Required Reading: How To Fake An Economic Recovery

by | Feb 16, 2011 | Headline News | 47 comments

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    This guest post has been contributed by Giordano Bruno of Neithercorp Press.

    Editor’s Note: Giordano does an amazing job explaining how the culture of corruption within the highest levels of our government, financial institutions and corporations has led to the most significant economic crisis in our lifetimes, and perhaps human history. What we’re dealing with here is not your average, every day recession, but rather, a pre-planned worldwide scheme – one that enriches a few and impoverishes billions. Giordano exposes not only how we have come to this point in time, but the methods used by the elite in our government and media to control the perceptions of the masses in real time. For those paying attention it’s a truly terrifying prospect, one whose implications will reverberate for decades and will be studied for centuries. This informative piece from Neithercorp Press should be required reading for all Americans, especially those in high school and college.


    Economic Snake Oil

    By Giordano Bruno

    Neithercorp Press – 2/16/2011

    This may be a highly distasteful proposition, but just for a moment, I want you to sit back, and imagine that you are a member of the corporate banking elite. You are a walking talking disease ridden power mad pustule who naively believes himself intellectually superior to the vast majority of humanity and above the inherent laws of conscience, honor, and general good taste. You are a villain in the purest sense, in that you not only do great harm to the world, you actually SEEK to do great harm to the world, if only to benefit yourself and your exclusive circle of “friends”; a clan of degenerate blood thirsty sociopaths with delusions of omnipotence that stalk the night like Armani wearing Chupacabra exsanguinating the joy from poor unsuspecting cultures. You are capable of anything, and sadly, you take “pride” in this fact…

    You aren’t “rich” in the traditional sense. You aren’t a “Bill Gates” or a “Donald Trump” (I’m beginning to wonder if Donald Trump is even solvent, or if his entire fortune is a special-effect courtesy of NBC). No, you don’t “make” money, you MAKE the money. You are a global financier. You are a central banker. You create the fiat that the rest of the country uses to sustain its fantasy economy. You dominate trade through monopoly and corporate fraud. You control the flow of currency through an economic system using fractional reserve banking, artificially pegged interest rates, and your ever trusty printing press. You put your substantial monetary clout behind BOTH major political parties, and groom presidential candidates to your globalist standards. Any politician who desires to climb the ladder of power turns to you for assistance, not the voting public. You have a tremendous financial stake in every corporate news provider in the country, if not own them outright. You invite their top reporters to posh banquets, give them unlimited access to prominent social figures and high rollers, and fly them to private alcohol addled orgies in the middle of the California Redwoods (I wish this was all made up). Forget responsible journalism, they love hanging out with you, and would probably write whatever you tell them to.

    Now that you have placed yourself in the tight fitting shoes of the “enlightened few”, I want you to imagine that you have engineered an implosion in national credit sectors using ultra-low interest rates to fuel mortgage and derivatives bubbles that would contract at an unprecedented pace once it is revealed to the wider investment world that those equities which they prized only days before are now “toxic”, essentially worthless, due to mass debt defaults on loans which never should have been made in the first place. Yeah, you’re a real dirtbag.

    Of course, you aren’t finished yet! Your ultimate goal is centralization, and the key to centralization is to remove all options available to the masses but one; the option which garners you the greatest amount of dominance. A global economic system based on a single world currency and a single unaccountable governing body would be ideal. What would you call this world currency? I don’t know, how about something innocuous sounding like….Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s), which you can then label as a mere “basket of currencies” when it is really a parasitic financial instrument meant to absorb currencies until it replaces them completely:

    http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm

    http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0214/g20-business.html

    In order to begin instituting this world currency, you would first need to remove the standing world reserve currency from its exalted position, that currency being the U.S. dollar. This seems rather impossible to many mainstream analysts who cannot fathom the possibility of a breakdown in the mighty Greenback, but you have already set the stage. You have created a progressive debt singularity so immense that no amount of fiat, no amount of taxation, no amount of austerity could ever satiate its hunger. You now have the perfect excuse to print the dollar with wild abandon until its withered, corpsified remains are six feet underground, leaving the door wide open for the tap dancing fast-talking SDR to take its place.

    The issue is, how do you convince the general public that all is well until you are ready to unleash hyperinflation and fiscal Armageddon? How do you make them believe with all their hearts that they are not in the midst of a debt meltdown and the end of their financial sovereignty, but basking in a full-on economic recovery?!

    You can’t stop wealth destruction now that the avalanche has been set in motion. You can’t stop inflation and dollar devaluation (nor would you want to. Hey, you’re evil incarnate, remember?). The effects on mainstreet are beyond your ability to hide, but, what you CAN manipulate, are the statistics and indices that Americans rely on for psychological comfort. You give everyone a blindfold and a cigarette and you do what you do best; lie!

    Here is a step by step guide to fabricating an economic recovery out of thin air….

    Don’t Count The Unemployed, Discount Them: Jobless people are a real downer and a pesky nuisance because they represent living breathing proof that a recovery is not taking place. By most standards, a recovery in jobs markets can be claimed if meaningful evidence shows a return to unemployment standards (normal unemployment) set before the recession / depression was triggered. If you are a global banker today, however, this will not do. Instead, you simply change the definition of “normal unemployment”. Thus, the debilitating jobless rate which was originally thought of as “bad”, is now thought of as “natural”. You must then publish long-winded white papers using more subjective statistics devoid of common sense while feigning a logical pretense:

    http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-05.html

    This only satisfies a small portion of the populace, though. Next, you must rig the manner in which unemployment is calculated to always overlook certain subsections of jobless. Never count those people who have been unemployed so long that they no longer receive benefits. Always count people who are underemployed as fully employed, even if they are only able to scrape together ten hours a week through part time McSlavery. After this, change the manner in which raw data on unemployment is actually collected.

