Tag Archives: manspreading

May 2 2020

The Peasants Are Revolting – California Rebels Defy Comrade Gavin Newsom…


Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on May 1, 2020 by 

The Rebel Alliance is pushing back against the insufferable and silly rules of the little blue dictators hiding amid their governor mansions. Yes comrades, the pesky red subversives have taken to the street and realized ‘hey wait, there are more of us, than them‘…

“Have Tar, Need Feathers” – If the COVID Compliance Ministry tries to stop the uprisings, there could be trouble. As a result, some of the little Blue Dictators are retreating to their safe space:

CALIFORNIA – […] Reports on Friday estimated that there were more than 500 people who turned out in Huntington Beach to protest after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) closed Orange County beaches in response to massive gatherings last weekend that went against stay-at-home orders.

Orange County had previously opened its beaches, and even after the large gatherings drew a rebuke from Newsom, the city of Newport had voted to keep them open.

Protesters on Friday were heard chanting “freedom” and “no more Newsom.” Some carried signs lamenting the need for a hair cut, while others held signs calling to reopen businesses so people could get back to work.

Police officers mounted on horses were present to control the crowd, with most, if not all protesters, reportedly violating social distancing guidelines of six feet of separation.

Newsom said on Friday the state is “days, not weeks” away from reopening, but cautioned people to stay home until the all-clear. (read more)

The gathering was substantially bigger than the protest on Main Street two weeks ago. Huntington Beach Police Department spokeswoman Angie Bennett said there were no arrests or injuries, and estimated the crowd at about 2,500 people.

Julian Brudnick, 28, of Yorba Linda waved a black flag that had a snake on it and read “Don’t Tread on Me.”

“I think it all comes down to the same thing, which is personal freedom and liberty, and not sacrificing freedom for security,” Brudnick said. “I haven’t seen this many people not wearing a mask. I go into Home Depot, you cough or sneeze and people give you a dirty look. What they can make us do to each other is unbelievable.”  (LA Times)

Hey, we’ve been piling into crowded supermarkets for seven weeks buying food, yet for some reason if we go into a store to buy sneakers it will create an explosion of the virus… According to the Blue logic, apparently the danger is the type of purchasing you make.

 

May 1 2020

Scratch a leftist, find a fascist


One doesn’t have to have a doctorate in quantum physics to understand all the utopian socialist fantasies can only add up to one thing: a culture of fascism, control and coercion

Klaus Rohrich image

Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 30, 2020

Scratch a leftist, find a fascist

Dennis Prager currently has a series of videos explaining the basic difference between those on the left side of the political spectrum and those on the right. While his analyses of the difference between the two sides is relatively accurate, it’s a tad too kind for my taste.

Prager correctly states that a prime difference between so-called progressives and conservatives is that progressives are all about the collective, while conservatives believe in the individual and personal choice.

I see the difference in much starker terms: the former involves coercion by the state, while the latter involves individual responsibility.

Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, the Kim dynasty, Pol Pot, et al have killed more people in the name of serving the greater good

As I recently wrote in these pages, here the 1920s provide a good example of where the various forms of socialism that are now becoming all the rave will lead us. It might be simplistic to say socialism is responsible for more deaths and suffering than the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-1920, but the math works.

Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, the Kim dynasty, Pol Pot, et al have killed more people in the name of serving the greater good and achieving a perfect society than the last pandemic, which eradicated up to 5% of the global population.

What’s so puzzling is that every new crop of socialists believes that if only socialism was implemented properly, everyone would be happy. What they do not understand is that socialism’s fuel is its coercive power to control the individual. No one really wants to actually live under socialism, except those who would govern and ‘correctly’ administer the principles of socialism in order to achieve the perfect society.

This takes place in several ways.

First, individuals are made dependent on the state for their basic needs like food shelter and healthcare. They are also controlled through what amounts to social credit, rewarding correct attitudes and behaviors while punishing those who do not toe the line. If you doubt me, check out how Trump supporters are treated.

Failures of socialism

Second, for socialism to succeed there is an ever-present requirement for an enemy, which is an important element in directing revolutionary fervor to the correct goals, rather than allow for reflection that could result in uncomfortable questions. For the Bolsheviks the enemy was the Czar and wealthy bourgeoisie, for the Nazis it was communists and Jews. For Mao it was the liberal bourgeois. Cambodia’s Pol Pot had a thing for intellectuals and the educated. As a result some 1.8 million ‘bad elements’ were sacrificed for the greater good. There isn’t one socialist state that doesn’t have a prime enemy towards whom to wage the ‘struggle’ for social justice.

