1. End the Federal Reserve
2. Balance national budget
3. Print money and pay off national debt
4. End fractional reserve lending to prevent inflation caused by printing money to pay off debt
5. End banking practice of charging interest to Americans
6. Non-profit community safety societies (CSS) would make home and business loans by purchasing asset on your behalf. The borrower would retain rights to control the property. The bank would charge a fee and down payment and future payments would go towards the borrower becoming a larger shareholder of the asset. All profits are distributed to depositors who are all part owners in the bank(CSS).
7. Government would invest and incentivize business that result in greater self-sufficiency. For example, the government should have invested in natural gas instead of oil and gasoline.
8. Government should get out of the business of administering socialist programs and buying votes using other peoples money.
9. Shift responsibility of social programs to state and local level.
10. Make fornication socially unacceptable again as illegitimacy is the number one contributer to poverty. Maybe the days of the "Scarlet Letter" weren't so bad in spite of what your High School English teacher would have you believe. But I think it more just to make the guy wear it.
11. Use tariffs to prevent a trade deficit.
12. Put currency back on gold, silver, and copper standard.
13. Charge interest to foreign governments who exchange dollars for gold only.
14. States should encourage local self-sufficiency. Georgia and South Carolina should encourage cultivation of pecans, figs, and blueberries, and pine trees. They should also encourage shrimping and protect this industry from cheaper overseas pond shrimp. If local farms didn't have to pay huge interest on their farms, I believe that food could be produced cheaper than it can be shipped from overseas. The same thing would apply to technology production.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
Stimulus, Banking and Bubbles
Thomas Woods, author of "meltdown" was speaking on the C-Span 2 Book Club discussing why government stimulus doesn't work. Up to this point, I have failed to hear any expert economists explain in a coherent manner what caused the latest economic downturn until this interview.
The first thing that Woods criticized is Keynesian Economics. Keynesian economics says that sometimes the free market can act irrationally and emotionally and cause instability in the markets especially in response to a natural disaster. Keynesian says that a government and central bank can stabilize irrational market fluctuations through stimulus and injecting capital into the system until the markets become rational again. The traditional example in support of this economic theory is the government investment in US manufacturing and US highways during and just after WWII which are seen as contributing to the post-war boom in the US during the Eisenhower's presidency.
Thomas Woods on the other hand favors the theories of Nobel Laureate Friedrich von Hayek of the Austrian School of Economics who observed that government stimulus during a market downturn is the worst possible thing a government could do. Woods gives the example of a brickmason building a structure out of bricks but not knowing that he doesn't have enough bricks to finish the job. At some point the brick mason will discover the shortfall and the sooner the better. If the mason discovers that he will be short early, then he can alter the plans and make the best out of the situation. If he finds out late, then the consequences are much worse.
Woods explains that the reason there are ups and downs in the markets is because we have a difficult time predicting what consumers will be doing next. Therefore, then a particular market sector is hot, businesses tend to invest a lot of money in hopes of earning future profits. But if that market falls off for whatever reason, then the business is left having invested all this money for nothing.
What has happened in the US, is that the US central banks have come in and bailed businesses out using billions of taxpayers dollars. Therefore, the consequences of all the risk taking by these businesses gets transferred the US tax payer. Government bailouts have several outcomes, none of them good. #1. Knowing that mom and dad will bail you out leads to excessive risk taking by companies. #2. Bailouts just continue to inflate the balloon. #3. Bailouts delay businesses from reorganizing, trimming and improving things.
According to Woods and Hayek, the government should never bail companies out. What should happen when the market turns south is that the Federal Governments should cut back on spending, and encourage saving by raising interest rates. Increased saving would cause deflation and an increase in wealth assuming US currency was still on the gold standard like it was in 1920. Companies during an economic downturn should cut back on spending as well. Some could use existing bankruptcy laws to reorganize their debt and trim off unprofitable parts of their business and come out of bankruptcy trim and more efficient. Woods laments that now because the US dollar has no backing and has lost considerable value due to continual inflation, the average American is forced to become a stock market speculator when saving money and now is subject to losing money either through inflation or with each market crash.
The current problems began with the Dot.Com bubble. The Internet stimulated all sorts of wild speculation and investment in companies with no hopes of profit. The Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan offered low interest rates and people were borrowing money to invest in the stock market. Money was so cheap, individuals were taking out 10 billion dollar loans and buyout huge companies like HCA and Linen and Things. But, the party had to end eventually. Beginning in 1999 and 2000 the Fed raised interest rates 6 times and the over-inflated bubble burst. Instead of cutting back, The US Government and US companies believed they could spend their way out of a recession. So, the Fed reduced interest rates again and poured stimulus money into housing. In stead of housing prices and the housing market cooling with the rest of the market, housing prices continued to rise while wages were stagnant and US manufacturing jobs went overseas. Again, even the manufacturing boom was really a balloon which has been slowly and painfully deflating as well.
