Another great Srini bubble photo.
October 8, 2008
Elaine Meinel Supkis
For fun, I go to 'Seeking Alpha' and click on a random story there. Today's is funny because the anonymous writer must be as young as yesterday's specimen. He has NO sense of history at all. Another blogger who also writes for Alpha rebuts this kid with the same facts I use. Only HE also misses the boat entirely. Despite being much smarter and wiser than Stockatician, Piedmonthudson doesn't see the dire danger of hyper-military spending using credit, not sovereign wealth. This is a huge blind spot in the eyes of many, many economic writers. One that is CRITICAL to understanding the decline and fall of empires and the economic chaos this unleashes.
Stockastician: Is the End of the Crisis Near?
The past two days in stock market have been interesting, revealing, and puzzling.What happened was no panic selling. Two Friday's ago, after House rejected the Bailout Pork Package, was panic selling. Prices drop like crazy, indiscriminately across the board, then rebound. But what happened in the past two days was steady, guided, sustained downward pressure. I'm sure all chartists have noticed it. And, in the closing minutes, you could almost see two forces fighting, Monday around Dow 10,000, Tuesday around S&P500 1,000. Both times the seller side won at the finish line.
Some big money is exiting the stock market in an organized, well planned, and determined fashion. This is not panic nor desperation. I don't know who the big money is, hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds. For some reason some people somewhere need a big pile of cash. Not immediately, but in some near future.
When they're done, we'll have a bottom. It could be tomorrow or next week. But it won't be two months away.
Culture of Life News here!This story is typical of today's 'We are in a small mess' belief system. What is going down isn't mere banks or mere hedges. What is collapsing in a sea of red ink is the world's biggest empire: the USA.
Both politicians running for President last night endorsed more deficit spending and tax cuts. The black hole here is wild US overspending in both government as well as import markets. The real problem is the trillions in debt the US has accumulated this last 8 years: a total of $8 trillion in red ink.
This is rising, not falling. Unlike in the Great Depression when the US was the global creditor, the US today is the global debtor. We suck in more debt at every level compared to the rest of the planet. We are facing national bankruptcy.
This is a historic moment: just like when previous empires went bankrupt, we will see wars and insurrections, maybe even a revolution here in the US. More likely, fascism like when the German empire went bankrupt after WWI. The British empire limped along on the back of the US empire after WWI.
Any commentator who ignores this important information is deluding himself. Mr. Anonymous here at Seeking Alpha is a classic example of someone who can't see the forest because his head is in the ground.
One poster notes that declines in markets 'can't last for years.' This is typical of younger people with no memory of the past. 35 years ago, during the seventies, the hot stock market of the late sixties fell and fell and fell. At first, it was tremendous gyrations like we saw in the 1929 collapse and the present collapse. Then, after about a year of over-all steep declines of over 30% or more, it settles into this morass of simply not rising at all or barely, for years and years. It took from 1933-1955 for the stock market to regain the pre-1929 levels!
The stagflation market of the seventies lasted nearly a decade! The 'flat' part can be woefully long. The faux rise in stocks we got after the Dot Com bubble never rose to the levels of the Dot Com bubble. Even without taking into account, inflation. When we add the effects of inflation, it was a very poor bubble indeed.
This inability to understand basic economics, generational systems and history itself is a characteristic that leads to blindly falling off of cliffs. Bernanke, on the other hand, knows too much about the Great Depression and too little about ALL bubble/bust cycles. And he misses the all-important 'collapse of great global empires' aspect. This is the key to understanding that this particular collapse is most dangerous.
Namely, it isn't a mere contraction. In 1990, we had one and the US sailed right out of it. Why was that?
Well, we were a debtor nation in trouble. Our trade deficit ballooned from 1992-2008. The US government did balance the budget for one year of that decade. But the reason why we could run in the red while remaining a global empire was simple: there were NO RIVALS.
Since 2000, we have the European Union surpassing the US in economic indices. We have Russia rising as a global power. And above all, we have China which is the potential future ruler of the Seven Seas. Unlike Russia, China has many ports and a very active merchant marine. The US has virtually no merchant marine at all. Unlike in 1933, 1955 or 1973. The US has the most ports on the most oceans and is ideally situated to rule the Seven Seas but just like England, Spain, the Netherlands, etc, all went bankrupt running global wars. And lost their grip on the Seven Seas. This happens before the loss of colonies and dependencies.
