For the most part, the value of the dollar is given cursory attention by the financial media. Typically, its movements are assigned an importance on par with much less determinative metrics such as natural gas futures and construction permits. It’s only when major milestones are reached that anyone really takes notice of the dollar. We are living through one of those times. The great dollar rally of 2008-2009 has come full circle. When the financial crisis exploded in its full ugliness in mid-2008, the dollar, which had steadily declined over the previous four to five years, put in a rally for … 
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If you needed incontrovertible proof that homegrown retardation is far more pressing a problem than homegrown terrorism in modern-day America—six-year-old Falcon Heene’s flight of fancy provided it. The contagion that gripped the nation began on October the 15th. Anyone turning on the boob tube was treated to a live broadcast of a levitating dome-shaped “homemade flying saucer.” MSNBC’s David “Shyster” informed his unfortunate viewers, matter-of-fact, that the small son of Richard and Mayumi Heene of Fossil Ridge Road in Fort Collins, Colorado, had climbed into a carriage attached to the helium-filled contraption which had become untethered. Boy and balloon were … 
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The term “social engineering” never fit an entity better than it does the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This intrusive, tenacious organization has spent years attempting to recast and transform American society to fit its own peculiar ideals. Its directors are missionaries in the full sense of the word, in that they relentlessly work to stamp onto the hearts and minds of the public a distinctive belief system, which teaches what is evil and what is not.  This month, the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) has published an excellent analysis of the SPLC’s attack on FAIR and other immigration reform groups, … 
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Four decades ago, Lamar Alexander worked in Richard Nixon’s White House. Sen. Alexander today says Barack Obama’s White House reminds him of that place, that time, that mindset and those people. Intending no disrespect to my old colleague, these days are not at all like those days, and this president and White House are nothing like the White House in which this writer worked from Inauguration Day 1969 to August 1974, when Marine One lifted off the lawn. Richard Nixon had been elected in the most turbulent year since the Civil War. Between New Hampshire and November, there was the Tet … 
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The Obama administration’s decision to treat FOX News as a political opponent rather than a viable news outlet has angered many conservatives. Not me. FOX News is not and never has been “objective journalism.” But neither is MSNBC, CNN and every other corporate outlet that disseminates politically-biased disinformation. It’s no secret that Obama and FOX have long been “ready to rumble,” so why not finally remove the blinders and the gloves so that FOX can get to their business, unfettered, of beating this administration into a bloody pulp? Which is exactly what MSNBC, CNN and every other liberal news outlet should … 
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Why are women in bars? I mean, I know why they’re allowed in bars. It’s the law, but why do they bother? Isn’t it like Gay Marriage? You want the right to do it but you don’t actually want to literally do it. Bars are about poisoning your body and arguing about politics, which, when you get right down to it, is arguing about numbers. Women aren’t predisposed to either of those things. So why do they do it? They do it because it’s empowering to be a man. So, they sugar coat the booze, add some food coloring and dive … 
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Everybody complains about how dumbed-down movies have gotten. Here, for example, are representative quotes from A.O. Scott of the New York Times in “Spoon-Fed Cinema” bemoaning the state of movies c. 2009: “infantile,” “male immaturity,” and “a program of mass infantilization.” Yet, nobody ever seems to mention one obvious change in audience composition over the decades that has contributed to the present blockbusteritis. And only one renegade filmmaker has used this change in demographics to be able to afford to make innovative movies; but nobody wants to talk about him, either. My favorite movie theatre these days is the The Mann … 
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The U.S. has every characteristic of a failed state. The U.S. government’s current operating budget is dependent on foreign financing and money creation. Too politically weak to be able to advance its interests through diplomacy, the U.S. relies on terrorism and military aggression. Costs are out of control, and priorities are skewed in the interest of rich organized interest groups at the expense of the vast majority of citizens. For example, war at all cost—which enriches the armaments industry, the officer corps and the financial firms that handle the war’s financing—takes precedence over the needs of American citizens. There is no … 
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When a runaway hot-air balloon reported to be carrying a six-year-old boy made headlines last week, many were surprised to find out it had all been a hoax. Admitted the six-year-old boy on live television, “We did this for a show.” Another hot-air balloon by the name of Lindsey Graham also made headlines last week by putting on a show of his own, as the South Carolina Senator held court at a town hall meeting, touting his conservative credentials before an angry crowd that wasn’t buying it. “They’re a political fringe group” Graham said of his critics, “I’m the conservative in … 
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In the brief age of Obama, we have had “truthers,” “birthers,” Tea Party activists and town-hall dissenters. Comes now, the “Oath Keepers.” And who might they be? Writes Alan Maimon in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oath Keepers, depending on where one stands, are “either strident defenders of liberty or dangerous peddlers of paranoia.” Formed in March, they are ex-military and police who repledge themselves to defend the Constitution, even if it means disobeying orders. If the U.S. government ordered law enforcement agencies to violate Second Amendment rights by disarming the people, Oath Keepers will not obey. “The whole point of Oath … 
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