Felonious!

Account terminated??? Felonious uses a couple of ‘bad’ words and blam. So much for Google’s “Do no evil” bullshit.

A plunge in Devil’s Pool!

The following is quoted from a recent article by Dr. Steve Sjuggerud.

“Daddy, can you throw me, like you do in the pool?” my non-daredevil, eight-year-old daughter asked. “Sure,” I said. And I did. But the pimply-faced Lake Lure lifeguard went nuts…

Lake Lure charged our family a $50 entry fee to use this public beach. My $50 paid for those lifeguards to uphold Lake Lure’s rules, it paid their bosses’ salaries, and it paid whoever else sits around making up the rules.

Now check this out… (or just google “devil’s pool victoria falls”)

Get the picture? I don’t think any explanation is really necessary, although I would suggest that there is a lesson to be learned here regarding the true cost of government. Just look at the smile on those faces, the sparkle in those eyes.

Broad daylight fraud

I’m embarrassed. I’ve been around over 50 years. I’ve lived on 3 different continents. I majored in economics at university. And yet, until recently, I never realized that our (not so) modern day banking system is based upon legalized fraud. I mean I understood how the fractional reserve banking system works, but I never really questioned it. Like most, I just assumed that that is how the banking system works… end of story.

In case you are in the same boat as me, let me briefly explain. The history of banking goes back to the 16th century. At that time people used gold and silver coins as currency, but this got inconvenient – gold is heavy! It’s a pain to carry around. So some goldsmith had a bright idea – he said why not let me store your gold and I will provide you with certificates of ownership which you can then exchange for goods and services.

It worked great. However he soon noticed that at no time did everbody come and ask for their gold. This meant he could actually print more certificates than he had gold and silver to cover. This meant he could create his own money. We all know what the authorities call that practice today. If you or I try it we’ll be locked up in a cage by the powers that be.

So now that the goldsmiths had this great new way to get rich, what did they do with all that money? Well they lent it out, but of course it didn’t belong to the general public, it was their own money – even if it was fraudulently created. So they demanded interest on the loans. Not only did they lend it out to the public, but sovereign governments lined up too. It was a great way to fund wars and stuff like that.

The power and wealth this system gave to the goldsmiths basically allowed them to become what they are today – the big banks. They used their power to ensure that their system of fraud became law and that they were the only ones allowed to practice it. Fractional reserve banking was born, and today the banks rule the world.

All money is a promise? Oh yeah?

Fantastic interview – Max Keiser and Steve Keen. This one’s all signal… listen up!

A couple of signals:

1. The banks gambled and lost which resulted in vats of toxic debt. The government, acting on our behalf, bought the poison from them at 100% book value. Bottom line: We (you and me brother) are now the proud owners and on the hook for the debt while the banks wallow in our money and are back at it again – hanging out in the playground selling drugs to our kids.

2. “All money is a promise”. Steve Keen says the idea that we will pay for a book on Amazon by sending in gold coins is silly. So we will always have some instrument that acts as a ‘promise to pay’ even if we are on some type of gold standard. Well guess what… bitcoins are not a promise – payment is instantaneous, fee-free, and non-reversible. That’s an idea whose idea has come!

The government CREATES discrimination

Peter Schiff makes dozens of good points in this report, but in particular one regarding the way government anti-discrimination regulations actually backfire and have the reverse effect (in the last 3 minutes of the vid).

His Excellence the Emperor Fiat exposed!

LOL

From a zerohedge comment on the Obama news conference…

“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy”

Also good for a laugh…

The cost of being oppressed

Stefan discusses the cost (and who bears the brunt) of regulation. Amazing stuff. Makes me sick to the stomach. We’ve created a monster that will defend itself to the death. It’s time we realized that. The system cannot be fixed from within the system.

Woohoo! More beer!

“Happy days are here again!” LOL… who knew?!

Why “divergence” is a dirty word

We the (100% screwed) people

40% of all US political contributions come from BANKS.

40% of all government spending is financed by DEBT.

“The replacement of bank credit by expanding non-borrowed reserves amounts to a gift given by the Fed ["we the people!"] to the banks. Without it, the American banking system would simply be insolvent.” (Charts and quote from Finance and Economics.)

Signal to Noise

POPULATION

DEBT

Thomas Jefferson (says it all)

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)

Say no more

Sickening

The sad thing is, this sort of thing goes on all the time in all branches of so called government. Turn over any stone and you’re almost guaranteed to find more cancer. It’s everywhere.

