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Foul odor and smelly buried dismembered corpse in backyard alerted neighbors to call police.

Walker asked for a legislative special session to approve a $100 million property tax cut in Wisconsin.

Can It Be Fixed?  Do We Want To?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
********************

I had a meeting a few days ago with a man I have known for at least thirty years. He is a registered democrat ... a CONSERVATIVE democrat.  (Yes, we do have conservative democrats in North Carolina.  My Congressman is a conservative democrat.) Our political philosophies run parallel, though I am an Independent.

Our initial meeting was about something else, entirely, but as usual, soon turned to politics.  It came as no surprise to either of us that we both felt the country was in dire -- extreme --  danger of utter collapse.

My friend is currently in his second career as a local businessman.  He retired from his original career and, being the highly motivated man that he is, chose to return to the business world in a different field of endeavor.  He has made a success of his second career, working for himself.  I would have expected no less.

Turns out he is concerned, as is most everyone I have spoken with lately, over the "spoiled child antics" of our current President.  In particular, the manner in which Obama has gone the extra mile to make the so-called government shutdown as painful for the average American as he possibly can.

Like a petulant child who doesn't get his way Obama is intent upon making everyone else's life miserable until he does.  Then, he blames his awful behavior on someone else.

Obama should stand up, like a man, and accept responsibility for for this so-called shutdown rather than take the limp-wristed way to escape responsibility.

But, alas, that would be asking -- and expecting -- entirely too much.

Both my friend and I do not believe America can survive its current troubles.  Neither of us believes America can now be "fixed."  The damage is too great, the scars run entirely too deep, for our once great country to ever reclaim its place among the leadership of the world.

We are both convinced that a financial collapse of the American financial system is imminent within the next decade.  When that day arrives -- it will officially be over for America.

The question of whether or not we should try to "fix" America is not easily answered.  The question rather, should be, do we WANT to fix America?  After all, the legend of the Phoenix is, indeed,  a fable.  

Maybe it is time we all faced the possibility that the American people have, themselves, changed to such a degree that a free, constitutional republic is no longer acceptable and no longer workable,  nor is it realistic to expect the "new American" to be capable of assuming responsibility for themselves and live as free men and women.  Maybe it is time to realistically look at some sort of benevolent dictatorship for America with a leader, not unlike Obama, at the helm.

After all, it has become clear that the electorate has looted the American treasury by electing only those candidate who promise to give them "free" stuff and a guaranteed income (though "guaranteed income" is never referred to as such but by various high sounding names).

Over the past few decades America simply stopped manufacturing.  Basically, we make nothing -- except war.

America gets by on borrowed money having long since spent every dime we have and much, much more.  We're broke.  We are in a near parasitic state. 
And we want to "fix" this???

Maybe it's time to punch the "do-over" button.  It would be much less costly to begin anew, from the foundation up, than to spend the time and effort to repair a country that has so obviously died at its own hand, a country that in its current state, has so little to offer the remainder of the world.

Look.  I know this is distasteful to even think about, let alone TALK about, but at some point we have to face facts.  The fact is we are a "has been" nation.   If that makes you angry, then -- GOOD.  You still have some fight left in you.  You'll need it.

I have already lived my allotted three score and ten years upon this earth so I don't expect to be around for America's grand finale, though frankly, I didn't expect to live long enough to see America crash and burn as she has, either.  Nevertheless, here we are.
Never having done it, I haven't a clue as to how one founds a nation.  I suspect most of you don't either.   In my case I would repair to the founding documents of the Old Confederacy for advice and direction.  Somehow, they managed to do it and fight a war at the same time.

Look, after Obama took office and it became clear where, exactly, he intended to take America, I'll admit that I, at first, thought it would be years, even decades, before America spiraled down to where she finds herself today. 

I was wrong. Boy, was I EVER wrong!

