Weekend Post: 4th of July Edition

Some things are worth reading again .... as in the beginning of the Declaration of Independence:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
For the whole document please see the U.S. Archives here:  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
For a good history of the events surrounding those "early" days, one should read "1776" and "John Adams" by David McCullough.  Those books are brilliant and moving accounts of our early history.  [They caused me to shed a few tears while reading.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first offering for the weekend is a little S&P500.  I should be able to do some Silver and Gold by tomorrow.  Enjoy the weekend!
SP500 Short Term Update 3JUL11


14 comments:

cv said...

@Andy

I reread the "DOI" recently (and really love it - its "words" & more, its synthesis)...

Of course, now, it seems this country has come full circle, and is on the verge of this part...

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government"

Perhaps not yet in PRACTICE (peeps being ready to act), but certainly in "thought" (& I have no experience in understaning the timeline on when practice meets thought in this realm - probably never)...

---

So sort of what I hate about this whole thing are the following:

1. The original 56 signers, as it turns out, were mostly, lets say, "men of means"... I'm not slighting (what's been called) their "COURAGE" & "RISK" in cobbling together this document... But let's face it... Most were basically wealthy slave owners, and the motivation behind this had as much to do with self interested mercantilism as it did with any "more noble" ideas as to freedom & liberty (which nowadays serves more to keep the indentured, um indentured)...

2. So now FAST FORWARD... The vast majority of sheeps like to CLOAK themselves in this document so as to "feel good" about themselves whilst cashing the (food stamp or other "government freebie" they enjoy which pays for MERICAN IdLE to stream into their set top box)... Of course, that goes "doubly" for all teachers & other government workers (who - let me remind you - don't pay taxes - because their jobs exist only because & are PAId BY the fact that there are taxes on the rest of prouctive society)...

So to me... To think that an assembly of this type, could or would occur again is kind of far fetched...

---

The SHEEPS seem to be content with King George (Obama)...

The 56 'elite slave owners' have no more territory to conquer whereby they WISH to keep from paying the KING his cut (until we colonize the moon - I suppose)...

---

Bottom Line... Nowadays if you want to live & breathe your own personal "DOI"... It's not a case of REVOLUTION... It's a case of UNPLUGGING...

cv said...

I have little doubt that, as things are going, within 5 1/2 years... NOT watching AI & dWTS will be considered an act of treason...

cv said...

In fact...

One of the only REAL FREEdOMS I can enjoy anymore is to sit at a keyboard an publish some thoughts...

But even when I do that... I can, perhaps... do something like "offer up" a legitimate "punta interrogativa" (a head scratcher), as to what type of affiliation the names Rothschilds, Geithner, Bernanke, dimon, Blankfein, etc. (finance)... or... Spielberg, Bloomberg, Geffen, Eisner, etc. (news/entertainment)...

& as soon as I do... the brainwashed masses are quick to scuttle my freedom & haul me straight back in to "conditioned thinking" (without, so much, as offering a rebuttal argument - & instead resorting to bradning & labels)...

Hell - there are even whole blogs that "specialize" in that sort of action...

---

I'm pretty much sure that the "technology experts" in those places will figure out how to flip the INTERNET KILL SWITCH within a few short years...

Andy T said...

Nanny of the Month clip....

Cracking down on Lemonade stands....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26hlpBnc20o&feature=player_embedded

cv said...

So the lemonade was 10 cents in NY (& 50 cents in Oregon - per the montage)...

Not sure what to make of that...

cv said...

...anyway, another example of government (per my (8:12) trying to bleed the last drops of prouctivity to feed themselves & their masters...

& just so you know...

So when you get there, you can identify the level of poverty you are destined to reach if you are not one of THEM...

PISS POOR
In the old days... Groups of impoverished used to pool their resources by collectively "pissing in a pot"... they'd sell it to a leather tannery (as a cheap tannery method) to scratch out a little extra for themselves...

...but

If you "didn't have a pot to piss in"... Then you were REALLY poor...

Andy T said...

cv: Did not know the origin of 'piss poor'....that's crazy.

Anonymous said...

AT,

yes, for sure, some things are worth reading, again..

~~

also, found this to be a good Art.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25483

AAIP

Matthew said...

Amusingly, I was listening ot NPR earlier in the day and there was a discussion about the rising attention of Americans to the Constitution.

What was amusing about the discussion was that the "expert" made sure to note that while Americans are increasingly viewing the actions of the Congress in the context of their Constitutional authority, most of the issues are unrelated to the Constitution.

I don't know how an "expert" can suggest that there are things that Congress does that are unrelated to the Constitution. Their powers (and limits on their powers) are specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Everything they do must be judged in the context of our nation's charter.

And of course credit to (or blame for, as the discussion was framed) increasing attention to the Constitution was given to the Tea Party and their "perception" of Constitutional limits.

It was just incredible.

There is no stopping the machine that is the Republicrats' assault on anyone who would limit their ability to legally steal money from the masses and distribute to their cronies/pet projects.

Andy T said...

@Matthew

There's an increasing resignation among the masses to being "taken care of" by the powers that be...

a certain "enabling" quality to it all.

Andy T said...

Spent this 4th at a typical Texas 'burb' party...awesome BBQ and Pool as is customary in this group.

A new couple was there. The guy was young Greek in the food service/liquor distribution business. He had been to Greece a few times and his parent were from Greece. I asked about things....

This is what he said verbatim:

"You know, if I went to Greece to start a business, I would kick ass. I hate to admit it, but there are a lot of lazy people there that don't work hard. They love their three hour naps. The Greek people here in the U.S.....they work their asses off."

I asked him: "How do you solve the problem? What would you do?"

His reply: "Well, the Greeks are a proud people. They're getting a big kick in the ass right now. You can almost feel them 'waking up' a bit. They'll turn it around."

It was an interesting conversation...

Andy T said...

Remember that one time at Band Camp when Barry Ritholtz said that Roger Ailes was going to be indicted by early March?

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/03/afflicted/

Wonder what ever happened with that little deal?

Funny guy that Barry....

AmenRa said...

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e69610e4-a60a-11e0-8eef-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1RBuUpl9Y
ECB will continue to accept Greek debt

By Richard Milne in London and Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin

The European Central Bank will continue to accept Greek debt as collateral for loans unless all the major credit rating agencies it uses declare it to be in default, said a senior finance official.

Sounds like a challenge. The politicians claim that a rollover isn't a credit event. But they aren't the ones who make that decision.

QQQQ said...

them Chinese!... they're about to catch up to them Japanese! but still have a very long way to catch up to the good ol US of A GDP for a few select countries...

Speaking of Greece, in 1969 Greece percent of the worlds GDP was 0.53%, in 2010 it was 0.45%.

Tanks fer da weakund chartz AT

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