Sunday, October 5, 2008
**Some questions K.I.T. (one of my favorite bloggers) asked regarding America and it's future.**
1. First, does it bother you that nearly twice as many Dems in Congress supported Bush's Bailout Bill?
Nah. I've known for a while now how there really isn't two parties when it comes to passing legislation that reduces privacy, benefits or rescues corporations, increases globalization, or funnels money from public to private holders.
2. Or that our collective favorite [for most of us], Obama, supported the President's idea for this at a time when the majority of Bush's own Republican Party didn't?
Well, Obama is really the better of two bad candidates who will ultimately avoid going against the powers that be in the banking industry and military industrial complex.
3. Doesn't that seem strange to you?
LOL nah. It did when I first started reading and looking up things for myself.
4. Did it remind you of how it was the Dems made the continuation of Iraq war possible by voting on funding for it in the past four or five years?
Well this government really isn't run by democrats and republicans when it comes to banking and military agendas.
5. Or that the coolest guy who ever ran for office and enough Democrats voted for FISA, the law that makes it possible for the government to snoop and spy on us without a court order or with our knowledge, which is against the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution?
Like I said, as long as we citizens stay blindfolded watching Flavor of Love and being ready "consumers", the Council on Foreign Relations, The Federal Reserve, and the military industrial complex will continue to rape us.
6. Do you have hope as I do, that despite this, Barack will be able to keep us transforming into a total Police State, and unlike McCain, will be able to avoid nuking Iran and possibly triggering WW3?
Well, I hope for the best but I know Obama can't prevent terrorist attacks on our soil, economic collapse, and/or war overseas, which all will lead to martial law in some form.
7. But what if the price to be paid is even lesser Constitutional freedom and more allegiance to corporate desires?
The government was signed over to corporate rule in 1913.
"A great industrial nation is controlled by it's 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 the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." -- President Woodrow Wilson
8. How do we reconcile, or come to terms with this in our minds and hearts? What I mean is, that the identified good guys have colluded with the ultimate bad guys in the White House, etc., who went from shock 'n awe tactics of innocents in the Middle East, to raping the economy further against the wishes of We The People.
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
9. Are we being further trained into Orwellian doublethink, where good is bad and bad is good, where we have two diametrically opposite beliefs about one person, group or issue?
Yes, I think the mass media has done a good job teaching us to listen but not question, to follow instead of lead.
10. Are the Democrats really our friends? And if you say yes, would a friend have so much blood on his hands from shredding lives in Iraq, shredding part of our Constitution, or further shredding our economy with this bailout and more to come that are being whispered about now?
I don't align myself with any "party" because the parties are used to distract us from the real agendas being pushed in Washington (Globalization, War-Profiteering, Corporate Fascism...etc).
11. Since the GOP are not our friends, where does this leave us if we decide the Democrats aren't either? Do we consider them our frenemies and call it a day and figuratively smoke the hope bong?
Leaves us in a state I wish we would recognize we are in. Where we create the change in our government so that it serves the people.
12. Can we trust any of the Independents running? Do we know much about them? Are they any different, or have all them and us descended into a free for all of self interest and the common good be damned?
Read up on Ron Paul.
13. Should a true and real, trill revolution come to your doorstep, in the face of a friend or neighbor who begs you join a protest against food shortages and being treated like urban insurgents by combat brigades and mercenaries as the Great Depression sinks it's teeth in next year and leaves so many of us hungry or homeless, what will you do?
If I'm hungry, Ima get mine.
14. And should social chaos descend so severely in this country, where soldiers or mercenaries paid by Halliburton or Blackwater bang down your door with guns drawn at you, demanding to confiscate your guns, food, home, or whatevah survival items you have to weather the storm and protect yourself and feed your family, what will you wish might have done differently?
That lesson is a lesson learned when that day comes. When the government can use troops on domestic soil legally, the day you speak of is inevitable.