    First, the Labor Department derives most of its raw data on unemployment not through any traditional mathematical means, but through two separate surveys which are open to wide interpretation; an establishment survey, and a household survey. The establishment survey is what we hear about at the beginning of every month, while the household survey tends to float under the mainstream radar. In 2009 and 2010, the Labor Department deemed the household survey data (a phone driven survey of 60,000 households) “more reliable” for indicating job growth, because it was supposedly accurate in counting small business hiring and self-employment. So, you have two separate surveys (unscientific indicators of employment) combined together to produce a job growth rate number, and an unemployment percentage, both of which represent, at the most, a GUESS on the current state of jobs in this country.

    While the establishment survey showed only 36,000 jobs created, the household survey somehow showed around 600,000 new jobs created!?:

    http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

    Basically, the BLS is asking you to believe that over 600,000 people either started their own businesses, or were hired by home based businesses in the month of January alone. I’m curious as to where all the capital inflows are coming from to launch such a revolution in home entrepreneurship in the middle of the greatest credit crisis in history. Oh well, if the Labor Department says it’s true, it must be…

    The juxtaposition of odd data collection methods is the reason why the government was able to claim a drop from 9.4% to 9% in the jobless rate while announcing only 36,000 jobs created! The household survey has become an incredibly useful tool for generating arbitrary employment data which can be molded to say whatever government officials and central bankers want it to say. Anyone who controls the source data for a calculation controls the outcome of that calculation. It’s that simple.

    What I wouldn’t want, if I was the Labor Department, is for some outside independent citizens group to monitor my survey methods while in progress. That would make life for a statistical huckster very difficult indeed.

    As Long As Stocks Are Green, The World Is Golden: Near zero interest rates can be very useful if a central bank wishes to throw a tidal wave of fiat into a particular index in order to make it appear healthy. Certainly, the Fed has avoided admitting to any manipulation of the stock market. QE measures are all “above the board”, and all is well in Bernanke’s Mayberry. A question arises here though that desperately begs to be answered; if the stock market’s meteoric rise from near destruction to the 12,000 point mark is “real”, and completely in tune with a legitimate recovery, then why is the Fed still keeping interest rates at near zero after almost three years, and why are they continuing quantitative easing measures? Could it be that without constant liquidity injections from the Fed, the stock market would once again collapse like a wet paper sack? We know that in 2009, it was revealed that bailout funds which were supposed to go towards muting the effects of toxic bank assets were actually being pumped into the equities of healthy banks instead, meaning,the money has not been allocated to the areas promised:

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1436061/more_shocking_news_on_2009_bailout.html

    We also know that top hedge fund managers have openly stated that stocks will remain bullish because QE funds are propping up the market:

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tepper-tells-cnbc-fed-will-prop-up-market-2010-09-24

    And, frankly, if you are a global banking cartel intent on keeping the American people in the dark, it makes perfect sense to prop up stocks. A Dow in the green is like a mass dose of fiscal lithium; it calms investors into a stupor. Even people who are otherwise unconcerned about economics will keep track of the Dow as if it is a solid indicator of their personal financial safety. A great test would be to observe market reactions to a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and a freezing of QE in order to counter inflation. Will the Dow stand on its own two feet then? I seriously doubt it, but then again, I don’t know that the Fed will ever raise interest rates again…

    Inflation? What Inflation?: Unmitigated inflation spells doom for any society. It’s like some monetary based animal instinct deep down in our collective unconscious. The moment we hear the word “inflation” or see prices rise dramatically, we revert to survival mode and begin honing our mammoth bone battle mallets. Governments and central banks throughout history have made it their top priority to hide the effects of inflation from the citizenry at all costs.

    To mask inflation is nearly impossible, especially where commodities and base goods are concerned. That’s why our government and private central bank calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) without counting food or energy. Most grains and crude oil have doubled in price over the past year alone, and this does not reflect well on the safety of the dollar, or the effectiveness of liquidity measures by the Fed. China, whose inflation is but a prequel to our own, is also distancing food and energy price surges from its CPI numbers, giving the false impression of leveling markets:

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-lowers-weighting-surging-food-prices-cpi

    Corporate retail chains have a tendency to absorb rising prices of base goods to avoid alienating their customer foundation, hoping that the increases are temporary. When retailers realize that prices are not going to drop back down, they eventually relent, and shelf costs skyrocket. The bottom line is clear; overall worldwide food averages were up over 28% in 2010:

    http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/FoodPricesIndex/en/

    Crude oil prices continue to hover near the $90 mark even though inventories are at a 20 year high:

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/gasoline-inventories-jump-20-year-high-gas-price-surges

    The World Bank is now warning of possible disasters (which they helped create) in the wake of “dangerous price levels”:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-worldbank-food-idUSTRE71E5H720110215

    Our government’s response? Complete denial that there is any significant threat of inflation. Denial that overprinting of the dollar and its subsequent devaluation has anything to do with rising prices. Scapegoating everything from weather, to speculators, to the fake “recovery” itself for price spikes. The longer they keep the terminology of inflation out of the mainstream, the less Americans are likely to prepare for an onslaught of the dollar.

    Create Debt To Pay Off Debt: This is pretty self explanatory. If foreign investors want nothing to do with you, your explosive national debt, or your depreciating currency, where is your government going to get the money to continue spending like a drunken trophy wife at Macy’s? If you default, the jig is up, and no one will buy your recovery yarns. Instead, print even more fiat and use it to purchase your own Treasury bonds! This serves two purposes; first, it props up the federal bureaucracy which gives the impression of stability (at least for a time), and, it furthers your goal of squeezing the dollar like a grape.

    Remove All Checks And Balances: If you plan on decimating an economy, you can’t very well have people pointing fingers at you while you do it. That would be inconvenient. It’s funny, but for years, ratings agencies like Moodys helped global banks facilitate the mortgage and derivatives crisis by categorizing worthless assets as AAA securities. Without them, no one would have invested in such garbage in the first place, and the banking fraud would have been immediately exposed. Now that ratings agencies are finally doing their job and downgrading the creditworthiness of banks and countries that possess extreme liabilities, the SEC is moving to marginalize them:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-financial-regulation-creditraters-idUSTRE7180OD20110209

    Interesting that as the U.S. nears a possible credit downgrade, we suddenly no longer care what ratings agencies have to say.

