Guest Post: 2011 - The Year Of Catch 22

Submitted by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform

2011 - The Year Of Catch 22

As I began to think about what might happen in 2011, the classic Joseph Heller novel Catch 22 kept
entering my mind. Am I sane for thinking such a thing, or am I so
insane that asking this question proves that I’m too rational to even
think such a thing?  In the novel, the “Catch 22″ is that “anyone who
wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy”. Hence, pilots who
request a fitness evaluation are sane, and therefore must fly
in combat. At the same time, if an evaluation is not requested by the
pilot, he will never receive one (i.e. they can never be found
“insane”), meaning he must also fly in combat. Therefore, Catch-22
ensures that no pilot can ever be grounded for being insane – even if he
were. The absurdity is captured in this passage:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified
that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were
real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and
could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he
would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would
be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane,
he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn’t have to;
but if he didn’t want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved
very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and
let out a respectful whistle. “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he
observed. “It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed. - Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22.
They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the
economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to
recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy
really recovers long term interest rates will increase, further
depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden
for the US, therefore increasing the deficit. A recovering economy
would result in more production and consumption, which would result in
more oil consumption driving the price above $100 per barrel, therefore
depressing the economy. Americans must save for their retirements as
10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day, but if the savings rate goes back
to 10%, the economy will collapse due to lack of consumption. Consumer
expenditures account for 71% of GDP and need to revert back to 65% for
the US to have a balanced sustainable economy, but a reduction in
consumer spending will push the US back into recession, reducing tax
revenues and increasing deficits. You can see why Catch 22 is the theme for 2011.

It seems the consensus for 2011 is that the economy will grow 3% to
4%, two million new jobs will be created, corporate profits will rise,
and the stock market will rise another 10% to 15%. Sounds pretty good.
The problem with this storyline is that it is based on a 2010 that gave
the appearance of recovery, but was a hoax propped up by trillions in
borrowed funds. On January 1, 2010 the National Debt of the United
States rested at $12.3 trillion. On December 31, 2010 the National Debt
checked in at $13.9 trillion, an increase of $1.6 trillion.

The Federal Reserve Balance Sheet totaled $2.28 trillion on January
1, 2010. Today, it stands at $2.46 trillion, an increase of $180
billion.

 

Over this same time frame, the Real GDP of the U.S. has increased
approximately $350 billion, and is still below the level reached in the
4th Quarter of 2007. U.S. politicians and Ben Bernanke spent almost $1.8
trillion, or 13% of GDP, in one year to create a miniscule 2.7%
increase in GDP. This is reported as a recovery by the mainstream
corporate media mouthpieces. On September 18, 2008 the American
financial system came within hours of a total meltdown, caused by Wall
Street mega-banks and their bought off political cronies in Washington
DC. The National Debt on that day stood at $9.7 trillion. The US
Government has borrowed $4.2 since that date, a 43% increase in the
National Debt in 27 months. The Federal Reserve balance sheet totaled
$963 billion in September 2008 and Bernanke has expanded it by $1.5
trillion, a 155% increase in 27 months. Most of the increase was due to
the purchase of toxic mortgage backed securities from their Wall Street
masters.

Real GDP in the 3rd quarter of 2008 was $13.2 trillion. Real GDP in the 3rd quarter of 2010 was $13.3 trillion.

Think about these facts for one minute. Your leaders have borrowed
$5.7 trillion from future unborn generations and have increased GDP by
$100 billion. The financial crisis, caused by excessive debt creation by
Wall Street and ridiculously low interest rates set by the Federal
Reserve, 30 years in the making, erupted in 2008. The response to a
crisis caused by too much debt and interest rates manipulated too low
was to create an immense amount of additional debt and reduce interest
rates to zero. The patient has terminal cancer and the doctors have
injected the patient with more cancer cells and a massive dose of
morphine. The knowledge about how we achieved the 2010 “recovery” is
essential to understanding what could happen in 2011.

Confidence Game

Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama, the Wall Street banks,
and the corporate mainstream media are playing a giant confidence game.
It is a desperate gamble. The plan has been to convince the population
of the US that the economy is in full recovery mode. By convincing the
masses that things are recovering, they will begin to spend and buy
stocks. If they spend, companies will gain confidence and start hiring
workers. More jobs will create increasing confidence, reinforcing the
recovery story, and leading to the stock market soaring to new heights.
As the market rises, the average Joe will be drawn into the market and
it will go higher. Tax revenues will rise as corporate profits, wages
and capital gains increase. This will reduce the deficit. This is the
plan and it appears to be working so far. But, Catch 22 will kick in
during 2011.

Retail sales are up 6.5% over 2009 as consumers have been convinced
to whip out one of their 15 credit cards and buy some more iPads, Flat
screen TVs, Ugg boots and Tiffany diamond pendants. Consumer
non-revolving debt for autos, student loans, boats and mobile homes is
at an all-time high as the government run financing arms of GMAC and
Sallie Mae have issued loans to anyone that can fog a mirror with their
breath. Total consumer credit card debt has been flat for 2010 as banks
have written it off as fast as consumers can charge it. The savings rate
has begun to fall again as Americans are being convinced to live today
and not worry about tomorrow. Of course, the current savings rate of
5.9% would be 2% if the government was not dishing out billions in
transfer payments. Wages have declined by $127 billion from the 3rd
Quarter of 2008, while government transfer payments for unemployment and
other social programs have increased by $441 billion, all borrowed.

  

Both the government and its citizens are living the old adage:

Everybody wants to get to heaven, but no one wants to practice what is required to get there.

The government politicians and bureaucrats promise to cut
unsustainable spending as soon as the economy recovers. The economy has
been recovering for the last 6 quarters, according to GDP figures, but
there are absolutely no government efforts to cut spending. This is
proof that politicians always lie. It will never be the right time to
cut spending. Another faux crisis will be used as a reason to continue
unfunded spending increases. Having consumer spending account for 70% of
GDP is unbalanced and unsustainable. Everyone knows that consumer
spending needs to revert back to 65% of GDP and the Savings Rate needs
to rise to 8% or higher in order to ensure the long-term fiscal health
of the country. Savings and investment are what sustain countries over
time. Borrowing and spending is a recipe for failure and bankruptcy. The
facts are that consumer expenditures as a percentage of GDP have
actually risen since 2007 and Congress and Obama just cut payroll taxes
in an effort to encourage Americans to spend even more borrowed money.
Catch 22 is alive and well.

