The Ditches of Wonderland

Another great piece by James Jackson Kilpatrick, this one on the refusal of Federal courts to reign in the Corps of Engineers and its nonsensical -- and unconstitutional -- interpretation of its wetlands regulatory authority.

Happy New Year

She [America] has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart. She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right. Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.... [America’s] glory is not dominion, but liberty.

John Quincy Adams, 1821

Blair 'Knew Iraq Had No WMD'

Of course, Blair -- and Bush -- knew they were making a phony case. And one is hard pressed to find a war that was not similarly contrived.

QUANDOQUE BONUS DORMITAT HOMERUS! YOU BET

If you are not keeping up with the continued writings of James Jackson Kilpatrick, you are missing out on a real treat. Jackson, of course, is the author of The Sovereign States, Notes of a Citizen of Virginia, a classic of your editor's youth.

Jim Bradley, knowledgeable on the Austrian theory of Business Cycles, predicts Inflation Now, Deflation Later

I don't think he means deflation in any literal sense, just a credit contraction. Check out the prudentbear.com website.