The continued growth in the US housing market gave the illusion that the US home mortgage market was recession proof. But no one recognized it was the government that was over-inflating the market and creating the next bubble. The illusion of stability led to banks issuing mortgage backed securities and assigning them AAA ratings. But it wasn't long before, like the dot.com bubble, the housing bubble burst as well. Because of inflation, and the devaluation of the dollar, wages could not keep up with the increase in housing costs. As I have said in other posts, it wasn't just the sub-prime borrowers who are to blame. There were just as many wealthy Americans who defaulted on their second homes as there were sub-primes who defaulted.
As I have explained previously, Banks who were leveraging their fractional reserves by owning toxic derivative mortgage backed securities were hurt by the meltdown because they lost their reserves which they needed to lend. No reserves, no lending. No reserves, no ability to pay withdrawals. AIG was hurt because they had been selling mortgage insurance to sub-prime borrowers and couldn't pay when so many defaulted at once. But AIG did end up paying the banks using US Taxpayer money.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke then got Congress to also put up money to buy all the toxic assets or these worthless derivative mortgage backed securities. This money for toxic assets is what is known as TARP (troubled assets relief program). Astonishingly, not one dollar of TARP money so far has gone to buy any of these toxic derivatives. Instead, the 700 billion dollars went directly to the banks as a zero interest loans to replace their lost fractional reserves. It appears the banks are holding onto the MBS. Why? Because not only is the taxpayer bailing them out by giving them free money to lend back to us, but eventually the volatile MBS will regain value and I bet you the banks are planning to sell those assets later at a profit to the banks and at an additional lose to the US taxpayer. And we are supposed to think Bernie Madoff is a swindler.
American Economic Empire
As a side note, I also listened to an interview by John Perkins who wrote "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." Perkins discusses how the US in conjunction with US businesses strong armed developing countries to accept huge loans from the World Bank which were used by US businesses to steal their resources and then left the country with the unpaid debt. After getting these countries deep into debt, the US manipulates these countries to sell their natural resources to the US for cheap in exchange for assistance in helping them pay the debt. For those government leaders who refused to play ball, the CIA sends "Jackals" who have been responsible for several assassinations.
Swiss Banks and Tax Evasion
60-Minutes ran a story this week about Bradley Birkenfeld who was a mid-level banker for UBS, the largest Swiss bank. Birkenfeld suffered intense guilt while working at UBS and eventually went to the US government as a "whistleblower" confessing that he was an accomplice to assisting thousands of rich Americans shelter money and evade taxes using secret Swiss Bank accounts. The US demanded UBS turn over the names of some American account holders. According to the 60-min interview, the US is not investigating all account holders but only the big ones. When I hear this, what I hear is, the US is conveniently picking and choosing who they are investigating based on politics. Also, the US is currently offering amnesty to all American's with overseas bank accounts to pay back taxes without penalty while Birkenfeld is being prosecuted and going to jail. Birkenfeld was initially offered complete immunity, but he failed to disclose his #1 client and is going to jail. Birkenfeld lawyers are trying to see if he is entitled to millions which according to recent "whistleblower" legislation he may receive.
Bursting of the Manufacturing Bubble
During WWII, the US invested billions of dollars in manufacturing. The government built huge factories for the production of tanks and bombers only to turn these facilities over to private companies following the war. Emerging from the war, the US became the most powerful country of the free world. But the US had a considerable debt burden which peaked at 120% GDP. Currently our national debt is approaching 80% GDP. Nearly 50% of this debt is owned by the Federal Reserve whose shareholders are private banks and ultra-wealthy investors. An increasing amount of our US Treasury Bonds are now owned by foreign countries (30%) like China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. As the US debt is transferred over to emerging countries like China, India, and Brazil, the private investors and banks are cashing out on T-Bills and moving their money to take advantage of the capital needs of the emerging economies and their emerging middle classes. The US has large trade deficits with other countries like China. This means we buy much more of their stuff then they buy of ours. If we were still on the gold standard, those countries would have been draining our gold reserves by trading in those extra dollars sitting around. Instead, they have nothing to do but buy our T-Bills and stock in US companies. Now the value of our currency and the value of Chinese wealth in US dollars is increasingly dependent upon China continuing to purchase our T-Bills to fund our national debt instead of allowing our government to print money which would cause inflation and devalue those dollar. This pressure is allowing the Fed Private investors and Banks the leverage they need to cash out, which they have been doing steadily.