1. First, does it bother you that nearly twice as many Dems in Congress supported Bush's Bailout Bill?
Nah. I've known for a while now how there really isn't two parties when it comes to passing legislation that reduces privacy, benefits or rescues corporations, increases globalization, or funnels money from public to private holders.
2. Or that our collective favorite [for most of us], Obama, supported the President's idea for this at a time when the majority of Bush's own Republican Party didn't?
Well, Obama is really the better of two bad candidates who will ultimately avoid going against the powers that be in the banking industry and military industrial complex.
3. Doesn't that seem strange to you?
LOL nah. It did when I first started reading and looking up things for myself.
4. Did it remind you of how it was the Dems made the continuation of Iraq war possible by voting on funding for it in the past four or five years?
Well this government really isn't run by democrats and republicans when it comes to banking and military agendas.
5. Or that the coolest guy who ever ran for office and enough Democrats voted for FISA, the law that makes it possible for the government to snoop and spy on us without a court order or with our knowledge, which is against the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution?
Like I said, as long as we citizens stay blindfolded watching Flavor of Love and being ready "consumers", the Council on Foreign Relations, The Federal Reserve, and the military industrial complex will continue to rape us.
6. Do you have hope as I do, that despite this, Barack will be able to keep us transforming into a total Police State, and unlike McCain, will be able to avoid nuking Iran and possibly triggering WW3?
Well, I hope for the best but I know Obama can't prevent terrorist attacks on our soil, economic collapse, and/or war overseas, which all will lead to martial law in some form.
7. But what if the price to be paid is even lesser Constitutional freedom and more allegiance to corporate desires?
The government was signed over to corporate rule in 1913.
"A great industrial nation is controlled by it's 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 the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." -- President Woodrow Wilson
8. How do we reconcile, or come to terms with this in our minds and hearts? What I mean is, that the identified good guys have colluded with the ultimate bad guys in the White House, etc., who went from shock 'n awe tactics of innocents in the Middle East, to raping the economy further against the wishes of We The People.
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
9. Are we being further trained into Orwellian doublethink, where good is bad and bad is good, where we have two diametrically opposite beliefs about one person, group or issue?
Yes, I think the mass media has done a good job teaching us to listen but not question, to follow instead of lead.
10. Are the Democrats really our friends? And if you say yes, would a friend have so much blood on his hands from shredding lives in Iraq, shredding part of our Constitution, or further shredding our economy with this bailout and more to come that are being whispered about now?
I don't align myself with any "party" because the parties are used to distract us from the real agendas being pushed in Washington (Globalization, War-Profiteering, Corporate Fascism...etc).
11. Since the GOP are not our friends, where does this leave us if we decide the Democrats aren't either? Do we consider them our frenemies and call it a day and figuratively smoke the hope bong?
Leaves us in a state I wish we would recognize we are in. Where we create the change in our government so that it serves the people.
12. Can we trust any of the Independents running? Do we know much about them? Are they any different, or have all them and us descended into a free for all of self interest and the common good be damned?
Read up on Ron Paul.
13. Should a true and real, trill revolution come to your doorstep, in the face of a friend or neighbor who begs you join a protest against food shortages and being treated like urban insurgents by combat brigades and mercenaries as the Great Depression sinks it's teeth in next year and leaves so many of us hungry or homeless, what will you do?
If I'm hungry, Ima get mine.
14. And should social chaos descend so severely in this country, where soldiers or mercenaries paid by Halliburton or Blackwater bang down your door with guns drawn at you, demanding to confiscate your guns, food, home, or whatevah survival items you have to weather the storm and protect yourself and feed your family, what will you wish might have done differently?
That lesson is a lesson learned when that day comes. When the government can use troops on domestic soil legally, the day you speak of is inevitable.
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Bangin' answers, Rippa! Smart - and funny: "If I'm hungry, Ima get mine." LOL.
The quotes you chose were perfect too. Hope it all gets your readers to think, prepare, and plan for safety.
