In various cities across the country, mobs of mostly young, mostly incoherent, often noisy and sometimes violent demonstrators are making themselves a major nuisance.
Meanwhile, many in the media are practically gushing over these "protesters," and giving them the free publicity they crave for themselves and their cause -- whatever that is, beyond venting their emotions on television.
Members of the mobs apparently believe that other people, who are working while they are out trashing the streets, should be forced to subsidize their college education -- and apparently the President of the United States thinks so too.
But if these loud mouths' inability to put together a coherent line of thought is any indication of their education, the taxpayers should demand their money back for having that money wasted on them for years in the public schools.
Sloppy words and sloppy thinking often go together, both in the mobs and in the media that are covering them. It is common, for example, to hear in the media how some "protesters" were arrested. But anyone who reads this column regularly knows that I protest against all sorts of things -- and don't get arrested.
The difference is that I don't block traffic, join mobs sleeping overnight in parks or urinate in the street. If the media cannot distinguish between protesting and disturbing the peace, then their education may also have wasted a lot of taxpayers' money.
Among the favorite sloppy words used by the shrill mobs in the streets is "Wall Street greed." But even if you think people in Wall Street, or anywhere else, are making more money than they deserve, "greed" is no explanation whatever.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Democracy Versus Mob Rule
OWS camp gets really commie-cal
Some 50 Occupy Wall Street protesters saw red yesterday -- giving an enthusiastic welcome to a genuine communist.Alex Callinicos, a professor of European Studies at Kings College in London, announced to his rapt audience, “I am a Marxist.’’
Asked if the upcoming revolution can be non-violent, he parroted the party line of the demonstrators, who call themselves the 99 percent of Americans lined up against the “1 percent’’ with power and money.
He said violence could be avoided only if the “1 percent accept the decisions of the 99 percent,’’ which he predicted would never happen.
National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 10-31-11
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- US Veterans Administration police officer arrested in connection with his wife’s murder [2] townta.lk/vyvAtZ
- Chillicothe OH cop who is also minister retired before arrested on 10 counts unlawful sex w/minor & soliciting minor[1] bit.ly/vexOEW
- Parkersburg WV cop indicted on battery charge for striking a suspect on video in holding area during booking [0] bit.ly/sdd1JV
- Eugene OR police loses appeal in court ruling in man’s arrest for recording traffic stop being recorded by dashcam [3] http://bit.ly/vYH1aq
- Ranger TX cop arrested for allegedly punching girlfriend in the face & sending threatening txt messages [0] bit.ly/stetzF
- East Washington PA chief allegedly bragged he was a killer & “best cop money could buy” to agent posing as dealer [0] bit.ly/tMUDaI
- San Juan Co UT now-former sheriff pleads guilty to misusing public funds involving $4,100 meant for search & rescue [0] bit.ly/s52eAF
- New York NY police union official’s claims that 20 cops hurt at #OWS questioned after NYPD refuses to validate it [4] bit.ly/vOIX5m
Oct. 31, 1972
U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer (future lieutenant) Michael E. Thornton; his commanding officer, Lt. Thomas R. Norris; and three South Vietnamese Naval commandos are conducting an intelligence-collection and prisoner-snatch operation deep behind enemy lines when they are discovered by a force that outnumbers them at least 10 to one.
Fierce, close fighting ensues. Thornton and Norris are both wounded, Norris badly.
As the team begins a fighting withdrawal toward the beach, Thornton learns that Norris is down, perhaps dead.
Thornton races back through a hailstorm of enemy fire to find and retrieve his commander – dead or alive.
Thornton finds Norris, kills two enemy soldiers who are standing over his wounded commander, then hoists Norris onto his shoulders and sprints back toward the beach for several hundred yards under heavy enemy fire.
When he hits the surf, Thornton ties Norris to his own body and starts swimming. When he sees one of the South Vietnamese commandos shot in the hip and unable to swim, Thornton grabs him too; swimming both men out to sea for more than two hours before they are rescued.
For his actions, Thornton will receive the Medal of Honor.
Oct. 31, 1972
Cain 38.3%, Gingrich 22.6% & Paul 16.4%
After previously peaking in May at 24.8%, Herman Cain found himself in a downward spiral. For a while, it seemed he wouldn't be able to get out of the doldrums of single digits in the Townhall.com Straw Poll and in his national numbers. That all changed this month as he surged to take in 38.3% of the vote, a net gain of 28.5 points since September. Herman Cain was far and away the big winner this month.
The next big winner was Newt Gingrich. He climbed 18.1 points to take second place with 22.6% of the vote. It was his best showing since MARCH when he took 11.75%. Gingrich bottomed out in July with 1.4% of the vote but has seen a steady increase in support since. As is true with Cain, Gingrich has also seen his national poll numbers rise. Both Cain and Gingrich have received excellent marks for their debate performances of late.