The first half of 2011 is guaranteed to give the appearance of
recovery. The lame-duck Congress ”compromise” will pump hundreds of
billions of borrowed dollars into the economy. The continuation of
unemployment benefits for 99 weeks (supposedly to help employment) and
the 2% payroll tax cut will goose consumer spending. Ben Bernanke and
his QE2 stimulus for poor Wall Street bankers is pumping $75 billion per
month ($3 to $4 billion per day) directly into the stock market. Since
Ben gave Wall Street the all clear signal in late August, the NASDAQ has
soared 25%. Despite the fact that there are 362,000 less Americans
employed than were employed in August 2010, the mainstream media will
continue to tout the jobs recovery. The goal of all these efforts is to
boost confidence and spending. Everything being done by those in power
has the seeds of its own destruction built in. The Catch 22 will assert
itself in the 2nd half of 2011.

Housing Catch 22

Ben Bernanke, an Ivy League PhD who should understand the concept of
standard deviation, missed a 3 standard deviation bubble in housing as
ironically pointed out by a recent Dallas Federal Reserve report.

Home prices still need to fall 23%, just to revert to its long-term
mean. That is a fact that even Bernanke should be able to grasp (maybe
not). Anyone who argues that housing has bottomed and will resume growth
either has an agenda (NAR) or is a clueless dope (Bernanke). A new
perfect storm is brewing for housing in 2011 and will not subside until
late 2012. You may have thought those bad mortgages had been all written
off. You would be wrong. There will be in excess of $200 billion of
adjustable rate mortgages that reset between 2011 and 2012, with in
excess of $125 billion being the dreaded Alt-A mortgages. This is a
recipe for millions of new foreclosures.

According to the Dallas Fed, in addition to the 3.9 million homes on
the market, there is a shadow inventory of 6 million homes that will be
coming on the market due to foreclosure. About 3.6 million housing
units, representing 2.7% of the total housing stock, are vacant and
being held off the market. These are not occasional-use homes visited by
people whose usual residence is elsewhere but units that are vacant
year-round. Presumably, many are among the 6 million distressed
properties that are listed as at least 60 days delinquent, in
foreclosure or foreclosed in banks’ inventories.

The coup de grace for the housing market will be Ben Bernake’s ode to Catch 22. In his November 4 OP-ED piece he had this to say about his $600 billion QE2:

“Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For
example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and
allow more homeowners to refinance.” – Housing sage Ben Bernanke

On the day Bernanke wrote these immortal words 30 Year Mortgage rates
were 4.2%. Today, two months later, they stand at 5.0%. This should be a
real boon to refinancing and the avalanche of mortgage resets coming
down the pike. It seems that money printing and a debt financed
“recovery” leads to higher long-term interest rates. The more convincing
the recovery, the higher interest rates will go. The higher interest
rates go, the further the housing market will drop. The further housing
prices drop, the number of underwater homeowners will grow to 30%. This
will lead to more foreclosures. Approximately 50% of all the assets on
banks books are backed by real estate. Billions in bank losses are in
the pipeline. Do you see the Catch 22 in Bernanke’s master plan? The
Dallas Fed sees it:

This unease highlights the housing market’s fragility and
suggests there may be no pain-free path to the eventual righting of the
market. No perfect solution to the housing crisis exists. The latest
price declines will undoubtedly cause more economic dislocation. As the
crisis enters its fifth year, uncertainty is as prevalent as ever and
continues to hinder a more robust economic recovery. Given that time has
not proven beneficial in rendering pricing clarity, allowing the market
to clear may be the path of least distress. - Dallas Fed

Quantitative Easing Catch 22

Ben Bernanke’s quantitative easing (dropping dollars from
helicopters) is riddled with Catch-22 implications. Bernanke revealed
his plan in his 2002 speech about deflation:

“The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press
(or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many
U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost.”

The expectations of most when reading Ben’s words were that his
helicopters would drop the dollars across America. What he has done is
load up his helicopters with trillions of dollars and circled above Wall
Street for two years continuously dropping his load. Bernanke’s
quantitative easing, which will triple the Fed’s balance sheet by June
of 2011, began in earnest in early 2009. The price for a gallon on
gasoline was $1.62. Today, it is $3.05, an 88% increase in two years.
Gold was $814 an ounce. Today, it is $1,421 an ounce, a 61% increase in
two years. In the last year, the prices for copper, silver, cotton,
wheat, corn, coffee and other commodities have risen in price by 30% to
90%.  

Quantitative easing has been sold to the public as a way to avoid the
terrible ravages of deflation. The fact is there are less jobs, lower
wages, lower home prices, zero returns on bank deposits, higher fuel
costs, higher food costs, higher real estate taxes, higher medical
insurance premiums and huge jaw dropping bonuses for the bankers on Wall
Street. Somehow the government has spun this toxic mix into a CPI which
has resulted in fixed income senior citizens getting no increases in
their pitiful Social Security payments for two years. You can judge
where Ben’s Helicopters have dropped the $2 trillion. Quantitative
easing has benefited only Wall Street bankers and the 1% wealthiest
Americans. The $1.4 trillion of toxic mortgage backed securities on The
Fed’s balance sheet are worth less than $700 billion. How will they
unload this toxic waste? The Treasuries they have bought drop in value
as interest rates rise. Quantitative easing’s Catch 22 is that it can
never be unwound without destroying the Fed and the US economy.

The USD dollar index was at 89 in early 2009. Today, it stands at 79,
an 11% decline, which is phenomenal considering that Europe has
imploded over this same time frame. Bernanke’s master plan is for the
USD to fall and ease the burden of our $14 trillion in debt. He just
wants it to fall slowly. Foreigners know what he is doing and are
stealthily getting out of their USD positions. This explains much of the
rise in gold, silver and commodities. The rise in oil to $91 a barrel
will not be a top. The Catch-22 of a declining dollar is that prices of
all imported goods go up. If the dollar falls another 10%, the price of
oil will rise above $120 a barrel and push the economy back into
recession. Then there is the little issue of at what level of printing
and debasing the currency does the rest of the world lose its remaining
confidence in Ben and the USD.

A few other “minor” issues for 2011 include:

• The imminent collapse of the European Union as Greece, Ireland,
  Portugal and Spain are effectively bankrupt. Spain is the size of the
  other three countries combined and has a 20% unemployment rate. The
  Germans are losing patience with these spendthrift countries. Debt does
  matter.
• State and local governments were able to put off hard choices for
  another year, as Washington DC handed out hundreds of billions in pork.
  California will have a $19 billion budget deficit; Illinois will have a
  $17 billion budget deficit; New Jersey will have a $10.5 billion budget
  deficit; New York will have a $9 billion budget deficit. A US Congress
  filled with Tea Party newcomers will refuse to bailout these spendthrift
  states. Substantial government employee layoffs are a lock.

• There is a growing probability that China will experience a hard
  landing as their own quantitative easing has resulted in inflation
  surging to a 28 month high of 5.1%, with food inflation skyrocketing to
  11.7%. Poor families spend up to half of their income on food. Rapidly
  rising prices severely burden poor people and can spark civil unrest if
  too many of them can’t afford food.
• The Tea Party members of Congress are likely to cause as much
  trouble for Republicans as Democrats. If they decide to make a stand on
  raising the debt ceiling early in 2011, all hell could break loose in
  the debt and stock markets. 