Your answer to #14 spooks me. The Brigade Combat Team is here now - illegally - and waiting for shyt to break out. It feels like the quiet before the storm.
Been half-listening to some news show on Bloomberg cable the past two hours, and global markets are so far screwy. Lots of little red arrows pointing down. By closing bell today in the US of A, I'm wondering if there will have been another blood bath, followed by a run on the banks later this week or sometime this month.
We may get to see a revolution in our lifetime. They're great to watch in movies but I can't say I want to be in the cast of characters if/when one starts here.
God bless you and your family, all of us, really. We need it.
The last commenter said that your answers were smart and funny. I agree with the first one, but 'funny' is not a word I would to describe the tragic truths you are talking about.
'Calm before the storm' is the perfect way to describe what this feels like. Only I feel like I'm the only one that has checked the weather around here.
I'm so thankful to have the internet to use to talk to others who are as concerned as I am.
I wonder how long until they take the internet away.
K.I.T. - The DOW was down 800 points today before some market manipulation rallied it up to close below 10,000. Sad ain't it.
Jen Clark - thanks for visiting my blog. I read your blogger profile and it really reminds me of how I felt when I first started looking for information for myself. I've learned alot since then prolly too much lol
JAY MIDNYTE: Excellent answers. I'll let them stand in for mine.
I agree with you about crude and all commodities and f/x and everything anti-correlated with the USD medium term.
Nobody can have even a whisper of an opinion about the short run in the USA because the conditions are unique. They are beyond all the traditional interventionist and free-market tools any economist is familiar with. Who could possibly deal with $13 TN in debt and a deficit of over $1 TN for fiscal 2008 (the $500 BN figure is bullshit because so much of the budget is "off-book") a weak dollar, high historical commodity levels, a commitment to two wars, and interest rates approaching zero, with either servere depression or recess-flation possible? It defies anything I've ever heard of.
What you're seeing now is a market perception that the Bailout is a load of crap, US equities are overvalued, economic tragedy looming, no conception of how world markets will respond and no idea about what fiscal and monetary policy in a new Obama government will look like.
So, everyone is running for cover and just lending overnight repo in reserve currencies and sticking cash in the mattress. What else can anyone do? This a whole new thing.
The three people who have impressed me the most on economics in the last year have been: RON PAUL, DENNIS KUCINICH AND HUGO CHAVEZ.
It's so unpredictable. All the norms of economics are out the window right now. For a short time recently it looked like deflation was possible but I guess the FED would rather hyper inflate. I don't know alot about Kucinich and Chavez (except from what you've wrote on RDB's blog), but I know Ron Paul is that dude when it comes to economics and I know it would be hard to change our economic system back to sound money, gold standard, less credit, like he proposes, but it removes the boom bust cycle and lasts much longer right?
Kucinich is a very progressive Democrat, who along with Robert Wexler, Barbara Lee, Sheila Jackson-Lee, and Steve Cohen introduced articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney.
I bring up Chavez a lot because the US doesn't get the straight story on him. He's called a communist when he's the opposite, his Finance Minister and central bank chief are very conservative fiscally and monetarily very much in the Ron Paul style.
You go back, though, and listen to the Ron Paul sections of the Republican debate at the Reagan Library in CA and you will be amazed at how well he predicted everything.
The problem with the gold standard and the reason the US went off it following the Bretton Woods accords is that it's just not that reliable as a store of value given the introduction of financial futures and options which make for a cheaper, cleaner and more efficient inflation hedge. So, gold goes in and out of fashion as as asset anti-correlated with the USD. Because the gold market and especially the silver market can get really dead at times, gold doesn't make a good backing of any currency. If you're looking for a backing agent for the USD, I'd consider platinum or palladium because they're both precious metals but both have lots of industrial uses too, so there's no reason to thing those markets would become moribund for any period of time.
Before Black-Scholes published their options pricing model in 1973, however, gold did all of the things you say.