My View on Stimulus
First, I consider the collection of interest an act of war, and modern day slavery. Second, I agree with Woods that government stimulus which encourages companies to keep on doing more of the same in the face of a downturn is wrong. However, I don't think that all government stimulus and incentives are wrong. I believe that the United States government, as part of its primary role to protect this country, should have focused on our countries self-reliance instead of blackmailing and economically enslaving other countries into selling us their resources cheaper. What we should have done is build our nation based on our local natural resources. Our countries' economy is petroleum based, but we have been blessed with huge coal and natural gas reserves. Why do we depend upon gasoline and oil when electricity can be generated using coal and nuclear and cars can run on natural gas? I don't know. But our dependence on foreign resources makes our country vulnerable. And it should have been the duty of our government to use the power of tariffs to protect American jobs, manufacturing, steel production, and farms as well as the value of our currency which should have remained on the gold and silver standard. The last 100 years has seen the homogenization of America and there are forces that would like to have McDonald's and Walmart in everywhere. But I live in Georgia, and figs and pecans grow well here, coastal fishing produces shrimp, but each year I see less and less local commodities and more and more imports. Our just-in-time, and homogenized society is more vulnerable than ever and all it would take is another World War, or Pandemic, Natural Disaster causing a transportation interruption and the people of the US are gonna be in a world of hurt. A lose of self-reliance is what sets an Empire up for the big fall.
The first thing that Woods criticized is Keynesian Economics. Keynesian economics says that sometimes the free market can act irrationally and emotionally and cause instability in the markets especially in response to a natural disaster. Keynesian says that a government and central bank can stabilize irrational market fluctuations through stimulus and injecting capital into the system until the markets become rational again. The traditional example in support of this economic theory is the government investment in US manufacturing and US highways during and just after WWII which are seen as contributing to the post-war boom in the US during the Eisenhower's presidency.
Thomas Woods on the other hand favors the theories of Nobel Laureate Friedrich von Hayek of the Austrian School of Economics who observed that government stimulus during a market downturn is the worst possible thing a government could do. Woods gives the example of a brickmason building a structure out of bricks but not knowing that he doesn't have enough bricks to finish the job. At some point the brick mason will discover the shortfall and the sooner the better. If the mason discovers that he will be short early, then he can alter the plans and make the best out of the situation. If he finds out late, then the consequences are much worse.
Woods explains that the reason there are ups and downs in the markets is because we have a difficult time predicting what consumers will be doing next. Therefore, then a particular market sector is hot, businesses tend to invest a lot of money in hopes of earning future profits. But if that market falls off for whatever reason, then the business is left having invested all this money for nothing.
What has happened in the US, is that the US central banks have come in and bailed businesses out using billions of taxpayers dollars. Therefore, the consequences of all the risk taking by these businesses gets transferred the US tax payer. Government bailouts have several outcomes, none of them good. #1. Knowing that mom and dad will bail you out leads to excessive risk taking by companies. #2. Bailouts just continue to inflate the balloon. #3. Bailouts delay businesses from reorganizing, trimming and improving things.
According to Woods and Hayek, the government should never bail companies out. What should happen when the market turns south is that the Federal Governments should cut back on spending, and encourage saving by raising interest rates. Increased saving would cause deflation and an increase in wealth assuming US currency was still on the gold standard like it was in 1920. Companies during an economic downturn should cut back on spending as well. Some could use existing bankruptcy laws to reorganize their debt and trim off unprofitable parts of their business and come out of bankruptcy trim and more efficient. Woods laments that now because the US dollar has no backing and has lost considerable value due to continual inflation, the average American is forced to become a stock market speculator when saving money and now is subject to losing money either through inflation or with each market crash.
The current problems began with the Dot.Com bubble. The Internet stimulated all sorts of wild speculation and investment in companies with no hopes of profit. The Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan offered low interest rates and people were borrowing money to invest in the stock market. Money was so cheap, individuals were taking out 10 billion dollar loans and buyout huge companies like HCA and Linen and Things. But, the party had to end eventually. Beginning in 1999 and 2000 the Fed raised interest rates 6 times and the over-inflated bubble burst. Instead of cutting back, The US Government and US companies believed they could spend their way out of a recession. So, the Fed reduced interest rates again and poured stimulus money into housing. In stead of housing prices and the housing market cooling with the rest of the market, housing prices continued to rise while wages were stagnant and US manufacturing jobs went overseas. Again, even the manufacturing boom was really a balloon which has been slowly and painfully deflating as well.
The continued growth in the US housing market gave the illusion that the US home mortgage market was recession proof. But no one recognized it was the government that was over-inflating the market and creating the next bubble. The illusion of stability led to banks issuing mortgage backed securities and assigning them AAA ratings. But it wasn't long before, like the dot.com bubble, the housing bubble burst as well. Because of inflation, and the devaluation of the dollar, wages could not keep up with the increase in housing costs. As I have said in other posts, it wasn't just the sub-prime borrowers who are to blame. There were just as many wealthy Americans who defaulted on their second homes as there were sub-primes who defaulted.