Ron Paul

This is the Appendix to Ron Paul’s new book, Liberty Defined.

Rights belong to individuals, not groups; they derive from our nature and can neither be granted nor taken away by government.

All peaceful, voluntary economic and social associations are permitted; consent is the basis of the social and economic order.

Justly acquired property is privately owned by individuals and voluntary groups, and this ownership cannot be arbitrarily voided by governments.

Government may not redistribute private wealth or grant special privileges to any individual or group.

Individuals are responsible for their own actions; government cannot and should not protect us from ourselves.

Government may not claim the monopoly over a people’s money and governments must never engage in official counterfeiting, even in the name of macroeconomic stability.

Aggressive wars, even when called preventative, and even when they pertain only to trade relations, are forbidden.

Jury nullification, that is, the right of jurors to judge the law as well as the facts, is a right of the people and the courtroom norm.

All forms of involuntary servitude are prohibited, not only slavery but also conscription, forced association, and forced welfare distribution.

Government must obey the law that it expects other people to obey and thereby must never use force to mold behavior, manipulate social outcomes, manage the economy, or tell other countries how to behave.

Not so! (says the drunken sailor)

World currency? Conspiracy theory or fact? You decide.

This talk of a new world currency deserves more than passing attention.

Fiscal sanity anyone?

With the fiscal mess we find ourselves in there is much debate about the cause and also possible remedies. Austerity? Increased taxes? More of the same? (not so much!).

However I would propose that one of the greatest inequalities in our system is the two parallel systems of taxation: namely that which allows businesses (specifically large corporations) to deduct ALL EXPENSES, and the second which us poor working slobs have to abide by which allows for the deduction of virtually NO EXPENSES.

For the most part, individuals pay taxes on INCOME and corporations pay taxes on PROFITS.

Now let’s assume that corporations are in fact paying taxes at the corporate tax rate (which we know is rarely the case anyway… see GE!). Because they only pay taxes on profits, their effective tax rate is miniscule compared to that of the general population.

I realize they incur business expenses, but when you think about it, it’s no different from an individual. I can’t function as an economic unit in this economy if I don’t have home to sleep in at night, or a car to get to work in, or food to give me energy, or even a small vacation once a year to keep me sane!

Where’s the difference?

Corporations are treated as individuals under the law and get to influence elections just like we do. They enjoy all the benefits of existing in this society, like the security provided bu the armed forces, the infrastructure, the social services provided to their workers, etc, etc. And yet they shoulder a fraction of the burden. And anyone tell me “oh well individuals own the corporations therefore we indirectly get the benefits”. That’s bullshit – we all know who benefits the most from corporate largesse.

It seems to me that if we implemented a fair system of taxation we could take care of a whole host of problems right off the bat, starting with lower taxes and increased revenues.

Ok so we might find corporations fleeing off-shore – let them! Any business they do within our economy (still the largest market in the world) will be subject to taxation no matter how they try and cook the books.

I realize we (the US) are not alone in having this two faced system of taxation and it would not be without it’s issues, but ultimately wouldn’t we be better to one way or another have a level playing field for all? Get rid of all the loopholes, subsidies, and overly expensive and vindictive enforcement and just simplify the whole thing. Tax rates would be a fraction of what they are today.

Bernard von NotHaus – domestic terrorist or political prisoner?

“After an eight-day trial and less than two hours of deliberation, von NotHaus, the founder and “monetary architect” of a currency known as the Liberty Dollar, was found guilty of making coins resembling and similar to United States coins; of issuing, passing, selling and possessing Liberty Dollar coins; of issuing and passing Liberty Dollar coins intended for use as current money; and of conspiracy against the United States.”

“During the raid, about a dozen agents seized nearly two tons of coins that featured the image of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman. They also took about 500 pounds of silver and 40 to 50 ounces of gold, as was paper currency and other metals.”

He now faces 15 years jailtime.

Ok, here’s the scoop – this guy minted his own coins out of GOLD and SILVER and sold them as an alternative form of currency. He was convicted as a domestic terrorist (prosecutors words) for the crime of counterfeiting.

Firstly, the coins were NOT COPIES OF ANY EXISTING CURRENCY! Bartering is not illegal. You are allowed to trade stuff for stuff, even if it’s described as an alternative form of currency. That is NOT ILLEGAL.

Secondly, why the hell would somebody create a copy (even if it was a copy) of something made from copper and zinc using GOLD or SILVER? The whole idea of counterfeiting is to create worthless copies, not something that is worth many times more than the original!

