Category Archives: Quote of the Day

Quote of the day–Edward Abbey

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.


Edward Abbey
(1927 – 1989)
[For some reason this struck me as perhaps describing our political and economic future. Dangerous but yet full of opportunity.


But then on a physical front I’m suspicious that our universe is actually a black hole with an event horizon several billion light years across and we are rushing toward the singularity at the speed of light on the time axis. So, in the long run, it doesn’t matter even if we do get off this planet and out of the solar system everything we know will be ripped apart down to the sub atomic particle level eventually anyway.


Have a nice day.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Philippa

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It’s quite wonderful. If you’d told me at 28 that this would be happening, I’d never have believed it.


It’s great sex, but it’s not with my husband. To be absolutely honest, he’s the last man on the planet I’d want to have sex with.


Philippa
Age 48
Sex and the older woman
[Interesting. Barb and I knew a woman that told me essentially the same thing. The woman’s husband was nice looking and as near as Barb and I could tell a great guy in every way. But the woman said she found sex with him repulsive and she proceeded to have affairs with numerous other men. Barb and I severed contact with them after the woman told me of bringing some married officer from the Pentagon to her home to have sex with in the living room while her husband and infant child were upstairs asleep. Not only was she on some sort of path to self-destruction but it was risking national security by making the officer vulnerable to blackmail.–Joe]

Quote of the day–M. Carol Bambery

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The District would like to restrict women’s choice of firearm to those it gauges most appropriate rather than to allow rational women the ability to decide whether a handgun is more suited to their needs. Petitioner’s Brief cites two articles from firearms magazines in which a shotgun is mentioned as appropriate for home defense. Pet. Br. at 54-55. An assembled shotgun is certainly better than nothing and could provide deterrence benefits provided it is accessible to a woman. However, most women are best served by a handgun, lighter in weight, lighter in recoil, far less unwieldy for women with shorter arm spans, and far more easily carried around the home than a shotgun or rifle. Moreover, women who are holding a handgun are able to phone for assistance, while any type of long gun requires two hands to keep the firearm pointed at an assailant.


M. Carol Bambery
Brief of amicae curiae 126 women state legislators and academics in support of respondent.
[It’s called Freedom of Choice. And ultimately the Supreme Court said it was a specific enumerated right too.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Henry Hazlitt

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There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly, as might the prodigal son of a warning father: “In the long run we are all dead.” And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the ripest wisdom.


Henry Hazlitt
Economics in One Lesson
Part One: The Lesson
1946
[Yes. That was said in 1946.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Dmitry Orlov

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Right now the Washington economic stimulus team is putting on their Scuba gear and diving down to the engine room to try to invent a way to get a diesel engine to run on seawater. They spoke of change, but in reality they are terrified of change and want to cling with all their might to the status quo. But this game will soon be over, and they don’t have any idea what to do next.


Dmitry Orlov
February 13, 2009
Social Collapse Best Practices
[I found eight quotes for my database so far and I’m only about half way through his post.–Joe]

Quote of the day–John Longenecker

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As liberty purists say often, gun control isn’t about guns, it’s about control. As non-gun owners, you no doubt are beginning to feel the pinch of restraint on your wrists as your freedoms are being taken away on government fiat, freedoms which seem to have nothing to do with guns. This makes all Americans united on one front: experiencing abuses of powers not granted by the people.


Officials have this penchant for claiming to lift our burdens in what they call compassion or social justice, but in fact lift our liberties as if we have a bottomless pit of freedoms and can afford to surrender up some for their projects. Justice herself then suffers, as, little by little, self-rule, independence, and opportunity are snuffed out.


…


The whole idea of disarming the supreme authority of this country is piggish. Who in their right mind elects to disarm themselves as the supreme authority? Who in their right mind takes the word of servants over their own better judgment and gives up rights for nothing? Who in their right mind doesn’t learn from past disaster of who really loses when guns are taken and who doesn’t?


