Monday, January 21, 2013

NYT: Socialist model falling apart in CA

The Gray Lady Confirms Blue Civil War
By Walter Russell Mead

You know the blue model is in serious trouble when even New York Times writers turn against it. Yesterday dyed-in-the-wool Democrat Thomas Edsall responded to Via Meadia‘s take on blue model collapse. In his response he struggles mightily with the bluer angels of his nature, calling our take “apocalyptic,” but in the end admits that 20th-century liberalism is in serious trouble:
Dozens of city and state public employee pension plans are on the verge of bankruptcy—or are actually bankrupt—from Rhode Island to California; in 2010, a survey of 126 state and local plans showed assets of $2.7 trillion and liabilities of $3.5 trillion, an $800 billion shortfall. The national debt exceeds $16 trillion.
The result is that the different power blocks that make up the Democratic base are trampling each other in a rush to grab the last rents of the dying blue system:
In cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Houston, African-Americans are competing with Hispanics and others for government jobs, good schools, good neighborhoods, political power and basic resources.
Twentieth-century liberalism is a victim of its own success: it gave us longer and more prosperous lives, in turn putting tremendous pressure on social services and pensions. The result is the fragmenting coalition Edsall points to. Though he places part of the blame for the blue civil war on Republican-backed austerity measures, Edsall admits that demographic shifts and outmoded ways of delivering social services also played a role.
The reality of blue model decline is so obvious that nobody can ignore it any longer.

Why collectivism is doomed and the next great crisis will massively shift America toward conservatism


By Mike Adams


There is a very good reason why people who live in cities tend to be liberal while those who live in rural areas tend to be conservative. In a city, the existence of nearby neighbors, the shared dependence on infrastructure and the close proximity of police stations automatically lends itself to a socialist mindset. On issues like guns, city people seem to be unable to imagine why anyone would “need” a rifle, for example, and because all guns scare them, they would prefer to force everyone across the country to turn them all in.
People who live in rural areas, in great contrast, have every reason to be more conservative and independent. Their local sheriff might be 30 minutes away in an emergency, meaning that self protection is truly up to you and can’t simply be delegated to someone else. Self-reliance means survival. In rural living, firearms are absolutely necessary tools to protect your animals from predators, eliminate varmints that are destroying your garden, and provide real security for legitimate threats to your safety. People who live in cities tend not to be able to understand these things because they can’t imagine country life.
Because cities pack so many people in such a small space, there is a commonsense basis for lots of little laws and regulations on things like noise, littering and even your car’s emissions. After all, one incredibly noisy person living in an apartment can prevent a hundred people from getting to sleep, so noise ordinances make sense where people live in close proximity.
Out in the country, where the nearest house might be a quarter-mile away, noise ordinances make no sense. Regulations on every little detail of the lives of the people simply don’t fly.
FACT: Today, about 80% of the U.S. population lives in cities.
The political divide in America today is largely a division of “city folks” versus “country folks”
City people tend to be socialist-minded. Their motto is: Conform! Obey! Be part of the collective!


Country people tend to be libertarian-minded. Their motto is: Survive! Work hard! Stand out as an individual!
City people are afraid of non-conformity. They’re afraid of tractors, guns, farm animals and anything else they don’t understand.
Country people are afraid of being told what to do by a bunch of city people who have no clue where their food comes from, where water comes from, what “growing seasons” are, or how to survive in the real world.
City people tend to believe in “living off the government” and collective welfare and other entitlements wherever possible.


