Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 2235

French Humor Exists

It is an American cliché that the French have a terrible sense of humor. Exhibit A for many Americans is their love of Jerry Lewis. After living in France for many years and marrying a French woman I can attest as well as any American that the cliché is true, or at least somewhat true.  For example, I have a personal critique of French humor, that is a response to my French wife’s attempted humor: “You’ll never have coffee with Jerry.” Of course this line refers to Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians...

Prosecutors, Extortion, and Bribery

Late last week, a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, questioned the authority of special counsel Robert Mueller to seek an indictment and pursue the prosecution of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort for alleged financial crimes that, according to the indictment, began and ended well before Donald Trump ran for president. Mueller was appointed special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein because of allegations that Rosenstein accepted of a conspiracy by members of the...

Bloody Gina

Leave it to Donald Trump, besieged by denunciations of his torturous behavior toward women, to have nominated a female torturer to head the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a move clearly designed to prove that a woman can be as crudely barbaric as this deeply misogynistic president. When it comes to bullying, Gina Haspel, whose confirmation hearing begins Wednesday, is the real deal, and The Donald is a pussycat by comparison. Whom has he ever waterboarded? Haspel has done that and a lot...

Japan Returns to Coal

As the developed world moves farther and farther away from coal-fired energy, one major economy is breaking the trend. Japan, in a move that few could have foreseen, has opened at least eight brand new coal-burning power plants in the last two years and has plans for at least 36 more in the next ten years.

This ambitious return to coal far outstrips any other developed nation, and it’s only speeding up. Last month the Japanese government made major advancements to officially adopt a national...

We’re All Trespassers Now

“No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.” — John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States

We have no real property rights.

Think about it.

That house you live in, the car you drive, the small (or not so small) acreage of land that has been passed down through your family or that you scrimped and saved to acquire, whatever money you manage to keep in your bank account after the government and its cronies have taken their first and second and third c...

Hamilton’s Curse

Watching the news, I have been wondering, “How on Earth did we get into this shape?” I found the answer to that question in this book. While Dilorenzo goes well out of his way to tar Alexander Hamilton with a bad reputation, Hamilton did much to deserve such treatment. Every last annoying thing the Federal Government has done today can be traced back to Hamilton or one of Hamilton’s ideas. Our sick banking system and its rotten currency are chief among these problems. All of them stemmed from...

The True Money Supply

This interview was originally published in the March 2018 issue of the Lara-Murphy Report.

Lara-Murphy Report: We ultimately want to ask you about the latest readings on the “true money supply” calculation, but before we do that, can you first explain to our readers why there are different concepts about “the money supply” in the first place? We don’t even mean what the Austrians say. Right now, can you just explain why there are different measures, such as M1, M2, etc., and why there is even...

No More Cop Cars

Five years or so from now, there may be no more cop cars.

Vehicles used by cops, certainly. But not cars. These are being retired – in the Bladerunner taking-care-of-the-Replicants sense. Ford just announced they won’t be making the Taurus – which is the basis for the Taurus cop car – for much longer. So there goes that one. The other one is the Dodge Charger, extremely popular with law-enforcers because of its rear-drive layout and powerful Hemi V8 engine.

But – savor the irony – the governm...

What Can Trump Gain by Tearing Up the Iran Deal?

“We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost.” – Rush, “Bravado”

Donald Trump is set to kill the JCPOA or Iran Nuclear Deal and spark a major reset of foreign relations.  Is this a mistake or the right course of action?

That depends on your perspective.  It depends on whether you believe, as the Israelis do, that Iran is ready to build a nuclear weapon to point at them.

But the bigger question to me is whether Trump is willing to put on the table what he needs to get what he wants,...

The Korean Peninsula

Justin’s note: An “Era of Peace” has begun.

That’s the news coming out of the Korean Peninsula. Two weeks ago, North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in held a historic peace talk at the North Korea–South Korea border.

It was the first such meeting in 11 years. And many people think it will bring an end to their longtime standoff.

I recently called Doug Casey to figure out what this means for the region and the rest of the world…

Justin: Doug, what do y...