AoK

This whole thread reminded me of this post by Delta22: The Gun is CivilizationHuman beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either persuading me, or forcing me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it. In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some. When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender. There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly. Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable. When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act. The greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced. Read more: http://dinarvets.com.../#ixzz1hYoJZryV "The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americanspossess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." James Madison ”The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” ~Thomas Jefferson ‘‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.’’ - Mahatma Ghandi, ”This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!” ~Adolph Hitler, 1935, on The Weapons Act of Nazi Germany ‘‘In a polity, each citizen is to possess his own arms, which are not supplied or owned by the state.’’ — Aristotle "‘‘We cannot be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.’’ Bill Clinton, USA Today, 3/11/93 page 2A ‘‘When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans ...... And so a lot of people say there's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the public housing projects, about how we're going to have weapon sweeps and more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities.’’ Bill Clinton, 3-22-94 "”If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.” ~The Dalai Lama

Thanks! Hope you have a FABULOUS Day as well!!! debbie downer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yFSpml8oSw

Congratulations Alex! Wish you guys the best!! That was good stuff Smee!! Real words of wisdom there!

Buy on the cannons, sell on the trumpets!! (French proverb)

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries.... Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities – but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.” ---Sir Winston Churchill 1899 (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages248-5)

Father in Heaven, I lift up mom, dad and especially these precious twins to You this day. I pray Your protection and Your hand upon this delivery. Bless this mother, her twins and her entire family. Give her strength, peace, an easy delivery and health for her and her twins. Thank You God! Be glorified in the lives of Your children! I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Thanks for the post Papster! I like when people toss things around like this, it helps me, at least, to get a better picture of what's going on...with that said, I get a sense that despite all the seemingly negative news coming out of Iraq, in the wake of U.S. military withdrawal, I can't help but think, contrary to the dominant "sky is falling" perspective/interpretation of that news, much of what we read and hear, though not necessarily "smoke" or fabricated - though I wouldn't put that past them - is a result of what makes the news. I just really find it hard to believe that the U.S. and the "powers that be" wouldn't have the foresight to know and envision what would happen in the wake of our departure and would knowingly allow Iraq to regress and degenerate into a civil war rendering our investment in blood and treasure all for naught. Just mho, but time will tell... GO RV! Merry Christmas!

thanks for the post SSmith! At least someone sees some positive in all of this! Thanks for your analysis Bond Lady!

LOL

Thanks for the post DS! Maybe they should do like we did and pass a National Defense Authorization Act to help take care of those "terrorists"... Thanks for your service despain!

If there is fear of civil war, and "massive transfers" of money are leaving Iraq, contrary to this meaning nothing for an RV, it seems to me this would be unfavorable towards an RV at this time, no? Or just the opposite? Any thoughts?

Thanks for the post Mauser! The sooner the better! Let's just get it done already!

Wow, can you say "dictator"? Then again isn't that how the U.S. normally deals w/ M.E. countries, propping up and supporting dictatorships, and bringing them down when our "interests" are threatened? I guess we'll see how this fledgling democracy either prospers or unravels in the near future.

Man, these translations are a chore to read, so are they now part of the WTO or are there still things to hammer out? And if they are, can they be admitted to the WTO without an internationally tradeable currency?

I'd be happy as long as it's not an RD! A few cent RV up to a 1:1 RV would be great! Just DO IT, already!

Thanks for the post BB! I thought it was mentioned in the past that we could see some big auctions prior to an RV, but then I also recall Doc31 believing the possibility of low or zero auction days potentially signaling an imminent RV based on his analysis, which had us viewing subsequent low or non-auctions days as especially promising: http://dinarvets.com..._1entry457813 I miss Doc31's analyses btw! But who knows really?

Well, I like it! Just RV already!! Thanks for your thoughts BCG!

Welcome back, DRV!! Good seeing you! Just in time for the RV (hopefully)!

I found this on a potential QE3: QE 3 COMING The FOMC minutes for the two-day November meeting suggest that under current economic circumstances the Federal Reserve will have to engage in a third round of quantitative easing. A few members of the FOMC pushed Bernanke for further accommodative policy in the last FOMC meeting, with Charlie Evans of the Chicago Fed actually dissenting in favor of more QE. Revealing the internal workings of the FOMC, the minutes are a key tool for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to manage market expectations. This was made very clear when a few members asked for further accommodation at the last meeting. It was also made clear that Bernanke is firmly in control, from the statement: It was noted that any such accommodation would likely be more effective if it were provided in the context of a future communications initiative, and most of these members agreed that they could support retention of the current policy stance at this meeting. […] With the Committee in the process of reviewing its monetary policy strategies and communication, and no additional accommodation being provided at this meeting, a few members indicated that they could support the Committee’s decision even though they had not favored recent policy actions. In other words, those who favored further monetary stimulus in the last meeting accepted that QE should be unveiled in the context of a “communications initiative,” which means making sure that market expectations are aligned with the Fed’s. It also becomes clear that those who were against further policy accommodation, Plosser, Kocherlakota, and Fisher, have accepted the FOMC’s, and therefore Bernanke’s decision and won’t oppose it. On the point of dissenters, Charlie Evans, the lone dissenter at the November meeting, was actually pushing for further accommodation, putting him closer to the Bernanke camp than those opposed to Operation Twist. All of these add up to a Chairman who, despite an impressive amount of dissent, still holds the monetary policy reins. The minutes also revealed that FOMC members are concerned with the state of the economy. Unemployment remains too high, and growth, dragged down by a weak housing market, remains too low. Private sector employment appears to be slowing and inflation has begun to ease. The U.S. financial sector is on the ropes, as this year’s stock price action by big names like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citi reveals, and consumption has slowed. Furthermore, the international situation looks ugly and two major central banks, those of Japan and England, have already “announced expansions of their respective asset purchase programs.” The Fed, therefore, is ready to act if it believes it isn’t complying with its dual mandate of price stability and full employment. According to the minutes: [FOMC] members generally anticipated that unemployment would decline only gradually from levels significantly above those that the Committee would expect to prevail in the longer run,” read the minutes, “with inflation likely to settle at levels at or below those consistent with the Committee’s dual mandate. With the Fed failing at both of its objectives, and projections for the situation to remain pretty much the same next year, it seems like Bernanke will have pull on the trigger on QE3. Cooked do you have a link to any more recent news? Thanks!

All I heard was, "Blah, blah, blah..." and that was the English!

Happening NOW!

Tebow is the hot topic of discussion because, in the immortal words of Charlie "Tiger Blood" Sheen, he's "WINNING"!!

HD he's referring I believe to the date format. Articles from the M.E. at least from Iraq, normally format DAY/MONTH/YEAR, whereas we do MONTH/DAY/YEAR.

Remember this one?:

Merry Christmas Rocketman!!