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Franz Kafka Would Be Proud: On America's End Of Liberty
"Americans today are constantly watching their speedometers and trying to conform to every little rule yet there are so many rules that it's impossible for even the most honest and hard-working Americans not to be breaking some type of law on a daily basis. We are slaves in a criminal monetary system, where the Federal Reserve steals from the middle class through inflation and transfers this wealth to their banker friends on Wall Street. We are forced to accept pieces of paper of money while the US constitution defined only gold and silver as legal tender...We are now seeing countless signs on a daily basis that the US is headed for a complete societal collapse as we know it, forever."
The government is finally being exposed for being the most systematic abuser of those primal human weaknesses known to Franz Kafka over a hundred year ago: namely - riddle people with guilt, force them to obey countless rules and regulations, many of which are in stark disagreement with each other, keep them preoccupied with superficial lies, provide them with a marginal education, prevent them from thinking for themselves, allow the constant deflection of individual responsibility, provide a society of countless lawyers where any infarction, no matter how minor, serves as the basis for substantial wealth loss, all the while hiding behind a system of increasingly insolvent welfare, whose sole purpose is to validate the destruction of labor product savings, and the devaluation of money. At the center of this nearly 100 year successful wealth transfer plan is none other than the Federal Reserve: a private institution controlled by wealthiest, whose tentacles reach into the government, into the media, and into every classroom (especially those of brainwashed Ivy League students).
As Gerald Celente says, America has become a society where one is guilty until proven innocent. Is it any wonder that nobody respects the constitution any more? MERS fraud, financial collapse, unprecedented political corruption, and not one person found guilty or put in jail...How can one respect what America has become?
Just over two hundred years after America's "independence", the country has reverted to a despotic state, at whose apex is the New Novus Ordo Seculorm, not that envisioned by the founding fathers, but its mutated, freakish descendant, which managed to survive Andrew Jackson's victory over the Second Bank of the United States, and is now controlling everything through the secret and unauditable decisions made in the halls of the Marriner Eccles building, and a stock market which is driven exclusively by the order flow emanating from Liberty 33.
And even as America prepares for yet another theatrical farce of what Democracy has become in the form of the mid-term elections, whose outcome will have no bearing whatsoever on the future of this country, the far more important decision, that virtually no American has any control over, except for a few bankers and a few religious fundamentalists, is the Fed's decision to decisively do away with the reserve currency, appropriately due on the very same day.
We suggest everyone watch the below clip documenting the end of US liberty, and its transition to a state that is everything that those who created America rebelled against.
h/t Robert
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The dirty little secret Sean, is that probably we were never let in the game , to be perfectly honest. It was always one big lie. They threw us a few bones and told us we were free men, but we were not , not really. Now after a little over 200 years the grand plan is coming together for them and we sit and argue over what we need to do? As I have stated. They don't care about us talking about it. Talk is cheap. When you control everything and you control the money of a country, then why would they even giving one good damn about what we think and what we say? They simply do not. They use this system against us and drape this goofy thing called "the law" and the "Constitution" around their actions and call them good. We , look at such things and scratch our collective heads wondering what the hell is going on. Meantime just a bit more and just of whatever liberties we still have is taken away and we are told this is a good thing by people who we elect to go to offices and protect us and do the bidding of those who elect them. This is not the case, perhaps , it never was. This thing called the United States is a sham and a joke and we are the ones that the joke is on, our fathers and their fathers before them, all of us. This is what we get trying to keep up with the Jones and living in our own little worlds and not really paying attention to what is really going on. Yes we deserve what we have gotten. But yes there is still some time, and, yes , and....there is hope.
So, you say there is hope. Where have you placed your bet? I'm serious. You obviously understand what has happened, what will you do to see yourself through to the other side?
Only what I am able, just like everyone else. Ya pays your money, ya takes your chances. Was it ever thus?
Hey forgot something very important, support that Beck guy (a real red, white, and blue patriot), support the tea party ( a real grass roots, intellectual endeavor), and ROCK THE VOTE BABY!
You forgot </s>
So true! Better to support that sexy deep-voiced minority Obama! "Chains you can believe in"! That's what I'm talking about!
Serf's up, dudes!
End of Liberty in America maybe?
Hmmmmmm......Funny how all disaster movies always have a money shot of the statue of liberty, keeled over in some grotesque angle of repose, the torch sticking out or iced over or some such.
New York, New York, so much like the Old York!
Pork pork, more pork...
The Cops in the US, the keepers of liberty at a local level, were awful, some of the stories I've heard...and experienced...
Anyways, Experiment America had a use by date and that date is fast approaching... it's all written in folks. We are all exactly where we should be at this moment.
But in quality of life terms, not good all around, much needed cleanse and all notwithstanding.
I think.
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Here's an example of government intrusion I experienced twice in the last month. I was notified by both ETrade and my local credit union that due to inactivity in my accounts, no deposits or withdrawals over the past year, the money in my accounts would be turned over to the US government. This is the law.
This is yet another example of the US government totally out of control.
Wtf?? This makes no sense Steve. Garnishment?Do they think you are dead?
They probably hope I'm dead.
Different states have different time frames - CA 3 years, FL 1 year. One year in FL isn't much time, wouldn't you agree? But why should any government be allowed to do this at all?
Read how the same thing has happened to others:
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/08/youre_not_a_fre.html
I was mildly shocked to recently discover this! I've had a "high-yield" savings account with my credit card company for a while. I was reading the fine print to figure out the limitations on withdrawals when I by chance saw that my state government will confiscate my savings after one year of inactivity. In their infinite generosity, they will make an attempt to contact me and give me an opportunity to reclaim my money. Unbelievable!
http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal01/2010/10/30/17/enhance...
YEAAAA
thanks for the link to the movie.
MERS fraud
what a disgrace. big banks hire a few low level employees to sign thousands of affidavits a month. they have no idea what they are signing. the banks know this. an affidavit is an important legal document, made under oath, under penalty of perjury. what the banks have done is an insult to our judicial system, an insult to every legitimate judge and lawyer.
and now we have criminal trials done in secret. done to protect "trade secrets" of a big "bank" that admittedly "can manipulate markets in unfair ways". and excluding evidence that may pertain to illegal trading programs by the "victim".
