Cities of Death: Testimonial

Dear BTP clients and future clients,

There's a group of us, all old friends who now live in different parts of the country. We started with Spacehulk back in college, and now play 40K. We try to all get together about twice a year, set up a table or two, get out the armies, and go to war.

Its always a great weekend of too little sleep and, no matter how much we play, not enough 40K.At the last get together we all started talking about Cities of Death and so myself and another player picked up some of the sets and a third from our group (who's not a modeller) sent us a couple more. Well life got crazy, as it often does, with the date of our next mass get together less than two months away we start cataloging the CoD scenery that we've been able to complete.

It's not good.I start making phone calls. People still want to go CoD for the next get together, but its just not going to happen. Finally one of the other guys says, "Who did your Chaos Space Marine Army? Do they do scenery?"I thought they did, so I log onto the Blue Table web site and start digging through the galleries. It doesn't take long before I'm sending out links.The emails start to come back, everyone is liking what Shawn and his crew have produced in the past and they're saying that its exactly what they were hoping to play on.But we're around seven weeks out and we want to get an Omega size table worth of stuff done. I'm not thinking this is going to work, but I fire off a message to Shawn at Blue Table anyway.Its big, its crazy, but Shawn thinks he can make it happen. I'm looking at all the plastic, most of it still on the sprue, and I know I can't do it in the amount of time I have left.We work out the details and one of the other players and I split the deposit. I get all the unfinished kits that we have and I box them up.

Shawn starts ordering the extras that he will need.The next weeks were just a blast. Because of the tight schedule Shawn and I stayed in regular contact. He kept me up to date on the progress and tantalized us all by including the scenery in his YouTube vids.I got home from work the day before our big gaming weekend to find two big boxes sitting inside my front door. It was all I could do to wait until some of the other guys showed up that night, but I knew it would be better if we opened them together.

I think we took over an hour to carefully pull those models out of the boxes, gently unwrap them and carefully remove any Styrofoam peanuts that insisted on tagging along. Each piece was carefully and critically examined from every angle by multiple sets of hands before it was placed on the table. It quickly became apparent that Shawn and Blue Table had really come through for us, the pieces were exquisite.And that's how the next day went. The guys would show up with their armies and spend long minutes appreciating the new scenery. Then they would get out a codex and start working on a list for the Cities of Death. Everyone wanted to play on that table. We got a lot of use out of the scenery that weekend and I know we will get a lot more in future gaming sessions.

Not Going Back.... to the Wild West

I was watching the Daily Show tonight and the book featured sounds like the exact opposite of what I've been reading. So I'm going to get it and read it!

Justin Fox: The Myth of the Rational Market

The thesis as far as I can tell, is that when left to themselves people would make a worse situation than is had with government interference.

Perfect, a book with a counter-argument. I'll let you all know how it goes.

The Inner Light

Hello all. For some reason people seem to be interested in this blog, so I keep plugging away.

Let's go back to Saturday. I took the boys out to a burger place and let them play on the little indoor playground thing for a few hours while I takked away on the laptop. I'm constantly working it seems. Does that make me a workaholic? I do make/take time for family and other areas of life, so I suppose not. Then we headed out to Wal Mart to pick up some fruit.

I am working on the Terradons for the Lizardmen army, which will complete that force. Everything is done for the entire 3000 pts, even movement trays. It's a really nice army. I'm proud of it.

My wife went out grocery shopping Saturday night, which is an all afternoon affair. I am well aware that this is a time for her to get away from her regular routine. She likes to do it. We are always well stocked. She doesn't shop for shoes or clothes. She shops for food. So that's a good thing.

I spent a good part of the afternoon making army lists and dreaming of a new army. Wood Elves? Kroot? What would be fun to play? But best to concentrate on a new round of Pandora's armies. I am very excited for the second run, which I will open the door for this Monday.

The whole house finally conked out around 11pm. We just sort of dropped where we were in random beds or couches. I woke up at 2am, and momentarily refreshed watched my favorite episode of Star Trek ever. It always brings a tear to my eye. The Inner Light.

When I was a boy of about twelve, we had just moved back from Alaska and were living next to my father's best friend. They had an enormous house, four levels in all. He was a woodworker and was constantly improving the home with decks, balconies, and add-on rooms. During the summer I would go over there and watch Star Trek, a small pile of penny-candy on my lap. The mother, Marilyn, was dark-haired and with a warm face, always kind and ready with cookies and milk and a kind word.

I am hoping that my own kids will discover Star Trek, dusting off my DVD-seasons of them.

For young people reading this I give a word of encouragement. Keep an eye on the horizon. Things will get better in ways that you do not envision at this time. You are worthwhile.

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Here's what I believe. The galaxy is not empty. The opposite is true. It is full of life, hardly any place uninhabited by the celestialized race of mankind. It is we on this earth who are in quarantine, thinking we are alone. That's what I see when I look up the night sky.

Spirited Away

If you haven't seen this movie, you're a dope. Here's a clip.

Junkyard Kroot

[Pics from http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/ These weren't painted by us.]

I've been percolating a new army.

I'm thinking of doing Kroot. The problem is the Kroot Mercenaries list is really sad.

But then I noticed that Kroot are a Troops choice in the Tau list. The concept is to make a Kroot force that has put together a ramshackle force with Tau leftovers. Instead of battlesuits I'll have Knarloc Riders. The hammerheads will be these ramshackle things with kroot gunners in the hatches (for smart missile systems). The whole thing really looking like it's tied together.

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Anyway, back to the Knarloc Rider "battlesuits". If I can, I'm going to get two riders on there and they will not necessarily have tau versions of their weapons. For example, they might have an imperial flamer, or a space marine meltagun. These guys are scavengers.

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This will also account for the multi-tracker upgrade. Hmmmm... or maybe a guy on foot nearby.

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Three units of Kroot: ten kroot and ten hounds form the core.

Six Knarloc Rider "battlesuits"

One Knarloc Rider leader (or two)

Three Knarloc Rider "broadsides"

Two Hammerheads

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That would be a start.

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The tactics here present something unusual. For a shooty army, like Tau, the enemy keeps advancing until they are broken or they clean up on the weak-in-combat Tau. But what if there are giant units of close combat troops coming in from random board edges?

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Since this poste I have got a lot of input. Here's one:

BTP,

your blog comments are limited to team members only, or so it seems.

I wanted to comment on this post - http://bluetablepainting.blogspot.com/2009/07/junkyard-kroot.html as follows:-

If you want some good inspiration along these lines, take a look at Marco Chulze's Kroot Renegade army, who have captured a Tau Ethereal and forced the Tau to do their bidding - http://www.hivefleetmoloch.de/kroot_renegades.php

Remember that for a codex-legal Tau army you need 1+ battlesuit commander and 1+ unit of Fire Warriors. You can proxy these, of course.

It might be worthwhile taking a look at the Kompletely Kroot 5th ed Kroot Kodex as well. It is unofficial, but very impressive nonetheless. Perhaps you could make an army that works with the Tau and Kroot codexes.

Lastly, on the subject of Kroot units in Tau armies themselves, I use two units of Kroot all the time. I prefer large units (10 Kroot & 12 Hounds). They are good for so many things, they are practically indispensible. 2+ cover saves in woods/ jungles, deploy to push back deep strikers, droppods and daemon armies, infiltrate to deny enemy scout movement (esp Valkyries and Vendettas) and outflank to attack backfield armour or to threaten objectives. Oh, yes, they are fairly handy in close combat as well if you pick your fights ;)

I have lots of Kroot, inc FW Kroot, so I am looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.

DM

Pure Genius

This just in from the geniuses at MSNBC.

