DEPRESSION-SURVIVAL

Crisis or Transformation ?

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:25:00 +0000

The "crisis" view:

Filling a bottomless keg

The Internets are brimming with know-it-alls attempting to explain the financial crisis in words, cartoon and sometimes song. And most of the explanations are more tangled than the mess itself. So when a friend sent us this animated video, the thesis project of Art Center student Jonathan Jarvis, we were impressed by its simple, concise audio/video explanation. Yes, an art student does a better job of explicating the financial crisis than most of the mainstream news and financial press coverage we've seen. Maybe Paul Krugman should take up painting?

Watch this cute video: The Crisis of Credit Visualized

The Transformation view:

When a caterpillar nears its transformation time, it begins to eat ravenously, consuming everything in sight. (It is interesting to note that individuals are often called “consumers” and one of the largest manufacturers of heavy construction machinery is called “Caterpillar, Inc.”). The caterpillar body then becomes heavy, outgrowing its own skin 3,000 times, until it is too bloated to move. Attaching to a branch (upside down, we might add, where everything is turned on its head) it forms a chrysalis—an enclosing shell that limits the caterpillar’s freedom for the duration of the transformation. Within the chrysalis a miracle occurs. Tiny cells, called “imaginal cells,” begin to appear. These cells are wholly different from caterpillar cells, carrying different information, vibrating to a different frequency–the frequency of the emerging butterfy. At first, the caterpillar’s immune system perceives these new cells as enemies, and attacks them, much as new ideas are called radical, and viciously denounced by the powers now holding center stage. But the imaginal cells are not deterred. They continue to appear, increasing in numbers until the new cells are numerous enough to organize into clumps. When enough cells have formed to make structures along the new organizational lines, the caterpillar’s immune system is overwhelmed. The cells of the original body then become a nutritious soup for the growth of the butterfy. When the butterfy is ready to hatch, the chrysalis becomes transparent (much as the Internet is making many hidden actions transparent). The need for restriction has been outgrown, yet the struggle toward freedom is part of the process. Were the chrysalis opened too soon, the butterfy would die. As the butterfy emerges, it fills its wings with liquid, (a “right wing” and a “left wing,” we might note), and then flies away to dance among the flowers...

The cultural transformation from love of power to the power of love is the drama of our time.
(A. Judith: WakeningtheGlobal Heart)

Watch it live:

Life during the Great Depression

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Life during the Great Depression – The Voices of Children

For most, it is difficult to imagine life during the Great Depression. While the Depression began at the end of the 1920s, the entire nation suffered most dramatically during the period 1929–1933. To obtain an eyewitness account of this era, we must listen to “the voices” -- the voices of those courageous children -- now in their 80’s and 90’s. This is their life during the Great Depression.

My father, Bill, recalls being startled by loud cheering in the school nearby. It was the end of World War I and he was 3 years old. As a typical teenage boy, Bill focused on food and cars. “Street cars and Model T Fords appeared in the late 1920s. A lot of foods were becoming packaged and chicken houses were disappearing from backyards. Food was still very cheap. A loaf of bread cost 10¢. Then came the steamer and high-powered luxury cars (Pikes Peak Motor with high-gear capacity).” Dad’s family was middle class, but the Depression affected everyone. “Food and jobs were hard to get and many people stood in lines for government hand-outs. A lot of people lived on powdered milk, dried beans, and potatoes.” In Chicago, a crowd of men fought over a barrel of garbage -- food scraps for their families.

Life during the Great Depression – The Heart of the Matter
Most characteristic of life during the Great Depression was the widening gap between the “haves” and “have-nots.” Unemployment rose from a shocking 5 million in 1930 to an almost unbelievable 13 million by the end of 1932. It would be rural America that would suffer the greatest. Unemployed fathers saw children hired for sub-standard wages. In 1930, 2.25 million boys and girls ages 10–18 worked in factories, canneries, mines, and on farms. Children left school to support their families.

The harsh reality of life during the Great Depression is vividly recalled by Travis (12 yrs) who found his father behind their Massachusetts house, crying and heartbroken. “My dad was the strongest man I knew, but the Depression brought him to his knees.” While starving children in the Appalachians chewed on their hands, nearly drawing blood, nursery school children in Philadelphia played an “eviction game.” Toy furniture would be piled up in one corner of the room, then picked up and moved to another corner. “We ain’t got no money for rent, so we move. Then we get the sheriff on us, so we move again.”

Some middle-class families managed to hold onto their homes by taking in boarders, bartering, and stretching every available dollar. Robert recalls their Illinois home without ice (for ice boxes) or milk delivery, discontinued city water (only well water), and a disconnected gas range. Shacks and shanties, Hoovervilles, provided shelter for destitute families. Alice (10 yrs) lived far from the tarpaper huts. “Grandma and Grandpa would squeeze all of us kids in a car and drive us down to a Hooverville by the river. It made our hearts ache to see how bad off other kids were. Even if we only got sweets or fruit once a month, it made us think how lucky we were.”

Life during the Great Depression – Lessons Learned

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Sweden’s Fix for Banks: Nationalize Them

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:50:00 +0000

The Swedes have a simple message to the Americans: Bite the bullet and nationalize.

Officials in Washington are trying to figure out how to shore up American banks that once ruled the financial world but now seem to weaken by the day, despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in government aid.

With Sweden’s banks effectively bankrupt in the early 1990s, a center-right government pulled off a rapid recovery that led to taxpayers making money in the long run.

Former government officials in Sweden, many of whom come from the market-oriented end of the political spectrum, say the only way to solve the crisis in the United States is for the government to be prepared to temporarily take full ownership of the banks.

Sweden placed its banks with troubled assets into a so-called bad bank, where they could be held and then sold over time when market and economic conditions improved. In the meantime, it used taxpayer money to provide enough capital to allow banks to resume normal lending.

full story

Stopping financial crisis, the Swedish way

For the Jobless, Hope and Fear for a New Day

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:04:00 +0000

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Lewis came to the local employment office on Friday in the hope of buying a little more time.

Four months had passed since he lost his job as a maintenance worker at a chain of convenience stores, trading a paycheck of $370 a week for an unemployment check of $180 a week. With those benefits about to expire, Mr. Lewis arrived to fill out the paperwork for an extension, weary and uncertain about the future.

