I apologize for the constant bombardment of YouTube videos but Dr. Paul's message is best communicated by the man himself. Personally, I have been slow to warm up to the anti-federal reserve message. Perhaps it comes from hanging out in the economics department for too long with a bunch of professors who either drool over the Fed or simply accept its preeminence.

The 'inflation tax' has hit me especially hard over the past year or so. Basically I have topped out in terms of pay increases at my employer. My pay is low by many standards and because I have not had a raise in over a year, due to inflation I am making roughly 3% less than I had before.

Below is the complete video of Dr. Paul's interrogation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Here is an extremely good video summing up Dr. Paul's theory on monetary policy:


Remember, remember the 5th of November... and prepare for December 16.

An open letter to Tennesee Senators Bob Corker (R) and Lamar Alexander (R):

Mr. Corker, and Mr. Alexander:

In response to your vote of approval for the Defense Appropriations Bill on November 9, 2007, I must voice my disapproval. While it is a worthy investment to fund the armed forces in order to prepare, equip and keep technology updated; it is not a worthy investment to continue funding the Iraq conflict.

The Iraq conflict is illegal and immoral. Neither of you voted for declaration of war against Iraq, because none was introduced. Furthermore, Iraq never attacked the United States nor posed any serious threat, and so our invasion and subsequent occupation is immoral.

I urge you to promote a foreign policy of non-interventionism. By doing so you would promote the only legal and moral foreign policy for a great nation such as ours. We are currently in a quagmire of epic proportions. In order to bring our troops home and to curb the internationalist, policy of policing the world, funding for such activities must be withheld.

For too long Congress has given the current president as well as his predecessors a blank check in the area of foreign policy. Not only is this dangerous, but it is also unconstitutional. I urge your actions and votes in the future to reign in executive power and to reaffirm the Congress’ position as an equal branch of government alongside that of the executive and judiciary.

Sincerely,

Jordan L. Clark

Congressman Duncan questions the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

Violence

Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, has been more adequately the city of violence, murder and crime over the past year. At the current pace, the number of homicides will be greater than any year in the past decade. If you take a look at the interactive map provided on the website above, many of these deaths have been a result of persons using guns to kill their victims.

The Democratic candidate for mayor, Michael Nutter, has proposed stop and search techniques for those who police deem likely to commit a violent crime. Whether it be behaviour or past history, police would be able to stop someone and search them for an illegal gun or other miscellaneous weapons as well as drugs. Since Nutter and a majority of Philadelphia's citizens are black, this method is not getting its appropriate label, profiling.

What this amounts to is an attempt to control the number of weapons on the street. The thinking behind a program, is if guns are withheld, these guns can not be used to murder people. Such thinking is illogical and an abusrd fallacy. The key to the whole equation of stopping violent crime, is the person committing the crime. Guns no more commit violent acts than bombs start wars. The focus should be on the people who commit crimes aided by guns.

Recent evidence has suggested that those targeted by violent crimes have past criminal records:
Cities study victims' criminal past
Criminals target each other, trend shows

A better solution would be to target those with criminal records, or from a punitive stand point, keep persons who have committed violent crimes in jail longer. The abhorent fact is that government can never extirpate weapons from violent criminals. When a law is passed to restrict gun ownership, only those who abide by the laws will be affected.

I applaud Mayor Nutter for at least suggesting a solution to the problem of violent crime in Philadelphia. Whereas Mayor Street has stood by doing nothing while the body count continues to grow. The stop and search technique is simply a solution to the symptom of violence and does not attack the root cause of violence in cities: poverty, hopelessness, lack of morality and the overall break down of community standards.

Another article from the Economist highlighting the growing threat of recession in the U.S.
Recession in America: America's vulnerable economy

In Paul They Trust (The Feds May Differ)

(Again, thanks to Jama)

In continuing support of Dr. Paul's candidacy, I highly recommend his book A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship. The book contains numerous speeches from Dr. Paul's terms in the House of Representatives as well as letters sent to the House during his absence. Dr. Paul's own comments and retrospective thoughts are inserted.

The book may be purchased through Dr. Paul's website:
http://www.ronpaul2008store.com/servlet/Detail?no=38

For those of you who live in the Tri-Cities area, Barnes and Noble had one copy as of Thursday evening.

Below is a link to an audio interview with John Lofton of the American View and Dr. Ron Paul:

http://www.theamericanview.com/dictator/media/898/aview_20070825.mp3

Please reference the previous post with a link to an article in which Michael Peroutka, the 2004 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party endorsed Dr. Paul in his 2008 campaign.

Here is a link to excerpts from the interview:
http://www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=916

Please follow the link below to a letter from Dr. Chuck Baldwin. Dr. Baldwin was the vice-presidential candidate for the 2004 Michael Peroutka campaign. He is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Florida as well as the host of a radio talk show 'Chuck Baldwin Live.'

An Appeal To My Fellow Pastors

(Thanks to Jama Oliver for originally posting the link to this on her site: jamaoliver.com)

"The large-scale permanent commitments of American troops to relatively fixed positions outside the continental limits would be costly beyond military returns." - Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"Only through neutrality with strength can we hope once again to have a foreign policy of sense and direction." - Ron Paul

With school and all of the various activities that go along with it, I have not had time to author a legitimate post for this blog. With the short time I have this morning I can only urge anyone reading to vote for Ron Paul in the Republican primary when it comes to your state. There is a serious undercurrent of activity that could translate into victories in key primary states. Regardless, as the video below so accurately states, "Sometimes lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for."

Next week I will be attending the Tennessee Intercollegiate Legislature in Nashville. So far I plan to introduce at least two bills. The first will repeal a previous act by the Tennessee legislature changing the phrase of "Korean conflict" to "Korean War." It was a conflict and not a war. At no time did the United States Congress declare war.

The second bill will lower the minimum age to purchase alcohol to 18. In effect, this will raise an issue with Tennessee's acceptance of federal transportation money. That is certainly the intent.

The above also raised an issue that has been rolling around my mind for quite some time. Why is it that when I or anyone else advocates the states taking back power from the federal government it is always classified as being a states' rights advocate. Through fiscal imperialism the federal government has bullied the states since the passage of the amendment to the Constitution allowing the collection of taxes on income. Are we not in a federalist system with dual government, each retaining certain spheres of power? So the argument is not about states' rights but functioning federalism.

Brains, not bullets

After smart weapons, smart soldiers

In the last article, pay special attention to the classification of a “fourth generation” of warfare.

One more reason not to like Wal-Mart:
Bill Clinton, Wal-Mart pitch plan to cool Earth