The ECB Has Opened Pandora’s Box
Submitted by Mark Grant, author of "Out of the Box and onto Wall Street"
The ECB has Opened Pandora’s Box
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. “
-Thomas Jefferson
I am not going to speculate about anything this morning. No guesses about what the Finance Ministers might do on Monday, no simple addition or subtraction that the data used to forecast Greece’s return to a 120% debt to GDP ratio is a falsification of the numbers, no mention that only nineteen cents of any bailout for Greece would actually go to the country; I am not going to discuss anything except what the European Central Bank has actually done and what we now know with a one hundred percent (100%) certainty and the horrifying implications of their actions.
“There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.”
-Andrew Jackson
The ECB, on its own and without judicial or parliamentary review, has swapped their Greek debt for new Greek debt that is not subject to any “collective action clause.” They did this unilaterally and without the consent of any other sovereign debt bond owners of Greek debt. They did this without objection of any nation in Europe. They have retroactively changed the indenture, the contract made by Greece with all of the buyers of their bonds, when the debt was issued. There is no speculation involved in these statements, there is no longer any guesswork on what might be; the ECB swapped their bonds for new Greek bonds with the assent of the Greek government and it is now a done deal.
Having then done this; the implications must now be considered utilizing the clear light of unadulterated reason. The issue now is no longer a one-off Greek issue but a full on ECB issue. We know now that the ECB can retroactively change the rules, change an indenture, so that if the ECB can do this with Greece then it can certainly do it with any sovereign debt in Europe. If they can exempt themselves from a “collective action clause” then they can exempt themselves from any clause, in any sovereign indenture, for any European country. The fact that they are now clearly senior to any other bond holder, or more aptly put, that any private bond owner is now subordinated to the ECB is one consideration but hardly the most important one. The incredibly grim reality now is that any European and all European sovereign debt can have their indentures changed by the ECB when it is to their advantage. It is the “collective action clause” today but tomorrow it could be the maturity or the coupon or any other terms and conditions in an indenture. It is Greece today but tomorrow it could be France or Portugal or Italy. The “Rule of Law” has been abrogated and tossed aside in the name of political contrivance.
“Necessity; the tyrant’s plea.”
-John Milton
Since the ECB can now retroactively change any bond contract to whatever it likes and with any nation in its dominion then the valuation of European sovereign debt must be re-examined for what it really is which is no longer what anyone previously thought. Starkly put; the bonds issued by the sovereign nations in Europe are no longer pari passu, on equal footing, with the bonds issued in the United States. We have just passed a clearly defined “break point” where the legal rules were changed to the great disadvantage of all the private debt holders. The risk of ownership of European sovereign debt is now infinitely more dangerous in my estimation than it was last week. We still do not know if the IMF will demand and receive the same special treatment but I assert that it no longer matters. The actions of the European Central Bank are all that was necessary to radically alter the value of European sovereign debt and it is just not me but any number of large financial institutions that are in shock given what has happened with one of the largest and most respected bond investors in the world telling me that “financial repression is the softer word for it.”
Leaving anger and hostility aside; European sovereign debt must now be examined with a new set of metrics. How much yield would investors demand if an IBM indenture, as an example, had language that stated “This indenture is subject, at any time during the life of the bond, to any changes mandated by the Federal Reserve Bank.” Stated another way, what yields would be acceptable to bond investors if there was a Federal statute that said “All indentures in the United States may be changed at will by the Federal Reserve Bank upon their sole discretion.” No “Rule of Law,” no judicial appeal and a fait accompli whenever desired. This is, in terrifying fact, exactly what the European Central Bank has done and if we no longer know what we are buying and if the terms and conditions of an investment can be altered retroactively at will without the consent of bond holders and to the advantage of the ECB then either we should not buy these credits, as in Atlas shrugged, or yields should be in the mid-range of junk bonds because European sovereign bond indentures now are worth no more than the paper on which they are printed.
The European Central Bank, in a very misguided attempt to protect itself, has now opened Pandora’s Box. I doubt if they even realize what they have done; but they will, most assuredly they will. The consequences of their horrendous mistake will soon be upon them as institutions not coerced or forced into buying European sovereign debt will be leaving the playing field en masse as the realization dawns upon investors of just what has taken place. You cannot fool all of the people all of the time and the people that manage money for a living are not a forgiving group when governments try to supersede their lawful rights.
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords: that where law ends, tyranny begins.”
-William Pitt
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They shall get what they deserve.
Time to wake up Victor Hugues.
The “Rule of Law” has been abrogated and tossed aside in the name of political contrivance.
Welcome to the Monkey House.
Ah yes, the rule of law abrogated in the US (GM and Chrysler) and Europe (CAC's ECB).
I seem to recall that there's a neat passage in the Bible about Shitting on One's Self.
Like the NYT's by-line, "All the news that fits."
Franz Kafka would be proud.
Eddie Bernays would have a bazillion job offers.
And all I get is another fucking by the gubamints.
Looks like I'm getting an answer to the question I posed here http://www.zerohedge.com/news/subordination-101-walkthru-sovereign-bond-...
The ECB will either:
1. Print to cover the HF's bets.
2. Abrogate the contracts that underly the bets.
Sorry to bring this up, but look at Germany's record. That should tell you which it will be.