A new president is about to take responsibility for the American economy — the first black president, which has a particular resonance for Mr. Lewis, 52, an African-American. That Barack Obama is promising to devote hundreds of billions of dollars toward creating jobs is interesting, too. Yet none of this gave Mr. Lewis comfort.

“I haven’t seen the change,” Mr. Lewis said. “Until he does something, he’s just like all the rest of them to me. He ain’t done nothing for me. Everybody’s making promises.”

Mr. Lewis’s job search has amounted to an in-depth tour of shrinking prospects in one of the worst economic downturns since the Depression. He has applied at warehouses, at a moving company, at a concrete plant. So far, nothing. The next stop: a poultry slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Columbia.

Variations on his story echoed through the employment office in downtown Columbia, whose economic experience traces the national trajectory of the last decade more than any other metropolitan area. The people who passed through on this recent morning provided a snapshot of the extraordinary economic challenges inherited by the new president, as well as the mixture of hope and skepticism that greets his arrival.

Hope, because Mr. Obama represents a distinct break from the past, armed with a mandate to unleash government largess toward putting millions of people back to work. Skepticism, because Washington seems a long way from where most Americans live, geographically and figuratively. At the employment office, sounds of frustration created the running soundtrack. “This is the issue ...” “I never got the call.” “The store has closed ...” “I just need this paper signed, showing that I been here.”

A lot of people have been here. In December, 23,029 people passed through here to arrange job training, seek a new job or arrange unemployment benefits, said Keith Lucas, area director of the Midlands Workforce center, the official name for the place. That was far more than the 13,698 who came in the final month of 2007.

Nationally, some 2.6 million jobs have disappeared since December 2007, when the recession began. Last week, 524,000 more Americans filed for unemployment benefits, amid forecasts that the number could spike as high as 750,000 by late this year.

full story

From earning six figures to hoping for $7 an hour

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:58:00 +0000

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- In her best year as a mortgage broker, Laura Glick says she made "six figures." This week she was one of more than 1,200 people attending a job fair and applying for one of 150 jobs paying between $7 and $12 an hour at a new Kohl's department store in a Denver, Colorado, suburb.

She has been out of work for seven months and never thought it would take her this long to find a job. It's not the kind of job she thought she would be applying for, but she has a case of the jitters just the same.

"Your heart starts to race, and you get nervous even though it is not some big job like you used to have," she said. "I'll take anything at this point."

Glick is not alone. Many other people have lost their jobs in this tough economy.

A record number of jobless claims was set last month, when first-time claims hit a 26-year high of 589,000 claims in one week. Last week's claims also broke the half-million mark, 524,000, according to a new government report cited on CNNMoney.com.

Glick, 29, has been living on about $1400 a month in unemployment benefits, barely enough to cover her rent and health insurance. To get by she has stopped eating out, given up cigarettes and has stopped taking her pets to the vet for regular checkups.

"Its feels very degrading, some of the places I'm applying," Glick said. "It's really difficult, and its hard to stay positive, but that's the only way you're going to get something is staying positive. And I'm hoping everything happens for a reason and the doors that have been closed are going to be the ones that lead to open ones."

Job seekers have been pouring into a hotel ballroom all week for one of the prized jobs. They fill out paperwork and then are taken up to a hotel room in groups of ten or so. The beds have been removed from the room, and they sit in a circle while store managers holding clipboards ask questions. Most are told they will hear back within three weeks.

full story

Watch could you be an entrepreneur »

The Intensive Quiet Preparations for Martial Law

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Let us deal first with the preparations for martial law. On September 30, 2008, the Army Times announced the redeployment of an active Brigade Army Team from Iraq to America, in a new mission that "may become a permanent part of the active Army":

The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they're training for the same mission -- with a twist -- at home.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks. . . . After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one. . . .They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.¹⁷

This announcement followed by two weeks the talk of civil unrest and martial law that was used to panic the Congress into passing Paulson's bailout legislation. Not only that, the two unprecedented events mirror each other: the bailout debate anticipated civil unrest and martial law, while the announced positioning of an active Brigade Combat Team on U.S. soil anticipated civil unrest (such as might result from the bailout legislation).

Then on December 17, 2008, US Northern Command chief General Renuart announced that "the US military plans to mobilize thousands of troops to protect Washington against potential terrorist attack during the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama."¹⁸

The US Army War College has also raised the possibility of the U.S. Army being used to control civil unrest, according to the Phoenix Business Journal:

A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.

"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," said the War College report.

The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.¹⁹

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Cold thrill - affected EU countries

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:10:00 +0000

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Ukraine and Russia said the supply of
natural gas to Europe was completely shut off Wednesday, but each side
blamed the other for the cut-off, which comes as Europe faces a wave of
freezing temperatures.

At least nine countries have reported their natural gas supply from
Russia had been cut or reduced as a result of the row. Some of those
countries, such as Germany and Greece, are relying on other sources of
gas or gas reserves, but others -- such as Bulgaria -- have no other
supply to fall back on as the mercury plummets.

Temperatures
across Europe have been lower than average in recent days, with cold
Arctic air pushing over the continent from the north. Forecasters
predict the temperatures are likely to stay chilly through the weekend.

Why War is Inevitable

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Global Central Banks Acting In Concert - Disinformation In Financial Dailies To Confuse The People

When The Truth Dawns On Hapless People, There Will Be Blood On The Streets.

This Is The Warning By IMF!

The disinformation by the global financial dailies in the last twelve months as to the cause of the global financial tsunami, serve the same purpose as the global mass media when they perpetuated the lies that lulled the people to support the war criminals Bush, Blair and Howard to launch the barbaric war against Iraq and Afghanistan which resulted in the genocide of millions, the mutilation of hundreds of thousands, physically and psychologically, and the devastation of an entire nation.

The wars unleashed thus far, specifically the “War on Terror” was launched to preserve the shadow money-lenders’ political and military power.

This War on Terror is the greatest military sideshow that distracted the great American people from the financial rape and plunder of their economy and the destruction of their Constitution.