John Longenecker
February 15, 2009
Gun Control: the very first pig with lipstick on it.
[As usual, when Longenecker writes nearly every paragraph qualifies as QOTD material.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Michael Gaddy

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Rest assured, there will be a great majority who will not stand against
tyranny. Those who have “gone along to get along” and those who have
continually voted for the “lesser of two evils” will capitulate and surrender
their weapons, as cowards normally do. They will rue the day they failed to
support those who stood for liberty such as Ron Paul. Remember, they were
offered liberty, but chose instead to support the status quo, because, in
their eyes, liberty could not be elected.

Michael Gaddy
Buy, Buy, Buy
January 5, 2008

Quote of the day–Breda

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February, Friday the 13th, 2009 – the day the dream died. No dirge is playing, not yet, but wait…the lamentations will come.

And to everyone who voted to enslave the freest people on earth…

I curse you. 48% of of your countrymen curse you. Future generations will curse you. Your own descendants will curse you.

May that knowledge be like a yoke around your neck- the weight of it strangling you, pulling you down into the filth where you belong.


Breda
February 14, 2009
no love
[People should be making their lists.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Tamara K.

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You’re going to be paying for passing out this Monopoly money for the rest of your lives, even if you were just born today and live to be 100, and in return, they’ll graciously allow you to keep a little bit extra of your own money. The only people to whom this could sound like a good deal probably get outwitted by flatworms on a regular basis.


There are mornings when I just put my head in my hands and think “Screw it, let it burn.” But I don’t have kids, so that’s an easy out for me…


Tamara K.
February 13, 2009
Taking Retards To The Zoo.
[I do have kids and I think the same thing at times. I figure my kids, smart and hard working, will end up on top of the ash heap and will build a better civilization having observed first-hand the stupidity of socialism.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Alan Gottlieb

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Kerlikowske’s reported appointment to a post with the Obama administration reinforces the genuine concerns of American gun owners that the new president is not their friend. The new president has surrounded himself with people who have long anti-gun rights track records, including Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel. By adding Gil Kerlikowske to his inner circle, Obama is simply confirming the adage that ‘you can tell a lot about someone by the company he keeps.


Alan Gottlieb
KERLIKOWSKE PICK MORE PROOF OF OBAMA’S ANTI-GUN AGENDA, SAYS CCRKBA
[As the economy worsens crime is likely to go up. I expect the administration to then attack gun owners as a scape goat. This will tend to distract the population from the economy as well as put those uppity gun n***ers in their place. With nearly all Obama’s advisors being exceedingly anti-gun I cannot imagine he won’t attack us during his time in office–Joe]

Quote of the day–Titanium Halo

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Let me tell you story. I know a guy. He’s a financial planner/investment banker type who from time to time helps me out. In November I had lunch with him after the first initial crash and wanted his opinion on the gather storm clouds I saw just over the horizon. He told me a few interesting things one of which kinda scared your Hero Halo a bit. He said, ‘Halo, I am advising my clients who have enough liquid assets to secure remote, sustainable property. I’m advising this because for very little capital outlay, they can have a lot of security.’


Ted, I looked right into this guys eyes and saw a certain fear that I have never seen before. This is a man who manages literally billions of dollars worth of assets and he looked as though his entire concept of reality had been shaken to the core. I wasn’t really sure what to do. In all the years I had been dealing with him I had never seen this and wondered why now? What’s different this time? Well, there are many things, but when a guy with these kinds of resources at his disposal says stuff like this, it might be time to start listening.


Titanium Halo
February 5, 2009
Sheep Say, “Baaaaaa”
[I’ve been putting a lot of time into economics recently and hope to have a post on the results of my research sometime this weekend. As a teaser let me just say:



  • The “stimulus plan” violates my Jews In The Attic Test.

  • Daughter Kim’s economics class is reading books that talk of the U.S. government and the CIA “forcing free trade”, and how “capitalism destroys community ties”.