As I have explained previously, Banks who were leveraging their fractional reserves by owning toxic derivative mortgage backed securities were hurt by the meltdown because they lost their reserves which they needed to lend. No reserves, no lending. No reserves, no ability to pay withdrawals. AIG was hurt because they had been selling mortgage insurance to sub-prime borrowers and couldn't pay when so many defaulted at once. But AIG did end up paying the banks using US Taxpayer money.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke then got Congress to also put up money to buy all the toxic assets or these worthless derivative mortgage backed securities. This money for toxic assets is what is known as TARP (troubled assets relief program). Astonishingly, not one dollar of TARP money so far has gone to buy any of these toxic derivatives. Instead, the 700 billion dollars went directly to the banks as a zero interest loans to replace their lost fractional reserves. It appears the banks are holding onto the MBS. Why? Because not only is the taxpayer bailing them out by giving them free money to lend back to us, but eventually the volatile MBS will regain value and I bet you the banks are planning to sell those assets later at a profit to the banks and at an additional lose to the US taxpayer. And we are supposed to think Bernie Madoff is a swindler.
American Economic Empire
As a side note, I also listened to an interview by John Perkins who wrote "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." Perkins discusses how the US in conjunction with US businesses strong armed developing countries to accept huge loans from the World Bank which were used by US businesses to steal their resources and then left the country with the unpaid debt. After getting these countries deep into debt, the US manipulates these countries to sell their natural resources to the US for cheap in exchange for assistance in helping them pay the debt. For those government leaders who refused to play ball, the CIA sends "Jackals" who have been responsible for several assassinations.
Swiss Banks and Tax Evasion
60-Minutes ran a story this week about Bradley Birkenfeld who was a mid-level banker for UBS, the largest Swiss bank. Birkenfeld suffered intense guilt while working at UBS and eventually went to the US government as a "whistleblower" confessing that he was an accomplice to assisting thousands of rich Americans shelter money and evade taxes using secret Swiss Bank accounts. The US demanded UBS turn over the names of some American account holders. According to the 60-min interview, the US is not investigating all account holders but only the big ones. When I hear this, what I hear is, the US is conveniently picking and choosing who they are investigating based on politics. Also, the US is currently offering amnesty to all American's with overseas bank accounts to pay back taxes without penalty while Birkenfeld is being prosecuted and going to jail. Birkenfeld was initially offered complete immunity, but he failed to disclose his #1 client and is going to jail. Birkenfeld lawyers are trying to see if he is entitled to millions which according to recent "whistleblower" legislation he may receive.
Bursting of the Manufacturing Bubble
During WWII, the US invested billions of dollars in manufacturing. The government built huge factories for the production of tanks and bombers only to turn these facilities over to private companies following the war. Emerging from the war, the US became the most powerful country of the free world. But the US had a considerable debt burden which peaked at 120% GDP. Currently our national debt is approaching 80% GDP. Nearly 50% of this debt is owned by the Federal Reserve whose shareholders are private banks and ultra-wealthy investors. An increasing amount of our US Treasury Bonds are now owned by foreign countries (30%) like China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. As the US debt is transferred over to emerging countries like China, India, and Brazil, the private investors and banks are cashing out on T-Bills and moving their money to take advantage of the capital needs of the emerging economies and their emerging middle classes. The US has large trade deficits with other countries like China. This means we buy much more of their stuff then they buy of ours. If we were still on the gold standard, those countries would have been draining our gold reserves by trading in those extra dollars sitting around. Instead, they have nothing to do but buy our T-Bills and stock in US companies. Now the value of our currency and the value of Chinese wealth in US dollars is increasingly dependent upon China continuing to purchase our T-Bills to fund our national debt instead of allowing our government to print money which would cause inflation and devalue those dollar. This pressure is allowing the Fed Private investors and Banks the leverage they need to cash out, which they have been doing steadily.
My View on Stimulus
First, I consider the collection of interest an act of war, and modern day slavery. Second, I agree with Woods that government stimulus which encourages companies to keep on doing more of the same in the face of a downturn is wrong. However, I don't think that all government stimulus and incentives are wrong. I believe that the United States government, as part of its primary role to protect this country, should have focused on our countries self-reliance instead of blackmailing and economically enslaving other countries into selling us their resources cheaper. What we should have done is build our nation based on our local natural resources. Our countries' economy is petroleum based, but we have been blessed with huge coal and natural gas reserves. Why do we depend upon gasoline and oil when electricity can be generated using coal and nuclear and cars can run on natural gas? I don't know. But our dependence on foreign resources makes our country vulnerable. And it should have been the duty of our government to use the power of tariffs to protect American jobs, manufacturing, steel production, and farms as well as the value of our currency which should have remained on the gold and silver standard. The last 100 years has seen the homogenization of America and there are forces that would like to have McDonald's and Walmart in everywhere. But I live in Georgia, and figs and pecans grow well here, coastal fishing produces shrimp, but each year I see less and less local commodities and more and more imports. Our just-in-time, and homogenized society is more vulnerable than ever and all it would take is another World War, or Pandemic, Natural Disaster causing a transportation interruption and the people of the US are gonna be in a world of hurt. A lose of self-reliance is what sets an Empire up for the big fall.