Since the summer of 2007, we have witnessed a concerted effort by the world’s central banks and global commercial and investment banks to preserve the shadow money-lenders’ financial power, one that is founded on fraud and structured in every detail as in the infamous Ponzi scheme.

In the last seven years, the Ponzi scheme was globalised by the Shadow Money-Lenders, siphoning hundreds of billions from so-called sophisticated investors and sovereign wealth funds. At its peak, the Ponzi scheme was estimated to be worth over $500 Trillion, with the Credit Default Swap (CDS) portion just under $60 Trillion!

Hidden behind the headlines of the financial destruction that is sweeping across the globe, lies another story – a dark tale of men who orchestrated the crisis and have amassed enormous wealth and power at the expense of the millions who are now unemployed and whose homes have been foreclosed. This select group of men is in absolute control of the unfolding events. Who are they?

THE HIDDEN POWER

The hidden power is almost indestructible because throughout the ages, any attempt to unveil their hidden agenda and to expose the men behind the screen has been labeled “a Conspiracy Theory” and those who risk their wealth and reputation to expose this power are accused of being “Conspiracy Theorists”.

This is notwithstanding the fact that many insiders who were previously seduced by the power and recanted, have written about such men and their global agendas.

Some “do-gooders” who have visited my website have pleaded with me not to make any reference to the hidden power as “I would be condemned as a conspiracy theorist and lose my credibility.” It is these do-gooders who are unconsciously, the allies and propaganda tools of the hidden power. They are the foot soldiers of the Hidden Power and the first to be slaughtered. They never learn and if they persist, must be considered collaborators.

I have made detail references to the hidden power in all my books, but since not everyone can afford to purchase them, I shall recap herein what the insiders have been saying for years. For those who are aware of these writings, it would serve them well to revisit these writings again so as to strengthen their resolve to expose the hidden power until total victory.

In essence, the hidden power is the Global Shadow Money-Lenders - the men and women who control and manage the Shadow Money-Lending System. And they also control all political leaders, directly and indirectly in every part of the world, in every country, Malaysia included!

Anyone who denies this is a fool from our perspective but an indispensable ally from the shadow money-lenders’ point of view.

Please consider the following exposé by renowned insiders.

Napoleon Bonaparte
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”

Niccolo Machiavelli
“For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.”

President James Madison
“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control of governments by controlling money and its issuance.”

President Abraham Lincoln
“The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy.”

President James A Garfield
“Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.”

The Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna – Chancellor of the Exchequer
“I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create money. The amount of money in existence varies only with the action of the banks in increasing and decreasing deposits and bank purchases. Every loan, overdraft, or bank purchase creates a deposit and every repayment of a loan, overdraft or bank sale destroys a deposit. And they who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.”

Sir Josiah Stamp – Bank of England
“Banking was conceived in inequity and was born in sin. The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the costs of your own salary, let them continue to create deposits.”

President Woodrow Wilson
“A great Industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world – no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country.”
(President regretted signing into law the Federal Reserve Act)

Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter
“The real rulers in Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes.”

Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of Banking & Currency Committee
In 1932:
“The truth is the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the Government of the United States. It controls everything here and it controls all our foreign relations. It makes and breaks government at will …”

In 1933:
“Roosevelt has brought with him from Wall Street James P. Warburg, son of Paul M. Warburg, Organizer and first Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve System…”

In 1950:
“This same Warburg had the audacity and arrogance to proclaim before the U.S. Senate: ‘We shall have World Government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by Conquest or Consent’.”

Senator Barry Goldwater
“Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money-lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States.”

Henry Ford
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

The above is the truth laid bare before your eyes and which the shadow money-lenders have spent billions over the years for the control of the global mass media, and paid handsomely specially cultivated economists, historians and politicians to disseminate lies, divert attention and to cover up their hidden agenda.

The next quotation will shock most of you and will change your perspective of many global issues. It is written by a courageous Jew to another courageous Jew.

Benjamin H. Friedman
Letter to Dr. David Goldstein dated October 10, 1954
“The history of the world for the past several centuries and current events at home and abroad confirm the existence of such a conspiracy (to destroy Christianity and obtain global power). The world-wide net-work of diabolical conspirators implements this plot against the Christian faith while Christians appear to be sound asleep. The Christian clergy appear to be more ignorant or more indifferent about this conspiracy than other Christians … It seems so sad.”

A HISTORICAL DETOUR

To secure their global agenda, the shadow money-lenders needed a national base to first consolidate their power and to legislate laws that would secure their monopoly to issue money and credit. The target country was England and that is why the first central bank was the Bank of England. Almost all the laws that secured the money-lenders their unbridled economic and political power can be traced back to the legal basis for the establishment of the Bank of England as a central bank and their unfettered right to create “credits”.

The £ was the currency of choice for world conquest and the result was the mighty British Empire, where the sun never sets! It was an empire based on debt. When the £ Ponzi scheme unraveled, Britain outlived its usefulness and the shadow money-lenders relocated to structure another Ponzi scheme.

The next target country was the United States and the vehicle was the Federal Reserve System. It was a long struggle, but the shadow money-lenders finally prevailed. Thereafter, they established the greatest financial empire in history, but they are still short of their ultimate hidden agenda, as arrogantly proclaimed by James P. Warburg – the establishment of a World Government by conquest or by consent!

Today, the shadow money-lenders have achieved unrivalled military power, but in the process they have put at risk the fiat money system. This is because so much money was required to maintain and sustain the military might of the US and its military bases in client states all over the world and the occupation of Germany and Japan since their defeat in 1945.

What is important to understand is that the shadow money-lenders are parasitic in nature and they have to feed on a continuous diet of debts. The financing of military adventures ensures a continuous stream of debts and compound interests. Debts beget more debts!

When the debts reach saturation point, the Ponzi scheme will collapse and hence, the need to revive and or re-establish another Ponzi scheme, failing which the shadow money-lenders’ financial empire cannot be sustained.

BRETTON WOODS (I) – POST WORLD WAR II PONZI SCHEME

At the end of the Second World War, the United States was the indisputable super-power and largest creditor. The shadow money-lenders created various covers for massive lending such as the Marshall Plan, supposedly to revive the devastated economies of Europe and Asia. Under the cover of the aforesaid altruistic economic plan of post war recovery, was the hidden agenda for the establishment of the US dollar as the one and only supreme currency to replace the £.