Third, socialism also relies heavily on the educational system to swell their ranks. But that only makes sense, given that young people generally tend to be naïve and easily influenced. For the past 50 years socialism has wormed its way into school curricula at an alarming level, and all under the guise of ‘fairness,’ equality or social justice. While this is a long-term process, it also seems to be the most effective, judging by the attitudes of most young adults today.

So, after examining the failures of socialism in a rational discussion, if you still find yourself yearning for social justice, just take a minute to examine what socialism has actually achieved over its 103-years in operation.

Russia collapsed under communism’s contradictions.

The Nazis’ ‘Thousand Year Empire’ couldn’t last twenty years.

Yes, Cuba has free healthcare. But the standard of living for the average Cuban isn’t much better than it was 62 years ago under Fulgencio Batista.

China’s brand of communism is likely the most dangerous and virulent. The Chinese Communist Party absolutely controls the actions of every man, woman and child under its control, to the point of presiding over a lethal global pandemic with only the goal of shifting the blame.

Anyone who hasn’t lived under a slimy rock for the past two decades must surely be aware that in the 1950s Venezuela was the fourth wealthiest nation in the world and today is one of the world’s poorest.

What do all these socialist jurisdictions have in common? Without fail, they all wind up consisting of an uber-wealthy ruling class and an ever-increasing poverty-stricken populace. This is an indisputable fact, even China, whose 1.43 billion people constitute over 18% of the world’s population, can have millions of millionaires among the Party cadre, while the other billion or so become tools of the state. (don’t confuse my focus on socialism with acceptance of the rampant corruption in western governments—that’s for another column)

The point of this is to realize that one doesn’t have to have a doctorate in quantum physics to understand all the utopian socialist fantasies can only add up to one thing: a culture of fascism, control and coercion.

May 1 2020

Advice for the Church: Better Call Saul


It’s time for America’s religious leaders to come out of the closet and gather together to save freedom — and lives — in America. What will it take for the scales to fall from their eyes? The freedom they save may be their own

Cliff Kincaid image

Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 30, 2020

Advice for the Church: Better Call Saul

A local pastor is walking dozens of miles to raise funds for the poor and hungry, many of whom have been created by the government’s COVID-19 economic lockdown. That’s a nice thing to do. But his own church in the Washington, D.C. area remains essentially closed, except for “private” displays of Christianity. Some of his parishioners entered into the church to fill the pews with pictures of the people who used to be there. That’s sad.

It is America 2020 and the police are showing up to arrest ministers of the Gospel – at least the few willing to challenge the modern-day Caesar.

Early Christians were willing to be imprisoned and killed for their faith

Early Christians were willing to be imprisoned and killed for their faith. A popular Netflix show, “Better Call Saul,” is about a lawyer who represented a drug dealer. The early church has their own Saul. In the Acts of the Apostles, we learn about a persecutor of the early church named Saul who had a Damascus Road conversion after experiencing Christ and was also known as Paul the Apostle. The reading is that “something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.”

With scales on their eyes, today’s Christians for the most part seem afraid to challenge secular authorities and various “executive orders” about how they should worship. They have resorted to drive-in or drive-by “worship services,” so they don’t get out of their cars. This is a dramatic perversion of Christ’s directive to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Caesar, the State, should not dictate to the churches. The State does not own the churches. But many Christians today act as if the government is in charge.

This country was born in a revolution over global taxes imposed by the King of England, as well as rejection of an official state-imposed national religion. Freedom of religion and of the press was supposed to be guaranteed in our First Amendment. Yet, as a result of the coronavirus, freedom of the press has been guaranteed and freedom of religion has not. Most pastors, preachers, and priests acquiesce to their government masters and their demands for empty pews.

On the national level, unfortunately, our elected representatives go along with the emergence of this totalitarian state.  Attorney General William Barr has issued a memo on “Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights,” which is too little too late. Our God-given rights are not to be sacrificed on the altar of what unelected “health experts” have to say abut how we live our lives.

We need more than a memo, Mr. Barr

We need more than a memo, Mr. Barr.

Conservative media fret over the Deep State’s frame-up of Lt. General Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security advisor, and that was truly an outrage. But the rights of the people in general have been stripped away, too, for months. What they did to Flynn they are doing to all of us, in a much quicker time frame. As Elon Musk has commented, they have taken away our freedom and subjected us to a form of house arrest. He calls it “fascist.” It’s also communistic.