    The SEC in itself is one enormous joke, and in no way a practical overseer of banking activity. The organization has shown itself to be either fantastically incompetent, or deliberately indifferent to ongoing financial fraud. I never thought I would find myself agreeing with a cretin like Bernie Madoff, but according to the middle-weight Ponzi artist, global banks he dealt with, like JP Morgan and HSBC, had to be perfectly aware of the scam he was undertaking, otherwise, it could not have been possible:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-madoff-interview-idUSTRE71F0QD20110216

    Likewise, the SEC’s complete lack of proper investigation into such activities turned Wall Street into a globalist playground where much bigger conmen than Madoff have nested and bred like fleas. It’s not that the system needs more regulation, or more legal wrangling; this would accomplish nothing, because the system is regulated by the criminals! Therefore, new laws can be enacted in concert, and the government can deem the system reformed and recovered, all while the underlying corruption remains untouched. If the poison that instigated the fall of the markets is not uprooted, treachery will continue to reign supreme, and healthy markets a childish illusion.

    The Creeping Terror

    Two years ago I was in my local Borders bookstore and noticed that they had downsized their stock selection by what looked to be nearly a third. I made a point to ask if this was a chain wide phenomenon. Most employees I talked with said yes. I then asked if they had begun cutting employee hours by significant margins and specifically laying off longtime workers that had built up substantial pay increases. Again, the consensus was yes. Finally, and most importantly, did Borders discuss these changes with their staff in a manner that was informative and open, or, was there a lot of confusion amongst employees as to what exactly was going on? The response was that they were overwhelmingly bewildered by Borders’ lack of clear communication as to the direction of the corporation.

    My suggestion to them was to start looking for another job, because their company was about to declare bankruptcy. They, of course, denied this was remotely likely:

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704329104576138353865644420.html

    It may sound like a stretch, but the reason I bring up Borders’ impending chapter 11 is because, to me, it represents a microcosm of the creeping nature of economic collapse, especially when that collapse is being wielded and delegated.

    Borders has been on the verge of default for quite a while. Did they refuse to relay this information openly to their employees because they selfishly wanted to maintain profit margins just a little longer until they were ready to pull the plug? Of course! Do global bankers with aspirations of a centralized currency keep the true destabilization of the market spectrum and the coming international dollar dump to themselves because in the end they will benefit from our shock and awe? Of course!

    Whether a person loses everything all at once, or a piece at a time, the end result is the same, however, there is something especially cruel in the idea of fiscal theater; the act of inspiring false hope that a financial environment is sound when it has, in truth, already suffocated. Why would our modern day robber barons put so much energy into constructing a fake recovery? There are many reasons, but first and foremost, to create apathy. To lure us towards inaction. To swindle us into assuming the storm will blow over, and all will return as it was. Unfortunately, recovery without intense restructuring of our economic system is impossible. The fundamentals do not support the suggestion in the slightest. The question is, who will be at the helm when the dust settles and this restructuring does eventually occur? Will the American people take the lead, as they should, and commit to a concrete free market rejuvenation of our financial environment? Or, will we sit back yet again, and let the banksters set us up for the next grand disaster?

    You can contact Giordano Bruno at: [email protected]

    If you would like to contribute to our soon to be launched Alternative Market Project, visit our donate page here: http://neithercorp.us/npress/donate/

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      47 Comments

      1. “Will the American people take the lead, as they should, and commit to a concrete free market rejuvenation of our financial environment? Or, will we sit back yet again, and let the banksters set us up for the next grand disaster?”

        Yeah, right… don’t hold your breath.
        We are toast.

      2. “The American people take the lead??????”  Are you serious?  The American people have no desire to lead anything.  We elected Reagan to “get government off our backs”, and he almost did.  He did succeed in getting government off the backs of corporations, and look how well they’ve responded.  Now, instead of taking the tax breaks that everyone thinks they just have to have, and creating jobs with the money (what they’re supposed to be doing), they buy companies and fire everyone.  Then, all the equipment is either moved to a third world country, or simply sold off.  Any other money that might have been used to “create jobs” (jesus, how does anyone still believe this old lie?????), is instead invested in derivatives markets where the taxpayer will have to bail them out at the next calamity.

        We elected Clinton after George I let everyone down with his “read my lips” lie, and he finished the job Reagan had started.  All remaining vestiges of Glass-Steagal were repealed, NAFTA, CAFTA, and so on were implemented, and the American working man (union OR non-union) had the stake driven through his heart and his head lopped off.

        The average American now is a fat diabetic who thinks that getting in line at Furrs Cafeteria or in the door at Walmart is a full contact sport.  No one is interested in trying to fix anything.  We elect lawyers (amoral paid liars) to positions of importance in our government and hope for the best.  We used to have strong public servants of good character (TR, Truman, Eisenhower) but those days are 50+ years behind us.  What we have now are idiots and asswipes (Rand Paul, Blagoyavich, Bachmann, Obama, McCain, Schumer, too many to list here…).

        Americans no longer give a fuck.  Get out of the way of my steel flatcart or I’ll run your ass down in the doorway of Costco…………

      3. This is one of the best written articles I’ve read. Always knew the books were cooked, this is very descriptive on how it is done.   Same on being kept in the dark, in language even the cocopuffers can understand.   Speaking of, it seems it’s getting closer and closer to the moment when one can say – I told you so.

      4. @Jonny V

        Your article too is most descriptive and informative and I feel ya with your closing statement…

        “…Get out of the way of my steel flatcart or I’ll run your ass down in the doorway of Costco…………”

      5. Jonny V

        With Lady Hawk we had a similar discussion some days ago.
        You are both right, and it’s not only the American people. The whole world seems to have fallen in some kind of sleep.
        But…
        There is always hope as long as people like you, and all readers in this site have their eyes and ears open.
        Don’t lose faith. Sometimes the process is slow, but it’s necessary in order to build tough foundation.
        The potential is right there, inside you and me. And if we don’t manage to see the dawn, maybe our kids will. I’m sure many kids will differ from others and will be raised with the same principles that i see in this site.
        I understand your anger and/or dissapointment. Have faith and be patient.

