Picasso Dreams

Boycott HoneyBaked Ham

Back in the US, I often stood in line the day before Christmas for the opportunity to buy a HoneyBaked Ham.  If I was still in the US, I would have to boycott the company this year after reading this news report, obtained from News of the Weird:  

In April, Richard Huether, the manager of the HoneyBaked Ham outlet in Cary, N.C., was shot in the stomach during a robbery of the store and hospitalized, with medical bills paid through worker compensation and his employee health benefits. In September, when his worker compensation expired (and though still at least three months away from returning to work), HoneyBaked fired him (forcing him to begin paying 100 percent of his insurance premiums and making subsequent insurance prohibitively expensive because of his new "pre-existing condition"). However, HoneyBaked human resources executive Maggie DeCan told WRAL-TV that the firing was for Huether's own good, in that it would clear the way for him to receive Social Security disability payments. Said DeCan, "We couldn't feel any worse for Rich, and we would do anything we could for him (except keep him on the payroll)." [WRAL-TV, 9-26-09]

The bankruptcy of the United States is now certain

Found via Monty Pelerin's World, an excellent economics blog. 

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
From Porter Stansberry in the S&A Digest:

It’s one of those numbers that’s so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while… Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that’s not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That’s an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP. And we’re the world’s biggest economy. Where will the money come from?

How did we end up with so much short-term debt? Like most entities that have far too much debt – whether subprime borrowers, GM, Fannie, or GE – the U.S. Treasury has tried to minimize its interest burden by borrowing for short durations and then “rolling over” the loans when they come due. As they say on Wall Street, “a rolling debt collects no moss.” What they mean is, as long as you can extend the debt, you have no problem. Unfortunately, that leads folks to take on ever greater amounts of debt… at ever shorter durations… at ever lower interest rates. Sooner or later, the creditors wake up and ask themselves: What are the chances I will ever actually be repaid? And that’s when the trouble starts. Interest rates go up dramatically. Funding costs soar. The party is over. Bankruptcy is next.

When governments go bankrupt it’s called “a default.” Currency speculators figured out how to accurately predict when a country would default. Two well-known economists – Alan Greenspan and Pablo Guidotti – published the secret formula in a 1999 academic paper. That’s why the formula is called the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. The rule states: To avoid a default, countries should maintain hard currency reserves equal to at least 100% of their short-term foreign debt maturities. The world’s largest money management firm, PIMCO, explains the rule this way: “The minimum benchmark of reserves equal to at least 100% of short-term external debt is known as the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. Greenspan-Guidotti is perhaps the single concept of reserve adequacy that has the most adherents and empirical support.”

The principle behind the rule is simple. If you can’t pay off all of your foreign debts in the next 12 months, you’re a terrible credit risk. Speculators are going to target your bonds and your currency, making it impossible to refinance your debts. A default is assured.

So how does America rank on the Greenspan-Guidotti scale? It’s a guaranteed default. The U.S. holds gold, oil, and foreign currency in reserve. The U.S. has 8,133.5 metric tonnes of gold (it is the world’s largest holder). That’s 16,267,000 pounds. At current dollar values, it’s worth around $300 billion. The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve shows a current total position of 725 million barrels. At current dollar prices, that’s roughly $58 billion worth of oil. And according to the IMF, the U.S. has $136 billion in foreign currency reserves. So altogether… that’s around $500 billion of reserves. Our short-term foreign debts are far bigger.

According to the U.S. Treasury, $2 trillion worth of debt will mature in the next 12 months. So looking only at short-term debt, we know the Treasury will have to finance at least $2 trillion worth of maturing debt in the next 12 months. That might not cause a crisis if we were still funding our national debt internally. But since 1985, we’ve been a net debtor to the world. Today, foreigners own 44% of all our debts, which means we owe foreign creditors at least $880 billion in the next 12 months – an amount far larger than our reserves.

Keep in mind, this only covers our existing debts. The Office of Management and Budget is predicting a $1.5 trillion budget deficit over the next year. That puts our total funding requirements on the order of $3.5 trillion over the next 12 months.

So… where will the money come from? Total domestic savings in the U.S. are only around $600 billion annually. Even if we all put every penny of our savings into U.S. Treasury debt, we’re still going to come up nearly $3 trillion short. That’s an annual funding requirement equal to roughly 40% of GDP. Where is the money going to come from? From our foreign creditors? Not according to Greenspan-Guidotti. And not according to the Indian or the Russian central bank, which have stopped buying Treasury bills and begun to buy enormous amounts of gold. The Indians bought 200 metric tonnes this month. Sources in Russia say the central bank there will double its gold reserves.