“FREE AMERICA NOW” he says. It’s time for our religious leaders to follow his example.

“Better Call Saul” is advice they should be given and take.

In the story of Saul, we are told that a light from heaven flashed and a voice said to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, sir?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise; go into the city, and you will be told what to do.” William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible refers to this passage as “the most famous conversion story in history.” Barclay explains, “We must try as far as we can to enter into Paul’s mind. When we do, we will see that this is not a sudden conversion but a sudden surrender.” Eventually, the scales fell from his eyes.

Grass-roots Christians are crying out for leadership.  President Trump recommends various on-line services every Sunday but this is really no substitute for the ability of people to worship at a church or synagogue of their choice.

At various locations around the country, pastors are rebelling in the name of Jesus Christ

At various locations around the country, pastors are rebelling in the name of Jesus Christ. Some are recommending that their parishioners practice social distancing and even to wear masks when they come to church. But that is not good enough for the mostly liberal governors in whose states where they live and their police forces which arrive with citations and arrest warrants.

We are seeing persecution of the Christian Church in America and too many conservative Christians are silent. Many pastors and preachers act like chickens, afraid of the secular authorities, and then act like sheep on the way to the slaughter.

Today, many pastors, preachers, and priests have been too quick to surrender to the State. They are blinded by the legal-sounding razzle-dazzle of “emergencies” and “executive orders,” with no basis in the Constitution. In Washington State, the situation is so bizarre that local authorities are providing beer and cigarettes (and until recently marijuana) to keep addicts in quarantine.

Marijuana has become the Soma of Brave New World, in order to keep the people satisfied.

Since our media enjoy protected status under various emergency or executive orders

For those who didn’t read the Aldous Huxley classic, Spark Notes provides this information: “Soma is a drug that is handed out for free to all the citizens of the World State. In small doses, soma makes people feel good. In large doses, it creates pleasant hallucinations and a sense of timelessness.”

I’m not saying our ministers are dope fiends. But if termination of religious services is not the tipping point, what about the cancellation of elections?

“The Democratic Presidential Primary rescheduled for June 23, 2020 has been cancelled” proclaims the New York State Board of Elections. A left-wing progressive group, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA), is protesting this decision as an exercise in one-man rule by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. But where is the rest of America? Where are Republicans and independents rising up in protest?

Since our media enjoy protected status under various emergency or executive orders, they could care less. They will continue to swoon over Cuomo, who is assuming the role of pastor and care-giver. Never mind the state lawwhich relegated the elderly to coronavirus death camps known as nursing homes.

It’s time for America’s religious leaders to come out of the closet and gather together to save freedom—and lives—in America. What will it take for the scales to fall from their eyes? The freedom they save may be their own.

Apr 19 2020

Blue Bloods Have Gone Oprah!


We’ve dropped this leftist travesty forever, and are now enjoying both reruns and new episodes of the quite fabulous and compelling Chicago PD!

Joan Swirsky image

Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 18, 2020

Blue Bloods Gone OprahAmong the TV shows I gravitate to with my husband Steve, a former athlete, include live baseball, basketball and football games, historical documentaries, and both true crime shows and crime dramas like Law & Order, Forensic Files, Chicago PD, and Blue Bloods––all studies in the greatest mystery of all time, human behavior.

When Blue Bloods debuted in September 2010, we thought it was excellent, featuring in-depth and provocative episodes, and at last embodying the conservative values we embraced, including a distinct lack of the three-legged stool on which Progressives base their so-called values: moral relativism, political correctness, and multiculturalism.

The show is about the Reagan dynasty in NY City, where the following characters are presented every week with daunting challenges, moral dilemmas, high-action chases and arrests, and touching family dramas:

  • Frank Reagan, a widower and the New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner, played by Tom Selleck.
  • His father Henry Reagan, also a widower and a former NYPD Commissioner, played by Len Cariou.
  • Frank’s son Danny, played by Donnie Wahlberg, a tough, street-smart detective, and his partner Maria Baez (played by Marisa Ramirez). Danny was happily married to R.N.  Linda (played by Amy Carlson) before her death, and they were the parents of two sons played by real-life brothers Andrew and Tony Terraciano.
  • Frank’s daughter Erin, played by Bridget Moynihan, a letter-of-the-law Bureau Chief in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and divorced mother of daughter Nicky (played by Sami Gayle). Erin works closely with Anthony Abetemarco, a detective in the D.A.’s office (played by Steve Schirripa).
  • Frank’s son Jamie, played by Will Estes, a Harvard Law School graduate who chose to become a street cop, promoted to sergeant, and then married to his NYPD partner––a beautiful blonde from a decidedly dysfunctional background––“Eddie” Janko, played by Vanessa Ray.
  • Frank’s Chief of Staff, Garrett Moore, who is also the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, played by Gregory Jbara.
  • I cannot omit the very gorgeous and fabulous actress Abigail Baker who plays Commissioner Reagan’s chief aide as Detective Abigail Hawk.

Suffusing the drama is the Commissioner’s late son Joe, an NYPD detective who was murdered by a corrupt gang of police officers and whose memory continues to haunt the Reagan family.

THE OLD FORMAT

Every week for the past many years, all these characters presented compelling and original drama with episodes addressing themes such as the unreliability of eyewitnesses, the difficulty of identifying sociopaths, the nefarious inner workings of the New York mafia, the dangers of nepotism within the ranks, the reluctance of sexual assault victims to come forward, the complexity of solving murder cases, on and on and on.

In every episode, it was clear that the protagonists––members of the NYPD from the top on down––knew the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, legal and illegal.

Right was the teenage kid from the projects who resisted following his thug friends into a life of crime; wrong were the thugs who chose a life of crime, including robbery, rape and murder.

Good were the people who yearned for a safe neighborhood coming forward to identify the bad guys, in spite of great risk to themselves and their families; bad were the drug dealers and corrupt politicians who covered for the bad guys.
Legal were the follow-the-rules cops who crossed every “t” and dotted every “I”; bad were the on-the-take judges who ruled against them.

Riveting. Illuminating. Thought-provoking. Influential. Worthy of our time.

THE OLD VALUES

Among the most refreshing qualities of the show was––not is––the great respect the children and grandchildren exhibited toward their father, the Commissioner, and their grandfather, the former Commissioner.

Every week, viewers were treated to the Reagan clan gathering around a huge dining-room table for a sumptuous dinner consisting of platters of roast turkey and roast beef, mountains of salad and vegetables, and heaping portions of baked and mashed potatoes, where one or another member of the family would say Grace before the meal, thank their Lord Jesus Christ for their bounty, make the sign of the Cross, and in unison say Amen.

While serious discussions and good-humored kidding took place around the table, philosophical disagreements also abounded. Yes, quizzical looks and raised eyebrows and even scowls were evinced, but there was always a refreshing absence of the dismissive, rude, hostile and insulting behavior and the repulsively foul language we’ve become accustomed to in shows ranging from newscasts to award shows to daytime talk shows to “Housewives” dramas. And there was never any sign or sight of an iPhone!

RATINGS DON’T LIE

According to Wikipedia, the pilot episode 10 years ago garnered 15,246 million viewers, and the ratings remained sky-high for about seven seasons. But from season eight on, the ratings began to plunge, with season nine seeing the lowest in the show’s history.

No mystery to me, as the Blue Bloods audience witnessed this once-terrific show go Oprah––turning into both a social service and finger-wagging forum designed to set Commissioner Frank Reagan and his unenlightened family straight, to teach them the Progressive values that the leftist writers they hired wanted them to learn: how to be a moral relativist, a multiculturalist, a politically correct jerk.

CLUELESS WRITERS

It is abundantly clear that the current writers had never watched the show, had no idea about the rock-ribbed simpatico dynamics of the Reagan family, had contempt for the police, and had a deep loathing of the Christian religion and prayer and even the mention of Jesus.

Why else would they have the always respectful sons of Frank Reagan and their grandfather Henry speak to them with such antagonistic, disrespectful language? Why would they feature rookie and even senior policemen speak to the Commissioner in such brazenly inappropriate terms? Why would they completely eliminate the prayer before eating dinner and any reference to Jesus?

Why? I know nothing about corporate media or who calls the shots and ultimately determines content. But this is an all-important election year and we already see the Murdoch boys pushing their properties––The Wall St. Journal and Fox News, among others––in a distinctly leftward direction, so it’s not a far stretch to theorize that anti-Trump CBS-TV is also pushing their popular shows along the same route.

