Double Birds

This cartoon illustrates how Obama has continued and magnified Bush's policies: A recent This American Life episode introduced me to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist . Every politician should take before going into office.  I don't think failing the test should bar them from office, but voters have the right to be informed on whether their representatives are psycho. Here's a sampling: Factor 1: Personality "Aggressive narcissism" Glibness/ superficial charm Grandiose  sense of self-worth Pathological lying Lack of  remorse  or  guilt Callous/lack of  empathy Failure to accept responsibility for own actions Factor 2: Case history "Socially deviant lifestyle". Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom Parasitic lifestyle Poor behavioral control  Lack of realistic long-term goals Sound familiar? Do we want these people to have the power to start wars?  Tax us?  Surveil us?  To turn their desires into our law? For those of you who doubt that the go

"The word 'racism' gets thrown around like monkeys throwing sh** at the zoo." (Warning: may contain swear words and peanuts). At least one black guy supports Ron Paul.  It's probably more than support Mitt Romney .

What an idiot, he thinks we live in a dictatorship.  Doesn't he know this is Amerka? Listen to him stutter , as he says: "The last nail is being driven into the coffin of the American Republic. Yet, Congress remains in total denial as our liberties are rapidly fading before our eyes." "Characteristic of this epic event is the casual acceptance by the people and political leaders of the unitary presidency, which is equivalent to granting dictatorial powers to the President. Our Presidents can now, on their own: 1. Order assassinations, including American citizens, 2. Operate secret military tribunals, 3. Engage in torture, 4. Enforce indefinite imprisonment without due process, 5. Order searches and seizures without proper warrants, gutting the 4th Amendment, 6. Ignore the 60 day rule for reporting to the Congress the nature of any military operations as required by the War Power Resolution, 7. Continue the Patriot Act abuses without oversight, 8. Wage war at will, 9.

Obama, and and a half-dozen presidents before him, have told Israel what to do.  Michelle Bachman said the U.S. would be cursed if we "reject" Israel. Ron Paul's common-sense looks weird in contrast with the madness that surrounds him.

Rand Paul pulled a 7 hour filibuster to try to prevent to Senate from renewing the Patriot Act . Rand has received a lot of bad press for some of the crazy-sounding things he's said, but this act alone should establish him as a hero in the minds of all freedom-loving Americans (in contrast to those Americans who are more like "meh" about freedom). Harry Reid is pulling every dirty trick out of the book to get this thing passed, and the majority of Congressmen and Senators are falling over themselves to get into the kiss-the-president's-butt-by-giving-him-unrestrained-power line. What, me worry? Apparently no one in the Senate even wants to talk about it. Harry Reid once gave a talk at BYU (my Alma Mater) and some crazy student yelled "Don't listen to him, he's a Gadianton robber. "  I still think that kid was crazy, but maybe he was also right.

A group of thugs got paid to turn an 18-year-old music student from this: into this: They then got paid vacation while things got sorted out. Who would pay thugs to do such an awful thing?   You .  Sucker. After they cuffed him, they choked him to keep him from praying. They had him charged with "loitering," "resisting arrest" and "aggravated assault." Next time you're loitering and a cop wants to kick your a**, don't resist; it's the law.

Which party is the war party? Both. Jon Stewart began his Thursday show with some good-humored war-mongering against Pakistan .  In the very next segment Stewart and John Hodgman pretended to come up with a conspiracy theory to keep the "terror bubble" going , so that our war economy wouldn't suffer. It's surreal.  They make up comical ways to keep people scared, but our government really does this.  Politicians create bogeymen like " threat level orange " to keep us all terrified enough to keep paying our war taxes and to keep submitting repressive laws. Republicans swallowed mouthfuls of bullsh** from George W. about yellow cake and Al Qaeda in Iraq .  But Democrats swallow just as eagerly the unbelievable handfuls of crap from their mascot Obama. Bill Maher, for example, said (in a Rolling Stone interview) that he disagrees with Bush's wars of Afghanistan and Iraq, but he loves Obama's Libyan war . A reasonable man. (Edited by Double Birds) T

60 Minutes has produced another hit job on another American hero.  A few weeks ago they demolished the reputation of  Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson .  Now they're going after Lance Armstrong. Armstrong accuses the show of "bad faith" and the producer of the show as " not being a straight shooter ." Armstrong displays the virility of his remaining testicle. After doing two minutes of research, I've discovered the root of the problem.  It appears the executive producer of 60 Minutes is named Jeff Fager. Oh.  Did you need further explanation?  The guy's name is Jeff Fager. Fager. Fager. Still need more? After a lifetime of teasing he's now getting his revenge on the cool kids.  Case closed. Jokes aside, 60 Minutes might not be giving us a straight story.  It's possible that this smear campaign against non-fagers is a publicity stunt to stay relevant.  These recent reports are reaching the point of being as "fair and balanced" an

