When borrowing become prohibitive (or impossible) and raising taxes no longer generates more revenues, state and local governments will have to cut expenditures. Strangely enough, every easily foreseeable financial crisis is presented in the mainstream media as one that “nobody saw coming.” No doubt the crisis visible in these three charts will also fall into the “nobody saw it coming” category. Take a look at this chart of state and local government debt. As we noted yesterday, nominal GDP rose about 77% since 2000. So state and local debt rose at double the rate of GDP. That is the definition … Continue reading →

Those of us in alternative news media shoulder a growing responsibility of shedding light on the truth where little to none exists anymore either in government and mainstream media. As such, citizens of the world but especially of America need to know that the so called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) like al Qaeda before them are the created, well-paid, well-armed secret mercenary ally of the US Empire in cahoots with Israel, other Western nations, NATO, and US Muslim allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other oil-rich Gulf state puppets. Overwhelming evidence has been amassed to expose this basic fundamental … Continue reading →

Last week, in “Economics 101: Wal-Mart Hikes Wages, Prepares To Fire 1000,” we highlighted an internal memo circulated at Arkansas recruiting firm Cameron Smith & Associates. The letter, which was obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, advised employees to prepare for an expected wave of layoffs at WalMart’s home office in Bentonville. “Please remember, these people are our neighbors and friends,” Cameron Smith tells his recruiters, “you have a skill that will be very much in need when this goes down.” The retail giant has received quite a bit of scrutiny this year (more than usual), after abruptly and simultaneously closing … Continue reading →

In his desperation to sink the Iran nuclear deal, Bibi Netanyahu is taking a hellish gamble. Israel depends upon the United States for $3 billion a year in military aid and diplomatic cover in forums where she is often treated like a pariah state. Israel has also been the beneficiary of almost all the U.S. vetoes in the Security Council. America is indispensable to Israel. The reverse is not true. Yet, without telling the White House, Bibi had his U.S. ambassador arrange for him to address a joint session of Congress in March — to rip up the president’s Iran … Continue reading →

Peter Schiff spoke with CNBC Asia last night about why the consensus is wrong – the Federal Reserve is not going to raise rates significantly in September. And if it does, it will likely drop them back down to zero before too long. Instead, Peter argues that investors should be preparing for a fourth round of quantitative easing. Follow along with this transcript of Peter’s responses: “I was listening earlier. You had a guest on that said the Fed is trying to raise rates in. I think that’s the last thing the Fed wants to do – is raise rates. … Continue reading →

Lew and Tom discuss the first Republican presidential debate! About the Guest Lew Rockwell is publisher of LewRockwell.com, and founder and chairman of the Mises Institute. Articles Mentioned “Is Rand Paul Missing His Giuliani Moment?” by Daniel McCarthy“Nations by Consent: Decomposing the Nation State” (PDF), by Murray N. Rothbard“On Free Immigration and Forced Integration,” by Hans-Hermann Hoppe Guest’s Political Blog Lew Rockwell’s Political Theatre Selected Books by the Guest Fascism vs. Capitalism Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto Guest Facebook Lew Rockwell Guest’s Twitter @LewRockwell Previous Appearances Ep. 242 Murray Rothbard: His Life and Work Ep. 180 Rockwell on the … Continue reading →

Pitcairn Island is a place so remote, and with a history so bizarre, that until recently it was viewed almost as myth rather than reality. But the events that took place on this tiny island in the Pacific Ocean were very real. Settled by a pack of mutineers of the HMS Bounty in 1790, along with a small group of Polynesians, the island soon became like the famous 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, in which a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island descended into savagery and immorality. Faced with physical, social, and psychological isolation, along with struggles … Continue reading →

Websites  pour forth heated arguments between liberals and conservative about almost everything—or, as is becoming clear due to brain research, what seem to be arguments but in fact are genetically determined reflexes. Even before the latest results from PET scans and functional MRI, simple observation convinced the sentient that rationality was not involved in political discourse. The chief evidence is that political adherences tend strongly to cluster together. For example, if you tell me that a man favors capitalism, with high confidence I can predict his attitudes toward China, race, immigration, environmentalism, bombing Iran, evolution, abortion, and so on. If you … Continue reading →

Our eyes tend to skim over information and our brains often jump to conclusions. This is because we take in so much visual information, that our brains need shortcuts to process it all. The trait evolved to help early humans survive encounters with fast predators, but it also means that we can be easily fooled by simple illusions. A new video, which is a collaboration between the American Chemical Society and Inside Science TV, explains the science behind this visual trickery. Take a look at the centre of this figure. It looks like an intricate pattern, nothing more. But when … Continue reading →

Do you know why SUVs became so popular? It wasn’t because of their, er, sportiness. Or even their utility. It was because they provided a way to get the size(especially under the hood) that American buyers wanted but which the government was doing its damndest to deny them via fuel efficiency mandates. The story goes like this: In the mid-late 1970s, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE, in government-ese) standards began to bite down. Government bureaucrats and politicians, in their usual secular Puritan we-know-best way, decided – then decreed – that new cars – generally – weren’t “efficient” enough. It wasn’t that there weren’t numerous … Continue reading →

[Libertarian Forum (March 1983)] Wisdom has taught us to be calm and meek, To take one blow, and turn the other cheek; It is not written what a man shall do, If the rude caitiff smite the other too! —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. . Somewhere in Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead there is a striking passage where one of the Bad Guys (and Rand’s Bad Guys are always unmistakably bad) abandons the Communist Party and rushes off to India to plunge into Hindu/guru mysticism. Rand caught one of the striking intellectual movements of our age. Time and time again, left-collectivists, after toiling … Continue reading →

Are root canals safe? Dr. George Meinig, author of Root Canal Cover-Up, was a founding member of the American Association of Endodontics. He quit the association later in his career after he saw firsthand the adversereactions that root canals have on the immune system. Dr. Meinig also witnessed the irreparable damage to the jaw bone caused by the infected cavitation sites where root canaled teeth once sat. What exactly is a root canal? The standard root canal procedure effectively kills the tooth by removing all the dental pulp. The dental pulp contains the blood supply, nerves, and connective tissue. Once … Continue reading →