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Simon and Sarah Baynes Clarke allege that their neighbours have attempted to prevent them accessing their home by car between the hours of 10.30pm and 7.30am, while Michael Corless and his wife, Joanne, say that they have been covertly photographed going about their daily business.
Mrs Justice Proudman was told that both couples purchased their detached homes in Carmelstead Close, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, in 2001 for about £575,000 each. Mr and Mrs Baynes Clarke bought South Heath, and Mr and Mrs Corless North Heath. The access road serving both houses and a third property, Carmelstead, was retained by a property development company. The road was sold to Mr and Mrs Corless for £3,000 in 2004.
(Just so we’re clear on this. Other reports say “driveway.” But no matter as this apparently is the same thing. And these homes for BMEWS readers info, are in the area of MILLION DOLLAR HOMES! How do places like this get one access road? Oh yeah one other thing. Million dollar houses here do NOT mean mansions of the rich and famous. Often, far from it. Very far. )
Paul Stafford, for Mr and Mrs Baynes Clarke, claimed that, during negotiations for the sale of the access road, Mr Corless had deliberately kept his neighbours in the dark about what was going on, despite earlier talks between the neighbours in which Mr Corless had suggested that a management company be set up by the owners of the three properties to control the road.Mr Stafford is asking Mrs Justice Proudman to order that the access road is held by Mr and Mrs Corless for themselves and their neighbours, as well as the owners of Carmelstead, on constructive trust.
But Timothy Morshead, for Mr and Mrs Corless, told the High Court there was never an agreement that could be binding.
He alleged that Mr and Mrs Corless’s lives had been made a misery ever since they informed Mr and Mrs Baynes Clarke — whose daughter once babysat for Mr and Mrs Corless — that they had bought the road.
As Mr Baynes Clarke stood in the High Court witness box, Mr Morshead told him: “The fact is, you are determined to punish Mr and Mrs Corless for what you see as their un-neighbourly conduct, regardless of what it takes.” Mr Baynes Clarke, who works in the construction industry, denied the accusation.
Mr Morshead said that Mr and Mrs Baynes Clarke had presented to the court 350 photographs of Mr and Mrs Corless, including pictures of Mr Corless filling up a watering can with a hosepipe and putting compost on bushes.
But Mr Baynes Clarke said the photos showed Mr Corless flouting a hosepipe ban and throwing away rubbish, adding that his neighbour “took pleasure” in dumping garden waste in front of the Baynes Clarkes’ property.
The Baynes Clarkes are also complaining about a wooden, self-supporting trellis, put up by Mr and Mrs Corless, which they say has been nailed to their fence.
The trellis, which Mr and Mrs Corless say they erected in response to the construction of decking that overlooked their property, has already been the subject of a planning appeal, Mr Morshead said. Mr and Mrs Baynes Clarke are insisting that it be reduced from 3m (9ft 9in) to 2.2m.
The Baynes Clarkes also object to Mr and Mrs Corless having put up goalposts and basketball nets on a turning area in the access road.
Mr Stafford alleged that in 2007 the Corlesses wrote to their neighbours, seeking to enforce a 10.30pm to 7.30am curfew and telling them that, if they wanted to use the road outside those hours, they had to seek permission.
The hearing continues.
Just happen to notice again the date these homes were bought. 2001. That means in American dollars they went for WELL OVER ONE MILLION.
Posted by peiper
on 03/13/2009 at 01:36 PM
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Permalink • Put these Toytown Talibandits on the first flight home.
What could I possibly add?
Right.
So I won’t even try.
Toytown Talibandits
By Richard Littlejohn
13th March 2009You couldn’t make it up. One of the Muslim headbangers screeching hatred at British troops this week turns out to be employed as a baggage handler at Luton Airport.
So let’s get this straight: a fanatical supporter of a global jihadist movement best known for blowing up planes and crashing them into buildings is considered a fit and proper person to be given an air-side pass, which could potentially afford him the chance to plant a bomb?
Jalal Ahmed’s job involves loading bags onto aircraft. I’m sure you find that reassuring as you plan your next sunshine break.
His employers say he has passed all criminal record and security checks and works only part time and during peak periods, when the airport is busiest. So that’s all right, then. Best to avoid Luton at Bank Holidays and half-term, though, just to be on the safe side.
Airport officials insist: ‘He would be in a supervised environment at all times.’
Somehow, I doubt that’s the kind of ‘supervised environment’ most of us would like to see him in. That would involve orange jumpsuits, armed guards, razor-wire and large dogs.
A spokesman added that the airport authorities had no idea that one of their employees was involved in the demonstration. I don’t suppose they did, especially as they had no idea, either, that Jalal Ahmed is connected to an illegal Islamist organisation which supports international terrorism and wants to impose Sharia law in Britain.
My guess is that not only didn’t they know, they didn’t want to know and made no effort to find out, lest they be accused of committing the mortal sin of ‘racial profiling’.
It’s the same warped mindset which sees groups of young Muslim men, accompanied by faceless women in burqas, waved through airport security without so much as a cursory glance, while old-age pensioners from Tunbridge Wells on their way to a long weekend in Madeira are subjected to the full Spanish Inquisition and a humiliating strip search.
The authorities are terrified of anything which might lead to charges of ‘Islamophobia’ being levelled against them. In that respect, the powers-that-be at Luton Airport are only following the official policy of this Government and its various agencies.
Appeasement and indulgence are the order of the day when it comes to dealing with Muslim extremism. Speak softly, and on no account carry a big stick.
Only yesterday we learned that even Boris Johnson, the Tory Mayor of London, has just doled out £30,000 of taxpayers’ money to some dubious front organisation run by a prominent al Qaeda cheerleader, who encourages the killing of British soldiers in Iraq.
That’s just a round of drinks in relation to the £90 million the Government shovels in the direction of assorted Islamist extremists. The belief seems to be that if we put them on the payroll and keep them sweet, they’ll agree not to blow us up.
This official line extends through the police and the BBC. At this week’s march-past by the Royal Anglians in Luton, the dopey bird covering it for Radio 4’s PM program saw no reason to mention the ethnicity of the demonstrators, although she did make a point of identifying those confronting them as ‘hard-core, young white males’. No racism there, then.