The shadow money-lenders had under their control the following sovereign debtors post World War II:
Canada
The countries of the South American Continent
The countries of Europe, west of the then “Iron Curtain”
The countries of the African continent
The countries of the Middle East
The countries of Asia, west of the then “Bamboo Curtain”
Australia and New Zealand

To secure the sovereign debtors’ consent to the use of the dollar as reserve currency, it was agreed that the dollar was redeemable in gold at US$35 per oz of gold.

The shadow money-lenders never had it so good. Then they got greedy.

Like the goldsmiths of yester-years, the shadow money-lenders created more credits than there was gold to sustain the dollar reserve currency. There were also the numerous wars that needed to be financed, principally the Vietnam War and the proxy wars in Africa and Latin America. There was a huge drain in the gold holdings at Fort Knox.

This gave rise to a crisis of confidence in the Bretton Woods (I) dollar system.
To resolve the crisis and to maintain the unrivalled position of the US dollar, the shadow money-lenders devise a brilliant scheme – a variation of Bretton Woods (I)

BRETTON WOODS (II) – PURE FIAT MONEY SYSTEM
The dollar would no longer be redeemable in gold as decreed by President Nixon.
There were two parts to the overall scheme to secure full compliance.

Part 1 was the use of the simple bully tactic. The Cold War was engineered and intensified to create the myth that the Soviet Union would unleash a nuclear war against the “free countries” and therefore there was a need for collective security in which only the United States could provide the necessary defense, as it was the most powerful nation in the world.

The quid pro quo for the protection under the umbrella of the US led collective security was that countries must continue to use the US dollar in all international trades.

Notwithstanding the fact that the client states agreed to the new arrangement, there was still the fear by the shadow money-lenders that sooner or later the debtors will wise up to the fact that they were holding mere toilet papers. Should this happen, the dollar would be dumped as toxic waste and that would spell the end of the shadow money-lending system.

Part 2 was therefore initiated and the man chosen to implement the con-game was none other than Henry Kissinger. He secured an agreement with the corrupt Saudi monarch and lesser tyrants in the region that the oil price would be manipulated to hit the roof and in return for their untold wealth and financial power, all future crude oil trades must be denominated in dollars, and the petro-dollars must be repatriated to the United States, to be invested in dollar assets.

In a warped sense, dollar was now backed by crude oil instead of gold, as without dollars, no nation could purchase crude oil.

The dollar toilet paper over-night regained its stature and value as the global reserve currency.

Yet, and once again the shadow money-lenders got greedy. They came to the insane conclusion that they could create limitless credits (debts) out of thin air and none would be wiser!

By the late eighties, it was apparent to the shadow money-lenders that the demand and use of crude oil would not be able to sustain the level of dollar credits needed to support the debt pyramid.

Plan B, the Yen Carry Trade was put into action – borrowing yen at zero interest rate to invest in dollar assets, bearing higher interest rates. The Japanese could not complain, being a conquered race and still under military occupation, and so for over a decade, they suffered in silence. The dollar as the global reserve currency was saved, but, not for long.

The instability in the Middle East became a major concern. Saddam Hussein had grandeur ideas. He aspired to be the regional power but Desert Storm scuttled his grand designs. Iran having recovered from the devastation of the eight-year war with Iraq, began to assert itself and their growing strength was perceived as a threat to the security interests of the shadow money-lenders and their partners-in-crime, the big oil companies.

A Plan C was needed. The China card had to be played!

THE CHINA FACTOR

Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s announced to the world that China would practice socialism with Chinese characteristics. Being Red was not critical, for the colour of the cat was not important so long as the cat catches mice!
China wanted to modernize and catch up with the West. It had abundant cheap labour and a disciplined workforce. But development was slow and foreign investments were confined to certain regions.

Back home in the US, manufacturing concerns were being clobbered by the Japanese and the Koreans. Industry after industry became less competitive and costs were rising. A solution had to be found.

The shadow money-lenders have their share of worries – How to accelerate the momentum of credit creation in an economy that is slowing down? Less debts mean less compound interests and therefore less profits. Q.E.D.

The shadow money-lenders realized soon enough that if debt-driven consumption is the solution, then there must be a manufacturing base that can produce the massive quantities of goods that would meet the demands for debt.

China loomed large in the overall scheme of things.

The shadow money-lenders entered into an agreement with the Chinese along the lines of the petro-dollar agreement. There will be massive relocation of industries to China, massive investments in plants and equipment to produce goods for the US and European markets in exchange for dollar denominated trade. And more importantly, it was agreed that the dollar trade surplus would be re-invested in dollar assets.

It was an offer that China found hard to refuse. It was the fast track to economic development and the rapid modernisation of China. China agreed and the rest is history!

Debt exploded in the US and in Europe. Consumers were borrowing as never before to purchase the goodies from China. The recycled dollars from China funded the consumer bubble from home ownership to motorcars, electronic goods, toys, clothing etc. China became the world’s factory and her economy surged. Within a decade, China accumulated dollar reserves amounting to $2 Trillion. Other Asian countries jumped on the bandwagon, and accumulated huge dollar reserves. These huge reserves must be invested and the US lured them to the exotic investments created by Nobel Laureates and rocket scientists.

THE DERIVATIVE CASINO

Financial engineering by the shadow money-lenders accelerated further credit creation. The United States led the way. During the past ten years, while income stagnated, consumer spending rose to a record $8.34 trillion fueled by cheap consumer loans – home mortgage, credit-card loans, car loans, holiday loans etc.

The securitization of the growing stream of compound interests from the wide range of consumers’ debts was the natural and logical step in the next round of credit creation for the derivative casino. These debts were sliced and diced into tranches to form CDOs, synthetic CDOs, CLOs, MBS and CDS etc. and marketed worldwide. The demand for securitization was so great that banks and mortgage brokers were even willing to lend to borrowers on the barest of credit information. They were aptly called “Liars’ Loans”!

In 2004, $157 billion CDOs were issued but rocketed to an amazing $557 billion in 2006. And when there were insufficient mortgages to be securitized into CDOs, Wall Street created the “synthetic CDOs” – bonds which have no underlying loans and or security but allegedly have an income stream based on a parallel contract and on contingencies which may or may not result in any interest payments. Investment is risk, stupid! Higher risks, higher payouts!