The process of switching from one imperial power to the next is slow and very violent. This change is going to be no different. The US economy contracted from 1930-1940 but the US economic condition grew stronger, not weaker. We ended the Great Depression with more, not less factories. More businesses that survived were strong and ready to grow. By erecting emergency trade barriers, we prevented Europe and Asia from flooding us with imports. And above all, our government didn't fall deep into debt but spent money on improvements of roads, bridges, dams, ports, etc. We sailed out of the Great Depression, ready to take over the planet.
Here is a good reply to the Seeking Alpha article cited above:
jlounsbury59
Oct 08 10:22 AMThere have been two times in the past 100 years when the market took a very long time to recover the previous high. After 1929, it took over 20 years to ragain the Dow high. After 1973, it took ten years to regain the Dow high. Both of these periods, like now, resulted from severe global economic shocks. It looks like the current credit crisis is the third comparable shock. Few are likely to get rich in the next several years by buying stock market indexes and holding them no matter what. If someone can time the market and buy an index at the bottom, obviously they will be okay holding long term. The problem is that sometimes a market bottom is not definitely confirmed until years later.
Elaine
Supkis
Oct 08 10:52 AMYou are 100% correct, Jlonsbury 59. History matters a lot! Ignoring it is dangerous. Calling bottoms is hard when in free fall.
J. Longsbury has a web page so I visited it. He is interesting;
The Top Five Financial Issues for the Coming Decades
With all the turmoil in investment markets, I have found it useful to try to estimate major financial issues that will influence the American economy over the next few years and several decades. This will summarize my current findings ranked in order of total dollar value. All of these problems need to be resolved for the future viability of our way of life. I think it is obvious that if the biggest problem is not solved, what we do with the other four will be of little consequence.
He lists five important issues. Asset write-downs, national debt climbing, unfunded SS liability, Medicare and energy costs due to imported oil and gas. He doesn't mention the collapse of our merchant marine or wars. This is a typical problem with many commentators on economics: they leave out the giant problems. Oil is a problem but we lost over a trillion dollars invading two helpless nations that were either disarmed by the UN or had no government and standing army at all! Wars can lose entire national fortunes. All the gold in South and Central America didn't help Spain at all. Within 100 years of finding the biggest treasure trove on earth, guarded by stone age people, Spain was totally bankrupt and never ever recovered to this day!
Wars ate the entire fortune. All else doesn't matter, in the end. The SS crisis is internal. The military messes and the high, high military overhead and the military eating up the industrial base: these are the real killers of empires!
SocGen issues China alert as fears mount on banks
"The collapse of emerging market economies will shake investors to the core. The great unwind has only just begun," said Albert Edwards, the bank's global strategist.
"The big surprise in store is what could happen in China. The potential for a deep recession in the US is already on the radar screen, but people will be stunned if China's economy contracts, as I believe it will. Investors could be massively caught out," he said.
"The consensus has a touching belief that emerging markets will prove resilient despite a deep downturn in developed economies. My view is that an outright contraction in global GDP is entirely possible next year."
This news is classic: it is straight from 1931. The US was just like China: strong and solvent. But when the British/German/French empires collapsed into bankruptcy in 1930, the US contracted badly. So will China! But unlike the US, China is SOLVENT. This is a huge difference. We are Germany, circa 1930 and China is the US. The Chinese will do what we did back then: prevent a flood of imports due to the fact that China is solvent. The US would dearly love to flood China with imports. China will not be so stupid as to allow this.
Then 'trade barriers' like the ones so beloved of Japan, will suddenly appear across the planet. China loved 'free trade' so long as it industrialized China. They will NOT deindustrialize for us just so we can continue to rule the planet.
U.S. Treasury to Sell More Debt to Address Shortages
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury said it will sell more debt to meet demand for government securities and alleviate ``protracted shortages,'' said Karthik Ramanathan, the department's head of debt management.The market disruptions are primarily affecting two-year notes through 30-year bonds, Ramanathan said in a statement released in Washington. The Treasury said it would sell $40 billion in reopenings of 10-year notes today and tomorrow, in four separate auctions of $10 billion each.
The four securities have maturity dates of Feb. 15, 2015; May 15, 2015; Aug. 15, 2015; and Feb. 15, 2018.