Since Obama signed the stimulus into law, the economy has lost more than 2 million jobs and the unemployment rate has climbed higher than the White House predicted it would have ever reached without the stimulus.

Some companies say stimulus money helped avoid layoffs. Independent government auditors found that stimulus aid to states helped keep teachers off unemployment lines. But overall job numbers continue to suffer.

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Well, duh! If you have a magic printing press to make money, a magic international credit card to borrow money, or can take money from the working masses by force, you can do all sorts of things for teachers (and other government workers).*

I offer this humble insight. Whenever government acts, it must proportionately suppress in another area. This is a very real phenomenon for Blue Table Painting. Every month I get a little slip from my accountants. It has a dollar amount on it. The dollar amount is equal to about 15-20% of the total payroll. Half of it represents "with-holding", the tax levied on the labor of the worker. This effectively means that for every ten working years, they must spend one of those laboring for the Federal Government. The other half represents the "employer contribution" which is the matching portion that the company pays.

The "employer contribution" is a business expense that indirectly holds down wages, in my estimation. If that money were freed up, I believe that the free market would see most if not all of that money into the pockets of the workers. If you do not believe this, then you need to explain why every job in existence doesn't pay minimum wage (the free market is what lets you earn $15.00 an hour when the law says only $7.25).

So, I go in every month to the bank (shudder) to turn over the fruits of our labors. One army in every six we paint goes to the government. And not the government that provides police, roads, firemen (that's local government, or paid by gas taxes). If I did not pay that money I could hire one or more new workers. But those sweet BTP jobs in the private sector never materialize because the money is funneled elsewhere. We have to make do with a smaller studio, buy less materials, and spend less on advertising. Less jobs for all the people that provide those things.

The tax accountants (who are in the floor above us, and now next to us) took over two-thirds of our studio space even though they produce no good nor service that anyone would want were the sixteenth amendment (income tax) to be repealed. They grew and I shrunk. How can that be? Plus I have to pay them for the privilege. I pay for my own tax collector's wage.

The Federal Government has told my workers that the with-holding money is safely put in a trust for them in the case of disability or old age. Do you believe it? Take a look at your last Social Security statement. It says, effectively, the program is going to be broke before they get benefit from it.

The generation before me stood idly by while the Social Security program (remember that little slip that I take to the bank with a bag of money every month?) was added to the general fund. The Feds then blew the money on other things.

What can you do about it? Use your power of communication to spread sound principles to other humans. And vote independent. And vote for candidates that will shift power of any kind to a more local level. The real problem in my estimation is a lack of education on the part of the common man. I count myself guilty here. For twenty years I waved my little flag and exulted in a feeling of "patriotism" instead of asking questions.

So, there you have it. Everytime you see a bridge built by the government, there is another project (which may have actually been demanded and needed by private citizens) that was destroyed/aborted/obliviated by taxation.

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PS- This is only one side of an argument. I welcome differing views. Look here for more comments.

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*I also might point out that teacher's wages are funneled into unions (by force, again) that in turn are generally supportive of Democrat party candidates.

Mantis Legion

Sometimes referred to as the Mantis Warriors[1]. The chapter was birthed from the Mordriana System, near the Eye of Terror[2], though they have had their right to a homeworld revoked and so currently reside in their space fleet.

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Though a successor chapter, Mantis Warrior gene-seed is unusual and is rumored to allow the Mantis Warriors to enter a haze-like state in which the warrior's perception of space and time are slowed down, allowing him to react and fight at an accelerated speed. This battle haze is a permanent state and the marine is caught in it until he dies. Their melee combat is also helped by the notched adamantine blades attached to the lower arm armor.

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Mantis Warriors who are veterans of the Tranquility Campaign are formed into Sniper Squads known as 'Tranquility Sniper Squads'. These marines are known widely for their use of the Sniper Rifle and their yellow and black tiger-stripe armour.

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The only other non-Codex troops mentioned are the elite 'praying mantidae'. This elite cadre are selected from the most driven and pious members of the chapter and live for the sole purpose of hunting the Red Corsairs in order to bring honor back to the chapter. They are recognisable by snake-like tattoos covering their body, extending high up their necks.

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The Badab War
Mantis Legion was one of the three chapters that joined the Astral Claws in rebelling during the Badab Uprising. However they later rejoined the Imperial forces and joined the attack on Huron Blackheart and the Astral Claws.[3] At the end of the rebellion, they were granted the Emperor's forgiveness, subject to undertaking a hundred year crusade. The Mantis Legion's homeworld was forfeited to the loyalist Space Sharks.

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Post Badab War
Since the Badab War the chapter has been treated with suspicion and are under constant scrutiny. Before the rebellion they had an above average induction rate for the Deathwatch, but since rebelling only a handful have been accepted. They are no longer banned from recruiting by the Inquisition, although the chapter size is still dangerously low.

War Machine and Hordes Sale by Miniwargaming.com

Sinkhole

I thought this would be the year. The year I didn't get supremely irritated during family pictures. What's better than family pictures? Family pictures outdoors in 99 degree weather after driving an hour in rush-hour traffic. Well, better luck next time.

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The day started well enough. It was Paint Fest, and in spite of a dismal turnout a good time was had by all. I managed to finish a Scorpion Grav Tank, you can see the video for that below. That brings the Oceanic Eldar up to an un-sell-able 3000 pts ($1750 if you want to buy the army now, limited time).

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I am having a periodic "bad day". I'm glum also because sales are down. Nothing spectacular, just the regular dip. But I don't have to like it. Speaking of which, we are wide open for August. I am caught up on my Inbox (well, like three emails left), so I am just standing here waiting for a call or email.

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Yawn.

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Maybe it would be best to retire to the couch and watch some Star Trek.

H2O

My wife reminded me yesterday that we had a family outing today. And by "reminded" I mean told me for the first time, but then insisted that she told me already. "Well, you must have just forgot." she says. So, how can I tell the difference? Does anyone else have this problem?

I've started requiring that she email me everything and get confirmation.

But it is all right. I left laptop, books and everything behind and headed out with my darling family to the water park. Floating slowly along in an innertube, little baby girl nestled on my lap, was a bit of paradise. She was wearing a little yellow outfit with a floppy yellow hat. She is the mildest, most darling baby; so tender and happy. I just love being around her.

I did manage to squeak in a few hours down at the studio, just getting everything sorted. I am wringing my hands a bit-- I need to get projects set up for August.

I plan on re-launching the Pandora's army special again. It got a lot of support. We are currently working on seven armies for it (four different types), each one quite exciting. About half of them feature something from Forge World.

The Pandora's Army special is probably going to reincarnate as this: $850 for a 1500 point army ($450 deposit pulls the trigger). Three nixes (specify three armies that it can't be). Options as follows: plus $250 brings it up to 2000 pts, plus $100 reverses the nixes (you specify three armies, we pick which one it gets to be). I wanted to present some armies first, but if anyone is ready to go, then by all means let's proceed. This adventure has been received very well by artists all around. There is a special excitement on account of the broad license to do as we please. I think it makes for a much better result.

To strike a balance between private interests of banks and the centralized responsibility of government

[Here is an article for your consideration. I am extremely interested to hear/publish a counter-argument. Does anyone have one? Sometimes I imagine a picture-perfect universe if only X would happen, but maybe that universe is not so rosy.]

July 9, 2009

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The Fed Must Be Stopped

Written by: Ron Paul

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Our country currently finds itself in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and, as during all economic crises, people search for the answer as to why this has happened. Not only have large financial firms been affected, but also mainstays of American industry such as GM and Chrysler, all the way down to the Mom & Pop stores on Main Street. The easy way out is to blame the traditional scapegoats: foreign governments, fraudulent businessmen, and greedy speculators. But the real villain is far more sinister; the organization entrusted with maintaining a stable dollar and touted as the guarantor of economic stability – the Federal Reserve.

