TDV Week in Review September 15th, 2013

September 15, 2013 / Redmond W /

What? Me Worry?

I was trying to work up some outrage over the US police state…or the US beating the drums of war with Syria. But it's just not working today.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's outrageous that police are revealing themselves as a typical public program with the usual perverse results. You pay at gunpoint for protection and end up with a trigger happy, occupying force that fills innocent people and their pets with bullets and occasionally burns them to death in their homes.

I also think it's outrageous that the Nobel Peace Prize winning president who campaigned on stopping the neocon evils of invasion, occupation and torture is now trumping up reasons to violently dismember the bodies of yet more civilians in a sandy country.

But I just can't get that mad about it because I'm not living in the middle of the police state with a bunch of pasty yahoos debating how much more theft and violence should be added to the mix.

Rather, I'm down here in a geographically isolated gem of a country, in a very nice corner of a sprawling metropolis whose backdrop is the goddamned Andes Mountains.

I'm not living in some anarchist fantasy down here. And I am feeling more than a little culture shock and homesickness. But now that I'm not breathing US air anymore, it is almost impossible to be as bothered by the imperial surveillance police state nonsense. Being here is like being on some industrial grade anti-stress drugs.

For example, if I'd still been in the US, this would have actually upset me instead of making me chuckle mildly…

Feds readying movie theater regulations for blind, deaf patrons

The Obama administration is nearing completion of a proposal to require that movie theaters offer technology so blind and deaf people can go to the cinema.

The draft rule, which is part of a decades-long effort by advocates for people with disabilities, would likely require thousands of movie theaters across the country to offer devices that display closed captioning and provide audio narration of what’s happening onscreen.

Disability associations say that the new regulation will make sure that blind and deaf people can appreciate the latest blockbuster just like everyone else.

But theater owners worry that a federal mandate will force small, rural and struggling theaters to close given the costs associated with the rule.
“These theaters can barely stay in existence and often need community support to break even,” the trade group wrote in a comment to the Justice Department’s 2010 precursor to the upcoming proposal. “To require them to install expensive closed captioning technology at this time is an undue financial burden that may result in these theaters closing.”

The upcoming proposal from the Justice Department is expected to require that a certain percentage of the more than 40,000 movie screens across the country offer headsets that provide a running commentary of visual action for the blind, glasses that display closed captioning for the deaf or other devices to explain what’s happening onscreen.

“All of this sort of comes down to choice for us,” said Eric Bridges, the director of external relations and policy at the American Council of the Blind.

“We would like to have a choice in the movies that we go see that are video-described.”

Yes, good reader, this week I'm actually turning away from the grand acts of violence and looking at the tiny, absurd ones instead. From here it's easier to see the farce for what it is, in part because the threat of kidnapping and death isn't as great when the US domestic awe, terror and suppression force isn't cruising the streets outside one's window. Breathing easy allows perspective.

With the peace of mind that comes from being outside the immediate reach of local occupying troops, I can bend my thoughts to bits of slapstick violence like this coming regulation. If there were a sufficient demand for deaf and blind patrons to enhance their theatre experience, wouldn't the market come up with a better way to satisfy that demand than stealing more money from citizens to enforce rules that will drive smaller competitors out of a certain business?

I would assume that the deaf or blind going to the movie theatre is kind of like me going to a tanning salon: a large waste of time for me even if the majority of other people around me find it useful and enjoyable. I would think that if there really was a demand beyond that of the government-petitioning, collectivized victimhood that is the American Council of the Blind, then some entrepreneur would figure out a much cheaper and better solution to give sensory-impaired would-be moviergoers.

If I were still living in the US, this would just be one more irritant to add to the outrage over the police state and Syria. From here though, all those problems look so small, so ridiculous. It's no more my business than Syrian thugs struggling over who will be top criminal. A little homesickness is well worth the blissful detachment I feel from that mess of a degenerate empire.

Regards,

Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante

Before we get to the review let’s have a look at what you missed in the latest edition of TDV’s Dispatch.

First, in my “Memory Hole” I discussed the American (and British) people’s overwhelming lack of desire for more war.

Next, Jeff Berwick wondered aloud if we’re getting qualified financial advice, and then Ed Bugos gave us qualified financial advice!

James Guzman had a look at Chemtrails and the “weather tyrants” and as he does in each TDV subscriber-only publication, Jeff took us on a tour of the absurd in statism in Other News “from TEOTMSAWKI and TDV Related Tidbits”.

Finally, we profiles climate change voice of reason, Richard Lindzen.

If you’re interested in receiving articles like these, consider our weekly subscriber-only publications, like our Issue, Dispatches, and TDV Homegrown, please subscribe here.

Here’s what we wrote about this week…

MONDAY, September 9

Rent Control: A Nightmare to Avoid

Wren Investment Group’s Phil Champagne on the evils of rent control.

“With the prospect of higher price inflation coming, I’d like to bring up a potential risk of what might happen more often in some cities in the US and across the world, particularly in places with a more socialist view such as San Francisco.

To many investors in real estate, I’ve just stated the obvious in my title. All cities or countries that have implemented a rent control have ultimately destroyed the availability of good housing. Rent control has always been implemented only on residential housing, since the government doesn’t feel it needs to be involved in commercial real estate where the lease contract is between two businesses. But when it comes to housing, what better way to get more votes than to promote a new law that will freeze rent increases or limit their growth?”

TUESDAY, September 10

Poland Confiscates Private Pensions – Yours is Next

Jeff Berwick on the state coming for your money.

“Think again if you don't think this will occur all across the Western world until The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI).

To begin, the Social Security (or as I call it, the Socialist Insecurity) program in the US is, by dictionary definition, a ponzi scheme.

According to Investopedia: "The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors. These schemes usually collapse on themselves when the new investments stop."

In fact, Social Security is even worse than a ponzi scheme. At least with a ponzi scheme you have the choice whether or not to "invest" with someone like Robert Madoff. You aren't forced into it.”

Wednesday, September 11

Never Forget 9/11… and Never Stop Asking What It Really Was

Jeff Berwick observes the anniversary of 9/11 as only TDV can.

“Each year I like to take a pause to remember 9/11. After all, it was the false flag inside job terrorist attack that has changed everyone's lives on Earth so dramatically.

This year comes with a little bit extra, however. Like a surprise Christmas eve gift, this year's 9/11 eve came with something even more insane than normal. Nobel peace prize winner Barack Obombya made a special appearance on American TV programming (it's not called programming without reason) to try to plead his case to rain down hell upon innocent men, women and children… somewhere else.

The most fascinating part about what he was saying is that Americans must now support Al-Qaida (Al-CIAda) to kill people in Syria!

Why? Because it's a war on terrorism! That war, by the way, was supposed to be against people like Al-Qaida who, according to the official conspiracy theory (see video below for the story in just five minutes), started the war on terrorism on September 11th, 2001.”

Thursday, September 12

Your Government Registered Financial Advisor is Not Adequate For Today's Market

Jeff Berwick is worried about the financial advice you’re getting.

"When I was a much younger man, two decades ago, I wanted to be a stockbroker. I had been living in Vancouver, Canada and was surrounded by all the interesting characters who were making and losing hundreds of millions of dollars on the Vancouver stock exchange and I liked the environment. Many would make millions one day and lose it all the next and billions of what was essentially venture capital money was being poured into all manner of ideas (from great to ludicrous).

I liked the chaotic order of it all.

FRIDAY, September 13

Feedback Friday – September 13, 2013

In this week’s Feedback Friday: Rumsfeld, Goering, Cambodia, the Venus Project, and more.