The government’s confidence game is destined to fail due to Catch-22.
Will the consensus forecast of a growing economy, rising corporate
profits, 10% to 15% stock market gains, 2 million new jobs, and a
housing recovery come true in 2011? No it will not. By mid-year
confidence in Ben’s master plan will wane. He is trapped in the paradox
of Catch-22. When you start hearing about QE3 you’ll know that the gig
is up. If Bernanke is foolish enough to propose QE3 you can expect gold,
silver and oil to go parabolic. Enjoy 2011. I don’t think Ben Bernanke
will.

“That’s some catch, that Catch-22.” -Yossarian

Comments

[Dan The Man]

---------

there will be no revolution.  bravado nonsense.  amerikans will take their place as the slightly better off than mexicans class of the world. they will be strictly controlled along with everything else.  they will always swallow what is fed to them.

[francismarion]

You sound like you will be the first to kneel down.

What a bunch. Either maniacal killers or submissive drones.

Have we really gone so far that we have forgotten how to be men?

Listen to the (few) voices of reason here, scrap the nonsense and hopelessness. America isn't going anywhere YOU don't take her. 

[Hulk]

"America isn't going anywhere YOU don't take her. "

oh come on FM, do you really think we have any control over this ride?

[francismarion]

We have a revolution every two years. If we use it. There is no sense of urgency yet. The programmed response would be, ' by then it'll be too late'.

Nah, just worse. See how long it took to sink the Titanic? Isn't that what so many compare America to?

Extrapolate the size of the Titanic to the size of the US. More and more people are screaming, 'wake up!'. There's still time. But will WE be ready when the time comes? The voice of one hundred fifty million Americans in unison would be an awesome thing.  I have faith in America.

[Selah]

Unlike the Titanic, America really is unsinkable!

[merehuman]

the entire gulf coast is sunk. swamp gas indeed. Thats 1/5 US economy. Property values will drop further once folks see the result of coreexit on humans. It aint pretty.

[Dick Buttkiss]

We have a revolution every two years. If we use it.

As the Mogambo Guru would say, "Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Or as has also been said, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

[Hulk]

LOL, we have the best government money can buy, no matter which party nor how many election cycles we go through...

[Dick Buttkiss]

We have a revolution every two years. If we use it.

As the Mogambo Guru would say, "Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Or as has also been said, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

[Hephasteus]

There is no win win. It's win lose or lose lose. You give me a choice between losing to a winner or both of us losing you can guess what I'm going to pick.

Which means they don't have control either unless it's given to them. Till then it's just  steering trains and circling drains.

[Bringin It]

You sound like you will be the first to kneel down.

He can't be the first to kneel down.  He'll have to get behind you.  You're already kneeling in the way.   

[merehuman]

Lol  hahahahahhahahah very good!

[Bringin It]

Kop Jai Lai Lai - MH ;-)

[THE DORK OF CORK]

Excellent presentation but if we assume that the American economy has been out of equiliberium since the late 60s then a reversion to just a 65 to 100 ratio in consumption is not a runner - at a guess try 50% consumption , with massive increases in REAL capital spending.

Also it is based on the assumption that Ben has the best of intentions - even if he has - his central planning will not work if most of his fiat is channelled into corruption and vice. It needs a silver standard of some sort to take the hidden consumption transfer out of commercial bankers hands - this of course will not happen under the FED given their aversion to the stuff.

Leakage of fiat will therefore continue

Before you can engage in a war economy your foot soldiers need to be loyal while the officers need to have a touch of class.

He has neither as the fiat army is disillusioned and corpulent

The American economy will not work if it continues to have a petrodollar that exports its capital yet the shock of 200 Dollar oil in real dollars not re imported through New York will also be savage.

I know this will shock Americans but if you want to remain dollar Kings of the Hill you will have to tax Gasoline to at least European levels - how you will control the suburbs when or if this happens I have no idea.

My guess is that BB is thrashing the dollar because taxing gasoline is a political non runner and maybe would only transfer consumption elsewhere under a global fiat system.

The global supply chain is so over.......... whatever happens , be it controlled or otherwise.

[Hulk]

Gas at European levels and we are done...Just too spread out over here with poor or zero mass transit available. 2 to 3 hour commutes here not uncommon...It was eye opening to see how much pain 4 bucks a gallon caused and that was in good times.

[THE DORK OF CORK]

Hulk - the other possibility is that Gentle Ben is just starting up the Greenback engine with his QE 2 treasury purchase - if the world continues to accept the dollar everybody outside the US will be pushed into fuel poverty as America eats up the remaining liquid fuel with little or no capital creation.

This is such a fucking mess.

I mean I have no problem with the America of the 50s eating up fuel when it creates technological capital - but drinking the planet dry for another blissful decade in a suburb is just too much to take.

[Hulk]

It is a fucking mess, with absolutely no energy plan over here.

We WILL look back one day in horror over the amount of valuable petroleum we have wasted.

FWIW, not much bliss in the suburbs these days...

[THE DORK OF CORK]

Sure I guess the 50s were the apex but the American Graffiti culture is now a liability I am afraid.

The culture of freedom and liberty got mixed up with oil which depends on a vast central bank network to distribute the BTUs as fast as possible.

The irony of it all is painful.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFgTMYEaWlc

[Hulk]

Watched the clip, but that era was before my time... We moved to the city, from a subsistence farm, when I was 13.The first thing that struck me was the massive amount of waste everywhere I looked. Took years to get to the point it didn't bug me. It looks now like frugal country living is the norm and we are quickly regressing back to the mean...

[Bringin It]

Hi Hulk - I made my journey in the opposite direction.  Started out in the city.  Frugal country living is where it's at.  Self-sufficiency is freedom.

[Hulk]

It sure is! Can't imagine that transition, how did it go?

[Bringin It]

Hulk - Adapting to the countryside was not difficult at all really as I had some good guides and good instincts.  The difficult part was realizing that the 9-5 thing was the rat race to nowhere and then acting on that knowledge. 

Eleven years ago I stopped.  Then 9/11 happened and I got out.  I got out because the insane response to 9/11, the phony investigation and so forth exposed the charade to anyone with a clue, paying attention.

I have kids.  I don't want them living a lie.

Back in the day, I ate in many hi-so restaurants in SF and up and down the Peninsula, but nothing beats the fussion-type chow I get here.  The Mrs. BringinIt is a fantastic cook and being a country girl, still knows how to do everything.  We grow, raise or forage for it all.  

The problem for many may be that you have to accept that you might "own" less stuff, you might not be "winning" the American rat-race like your told you're supposed to be doing.  But the key is that the stuff is not important.  Your health is important.  Your peace of mind is important.  You're integrity is important.  The pleasant company of your friends and loved ones is important.

