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Turning on the Light – Kunstler

Posted by M. C. on September 10, 2019

PS 6 released us little inmates to the streets at noon every day — hard to believe now — and I spent many lunch hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was a block away, and free in those days, and pretty empty on weekdays because all those middle-class adults were at work. Even stock-brokers were middle-class back then, though it might be hard to believe.

The G & T classes were then called “Special Progress” (SP), and I was in them, but between classes we-who-could-write-and-do-math circulated through the anarchic halls where shakedowns and beat-downs were a daily ritual.

The progressive’s equality-bringing US all down to the same level.

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/turning-on-the-light/

James Howard Kuntsler

And so Bill de Blasio, New York’s Mayor, who has been busy running for president, proposes to end the sorting-out system for the “gifted and talented” (G & T) that is theoretically responsible for that segregation. 75 percent of the G & T kids are Asian and white and, according to the school system’s Diversity Task Force, are not equitably distributed among the schools that end up being mostly black and Hispanic.

The proposal stoked a furor among those very “deeply blue and proudly progressive” parents whose G & T kids have been safely sequestered away from the “normals” who grind out their days in schools that only go through the motions of education and who come out years later unable to read or do math…

But I have a remedy for the persistent problem of underperformance, one that has not really been tried: intense concentration, starting in preschool and going forward as long as necessary, in spoken English. Language is the foundation of learning, certainly of reading skill, and too many children just can’t speak English. Without it, they’ll be unable to learn anything else, including math. The reasons for their poor language skills are beside the point. Whether they are newcomers from foreign lands or the descendants of slaves, they need to learn how to speak English and to do it correctly, with all the tenses and correct verbs. They need to be intelligible to others and to themselves to make sense of the world.

The resistance to this idea would be mighty and furious, I’m sure. Some people will always be smarter than others, but the disparities at issue are badly aggravated by poverty in language. We don’t even pretend to want to take the obvious steps to correct this, even though it is obviously correctable. Learning anything puts people out of their comfort zone, so that can’t be used as an excuse. Diversity in language is a handicap, and it does not make you specially abled. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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PPT - Adding and Subtracting Fractions PowerPoint ...

de Blasio already knows how to find it.

 

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9/11 After 18 Years – PaulCraigRoberts.org

Posted by M. C. on September 10, 2019

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/09/09/9-11-after-18-years/

Paul Craig Roberts

I would appreciate hearing from readers whether they have come across a report in the print, TV, or NPR media of the highly professional four-year investigation of WTC Building 7’s demise.  The international team of civil engineers concluded that the official story of Building 7’s destruction is entirely false.  I reported their findings here: https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/09/04/the-official-story-of-the-collapse-of-wtc-building-7-lies-in-ruins/

I suspect that the expert report is already in the Memory Hole.  Popular Mechanics, Wikipedia and CNN cannot label a distinguished team of experts “conspiracy theorists.”  Therefore the presstitutes and assorted cover-up artists for the 9/11 false flag attack on the United States will simply act as if no such report exists. The vast majority of people in the world will never hear about the report. I doubt that the real perpetrators of 9/11 will even bother to hire their own team to “refute” the report as that would bring the report into the news, the last place the perpetrators want it to be.

The 9/11 Commission report was not an investigation and ignored all forensic evidence. The NIST simulation of Building 7’s collapse was rigged to get the desired result.  The only real investigations have been done by private scientists, engineers, and architects.  They have found clear evidence of the use of nano-thermite in the destruction of the twin towers.  More than 100 First Responders have testified that they experienced a large number of explosions inside the towers, including a massive explosion in the sub-basement prior to the time the airliners are said to have hit the tower.  Numerous military and civilian pilots have said that the flight maneuvers involved in the WTC and Pentagon attacks are beyond their skills and most certainly beyond the skills of the alleged hijackers.  Wreckage of the airliners is surprisingly missing from impact sites.  And so on and so on. That Building 7 was a controlled demolition is no longer disputable.

On the basis of the known evidence, knowledgeable and informed people have concluded that 9/11 was an inside job organized by Vice President Dick Cheney, his stable of neoconservatives, and Israel for the purpose of reconstructing the Middle East in Israel’s interest and enriching the US military/security complex in the process.