Country people tend to believe in “living off the land” and finding ways to survive on their own or with the help of family. They feel a sense of personal shame if driven to use food stamps or other forms of welfare.
City people tend to vote democratic because democrats reflect the lean toward socialism and everything socialism brings them: welfare, subsidized housing, conformity, obedience, etc.
Country people tend to vote Republican because Republicans reflect more of a rugged individualism mindset that encourages business ownership, financial savings and living a more free life with fewer regulations and government controls.
If you look at every voting map of America over the last few years, you’ll find that rural areas overwhelmingly voted Republican while urban areas overwhelmingly voted Democrat. The following map shows the congressional district results from the 2010 election:
Modern-day cities are artificial constructs ripe for collapse
Cities are artificial constructs. They are not the “real world.” Cities only exist because a massive amount of energy is expended to import water, food, electricity, consumer goods, fuel and other items to the people living there.
Cities offer tremendous advantages to residents, of course, including convenience, efficiencies of commerce, shared defenses against the wilderness, specialization of the workforce, a critical mass of population needed to offer universities, and so on. People live in cities precisely because cities seem to offer them more advantages than living in the country. For most people, this comes down to a single answer: JOBS.
Most people can’t find work in the country, so they live in cities in order to get a job. Unfortunately, living in the city is far more expensive than living in the country, so much of their paycheck goes to paying the rent on their expensive city apartment, parking permits, higher food costs and so on.
Ultimately, however, cities are death traps. Let’s look at Los Angeles as the perfect example of why this is the case.
Example: Why Los Angeles is a death trap
• LA has no inherent water supply. Virtually all the water used throughout the region must be imported and pumped over a mountain range at great cost. This pumping of water is entirely dependent on the power grid remaining functional.
• LA is incapable of being evacuated. The population density of the city is mathematically far too great to be evacuated via the limited number of roadways exiting the city.
• LA has multiple points of systemic failure. If the power grid goes down, LA is finished. If the water supply stops pumping, LA is finished. If farmers go on strike and stop producing food for the cities, LA is finished. If the police stand down or quit, LA is finished. If gasoline and fuel supplies are cut off, LA is finished. If the sewer and sanitation systems fail, LA is finished.
• LA has a scary population density of about 7,000 people per square mile. That’s the highest of any city in the USA. This population density results in almost immediate panic and violence in any collapse scenario. Humans are not biologically designed to live in such high density environments.
• LA is infested with gangs that are barely kept under control right now. Those gangs would love nothing better than the see law enforcement go on strike or a power grid failure or some other kind of systemic collapse. That would give them the opportunity to go on the offensive and start looting, pillaging and murdering.
There are more reasons why LA is a death trap, but these five should paint the picture clearly enough. And it’s not just LA, of course. Here are the top 20 death traps in America today…
The top 20 death traps in America
Source: 2010 census
1) New York City
2) Los Angeles
3) Chicago
4) Miami
5) Philadelphia
6) Dallas-Fort Worth
7) Houston
8) Washington D.C.
9) Atlanta
10) Boston
11) Detroit
12) Phoenix
13) San Francisco
14) Seattle
15) San Diego
16) Minneapolis
17) Tampa
18) Denver
19) Baltimore
20) St. Louis
While all of these cities are death traps, each has its own unique risks and vulnerabilities. Phoenix, for example, is especially susceptible to disruptions in the water supply. New York City is geographically cut off from the mainland and can easily be crippled by the destruction of its bridges. Houston and Miami are susceptible to hurricanes. Denver is heavily targeted by Russian nukes, and so on.
The more dense cities become, the more insane their leadership becomes
One thing you’ll notice about this list is that the mayors and city council members of these cities tend to be some of the most outrageously insane people walking the planet today.
Why is that? Those who have a kind of mental sickness that causes them to seek control over others naturally flock to the highest population density areas where they can attempt to control as many people as possible. This is one reason why cities become home to control freaks who seek total domination over the private lives of everyone else.
New York City mayor Bloomberg, for example, wants to control the sizes of sodas you can buy, whether or not you get painkillers in the hospital emergency room and even how much rent landlords can charge tenants. If he could get away with it, he would probably also like to control how many square sheets of toilet paper you wipe with and how many times you chew each bite of food before swallowing. Control freaks love cities because that’s where people can more easily be dominated. Citizens of cities tend to be more obedient and conformist than people living in rural areas. Plus, city folks are generally not as well armed, making them easy to dominate by force, if necessary.
“Any government that does not trust its citizens with firearms is either a tyranny, or planning to become one.” – Joseph P. Martino, author of Resistance to Tyranny.
Community leaders of rural areas tend to be less insane and more practical than city leaders. That’s because people know each other better, so there’s more trust and reputation familiarity in small towns than in large cities. Plus, leaders of small towns know that if they try to become tyrants, some local rancher will just put a bullet in their head with a long-range hunting rifle. It’s that kind of awareness that helps keep community leaders honest and accountable.
Why the coming collapse will shift America away from liberalism and toward conservatism
Here’s the real point of this entire article. I wanted to start with this but needed everything above to provide the appropriate background and context.
Pick your crisis, any crisis: Global debt collapse, solar flare followed by power grid failure, EMP weapon strike by North Korea causing power grid failure, biological weapons attack, martial law declaration followed by civil war, etc. In any sufficiently large scenario, the cities become death traps.
• A sustained power grid failure (lasting several months) would likely result in something approaching an 80% fatality rate for those living in cities.
• A biological weapon release could easily cause a 30% fatality rate for those in the cities.
• An economic collapse (bank failures, etc.) could also see mass casualties across U.S. cities due to starvation, disease, outbreaks of violence and so on.
Aside from the devastating human cost of such scenarios, which I won’t really focus on because that’s not the point of this article, the net effect of any mass die-off would be a shifting of the population toward individualism, conservatism and country living.
A mass die-off of people living in cities, in other words, is essentially a mass die-off of Obama voters (or more liberal-minded, socialist-minded people). This is one reason why rugged individuals, survivalists, preppers and rural people are ultimately going to be in the majority: because crisis comes to civilization with surprising regularity. Every crisis resulting in a mass die-off inevitably kills those who are less able to survive because they are living as parasites on a system that will ultimately fail them. The true long-term survivors are those who live and breathe independence, self-reliance and personal defense.
To put all this another way, collectivists don’t survive very long in a real crisis. Because they live their lives dependent on the system, they have lost the skills — and the spirit — to survive on their own.
The cycles of civilization
As populations tend to become more lazy, apathetic and dependent over time (enjoying the spoils of abundance and innovation their ancestors put in place), populations tend to slide toward collectivism as long as conditions allow. Click here to see my related video called the Cycle of Civilization.
This brings us to the following conclusion:
As population rises, nations tend to slide toward collectivism / socialism until there is a die-off crisis, at which point those remaining will largely be proponents of conservatism and libertarianism.
This is one of the reasons why civilizations tend to go through predictable cycles: After abundance and innovation comes apathy and collectivism. Then corruption, exploitation, a stripping of liberties and so on. This is then followed by revolution and a new era of freedom which creates abundance and innovation. Then the cycle repeats.
Today, America is in the downward stroke of the collectivism cycle, with the government having already crossed the threshold into criminal corruption, and now the effort to strip all rights from the people is well under way. History shows us that this will be followed by a dark period of intense violations of human rights, then a revolution and a new era of freedom.
But this cycle can be interrupted at any time with a sufficiently large crisis that causes a mass die-off. This is because die-offs are not equally applied across the population. It is the collectivist-minded societal parasite who is far more likely to die in any crisis than a productive, individual-minded taxpayer who currently supports the system.
The silver lining for the future of human civilization
In one sense, this is the silver lining that emerges from any potential crisis. While massive loss of life is always tragic, it may be precisely the thing that jolts a civilization out of its downward spiral of collectivism and restarts the engine of individualism and innovation that results in real progress.
Put another way, it is difficult to imagine the United States of America, as it exists today, achieving anything really profound in the sciences, space exploration, physics or human understanding because the nation is presently caught in a suffocating debt spiral consumed by paying out entitlements to a growing class of parasitic takers who contribute nothing meaningful to humankind. We have become, in part, a nation of mindless consumers whose lives really make no different whatsoever to the advancement of humanity. Should a crisis emerge that results in a massive die-off of the parasitic “takers,” although the tragic loss of life would be immense, it would also have the effect of vastly reducing the masses who are holding back civilization from real progress in human understanding and achievement. For the record, in no way does this mean I wish for such an outcome nor endorse any such outcome. I have long been a defender of life, and I have no desire to see anyone suffer or die. I am merely discussing cause and effect and how demographics shift due to large-scale crisis.
I have heard this crudely (and incorrectly) paraphrased with the statement that, “What America really needs right now is a massive die-off to purge all the useless eaters.” That’s not what I’m saying, and it smacks of a desire to engage in genocide.
Instead, what I’m saying is that cities tend to breed a “failure” mindset that infects the population and turns otherwise productive and rugged people into pathetic, spineless, obedient cowards. This explains why nobody fought back during the Aurora, Colorado shooting carried out by James Holmes. It explains why people call 911 after an intruder has already smashed down their front door, screaming into the phone, “SHOULD I SHOOT THEM?” (And it also explains why 911 operators reply with, “No! Don’t shoot!”) It explains why city people tend to go along with tyranny and oppression.
It explains why humanity is stalled in a cycle of pathetic conformity, raising a generation of over-Google-fied morons who have lost all imagination and are but a shadow of their ancestors. The convenience of city life has, with some exceptions of course, produced apathy, timidity and acquiescence. The real values of progress — innovation, invention, determination and self-reliance — are now far more prevalent in rural-minded citizens who are strong, rugged survivors and explorers. (You want to see the future of humanity? Home-schooled children.)
That’s the kind of mindset that’s going to help human civilization reach for the stars. It’s going to take courage, innovation and risk — all the things that a “city mindset” sucks out of our souls and diminishes in our minds.
Cities are the last refuge of the weak-willed, weak-minded and conformist socialbots.And that’s why they will suffer a disproportionate number of fatalities in any sufficiently severe collapse.
You want to survive? Learn country living
If you are a rural-minded person still living in a city, and you can’t wait to get out of the city, the time to act on it is now. Get out to the country, learn some real-world living skills, toughen your will and sharpen your mind.
You will learn more in ONE YEAR of living on a working farm then you did in four years of college. The best education I ever got was living on a ranch in central Texas. It turned me into a hard-core survivor and problem solver who can overcome almost anything the universe might throw our way.