Sorry, I don't even know where to look to try and see what you are getting at. A few search terms would have been helpful.
So...
The ECB will either:
1. Print to cover the HF's bets. (EUR bearish, USD bullish (until Benny and the Inkjets get busy)).
2. Abrogate the contracts that underly the bets. (EUR bullish (This would AFAIKT be very EUR deflationary)).
If history is any guide at all (and it's been a PERFECT guide so far) I'm betting they do #1 (I think they have to, otherwise all the debt deflates and the whole Eurosystem implodes). Anyone care to poke holes in this thesis?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB319yIHZdE&feature=g-vrec&context=G27e777fRVAAAAAAAABA
Keiser Report: Scam On Epic Scale (E238)
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Jan 19, 2012
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 419 scams and Tim Geithner's gimp. In the second half of the show, Max talks to financial blogger and semi-retired Wall Street executive Warren E. Pollock about MF Global, wealth confiscation and bank holidays.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
SELECTIVE INTEREST(S)! Bitchez!
Change the Law(s)!
Grab Customer Accounts!
1st Position for Counter Party Banks! 2nd Position for the Customers who Deposited the Cash!
WAKE THE FUCK UP SHEEP!
Norway's super oil fund was heavily intested in greek bonds.
Seems like the norwegians are going to get fuxored by the ECB.
Paging Mr. Breivik, paging Mr. Breivik.
Euro and ECB and EU is Europe's elite performing M&A with rest of the poorer cousins to boost their own status
Europeans at the top of the pyramid will stand taller while the base gets larger. Sucks for productive european middle class as their standard of living decreases.
Greeks just partied hard so they don't deserve much anyway.
German elites and Greek elites still have enough money in the bank not to have their wives and children ever work in their lives.
German workers who worked hard and saved money are screwed as they are asked to pay for Greek party of Olympic size.
What is happening is that labor is realizing how much they got sold out by their own masters.
Why do you use the codeword elites?
The EU was just one more step towards the New World Order (one world gov) and its about to SELF-DESTRUCT. woooohoooo
Short term linear thinking like that will get us all in trouble.
The collapse of the EU was intended from the beginning.
If the intent of the NWO was to create a one world government/currency etc, then ALL Nation States must be destroyed (or subordinated to administrative districts without sovereign powers). This includes the US and EU, China, Russia. All must go.
Step back and view the master craftsmen at work. Geometric, nonlinear thought at work over centuries.
I like Max Keiser a lot. But do not for a second believe RT (yes that stands for Russia Today) is a biasless source of information. The press is not free in Russia. As I said, I like Max Keiser, I believe much of what he says is completely valid. But don't forget who he works for, please.
Man who open ECB Pandora's Box smell fishy.
Neoconfucius
RT stands for Russia Today.....they are mostly true and competition is good to challenge US media brainwashing, but Russians will throw in propaganda like putin hunting tigers half naked once in a while.
RT = Russian oligarchy
PressTV = Iranian theocracy
Al Jazeera = Qatar Arabian kingdom
CCTV = Chinese empire
BBC = British empire
Max Kaiser speaks through RT or France24 (Eiffel Tower in the background), because he was banned in US for insider trading. Ex-wallstreeters are the best though to learn about the dirty secrets since they have nothing to lose.
ZeroHedge founder himself is ex-wall st.
So is businessinsider...
That's one of the reasons why wall st. doesn't do much layoffs despite they should be the ones hurting the most.....their employees will go on a tell all.
USA propaganda
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/irans-rich-eat-ice-cream...
As if Wall Street elites is any better as wall street's elites are buying their 10th Ferrari, getting cocane and hookers delivered to their late-night parties, and paying $250 in tips for $2000 sushi at Masa.
Truth can be a powerful weapon in the war of national interests, especially when the enemy has corrupted his own center of gravity... the belief among the people that they are free. RT pursues the truth on many levels for desired effect, but as you point out, their agenda serves a maligned interest.
If there's one thing John McCain got right it is that Putin = KGB. And they are far better at media and subversion than anyone in the western world. If you don't know what subversion is, please just watch, it's worth every second. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3qkf3bajd4
As I said before, it doesn't necessarily invalidate everything Max Keiser or RT presents, but in the world today, never assume any media source is unbiased, not that I actually need to tell ZHers that.
MANDY : Well, I suppose I should have told you a long time ago, but... Well Brian... your father isn't Mr. Cohen.
BRIAN : I never thought he was mum!
<SLAP!>
MANDY : Now none of your cheek!! ... he was a Roman, Brian, he was a centurion in the Jerusalem Garrison.
BRIAN : You mean... you ... you were RAPED?!!!
MANDY : aww ... well, ... at first, yes ...
BRIAN : Who was he?!!
MANDY : ah! Naughtius Maximus was his name ... mmm. He promised me the known world he did. I was to be taken to Rome, a house by the Forum, slaves, asses' milk, as much gold as I could eat ... and then, he, ... having his way with me ... vroom! ... like a rat out of an aqueduct!
BRIAN : The BASTARD!!!
MANDY : Yeah, so next time you go on about the bloody Romans, don't forget--you're one of them!
BRIAN : <In a fit of rage> I'm not a Roman mum, and I never will be! I'm a kike, a yid, a hebe, a hook-nose; I'm kosher mum! I'm a Red Sea pedestrian, and I'm proud of it!
