 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
|
Banks dictate conditions of US financial bailout
- Text size
Alex Lantier
Global Research
October 14, 2008
The 936 point rise on the US stock market yesterday was the American ruling elite’s initial verdict on the extraordinarily favorable terms the government is granting to financial firms in the $700 billion bailout passed by Congress on October 3. Far from heralding improving economic conditions for working people, the Wall Street surge reflects the financial establishment’s success in extorting massive sums of money from taxpayers.
|
|
 |
|
| Neel Kashkari, the assistant secretary of the treasury and ex-Goldman Sachs executive who is overseeing the $700 billion bailout, confirmed in a speech yesterday that his goal — in purchasing both equity (shares of stock) and assets of financial corporations — is to concentrate money in the hands of the biggest banks. | |
Several factors played important roles in the market’s rise. A technical correction was likely after the massive falls of last week, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,236 points, or 21.33 percent, to 8451.19. The announcement of bank bailouts in Europe totaling trillions of dollars—under conditions where national governments are competing to rescue their respective banks—contributed to expectations that Washington would continue to bail out its own banks. Another major factor was undoubtedly a series of announcements by US officials underscoring that US banks would essentially dictate the terms of the bailout.
Late yesterday morning, news broke that the CEOs of the largest US banks would meet with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, to discuss the terms of the bailout. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Expected to attend were banking executives including Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America; Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs Group; John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley; and Robert P. Kelly, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon.”
A Treasury spokeswoman said, “Treasury and [the Federal Reserve] are meeting today with leading financial market participants to finalize details on a financial market stabilization initiative.” The Journal wrote, “One person familiar with the matter said Mr. Paulson is expected to discuss details of his new plan to take equity stakes in financial firms, among other points.”
The meeting’s roster underscores the social character of the bailout. A handful of current and former top banking executives gathered for a meeting, publicly announced a few hours before it took place and closed to the public, to discuss the conditions under which they will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds. The fact that, in a healthier political climate, these executives would face investigation and prosecution for overseeing the predatory lending practices that led to the housing and credit crises was simply ignored.
In this meeting of the godfathers of American finance, no one was present who represented the overwhelming majority of the American population. Indeed, the participants live in a world of wealth and power that has no resemblance to the existence of ordinary working people.
One could start with Paulson himself, whose former bank stands to benefit handsomely from the bailout which he has authored. While at Goldman Sachs, Paulson amassed a personal fortune of $700 million.
The list continues:
According to Forbes magazine, Ken Lewis last year brought in a salary of $20.13 million, and his holdings of Bank of America stock are worth an estimated $112 million.
Jamie Dimon received a 2007 Christmas bonus of $14.5 million and holds $190 million in JPMorgan stock.
Lloyd Blankfein received a Christmas bonus of $68 million and his holdings of Goldman Sachs stock were worth $414.5 million last year.
Vikram Pandit received a $165 million signing bonus from Citigroup last year, together with a $2.7 million salary for a few months of work and $48 million in stock options.
John Mack received $41.8 million in compensation last year, and his 2007 holdings in Morgan Stanley stock were worth $220 million.
These firms’ stock, and particularly that of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, rose rapidly on news of the meeting with Paulson. Goldman stock rose 25 percent to $111 a share, and Morgan Stanley stock rose 87 percent to $18.10 per share.
Other financial stocks also rose significantly. Citigroup rose 13.25 percent to $15.98, Bank of New York Mellon rose 15.77 percent to $30.68, and Bank of America rose 9.2 percent to $22.79. JPMorgan stock fell in initial trading on fears of further write-downs, but after the meeting announcement it rose from just over $40 per share to close at $41.64.
Neel Kashkari, the assistant secretary of the treasury and ex-Goldman Sachs executive who is overseeing the $700 billion bailout, confirmed in a speech yesterday that his goal—in purchasing both equity (shares of stock) and assets of financial corporations—is to concentrate money in the hands of the biggest banks.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Kashkari told a Washington DC meeting of the Institute of International Bankers: “We are designing a standardized program to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions. As with the other programs [in the bailout], the equity purchase program will be voluntary and designed with attractive terms to encourage participation from healthy institutions.”
This emphasis on bailing out supposedly “healthy” banks reflects the increasingly shaky position of many of the major banks. They are jockeying for influence over the government handouts that will determine which banks profit, which suffer, and which close.
Writing 125 years ago in the third volume of his masterwork, Capital, Marx noted, “So long as things go well, competition affects an operating fraternity of the capitalist class… But as soon as it is no longer a question of sharing profits, but of sharing losses, everyone tries to reduce his own share to a minimum and to shove it off upon another. The class, as such, must inevitably lose. How much the individual capitalist must bear of the loss, i.e., to what extent he must share it at all, is decided by strength and cunning, and competition then becomes a fight among hostile brothers. The antagonism between each individual capitalist’s interests and those of the capitalist class as a whole then comes to the surface…”
This anti-social struggle between the various factions of the bourgeoisie is expressed in the secretive and exclusive character of the planning of the bailout.
The Treasury has set up the bailout’s asset purchases—which are to be carried out by private firms—so that only the largest companies will be able to participate and rake in the lucrative fees the government will pay out. Kashkari said: “Our initial procurements set high capability standards: for example, securities asset managers had to have at least $100 billion of dollar-denominated fixed-income assets under management. This is critical given the magnitude of the program—up to $700 billion. Treasury believes it would not be fiscally prudent to ask a firm that only had experience managing only a few billion to manage $100 billion.”
The Treasury is reserving the other roles in the bailout for an elite group of financial and legal firms. Kashkari stated that the Treasury Department had considered only three candidates for the role of “master custodian firm,” whose function, according to Kashkari, would be to “hold and track the assets we purchase as well as run and report on the auctions we use to buy the assets.” The Treasury also contacted six law firms as potential consultants on the bailout’s stock-purchase program. Kashkari added, “We received two proposals, and selected [top New York law firm] Simpson Thatcher [& Bartlett] on Friday.”
The result of this bailout—a major consolidation and restructuring of the US banking industry—will be quite harmful to the interests of the population. The smaller number of surviving banks will have even more market power to set interest rates and control access to credit for working people, students and small businesses.
While the best-connected firms will profit immensely from the bailout, the bourgeoisie and its political representatives insist there is no money for elementary social needs of the working class, such as foreclosure relief, universal health care and the right to a secure retirement. The major presidential and vice presidential candidates have uniformly called for cuts in existing, already inadequate, programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
The stock market’s rise today is not the advent of a new era of prosperity for the American people. Rather, the bourgeoisie is celebrating the Great Heist of 2008.
-
- Social bookmarks
- Email this article
-
- Print this page
- Share on Twitter
October 14th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Did anyone think that the taxpayers would have any say. The banks, investment banks and hedge funds ran recklessly much like a drunk driver allowed to do as much financial damage as conceivably possible. The banks then appear before the mythic judge and the judge asks them: “What do you think your punishment should be?” The banks respond: “We will go and meet, then come back and tell you.”