Ron Paul finally showed a chink in his armor, losing 3.5 points and finishing third. This is the first month he hasn't finished first or second since we started polling in January.
Paul's losses don't even compare to that of Rick Perry who lost an astounding 22.4 points this month to finish at 9.5%. It was far and away the biggest loss in support in the history of the Townhall.com Straw Poll. The next biggest slide was in July when Herman Cain lost an incomparable 7.6 points.
Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman all lost slight support this month as well. Undecided voters were slightly more decided this month as less votes were cast for "Someone else/Undecided."
The Fourth Southern National Congress November 18-19, 2011
Dear Southern National Congress Delegate:
The Fourth Southern National Congress will convene Friday and Saturday, November 18-19, 2011 at Montgomery Bell State Park, near Dickson, TN, about 30-40 minutes southwest of Nashville, TN.
The Fourth Congress will be the most important yet. As our country continues to deteriorate right in front of eyes, we are reminded daily why we became delegate.
We chose Montgomery Bell State Park again for its more or less central location, in the hopes of making travel from the outlying States relatively easy. Nashville has excellent air connections with the rest of the country. The Tennessee SNC Delegation has kindly offered to arrange a shuttle service from the Nashville Airport for those in need of ground transportation after flight arrival. (Nashville Airport code is BNA)
We also chose the Park for its excellent meeting and banquet space, for its setting and ambiance, and for its affordable cost. The Park is lovely, and the Inn overlooks a picturesque lake. The guest rooms have all the usual amenities and a beautiful view from the individual room balconies. There are also villas a few minutes from the Inn that sleep about 7-9, for Delegations who wish to stay together. Meals in the on-site restaurant are quite good and reasonably priced.
This year there will be a $25.00 registration fee per delegate and $40.00 per couple if both are delegates.
Click here to download a pdf format registration form and here to download a Microsoft Word registration form. Please complete form, attach check and mail to the address on the form.
Each delegate will make their own lodging reservations. See list below for lodging information.
See more information on the Park at this link:
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/MontgomeryBell/index.shtml#conference
The Southern National Congress provides Southerners a unique opportunity to take part in a representative assembly of the fourteen Southern States that speaks for our interests and voices our grievances as Southerners in a manner denied up by today's corrupt political system. I hope you'll reserve this date and plan to join us at the Third Southern National Congress on November 18-19, 2011.
May God bless the South.
Mark Thomey,
Vice Chairman
If you are not a Delegate, click the following for a Delegate Application
Someone Is Going To Jail For This: MF Global Caught Stealing Hundreds Of Millions From Customers?
Say you are the head back office guy at MF Global, it is the close of trading on Thursday, the firm has already completely drawn down on its revolver, and all the resulting cash in addition to all the firm's cash at your disposal in affiliated bank accounts, up to and including petty cash, has been used to satisfy margin demands due to declining collateral value, yet the collateral calls just won't stop, and impatient voices on the other side of the phone line demand you transfer even more cash over immediately or else risk default proceedings commenced against you within minutes. What do you do? Do you go ahead and tell your superior that the firm is broke even though the co-opted media is trumpeting every 5 minutes that "MF Global is fine", knowing full well you will be immediately fired for being the bearer of bad news, or do you assume that courtesy of your uber-boss being the former head of the Vampire Squid, and thanks to infinite moral hazard which after Lehman made sure nobody would ever fail ever again, that there is simply no way that you will be left without some miraculous rescue, if only you can last one more day, and as a result proceed to "commingle" some client funds with the firm's cash. It turns out that at MF Global you do the latter... over and over... until you have literally stolen hundreds of millions from the firm's client accounts in hopes that the miracle rescue will come on Friday... then over the weekend... and then you realize no miracle is coming, partly because your actions have been exposed, partly because miracles only exist in fairy tales. The next thing you know, your firm is bankrupt and hundreds of clients are about to learn that all their money is gone. Poof. This is not a fictional tale. This is precisely what very likely happened at MF Global in the past 72 hours. And someone has to go to jail. That someone, if indeed this criminal act is proven to have taken place, should be none other than Jon Corzine himself.
The sad truth of just how low Wall Street has fallen comes to us courtesy of the New York Times:
Only 22% favor Obama's new give away
President Obama is pushing Congress to pass his plan to give $35 billion to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers and first responders such as firemen, policemen and rescue squad workers. But most Americans think state and local governments should tighten their financial belts instead.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 22% of Americans think the federal government should give states and localities $35 billion to prevent such layoffs. Nearly three times as many adults (64%) believe that the best way for state and local governments to avoid these layoffs is to cut back on other spending.