So where will the money come from? The printing press. The Federal Reserve has already monetized nearly $2 trillion worth of Treasury debt and mortgage debt. This weakens the value of the dollar and devalues our existing Treasury bonds. Sooner or later, our creditors will face a stark choice: Hold our bonds and continue to see the value diminish slowly, or try to escape to gold and see the value of their U.S. bonds plummet.

One thing they’re not going to do is buy more of our debt. Which central banks will abandon the dollar next? Brazil, Korea, and Chile. These are the three largest central banks that own the least amount of gold. None own even 1% of their total reserves in gold.

I examined these issues in much greater detail in the most recent issue of my newsletter, Porter Stansberry’s Investment Advisory, which we published last Friday. Coincidentally, the New York Times repeated our warnings – nearly word for word – in its paper today. (They didn’t mention Greenspan-Guidotti, however… It’s a real secret of international speculators.)

Crux Note: The S&A Digest comes free with a subscription to Porter Stansberry’s Investment Advisory. Porter says his latest issue is the most important he’s ever written. If you don’t act right now to protect yourself from the dollar, he thinks the odds are very high you’ll be wiped out over the next 12 months. To learn more, click here.

A Faith Based Recovery

From The Daily Reckoning:

A Faith Based Recovery

by Joel Bowman

11/28/09 Taipei, Taiwan – Today we have something extraordinary for you to ponder. We call it, in the prescribed, politico-doublespeak of the times, a “recovery.” Allow us to elaborate for just a moment…

A “recovery,” as defined by the same economic talent that led us into mass speculative temptation in the first place, is a magical reversal of fortunes for the global economy.

What is this recovery based on? Glad you asked, because here comes the extraordinary part…it is underpinned by the hysterical, back-slapping delusion that comes from accepting that there is, in fact, a recovery. It is real, in other words, because we are told it is real.

Convinced yet?

As the late astronomer, Carl Sagan, was fond of saying, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” In the absence of such evidence, let us examine the faith-based foundation on which the stability of the world’s largest economy now rests.

Below are a few tenets all sworn Recoverites must accept, any and all evidence to the contrary be damned:

1. That a consumer economy can continue to grow exponentially, even as the consumers themselves are forced to economize…

Where once manufacturing, innovation and a solid savings base held sturdy the US economy, there is now consumption, a waning service industry and a fiscally constipating accumulation of debt.

With household liabilities as a percentage of disposable income running at almost 130% for the average American family, and official unemployment bubbling over a 26-year peak of 10.2%, it’s tough going at the mall…even for the mighty US consumer…and even after the government has bribed him to go out and spend!

Already GDP estimates for the September quarter were revised downward – from 3.5% to 2.8% – after it became clear that the effects of the Cash for Clunkers program – the governmental equivalent of economic Viagra – had worn off sooner than expected. Barely had the poor consumer got his pants off and his wallet out when his many embarrassing deficits became all too apparent.

2. That the notices of liability printed by the Feds – commonly referred to as “greenbacks” – will enjoy the infinite confidence and unyielding patience of the nation’s foreign creditors…

For the past year we have heard rumblings from the BRIC nations, in particular China, over the government-sponsored debasement of the greenback. Most recently, Liu Mingkang, the Middle Kingdom’s chief banking regulator, argued that the combination of a weak dollar with persistently low interest rates had encouraged a “huge carry trade” that was having a “massive impact on global asset prices.”

It is no secret that “dollar alternatives” are openly discussed among large holders of US paper. So shaky is the dollar, in fact, that even a (briskly discredited) rumor in an English paper about OPEC nations ditching the buck sent the world’s “reserve” currency into a tailspin, tipping off gold’s current trailblazing rise – itself another indicator of fear and loathing of the once almighty buck.

(As we were jotting these few words, midweek, the greenback had just fallen below one Swiss franc for only the second time ever, reaching a 15-month low on the dollar index and approaching a 14-year low against the yen.)

3. That those creditors will continue to reinvest said monies back into the increasingly regulated and overtaxed US securities exchanges…

And that’s to say nothing of the growing minority of American citizens and companies already, wisely, looking for ways to flee their own shores with the hope of doing business in more accommodating, less intrusive arenas.

