theDrahos

(This post is from our new blog: Unofficial Sources.) Mike Allen’s obsequious, pay-to-play Playbook newsletter was once hailed by The New York Times as a must-read for Washington’s “elite set of political and news-media thrivers and strivers.” For me, it’s most useful as a shameless chronicle of what that elite group cares about — and how it lives. In particular, Allen frequently documents how intimately and seamlessly connected the members of the media aristocracy are with other members of Washington’s ruling elite, whether they come from the intelligence community, the super-wealthy, big banks, the lobbying community, or top levels of government. To the elite media itself, all this is just … Continue reading →

I have just read in Army Times that, to my delight, the Army is making soldiers wear the prettiest red high-heels in the pursuit of gender-equality. Yes. They look like little girls playing with Mommy’s shoes. It has something to do with understanding the psychological problems of women, a matter of importance in combat. It necessarily was done with the approval of the Army’s generals in the Pentagon, particularly Chief of Staff Odierno, since they are in charge of the whole Army shebang. I write them in astonished admiration, thusly: Dear General, I see that on your watch the Army … Continue reading →

At Global Gold, I am often asked what we would do if, for example, the US were to come out with a confiscation order. My reply is: We would do nothing whatsoever! Why? Quite simply, because no one in Switzerland has the political power to execute such an order! Even if Swiss politicians were to support such a confiscation order, the Swiss people would likely have the final vote. I am confident that any such confiscation order wouldn’t have any chance to be supported by a majority in Switzerland, especially one concerning assets held outside the banking system such as … Continue reading →

We’re all tempted to use words that we’re not too familiar with. If this were the only problem, I wouldn’t have much to write about. That’s because we’re cautious with words we’re unsure of and, thus, they don’t create much of an issue for us. It’s the words that we think we’re using correctly that wreak the most havoc. We throw them around in meetings, e-mails, and important documents (such as resumes and client reports), and they land, like fingernails across a chalkboard, on everyone who has to hear or read them. We’re all guilty of this from time to … Continue reading →

It was America’s first metropolis. Cahokia, the largest prehistoric settlement in the Americas north of Mexico, flourished in the 1200s, with a population of 20,000 people at its peak – but was mysterious abandoned by 1400. Now researchers think they know why – a megaflood that raised the Mississippi River by 10m. New evidence suggests that major flood events in the Mississippi River valley are tied to the cultural center’s emergence and ultimately, to its decline. Sediment cores from these lakes, dating back nearly 2,000 years, provide evidence of at least eight major flood events in the central Mississippi River … Continue reading →

For some time now, I have been analyzing American history in the light of what I have called structural deep events: events, like the JFK assassination, the Watergate break-in, Iran-Contra, or 9/11, which repeatedly involve law-breaking or violence, are mysterious to begin with, are embedded in ongoing covert processes, have political consequences that enlarge covert government, and are subsequently covered up by systematic falsifications in the mainstream media and internal government records. [1] The more I study these deep events, the more I see suggestive similarities between them, increasing the possibility that they are not unrelated external intrusions on American history, … Continue reading →

All countries are traditions based on religion and genetics, though in irreligious countries they don’t know it. And all European countries these days seem to be in very big trouble. The Republic of Ireland, where until the 1990s divorce was illegal, is about to vote on whether to institute homosexual marriage. Incredibly – in Ireland! –  all the political parties are in favor and people who are opposed are being told that they are bigots. Society is constantly persecuting and the intolerance of the old days has given way to a new intolerance. It’s sad for those of us who … Continue reading →

By Dr. Mercola Cutting out grains and sugar (particularly fructose), is a crucial step if you want to normalize your weight, but paying attention to what you replace them with is equally important. One of your most basic health principles is to eat a diet of whole, nutritious foods rather than processed “diet” fare. Focusing on so-called “superfoods” might change the way you look at weight loss—and could even turn your struggles with weight into an issue of the past. Feeding your body the right nutrients rather than stuffing it with “empty” calories will not only help you lose unwanted … Continue reading →

There are powerful domestic and international economic forces and welfare state policy impacts—-such as the huge increase in Social Security disability and food stamp recipients—– that are roiling labor force participation rates and weakening labor hours utilized and labor productivity. Yet the Fed is led by a clueless, paint-by-the-numbers Keynesian “conomist” who is trapped in a 1960s “full-employment” time warp. Did she notice this over the last several decades? Reprinted with permission from David Stockman’s Corner.

Preface by Murray N. Rothbard (1977) Never has laissez-faire thought been as dominant as it was among French economists, beginning with J.B. Say in the early nineteenth century, down through Say’s more advanced followers Charles Comte and Charles Dunoyer and to the early years of the twentieth century. For nearly a century, the laissez-faire economists controlled the professional economic society, the Societe d’Economie Politique and its journal, the Journal des Economistes, as well as numerous other journals and university posts. And yet, few of these economists were translated into English, and virtually none are known to English or American scholars—the … Continue reading →

A friend sends me emails, and when I open them, butterflies flit about the screen. Better than moths, perhaps, but I am petrified that such electronic livestock will introduce viruses into my computer, like foxes bringing rabies through the Channel tunnel. So it was with an anxious heart that I read a news report that claimed emoji is the fastest growing language in Britain. An emoji is not a cute creature from Star Wars like an Ewok (which does have a language of its own). Nor is an emoji the same as an emoticon. An emoticon is a portmanteau word … Continue reading →