Happy Birthday Voltaire!

Il est dangereux d’avoir raison dans des choses où des hommes accrédités ont tort.

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.  Simple and profound, Voltaire explains in one sentence the danger faced by dissenters in the presense of a powerful, authoritarian central government. 

Happy Birthday Voltaire, you were a true visionary.

Housing starts are bouncing back nicely!

Or so says a poster on one of the forums I frequent, referring to the news reports about same.  Captain Capitalism disagrees, pointing out that the reported "surge" in housing starts is a simple statistical manipulation of the data reported by the St. Louis Fed.  In fact all you need to do is limit the dataset and it paints a grand picture. 

Here is the surge that the oligarchs and their lackeys are proffering:

That certainly is a promising looking graph, and might make you feel good about the FED's MBS purchases (QE3 forever) and the actions of the federal government, but if you show all of the data, will you still feel that way?  What does it look like when you take off the limiter?

Owch, that sure looks like we're sitting square at the bottom, barely matching the lowest starts of the last 60 years worth of monthly starts.  When you take the same data but sum it up annually, it is even more telling.

So, is this a surge?  Or are we looking at the lowest number of housing starts since the FED started collecting the data?

The Constitution has no teeth

Without teeth the Constitution is just a piece of paper, conveniently ignored by the oligarchs and neither understood or studied by the people.  Some say the 2nd Amendment is what provides the teeth, and fundamentally I agree, but when your population has become so numb and dumb, what good are such a dull set of teeth?  We need real teeth.  Instead of relying on the vigilance of the population, the Constitution should be loaded with high-tension bear traps to catch politicians and prevent their tyranny.

As you know I've had lots of ideas for Constitutional Amendments.  Have a look, and tell me what you think.  Send me some of your own ideas too.

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2011/11/amend-constitution.html

• A Constitutional Amendment to require an annual balanced budget
• A Constitutional Amendment to clarify the Necessary and Proper Clause
• A Constitutional Amendment to define the term "General Welfare"
• A Constitutional Amendment to prohibit Line Item Vetos, Signing Statements, and to Clarify Limits on Executive Orders
• A Constitutional Amendment to clarify the terms of and to amend the Commerce Clause
• A Constitutional Amendment to strengthen the Second Amendment
• A Constitutional Amendment to strengthen the Tenth Amendment
• A Constitutional Amendment to restore sovereignty to the States

 

 

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-amendment-ideas.html

• A Constitutional Amendment to strengthen the Ninth Amendment
• A Constitutional Amendment to clarify the Supremacy Clause
• A Constitutional Amendment to bind Senators and Representatives to the Rule of Law
• A Constitutional Amendment to expand the definition of Treason
• A Constitutional Amendment to Codify Jury Nullification
• A Constitutional Amendment to Strengthen Habeas Corpus

 

 

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2012/06/another-amendment-that-will-never-get.html

• A Constitutional Amendment to restrict growth of government

 

 

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2012/05/national-debt-and-generational.html

• A Constitutional Amendment to tie borrowing to tax increases

 

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2012/06/sunshine-and-term-limits.html

• A Constitutional Amendment to Prevent Unread bills from becoming Law
• A Constitutional Amendment to Limit the terms of elected officials

 

 

http://legendarykotetu.blogspot.com/2012/05/cuts-cuts-cuts.html

• Ideas for budget reforms.  About $1 trillion in cuts.

Remember to vote!

If you haven't already, go out and vote, now!  Don't fall for "the lesser of two evils," or some other pressure sale.  Vote on the issues.

Here's my number one issue:

Please support Detective Ali Perez and his family

Update:
The bake sale was a great success, pulling in a little over $500 in half an afternoon.  Thank you to everyone who participated, and thanks again to anyone who has donated. :)

***

My cousin Ali is a Detective with the San Diego Sheriffs.  Unfortunately, last month while arresting a child molestor he was shot in the shoulder and abdomen.  He's recovering well, but the family needs some help, as he's lost his overtime and his wife stopped working to stay with him in the hospital.  You can read about it here, here, and here.  This is the Deputy Sheriff's Association press release.

What we're going to do hold a bake sale to support the family. It's going to be held at Ali's and Gracie's Church, The Rock Church 2277 Rosecrans Street, San Diego, CA 92106 Room 232 from 12 PM to 3 PM on Saturday, November 10th.

If you're in the neighborhood, please come!  If you don't live nearby, please consider donating. The Deputy Sheriffs’ Association has set up an account for his family through San Diego County Credit Union, under “Detective Ali Perez Support Fund.” You can call the DSA Office at (858) 486-9009 x 100 to make a donation with a credit card.