4. That extorting money from current and future workers in order to allocate it to the nation’s least efficient industries is a positive long-term strategy…

Over the past year, the government of the United States of America has pumped more money into its flailing economy than the total value of all the gold ever mined in world history…doubled.

Before we go on, let us remember that each and every one of those dollars – and the trillions more splashed around by the do-gooder interventionalists of the world – are dollars that are NOT now available to private citizens or the thousands of small businesses that might have benefited from a little extra cash during this whole crisis.

The true opportunity cost of this gross misallocation of vital resources will, of course, never be known. What is known, however, is that said bailouts helped the federal budget deficit along to a post WWII record of more than $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2009. Treasury officials warn the national debt limit of $12.1 trillion may be reached and breached by as early as December.

5. That those still purchasing stocks are better informed than the industries’ insiders…

Insider selling increased during the latest week from $960 million in sales to over $1.39 billion. That compares with “buys” totaling just $160 million. The ratio of selling to buying has, at times during this stock market rally, stretched to as much as 31:1.

Is there something outsiders know that insiders don’t? Unlikely.

6. And, that the geniuses who missed the warning signs of the biggest bust up in modern financial history are the most qualified to guide us out of it…

Even up until the very eve of the crisis, elected and unelected politicians assured those who knew better that the vast and plentiful risks to the financial industry were contained. Clearly, they were not. At every juncture since then, those leaders and others have sought to impose the very measures – currency debasement, deficit spending, increased state intervention, bailouts, nationalizations etc. – that history tells us lead to outright ruin.

Sir Isaac Newton – himself a man of faith…and a devout student of alchemy – once wrote, “If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

What is perhaps the most galling of this entire financial debacle is that, with the abundance of insightful economists history has granted us, today’s leaders should appear proud to be seen standing on the shoulders of earthworms.

That, in itself, is something even the most delusional among us ought to have serious trouble believing in.

The tyranny of democracy and other political quotes

“A government that can at pleasure accuse, shoot, and hang men, as traitors, for the one general offence of refusing to surrender themselves and their property unreservedly to its arbitrary will, can practice any and all special and particular oppressions it pleases. The result -- and a natural one -- has been that we have had governments, State and national, devoted to nearly every grade and species of crime that governments have ever practised upon their victims; and these crimes have culminated in a war that has cost a million of lives; a war carried on, upon one side, for chattel slavery, and on the other for political slavery; upon neither for liberty, justice, or truth. And these crimes have been committed, and this war waged, by men, and the descendants of men, who, less than a hundred years ago, said that all men were equal, and could owe neither service to individuals, nor allegiance to governments, except with their own consent.”   -  Lysander Spooner

“Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.”  --  Milton Friedman

“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.”  --  Lenin

“[The State] is a device for taking money out of one set of pockets and putting it in another.”  Voltaire

“Debt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing and the mightiest to undermine governments and corrupt the people”  --  Wendell Phillips

“... I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other.”  --  Benjamin Franklin

A History of Money and Banking Secrets That Banks Don't Want Published

This is an excellent explanation of how the Federal Reserve works and how the bankruptcy of the United States is inevitable with this system.  This is the real reason the Feds fear an audit.

A History of Money and Trade

To start with a history of money and debt, we must go back many years ago when people used to trade their wares for the things they wanted and needed.To start with a history of money and debt, we must go back many years ago when people used to trade their wares for the things they wanted and needed.

In place of money or Federal Reserve Notes, you could trade a well made pistol for a cow, which you could eat or trade a remainder of for other items like clothing.In place of money or Federal Reserve Notes, you could trade a well made pistol for a cow, which you could eat or trade a remainder of for other items like clothing.

It didn't take long for people to realize there needed to be a more efficient means of trade. If you were a farmer, it was too difficult to carry baskets of fresh corn around to trade for a new horse. And, the person selling the horse might not want any corn at all.It didn't take long for people to realize there needed to be a more efficient means of trade. If you were a farmer, it was too difficult to carry baskets of fresh corn around to trade for a new horse. And, the person selling the horse might not want any corn at all.

A History of Money and Gold

So, people used gold for cash money, which always had a stable value, to trade for the items they wanted and needed. This way the horse dealer could always trade the gold received from the farmer for the clothing he really wanted instead of having to take the corn.So, people used gold for cash money, which always had a stable value, to trade for the items they wanted and needed. This way the horse dealer could always trade the gold received from the farmer for the clothing he really wanted instead of having to take the corn.