http://www.infowars.com/why-collectivism-is-doomed-and-the-next-great-crisis-will-massively-shift-america-toward-conservatism/

Friday, January 18, 2013

West Point vs America


There is disturbing news out of West Point this week.


“It says anti-federalists “espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights.”

And so West Point thinks that makes constitutional conservatives a violent threat to overthrow the government??  What?

Do they know what the United States of America is?  The United States of America is a republic form government (not a democracy) that forms a union between the several sovereign states via the Constitution.  Our forefathers had just fought a war against Tyranny.  They took every step necessary to prevent tyranny and to preserve the rights of the individual and the sovereignty of the States, while allowing for necessary federal level organization and arbitration.  "powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the States, are reserved to the States or the people."

Do they know what an anti-federalist is?  Anti-Federalism began as a movement opposed to increasingly stronger U.S. federal government.  Yes, they  originally opposed the signing of the constitution in its current form  But why?  Because they worried, among other things, that the position of president, then a novelty, might evolve into a monarchy.  The US Government, as it is defined by the Constitution, has no fear from anti-federalists (if any still exist).  However, individual power hungry politicians who are high on government over-reach and don't want to get voted out may.

Do they remember their vow to protect the constitution?  Given that candidates to west point are usually recommended or appointed there by senators, this may well be a conflict of interest, </snark> but they DO take the vow to protect the constitution.

Constitutional and fiscal conservatives believe in the federal government:  The foundation, structure and military that our constitution sets forth is sound.  And they want to protect that, not destroy it.

However, the facts remain facts: Many politicians in our federal government are corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights.  We simply have far too many people in these otherwise valid federal government positions and offices that hold ideologies that are either anti-American, or simply greedy & selfish.

This is the nature of humans and power.  Power corrupts.  The more power the more corruption.  The federal government as expanded beyond it's intended power base and needs to be reined in.  We are a nation of laws.  Laws depend on both legislation and precedent.   We need to remove the corrupt, and set the precedent that when the federal government over expands, we will contract it.  Stripping them of certain powers with explicit legislation -even constitutional convention if necessary - since they apparently can't read the constitution as it is.

Over the years, the power hungry have boiled the frog.  Step by step, going over the slippery slope until the federal government is so far removed from the public that they no longer represent us. 

But still, we do not advocate violent protest or the violent overthrow of  our government.  The pen is mightier than the sword.

America:  The federal government is not lost.  Your vote still counts.  And if we can remove voter fraud, teach our children, educate the public and de-fund the conflict of interest that is government dependent voters, then we can make it count for more.

We must take our offices back, and remind them who they work for.  We must remove the current trappings and privileges of public office.  As public servants, they should not have the luxuries and life-long reassurances that "rich and powerful" men and women have.

There is an old saying "Anyone who wants to be king is not fit to be king".  We need statesmen, not politicians.  The job should be a duty, not a country club.

  • Defund extravagances. Restrict tax funded expenses. 
  • Set term limits. 
  • Ban pork on legislation.  Limit bills to 1500 words and a single topic. 
  • Restrict campaign funding - allow no contributions, give everyone a set limit they can spend & no more. 
  • Remove executive privilege.
  • Have congress men stay in state with their constituents & vote remotely, so as not to get "DC living mentality"

The evidence of failed socialism



Today the evidence of failed socialism is encapsulated in Detroit and in states like California and New York. Yet still, the left wants to blame others for their demise. Today Detroit is a wasteland of bankrupt ideology. The only thing left standing in Detroit is the staleness of hate.