On the day, the Old Bill seem to have got it into their head that their job was to protect the right of Islamist nutjobs to accuse British soldiers of rape and baby-killing in a deliberate attempt to goad otherwise law-abiding people into committing a breach of the peace.
The only arrests made were of supporters of the troops, who had turned out to watch the parade and were provoked beyond outrage at these vile slurs.
One of those arrested has been charged with a ‘racially aggravated’ offence, just to prove the police’s even-handedness. Another diversity box ticked for the annual report.
None of the young Muslim men inciting hatred were arrested. Nor were any of the sinister, masked women taking photos at the parade.
Posted by peiper
on 03/13/2009 at 01:01 PM
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Permalink • Britain is fighting a war – and we are too soft on our enemies. (they have rights ya know)
Spells it out well but this of course is not the first time we’ve heard something like it.
The problem is ..... it doesn’t look as though the people who make the decisions are listening. And if they are, they aren’t acting on what they hear.
I’ve never been a ‘sky is falling’ individual. Generally I have always thought that where a problem was recognized it could be fixed. But I have discovered an awful lot of ppl who seem to prefer a mode of ‘deaf - dumb - and blind.’ At least over here.
I doubt the sky will really fall on them here as much as it will gradually envelope them in a cloud of appeasement and delusional well being.
Hate to say so out loud but the future for this island may well be well behind it. Unless enough of these folks wake up, their future will be dark. As in, The Dark Ages. It won’t have anything to do with the climate as so many believe. The enveloping cloud I see will be an islamic one.
As Americans, we better not be too smug about this. There are more then enough Yanks back home with blinders on as well. They are as big a threat to us as their counterparts here in the UK. And I haven’t even broached the subject of traitors. That’s a whole other problem to be dealt with.
Britain is fighting a war – and we are too soft on our enemies
Too little action is being taken by the authorities against hostile Muslims.
Con Coughlin
Last Updated: 10:25AM GMT 13 Mar 2009It’s not just soldiers who win wars. Governments also have a crucial role to play – and to judge by the response of most Western governments to the threat we face from radical Islamism, we are simply not competing on equal terms with the enemy.
No one can claim that we in Britain don’t understand the nature of the threat we face. In recent months, there has been a succession of reports highlighting the increasingly pernicious influence British Islamists are having on the Nato-led campaign to bring stability to Afghanistan.
After senior officers confirmed last year that British Muslims were fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod surveillance planes monitoring Taliban radio stations were surprised to hear insurgents speaking in strong Yorkshire or Midlands accents.
More recently, officers based at the main military base at Lashkar Gah revealed that they had found British-made components in roadside bombs used to attack coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sent to Helmand by Muslim sympathisers in Britain. This week three British Muslims, part of a terrorist cell whose leader was convicted of plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier on video, were jailed at the Old Bailey for supplying equipment to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The active involvement of radical British Muslims in the Afghan insurgency has led senior officers to claim that they are engaged in a “surreal mini-civil war” in Afghanistan. And yet, for all the compelling evidence that British-based Islamist radicals are actively participating in a jihad against Britain and its coalition allies, the Government, together with those who have opposed our involvement in the War on Terror from the start, seems determined to give the Islamist radicals the benefit of the doubt.
Even when incontrovertible proof is found that British Muslims are aiding and abetting the enemy in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Government’s instinct is to try to cover up their involvement, for fear of further inflaming Islamist sensitivities.
Twice in the past year I have been admonished by our military establishment for revealing details about the support British sympathisers are providing to the Afghan insurgency, whether it involves actually fighting alongside the Taliban or providing them with the means to kill and maim British personnel. Officials did not question the reports’ veracity. On both occasions, I was told that it was simply not helpful to expose such details, as they might cause offence to the Muslim community, or encourage Islamist radicals to intimidate British soldiers returning from combat.
Well, to judge by the disgraceful reception given this week by Muslim demonstrators to members of 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, as they paraded through the centre of Luton, the Islamists are receiving all the encouragement they need, not least in the form of the virulently anti-Western sermons delivered over the internet by the Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was banished from Britain in 2005 following the July 7 attacks in London. He has made his approval of the protesters’ actions known, claiming “my brothers from Luton were protesting against people they see as killers of Muslims”.
Nor should we be surprised that the only action taken by Bedfordshire police has been to arrest those who were incensed by the Islamists’ taunts of “criminals” and “terrorists”, aimed at the returning soldiers. The authorities’ response in Luton is symptomatic of the perverse attitude that seems to have become Britain’s default position when confronted by difficult Islamist issues. When the former Guantánamo detainee Binyam Mohamed claimed that British intelligence officials were complicit in his torture, the main focus of the controversy was the alleged collusion of ministers, rather than precisely what Mr Mohamed was doing in Afghanistan.
He might, as he insists, be innocent of any wrongdoing. But the risks of taking the protestations of innocence of a former Guantánamo detainee at face value have been graphically demonstrated this week by the revelation that another inmate, Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, has re-emerged as one of the Taliban’s most effective commanders in southern Afghanistan.
During the six years he was held at Guantánamo, Rasoul, now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, managed to convince his American interrogators that he had never held a military command, even though it turns out he was a high-ranking commander close to Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s supreme leader. Rasoul was eventually released after claiming he wanted to return to his family and farm. British officials believe he is the mastermind behind the deadly surge in roadside bombings in Helmand since last spring.
The worldwide campaign against Islamist-inspired militancy is highly complex. But if the West to wants to prevent further terror attacks, we must first distinguish between those who are on our side, and those who are not.
Posted by peiper
on 03/13/2009 at 12:07 PM
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Permalink • It’s taw-cha !
Steven Crowder does a bit of stand up. He also is part of the blog team over at Big Hollywood.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/13/2009 at 11:22 AM
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Permalink • As France rejoins NATO, a humorous reminder of why we never missed them.
Okay Bmews ....
This post is MOSTLY for DREW but the rest of you are of course always welcome.
Brits having a bit of fun at French expense.
And the Brits do not have a lot to laff about these days.