        Be safe

        Manos

      6. Obama & his hired Czars are sticking it to the people that voted for him & wanting you to fake an orgasm while fantasizing about a recovery.

      7. Johnny V
        Right on Brother!

      8. “Creative accounting” is nothing new in the Government(ours and about all the rest).When I did my time with them the “best”(read fastest promoted)were VERY good at fudging the numbers.Numbers is what all that counted on a day to day basis.Forget reality,forget getting the job well done,just make the goals set in the “blue sky of happiness”.I remember one incident where the materials that were supposed to be delivered were “disappeared” and not found until the numbers were recorded.THEN somehow were “discovered” put away after the fact.Happens in all parts of the Government.Repocrats are getting ready to cut the services to the poor and the sick and the crippled(military included!).All the while keeping their tax cuts and corporate welfare AND  massive war spending .Can’t be done long term.The  tab for this “rich man’s money orgy” is coming due any day(even they won’t be able to evade it).Thank goodness we have sites like SHTF to keep each other aware of the reality!
        LTR,
        GFG

      9.   I would like to say that Mr Bruno’s article hits the nail on the head. I agree that it should be read by high school, college students. I also agree with Jonny V, the American people are unable to take the lead, while some are as Jonny V describe, others and I think the majority are too busy just hanging on. We just went through the greatest stripping of wealth from the middle class since the Great Depression and many are still reeling. In my life I have witnessed two life style changes to the American people, the first was the Oil embargo in the early seventies and the subsequent institution of the two bread winner household which I believe set the stage for the economic crash of the late 2000’s. During this period we also experienced a moral breakdown. As Mr. Bruno eluded to, we have been manipulated virtually perfectly. Many years ago it was spoken of an impending One World Government, a New World Order, they spoke that “they” would have to first “wreck” the American economy specifically the US monetary system, bankrupt it in order to be able to set the stage for the New System. People said it would never happen, it can’t happen, well it is — your witnessing it in real time.
           We learned a long time ago that the start of our demise was the re- establisment of  the Federal Reserve, I am sure Andrew Jackson is rolling in his grave as his words have proven to be 100% correct.
          I believe we are in too deep I do not believe that we can change things at the ballot box there are way to many people in power that have picked a side and that is with the power brokers. It would take a revolution to take the government back and start fresh. Maybe at best  a few States banding together and succeeding from the Union, Hell the states have become subservent to the Feds anyway, the Treasury is hollow and majority of the States are in castostropic debt, now would be the perfect time for a New Confederacy. When the Feds turn on there own people and side with a foreign government to file suit and exasterbate, degrade their own citizens ( such as Arizona) the hell with them! They are all treasonous as far as I am concerned. The feds have put us in this position and should be held accountable they no longer govern they dictate they tax and they spend very irresponsibly, all the things our constitution tried to prevent. We are reaching critical mass!

      10. Can’t people see this has all been done to most all civilizations since the beginning of paper money, and EVERY single time it ends in monetary collapse? Here’s an example:

        Now that you have placed yourself in the tight fitting shoes of the “enlightened few”, I want you to imagine that you have engineered an implosion in national credit sectors using ultra-low interest rates to fuel mortgage and derivatives bubbles that would contract at an unprecedented pace once it is revealed to the wider investment world that those equities which they prized only days before are now “toxic”, essentially worthless, due to mass debt defaults on loans which never should have been made in the first place. Yeah, you’re a real dirtbag.

        This happened in 1929 to the US financial markets, as a result of years of profligate spending and a housing boom/bust.

        Of course, you aren’t finished yet! Your ultimate goal is centralization, and the key to centralization is to remove all options available to the masses but one; the option which garners you the greatest amount of dominance. A global economic system based on a single world currency and a single unaccountable governing body would be ideal. What would you call this world currency?

        This happened in 4 distinct stages. First in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve to allow debt to eventually displace sound money as the currency of the US. FDR then decided to take everyone off the gold standard in 1933 through his infamous confiscation act, giving the people effectively only one choice (fractional reserve fiat dollars). Then in 1944 Bretton Woods established this fiat dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Finally in 1971 Nixon closed the international gold exchange window, making the 100% fiat US dollar officially the world currency. The unaccountable world governing body responsible for this is of course the Federal Reserve, which is not federal, has no reserves, and collects interest on dollars printed from nothing loaned to the US government.

        how about something innocuous sounding like….Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s),

        When the Central Bank cabal met on Jeckyll Island  in 1910 to formulate their plans for the creation of the country’s 3rd world bank, part of the plan was to come up with an innocuous sounding name that would not alert suspicion. The “Federal Reserve” was thus born. We now know the name is a complete misnomer, but it sure did sound innocent enough at the time.

        Now I read that Obama’s latest budget proposal does not include interest payments which are making up an increasing percentage of the rolling debt, which of course is financed through even more debt. I am not kidding. When do households get to discount the interest they pay when formulating their budgets?

        The truth is becoming all too plain to see, as the lies keep piling up and grow worse with each passing day. There is no way out but to protect yourselves with hard assets and sound money. Even then you’ve got to keep enough skin in the paper game until it finally collapses, a challenge I keep facing as I underestimated the duration this collapse would drag on. I’m still giving it 1-2 years max.

        Excellent article by the way.

      11. I agree CC but I’ve been told here that you can’t eat gold.  I’ve had it in a shot glass and it just didn’t just sit there.  Maybe it will start with two ships sailing up the ditch tonight.