Most people are unaware of Robert Mueller’s role as FBI Director in protecting the official 9/11 story from the evidence.  Paul Sperry reports in the New York Post the many actions Mueller took as FBI director to hide the facts from Congress and the public.  https://nypost.com/2019/09/07/robert-mueller-helped-saudi-arabia-cover-up-its-role-in-9-11-attacks-suit/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site+buttons&utm_campaign=site+buttons

Patrick Pasin, a French author, provides additional evidence of Mueller’s misuse of his office to protect an official lie. An English language translation of Pasin’s book, The FBI Accomplice of 9/11, has been published by Talma Studios in Dublin, Ireland.  https://www.amazon.com/FBI-Accomplice-11-Documents-ebook/dp/B07TRXKNG2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Patrick+Pasin&qid=1567967650&s=books&sr=1-1

Pasin’s book consists of his organization of the known evidence, which has been suppressed in order to perpetrate a false story of 9/11, into a compelling account of how a false flag attack was protected from exposure.  He details the plan “through which the FBI tried to prove the government conspiracy narrative—no matter the cost.”  Keep in mind that Mueller is the one that the Deep State set on President Trump.  Dirty business is Mueller’s business…

In 3 days it will be the 18th anniversary of 9/11.  What have we learned in these 18 years?  We have learned that thousands of experts with hard evidence cannot prevail over a transparent official lie.

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WTC7.net the hidden story of Building 7: Store

 

 

 

 

 

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In Defense of Price Gouging – LewRockwell

Posted by M. C. on September 10, 2019

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/09/laurence-m-vance/in-defense-of-price-gouging-2/

By

As a resident of Florida, I was naturally concerned about how the state would be impacted by Hurricane Dorian. But now that the storm has passed, I am still concerned about something that happened in Florida after Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, August 28, for several counties in the hurricane’s path.

But first note that according to Florida Statutes, Title XXXIII, “REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS,” Chapter 501, “CONSUMER PROTECTION,” Section 160, “Rental or sale of essential commodities during a declared state of emergency; prohibition against unconscionable prices”:

(1) As used in this section:
(a) “Commodity” means any goods, services, materials, merchandise, supplies, equipment, resources, or other article of commerce, and includes, without limitation, food, water, ice, chemicals, petroleum products, and lumber necessary for consumption or use as a direct result of the emergency.  (b) It is prima facie evidence that a price is unconscionable if:

1. The amount charged represents a gross disparity between the price of the commodity or rental or lease of any dwelling unit or self-storage facility that is the subject of the offer or transaction and the average price at which that commodity or dwelling unit or self-storage facility was rented, leased, sold, or offered for rent or sale in the usual course of business during the 30 days immediately prior to a declaration of a state of emergency, unless the increase in the amount charged is attributable to additional costs incurred in connection with the rental or sale of the commodity or rental or lease of any dwelling unit or self-storage facility, or regional, national, or international market trends; or
2. The amount charged grossly exceeds the average price at which the same or similar commodity was readily obtainable in the trade area during the 30 days immediately prior to a declaration of a state of emergency, unless the increase in the amount charged is attributable to additional costs incurred in connection with the rental or sale of the commodity or rental or lease of any dwelling unit or self-storage facility, or regional, national, or international market trends.
(2) Upon a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor, it is unlawful and a violation of s. 501.204 for a person or her or his agent or employee to rent or sell or offer to rent or sell at an unconscionable price within the area for which the state of emergency is declared, any essential commodity including, but not limited to, supplies, services, provisions, or equipment that is necessary for consumption or use as a direct result of the emergency. This prohibition is effective not to exceed 60 days under the initial declared state of emergency as defined in s. 252.36(2) and shall be renewed by statement in any subsequent renewals of the declared state of emergency by the Governor.

What happened in Florida was that Attorney General Ashley Moody activated the state’s “price gouging hotline” so residents could report businesses violating the state’s price gouging law if they charged “too much” for lodging or goods during the period of the state of emergency. Business caught charging elevated prices for goods, could face “civil penalties of $1,000 per violation and up to a total of $25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24-hour period.”

The Attorney General’s office says that more than 2,000 cases of price gouging were reported. Typical commodities involved are water and gasoline.

Now, there are many economic arguments in defense of price gouging:

  • Higher prices help prevent a handful of consumers from hoarding the majority of supplies.
  • Higher prices create incentives for suppliers of goods to help to restore people’s lives.
  • Higher prices encourage conservation among end users.
  • High prices can bring much-needed supplies into a disaster zone.
  • Higher prices send a signal to market actors that something is scarce and that profits are available to those who produce or sell that something.
  • Higher prices set off an economic chain reaction that ultimately remedies the shortages that led to the price gouging in the first place.
  • Higher prices tell suppliers what their customers want most.

