So It Has Now Been A Week, And…. – The Burning Platform

So It Has Now Been A Week, And….

… the following is quite clear.

• The cops will not protect you.  It is not their job, despite your belief that it is and their slogans on their cars. The police sat outside Pulse for three hours after knowing there was an active shooter inside. He was obviously still shooting at that point because when they did breach the wall he came out firing (and was killed) and as such it is essentially a certainty that some of the people who died could have lived but for the three hour delay at coming in which was an entire voluntary decision on the part of the cops.  Whatever hero worship beliefs you may hold toward police officers you had better disabuse yourself of that notion right now because that crap and the public’s “support” of same just got a bunch of people killed.  These so-called “police officers” should be getting the upturned middle finger everywhere they go from this day forward for their outrageous cowardice.
• 
  
• Said cops might shoot YOU by accident due to horrible trigger control.  So-called “suppressive fire” certainly has a place — fire that is “pointed” rather than aimed — as it is useful to try to force a bad guy to keep his head down, and thus not be able to aim at you.  But it is utterly unacceptable for a police officer to ever use same in any situation where civilians may be present; one of the first rules of shooting is that you own every round you discharge until it comes to rest.  If there are innocent people present suppressive fire is very likely to hit them and thus its use is the very definition of gross negligence.  The cops did so at Pulse and they should be indicted on manslaughter charges if, as I suspect, it proves up that they wound up hitting some of the patrons.  One of the best arguments for you being armed is that you will be held accountable for all of your rounds but the cops won’t be — as such you’re far more likely to be damn careful with where yours go while they literally don’t give a crap.

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Michael Hudson Warns "Millions Around The World Are Fleeing Neoliberal Policy" | Zero Hedge

Michael Hudson Warns "Millions Around The World Are Fleeing Neoliberal Policy"

Economist Michael Hudson tells The RealNews network that neoliberal policy will pressure U.S. citizens to emigrate, just as it caused millions to leave Russia, the Baltic States, and now Greece in search of a better life...

Background

A research team from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York estimates 875,000 deaths in the United States in year 2000 could be attributed to social factors related to poverty and income inequality.

According to U.S. government statistics, 2.45 million Americans died in the same year. When compared to the Columbia research team's finding, social deprivation could account for some 36% of the total deaths in 2000.

"Almost all of the British economists of the late 18th century said when you have poverty, when you have a transfer of wealth to the rich, you're going to have shorter lifespans, and you're also going to have emigration," says Michael Hudson, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Many countries, such as Russia, the Baltic States, and now Greece, have seen a massive outflow of their populations due to worsening social conditions after the implementation of neoliberal policy.

Hudson predicts the United States will undergo the same trend, as greater hardship results from the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, changes to social security, and broader policy shifts due to prospective appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and the next presidential cabinet.

"Now, the question is, in America, now that you're having as a result of this polarization shorter lifespans, worse health, worse diets, where are the Americans going to emigrate? Nobody can figure that one out yet,"says Hudson.

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Tolerance Is Not Equality | The Daily Sheeple

Tolerance Is Not Equality

“There is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.” —Edmund Burke

A tolerant culture has long been acclaimed as a righteous society. While most social indoctrination is designed to foster this fanciful theme, few are willing to ask or examine if this is a desirable goal. A valid conclusion rests upon a correct definition of the nature of tolerance and how it applies to natural arrangements and relationships among different groups. Here are four options to consider:

1) the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions

2) willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of othe

3) a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior

4) a permissible difference; allowing freedom to move within limits

Which do you accept as the logical and judicious meaning for tolerance?

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Grasshopper Nation: Planning For Those Who Aren't Prepared | Zero Hedge

Grasshopper Nation: Planning For Those Who Aren't Prepared

Submitted by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

Take a moment to reflect on all the people you care about who aren't reading this article. Or sites like this, which wrestle with the implications of limits to growth and the concerning unsustainability of the economic and natural systems our society depends upon.

How many of your family members, good friends, and neighbors simply choose to ignore the messages from those of us alarmists on the "doomer" side, and live life trusting that tomorrow will always look and feel pretty much like today? Most of them? All of them?

Look, it's understandable. Humans aren't wired well to respond to future risk that isn't visible as an immediate threat. And temperamentally, we prefer good news over bad, so we seek to overweight the former and discount the latter. Who wants to stress out about what "might" happen tomorrow, anyways -- can't we just enjoy life today?

The rift between the preparedness-minded and those not is age-old, as fables like Aesop's The Ant & The Grasshopper date at least as far back as the 5th century BCE.

We spend our focus on this website engaging the "ants", the empirically-minded folks who look at the data and concur that there is sufficient possibility of one or several crises (economic, energy-related, environmental -- or a combination of such) occurring in the next several years. And that taking advance action is prudent.

But the ants are the minority.

Forget about planning for the more esoteric risks posed by faulty monetary policy or energy economics -- 72% of Americans don't even have a basic emergency response kit in place should an ordinary kind of disaster strike (power outage, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc).

The simple reality is that, if you're investing your energies towards building resilience against potential hardship, most of those around you likely aren't.

In the midst of your efforts, are you planning for their lack of preparedness?