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In the United States, monetary policy has been the domain of the Federal Reserve since its inception in 1913. Since that time we have had a number of cyclical recessions, each one following a boom caused by the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy. The problem with the Federal Reserve is that it interferes with market pricing functions. Interest rates are a price just like any other and arise because of the fact that people prefer to consume in the present rather than in the future. The extent to which people defer present consumption is reflected in interest rates, which in a free market are determined by the spontaneous interactions and decisions of millions of people.

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Fed intervention to set prices throws markets and interest rates out of equilibrium. When the Federal Reserve pushes interest rates below what the market rate would be, everyone wants to borrow money for long-term projects. Shortages of loanable funds would occur, except that the Federal Reserve has the ability to create bank balances out of thin air. The Fed can create a bank ledger on paper, or on a computer, establish a balance of millions or billions of dollars, and then spend these dollars out into the economy.

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Loans become cheap, and the result of these lower interest rates is an economic boom which eventually manifests itself as a bubble. Beginning in 2001, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates to as low as one percent, which after adjusting for inflation meant that the real interest rate was negative, so businesses were actually making money by taking out loans. This was the fuel for the housing bubble and the reason there are 19 million empty houses today.

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Because of this awesome power to create money out of thin air, the Fed has jumped in to stabilize ailing financial firms by pledging over $7 trillion through various guarantee programs and credit facilities. This is equivalent to over half of the entire nation's GDP. Over $1 trillion of this is already in play, propping up banks and other institutions that should be allowed to fail. All of this has taken place with no oversight by Congress. The Fed was created by Congress, and it is unconscionable that we have allowed it to act in such a way without our oversight.

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Currently the Federal Reserve's credit facilities, open market operations, and agreements with foreign governments and central banks are all exempt from any sort of audit or oversight. Earlier this year I introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207, that would remove all restrictions on Federal Reserve audits and call for a f ull audit of the Federal Reserve System to be completed by the end of 2010. At this writing, 245 of my fellow Congressmen have cosponsored this bill and we hope to have hearings in the near future. In the Senate, Republicans Jim DeMint, Mike Crapo and David Vitter have cosponsored S. 604, companion legislation introduced by Bernie Sanders. I am very encouraged by the tremendous growing momentum on Capitol Hill.

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Our Founding Fathers never intended for a single entity such as the Federal Reserve to have this much power. In fact, there is no authority in the Constitution for the federal government to create a central bank, to enact legal tender laws, or to print paper money. The Tenth Amendment is quite clear that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The states themselves are prohibited from emitting bills of credit, i.e. paper money, arising from the Founders' negative experiences with paper money during the Revolutionary War. Cheap, un-backed, easily counterfeited paper money nearly lost the Revolution, until the government returned to minting gold and silver coins. Unfortunately, like too many other lessons learned by the Founders, the painful experiences of paper money have been forgotten by those living in the pres ent. We even ignore the experiences of Germans in the 1920s, Argentines in the 1980s, and Zimbabweans over the past decade. The Fed doubled the monetary base last fall in a matter of months, and God help us if any of this high-powered money begins to make its way through the economy.

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An audit of the Fed is only the first step towards returning to where our Founders intended this country to be. The Founders knew that paper money could ruin a country, and drafted the Constitution in such a way that they thought would ensure sound, commodity-backed currency. Unfortunately, the Constitution was dispensed with long ago, and we find ourselves now suffering under an unconstitutional regime of un-backed paper money.

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Until we abolish the Federal Reserve and return to a stable currency that is not able to be manipulated to create boom and bust cycles, we will continue down the path of economic ruin.

Misfire

Well, the call of Tzeentch has been heard. The pic is of a figure by a company from Spain. The game's name is Hell Dorado. The figures are pretty disturbing. They're sort of hard to get. I happened across a few, so I have an unpainted version of this vulture creature thing. I'm going to use it as a Changeling.

I was up at 7am this morning, answering emails. I am standing by to set up projects. We've been clearing things out at record pace. I have in my heart that I want to keep BTP's excellent crew busy. Will you do us the honor of putting us to work? It is a high compliment that someone would trade part of their life (time to produce something that is sold for money) for part of our life.

Once at the studio I realized I was pretty much caught up. So, when the good wife called and said she was going out to run some errands, I jumped on the bandwagon. All six of us in the van, then lunch at Sam's Club (hot dogs, ice cream, pizza and soda). Then when we got home, Tamie had to run an errand (some school meeting) and asked if I could stay home with the kids. I find it nearly impossible to say no to her. I just love her so much and want to be useful for her.

But it didn't stop there. I went to sleep on the couch to an episode of Star Trek (now in season five). So, I managed to get back to the studio around 4pm. I stayed late and wrapped up almost every loose end. There are still some projects waiting to have pics taken.

Bubble Machine

Got this little treat from an observant reader:

I could be wrong, but the issue of inflation seems like small potatoes compared to other questionable ways that banks make money. About a week ago, Matt Taibbi published a pretty amazing piece in Rolling Stone about Goldman Sachs that has drawn the ire of the company.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28816321/the_great_american_bubble_machine

What do you think?

Meltdown Review part 01 of 04: Shell Game

How the Federal Reserve Causes Inflation

Here are some quotes from the book "Meltdown" by Thomas Woods (2009) followed by my own comments. I think it is important for humans to understand the world in which they live. I live in a world where I will spend ten to twenty years of my life working indirectly for bankers. I will sweat, they will eat the bread.



I am not upset about this. There is an abundant and gracious God in Heaven who has opened my heart to the beauty of the world. I will only be here a short while. He will make all things right in the end. Nevertheless, it is the song of every soul to improve the world, and to bring truth to light.

And so here I go.

The Federal Reserve controls the American money supply and can influence interest rates either upward or downward; it can also function as a “lender of last resort.” Although people use the phrase “printing money” as a kind of shorthand for what the Fed does, the Fed increases the money supply not by printing cash and putting it into circulation, but by what are called “open-market operations,” which involve the purchase and sale of assets. Strictly speaking, the Fed can purchase any kind of asset it wants, but it normally purchases government bonds. If it wants to increase the money supply, it purchases, say, $1 billion in bonds from a bond dealer. It makes the purchase by writing a check on itself for $1 billion and handing it to a firm like Goldman Sachs in exchange for the bonds. It creates this $1 billion out of thin air.

Goldman Sachs then deposits this $1 billion check from the Fed in its bank. That bank doesn’t put the e$1 billion in a special vault with “Goldman’s Money” on the door. Instead, the bank will lend out most of that $1 billion, since the law only requires it to keep a small percentage of its deposits on reserve. (Most of the banks’ reserves, incidentally, are kept in its own account at the Fed, with a small amount in cash in its vaults to satisfy normal day-to-day requests for cash by the bank’s depositors.) When the bank, in turn, lends out the money, borrowers spend it, and it winds up in accounts in other banks, which use most of that money in still another round of expansion, and so on. With a reserve requirement of ten percent, the initial $1 billion will have supported $9 billion in additional lending by the time this process is complete. All of this $10 billion has been created out of nothing: the initial $1 billion check from the Fed, and the additional $9 billion in loans that the fractional-reserve banking makes possible, were produced out of thin air. Should the Fed wish to contract credit, it follows this procedure in reverse: it sells the bonds to the banks, and the money it receives for them—and the further increase in the money supply that the fractional-reserve system then created on top of it—are withdrawn from the economy.