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/goldmantradercase102720...
Revolutions are the locomotives of history.
Karl Marx
Class Struggle in France (1850)
There are MANY good and decent people in the US. Unfortunately, they keep watching flashing boxes and are trying very hard to believe known and obvious liars.
I have to wonder whether the hypnotic spell will ever break.
That would be - NO.
i can't drive 55
bugs_ bringin' Sammy WhoT
5150
You'll know we're gettin' somewhere when the fucks doing that in the fast lane, or worse, flying in formation at that speed will be routinely ticketed for impeeding the flow of traffic. And perhaps get a 5150, 72 hour special for repeat offenders.... Just know that the original was released solo a year before the van Hagar era..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJWVw6xqY0
Fear Factor, going south is increasing fear. Doctor copper and FF say this market is in trouble. Big Ben says I got a printing press and I don't care how that hurts the savers of the country, I have academic policies to carry out and my handlers are happy that I am carrying this view.
http://oahutrading.blogspot.com/2010/10/pretty-good-charts-sunday-boatload.html
The USA is more and more a Police State..
Homeland Security / FEMA built prison camps
and won't admit to it....
Hey Now! Thats just bullshit! You want all them goddamned dirty A-rabs comin in here, and doin their hairykairy bullshit when yer sittin in yer sunday bests? Dont listen to this A-hole Homeland Security or FEMA. Keep on doin what u do best :)
I like the second paragraph rant but it might be a run on sentance.
Well, lets also try to remember that in parallel to the Fed exists a massive federal bureaucracy that makes law all on its own, so much law that no one can understand it. We are all guilty of something, as are all private entities.
This constitutes tyranny, because, as many private companies and individuals have seen under various administrations, the federal bureaucracies come down hard on folks who say the wrong things. Currently, health insurers and companies that buy health insurance for their employees are under threat by the federal bureaucracies to not state the obvious regarding "Obamacare" which is a raft of authorizations for dozens of new federal offices to do things to us as they judge fit.
The Declaration of Independence complained de King George of the "multiplication of offices." They had just no idea of the magnitude of multiplication of offices that would be possible. This has happened to us thanks to too much democracy. Demagogue politicians of the progressive bent, both Republican and Democrat, bought votes by multiplying programs for targeted minorities, buying them off as they, lets face it, multiplied offices, in total contradiction to the intent and letter of the Constitution. We are heading in the direction of modern France, where the government is so large, pervasive, and unaccountable except unto itself, that the civilisation is captured by it, and no return is possible.
In the U.S., returning control of the selection of the senators to the state legislatures would constitute a huge blow against the excess of democracy that is killing freedom in America. An even greater blow would be delivered by issuing an amendment that clarifies the original intent of the Commerce Clause. Right now the Commerce Clause has been redefined by the Supreme Court to mean the central government can do ANYTHING it pleases. In any case that is how people like Senator Pelosi and Harry Reid essentially view the Constitution. Let's not forget constitutional lecturer Barack Obama who laments that the Constitution was orginally a sort of list of things the government cannot do to you. Damn straight.
The question I have is this: why so many that are claiming to have fallen asleep, sudden changes in the system, why weren't we told?
We are asking the wrong questions. We are depending on others to inform us. We are not doing our due diligence on our liberty. We accept what we are given.This is a most dangerous way to live.
Never accept what your enemy gives you. Rights, education, food, water, medicine, information, statistics are all subject to manipulation.
Never confuse your government with the platitudes emblazoned on your mind from your indoctrination in school and in the media. The people who run our government are bankers with no love of country or sense of noblisse oblige.
Do not read I hate America. Read: different countries have different opportunities and obligations. Arriving at conclusions regarding these is the purpose of adult education and the protection of the wealth you work so hard to accumulate. Once you accept the realities regarding the psychological make up of the human animal- you can begin to carve out an existence in the best environment to benefit you and your loved ones.
+++ infinity!
Alex Jones is on this every day. Being a member of " The ficticious Middle Class", I guess there is nothing else to do but sit here and wait for MR. Death. In the mean time I think ill order a pizza and watch Columbo.
Middle Class is described as $1m to $19m...
so... if you dont have a net of $1m or more... You are not middle class.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014325.php
Now you can adjust these numbers by 20%ish... for all the new printing... minus inflation... as well... so? $25m and under(ish) is middle class.
We are all in this together. When we wake up and find our beloved DXY is below 20, There will be a cry from everybody who holds this once revered form of barter. The Last time i checked, that seem to be most classes. I am stocking up on rice and beans. I dont want to hear this Middle class bullshit anymore. Its a huge shit sandwich and WERE ALL gonna have to take a bite
Being from South Florida... the Cubans, made me a lover of rice and beans... or go to New Orleans... try some red beans and rice... everyone isnt wrong! Cultural diversity tastes great!
Alex Jones is a real patriot and intellectual. I'm gonna get a tattoo of him that says "Dont tread on me damnit!" I added the damnit! He's also gonna have that fucking Saddam Hussein in a headlock, and be butt rammin OBL, who will be blowin Duuya (another real Texan hero of mine)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg
Just stay the hell off my lawn.
Funny story about the TSA, last year I went on a long trip and brought a bag of vanilla protein powder. After it went through the machine a guy took it out and looked at me and said don't worry we don't care about drugs, thats not our job. I was so confused and still don't know what to think about it. I guess it kinda looked like drugs but it was still a bizarre encounter.
My wife thinks I'm paranoid because I want to move to the middle of no where. There was a time in this country when most folks lived in the middle of no where. I don't think being paranoid was one of their problems.
I think yer paranoid too! What're you afraid of? You got nuthin to worry bout. Just ROCK THE VOTE! and give me yer wife's number ;)
Same here - until I too her to see 'Inside Job' - now she's asking me some 'paranoid' questions.