      12. I almost hit the “back” tab in the toolbar after reading a few lines. I should have.

        The only aspect, of this posting and the comments so far, was the “normalcy bias” issue having a foundation in fact. The entire article was an opinionated rant that only presented evidence of the authors ability to choose the most inflamatory adjectives and adverbs out of Roget’s. A fact was presented only to support the opinion.
        ———————————
        Facts:
        The public chose this path.
        The business of government is tax revenue enhancement.
        Government buys votes.
        Statistics aren’t lies. Statistics are interpretations of data sets. The failure of the public to grasp any of this clearly indicates ignorance and normalcy bias.
        By law, every corporation has a fiduciary responsibility to its share-holders. Choices are made everyday that can adversely impact employees. You don’t like it, quit! Start your own business.
        Banksters aren’t individuals. You might wanna take a look at the stock-holders: pension plans, insurance companies and even your (Gasp, shudder) 401K. Are they the banksters or maybe the lowly teller is too. Hmm, let’s say I am directly responsible for the investment of bank funds totalling $57billion. And you seem to think I shouldn’t get paid well or lobby for the benefit of those I’m forced by law to have a fiduciary responsibility to?
        —————————
        Here is reality. Everyone will seek profits right up until the end. Yes Dorthy, even the gas station attendant. Conspiracy? Only if we accept delaying the inevitable as the conspiracy. But so is that neighbor who is 4 months delinquent on their mortgage a participant?
        Crushing family debt is a conspiracy within the family that leaked out into the public venue.
        If everyone conspired at some financial level, how can any logical reasoning human to believe it is a conspiracy. It is, was and will continue to be in the open. No conspiracy, just public blindness to their complicity and refusal to accept responsibility for their actions that contributed to the problem.

        Normalcy bias demands the blame game.
        —————————————-
        I don’t have to play nice or fair. Existentialism demands I take personal responsibility for my actions. The rules may change, but it IS MY FAULT if I fail to make adjustments. In order to survive, I have to be brutally honest with myself. I make fewer misteaks (sp) now than a few years or decades ago. I embrace each mistake and learn from it.

        And yes Dorthy, I vote, write letters to the editor and contact politicians. Most don’t like me. I don’t care. I don’t get embarrassed by facts, but the politicians do.

        “I have met the enemy and it is us.”  Us refuses to accept any culpability and no responsibility.
        ———————————————–
        Everything is connected to everything.
        Everything has to go somewhere.
        There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. TANSTAAFL
        ————————————————
        Right or wrong opinions don’t matter. Facts matter. The fact is a disaster is looming, natural or man-caused.  I’m ready. Are you?  Can you take complete responsibility for the rest of the choices you make in life? Normalcy bias abhors change. Can you accept what-is and make adjustments?

        You don’t have to answer squat to me. But you better get your head on straight and accept personal responsibility for your situation. Every choice you have made brought you to where you are, financially, socially, whatever.

        I submit that if there be a conspiracy, it be one to convince others that a conspiracy exists. After all, I’m only one person and I didn’t choose this. Gotta blame someone else for my failure to pay attention to detail.
        Man stepped out on “Mother Nature” aka created an artificial environment, and hell hath no fury like a scorned woman. Artificial means manufactured. Every manufactured item fails, either by breakage, wear or obsolescence. Nature works because it changes and wipes away the specialists allowing something else to a bigger share of the profits from the environment. Normalcy bias hates change. WE, collectively, demand government to buttress our environment against change aka stability.

        So bend over and accept what a few of us have already experienced. I don’t have two nickels to rub together, but I own everything outright and no debt. I’m in tune with natural and with that, I must now brave -7F for my excurtion to the outhouse.

        In the words of Red Green, “Hang in there. We’re all rooting for you.” Now where’s that roll of duct tape?

      13. You mean TP?

      14. Comments…..
        Just received this in my email…

        Okay everyone…..some have thought I was nuts!

         

        Well, start watching the news. It was just on our news 20 minutes ago! Mike thought I was nuts and made me feel stupid and crazy when I wanted to stock up. So many saw this coming and now it is reality! Food shortages are in other countries and rioting and it will be coming here in about 8 months they are warning. Take heed and stock up! It’s fine and well to stock up on guns and ammo but ya can’t eat that. Be prepared to stay in and protect what you have….people will be breaking in to stores and homes….when you are starving and your kids are too people will do anything! I have a friend in Kentucky that is so prepared to loose heat and electricity and has the proper heating and tent in case she has to set it up in her living room….smart woman! You need to be prepared in case we loose water too unless you have a well…do ya think people will try and get to that too….you betcha! Any suggestions again from those that know the right things to do….go ahead and send again to me….maybe some of my friends will listen more now. I have sent stuff and sent stuff for the last year and I know many have just deleted. Why does everyone think our Government will protect us and won’t let this happen!?! What are ya thinkin’!?!? God Help Us!!!! Kat

      15. another quote from Red Green
        If the women dont find youhandsome, they should still find you handy
        be your own man, self sufficient as i see it

      16. Now that I’m wide awake,
        Oops. Should have added under Fact:
        From the preamble of the US Constitution, “… insure domestic Tranquility, … promote the general Welfare … , and secure … our Posterity, …”

        Isn’t this exactly what the Fed gov’t has been trying to do since the Civil War? That the gov’t resorted to artificial constructs to accomplish this doesn’t alter the reality that it is and was their job.
        I’m curious just how long each has noticed the disconnect from natural systems this has been going on. I’ve been at it since the first Arab oil embargo. I imagine several of you started down this path since 2008 with a few more since the dot-com bubble.

        The same claims were made back in ’74 (?) when the oil shortage hit. The same recriminations for every bubble pop. Gov’t, politicians, banks, big oil, lumber giants, blah, blah, blah. The public will never grasp, “Be careful for what you wish for; you might get it.” Just swap out “wish” for “vote.”

        Change creates opportunities. The question is, was and will always be, “Are you ready for and willing to accept change? Can you find your niche in an ever changing economic environment? Or will you become redundant and obsolete, unwilling and unable to adapt, or in brutal speak, fertilizer? We all die and by our actions, we can expedite or delay the inevitable to an extent.