In the first quarter of 2007, the creation of CDOs surged further, led by Merrill Lynch which sold nearly $29 billion in February and March, sixty per cent more than the preceding two-month period; Goldman Sachs pushed $10 billion in March which more than double the value in February and Citigroup sold $9 billion in March, one third more than the previous month. CDOs were the rave and the ticket to glorious wealth.

The US, specifically Wall Street became the “Mecca of debts”.

The rest of the world jumped on the bandwagon. So much CDOs were packaged and sold so quickly that no one even had the time to determine which and what securities were being securitized in the CDOs. “Just do the trade, just do the trade” was the chorus line for the traders.

The following table says it all – the Sub-Prime Fiasco.

The Shadow Money-lenders also came up with a scheme to protect investors and which brought another massive stream of revenue. The scheme was called “Credit Default Swaps” (CDS).

Total Face Amount of CDS was estimated as follows:

2001 $918.9 Billion
2002 $ 2.2 Trillion
2003 $ 3.8 Trillion
2004 $ 8.4 Trillion
2005 $ 17.1 Trillion
2006 $ 34.4 Trillion
2007 $ 62.2 Trillion
2008 $ 54.6 Trillion as of June 2008

The world became addicted to debt!

Then the housing bubble busted, and with it the gigantic Ponzi scheme.
Creditors are now faced with a dilemma, what to do with the loads and loads of dollar toilet paper, now derisively referred to as “toxic wastes” – stand pat, sell down, continue to be paid in dollar toilet papers or shut down the printing press?

We are now at this juncture.

THE SHADOW MONEY-LENDERS’ LAST GAMBIT

The Fed’s decision to cut the Fed Fund Rates to 0.25 percent means that the Fed has embarked on a Zero-Interest-Rate Policy (ZIRP) and to proceed with the policy of Quantitative Easing (QE) – to turn on the spigot for “limitless supply of credit”.

In layman’s jargon, to encourage more debts – mortgage debts, credit-card debts, car loans, and more importantly to revive the derivative casino, presently on life support. This was the drug addiction that sustained the global financial system in the last twenty years and more intensely in the last seven years!

The announced policy (ZIRP / QE) is the last bullet in the Fed’s arsenal or as I have stated earlier, using another analogy, the final gamble, the last chip on the betting table. There will be no more ammunition left after this.

This huge gamble will take six months to play out but it will end in failure as surely as the sun will rise in the East tomorrow.

But a more sinister aspect of the zero-interest-rate policy which has not been highlighted by any economist or financial commentator is that the United States under the present Bush regime has declared to the entire world that the United States cannot and will not service anymore interest payments on the nation’s outstanding debts amounting to trillions.

Bush has declared that the United States for all intent and purposes is bankrupt and have no means to service the interest due, what more the principal sum.

Bush, Bernanke and Paulson have therefore collectively agreed to give the “two-finger sign” to the world’s creditors and in no uncertain terms are saying that:

You creditors, you a@#holes, you can jerk off. You know, I know and the whole bloody world knows that the US of A have no income to even service the interest which amounts to a few hundred billion a year.

So let us stop the pretense. We owe trillions and interest on top of that runs to hundreds of billions, which when unpaid is capitalized. And every year we have to borrow from you guys just to pay the interest so as to avoid a call on default. There were so many occasions when we have defaulted, but you guys allowed us to roll over to maintain the façade that the US of A is still floating.

We ain’t floating like a bee, but we are sinking fast! Let’s cut the crap and be real.

So this is the offer. And you jerks better listen good because this will be said once and once only.

You guys should be more than happy with so much interests already accruing on the outstanding. All these years, you guys have been only too happy to see us print the toilet papers in payment of your goods and to service the interests. It was an incredible con and what a free ride we had all these years. You guys were part of the con as well.

If you insist that I continue to pay you in toilet papers, why do you insist that we issue more toilet papers as interest payments? It is just more toilet papers. You guys are swarmed with toilet papers!

The toilet paper is worthless. So what is the point of paying “toilet paper interest” on outstanding toilet papers?

This is it! We are not paying anymore toilet paper interest. We are going to print more toilet papers to pay for whatever we want to purchase. If you want to sell to us, you will get toilet papers but with no interest. Period!

This is the greatest irony. The Fed, the world’s biggest money-lender and its partners-in-crime are telling their creditors to stuff it! When debtors cannot pay the exorbitant interests and the principal, these financial predators demand that the debtors give their pound of flesh in lieu of cash. But when they borrow, they repay in toilet paper money abd get away with it!

And now they even have the audacity to give an ultimatum:

We are the biggest buyers in town. If you don’t want toilet papers from us, that is fine by us. You can get tissue papers from the Europeans, bamboo papers from the Japanese and whatever that is on offer. Who is going to argue whether tissue paper would do a better job than plain toilet paper? Hey, this is a free market. Pick your choice!

This is the ultimate poker game. Bush, Bernanke and Paulson is betting that no one will call their bluff, turn away and stop selling anymore goods to the US of A. Bush is counting that the fear of recession and or social unrest in the creditors’ countries will force the creditors to capitulate.

Unfortunately, this gambit will fail. The reason is simple. The US cannot supply the goods that the American consumers want, even the most basic stuff. The manufacturing industries are all anemic, while others are on life support. Without imports, the United States will have to shut down within six months.

There will be massive riots all over the US, with people killing for food and other basic necessities. Basic raw materials, commodities for manufacturing etc. will be unavailable. There will be no more cars on the freeways! Millions of Americans licensed to carry arms will stalk the streets for whatever scrap they can get their hands on.

You can bet your bottom dollar, the Shadow Money-Lenders and its military partner will impose martial law.

Preparation is already on the way.

PRESIDENT BUSH’S STARK WARNING

On Tuesday, December 9th 2008, President Bush in fascist speak stated that, “I have abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.”

If you guys out there still don’t get it, this is what Bush is saying:

I am imposing dictatorial rule!

This is because the opposite of “free market” according to conventional wisdom is “state-control economy”. In a word, Socialism – Big Government.