And furthermore he did not do this secretly. He’s been doing this in full view for over 10 years! Counterfeiting? Really?

So why was the US Govt so upset? Well basically they are the ones in the business of real counterfeiting (QE2 ad infinitum) and they can’t stand the thought of anything that remotely resembles competition to their monopoly business. I guess. Also I suppose they have to justify their existence so they go around looking for poor schmucks to persecute so it looks like they are doing a bang up job protecting the american public. They put the likes of Bernard von NotHaus and Martha Stewart behind bars, all the while giving their buddies on Wall St. blowjobs on the side. Bernie Madoff played his game in full view for years and they didn’t do squat even after repeatedly being presented with evidence of the scam. Why? Because he was a member of the club.

By the way… the fact that the feds were able to get their grubby hands on over 2 tons of gold and silver should not be overlooked. I mean really, stand back and look at the facts of this case from a reasonable logical perspective and ask yourself: who’s the real criminal here?

Whose backs they got anyway?

Who’s been arrested in the last 5 years?

Martha Stewart – domestic terrorist!

Benie Madoff (it took the 2008 crisis to take him down)

Bernard von NotHaus – The coin guy

George Carlin for president!

I don’t care if he’s dead. He’d still be better than any one of the stooges we’ve had since, well… George Washington?

Sorry Ricardo – that’s a no no

The following video makes an interesting point, but it is fundamentally flawed.

When property is taxed then the state OWNS THE PROPERTY. If you don’t pay your property taxes they take it away from you. That means you are actually just renting it. If you can’t pay the ‘rent’ on the family farm, too bad, you’re out. It makes no difference if it’s been in the family for 200 hundred years, passed down from generation to generation. The state can say “you have to pay X amount in taxes. If you don’t we will take your farm.”. Sorry, but that’s state sponsored domestic terrorism.

Anyway, it’s worth a look see. It does raise an interesting viewpoint on property ownership vs. wealth distribution.

Exxon Mobil, Barclays, and now GE

I won’t rehash my “me vs. ____” (fill in the blank corporation) argument regarding our relative share of the tax burden. It just makes me mad. Not good for the old stress levels you know. Especially at this time of the year (did my taxes yesterday).

Instead I’ll just quote from an article on ZeroHedge today:

In today’s NYT, in a surprising critique of the company that is the right arm of Obama’s administration, there is finally an extensive focus piece on how GE, which made $14.2 billion in 2010 ($5.1 billion of which came from the US), paid, wait for it, zero taxes in 2010. NYT summarizes this odd quandary as follows: “Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.”

Breath in. Breathe out. Breath in. Breathe out…

Nice to know the Pentagon has our best interests at heart

When asked why Bradley Manning is being made to stand to attention, shackled and naked, the Pentagon replied “We can’t tell you. We have to protect his privacy.”

Is it time you got into debt?

QE2 is winding down. The big question is what comes next. So far QE has failed miserably unless you happen to be invested in the stock market or commodities. And I guess it has given the Fed some breathing room as in ‘we ain’t bust yet!’. So far this year we have been buying about 70% of our own debt (a.k.a. printing money). So now let’s assume we stop – somebody else is going to have to start buying the crap we have been creating out of thin air. In order to entice the usual suspects interest rates on the treasuries will have to go up big time (since nobody is going to want to buy something we created out of nothing a few weeks earlier). But here’s the kicker – we can’t afford higher interest rates! We have so much freakin debt if we allow interest rates to jump much higher we will be caught in a catch 22 – in order to pay the interest (we already borrow 40% of every dollar we spend) we will have to sell even more debt, and to do that the interest rates will have to be even higher since everybody knows we’re well on our way to going bankrupt anyway.

So what will the Bernanke do? QE3 is the only real option. The alternatives are too painful. He may wait a few months, but I suspect we’ll see QE3 (or the same thing with a more palatable name) by the end of the year. If not, the country will be forced to default on it’s debt.

For you an me, that means the dollar is going to go into a death spiral and it’s time to start preparing. Which brings us to the question of personal debt. We need to start investing in real stuff and quick. If funds are limited, and if you are lucky enough not to be up to the eyeballs in debt already, borrowing at a fixed interest rate is really not a bad idea since pretty soon you will be able to do exactly what the Fed is going to be doing… paying off your debt with hugely devalued dollars.

So if you can, I reckon taking out a 30 year fixed interest mortgage (as big as possible!), is a pretty good idea right now. Use it to buy some precious metals or even better, some arable land.

Could it be our holy grail is the problem?