      17. Yes, the world is pretty much controlled by the Iluminati or PTB or whatever they’re called these days. Luciferians, maybe?
        They make paper money and use it to buy up all the gold and anything else valuable on the planet. They orchestrate wars and the like. That’s their motto: order out of chaos. They control elections. Sure, you go out and vote, but your vote means nothing. They just let you believe it does.
        And how about Deutsche Boerse buying the NYSE? I didn’t even know the NYSE could be SOLD! Well, the Warburgs own DB. The Warburgs are right up there with the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, etc., right, they pretty much OWN the world. The Warburgs’  involvement with the money system dates back to the 1100’s. One of the Warburg brothers was part of the creation of the Fed here in the good ole US of A.
        Here’s my own personal little conspiracy theory:
        TPTB buy the NYSE. Bullseye Bernank blows up the stock market bubble (first real estate, now stock market, mmkay?). The sheeple invest their hard earned $$ in the stock market (“you’d be crazy not to! It’s goin’ up!”) and TPTB get even richer- because 100’s of trillions isn’t quite enough!- then, POP! The stock market tanks and the American worker bees (read ‘slaves’) lose their A$$ES.
        I may be totally wrong about this. We’ll find out soon enough.
        Stay away from stocks. Or, if you know what you’re doing, go ahead and buy. Just make sure you get out in time because it will blow.

      18. overtheedge, there’s a lot of truth in your comments, but you’re ignoring the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. Something that was born almost 100 years ago, that neither you nor I signed up for but was bestowed upon us.  Something that defies the moral fiber of the Constitution. Something that was sold to the public (and more importantly Congress) under false pretenses, that exists only to enslave everyone through debt.

        Yes, there is a way to fight back, and most of us posters here are doing just that, by refusing to play by their rules anymore. Unfortunately we will not be spared 100% of the effects of the coming crash.

        I take full responsibility for my actions but only after I have learned the truth. Sad to say that was just 3 years ago. But I do what I can.

      19. Comments…..
        Slim
        February 16th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
        Obama & his hired Czars are sticking it to the people that voted for him & wanting you to fake an orgasm while fantasizing about a recovery.
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        No Slim…the narcissist actually thinks we’re having real ones–he’s so G-R-E-A-T!!!

      20. The one fact that would be hard to deny is that human history has always had an entity that believes “it” has the best solution and “it” knows what is best for humanity. Decisions that are made by that entity are always expressed as being necessary for “the greater good”.
        I find it hard to believe any entity, whose path eventually leads to its own demise and the demise of those who follow, had any personal interest in my success or failure. To them, we are merely pawns on a chess board, serving a purpose in a game that they have created. Their obsession with winning that game has no consequences for them, they are completely focussed on winning, and winning only. Right or wrong, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It’s “the greater good” that vindicates their actions.

        Ironically, that entity only has power over us after we choose to give it power over us. And until the American People decide to set aside their differences, and unite as one voice against those that have put this country in peril, nothing will change.The United States is at a crossroad, and I believe the American People still have the opportunity to determine where we go from here.

      21. JJ, where did you see on the news to expect food riots in 8 months?

      22. I’m not that positive JJ.

      23. To JohnnyV
        You are holding up Truman, TR, and Eisenhower as pillars of virtue but don’t like Rand Paul?  You will have to explain that reasoning to me. 

      24. Kurt…one never can tell,they say the Confederacy isnt dead,only suppressed,the South may indeed rise again in some form,  it may have to….just saying….thanks!

      25. The revolutionary war to gain our independence wasn’t started by the entire population nor supported by it. A few good men and women with a vision and the balls to carry it through. Today, I see most in the prep crowd being the new founders of the country when the crash takes place. Forget the dumb, fat and happy bunch as they have always been around and never want to stir the pot. Those of us that pay attention to what’s going on and are ready for it and will change the direction of the country. We will be well fed and we ARE well armed. We are the one thorn in the elites side and they know it. Thank God we are better shots than them!!!

      26. In the words of Malcolm X, Obama is “chicken-pecking Uncle Tom”.  Was quite obvious he sold his soul during his primaries.

      27. ChrisC: You are absolutely right. This is more than accepting personal responsibilty for oneself and family. Its hard for people to adapt when the ground underneath them is crumbling into a sinkhole.

        American leadership since 1980, with George Bush Sr. in the background manipulating Reagan, began the push for global domination by the financial elite in earnest. Every President since has been a globalist that has pushed the NWO agenda. This is NOT paranoia. It is fact:

        1. American factories and jobs have been offshored.
        2. American wealth has been transferred to other nations under the guise of “free trade” to hide the enormous profits of the Gangster Banksters / globalists are making at American expense when Chinese workers are getting 40 cents an hour. Congress should have been protecting the American people for whom they are suppose to work.
        3. Wars of unfettered capitalism have been unleashed upon the world to make the world safe for Big Busness; again at the expense of the American taxpayer.
        4. At the same time, the US government has allowed unrestrained illegal immigration from Mexico, subsidized by the American taxpayer, to suppress the wages of American workers and taxpayers and destroy the middle class.
        5. All the while lawers and lobbyists are doing everything in their power and with the money of Big Business behind them to erode the rights and principles of the US Constitution.

        These are not opinions. These are facts that demonstrate a systematic destruction of the American way of life by the PTB to usher in the NWO.  The US Constitution and American Sovereignty, is all that stands between global gangster banksters and implementation of the NWO.

        The merger of the NYSE and the Geman bourse is just another example of financial power continuing to concentrate into the hands of the very few.

      28. @JIRADOG
        I agree, and also Teddy Roosevelt was one of the first real progressives.

        Someone mentioned Reagan….we can thank him for REX 84…it is real whether you like it or not…..and don’t be foolish enough to ever think they never intend on using it.

      29. @DURANGO KIDD & CHRIS C & KURT KONRATH & CB73 & JJ & VRF
        I am not surprised that the media isn’t really covering the dealings between Harper (Canada) and bo, but I am surprised I am not seeing more discussionis on it in places like here, quite frankly there should be outrage. Congress doesn’t even seem to care that he is totally bypassing them AND the Constitution.

        Your thoughts?

        Thanks

      30. I don’t pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Amnesia and to the corruption for which it stands.  One nation… under tyranny with liberty and justice for none.