Tyler,
Thank you for posting this and thanks to the National Inflation Asscociation. Reads like a captain's log recovered from a doomed voyage. The U.S.S. Cramerica?
~Cursive
"Money isn't everything and soon it may be nothing at all."
I posted this one time, but here would be more fitting.
"'Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?' said Dr. Ferris. 'We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.'""The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction [that] you give it."
Ayn Rand ('John Galt Speech' Atlas Shrugged 1957)
+1360. Who is John Galt?
samsara,
Plus a Gazillion!
Lovely! Just plain ole Lovely!
We get what we deserve!
ON November 3rd, (0500 UTC) the election polls close in Alaska and American Samoa.
ON November 3rd, (20:15 UTC) the FOMC will increase the unfunded liabilities of the United States Government by over $1.x trillion, or at least 1% of the total $110 trillion unfunded liabilities of the entire country will be added without any regard to the will of the people as decided by the collective vote totals of the election.
High treason that will result in severe and gruesome austerity in a medium term horizon.
Bide your time, remember to vote, eat the young.
Man, I'm gettin real sick of the anti-patriotic bullshit on this site! Today I grew a goatee, shaved my balding melon, and went to walmart and got a new tatoo of that Beck guy, Mr. Bernanke, and Ben Netanyahu (The 3 Amigos) draped in the american and Israeli flags, standing on the corpse of OBL, with a cloud above them. In that cloud is the smiling proud face of Dubbya and his amigo Mr. Obama. Below it all is written ROCK THE VOTE BITCHES!
Go take your Seroquel, NOW!
Everyone senses how bad things really are, rich and poor. But there is an American code of silence: an agreement not to speak about how bad things really are.
It comes from a combination of political repression (fear of a classic American witch hunt like McCarthyism), denial (a need to stick one's head in the sand), stoicism (a belief that one shows balls by sucking everything up), fear (that this time is different in a bad way) and lastly optimism (a belief in America's manifest destiny). The blend of the 4 ingredients that make up the code of silence shifts. Right now, optimism is low on the scale, fear and denial are high. But there does come a point where sucking it up can hurt you.
That's a decent theory.
Made a comment here about
“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people; control money and you control the world.”
Henry Kissinger – 1970
and I was juuunked like crazy by zombies! WTF Zombies, get a clue!
It's been obvious to me what these people were up to with just a bit of research and a healthy interest in limiting "government" power.
This is the 10 point checklist for every fascist state and they fit perfectly the present situation in the US
Fascist America, in 10 easy stepsFrom Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment
+++++ Junk happens- wear it as a badge of honor.
junks have as much value as fiat.
speaks more of the mentality of the type of person that worries (or alters) their behavior/replies/thought to avoid "junks."
I'm gonna echo Sean here. A junk or two simply means you are chafin' someone the right way.
Welcome to Fight Club. Now go pick a fight with someone. A fight that you must lose
I will pick a fight with you Miles... and I will lose... and it would be an honor to do so!
Dude, ignore the junks, they don't mean much unless you get 10+ or so...
I wish ZH could get rid of the junks and just offer something like "Add to Ignore List". There are a few complete fucktards that just crap all over this place. I'd really like to hide that shit.
His Majesty's subjects in the American colonies had more freedom than the citizens of the USA today.
U badmouthin america!? We gots tons more freedoms now. They didnt have x-box back then, and all their porn was hand drawn.
Don't know why u got junked so bad I laughed.
You can take our freedom, but you can never take....our porn!
You can take our freedom, but you can never take....our porn!
What a tragicomedy as this represents the rallying cry of "independent" government agencies .. and many others, worldwide. What a perfect sign of the "leadership" of our times. In time of crisis go toss a load from behind frosted glass while pretending all is well so the troops can watch Gunsmoke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNnRBksvOU
I don't understand all the junks you're gettin Tsukato. You're posting the funniest shit I've seen on this site.
Don't stop.
Thanks :) No shit. I'd think all these hard core revolutionaries would dig where I'm comin from, but guess not. :(
TD --
I know you-all are busy, but this ability of readers to anonymously junk each other is stupid and needs fixing. Please fix it.
------------------------------- Mick .
I junked you as a joke.... if you read my tantrums you will see I was just bitching like a bleeding lil girl about the same shit.
some tunes for you, cuase you seem ok! Wake up - Rage Against The Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ06zHcNThE&u=jAWptc6azYo&list=LL&feature=BF
I junked you because your assertion suggests that you are a prize wanker. Are you an accountant or auditor, perchance?
Maybe he works with the IRS? http://www.irs.gov/
Hows the fishing / surfing / everything upside down Bro?
I hope well!
Your people still taxing all the mines at 400%?
Atlast, Greece is contemplating about debt restructuring.....
Greek Deputy PM: Debt Restructuring Should Not Be DemonizedATHENS (Dow Jones)--Greek deputy Prime Minster Theodoros Pangalos said on Sunday that in theory debt restructuring should not be completely disregarded for the heavily indebted nation but that deficits need to be dealt with first.
In an interview with local newspaper To Vima, later confirmed by the government, Pangalos said: "Before we reach the stage of a debt restructuring we have to finish with the deficit. But demonizing debt restructuring is wrong. Debt exists to be restructured. We may pursue it ourselves or it may be proposed to us and it may too advantageous to turn it down."
Greece's mounting fiscal problems this year spooked investors, who started demanding higher interest rates to fund Greek debt, eventually making it prohibitive for the country to access private capital markets.
In May the cash strapped Mediterranean country inked a EUR110 billion bailout in exchange for fiscal consolidation and imposition of unprecedented austerity at the request of its lenders, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, to stave off certain bankruptcy.
While Prime Minister George Papandreou and Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou have consistently and repeatedly denounced any suggestion of debt restructuring, Pangalos is the first high level socialist government member to imply that a debt restructuring is not completely off the table.
Greece currently has a national debt that tops more than EUR300 million and its 2009 budget deficit is likely to be revised upward of 15% of gross domestic product by Eurostat, the European Unions statistics agency.
