Free Republic

One of the more-interesting discussions I've had over the years on a fairly consistent basis deals with the premise of prepping -- usually initiated by someone who's talking about a bug-out location, firearms, (freeze-dried or home-grown) food or (usually) all of the above. Let's dissect this a bit, because the word prepping or prepper describe a lot of different things -- and frankly, the more I hear about some of them the more I nod in approval at some, while smirking at others. I think it's time we have this discussion, particularly given the rather-precarious nature of our global economy...

Among the 110 California patients, 49 (45%) were unvaccinated; five (5%) had 1 dose of measles-containing vaccine, seven (6%) had 2 doses, one (1%) had 3 doses, 47 (43%) had unknown or undocumented vaccination status, and one (1%) had immunoglobulin G seropositivity documented, which indicates prior vaccination or measles infection at an undetermined time. Twelve of the unvaccinated patients were infants too young to be vaccinated. Among the 37 remaining vaccine-eligible patients, 28 (67%) were intentionally unvaccinated because of personal beliefs, and one was on an alternative plan for vaccination.

Of course the real story is being overlooked here... WASHINGTON – A Justice Department official on Friday defended the legality of a program to scoop up data from thousands of mobile phones as the secret operation came under scrutiny from lawmakers and caught the federal agency that regulates the nation’s airwaves by surprise. The Justice Department, without formally acknowledging the existence of the program, defended the legality of the operation by the U.S. Marshals Service, saying the agency doesn’t maintain a database of everyday Americans’ cellphones. Whether they maintain such a database is immaterial to the underlying issue, which is...

This is so cute.... "Gov Rick Perry has long been an advocate for border security. And since 2012, Gov. Perry has been warning President Barack Obama that a crisis is happening on the border between Texas and Mexico." "Today, President Barack Obama met with Gov. Perry to hear his concerns." "If you are like Gov. Rick Perry, and you agree that the federal government must take responsibility and secure our border, sign this petition." "Sign the Petition: Yes, I join Gov. Rick Perry in demanding the federal government take all necessary steps to secure our southern border." * * *...

How did this manage to find its way into print? Civilization was pretty great while it lasted, wasn't it? Too bad it's not going to for much longer. According to a new study sponsored by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, we only have a few decades left before everything we know and hold dear collapses. The report, written by applied mathematician Safa Motesharrei of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center along with a team of natural and social scientists, explains that modern civilization is doomed. And there's not just one particular group to blame, but the entire fundamental structure and nature...

According to Filippidis and his wife, Kally, they noticed an unmarked patrol car tailing them while traveling for Christmas and a family wedding in Woodridge, N.J. He claims the police car stayed with them for ten minutes. “We weren’t speeding. In fact, lots of other cars were whizzing past,” Filippidis told the Tampa Tribune. Eventually, the car’s emergency lights came on and he pulled the car over. The officer was reportedly with the Transportation Authority Police, “Maryland’s version of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority,” according to the report. It appears he was pulled over because of either an automated...

The Market Ticker is offline from October 11th-13th as a deliberate act to reduce to zero my economic activity, and thus taxable income, for those three days. On 9/11/2013 I went dark to protest the NSA's unconstitutional and outrageous acts of spying against American Citizens -- acts they claimed at the time were "catching terrorists" but which they were later forced to admit had interdicted not dozens of plots but perhaps "one or two." Despite this forced admission our Congress has refused, thus far, to force the dismantling of these outrageous, unconstitutional, ridiculously expensive and abusive programs. But the NSA...

In 2007 I began writing The Market Ticker due to the outrageous conduct of various branches in the Administration and portions of the Capital Markets. Endemic fraud in the financial system that had generated unbridled and outrageous credit creation threatened the collapse of our entire economic system. The consequence of this should have been thousands of indictments, prosecutions and imprisonments -- of banking executives, of members of Congress, of various executive branch officers in various agencies and more.  The banking system should have been forced to match assets to liabilities and either put up the margin to back their bets or...

You know me too, Frank -- we met at McStain's campaign shindig at the University Club in Washington DC in the summer of 2008. I recall that you and Governor Ridge both refused to take a stand on all the frauds in the mortgage market -- the very frauds that just a couple of months later led to the failure of Lehman, the market crash in general and the ensuing disaster. It figures that you're now the President and chief executive of the American Bankers Association [ABA]. It must be really, really awesome to have your candidate suspend his campaign...