As it turns out, the American people are far less strong than I had thought.  We were not nearly as protective of our freedom and liberty as I had thought -- and hoped.  In fact, we seemed generally eager to give up our freedom for that elusive thing called security.  Obama's government simply stepped in with PROMISES and payoffs to the electorate and-- that was that.     

As I said above, I don't expect to be around for the next iteration of America, but hopefully it will learn from THIS America's mistakes.  But somehow, I doubt it.

© J. D. Longstreet

A Missouri appeals court ruled that a lower court's decision to terminate child custody of an undocumented Guatemalan mother was affirmed.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

It is not at all surprising that this week's Gallop Poll shows the American people now view the federal government as a larger problem than the economy. This at the same time President Obama's favorably hits a new low according to a recent AP Poll... "53 percent unhappy with his performance and 37 percent approving of it. "

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are now more likely to name dysfunctional government as the most important problem facing the country than to name any other specific problem. Thirty-three percent of Americans cite dissatisfaction with government and elected representatives as the nation's top issue, the highest such percentage in Gallup's trend dating back to 1939. Dysfunctional government now eclipses the economy (19%), unemployment (12%), the deficit (12%), and healthcare (12%) as the nation's top problem.

Click Picture To Enlarge

Americans' mentions of either the economy in general or jobs in particular as the nation's top problem had already been declining in 2013. Both issues dropped further as top-of-mind concerns in the Oct. 3-6 survey, conducted in the midst of the U.S. government shutdown.

At the same time, the percentage of Americans who mention some aspect of government leadership as the nation's top problem has doubled, 33% this month from 16% last month. This almost certainly reflects the current upheaval in Washington and party leaders' inability to agree on a way to fund the government or avoid a possible government default. October is the first time since 2008 when an economic issue was not at the top of Americans' list of most important problems.

Democrats (36%) and independents (33%) are somewhat more likely than Republicans (23%) to mention dysfunctional government as the most important problem facing the country, perhaps reflecting partisans' differing views about the role and importance of government. {Read More}

Yeppers, the country definitely has it's problems. Yet the sides refuse to talk with each others. There are those who still refuse to recognize our political parties have a shared responsibility for this. Perhaps one day this will change. But given the present political environment it may be a very long time.

Via: Memeorandum

It is only week 2 of the One Room Challenge (read week 1 here) and it is already time to get down and dirty - aka carpet removal.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, we removed the carpet several weeks ago, as soon as the leak was stopped and fixed, for obvious reasons. The carpet was already gross from years of kids, dogs, snacks etc. but the water made it officially unacceptable.


Since I am not a fan of carpet, and we still have many years of hard playing left to do in this room, I thought a painted floor would be a fun alternative. Call me crazy but I just wasn't feeling the maroon floor.


Removing carpet itself is a dirty, and at times violent job, but with the right tools and a willing partner it goes pretty quickly. It's the stuff that is under the carpet that is the real work. The tack strips, the glue, the holes left by all of the nails. Hell on earth. I followed Mandi's tutorial and it worked like a charm. I highly recommend it if you find yourself in need of a painted concrete floor, or even just carpet removal 101.


A few things I learned from the process - the lacquer thinner worked like a charm and the glue came up with little effort (I think the trash bags are the key). It was super smelly however and since we are in a basement, and ventilation is a bit harder to achieve, there were a lot of breaks throughout the process. However, the tack strip/nail removal and hole filling part was long and tedious. To put it simply, it sucked.


I never want to see another tack strip again. Ever.

It was a lot of work and it was hard work. And to be honest, I was rather crabby by the time it was all finished. Many gin and tonics were required to put me right again. But I stepped away from the room for several days (weeks really) until my strong work ethic the One Room Challenge put me back on track and ready for my favorite part - painting.


There is nothing like the instant gratification of paint to put you in a better mood. And the cocktails help too. It took two coats of primer and two coats of white to get rid of the 'ear infection' yellow on the walls but I was thrilled to do it as the room got brighter with each coat.