I'm in great shape and never see no doctor because I run, jump, fish, fight {not anymore} and do the other f-word thing like an old-school Red man.  I bet I could run circles around that lower case douche-bag francismarion.

Society as molded by the PTB teaches you constantly what you're supposed to like, what you're supposed to fear and what you're supposed to do.  My advise to all, at least until the storm passes, is to embrace the Jeffersonian Yeoman / Thoreau-like approach to life, liberty and the pusuit of happiness.

I hope some day we get our country back from the banksters.

Kind of long winded, but I maybe answered your question.

[Hulk]

What you did is incredible and my hat is off to you! I hope more folks see the light, the quality of life is a 180 from that in the city, which is prison like.

[Bringin It]

Thanks a lot Hulk.  I hope you make it back to the garden if you haven't already done so.

No regrets here.

Happy New Year.

[merehuman]

I value the smile on my loved ones face and my neighbor too.

Having clarity and peace in the moment free of want

and the ability  to satisfy the few needs.

Things, not so much.

[ColonelCooper]

Over Christmas my parents presented me with an amazing family history that they had been working on for years.  Professionally printed, awesome family and public archived photos, half dedicated to each side of the family going back to their immigration to the U.S.

Reading it, I was astounded by the hardships they endured, and most importantly OVERCAME in their struggle to succeed.  It made me kind of proud of the family, but I think in a lot of ways, reading it bummed me out and pissed me off to think about what we've become. 

The sun is setting on America as we know it.  I don't think we have enough mettle to save it.

[Hulk]

They were incredibly tough people and amazingly strong for being so lean.Many people today will never know their physical capabilities and indeed it may be sunset for America.

Looking forward to rebuilding on the other side though...

[ColonelCooper]

Agreed.  Hope to see you there.

[Hulk]

It would be my pleasure Colonel.

[francismarion]

You are smelling your own upper lip, Corny Pooper. America is here to stay. Lots may wash out. If you're among'em TS.

[Hulk]

Too much time on the left coast has turned your brain to mush fm...

[ColonelCooper]

"Lots may wash out. If you're among'em TS."

I find that perfectly acceptable.  It is the fact that around 50% of America doesn't that's the problem.   

[francismarion]

Corker

You always talk a lot of sense. But consider: If, as you say, we have another 'blissful decade' if we continue as we are, followed by misery; what do we have if we throw on the brakes? Two miserable decades, followed by more misery? Maybe you will say that the shock of braking will jump start some technology and will cushion our fall. Maybe.

But isn't that what's happening already? Electric cars, green energy, tar sands. Not fast enough, granted. What we have to look forward to is a world that must increase IT in order to soften the landing of no oil. But our idiot leaders hold summits that require millions of gallons of fuel to attend, when they should be setting the example by teleconferencing. And the cities must decentralize. That's where the rub is. Hundreds of millions off the land that must return to it. Outside of cold fusion or some such thing, the future is dismal, as you demonstrate.

But I don't think the oil-sucking system is going to change until its catastrophic breakdown and I don't think that even if it did it slow down radically, it would change the result, only defer it. In the meantime, think good thoughts and keep shouting as loud as you can. Someone might hear and do something about it.

[Hulk]

FM, no amount of green energy, tar sands or wishful thinking will replace oil. Only a miracle save at this point, perhaps the boys at nif have something for us...

[delacroix]

cheap nat gas is required, in large amounts, to get oil out of the tarsands. maybe thats why natty prices are held down, along with expansion of usage

[Hulk]

Yep, along with a bunch of water. More tar sands to be processed than we have nat gas. Should just burn the nat gas in cars

[francismarion]

Corker

You always talk a lot of sense. But consider: If, as you say, we have another 'blissful decade' if we continue as we are, followed by misery; what do we have if we throw on the brakes? Two miserable decades, followed by more misery? Maybe you will say that the shock of braking will jump start some technology and will cushion our fall. Maybe.

But isn't that what's happening already? Electric cars, green energy, tar sands. Not fast enough, granted. What we have to look forward to is a world that must increase IT in order to soften the landing of no oil. But our idiot leaders hold summits that require millions of gallons of fuel to attend, when they should be setting the example by teleconferencing. And the cities must decentralize. That's where the rub is. Hundreds of millions off the land that must return to it. Outside of cold fusion or some such thing, the future is dismal, as you demonstrate.

But I don't think the oil-sucking system is going to change until its catastrophic breakdown and I don't think that even if it did it slow down radically, it would change the result, only defer it. In the meantime, think good thoughts and keep shouting as loud as you can. Someone might hear and do something about it.

[GreenSideUp]

If Big Oil didn't have a stranglehold on everything, keeping competition to a minimum, and the REAL free market was turned loose on the energy problem, it would probably be solved within a month. 

In other words. like everything else, these things come from the bottom up, not from the top down, and certainly not when the "top"is a bunch of bureaucrats in DC.

[Dave]

Big Oil doesn't need to keep competition down. There is no competition.

Until someone can come up with a more efficient energy source oil will

remain on top. The "green energy" sources just aren't efficient yet.

Methanol, get real. How much oil is burned to produce that?

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Sure I guess the 50s were the apex but the American Graffiti culture is now a liability I am afraid.

American Graffiti takes place in 1962.

[THE DORK OF CORK]

Touche Crockett -  but in my little mind the 50s ended in 1963 and started at the end of the Korean war.

[Hulk]

Same here DOC

[THE DORK OF CORK]

Well it did not have to be that bad - 20th century culture had a belief in constant technological change.

I am sure that when America defaulted in 71 there was a belief that something would be always around the corner to drive real growth.

However technological development does not just happen - it grows in a suitable environment , although war was a big driver of this during the 20th century there was more then that at play.

Ok America blew 150 billion on dropping bombs in Indochina which to a large extent was not recycled into America but into some Saigon whorehouses - at least the 25 billion that went into Apollo stayed at home although wether some of that went into American whores I have no idea.

The monetarists are the real culprits of the western collapse - believing that cutting capital ratios via reduced infrastructure and technological spending will drive growth - it accelerated consumption growth until it has hit a brick wall and it does not look like it can pick itself up anymore as the future capital is gone (300 to 1 leverage bites the poor in the ass and possibly even the rich).

!971 was the end really - people just did not get it at the time - some sacrifice may have turned it around then but now it looks impossible.

[delacroix]

.

[DosZap]

Dork

Glad to have your over the seas input.

I assure you gas at $4.00-$5.00 a gallon will never start a revolution here.(maybe demonstrations, a few small riots)

Americans will adjust, the real issue as stated is the distances people must drive to work.

Plus the costs that will be passed down from the increased diesel, and trans costs for goods.

But, that still will not cause a civil war.

What will, is more and more overt moves against the REAL American populace (regular Americans, law abiding, and just getting by,live and let live).

The more heavy handed the Gvt gets with the Constitution and non criminal individuals is what will break the dyke.