In a history of money and gold, this only posed one problem. Gold was very heavy to carry and hard to conceal. In the beginning of our banking history what people would do is leave their gold with a goldsmith.In a history of money and gold, this only posed one problem. Gold was very heavy to carry and hard to conceal. In the beginning of our banking history what people would do is leave their gold with a goldsmith.

The goldsmith would then give them a note, or paper money, that stated how much gold they had on deposit with the goldsmith (bank).The goldsmith would then give them a note, or paper money, that stated how much gold they had on deposit with the goldsmith (bank).

The farmer could then take this paper money note, say worth $50 to the horse dealer and buy a horse with it. The horse dealer could then spend this $50 paper note or go back to the goldsmith to pick up the $50 of gold that he had just acquired by selling the horse to the farmer.The farmer could then take this paper money note, say worth $50 to the horse dealer and buy a horse with it. The horse dealer could then spend this $50 paper note or go back to the goldsmith to pick up the $50 of gold that he had just acquired by selling the horse to the farmer.

Well, why would the horse dealer want to trade in the cash money note for the heavy gold, when he just wanted to trade it for clothing and food anyway. So, the note would continue to trade hands and very few people would ever go redeem it for the gold it was backed by.Well, why would the horse dealer want to trade in the cash money note for the heavy gold, when he just wanted to trade it for clothing and food anyway. So, the note would continue to trade hands and very few people would ever go redeem it for the gold it was backed by.

It didn't take long for the goldsmith to understand this reality. So, here he is storing all of this gold for other people. Let's give it a value to make this next principle clear.It didn't take long for the goldsmith to understand this reality. So, here he is storing all of this gold for other people. Let's give it a value to make this next principle clear.

Let's say the gold he is storing is valued at $1,000 and there are $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by this real gold being circulated.Let's say the gold he is storing is valued at $1,000 and there are $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by this real gold being circulated.

A History of Money and Loans

When many people wanted a loan for say a total of $1,000, he decided no one would notice and it would be real easy to lend them someone else's gold, well actually a funny money note which was a promise to pay gold upon redemption of the note. And, he'd only charge 10% interest. In a history of money and loans, this caused another problem. If everyone came in to redeem their notes, there would not be enough gold to pay back everyone because there was only $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by REAL gold.When many people wanted a loan for say a total of $1,000, he decided no one would notice and it would be real easy to lend them someone else's gold, well actually a funny money note which was a promise to pay gold upon redemption of the note. And, he'd only charge 10% interest. In a history of money and loans, this caused another problem. If everyone came in to redeem their notes, there would not be enough gold to pay back everyone because there was only $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by REAL gold.

That didn't matter to him, why not lend out to anyone who looks like they can repay? And, that year he lent out a total of $10,000 worth of newly created or you could say counterfeit, funny money notes. Oh well, who cares says the goldsmith, no one is coming in to get their gold anyway.That didn't matter to him, why not lend out to anyone who looks like they can repay? And, that year he lent out a total of $10,000 worth of newly created or you could say counterfeit, funny money notes. Oh well, who cares says the goldsmith, no one is coming in to get their gold anyway.

So, now there is $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by REAL gold, and $10,000 in funny money loans, thus $11,000 in total notes circulating. The goldsmith is charging his 10% or $1,000 per year of interest and don't forget every penny of the original counterfeited principal is his to keep. For simplicity, lets say he now stops lending!So, now there is $1,000 in real cash money notes backed by REAL gold, and $10,000 in funny money loans, thus $11,000 in total notes circulating. The goldsmith is charging his 10% or $1,000 per year of interest and don't forget every penny of the original counterfeited principal is his to keep. For simplicity, lets say he now stops lending!

A History of Money and Inflation

Lets look at what this causes. There is now ten times as much currency/notes floating around then there is real gold to back it. This causes the value of the original $1,000 to loose 90% of its value. Therefore to buy a horse now, it would cost $500. Thus, a history of money and INFLATION.Lets look at what this causes. There is now ten times as much currency/notes floating around then there is real gold to back it. This causes the value of the original $1,000 to loose 90% of its value. Therefore to buy a horse now, it would cost $500. Thus, a history of money and INFLATION.

Everyone now has way more money then they did the year before, they feel rich. There are still the same amounts of products and services being sold, just a lot more dollars to bid for them, thus most prices go way up. This is called a boom.Everyone now has way more money then they did the year before, they feel rich. There are still the same amounts of products and services being sold, just a lot more dollars to bid for them, thus most prices go way up. This is called a boom.