Once the walls were done I moved on to un-red that floor.


This time I did two coats of Kilz 2 Latex Primer and then two coats of Sherwin-Williams Porch and Floor Enamel.


Here are the floors after the first coat. Already better I think.


And here we are all painted. Wahoo! I can't get over how much brighter and bigger the space feels. Totally worth all of that cussing I did during the carpet removal/floor prep stage.


So I've done all of that work, only to arrive at the point where I'm ready to start the real work. It has to get worse before it gets better, right?! God, I hope so. And don't worry about the stairs, I won't leave them that way. But you will have to wait until next week to see what I do (I love a good tease).

The only thing that feels better than fresh paint is crossing something off the to-do list, so let's do it:
- Rip up gross carpet (floor and stairs) and replace flooring
- Paint and plank walls and bookshelves
- Recover estate sale chairs
- Create some sort of art station for the girls
- Paint chairs and table
- Repair and paint coffee table
- Create toy storage that doesn't involve the words 'pink' or 'plastic'
- Get some art on those walls
- Find rugs
- New Lighting

The following chart shows the 12-month moving average of annualized production and nonsupervisory death care services employee minutes worked per capita.


Click to enlarge.



Source Data:
BLS: Employment
St. Louis Fed: Population

The following chart shows the 12-month moving average of annualized production and nonsupervisory sign (durable goods) employee minutes worked per capita.


Click to enlarge.

New businesses need signs. Right?

The signs aren't looking so good, both short-term and long-term.

Update:

After further review, I noticed that the chart's data was per capita and not per 1,000 people. That's been fixed.

Source Data:
BLS: Employment
St. Louis Fed: Population

The following chart shows the 12-month moving average of annualized production and nonsupervisory investment advice employee minutes worked per capita.


Click to enlarge.

As seen in the long-term trend, the "expert" advice is spewing exponentially. It's as if the floodgates have been opened. That said, it looks like we're starting to run out of greater fools again though. Oh oh.

The next chart shows the 12-month moving average of how much these financial "experts" are paid per hour in inflation adjusted terms.


Click to enlarge.

Is it any wonder they are so optimistic? Stocks for the long run, blah, blah, blah. Now cough up $38.20 (February's recent peak) or forever be priced out!

As a side note, who really believes the advice is nearly twice as good as it was in 1991? We might need to hedonically adjust that advice inflation to factor in dotcom bubbles, housing bubbles, subprime fiascos, debt crises, higher unemployment, $100 oil, perma-ZIRP, and what not. Few "experts" could have seen that coming! Can't blame them for the perfect despair storm. The view out the rear view mirror looked fantastic!

This is not investment advice.

Update:

After further review, I noticed that the first chart's data was per capita and not per 1,000 people. That's been fixed.

Source Data:
BLS: Employment
St. Louis Fed: CPI
St. Louis Fed: Population

The U.S. House GOP remains defiant and vowed not to move forward with any passage of an immigration reform bill for this session.

Federal Reserve released the new $100 and banks, including savings and loans institutions to begin circulating the note on Tuesday.

We are led to believe the government shutdown is one of the worst things to afflict the country since … well, pick something.

Obama Wins Because America Is Dumb As A Post!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*******************

I am sick and tired of the lie that the GOP shutdown the US government.  That's what it is -- plan and simple -- a bald-faced lie.  Anyone repeating it is a lier.  God hates liers -- as do I.  If a man will lie, he will do anything -- especially if it is deceitful.

Obama could not get away with his avalanche of lies if the American people had the least  acquaintance with their constitution.

Let's clear some of the BS away.

Consider something Thomas Sowell,  a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, wrote recently: "There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going — except for ObamaCare."

Mr. Sowell continues:  "The hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House of Representatives did not vote enough money to pay their salaries or the other expenses of their agencies — unless they are in an agency that would administer ObamaCare."