They must be very careful not to push too hard,fast, or try and become our Masters.

That will be their undoing.

(they are starting now,if they are Wise they will back off,we are a peaceful lot,slow to wrath/anger,but once slapped we are like sleeping dogs, should have let us lie).

IF anything major comes down as a REASON for a crack down, the finger will be pointed at them, not us, nor terrorists.

[Bringin It]

Dork - love your posts, but let me explain something.  I believe you labor under the false assumption that anybody who can, wants to fix anything.  It's a misunderstanding of what has become of modern America.

[mynhair]

"They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs."

That applied until 99 weeks went by.  Now those without jobs are worthless.

Do you know there is now a new AC3 codec?  Think one of those 99 week unemployed can deal with it, without massive retraining?

Meanwhile...iCIT can't handle the year change.  Good luck with those iPhone alarms.

[Dave]

WTF is an AC3 codec? The iPhone alarm problem will be gone tomorrow.

As for the 99 weekers, well, they better get their head around the fact

that the job they lost ain't coming back and they need to do something

else. The manufactruing jobs that were lost were replaced by construction

jobs. The construction jobs that were lost can be replaced by hmmm,

what? I know, TSA jobs! See! Things will be OK.

[RobotTrader]

ES futures still pinned near the highs, even though gold and the euro are both down.

[mynhair]

Thanks, RT!  Watching the EUR dive, but won't jump in that particular pool at this time.

So expect the pig market to jump at open as the hopium injections take hold.

[curiosul]

Simple question:

How is this different  from a year ago?

[mynhair]

1 is now the last digit on your check date, duh.

[lynnybee]

i'm so sick of "these people" who are running this country !   WE DID SAVE FOR OUR RETIREMENT, REMEMBER ! ?    We put every damn last cent we had into our homes !   "buy the nicest home you can afford."  ...... well, I did all those things I was supposed to do ......... buy the nice home, cheap car, money in a stock market cause that fuckin' Jeremy Seagiel told us all to buy stocks for the "long run" ........ AND, WHERE'S IT GOT ME !!   DEVALUE HOMES, STOCKS TANK & NOW I'M TOLD I HAVE TO BUY SILVER & GOLD !!  (yes, I'm a stupid woman, I'm always doing what I'm told by society.) .......... there is no saving for nothin' with this government .........it's all about scamming the average person out of what little they might have left.  ........ that's my rant for today.......

[mynhair]

I so feel your pain.  We TEA party types will make a difference, and string bodies up on lamp posts.

[Selah]

No you won't...

The Tea Party has been successfully co-opted by the Republicans.

Both wings of the Establishment remain intact and will continue to divide and conquer. Those opposed to the Governing Class will be those on the lamp posts.

[mynhair]

Successful, how?  They aren't even there yet.

[Red Neck Repugnicant]

Are you aware that Judson Phillips, influential leader of the Tea Party and founder of Tea Party Nation, wrote a letter a few weeks ago to Sarah Palin begging her to become the chair of the GOP?

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/12/heres-an-idea-sarah-...

Read the letter, and then you'll understand how the Tea Party is nothing but an affiliate of the GOP. 

[francismarion]

Sounds sinister. Does the FBI know? Shouldn't you call them?

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Judson Phillips, influential leader of the Tea Party

Who?

[merehuman]

and our militias, should they ever arise to fight will no doubt raid our pantries.

Every man for himself is the rule when there is no law. Like NOW in the USA.

When  the law is not  just or fair to all then there is no law but your own.

[francismarion]

You may let them raid you panties, but they won't get mine. You are such a fraud, merehuman.

[merehuman]

What are you even trying to say? Do you even know?

[QQQBall]

"buy the nicest home you can afford. I did all the things I was supposed to do... Its all about SCAMMING the average person."

Priceless.

Learn to think for yourself - it too is priceLESS... and stop fucking whining.  The calvary is not coming to save your poor ass; save yourself... and stop fucking whining.

[Bringin It]

Here they come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVXOikofiDA

[DavidPierre]

1863: 

 After defeating Shosone warriors in an uneven battle at the Bear River in Idaho, U.S. troops rape and molest the surviving women of the encampment. Many children are shot and killed. In some cases, American soldiers are seen to hold the feet of infants and "beat their brains out on any hard substance they could find." Indian women who refuse to submit to rape by the federal troops are shot and killed. A local resident, Alexander Stalker, notes that many soldiers pulled out their pistols and shot several Shoshone people at point blank range. The soldiers deliberately burn almost everything they can get their hands on, especially the buildings in which the Shoshone had been sleeping, killing everyone inside.

 The Rocky Mountain News in Denver runs an editorial calling for the ethnic cleansing of native Americans in Colorado, a territory recently stolen from Mexico. The editorial is succinctly headlined, “Exterminate Them”.

 In another shining example of Truth, Justice Or The American Way, the U.S. Congress unilaterally declares all treaties with the Dakota Indian nation null and void which makes stealing their land a whole lot easier.

[DosZap]

QQQ,

 A bit harsh on the lady no?.

She is like the majority of Americans. They did their stints, they played by the rules,they paid their dues, they never got more than a traffic ticket.

Paid their taxes, and trusted the system, as 95% of Americans have always done. It extremely disconcerting to awaken to find your efforts to DO the right thing, cost you all.

This,in the end is where the WRATH of the regular American will cause the ungluing.

Paybacks are a bitch, and shit has a way of coming around. There are no FREE lunches, even for 10sq miles of dung eaters, or the Bankstas.

Hide and watch.

[francismarion]

Is that the best you've got? I am right here.

[Bringin It]

lowercasefm - FYI, you're kind of drooling on yourself now.  You're taking a swipe at QBall and I don't see where he interacted with you in any way.  Do you use aluminum cookware?  I ask because many say it leads to ahlzhiemer's.

[Aristarchan]

Did you say aluminum cookware leads to senility? now wait just a minute here bud, I have used it all my life and I....I....where? what was the question? Am I still on?

[stoverny]

Who the heck told you that the best way to save for your retirement is to buy the "nicest home you can afford"?  I've never heard that, from the govt or anyone else.  That is not a retirement plan, never was... I'm sorry but you sound like a typical suburban housewife who wanted the McMansion and the granite countertops and the cathedral ceilings, but rationalized the decision by saying it was actually a good "retirement plan", because housing always goes up forever...

Now you are saying you "have to" buy silver and gold?  You don't HAVE TO do anything.  Save more and spend less, it ain't rocket science.

[RKDS]

Pretty much anything you read or are told these days is likely to be a lie.

[pvzh]

yes, I'm a stupid woman, I'm always doing what I'm told by society

Do what your husband tells you to do, not some "society".