Fox News conservatives are afraid of Ron Paul. Republican wonk Chris Malagisi uses "democrat" as a slur against Ron Paul. The Southern Avenger slams neo-con Republicans (like Bush), and explains why Ron Paul is the bomb:

Michael Medved of The Daily Beast wrote that Ron Paul is an "addle-brained," "preposterous," "putrefying,""crackpot," "lunatic libertarian" "Mad Doctor,who proudly consorts with 9/11 Truthers and Holocaust-denying neo-Nazis," who also stammers. With an entire Madlibs book of epithets, it's not surprising that Medved left no room for journalistic integrity or critical thought. Why all the name calling? It appears Ron Paul thinks that adults are smart enough to decide for themselves whether or not to have consensual sex with prostitutes, and whether or not to take narcotics into their bodies. All of Ron Paul needs to be pixelated , because his opinion is so offensive to the status quo. Medved takes the fanatical extreme in opposing free choice.  The government, obviously, should rid the world of sin, so that adults are not tempted to make bad decisions.  They know better than us sinful ignoramuses. If that is the case,

Chuck Norris wants Ron Paul to be his right-hand man in the coming Chucktatorship. Bill Maher thinks Ron Paul makes sense. Doug Stanhope registered as a Republican so he could vote for Ron Paul in the primaries.  He compared it to coming out of the closet if you're not gay. Robin Koerne r thinks Paul transcends the left-right divide. Check out other supporters in the side-bar.  Recommend others to the list.

He also thinks our country shouldn't abandon the rule of law to catch one really bad man. What a weirdo.

Google vs. facebook  the government. You've probably heard of facebook's attempted smear campaign against google.  You probably haven't heard that the U.S. government is fining google for $500,000,000 . The U.S. government (which thinks the internet is a series of tubes ) outlawed foreign pharmaceuticals in an attempt to block sick people in the U.S. from getting cheaper drugs "for our protection."  Google advertised those prescriptions, so the government is fining them. I got your money right here.  Oh. Wait.  Maybe it's in my other pocket. (Edited by Double Birds) This is another example of government passing illegitimate laws to "protect us" from ourselves, and then using those law to rob a legitimate business. Want to get the economy up and running?  Here's a hint, jacka**es: stop hurting businesses.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."   — 4th Amendment of the Constitution The court of supreme jerks ruled that cops can knock down your door "if they smell burning marijuana, knock loudly, announce themselves and hear what they think is the sound of evidence being destroyed." The court made this ruling after cops chased down a drug dealer and broke into the wrong apartment  (from the  nytimes ). "You have the right to remain silent and suck my balls." -Samuel A. Alito Jr. (Edited by Double Birds) A monopoly in anything creates an inferior product at a higher cost, while a free market accomplishes the opposite.  For example, a competitive market in computers

Check out some of Ron Paul's other supporters on the side bar.

Here's a couple essays on Bin Laden that illustrate the good points that often come from the left. First, from Michael Moore : "Some believe that this was a "war" we were in with al Qaeda - and you don't do trials during war. It's thinking like this that makes me fear that, while bin Laden may be dead, he may have "won" the bigger battle. Let's be clear: There is no "war with al Qaeda." Wars are between nations. Al Qaeda was an organization of fanatics who committed crimes. That we elevated them to nation status - they loved it! It was great for their recruiting drive. We did exactly what bin Laden said he wanted us to do: Give up our freedoms (like the freedom to be assumed innocent until proven guilty), engage our military in Muslim countries so that we will be hated by Muslims, and wipe ourselves out financially in doing so. Done, done and done, Osama. You had our number. You somehow knew we would eagerly give up our constitutional

The Aztecs tore the hearts out of human victims to appease the sun god . The victims were treated with the utmost respect before their deaths, like royalty. Their sacrifice was honored by the populace, who believed the priests and rulers who said that murdering their loved ones kept society free from destruction. The murder of innocents did not prop up the sun. Rather, it propped up the ruling regime, and kept the populace in a reverent gratitude for the courage of the leaders in sacrificing the people's children. We are told the same pack of lies. Our sons are sent to die in wars against a threat as real as the sun god. We are supposed to thank our leaders for sacrificing our children to protect us from imaginary destruction. In the pagan ritual of war, our leaders claim a mighty priesthood indeed. The ability to consecrate human sacrifice unto the most-high God, a sacrifice that preserves our liberty and safety. The fires of Moloch devour our children still. Ironically, w

