But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg...Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose rein to them, they will support the true religion by bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation.
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia
Robert Parry of Consortium News just published an extremely important article picking apart The Washington Post's latest attempt to convince readers that Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. election. In this case, by purchasing a measly $100,000 of Facebook ads.
Americans do not and should not worship idols. We do not and should not worship the flag. As a nation we stand in respect for the national anthem and stand in respect for the flag not simply because we were born here or because it’s our flag. We stand in respect because the flag represents a specific set of values and principles.
- From the recently published piece: I Understand Why They Knelt
I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, founded in injustice and wrong, are sure to tremble, if men are allowed to reason...There can be no right of speech where any man...[is] compelled to suppress his honest sentiments. Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong.
When it comes to the U.S. economy, the "con" part offers the best description of the current relationship between business, government and the preyed upon consumer. The way things work in early 21st century America is large businesses bribe politicians in a variety of ways at both the local and federal level, and the end result is laws that are designed to increase corporate profits at the expense of the wellbeing and freedom of the American public.
Let's get caught up real quick. On Wednesday, Harvard University announced that Chelsea Manning -- who leaked evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq to Wikileaks and was incarcerated for seven years before being pardoned by Barack Obama -- had been named a visiting fellow. I disagree with almost everything Obama did as president, but his pardoning of Manning is something I applaud. Then the CIA complained.
For as long as I've been writing on this website, I've argued that the U.S. economy has become little more than a gigantic rent-seeking swindle where much of the wealth being "created" isn't being created at all. Rather, money is being shuffled around and extracted from the population at large via increasingly elaborate and preposterous schemes. Indeed, it appears much of the nation's creative energy is being directed at discovering new corporate scams, versus the invention of new goods and services that benefit everyone.
I'm really grateful JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon decided to once again lash out in anger at Bitcoin, as it provides us with ample opportunity to highlight a practice very near and dear to how the bank operates. Fraud.
The way the news cycle works, any topic that isn't already at the forefront of enough people's minds will be largely ignored irrespective of its importance. The fact that Jamie Dimon ironically called Bitcoin a fraud, allows us to ask highlight some very important facts about the seemingly systemic fraud inherent in America's largest bank, JP Morgan.
Rand Paul's 2016 presidential run was extremely disappointing. Rather than take it hard to the establishment, he seemed more interested in playing footsie with neocons and establishment Republicans. That strategy didn't work and it never will. Rand Paul is best when he's acting like a statesman and not a politician -- that's what people who like him, like about him. His campaign advisors were clearly incompetent, but at the end of the day the buck stops with him.