Monday, December 21, 2009
History and Prophecy on Banking and War
D&C 87:1 Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations. . . . . until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations; -Joseph Smith Jr. December 25, 1832
War is not only a contest of resolve but also a test of economic strength. War cost money. Therefore, Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, convinced Thomas Jefferson to create a Federal Bank and to allow the country to run a national debt during times of war. With a endless supply of credit, a government could manufacture a neverending supply of warplanes, tanks and bombs. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln turned to Great Britain for financial assistance against the Southern States. However, when President Lincoln later learned the same British Rothschilds who were funding the Union Armies were also funding the Confederate Armies from their banks in France, he stopped paying interest payments on the nation's war debts and began printing Greenbacks. When a nation prints its own money, the nation's currency becomes devalued which shrinks the value of its debt through inflation. I am sure this action infuriated the European bankers and there is not a few who believe that in retribution, the Rothschild's ordered the assassination of President Lincoln. I don't think going into debt during war time is bad, what is bad is borrowing money from other countries. War Bonds should be sold only to US citizens.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
"... (we) gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they have ever had - their own paper money to pay their own debts..." -Abraham Lincoln
Since the Civil War, European Banks have been enciting and funding both sides of numerous wars. World Banks have systematically taken control of the United States by enslaving all its citizens to the bondage of interest and socialism. The errosion of the Representative Democracy in America has been slow and steady.
The Coinage Act of 1873, de-monetized silver, and put the United States on a gold-only standard. The U. S. Treasury continued to issue silver certificates until 24 June 1968. President Richard M. Nixon announced in 1971 that the United States would no longer redeem currency for gold or any other precious metal, forming the final step in abandoning the gold and silver standards.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are 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 civilized world - no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” -President Woodrow Wilson
"The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled." -Cicero. 106-43 B.C.
"if that mischievous financial policy, which had its origin in the North American Republic, should become indurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without a debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous beyond precedent in the history of the civilized governments of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That government must be destroyed, or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe." -The London Times
"Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws..." -Mayer Anselm Rothschild
War is not only a contest of resolve but also a test of economic strength. War cost money. Therefore, Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, convinced Thomas Jefferson to create a Federal Bank and to allow the country to run a national debt during times of war. With a endless supply of credit, a government could manufacture a neverending supply of warplanes, tanks and bombs. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln turned to Great Britain for financial assistance against the Southern States. However, when President Lincoln later learned the same British Rothschilds who were funding the Union Armies were also funding the Confederate Armies from their banks in France, he stopped paying interest payments on the nation's war debts and began printing Greenbacks. When a nation prints its own money, the nation's currency becomes devalued which shrinks the value of its debt through inflation. I am sure this action infuriated the European bankers and there is not a few who believe that in retribution, the Rothschild's ordered the assassination of President Lincoln. I don't think going into debt during war time is bad, what is bad is borrowing money from other countries. War Bonds should be sold only to US citizens.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
"... (we) gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they have ever had - their own paper money to pay their own debts..." -Abraham Lincoln
Since the Civil War, European Banks have been enciting and funding both sides of numerous wars. World Banks have systematically taken control of the United States by enslaving all its citizens to the bondage of interest and socialism. The errosion of the Representative Democracy in America has been slow and steady.
The Coinage Act of 1873, de-monetized silver, and put the United States on a gold-only standard. The U. S. Treasury continued to issue silver certificates until 24 June 1968. President Richard M. Nixon announced in 1971 that the United States would no longer redeem currency for gold or any other precious metal, forming the final step in abandoning the gold and silver standards.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are 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 civilized world - no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” -President Woodrow Wilson
"The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled." -Cicero. 106-43 B.C.
"if that mischievous financial policy, which had its origin in the North American Republic, should become indurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without a debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous beyond precedent in the history of the civilized governments of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That government must be destroyed, or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe." -The London Times
"Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws..." -Mayer Anselm Rothschild
Templars and Banking
The history of the modern age begins with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the martyrdom of His Apostles and followers, and disappearance of the true Church of Christ and the eventual rise of the apostate Catholic Church. To deal with the encroaching Christian religion, Constantine created a hybrid Pagan/Christian religion to end the religious division in the Empire. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church struggled to keep power and control. To prevent heresy, the Catholic church held church services in Latin, and discouraged literacy, restricted the arts and sciences, and limited access to reading the Bible. The western world fell into the Dark Ages. The only easy way for a commoner to learn to read and write was to join a monastery where learning, art, and science were strictly controlled. General illiteracy and scriptural ignorance persisted until Dante published "Inferno" in the lingua franca of Italian and Wycliff translated the Latin Vulgate into English.
Beginning with the First Crusades in 1119 , Western Europe desired to re-take Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Ottoman Turks. The Catholic Church created The Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon or Knights Templar to protect religious tourists who desired to visit Israel and see the sights described in the Bible. While in Palestine, the Order of the Knights Templar identified and excavated holy sites, and secured a vast hoard of religious artifacts and relics. The Order became instantly wealthy selling authentic and fraudulent antiquities in Europe. During the Middle Ages, religious tourism was big. Small towns could bring in serious money by building an ostentatious cathedral featuring a quality relic such as St. Paul's toenail. Pilgrims who didn't have the money to visit Israel, could do the next best thing and visit and pray at a cathedral featuring several museum quality or sham relics and antiquities.