[Jake3463]

The year of Brawndo, it has the stuff plants crave.

http://www.brawndo.com/

Like the movie Idiocracy, everything needed to do to fix the economy long-term for the next 20 years would crash the economy and cause the masses to riot, however if we don't do these things the economy will crash and masses will riot a few years from now.

The political class could probably communicate to the populace and enact the necessary actions, if it wasn't for the fact it has spent the past 50 years lying to the public and has zero credibility.

Barack wasted all his political credibility saving bankers.  Woops for him.

[mynhair]

Barack ever had credibility?  On Mars, or just LibLand?

[Hephasteus]

I wonder if the Ben Bernanke folded a five for christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJMTmz7pkg&feature=related

[lynnybee]

besides, how the hell is anyone supposed to save any money for retirement with rising taxes, rising food & energy prices, & we're fighting to just find lousy $8/hour jobs @ TARGET or PANERA !!  There's NOTHING in Ohio for the average older woman ....... besides if we do manage to "save anything" the fucking government or banks manage to "fee" it out of us !   ......... get me out of Ohio !  but, where to run ?   Michigan ?  California?   how about Rhode Island ? .... smart government policy to drive down wages & outsource jobs ...... WE'LL ALL REALLY SAVE A LOT FOR OUR RETIREMENT WITH THAT GREAT GOVERMENT & WALL ST. "POLICY" !   

[steveo]

New Zealand

[mynhair]

Not if you are over 50.

[Dr. Sandi]

Not if you are over 50.

Over 50 and wanna go to NZ? If you don't have half a million to park in a no interest bond, you're gotta be an entrepreneur.

http://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/entrepreneur-category~224.html

Thinking seriously about it myself. I think I can handle the financial shitstorm, but if they smell like they're going send out stormtroopers to take our stuff for the public good, I'm outta here.

[Dave]

It appears you've come to a realization. Now, accept it and do your

best. None of us closing in on retirement are going to be able to afford

it if we're depending on the gov't. Family and friends looking out for

each other is where we're all going. Like it or not. Everytime I look at

my 1 year old granddaughter I think about the future and know it is

my duty to teach her how to live and more importantly how not to.

[GreenSideUp]

Family and friends looking out for each other is where we're all going.

After water and food, this may be the most important tool for survival.  And I'm already seeing a lot of folks moving in with family and friends to make ends meet, even if they don't fully understand what's going on.  It's intuitive for many.

[DosZap]

lynny,

Come to Texas, all the rest of Ohio is.

I doubt your a liberal, or a left winger, so if your not, please I invite you.'

If your either of the two, go to Kali, we do not want this state changed (like Colorado), by PC idiots making us like what they LEFT.

[RockyRacoon]

I live in one of the best kept secret states there is.  Most of you will pass through on your way to Texas, or where ever, and not think twice. We like it that way.

[Hulk]

Let us know when it stops raining birds and we will come visit!

[RockyRacoon]

Stupid birds!

[Aristarchan]

Texas....or my personal choice: Thailand.

[Bringin It]

That's how you know the HMong.

[Aristarchan]

Yeah, and from a few years in Vietnam. They are in general, a really good people. I know a lot of folks will disagree with me, but I wish we had more of them here....guess maybe I am prejudice on the subject though.

[steveo]

Tick is kind of all over the board.  The blue line is a 21 day simple moving average.

Tick has broken down, although the market continues to levitate.  Although I would take this as a bearish sign, and a sign of the manipulation, POMO and what not, of the markets.

I also generated a bunch of other moving averages, the 21 day does see to speak quite well, that is approximately a complete moon cycle if you believe in such things.  

http://oahutrading.blogspot.com/2011/01/tick-and-moving-averages.html

[mynhair]

To you that still have no clue about the TEA party, we distrust goobermint in all forms.  These klowns that say we want to keep handouts on SS and Medicare are ignorant.  We believe we are more capable of living our lives than a handful of jackasses in DC.

Want to balance the budget?  Dissolve all Goobermint arms that you can't espouse a positive benefit from.  Currently, that is zippo.

I'm 58, and don't give a rat's ass about SS or Medicare.

[Sad Sufi]

So you don't trust roads, hospitals, police, and military to provide any net benefit?

[mynhair]

Correct.  How's that closed border working fer ya?

No public hospitals here, but lots of potholes.  Military does what?  Keep lawyers employed?

Patrolled our own streets after Hurricane Charley cuz the cop shop wasn't built to code.

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

So you don't trust roads, hospitals, police, and military to provide any net benefit?

Governments are not necessary for the maintenance of roads, hospitals or security personnel. Government is as inefficient at these endeavors as it is in every other activity it pursues. Government appears to succeed in these areas because it uses its monopoly of force to eliminate free market competition.

[VegasBob]

Harry Truman's words about Tricky Dick Nixon are a perfect description of Bernokio (aka The Ben Bernank):

"...a shifty-eyed goddamn liar...who talks out of both sides of his mouth and lies out of both sides too."

The only guarantee for 2011 is that Bernokio will continue his policy of destroying the US middle class, just like a heat-seeking missile on a search and destroy mission.

[dcb]

They are not stuck in a catch 22. they have a catch 22 of their own making because they aren't willing to make the changes they need to because it will upset the oligarchy (the wealthy and corporate lobby money, campaign contributions, cushy jobs.

that is the benign scenario. the bad scenario is they are looting before the collapse.

Either way it ends badly

[SWRichmond]

Quantitative easing’s Catch 22 is that it can never be unwound without destroying the Fed and the US economy.

Bernanke has been trapped ever since he became chairman.  We needed a good recession / unwind a long time ago but the politicians would hear none of it.  So much for the "political independence" of a central bank, ever.  I don't feel sorry for him, though, he's playing his part to the hilt.  If we ever do get around to bothering with "trials" then Greenspan tops the list.

[KickIce]

My prediction, before this is all said and done there will be many progressives that perform violent, unspeakable acts that they previously felt they were incapable of, all under the pretense of Alinsky - the ends justify the means.

We are about to experience the full consequences of what happens when a nation loses its' moral compass.

[mynhair]

They already are wigging out.  Look at the news.  Stack was a Lib.

[DosZap]

Counter point  to your prediction.

There will be many progressives that will feel the wrath of those acts, even before they get a chance to perform them.

This will be done, not under the pretense of Alinsky,but under the LAW as written in the Constitution fo the United States of America.

Any Law that does not agree with,nor is against the Constitution is of no effect, and is therefore not to be obeyed.

[KickIce]

That might be possible as long as the dollar has reasonable value.  Once lost all bets are off.  They purposely pushing people to the edge in order to inact marshall law.  This admin is all about the crisis, whether it be real or manufactured.

[lynnybee]

Here is the GRANDMA JO story again in it's brief form :    My Grandma Jo, born in 1915 (god rest her sainted soul) .........she railed against the government & if she could see things nowadays she'd roll over in her grave.   