  • My research has involved talking to people from China, India, Ireland, Romania, and Sri Lanka. People speak in hushed tones with a very somber demeanor. It’s bad everywhere.

  • While discussing the politics of our new socialist nation, even without explicit mention that my Jews In The Attic Test was being violated, a friend recently told me that an AK has an expected life of about 50K rounds and even though they have several such rifles it wasn’t enough to solve the problem even if they had enough rounds and didn’t encounter resistance.

We have very, very big problems ahead of us. And the worst part is that the people that caused the problems will likely get more support as the situation gets worse. They will demand more and more “help” from those that put everyone in jeopardy. And the unless very aggressive action is taken by people, who have shown very little backbone in the past, the last people to go down are likely going to be the people that created and aggravated the problems.


I know who John Galt is, but where is his gulch?–Joe]

Quote of the day–John Robb

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The global Depression scenario is now dominant. Here are some of the drivers:



  • An utterly complete regulatory capture of the US government (the advent of the Obama administration has done nothing to change this). Regulatory capture is when monied interests take control of the government institutions that are supposed to regulate/control them. In OODA terms, this is a loss of control over the critical orientation phase of decision making loops. As a result, a vast looting of the government’s coffers is now in process.

  • The D-process (de-leveraging and deflation) feedback loop is now entrenched. This is a neat term developed by Ray Dalio of Bridewater Associates (Barron’s interview). The D-process is what happens (rarely) when too much debt is accumulated. Excess debt must be eliminated before growth can return. In the US case alone, excess debt load is $20-25 Trillion. Since global governments are unwilling and/or unable to wipe out the world’s creditors (they’ve been captured), the process will drag on and on. Stimulus and bailout packages, constructed in a way to protect the wealth of the world’s creditors/rentiers (looting), won’t work. It will only prolong and deepen the failure as the D-process feedback loop intensifies.

  • A large number of countries from Japan to Spain to Latvia are already in depressions. These failures will serve as a drag on the entire global system, catalyzing the feedback loops of the D-process.

John Robb
February 9, 2009
THE DEPRESSION SCENARIO IS HERE
[In selecting the QOTD I was tempted by “Dude, wtf? is it time to arm ourselves or join the mormon church?” in the comments to the above quoted post. But the main post won out.


Others (probably a crackpot, but who knows what could happen) are advocating the cancellation of all debt.–Joe]

Quote of the day–David E. Young

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First and Second Amendment protections were always given the very strongest possible restrictive language – no law shall be passed – shall make no law – inviolable – not be deprived or abridged – not be restrained – shall not be infringed – nor shall the right be infringed. The Second Amendment’s “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” language was clearly not intended to allow for extensive reasonable regulation. Rather, it was intended to prevent all laws and regulations that would result in the people being deprived, abridged, restrained, narrowed, or restricted in the exercise of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.


David E. Young
February 8, 2009
The Meaning of ‘Shall Not Be Infringed’
[Unfortunately, intent and result are two different things. We still have a long way to go.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Breda

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Why does the government assume that they are the only ones with a list?


[Overheard by] Breda
February 7, 2009
watchlist*
[If such lists exist I strongly suggest they be encrypted. Free (and probably quite secure) encryption software is available here.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Mark Philip Alger

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Joe Huffman has his Just One Question. I have another:

 

If it is proper for a citizen to use force — even lethal force — to prevent or halt the commission of a felony (in the interest of preserving the life and property of the innocent), how much more-so to prevent an ongoing violation of a provision of the Constitution — given that the latter is the source of authority for the former?

 

When is it proper, for example, to use force to stop a legislator engaged in unconstitutional actions? Indeed, when is it required of those who have sworn oaths to… protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic…?

 

Mark Philip Alger
February 7, 2009
Our Curmudgeon…
[See also my Civil Disobedience web page. When you have an answer please share.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Michael Gaddy

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The larger question is: how many of those who have gone out and purchased firearms and ammo will actually use them? I believe a large number would bring those weapons to bear against criminals who would steal and threaten their families and property, but, how many would use them against the criminal state as it moves to seize their weapons, as was done in New Orleans, when the next “emergency” occurs, be it an economic meltdown or terrorist attack?