This much has been determined yesterday -- The Fed could not handle a 2.8% 10 year Treasury rate. Nor could it handle any further increases. But consideration of the impact of this policy on the common man, along with the destruction of purchasing power and outright theft from the people who produce the services (and few goods remaining) in this nation was damned -- exactly as has been the case for the last three decades. What Bernanke did yesterday was guarantee a crash. He guaranteed it because he took what was a clear opportunity to take what had been priced...

[To Moderator - the title contained an obscene reference for one to do something physically impossible to oneself.] Mr. Lew, I know you continue to say that the Congress has "no choice" but to raise the debt limit. You're wrong. Congress has the choice to say no. You have a credit card but the limit is set not by your King but rather by Congress. And Congress has the right to cut that card up any time it so chooses. So says the Constitution: Article I Section 8: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts...

Are we, the people, going to allow yet another unlawful military action to take place? Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel suggested Friday that the Pentagon was moving naval forces closer to Syria in preparation for a possible decision by President Obama to order military strikes. Hagel declined to describe any specific movements of U.S. forces. He said Obama asked that the Pentagon to prepare military options for Syria and that some of those options "requires positioning our forces." I don't seem to recall a Declaration of War by Congress. And there is certainly no exigent emergency that requires an immediate response...

Last night I had a surreal experience at the American Legion building in Ft. Walton. If you live around here, you know where it is. There's a tank out front. It's a patriotic place. Last night it hosted The Republican Club of Okaloosa County for their regular meeting, dinner and a speaker -- in this case, Jeff Miller (R-FL-1) The food, hospitality, and crowd were a nice change from my usual evening routine (that often includes a nice hard run) but the surreal began when Mr. Miller stepped to the microphone. What followed was an astonishing display of fear, cowardice...

Listen up folks, after you read the bankruptcy filing for Detroit. 1. Right now, the City cannot meet its basic obligations to its citizens. 2. Right now, the City cannot meet its basic obligations to its creditors. 3. The failure of the City to meet its obligations to its citizens is the primary cause of its inability to meet its obligations to its creditors. 4. The only feasible path to ensuring the City will be able to meet obligations in the future is to have a successful restructuring via the bankruptcy process that recognizes the fundamental importance of ensuring the...

A very interesting thing happened in the Zimmerman fiasco. The state, in its closing rebuttal arguments, appealed to the hearts of the jury, not to the evidence. Florida is an odd state when it comes to criminal law. In most states the prosecution gets its closing argument, then the defense. In most states the defense goes last, which is in line with the premise that one is innocent until proved guilty, and the defense gets one last stab an introducing reasonable doubt. But in Florida the prosecution gets a rebuttal -- they get the last word before the jury retires...

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) cut its full-year earnings forecast and said second-quarter profit was below expectations, citing a slowing U.S. economy. The stock dropped 4.3 percent in early trading.

There are a lot of hard-headed people out in the investment and banking world. Most of them are hard-headed because they have never known anything else. A few are a bit smarter -- they know that their business model is cooked if the underlying assumptions change and they're being intentionally dishonest in trying to grab the last few nickels in front of the steamroller, and to hell with you (their customer.) Then there are those who have it figured out and are attempting to find a way to adapt to what is going to happen. More than 30 years ago...

Greece and, for that matter, the rest of Europe are showing cracks again this morning. The Dollar is screaming higher (how's that "dollar collapse" thesis working out?) Gold is around $1,200; up fractionally on the day, but in general not in good shape -- and making a mockery of the "Gold to $5,000" callers. Interest rates are again going up, while The Fed is trying to claim that they really didn't say that they were going to taper. But that's a lie, because they have to stop the QE. This isn't about wanting to exit, it's about being forced to...

The head of the country’s National Security Agency testified Wednesday that surveillance has stopped “dozens” of potential terrorist attacks by looking at the phone records, emails and other Internet searches of people suspected of terrorism-related incidents. I will note that there was not one challenge to Alexander's statement. This means, incidentally, that The Senate is intentionally complicit in his lie. Why do I level this charge? Because terrorism, and attempted terrorism, is a crime and to the extent that it occurred in the United States those crimes would result in arrests, indictments, prosecutions and convictions, none of which are or...

Obama: Now You're F*ed The Market Ticker ®Karl Denninger June 3, 2013 Hoh hoh hoh.... 'Did [your supervisor] give you any indication of the need for the search [for tea party groups], any more context?' one IRS witness was asked in a closed-door interview. 'He told me that Washington, D.C., wanted some cases,' came the reply. The employee, who said he or she was evaluating 40 such applications for tax-exempt status from conservative organizations at the time, said 'some went to Washington. D.C. ... I sent seven.' They'll find the evidence of this; emails, phone records, whatever. It exists and...