I came to the World Trade Center in early 2002 expecting to find a disaster zone, which I certainly did. But I also found an important surprise. I can't imagine that I was the only one to walk away from the WTC with these impressions and with these ideas running through my mind, but if anyone else has tread this ground, I haven't seen it, and it is far too important to let pass in silence.
A prefatory note before we begin this Thanksgiving Edition of the HFR: I am celebrating in particular the at-long-last completion of The Jade Steps. The final chapter, the Epilogue, was finished this week.
Once the final edit is done, it will be available as an E-Book, and then in a print edition. It is one of history's most epic sagas of heroic love and liberation - and one of the most unknown, misunderstood, and distorted.
As I have said, The Jade Steps is a true story. Every principal event described actually happened, every named person really lived and had that name. It all happened almost 500 years ago, but it still remains the cause of the civil war within Mexico's soul. Mexico will never rise out of the Third World and overcome its inferiority complex towards America until this spiritual wound is healed. That is the purpose of this book -- and hopefully, the movie.
***
Hear that sound - the wails of fury, the gnashing of teeth of the world's Fascist Left over its defeat by tiny little Honduras?
Many on the political left and in the mainstream media complained about the peaceful protests of hundreds of thousands of Americans who held "tea parties" on tax day.
Yet they lightly dismiss truly destructive actions by leftist advocacy groups, many of whom take Saul Alinsky's book, "Rules for Radicals," as their bible. Mr. Alinsky wrote, "In war [i.e., war for an ideal or goal], the end justifies the means"; thus almost any action is acceptable for one's cause.
How, then, would MSNBC and the New York Times react if free- market groups started hanging "Wanted" posters for Internal Revenue Service officials and employees who clearly serve as instruments for job destroying policies?
Inflation is a tax that hits the poor particularly hard and is caused by the Federal Reserve creating too much money and credit. What would happen if monetary-reform groups adopted Alinsky tactics and started picketing the homes of Federal Reserve members and harassing their spouses and children?
Which of two kinds of fascism do you think are more dangerous - one stemming from a culture's or a people's feeling of inferiority or superiority?
If a country possessing a Fascism of Inferiority got into a war with a country possessing a Fascism of Superiority, all else being equal which do you think has a better chance of winning?
Russians are xenophobic because they deeply suffer from a lack of cultural self-confidence and an inferiority complex towards the West. Han Chinese are xenophobic because they feel they are a culturally and racially superior form of humanity. Westerners, Japanese, Blacks, Tibetans, et al, are all sub-human compared to the Han.
Russia is dying - literally. Life expectancy is lower than that of Bangladesh. Millions of Russian men drink a gallon of vodka a week. Millions of Russian women are sterile after having so many abortions. This is a culture with a death-wish, one that does not want to survive.
The conclusion that CIA Director Michael Hayden draws from Russia's demographic collapse, given in a speech at Kansas State yesterday (4/30), is that Russia will have to import millions of foreign workers. There's only one place that can supply a sufficient number of such workers: China.
The question really is, will Russia surrender peacefully or put up a fight - maybe even a nuclear fight?
Last weekend the mullahs took a big step towards becoming a nuclear power as they powered the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
Israel's response? The Foreign Ministry published a statement proclaiming the move "totally unacceptable."
So why did we accept the totally unacceptable?
The answer to this question was provided in large part in an article in the National Interest by former Clinton Administration National Security Council member Bruce Riedel. Titled, "If Israel Attacks," Riedel -- who reportedly has close ties to the administration - asserts that an Israeli military strike against Iran will be a disaster for the US. In his view, US is better served by allowing Iran to become a nuclear power than by supporting an Israeli attack against Iran.
Riedel's reason for deeming an Israeli strike unacceptable is his conviction that such a strike will be met by an Iranian counter-strike against US forces and interests in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. While there is no reason to doubt he is correct, Riedel studiously ignores the other certainty: A nuclear-armed Iran would threaten those same troops and interests far more.
Perhaps you've enjoyed reading about how Israel has "brushed off" Zero's demands for no more Jews in Jerusalem. Zero has now stamped his foot and claimed it was "dangerous" for Israel to ignore him and build more homes for its citizens. Israel shrugs.
It is becoming blindingly obvious that Zero's antipathy to Israel is due to his being a Third World America/Israel-hating Moslem at heart. There couldn't be clearer evidence for this than his appointing radical Moslems to key positions in the Department of Homeland Security.
We should not be surprised that someone who bows to the King of Saudi Arabia would do this. What did America expect by electing someone with three Moslem names and attends a church that prays for God to damn America?
Zero's election is an ultimate object lesson regarding the masochism of the fear of envy.
Do you know what the word "income" means? My large Webster's dictionary is able to provide a clear and comprehensive definition in a mere 52 words.
The shortest definition the Internal Revenue Service could provide in response to my request for its definition was 140 words - but the word income was included 10 times, missing the point that you do not include the word to be defined as part of the definition.
Last week, I was in a meeting with some of the nation's best and most experienced tax lawyers and tax economists, several of whom had served in the Treasury, and, again, there was the general lament that the tax code is so complex it is beyond their understanding and repair.
Those who claim that the government will be able to get a lot more tax revenue by increasing tax rates on the rich live in a fantasy world.
The single greatest threat to peace in the world, the one with the most potential to escalate into all-out and even nuclear war between China and the United States, lies in the Formosa Straits, the 100 miles of ocean separating mainland China and the island of Taiwan.
At this moment, the Communist Chinese have 1,400 CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan. The handful of Tien Kung-3 (Sky-Bow-3) air defense missile batteries (based on our Patriot II system) the Taiwanese have is wholly inadequate against this massive threat.