Judge says, “That’s fine with me, just know when you are ready to tell me what to write!”
October 14th, 2008 at 9:15 am
The only remote chance we have to bring an end to this bullshit is to not continue to participate in the the current economic structure. It is a simple matter IF everyone will participate in a mass strike on the exact same day at the exact same time and literally shut everything down. All that is needed is advance planning in terms of food and the most important survival gear. Also a few months rent or morgage payments payed in advance. Careful planning and collaboration between the people can easily be acheived If we put our heads together. We must shut them down. We have that power. We outnumber them. IF such an event could occur, then WE would hold ALL the cards and the tables would instantly and immediately be turned against the elitists. This can be done in a pieceful manner as to not incur the wraith of the miltary- industrial-complex. If we don’t shut them down soon, they WILL continue to “walk all over us” for want of a better term. This must be done or we will NEVER see an end to this constant manipulation of the people. Or if this does end, I guarantee it will not be in our favor. It is up to the people to carry out the next move.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Damn! They Just RE-Enriched the Rich.
Which will soon really devalue our dollars spending power.
You think a Dollar didn’t buy anything now.
Just wait!
Say MoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooW! Good Cows!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Brad..That money is gone as far as the tax citizen is concerned.
It will be taken/paid from the citizen in the form of taxes as far as the GVT is concerned.
This has been going on for quite some time as far as history is concerned.
The financial eleite learned very eaarly on they can only operate in secret.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
read for yourself.Congress was bought and paid for long ago.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am
if you guys dont stand up know then all will be lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!it’s almost checkmate!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:45 am
BUYOUT BOSSES GATHER IN DUBAI AS CRISIS CONTINUES
Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:02pm EDT
By Megan Davies
DUBAI (Reuters) – Private equity executives from the United States and across the Middle East descend on Dubai this week to seek out investment partners and deals during one of the most tumultuous periods in the industry’s history.
The three-day annual Super Return Middle East conference coincides with extreme volatility in the financial markets and a credit freeze that has only exacerbated the inability of the firms to access financing for leveraged buyouts.
Attendees will be watching addresses from Wall Street moguls such as KKR’s Henry Kravis, Carlyle’s David Rubenstein and Blackstone Group’s LP (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Steve Schwarzman for signs of how U.S. private equity will ride out the storm and the investment opportunities they see emerging.
From the Middle East, the focus will be on private equity and sovereign wealth funds, with speakers including some from Dubai government investment agency Istithmar World Capital, which owns fashion retailer Barneys New York; and Saudi-based private equity firm Swicorp, which recently bought a stake in leasing company Jordan Aviation.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, a flurry of meetings are expected as U.S. private equity executives test for any appetite for further ventures, fund raising and deals from a region that has been burned by investing in the United States.
Some sovereign wealth fund investors have taken stakes in companies whose shares have dived dramatically, as well as faced a hostile reception from critics questioning their political motives. That has caused concern among U.S. buyout bosses about continued investment in the country.
TOUGH INVESTMENTS
“Imagine a private meeting in a room far from the US; a decision is quietly made and billions of dollars that were invested here find a new and more hospitable home,” wrote Schwarzman in a recent column in the Financial Times. “Or billions of dollars that could have been invested here are reallocated to other more benign markets.”
High profile investments have included U.S. bank Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which in January raised $12.5 billion from a private sale of convertible preferred securities to investors, including Kuwait and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Citigroup’s shares have lost about half their value this year.
Other investments include Abu Dhabi buying a $1.35 billion stake in Carlyle Group in September 2007 and Dubai taking a $1.26 billion stake in U.S. hedge fund Och Ziff Capital Management Group (OZM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in October 2007 before it went public, priced at $32 a share. Och Ziff shares have lost about 80 percent of their value since then.
Middle East investors bought $42 billion worth of U.S. assets last year and have spent $14 billion so far this year, data from Thomson Reuters shows. That vastly outweighs funds flowing the other way, with $1.4 billion invested last year by U.S. firms buying Middle East targets.
Private equity investments in the Middle East by U.S. firms totals $652 million so far this year.
In addition to buying direct stakes in companies, sovereign wealth funds have invested in private equity funds. A report earlier this year from London-based Private Equity Intelligence estimated they have up to $150 billion committed to private equity, equivalent of up to 10 percent of the global total capital available to the industry.
CRISIS SPREADS
But the Middle East has not escaped the global financial crisis. Gulf stocks have slumped as speculation intensified that a five-year property boom is over and developers could be forced to merge as financing conditions deteriorate.
U.S. buyout firms are grappling with their own issues.
In addition to an inability to finance deals, they are struggling to get their portfolio companies though the downturn. Some of the deals struck during the leveraged buyout boom of 2005-2007 look increasingly worrisome, bankers warn.
There are worries the deals struck during the boom will yield lower returns, having a knock-on effect on the ability of private equity firms to raise more funds. Other concerns center around alternative investments buyout firms have made, such as buying huge quantities of leveraged buyout loan debt.
The market crisis comes at an inopportune time for KKR and Apollo Management, which have said they plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
With rival Blackstone’s shares trading at less than a third of their 2007 IPO price, going public may not be such an appealing prospect.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Actually, a strike won’t do it. We need to replace the monetary system of the world with something of true value: A resource based economy. It is the only solution I’m aware of that gets rid of the environment that creates needs for greed and power. Do yourselves a favor and really read the proposals before dismissing them as unworkable. This will eventually happen, whether by a complete chaotic failure of the economic system of the world, or a planned move to it through mass education and purpose. Obviously the latter would be much preferred.
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” Herbert Spencer
October 14th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Oops, here is the link:
http://thevenusproject.com/
October 14th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Oh, the proposals I mentioned can be found at this website:
http://thevenusproject.com/
October 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Also, if you haven’t already done so, make sure to watch the whole Zeigeist Addendum movie which can be found here:
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/index.html
October 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Its not that hard.. They took all of our money… Then its only logical we play by the rules and get it back.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Marc.. your proposals are idealistic.. But those who have accumulated power and wealth will not give up that easily.. The only way they would be open to a “Venus Project” is if they could control it and profit from it.
Perssonally I do not think this effort of earth is totally about money. The most wealthy people in power have more than they could ever spend … This experiemnt is about controlling people.. Literally “farming humans” like some science project just to see what they will do as conditions are imposed on them.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I think it’s time for us to grab our torches and march on new york and washington as they did in frankenstein marching on the castle… I would rather die trying than doing nothing…
October 14th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Only in the world of Government deception and criminal activity can the criminals declare there own matter of guilt or innocence and write their own rules on how to loot the nations wealth and do it under the color of LAW!