As France rejoins NATO, a humorous reminder of why we never missed them
By Marcus Dunk
Last updated at 1:57 AM on 13th March 2009
The Daily Mail
With typical flamboyance and fanfare, French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week announced that France is to rejoin Nato’s military command after 40 years of self-imposed exile.It was in 1966 that President Charles de Gaulle pulled out of the heart of the Nato alliance, claiming that belonging to the Nato military command undermined French independence and sovereignty.
Yet while its allies in the alliance have publicly welcomed this return to the fold, a fundamental question seems to have been ignored: do we actually want the French back?
The French are not known for their military mightSince World War II, the French and its army have been seen by many as standard-bearers for surrender, cowardice and military ineptitude.
But at least they’ve made us laugh. Here’s a selection of morale-boosting jokes and quips about the people so memorably described in The Simpsons TV series as the cheese-eating surrender monkeys…
(two of the best comic actors ever there were. Especially Kenneth Williams, pictured in front with monocle)What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
The army.
How can you recognise a French veteran?
Sunburned armpits.
Why are there so many tree-lined boulevards in France?
Germans like to march in the shade.
Why did it take Germany three days to conquer France in World War II?
Because it was raining.
Why did the French give America the Statue of Liberty?
Because she has only one arm raised.
Why do the French get more votes in the U.N.?
They vote with both hands.
Why is the French fighter plane called the Mirage?
It doesn’t exist.
Why don’t they have fireworks at Euro Disney?
Because every time they shoot them off, the French try to surrender.
What does ‘Maginot’ mean in German?
Welcome!
Why is the French Foreign Legion the only decent fighting force in the whole French Army?
Because it’s made up of foreigners.
What does the new French flag look like?
A white cross emblazoned on a white background.
What’s the shortest book ever written?
French War Heroes.
What is the first thing the French Army teaches at basic training?
How to surrender in at least ten languages.
What is the most useful thing in the French Army?
A rear-view mirror, so they can see the war.
Why does Nike like the French Army?
Because in wartime they are the biggest buyers of running shoes.
Why did the French celebrate their World Cup in 1998 so wildly?
It was their first time they won anything without outside help.
French football fans kiss in Toulouse, after France’s 3-0 victory over BrazilFrench football fans kiss in Toulouse, after France’s 3-0 victory over Brazil
Why do the French have glass bottom boats in their Navy?
To see all their other ships.
What did the mayor of Paris say to the German army as they entered the city in World War II?
‘Table for 100,000, monsieur?’
Why are the French afraid of war?
You would be, too, if you had never won one.
How do you stop a French army on horseback?
Turn off the carousel.
Did you hear about the French admiral who wanted to be buried at sea when he died?
Five sailors died digging his grave.
What’s the best thing about being French?
You can surrender at the beginning of the war and somebody else will win it for you.
‘I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me.’
General George S. Patton.
How do the French advertise surplus World War II rifles for sale?
‘Never fired, only dropped once.’
And a few more jokes…The French government announced after the London bombings that it had raised its terror alert level from Run to Hide.
The only two higher levels in France are Surrender and Collaborate. The rise in the alert level was precipitated by a recent fire which destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively disabling its military.
A long time ago, the British and French were at war. During one battle, the French captured an English major. They took the major to their headquarters and a French general began to question him.
The French general asked: ‘Why do you English officers all wear red coats? Don’t you know the red material makes you easy targets for us to shoot?’
In his debonair English way, the major informed the general that the reason English officers wear red coats is so that if they are shot, the blood won’t show, and the men they are leading won’t panic.
And that is why from that day to now, all French army officers wear brown pants.
An officer in the U.S. Naval reserve was attending a conference of officers from the U.S. navy and the French navy. At a cocktail reception, he found himself in a small group that included personnel from both navies.
A French admiral started complaining that whereas Europeans learned many languages, Americans learned only English. He then asked: ‘Why is it that we have to speak English at these conferences rather than speak French?’ Without hesitating, an American admiral replied: ‘Maybe it’s because the Brits,
Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.’In 1966, upon being told that Charles de Gaulle had taken France out of NATO and that all U.S. troops must be evacuated from French soil, President Lyndon Johnson told Secretary of State Dean Rusk: ‘Ask him about the cemeteries, Dean!’
So, at end of the meeting, Dean asked de Gaulle if his order to remove all U.S. troops from French soil also included the 60,000 plus soldiers buried in France from World War I and World War II. De Gaulle never answered.
Posted by peiper
on 03/13/2009 at 09:44 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - March 12, 2009
Going for the gold … the IGOLD
Senor Windmill, meet Don Quixote. Don Quixote, may I present Senor Windmill? Your lance, sir. Sancho Ponza, give the horse a nudge, would you please?
No, this isn’t exactly front page news. Or even back page news. It’s actually news that’s damn hard to find if you don’t use the “IGOLD” acronym. But the good citizens of Illinois got themselves to the capital at Springfield for a big meeting and an afternoon spent pressuring their Legislators, to push for the right to carry, just like the rest of the country. And BMEWS reader Kevin was there.
Pictures? I don’t know. If he sends me some, I’ll put them up. But a) I’m glad to see some positive action taking place in that state, and b) I’m even prouder to see some of my readers taking part. This is what it’s all about folks. Doing what the Skipper said to do: keep talking, and keep a close eye on the government, all governments, at all times.
This was a real grassroots event, which means it’s tough to easily find much information, and a blessing if you can find any media coverage at all. But I did come up with these bits ...
IGOLD Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day!
Wednesday March 11, 2009
Springfield, ILDo not miss the largest gun rights rally and Second Amendment lobbying event in Illinois history! We need thousands of Illinois gun owners, hunters, sport shooters, plinkers, target shooters, and those who simply wish to defend their right to keep and bear arms in order to protect their families and themselves to gather at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center, march down Capitol Avenue, rally on the Capitol steps, then proceed inside to lobby legislators to make our presence known. There will be no mistaking that Illinois gun owners intend to stand up and speak out for our right to keep and bear arms in the state of Illinois!!
They put the whole event together in about 90 days, found a couple of sponsors, and organized buses from all over the state, from at least 30 areas. Pretty cool.
Last year more than 1,500 Illinois gun owners swarmed the Capitol complex lobbying state legislators for firearm owners rights and the need for a Right to Carry law in Illinois.