The Fed and the Treasury, in connivance with Congress, have already approved and financed big time, the acquisition of the major banks in Wall Street through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), and the $700 Billion bailout plan. Several US financial commentators have already conceded that this is outright nationalization of the financial institutions.

Soon it will be the nationalization of the big corporations like GE, GM, Ford and Chrysler, all too big to be allowed to fail.

Too far fetched? Just look back to the events leading to World War I and World War II and to the dictatorships in Latin America in the 1970s.

How did Franklin Roosevelt get out of the 1930s mess if not for big government policies and engaging in the wars in Europe, against Germany and Japan in Asia? He even decreed Americans could no longer own gold in any form. They were all confiscated. President Roosevelt ruled with an iron fist, and don’t you believe otherwise.

Now that the entire world knows that the Federal Reserve Note (the dollar bill) is toilet paper and even though in law is “legal tender” (i.e. by law the toilet paper must be accepted as full payment of any debt, failing which the debt is deemed paid), the Shadow Money-Lenders cannot afford the risk of an armed open rebellion and the fiat money system to be overthrown. It is therefore necessary in these circumstances to enforce the use of the US dollar toilet paper by military rule and brutality.

To those who are not attuned to “dictatorship speak”, there is no clearer message to prepare the elites for the coming catastrophe that the announcement that free market principles will no longer apply. The emphasis is on the word “free” and not the word “market”.

We can argue till the cows come home whether my reading of events is correct. Time will be the final judge.

WORLD GOVERNMENT BY CONQUEST OR CONSENT

James P. Warburg, the son of Paul M. Warburg (first Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve System), had proclaimed that world government is their ultimate objective. But that objective cannot be achieved unless and until the United States is completely subdued. A world government can only come about if there is created a crisis that will engulf the entire world, starting from America. Such a crisis will not and cannot be resolved by any one country. It will have to be a global solution. And since countries can only work through a common mechanism, there is therefore a need for an international institution or mechanism.

The United Nations is the precedent from which a new world government will emerge.

Henry Kissinger, since the onset of the crisis, has been calling and cajoling world leaders to submit to such an endeavour if the world is to avoid a global calamity.

And it will be a socialist world government. Before anyone protest and declare that I have gone insane, let me state here once and for all, I am in full command of my faculties. I have done my research.

Capitalism and Socialism are two sides of the same money-lender’s coin. Both ideologies serve a common master - the global shadow money-lenders.

For doubting Thomases, please consider the following facts:

1) The Russian October Revolution, led by Lenin was financed by bankers, to be precise, the bankers in New York and Berlin. In New York, the money was organized by the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co whose directors included Mr. J. Schiff and Mr. Warburg, founder of the Federal Reserve System. In Berlin, the German banker was the brother of the New York Warburg.

2) On January 16, 1962, the Look and Life magazine published the following statement by David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel who was then still in office:

“The image of the world in 1987 as traced in my imagination: The Cold War will be a thing of the past. Internal pressure of the constantly growing intelligentia in Russia for more freedom and the pressure of the masses for raising their living standards may lead to a gradual democratization of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, the increasing influence of the workers and farmers and the rising political importance of men of science, may transform the United States into a welfare state with a planned economy. Western and Eastern Europe will become as federation of autonomous states having a socialist and democratic regime … countries will become united in a world alliance, at whose disposal will be an international police force. All armies will be abolished and there will be no more wars. In Jerusalem, the United Nations (a truly united nation) will build a shrine of the prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the seat of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by Isaiah.”

3) On the success of the Russian October Revolution and the abdication of the Czar Nicholas II, the British Premier David Lloyd George said in Parliament, that Britain had achieved one of its major war aims.

4) The principal aim of Capitalism and Socialism is the centralized rule of an elite political group which owns and or controls all the means of production and the issuance of money and credits – in the case of the former, through various forms of monopoly and in the case of the latter, public monopoly.

WHY WAR IS INEVITABLE

find out here

Is there another scenario? Yes - the abolition of interest rate, but very improbable, even though tested in Germany during the last century.

read about it here

Poll: 75% glad Bush is done

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:55:00 +0000

Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday said they're glad Bush is going; 23 percent indicated they'll miss him.

"Earlier this year, Bush scored some of the lowest presidential approval ratings we've seen in half a century, so it's understandable that the public is eager for a new president to step in," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director.

CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider added, "As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel."

The portion who say they won't miss Bush is 24 percentage points higher than the 51 percent who said they wouldn't miss President Bill Clinton when he left office in January 2001. Forty-five percent of those questioned at that time said they would miss Clinton.

The poll indicates that Bush compares poorly with his presidential predecessors, with 28 percent saying that he's the worst ever. Forty percent rate Bush's presidency as poor, and 31 percent say he's been a good president.

Only a third of those polled said they want Bush to remain active in public life after he leaves the White House. That 33 percent figure is 22 points lower than those in 2001 who wanted Bill Clinton to retain a public role.

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Happiness spreads like the plague - another way to fight economic woes

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Are your friends happy? What about their friends? These people, new research suggests, will have a profound impact on your own personal satisfaction.

Like an influenza outbreak, happiness - and misery too - spread through social networks, affecting people through three degrees of separation. For instance, a happy friend of a friend of a friend increases the chances of personal happiness by about 6% (see graphic, right).

Compare that to research showing that a $5000 income bump ups the odds by just 2%, says James Fowler, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, who led the new study.

"Even people we don't know and have never met have bigger effect on our mood than substantial increases in income," he says...

Even more than smoking and obesity, happiness spreads best at close distances, they found. A happy next-door neighbour ups the odds of person happiness by 34%, a sibling who lives within 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) by 14%, and a friend within half a mile by a whopping 42%.

The effect falls off through the network, with friends' happiness boosting the chances of personal happiness by an average of 15% and friends of friends by 10%.

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Kiss the dollar rally goodbye

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Another Fed rate cut and concerns about the government's ballooning bailout price tag means that the greenback's recent run against the euro is likely over.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It wasn't that long ago that the dollar was strengthening against the once-mighty euro, leading anyone that could still afford a plane ticket to Paris to celebrate that they could suddenly get more baguettes for their buck.

