MAGNIFICENT. Last time, New Hampshire was such a bitter defeat, this time, an incredible vindication;

Watch Ron Pauls Speech After New Hampshire Primary – YouTube.

In the 2008 implosion, the banks that were bailed out should have been left to go under – their assets stripped and sold, their officers indicted for fraud or driven out into the street, their profits disgorged, they and their children made outcasts, leaving them in the outer darkness,wailing and gnashing their teeth.

This, after all, is the basic moral logic of capitalism – success is rewarded, failure mercilessly punished. And this is EXACTLY what the politicians prevented from happening – all of them, except Ron Paul, who warned about it, and tried to stop it.

Michael Chertoff Can Kiss My Fat, Pale, Hairy Ass

In Atlanta yesterday, I “opted out” of the pornotron. An unhappy-looking middle-aged gentleman was summoned to give me my Federally mandated physical. Visibly uncomfortable, he did his ‘job’ such as it was, all the while being coached by a group of apparently low-intelligence, but senior “workers”. I felt sorry for the man.

I cancelled my American Express card today. Throughout most of the past eleven-odd years, American Express has always treated me as well as their spendiest platinum-card holder – letting me buy what I wanted, pay the way I wanted, and helping me any time my card was lost, misplaced, etc., anywhere in the world I went. They ran a decent rewards program that I took full advantage of, their annual fee was reasonable, and, grateful, I never failed to give credit where credit was due, pardon the pun.

So what changed? Well, my life, mostly. When I got married, and started having kids, I realized that the life of a “road warrior” was not compatible with the kind of family life I wanted. So I took a job with a LOT less travel, which meant I had much less use for the rewards program, for one thing. Alongside that, tough times in the credit-card business apparently led them to trim back on the rewards, and increase their annual fees. My no-interest “green card” was beginning to lose its lustre.

Then, last September, I was picked to attend the International Occupational Hygiene Association conference in Rome, Italy. Having relatively little available cash, but plenty of credit freeboard on my trusty AMEX card, I embarked on my trip confident that it would render me capable of traveling – if not in style, exactly, then at least relative comfort. Boy was THAT a miscalculation.

I discovered that virtually none of the shops, restaurants, pubs, and other attractions I wanted to attend in Rome would accept the American Express card! Aside from high-street luxury-goods shops (and the ever-present moneychangers), my card, which had served as my little plastic passport for so long, in so many places, had apparently worn out its welcome. I started to feel like a customer at Big Pete’s House of Munch.

To be fair, credit cards of all issuers were slightly less welcome than a bum’s handful of faintly urine-scented euro notes in Rome, the local pastime having become, apparently, the evasion of sales taxes, said pastime being far easier to engage in successfully in cash. But not being able to spend as much as I would have liked on excursions and gifts for the folks at home caused me actual distress. Everywhere I went, the story was the same – ‘we don’t take the card, the fees are too high’. A welcome loan from one of my traveling companions eased my discomfort a bit, and allowed me to enjoy my trip more than otherwise. Traveling with the boss does have its compensations too.

I resisted the urge to cancel the card precipitiously, deciding that one bad experience shouldn’t compromise an otherwise mutually-beneficial relationship. But ultimately I could not let bygones be bygones. So I called today to cancel. The service rep I talked to sounded genuinely sympathetic, but the “member services” person I was transferred to simply tried to sell me a different (revolving interest) card, in which I had no interest, HO HO. She promptly then closed the account with little fanfare.

It’s sad for me personally, and it felt like the passing of an era in travel.

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, MD highlights Battlefield Breakthroughs – National Military Community | Examiner.com.

via Consent of the Governed? | The Beacon.

Standing Around While Rome Burns

Last October I spent a week in Rome. The tax police (Guardia di Finanza) were EVERYWHERE, and NO ONE was paying any tax…and the Communists were decrying government “austerity” measures;

Italy Is Not Greece

If it does turn out that Italy needs a bailout, it is going to change the entire game in Europe.

What is going on in Italy right now is potentially far more serious than what has been going on in Greece. Italy is the fourth largest economy in the European Union. If Italy requires a bailout, the rest of Europe might not be able to handle it.

An anonymous European Central Bank source told one German newspaper the following on Sunday….

“The existing rescue fund in Europe is not sufficient to provide a credible defensive wall for Italy”

The source also added that the current bailout fund “was never designed for that”.

Uh Oh – Italy Is Coming Apart Like a 20-Dollar Suit.

via Lew Rockwell’s Political Theatre | The Comedy and Tragedy of the Political World.