With the help of sponsors we have been able to charter buses from the locations listed below. Bus fares will be $20 ( or in the case of Champaign/Decatur donations will be accepted) and seat reservations are a must!!! We will be making flier documents available for you to print out and hand out in your neighborhoods, work places, wherever you can to get the word out.
ISRA is proud to sponsor Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day for 2009 NOW is the time for Illinois citizens to come together and demand IL legislators respect the law-abiding citizen’s right to protect themselves and their families from violent criminals.
NOW is the time for Illinois citizens to demand Illinois join the rest of the nation and pass a License to Carry law. Illinois is one of only two states left that does not have a License to Carry law and that is unacceptable.
NOW is the time for all gun owners to join in the battle to protect each other’s right to pursue the lawful use of their firearms - be it for hunting, sport, or self-defense.
NOW is not the time to sit idly by and wring our hands. NOW is the time to show up at the Illinois State Capitol and let our voices be heard - the voices of Illinois Gun owners - loud clear voices that we have had enough infringements on our rights - we’ll budge no further. In fact, not only do we stand our ground, we want back ground that’s been lost.
And so they did ... for the second year in a row ... this time around, according to reader Kevin, about 3000 people attended. And they [peacefully] mobbed the state house ...
News coverage? Well, some ...
Gun owners rally today in Springfield, pushing for a concealed carry law in Illinois.
Just yesterday a Senate committee rejected a proposal to allow residents to carry concealed weapons. It would have allowed county sheriff’s to issue permits to qualified gun owners. State Senator John Jones, a Mount Vernon Republican who sponsored the proposal, said he wasn’t surprised by the rejection, given the makeup of the panel. Concealed carry efforts have long been supported by downstate lawmakers, but opposed by Chicago-area lawmakers.
The Senate’s action makes passage of three similar bills making their way through the Illinois house doubtful. Jones said even if those proposals win House approval, they’d likely go nowhere in the Senate.
Illinois gun-owners rally in Springfield, but misfire in committees
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Hundreds of Illinois gun-owners descended on the state Capitol today, lobbying for the right to carry concealed handguns. They wore yellow caps and t-shirts with the emblem IGOLD (Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day), many with the Second Amendment printed on the back.It was an impressive show of strength. But where it matters - in the legislative committees - they’re losing ground.
Pro-gun lawmakers and lobbyists in recent weeks have predicted this could be the year that Illinois joins 48 other states (including Missouri) that allow “concealed-carry.” The National Rifle Association and others have been pretty fired up about it, and anti-gun folks have been rallying their own troops for what they’ve believed could be a real showdown. (Read our earlier story here.)
The first skirmish so far, though, hasn’t gone well for the pro-fun folks. A state Senate committee last night voted down one concealed-carry bill (SB1976), with Chicago Democrats leading the way. And today, a House committee passed an anti-gun bill that would limit gun purchases to one a month (HB12), a measure backed by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has made gun control a central goal of his administration - and who has lots of friends in Springfield these days.
Neither issue is yet settled, and an NRA lobbyist stopped by our office a little while ago to assure us that they’ve not yet begun to fight. We’ll see.
Interestingly, the comments left under this article say that 5100 people were registered and attended. Kevin figured it was at least 3000. But the newspaper said “hundreds”. Hmmm, we’ve seen that one before, only usually turned around the other way. So who really can say, unless they’ve got one of those panoramic photos? The ISRA itself [Illinois State Rifle Association] estimated 2000 would attend.
And I would pick the smallest of bones with the IGOLD folks: while almost all the states do allow concealed carry, several [like NJ] are what we call “may issue” states, which means CCW doesn’t really exist. CCW is what you want, but you want to be a “shall issue” state. That means no favoritism, cronyism, or whites only who get this right. So 48 is a number, but 40 is the more realistic shall-issue number.
Speaking of Whites Only, as part of that Open conversation about race we’re all supposed to be having, reader Kevin kept his eyes open to see who was attending this rally. And guess what he saw?
The rally was AWESOME - I’m guessing 3,000 proud gun-owning Americans were there, maybe a few more. This is an annual event - here in IL we are trying to get Concealed Carry passed.
Half-way through the march to the Capitol, I remembered to count! I counted three blacks - one Vietnam vet I walked with, one woman, and some other black guy. Zero Asians that I could see. Very very FEW Hispanics, though I was honored to meet and speak with Rosanna Pulido of the IL MinuteMen.
I mentioned this “lack of color” to a fellow marcher , and we agreed that other races evidently DO NOT hold the same values that we do. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, my eyes tell me they just don’t. If they did, they’d of been there.
After we marched, we finished up at the Capitol where we spent a few hours lobbying.
Illinois has a decently diverse population. And the Constitution applies to all of us. So where were the women? Where were the non-whites? This rally sounds a lot like a GOP get together in that regard. Idea for next year: canvas the ethnic areas better. Get a few hundred, a few thousand minorities to show up, and the legislature might start to listen. It could be that until then, all they can see is “a bunch of crazy crackers”. Get everyone involved.
Gun owner in Illinois have an uphill battle. My guess is Illinois will be the last state to turn over the CCW leaf, after NY and NJ give in, which won’t happen until Washington DC gives in. But keep the pressure on, keep the letters and emails coming. It’s going to be a long campaign. Good work so far.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/12/2009 at 09:29 PM
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control • Politics •
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Permalink • SOME FAST DRIVERS IN A TUNNEL DON’T DO TOO WELL.
The 3,150 m long Lefortovo tunnel in Russia is the longest in-city tunnel in all the world. It is nicknamed ‘The Tunnel of Death’. See why for yourself. There is a river running over the tunnel, and water leaks through in some areas..
When the temperature reaches nearly 0 degrees Celsius (like it does during the Winter in Russia ), the road freezes and becomes very slippery. The result is the attached video which was taken during a single day with the tunnel Surveillance camera..
Congratulations to the dual-carriage bus driver - imagine the passengers in the back! What a ride!
The next time you complain about traffic, remember this video...Russian Engineering!
I originally got this from a friend and hadn’t seen it before. Maybe you have. ? Anyway ... that figure can’t be right can it? Says” 3,150 m.”
Miles? Can’t be. But it’s interesting anyway. Maybe.