``To address upcoming borrowing needs and further enhance liquidity in the Treasury market, Treasury will reopen multiple securities which have created severe dislocations in the market, causing acute, protracted shortages,'' he said.
A friend just called to tell me, Bernanke looks and sounds terrible. Like he is suffering from nightmares. Nightmares are the tools used by the Outer Darkness to trouble the sleep of anyone who is dealing with the Cave of Wealth and Death. Bernanke has decided to launch an all-out raid on it. He wants that wealth that has cycled back into nothingness. This means the demonic forces there are able to enter HIS world, namely, his brain. During the day, all the delusions and illusions of this master magician can be 'real' but at night, Bernanke has to face the truth and his own brain, released from their bonds that hold the imagination in check during the day, they go forth to trouble his sleep with vivid images of magical flying banks gripped in the teeth of the Derivatives Beast.
He can see the past and the future clearly and now realizes his fantasies of understanding the Great Depression was pure flim-flam. He was stupid. Arrogant. And now, the toy of the goddesses who will rip him to shreds as he tries to fix messes he helped launch in the first place!
He should resign in disgrace. Greenspan should be arrested. Both used the same stupid tool to fix bubbles: lowering interest rates to 1%. And Bernanke will drop it below 1%. I am 100% certain about this. He has to. His sole job is to provide endless red ink to our dying empire. Meanwhile, the peasants who call themselves 'the Taliban' are wiping us out in Afghanistan just as they did with dying Russia.
They killed Russia. They will kill us. I heard in the news that they are now firing rockets at our assassin robot drones as well as doing direct attacks on our bases, our allies and especially, the nuclear power of Pakistan. Lord help us if they get control of nuclear bombs! Iran is a responsible nation eager to protect itself. These guys are crazy and want to destroy us and have nothing we can destroy, in return. What can we do? Nuke the mountains of central Asia? HAHAHA. Ridiculous. There is no industry, no real cities to kill like when we murdered the civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
If Buffett is losing money, THE END OF THE WORLD MUST BE AROUND THE CORNER
Buffett's Goldman, GE Warrants Worthless for Now as Shares Drop By Erik Holm
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's instant paper profits on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and General Electric Co. have been wiped out amid the stock market's worst yearly slump since 1937.
Posted by: rockpaperscizzors | October 08, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Elaine, you are without a doubt the most prolific writer I know of; it's hard to keep up! I went to post the below and think that thread may be done. Anyways, I am posting a copy here:
Speaking of gold, we don't have to wait for the government to come to their senses in returning to gold based currencies. I say the hell with them.
GoldMoney and others are essentially offering an alternative currency that is available today. They, and others, offer a "payment system" that modernizes gold's oldest, most valuable feature: its use as money. GoldMoney offers "goldgrams" which are direct electronic payments that go to the gold repository of the seller.
It is still a primitive system as there are not that many recipients set up to deal in these gold transactions but the list is growing. I have read that PayPal is accepting some forms of "goldgrams" but I have not explored that yet.
If one chooses to use this alternative currency, you will still need a "catch basin" checking account to handle most transactions but it can be kept relatively low, and a larger "GoldMoney" account may be used to fund it as needed.
I made the decision a couple months ago to dump the dollar, euro, et al. I believe others will do the same and this new alternative currency will evolve to displace much of the need for "national fiat currencies."
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | October 08, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Moodys just downgraded the Country of
Iceland (A1). I am sure the other European countries will be in line. Next downgrade
Pluto, Saturn, and Mars. Forget the Earth,
their broke. I am wondering if their is
a connection or doctoral dissertation on
Derivatives, Wars and Death. Its getting
scary out there. Elaine, is Black Friday
next with the 6 Billion due on Thursday?
Posted by: don | October 08, 2008 at 11:55 AM
In defense of those who do not understand history, I must say that their ignorance has been part of an ongoing scheme to "dumb-down" the masses. No where is this more apparent than the hidden history of central banks like the US Federal Reserve system.
If a poll were to be conducted, we would surely discover that the vast majority of citizens everywhere do not understand that central banks are part of a private cartel - not government owned or controlled.
I would bet dollars to donuts that many here have mentioned this to friends and relatives only to be labeled a conspiracy nut or an eccentric.
This is the key in my opinion. The masses must be educated and that is a difficult challenge. Once people understand that the government does not control our money supply, they will immediately begin to realize that the money suppliers control the government.