People used to expect their rulers to make it rain. When the majority of people used to farm, crop failure meant economic devastation on top of starvation.  As Lord Raglan put it: " A good king is one whose subjects prosper, whether he himself is virtuous and kindly or not. This applies much more fully in the case of a king whose duties are purely ritual. Just as the good rain-maker is the one who induces good rain, so the good king is the king who induces good crops, good hunting, and so on ." Now that most of us do not farm, we want our rulers to “make it rain” economically. But the belief that  prosperity can be legislated is just as backward as believing a king can change the weather. Wealth is created through work and exchange. Government cannot create wealth . Whatever money it has, it has either borrowed, begged, or stolen. Forcible transfers of wealth from one person to another do not create more wealth. Fed Chairman Bernanke, just resting his head. Even wh

A 45-year-old woman had her boyfriend stab two guys who were throwing around gang signs. The two victims:  actually signing ASL . Time to stop showing Signing Times to my one-year old daughter.  Sign language could get her killed. Bring it, effers. (Edited by Double Birds)

Country music plays in the background for some reason. Jon Stewart praises Ron Paul; offers advice.  A good summary for those of you who missed the debates. The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Good Luck Motherf@*kers Edition - Blather for Elephants Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook More on Ron Paul by The Southern Avenger:

For those of you who like to play Halo , and other combat-simulation video games, have I found a job for you! Guys can hang out in their mom's basements (or a military base in Nevada ) and blow people up on the other side of the world. Behold! Un-manned predator drones ! No one gives the bird like a hellfire missile. (Edited by Double Birds) The drones are notorious for killing innocent people .  It's hard to tell who's a badguy from 6,000 miles away. The military has adopted a system of war developed from a Robin Williams movie . These drones don't just keep America safe abroad, they now fly over the homeland . Robot planes patrol the Mexican border , the Canadian border , and Florida . Can you tell which of the following videos is from a game, and which from real-life? Enlist now, for the opportunity to murder people from the safety of your living-room.

Nasa's Dawn spacecraft snapped this photo . It looks like space is hostile.

CORUSCANT — Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mastermind of some of the most devastating attacks on the Galactic Empire and the most hunted man in the galaxy, was killed in a firefight with Imperial forces near Alderaan, Darth Vader announced on Sunday. In a late-night appearance in the East Room of the Imperial Palace, Lord Vader declared that “justice has been done” as he disclosed that agents of the Imperial Army and stormtroopers of the 501st Legion had finally cornered Kenobi, one of the leaders of the Jedi rebellion, who had eluded the Empire for nearly two decades. Imperial officials said Kenobi resisted and was cut down by Lord Vader’s own lightsaber. He was later dumped out of an airlock. The news touched off an extraordinary outpouring of emotion as crowds gathered in the Senate District and outside the Imperial Palace, waving imperial flags, cheering, shouting, laughing and chanting, “Hail to the Emperor! Hail Lord Vader!” In the alien protection zone, crowds sang “The Ten Thousand Year E

I just watched the Collateral Murder video , in which U.S. soldiers "engage" (murder) a dozen people for having guns and cameras.  Makes me happy we're protected by the 2nd amendment, so the government can't shoot us for owning guns (which is kind of hypocritical when you think about it). War.  It is an excuse to kill people without a trial.  It is much more convenient to kill people when you don't have to worry about laws and justice, and other annoyances. Why not turn to the law?  Why not use the courts?  All the wars of the last decade have been blamed on the actions of a few individuals (Qaddafi, Bin Laden, Hussein).  Why not just put those individuals on trial?  Why kill 100,000 civilians to get a man who killed 3,000 ? If we ignore the law abroad, we will inevitably ignore it at home.  Disregarding the law "to keep us safe" destroys the only bulwark against oppression. Owning a gun is not a crime.  Owning anything is not a crime.  Things that we o

This case just breaks my heart, and I feel that I don't have the talent it would take to write about it. Bradley Manning is a young kid who joined the military. He discovered that the U.S. is committing war crimes around the world.  He tried to tell the American people, so they'd know what the government was doing in their name and with their money.  He's a real American hero . For that, he's been locked up in a Marines prison without a trial .  He's been tortured .   Human rights groups , congressmen , and his own famil y have been denied the right to see him. He pissed off the wrong guys. Terrorist The problem is that the information he leaked didn't just make Bush and Cheney look bad, it made Obama and Hillary look bad.  Obama may have killed Bin Laden, but he's killed and tortured a lot of innocent people in the process ( 122,000 Iraqi civilians killed ). Manning will get a military trial instead of a civilian trial.  This is bad news.  Obama, the

Congress thinks they can tell you what to eat. Most notorious is the federal  war on raw milk , recently culminating in state troopers arresting an Amish guy for selling unpasteurized milk. Your customs are strange, English. A bill, passed by the Senate, is in the works that would be the equivalent of the PATRIOT Act for food . This may seem like a good idea, in light of recent microbial outbreaks.  But these regulations are often lobbied for by the very industries they supposedly regulate?   Why ?  Because bigger industries can, in effect, outlaw smaller competitors, and use the law to put them out of business. Keeping America safe. A small farmer, for example, could afford a cow, but not pasteurization equipment.  I might be willing to risk drinking raw milk to support my local community, but the government says I'm not smart enough to make that decision myself. Well, the little guy is fighting back. Sedgwick, a small town in Maine, has passed a law that reserves to its c