        Crash JP Morgan… buy silver!!!

      31. @JJ

        Could you find out from your friend Kat where she seen/heard that the food shortage would be here in about 8 months?

        How can they predict the time of it like that?

      32. JIRADOG;  Others here have made some points toward answering your question about Rand Paul vs. TR, HT, & DE, but I’ll add 2¢.  TR and Eisenhower were both great men and famous for their exploits before ever assuming the presidency.

        TR had the balls to take on abuses by big business and really fight for the American taxpayer and worker, not just make a show of it.  He went in front of the Supreme Court at a time when corporations routinely used firearms against their employees.  He smashed corporations involved in derivatives trading (called “bucket shops” back then), wonder where we’ve heard that word “derivatives” lately, hmmmmm…..Additionally, it would be very hard to claim that ANY president was more pro-Second Amendment, considering that TR kept hundreds of firearms in the White House, and regularly practiced marksmanship on the White House front lawn.  Reagan tried furiously to mold himself after TR, but the difference is stark.  TR was a man’s man who actively sought out front line combat in the Spanish American War (ditching his post as Secretary of the Navy) so that he could personally shoot at the enemies of America.  Reagan was an actor who dodged combat in the second World War, but who knew how to play a tough guy.

        Eisenhower, jesus, why do I have to write anything here?  Well, one thing that sticks out is his warning to us about allowing the defense industry to get too big and powerful.  Fascism (nazism) is not socialism.  Fascism is the marriage of big business with government.  It places profits and efficiency above all else, including human rights, environmental concerns, other nations rights, etc.  We now find ourselves in a situation where the profits of shareholders and corporations have been given free reign.  American corporations (Shell, Exxon, Bear Stearns, Monsanto, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola, DuPont, AIG, many others) cause disaster after disaster both here in America, and around the world.  This is due to the policy of “getting government off the back of business”.  The hard fact is that we do need regulation on business and these people cannot be allowed to go and do whatever they want.  Eisenhower understood that, but we didn’t listen.

        I don’t know much about Truman, other than that he finished off the greatest disaster in human history by deciding to drop the two atomic bombs in the American arsenal on Japan, thus avoiding an invasion that would have cost at least 500,000 American lives.  The American armed forces are still, to this day, passing out Purple Heart medals that were made for the invasion of Japan.  Additionally, he had the courage to do the right thing and fire MacArther during the Korean War, thus averting an atomic confrontation with the Soviet Union and a conventional WWIII with China.  That same situation looks grim today, but that depends on how we handle it.  War hasn’t started just yet.

        Also, all of these men left office and didn’t profit or take along huge security details with them.  Truman drove himself and his wife home to Missouri from Washington DC, and then refused lucrative offers of corporate employment, saying that “the presidency was not for sale”.

        So, I’d like to know if Rand Paul has any accomplishments worth talking about.  We have plenty of talking heads who’ll say anything to get elected, I’d like to see some people of real accomplishment step up.  Unfortunately, the last one we seemed to have (Powell) decided to get the hell out.  Can’t say I blame him.

      33. I understand that Gov. Rick Scott from Florida get’s paid $1/year before taxes.  Sold the State’s aircraft and saved much more on hangar, maint. & insurance fees.  He also turned down the money to build a high speed train.  Now there is a business man with character & grit.

      34. JOHNNY V,
        I am of a different opinion on many points and people mentioned in your post. But the one I can’t just keep shut up about is MacArhtur is that I think he was right and we should of listened to him and went on in to finish Russia when we had the chance. You say it would of led to atromic war with them and WW111 with China, that’s a big assumption. Fact is by not listening to him we did have the cold war and all the absolute total BS that came along with it not to mention the money spent. That actually happened and is not an assumption. I guess we could both equally ASSume what would  of happened had we listened and went after Russia…but we can’t ASSume about the cold war….not listening  to Mac led us to the cold war.
        JMHO

      35. BJ, as an American, your job is to NOT shut up!  The problem with fighting the Russians at the end of WWII is that they were much more powerful than we were.  Patton wanted to do the same thing.  The Russians had over 30 million troops just in the infantry, the total size of all American armed forces was about 10 million.  And the Chinese proved their willingness  to engage by committing 300,000+ troops to the Korean conflict (although they did not have nukes at the time).  We forget the colossal scale of conflict on the Russian/German front in WWII.  The USA and Great Britain (combined) lost less than 500,000 troops.  Comparatively, there were 3 million casualties in Stalingrad alone.  Fighting the Russians would have been a HUGE step up from what we were used to (not that we couldn’t win, but the odds weren’t all that great in our favor).  Looking back now, it’s easy to say that we should have done one thing or the other.  The other thing we forget is that the USA had decommissioned about 80% of all our armed forces by the time the Korean War started.  We were nowhere near what we had been just 5 years earlier, and MacArthur knew that.  Even today, the Chinese maintain over 40 divisions of troops in the northern parts (near Korea) of their country.  We don’t have even a shadow of a force that size.

        Our Pentagon has concentrated on whiz-bang technology and gimmicks, but there is no substitute for boots on the ground.  We can see a clear example of this on our own southern border.  Instead of having a large number of “boots on the ground”, our government has elected to go with the “eye in the sky” approach, and the beaners continue to pour in unabated.  We have some real soul-searching to do as a nation.

      36. Jonny V
        In my opinion you are correct with the Russia /China scenario, good post!

      37. BJ: Crop production estimates can be predicted in advance with some certainty by a knowledge of weather patterns, yield ratios, and estimates of damage.

        Jonny V: I see you are doing your best to keep the villagers at bay.

        Lady Hawke: A well worn copy of the Rules of Court on your dash will work wonders on getting some respect from the cops when they pull you over. Just saying. 🙂

      38. @JV,
        On this one area of discussion I have to admit that this was not first hand knowledge I was advocating…..as a 39 year old man I was polluted through the public school system. I look back now and think that the only thing in history that I can trust is what I study and dig for myself today through the internet and trustworthy knowledgable people and what I heard growing up from grandparents, I heard a lot, I mean A LOT that “Patton adn Mac were right, should of wiped out Russia and then we would be in this mess”. So I admit maybe my grandpa’s were wrong…LoL

        @DURANGO KIDD…..I am assuming that is your answer to my question about how could they know the crisis could hit here in 8 months?