When we look around today it’s easy to find targets to blame for the almighty mess… it’s like clubbing seals (as my brother would say). My god the thickets are full of foes – politicians, lawyers, bankers, corporate slimebags, radical jihadists, liberals, rednecks, job stealing immigrants, chinese hackers – you get the picture. But can we really blame any of them? Sure, we elect leaders in the hope that they will actually represent us and have out interests at heart. But we are the ones that elect them and continue to do so. Perhaps we can blame the media for stuffing crap down our throats when they should be finding creative ways to educate us, but who turns on the tv?

Bernie Madoff recently made the comment that the whole government slash wall street system is a giant ponzi scheme. Given fractional reserve banking, and the Fed’s disposition for printing money one would have to suspect there’s a lot of truth to that. Why else was it deemed absolutely necessary to bail out the banks in 2008? If those at the top of a pyramid that rests on nothing are allowed to fail yes, the whole system will collapse! That’s how ponzi schemes work… as long as the music keeps playing all is well, well sort of (not!).

But again… what is the root problem? Is it just the inevitable life cycle of civilizations? You start out small and vibrant. Rapid growth and success follow, but inevitably bloated top heavy weight overwhelms the founding ideals and ensures an ultimate collapse. Personally I believe this closer to the truth, afterall we only have to look to nature to see that this is indeed the way the world works, whether it’s the annual cycle of growth, the bearing of fruit, and the return to the soil, or even our own daily cycle – we wake, we work, we get tired, we sleep.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Build it and they will come. Given the opportunity, entropy always increases.

All very depressing! However, given what we know today, the questions becomes what could we do differently? Where did we go wrong?

Well it’s easy to say we should have adopted the ways of our forefathers that lived in tune with the land like the native americans. But that goes against everything stated above – knowledge created the opportunity for us to put a man on the moon. We jumped at the chance to fill that ‘vacuum’ and, as we should, we did.

So what can we do differently next time round? I believe we have to sacrifice the sacred cow of modern society – the system rigid LAW. We pray at the alter of absolute fairness dictated by law. We attempted to remove personal bias which so often leads to persecution, by instituting a system that attempts to define the right and wrong of EVERY CONCEIVABLE situation. However laws are by definition inflexible – they lack one of our greatest assets – common sense and flexibility. Not only that, but the law never ever stops growing. As much as we pay lip service to simplification it never happens. Whenever we create a law, we create a dividing line. Inevitably cases come along that fall right slap bang on the line and provoke new laws which in turn create new lines, etc. etc. The beast is designed to keep growing and as it does the burden of enforcement, interpretation, and abuse grows right along with it.

One only has to look to the recent supreme court decision that granted corporations the right to anonymously use their million dollar piggy banks to influence elections. How could this possibly be allowed? Well, it’s simple – while common sense would say it’s a really bad idea – the law says corporations are to be regarded as individuals and the supreme court stooges simply followed the letter of the law – as is their job.

To be continued.

Musical chairs

“One thing to realize about our fractional reserve banking system is that, like a child’s game of musical chairs, as long as the music is playing, there are no losers.”
Andrew Gause, Monetary Historian

So true, except when we played musical chairs there would be, n players and n-1 chairs. The banks are playing the same game, but there’s n chairs and about n*20 (or more!) players.

What is it about our esteemed leaders that they think they can bend the laws of logic? Nobody in their right mind would argue against the fact that leverage works both ways – gains AND LOSSES are multiplied by the amount of leverage. Central banks worldwide are gambling (with our safety and security) that the financial system will never lose. We came close in 2008 and that’s why we had to bail out the banks – yes “we” the people, the real flesh and blood people. In effect they doubled down and threw the dice, but the dice have no winning numbers. All it does is allow us to stay in the game a bit longer. By printing more and more paper they keep doing it. The hole is now way too big. It doesn’t take a genius to figure where this is going.

At some point the music will stop – it always does.

Let’s not forget Mohamed Bouazizi

With all the news of spreading unrest we are told of many reasons for the uprisings, but seldom does anyone mention or give any credit to the one man that started it all. The protests were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old college graduate who, unable to pay bribes, set himself on fire to protest police confiscation of his unlicensed vegetable cart. It’s unfortunate that he barely gets a mention. How many times have we heard about the role played by Facebook and Twitter? Yes, they played an important role, as did every individual that joined the throngs and put their lives on the line for liberty and freedom, but we should remember it took the courage of a single man to get the whole thing rolling. God bless Mohamed Bouaziz.