- The Life of Brian
--
That's where the idea comes from.
Anybody else feel like a little... giggle... when I mention my fwiend... Biggus... Dickus ??
Any world government process would have the interests vested in the US at its pillar. The EU structure was greatly influenced by America. But something tells me, that the US would never put the EU in a position to succeed and be one step closer to become a success model for an eventual world government.
I would never underestimate the power of those who have vested interests in the US. Until they decide to leave (like they left Europe before) the US will always be number 1.
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world-government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” – David Rockefeller, Address to Trilateral Commission, 1991.
"You got fifty ways you're gonna fuck up. If you think of twenty-five of them, then you're a genius... and you ain't no genius. You remember who told me that?"
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSUm2dzRkEajXRm45JHi...
"they're going to know it's arson."
yes, many, many know a crime has been committed. many crimes in fact. even a good number of the soldiers and police know it. but the ancien regime persists (still digging the victor hugues reference).
when will the slaves revolt?
Excellent quote, bears repeating:
“Necessity; the tyrant’s plea.” - John Milton
New World Order Power grab.
Alex Jones is right about everything.
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords: that where law ends, tyranny begins.”
-William Pitt
The Public/Private partnership between the ECB and the European nation states have failed miserably.
The Public/Private partnership between the Federal Reserve and the Unites States of America has failed miserably.
I strongly disagree. ... why do you insist on accepting authorities and experts?
It's a mental-ponzi mate.
Not everything but almost everything. Is that better?
No, I don't believe a word he says.
I simply have no reason to, and also have no need to.
I can evaluate stuff myself but I can not determine if another has done so, or if they are any good at it.
In the end only my own work, in that regard, matters to my understanding.
So I don't accept and don't need to accept that anyone may be almost always right about anything.
And I certainly don't accept that's remotely likely, in any case.
I especially won't trust someone who exhibits classic traits of a potential political demagogue and definitely is a sophisticated propagandist who is professionally (i.e. how he pays bills) shaping debate and perception.
Why do you want to embrace what he says? This is rhetorical, but it's also a serious private question.
Doesn't Alex Jones implicitly constantly lobby for your belief to be given to him? Why do you want to be mentally subordinate to him?
Doesn't Tyler take the (I think valid and proper) approach, that you should believe and accept absolutely nothing he or anyone else at zh says, as a wise and necessary precaution?
I don't accept Tyler either.
I don't even accept my own positions, and reserve the right to contradict them. I have no commitment to consistency because there is always more to learn.
What I do know is that it is impossible to express or convey actual Truth, verbally.
(Oops! ...)
+1T long Socrates
And now the same one who wanted the 1st spot are bitching about that the ECB is doning it to them!!
1. SHOW THE TRUNK OF 1938 GOLD BEARER T-BILLS.
2. MOVE THE NWO /NAZI INTERNATIONAL/ILLUMINATI/MASONIC/ GLOBAL CURRENCY FORWARD BY CONFISCATION.
3. CRASH THE PETRO DOLLAR SYSTEM { 200 $/B} BY WARRING THE MIDEAST AND CRASH THE MIDDLE CLASS CONFIDENCE AND WEALTH.
4.STAY TUNED FOR REGIONAL/NATIONAL FALSE FLAGS TO BEGIN THE POLICE STATE CRACK DOWN.
5. WATCH AS REGIONAL POWERS ALIGN ...EASTERN" WHITE HAT/WHITE DRAGON" VS. WESTERN WORLD BANKER ELITES. MAYAN CALANDER MAY BE A LATE INVENTION.
5. ARE YOU READY?
Time to load up the mag's, don the vest and make ready.
Hey JW you douchebag - I asked a question in line with the topic at hand. Why don't you try answering it next time instead of trying to hijack the fucking subject, you cocksucking asshole?!
It’s different this time.
“As when a conjurer takes a lease
From Satan for a term of years,
The tenant's in a dismal case,
Whene'er the bloody bond appears…
A baited banker thus desponds,
From his own hand foresees his fall,
They have his soul, who have his bonds;
'Tis like the writing on the wall.”
From..
-Jonathon Swift, (1667-1745), “The Run Upon the Bankers”
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/38875/
There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
- Solomon (just a little earlier)
Yeah, we haven't ever been here before.
"Political contrivance"
Banksters prefer the term "God's work".
The law of contract?
Do you mean to tell us there was once upon a time whereby two parties could enter into a clear, unambiguous agreement, whereby each provided consideration (something of value) to the other, and that there were terms & conditions spelled out that defined the rights and obligations of both parties that couldn't be changed by one of the parties after the time that each signed the agreement?
How quaint.
Everyone should remember going forward that if they can do "ALL OF THIS," then they can easily cancel the debt. Period. that even means YOUR DEBT. Not just Greece.
Debt is bondage and the fact that they have the power to move in either direction, but in fact simply tighten the noose around their debt-slaves' neck means they, in time whether on purpose or accident, will strangle their victim/target/client/debtor.
There is no law anymore, no justice.
And that means your currency is losing value.
I would suggest every person everywhere as a sign of protest burn a note of their local currency on YouTube as a sign of silent solidarity that what these central banks and their shadow shareholders are intentionally doing to destroying the global financial system - only to remake a new order for their own designs.
