United Liberty

Among all of the Heads of State, Ms. Angela Merkel is the only one with the courage to denounce the policies of the world’s most powerful central bankers, Ben Bernanke, Mervyn King, and Jean-Claude Trichet. Bertrand Benoit’s piece in today’s Financial Times describes the important ending of her otherwise uninteresting speech Wednesday.

She gave “a vitriolic attack on the world’s three mightiest central banks”—something which she has never done in the past. People who know her well confirm that it was no slip of the tongue, that she is always careful to mean what she says and say what she means. She said that she is “sceptical” about the powers of the US Fed to control the flood of purchasing media and credit they continue to create, alongside their European counterparts.

Hitler certainly used Christianity as a tool for accomplishing his policy objectives. During the Nazi regime, for example, a Christian cross was given to German mothers as a symbolic gesture honoring their decision to “do the Lord’s will” and have babies. Christian imagery and symbolism proved effective propaganda tactics for Hitler, especially with respect to policies for the growth of a “strong German Nazi Volk”. Hitler seeded his Volk-expansion plans with programs which encouraged the virtues of German motherhood, including the sacred duty of motherhood and the abolition of abortions (except for the mentally ill). 

The NRA is seeking incorporation of the Second Amendment to the states:

One day after losing a major test case in an appeals court on the scope of the Second Amendment, the National Rifle Association — the nation’s leading advocate of personal gun rights — asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to apply the Amendment to state, county and city government laws that seek to regulate firearms. The petition was announced by the NRA in this news release.; The petition will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

 

The failure of the U.S. auto industry has been a dominant news story over the last few months. Today, GM filed for bankruptcyand it appears Chrysler will emerge reorganized soon after Judge Arthur Gonzalez rejected opposing arguments. Over a couple of articles, we will discuss some of the basic nuts and bolts of bankruptcy, a few of the key opponents of the Chrysler reorganization, and some general comments on the entire process.

A study by USA Today shows that each American family now owes $668,321 in unfunded liabilities, a 12 percent increase in the last year, with Medicare taking up half of what taxpayers owe:

Taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $55,000 a household to cover rising federal commitments made just in the past year for retirement benefits, the national debt and other government promises, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

 

The 12% rise in red ink in 2008 stems from an explosion of federal borrowing during the recession, plus an aging population driving up the costs of Medicare and Social Security.

That’s the biggest leap in the long-term burden on taxpayers since a Medicare prescription drug benefit was added in 2003.
[…]
USA TODAY used federal data to compute all government liabilities, from Treasury bonds to Medicare to military pensions.

In an interview I did with Dan Carlin several months ago, Carlin noted that “anytime you get unsettled times (from war, or economic trouble or any combination of stressful societal factors) you provide the opportunity for things to flourish that would otherwise not have a chance to arise.”

In the case of the current economic crisis, the ridiculous that encompass the outer reaches of American thought are making their voices known. Take into account this philosophical piece titled “Equanomics” by Texas writer Damon White:

And what do I mean by
current vacant systems?
The big 3.  
Capitalism, Communism, and Socialism.