GRANDMA JO said :   NEVER TRUST THE GOVERNMENT & DO NOT GO INTO THE STOCK MARKET .    She pounded this into all our heads during her lifetime / GRANDMA JO was RIGHT !

[mynhair]

Grammie Jo meant long term.  No Internet (invented by global warmist Algore) then.

[Aristarchan]

Your Grandma was a wise woman. I started studying the financial markets when I was 12 years old, and decided by 14 that it was the biggest ripoff ever invented by man, and was supported by a few hundred dumb-fuck theories that had no basis in mathematical reality, but only in the psychological reality that some people would use them to form an investment strategy, so they could be traded with or against only on that basis. I have no interest in placing my hard-earned money into a casino that revolves around psychological balderdash, and a type of people who consider themselves "experts" based on total bullshit. That is why I have never invested, nor ever will.

[tofu mary]

I would love to see that national debt chart overlayed with the gold price chart... as I suspect that debt trendline is predicting gold prices to come.

[Dave]

Big Al Greenspan set this up on purpose. Wait until he's dead and

gone and see if there's not some letter of his that surfaces explaining

it. That dude is way sharper than most people think. The toilet needed

flushing and he pulled the handle. There's no way he can admit it though.

[mynhair]

Let's invest in edication.

Not enuf sheeple no where to find Amerikan Idol.

/end sarc

[red2893]

I fully agree...funny though

http://theopeningrange.blogspot.com/

[steveo]

I have a project I call "REAL DATA".   If any of y'all got some good data you want posted up for the public domain, for free, let me know.  This is very preliminary work on my part.   I hope someday that this is a real useful depository of mostly financial information.

Jan 2, 2011 Adding: Historical Inflation Data to 1912, and historical oil price data.   These are very interesting. 

Oil Prices to 1946 and Inflation to 1914

Sentiment Data from 1987

Earthquake List to Year 1900

 List of 1000 ETFs in Excel format

List of 1000 ETFs

At Hawaii Trading, there are 6 pages to the blog, one is called "REAL DATA SERIES" and you can find some neat stuff posted that you can download directly as an Excel file, and there will be some PDF's also.    Mahalo for visiting!

http://oahutrading.blogspot.com/p/real-data-series.html

[optimator]

The Stryker's weak point is its tires.  two pieces of steel rod and arc weld in a way that no matter which way the device falls one point is sticking straight up. Make sure that these nails are both long(6-8 inches long) and thick(at least 1/4 inch or 5mm) as tires have a really thick outer layer.  I've seen lots of Molotov Cocktails on the net that show a bottle of gas with a wick.  The Russian's invention had a 20% mixture of oil in the gas to make it stick and last longer. 

[francismarion]

A real patriot. Deep thinker too.

[ColonelCooper]

I think you meant to say, "Read 'Patriots'".  It will explain a much better design for the molotov.

[Hulk]

I think we have found Bravo's long lost twin.

[Dave]

What's your plan for an M1A1 tank?

[max2205]

Fact MBS toxic assets will be held for term and 30 years from now when We are all dead they will be forgotten and written off. So give us some good news. This sounds like 2009 fear regurgitated

[Ned Zeppelin]

100 cents on the notional dollar is too much to pay for crap now. That's the problem. Do e you say you favor bailouts of the banks by this means? Did anyone get to vote on this? Do you think this is a good idea, to have the Fed simply print to reimburse this gang of crooks for their "mistakes" and tuck these assets safely beyond the Financial Event Horizon, a sort of Yucca Mountain for radioactive investments created by the Wall Street fuckwads, until their half-life arrives and they are safe to write off? 

It has been a disaster, and it will come back to haunt all of us, except for the super-rich, who are, it is clear, the enemy of the American people. A hard rain is going to fall.  

[max2205]

No no and no

Just saying

[Everyman]

This thread shows me the "mettle" in our hallowed "financial and economic industry sector", meaning NONE!!!  Yeah there are a lot of "edumicated" folks here from Ivy schools, but there is little intelligence on what this country is and is not.  Lots of inuendo and not very much in the way of actual values or intestinal fortitude.  It reminds me of the financial types talking like they were some great predators, that's a fucking hoot!

From what I see posted here many of you deserve what you are about to receive, and YOU will be the first that "sell out" right away!  You make we SICK!  You are PUTRID!  Your are not worth liberty if you will not stand to defend it, you mewling little pukes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnHSDuYmnfo&playnext=1&list=PLA4F03DCA8D9...

Figure out which side you are gonna be on ...

BITCHEZ!

[francismarion]

Do ya think?

They are pee-pee boys, one and all, especially the silver jewelry flea market juke-artist.

[Aristarchan]

Figure out which side you are gonna be on ...

I figure...my own.

[Dr. Sandi]

Figure out which side you are gonna be on ...

BITCHEZ!

Ohhh, goodie, they've going to let us pick sides.

I want to be on the team with the really cool-looking kids this time. They never used to let me be on their team. Maybe now it will be different.

[Aristarchan]

No...it wont. They all still have their rigid standards that they have no hope of living up to themselves. Hey! why don't ya be on my side? I have nothing to offer except....I won't get mad if you don't wanna be on my side.

[Ned Zeppelin]

Bookmark this post as the best of 2011.   It is dead on accurate. 

[Bringin It]

Funny thing is, I agree with you, but isn't the author, not Tyler, Quinn, a 9-11 denier?

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Ah, yes -- sanity. That explains his...saneness.

[Aristarchan]

A very odd concept...these days.

[Bringin It]

Ok, some well-meaning, yet timid of heart folks do labor under the constraints of normalcy bias.

[DavidPierre]

Lie'n SmokeyJim Quinn is a 9/11Traitor.

Been hammering the MORON for two years.

Everybody needs a foil... (fool) in a

debate ...(comedy).

Quinn is my bitch.

[Billy Shears]

Great post, Mr. Durden! LOVED THE BOOK. Awesome way to bring literature and "current events" together. ZH's this is an entertaining read. Go for it, Joseph Heller is a "helluva" a writer. And, thanks for the "expert network" insights on the markets and economy.

[Fast Twitch]

Love'm or hate'm...Rich Dad Poor Dad writes 2010 was the eye of the storm. He expects 2011 to get stormy again...feel'n like a weatherman... Cheers

[robertocarlos]

It's over.

[francismarion]

Is it a boy or a girl? Did you scream much? Do you know who the daddy is?

[Mad Mad Woman]

Great post Jim.  I need to buy some guns to protect my family and property.

[Caviar Emptor]

I'm going to predict a standoff beween mainstreamers and Tea Baggers over the debt ceiling. The fighting will be acrimonious. The resulting compromise will take a big chunk out of social security and medicare, education, NASA and EPA. But full backing of banks by the Fed will get full funding. A new version of Build America Bonds will be the way out, allowing a cover story that the debt ceiling wasn't raised (which terrified Americans will be willing to believe). The retirement age for social security will be raised, benefits will be phased in over a much longer period. Same with medicare. And a host of new loopholes in coverage will be opened up so grandma can't really buy her pills or pay for her walker. However a new committee will study the problem.