Somehow I don't think you are asked to vote on this move.
The war is on. Corporations and their billionaire controllers verses all other human beings, whether they be huddled in a rainforest, throwing rocks in a city square, silently studying for exams at university or just grunting out the day to feed their families or visit their aged parents.
I keep looks for signs of; "What is getting better?"
So far it only getting darker on the horizon.
And its being done on purpose.
If you asked me years ago if this was possible, I would have called you a "nut."
Yet its really happening.
Day after day.
Fuckers.
Is this a way to hold of ISDA? Or should this trigger the CDS as soon as a month from now?
Gold and silver, bitchez!
Bankonzhongguo, I understand what you are saying and agree in principle ...but, let me tell you about something that may inspire you to come up with something other than burning the shit paper when it's to early to be used for needed heat. Lol
...a long story short, I was burning some bills in the fire, with the same protestant lamentation, and all of the sudden one of the people that happen to be there at the time, who really has no clue about much of anything, because she was so young and poor, well, ...she reached into the fire. Let me tell you, that hit me hard and quick.
That was just one of my continuing revelations ...of me being a dumb ass. I gave her the rest of the cash a was going to slowly drop and burn, as I piously made my remarks about how evil the system is ...and all the crap we who are watching know about. I realized shit paper has value and can still wipe an Ass clean in the short term. LMAO
Please, do not be a dumb ass like me. Learn from my mistake. Come up with a better idea. I beg you. You feel like burning something, maybe burn a flag or two while you have a mask on of a Central Banker or something. Lol. You could do it in front of a bank or government building and hand out the cash to kids who are walking with their parents while you say ''have some of your parents debt'' err something. Lol
Hold your G_d damn dollar, euro, dinar, yen, yuan, franc up to the camera and set it on fire.
If the Central Banks are so intent on setting fire to our future through debt and servitude, and if money is debt after taking us off a gold standard, then setting fire to the currency is the same as extinguishing our debts.
Burn it down. And maybe in the process some of the assholes responsible or those that profit from our tolerance and obedience will get taken down in the process.
Its not enough to size up the phantom "elites," the "blue bloods," the "czars" and the like.
In addition we have to pass judgement upon their limo drivers, their chefs, their body guards, maids, lawyers and tax dodgers, their friends on corporate boards and the favorite charity ball, etc.
The direct servants of this class IS responsible for pulling the plug on these charades.
Until an IMF body man turns to their master and says; "No More." and fires a few rounds, not much is going to change.
Burn the currency is a statement to liberate the world from a future of usurious debt bondage and the cryptic and undemocratic designs therein.
Perception is reality. After all that is what your fiat is.
...yeah yeah yeah, and like I said, I'm ahead of you, my heal is bruised from kicking my own ass, but, my friend, the point being made, by the girl, ...is THE SAME IMAGE AND REALITY OF THE EVIL SHORT TERM GAINS of the Selfish Suiicide Vampire Squid of the Great Wal Mart of China, the producers of the shit paper and the burning image of her dusty ass. That young girl is a virgin child, not the Whore of Babylon. Just because we are offering our own claim it is still their image and it does not mean we are not unbecoming in this case, so long as she is compelled and in possession.
Did you not understand the Cremation of Care ritual slaughter of a child upon the Alter of Moloch? If you did, how is it that you would burn this young girl and not be guilty OF NOT CARING? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAwqvjqAfkQ
Put it to you this way. You do not burn the child in order to make your point. Do not cast your judgment upon her and expect not to be burned my friend. Wipe your ass and keep your hand out of the fire. When she can stand fast, as we comfort her with the heat of shit paper, we will not stand as fools out of time and season, we will be standing fast and doing no harm.
If we have shit paper to burn are we not careless assholes, just like ''them''? ...so long as she is drawn like a Moth to the flame? Let us no be tempted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkUaV9GZDuk
Thanks for all those ideas, but I'll stick to buying silver with it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuIxqo2So
If you don't mind me asking,
just how many years the term has been?
Calm down. Both and more. Germany, Weimar. US, Print and randomly change the rules midgame to one's advantage (as Knuckles reminded us).
No need to make a choice of one or the other.
Check kiting, you and I "buy" or "swap" with each other.
Hide the sausage. I hide your debt on my books while your auditors look, then you hide mine on yours while my auditor looks.
Fake organizations and "funds" that are really power grabs.
Sweetheart, don't you get it? Don't worry your beautiful soul. They are doing it any and EVERY way they can. You notice one scam, I see the other, and our Florida boy focuses on something else. Don't get bent. It's all Ponzi now. Forrests and trees, oh my!
I know, but I'm trying to resolve a timing question (buy more gold NOW, or WAIT until the dollar rallies hard), and the douchebagmotherfuckingasshole JR is fucking up my crowdsourcing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB319yIHZdE&feature=g-vrec&context=G27e777fRVAAAAAAAABA
Keiser Report: Scam On Epic Scale (E238)
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Jan 19, 2012
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 419 scams and Tim Geithner's gimp. In the second half of the show, Max talks to financial blogger and semi-retired Wall Street executive Warren E. Pollock about MF Global, wealth confiscation and bank holidays.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
if you were to watch the Video..
the Video..
in the GREATEST! DETAIL POSIBLE!
Would Describe the ANSWER!