Michael Gaddy
Buy, Buy, Buy
January 5, 2008
[Good question. I wish I knew the answer.–Joe]

Quote of the day–John Robb

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For those involved in transitions to resilient communities, the best situation is obviously a period of extended stagnation. It allows an organic and self-financed transition towards local resilience and an orderly disconnection from the global system. In contrast, the depression scenario implies an onset rate that will overwhelm local planners with a tidal wave of foreclosures, bankruptcies, and civil unrest. Disconnection from the global system will be in large part involuntary and the development of resilient local platforms will be ad hoc and desperate.


Global guerrilla proliferation in that scenario will be rapid and likely impossible to mitigate (no preparation) before it reaches critical mass/entrenched levels (as in, a functional bazaar of violence and extensive systems disruption). That eventuality would make for interesting times.


John Robb
February 4, 2009
JOURNAL: Economic Scenarios
[“Interesting times”? Indeed.–Joe]

Quote of the day–William S. Lind

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American and other foreign troops in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan are learning more than how to make IEDs and how effective they can be. They are learning by direct observation how a place works when the state disappears.


…


They will see statelessness as a field of opportunity where people who are clever and ruthless can rise fast and far. They look upon themselves as that kind of people. They will also have learned it is possible to fight the state, and how to do so. The effectiveness of IEDs is part of that lesson; so are the power and rewards that come to members of militias and gangs. In their own minds, and perhaps in reality, they will have found a new world in which they can hope to thrive.


William S. Lind
Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation.
February 3, 2009
On War #290: Blowback Revisited
[Via John Robb (be sure to read the comments).


Great. Just what we need. The economy is crashing and governments (Iceland and essentially Mexico) are falling so gangs and thugs start making things worse.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Bill Clinton

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Again, I will say this, it’s not that the country has moved way left. That is not what has happened…. It’s not a leftward movement. It’s a forward, communitarian movement. Shared opportunities. Shared responsibilities. Shared values, including the most important of all: “Our differences are really interesting, and they make life in America much more interesting, but our common humanity matters more.”


Bill Clinton
January 2008
Bill Clinton On Pragmatism (And Guns) In The Obama Era
[“Communitarian, shared opportunities, shared responsibilities, shared values” isn’t leftward? I’ll tell you what my values are and let’s see if these people can share them with me. I value individual rights. I value the right to purchase whatever arms I want, whenever I want, and from whoever I want. I value the right to be left alone to do whatever I want as long as I don’t hurt anyone else or I do it with consenting adults. I value the right to privacy in my communication with others which includes all of my financial transactions (which makes a tax on income impossible to enforce). I value the right to chose my own health care providers (including the null set). I value the right to travel freely and anonymously. And that’s just the start.


Now tell me what “shared values” we have. Mr. Clinton and his groupies just don’t get it. Nearly everything they work toward, claiming “shared values” and “shared responsibilities” are diametrically opposed to my values, the principles this country was founded upon, and the constitution which he swore to defend. Why is this impeached, disbarred, lying piece of crap still given any credence in American life?–Joe]

Quote of the day–Brian Doherty

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In the face of an administration that undoubtedly only respects gun rights to the extent that its supporters have the political power to harm it, gun rights forces do need to keep their powder dry; perhaps even excessively stocked. Paranoids may not always have real and effective enemies, but in politics, as in life, paranoia can keep you safe.


Brian Doherty
January 30, 2009
The President Is Not a Gun Slinger: Why the 2nd Amendment is safe under President Obama—for now
[H/T to SayUncle. The way I look at it the only way you can have too many guns or an excess of ammo and explosives is if starts cutting into ability to shelter yourself or your supply of medicine, water, food, and sex.–Joe]