Blog Chez Jacq'

It's lucky for America that Samuel Adams was a better brewer of dissent than of beer. His father's brewery business languished, but Samuel thought it was more important to ferment revolution, not yeast, in a young country increasingly beset by the tyrannies of England.

No one was better at being a revolutionary than Samuel Adams. His cousin, John Adams, who would later become the second President, was the first to use the term 'working the political machine', and he believed Samuel was a master. Historians recognize Samuel Adams as the architect of the Boston Tea Party, an event which hardened the lines between England and the colonies and led to the American Revolution.

A skilled propagandist and writer, Adams was a militant champion of democracy. Samuel was rumpled and unpretentious. He avoided the fashion of the day, a powdered wig. But as an orator, he was magical. Said John Adams, 'Upon great occasions, when his deeper feelings were excited...nature seemed to erect him, without the smallest symptom of affectation, into an upright dignity of figure and gesture and gave a harmony to his voice which made a strong impression on spectators and auditors - the more lasting for the purity, correctness, and nervous elegance of his style.'

Harvard-educated Samuel (no one but his enemies called him 'Sam') and his fellow revolutionaries, the Sons of Liberty, spent their days and nights in the taverns and on the streets educating and inciting the colonists against the tyrannies of King George III. As a brewer, Samuel Adams was at home in these taverns. They were, after all, his customers for his hearty, robust ale. Drinking and plotting against wicked England were young shipowner John Hancock, who was to help fund the revolution, and silversmith Paul Revere, who later united the colonies with his midnight ride.

When England's tyranny extended to the sale of tea, Samuel Adams had found a popular cause. On the night of December 16, 1773, one-hundred and fifty men dressed as Mohawk Indians and blackened their faces with cork. Samuel Adams led them to three tea laden ships in Boston harbor and requested the keys to the ships' holds. Watched by a large crowd and the Royal Navy, the men worked for three hours, hatcheting open the cases of tea and dumping it into the sea. When the party was over, 342 broken chests floated in the water and 35,000 pounds of tea swirled in the harbor. The revolution had begun. In later years, Samuel Adams went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and be elected Governor of Massachusetts. But he is best remembered for the pre-Revolutionary crusade to which he gave his heart, mind, and voice.

©2000 Boston Beer Company

Henry Lamb describes the Democrat party having an almost pure Marxist policy:

"The 2004 elections are not simply to decide whether the nation will be led by Democrats or Republicans. They will decide whether the nation will continue to pursue the values of capitalism in a free society, or whether we will return to the pursuit of socialist values in a managed society."

But Henry, how much difference is there between those two parties?

Lyn Nofziger mutters:

"Ronald Reagan’s longtime aide, Michael Deaver, has contracted to write--or rather compile--a book in which numerous persons will tell why they are conservatives. The title of the book not surprisingly will be Why I Am a Conservative.

I have been asked to contribute but will not. What I would like to write about instead is why these days I, as a conservative, have difficulty being a Republican.

And, believe me, it is getting harder and harder by the day.

When I was younger and still in the business of making speeches I would tell Republican groups to whom I was speaking that I was a Republican because Republicans tend--the key word is “tend”--to leave me alone more than Democrats do.

The belief that government should leave people pretty much alone, that it should butt out of their lives, that it should protect us from each other but not from ourselves is key to my being whatever it is I am.

Of course I feel strongly about some other things to, but they’re kind of related to that belief that government should leave me alone.

I believe in small, limited government, government that does for the individual only those things he cannot do or do so well for himself, and these are pretty well enumerated in the first ten amendments to the constitution. Where they are not, the ninth amendment fills the void. It reads: The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

I take that to include the right to privacy in one’s home and the right to be let alone.

I further believe that taxes should be minimal, that they should not be used as a means of sharing the wealth, that the money a person makes by the sweat of his brow or by any other legal means for the most part should be his to keep and spend as he sees fit. It should not be taken from him to support others or to build or support projects that are not needed by the people or are not in the best interests of all the people.

I believe that government’s police powers should be severely limited.

I believe that the federal government’s power should be limited and that most legitimate powers of government should be vested in the states.

There was a time when most Americans believed as I do. No longer,

There was a time when the Republican party supported those things in which I believe. No longer.

A congress controlled in both houses by Republicans spends money like drunken sailors on projects that have nothing to do with the well-being of the nation. It is a congress that usurps the rights and powers of the states which all too often yield them in return for grants of federal tax money which should not have been taken from them in the first place.

A Republican president regularly joins with congress in an annual spending orgy.

A Republican president joins with the congress in making laws that infringe on privacy, that increase police powers, that assert government’s right to tell individuals not only what not to do but also what they must do.