It would seem simple enough for anyone with a grade school education to connect the dots between success of entrepreneurialism and its demise by overzealous government, taxation, and regulation. Below are two maps indicating the correlation of this phenomenon.

Anyone looking at those maps with average intelligence would at least scratch their head in thought—unless they are blinded by hate or some other agenda.

Democrat politicians are taking advantage of the poor by creating the idea that successful people are inherently evil. Obama knows that, and that is why his campaign will drive a wedge into “evil capitalism” and the “evil wealthy.”  Truth is to be ignored by many on the left and replaced with the Utopian idea of “equality for all.” I’ll put that in the same bucket as “World Peace” and “Coexist“. It’s a nice dream, and we should always work toward peace, but most of us live in reality, not fantasy. 

 






 

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Who was Thomas Jefferson ?

Credit unknown

Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.
  • At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.
  • At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
  • At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
  • At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.
  • At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
  • At 23, started his own law practice.
  • At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
  • At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America? And retired from his law practice.
  • At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
  • At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.
  • At 33, took three years to revise Virginia's legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
  • At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
  • At 40, served in Congress for two years.
  • At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
  • At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
  • At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
  • At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
  • At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.
  • At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.
  • At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
  • At 65, retired to Monticello.
  • At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
  • At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
  • At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."


Thomas Jefferson Quotes:

  • "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."
  • The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
  • "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."
  • "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
  • "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
  • "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
  • "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
  • "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
  • "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
  • "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Is Civil War Coming to the USA again?

With the interest in emergency food storage and disaster/crisis preparation at an all time high, and with DHS and the American public both buying up all the guns and ammunition they can find, are we subconsciously asking ourselves: is Civil War Coming to the USA again?

A few supporting ideas & articles:
 
Americans aren't buying AR-15s in record numbers just so they have something to turn in in "gun ban day"
As discussed before, Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) proposed legislation to ban so-called "assault weapons" would amount to gun confiscation for many tens of thousands of peaceable, responsible, law abiding Americans. For the rest of the owners of these politically incorrect firearms, Feinstein's (as yet unreleased, but described in some detail) bill would merely mean a requirement for registration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

Saying that the legislation would "merely mean registration" somewhat implies that registration does not lead to confiscation--that ease of confiscation is not, indeed, pretty much the point of registration. That notion is probably a tough sell for anyone who has followed the history of gun politics, both in the U.S. and abroad. Feinstein's home state, in fact, received "extra credit" in the Brady Campaign's ranking of states for anti-gun tyranny, specifically for using the gun registry for the purpose of wholesale confiscations.

Meanwhile, Americans are buying so-called "assault weapons" at a pace never seen before, and gun shows are packed like never before (see sidebar video), with "assault weapons," and ammo in calibers most associated with such firearms being by far the most highly sought items.

Ammunition and accessories, AR-15 magazines (of any size), upper receivers, and ammunition in .223 Remington or 5.56mm NATO are simply not to be had (generally not even via backorder)--and the rest of the gun retail world is in the same boat.

Think about that. With the specter of registration (not to mention confiscation) looming, Americans are buying precisely the things to be registered (not to mention confiscated) faster than manufacturers and distributors can keep up.
Even the idea that much of the buying is with an eye toward selling at a profit later does not make much sense, as Feinstein's law would make resale illegal.

People don't buy expensive (especially expensive now) gear just to have something to turn over to Feinstein when she finally gets to say, "Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in." The kind of American most likely to want AR-15s tends also to be the type least eager to register them with the government--particularly not a government agency as historically hostile to private gun ownership as is the BATFE.

In other words, Feinstein proposes to make millions of new "gun criminals" out of decent Americans. So be it. How does she intend to arrest us, and whom does she propose do the arresting?

http://www.examiner.com/article/americans-aren-t-buying-assault-weapons-just-to-have-something-to-register




President Obama has ordered Homeland security to "Prepare for Civil War"

Homeland Security Prepares for Civil War
By Jack Swint

Its Clear Our Military Is No Longer The Nation's Only Standing Army When It Comes To Killing Power

Over the past 2 weeks, everyone from the mainstream media to bloggers and conspiracy theorists have questioned the government's mass purchasing of ammunition for federal agencies like the National Weather Service and even the Social Security Administration. Combined, both agencies ordered over 210,000 rounds. This ammunition is mostly made up of "hollow point" bullets, which are designed strictly for maximum damage to the human body and have been outlawed for use in warfare since 1969.

On the surface, these purchases alone are scary enough and raise questions as to why these unlikely agencies need any amounts of ammo, especially bullets that have been outlawed. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has given no specific response to questions regarding their purchase of 174,00 rounds. They said their "agents' need them. But, keep this in mind:  the SSA only deals with US Citizens in America. The SSA has never been involved with anything outside of this country for any reason. And what do they need with armed agents?  All SSA offices employ private contracted security for their offices.

The feds have actually ordered over 1 billion rounds of ammo in 2012 alone. They received 750,000,000 in March and are awaiting another 450,000,000 arriving soon. All in conjunction with large-scale orders for riot gear, bulletproof checkpoint outposts with red and green stoplights, human shaped paper practice targets, and other crowd control and containment equipment.
The federal government is expecting either a catastrophic financial collapse that could provoke nationwide food riots and all out civil unrest, another civil war
There is no "conspiracy theory" here.  The federal government is expecting either a catastrophic financial collapse that could provoke nationwide food riots and all out civil unrest, another civil war, or even Armageddon. All in the very near future. Some theorize that the mass purchase of ammunition is an attempt to hoard as much as possible from the American public whom the feds believe may be in preparation for civil war right now.