To the Question YOU ASKED!
but since you are toooooo fucking stupid to be able to push the PLAY BUTTON!
I will answer YOUR QUESTION AGAIN!
"SELECTIVE INTERESTS" is the President being set in Bankruptcy Courts!
as it applies to Segregated Accounts!
You Checking, Savings, Money Market and / or Trading Account are by Definition Segregated Accounts.
Now if you don’t understand the BIG WORDS! used too pacify the Sheep! it is because YOU ARE A FUCKING SHEEP!
I answered your Question; you lack the ability to comprehend the language used to keep you in the dark... Hence the Video!
no good deed goes un-punished.
"a timing question"
Buy all the physical you can now because a year or two out a hundred bucks this way or that won't make any difference.
You might want to buy a few cheap long dated out of the money puts on GLD to hedge your position.
In a year or two availability and oppressive controls might be the issue.
This is my question (and why I'm so frustrated with the asshole JW, because he missed it entirely and subsequently forced me to listen to Max Keiser's self-indulgant obsfucating hyperbole just to insure that, in fact YES, JR missed the fucking point and is a stupid fucking douchbag).
A year out, sure. Gold will be $2500, possibly a lot more.
But near term, an EUR crisis could spark a dollar rally strong enough to create a 30% decline in gold.
In which case, I'd rather get the discount some time in in early April. I can't buy GLD puts because I'm on an all cash basis, and in my case, a hundred bucks or so difference is a few ounces.
Personally I'm buying now when PMs are trading at a massive discount (again: my personal view). Trying to pick exact bottoms are for fools
Picking the absolute best time to go all in at the bottom is less likely than winning the lottery.
Buy once a week over some period of weeks... buy the same amount-- fiat-cost average and accumulate.
Don't wait.
You cannot guess what the idiots in charge will do to the market and the damn thing can reverse in a heartbeat.
Agree with you completly.
and the douchebagmotherfuckingasshole JR is fucking up my crowdsourcing.
Points for swearing in ZH fashion.
Point of order, many ZH'ers can walk and chew gum at the same time.
In other words, can deal mentally with more than one subject at the same time.
I'm trying to get a question answered, mmmkay?
this isn't a chat room...
Change your name... it, it... it just doesn't work.
The answer will either come by itself or not. One would have thought this to be obvious by now.
Hey, LowProfile, did somebody hit you with a stupid stick or were you born that way. You indolent little piss-ant, your question has been answered three or four different ways by different people. The answer is that NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE.
So, take your muthe fuckin' crybaby attitude and get lost with it. Nobody gives a rats ass if you pay $1600 or $1800 for your shitpile of gold dust.
In other words, STFU.
Regards,
All your pals who laugh behind your back
MsCreat - I see this kind of comment all the time. "It's all power grabs...a big Ponzi scheme....everything's fake." OK, do you have any suggestions to rescue us from this fakery? The biggest problem with ZH bitchers (and yeah, I bitch too) is that they never offer a single constructive counter.
If banks are evil, then how are loans made, payrolls paid and credit received? If accounting is simply a matter of hiding debt, then how will we ever know what anything is worth? I mean, let's have some suggestions, folks.
Hi,
I don't think you are going to like what I say. You actually get good advice here all the time, but then folks think it is too extreme or tin hat, so they don't hear the advice and shop for other options (this is fine to do, I am still shopping and listening myself). Think of all I am getting ready to say in the same way you would think about insurance:
1. Get your personal situation squared away. Do you have food in case of a shut down of the transportation system or a natural disaster (or man made one) in your area. Water is good to nail down too and if you want advice on that me and others could get you started. People used to keep one years worth of supplies because crops could fail. We depend too much on the distribution matrix these days. If you buy yourself luxuries, you can afford to do this for yourself and family.
2. Can you defend yourself? Get a gun, some ammo, and training.
3. Keep some cash on hand in case the banking system collapses.
4. Keep some PMs on hand in case the currency system collapses.
5. Get some other basics (medicines, tools you might need that are not power tools, camping gear).
6. If you have that squared away (I really did gloss that, don't want to type too much here to you), THEN pay off your house, pay down debt.
7. Once your personal situation is squared away, if you have a business, take the above template and apply to the business. Keep cash on hand for operations, put only enough money in the bank to pay the immeadiate bills, stream line the number of people you have on staff, expand your capacity to store the stuff that you need to do the business. If your business is not something that is useful during a crash, well, you may want to reconsider what you do.
Here is the deal. No one is getting arrested. Unless you and me and many others together go out there and arrest the fuckers ourselves (part of the problem is all of us see ourselves as breaking the law if we make a choice like that), no one will be arrested. The system you innocently find yourself in is corrupt and you do not have the resources on your side to do anything about it. So now what? We have to get through the crash and make ourselves useful while it is going on and in the aftermath.
All you have control over is YOU. Get your individual affairs in order, organize your business, maybe your community (if not, store supplies so that when they are able to organize you will have more to work with). If this happened locally, everywhere, much about our situation would heal on it's own. This is different than being selfish. Taking care of yourself means you are not asking someone else to do it for you. The problem is, if you are here, you have to know you are an early adapter and you have to not resent those who are not.
I don't see anything else to do.
Words to live by.
Bring it, bitchez!