You can read articles here, here, here, and here. I have even written this.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that it is just, right, moral, or ethical to raise prices on essential goods and services during the time before a hurricane hits. It just means that it should not be against the law. If you don’t like the price of a gallon of gas at your local gas station during the time that a hurricane is approaching, then you can choose to not only not purchase your gas there, but also to never patronize that particular gas station again. What you should not have the option of doing is calling a price gouging hotline and having the state fine the business and force it to lower its prices.

Economic considerations aside, there is an important philosophical reason why I write in defense of price gouging…

The ability of a business to raise or lower its prices on a particular good or on all the goods it sells is one of the essential things that distinguishes a free market from government central planning. The reason why a business raises or lowers its prices is absolutely irrelevant.

Free and unfettered interaction between producers and consumers, buyers and sellers, lessors and lessees, owners and renters, and businesses and customers is always to be preferred to government intervention.

Once it is accepted that the government has the authority, knowledge, and competence to establish arbitrary price ceilings during the onset or aftermath of a natural disaster, no reasonable or logical argument can be made against the government’s setting prices during ordinary times.

Price-gouging laws are an assault on private property, free exchange, freedom of contract, free enterprise, free markets, and a free society.

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vene social

Is that Sean Penn?

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The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Bill Dudley’s Noble Lie

Posted by M. C. on September 10, 2019

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/september/09/bill-dudley-s-noble-lie/

Written by Ron Paul

Former Federal Reserve official Bill Dudley’s recent op-ed calling for the Federal Reserve to implement policies that will damage President Trump’s reelection campaign states that such action would be unprecedented. Dudley claims the Federal Reserve bases its policies solely on an objective evaluation of economic conditions. This is an example of a so-called noble lie — a fiction told by elites to the masses supposedly for the people’s own good, but really designed to maintain popular support for policies that benefit the elites. Dudley’s noble lie is designed to bolster a rapidly (and deservedly) eroding trust in the Federal Reserve. The truth is the Federal Reserve has always been influenced by, and has always tried to influence, politics.

President George H.W. Bush and other members of his administration blamed his 1992 defeat on then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s refusal to reduce interest rates. Greenspan was more cooperative with Bush’s successor, Bill Clinton. Lloyd Bentsen, Clinton’s first Treasury secretary, wrote in his autobiography that the Clinton administration and the Federal Reserve had a “gentleman’s agreement” regarding support for each other’s policies. Greenspan also boosted President George W. Bush’s “ownership society” agenda by lowering interest rates after 9-11 and the collapse of the tech bubble, thus creating a housing bubble.

Ben Bernanke, Greenspan’s successor, facilitated both Bush W. Bush and Barack Obama’s bailouts, “stimulus” spending, and massive welfare-warfare spending with record-low interest rates and quantitative easing. Speculation that the Fed was keeping interest rates low during the 2016 presidential campaign in order to help Hillary Clinton was fueled by the revelation that a Federal Reserve governor donated to Clinton’s campaign.

Presidents have always tried to influence the Fed — usually pushing for lower rates to (temporally) boost the economy. President Richard Nixon was recorded joking with then-Fed Chair Arthur Burns about Fed independence. President Lyndon Johnson shoved Fed Chair William Martin against a wall after an interest rate increase. Johnson’s frustration may have been because he realized that the success or failure of his guns and butter policies was largely out of Johnson’s control. The success or failure of presidents’ agendas is often determined by a secretive central bank’s manipulations of the money supply. No wonder presidents spend so much time trying to influence the Fed.

The Fed’s history of influencing, and being influenced by, presidents is one more reason why Congress should pass the Audit the Fed bill. Auditing the Fed is supported by almost 75 percent of Americans across the political spectrum, including such leading progressives as Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard.

My Campaign for Liberty is leading a major push to get a majority of Congress members to cosponsor Audit the Fed in order to pressure House and Senate leadership to hold a vote on the bill. The American people have had enough of noble lies about the Federal Reserve. It is time for truth; it is time to audit the Fed.

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Climate Change: An Anti-White Guise of the Oligarchs – Aussie Nationalist Blog

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

https://aussienationalistblog.com/2019/09/10/climate-change-an-anti-white-guise-of-the-oligarchs/

Aussie Nationalist

Bernie Sanders recently declared that as US President he would promote overseas population control, through abortion and contraception, to combat ‘climate change’. Needless to say, his comments yielded some crucial takeaways. Some have been expressed in short on Right-wing Twitter; others will be elucidated here.