Lefortovo - Tunnel Of Death - Click here for the most popular videos
Posted by peiper
on 03/12/2009 at 02:50 PM
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Permalink • GUY DRAWS GUN ON 2 COPS AND GUN MISFIRES 2WICE. AND COPS DO NOT TAKE HIM OUT. ?
Officers drew their weapons but then .... talked to the perp. Oh good.
?????????? DUH ?
Maybe they wanted to form a trio and sing we are the world.
What is it with these ppl? Guy tried to fire twice and both times his gun jammed. And the cops (who are armed) didn’t blow the useless bag of garbage away. What the heck kind of cop is that? That’s what social engineering in a leftist state gets ya.
They didn’t do anyone any favors you know.
All they did was set the scene and create the opportunity for some poor bastard someplace, sometime in the future, to be this jerks real victim.
Maybe next time his gun won’t jam.
I hate it when cops have an opportunity to clean the pool with a righteous shoot and decide not to. Jeez.
The fact that he was depressed and drunk due to (it says here) the death of his daughter makes NO difference. Lots of people have lost children and felt like dying themselves. But they didn’t get drunk and try to shoot two policemen. For me, that’s the bottom line.
Briton arrested after trying to shoot Spanish guard who caught him urinating in public
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:16 AM on 12th March 2009Two Britons face charges of attempted murder after shooting at police who stopped them for urinating in the street. The Spanish officers only survived because the 9mm semiautomatic pistol jammed twice.
The British gunman surrendered following a stand-off in Alhaurin el Grande, near Marbella. Named only as Paul B, he had another expat’s passport with him when he was arrested.
The second man, Paul Logan Donnelly from Newcastle, fled the scene after abandoning a six inch knife. He was later arrested.
The way the men reacted has prompted the authorities to check with British police whether they are on the run.
The drama unfolded around 9pm on Monday evening. Two civil guards stopped the pair after spotting one of them urinating outside a video shop.
Paul B threw the passport to the police and took out the gun. He aimed at one officer and pulled the trigger but it jammed.
He then pointed it at the second guard but it jammed again. The officers then took out their guns and talked him round.
It is thought he had been drinking all day after learning of the death of his six-year-old daughter. Last night the pair were also facing the charge of illegal possession of weapons.
An Irishman who was with the men, both thought to live locally, has been questioned but released without charge.
Posted by peiper
on 03/12/2009 at 01:58 PM
Filed Under: • Crime • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • AN EDITORIAL ON LAW AND DISORDER …. A MUST READ FROM PETER HITCHENS
I’m a few days late getting this posted. It’s been at the top of my do now stack but things just haven’t gone as planned with posts.
But no matter. I think Peter Hitchens is exactly right. I’ve tried to say the same but he says it better. He should of course as he’s trained for it.
So that’s my excuse for not being as literate or articulate as perhaps I want to be. This is an excellent editorial by him. It appeared last week in The Mail on Sunday.
“The more you appease criminality with weakness and offers of ‘understanding’, the more criminality you will get.”
Yeah, sweet ... the two sneering words a killer said to the police
Peter Hitchens
The Mail on SundayLast updated at 12:08 AM on 08th March 2009
If we can’t make criminals fear the law, then we will have to live in fear of criminals. It is that simple.
When I first warned of this some years back, it was still a theoretical problem for most people. Now it’s becoming a practical one.
I’m pretty sure that we’re finished as a country and a society anyway, and would advise anyone who can do so to think seriously about getting out while it’s still possible.
But because we have saved ourselves from near-disaster so many times before, I feel I have a duty to carry on trying, just in case there’s still a chance.
But I beg of you, do not look for any help or hope from the Tories. All that they offer is a change of faces without any alteration of policy.
(TORIES,,, CONSERVATIVES. And as usual, Hitchens is correct.)
Every stupid decision of the past half-century was either made by them or later supported by them. They are merely a machine for getting Cabinet posts for the sons of the rich. They have entirely adopted the soppy spirit of the age. Anyone who votes for them in the hope of reform is deluded.
Don’t believe me? The next time you hear some Tory spokesperson blethering about crime under Labour, as they have taken to doing, ask him a few questions.
Does he believe that police officers should be free to administer informal wallops to louts?
Does he think there is any crime so bad that the perpetrator deserves to hang?
Does he believe prisons should punish, through fear and hard conditions? I can tell you that he will at best mumble. If he tells the truth, he will say ‘no’ in all cases.
Yet without such measures, implemented soon, no possession and no person will be safe from random, impenitent criminality.
Last week we ‘learned’ from surveys and statistics the following things, all of which you and I have known for years: that miscreants laugh at ‘community punishments’; that dozens of convicted murderers are released to strike again, in many cases to kill again; that our criminal courts are now so clogged up with cases they cannot cope.
Our prisons, likewise, are swollen like boils ready to burst, however hard the Ministry of Injustice seeks to empty their inmates on to the streets, or the judges strive to dilute their sentences.
This is no surprise to anyone apart from the ruling elite. The more you appease criminality with weakness and offers of ‘understanding’, the more criminality you will get. Here’s a recent example from real life.
Karl Bishop, told that Robert Knox had died from wounds he had inflicted, remarked: ‘Yeah, sweet.’ He also told police to take him straight to Belmarsh prison, saying: ‘I’m going down anyway. I don’t mind. I get gym every day, meals, just take me there.’
Bishop, by the way, a regular user of supposedly ‘soft’ cannabis, knows – as transgressors all do – that after 50 years of Left-Liberal government, he has nothing to fear from the police or the courts.
In my view, he should have been shaking with uncontrollable fear of the noose and trap-door that ought to await him.But what would I know? I’m an extremist, out on a limb, with views that exclude me from any significant political party.
Yeah, sweet.
Posted by peiper
on 03/12/2009 at 11:57 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Editorials • UK •
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Permalink • The EU equality law that will let ‘upset’ atheists sue companies that hang up crucifixes
I just knew you folks would enjoy this EU lunacy.
“the lunatic fringe which lurks in the dark, unpleasant corners of the European Union” “these marxist nutters”
It’s a non starter. Can’t see it going through to the end but then, ya never do know. There are Euro-Marxist idiots and I don’t think I’d put much past em.