Hey Ms C...., Word..... & I'm prepped & advocate prepping...but
Nothing on Bloomberg, or WSJ Blog, or Cluster stock or Drudge which wasn't covered 48 hours ago. It was a zero in the market on Friday...a zero.
Not saying that a potential $65 billion in re-issue & contract abrogation is not bad news...but look at the automotive bailouts which "re-defined" contract law...life went on & Friday the markets melted up both here & in the EU...a zero
jus' saying..... don't max out your CC cards on rice & beans just yet.
I need more than one "up" vote for your comment. Nicely done.
I like you.
I might have to report you to Mr Napolitano at Homeland Security.
That's Ms. Napolitano if your NASTY!
MsCreant said:
I can only think of a few things to add.
1. Plant a garden. This year. Most people think all you do is put some seeds in the ground, but there's a lot more to it than that. I started a garden in my back yard five years ago, and it's not difficult. Having said that, I'll also say that I'm still learning from my mistakes and have a lot left to learn. Anyone can do it. If you're creative, you'll find that you have more space for gardening than you thought. As an example, every year I use a portion of my driveway for growing potatoes. I use stacks of old tires with the sidewalls cut out and some landscaping fabric in the bottom to retain the soil. At the end of the season, I take down each stack one tire at a time, sifting the soil and pulling out the potatoes. It's a lot easier than digging them out of the ground. I save the soil, augment it with composted tree leaves, and reuse it the next year. This year I'll be adding a couple of stacks of tires with sweet potatoes.
2. Get some books with useful knowledge (gardening, seed saving, canning, first aid, edible wild plants, medicinal wild plants, herbal medicine, metal casting, metal working, woodworking, soapmaking, general construction, etc.). The internet may not last forever and may only be available sporadically. Books don't require a digital infrastructure and are immune to power outages.
3. Learn some useful skills. General repair is a skill which will be in great demand. The abundance of the debt-financed era has led to a throwaway society, the consequence of which is a lack of people who know how to fix things. The scarcity of the debt collapse era means that people will no longer be able to throw away and replace things when they break. Replacement parts may be hard to find, so the ability to improvise with salvaged parts and make new parts will come in handy. This is how the books mentioned above can be used now.
4. Get to know your neighbors. Share produce from your garden with them, and encourage them and help them to start their own gardens. A community of neighbors that are even partially self-sufficient is a useful resource and can band together for mutual support. A collection of strangers living near each other, all dependent on the status quo for their existence, is a starving angry mob waiting to happen.
The gardening is good for so many reasons. Thanks for adding to the post.
Great tips...
Here's something that I'd like to add for people who live in more urban or suburban landscapes (on the subject of gardening)
It's true what it says above in that it takes a few years to get gardening in synch with your natural environment... Primary 3 considerations are:
- Fertilization
- Protection (from animals & bugs)
- Water
Remember ~ I'm talking more about "non-rural" habitants here...
FERTILIZER is expensive & it takes a fairly long time to build up enough useful compost to do a meaningful yield of crops... So in the beginning, go to your local landfill or nursery and get yourself a few yards of dirt mixed with leaf compost (plus cow manure)... It's not likely that the dirt in your yard is going to be very ready to yield crops right away (until it's REALLY plowed under ~ which is problematic in urban areas because there are laws against digging)... Most of the soil is probably too compacted (&/or clay), so it's not too conducive to growing... If you happen to live close to a peat bog, fill up a couple of trash cans at a time that way & work it in)... I'd also highly suggest getting some bags of perlite or vermiculite (to help the 'starter' growing)... Roots need space to grow when plants are young & the perlite bags are obviously non-perishable...
ANIMALS make sure you have ample supplies of chicken wire &/or plastic netting (all these items can be had at any big hardware store)... Some folks scoff at Home Depot, or Loews (as do I, conceptually)... But look, you don't get 'style' points for survival... Those items may NEVER be easier to find (or cheaper) to buy than they are right now... Buy what you can, then buy backups, then buy backups to that... Any 'leftovers' will practically be CURRENCY if TSHTF...
WATER I can't stress this enough... You still may be effed if you have to rely on city water... Luckily, I live on a farm now, but I went thru many years (in preparation), trying to work land in a suburban area before I moved away... I'm on a well (on my property) now & near a large fresh water stream... But in the city it's a pity... Water is FREE here, but water (to grow food) would have costed me up to $300-$400 a month (based on aggregates), in the former situation... YOU CAN'T COUNT ON RAIN... Do you think all the food in the world is grown on RAIN??? No way Jose, in America they're draining the Ogalalla Aquifer... Probably within the next 100 years we'll be back to the dust bowl... China is having its dustbowl right now... Much of the 'pollution' in the skies of Beijing is sand blowing in from the Gobi desert... China is becoming somewhat 'Saharafied' as we speak... Anyway ~ Rain barrels (collecting h2o from the roof) is obvious but problematic)... Many areas outlaw this practice... Plus ~ the collected h2o ends up being a breeding ground for mosquitoes, etc... A solution I made was to pipe the rainwater collection into my basement into a series of 96 gallon wheelable garbage containers... The h2o discreetly came off one of the downspouts and into a hole cut into the foundation of the house (about 1 1/4" PVC pipe)... I had leaf filters outside, then several more filters at the other end (scrap stuff, like pool skimmers & even ladies stockings)... The reason for 96 gallon trash cans is because you can't fit anything larger into a basement... I'd figured out I needed about 500 gallons to get thru the dry parts of the year (so I had 5 of them)... I 'daisy-chained' them (with flexible tubing) together so if there was a huge thunderstorm, the water would run into the first one, then spill into the 2nd one & so on... The very last one spilled into the sump pump system and right out of the house... Never once did I experience any failures with the system...