Large segments of the modern Left believe ‘climate change’ threatens humanity’s continued existence. For example, I often see posters in Fremantle put up by the group ‘Extinction Rebellion’. As the name implies, this group forecasts an apocalyptic future for earth, if sufficient “action” is not taken on climate change.

Putting aside elementary questions of if climate change is real, or whether Leftists adequately define effective “action,” it is eyebrow raising that Bernie Sanders remains the only prominent Leftist to call for global population control. With every additional CO2 emitting human, tackling climate change becomes increasingly difficult. An unparalleled emergency–as climate change is purported to be–would necessitate taking all possible measures.

Which brings us to two utterly contradictory claims on ‘climate change’ and how we should resolve it. Upon examination, these unveil the true intent of those who inculcate fear about ‘climate change’.

Now to the first of these contradictions. Claiming opposition to ‘climate change’, many powerful media and cultural influences encourage Western people to have fewer children. Likewise, we are instructed to eat less meat–thus becoming physically weaker–again, in order to save the climate.

This message is espoused in Western countries, which all have below replacement birth rates. However, exploding African and Asian birth rates are, incomprehensibly, not addressed. Therefore, under the guise of climate change, already low Western birth rates must be reduced; yet high non-Western birth rates are left unabated. And if anyone, even indirectly challenges this dissonant state of affairs, they are roundly condemned. Case in point: when Bernie Sanders said population control ought be applied to Africa, he was denounced as a “eugenicist.” Conversely, you never hear such criticism when anti-natal policies are routinely levelled at Western people.

Secondly, the same voices who claim Western countries must reduce birth rates, endorse mass third-world immigration into the West. They claim this enormous, perpetual change is needed for “economic reasons.” This too, is an utterly inverse position in the context of climate change. How can climate change be countered, when Third Worlders in their tens of millions, acquire Western living standards each year? How can transferring a person from Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, causing them to expend CO2 at Western rates, be justified given the climate threat?

Of course, it must be that the elites, are not nearly as concerned about ‘climate change’ as they profess. In these circumstances, where the ensuing consequences of White displacement are of such a likely and foreseeable nature, we are open to infer a nefarious intent–on the part of certain elites. Specifically, it appears the narrative of climate change as promoted, is calculated towards inducing the dispossession of Western people. And given future allowances–such as separate ethno-states–are decried as immoral, the most sinister of explanations arise: panic over climate change is perpetuated to bring about the complete and irreversible destruction of Western people.

Now I presume that people lower down the food-chain–your average Fremantle Greens voters–do not comprehend these malevolent ends. Moreover, people to hold legitimate concerns over climate change, primarily out of a genuine care for the environment. In this respect, climate change has subverted the otherwise noble, inherently White tendency to conservationism.

Because it is distorted, this basis of popular belief in climate change provides us with a real opportunity. If either one of the aforementioned ‘climate change’ contradictions are effectively conveyed and then received by intellectually Leftists, belief in this anti-White initiative begins to unravel.

Further, any look at population growth trajectories, or comparison of Western vs non-Western approaches to environmental management, belies the perverted notion which underlies the logic of ‘climate change’: that White people bedevil the earth’s future. In establishing this, we can remove a significant obstacle to contemporary support for nationalism–and perhaps win some over in the process.

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NASCAR Shifts on Guns, Rejects Ad Showing Semiautomatic Rifle

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

From the comments

The NFL did not need us either. That worked out pretty well for them. They are now trying to sell shirts and merchandise on Home Shopping Club at 2 in the morning.

 

NASCAR IS already removing grandstand seats so they dont look as empty as NFL stadiums

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/09/nascar-shifts-on-guns-rejects-ad-showing-semiautomatic-rifle/

AWR Hawkins

NASCAR admits it is shifting its position on guns and the latest proof can be seen via the rejection of an ad that shows a semiautomatic rifle.

The NRA tweeted:

The NRA-ILA reports the rejected ad was from K-Var, and “included depictions of ‘assault-style rifles/sniper rifles.’” NASCAR’s media sales company told K-Var the racing giant is undergoing a “gradual shift in (its) position on guns.”