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Although people often define inflation as a general rise in prices, and economists themselves employ that definition as a kind of shorthand, inflation is actually the increase of the money supply itself (which in turn leads to higher prices than would otherwise have prevailed). Specifically, it is an increase in the amount of money in circulation not backed by the monetary commodity—in other words, an increase in paper-note claims tot gold not backed by increases in gold itself. Under a fiat standard, which the countries of the world have now, in which the monetary system is not backed by a commodity, we can define inflation simply as an increase in the amount of paper money in circulation.

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Consider this question: in what order and in what way does the new money make its way through he economy? When eh government inflates the money supply, the new money does not reach everyone simultaneously and proportionately. It enters the economy at discrete points. The earliest recipients of the new money include politically favored constituencies…: banks, for example, or firms with government contracts. These privileged parties receive the new money before inflation has pushed prices upwards… the privileged firms that are lucky enough to get the new money benefit from being able to make their purchases at the previously existing price level—thereby silently looting those from whom they buy. When the average person gets his hands on this new money… prices have already been rising for quite a while… The value of his money was diluted by the new money before it ever reached him.

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Now imagine a situation in which business firms or banks connected to the government receive a new influx of money courtesy of Fed credit expansion. That money comes out of thin air, not from the sale of some previous good or service. Thus when these favored firms spend this money, they are in effect taking goods out of the economy without providing anything themselves. Here we see very clearly how they benefit at the expense of the rest of society: they take from the stock of goods without giving anything in return. The money they pay for their goods didn’t originate in a good or service that they themselves had previously provided; it came from nowhere. The analogous case under a system of barter would be one in which, instead of trading my bread for your orange juice, I just [drink] your orange juice.

-- Thomas Woods, Meltdown (2009)

Shawn's Comments
I have read this book twice now, underlining and taking notes. The first third of the book is an overview of recent history; the bailouts (even a few notes about those in the last few decades), deregulation, regulation and nationalizing banks. Then the meaty parts: the core mechanics of how things work; what is money? what is inflation? The book ends with a chapter entitled "What Now?" which gives suggestions about how sound principles can restore some sense of reason

All of this has been of profound effect on me. I wasn't expecting this book to help me in the micro-economic function of my business, but it indeed helped me to understand my universe better and to act on it. I have cut the banks out of the loop. I have started integrating the ideas of commodities, barter and real money into my life. I have started living more within my means.

I don't like conspiracy theory. Even if it were true, what could I do about it? That's why on this blog I try to take a more "common-man-bolts-and-nuts" approach.

One profound impression I had is that the common man is indeed capable of understanding these things. Indeed, I think that each citizen would do well to put down the game-controller for a month and gulp down a few books on economics.

It doesn't take a genius to know that if every dollar were suddenly twinned, then prices would go up.. how much?

Why are homes and college educations so expensive? These are sectors where credit expansion is the most rampant, and where government has distorted economic reality the most.

If a house were to cost $50,000 could you buy one outright? Could you save up over time?

Right now, home prices are seeking their real, true value.

It's starting to make sense.

As usual, I invite differing viewpoints. Is this book wrong? Are there factual errors? Am I not seeing the whole picture? I am just an average guy trying to put it together.

Phrase-ology

I was reading this article on Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31784137/ns/business-us_business/

Note the words used:

It's an "attack" on the Federal Reserve (he's not questioning or advancing).
Ron Paul has a "gang" (not a coalition or alliance)
It's Ron Paul's "little" bill (what's little about it?)
He has a "vendetta" against the Federal Reserve. He's a "radical" (not a forward-thinker or a leader).
His "gang of 244" (since when is 244 people out of 435 a "gang"?)
Congress is "upset" and "doesn't like" the Fed.

The Fed is only going to "intervene responsibly" when "necessary". Oh thank goodness! The good and wise Federal Reserve is always there to lend a helping hand!

Remember, the Federal Reserve is a private entity. It controls the one thing that you can't trust anyone with: the money supply. In fact, the very definitioin of money has been warped in the last 100 years (since 1913 when the Federal Reserve was established).

This bill (HR 1207) is only so we can take a limited look inside. It amazes me that this is considered to be extraordinary. The commoners want a tour of the castle, the mysterious castle from which the decrees are issued. We wait with baited breath while our betters make the decisions.

These people are not smarter than you.

Quote of the Day

"They were in the Broadway production of Corsairs."

- S. Purser

New tag line for War Machine: "That does what now?"

Trade-in Rates for July 2009

Here are the trade-in rates for July 2009. I'm offering service credit in trade for models. Read this completely as I have recently improved several aspects of this program. Notably: I am now trading in army books. Also, you do not need to figure out the retail prices of your trade-in items.


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You can usually get a much better deal going to the secondary market (local shop, ebay) on your own. However, the advantage of trading in with us is that you are likely to be able to unload disparate items without a lot of hassle (e.g. finding various buyers, setting up payment, lots of minor questions).


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If you want to trade in, we need a list of what you have. You do NOT need to calculate the retail value, but it helps. Please tell me the condition (e.g. new in box, new on sprue, assembled, primed). The rates below are a multiplier. If the entry says 0.30 it means you would get $30 for $100 worth of retail items. Just take the retail total and multiply it by the number. You do not need to figure this out; you can just send in your list of stuff to bluetablepainting@gmail.com


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In the past I have only allowed for half or less of a project to be paid in credit this way. But for the time being I am lifting that restriction.


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I just know there's someone who goes out to their garage, surveys the mass of unpainted models, sighs then turns out the light. This program will hopefully allow someone with the "white primer horde" to finally show up with a painted army. As an added bonus, your models will get a good home where they will be painted and loved.


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We don’t need painted figures. Exception: if they only have a little bit done with them; not too thick, not too many layers. Primed models are OK, again not too thick.


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You can also get a credit of at least $10 to help with your shipping costs. This is on request. .
If you want to trade-in figures, but don't have a project ready, that's OK, I will confirm your total and then you will have it on tap for when you want to use it.


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This trade-in is recorded as a payment on your project. It is non-refundable except at our discretion (eg you can’t refuse the project and then get your trade-in amount refunded as cash). Trade-in can be applied to cost of models, assembly or painting as you wish. This means you can also just get models sent to you (this is limited to models that are commonly available, eg not Forge World).


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Generally, we only need in-print models that are currently in production.


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These rates and conditions may change so it is recommended to check in every once in a while. I am likely to update the numbers about once a month. The plan right now is to update every first of the month. Fairness is the guiding principle.


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Forge World 0.49
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Army books $8 credit (must be current edition, no OOP)

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Assault on Black Reach Models:
Complete set of orks $9 credit
Complete set of space marines $9 credit
Space Marine Dreadnought $5 credit
Small rulebook $5 credit
Template sprue (complete) $3 credit





. Chaos Space Marines 0.24


. Daemonhunters 0.20


. Daemons of Chaos 0.30


. Eldar 0.20


. Imperial Guard 0.34


. Necrons 0.20


. Orks 0.25


. Space Marines 0.25


. Tau 0.25


. Tyranids 0.26


. Witch Hunters 0.24


. Warhammer Fantasy 0.30


. Hordes 0.32


. War Machine 0.20 (Cryx 0.30)


. Battlefleet Gothic 0.11


. Lord of the Rings 0.17

Standing By

I am caught up at the studio and standing by (as always, even if we are busy!) to set up new projects.

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You should know that I am completely at your disposal.

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I have some clients who will call me and set up everything by phone. I will take dictation about army specifications and also offer advice and help with army theme and list.

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Alternatively, you can set up a project on your own, to any degree.