The draft 2011 budget was tailored to please markets because the Finance Ministry aims to cut the budget deficit to 7% of GDP by the end of 2011, ahead of the promised 7.6% target requested by its international lenders.
But while the primary budget deficit will come close to being erased next year, should revenues hold up as planned, there are valid market concerns that the ratio of Greece's general government debt to GDP will increase to 145% in 2011.
That is quite a staggering pile of debt and international bond markets are still pricing in that the debt laden nation will not avoid a debt restructuring. Its bond borrowing spreads have once again spiked this week on talk of a potential early national election that could destabilize and derail reforms should the ruling socialist government fare badly in the Nov 7 local elections.
Finance Minister Papaconstantinou has previously acknowledged that Greece will face a major refinancing hump once repayments to the IMF and the EU kick in around 2014 or 2015, when annual debt-servicing obligations will nearly double from about EUR40 billion to EUR70 billion.
Papaconstantinou has also previously confirmed that talks exist, even if not at the initiation or request of Greece, that payment of the EUR110 billion may be extended because the current repayment schedule may not be viable.
The beauty of this is the politicians in the first world merely have to ask their friends at the central banks in the third world to fax over their past speeches. The banks ran out of good targets, now they're going after the first and second world.
Wake up! Default on it all. Let the bankers see life from the barrel of a gun, instead of always pointing it at us. Stop being so damn compliant, you miserable, worthless slave.
One has to wonder why the likes of Goldman's isn't receiving a lot of 'packages' via UPS from Greece these days.
Here's a spicy little meatball to add to the aloo.
Yemen says UPS planes never take off or land in Yemen
30/October/2010
SANA'A, Oct. 30 (Saba) – No UPS cargo planes left Yemen to other countries in the last days and there are no direct flights from Yemen to the United Kingdom or the United States, a Yemeni official said, after allegations that British and U.S. officials had found suspicious packages on planes that originated in Yemen.
www.sabanews.net
wag the bomb, *achem*, I mean dog.
A little off topic, but can anyone explain to me why Marc Faber the doom gloom report guy, recently said he thinks gold will go to 1500 in the next 3 months and then crash?
Hugh Hendry also ventured a guess that Bonds and Gold would hit peaks at the end of 2010 or early 2011 before crashing.
My question is, what would make Gold crash? Why do these investors that are pessimistic on the world, believe Gold will hit a peak soon?
They are anticipating a deflationary episode after the run up in inflation causes gold to rise. They are not anticipating a hyper inflationary period which would continue to benefit gold.
Or, you could ask them...might cost you though...
Excuse me Mr. BM but where did you here Faber saying that? Link please because in the most recent interview on Bloomberg posted here yesterday he didn't mention anything like that. the contrary actually.
I'm fairly certain the Faber believes in gold long term. Also Hugh is so cynical I think he believes the shitty system will remain in place so he thinks gold will do alright but not as good as shorting China which is blowing up brand new damned buildings so that more people don't jump out of them.
They are both long term bullish on gold as far as anything I have ever heard and Faber is definitely in the hyperinflation camp. Short term Faber is very sensitive to overbought/oversold anything. If it goes up he says down soon and vice versa. Don't think Hendry is invested in physical though or maybe he just prefers not to talk about it - wink wink say no more.
We are slaves in a criminal monetary system, where the Federal Reserve steals from the middle class through inflation and transfers this wealth to their banker friends on Wall Street...
If we don't accede to their demands they will crash the stock market and the currency. Besides, I don't know about the rest of you but I have it pretty good here in freedumb's land. They can steal whatever they want as long as I can haves mah baby back ribs and faux snews.
What I found interesting is how they used the high price of food against the People during the Depression. They did like the Egyptian Faro who confiscated all cattle, sheep and land during the drought in exchange for food to live on. The people gave away everything for food until they had nothing to give but their labor, that is when they gave away the only thing they had left was their future labor. That is when they became Slaves unto the Faro.
"Faro"....really? "Faro"...just effin' ...wow...pray tell, from where does that spelling derive?
yikes
PLANET OF THE APES!
Jungle Love! I keep telling these arm chair / wanna be conservative / abortion freaks / that if the lights go out... Gold aint gonna keep them breathing or the lights on... or... I could keep going but fuck it. idiots are idiots! or you cant fix stupid is more aprapo...
But Planet of the Apes! FTW!! Bitches!!! Love It!!!!!!!!!
It might be instructive to acknowledge the important literary allusion which accompanied this latest ZH dirge sounding over the destruction of our nation. Yes, I did say "our". Franz Kafka was not only a creative genius but also a prophetic voice in his unflinching and imaginative portrayal of our shared and collective fate. His profound parables concerning the "tortuous human mind beyond remedy" confront us with a dark and unreservedly bleak existential earthly prison from which there is no escape. Yet he does so with such wit and ingenuous brilliance that, like most creative artists of his caliber, he makes one peculiarly and profoundly grateful to share such a deeply and remorselessly troubling existence. That is the magic of the creative experience which is more needed now than ever as the surrounding cataclysm increasingly engulfs us."http://www.youtube.com/v/WVMZUgmrJrk?fs=1&hl=en_US"
Kafka's main character in Metamorphosis became a huge fan of eating rotting food as he hid under his bed slowly transforming into a giant cock roach.
Tied to the Whipping Post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHhKnc0XZrs
Gold and silver lookin' lovely.
Yes Maam! $1364 and almost 25 bucks. A most patient trade.
what trade?
To restate some wisdom I learned here via GG, Cheeky, etc...
PM's are not a trade... and that's how I play it...
Don't get me wrong, I love what you're doing with the farming and all, I'm on your side, please don't "trade" PM's...:)
"Americans today are constantly ... trying to conform to every little rule."
I'm not.
That'll show you. Back in line! ;)
But earlier, you wanted to stop anonymous junking. You clearly have a rule-following nature and your claim is not credible.
point to kiwidor
The FED, the Congress, the Senate, the Government have lost all credibility with the People. Will it ever be restored? Maybe. But, it would take 20 to 30 years.
