theDrahos

(Part two. Continued from part one.) CIA cold war and hot war activity was coming to light for the first time and was falling into the crosshairs of Congress and the media.  Anti-communist arguments had been a sufficient rationale, up to this point, to conduct black ops in the foreign and domestic arena.  Not anymore.  This gold mine was being shut down.  The war against commies was no longer palatable to Congress or to the public. DEA Saves the Day for Disgraced Cold Warriors But the new three-letter agency, which was created by executive fiat on the exact same day … Continue reading →

If you’re a prepper, you know all about the Berkey water filter. It’s the shiny metal canister that sits on your counter, and filters water using gravity. It has been around for a while and has lots of fans, so it’s easy to find reviews and statistics on it. But one thing that’s always left me speechless, is the GIANT list of contaminantsthat Berkey publishes on their packaging and their website. While it is impressive to see, you would have to be a PhD in water purification to understand what all the contaminants are, and how they affect you. Ever heard of Dibromochloromethane? How about Hexachlorocyclopentadiene? … Continue reading →

By Dr. Mercola Root canal is a commonly performed procedure in most adults. But is it a wise one? Dr. Robert Kulacz, a dentist, has spent a significant portion of his professional career trying to answer this question. What he discovered profoundly changed his life, and led him to write a book about his findings called, The Toxic Tooth: How a Root Canal Could Be Making You Sick, which I think is among the best available on this subject. Dr. Kulacz began practicing dentistry in Brewster, New York. After six years as an associate, he opened his own practice in … Continue reading →

When Caron Ryalls was asked to sign consent forms so that her then 13-year-old daughter, Emily, could be vaccinated against cervical cancer, she assumed it was the best way to protect Emily’s long-term health. Yet the past four years have turned into a nightmare for the family as Emily soon suffered side effects. Only two weeks after her first HPV injection, the teenager experienced dizziness and nausea. “The symptoms grew increasingly worse after the second and third injections, and I went to A&E several times with severe chest and abdominal pains as well as difficulty breathing,” Emily, now 17, said. … Continue reading →

Probably the most interesting thing about the (can’t help myself) exploding Takata air bag scandal is the doublethink it exposes. On the one hand, we are told – in the literal/parental sense – that we will have air bags in our cars (like it or not) because not to have them is an unacceptable risk and “unsafe.” Notwithstanding that when air bags were being developed back in the ’70s (and rejected by consumers, when consumers still had the freedom to choose) the manufacturers of air bags told the government of the very real risks to people’s safety that air bags … Continue reading →

These charts help us understand that a top is not just price, but a reversal in extremes of margin debt, valuation and sentiment. In blow-off tops, extremes of valuation, complacency and margin debt can always shoot beyond previous extremes to new extremes. This is why guessing when the blow-off top implodes is so hazardous: extreme can always get more extreme. Nonetheless, extremes eventually reverse, and generally in rough symmetry with their explosive rise. Exhibit 1 is margin debt: NYSE Margin Debt Hits a New Record High (Doug Short) Note the explosive rise in margin debt in the past few months: … Continue reading →

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it (Micah 4:3-4). This is a prophecy regarding “the last days” (v. 1). The description of peace — swords into pruninghooks — is one of the most familiar … Continue reading →

There are a lot of things your car can get stuck in: mud, snow, even a ditch. While every situation is different, there are some principles you can follow that may help you become unstuck without needing to call for a tow. So, we enlisted Wyatt Knox from Team O’Neil Rally School to help us put this guide together should you ever find yourself in one of these sticky situations. Illustration by Ted Slampyak Reprinted from The Art of Manliness.

The most striking thing following the Irish referendum on gay marriage is how few people are talking about gay marriage. Amid the near-global cheering that greeted the vote in favour of instituting gay marriage, there was barely any commentary on the institution of gay marriage. Sure, there was a handful of on-air marriage proposals in Dublin as the news cameras rolled, and the tailend of a BBC TV report informed us when the first gay marriages in Ireland would take place (Autumn). But given that this referendum was all about opening up a social institution to which gays had apparently … Continue reading →

Beijing’s disclosure earlier this week of its latest military white paper, outlining a new doctrine moving beyond offshore defense to “open seas” defense, predictably rattled every exceptionalist’s skull and bone. Almost simultaneously, in Guangzhou, the annual Stockholm China Forum, hosted by the German Marshall Fund and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, was mired in deep thought examining the vast Eurasian integration project known in China as “One Road, One Belt”. What is also known as the New Silk Road project – displaying all the romantic connotations of a remix of a golden era – is not only about new … Continue reading →

In September of last year, I was pulled over by a quota-driven cop and given a ticket for speeding. The ticket carried with it a significant fine and the addition of 4-points onto my license. This past Thursday (May 28, 2015), I successfully defended myself in court, and had the charges dismissed. Leaving aside the fact that I had committed no real crime (there was no victim), the financial ramifications of this “crime” would have hurt me significantly, and I felt a strong urge to fight the charges and pursue true justice. Just a month prior, I had received and … Continue reading →

One of America’s best-loved presidents, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is born into a politically and socially prominent family in Brookline, Massachusetts, on this day in 1917. He was the first American president to be born in the 20th century. Because John F. Kennedy’s life was snuffed out and the first term of his presidency terminated after just three years, we don’t know how the Kennedy Presidency would have played out. Jack Kennedy himself is in fact an enigma onto which everyone can project their own politics. Progressives like Oliver Stone believe he was a liberal who would have ended U.S. participation in … Continue reading →