K-Var’s blog reported the entire quote from National Event Publications, which is NASCAR’s media sales company:

We just heard from NASCAR on a number of gun related ads and unfortunately, due a gradual shift in NASCAR’s position on guns, these ads must be edited/changed—especially those that are depicted as assault-style rifles/sniper rifles. NASCAR is still open to some of the less controversial gun accessories, concealed carry, or classes.

NASCAR’s changing position on guns follows Dick’s Sporting Good’s February 2018 decision to ban the sell of commonly owned semiautomatic rifles. Moreover, the change in NASCAR advertisement is occurring at exactly the same time as Walmart, Kroger, and Walgreens are banning open carry in their stores.

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Allen Gregory: Fans express frustration by way of empty ...

 

 

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Google’s got a new face-tracking camera for your home. We’ve got questions

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

Beyond ridiculous. They will likely sell millions.

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-nest-hub-max-a-new-face-tracking-camera-for-your-home-weve-got-questions/

By

Google Home and Nest Hub gadgets already feature microphones that are always listening for the words that wake up the Assistant (“OK, Google” or “Hey, Google”). Now, the search giant’s newest gadget for your home, the Nest Hub Max smart display, adds in a camera that’s always watching for a familiar face.

Google calls the feature Face Match, and it uses facial recognition technology to remember what you look like. After that, you can tap on the screen to see personalized bits of data like calendar appointments and Google Duo messages whenever it recognizes you.

The Nest Hub Max isn’t the first product to bring facial recognition technology — and the legal and ethical considerations that come with it — into people’s homes. Smart phones have been using the technology to let us unlock our devices and authorize purchases for years, and a growing number of smart home gadgets that use cameras are putting it to use, too, including Google’s own Nest Hello video doorbell.

Still, it’s a product that seeks to give Google a wider window into our lives at a time when the company is already facing questions about the way it handles our personal data. I wanted to take a closer look at how those privacy standards apply when you add always-watching cameras into the mix.

You’ll start with Face Match by using your phone to scan your face, which creates a “face model” that the device attaches to your user profile. After that, when you’re in front of the device and it recognizes you, you’ll see personalized details like calendar appointments and Google Duo video messages from your contacts.

I had a lot of questions for Google about this feature, and about the camera’s ability to spot a raised hand gesture in order to pause or resume playback, too. For instance: Is the camera always recording in order to process what it sees and spot familiar faces or gestures? Is it sharing everything it sees with Google’s cloud?

“If camera sensing is enabled and the camera is on (i.e., not turned off via the hardware or software switch), then the camera is continuously processing pixels to look for faces and/or gestures,” a Google spokesperson explained. “This processing is done locally on the device, and no pixels leave the Nest Hub Max.”…

Many users prefer the sense of privacy offered by a shutter that they can leave closed when the device isn’t in use, especially if they plan to keep it somewhere like a bedroom. Amazon seemed to figure that out in between last year’s second-gen Amazon Echo Show smart display, which lacked a shutter, and this year’s Amazon Echo Show 5, which added one.

When asked about the lack of a shutter, Google defended its design by downplaying the distinction between kill switch and shutter altogether.

“We’ve included a mic plus camera switch that electrically disables both the camera and mics, making it functionally equivalent to a physical camera shutter,” said a Google spokesperson….

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Google Chrome Silently Listening to Your Private Conversations

 

 

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‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ as Pamela Anderson Takes Meghan McCain to Task Over US War Crimes | Common Dreams News

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

Normally what some hollywood type has to say is of little interest to me but anytime someone goes head to head with a McCain warmonger I applaud.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/06/breath-fresh-air-pamela-anderson-takes-meghan-mccain-task-over-us-war-crimes

“Pamela Anderson talking about how war crimes need to be punished and of course Meghan McCain is crying about it.”

by
Eoin Higgins, staff writer
 
Actress Pamela Anderson and nepotism case Meghan McCain stare daggers at one another as The View's Sunny Hostin asks a question.

Actress Pamela Anderson and nepotism case Meghan McCain stare daggers at one another as The View‘s Sunny Hostin asks a question. (Image: screenshot/ABC)

Friday’s edition of The View became the site of an argument about war crimes, the U.S. military, and WikiLeaks as actress Pamela Anderson and program co-host Meghan McCain battled during Anderson’s appearance on the hit daytime talk show.

The dispute began when View hosts attacked Anderson for her unwavering support of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. McCain pounced, claiming that Assange is merely a “cyber terrorist.”