This is the result please understand, of a lot of UNELECTED bureaucrats with not enough or anything at all to do. And so they have to make a bunch of things up as they go along. Make it look like they’re working on important stuff. And BOY-OH-BOY do they rake it in. Paid for by ... oh come on. Take a wild ass guess.
The EU equality law that will let ‘upset’ atheists sue companies that hang up crucifixes
By Jonathan PetreCrucifixes in public places - including hospices - could provoke civil action under the new laws.
Organisations which hang crucifixes on walls could be sued if they upset atheists under equality laws proposed by the European Union.
Any group offering a service to the public, including hospitals, charities, businesses and prisons, would be at risk.
Legislation may also allow Christians to bring an action against a hotel if it displayed something they deemed offensive - such as a poster for the 1979 Monty Python film The Life Of Brian.There are already laws banning harassment in the workplace, but the new Brussels regulations are designed to offer people protection from providers of goods and services.
However, they are so broad that critics say they could lead to a spate of civil cases by anyone claiming their dignity has been violated by the ‘hostile environment’ of an organisation.The Church of England says hospices or charities for the homeless could face legal action if people using their services felt degraded by their religious practices or symbols, such as the cross.
The Archbishops’ Council even fears that charities could be challenged by atheists if grace is said before meals.The Law Society says religious believers may also be able to launch a civil action for harassment.
In an official submission to the EU, the society said: ‘For instance, in a shop or shared lodging house, there may be a notice board on which is posted material that some of those who see it will find offensive on religious grounds (for instance, a poster for a film, such as The Life Of Brian).’
The proposals, which go before EU governments for approval later this year, are part of a new directive outlawing discrimination by businesses on the grounds of sexual orientation, age, disability or belief.If approved, it will become the latest in a swathe of European-inspired equality laws which critics say stifle freedom of speech and marginalise religion.
The Government tried to introduce a similar law in 2005 but dropped it after a resounding rejection by the House of Lords.
Peers feared it would encourage politically correct officials to stop public expressions of religion, such as carol services or Bibles by hospital bedsides.
Simon Calvert, of the Christian Institute, said the proposed EU directive would ‘open a Pandora’s box’.He asked: ‘What about Gideon Bibles in hotel bedrooms? Would councils ban nativity scenes from Christmas displays?’
A spokeswoman for the Government Equalities Office, which is responsible for the EU directive, said it was felt that existing UK law was ‘adequate’.
HERE’S WHAT ONE COMMENTER HAS HAD TO SAY :
I can’t see the sense in belonging to this crackpot organisation called the EU any longer. It’s an utter waste of space and keeps on paying homage to the lunatic fringe which lurks in the dark, unpleasant corners of the European Union. We certainly don’t these marxist nutters operating here, in what used to be a fairly easy-going country.
If hunts run out of foxhounds, then there’s a new type of prey called Brussels regulators, now that would be a sight to see !
G. Forshaw,
Preston, Lancs,
Posted by peiper
on 03/12/2009 at 11:22 AM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • EUro-peons • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • Yoot crime as boy age eight is accused of rape. Eight? Is that even possible? 8?
Saw this one and really was surprised as I would never have thought age eight would have been developed enough.
Saw the original story in Telegraph with more detail re. ‘yoot’ crime in The Mail.
I can somewhat agree with people who say kids are having sexual images hammered into them at a very early age. Makes a parent job harder then it used to be I bet. And at an earlier age. That is, the parents who are trying. We read about many who are pretty dismal at the job. Never know where their kids are or what they’re doing. But even then, it can’t be possible for parents to know about every single hour even among the many good parents. Has to be a big worry and an ulcer maker I would guess.
Would you say communication is theeeee most important? Or ... would kids at a certain age think communication a waste and see it as unwanted control? I’m asking as a non parent so curious.
Now (over here as readers are aware) there’s a move afoot to start sex ed. at five. That’s 5. As in years old. Thing is, so called “experts” who are also parents and are supposed to know something about the subject because it’s their profession, seem to believe that’s ok. Five?
Being a non parent maybe I should not question what experts are supposed to be trained for. But gee ... Five?
Then of course you are all aware as well about that dust-up last week over parents not wanting to send kids to their school for the Romeo and Julian thing. So, are kids being pushed into growing up sooner? I tend to think that without actually knowing if I’m correct or not.
As for these kids mentioned here .... well. Hard to imagine an 8yr old but then again a lot would depend on his origin too. Ya think? It could.
I once heard a 10 yr old tell a cop what his civil rights were. And that was over 30 years ago. No foolin’.
So maybe all these years later it isn’t outlandish at all to accept that crime is getting younger. And younger and more serious.
There is NO going back I know that. But I still believe as I stated in another post that the entertainment industry (entertainment in gore) in all it’s forms, has coarsened the culture to a point where this is simply one of the results.
It has to take very strong, dedicated and worrying parents to attempt the role of buffer, adviser, disciplinarian and heaven only knows what the heck else the demand are on you. Oh yeah, banker too.
So far, I think I’m darn lucky to have avoided that role in life. Thankfully I recognized early on that I just wouldn’t cut it as a parent.
EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY ACCUSED OF RAPING GIRL
By Neil Puffett
12 March 2009An eight-year-old boy accused of rape was among 24 Suffolk children who were not prosecuted last year because of their age, police have revealed.
The boy was accused of carrying out the attack on a girl under the age of 10 but was not charged because he too is under 10, the age of criminal responsibility.A Freedom of Information request made to Suffolk police reveals other serious offences that are alleged to have taken place, included four incidents of racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress by a five-year-old, two six-year-olds and an eight-year-old.
Other alleged crimes committed in 2008 included two incidents of common assault and battery by nine-year-olds and nine cases of criminal damage caused by seven-, eight- and nine year-olds.
In total, 18 separate alleged crimes were revealed.
A Suffolk police spokesman said: “In circumstances where the suspected offender is below the age of criminal responsibility, the incident, like any other crime, is thoroughly investigated.
“However, it cannot be dealt with by way of prosecution. Further action involving the offender is very much dependent on the incident and can be a complex issue.”
Each incident is assessed to determine whether the child is suffering bullying or neglect or needs to be referred to another agency, the spokesman added.