After all, why would they drag a veteran leftist, the seemingly dotty 90-year-old Ed Asner, out of his comfortable California home to star in a preposterous episode where the writers wasted our time watching Asner and his old friend Commissioner Reagan show off their knowledge of ancient movies?

Why? Clearly the writers want to make the Commissioner look like a regular guy, to reduce his gravitas, to make him less important.

Why would they feature the toughest guy in town, Commissioner Reagan, visiting the new Mayor of NYC––who told him the City needed a tougher P.R. person than Reagan’s longtime Chief of Staff Garrett Moore––and then portray the Commissioner as an emotional, conflicted, hand-wringing wuss over a simple executive decision?

Why? Again, an attempt by the writers to make the Commissioner look incapable of taking charge and getting something done––sort of like Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Of course, the goal of the real wusses who are writing this junk is to convince the viewing public that they’ve been wrong all along about Blue Bloods, that what we should really believe is that the police are the problem, prayer is the problem, Jesus is the problem, and we should vote for all the leftwing candidates who believe this tripe.

As for me and Steve, we’ve dropped this leftist travesty forever, and are now enjoying both reruns and new episodes of the quite fabulous and compelling Chicago PD!

Apr 7 2020

Are Far-Left Democrats Anti-Religion?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Apr 7, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Do these Democrats who are in league with those trying to undermine our economy and future for their personal power have any conscience whatsoever? Do they even believe in God or just money?

HJ

ANSWER: They are true Marxists who will NEVER publicly admit their beliefs. The only way to determine that is to judge them by their actions. The House Democrats changed the oath someone must swear and removed the words, “So Help Me God.” (See New York Times: May 11, 2019) They rebuffed objections from the Republicans that those words have been in there since the nation was formed.

The leading Democratic Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein has discriminated against Catholic judges being appointed. She has been against religion for decades.

You cannot be a Socialist and religious at the same time. I personally do not understand this but the far-left Democrats are also the most anti-religious people you will ever meet. They are in full agreement with Marx that it is just the opium for the masses.

Apr 6 2020

“Restoring Jewish sovereignty” is not “West Bank annexation”


Reclaiming patrimony in the ancient Jewish homeland after 3,000 years

David Singer image

Re-Posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—April 6, 2020

Restoring Jewish sovereignty is not West Bank annexationBenjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz have reached a critical point in their negotiations to form a Government of National Unity: whether to seize the opportunity presented by President Trump to restore Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria—the heartland of the ancient and biblical Jewish National Home—after an absence of 3000 years.

Netanyahu wants to do so in tandem with President Trump—immediately a Government of at least 61 members headed by him as Prime Minister is formed. Gantz is not prepared to do so unless the Arab States —notably Jordan— and the international community agree – virtually guaranteeing it will never happen.

The Jewish media do not seem to have grasped this unique opportunity given to the Jewish People to turn a 3,000 year old dream into a miraculous reality.

The correct name of the “West Bank” is “Judea and Samaria”

Using what can only be described as the language of the enemies of the Jewish people – the mainstream Jewish media in Israel and elsewhere have been headlining their reports of the ongoing struggle between Netanyahu and Gantz with very similar headlines:

These Jewish media reports are doing the Jewish People a great disservice.

The correct name of the “West Bank” is “Judea and Samaria”—the geographic place name used for 3,000 years until 1950—when its name was changed by Transjordan following its illegal occupation of Judea and Samaria and the ethnic cleansing of all Jews living there in the 1948 War of Independence. Transjordan and Judea and Samaria were unified into one territorial entity and renamed Jordan. The West Bank was the area of Jordan on the West Bank of the River Jordan. The area on the East Bank of the Jordan River comprised what was formerly Transjordan.

The term “Judea and Samaria” had been recently used in Part II A of the 1947 UN Partition Resolution.

The 1950 change of name to “West Bank” has since been used to mask any Jewish claims or connection to the land. To rub salt into the wound the United Nations now calls it the “Occupied Palestinian Territories”

The term “annexation” connotes taking something to which you have no claim. Yet the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine included Judea and Samaria as areas in which the Jewish National Home could be “reconstituted”.  This right to do so is preserved today by article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

Language is important.

The Jewish media is letting the Jewish People down at this critical moment in Jewish History. In seeking to underplay the Netanyahu-Gantz divide—the Jewish media is giving ammunition to our enemies to use “West Bank annexation” at every opportunity.