October 14th, 2008 at 11:19 am
remember the unabomber theodore khazinsky. he tried to bring attention to what they were up to. he would know he use to work for them. they just painted him as a nut case.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am
It’s us, we wanted the cash.
If we were simple farmers, and that too only the organic,
self suffiencient type. Who couldn’t be wooed by the Multi Nationals
then we could always show them the finger.
Well some people I know already showed them the finger.
Manasabou Fukuwaka. Google that and see we have lessons there.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:41 am
to #12
I agree that the ideas are idealistic. Where we may differ is the idea that these people ( the elite or whatever label we give ) are very much different than ourselves. I don’t buy into the idea that they are. I do buy into the idea that our environment and ideals we are brought up in greatly influence the eyes we see the world through. It would be easy t wrest the control of the power of the minority of ruling elite, actually. There are far too many of them to overcome us. Having studied briefly how it was that Ghandi, with no means, money, title, military power, or any other such thing effected such change peacefully by resisting the evil of the day. Imagine 10,000 Gandhi level people (i’m not talking about religion here, or advocating a specific spiritual belief system, but rather love for mankind en masse) standing up with a voice of reason and refusing to play by the corrupt breeding rules. I do think it will happen. Certainly a global economic collapse moves us towards that direction.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:45 am
to #16, The facts just don’t support your claim. We have more poverty in the world than ever before. The world economy has never seen such a thing as we are seeing now. Something like 2% of the earth control 97% of the wealth. 50% of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day in miserable circumstances, while america spends trillions and billions on entertainment and excess like never before seen, wasting time, energy, and resources with no care about the rest of the world and little regard for the future of this planet that supports the people. If this isn’t something that is worth speaking out about, what is??
October 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
WOW, THAT WAS AN INTERSTING ARTICLE, IN LIGHT OF ALL THIS INFORMATION, WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT THEIR COUNTRY’S SOVERIEGNTY TO BE CAST INTO THE ABYSS. WHY WOULD ANYONE AGREE TO GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS AND PRIVELAGES FOR THIS SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO’S “ENDGAME” DOES NOT BENEFIT THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
I’M SO GLAD I AM GOING TO BE PART OF GOD’S ENDGAME! HALLELUYAH!
October 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
#21 Good for you but what’s in there for us?
October 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
No one is agreeing to give up their rights however it is too bad it is being done hurriedly behind peoples backs, cloaked in misconceptions, and in secrecy. Looks like a lot of big businesses are cheap!
October 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Regarding the next to the last paragraph….Since when is a secure retirement a “right”?
Protection from robbery is a right.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
About #16,
For all people who have awakened to the big picture of that which is happening around us Mr Photoshop expert provides clear illustration of the methodology that has been employed to trap us.
Martial Law is a real threat to the US public, just ask yourself why is it being talked about so much. Some congressmen reported that they were threatened with Martial law if they did not vote for the Bailout. The alien ship rumor for Oct 14 is also a softening process on the human mind to prepare us all for the deployment of project bluebeam. Any terrorist attack in USA will be a staged action by those elements seeking to create fear and panic in the population.
His third paragraph is a classic example of how to consolidate and reaffirm the belief system the illuminati want us to have. The truth is that wars have been in society for thousands of years because the controlling elite have consistently manufactured the wars and duped us into fighting them. He states with confidence “sure there will be more wars, its human nature to destroy each other for greed”. This is again classic mind control to tell us that it is obvious there will be more wars, it is only obvious to those that are willing to accept a future of wars. I am not too sure that it is human nature to destroy each other for greed. I suggest that without a controlling influence that sets one group against another, the human race is quite capable of playing nice and sharing.
His concept of being well off is flawed. In a system driven by economics and the banking system it is virtually impossible to have a serene life that leads to wisdom. You are forever grinding along on the treadmill of life, surrounding ourselves with preposterous gadgets and walling ourselves in behind interest payments and mortgages etc. Ask yourself about your dreams and ambitions, how many of us actually realise them during our life. Perhaps we are conditioned to stay within the box because stepping out of it is Oh so risky. The biggest risk in our lives right now is not to step out of the box. How often have you thought about taking some form of action only to self police your thought. Maybe you want to write to congress and express your feelings. Then do it. At this moment it is more of a risk not to make your influence count . They are hurtling us towards a complete fascist new world order. Open your eyes and look at the big picture. They will do it unless we stop them.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Ok. Who f-ked up first time?
Who f-ked 2nd time?
Ok?
Who’s gonna fix it?
?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
“Expected to attend were banking executives including Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America; Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs Group; John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley; and Robert P. Kelly, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon.”
Ok so lots of mega rich bastards get to discuss how they can further rip off everyone. Why doesn’t someone do something?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
No one has really noticed, which just goes to show how retarded society has become. From the good old USA and all around the financial world, more and more banks are falling under GOVERNMENT CONTROL. Can anyone smell what “The Rock” iz cookin??? A real play on words. Instead of banks running countries like we all feared, it will turn out the other way around. Governments will take over banks! Same difference, since our elected satanists take advice on how to run the world and treat people from business leaders more and more. because of course bankers and businessmen know how to treat people and have understanding and love! Uhhhh, I mean run the BOOKS good and up the profit, SCREW HUMANS!!!! Right spankymarine?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
no1 Terrorist
http://www.nasa.gov/images/con.....5;2649.jpg
October 14th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
http://www.projectrhyme.com/fo.....hp?t=35312
hey brothers I need your help waking these idiots up, plz help
October 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I read ‘photoshop expert’s’ first ignorant post and therefore have ignored the rest. That person is quite shallow and clearly quite limited in actual experience in the world, in spite of its claims otherwise. That person is on some sort of temporary high where it thinks it knows everything.
This and all other bailouts will naturally fail miserably. The total collapse is coming soon. Bankers and other suit-and-tie types like insurance agents and administrators will be slaughtered in the streets by angry working people.
October 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV78vobCyIo
October 14th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Photoshop _ see where you are coming from by post #30 by you…
First of all.. grow a set and approach your “greedy neighbor”…
YOU need to be governed and it is obvious by your statement. YOU know your NEIGHBOR is “taking all the banans” and from what you describe the area you live is a condo type and you consider the bananas “mutual property” of all who live there. Well.. WHY DON’T YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEM..CONFRONT YOUR NEIGHBOR !!!!!
It takes a little fortitude… But do not assume everyone thinks as you do. This country is bad off enough with out present “governors”…
If I am to be governerned.. I would like it done by someone who knows how in a fair fashion.. But lest you forget.. and I admit “We the People” have capitulated on our responsibility..WE are supposed to be the Governors in a Representative type Republic… Our legislators are supposed to be OUR VOICES.. Bailout vote told me what I need to know…
“30 photoshop expert Says:
October 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
simple example of how people are, my neighbor is so greedy, that he takes the bananas off the tree before anyone else, he never leaves any for anyone in this private luxury condo complex, i mean heck we got tons of food, but yet this one guy has to horde the bananas.