AND THERE IS THIS:
Kyle Abdo became Britain’s youngest convicted rapist when he was aged 12 in 2004 and given two-and-a-half years’ detention for raping a nine-year-old girl.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Abdo was aged 11 when he carried out the attack during a game of hide and seek at his home.
A judge made an order allowing him to be named.Another boy aged 12 was given three years supervision at Newcastle Crown Court in February last year after he admitted raping a girl of seven in a drunken game of truth or dare.
The rape which happened in Gateshead in February 2006 after the boy who was aged 11 at the time had drunk four cans of lager and two miniature bottles of vodka.
Posted by peiper
on 03/12/2009 at 09:26 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • Daily Life • UK •
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Permalink • Wednesday - March 11, 2009
They’re Heeere!
Tuesday March 10, morning: I hear from my chiropractor, [US Marine officer, rich guy, and major gun collector], that the NJ State Police now have only 1 guy processing gun permits. The other guy is out on indefinite furlough. So good luck getting a permit any time soon. Gosh, that made my day, even more than him telling me about the Red Chinese harassing the US Navy in international waters. And getting away with it. Another “manufactured incident within 6 months” Mr. Vice President?
Wednesday, March 11, daytime: Second Amendment supporter and Republican NJ State Senator Marcia Karrow is scheduled to meet with the NJ State Police to discuss their backlog in processing Firearms ID applications, and to remind them that, by law, they have 30 days to get the job done.
Wednesday, March 11, evening: “Hello Mr. Pearce? This is Sgt O____ from the NJ State Police. I’m calling to let you know that your Firearms ID and Pistol Purchase Permits are in, and you can pick them up whenever you want.”
I guess they went through the list in alphabetical order, because they called my wife, who uses her maiden name, about 15 minutes before they called me. That gave me just enough time to stew in my own juices, and accept the realization that they were never going to give me a permit, because I shot off my mouth to the government.
Wrong.
Woo Hoo!!
Government in action? A Senator that can get things done? I don’t know. I was a good boy and instantly fired off a Thank You email to her office, and I asked if they had a press release I could paste all over the internet for her. Nothing like a little good press, right? Maybe they’ll write me back tomorrow. Maybe the meeting didn’t even take place, and this was just one truly amazing coincidence.
Bottom Line:
The 30 day process took 87 days for our friend who kept her mouth shut.
The 30 day process took 73 days for me, who started bugging my elected officials on day 42.
The 30 day process took 65 days for my wife, who put her application in a week after I did.
Now I’ve got a really good reason to go shopping! I wants me a mouse gun, you know, just in case. Something really easy to stash. Either an itsy-bitsy .380, or a micro 9mm. Lots of quality choices out there. I have to balance price vs size vs weight vs power. Decisions, decisions.
| Mouse Gun Specifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kahr PM9 | Kel-Tec PF-9 | Kel-Tec P3AT | Ruger LCP | Kahr P380 | Magnum Research Micro-Desert Eagle | |
| Weight | 14.9 oz | 12.7 oz | 7.2 oz | 9.42 oz | 11.3 oz | 13.5 oz |
| Frame Width | 0.798” | 0.790” | 0.778” | 0.629” | ||
| Barrel Length | 3.1” | 2.745” | 2.796” | 2.52” | 2.3” | |
| Slide Width | 0.748” | 0.741” | 0.75” | 0.872” | ||
| Overall Length | 5.3” | 5.85” | 5.14” | 5.172” | 4.877” | 4.552” |
| Overall Height | 4.0” | 4.3” | 3.576” | 3.612” | 3.89” | 3.72” |
| Cartridge Capacity | 6+1 | 7+1 | 6+1 | 6+1 | 6+1 | 6+1 |
| Maximum Thickness | 0.9” | 0.88” | 0.925” | |||
| Grip Thickness | 0.778” | 0.886” | ||||
| cartridge | 9mm Luger | 9mm Luger | .380 ACP | .380 ACP | .380 ACP | .380 ACP |
| Trigger Pull | 5.625lb | 6lb | 5.4lb / 8lb spec | 5.25 pounds | 8.3lb | |
| MSRP | $786 | $333 | $324 | $330 | $649 | $535 |
UPDATE: Here is a link to an Acrobat document that gives the specs, with pictures, of most of the little semi-auto pistols on the US market. Well done.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/11/2009 at 07:02 PM
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •
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Permalink • More Damn Global Warming
Strong winds push ice into beachfront homes along Saginaw Bay
Michigan - Mountains of ice crept up the beach and over sea walls of Linwood homes early Monday morning. The ice made its way into backyards, broke windows and spilled inside homes on the shoreline.
Tim Boutell said he and his wife heard the screech of “metal on metal,” and then screamed themselves Sunday night as walls of ice pushed toward their Kawkawlin Township home along Saginaw Bay.“About 9 p.m. my wife, Beth, heard some noise and I kind of disregarded it until she went downstairs to peek outside, and she obviously screamed. And then I looked out and saw the ice piled up and moving toward the house,” said Tim Boutell, 50, owner of one of about 36 Bay County homes evacuated due to invading ice.
Boutell said he told his daughters, who were watching TV, to get up, get a bag and get out.
“Then (we) went down knocking on the doors of a few older folks who lived out here,” Tim Boutell said. “We got them out, and then got out.”
Residents evacuated about 36 homes near the shore of Saginaw Bay on Sunday night as wind-driven ice floes crushed into houses, according to police.
Ice had entered as far as 12 feet inside some of the homes, according to troopers at the Michigan State Police post at Bay City. Troopers didn’t report any injuries.
Dispatchers sent police to the scene in Kawkawlin Township along Linwood Beach Road, near Boutell Road, at 10:30 p.m. after residents along Linwood, Killarney and Brissette beaches began calling.
As residents began evacuated their homes, state police troopers were assisted by the Kawkawlin Township Fire Department and workers from Consumers Energy, who turned off gas to some houses. Residents were advised to shut off the main power to their homes.
Strong, persistent northeast winds on Sunday caused the ice damage. National Weather Service meteorologists said winds came from the northeast - from 15 to 32 mph - for 11 consecutive hours, from 1 p.m. Sunday to midnight.
The ice was moving about 20 feet every half hour and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
...
“It looked like glaciers coming in,”
CNN has a video report.