Email at bluetablepainting@gmail.com
Phone number is (801) 372-8545
Facebook ID is bluetablepainting http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=633040196
Google Chat ID is bluetablepainting

Stacked to the Ceiling

The studio was an absolute wreck today. There were kits and packages literally stacked to the ceiling. I had a mind-boggling amount of tasks to accomplish. I made some serious inroads and I'm mostly caught up.

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I painted up three Razordons (and handlers, all nine of them) and a third Kroxigor. This brings the point total of the studio Lizardmen to 2625 with no magic items. Pretty much going to be 3000 pts. But I need to also paint up four more models: three Terradons and the whimsically named Tiq'taq'to.

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I got a new HD camera, but turns out it only records in .mov which is incompatible with the editing software I use (windows movie maker, which I love). Working through that. I plan on doing a few shorts for Hordes tomorrow.

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We're ready to get projects set up for August (best to start now in the process).

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Pandora's armies are getting assembled this week. The four army types turned out to be: Deathguard, Imperial Guard, Tau, and Wood Elves.

Independence Day

It was a perfect day off.

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We didn't go anywhere.

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It was hanging out all day long, eating leftovers from the BBQ on Friday. I made some good headway on Star Trek season four.

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I also uploaded and annotated four parts of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle report.

Around noon I swung by the studio to pick up some paints and models (I'm tackling three Razordons for the Lizardmen army as well as a third Kroxigor). I found Dane working on the Cities of Death project, in the home stretch now. We are going to do a demo game on that on Monday.

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The kids were playing in the sprinklers most of the day. Both at our house and a neighbor's (who incidentally also were doing up some barbecue and some ceviche to die for).

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That evening we headed a few blocks away for a Ward swim party. I swam with the kids. My four year old son pushed me off the high dive. I was able to have a lively chat with my friend J. about banking (he works at a bank) and verify to some extent that fractional reserve banking does indeed loan out money that does not exist (ie it is amplifying a reserve rather than the George Bailey "It's a Wonderful Life" myth that seems to be implanted in the general consciousness). I'm going to hear back from him this coming week.

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I don't think very many people in my neighborhood went to the city fireworks, preferring to set off some more modest fare in front of their houses. Indeed, after the swim party we went out into that cul-de sac with about fifty people and did a mutual fireworks thing.

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Pretty much a perfect day. My heart is full of gratitude.

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PS- I'm usually going on and on about the meaning of liberty, and the words of the Founders, so you'll forgive me if I keep it to mundane fare today.

I Can't Hear You!

Why 3:30am? No matter when I go to sleep I wake up at about that time at least every few nights.

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I am currently booking projects for late July and August. Best to start soon. Remember, if you are in the military (or a veteran, I'm pretty lenient), you get 30% off on the cost of your models when you create a commission. Also, if this is your first commission, you get the same discount on your first order (30% off on the cost of your models)*.

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I love playing miniatures battles. Every game (win or lose) is an adventure. I just wish I could play every day.

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Even though this was a working day it was pretty dead down at the studio. Brigh was really sleepy so he headed home. A friend of mine (Sky Marshall Anonymo-- no everyone does not want to be on youtube) came in for a game of Warhammer Fantasy. We painted him up his Warriors of Chaos army recently. We ran out of batteries for the camera and headed out for that around noon, just after deployment, then swung by KFC for some lunch.

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About the camera: the new HD one I picked up takes the vids in .mov format which can't be opened by the editing software I use, so that stymied things for this round. I am going to try a few other things this coming week. Also, the HD vids can be uploaded directly without editing, so you can look forward to more Hordes overview videos this coming week.

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We are working diligently on a set of detailed Cities of Death terrain, as you know, and that's all in the home stretch for a demo battle (client's blessing) on Monday. I think I'll play my Orks.

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We took our own sweet time on the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game. You can know the results later.

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Then back home for a BBQ. We were going to do it just for our family but at the last minute (yesterday afternoon) I sent out an email to staff. Only three people showed up. But that was enough for a good time, good food, and good conversation. On the menu: key lime pie, baked beans with bacon, broccoli salad, steak, burgers (with avocado), and pink lemonade.

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I have been really worked up the last year, fretting about what can go wrong. I realized recently that I've been creating negative scenarios in my head. I have to get rid of that and start thinking more positively. I think that Heavenly Father has good things in store for me in the next life. Why not this life as well? I think I'm giving my own self undue grief.

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*This applies only to models that are commonly available (ie not Forge World or off foreign companies; things I don't get a discount on myself).

Smoothly

See more pics of these conversions here

Currently booking projects for late July and August. Ready to go whenever you are.

First: I got a lot of comments from readers recently. I have summarized them all into one post.
http://bluetablepainting.blogspot.com/2009/07/various-comments-on-economicsposts.html
I would like to point out that you are getting something here that you are unlikely to find many other places: reasoned, measured and open social discussion.

I welcome, absolutely welcome any well-thought-out response. I am an explorer. I want to hear new ideas.

It was overcast today, and in the evening it was raining slightly. A cool summer day. It's been rainy this month.

For me, it is a time of peace. Things are running smoothly. Plenty of food in the house.

We are working on a significant Cities of Death project. I took some video of that today. With the completion of the Skorne, I am doing no projects. Hey waitaminit, I've got that Stompa all ready to go. I will get cracking on that over the weekend. That will mightily complete the Orks.

We have no plans for Fourth of July, thank goodness. Just barbecue.

I'm about halfway through Season 4 of ST:TNG.

Life, Liberty, and Property Are Inseparable

By Tom Mullen
Published 07/02/09
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"The reason why men enter into society, is the preservation of their property; and the end why they chuse and authorize a legislative, is, that there may be laws made, and rules set, as guards and fences to the properties of all the members of the society, to limit the power, and moderate the dominion, of every part and member of the society: for since it can never be supposed to be the will of the society, that the legislative should have a power to destroy that which every one designs to secure, by entering into society, and for which the people submitted themselves to legislators of their own making; whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence."
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* John Locke [Second Treatise of Government, (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1980) Pg. 111]
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Life, liberty, and property were the central, inalienable rights that formed the foundation of the great experiment in self government called the United States of America. The founders of our country never broke apart this sacred triumvirate, because each one of these rights is inextricably bound to the other. No one of these three can exist without the other. Moreover, when all three are secured, it is almost impossible for injustice to exist. Wherever one does find injustice, one invariably finds a violation of one of these three basic rights at its root.
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While it is certainly true that today the rights to life and liberty are grossly violated in innumerable ways, they are nevertheless at least spoken of by our politicians. However hypocritically, they at least say that they value life and liberty, even as they pervert those sacred rights as justification for their wars and plunder.
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Yet, they never even hypocritically evoke the right to property. No journalist ever challenges them based upon it, and honestly, most average Americans don't talk about it either. As a principle, property has vanished from our consciousness. However, as all of the great philosophers throughout history have understood, there is no right to life or liberty without property. In fact, property is part and parcel of life itself.
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What is property? It is that which an individual rightfully owns. Included among every human being's property are his mind, his body, his conscience, and his actions. Every act of mind and body undeniably belongs to the actor, including that act which he engages in more than any other: his labor. To deny someone's right to ownership of his mind, body, or labor is to make him a slave.