Now the next thing this causes is for the $1,000 of interest and any portion paid to the principal of these loans to go directly into the goldsmith's pocket. Let's say over the course of the first year, the borrowers paid back $1,000 worth of principal and $1,000 in interest.Now the next thing this causes is for the $1,000 of interest and any portion paid to the principal of these loans to go directly into the goldsmith's pocket. Let's say over the course of the first year, the borrowers paid back $1,000 worth of principal and $1,000 in interest.

This means there is still $1,000 of real cash money notes backed by REAL gold. $9,000 in funny money loans outstanding, $9,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed $2,000.This means there is still $1,000 of real cash money notes backed by REAL gold. $9,000 in funny money loans outstanding, $9,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed $2,000.

So, the goldsmith is now up $2,000 out of thin air, and there is now $9,000 in notes circulating which needs to pay back $9,000 owing. And the cost of everything has gone up ten fold. Now lets move forward another year.So, the goldsmith is now up $2,000 out of thin air, and there is now $9,000 in notes circulating which needs to pay back $9,000 owing. And the cost of everything has gone up ten fold. Now lets move forward another year.

Let's say over the course of the second year, the borrowers paid back $1,100 worth of principal and $900 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $7,900 in loans outstanding, $7,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $4,000 thus far.Let's say over the course of the second year, the borrowers paid back $1,100 worth of principal and $900 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $7,900 in loans outstanding, $7,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $4,000 thus far.

Let's say over the course of the third year, the borrowers paid back $1,200 worth of principal and $800 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $6,700 in loans outstanding, $5,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $6,000 thus far.Let's say over the course of the third year, the borrowers paid back $1,200 worth of principal and $800 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $6,700 in loans outstanding, $5,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $6,000 thus far.

A History of Money and Recession

People tighten up their spending for no apparent reason, but it is soley because there are less notes in circulation. So, prices start to fall. Businesses can't survive with the lower incomes, so they lay people off, thus giving even fewer people money to spend. And, now we have the beginning of a history of money and RECESSION. Year four, the borrowers paid back $1,300 worth of principal and $700 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $5,400 in loans outstanding, $3,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $8,000 thus far.People tighten up their spending for no apparent reason, but it is soley because there are less notes in circulation. So, prices start to fall. Businesses can't survive with the lower incomes, so they lay people off, thus giving even fewer people money to spend. And, now we have the beginning of a history of money and RECESSION. Year four, the borrowers paid back $1,300 worth of principal and $700 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in notes backed by REAL gold. $5,400 in loans outstanding, $3,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $8,000 thus far.

Year five, the borrowers paid back $1,400 worth of principal and $600 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in gold. $4,000 in loans outstanding, $1,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $10,000 thus far, but $4,000 is still owed.Year five, the borrowers paid back $1,400 worth of principal and $600 in interest. There is still only $1,000 in gold. $4,000 in loans outstanding, $1,000 in total notes circulating and the goldsmith has pocketed another $2,000, totaling $10,000 thus far, but $4,000 is still owed.

With only $1,000 in total notes circulating, people obviously cannot continue to pay, so there is one thing left and that is the confiscation of their assets, and the remaining $1,000 in total notes circulating. Can you say BANKRUPTCY. (which is now almost impossible)With only $1,000 in total notes circulating, people obviously cannot continue to pay, so there is one thing left and that is the confiscation of their assets, and the remaining $1,000 in total notes circulating. Can you say BANKRUPTCY. (which is now almost impossible)

A History of Money and the FED

Oh, I know says the goldsmith, I'll just have to keep lending this counterfeit money backed by nothing so they can work hard for me for free, and I will own every asset on this planet for free. So the goldsmith starts to lend out money again and lends out $10,000 the first year which again causes the BOOM. And, on and on it goes.Oh, I know says the goldsmith, I'll just have to keep lending this counterfeit money backed by nothing so they can work hard for me for free, and I will own every asset on this planet for free. So the goldsmith starts to lend out money again and lends out $10,000 the first year which again causes the BOOM. And, on and on it goes.

The only difference today is that there is no limit to the lending, so there's continual money being created which forces us to fight each other to get our hands on it, to pay back our own share of debt, while the price of everything skyrockets endlessly.The only difference today is that there is no limit to the lending, so there's continual money being created which forces us to fight each other to get our hands on it, to pay back our own share of debt, while the price of everything skyrockets endlessly.