But what a difference a Fed rate cut and more bailouts make. Since the Fed lowered rates to 1% in late October, the euro has gained 10% against the greenback.

During that time frame, the government has also been forced to essentially print more money to help pay for several new initiatives aimed at boosting the flagging economy.

Well, guess what? The Fed cut interest rates again on Tuesday to a target of between 0% and 0.25%. And the government is likely to add more to the bailout tally before the end of the year with an emergency loan to keep General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC from bankruptcy.

So what will this do to the dollar? Is it possible that it could once again slip to the all-time low it hit against the euro back in July when oil prices were at record levels?

Talkback: Are you worried by the dollar's recent pullback?

That may not be likely anytime soon. Even after factoring in the euro's recent spike -- it jumped to about $1.413 after the rate cut Tuesday -- the euro is about 12% below its peak of $1.6038.

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Why FED cannot save the dollar - free report

Why FED can't save the dollar

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:50:00 +0000

Unraveling the future direction of the dollar has consistently made fools of economists and
other financial gurus. But right now, if you closely examine the history and current economic tradewinds, the clouds begin to part. Fact is, the value of the dollar isn’t just some nebulous economic macrotrend. It has a dramatic effect on your everyday life. From the cost of food and gasoline, to interest rates on car and home loans, Americans deal with the impact of the incredible shrinking dollar in their businesses and daily lives. Knowing which way the dollar is headed can help your portfolio hum and let you sleep like a baby at night.The exclusive, free report reveals how the Federal Reserve plans to save the dollar and four ways you can profit… whether the Fed succeeds or not.

Download FREE report:

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Top-10 Economic Predictions for 2008: How Accurate Were We?

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:21:00 +0000

Here is what IHS Global Insight said in December 2007 as we introduced our Top-10 Predictions for 2008:
The U.S. economy is now in the danger zone. GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2007 (0.0%) and first half of 2008 (0.8% in the first quarter and 1.8% in the second quarter) is expected to be very weak. This will make the United States extremely vulnerable to another shock. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the rest of the world will be able to shrug off the expected sharp deceleration in spending by American households. IHS Global Insight currently predicts that world growth will be 3.3% in 2008, compared with 3.7% this year. With the potential for housing crunches in some European economies and a post-Olympics slowdown (or even bust) in China, the risks for the global economy are now overwhelmingly on the downside.

Eight of the top-10 IHS Global Insight predictions for 2008 were right on the mark. The U.S. and world economies did slow down dramatically. Global GDP growth downshifted from 3.9% in 2007 to 2.7% in 2008.

read more and see charts

Top-10 Economic Predictions for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:13:00 +0000

The U.S. and world economies are about to suffer through some of the worst recessions in the postwar period. Most measures of economic and financial activity look like they fell off a cliff in September and October, and have been deteriorating at an alarming rate ever since. The United States is now officially in a recession that started in December 2007. Japan and many European countries are in the same boat. At the same time, growth in most emerging markets is faltering. IHS Global Insight now believes that global growth will be in the 0.0 – 0.5% range during 2009, compared with 2.7% in 2008.

See in details

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:14:00 +0000

Unfolding before our eyes...

Stoning Satan

Greek riots

2008 in photos

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Christmas tree in front of Greek Parliament

Top 10 Predictions For the Global Economy

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:33:00 +0000

1. The U.S. Recession Will Be One of the Deepest—if not the Deepest— in the Postwar Period.
2. The Downturn Will Be the Worst in Europe over a Couple of Decades and the Worst in Japan Since 1998.
3. Growth in Emerging Markets Will Decelerate Dramatically.
4. The Federal Reserve and Other Central Banks Will Keep Cutting Rates.
5. More Fiscal Stimulus in the Pipeline.
6. Commodity Prices Will Remain at Depressed Levels for Much of Next Year.
7. Inflationary Fears Will Be Replaced by Concerns About Deflation.
8. Global Imbalances Will Improve Markedly.
9. The Dollar Will Remain Relatively Strong as Long as the Financial Crisis Continues.
10. The Single-Biggest Risk Facing the U.S. and World Economies Is a Timid Response to the Crisis.

read details

Comment: no ideas for a deep monetary reform on the horizon

Hong Kong bussinesses prefer cash

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:26:00 +0000

The financial crisis is prompting some retailers in Hong Kong to reject credit cards. CNN's Eunice Yoon reports.

Watch live report

From Your Wallet to Wall Street: The Money News That Matters to You

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Did the SEC Miss the Obvious When It Came to Madoff?

December 16, 2008 8:28 PM

ABC News' Charles Herman reports: If you are fascinated by the Madoff scandal, this makes for good reading. The SEC released a statement on the case announcing that the inspector general for the agency will now do a review of the past allegations against Madoff made to the SEC and why those allegations were not found to be credible by SEC staff.

The Commission reports that it "has learned that credible and specific allegations regarding Mr. Madoff’s financial wrongdoing, going back to at least 1999, were repeatedly brought to the attention of SEC staff, but were never recommended to the Commission for action."

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Recession's Toll Is Written in Cutbacks, Layoffs and Worry

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:10:00 +0000

Job Insecurity Is at Worst Level in 33 Years of Polls

Across the country's kitchen tables, this recession is written in cutbacks, layoffs -- and pure worry.

Job insecurity is at its worst in 33 years of polls; holiday spending plans, their worst in data back 23 years. Americans report cuts in work hours and pay, and concerns about making the rent or mortgage, heating the house, paying for retirement. In all, it's an extraordinary loss of confidence -- with repercussions in families across economic and political lines.

Click here for PDF with charts and questions.

Sixty-three percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll now think the country is in a "long-term economic decline," up from 49 percent 10 months ago; just a third say the economic system is still "basically pretty solid." And while economic distress tends to be greatest among lower-income Americans, the biggest increase in views of a long-term decline has been among the better-off, who have been hammered by the stock market.

read full analysis

Money, money everywhere …except in your pocket?