What Taiwan needs is a missile defense system that can blanket its west coast facing the mainland as well as its cities, that is cheap to build, quick to build, easy to operate, and very effective. A system that would allow few if any Chinese missiles to get through, that would blow any Chinese attacking warplanes out of Taiwan's skies, and against which any Chinese landing craft in an amphibious invasion would be dead ducks.
This system could be put in place within 24 months. Once it is, China's threat to Taiwan is essentially gone. Here's how Taiwan can do it.
Antique laws endanger America. It's as if, in the age of the automobile, we relied on traffic laws from horse-and-buggy days. Absent appropriate legal codes, our government turns to lawyers without laws.
Cyberassaults go on, 24/7. Security leaks haunt the Internet (and our amoral media). Terrorists kill, then sue us. In the first case, we take our beatings and slap on bandages. In the second, we huff, puff and do nothing. In the third case, an apprehended terrorist gets better medical care than an out-of-work American.
Even the civil laws and military codes we do have on the books are not enforced. If found guilty, that Army private who allegedly passed over 90,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks should get the "full Rosenberg," a shortened life and a hot exit. Instead, he'll do a few years at most -- at most -- then get a book contract. (Can't wait for the movie!)
Congress is AWOL in these undeclared wars us. Legislators in both parties play for short-term political advantage, while our enemies act with impunity. If a cyber-Pearl Harbor -- on a far-greater scale than that savage attack -- hits our country, don't blame our military or call it an intelligence failure.
Roatan, Honduras. It's far easier to get from the US to here than from Tikal, Guatemala. It took me an entire day. You can fly from Houston (Continental) or Atlanta (Delta) nonstop in less than three hours.
Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands off the Honduran Caribbean coast, 37 miles long and five miles at its widest, home to 30,000, some 3,000 of whom are expats from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
Increasing numbers of Americans are figuring out that this is the tropical paradise they've been looking for as a safety escape while Hurricane Obama passes by. I'll have lots more to say about it in my report on Honduras next week.
***
I just learned from TTPer Paul Rosenberg, developer of Cryptohippie, that I am a character in a libertarian video game called 2011: Obama's Coup Fails. It posits that after the Dems suffer devastating losses in the 2010 elections, Zero suspends Congress and rules by executive decree. An armed rebellion breaks out.
The player (you) joins the leaders of the rebellion, known as The Founders, in combat against the crumbling Marxist forces of Obama's loyalist Black Tigers, the Islamic fundamentalist Nation of Malsi, and The Cong - a group of de-elected Democrats.
Evidently, I am one of The Founders. In the Breaking News section of the game, a news bulletin entitled "Hillary Clinton Finally Captured," dated March 15, 2011, begins:
"Upon receiving an anonymous tip, the forces of Jack Wheeler, Ollie North, and the CIA were able to track down and capture former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
I don't know the game designers, and just found out about this from Paul. But it's cool, don't you think?
That's the fun news. Now for the ominous news.
When will the next round of inflation hit, and how can we protect ourselves?
Many economists and commentators, including yours truly, have warned about the potential of a new round of high inflation due to the great expansion of government spending. But does an increase in government spending necessarily translate into higher inflation?
The answer is "no," but it most often does, and this is why. It's also why we are headed for the doom of Jimmy Carter's stagflation -- high unemployment and economic stagnation combined with high inflation -- on steroids.
Dear American Liberals, Leftists, Social Progressives, Socialists, Marxists, and Obama Supporters, et al:
As a law student, I have drawn up a divorce & separation agreement on behalf of my fellow Conservative Americans and you.
We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know, we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but, sadly, this relationship has run its course.
Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not ever agree on what is right, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, chalk it up to irreconcilable differences, and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
There is no more horrific tax than inflation. It can wipe out a lifetime of savings with ease. It's also the easiest way for politicians to escape fiscal jams of their creation.
Medicare, for example, goes cash-negative within 24 months from now. Its cost to taxpayers will mount almost exponentially in the years to come. There are only three ways to deal with the cost: raise taxes monumentally, cut benefits drastically, or inflate the value of the dollar to cover the ballooning cost.
Which one do you think Congress will choose?
There is a three-word solution to this, and TTP's favorite Paulista, economics professor John Nehring, had better be prepared or else his head will explode with excitement.
The three words are:
Or will Barack Obama and the Democratic party abandon Iraq prematurely, as the Democrats did South Vietnam?
Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have done their job. But Iraq needs energetic American diplomatic and political engagement to finish the job.
Iraqis have begged us to help them. They've pleaded with this administration to stay in the ring and referee their pols. But President Obama has disengaged.
Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey never put on a circus better than the one being played for your entertainment right now, today (11/06), on Capitol Hill. Pelosi Galore is in a state of screaming rage and panicked desperation, making every bribe and threat she can to get the votes for PelosiCare to pass tomorrow, Saturday.
She knows that if Members can go home for the weekend and get a load of their constituents' volcanic anger before the vote, her bill is toast. So hundreds of Members are having the Congressional Travel Office hold two flight reservations for them, one for this evening, another for tomorrow night. They are waiting for Steny Hoyer (Pelosi's Segundo) to complete his count.
Then, if he announces late this afternoon there will be a vote tomorrow, it means he thinks he has enough. If he announces a postponement, it means he doesn't.
As Jack Kelly says, bullying from a position of weakness isn't very smart. Trying to threaten people into committing suicide may work for Moslem crazies, but rarely for politicians, even Democrats. It is going to be so much fun watching this slow-motion train wreck.