“West Bank annexation” is a distinctly anti-Jewish phrase

“West Bank annexation” is a distinctly anti-Jewish phrase. “Restoring Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” states the Jewish case. Four more words for media to include in their headlines and reports that create a very different perception and understanding of what is at stake.

As Jews recount the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt at their Seders this week—think of the miracle Jews may be soon blessed to witness with their own eyes—reclaiming patrimony in the ancient Jewish homeland after 3,000 years.

Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

Apr 6 2020

What is the Fairness Doctrine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Press

Re-Posted Apr 6, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: My concern about the “Fairness” doctrine is who decides what is fair and if it is a time thing, is time at midnight on Sunday or 0400 on Saturday morning given to answer prime time actually fair. But the television market is quite fragmented already.

PP

ANSWER: The Fairness Doctrine did not require preapproval from a central place to decide if it was fair. It simply required that they present both sides. Therefore, they would have to have an opposing view to say why the other side is wrong. They do that when the President makes that State of the Union Address. The opposition party gets the same amount of time to say he was wrong and why.

It is about presenting both sides – not that someone approves it is fair or not.

The mainstream media is just no longer trustworthy. I KNOW some good journalists who cannot write about what they think is the truth. The editor upstairs won’t let it be published.

Apr 6 2020

FT On the Grab for Power


Armstrong Economics Blog/Disease

Re-Posted Apr 5, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

I strongly urge everyone to report this everywhere you can. What Izabella Kaminska has written about here is very important. It is about the rush to change our monetary system without any consideration. They are using the virus to propose drastic changes to the economy without any testing or analysis. There are very FEW Journalists worth reading these days. She has integrity and tries to report the truth – a very major breath of fresh air.

This is your future and that of your family.

Please post this everywhere you can. It is vital to our economic survival.

This has been the plan proposed since 2018 by Legarde when she was the head of the IMF. Now she heads the ECB.

Apr 5 2020

Proposal for New Internet with Kill Switch


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law

Re-Posted Apr 5, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: As an Englishman qualified to practice law in Virginia and Federal Courts, and very interested in your criticisms of injustices in the American litigation system, I have a suggestion which may seem trivial at first glance but would have an important impact.

My suggestion is that you promote a simple but very beneficial change in the American Rule of Costs, under which each side in litigation pays its own legal costs (subject only to certain statutory exceptions). In most of the rest of the world, the loser in litigation pays most or all of the costs. At present a potential litigant with a just case is discouraged from proceeding in an American court by the prospect that, even if he wins, his gain would be less than his legal costs. This obviously tends to deny to the poor and middle-classes their right of access to the courts. For civil defendants, the American Rule encourages frivolous cases, and promotes corrupt and uneconomical settlements, including those otherwise unjustifiable by, for example, insurance companies. In criminal cases the present American Rule obviously militates against the innocent, and promotes the corrupt practice of plea-bargaining.

A change in the American Rule to that of the rest of the world is clearly desirable from the point of view of individual rights, and the interests of the US economy, where the total cost of unproductive litigation must be huge. Together with that change, it would also be desirable to impose the Common Law prohibitions of Barratry and Champerty to prevent lawyers from taking financial interests in their clients’ gains from civil cases, which encourage ambulance chasing.

Lawyers have a productive part to play in the Economy, essentially aiding commerce and industry. There should be more to American legal practice than endless politicking and unproductive litigation!

KG

REPLY: That is a very good suggestion.

Apr 4 2020

Vertical Farming & Political Change


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Apr 4, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Hello Martin,

Thank you for your articles; they are really valuable especially at this time. There’s a lot of ‘noise’ out there, so your information and clarity is vitally important.
Well it’s clear that international supply chains have pretty much broken down. Going local seems to be the trend for the future. So that being said, what are your thoughts around innovative technologies such as vertical farming to increase the quantity and quality of food supplies for the future and hopefully prevent mass starvation.

Many thanks

ST

ANSWER: I believe vertical farming is something we can all do in the garage or basement, depending on where you live in this climate. Those who are older looking for retirement, you should move south. This virus, like all others, thrives in colder climates. It is less as you get closer to the equator. Global warming is good!

What these people have done over this virus is seriously disrupting the world economy. People have lost their jobs. In some states, there have been more suicides than deaths by this virus. This will lead to rising violence as people who have lost everything seek retribution. This game to create political change by the left has led to some profound changes within the global economy which is fueling the war cycle as we move forward.

The left has bit off more than they can chew.