It is labor that allows each individual to sustain his existence and pursue his happiness. All consumption must be preceded by production. Production can only be achieved through human labor. In fact, there is no way for an individual to pursue any goal, whether material, intellectual, or spiritual, without exertion. Even the search for God requires an intellectual and spiritual effort -- it cannot commence without labor.
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For most of us, the bulk of our labor is devoted to providing the basic necessities of life for ourselves and our children. Some portion of it also provides the extras -- the toys, the vacations, or the dining out that enriches our lives and adds to our happiness. A further portion is devoted to study, prayer, or just simple reflection -- the quest for meaning and purpose in our lives. None of these things are possible without labor; our labor provides them all. Every item in every store is the product of someone's labor. Every phone call you make is made possible by someone's labor. Healthcare is someone's labor, as is education.
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However, the actual effort of mind and body is not the most precious aspect of labor. If human beings were immortal, we could afford to spend our labor and its fruits indiscriminately, consuming as much as we wished and providing anything to anyone who asked it of us. If a shoemaker were able to make shoes for the rest of eternity, then certainly there would not be a bare foot on the face of the earth. If the land developer were immortal, we would all live in a mansion.
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However, we are not immortal, and it is this fact that places such a premium on our labor. Our labor is not just composed of the exertion of mind and body that is necessary to produce some good or service. That exertion happens over time, the hours or days of the laborer's life. Every hour of our labor is an hour of our life from a limited supply which cannot be replenished. Whatever we have produced with our labor now contains that portion of our life which we have sacrificed to produce it.
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So, when human beings trade their goods or services with one another, they are really trading pieces of their lives. If they have exchanged their labor for money with an employer or customer, that money now contains some part of their lives -- a part that can never be reclaimed. That is why the same verb is used for both money and time -- both are "spent" in exchange for some benefit. Both also represent each individual's means of self determination.
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Therefore, it is impossible to call a person free if he does not own his labor and all the product of his labor. It is only through his labor that he can provide better food, clothing and shelter for himself and his family, send his children to better schools, or realize the leisure time necessary to grow intellectually and spiritually. His labor is his means to determine the course of his life. Without self determination, there is no liberty.
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Furthermore, to deny a human being ownership of his labor is also to deny his right to life itself. Since his labor is his means of sustaining his existence, once his right to ownership of his labor is denied he lives only at the arbitrary whim of whoever has claimed ownership of it. For such a person, life is now a privilege granted by someone else, rather than a right.
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To the founders of the United States of America, all of this was self evident. When one reads the writings of Samuel and John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, or Locke, one finds one word that is used many times more often even than liberty: property. Recognizing property as nothing more than the individual's labor and/or the product of his labor, the founders placed the protection of property as the very highest priority of government. In fact, they often stated that it was the only priority of government. While no high school history book or Hollywood biopic even hints at this fact, merely reading the words of the founders for oneself puts any debate on this point to rest.
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Let us apply this concept to a contemporary issue. The unambiguous statements in the Declaration of Independence that all human beings have unalienable rights and that government's sole purpose is to secure them should absolutely beg at least one timely question from most Americans today. Why did the founders not provide for the right to health care? Why did they not establish Medicare or Medicaid? Given a whole system of government whose purpose was to secure individual rights, why was this right so glaringly overlooked?
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Of course, the answer to that question is that the founders recognized that health care was not a right. Health care, like every other good or service, is someone's labor. No one but the laborer can have a right to it. To say that people have a right to health care is really to deny the health care provider a right to his own life, for it is impossible for both he and his patient to have a right to ownership of his labor. It is no less a crime to forcefully rob the health care provider's fee from a third party (the taxpayer), for that simply denies the taxpayer's right to his own life. In either case -- whether the health care provider is forced to treat the patient for free or a third party is forced to pay the bill -- someone's labor, some part of someone's life, is being stolen from him. This is the specific crime that government exists to defend its citizens against. By instead committing this crime, government becomes the most grotesque absurdity imaginable.
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This is not to imply that we are at some sort of crossroads because President Obama and his pet Congress are closing in on expanding government healthcare. We came to that crossroads decades ago and quite undeniably took the wrong road. Until our philosophy changes and we recognize that retirement benefits, health care, research grants, corporate subsidies, investment in alternative energy -- all money, goods, and services -- are really pieces of someone's life that cannot be seized from them without their consent (not even by majority vote), we will never restore the liberty that we have lost. Instead, we will continue to be the most pitiable form of slave, not bound to one master, but to everyone.
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When a fellow human being offers to buy your product or hire you for your services, he has paid you the highest compliment imaginable. That person has offered a piece of his life to you in exchange for something that you have to offer, which is itself a piece of your own life. He is saying that you have value and that what you offer is worth hours or days of his life that he can never reclaim. This consensual interaction between free people is the most beautiful aspect of civil society and has been responsible for every improvement in the quality of human life that has ever occurred throughout history.
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Conversely, when a fellow human being points a gun at you and demands that you provide him with some good or service, he commits the most egregious crime imaginable, short of pulling the trigger and ending your life at that moment. For in reality, he is really stealing a piece of your life that you can likewise never reclaim. He may be committing this crime because he wishes to increase his wealth without earning it, or he may desperately need whatever he takes from you, but it is the same crime nonetheless. This interaction is the most evil aspect of civil society and has been responsible for every war and human misery that has ever occurred throughout history.
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Government can only be organized to fulfill one of two purposes: to protect your property or to take it from you - for whatever purpose government or its constituents deem fit. There is no third choice. To organize society around competing groups stealing from one another is to create a society whose citizens exist in a perpetual state of war with one another -- for the use of force to obtain another's property without his consent is the definition of the state of war.
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Such a society cannot endure indefinitely. Ours has come to the beginning of its inevitable end. Countless empires throughout history -- some much more preeminent in their worlds than we are in ours -- have disintegrated for exactly the same reason. We can still choose justice over injustice but our philosophy must change. We must again institute a government that secures our rights, rather than annihilates them in the attempt to provide us with the property of others.
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This will not happen by any act of government itself. Whether we elect a liberal or a conservative, we will never achieve different results by continually electing different people or parties but asking them to do the same thing -- provide us with the property of others. It must be the people who change their philosophy and then demand that government assume its appropriate role according to that philosophy. Our government ultimately gives us what we ask for. For the past century, we have increasingly asked it to make us slaves, seduced by the siren's song of comfort and security without responsibility. This can only be provided to each of us at another's expense and can only be provided to others at ours. Once we reject the idea that we can claim a right to another human being's life, the chains that bind us will be broken. Then, it will matter not who makes our laws.

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Tom Mullen is a writer, musician, and self-employed business consultant. In January 2009, he published his first book, A Return to Common Sense: Reawakening Liberty in the Inhabitants of America. Tom was the opening speaker at the Revolution March in Washington, D.C. on July 12, 2008 (keynote speaker Ron Paul). In 2007, he released his first solo CD, A Glimpse of the Ether, containing 13 original compositions. Tom's style has been described as "Powerpop with a hint of modern rock."

Various Comments on Economics/Posts

I've received quite a few thoughtful comments. Here they are in one handy post!



Shawn,

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Enjoyed the post and the advice from the blog you referenced [Blog post = Back to Basics]... The advice he/she is giving though is the same advice that has been given out since... forever. The end of modern civilization has always been right around the corner. Perhaps I'm more of an optimist. I think it is smart to invest in real things right now as well, but as with any sort of investing the best way to do it is to diversify your investments. The man who put all his money into his bomb shelter preparing for the war with the USSR feels pretty stupid right about now. I don't see the harm in preparing for the worst, that is what the Church's canned food program is all about... What the Relief Society [Mormon women's organization] was all about too, for that matter helping other's in need while providing DIY skills to members.

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There are still good businesses out there. Businesses that make things that people use to do and make thing. Investing in those types of businesses is not a bad idea. I think the key word here is to invest, and not speculate which is what it seems the majority of people have been doing. I laud the end of the consumer age... Now, hopefully the USA can get back to making things of real value and exporting them to the rest of the world! I don't know if this is going to happen now, but it seems more and more people have decided they want a more fulfilling life than the one offered by a cubicle trading 0s and 1s across telephone wires. That they see the world of their grandparents or parents was a better one than the one we have now, the difference? America made things.