        Thanks y’all
        I have totally become a shtfplan.com ADDICT!!!

      39. Durango Kidd

        I like it!

      40. This just in! According to CNN, inflation is likely to stick around for several years thanks to enormous buying of commodities by investors and China alike, certain world-wide weather disasters, and loose monetary policy!!

        Everyone hear that? So now we all have to look forward to both prolonged high unemployment AND rising food/energy prices during this great recovery? Gee whiz.

        Full steam ahead!!

      41. BJ, you’re doing real good, just stick with it and don’t be afraid to piss some people off around here.  We all do it from time to time.  I think our grandparents knew the right thing back then, but since that time, we have lots of people whose knowledge about the war years begins and ends with the John Wayne movies we’ve all seen on Saturday afternoon TV.  Everyone grew up thinking that we always knew that we’d win the war.

        My grandpa was in the Merchant Marine and made several trips across the Atlantic, and to Murmansk.  He never told me that everyone thought we’d win.  Seems like lots of Americans had a much humbler attitude back then.  If we were a little more humble, and a little more willing to sacrifice, then a lot of our problems might go away.

      42. @CHRIS C,
        I literally just got done reading Bob Chapmans latest piece and he talks a lot about the inflation now and what’s coming and when he thinks…here’s the link
        http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Replace_the_Federal_Reserve_Altogether_A_Good_Idea
        I have been watching and foloowing some things on a thread about strange weather anomolies on the survivoralistboards.com and I am starting to wonder if something else might not occur long before the dollar tanks and/or hyperinflation even hits…which would of course be an emergency they would use to totally crash everything and go to a NWO with a OWG anyway….the end result is the same to them they don’t care how they get there.

        @JV,
        Thanks….LoL
        And I can definitely see your points

      43. Johnny V

        I am not going to argue the merits of the three presidents you find honorable.  However you are looking back at their lives after they have finished their lives.  Then you attack Rand Paul for not having done anything.  What does he have to do win WWII?  He has had the guts to propose a detailed budget cut of 500 Billion when no one else will.  He has a successful medical practice.  He has held consistant principles in my opinion and is fighting fascism.  He is proposing ending the Federal reserve.  So you call him an idiot and asswipe because he hasn’t saved the world when he has only been in office for 2 months.  Many people make heroic decisions every day.  I like to think I do.  But I guess I am an idiot and asswipe also since I did not break up the corporations or win WWII.  However I have driven my wife from Washington DC to Oklahoma thru Missouri and back twice.  Wow maybe I am a hero also.   

      44. Jiradog;  You make some good points in support of RP.  I live across the country and what I see of him amounts to a few seemingly racists statements and video footage of his supporters beating a woman.  I’m willing to admit that maybe I’m a little hard on him.  I do like his father though, and maybe the kid will manage to rise above idiot/asswipe status at some point, but this does not imply a free pass.
        I’m not willing to change my opinion of our political parties however, or any other elected politician.  Every Democrat, and every Republican (in my view) who have been elected to Federal office since 1972 is a traitor and should be shot.

        The Democrats are way too cozy (and take advantage of) the unions (and I’m in a union).  They skew things to favor their trial lawyer buddies who make colossal money off of things like the tobacco settlement, and they’re a little too easy on the welfare queens of the world.  They want to hand out voting rights and a free border pass to beaners and take away my guns.  They parade kids out in front of every colossal new social program they start up, and if there was ever a lie it’s “we’re doing this for our children”.  Whenever someone breaks out the children argument, you know they’re a real lying asshole…The health care reform was nothing but a giant blowjob to every HMO, insurance carrier, and big pharmaceutical in the nation.  These are the same people who get our kids hooked on prescription drugs.  Bunch of fuck-nuts is all they are.

        The Republicans have de-regulated big business to the point that we no longer have any meaningful protection for taxpayers, consumers, our economy, or the environment.  We no longer prosecute corporations who break the law, we do what’s called a “deferred prosecution”, which basically means that they just forget all about it. Additionally, the Republicans have gutted all vestiges of 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th Amendment constitutional protections from the people.  They let you keep your guns, and took your rights anyway.  They pay lip service to “family values” and “pull yourself up”, but what they DO is take your money and hand it to the richest group of people the world has ever seen.  Those people keep the money, and don’t “create” a single job with it.  The other thing Republicans are really good at is making sure that there is a never ending stream of wet-backs coming across the border to work for next to nothing in an effort to help their tycoon buddies make money (tax-dodging too because illegal payroll won’t be disclosed either) and also to destroy the middle class.  The Republican party is also (along with the Democrats) Idiot and Asswipe Ground Zero.  God-damned scumbags.

        I never implied that you were an idiot or an asswipe, but if you hold those feelings about yourself, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.

      45. look up hegelianism dialectic philosophy and read. Lightbulbs will come on left and right….no pun intended. There is no real difference between the parties, I know it sounds like a crazy conspiracy, but that is because it is a conspiracy….it started thousands of years ago in a garden somewhere a longs from here. Go read about hegllianism and you’ll see what I mean, democrat or republican, it doesnt matter, just different window dressing and a different way of throwing you the red herrings.

      46. To Jonny V

        I agree whole heartedly with everything you just said.  I don’t like either of the main two parties (no difference really).  I am Constitution party for the reasons you just talked about.  I had my doubts about Rand Paul at times also.  I greatly admire Ron Paul.  But I do think you are being way way to hard on Rand Paul.  It appears to me that he has similar views to has father with courge and great communication skills.   I just don’t know what else you could really expect in a politician than both the Pauls.  I wish everyone in Washington was like them.  Thats why I was surprised to hear you call him what you did. 

      47. Good write-up, I’m regular visitor of one’s web site, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.

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