Bernankie can print all he wants but it will not restore Americans faith in the Stock Market, the Government or the FED.
Did shithead get bored and go away yet?
Shhhhhh.
I think the soda pop wore off and she's sleeping now -- over there under the bridge, next to that troll. Err -- wait a minute....
Im awake! You said yer a grandfather OG, and gots no pashunce fer idiotic violent bitches like myself huh? Judging from yer vernacular, and that you are a grandpa now, I'm gonna take a haphazzard guess at yer age. Tell me if I'm close......31?
Researchers discovered that over time a group of like minded people will tend to the most extreme of their thinking.
There is the need of dissenting opinion and thinking within a group to provided contrast and and countervailing force and to stop the drift to the extreme.
Racism - out
Bigotry - out
Xenophobia - out
Intolerance - out
These are things which your 'masters' use to control you and garner your ongoing support.
Violence - out
This is the thing those who are against you will lead you in to, to discredit you.
Better, The Age of Reason, and the rights of man.
Researchers have discovered that researchers tend to 'discover' whatever they are paid to discover. (they of course were paid to discover that).
You make some good points though and I must be quite something because I came to those same conclusions on my own and for free!
Got any good leads on how to be paid for researching the obvious?
Without violence, the whole of humanity can be assured of slavery and oppression at the hands of the sophists and other professional politicians/wonks and bankers.
You may have a job and a hovel but that doesn't mean you aren't a slave.
That's right, let's see how non violence served the millions who got killed in the holocaust. Or the victims of any other megalomaniac psychopaths...
If someone directs violence against me and if I have the means to respond with violence, I'll fucken do it. I'll worry about the consequences later.
The problem with Americans is that they are completely out of touch with reality. By buying houses, plasmas, insurances, etc. they think they have a hedge against death. Simply not true, and unavoidable. Given that we already know the ending, isnt it better to make the most of our time here. You can extrapolate that idea to everything in life, including the law. What is law? Is it something real, or just fetters on our minds and souls? The farther you go with this line of reasoning, the freer you realise you really are.
Just food for thought.
what a suprise, /es futes gap up 5.
snafu
And on to more bubbles. Prechter has a must read about the current corporate bond bubble ready to burst. Our buddies over at the EW blog got a public copy.
http://ewtrendsandcharts.blogspot.com/
And, The Metamorphosis was a final Jeopardy question 4 years ago. I got it right.
My dumbass doesn't know how to read your lovely charts. I do know and love bubbles however!! They make me feel gloriously pleased. It's like Christmas and Easter.
Good Friday though wasn't terribly good. Crashes are no fun at all.
Congrats on your getting it right! That is supercali docious!
Ok Brother. Forget the charts. Here is the whole awesome report. It's a must read.
The Elliott Wave Theorist -- October 2010
A fifth consecutive major disaster is developing for investors. History shows that investors have been attracted like moths to a flame to four consecutive pyres: the NASDAQ in 2000, real estate in 2006, the blue chips in 2007 and commodities in 2008. Now they are flitting across the veranda to a mesmerizing blue flame: high yield bonds. Bonds pay high yields when the issuers are in deep trouble and cannot otherwise attract investment capital. The public is chasing a large return on capital without considering return of it. The following excerpts from a New York Times article dated Friday provide some perspective on this rush to own what will surely prove to be certificates of guaranteed self-destruction:
Times of (1) low default, (2) high demand and (3) little worry are times to sell junk bonds, not buy them. Junk bond prices are not quite at new all-time highs, but their pace of sales is (see Figure 17).
Figure 17
The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast -- October 2010
The top line on the chart below shows the quarterly new issuance of U.S. junk debt since 2005. The rise in optimism since early 2009 has allowed corporations to issue the lowest grade debt at a record rate, even more than in the middle of the incredible expanding debt bubble of the mid-2000s. According to Dealogic, the $71.5 billion total for the third quarter is a record for new junk debt issuance. The annual total of $189.9 billion to date is also a record, and the entire fourth quarter still lies ahead. This is a stunning testimony to just how desperate investors are for the returns they grew so accustomed to during the old bull market. This portion of the credit window will slam shut fast. It will probably happen soon, as the trend of narrowing spreads topped in April, four months ago, in conjunction with the high for stocks. The Moody’s BAA-to-Treasury spread (see chart) has been widening since then and has made a series of lower highs in August and again in September. This behavior reveals an emerging preference for perceived safer debt even as junk bond issuance races higher. It is a critical non-confirmation signaling that the raging "animal spirits" are just beginning to wane. The demand for junk debt — and even the existence of the debt itself — should be largely annihilated during Primary wave 3 down in stocks. Credit spreads will widen for months to come as safety becomes paramount.
Stay informed with EWI's latest analysis on the bond markets. Learn more about the latest issues of Robert Prechter's The Elliott Wave Theorist and its sister publication, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. These two flagship market letters provide the social insights, economic updates and market forecasts you need to protect yourself from the developing threats to bond holders. Learn more now.
The Elliott Wave Theorist -- September 2010
Many commentators have noted that the public has withdrawn some money from stock mutual funds in order to buy bonds. If people were pouring into Treasury bonds, it would be a bullish sign, because it would reflect waxing conservatism. But most investors are not hiding in Treasuries; they are chasing yield! To that end, they are shunning Treasuries to invest in high-yield money market funds and bond funds, which hold less-than-pristine corporate and municipal debt. To show you how divergent these trends are, reports show that taxable corporate bond funds took in $26 billion in August and muni bond funds attracted $5 billion, but long term government bond funds drew only $191 million! But wait. It gets worse. Read these jaw-dropping excerpts from two Bloomberg reports:
The public always does the wrong thing. Investors have gone from the frying pan (the NASDAQ in early 2000) into the oven (real estate in 2006) into the steamer (the Dow in 2007) onto the grill (commodities in 2008) and now into the fire. Each time, they are sure that their decision is sound. But once again, it is not.