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The Choice - EPautos

The Choice

Libertarians face a tough choice this fall – chiefly because Libertarians have no desire to choose a “leader” for themselves or anyone else. The ideal choice would be to not have to choose at all. For us each to make choices for ourselves only – and leave everyone else alone.

Unfortunately, we’ll be forced to make a different choice. Note the italics.

We’ll be forced to choose.

Voting in a coercive/collectivist society – which is the type of society we live in – is a defensive act. Like putting up your hands when someone throws a punch at you. Sometimes, you have to do it. When you haven’t got any other choice.

Voting for Trump may fall into this category.

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Edward Snowden Demonstrates How To "Go Black" | Zero Hedge

Edward Snowden Demonstrates How To "Go Black"

When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden first exposed the world to just how easily the government could compromise their technology and spy on them, many immediately sought ways to secure their data and protect their gadgets.

But, as Wired.com reports, Snowden is here to help. "'Going Black' is a pretty big ask," he tells VICE's Shane Smith, but not impossible, as Snowden shows how to "make sure your phone works for you... instead of working for someone else."

THE SEA GYPSY PHILOSOPHER: A MONK WITHOUT A GOD

A MONK WITHOUT A GOD

 by Ray Jason         

   

            A black-crowned night heron was clinging to my anchor chain, searching the quiet sea for a fish.   As the sun eased its orange rim just above the horizon, the little bird looked up, and so did I.  This sunrise held exceptional promise because of the cloud formations scattered about.  There were immense walls of dense cumulus flanking a high ceiling of delicate cirrus. When the sun fully emerged from the sea, it transformed the sky into a magnificent, amber cathedral. Here was a radiant sanctuary worthy of Mother Ocean.

            Spellbound by this magnificent panorama, I found myself searching for the best word to describe it, and then it came to me – HOLY!  This led me to a rather startling revelation.  I suddenly realized that my life had evolved to the point where my little sailing ship had become a one-person, floating monastery. I had become a seeker of the hallowed and enduring qualities that illuminate the human mystery.    

             But my quest is for the sacred without the profane - for Spirituality without Big Religion.  My pursuit is to go beyond just the material facets of Life and embrace the truly transcendent aspects that give one’s existence extra layers of meaning and richness.  And for me, the foundation of that sanctity is Nature. How can one not revere the utterly amazing impossibility of our life here on Earth?

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A Libertarian Lexicon - EPautos

A Libertarian Lexicon

Well, an EPautos Libertarian Lexicon!

I get asked frequently about the meaning of some commonly used terms, known to EPautos regulars but less well-known to people new to this corner of the Libertarian universe. These form the core lingua franca of the dialogue here, but much more important, they serve as a convenient shorthand for conveying certain concepts easily and efficiently – without the need to go into a long explanation. Ideally, they will become anti-authoritarian/pro-liberty memes.

Help spread the word!

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The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Much Ado About Restrooms

Much Ado About Restrooms


Debates over the US government’s foreign and economic policies have recently taken a backseat to the debate over what bathroom transgender individuals should use. The two sides of the debate both believe that government has the legitimate authority to tell private businesses who they should allow to use their facilities. Few on either side of this debate defend the right of private property owners to decide for themselves who may and may not use their bathrooms.

Some say government must be involved in this issue in order to ensure that private businesses do not violate individual rights. Those who make this claim are accepting the idea that rights are no more than a gift from the government that can be revoked at the will and whim of legislators and bureaucrats. This argument turns rights from a shield protecting our liberties into a sword that can and will be used to increase government control of our lives.

Two weeks ago, the Department of Education waded into this debate by threatening to withhold federal funds from schools that do not allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choice. State and local officials around the country have promised to resist the Education Department’s new bathroom rules. However, given how addicted most state and local governments and school boards are to federal funds, it is likely that even most conservative state governments and school boards will eventually adopt the bathroom policies desired by federal bureaucrats.


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How to Wake People Up Without Being an A-hole | The Daily Sheeple

How to Wake People Up Without Being an A-hole

by Phillip J. Watt

It’s fair to say that all of us don’t know what we’re talking about when it comes to specific topics. We might have excellent awareness in some areas, but next to none in others. Yet whenever we read the comments section of anything controversial on Facebook or elsewhere, there are always the various opposing views, many of which are ignorant, condemning and outright abusive. The disheartening aspect is many people who have awoken to some of the conspiratorial ‘truths’ that have been brilliantly exposed by the independent media, as well as run a relatively good heart program, can still be some of the most ignorant bullies out there.

From a personal standpoint, we should all be able to recognise that we’re learning everyday. Sometimes we might even have strong convictions about particular beliefs, but if we’re adamant about conducting holistic and robust research, we’ll inevitably find that we have gotten something strikingly wrong.

If unbiased and deep investigation has been a process that we have engaged in for many years, it would no doubt be a less common occurrence. Still though, it’s clear that we need to stay open to not just evolving our views, but entirely transforming that which we ‘believe’ we ‘know’. Otherwise, we’ll inescapably fall subject to falsity, dogma and bigotry.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY « The Burning Platform

QUOTE OF THE DAY