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:04:00 +0000

There’s lots of money sloshing around the financial system these days.
The Federal Reserve has established a target range of 0-0.25 percent for its key rate, bringing it closer to unconventional action to lift the economy out of a year-long recession. From Washington, the first package aimed at rescuing the credit crisis-hit banking sector amounted to $700 billion. Treasury can use only half of that amount and it has already pledged all but $15 billion of it. The Senate has refused to pass a $14 billion rescue package for Detroit’s three major car companies last week, leaving it in the hands of the Bush administration to work out a deal.

full article

Forecasts for dismal U.S. holiday sales

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:02:00 +0000

With the United States grappling with its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, retail experts predict this year will be one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in possibly two decades.

If the gloomiest predictions come true, that could spell disaster for many more store chains and their employees, and provide insight on how long it may take the economy to recover. For more coverage of expectations of the U.S.

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Start Stocking up on Food for the Global Depression - slowly

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:18:00 +0000

December 12th, 2008

Now is the time to start stocking up on food. You should focus on purchasing canned goods first. There is no need to go out and buy everything all at once, but you should deliberately by additional canned good items.

As you purchase canned goods, focus on things that will complete an entire meal. Purchase canned meats, and canned vegetables both.

Your goal should be to purchase at least six months worth of food and canned goods. Do not buy food that you or your family will not eat. Instead focus on the food that you will eat, and it is okay for you to start eating this as you buy it.

Where they apply, pay attention to expiration dates on the canned goods and organized your canned goods in a pantry so that you can identify those items that will need to be eaten first.

If you have experience in investing, you can look at your canned goods purchases as an investment in the future. In fact, the reason why you should buy canned goods over a period of time, as opposed to all at once, is for two reasons. For one reason, this will ensure that you have a wide range of products and canned goods for that will have differing expiration dates. You do not want to have all of your food go bad at the same time!

The second reason for purchasing canned goods over a period of time to prepare for the global depression involves investment concept known as dollar cost averaging. Essentially the idea is that you do not want to purchase something all at once, instead you purchase it over time and the average cost that you will pay for the items that you buy should ensure that you pay on average the best price available, as opposed to paying too much during a spike in prices.

There could also be a third reason. We do not want to trigger a food panic. Cover yourself gradually, but do not go crazy or over board.

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Free practical survival tips - solidarity

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:14:00 +0000

Economic Depression - Survival Guide

First, join together with all your friends and family; you cannot do this alone. Ok, here is what you will need to do. Work with your community as a whole and first focus on food production and permaculture. Remember, in times of a depression, food may not be as available as in previous times. There also may not be fuel to run the equipment, so you and your friends must work with your community to ensure enough has been planted and grown. Since everyone is working together, all gardens and produce can be considered everyones!!! Remember, this is no time to worry about who's property is where, all must work equally for community sustainability.
Second, and this is where things begin to get tricky, place your focus on helping your friends, family and neighbors (community), rather than money. Remember, without the help of the entire community, there will not be enough people helping to work the needed jobs to ensure a decent quality of life. Money should be considered as unnecessary; those who are able to help and do so should be treated with the end products, likewise those who are unable to help
should be cared for. Just because someone is disabled does not mean they are not still a person, and should be treated with respect.
Third, and trickier still: people may loose their homes in the depression. As said above, we need the entire community to aid one another. So here is what we need to do. Since money should not be our concern, neither should removing people from their houses. Now is not the time to throw people to the curb, it is
a time to help one another. Therefore, those who are being thrown out should just choose to stay in their homes, and the community should back them. Remember, all members of society are necessary to helping maintain society. Those who have some other situation in which they loose their home should be aided by the community by providing a place for them to stay until they find a home of their own. We are all one community, and one family!!!
Lastly, people should work to make the decisions of their community through a consensus. Now is not the time for politicians to be arguing, it is a time for the people to come together. It is the people doing the labor to sustain their communities, it is the people helping provide a living and loving environment for the members of the community; it is the people's community. We should work to aid one another and do the work necessary for our community to run smoothly regardless of the ideas of politicians.

IT MAY ALSO BE NECESSARY TO HELP OTHER COMMUNITIES!!!
To sum it up: Each of us needs to be focused on the well being of each member of the community, with each member contributing their part in order to ensure sustainable living. Since each members worth to the society is judged by their working to the best of their ability in the community, money must be overlooked as unnecessary. While business were important before to provide the necessities to the community, the community will now work to provide for themselves. Since all land and buildings should be shared by the community, we should not focus on squabbling over who owns what, as every person has equal ownership of all property. If we follow these simple steps, we should be seeing our way out of the horrors of a depression in no time. Pass it on!

Another Analyst is showing us the Economic DISASTER toward the Coming Depression

noreply@blogger.com (pierre) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:56:00 +0000

In a startling recent release that sent chills up the spines of economists worldwide, the Federal Reserve reported that, in the third quarter alone, American households have suffered ...

$647 billion in real estate losses
$922 billion in stock market losses
$523 billion mutual funds losses
$128 billion private business losses, plus
$653 billion losses in life insurance and pension fund reserves!

That's a $2.8 TRILLION wealth loss overall — four times more than the Treasury's entire $700-billion bailout program.

Worse, over the past year, the loss is $7.1 trillion, or TEN times more than the bailout program.

Finding these numbers too large to believe? Then just add up the figures in the red rectangle below, taken straight out of the Fed's release.

They are the worst losses ever recorded.

Even as the government commits new billions to be spent on financial rescues, trillions in wealth are wiped out in real estate, stocks, mutual funds and retirement assists, overwhelming the government efforts.

Looking into the future, you ask:

But will the trillions MORE that Washington throws at this crisis bring inflation back? Or will this deflation continue to be so massive that no amount of Fed funny money stands a chance of preventing it?

It's a crucial question for you, me, plus every investor, wage earner and consumer in the nation.

Getting the answer right could mean the difference between losing your wealth or growing it ... between suffering personal financial failure or triumph ... and between being financially dependent or independently wealthy in 2009 and beyond.

At this juncture, though, there can be no question as to what the answer is. Despite the government's Herculean efforts,

* The Consumer Price Index is falling at the annual pace of 12% per year ...

* The Producer Price Index — the best future predictor of consumer prices — is plunging at an annual rate of 26.4% per year, and ...

* Prices of key commodities are getting crushed.

BOTTOM LINE: DEFLATION is happening right here, right now, right before our very eyes ... and unless you have a clear strategy for surviving in this new environment, it WILL impact you; your income, your savings and every investment you own in 2009.

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