Just imagine if there was no super markets, holy fucking SHIT bat man.
yeah man will govern themselfs rofl you must be smoking crack”
October 14th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
We need to understand that they are not coming to get us so much as they are setting the traps knowing we will come to them willingly. As they slowly consolidate everything including the food and medication we need to survive we will eventually give in. We’ll come crawling on our hands and knee’s begging them to take care of us. They’ll take care of us alright! Maybe they’ll infect us with disease and then tell us they hold the cure but you have to come and get it at the designated vacination centers. How long can you hold out????? How long really?????
October 14th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Superquotes!
Quote from:
Bailout Like Treating Junkie With Shots Of Heroin
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
“Saxena labeled bailout measures as “poison” in the long term, adding that tradable rallies will mask the problem until the second quarter of next year but the meltdown will ensue soon after.”
Quote from:
The October Surprise: Global Panic
Stephen Lendman
Global Research
October 13, 2008
“…the global auto market may experience an “outright collapse” in 2009.
And we’re only talking about autos.”
October 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
This:
Late yesterday morning, news broke that the CEOs of the largest US banks would meet with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, to discuss the terms of the bailout.
Should be rewritten as this:
Late yesterday morning, news broke that the CEOs of the largest US banks would meet with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, to discuss the terms of the surrender and takeover.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Look at those little skinhead Nazis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS7ksrKk8Y
October 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ITS ABOUT TIME FOR PITCH FORKS AND TORCHES,,, if they dont start listening to US…. GET ready for $50 loaves of bread everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
You are speaking to the few Americans that already have gotten it (preaching to the choir) for these last 40+ years. The unfortunate side of the coin is that the remaining 80% to 90% here in America can’t even ID a photo of the current U.S. president, past U.S. presidents, current secty of state, treasury, fed chairman, have no idea when WWI or WWII occurred, who were the leaders involved and even what it was really about; etc., etc., etc….. Watch Leno’s jaywalking segments for proof. It’s beyond dumber than dumb, brain-deadness here in the U.S.A. Look at the toxic-crop of movies that Hollyweed (deliberate spelling) continue to roll out. Most Americans are and have been interested in the indulgence of self-gratification, hooked on drugs (both legal (big pharma) and otherwise), trashing the environment — the list is endless. Our Founding Fathers have stopped doing grave flips. When enough Americans GET IT; then…there will be change! Otherwise, for those of us who have gotten it —- get better prepared!
October 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
http://www.salon.com/news/feat.....index.html, LIVE FRIENDLY FIRE video, cover-up by the Army? Yes, it’s off topic sorry. I had to share.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-The.....-They%27re ……..Ehemm.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
God bless You, Americans!
No one wants to take Your possesions from you. You should study more what the communists taught.
They have at least some good Ideas: There are No races, And The only people interested in humiliating You is Your own Kind, – Aryans! You Are Sick, sick people, and You should invest in medical treatment rather than Guns and Food. The only reason Your beloved Country is Going to hell Is You Aryans coupled With the Zionists. Treat animals Better, and then Treat Your own kind Better, and The every human Better, then You will perhaps ascend To the Level of an average European. And All this talk of Guns and Rifles; Have You perhaps played to much Computer Games? Do You not know that a Human Dies of one heavy stroke at the head with a Fist? You think You are going to FEMA camps; Let me tell You, these camps where built for Your own protection against Hurricanes and other natural disasters. I am not a communist, Yet I am assured That Your country is Going to Utter Hell. And That fact makes me So Incredibly SAD!!!
America was a free place once upon a time, and Your leaders have made it to a hell on Earth.
Nevermind the Bilderbergs, The Bohemian Sodomites and the Rest of them, I trusted You, like a Father trusted his child, But You Failed me, and did things contrary to My will, – Yes, not only contrary but things I can not even write here. You let Mammon take The place of Jesus, Aldous Huxley take the Place of Epicuros and Wittgenstein take the place Of Swift, Bertrand Russell The place of Schopenhauer. Listen now; Money is Fiction, human happiness in the Abstract. This Means, – every time You take a breath, the abstract fools think (Hmm, one dollar or two dollars perhaps), every time You take a bath 5 pounds, every time You indulge in sexual Activities, Fifty Dollar Banco. Clever, Dear Americans, Do You see the folly Here? You were Gods most beloved People, In Your lands it was his intention that all People and Races should live free and in friendship, yet now it is Going to completely and Utter Hell. And do not You blame God. Because this is not at all his “EndGame”, – he intended quite another future for his people and the human kind. And let me Finally tell You that I am not a Human, – I am a cross breed of the so called aryan race (25 percent) and the Reptilan race (75 percent), so I am confident that I speak on the behalf of all my breathren when I say this: – We never wanted You to suffer This Evil, We wanted a world of Exciting Games and Stimulating Competition and Intellectual Peace, But You Made it To a World of Desire, Violence and Death. Therefore I say That the Blessing of the Chitauli will Go to a totally Different People, than You, Namely the Bulgarians, They Will understand The Games we Invented, Chess, Monopoly, and the Game the Westerners call Wair-Kravtr, the Power of the Orcs. And If I may Send You also This message: If You by any horrible Destiny will Suffer of Cancer or Of the terrible Man-Made sickness Called AIDS, Let me ask You quite Honestly: Why do You despice the Knowledge of My People? Our People have found remedies for almost every sickness imagineable in this terrible world of sickness and suffering. Please let My people, the Dreaded Folks in the White Robes treat Your Sickness, – only then will You perhaps One Day be Healthy again. Our People are not after money, You see, – we want the Best For Your Kind, – that is Why we have penetrated this Universe in search for Your Sicknesses (Both of Body And Soul) To Cure You once and For all And Bring You to the realm of Happinnes And Health of the body and Soul. You are Both Cruel and Ungrateful to Us, You reject Our WellMeaning Teachings, intended For Your Well Being, And then You also Reject our Science Developed To make You Healthy Again. And About these “FEMA CAMPS”. Let me tell You about them; Some friends of Mine spent the entire Summer trying to figure out the right Flavour of the Coffee and Tea for You, – They Measured the Ping-Pong tables with Utmost Care, so that You could Have As much fun playing this game, and they insisted that the cost of the delicious food was raised even double from 25 dollars to 50 (!) dollars per portion. The Most delicious Ice-Cream was ordered from France, and the most advanced Pasta-Sauses were stolen from the Land Your People Call “Italy”, the land Our people Call Rome of Old. We invented Fun Games and Sports for You to play, – both Lazerdomes and Other Combat games, – We bought Computers with advanced Graphic Cards so That You could play the Latest Games in case of Emergency. And While we did all this, You spread the words That We Chitaure-Lizards were planning “Concentration-Camps”, like the Nazis Planned for the Jews. And, Sirs, Let me tell You this, – The Nazis were In fact OUR opponents, it was they Who planned all this Fear, malice and insensitivity in Your souls, whit We lizards wanted You to Think Logically and Feel Good and have a long and Good Life filled with amusement and Art. The Nazis Spread words of UFO:S and Underground bases to make Your Souls out of Tune with the Eternal-Calm Lizard mind, Everything they Did was to Get You out of tune with the Lizard-Mind, The eternal Ruler and God of This World and every other Good and Kind world And Creation. We can not Fear, that is the Truth. But we can not be Evil, – that Is another Truth. If we Lizard-Men were truly Evil – Do You really think that we would have let You lived and developed for so long as You have? Instead We made recipies of Coffe, Soups and Delicious food in the “FEMA CAMPS”, invented fun games and Funny Shows for You to Watch in the Cinema, – We invented medicines for Every sickness of Your Body and Mind, – Cared For Your Young with Social Security and Good Human People, – made several good communities in the 50:ths and the 60:ths, and then You laughed at us and called Us, – The Gods of Old, You Called Us “NAZIS”. Are You not Ashamed of Yourselves???