One thing you have to be careful with is 'mildew' (from containing h20 in basement), so I also had de-humidifiers running in that closed off area... To get the water to the 'garden' I just used another 'pool pump'... After awhile, I literally had the whole thing set on a timer system (so everything was irrigated automatically, even when I was away for a few days)... Rookie gardeners don't realize that you become a slave to some plants if you don't give them constant attention (depending on which ones)...
Lastly... STOCKPILE PVC PIPE WHILE YOU CAN! (Copper tubing & Silver solder as well)... I LOVE Zero Hedge... But I laugh my ass off at all the PM hoarders who are scared to death of Weimar hyperinflation yet not a word is mentioned about useful items that use important commodities...
- PVC piping (can be used BOTH for irrigation systems & literally as cheap framework ~ I make designer collapsable tables & shelves out of it)... It's plastic, so it's MADE FROM OIL... It's still cheap now (wink, wink)... stockpile while you can...
- I don't irrigate with copper, but remember that copper is a conductor of heat... It's useful to extend growing (as if you're industrious, you can heat small soil patches by pumping hot water through a copper tubing system (like a radiator effect)... It's not too different from the suggestion above of using car tires (for growing potatoes), the car tires are black and they naturally attract & hold heat from the sun)...
- Silver bitchez! ~ Jeez, just stockpile 'silver solder' (which is at every Home Depot & Loews)... For obvious reasons
Probably also wise to get some food grade barrels & some 5 gallon steel jerry cans...
Anyway... Those are just some helpful hints (for those who simply cant break free and move to the country)...
Francis-Great post. We have a very large pool that I could use at any time plus here (TN) we have an overabundance of rain. For good dirt - one of the best ways to enrich the soil is using chips from downed trees as mulch. I get the tree choppers to leave a huge pile every few months then I distribute it and wait for a while. It disintegrates and with the constant infusion of compost, makes for a very rich dirt.
Another item that will be in need - buckets. We keep the large chlorine-tablet buckets that I use for a wide array of things.
Excellent tips, francis.
Just a few quick thoughts to add to what you've written.
Fertilizer and soil prep: I've found that leaf compost takes about two years to break down anaerobically (meaning you let the pile sit and rot without turning it on a regular basis, which is great if you're lazy like me). I have three bins by the garage that I made with steel u-posts (or whatever you call those green steel posts with little tabs for wire hooks stamped into them) and 48-inch high 1/2-inch mesh hardware fabric (steel mesh wire). They're each 4x4 feet in area, 48 inches high, and built as a single unit, so I only needed 8 posts. In the autumn when I rake my leaves, I fill up two of the bins, packing the leaves down in order to get as many in there as possible, and then soak them with water from the rain barrel. If you have a leaf shredder, you can fit more leaves in the bins and they'll break down more quickly. The following autumn, the volume in the two bins has shrunk by about half due to decomposition, so I take the contents of one bin and pile it into the other with a garden fork. There are then two empty bins for the current years leaves. The following autumn, I take the oldest leaves, which have now been decomposing for two years, and use them for soil improvement as well as mulch.
Also, make sure you have a good garden fork, one made of forged steel, not pressed or stamped steel. It's useful for many things in the garden, and if you combine it with a torch, you're well prepared to participate in an angry mob.
Animals: francis is right, the little bastards will get into your garden and tear shit up. Squirrels are the worst, as they'll uproot plants and leave oak saplings growing from the acorns they bury. Stock up on both chicken wire and UV-stabilized plastic netting. The plastic netting is handy if you've made raised beds, because you can make a PVC hoop framework over them and cover them with the plastic netting. The plastic netting is easier to work with when you're frequently opening the covering to get to your plants, while the chicken wire is good for applications which are more permanent, such as the ends of the raised beds.
Water: Essential. Period. I have a rain barrel set up at the back corner of my detached garage, and a PVC system along the back that takes the rain from the gutter on the other side of the roof and combines it with the water from the downspout that the barrel is under. You can make a series of filters with aluminum window screen to keep out debris and mosquitos. Also, if your barrel(s) and PVC are exposed to the sun, give them a coat of paint to keep them from breaking down from UV exposure.
Also, USE MULCH in your garden. It cuts down on water requirements because it slows the rate of evaporation from the soil, and it reduces the amount of weeds that you'll have to pull.
PVC pipe (and some adhesive w/primer), copper pipe, silver solder, chicken wire, and hardware cloth are all good things to have on hand.
+1 as usual MsC
Miscreant,
Forethought _AND_ compassion.
I totally dig it baby.
Very wise words to live, by MsCreant.
Hey, Missy. Thank you for your comments. We've been saying the same thing here at ZH for years. One reason I'm not so chatty as I used to be is that I hate repeating myself to a new bunch of folks every few months asking the same question(s). Maybe there should be a ZH central resource? That could well be the case in the Forums section perhaps. All we need to do is refer someone to a particular topic. If they're not willing to do the legwork to go there and read -- then eff 'em. I've run out of patience with the long-gone trolls and the newly minted ones. There are some "regulars" here who just hang around to irritate people as well. Eff them, too.