Remember in 1999-2007, when stock buyers were sure it was "all about incremental earnings"? The same belief held in 1927-1929 (see chapter 13 of Market Analysis for the New Millennium), and both times it devastated investors. Now it’s all about "incremental yield," with no regard whatsoever for the safety of principal. Bond investors, to put it bluntly and literally, are out of their (rational) minds, as much as they were on stocks and subprime debt in October 2007, the month of the all-time high in the Dow. By 2016-2017, the issuers of today’s high-yield bonds, and even today’s A and AA bonds, will almost certainly be in default across the board. When pessimism finally overwhelms the financial markets, both the principal and interest on these bonds will become unpayable. No subscriber of EWT should have any money in weak debt.
The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast -- September 2010
While the financial media and pundits debate whether the bond market is in a "bubble," our perspective is that bonds are behaving according to the forecast in Conquer the Crash (read the chapter on bonds below). Bonds that are perceived to be of the highest quality, such as U.S. Treasuries, are in high demand. The 2-year U.S. Treasury Note is at a record low yield of 0.45%, while the 10-year Note yield is at 2.6%, a little more than ½% from its all-time low of 2%, which occurred in December 2008. As of June, the Investment Company Institute reported that bond funds attracted more money than their stock fund counterparts for the 30th straight month. Naturally, supply is rising to meet demand, as companies try to lock in the low rates for as long as possible. On August 3, IBM raised $1.5 billion with an offer of 1% on three-year notes, "the lowest [corporate] interest rate on record."
With Treasury yields so low, the reach for yield, one of the deadliest sins an investor can make, is busting back on the scene. "Investors are scrambling for every bit of yield that they can get," said the co-manager of a $19 billion bond fund. "Corporates are probably one of the most attractive places in the capital markets right now." In the week ended August 13, corporate borrowers with "less than investment grade ratings," i.e. issuers of junk, sold a one-week record of $15.4 billion in bonds. At $155 billion, the annual total is on a pace to surpass the record total of $163.6 billion in 2009. "Having grown frustrated with stocks and with the meager yields on safer government bonds," investors are "snapping up the new non-investment grade bonds." The "strong appetite of buyers" is also generating interest in longer-term debt. How long? How about 100 years! In 2110, when these bonds come due, the people trading in them won’t be here and the companies issuing them probably won’t be around either. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal notes, "Toxic Debt Returns to Fashion." Even the private, non-agency mortgage bond that singed investors so badly just two years ago is coming back. Together, the record low rate, the record long maturities and investors’ willingness to "reach" into riskier debt instruments is a sure-fire sell signal for corporate bonds. Here again, demand for income is trumping all other considerations, including safety, when the latter consideration should be paramount. It soon will be. The corporate bond frenzy of August 2010 is another wrong turn for investors.
Stay informed with EWI's latest analysis on the bond markets. Learn more about the latest issues of Robert Prechter's The Elliott Wave Theorist and its sister publication, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. These two flagship market letters provide the social insights, economic updates and market forecasts you need to protect yourself from the developing threats to bond holders. Learn more now.
The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast -- July 2010
The Muni Trap Springs Again
California is "mired in what may be its most dire fiscal crisis ever;" New York is attempting to avert a complete shutdown of state government by instituting a $1.60-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes (raising the cost to $11 per pack); Illinois is teetering on the brink of default; and 43 other states are "Facing Greek-Style Deficits." With all this going on, one might expect to see flagging interest in muni bonds. But municipal bond holdings appear more popular than ever. In fact, foreign investors increased their holdings of munis to $71.9 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a 79.9% increase from the first quarter of 2009. The total was 10 times the level of 2000. U.S. households also increased their muni holdings to more than $1 trillion for the first time, which forces a slight adjustment in this warning from Conquer the Crash: "U.S. investors today own billions of dollars worth of municipal bonds thinking they are getting a great deal because that bond income is tax exempt." If anything, the increase from "billions" to a trillion underscores CTC’s point, which is that muni bonds will "ultimately trap investors." The interest of the public and foreigners, two classic late-comers to financial trends, indicates that the trap may snap shut at any moment.
The snare first started to tighten on investors in 2008. The chart of U.S.-municipal-bond-to-U.S.-Treasury-bond swap spreads shows how fast premiums rose in the fourth quarter of 2008 for insuring muni bonds against default relative to the cost of insuring Treasury bonds of similar maturity. But that warning shot did nothing to quench the thirst for these supposedly "safe" bonds. Even as the first Primary wave down in the Dow was culminating in a 54% decline in early 2009, advisors insisted that "tax-exempt state and local bonds offered sanctuary from a weak economy." The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast begged to differ. "Don’t believe it, the horrors are yet to come," insisted EWFF’s February 2009 Special Section, "Out of the Frying Pan and Into Munis." The spread narrowed during Primary wave 2 (circle) up in stocks as optimism returned to financial markets, but the chart shows the initial thrust toward what will eventually be a record widening, far exceeding the 2008 extreme. Swap spreads are already wider than they were at the end of Primary 1 (circle) in March 2009. As usual, investors are complacent to any heightened risk. Here’s the headline from the Wall Street Journal:
Investors Looking Past Red Flags in Muni Market — June 13, 2010
Actually, investors vaulted past the red flags in 2007-2008. What they ignore now is the train wreck itself. The indisputable evidence includes a plunge in total state revenues. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, state sales and income tax revenue fell for the first time in nearly 50 years over the last five quarters — even as wave 2 (circle) in stocks brought the economy back from the abyss. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state budget deficits will balloon to nearly $112 billion in the next year. The projected deficit undoubtedly understates the predicament, as it assumes a continued economic recovery. As the economy turns south again, state and local governments will contribute powerfully to the slide. With $787 billion in federal government stimulus spending winding down, unemployment waxing and depressed residential real estate values being joined by commercial real estate declines, the tax take by state and local municipalities will shrink like never before. To stay afloat, cities and states are already slashing away. In May alone, government and non-profit entities cut 16,697 jobs, a 12% jump from April. "The budget crisis for many states and municipalities is only getting worse," says an employment specialist.