“He hacked information,” McCain said. “His leaks included classified documents that put our national security at risk, our military, and the lives of spies and diplomats at risk.”

Anderson replied by pointing out that the U.S. military, not WikiLeaks, is responsbile for the deaths of many innocent people around the world.

“How many people have the American government killed innocently and how many has Wikileaks?” Anderson asked. “The military has put many innocent lives at risk.”

That response spurred a cheer from the audience.

“Oh, calm down, sir,” McCain snapped at one boisterous supporter.

Later in the discussion, McCain extolled the virtues of American spies and intelligence officers and asked if Anderson was concerned for their safety from Assange leaking information to the public.

“Well, there’s no evidence he’s put anyone at risk,” said Anderson. “And I think people like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning are heroes.”

Progressive reaction online to the argument focused on Anderson’s effective batting away of McCain’s right-wing talking points.

“What a breath of fresh air!!” Splinter managing editor Katherine Kreuger wrote in her recap of the argument.

“Pamela Anderson talking about how war crimes need to be punished and of course Meghan McCain is crying about it,” said Twitter user @Millerheighlife.

In a rare omission, Meghan McCain did not mention that her father was late war hawk Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the discussion.

Watch Anderson’s appearance:

Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.

 

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Did Boris Johnson Just Rope-a-Dope His Way into a Hard Brexit?

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

This is interesting.

Will the queen be English or is she like Elton John-“a European, not a stupid, imperialist English idiot”.

Here is a thought-What Would Charles Do?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/09/did_boris_johnson_just_ropeadope_his_way_into_a_hard_brexit.html

By Mark Hanna

As of Friday, September 6, an extension of three months to prevent the U.K. leaving the E.U. without a deal passed the Houses of Commons and Lords.  In order for that legislation to become law, there must be consent by the monarch — in this case, Queen Elizabeth II.  Once she assents, the bill becomes law.

While most everyone is considering her assent a formality on Monday, it should not quite yet be considered a fait accompli.  The queen can lawfully refuse assent or delay her approval, which would effectively veto the bill and keep it from becoming law, thereby paving the way to a No Deal Brexit on October 31.

There are two occasions when the monarch can and should, according to most academic experts in the matter, refuse assent.

According to Anne Twomey, professor of constitutional law at the the University of Sydney in her book The Veiled Sceptre, the first occasion is that where a “serious error is discovered in the bill.”  No one is arguing that there is an error in the Remainers’ meticulously crafted bill of extension.

But the second occasion in relation to royal assent, “the predominant academic view … is that the Sovereign … must act upon the advice of responsible ministers.”

Professor of public law at the University of Glasgow School of Law Adam Tomkins concurs.  From his book Public Law: “If the monarch were given clear and firm Prime Ministerial advice that she should withhold her royal assent to a Bill which had passed through the Houses of Parliament, it seems to be the case that the monarch should follow that advice.”

As Robert Craig noted, Twomey uses the example of where a new government that has the confidence of the House and “objects to a bill passed … by a defeated predecessor … then its advice to refuse assent to a bill should be accepted.”

While this is not the exact set of circumstances the U.K. is facing, Boris Johnson has demonstrated he has the confidence of the House, triumphantly pointing out that “this is the first time in history that the opposition has voted to show confidence in Her Majesty’s government” by refusing to allow an election and refusing to table a vote of no confidence.  Now all that’s left is for Johnson to give clear and firm advice to the queen, who should then refuse to assent to the opposition’s legislation to stop a No Deal Brexit.

If this is indeed BoJo’s strategy, the U.K. Parliament has cut off its nose to spite its face.  Hyper-leftist and self-avowed Marxist Jeremy Corbyn, opposition leader of the Labor Party, has gleefully led this self-mutilation, stating, “When No Deal is off the table, once and for all, we should go back to the people in a public vote or a General Election to decide our country’s future.”…

If the queen agrees, Boris Johnson will have turned the Remainers’ nightmarish Halloween Day extension ploy into a historic Reformation Day, indeed.