Mr. Sowell points out: "The money voted by the House of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for ObamaCare."  Mr. Sowell makes clear: "The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for ObamaCare."

Mr. Sowell puts the cork in the bottle with this:  "If Senator Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government, because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare, that is their right. But that is also their responsibility."   (Emphasis by underlining --mine.) Please read the source of these quotes at: http://rare.us/story/sowell-who-shut-down-the-government/

I mentioned the constitution at the beginning of this rant.  See, the constitution states that all spending bills must originate in the US House of Representatives.  It is they, the Representatives, who decide what will be paid for -- and -- what will not be paid for.  It is their constitutional right -- and duty -- to do that.

"But Obamacare is the law of the land," you insist.

m sick and tired of the lie that the GOP shutdown the US government.  That's what it is -- plan and simple --
It makes no difference.

Look.  If the House decided not to put up,the money for the EPA, it would be within its rights to do so.  Not to mention -- I'd stand and applaud!

All of this is laid out in the constitution. It's there for all to read in Article 1, Section 7. "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."  SOURCE:  US Constitution  http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec7.html

Have you even read the constitution?  If not -- why not?  It is easily accessible.  Pull it up on your computer.  It'll take a couple of seconds. (I keep a hard copy of the US Constitution in a loose leaf binder sitting at the left side of my computer monitor at all times, except when I am referencing it.) 

Think of the constitution as the "Owner's Manual" for the US Government.  When you want to know how that hunk of steel you drive back and forth to work every day works, you consult the car's owner's manual,  Same thing applies to the US Government.  Want to know how it is supposed to work?  Consult the owner's manual. 

When I was a lad in school, we actually read the constitution, we actually studied the constitution and even argued it back and forth in class.  We had written tests on it.  As a teenager I wrote, and delivered, several speeches on the constitution.  I became fairly well acquainted with it.  But, these days, as decade after decade has expired, I find that I have to brush up on it every now and again ... and I do.  Why?  Because this is MY COUNTRY, and I want it run correctly ... by the instructions laid out by the men who founded this nation.

America is in deep trouble today because "we the people," not the politicians, WE-- you and I -- have allowed it to degenerate into some kind of "socialist-lite" society/government  that is recklessly determined, I mean --  hell bent -- on failure.  I contend that the primary reason for this condition, in which we find ourselves, today is IGNORANCE, plain and simple.

Example:  Leftists are insisting today that there is a "right" to healthcare in America. They claim it is a "constitutional right."  They are absolutely WRONG! There is no right to healthcare for Americans.  None!  If you claim there is -- then show that to me -- in the constitution -- and I will admit my error.  You can't -- because it simply isn't there.  And yet we allow their BS to go unchallenged.

Consider this from at article by Bob Meyer at www.capitolhilloutsider.com:  "In Christ‘s message, we see help for the needy is accomplished directly through personal charity. Nowhere are we told to accomplish this indirectly through governmental wealth redistribution by proxy. The Good Samaritan helped a wounded man with his own resources. He did not petition the Roman government to create a healthcare program."

Mr Meyer goes on "... societies trending toward socialism and accomplishing that objective through forcible egalitarianism via governmental mandate, wind up becoming functionally godless. In addition, placing all distribution of wealth under the thumb of the government replaces an attitude of gratitude with a posture of entitlement, and diminishes concentration on personal responsibility."  SOURCE:  http://capitolhilloutsider.com/red-letter-christianity-or-red-flag-socialism/ 

If you are REALLY concerned and want to REALLY know how your country, America, is SUPPOSED to work, then read two owner's manuals:  The Bible -- and -- the US Constitution.  Once you have done so you will agree that "malfeasance" doesn't begin to cover the horrible manner in which our current government has exercised its stewardship toward this once great nation.

Ignorance is an excuse only once, if at all.  Once you have been made aware of your lack of knowledge, then there is no excuse.

© J. D. Longstreet -- 2013