While this is uncommon, it has happened at least twice before, once around 1970 and once in 1946.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/11/2009 at 04:42 PM
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •
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Permalink • Why we got off the gold standard
Because there simply isn’t enough gold. Or silver. Or platinum. Or all of them combined. And there never was, even if you could gather every bit ever smelted. There is far more money in various accounts than there is money coined, and there is more money coined than there are precious metals to support them. The mints can only print money. Capitalism creates money, and the mints can’t even come close to keeping up.
So what supports the world’s currencies? Faith. And dreams. And the promise of Free Beer Tomorrow, but Tomorrow never comes. And if enough people share a dream then everyone is afraid to wake up. So don’t look too too closely at the man behind the curtain.
At times I find myself thinking that our money ought to be backed by precious metals. Usually those times are when I see that the price of something I want to buy has gone up, the value of gold has gone up, but the value of my money has gone down. That’s rather irritating. But what if it were? What if we still based our money on silver and gold? I know, let’s play with some math and a bit of history ...
sterling silver is 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper. Pure silver is just too soft to use for coinage. So is pure gold. But sterling silver is much tougher. Think of it as 22 carat silver.
A Troy ounce weighs 480 grains. 12 Troy ounces = 1 Troy pound, or 5760 grains.
[ An Avoirdupois ounce weighs 437.5 grains, 16 oz = 1lb or 7000 grains. This is the basis for American weights, even though precious metals use the Troy system. So yes, a pound of feathers actually does weigh more than a pound of gold, because they use different weighing systems. Grains are grains regardless of the weighing system. ]
In the money system started by England’s Henry II (d 1189), an old English penny had a pennyweight of silver in it, 24 grains. 20 pennies was a shilling, 1 Troy ounce. 12 shillings made a pound. Of Silver. One Pound, Sterling. Pretty subtle name, what what?
Today, silver is selling for $12.80 per troy ounce. Gold is right around $910 per troy ounce. Copper is selling for $1.612 per Avoirdupois pound.
$12.80/480= $0.026667 per grain.
480*0.925 = 444 grains, value of that much silver in a Troy ounce of sterling silver = $11.840148
$1.612/7000 = $0.000230 per grain
480*0.075 = 36 grains, value of that much copper in a Troy ounce of sterling silver = $0.00828
One Troy ounce of sterling silver, ie one Shilling = $11.84828.
Thus one pound sterling silver, 12 Troy ounces = $142.181136.
Add in a tiny amount of value for the making of the alloy itself.
One British Pound Sterling, £1, based on the precious metals standard, ought to be worth $142.25, not the $1.39 it’s going for today.
But the UK would need several mountains of gold, silver, and platinum to back it up; a standard American ton of 2000 pounds (Avoirdupois) is a mere 2430.5556 Troy pounds; even at gold price of $910/Troy ounce a US ton of gold is only worth $26,541,666.67. So Bill Gates and his $13 billion fortune are worth 490 US tons of the stuff, about 1/3 of worldwide annual total gold production. But that’s the real point: if currencies were based on precious metals, the world economy could only grow by the amount of them smelted per year. For gold, that’s about 50 million ounces: $46 billion, which is a drop in the bucket of international finance.
Speaking of mountains of precious metals ...
1 Troy oz = 373.2417216 grams
density of gold = 19.3 gm/cc
volume of 1 Toz gold = 19.338949cc
volume of 1 US ton of gold = 564079.246907cc, = 19.92027 cubic feet, a cube 2.710806 feet per side (a hair over 2 feet 8 1/2 inches). Your basic $26 million, 2000lb side table.
100’x100’x100’ = 1 million cubic feet, which holds 50,200.1279 US tons of gold, worth $1,322,457,662,471.44; a bit less than 1 1/3 trillion dollars. This is almost twice as much gold than has ever been mined in all of human history. But it’s far less than Obama’s Stimulus Package plus Bush’s Bank Bailout combined. There simply is not that much gold to go around, there never was, and there probably never will be.
The Stimulus Package plus the Bank Bailout plus this new Federal Budget plus the existing National Debt adds up to about $16 trillion, which is a gold brick 100’x100’x1025’. If you had a box that size you could hide an ocean liner inside.
A few weeks ago Peiper sent me a book called The Moneymaker. It’s the story of John Law, a Scotsman from 300 years ago who managed to put France on a paper currency money system, because there wasn’t enough metal coinage in circulation. This worked great for a while, and the economy of France bloomed. But nobody listened to him when he said that the brakes should be kept on; he never wanted to print more than 4 times as much paper cash as the banks had gold on hand to cover. Plus he got involved in a major Ponzi scheme called the Mississippi Company, and while it made him and many other people a vast fortune, when that bubble broke it crashed the economy and madness ensued for a while. And the paper money went belly up as well. And the banks. And then the dear little froggies spent the rest of Law’s life getting even with him, in the nastiest ways imaginable, as only true liberals can. Because they had all been greedy, and had lost out when the bubble burst, so it was all Law’s fault. It’s a great little book, and large parts of it seem to be a warning that is still applicable today.
Of course, I couldn’t get past the title without thinking of Terry Pratchett’s recent novel Making Money. It’s nearly the same story, but turned inside out because it’s Pratchett after all. Somewhat reformed con man Moist Van Lipwig puts the city on a fiat currency because there isn’t enough money in circulation, and then it turns out that there isn’t even any gold when there should have been. Except in the end there is, but it’s the kind of gold that really works for you, providing you know the secret. And the Glooper is bi-directional. And the promise of the old currency under the gold standard was great: We promise that this paper dollar is worth a dollar in gold, as long as you promise never to try to make that exchange. Perfection!
Both are very good reads, highly recommended. But both show that to become modern and to grow, any economy has to be based on the productivity and worth of the citizenry. It is a dream, and none of us can wake up, because that would crash the house of cards. Perhaps we should try a currency based on things of real worth, like food. Which would make the US, Canada, Australia, and Argentina the richest nations in the world. But you couldn’t really save it - not enough Mason jars by far - although you could always trade in your paper dollar for a dollar’s worth of food. We call that act “going to the grocery store”.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/11/2009 at 03:40 PM
Filed Under: • Finance and Investing • Inflation and High Prices •
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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