I felt guilty writing some of it for just the reasons you state (it has been done by so many, so often).
I am not posting as much either. I have realized that none of us can call this thing because too much is in play. I cannot allow myself to stay perched on the edge all the time; it is, as James Kunstler coined it, a "long emergency."
I still benefit from my interactions here. I am prepping, giving it all my best guess and knowing I will be wrong about a lot of it. I am better off for my efforts even if I end up wrong and too alarmist. I doubt it. My alarmism has already saved my family from real grief.
It is thrilling to see how many here "get it" and are making moves to take care of themselves and theirs too. It may not be as hopeless as we suppose.
Even the trolls have the seeds planted. They may hate it, but they are our garden, every bit as much as they try to sow their seeds in these threads.
Take good care Rocks. Regardless of the crisis or not, we have so little time left.
MsC,
Level-headed, itchy trigger-finger from the get go. Cheers to you and yours. You fucking rock lady.
Outstanding contribution, MsC! As someone else rightly said: "U rock, girl"!
The whole point of ZH is that, unlike the central planners with their schemes and detailed plans, neither one of us nor all of us have "the answer" ... we want a free market to allow individual courses of action to suit individual needs and perceptions.
The central planners have been serially failing for a very long time, but they will keep trying ... and we must each, as individuals, continually resist their attempts to enslave us (and teach our children to do the same).
Thanks for your timely and apt comments. The world has gotten so used to the idea of central planning - that some expert knows how we should live our lives - is so prevalent that it is accepted without thought.
MsCreat, Thanks for the suggestions. I can check the list - no debt, food, farm, silver/gold, savings, basics,etc....but this is how I've always lived. Like a scout, Be Prepared. I just don't get the stream of obscenities/conspiracies, hate crowd.
I've often wondered why Russia did not devolve into anarchy (we were there) and I think it is because (1) the authoritarian mentality was ingrained and (2) the people were dirt poor to begin. The US has a huge advantage in that the people are resourceful and by far, the most generous in the world.
Ms C gave you some powerful strategies here. If (at this stage of the crisis) you are still having to answer those questions that you posed, and presupposing that the crux of our arguements are real, then presuppose that you are running on borrowed time, re: implementing your defensive strategies (that is if you eventually accept the premise of evil banks in your inquiry).
"If banks are evil, then how are loans made, payrolls paid and credit received? If accounting is simply a matter of hiding debt, then how will we ever know what anything is worth?"
If you need to understand the root of their abject evil and the destruction of monetary metrics, (How do we value anything?) you need no more understanding than that presented in Paul Grignon's video (Utube) "Money as Debt". (What is the opposite of debt?)
It goes deeper than that but the essence is there and as your normalcy bias unravels and your emotions effervesce, you will again ask the question: "What do we do about this?".
You may be well advised to copy and paste Ms C's strategies (there are others, depending on your skills and needs) and return to them as a reference. You don't have to agree with the premise that banks are evil but if you spend a little time getting aquainted with their business model, you will find yourself questioning their usefullness. Banks are a business. Their job is to make profits. They get their profits from whom? How? It is not a zero sum game. You may also come to the conclusion that this is a political problem and apply the same question; What do we do about this?
When you draw the conclusion that the nations of the world are having their common wealth stripped from them, by the bank's fiat business model, and transfered to a small group of parasites (bankers, royal families, so-called elites) there is only one other plan; Self preservation first and then the obvious need end to it through system change.
@ - http://m1arifles.com. As good as it gets.
Heck, even Hugh Guiler doesn't have to pretend to be in the dark about this as it's all coming out of the first couple of boxes freeing those that participate, either directly or vicariously, to concentrate their efforts more completely on luncheons, meetings and seminars in advanced shape shifting.
Check that Guile knitting indeed!
Why don't you try answering it next time instead of trying to hijack the fucking subject?
Maybe because he benefits by hijacking the subject?
More like he thinks he benefits, in which case he's a possible banker plant.
But it's likely he's just a brainless fucking douchebag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB319yIHZdE&feature=g-vrec&context=G27e777fRVAAAAAAAABA
Keiser Report: Scam On Epic Scale (E238)
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Jan 19, 2012
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 419 scams and Tim Geithner's gimp. In the second half of the show, Max talks to financial blogger and semi-retired Wall Street executive Warren E. Pollock about MF Global, wealth confiscation and bank holidays.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
if you were to watch the Video..
the Video..
in the GREATEST! DETAIL POSIBLE!
Would Describe the ANSWER!
To the Question YOU ASKED!
but since you are toooooo fucking stupid to be able to push the PLAY BUTTON!
I will answer YOUR QUESTION AGAIN!
"SELECTIVE INTERESTS" is the President being set in Bankruptcy Courts!
as it applies to Segregated Accounts!
You Checking, Savings, Money Market and / or Trading Account are by Definition Segregated Accounts.
Now if you don’t understand the BIG WORDS! used too pacify the Sheep! it is because YOU ARE A FUCKING SHEEP!
I answered your Question; you lack the ability to comprehend the language used to keep you in the dark... Hence the Video!
no good deed goes un-punished.