The Templars made money in other ways. The Order was a charity. Therefore, as a charity, they received large donations in support of the Crusades and the cause of the Holy Land. The Templars were also a monastic order, so all those who joined the order gave up all their worldly possessions upon becoming a Templar. In addition to protecting pilgrims, Knight's Templar also fought in the front lines of the Crusades. Templar Warriors were never permitted to retreat in battle and thousands of Templars ran suicide charges into the ranks of the Ottoman Turks only to be cut down by the Turk's superior Damascus Steel Sabers (carbon nano-tube steel).
The Order of the Knights Templar became the most powerful, wealthy, and influential order in the Catholic Church. In 1139, Pope Innocent II decreed that the Knights Templar could pass freely through any border, owed no taxes, and were subject to no one's authority except that of the Pope. In France, the order embarked on the ambitious project of establishing a national and European banking system.
Templars had a papal mandate to protect pilgrims during their travels to Jerusalem which expanded to protecting pilgrims in their travels from cathedral to cathedral throughout Europe along famed pilgrim routes. In addition to protecting people, the Knights also were put into service protecting possessions. Eventually, the Knights and Hospitallars developed the first modern banking and monetary system where pilgrims could deposit gold, valuables, and mortgage deeds at a local Templar house. Pilgrims were then given a signed and ciphered document describing the value of their deposited assets which the pilgrim could then redeem at another Templar house along the pilgrim route. Templars claimed all rights to mortgaged property. Therefore, they instituted the forbidden practice of exacting usury by claiming the interest collected was actually rent.
The party didn't last. By 1300, the Order had lost nearly all its lands in the Holy Land to the Muslims. King Philip IV of France, already deeply indebted to the Templars due to an unpopular and protracted war with England, was denied another loan to fund the war. This denial of credit didn't endear the Order to King Philip. Then, the Templars came up with a scheme to de-legitimize Philip IV's claim of divine right. The Templars claimed that while conducting excavations of the temple mount in Jerusalem, they discovered genealogical records which proved that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene. The Order claimed that not only was Jesus Christ married, but that he had offspring by her. The Order claimed that they had identified and located numerous direct descendants of Jesus and Mary and that this holy bloodline was married into the rival Merovingian Dynasty (sangréal = royal blood not holy grail).
In response, King Philip IV requested Pope Boniface VIII to renounce and excommunicate the order. The Pope refused. King Philip then kidnapped the Pope, poisoned the next Pope, Benedict XI, and influenced the college of cardinals to elect his childhood friend Clement V as the next Pope. On Friday, October 13, 1307 (origin of Friday the 13th myth), King Philip rounded up and tortured hundreds of Templars and got them to confess to denying Christ, urinating on the cross, idolatry and homosexuality (obscene kissing). Using these confessions, King Philip IV convinced Clement V to dissolve the Order in 1312. The surviving Templars disbanded, scattered, and fled throughout Europe. Many found refuge in Scotland and Great Britain and others in Italy.
Beginning with the First Crusades in 1119 , Western Europe desired to re-take Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Ottoman Turks. The Catholic Church created The Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon or Knights Templar to protect religious tourists who desired to visit Israel and see the sights described in the Bible. While in Palestine, the Order of the Knights Templar identified and excavated holy sites, and secured a vast hoard of religious artifacts and relics. The Order became instantly wealthy selling authentic and fraudulent antiquities in Europe. During the Middle Ages, religious tourism was big. Small towns could bring in serious money by building an ostentatious cathedral featuring a quality relic such as St. Paul's toenail. Pilgrims who didn't have the money to visit Israel, could do the next best thing and visit and pray at a cathedral featuring several museum quality or sham relics and antiquities.
The Templars made money in other ways. The Order was a charity. Therefore, as a charity, they received large donations in support of the Crusades and the cause of the Holy Land. The Templars were also a monastic order, so all those who joined the order gave up all their worldly possessions upon becoming a Templar. In addition to protecting pilgrims, Knight's Templar also fought in the front lines of the Crusades. Templar Warriors were never permitted to retreat in battle and thousands of Templars ran suicide charges into the ranks of the Ottoman Turks only to be cut down by the Turk's superior Damascus Steel Sabers (carbon nano-tube steel).
The Order of the Knights Templar became the most powerful, wealthy, and influential order in the Catholic Church. In 1139, Pope Innocent II decreed that the Knights Templar could pass freely through any border, owed no taxes, and were subject to no one's authority except that of the Pope. In France, the order embarked on the ambitious project of establishing a national and European banking system.
