Theft by government – Europe’s fall
‘Taking from the poor to give to the rich’
(La Vanguardia) A few kilometres off the coast of the European Union, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey welcome billionaires who want to cheat the tax man. But campaigns against tax evasion have eroded these tax havens’ revenues and even they have been forced to resort to budget cuts.

Nathan: Trust the stinking mainstream media to describe avoiding taxes (that is, protecting yourself against theft) as “cheating the tax man.”  But this article accurately portrays a major problem in the world today:  the way in which governments have sprinted ahead in the constant race between the legitimate owners of wealth and labor (especially their own) and the thugs who steal them from us in the name of “The People.”  Ultimately, the entire system WILL come crashing down, either through the financial collapse of the economies involved or through rebellion and therefore physical collapse.  But until then, we all will suffer.  Except, of course, for the parasites.  I have a hard time feeling bad for the parasites (the “civil servants” and such) even in these minute tax havens.

Mama’s Note: I think BOTH the economic or the physical collapse are inevitable now. One may trigger the other, or they may both come at the same time. As with an avalanche, the only real answer is to get out of the way as fast as possible. You can’t stop the thing by any means.

Islamic wars: Arab street revolt – Syrian front – Her Majesty’s subjects
Civilians betrayed by UK vote
(The Times of London)  Parliament’s rejection of a vote calling for military action against Bashar al-Assad represents a U-turn in Britain’s tradition of standing up to dictators and a disaster for the Syrian people. Now, it falls to the US to act or jeopardise its credibility, with France as it sole European ally.

Nathan: Again, trust to the mainstream media to fail to understand and claim betrayal like this.  I applaud Her Majesty’s subjects in their ability to communicate to the “elite” of Parliament that they are sick and tired of wars and constant attacks against nation after nation by the Anglo-American axis, with made-up justifications and claims that Assad is a hideous ruler who kills his own people, while the European and American powers do the same.  As for this pitifully weird and false idea that the American “administration” (or the US, for that matter) has ANY credibility to jeopardize, well, one more silly thing before breakfast, eh?

Mama’s Note: UGG… I’d just as soon not contemplate that before breakfast, thanks. Makes me sick…

Europe’s Fall
Angela über alles
(Frankfurter Rundschau) Out on the campaign trail, the Chancellor has been stressing the track record of her government. It’s a strategy that she hopes will keep her above the political debate and steer her away from controversy.

Nathan: Compared to the current DC madhouse, and even Whitehall, Merkel DOES have a track record with a few gold stars pasted on it.  But she, and the other political leaders and parties in Germany, must sooner than later stop sitting on the fence and either fully take control of Europe or end the farce of the European Union.  The German people were willing to shoulder the burden of rebuilding the OstZone and going deep in debt for it. They are NOT willing to do so for the grandchildren of the various nations that their grandfathers conquered in 1939-42 which then had to be liberated by American and Commonwealth blood and treasure.  Sadly it is clear that just as Thatcher had a population which had been weakened and decayed beyond repair, so Merkel has a softened and easily manipulated population unwilling to stand up for the liberty that SHOULD be the patrimony of the German people, or even for der Vaterland.

Government-run, Tax-funded schools – Propaganda
What is Government?’ Elementary Students Taught It’s Your ‘Family’
(The Blaze) Fourth-grade students in Illinois are learning that “government is like a nation’s family” because it sets rules and takes care of needs such as health care and education. So says a worksheet for social studies homework that was distributed to students at East Prairie School in Skokie, Ill, complete with a drawing of Uncle Same [sic] cradling a baby that represents the citizens.

Mama’s Note: Words fail me…

Nathan: Oh, brave new world!. My, but this does smell of the totalitarians: all in the state, nothing but the state, nothing outside the state.  Free men and women will be fighting these brainwashed children or their children soon enough:  like Britain and Germany, we have sold our patrimony for a bowl of rotted porridge.

Home front – Crash of 2009
‘Double whammy’: Nursing shortage starts in the classroom
(NBC News) But just as the country needs nurses the most, a shortage of professors is curbing the capacity of nursing schools to crank out graduates with advanced degrees. “It’s a double whammy — we can’t get enough nurses, or the faculty to train them,” says Sarah Keating, a nursing professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. “It’s so tough when you see these folks coming through and they do so well on the interviews and we have to turn away one in four,” adds Keating.

Mama’s Note: So much wrong with this I don’t know where to begin. Chicken and egg in a lot of areas, but the biggest problem – of course – is the fact that there is no free market, just government insanity. Remember that I taught nursing at a community college for a few years. “Insanity” is really too tame a word to describe it. And it’s only going to get worse.

“Crank out graduates” is a fair description. Insisting on advanced degrees for every position is stupid on its face, but the sad fact is that those degrees are more and more meaningless as far as actually doing any real nursing…caring for people. Not to mention that these “students” and “teachers” so often can’t actually think for themselves, perform critical analysis, or deal with anything not in their “cookbooks.”

Sad, really sad.

Nathan: It is the same in many professions:  take teaching, where elementary teachers do NOT need even a BA or BS (except that today, a BS or BA is often graduating students with a lower skill and knowledge level than rural elementary schools did with Eighth grade graduates a century ago).  It is not about quality but about credentials: ticket punching of the worse kind.  When you spend half of your four-year college just doing remedial courses to make up for what you didn’t learn in 7-12, is it any surprise that there are not enough spaces OR professors?  And when professors are expected to spend all of six to ten hours a week actually TEACHING, no wonder the results are worthless, and there is a shortage.

Mama’s Note: Nathan, even the “remedial” courses are worthless. The STANDARDS are so low, and many necessary skills (like critical thinking) are actually discouraged… it’s no wonder that college “graduates” today are hopelessly uneducated and can’t function on a truly professional level. Some get over a lot of that when they gain real world experience, but many become entrenched in that mindset… and all too often, THEY become the teachers.