High-level, reliable sources inside Homeland Security, claim the agency is preparing for a massive civil war in America. The DHS source states that the federal government foresees and prepares for a massive civil revolt. "Every time you hear about troop movements, military equipment, the militarization of the police, and the buying of the ammunition in the US, all of this is orchestrated by the DHS who are reportedly preparing for a massive uprising."

The concerns of the DHS stem from their belief in an impending collapse of the U.S. dollar as the the world's primary reserve currency, and their fear that a significant portion of the population is already armed and will rise up over the crash of our monetary system.
"We are preparing, we, meaning the government, we are preparing for a massive civil war in this country."
Since Celente's "Civil War' prediction of last year, President Obama signed executive orders known as the National Defense Resources Preparedness, which are politically damaging actions taken by a sitting president.  Of course, he also signed the National Defense Authorization Act, abolishing habeas corpus and the Bill or Rights, and permitting indefinite detention without charge or trial of American citizens at home and abroad.  He further claims the power to murder American citizens without indictment, trial or conviction upon his finding that they support or substantially assist an enemy of the United States or one of its allies.  Let the firing squads begin.

And most recently, additional requests made by the DHS for another procurement of 750 million rounds of hollow-point ammunition only fuels speculation of an upcoming tragic event expected on American soil.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Homeland-Security-s-Intent-by-Jack-Swint-120821-433.html

 Americans are preparing for Civil War

"Liberals like President Obama hold gun owners in contempt. Many expect further gun control laws, especially on assault weapons. America is responding by purchasing firearms in a hurried pace. Are lawful Americans preparing for civil war?"

By Bob Owens

Most of the downtown shops, in fact, weren’t doing much business except the two gun stores.  There were no less than six clerks working feverishly with the dozen or so customers, so I simply stepped to the side and walked the aisles. The cases of ammunition that typically lined the far wall were picked to pieces.

They didn’t know when they’d be getting anything back in stock, from magazines to rifles to pistols. Manufacturers were running full-bore, but couldn’t come close to keeping up with market demand.It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands , M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.

I wonder if this is what it felt like during the time of the Powder Alarm of 1774, and fear politicians both sides of the aisle are no more speaking the same language as most Americans as Gage was unable to think like the Colonials. There is an earnestness now on both sides, and a great chance for unintended consequences. 
http://www.bob-owens.com/2012/12/something-funny-happened-on-the-way-to-the-tyranny/


Monday, January 7, 2013

The Socialist Coup is Nearly Complete

by Welshman at The Liberty Sphere.

Good evening, dear reader, and welcome to another episode of my infamous "Musings After Midnight" during which I ruminate and cogitate over the state of the country, usually on sleepless nights well after midnight.

I invite you to participate in these exercises with me for the purpose of fostering fellowship and goodwill among like minded people who share my alarm over the state and direction of the nation. We are very much in this together, and we need to know that we are not alone in the battle.

I happen to know that there are millions of us out there who are not only deeply alarmed about what we face at this dire hour but who are contemplating what they wish to do about it.

And so, here we are -- a place where we can gather to give deep and careful consideration to these matters of extreme importance.

This is why I invite you to warm yourself by the virtual fire and avail yourself of warming beverages, virtual of course. But in this age of the Internet, virtual reality often closely mirrors real life, and indeed, what we experience online can be ultimate "real life," provided it is grounded in what's real rather than fantasy.

It has been cold here in the mountains and Piedmont of the Carolinas, and many areas have snow on the ground. So it's a good time to gather and ponder.

My subject today may come as no surprise or news to many of you. Those who regularly visit these pages tend to be the most well informed citizens in America. And thus, you know as well as I do that in spite of all of our talk of staving off a coup by forces that neither recognize nor value the final authority of the Constitution as the ultimate rule of law in this land, in a very real sense we have already been seized in a war-less, bloodless coup.

No shots were fired. No one was killed. No army tanks rolled in the streets. No one announced from loud speakers that we were being taken over by a malevolent force. Yet the coup is every bit as real as if these things had happened.

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 and his subsequent reelection in 2012 is the culmination of that coup that has been in the making for nearly 50 years. None of this happened overnight. It wasn't as if suddenly out of the blue over 50 percent of our fellow citizens decided on a whim that they were going to discard the founding principles and put into office a man who represents something our Founders detested. The forces of evil that perpetrated this coup have been working tirelessly, relentlessly behind the scenes for nearly 50 years to get the country to this point.

There is some disagreement as to when the coup actually began. But this is, in the final analysis, irrelevant. Several factors were at play from the beginning, all happening simultaneously. The nitpickers can argue over which occurred first. But the fact remains that all of these circumstances came together at roughly the same time to form the foundation of the coup that would culminate nearly 50 years later.

One of these factors is the disintegration of the American system of education, both at the primary and secondary level, and at the higher level in academia. After World War II, a distinct change began taking place in education that would forever change the thinking of generations of young Americans. No longer was the United States viewed in the classroom as a force for good but as a symbol of evil. Marxism was hailed as the ultimate force of good. Religion was no longer viewed as an essential adjunct in the development of decent, well rounded citizens. Rather, religion was held up to disdain, a force of oppression that must be eradicated through ridicule, dismissal, and neglect. And American exceptionalism was no longer taught but a subtle, sometimes overt, notion that other cultures and nations were somehow superior to our belief that America was the ultimate pinnacle of freedom and prosperity in the world took hold in the classroom that led to an outright hatred for America by the 1960s, a hatred so deep that professors such as Bill Ayers, close friend and financier of Barack Obama, was bombing federal buildings and urging teenagers to kill their parents.