Maybe I am over simplifying but I think the only acceptable solution is to end the tyrannical reign of the federal reserve system. As long as we have this system in place, we will continue to be enslaved.
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | October 08, 2008 at 12:15 PM
I think the only thing to do is organize a general strike. We must stop feeding into this system. We contributed to the building of this thing and what we've also built is our own prison, our own demise. We must stop and we must stop soon.
The general strike will be a stoppage, but it must also be a start-- of taking care of each other again.
We'd immediately need to organize in order to take care of each others' basic needs while we reorganized our financial mechanisms and eliminated these parasites who led us down a deadend alley--to kill us, if necessary.
The parasites aren't going to, under any circumstances, lead us back out of this mess. They aren't capable of that, and I doubt they are motivated to, either. They are going to kill us or subjugate us, whatever it takes, to keep their bloated stake alive.
Posted by: Yusef | October 08, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Unfortunately, IMHO, the only thing that will teach man is the coming global war and depression, which will spare nobody, including the elites.
There's a lot of pain and suffering coming to mankind, unfortunately that's the only way man learns anything.
Man does not respect the sanctity of all life, and nature will be teaching that lesson soon.
Posted by: JZ | October 08, 2008 at 02:05 PM
Current belief systems are in dire need to be replaced, by systems of belief that are more workable and true to reality.
The current major religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam need to be torn down, and exposed as the blood soaked fairy tales that they truly are.
Man must shed his militant nature, or go extinct.
Nothing short of extreme crisis, and a spiritual revolution can do the job.
Posted by: JZ | October 08, 2008 at 02:13 PM
Ah hah! They caught a short seller. Hmmm, seems he was pretty small - might not be a keeper, under the limit, need to toss him back :-)
SEC's Short-Seller Witch Hunt Nabs a Munchkin
Posted by: RobG | October 08, 2008 at 02:54 PM
You write: "But ONLY after the dark night of depression destroys the current global fiat currency regime. Launching this too early will mean the new ruling currency [we all know which one that will be!] would be swamped by a flood of funny money seeking to be turned into gold. Only after all this red ink produced during the heyday of the floating currency is destroyed, can a new gold standard be launched!"
I believe that once there is a total worldwide financial system breakdown, and currencies other than gold are totally burned out; then the mark, that is the charagma, of Revelation 13:17 will be introduced: "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the authority of the beast, or the currency of his name."
Posted by: Richard | October 08, 2008 at 02:54 PM
@ DrKrbyLuv:
GoldMoney can not finance unions, politicians toys, debt financed social services, and so on. A big part of the state exists only because there is debt. The really unsolvable problem is to get rid of that part.
In the next days I will buy some precious metals in order to rescue my very small savings, because I am unemployed. Today I took the first quarter of my savings and bought a nice Mac Pro 8 core Harpertown. Still licking my fingers. Yummy. :)
Posted by: Reimund from Berlin | October 08, 2008 at 03:06 PM
JZ said:
"Current belief systems are in dire need to be replaced, by systems of belief that are more workable and true to reality."
"The current major religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam need to be torn down, and exposed as the blood soaked fairy tales that they truly are."
JZ, I am beginning to come to the same conclusion for two reasons. First, I think that by prescribing to a "man made" religion we are essentially handing over some of our own power to develop our own belief system.
The second reason is that organized religions have been dismal failures and are mostly irrelevant. For example, where is the moral leadership regarding constant war and killing, shackling future generations with debt that we accrued and providing the basis for religious wars?
Zionism has polluted many Jewish and Christian citizens who see some higher order in waging war in the middle east.
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | October 08, 2008 at 03:23 PM
DrKrbyluv ... I agree. Our present recession is no accident. The Federal Reserve engineered this recession, just as it did the Depression in 1929.
Until we close down the FED and regain control of our money supply, we will have bubbles, busts, and wars unending.
Zi juus foreign central banking system creates money out of thin air to finance wars and blow bubbles. Then, when the bubble bursts, they buy back the pieces for pennies on the dollar.
Posted by: PLovering | October 08, 2008 at 03:42 PM
"The current major religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam need to be torn down, and exposed as the blood soaked fairy tales that they truly are."