In many ways, the recovery only heightened the eventual toll. As the increased optimism of the bear-market rally rekindled investors’ affection for munis, it gave governments the confidence to dig themselves even deeper into the hole. To bridge the gap between costs and revenues, many state and local governments took on even more debt. Total state and local borrowing hit $2.2 trillion in 2010, a record 22% of GDP. The same total was 15% of GDP in 2000. As The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast noted in February 2009, government will compound the damage because it is "always the last to respond to a trend change." Some government-run investment funds are recklessly rolling the dice by participating heavily in mania-era investment ploys. In Illinois, for instance, the state pension fund is using derivatives to "recoup returns" and try and "fix" a 60.9% underfunding. In Detroit, the pension fund for police and fire departments invested millions in a casino venture that has been downgraded three times by rating agencies. These schemes are vestiges of the old bubble era that will steepen the cost to taxpayers and pensioners.
Reality is starting to hit home. Time magazine describes the plight of states this way:
The answer, of course, is that the bubble hijacked people’s reasoning faculties. As Chapter 8 of The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior explains, this is how social mood works. The desires and despairs of the non-rational limbic system [part of the brain] are always in control, but it takes the extreme behavior of a bubble and collapse to reveal the driving force that is social mood. Still in control, social mood is now inducing people to believe that the crash has come and gone. Almost no one believes the bust phase can take back all that was gained during the prior bubble, even though that’s exactly what history says (see May 1997 Elliott Wave Theorist, "Bulls, Bears and Manias," reprinted in View from The Top). The re-initiation of the larger downtrend means that the muni-bond blowout will return in full force. Eventually, the expanding premiums on muni bonds’ swap insurance will soar past the extreme established in the fourth quarter of 2008. The completion of a five-wave rise on this chart of city and state employment payrolls confirms that a big turn is at hand. The decline that started two years ago should turn into an unprecedented plunge. State and city pension funds will be rocked by funding shortfalls and many pensions will be slashed. The cuts so far are just the start. Due to "budget woes," cities across the U.S. are "dousing the fuse on Fourth of July fireworks." As the financial fireworks fly higher, many cities and states will eliminate all but the most necessary services. Eventually, some of those will be cut, too. Muni bonds remain on track for a train wreck.
Stay informed with EWI's latest analysis on the bond markets. Learn more about the latest issues of Robert Prechter's The Elliott Wave Theorist and its sister publication, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. These two flagship market letters provide the social insights, economic updates and market forecasts you need to protect yourself from the developing threats to bond holders. Learn more now.
Conquer the Crash: You Can Survive and Prosper In a Deflationary Depression – 2002
Chapter 15:
Should You Invest in Bonds?
If there is one bit of conventional wisdom that we hear repeatedly with respect to investing for a deflationary depression, it is that long-term bonds are the best possible investment. This assertion is wrong. Any bond issued by a borrower who cannot pay goes to zero in a depression. In the Great Depression, bonds of many companies, municipalities and foreign governments were crushed. They became wallpaper as their issuers went bankrupt and defaulted. Bonds of suspect issuers also went way down, at least for a time. Understand that in a crash, no one knows its depth, and almost everyone becomes afraid. That makes investors sell bonds of any issuers that they fear could default. Even when people trust the bonds they own, they are sometimes forced to sell them to raise cash to live on. For this reason, even the safest bonds can go down, at least temporarily, as AAA bonds did in 1931 and 1932.
Figure 15-1
Figure 15-1 shows what happened to bonds of various grades in the last deflationary crash. Figure 15-2 shows what happened to the Dow Jones 40-bond average, which lost 30 percent of its value in four years. Observe that the collapse of the early 1930s brought these bonds' prices below — and their interest rates above — where they were in 1920 near the peak in the intense inflation of the 'Teens. Figure 15-3 shows a comparable data series (the Bond Buyer 20-Bond average) in recent decades. Notice how similar the pattern is to that of 1915-1928. If bonds follow the path that they did in the 1930s, their prices will fall below the 1981 low, and their interest rates will exceed that year's peak of 13+ percent.
Figure 15-2
Figure 15-3
Conventional analysts who have not studied the Great Depression or who expect bonds to move "contra-cyclically" to stocks are going to be shocked to see their bonds plummeting in value right along with the stock market. Ironically, economists will see the first wave down in bonds as a sign of inflation and recovery, when in fact, it will be the opposite.
The Specter of Downgrading
The main problem with even these cautionary graphs is that they do not show the full impact of downgrades. They show what bonds of a certain quality sold for at each data point. Bonds rated AAA or BBB at the start of a depression generally do not keep those ratings throughout it. Many go straight to D and then become de-listed because of default. Figure 15-1 does not take the price devastation of these issues into account. Like keepers of stock market averages who replace the companies that fail along the way, keepers of the bond averages of Figures 15-2 and 15-3 stand ready to replace component bonds whose ratings fall too far. As scary as they look, these graphs fail to depict the real misery that a depression inflicts upon bond investors.
When rating services rate bonds between BBB and AAA, they imply that they are considered safe investments. Anything rated BB or lower is considered speculative, implying that there is a risk that the borrower someday could default. The lower the rating, the greater that risk. Because of this risk, Wall Street, in a rare display of honesty, calls bonds rated BB or lower "junk." They appear to have "high yields," so people still buy them.
That very yield, though, compounds the risk to principal. In a bad economy, companies and municipalities that have issued bonds at high yields find it increasingly difficult to meet their interest payments. The prices of those bonds fall as investors perceive increased risk and sell them. The real result in such cases is a low yield or a negative yield, particularly if the issuer defaults and your principal is gone.
High-Yield Bonds
The converse is not necessarily true. We are told that in a good economy, high-yield bonds are safe because the economic expansion means good business conditions, which should support the company that issued the bond. Can you rely on this reasoning? Figure 15-4 shows what has been happening to junk bonds over the past 14 years. As you can see, they have been crashing in value even though the economy was mostly expanding during that time. At least with respect to this debt class, the late Franz Pick, who used to call bonds "certificates of guaranteed confiscation," seems not to have been overly strident.