Closely related to this development was the advent of what has become known as America's "collective guilt" regarding racial discrimination in the past. Somehow white people today are supposed to take on the blame for what others did centuries ago, leading to displays of such overreach as to be laughable, such as the feeling that we need to make financial "reparations" to people of minority races for what our ancestors did to their ancestors, although none of us living today had one thing to do with any of it. And I am deeply convinced that the apparent compulsion of many liberal whites to vote for Barack Obama, against their better judgment, stems directly from this "white collective guilt" that has been foisted on them by an educational system that is stacked in favor of minorities and those who hate America.

At the same time these events were occurring, an alarming fact became known to American liberals in the Democratic Party that led to a proactive change in a key area of American life. During the late 50s and into the 60s the powers that be in the liberal/progressive intelligentsia began to notice that Democrats were showing signs of weakness, even as Lyndon Johnson enjoyed skyrocketing approval numbers and Democrats practically owned both houses of Congress with overwhelming majorities. Some cracks were seen developing in the walls. And the harsh truth became clear -- unless the Democratic Party found a way to expand its base in the future it would be relegated to permanent minority party status.

Why? Because whites were abandoning the Party in droves. My own grandfather, for example, had been a lifelong Democrat, a union member. But the 60s forced him to change his thinking. He began to feel as if he no longer recognized the Party to which he had long professed unquestioned loyalty. By 1980 he told me that he was voting for Ronald Reagan. He said, "I did not change. They did. They left me behind."

Such was the thinking of millions of citizens who would come to be known as "Reagan Democrats."

Some within the Democratic Party foresaw what was coming as far back as the 1960s. Lyndon Johnson was one of them. Thus, Johnson made a major, far-reaching change in the immigration policy of the United States.

Liberals were losing whites. The already had 98 percent of the blacks in their pockets. There was no group left from which to draw, unless they could devise a strategy for producing a new minority group that could help propel them to majority status. But such a thing would mean they would have to go outside the country.

This they did. Johnson changed the formula for who was allowed to immigrate to the United States. Until the 1960s immigration and naturalization had favored Europeans. After the Johnson change, the formula would favor Hispanics and limits would be placed on the number of Europeans allowed to immigrate and become naturalized.

I distinctly remember when the change took place even as a school boy. When I came through elementary school the foreign language everyone was required to learn was French. But by the time I reached junior high and high school, the preferred second language had shifted to Spanish.

When I inquired as to the reason for the change, I was told by an educator that students were encouraged to learn Spanish because of "all of the new Hispanic immigrants coming into the country."

Now, I have no problem whatsoever with Hispanics, or Latinos, or others from the Spanish speaking world. But at the time U.S. policy shifted toward them, the reason was purely political. They were being used as pawns for someone's ulterior political motives, namely, liberals and Democrats. At the time, such persons were impoverished, much more so than Europeans. And thus, they were tailor made for American politicians who pandered to such persons, promising them everything from low cost housing, free medical care, free public education for their children, all at taxpayer expense.

In short, the Democrats figured out that they could buy the votes, bribe Hispanics into being Democrats for life.

In time, this proved invaluable. The Democrats put together a coalition of minority groups -- blacks, Hispanics, radical feminists, anti-capitalists, pro-union Marxists, dependents who are addicted to big government programs, etc., enough to beat Republicans who still rely on whites to win elections.

Liberal Democrat demagogue Sam Donaldson, who masquerades as a journalist, told Chris Matthews last week that he got angry over Tea Party assertions that they "wished to take their country back." "Well," he said, "It is not your country any more. It is our country." He then went on to recount how the Democrats put together a coalition of minorities, denoting major "changes" in America over the past 20 years.

Everyone who sat on Matthews' panel at MSNBC that day nodded their heads approvingly of Donaldson's remarks.

Now, to a degree he is right. But not entirely. Things have, indeed, changed to the point to where a politician can demagogue his way to office by pandering to a half dozen or so minority groups--just enough to squeak out a win. But what Donaldson curiously failed to say was that it is only when Democrats succeed in getting all minorities on the same page can they win.

Had only 2 percent or so of the Hispanic vote gone the other way to Romney, for example, then the outcome of the presidential election would have been very different. That is a razor thin margin and points to the fragility of the minority coalition the liberals have managed to put together.

Many pundits have mused that had Romney simply gone directly to the Hispanic community and noted how their values and ours are one and the same, and pointed out the reasons why American taxpayers do not support endless giveaway programs but wish to help the poor become self-sufficient, he could have won enough Hispanic votes to put him over the top. George W. Bush was able to do so, for example. And contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not the immigration issue that turns Hispanics against Republicans and conservatives. Legitimate Hispanic citizens who came here legally and went through the lawful process of being naturalized have just as much resentment toward lawbreakers from Mexico who seek to get ahead of the line illegally as do American taxpayers.

Thus, there are ways to get Hispanics on board with us.

But as it stands now, Hispanic citizens who voted for Obama have been duped by political opportunists who do not care about them at all but see them only as pawns in a political game. And they have inadvertently participated in a coup, a takeover of the American system of government that has rendered our Constitution meaningless.

I do not believe most Hispanics want that kind of society. But in order to change it, they must be made of aware of what has happened and how they played a role. Many whites also played a role.

And now that the coup has been completed, the real agenda of the progressive minions has come to the forefront. It is not gun control they want but gun CONFISCATION. It is not "reasonable restrictions" they want but outright gun BANS. They do not want to leave law abiding citizens alone but wish to fingerprint and register us if we want to own certain types of firearms.

What part of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" do they not get? The fact is, they get it, and they are going to violate it. And this is my whole point. These people have a deep, abiding disdain for the Constitution and the rights guaranteed therein. And they WILL disregard our rights.

This is lawless, bloodthirsty tyranny of the worst sort, my friends. Our Founders would not be shooting right now. The shooting would be long over and done. And Jefferson, Madison, Henry, Franklin, and Adams would either have the perpetrators in prison, or they would have them swinging from the nearest trees.

