starving the omnivores - The Slog

A very interesting number emerged over the last few days. It’s a real mind-concentrator, and it goes like this: while net National Insurance receipts this fiscal year are forecast to be £106bn, benefit payments will be not less than £207bn.

In round figures, this means that Westmonster must either cut benefits on all fronts by 50%, or find new ways to raise the difference. The pols will not find new ways because they don’t do big new ideas: they will instead look for new ways to tax us.
None of this is original observation, but it is a small part of what will be, I’m sure, a mega-trend during this decade and thereafter: people avoiding any and all utility/tax cost increases by making their own arrangements. If it takes off on a big enough scale, then government in the UK is going to find itself starved to perhaps a greater degree than it has yet understood. So too will the privatised suppliers suffer serious income fall-offs. And as water, food, gas, electricity, oil and petrol will only go up in price on the supply side, the room for price-cutting among those selling and distributing such things will be negligible.

No right to freedom of speech in Ireland!!! Moves by govt. to extend secrecy and stifle social media

Aaron McKenna: RECENT DEBATES ABOUT social media commentary have brought the question of freedom of speech in Ireland into focus. While politicians seem to be on a quiet path to try and dampen the vigour of their critics, it is worth pointing out that in Ireland there is no unqualified right to freedom of speech.

Article 40.6.1.i of our constitution guarantees liberty for the exercise of the right of citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions. So far so good. Unfortunately it heavily qualifies the statement with a ‘however’ in that this right “shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State.”
The next line in the same article is where our famous blasphemy law comes from:

"The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.

All of these qualifications pretty much mean that freedom of speech in Ireland is whatever the government and judiciary of the day are having themselves. What precisely does “public order” mean? What is the “morality” of the state? Or its authority? What’s seditious or indecent?

Lunatics & Lubricants - Max Keiser with Reggie Middleton

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss all the Asos in the headlines, the ten dollar Facebook profiles being used to promote 55-gallon tubes of personal lubricant and Japan lathering Europe with monetary lubricant in the form of ESM bond purchases. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Reggie Middleton about the education debt bubble, the collapsing collateral value of a university degree and the reason that French debt is trading higher than UK debt. Source

Fascist USA: Bad Cops Caught on Video

The US Crony Capitalist Blowout - Bill Moyers

Tip of the iceberg report reveals decades of sexual abuse at BBC

"We know it's more like thousands, 

he was a serial rapist on a huge scale!" Jon Bird

UK Banned Press TV: 214 crimes spanning from 1955 to 2009. The shocking scale of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile. Of the 600 incidents - three quarters of victims were children under 18.

The 34 cases of rape or penetration include 4 rapes of children under 10. The Youngest victim only 8 years old... Even dying hospice patients were targeted.

Skousen: The West is Using War to Destroy Sovereignty

Author and preparedness expert Joel Skousen gives his take on the war being waged on the Second Amendment by foreign governments. Source

Insights into Cultural Shifts from a Visit to a Hardware Store

Pete Kofod: "So this is what it looks like when a society is starting to collapse," the man standing behind the counter at the hardware store said matter-of-factly. The remark had been directed at no one in particular, but generally at anyone standing nearby. As I was among that audience, I looked at him inquisitively, eliciting in return a look indicating that his observation should be intuitively obvious to even the casual observer.

"We should not be this busy," he continued. "People are normally out Christmas shopping for the latest tech gadgets for their kids, but instead they are spending their hard-earned money here." I had to agree with his observation, because the place was packed, and it was obvious that his inventory was disappearing from the glass showcases and from the wall behind the counter quicker than the store could replenish it.
"We have manufacturers that aren't taking any more orders. We even have a manufacturer that has shut down production and furloughed the entire workforce. I guess when we run out, we run out." He excused himself and joined his staff to help restock the shelves as well as operate the register.
As I surveyed the store, I noticed no discernible demographic pattern among the customers. They included elderly ladies, young couples, construction workers, police officers and hipster techies as well as people from virtually every ethnic and socio-economic background. They would have made the perfect tapestry for a politician's campaign stop.

Flat Broke America: White House Petition To Publicly Assay And Validate The US Treasury's 8,100 Tons Of Gold

Submitted by Tyler Durden: In the past few weeks there has been a veritable explosion of White House petitions ranging from the bizarre to the surreal to the outright absurd, including such demands as Texas (and other southern states) seceding, deporting Piers Morgan, not deporting Piers Morgan, creating a Joe Biden sitcom, and even making a total mockery out of the US, and global, monetary system and evading the debt ceiling using a cheap, platinum coin-based parlor trick.

All of these are, for lack of a better word, a la carte distractions launched by bored American citizens, meant to evade the menial drudgery of everyday life, and, generally, reality. In short: entertainment. And, logically, virtually none have so far contained actual, actionable provisions, that stood to benefit all Americans, instead of just one half of the ideological or party split. At least not until a new petition appeared two days ago, one demanding that the administration do something that has never been done on the public record: perform an assayed public audit of all the 8,100 tons of gold owned by the US Treasury. And not just any audit, but one including "professional auditors outside of the Mint, Treasury, GAO, Inspector General and Federal Reserve system."

Silver/gold rally coming? "Please refrain from gloating!"

SilverFuturist: Or did I just squash it by talking about it? Talking about where silver is going on a silver channel is sure to make me a contrarian indicator. What if I become contrarian to the contrarian indicator?

Mancow: British Establishment Mouthpiece is insignificant

Alex welcomes American radio and television personality Mancow Muller to discuss where he sees the gun debate.

NYPD Commissioner says they are looking into drone use, defends NYPD offices in foreign countries like Israel.

By Madison Ruppert: In a rare public interview, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Raymond Kelly revealed that the NYPD is “looking into” the use of drones while defending the department’s extensive network of officers placed in a whopping 11 nations around the world. However, Kelly’s comments have been the subject of several contradictory reports.
According to DNAinfo, Kelly cited how drones are already widely used in law enforcement, especially along the border, while admitting that the significant air traffic in New York City could present a challenge.
“The only thing we would do is maybe use the cheap $250 ones to take a look and see the size of the demonstration or something along those lines,” Kelly reportedly said.
Indeed, drones are used across the United States by the military and law enforcement as well as the National Guard and others, spurring lawmakers around the country to propose legislation limiting drone use.
On the drone issue, reports seem to paint completely conflicting images of Kelly’s statements. For instance, DNAinfo reports, “Kelly said the eyes in the sky — which have worried civil rights activists — could prove useful when sizing-up demonstrations, adding to an NYPD arsenal that already includes 3,000 cameras and high-powered anti-aircraft rifles that can shoot down planes.”