Figure 15-4
In recent weeks, advisors have been assuring readers that the recession is ending, so it is the "perfect time" to buy "depressed" junk bonds. The main entities that will be further greatly depressed in coming years besides these junk bonds are the suckers who buy them. Way back in 1988, I published a special analysis urging readers to avoid junk bonds entirely. I added, "If you can figure out a way to short junk bonds, do it." That's when they started down. Their "high yields" have been a chimera, as the bonds' prices have fallen 70 percent on average since then. Most of these issues are headed straight for default.
Today's "High-Grade" Bonds
Don't think that you will be safe buying bonds rated BBB or above. The unprecedented mass of vulnerable bonds extant today is on the verge of a waterfall of downgrading. Many bonds that are currently rated investment grade will be downgraded to junk status and then go into default. The downgrades will go hand-in-hand with falling prices, so you will not be afforded advance warning of loss. When the big slide begins, I doubt that the rating services will even be able to keep up with the downgrades at the rate that they will be required.
An added problem with owning government bonds is the political risk. Governments have a long record of stiffing their creditors in a crisis, and no government is immune from adopting that solution to its financial problems. A new regime especially may have little regard for previously squandered credit.
Today, millions of individuals and institutions own tax-exempt municipal bonds. While there are assuredly many exceptions, this class of bonds is the riskiest among popular government issues. In the United States, default could happen to municipal bonds at any time after times get difficult. Politicians in many jurisdictions have borrowed and spent way more money than is likely ever to be paid back. Merely paying the interest on that debt in tough economic times will become an acute problem for many issuers. In such cases, default for many cities and counties will be inevitable. Even the debt of some higher-level government agencies is at serious risk of default in a worst-case scenario.
The Answer To Bond Selection
So if conventional wisdom is wrong, what is the correct way to frame the problem of investment opportunity and risk with respect to bonds in a deflationary depression? It is this: Any bond that is AAA at the start of the depression and remains AAA throughout it will be a satisfactory investment. The problem is, who can figure out which bonds those are? As we will see in Chapter 25, you cannot rely on bond rating services to guide you in a crunch.
If a crash and depression take place, some corporations whose products or services are important in that environment will become special situations, and their bonds will shine as viable investments. Unfortunately, I don't have the expertise to pick out the handful of long-term corporate bonds that will hold their value in a deflationary crash; I can only speculate on what will obviously be some of the worst. Since you can't short individual bonds, there's no point in making a list.
As debt prices fall, yields rise. If you're in long-term bonds, you're stuck with only the "falling prices" part of the equation. It's better to own short-term debt instruments, which can keep rolling over at ever-higher yields to compensate substantially for price losses. So, generally speaking, for safety, it is better to own high-quality short-term debt than long-term debt. We will explore that option in Chapter 18.
The scene where the guy reverses in to and over the cop car is brilliant.
Jimmy Lee?
Outsourcing only flies for as long as it meets the needs of stakeholders.
Well, I've read all these comments! You guys (and girls) are a great buncha folks.
Thank you all for your comments.
??interesting comment coming from you???
I don't know about you, but I am feeling the pull of "work that needs doing" these days...Prepping garden for winter, splitting more wood for fireplace, canning, storing, etc.
I read a lot here, comment less these days(except for this week, lol)...maybe I am avoiding that which need doing...:)
Usually your comments are straight to the point, incisive....this one seems, uh, I don't know, lacking in enthusiasm(?)
Hope all is well...:)
Oh, yeah. I just was too overwhelmed with the breadth of comments to make one of my own. I've put in a dry-stack rock retaining wall for some new garden area, turned some turf over for the winter, spread a little urine, and tidied up my gardening tool area in preparation for the spring planting season. Need to make a run for some seedling pots. I plan to put in more varied veggies next year so I want to get an early start. Need to run to Sam's to peruse the bulk food shelves and see what I can stock up on. I see that canned chili has a shelf life of about 2 to 4 years. Not bad. Need to run to Walgreens to see about some more OTC medicines for the home and bug-out-bag.
You know, the usual.
This is too cute from a Raccoon!
Pissin' in that plastic gallon milk jug is actually fun -- for a while.
ever tried growing through the winter?
Yeah, but I'd rather just put another log on the fire instead.
I am doing much the same...:) So busy these days, and the days don't seem to last.
Working on plans for a greenhouse built from our old windows we had replaced this summer (yeah, my neighbors think I'm a nutjob...lol)
Spreading compost and topsoil around, canning this years harvest... (and yeah, the urine thingy works..., when/if TSHTF, I will finally get to try full on humanure...;)
Just checking with a valued contributor for me, your thoughts are needed, balanced and truthful as they are...:)
One for the road. Always remember when reading disaster and collapse pieces...they are black swans. People are capable of change and revolution. Shit changes. Those predicting the end of the world will be right only once. And nobody is gonna pin a blue ribbon on em for being right.
I don't read people predicting the end of the world on ZH I read a lot of concerned people that realize the path has been misguided and corrupt and there is a critical mass that will awaken to these truths and make massive changes or continue to be serfs.
Revolution happens, change happens. It isn't some Daffy Duck death trick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEYYYMuwCyA
"Americans today are constantly watching their speedometers and trying to conform to every little rule yet there are so many rules that it's impossible for even the most honest and hard-working Americans not to be breaking some type of law on a daily basis."
Sounds more like Richard Adams' "Efrafa".
Dick Cheney as "General Woundwort"? I know, I know: DC is like sooooo 2008. I should just get over it already.
Happy Hallowe'en!
Whatever happened to that Spirit of '76? Remember CB radios and convoys and the 55MPH speed limit being openly flouted by self-organising people?
hehe, 10-4 good buddy.
You never know, though, that 'self-organising' thing never really goes away, it just quietly adapts.
sometimes pictures can say so much more than words:
Sadly, most, if not all other laws passed are for profit and personal enterprise.
Days of following the rule of law are long over, as applicability is marginalized by corporations and financial influence -- TBTF, War on Terror, all bullshit to separate you from your money without consequence worldwide. Oh, and no one will see it coming.
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