What we are facing right now in America is the proverbial line in the sand. Are we going to let them confiscate firearms as they did in Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, or Communist China? Are we going to allow ourselves to be fingerprinted and registered?

I say no.

So what are they doing to do? Arrest us all?

And if they send army tanks down the middle of the streets to quell an uprising of citizens, are they going to blow the heads off of the lone citizens who, as did the courageous anti-Communist Chinese students in Tienanmen Square, stand in front of the tanks and dare them to shoot?

And if you happen to be a anti-gun bigot, a gun control nut, reading this right now, let me be as clear as I can possibly be to you. We will never disarm. You are not getting our guns, period. We will resist. We will fight you to the death. You will have to kill us before you get one single concession of liberty guaranteed to us by our Founders.

Are you willing to do that? Are you ready for the fallout? If you and your jackbooted government hit squads fire on us first, it is "Katy, bar the door." All bets are off, and it will be war in the streets. Are you ready for such blood shed all because you want our guns?

We are not going to start a war. We have vowed that many times. We will never fire first. But if you fire on us, we will finish what you start. You had better be ready before you start down that path.

This is about much more than guns. This is about Constitutional rights as a whole. We will not stop until we take back what you have robbed from us. We WILL restore Constitutional law in this nation one way or another. THAT is a promise.

And woe be unto you who defy our Constitution. You are a traitor and a tyrant. And that Constitution spells out in no uncertain terms the legal recourse that is to be carried out against all of those who defy that Constitution.

You had best think through your position and come to a more reasonable conclusion.

http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2012/12/musings-after-midnight-war-less.html

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

History Repeats Itself

Unless you've been under a rock for the last 3 weeks, you've heard about the sudden increase in pressure by congress for further gun control efforts, and the potential reinstatement of an even stronger weapons ban than the 1984 legislation.

And you've undoubtedly heard about the resulting massive rush to buy guns and ammo, of every make and model, but especially the "Assault Rifle" types.

Just to remind our good readers, this has happened before in American history, with famous results...

KNOW YOUR HISTORY:
After the Boston Tea Party and several other acts against the British Empire, the Parliament went to more radical measures in order to contain the series of attacks. With the burning of the Gaspée and the Boston Tea Party, many British officials felt the sense that insurrection would continue to grow if left unchecked. At the time, it was not illegal for the colonists to stockpile supplies like gunpowder, and it wasn’t also an actual sign of a militia coming to arms.
Precaution

Yet, a concerned Thomas Gage planned to prevent and cripple the attempts of the American colonists by secretly seeking out and removing military supplies from storehouses in the colonies, especially in Boston due to the fresh occurrence of the Boston Tea Party. Gage tried to acquire information from William Brattle, an actual head of the provincial militia. William Brattle in response gave a letter to Gage indicating that the powder at the province’s storehouse was the only place that contained a supply of gunpowder out of all the towns in Boston. That was when Gage decided to claim the remaining supply.

On August 31, David Phips was appointed by Thomas Gage was given the order to have the provincial powder removed. Brattle had initially handed the key of the storehouse over to Phips. On September 1, 1774, a troop of 260 regulars from the 4th regimen rowed along the Mystic River in order to reach the Powder House, the storehouse that contained the gunpowder stocks. Phips had given the key to the commander of the battalion, George Maddison, in order to unlock the door to the storehouse and to remove the gunpowder from the place.

Rumors spread across the colonies about the secret event. Many locals knew of the acts of the British forces to remove the gunpowder stores even though an apparent military action was not planned to begin with. And to add to the matter, some rumors began spreading about the death of at least six people during the course of the storehouse raids of the British forces.  The widespread fear had reached and shocked a huge number of colonists from around the states as far as Connecticut. The colonists feared that an impending war was about to begin, and that the British armies were doing what they could to decrease their efforts. This “Powder Alarm,” even with the exaggeration of the rumors that had spread, was actually an important factor that helped inspire the American colonists to start the American Revolution.
http://totallyhistory.com/powder-alarm/


TODAY:

A sports illustrated writer, Bob Owens, mentions of his most recent observations at local gun stores:
"It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands , M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war."

http://www.bob-owens.com/2012/12/something-funny-happened-on-the-way-to-the-tyranny/

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Canadian Economist Summarizes America's Collapse: "Everyone Takes, Nobody Makes, Money Is Free, And Money Is Worthless"


On this lackluster Boxing Day dominated by illiquid moves in every asset class, we thought a few succinct minutes spent comprehending the US and European government policies of social welfare and their outcomes was time well spent. Canadian MP Pierre Poilievre delivers a rather epic speech destroying the myths of US and European 'wealth' noting that "Once the US citizen is in debt, the US government encourages them to stay in debt," noting that "the US government encouraged millions of Americans to spend money they did not have on homes they could not afford using loans they could never repay and then gave them a tax incentive never to repay it." His message, delivered seamlessly, notes the inordinate rise in the cost of all this borrowing, adding that "through debt interest alone, soon the US taxpayer will be funding 100% of the Chinese Military complex." From Dependence to Debt to the Welfare State and back to Dependence, this presentation puts incredible context on the false hope so many believe in the US and Europe. Must watch.

"By 2020, the US Government will be spending more annually on debt interest than the total combined military budgets of China, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, and Israel."