October 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Photoshop! You ROCK! It’s about time that someone else is not pointing fingers and claiming “DoomsDay” It is all our fault! And I am raising my children, as I was raised… To not buy outside my means. Pay cash, only have one credit card, for emergencies. And pay that sucker off as soon as possible! I am afraid of our country’s future, but only for my kids sake.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
#51 so you are a ping pong table measuring lizard who invented monopoly while making coffee for fema camps well do not pass go do not collect £200 go straight to jail. you are taking the piss mate-stop the world i wanna get off -how very dare you -what a creep
October 14th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Did You know, that in the complete history of the DOW eight out of ten top peaks occured during the early years of the Great Depression?
#3 was the day after the great kickoff crash of 1929. What? the majority of the best DOW peaks occured during the great depression? What?
The DOW is not exactly the best indicator of where we are. We know where we are, and once the bailout money hits the banker boyz, game gets tough.
Best Days of the Dow (% Gain)
1 15.3% March 15, 1933
2 14.9% October 6, 1931
3 12.3% October 30, 1929
4 11.1% October 13, 2008
5 10.1% October 21, 1987
6 9.5% August 3, 1932
7 9.5% February 11, 1932
8 9.4% November 14, 1929
9 9.4% December 18, 1931
10 9.2% February 13, 1932
October 14th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Did You know, that in the complete history of the DOW eight out of ten top peaks occured during the early years of the Great Depression?
#3 was the day after the great kickoff crash of 1929. What? the majority of the best DOW peaks occured during the great depression? What?
The DOW is not exactly the best indicator of where we are. We know where we are, and once the bailout money hits the banker boyz, game gets tough.
Best Days of the Dow (% Gain)
1 15.3% March 15, 1933
2 14.9% October 6, 1931
3 12.3% October 30, 1929
4 11.1% October 13, 2008
5 10.1% October 21, 1987
6 9.5% August 3, 1932
7 9.5% February 11, 1932
8 9.4% November 14, 1929
9 9.4% December 18, 1931
10 9.2% February 13, 1932
October 14th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
I think you have the judge the DOW for what it is; A temperature measurement equipment what goes on in trade and mixed emotions as an whole. That’s why these percentages of gain are rather worthless without it’s context. It is just a correction on a former overreaction, nothing more.
Imagine a very deep canyon where everbody fell into and now sombody on top is looking downwards over the cliff deep into the canyon and just watched one person creeping out of the wather and somebody is overenthousiastic shouting “Look they’ve made it!”.
That’s exactly what’s bothering me about the latest mainstream paper headlines recently.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Strange fact about KKR:
From all the end of last years 6 billion dollar investors money, 40% still isn’t invested yet!?
That raises the question where all the KKR money goes collected recently?
October 15th, 2008 at 12:10 am
#Zeitgeist has some good stuff in it but sometimes it’s way of or over the top.
If you think more Eclectic or Synthetic wisdom is everywhere beside allotof bs – Excusez Le Mot!
(Can’t say “excuse my French cause I speak a little the French say “Sorry for the chosen word” – “Excusez le mot”).
I think the kapitalistic sytem can be wrong as saying “Money is wrong?”
The are all just tools to get the good working markets going in doing what they are best at – Selfregulating.
But that doesn’t work on rigged, sob lieing NWS (Novus Ordo Scum) controlled markets, it’s just that simple.
You need some rules to keep the water of the market clean to prevent building up of toxic waist like what has been happening lately for all to see.
Alotoff very usefull market protecion rules where destroyed from Pres. Raegen –> Clinton –> Bush Brotherhood.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:45 am
The banksters have always been telling the politicians to jump. The politicians response “How high?” The whole banking system needs to be changed. Remember the laws of the land are for the slaves oh I’m sorry I mean Citizens. The banksters oh I’m sorry I mean the executives would face investigation and prosecution for overseeing the predatory lending practices that led to the housing and credit crises, but dont worry they wont be prosecuted for anything.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:05 am
US Homeowners Soon To Be Evicted By Chinese Police Under New Law. So it seems this was granted to Chinese government in exchange they continue funding US debt to avoid totall economic collapse of the american economy.
So now your mortgage belongs to some bank far in China and now your house is their house, you live on Chinese sovereign soil.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:17 am
#57 Sorry this was news from a year ago from 2006.
Still wondering what they are at?
October 15th, 2008 at 5:24 am
The banking crisis is just like all the others, created and manicured to justify overthrowing existing laws and regulations.
The events of 9/11 were contrived to justify the annihilation of our Constitution, Bill Of Rights and Judiciary, much the same as the Reichstag was used to justify the Enabling Act of 1933, which decapitated the legislative branches of Germany, giving rise to the executive branch and dictatorship on Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler.
And in keeping with that, the banking crisis as it’s being manipulated into position is a repeat of past bankrupting policies(like the laws of gravity) and it will crash the US economy, as planned, to JUSTIFY a major change in our currency, which has been preengineered to fall into the lap of a “global currency.”
Put into simple words, it’s a rigged game aimed to provide the pretexts to justify to total reconstruction of America, for assimilation into a foreign form of GLOBAL GOVERNMENT. Our leaders are in cahoots with this master plan and have surrendered our Constitution, Industrial Military Complex, science, technologies and institutions and now finally our currency over to the enemy.
This is not a joke and our leaders are flat out lying to us, as they frame these events with misleading and deceptive false belief systems, calling the entire contrived mess an emergency continuity plan. The only continuity here is the constant attack and assault on everything Americans have ever known, from the meaning of freedom, to moral decency and the very heritage of this country.