" Radical :  late 14c. (adj.), in a medieval philosophical sense, from L.L.  radicalis  "of or having roots," from L.  radix  (gen.  radicis ) "root" (see  radish )." My recent conversion to libertarianism has left many of my friends shaking their heads. Calling taxes "theft" seems too extreme, too radical. The philosophy is simple: No one is above the moral law.  No one. The rule of law , in opposition to rex lex (a great name for the idea that the king is above the law), holds that no person is above the law.  If the king (or congress) passes a law, he, too, must obey it. Ummm. Wrong Lex . A recent example of the violation of the rule of law is how congress has passed a law requiring you to take off your shoes and get your balls fondled when you want to fly on a plane.  Our leaders have exempted themselves from this law . Libertarianism takes the rule of law to the next logical level: natural law.   Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal

By Matt Taibbi A merica has two national budgets, one official, one unofficial. The official budget is public record and hotly debated: Money comes in as taxes and goes out as jet fighters, DEA agents, wheat subsidies and Medicare, plus pensions and bennies for that great untamed socialist menace called a unionized public-sector workforce that Republicans are always complaining about. According to popular legend, we're broke and in so much debt that 40 years from now our granddaughters will still be hooking on weekends to pay the medical bills of this year's retirees from the IRS, the SEC and the Department of Energy. Most Americans know about that budget. What they don't know is that there is another budget of roughly equal heft, traditionally maintained in complete secrecy . After the financial crash of 2008, it grew to monstrous dimensions, as the government attempted to unfreeze the credit markets by handing out trillions to banks and hedge funds. And thanks to a whole

Walter E. Williams discusses a new study on how the minimum wage hurts poor minorities. See: How welfare hurts poor people .

On  Democracy Now!  this morning,  The Nation 's Jeremy Scahill explains that Osama bin Laden's killing in Pakistan yesterday is not necessarily a cause for celebration : the United States used the man who launched the September 11 attacks on America as a reason to "declare war on the world," Scahill says. In response to September 11, "Iraq was invaded, a country that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, nothing to do with bin Laden. The United States created an Al Qaeda presence in Iraq by invading it, made Iran a far more influential force in Iraq than it ever would have been. We have given a grand motivation to people around the world that want to do harm to Americans in our killing of civilians, our waging of war against countries that have no connection to Al Qaeda and by staying in these countries long after the mission was accomplished ... This is a somber day, when we should be remembering all of the victims: the three thousand who died in the United States

We should give to the poor.  But must we? I win! (Edited by Double Birds) In a voluntary exchange both parties benefit .  A rich man may give money to the poor, and the poor may give nothing in return, but the rich man still gets something.  He may get to feel good about himself. He may, if religious, get a feeling that he has laid up treasure in heaven.  He may simply get satisfaction out of the poor man's smile, or knowing that he has made the poor man's life better.  He may get public recognition—entire hospitals and colleges have been built for this seemingly trivial benefit. Voluntary exchanges always  benefit both parties, otherwise they would not occur.  Forced charity, on the other hand, hurts both parties. If the rich man's money is forcibly taken (through taxation), he gets nothing.  No recognition.  No smiling poor.  He might not even want outward recognition, but he does not even know where his money goes.  He may kid himself that his money will be used to h

UPDATE:   Ron Paul raised more than $1,000,000 on the 5th. The first Republican debate is May 5th in South Carolina.  Join me in donating to Ron Paul's money bomb.

Bin Laden's body was dumped into the ocean. Kind of a weird way to handle the situation, isn't it?  Why kill him?  Why not interrogate him?  Isn't he the big bad mastermind behind Al Qaeda? With Bin Laden dead, the government will inevitably find another boogeyman to scare us into continuing perpetual war. Already the hawks are drooling over Pakistan .  Even  Jon Stewart  chimed along blaming Pakistan for hiding terrorist #1.  Weaker accusations have been used to justify war, surely these will help assuage any sentiments against the secretive and undeclared war we already wage in Pakistan . Michael Rozeff  asks more interesting questions. Noam Chomsky chides American ignorance on Bin Laden.

Find out why money is good over at FilmEcon . (Edited by Double Birds) "It is difficult to dispute that, in the real Star Trek future, all thirty-year-old males may well be living in their mothers' basements, enjoying an endless orgy in their holodecks. If you dispute this, consider how many thirty-year-olds are at this moment living in their mothers' basements so they can play MMOs and watch Star Trek. Now imagine what would happen to those young men if they could bang a virtual Uhura three times a day."