Templars had a papal mandate to protect pilgrims during their travels to Jerusalem which expanded to protecting pilgrims in their travels from cathedral to cathedral throughout Europe along famed pilgrim routes. In addition to protecting people, the Knights also were put into service protecting possessions. Eventually, the Knights and Hospitallars developed the first modern banking and monetary system where pilgrims could deposit gold, valuables, and mortgage deeds at a local Templar house. Pilgrims were then given a signed and ciphered document describing the value of their deposited assets which the pilgrim could then redeem at another Templar house along the pilgrim route. Templars claimed all rights to mortgaged property. Therefore, they instituted the forbidden practice of exacting usury by claiming the interest collected was actually rent.
The party didn't last. By 1300, the Order had lost nearly all its lands in the Holy Land to the Muslims. King Philip IV of France, already deeply indebted to the Templars due to an unpopular and protracted war with England, was denied another loan to fund the war. This denial of credit didn't endear the Order to King Philip. Then, the Templars came up with a scheme to de-legitimize Philip IV's claim of divine right. The Templars claimed that while conducting excavations of the temple mount in Jerusalem, they discovered genealogical records which proved that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene. The Order claimed that not only was Jesus Christ married, but that he had offspring by her. The Order claimed that they had identified and located numerous direct descendants of Jesus and Mary and that this holy bloodline was married into the rival Merovingian Dynasty (sangréal = royal blood not holy grail).
In response, King Philip IV requested Pope Boniface VIII to renounce and excommunicate the order. The Pope refused. King Philip then kidnapped the Pope, poisoned the next Pope, Benedict XI, and influenced the college of cardinals to elect his childhood friend Clement V as the next Pope. On Friday, October 13, 1307 (origin of Friday the 13th myth), King Philip rounded up and tortured hundreds of Templars and got them to confess to denying Christ, urinating on the cross, idolatry and homosexuality (obscene kissing). Using these confessions, King Philip IV convinced Clement V to dissolve the Order in 1312. The surviving Templars disbanded, scattered, and fled throughout Europe. Many found refuge in Scotland and Great Britain and others in Italy.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Global Warming Fraud, Don't Sign that Treaty
Michael Mann is a climatologist and professor at Penn State University. Mr. Mann studies paleoclimate by looking at tree rings and is responsible for coming up with the famous "hockey stick" graph that is featured in Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" Narcimentary, and many United Nation's IPCC publications. Michael Mann also has a website at RealClimate.org. He has been in hot water of late as recently discovered emails reveal how he and his colleagues fudged the data on the "hockey stick" graph to make it look like human CO2 production is causing global warming. One email contains the quote: "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years. . . to hide the decline"
In response, Michale Mann has been all over the media this week explaining away the new emails and trying to sell the US public on the international climate summit in Copenhagen. Mr. Mann was on NPR and CNN today defending himself and his climate buddies at Penn State. In response to questions about the email, Mr. Mann says he says the statements about his "Nature Trick" and "hiding the decline" was taken out of context and it was just banter. Mann was then asked about the decline in public support for CO2-linked global warming. In response Mann said he felt it was unfortunate because this spirit of not skepticism but "contrariness" was at odds with an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community, and overwhelming evidence by the climate data. He likened Global Warming deniers to those who would try to claim 1+1=3. According to Mann, Not all ideas, like those who oppose a link between CO2 emissions and global warming, merit being published in peer reviewed journals. (No bias there) Michael Mann challenged those who oppose CO2-linked global warming to provide data to prove our side. Of course through the entire interview, Mann gave none of his own except to claim that the EPA, IPCC, and everyone else couldn't all be wrong.
1. We know Michael Man falsified the data in his 1000-year CO2/Surface Temp graph where he hid the global warming that occurred during the Medieval Warm Period and the Temp Declines for the past 10 years.
2. Ice Core Temp/Co2 data prove that Co2 level lag 600 years behind increases in temperature. This means that increasing temp is the driver for increased atmospheric CO2 and not the other way round. Correlation is not causation, especially when it lags behind by 600 years.
3. Increased global temperatures are caused by a combination of changing sun luminosity, sun spot activity (eg Maunder Minimum or Little Ice Age), fluctuations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and variability in the Earths tilt towards or away from the sun (Milakovich cycles). Because there is more water in the Southern Hemisphere, if the south is tilted closer to the sun, then you have more ocean warming which makes warmer oceans and more clouds. The warmer oceans can't hold as much diffused/dissolved CO2 which then is then is released into the atmosphere (think flat warm soda).
4. More CO2 means healthier and more lush plants. Do the experiment yourself in a sealed bell jar.
5. The Ice in the Arctic and on Mt Kilimanjaro is receding because temperature is colder. Colder oceans makes less clouds and less clouds make less rain and snow. Colder air means dryer air. Dryer air means the snow on Mt Kilimanjaro is sublimating away and not evaporating.
6. The Climate Summit in Copenhagen will sign over US sovereignty to a global government that will enforce CO2 emissions. Do you want the UN telling you that you can't buy that product or start that business because it produces too much CO2?