We are being liquidated and our leaders are just the auctioneers and brokers to that end, as they sell us like slaves to a FOREIGN form of government, while trying to pass it off as something legislated in accordance with our laws. Everything they are doing is illegal from soup to nuts and none of this has been rattified and even worse, they have LIED to We The People, as to how they have conspired against us all. These decisions are being made by a few very powerful control freaks and it’s their version of how they would like us to behave, what they would like for us to have and what they believe our civil rights should be next to nill.
We are taking orders from compulsive spenders, addicted to money and power, that are willing to lie, deceive and even kill as many thousands as they feel they need to, in order to win at this game plan.
We had to kick the shit out of them in 1776 and it looks like we will have to do it agian, like Dirty Harry said to the sick mother f’ker, “are you feeling lucky, go ahead, make my day.” Are the sick Neocon bastards that have infiltrated our institutions and overthrowing us feeling lucky? Go ahead assholes, go ahead, make AMERICA’S DAY and WE WILL KICK YOUR ASS WITHOUT MERCY BECAUSE EVERYONE NOW KNOWS YOUR GAME.
The PEOPLE know and THE PEOPLE ARE GATHERING AND YOU WILL NOT WIN. And with today’s technology and communication we will identify you and clearly define what you are, to be viewed by all as the plague and parasite on all of mankind, to be erradicated for the social cancer(s) that you surely and sorely are.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Well, bailout may work for this time, but there is threat that it will cause stronger crisis in the future, since such actions create moral hazard and banks become more willing to undertake high risks to get higher returns.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:51 am
To all of those that want a world currency, The founding fathers of Americans kicked England’s ass because they would allow them to have there own currency and because of taxes.
If you do not learn from history it is bound to repeat itself. Fuck your currency.
October 15th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Bush said on TV. The US government is going to buy the banks and were going to nationalize the banks. Which I think is exactly what Hitler did. But basically if you been paying attention. The US government isnt exactly buying the banks. The Federal reserve is buying the banks. Which means the federal reserve has control over the governmet.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Well…there is no sense in bickering about anything now. If you want to blame and point fingers at someone; go look in the mirror and start with yourself. This is OUR fault WE let this happen!
October 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Well…there is no sense in bickering about anything now. If you want to blame and point fingers at someone; go look in the mirror and start with yourself. This is OUR fault WE let this happen!
October 15th, 2008 at 8:39 am
All of these problems, and the billions and billions of words written about them are all the result of Congress abrogating their duty and responsibility in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution “To coin money…[and] regulate the value thereof…”.
When I spent my year in the mountains and jungles of Viet Nam in 1968, we were issued our pay in Military Payment Certificate (MPC), which we could use anywhere on any of the bases and even with the Vietnamese ‘Coke girls’ who would mysteriously show up after a firefight even before the last body on the ground had stopped twitching to sell their $1 cold cokes. The Vietnamese/American black market was also forced to use MPC as payment, for only this funny money was available. Nevertheless, the MPC was interchangeable with American dollars in some mysterious way, so the Army would reprint and change the look of the MPC every so often and allow the troops to change their old MPC in for the new. No Vietnamese, and no Americans with exorbitant amounts could trade the old MPC for new. This put an effective stop to black market profits to everyone involved (and especially, I hope, to those asshole clerks in the rear who would sell the new poncho liners to the Vietnamese, while we in the field were stuck with our tattered, ragged, blood stained ones (similar to the Iraq situatuation today)).
The Constitution is very clear on who coins money and who regulates the value of it. Congress could just follow the Constitution, print some new money, and we’d be out of this mess in no time.
My Vietnamese wife just took her citizenship test yesterday. One of the questions was, “What is the supreme law of the land?” She had to lie and say, “The Constitution”. ‘We the people’ let it die at the hands of mauraders, rapists, and deceitful con-men. There just isn’t any excuse for us; we deserve what we get.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:57 am
This is what has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald over the last few day about what the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd has said (amounts in Australian dollars).
———————————–
Exorbitant executive salaries may get a trim under a Federal Government plan to deal with the “extreme capitalism” at the root of the global financial crisis.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today revealed the government will work with the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) to bring fat-cat pay packets under control.
Mr Rudd believes better rules are required to “rein in any executive greed”.
He told the National Press Club that the “failure of extreme capitalism” had forced governments to prevent the financial system’s collapse.
“You’ve got to act at home and you’ve got to act abroad on this.
“This is not just a question of fairness and perceived fairness in the system, it goes actually to the kernel of the incentive structures around risk-taking.
Tough times ahead
Mr Rudd said the Government had set a “national course of action” to steer through the crisis.
“As Prime Minister I won’t sit by and watch Australian households suffer the worst effects of a global financial crisis they did not cause.”
“The surplus was a prudent and appropriate measure to build up for tough times ahead.”
———————————–
The surplus he talks about is the $20 billion budget surplus that the Australian Government has. In another article can be found the stimulus for the Australian economy.
———————————–
Low and middle income families will receive a Christmas bonus of $1000 per child, single pensioners will get a $1400 payment and pensioner couples will be given $2100 under an emergency $10.4 billion rescue package announced today to protect the economy.
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said it was to “strengthen the Australian economy in the face of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression”.
The Government has also decided to double the first home buyers grant to $14,000 for those who buy an established home and to triple it to $21,000 for those who buy a newly built home.
Mr Rudd said the one-off bonus payments to pensioners and families would be made on December 8. The housing bonus would apply immediately and for the rest of the 2008-09 financial year.
_____
THE PACKAGE
- families will receive a Christmas bonus of $1000 per child
- single pensioners will get $1400
- pensioner couples will get $2100
FIVE KEY MEASURES
- $4.8 billion down payment on long-term pension reform
- $3.9 billion for low and middle income families
- $1.5 billion investment to help first home buyers
- $187 million to create 56,000 new training places in 2008-09
- Accelerate three nation-building funds and investment in nation building projects to 2009
______
Announcing the spending at a press conference in Canberra today, Mr Rudd declared the global financial crisis had entered into a “new, dangerous and damaging phase” and the Government was acting early and decisively to protect jobs and households.
The pension package is worth $4.8 billion and will be paid to pensioners, carers and seniors.
Those on the single pension will get a lump sum bonus of $1400 and pensioner couples will get $2100.
Carers will get $1000 for each eligible person they care for.
———————————-
Do I trust Kevin Rudd, I don’t know. Is he helping the people that need the money the most, Yes. I am on the carers pension since I care for my wife. I have two children. My household gets $750 a week, every week and now the bonus of at least $4100 (maybe $5100) will allow me to buy a newer car.
What is happening in America and Europe is fraud. All the money is be going into the banks while the poor get nothing.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Sounds like a gangster circle jerk. Unfortunately we’re the bitch in the middle. We are the serfs, the peasants, the sucka’s. We get to pay for these assholes luxury vacations, sprawling mansions, Bentleys, and obscene “bonuses”, while we eat carcinogen laced genetically modified stomach filler, drink polluted water, and send our children to brainwashing centers. Are you angry yet? You should be MAD AS HELL,GOD DAMN IT!!! Fucking parasites sucking us dry!!