Jefferson and Paine (Age of Reason) railed against institutional religions as well. But, the masses will cling to their Gods, saints/martyers, angels, prophets, etc.... since no one else has saved them from the savage aristocracy. The masses will never relinquish their delusional heaven and hell dogmas and the afterlife reward factor. The sociopathic inbred aristocracy turned the masses into cattle and have led them to slaughter since the beginning of man. All that's left for the people to hold onto is the collectives' religious psychosis.
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." Thomas Paine
Posted by: rockpaperscizzors | October 08, 2008 at 04:04 PM
"The current major religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam need to be torn down, and exposed as the blood soaked fairy tales that they truly are."
I could not agree more with this statement.
This religion from the middle east has destroyed my life in ways I can hardly talk about.
Nothing less than Earth's survival depends on the total removal of this religion from every corner of the planet.
Posted by: DeVaul | October 08, 2008 at 04:25 PM
A very frightening video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGD0GemEiqw
Posted by: Niels Laughlin | October 08, 2008 at 04:39 PM
DePaul said:
This religion from the middle east has destroyed my life in ways I can hardly talk about.
I say:
Plase talk about it.
Posted by: Reimund from Berlin | October 08, 2008 at 04:44 PM
I have spoken before about what my ex-wife and her neo-nazi family of (Quakers/Born Again Christians/Jews) have done to me and my sons. It just brings out a bunch of Jewish hatemongers who attack me and this entire blog, so I no longer talk about it.
Sorry.
Posted by: DeVaul | October 08, 2008 at 04:50 PM
Little wonder we're broke.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-233742987511534309&vt=lf
Posted by: PLovering | October 08, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Not just historic, we've slipped into epic. The gloves come off now:
Britain sues Iceland over frozen savings
Posted by: RobG | October 08, 2008 at 05:04 PM
Watch out, more liquidity, more than you ever wanted:
Trichet Can't Rule Out More Cuts, Offers Cash Flood
Crap, when are they going to start acting like responsible bankers? Someone likened this to quicksand. The last thing you do is flail around. Instead they are crazily pulling levers, shooting hot air into the baloon while vents are releasing air and sandbags are falling to the ground.
Posted by: RobG | October 08, 2008 at 05:17 PM
I have been following your objective and insightful financial and geological commentary for a while. Have you noticed the little rallies throughout the day that are designed to infuse confidence in the market, only to quickly collapse? These are artificial government attempts to raise interest among potential investors ("there must be some value out there, for the bulls are still fighting the bears"). However, these are actually staged by the CIA, which has an undisclosed secret budget - that is, no budget and unlimited ability to fabricate commercial assets. These CIA dummy entities are buying stocks in desperate attempts to provoke rallies. The purchased stocks are worthless, of course, but the CIA does not care about profit or loss. This is another facet of the US arsenal being used by regime plutocrats to further deceive people into thinking there is still a functional financial system.
Posted by: shelby | October 08, 2008 at 05:18 PM
More on Iceland:
Posted by: RobG | October 08, 2008 at 05:20 PM
Oh, a neo-nazi family? They must have burnt your house, stolen your belongings and sent you to a concentration camp where you suffered from hunger and 20 hour slave work. Or so. Maybe not.
Posted by: Reimund from Berlin | October 08, 2008 at 05:38 PM
Reimund, I think the key word being discussed is "neo" (Greek,meaning new, recent, young). My guess is Devaul's pain is real and his reference is not literal but descriptive.
Posted by: Grok | October 08, 2008 at 05:58 PM
I have found that the more religious family members are, the nastier they are. Those that believe that Jesus loves them are the nastiest of the whole lot. I am absolutely certain that Jesus will recoil in horror from these sorts of people.
Well, if he is anything like he is in the Bible. Heh. He hung out with prostitutes, etc. My kind of guy....
Made wine out of water! Hey! Party, dude!
About Iceland: it is small. The US is big. So the US gives in and does whatever while little Iceland will fight like hell to slip away. England is used to the US bankrolling everything.
Japan; OFF THE CLIFF. The Chinese won't let Japan pull the one-way trade crap so with trade collapsing with the US, it is OFF THE CLIFF. Maybe they will get a real depression out of this mess.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 08, 2008 at 05:59 PM
Now its getting disgusting:
1) 85 Billion for AIG--at 12% loan rate
2) Party with Condoms in CA.
3) Awarded another 37 billion this afternoon...
4) What Bottom and Hell Hole???????????????????