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Elton John | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

 

 

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100 Years Ago Today, This Was The World’s Most Disruptive Technology – The Burning Platform

Posted by M. C. on September 9, 2019

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/09/08/100-years-ago-today-this-was-the-worlds-most-disruptive-technology/

Submitted by Nick Colas of DataTrek Research

Most Disruptive Technology

Submitted by Nick Colas of DataTrek Research

The history of US consumerism starts with the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog. Yes, the very same Sears that is struggling to emerge from bankruptcy today. But 125 years ago the company was every bit the disruptive innovator. A brief summary of how that happened:

  • Mail order became viable in the late 1800s because of the expansion of the US rail system, post office regulations that allowed for catalog mailers at 1 cent/pound, and Rural Free Delivery.
  • The first Sears catalog was published in 1894 with the slogan “The Cheapest Supply House on Earth”.
  • Its target audience was rural America, which in 1900 was 60% of the US population. This was a deeply underserved community, often with just a thinly stocked general store to supply all their needs.
  • The 1903 catalog added the commitment of “Your money back if you are not satisfied”, reassuring customers that buying a product sight-unseen was a viable way to shop.

We recently bought a 1920 Sears catalog from an eBay seller. Printed in late 1919, it is a fascinating snapshot of American life 100 years ago. And, at 1,493 pages, it is a remarkably wide-angle view of that image.

In studying this early bible of the American consumer, three points struck us as particularly salient when comparing 1920 to 2019:

#1: The comparison to Amazon.

  • Our catalog was published 25 years after Sears began its mail order business; Amazon is 25 years old today.
  • The scope of the Sears offering in 1920 was every bit as vast as Amazon’s is today. The company offered everything from men’s/women’s/children’s clothing to furniture, appliances, jewelry, home entertainment, toys, and even entire houses and farm buildings.
  • Sear’s merchandising method was exactly the same as what you see on Amazon’s website. Every item for sale had a picture, description, and price. The catalog is organized by the type of product offered for sale, something akin to “If you like this item, you might also like this…”
  • One key difference: Sears offered credit on expensive items. If, for example, you wanted to buy a “New Freedom” coal/wood stove, you could pay $86.50 ($1,100 today) or make a first payment of $10 and then $7.50/month thereafter until you had paid $95.50. That’s a 7.1% annualized interest rate, in case you were wondering. Amazon, of course, takes credit cards.

Conclusion: Sears was actually a more ambitious business model than Amazon when it started. On day one, it was already selling a wide array of products – not just books. In terms of consumer offerings, Amazon now is right where Sears was in 1920. Yes, there are more SKUs on the website, but in terms of what people needed in 1920 the Sears catalog is remarkably complete.

#2: Early stage technology.

  • The new technologies in 1920 were electric-powered appliances and phonograph players. Radio was still some years off – the only items in the 1920 catalog were Morse code transceivers.
  • A 110-volt vacuum cleaner retailed for $57.50 – $68.00 ($740 – $870 today). For reference, a top-rated vacuum on Amazon goes for $70 today.
  • A hand-crank record player went for $30 (basic tabletop) to $225 (solid wood standup), or $385 – $2,900 today. A Bluetooth speaker today goes for about $20.
  • A basic bicycle sold for $53, or $680 in today’s dollars.

Our takeaway: the big difference between 1920s technology and today is how quickly prices come down as demand rises. Part of that is related to infrastructure; for example, in 1920 only 35% of American homes had electricity but by 1929 68% were wired for power. That, plus the disruption created by World War II, explains why vacuum cleaners remained expensive and adoption rates remained below 50% until the late 1940s. The rest, of course, is globalization, both in terms of supply and demand.

#3: A big idea can go a long way.

  • Our 1920 catalog is a relatively early manifestation of a business that continued to prosper and grow for another +50 years. In 1974, at the height of its powers, Sears built the tallest building in the world in Chicago to house its home office.
  • The company started opening retail stores in the 1920s, predominantly in urban areas to augment its rural business, and eventually had thousands of retail locations. It built its own brands like Craftsman tools, Kenmore appliances and DieHard automotive batteries.
  • In 1931 Sears created Allstate Insurance and by 1934 it had agents in every store. In 1981 it added broker Dean Witter and real estate company Coldwell Banker. In 1985 it created the Discover credit card. It was even an early Internet adopter, developing the Prodigy system with IBM.

The lesson here: even if Sears is now a tiny shadow of its former self, it pays to remember this company had an almost 100 year run of success. It survived and prospered through 2 world wars and the Great Depression, living long enough to benefit from the post World War II boom. All from one big idea: a mail order catalog.

The corrupt establishment will do anything to suppress sites like the Burning Platform from revealing the truth. The corporate media does this by demonetizing sites like mine by blackballing the site from advertising revenue. If you get value from this site, please keep it running with a donation. [Jim Quinn – PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal.
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