"Through government spending the indulgence of one is the burden of another; through government borrowing, the excess of one generation becomes the yoke of the next; through international bailouts, one nation's extravagance becomes another nation's debt"

"Everyone takes, nobody makes, work doesn't pay, indulgence doesn't cost, money is free, and money is worthless."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-26/canadian-summarizes-americas-collapse-everyone-takes-nobody-makes-money-free-and-mon

Tokyo Almost As Irradiated As Fukushima


We’ve documented the spread of radiation from Fukushima to Tokyo for a year and a half.  See this, this, this, this, this and this.
Unfortunately, as the following recent headlines from Ene News show, things are only getting worse:
  • Tokyo getting 5 times more radioactive fallout than prefectures closer to Fukushima
And we’ve previously noted that the radiation will spread worldwide (by water and air). For example:
A new study says that the West Coast will get slammed with radioactive cesium starting in 2015 

But surely the Japanese government and Tepco are on top of things now …
Not exactly:

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-12-27/tokyo-almost-irradiated-fukushima

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Irreconcilable Differences?

By John Stark

A friend of mine was talking to an old (now ex) friend of his. The woman, a Democrat, was gloating over the fraud of Obama (imagine, a Democrat not only believing in but approving of Obama stealing the election with fraudulent votes) , and chuckling over how great "socialism was going to be for her".  He mentioned to her that even though neither he or his wife really grossed that much income, he was now “the rich” that would be taxed more heavily and would be paying for her, against his will.  He mentioned the fact that the government taking his earnings from him "by force" left him little reason to aspire to greatness.

She said something about "well, you should use your time for more personal pursuits and just enjoy the handouts".  He asked her who would pay for her healthcare after he (and others like him) just quit?  There was dead silence.  She had no answer.  

She then told him that she felt like he was "attacking her personally".  He told her essentially:  That is because it is personal:  She used your vote to apply the threat of force to him and his family to pay for her "beyond-her-means" spending. 

And that was it.  No more friend.  He says that is OK.  At this point it is morally necessary to separate from people like that.

Do Democrats and Republicans have irreconcilable differences?

The debate is not about liberal social policies, but about conservative fiscal policies.  But the democrats can't seem to understand that.

This is a typical rhetoric, attitude and idealism of a liberal government dependent.  Emotional and needy rather than logical and deductive.  Any opinion that differs from heirs is a personal attack, or must be racist and hateful.  They are afraid of the truth - That they are now slaves.  They have given up their vote and freedoms for a downward spiral of dependency.  Just like any drug addiction, this can not end well unless you rehabilitate yourself.

They need to understand that self sufficiency and individual preparation and support are our patriotic duties.  Keeping yourself off the government welfare role helps the strength of the nation, not detracts from it.  Entrepreneurs and business owners, High income earners, preppers, and those with strong work ethic are not the enemy, government dependents are.  They are collapsing the economy from within.

But they never will get it.  the only "education" that they receive is from biased MSM sources who want them to stay dependent, captured voters.

Let us pray that these are not truely Irreconcilable Differences, and that the country can be healed both emotionally, socially and fiscally before it's citizens start screaming for political divorce.

Monday, December 3, 2012

New nanny state program extends government tracking to watch your personal spending.

Surely there are better ways to find individuals who may be avoiding taxes by  money in overseas accounts than by tracking the daily spending habits of every single citizen!

Like maybe simply profiling the top 10,000 richest people in the country and monitoring just them?  Heck, most of them are politicians anyway.  Oh wait, they are probably immune from this tracking... LOL

Tax hitmen to track your spending

Up to two million people are to have their credit files secretly checked under a crackdown on tax evasion to be unveiled by George Osborne to help raise another £10 billion.

HMRC will today unveil the “successful” results of a pilot programme involving about 20,000 people which will now be extended nationally

By

Credit reference agencies will cross-check details of the income people declare on their tax returns against their spending patterns to identify “high” and “medium” risks of both illegal and legal tax avoidance.
People identified to HM Revenue and Customs will then be subject to more detailed investigations. About two million people are expected to be scrutinised under the programme, which may lead to privacy concerns.
HMRC will today unveil the “successful” results of a pilot programme involving about 20,000 people which will now be extended nationally.
Many of those who are expected to be identified are likely to be self-employed workers who have under-declared their income to the authorities.
However, those who have benefited from secret windfalls – such as an inheritance or a bonus – and people with secret offshore accounts could also be highlighted.

Mr Osborne is preparing to deliver the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, in which he is expected to announce another extension to the Government’s austerity programme. Spending cuts and tax rises are now expected to last until at least 2018.

The Chancellor indicated yesterday that he was preparing a new round of welfare cuts – and tax rises for the wealthy – this week. The renewed crackdown on avoidance is also expected to play a key role.
Treasury sources said that “hundreds of millions” are expected to be raised from the greater use of third-party data, such as that supplied by credit reference agencies.
 
Ministers also wish to encourage more whistle-blowers to come forward with details of offshore bank accounts.

Mr Osborne said: “While most taxpayers are doing their bit to help us balance the books, it is unacceptable for a minority to avoid paying their fair share.”

Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, added: “It is simply not fair that at a time when most people are making a contribution to balancing the nation’s books, there is a small minority of taxpayers who try to escape their responsibility.”

The Chancellor will this week extend the austerity programme after admitting it is “clearly taking longer” to deal with the country’s debts than “anyone would have hoped”.

The credit-reference scheme is among a series of initiatives to be outlined today to reduce tax avoidance and evasion among wealthy Britons and multinational companies.

Mr Osborne will also announce an agreement with Switzerland which will give the British authorities access to the details of the offshore savings of thousands of Britons.

Information will also be routinely shared between the British and American authorities.

The Treasury is to provide an extra £77 million a year to HMRC over the next two years to increase its investigative capability. The “affluent unit” which targets the wealthy is to take on 100 extra staff.

Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee will today attack HMRC for being “way too lenient” in its treatment of multinational companies.

The public accounts committee will accuse international firms of “insulting” ordinary Britons by funnelling profits off shore.

Yesterday, Starbucks announced it had entered talks with HMRC about paying more tax in the UK following reports it had paid just £8.5 million tax on its British profits since 1998.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/9717894/Tax-hitmen-to-track-your-spending.html