Posted by: Don | October 08, 2008 at 06:03 PM
This pit has no bottom.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 08, 2008 at 06:53 PM
I just did a "story" about Naomi Wolf's warning about the return of troops to the US (to Georgia, if I have it right) from Iraq, who will remain under federal patrol and be tasked with "riot control" here. She claims this is the last stage of a coup.
I actually wrote little of it, and most of it is "borrowed," and I just added links so people could see related videos, etc. Anyway, someone decided to front-page it at Wild Wild Left. I didn't expect that.
Posted by: blues | October 08, 2008 at 07:14 PM
OK all you F***ING geniuses who think the solution is no religion.
Remember how many people were killed by Stalin and Mao trying to stamp out religion.
Humans have a spiritual need that is unstoppable. They will worship something: God, Satan, Money, Material Possessions or Man.
The state, which worships Man and Money, is BY FAR the greatest exterminator of human life.
The US was founded on the principal of religious freedom, not freedom from religion. Freedom from religion is the 'freedom' to worship man or money.
The only goal of government should be to protect the precious spiritual freedom each family and person have to live life according to their internal conscience.
People ruling themselves, rather than man ruling people.
Only when we scare them all into handing over half their labor in taxes and build trillions of dollars of weapons and give the go-ahead to Satan-worshiping leaders to go killing people all over the world do we get real evil.
Now if the government gets into the religion business and forms a Theocracy like in Iran or Israel, that can be almost as bad.
Always remember that the people who worship money want to destroy the ability of people to rule themselves so they become soul-less people who only care about work, money and pleasure.
You have been duped by Hegel into worshiping man. HAHAHA!
http://www.thedyinggod.com/
Initially, the notion of "Western Civilization" was created to foster a sense of identity among the Allied Powers, as members of a single civilization, pitted against the East, in the case of World War I, Germany. However, the development of this idea can be dated back to the early nineteenth century, with Hegel. As demonstrated by Glenn Magee, in Hegel and the Hermetic tradition, Hegel's ideas were based on the occult. Borrowing from the Jewish Kabbalah, he developed the idea of history as progress of God coming to know himself through the intellectual evolution of man. In Hegel's terms, this mean man's evolution towards what he called "freedom". This "freedom" was when man discovered that he is God.
Posted by: GK | October 08, 2008 at 07:58 PM
I haven't heard a single religious leader speak up during the build up to this mess, nor do I now hear any religious leaders speaking up.
The religious rarely speak out against the war or any of the rest. Quite the contrary. They have consistently acted as if the war is "God's will." (In fact, that's a direct quote of someone who is religious and will perhaps be a heartbeat away from becoming President.) They cozy up to the rich and make it possible for the rich to feel good about themselves.
They placate the poor people and help them resolve to be more conscientious pawns. So they can serve faithfully and obediently the rich asses the religious leaders kiss so willingly.
The churches are allies of the state, so I am not in the slightest relieved to learn the state is the greater of exterminators, even if the church has only a subsidiary,facilitating role.
If there was some slight trace of anything which resembled the teachings of Jesus in what these institutions practice, I would shut up and keep my peace. It isn't that way, and it very seldom ever has been that way.
It doesn't appear the innate religious drive of which you speak is anything more than a sickness. We shall judge a tree by the fruit it bears. This tree bears sick fruit. It's a sick tree and I don't want to sit underneath it, for I do not want another decayed bow to fall onto my head.
It's too late now for these guys to "reform" themselves, at least to my satisfaction. And then I see they're off boffing the altar boys.
Posted by: Yusef | October 08, 2008 at 09:14 PM
Exploration of spirituality or self is not the problem but rather subjugation to other’s definitions or purposes, what ever they may be. Consciousness is still hopefully on an upward trend as slow, elusive, retrograde and repugnant as the journey can be.
Posted by: stilldreaming | October 08, 2008 at 09:42 PM
True religion knows no bondage. Even so religion is not the problem. Its the debasement of the currency! It ends marriages and causes depression ( no pun intended )
To blues: If rioting is a concern that means there are going to be shortages, stock up now! Ive had a bad feeling too, civil war in the form of riots? I think the country might break apart if this keeps up. Naomi was onto something about the police state. This is gonna get nasty. Patience and Perserverance are need here.