7. CO2 emission limits hurt the 3rd world whe need to industrialize to prosper. The token payments to 3rd-world countries is a drop in the bucket that will go into the pockets of corrupt leaders and not to the people.
8. The global warming group argue that a warmer earth will make more clouds which will trap more heat in the upper atmosphere. However, measurement shows that saturated clouds fall to lower atmosphere and there is no warming in the upper atmosphere and in spite of a prediction by 11 climate models claiming radiated heat into space would decrease with higher CO2, Dr. Richard Lindzen at MIT reports the measured data by ERBS satellite showing that radiated heat into space is actually increasing (Lindzen & Choi, GRS, 2009) with respect to suface temperature. Thus no global warming.
Mike would have you believe that Man-made global warming is "settled science" and Al Gore would have you believe that man-made global warming is the "most important moral issue of our generation." The truth is that while proper management of the environment is important, CO2 has nothing whatever causative to do with global temperatures, and CO2 is not a significant greenhouse gas.
Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley: YouTube Video 1; YouTube Video 2
BBC Documentary: "Global Warming Swindle": YouTube Video; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,-->[[[8]]]<-- John Coleman, Weather Channel founder challenges Al Gore and Mann: YouTube Video
Don't sign the Copenhagen Climate Treaty President Obama.
In response, Michale Mann has been all over the media this week explaining away the new emails and trying to sell the US public on the international climate summit in Copenhagen. Mr. Mann was on NPR and CNN today defending himself and his climate buddies at Penn State. In response to questions about the email, Mr. Mann says he says the statements about his "Nature Trick" and "hiding the decline" was taken out of context and it was just banter. Mann was then asked about the decline in public support for CO2-linked global warming. In response Mann said he felt it was unfortunate because this spirit of not skepticism but "contrariness" was at odds with an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community, and overwhelming evidence by the climate data. He likened Global Warming deniers to those who would try to claim 1+1=3. According to Mann, Not all ideas, like those who oppose a link between CO2 emissions and global warming, merit being published in peer reviewed journals. (No bias there) Michael Mann challenged those who oppose CO2-linked global warming to provide data to prove our side. Of course through the entire interview, Mann gave none of his own except to claim that the EPA, IPCC, and everyone else couldn't all be wrong.
1. We know Michael Man falsified the data in his 1000-year CO2/Surface Temp graph where he hid the global warming that occurred during the Medieval Warm Period and the Temp Declines for the past 10 years.
2. Ice Core Temp/Co2 data prove that Co2 level lag 600 years behind increases in temperature. This means that increasing temp is the driver for increased atmospheric CO2 and not the other way round. Correlation is not causation, especially when it lags behind by 600 years.
3. Increased global temperatures are caused by a combination of changing sun luminosity, sun spot activity (eg Maunder Minimum or Little Ice Age), fluctuations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and variability in the Earths tilt towards or away from the sun (Milakovich cycles). Because there is more water in the Southern Hemisphere, if the south is tilted closer to the sun, then you have more ocean warming which makes warmer oceans and more clouds. The warmer oceans can't hold as much diffused/dissolved CO2 which then is then is released into the atmosphere (think flat warm soda).
4. More CO2 means healthier and more lush plants. Do the experiment yourself in a sealed bell jar.
5. The Ice in the Arctic and on Mt Kilimanjaro is receding because temperature is colder. Colder oceans makes less clouds and less clouds make less rain and snow. Colder air means dryer air. Dryer air means the snow on Mt Kilimanjaro is sublimating away and not evaporating.
6. The Climate Summit in Copenhagen will sign over US sovereignty to a global government that will enforce CO2 emissions. Do you want the UN telling you that you can't buy that product or start that business because it produces too much CO2?
7. CO2 emission limits hurt the 3rd world whe need to industrialize to prosper. The token payments to 3rd-world countries is a drop in the bucket that will go into the pockets of corrupt leaders and not to the people.
8. The global warming group argue that a warmer earth will make more clouds which will trap more heat in the upper atmosphere. However, measurement shows that saturated clouds fall to lower atmosphere and there is no warming in the upper atmosphere and in spite of a prediction by 11 climate models claiming radiated heat into space would decrease with higher CO2, Dr. Richard Lindzen at MIT reports the measured data by ERBS satellite showing that radiated heat into space is actually increasing (Lindzen & Choi, GRS, 2009) with respect to suface temperature. Thus no global warming.
Mike would have you believe that Man-made global warming is "settled science" and Al Gore would have you believe that man-made global warming is the "most important moral issue of our generation." The truth is that while proper management of the environment is important, CO2 has nothing whatever causative to do with global temperatures, and CO2 is not a significant greenhouse gas.
Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley: YouTube Video 1; YouTube Video 2
BBC Documentary: "Global Warming Swindle": YouTube Video; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,-->[[[8]]]<-- John Coleman, Weather Channel founder challenges Al Gore and Mann: YouTube Video
Don't sign the Copenhagen Climate Treaty President Obama.
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