October 15th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Why is it that every time I read these posts, there are several, in not all, pointing out what happened and why, yet there’s no cures? Other than the people need to rise up against them.
We all know that the masses of the people, some 85% or more (just an opinion), are completely lost and have bought into the dream that your vote counts, the government is here to help and protect you, and we have the strongest economy in the world. I know this because I have had several discussions, some unpleasant at times, with quite a few of my friends and neighbors, who think I’m crazy and against our government and country. I’m sure that some of you out there have experienced the same situations.
So where does that leave us? What can be done to get the attention of the perpetrators? What signal can be sent to them that do the harm that we the “few” people will, and are starting to make some noise?
There are too many reasons of how we got here, and there are several. Now is the time to figure out how we deal with today, not history. We can’t change history, but together we can change today.
I ask all of to take a moment, and ask yourself what can you contribute to helping?
The Presidential vote is fixed and manipulated, and you have no effect on it’s outcome whatsoever. But, the local, city, county, and state seats are not so well protected.
It would be my ideal move for everyone to vote out all incumbents, and vote for anyone other than who’s poster is on the billboard. There is as much corruption in those small boards as there is in Washington. At least it would be a start.
Any ideas? Are we too late?
October 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Money is magick literally. Alchemy, science and witchcraft over the last 5000 years has melded through those who seek power through the mystery of the universe. Spells, are merely ions travelling around the world, carried by the cosmic wind or an object. So literally the plates are enchanted I believe to include turning yoiur mind into an apathetic blob, which makes sense with all the crap people sell that makes you stupid.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am
And another thing Kaskari looks like he takes it in the ass. God damn fag.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Zeitgeist Addendum left out one possible independent energy source; electromagnetics.
See orionproject.org for more details. Also the world is not ready for free energy economics.
There is too much racism; White supremacy movement, factions in the muslim world and Albanians vs serbs in Eastern Europe.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:26 am
@Washington
A much more truthful post from you (though cunning). The thing is that NO, we are not to late since we are only at the beginning.
This beginning is where some sheep will finally work out that they have been screwed over all there lives. They will come to realize that Cars can run on water and free energy is something we could have had over 20 years ago. They will also realize that War is a racket and that the most pivotal event of the ages, 9/11 was and inside job.
I know a lot of people that are still walking around in a conditioned sleep. To get them to open their eyes to such fundamental information that Inflation is a tax that diminishes previous works efforts and that loaned money that must be paid back with interest is just pulled out of the air is very tiresome.
People the world over have been dumb down for generations will have to have everything that they cherish taken from them before they will removed themselves from that TV and believe that the New World Order is reality. Eventually some will wake up and then the world at large will experience a French style revolution. Only then can humanity show it’s underlying greatness.
The best idea is to keep on waking up the sheep and at the appropriate time, take personal action.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:35 am
nazis are beck to abuse us all fdr are criminals im from israel i wont be nwo slave
October 15th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Realistically there is only one way to stop the evil money madness that is happening within the walls of our government and that is to deprive them of this very object that allows them to become so evil and greedy…….MONEY!
EVERYONE must refile their W-4 forms and claim exempt.PERIOD.
When we stop donating our hard earned money to the very criminal elements that created this madness in the first place, we begin to see a change for the better. This illegal trickery that YOU give them permission to take your money is why we are where we are right now. If ALL Americans did this, there would be true change tomorrow. It is like a hoard of vampires in a feeding frenzy, when they have trillions of dollars at their disposal, they must find new ways to blow it and there is so much money changing hands that it has terribly corrupted the very minds of the ones you have elected.
There is NO LAW that requires you to pay income taxes unless you are a Government employee, an officer of a corporation or a foreign person on a work visa or you are from Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands. Period end of discussion.
If we all do this, they CANNOT even try to enforce their illegal trickery upon us.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Photoshop expert,
Although your tone is somewhat venomous at times, I admit your “staight talk” is somewhat refreshing. For the most part you are correct regarding a whole host of topics, any of which could be the basis for lengthy discussion. I’ll do my best to be concise.
If I had to make an argument against your position I would say that you assume that everyone is the same. There are those of us who understand freedom. That boils down to taking responsibility for your own life and actions. I would humbly give you my own life as example.
I live in West Virginia and own seventeen acres of land. I paid it off in three years doubling and tripling the payments when I could. I don’t make alot of money. Between $40,000.00 and $60,000.00 a year. After taxes and child support I get to keep about $30,000.00. It was our choice that my wife doesn’t work (out of the home) and stays home to home-school our eight year old son.
We have no credit cards, no outstanding loans, meaning my old truck is paid for. I paid for the stove, refridgerator, washer and dryer and all the other furniture with cash as we could afford to buy them. We even used a large cooler, ice and the cold winters here for two years until we had saved the money for a fridge.
Guns, ammo, food stockpiles, clothes, tools you name it. We did/do without until we have the money to buy in cash. That means that we only have one television but we rarely watch it because everyone in the household is an avid reader. We only have one vehicle, one computer and so on a so forth.
In short, we live very modestly. I could go on endlessly about how our very lives are so much different than the average buy till you binge consumer. Especially around the holidays. We don’t participate in most of them and the ones that we do participate in are kept very modest. Maybe a good meal, a gift or two for our young son and the meaning behind the holiday. That’s it.
Now that you know a little about me I would continue by asking a rhetorical question.
How are my wife, son and I rewarded for our “modest” life style?
To begin. Our friends think we are crazy. No really. Several years ago I was given a revelation of the things that are happenening now and beyond. Did I just recognize the unfoding of history repeating itself or was it a divine revelation? That’s not the topic of debate and it doesn’t matter anyways. It changes nothing. The fact is I have tried to warn all my friends over the years about the destructive lifestyles that Americans are living because I care for them. I see the storm clouds brewing and I’ve tried to warn them. We do indeed stand on the edge of the abyss looking into a bottomless chasm of utter dispair in more ways than I can tell you.
Economically, it may be too late to save the national currency. Not because we couldn’t fix the problem were everyone living inside their means but because so many people are trapped within the existing system. Me? I’m set and it matters not if there is cash or not. I saw the signs and began preparing several years ago. My biggest concern now is keeping what I have worked and sacrificed for without some desperate person or people trying to take it. Not to mention the government trying to take it by declaring me a “hoarder”. The point is that this government has made it it’s soul duty to take from people like me and give to the people who you describe and who least deserve it according to the freedoms this nation was founded upon. It’s been going on for so long that people think it is their “right” to take what’s mine and pass it out to everyone else. That’s not the way freedom works. Under the rules of true freedom you are free to work, if you don’t then it is your “right” to go hungry. It’s a matter of self responsibilty.