Posted by: Dutch | October 08, 2008 at 10:27 PM
"Then 'trade barriers' like the ones so beloved of Japan, will suddenly appear across the planet. China loved 'free trade' so long as it industrialized China. They will NOT deindustrialize for us just so we can continue to rule the planet."
Elaine, this may be the only solution to the current economic disaster created by the elitist's. These frenetic 'hat-tricks' to maintain the credit-inflation-free-trade fiasco are schizophrenic. Every move is another shot in the foot!
Fer crissake's, stop the insanity!
All nations will be forced to return to industry and trade barriers. Millions of jobs off-shored, that created all these tin-plated elitist pimps, will come home like a tsunami.
The only way to end this is to get rid of income tax, hence, the FED and all Central Bankster's the world round. It is clear now why the midnight vote to form the EU was rammed down their throats. All of Europe's wealth was commandeered under this farce, as in the US with the illegal formation of the FED Reserve in 1913.
It is time China or Russia dump their US reserves, demand a gold-backed system, and not least of all, end this Zionist-Illuminist nightmare.
Posted by: CEO Nutcracker | October 08, 2008 at 10:35 PM
The comment was obviously in the context being discussed but I'd include in subjugation, money as debt, and elite bankers privileged to impose debt on all from nothing.
Posted by: stilldreaming | October 08, 2008 at 11:18 PM
Here is a simple system that would remove the crushing restriction of gold and remove the criminal creation of money by private banks.
First, the Congress, as defined by the constitution, could create 10 trillion in Constitutional Money.
They could use that to retire all government debt and build critical infrastructure like railroads and renewable power sources.
Now, let's say they wanted to expand the money supply. The can create another $300 billion constitutional dollars and GIVE THIS $1000 DIRECTLY to each CITIZEN in the US TREASURY ACCOUNT paying 0% interest.
IT IS A REVERSE TAX! NEW MONEY GOES TO YOU!!
Now if banks would like to have some money to invest, they could offer 5% interest and people could move their money from their US TREASURY ACCOUNT to the commercial bank account.
The banks would then loan that money out for 9% and keep the 4% profit.
Banks that were good at investing would get more money and those that were bad would fail as they should.
If government wanted to increase spending on say, a new missile system for $30 billion, they could create a bill (aptly named) in Congress to fund this project and clearly defined that it would impose a tax of $100 per person. People would be able to contact their representative and voice their opinion on this spending.
If it did not pass, tough luck Lockheed Martin. If it did pass, everyone would see $100 taken off their US TREASURY account.
This would truly be the FREE MARKET where money is created and controlled by each individual instead of a FEW CRIMINALS running INTERNATIONAL CARTELS for oil, food, drugs and weapons.
I fully expect to be EXECUTED for this recommendation but I do not care.
JFK must be vindicated.
Posted by: GK | October 08, 2008 at 11:42 PM
Whew! Where to begin? Having stumbled upon this blog recently, I've been taken by EMS's unique style of writing, fresh perspective, original analogies, and overall grasp of the Big Picture, as well as her technical and historical expertise in matters related to economics. Plus I appreciate the level of thought that goes into the comments. I was trained in the liberal arts, but have always been interested in economics. I studied Von Mises, Hayek, Marx, and others just to get a basic understanding of economic principles. I have never been that interested in statistics or the more technical aspects of economics, but am beginning to grasp some of it now. Lately world events have brought money, finance, and economics to the forefront. How is the vast sum of information available to us today tied together? Politics, conspiracies, wars, global international banking, zionism, illuminism, religion, peak oil, population growth, environmental issues, etc., all create a labyrinth which poses monumental hurdles to our understanding of the world. Public education and the Mainstream Media are less than worthless. They are evil institutions bent on propagating ignorance. Thank God for the internet and bloggers like EMS who at least help sort out the valuable from the worthless. Being an open-minded person, I'm beginning to feel that enlightened self interest is the next best thing to spiritual enlightenment when it comes to our chances of saving the country. Personally, I'm one of those born again believers who feels our only true hope is Divine Intervention. Nonetheless, I also believe this intervention can come in many forms, not the least of which is an educated populace desirous of throwing off the chains of elitist servitude. I don't believe America is quite ready for the New World Order. As Don Lucchesi said in the Godfather "Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger." I think the Banksters have pulled the trigger a little too soon.