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I like a lot of what Ron Paul says, though I fear that the world he wants would soon be controlled by an oligarchy... I don't believe that the market is a panacea to our problems. For more on the libertarian front I recommend Free Talk Live (http://freetalklive.com/), funny enough it was listening to them an reading more about the libertarian movement that convinced me that an absolutely free market would not solve our problems, which I'm sure is contrary to the hosts' intent. Also in the vein of reading baout the absolute worst possible outcome I can recommend http://www.kunstler.com/blog/, Mr. Kunstler is convinced that our grandchildren will be living in a world more closely resembling the one our grandparents grew up in, as opposed to the one we did.

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Sincerely,
JH



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Hi Shawn,

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I played WHFB about a decade ago and stumbled on to your youtube channel by way of some idle curiosity about what had become of the game. I have watched a bunch of your videos mostly because you and your staff are pretty entertaining. From there I also have come to check in on your blog fairly regularly and couldn't resist your invitation to talk some political economy.
I really like when people try to discuss politics openly and rationaly because I think one of the biggest problems in America is an uninformed and disinterested public. That said, just to be upfront, I think we have world views that have some overlap, but for the most part are very different as I am generally fairly far left leaning.

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I wanted to offer a counterpoint to your assessment of the banking industry as parasitic and worthless.

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The finance industry has plenty of big problems which are worth discussing, and I think it is valuable to consider very fundamental changes to the industry. However, reading your perspective, you seem to doubt that banks do anything valuable. I would argue that a basic loan is a very useful service that contributes a great deal to our society. Loans allow people to afford tools (houses, store fronts, cars, factory machines) that are otherwise out of their immediate financial means, but once obtained, these tools increase the people's finanicial means to a level where the tools are more than affordable. These tools can allow them to succeed in ways that are otherwise impossible.

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Allow me a personal example. My only large loans have been in the form of student loans (provided by a bank). My education was something that I could not afford when I finished high school, but once obtained, my education has allowed to be substantially more productive. I now have a good job, and I have not missed a payment on my loans, nor do I plan to. My mother worked as a teacher and a school adminitrator all her life and wouldn't not have been able to afford to send me to college on her own without the loans. While I could have worked crummy jobs trying to save up for school, it is much more efficient for me to have gone to school first, be paying a bit more because of interest, and now be doing much more valuable work. In some way this is thanks to the loans I took.

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In parting, I don't think I am economically ignorant, but I am definitely a lay person. For me, I found the following NPR broadcast (now podcast) to explain the financial crisis in a way that was easy to understand and really concrete and comes from many points of view. Maybe you can give it a listen while you paint some minis and let me know what you think. It's about an hour long.

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http://www.thislife.org/radio_episode.aspx?episode=355
You can get free audio or a transcript from the link.

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Regards,

Michael



Shawn's Response: When you drive a new car off the lot, the value goes down significantly, sometimes to half. The common logic is that somehow the real value of the car is not represented properly in the world outside the dealership. You owe $20,000 for something that now only has a sale-able value of $15,000. The reading I've done suggests that the opposite: when you drive the car off the lot it finds its true value in the real marketplace. The $20,000 price tag was false: created by huge amounts of credit flooding the market. How does this happen? Fractional reserve banking (changing $1 of reserves into $10-40 worth of debt).



I suggest to the reader that things that are expensive (eg a college education) are that expensive precisely because of the credit available to buy them. If a bank comes to town with ten million dollars to loan out, things are going to go up in price.



I can go to Costco, open a line of credit and buy a bike for $200. Or I can buy a refurbished bike for $20 from the local bike repairman working out of his garage. Why the big difference? The $20 is the real value of a used bike. I theorize that the new bike would cost about $50 in the world of no banks.



This is what interests me about the Healthcare thing: the Feds want everyone to have healthcare insurance. You wouldn't need insurance if the prices were reasonable (only for catastrophic stuff). No one talks about increasing SUPPLY to make costs go down. Why is that? We can't train more doctors? Medicine can't be produced more efficiently?



Case in point: when I returned from South America I had a really bad ingrown toenail. The mega-hospital wanted $1200 (no doubt thinking to milk a sweet insurance policy), the local doctor wanted to take $80 x-rays first (all of this out of pocket), and finally we found a local podiatrist (Korean war surgeon) working out of a modest office (catering to the elderly) who did it on the spot, out-patient for $35 paid in cash. To me, that sums up the healthcare issue.



Back to the loans. I have no issue with the loaning of money, only the system which produces the loans. And I could still be wrong on that one. I am trying to get in touch with an expert in the area.

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Shawn,

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Thank you for the thoughtful reply to my ramblings... I wasn't using the word paranoia in its precise dictionary definition but rather the its meaning in popular culture, which is better defined as over-anxious. I certainly wouldn't call putting your house in financial order as paranoid, thinking that the government is just a step away from taking your property though... Inflation is a red herring right now, look at commodity prices, across the board they're all down from last year... We don't have to worry about inflation for awhile yet. Deflation is a greater worry right now and one that can do a lot more damage. If inflation becomes a worry you'll see FED interest rates go up in order to take money out of circulation... Furthermore as Banks pay off their TARP loans (it's already started) that money won't be going back into circulation, but will instead go back to where it came from (nowhere, which is where the value for every currency comes from today.)

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I'm by no means an expert either, and am doing as much reading as possible. Sadly, economics isn't as clear-cut as some of its proponents would like it to be, it is not a science, all the various theories (Austrian, Keynesian, etc., etc.) all have their strengths and weaknesses. Which is why most national economies are a mix.

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When you talk about banking "products" what do you mean? Are you talking checking and savings accounts? Loans? CDs? Or are you talking about the more exotic offerings like derivatives, CDS, and the like? Banks serve a necessary function which is why they continue to exist and evolved out of the needs of mercantile Europe. Like anything though the system can be abuse, which is why banking regulations exist. Over the last 20 years those regulations have been dismantled or ignored allowing for blossoming profits and abuse and our current situation. You mentioned having your foot bit off before, and I'm wondering what happened? What do you mean when you say you don't want to trade your life essence for glass beads?

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I wholehearedly agree with you that you cannot makes deals with Reality or find shortcuts around it, I don't believe though that economics or politics are "natural laws" or a facet of reality... They're artificial constructs shaped by history and the and needs/desires of a culture. The best maps and guides for these sort of things is educating yourself on how these systems work, in real life, not models and how they are used/abused by people. Then get involved and make sure your own voice is heard.

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As always it's been a pleasure,
JH

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Shawn's Response: Life Essense for glass beads means using my time to earn money to pay back principal and interest on money which never existed. Fractional reserve banking. That's my beef.



Now, I have no problem with a company like Paypal. That is more like a service, and I like that. I'm not saying banks don't have a role. With Paypal, I pay a percentage for the convenience and safety of using their service. I like it. I agree to it. I could be rid of them by simply taking only cash, MO or checks.
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Hi again Shawn,

I had some criticisms of your recent blog post. They are intended to be in the spirit of friendly debate, so I hope you take them that way. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, your work, and your good cheer with everyone.

However, as all of the great philosophers throughout history have understood, there is no right to life or liberty without property. In fact, property is part and parcel of life itself.

I think a great many philosophers of a leftist bent would argue that property allows a great amount of denial of liberty, that the labor that you are equating with life is devalued for those that work for pennies an hour. In fact, it seems like quite an overstatement to say that all great philosophers thought that. One great philosopher said, "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Although perhaps he did not assume a right to life or liberty.