It has reached the point, and I have said this before, that there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two parties. And that is primarily because Republicans as a party have moved leftward, leaving those of us who have not moved with them flailing around looking for a place to go, a party to join, a leader to follow. Unfortunely, today we are a small minority so for the most part we stay as Republicans hoping to move the party back toward constitutional conservatism.

But I don’t kid myself. It’s not going to happen anytime soon."

---

Thank you, Mr. Nofziger, for so aptly putting into words those thoughts I have been harboring.

Gordon sent this to me today.

We have all seen the quote:

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
--Hermann Goering

I thought you might be interested in a little bit fuller version of that quote, with a more complete atribution also. It goes:

"Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?

Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.

That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
-- Hermann Goering as recounted by Gustave Gilbert in: Gilbert, G.M. Nuremberg Diary., New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1947 (pp. 278-279)

Huh?! Nothing similar happening today...

While rereading Gary North's prescient rant from March 2003, one ponders why no one was listening:

"France and Germany see what’s coming – an Islamic reaction – and have opted out. Russia has joined with them. Regionalism lies ahead: Asia, Europe, and the Western hemisphere. This is David Rockefeller’s vision, the Trilateral Commission, but without the hoped-for cooperation. The regional blocs that he forecasted a generation ago as inevitable are now going their own way, just as he feared they might. The original regional alliance – the United States and Great Britain – still has a special relationship, but the large continental European powers have officially broken ranks.

The glue that holds the system together today is fractional reserve banking. The Bank for International Settlements in Basle cleared central bank accounts all through World War II. For central bankers, world war was a side issue, an inconvenience. But without a gold standard, the international system has moved to currency blocs. The United States dollar is the central factor. Central banks have 70% of their foreign currency reserves invested in T-bills and T-notes. But Greenspan’s FED and the sagging US economy have combined to push interest rates to about 1%. It’s getting almost as cheap to hold gold.

The glue is the dollar. If the world’s central bankers could decide on an alternative currency, they would start selling dollars and investing in that currency’s T-bills. I think the French-German alliance is a political move against the pound and the dollar. The split is not complete yet. No central banker wants to be the first to dump dollars and move to an untried currency, such as the euro. But the longer the euro survives, the more likely that move will be.

When North wrote this one could acquire a Euro for about 85¢. In today's market about $1.25.

If China ever makes the Yuan convertible into gold, the dollar will be abandoned. China now constitutes about 5% of all world trade. The growth curve is heading"

It is a new world, folks. Have a happy new year...

Lew Rockwell's Mises Message for 2004:

"Look around and behold the blessings of freedom all around you.
...
how fortunate we are to have leisure time ..., when we are not consumed by endless toil to provide food and shelter and clothing, as were most people in all of history.
...
The blessings are material but the foundation for the system that makes it possible is intellectual. It is the idea of freedom at work. It is not the only idea alive in the world today. The contrary idea is that power is the answer to our woes. But what has power brought us this holiday season? Less security, less opportunity, less cooperation, and more of the only thing that the state ultimately provides us despite all its promises: taxation, regulation, economic dislocation, and war. In a word: coercion.

No. It is not government.

The better way is through enterprise, that voluntary act of sharing talents and serving one another through exchanges that link the world in friendship. All the technical aspects of economic aside, the simple claim of the Mises Institute is that the world would be better off with more exchange and less coercion. We hold out an ideal rooted in an idea—an ideal that is fragile and in need of unrelenting defense.

May you have a Happy, productive and free New Year.

Christmas Propers (1928 BCP): "The Gospel. St. Luke ii. 1.
AND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David :) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"

Many Ways to Say Merry Christmas:

Afrikaans - Geseknde Kersfees en 'n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Argentine - Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo
Bohemian - Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian - Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Bulgarian - Vesela Koleda i chestita nova godina!
Catalan - Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chinese - Sing Dan Fae Lok. Gung Hai Fat Choi (Cantonese)
Chinese - Shen Dan Kuai Le Xin Nian Yu Kuai (Mandarin)
Chinese - Shen tan jie kuai le. Hsin Nien Kuaile
Croatian - Sretan Bozic
Czech - Stastne a vesele vanoce a stastny novy rok!
Danish - Glaedelig Jul og godt nyter
Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar
Dutch - Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar
English - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Eskimo - (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto - Felican Kristnaskon kaj Bonan Novjaron!
Estonian - Rõõmusaid jõulupühi ja head uut aastat!
Faeroese - Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Filipinos - Maligayang Pasko
Finnish - Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!
Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French - Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année!
Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath yr!
Galician - Bo Nadal
German - Frohe Weihnachten und ein gl|ckliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Hronia polla kai eytyhismenos o kainourios hronos
Greek - Hronia polla ke eftihismenos o kenourios hronos
Hausa - Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian - Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian - Kellemes karacsonyi uennepeket es boldog ujevet!
Icelandic - Gledhileg jsl og farsflt komandi ar!
Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal dan Selamat Tahun Baru!
Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig Shona duit
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig faoi shean agus faoi shonas duit agus bliain nua faoi mhaise dhuit!
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!
Japanese - Meri Kurisumasu soshite Akemashite Omedeto!
Latin - Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian - Priecigus Ziemsvetkus un Laimigu Jaungadu!
Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu
Maltese - Nixtieklek Milied tajjeb u is-sena t-tabja!
Modern Greek - Kala Christougenna kai evtichismenos o kainourios chronos!
Norwegian - God Jul Og Godt Nytt Aar
Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Polish - Vesowe Boze Narodzenie
Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese - Boas Festas
Portuguese - Feliz Natal e um Prospero Ano Novo
Romanian - Craciun fericit si un an nou fericit
Russian - S nastupaiushchim Novym godom i s Rozhdestvom Khristovym!
Romanche - (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Serbian - Hristos se rodi
Slovakian - Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Slovak - Vesele Vianoce i na zdravie v novom roku!
Slovenian - Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto
Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Swedish - God Jul Och Ett Gott Nytt Ar
Thai - Suk san wan Christmas
Thai - Suk san wan pee mai - Happy New Year
Trukeese - (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Turkish - Noeliniz kutlu olsun ve yeni yilinis kutlu olsun!
Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian - Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Ukrainan - Z novym rokom i s rizdvom Hrystovym!
Ukrainan - Khrystos Rodevsia
Vietnamese - Chuc mung nam moi va Giang Sinh vui ve
Welsh - Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Da!"
Yoruba - E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

On the FFF web site on Christmas Eve:

There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with imagining a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few went to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.

-- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

May you have a Blessed and Happy Christmas.

This information was sent to me by email. This is another urban legend that must be rebutted. I suggest that before one forwards messages of this sort they verify that they are true. Here's the message I was sent:

by Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association²

Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event. We received the following reply from the local TARGET management: "Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education." So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general do not meet their donation criteria, then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.

As a follow-up, I e-mailed the TARGET U.S. corporate headquarters And their response was the same. That 's their national policy. Then I looked Into the company further. They will not allow the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots' at any of their stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they would not allow families of employees who were called up for active Duty to continue their insurance coverage while they were on military service.

Then as I dig further, TARGET is a French-owned corporation¹. Now, I'm thinking again. If TARGET can not support American Veterans, then why should I and my family support their stores by spending our hard earned American dollars and to have their profits sent to France. Without the American Vets, where would France be today? Feel free to pass this Along to whomever you want.

I should have looked at snopes.com immediately. Being a hard headed Marine I started charging up the hill. Found info on Yahoo financial; called directly to Target up in Minnesota. This thing has been perpetuated since March of 2002. Rebecca at Target "Guest Relations" is sending me an email confirming that the message is nonsense. I'll post it here when it is received.

¹ Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is not a French-owned corporation.
² None of this information appears on the Vietnam Veterans Association website.

snopes.com explains this urban legend:

The Target Corporation does not contribute to veterans' causes: False.
The Target Corporation is French-owned: False.
The Target Corporation provides corporate grants for 'gay and lesbian causes': False.
The Target Corporation does not contribute to the U.S. Marines 'Toys for Tots' program: False.
The Target Corporation does not allow reservists called to active duty to continue their health benefits: False.

Snopes goes on:

Dick Forrey, the man who started the anti-Target brouhaha, has since admitted his mistake:

I made a mistake on this one, and I've learned a hard lesson — that's for sure. What started out as a message for the members in our organization has turned into a hate-type thing. I never wanted to start any national boycott. I just wish it would all stop.

Some people have used my words and perpetuated lies. It's sad that some of these people would use veterans as a way to push their own political views. I've sent out a retraction, and no one pays any attention.

May you have a Happy and Blessed Christmas!

The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy 3:1-5...

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

May you have a Happy and Blessed Christmas!

Thanks to Joe Farah of WND...

Thomas Sowell persists in attempting to overcome the ignorance of the intelligentsia:

"If 'obscene profits' are what cause pharmaceutical drugs to cost so much, why haven't socialist countries set up their own government-owned pharmaceutical enterprises to produce drugs more cheaply? Why don't non-profit organizations here do that?"

As always, Dr. Sowell's column is well worth the read.

May you have a Happy and Blessed Christmas!

Barbara Simpson:

"A study just released by the University of California at Los Angeles wants the California Constitution amended so illegals can vote. Keep in mind that Mexicans who vote in this country are also allowed to vote in Mexican elections.