Internationally the warning signs are all there. The Russians have been getting very aggressive in the western hemisphere. The Chinese are calling for a new world reserve currency or petro dollar. We’ve finally meddled in the business of enough countries around the world that they are as sick of it as we are. And of course with this latest financial debacle we have become the worlds fall guy for everyone else’s greed since it is we who promoted and perpetuated the “western” lifestyle. We’re being set up for the fall. Just as Germany was demonized prior to it’s great war you can bet it won’t be long before we pay the same price.
Domestically we have a whole host of irreconcilable differences. We have a clashing of the many cultures who live here and compete for the finite resources of this country. As resources diminsh these cultures will polorize and begin to war with each other. It’s near the boiling point now. You think it doesn’t exist. We’ll see what happens after this election.
Aside from the cultural differences we also have a government that is corrupt from the very top to the very bottom. In it’s struggle for survival our government is begining to exhibit signs of becoming very oppressive. That means that soon it will no longer be a “choice” of participation but it will be forced upon you whether you want it or not. Justice is no longer to be found here. Truth is no longer to be found here. The one right we do have is the right to be left alone and it’s pretty much gone.
I make no bones about it. This country in it’s current form is dead already. It has been defeated and robbed from within it’s putrid rotten core. Soon a holocaust will be unleashed upon us and the world. Sadly the question is will it come from inside as the corruption with our government consolidates it’s control over us or will it come from outside because the world has had enough. I can’t say. I only know things cannot continue as they have.
What about us? Are we to just roll over and sit passively while others much more evil than ourselves force themselves upon us. Are you suggesting that I let the bully have his way without a fight? I only want to be left alone. But just like any other bully this one will not give way to reason. Should I just hand over what little has been left to me including the lives of my children?
I’ve tried to do my part and live responsibly. Is this how I am to be rewarded?
I think not. The bully will only push me so far. He will only take what I have been tolerent to let him have because of my longsuffering generosity. If he persist then perhaps it’s time for a bloody nose, not kill him mind you but remind him of his mortality. Bring him back to the side of reason. Remind him that my right to be left alone will be respected or there is hell to pay. I’m not asking for much but what little I am asking I insist upon without compromise that it be given to me.
Truth, justice and the right to be left alone. That’s all I ask. Should we not be able to agree on these three very simple concepts then the alternative is death for one of us. If it’s me, whether alone or with others of like mind, so be it. I will die knowing that I did the right thing for my children and was honorable in my dealings with others. What more could be asked of me? If by the providence of God that it should be the bully who is defeated then all the better. Because if he is defeated perhaps we can right the many wrongs that have befallen our nation and the world because of our nation. Who knows? I sure don’t. But the one thing I do know. If I am pushed over my line, the place where I say “that’s it”, then Katy bar the door because I am no ones slave and I will not lick the boot that kicks me.
What happens from here on out is up to the bully. He can return to the voice or reason. Or not. It’s up to him. I’m just here to tell him tread lightly because he may not like the alternative.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:34 am
#62 Up Parascope
Very well said. Very well indeed!
October 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am
To Apostle – this is by far the best piece I’ve read in a long time. We need a revolution.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Hey Apostle!
I was born and raised in the mountains of West Virginia and to this day $40-$60K
per year is a fantastic living. I know folks who still don’t have telephones, indoor
plumbing or running water. Back in the day I never earned more than $6-$8K
per year and we survived on venison, home grown crops, a cow, some chickens,
hard work and a lot of prayer. The last 20 years or so things have been a bit easier
since moving to Florida, but I often miss that simple life. I still don’t use banks and
work only for cash. My 3 sons are grown and know how to live off the land. Lots
of Americans don’t go in for the “modern life”, which is actually slavery. Slavery
to styles, gimmicks, lust and envy. I’ve got a little grandson now who is 9 years
old and looks exactly like Bobby Driscoll down to his bib overalls. He can already
take care of himself. He can fish, hunt and trap. He can grow a garden and mend
his own clothes. He can fix machines and sail like his Dad and me. My grand
fathers taught me that “prosperity” is always temporary; that only people who
know how to “do something” other than play will survive. We are going to have to
start the United States all over again, and it’s gonna be tough. But there are many
of us up to the task and looks like quite a few listen to Alex’s program. Everyone
remember, this is one heck of a bump in the road and it will be a long time fixing,
but when it’s done things will be better than ever! Have faith in God and good.
LONG LIVE OUR BLOOD-BOUGHT FREE AMERICAN REPUBLIC!
October 15th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Every single CEO,CFO should be executed at that meeting!!! Put them all on the Space Shuttle…suit em’ up…throw them out of the bay and can all play together during re-entry!!! Hey people…that’s cheap and innovative compared to what the bailout is!!! Not only that, we all could listen to their drivel on re-entry!!! Or just slice, poke, chop chop, stab, cut!!! “All ‘HAIL’ Thermal Expansion!!!”
October 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Huck: I like your style!!! Even though I’m purely Agnostic…shame more aren’t that way!!! Thanks Bro’!!! “All ‘HAIL’ Thermal Expansion!!!”
October 15th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
You’re right Huck. I consider myself blessed. Right now I live in a small town and the farm has fallen fallow. All of the jobs dried up and I just couldn’t make it at the homeplace gatherin moss and sangin. But I still have it. The farm that is. I was out there the other week to make sure everything is still there. It’s nestled up in the deep hollars and easily defended. I only have three neighbors withhin a mile or two and they are of like mind as me. It’s eight miles from the nearest town or paved highway and a couple miles down a one lane dirt road. I’ve been planning and making things ready to bug out of this here berg and return knowing there is not much chance of the hysterical hoards finding their way there. If they do and they come in peace I’ll share a meal or two with them as much as I am able and send them on their way. If not then I’ll afford them the other hillbilly hospitality that I am sure you remember as well.
Good luck to you. God speed and I hope to run into you on the front lines.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Fantastic article!
Why are the poor/middle class paying for the bourgeoisie’s life style. How does a company justify paying an incompetant individulal millions in salary?
There is a saying, “you get what you pay for” meaning the more you pay the better the product. But in this case??? Do you not think that the individuals that are receiving these high wages should have known what they are/were doing. Where is the accountability? Why are they not in jail and all their assets seized? The general public must start a law suit!!
It took the bourgeoisies how long to bring the US economy to this state? Give me 2 million and I will do it much cheaper and much quicker!!
December 6th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Citi CEO Vikram Pandit will address employees today about the bank’s reduction in workforce, reports CNBC’s Charlie Gasp… G20 Plan Enough? As world leaders at the G20 meeting agree on further coordinated action in an attempt
December 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Better to be a broker than a baron on Wall Street if you’re expecting a big bonus this year. The decision by top Goldman Sachs executives to forgo bonuses in 2008 is forcing other investment bank bosses to consider