[DavidPierre]

SmokeyJimQuinn:

Quote...

"The comments on ZH always go off into tangents far removed from the article. I think there were 2 out of 100 comments related to the article."...

www.TheMoronsPlatform.com

No shit Sherlock!

Your oft repeated, and obvious redundant economic shtick is getting quite boring.

My extra special song going out to you, a 9/11Traitor, and all the Bi Ewe Bestiality Boys that sniff around your asshole... But especially for your best butt-buddy loves, Smokey and RubMy1.

Dare Call  it Treason...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5dP5gy2Vs&feature=player_embedded#!

[Bringin It]

Thanks DavidP for calling a spade a spade.  Any reasonably inteligent American who can rationalize Building #7 is a traitor.

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Ron Paul is not a traitor.

[DavidPierre]

Mr. CrockoShit

Ron Paul is old enough, and smart enough, to know the whys and wherefores of local Texas and  federal CIA/MIC politics ... the very hard lessons of JFK, RFK, MLK, etc. etc.

But one thing I do know, for a sure fire fucking fact, is that your Walt Disney hero, Davy Crockett was a slave-owning, psychopathic, genocidal murderer.  His side/part-time job was a politician.

[Aristarchan]

And don't forget...he inspired a popular TV show...or was that Daniel Boone? well...it was Fess parker anyway...some times I get my sure-fire-fucking-facts mixed up.

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Frenchy,

Do you disagree with Bringin It when he says, "Any reasonably inteligent American who can rationalize Building #7 is a traitor?" Are you suggesting that Ron Paul is not a traitor but has been frightened into lying about the murder of 3,000 Americans by Dick Cheney and Bigfoot? Do you have any other explanations for Ron Paul's assertion that the so-called Truther position is "preposterous?"

Do you believe that when Ron Paul quoted Crockett in congress (yes, Ron Paul is a congressman just like Crockett was) that he was quoting from a Walt Disney film?

[DavidPierre]

CrockoShit:

Damn Son...

Now's Y'all be a'tellin me you is of the beliefs and has your hard faiths and solid facts that Ron Paul is a Bigfoot!

  Shit... I don't believe that cousin, The Big Feets all lives up in the Rocky Mountain not in Texas.  They truly hates flatlander MORONs cause of dare stupid idears.

Why... I damn done and saws a big footy just late this summer. He be staggering outs my highly secret BCBud growin place stoned out his gourds after eaten up half year prophet. 

[laosuwan]

Another interesting co incidence is how crockoshit's friend Bringin Shit is always there to help him "prove" his points.

By the way, read some of Crockoshit's posts and run the text through Search.com and you will find much of it is plagiarized from various textbooks and leadership seminars.

Pathetic.

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

By the way, read some of Crockoshit's posts and run the text through Search.com and you will find much of it is plagiarized from various textbooks and leadership seminars.

Pathetic.

Please provide documentation.

[DavidPierre]

Mr. CrockoShit:

For your further enlightenment... re: USSA Treason and Assassinations.

I'm for the little fellers, not the Rockefellers. - Sen. Paul Wellstone

Shortly before he died in a mysterious airplane crash 11 days prior to the 2002 elections, Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone met with Vice President Dick Cheney, probably the Bush administration's most evil public face.

Cheney was rounding up Senate support for the October 2002 vote on giving the administration carte blanche to invade Iraq, with or without blessing from the United Nations. Cheney strong-armed opposing politicians like the most vindictive of mafioso leaders, and opponents usually gave in.

But not Wellstone. Whatever you thought of his progressive brand of politics, he wasn't a wimp. And that's what made him more than dangerous in the eyes of people like Cheney.

At a meeting full of war veterans in Willmar, Minn., days before his death, Wellstone told attendees that Cheney told him, "If you vote against the war in Iraq, the Bush administration will do whatever is necessary to get you. There will be severe ramifications for you and the state of Minnesota."

Wellstone cast his vote for his conscience and against the Iraq measure, the lone Democrat involved in a tough 2002 election campaign to do so. And a few weeks later on Oct. 25, as he appeared to be winning his re-election bid, Wellstone, his wife, Sheila, his daughter, Marcia Markuson, three campaign staffers, and two pilots died in a plane crash in Minnesota.

Talk about "severe ramifications."

[CrockettAlmanac.com]

Not every bad thing you can imagine is true.

[DavidPierre]

Shit son... Why the fuck you even pay the inter-netty...cybog-webby fees if you aint going to be doing your own damn homework.

ZH aint a Kindercare type special class for MORONs.

Here... being as I a nice fella, I helps you just this here last time... Just click on and read... http://pilotsfor911truth.org/

I'm sure you knows how to click...but I wonders deeply about the readin parts.

Git back to me if'n y'all be needs further twotoorin.

[laosuwan]

This guy is completly nuts. He was banned from ZH months ago. Before, he was an english tutor in bangkok working with a fake TEFL certificate, got into a fight with a katoey (transgender prostitute) in Nana Plaza and lost his job when they checked on his credentials. He was overheard bragging at a bar about "his" blog Zero Hedge, blah blah blah. My expat friends called him out. He is back in the US now, hopefully with a red stamp in his passport, as we dont need his kind here in Thailand.

[Aristarchan]

Or...it could have been a random plane crash.

[DavidPierre]

Damn... lots of "RANDOM" shit happens in the USSA since JKF was killed by that MAGIC bullet.

John F Kennedy Jr. ...overwhelming, jaw-dropping evidence of foul play in the death. All based on official government documents. The search of the crash site was delayed an incomprehensible 15 hours. There was, indeed, a flight instructor on the plane, whose body is missing. It is clear that someone one on that plane committed suicide, shutting off the fuel control valve before plunging the plane into the sea. The prime suspect, George W. Bush, though very publicly running for president, disappeared the day of the murder and stayed missing for 3 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nXv6tFwNkk

[Oh regional Indian]

That was a telling one DP. The fact that John Ashcroft lost to a dead Wellstone is even more telling.

Then Ted Stevens recently. Also the Repub strategist (Michael Connley I think?) who had the goods on the Ohio vote rigging fiasco in 2008.

It goes back a long ways. KAL007....

It's a long and ugly list.

ORI

http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/2011/

[DavidPierre]

ORI:

This has been going on since I was old enough to think about it.  One murder after another after another.  That's why I've been an ex-pat for the past 40 years.  No way will I let my sons be ruled by or sucked into the USSA MIC meat grinder society of war and terror.

Well it could be pilot error. They might have forgotten to disengage the bomb before landing.

Funny how the FBI was headed to the crash site long before the plane was reported to be down.

How do they do it?  Know where and when accidents just randomly happen.  Must be a special talent.