See where we're going? Borders are such a bother.

You can kiss them goodbye. God help U.S."

Is no one listening?

May you have a Blessed & Merry Christmas!

Paul Rodriguez of Insight Magazine expresses my concerns:

Folks, Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

I hope these three salutations help make up for the disappearance of this greeting from the media. It seems that the word “Christmas” has become the latest ­ and most egregious ­ victim of the Word Police.

An observer dropping in from another planet would think that the “Holidays” was some kind of gimmick dreamed up by a conspiracy of greeting card, toy, and jewelry manufacturers. With no deeper meaning other than vague references to “family” ­ no matter what the orientation.

The days when Gene Autry couldn’t record a song about the coming to town of Santa Claus without adding a line to “give thanks to the Lord above” are long gone. And sorely missed. Today, even Santa has too close a connection to the “C word” for some people’s comfort.

I have no doubt the pre-Christian pagans who celebrated the Winter Solstice had a more grateful and religious sensibility than the definers of today’s popular culture.

Christmas is the day when the people of the world honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Without this, it becomes the worst day of the year ­ rather than the greatest.

So say it loud and say it proud to everyone you meet ­ Merry Christmas!

May you have a Blessed & Merry Christmas!

Brad Edmonds writes of what I have been thinking:

"The NCAA is institutionalized rape. Kids in their teens and early 20s work themselves ragged to produce high-quality entertainment. Some, in their efforts to perform well enough to enter the professional leagues, get injured and are unable to compete at top levels for the rest of their lives (the smart ones get insurance for that). The NCAA requires universities to be members to compete for national or conference championships. A few years ago, the media networkglomerate CBS contracted to pay the NCAA $1 billion (yes, billion) for the exclusive rights to televise eight years of college basketball championships. I have no idea how much money the NCAA gets from the bigger-ticket football games.

And yet, the NCAA requires that college athletes make no money – aside from tuition, bed, and board – related to their college sports of choice. Looked at another way, the NCAA absorbs all the wealth generated by players, and puts itself on some fabricated moral high ground for allowing the players none of it. It gets worse: If a college football player gets overpaid for selling used cars during the summer, the NCAA might punish the player’s university. Is this insanity? Well, yes, it is. The NCAA gets away with it because member institutions acquiesce. This is how government gets away with the crimes governments commit: Citizens acquiesce."

Indeed. The college bowls shall soon be history. The professional playoffs follow shortly. Perhaps then we can ignore the diversions and take action to praise God, ask forgiveness, endeavor to love one another -- and reject Marxist dogma ‹grin›.

Charlie Coombs penned, uh, keyed this one to us today. I'm pleased to share it with you.

"Have you read FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression by Jim Powell yet? This is an amazing book. Not only can IMHO Libertarians and Conservatives agree on just about everything in it, it makes the complex comprehensible enough for even a teacher to grasp. This should be required reading in every freshman economics course and every high school civics (I guess that's all social studies now) class. It won't be, but it should. My grandchildren will damned well read it, or I'll read it to them. Maybe I'll wait until the youngest one is nine.

"I'm working on an essay about the two things that jump out at me from this book. One is Lew's Rule: The more stuff people make, the more there is to go around and the more everyone can have. This is the only law of economics. All others are either derived from it or are corollaries of it. The second thing is the reason why governments can't lead an economy out of a recession: Governments are good at fighting wars, hence the reason people think you can simply declare war or its moral equivalent on poverty or pollution or drugs or depressions -- whatever -- and fix said things. The problem is that recovery from a recession can only be accomplished by making more stuff. The objectives of a war can only be accomplished by smashing stuff, killing people being a related but subordinate activity. Economically speaking, smashing stuff is the only thing governments do well and will accomplish whenever they act regardless of their intentions. Anything government does, therefore, results in the making of less stuff, wherefore the less there is to go around and the less everyone can have.

"I'm calling this the First Corollary to Lew's Rule. I plan to submit my work to Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams for peer review, but I suspect they'll ignore me. Ah well."

I hesitate to link to the Amazon.com site, but they do have the introduction to Powell's book available. It's worth looking at. The question is do we buy from Amazon who--in their striving to have everything for everyone--make available even books promoting and justifying pedophilia.

NYTimes keeps us informed--as do PLDs:

"...personal location devices are beginning to catch on, largely because cellular phones are increasingly coming with a built-in tether. A federal mandate that wireless carriers be able to locate callers who dial 911 automatically by late 2005 means that millions of phones already keep track of their owners' whereabouts. Analysts predict that as many as 42 million Americans will be using some form of 'location-aware' technology in 2005."

Will gov'ment want to know where everyone is all the time? Oh, of course not...