Posted by: Zulu | October 09, 2008 at 01:23 AM
It's pure fantasy to think any demands or suggestions we make will be heeded. What's happening is happening according to a plan. The the most powerful group of elites are consolidating their power, with not the slightest regard for anyone else or care for what we might think is best. We've been taking their crap for so long, and it looks as if we're willing to take their crap now. Except now, taking their crap is going to mean something a lot more painful than we've ever experienced in the past. Ever. Even in the good old days of the previous "Great Depression." Our power to resist this dwindles by the moment. Imagine how silly it is to think our rulers are going to change course of their own free will. It's just not in the cards. If we think it is, we're nuts. Are we nuts?
Posted by: Yusef | October 09, 2008 at 01:25 AM
Zulu, one of my favorite movies is 'The Godfather.' Joe Bonanno's ranch was nearest to my father's ranch. I knew them.
Here is the Arizona Star's obituary of him:
Joseph Bonanno Sr., the former boss of one of New York City's five original Mafia families and a longtime Tucson resident, died Saturday morning.
The 97-year-old native of Sicily, who led the Brooklyn-based Bonanno Family for more than three decades before he lost power in the 1960s, died of natural causes at St. Mary's Hospital.
"He was the last survivor of an era that made history in this country, and now he's gone, too," said his son, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno.
The elder Bonanno took control of the former Maranzano Family in 1931 and helped form a commission that ruled the Sicilian underworld.
He first came to Tucson in the early 1940s to enroll his oldest son, Bill, in a boarding school. The elder Bonanno had maintained a home here since the 1950s. He lived in Tucson full time at least since his 1960s departure from New York's deadly Mafia scene - a turbulent environment he called "the Volcano."
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 09, 2008 at 01:59 AM
When he bought his ranch in 1964 near our ranch, one of his guards came over to tell me, Bonanno's wife's poodle was missing. I said, 'Oh, that is why the coyotes were so noisy! They ate her.'
Joe came over and asked me many questions about the wildlife and their ways so he could protect his pets. He also built this huge wall around his place to hide everything and to keep out the coyotes.
This is how I got to know them. Cathy, his daughter, rode horses with my friends in the desert, by the way. She was a very nice person.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 09, 2008 at 02:02 AM
You talk a lot about economic cycles. What do you know about the Kondratieff cycle?
Posted by: Neon Vincent | October 09, 2008 at 04:21 AM
Kondratieff cycles are extremely good gages for looking at anything humans create. I wrote a long article about this. I showed how fashions are hitched to the same cycles, just for example. Hats, shoes, dress shapes, ties: you name it, these follow the same growth and death cycles as money. Empires definitely have these cycles down pat.
It seems that the COLLECTIVE human psyche has this very deep set feature that causes us to move, as a mob, in entirely predictable ways. Some of these effects are called 'fads' but are really just Kondratieff cycles expressing itself in a silly way.
This is true in every aspect. For example, jokes follow this curve of development, too. Or sayings like, 'Where's the beef?' and 'speak to truth' [I hate that one a lot]. Etc.
Kondratieff certainly stumbled upon and then carefully turned into mathematical probabilities a tremendous force of human psychological nature and is up there with Newton and Einstein.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 09, 2008 at 08:28 AM
"OK all you F***ING geniuses who think the solution is no religion."
No one ever said this. You mistake the religion of the Jews for the only religion there is. This is also part of their belief: there is no other religion but theirs.
The world cannot afford that.
Posted by: DeVaul | October 09, 2008 at 02:26 PM
I've watched the Godfather series so many times I've lost count. I've always enjoyed mob movies. I think it's because, in a way, I admire their portrayed sense of honor and justice, which contrasts so sharply with the hypocrisy evident in our own political and legal systems. As Michael said, "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator." At least with Don Corleone you knew where you stood. I never heard of Bonanno, but I just happen to live in the Arizona desert myself, somewhere south of Tucson. I haven't run into any wise guys here, but I did see a few in Las Vegas at my wedding reception, which was held in an Italian restaurant. They were very nicely groomed and received a lot of attention and respect from the waiter staff. I bet Bonanno was a nicer guy that Paulson and the Sphinx put together. And I must say, you've lived what sounds like quite a colorful and interesting life.
Posted by: Zulu | October 10, 2008 at 12:12 AM
*"than Paulson and the Sphinx"
Posted by: Zulu | October 10, 2008 at 12:16 AM