If you are going to mark the Declaration of Independence as a keystone of American principle, how can you ignore equality, as in "all men are created equal," when you pare the document down to its most basic themes? And if you include equality, is the right to property compatible with equality? I think that the founding fathers had a lot of wonderful ideas, but I have a hard time seeing their vision of the country as either perfect or one that shouldn't change with time.

If a shoemaker were able to make shoes for the rest of eternity, then certainly there would not be a bare foot on the face of the earth. If the land developer were immortal, we would all live in a mansion.
I know your example is a hypothetical, but I don't really see it. If there were an endless supply of mansions, I imagine that the mansion maker would keep many for himself and maybe trade or sell the excess. Even if he lived forever and could make infinite mansions, I don't know why he would just give them away. Very few people will be satisfied with what they need. To me that greed is a bigger problem than are taxes, but I don't see a simple remedy for it.

Why did the founders not provide for the right to health care? Why did they not establish Medicare or Medicaid? Given a whole system of government whose purpose was to secure individual rights, why was this right so glaringly overlooked?
They also didn't mention a right to a basic education, and yet not only am I happy that I received one personally, I am also greatly pleased that I live in a community of people that also have some education. Improving my community improves my life. The logic of healthcare might not be exactly the same, but my point is that I believe that we can do a lot more together than secure individual rights. We can take of each other. We can help each other. We can create a community that is better for us all.

Government can only be organized to fulfill one of two purposes: to protect your property or to take it from you - for whatever purpose government or its constituents deem fit. There is no third choice. To organize society around competing groups stealing from one another is to create a society whose citizens exist in a perpetual state of war with one another -- for the use of force to obtain another's property without his consent is the definition of the state of war.
This gets to my main qualm with libertarianism--that the world is one of every man for himself. I don't think you need to be Christian to understand the idea, but the Bible certainly does address the issue in some famous passages.

Matthew 7:12
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If I am sick, I hope that people will take care of me and not think me a burden. If I am sick, I hope that people will look to help me rather than avoid helping me (as is the basic business of health insurance in the US without government regulation). In following the do unto others principle, I should want to take care of others who are sick. I want to be part of a society that embraces that idea. I have no medical training, but my tax dollars could pay someone who does.

I think people are at their best when they are working together and cooperating. A ten person group can get a lot more done than ten individuals. In a country of 300,000,000 people, we have an amazing opportunity to work together on the scale of millions. However, that opportunity is also a problem, because getting millions of people to work together is a logistical nightmare. I think that government can play a role of facilitating that large scale cooperation (it can also fail at that, but I don't think that is a reason to get rid of it).

Regards,
Michael

Shawn's Comments: People are indeed best when they are working together and cooperating. It's a matter of doing that voluntarily or involuntarily. Taxation is done under threat. Charity is done by free will. Of course, if you let a man have his free will he might blow his charity money on beer.

The "government must intervene or people won't do the right thing" argument is a potent one.

An interesting spin on your thoughts is States Rights. I think that the United States was never meant to be "one size fits all". I'd absolutely love to see a highly socialized state vs. a highly libertarian one. I'd love to be able to pick where to live. Once the Federal Government makes a law, there is no escape (other than to go into exile). Everyone must live it. I don't like that.

On the other hand, if the Federal Government doesn't create uniform programs/laws, there's a loss of efficiency and some grand projects would never happen. It's a toughie.

Back to Basics

I found this on http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/ Thanks to reader AZ!

There are growing signs -- from a black swan in savings/debt reduction to massive debt loads to quarterly trillion dollar losses in personal wealth to stagnant/falling consumer purchases to persistently low consumer confidence -- that the parasite ridden American "consumer" is finally dead. If this is true, the economic model of the latter half of the last Century is likely dead too, and that will mean wrenching change. It's my belief that the dominant solution is to prepare for a local future to ride out this storm. Here are some of my random (more random than I would like) thoughts on what you should do to prepare:
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Ruthlessly reduce debt. Nothing on credit. Pay off every loan. Strategically walk away from underwater assets (like homes that are worth less than the mortgage). This will allow you to stay one step ahead of the death throes of the old economy.
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Turn your hollow home into a productive asset. Most homes are devoid of any productive capacity. Adding energy, food, etc production to them turns them into real, productive assets. Get your assets out of financial derivatives (stocks, bonds, etc.) as fast as you can and put them into productive assets (not commodities) you can touch.
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Make everything you can yourself. Grow your own food. Produce your own energy. Make/repair your own clothes. Turn costs into savings. Reskill to do this. The new "fashionable trend" isn't what you can buy, it's what you can make. Anyone that buys "designer or branded" anything is a fool.
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Work online. Convert your skills into something that can be sold electronically (most of my complex work is done this way). Develop the skills necessary to work as part of a virtual team. Telecommute whenever possible (and push to do this, even if it means less money), reduce the number of cars/dress clothes/etc you own in synch with this conversion (and move to a less expensive locale when possible!). Always have two jobs going at the same time.
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Build a local business. Own assets that produce and sell that production locally. Even if it is small, it will help down the line via contact networks/experience (a new spin on modern "networking"). Develop the niche skills that sell locally. Group/tribe up when possible to tackle larger opportunities.
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Barter. Cashless trades. Convert what you have to what you need. Skill set bartering is amazingly effective. Become part of a local barter network (the backchannel).
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Bring your family home. Grow your home to accommodate more people. Bring back parents and grown kids (with their families). This will allow you to pool incomes and radically reduce workload/costs. It's also beneficial for security. NOTE: I've found that consideration/compromise is the best way to handle an expansive family home environment.
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Suggestions welcome!!
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This change doesn't require cute and crunchy notions about "lifestyle" environmentalism. It's all about mitigation of stresses in the short to medium term as living conditions deteriorate, while at the same time preparing to ride the resilient community wave to rapid and sustained long term success/wealth

Shawn's Comments
My wife and I are doing most of these things. We started a garden. We are networking locally to try and pull our existence in closer to ourselves. Tamara has a suprisingly useful ability: she can change basic ingredients into really, really good food. She's got a gift. We have found a lot of local food providers and get our stuff directly from them.

It's funny because I started as a close cut, conformist, conservative who's first political book was Rush Limbaugh's "I Told You So". Now I've got a Ron Paul sign up in my yard six months after the election (I plan on changing the 2008 to 2012).

The vein of these posts is not meant to be a form of running around and flailing my arms, but rather to calmly respond to what I see as a monstrous situation. Like most people I am prone to tune it out and just get about my business. However, I have decided to do both: to be as aware as I can, and educate myself, but also to quietly apply my personal influence/energy in a way that will most benefit myself, family and fellowman.

To whit: the banking system is a cancer on our society. Solution: find a different way to live. I'm not freaking out. Inasmuch as I am free to do so, I will withdraw from their company and find a different way to live. What is the opposite of banking (ie take out more than you put in)? Is it charity (put in more than you take out)? Or is it something else? The Lord is a Lord of Abundance, the Lord of Creation.

Here is another really interesting article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200905/imf-advice

Opposing Views

I welcome opposing views. If I am completely off my rocker, or perhaps in need of clarification or expansion of some ideas, by all means don't be shy about contacting me via email. I am generally good about inserting other's comments.

If an idea cannot stand scrutiny, then it can't be a very good one, can it?

As a rule, I shorten names to initials.

Hordes Rules Question

If an Axer casts his Rush animus on a model (charge SPD + 5") and then Epic Doomshaper casts Mayhem (charge, slam or trample SPD +5"), does that give a charge range of SPD +10".

This is coming up in my game of Hordes today. If you can cite a source, that would be helpful.

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