And, the goldsmith's are now called the Federal Reserve System and the funny money counterfeit notes are called Federal Reserve Notes. In the 1930's there was roughly $30 Billion in gold at Fort Knox, and now we owe $7,937,046,735,823.And, the goldsmith's are now called the Federal Reserve System and the funny money counterfeit notes are called Federal Reserve Notes. In the 1930's there was roughly $30 Billion in gold at Fort Knox, and now we owe $7,937,046,735,823.

So, then I ask you fellow American, is this a history of money and debt that you thought was going on when you borrowed from Capital One or Providian? Find out how to get out of credit card debt by visiting us at So, then I ask you fellow American, is this a history of money and debt that you thought was going on when you borrowed from Capital One or Providian? Find out how to get out of credit card debt by visiting us at http://www.avoid-new-bankruptcy-laws.com/http://www.avoid-new-bankruptcy-laws.com/

Mark A. Cella

http://www.ajb.com/big-site/websites/debtrelief/56790.php

The Evolution of Flowers

It's been a while since I have played around in Photoshop.  I was scanning through my pictures (an undoggly amount) when I found this first image that I had created in 2005.  I played around a bit and came up with a few new variations.

  

 

 

All images copyright Kelly Ann Thomas.

All rights reserved.

Comfortable Culture of Denial

Obama, the liar who pledged to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is sending another 30,000 troops to protect the natural gas pipelines. The optimist version is that the military asked for an additional 70,000 troops, but Obama only agreed to half that number so obviously things are getting much, much better, right?  Of course, the rest will be made up of Blackwater mercenaries whose cost to the American taxpayer are even higher.  By the way, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will cost US taxpayers approximately one million dollars per year per serviceman deployed to Afghanistan.  (Plus compounded interest, hyperinflation and the devaluing of the currency, which likely doubles the CBO estimate).  I don’t think the CBO estimate includes the cost of medical care for all the returning men and women who have lost their limbs, faces, hearing, sight, or sanity.  The Tiny Dicks (TDs) that run the world are probably counting on these men and women dying from their latest man-made pandemic, which appears to have spread from the Ukraine into Canada just in time to create demand for the swine flu vaccine.  (And as of today, there have been 1.6 million Ukrainians infected with the virus, 999,600 hospitalizations and 397 deaths.)   The Canadians were sent a bad batch of vaccines that resulted in a recall and how fortunate for GlaxoSmithKline that despite this potential PR disaster, a more lethal form of influenza has entered Canada.

Looking at the news, you wouldn’t know that we are on the verge of a global societal and economic collapse. Google News is busy extolling the Obama's  dinner menu (green curry).   No news about the mutating virus in the Ukraine.  No bad news about the economy, especially so close to the holiday shopping season.   Reuters, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are spinning out lies faster than the Federal Reserve's private printing presses, claiming that we are now out of recession (shades of 1929), despite little problems such as:

• Standard and Poor’s warning that most global banks have insufficient capital to cover trading and investment exposure.
• Twenty percent (or more) unemployment in the United States.  Twenty-five million people are unemployed or underemployed. Job seekers outnumber job openings six to one. 
• The gap between rich and poor in the United States is the largest of any industrialized nation and growing each year.
• 47.4 million Americans live in poverty, the highest rate in the industrialized world. Half of all American children depend upon food stamps for their meals.  
• One out of four mortgages are under water.  Home foreclosures hit a record high least quarter, with almost a million homes receiving foreclosure letters.   The commercial real estate crash is just around the corner.
• 123 banks failed this year, with 552 more lenders at risk of going under.  The FDIC is $8.2 billion in the red.
• According to IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Hahn, about half of bank losses from the global financial crisis have yet to be revealed.  (You would think that this statement by the Managing Director of the IMF would have a negative reaction in the markets, but they’re rigged.)
• The dollar now trades $1.50 to the Euro.  
• Ten states are on the verge of bankruptcy, several others are on the verge of declaring a financial state of emergency.
• US public debt just exceeded $12 trillion, a 20 percent increase in a year.  The entire US GDP of the United States is expected to be about $12 trillion in 2009.  This is just interest on the federal debt and does not include Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, or pension obligations.  
• In a report to its clients, Société Générale warned that public debt would be massive in the next two years - 105 per cent of GDP in the UK, 125 per cent in the US and in Europe and 270 per cent in Japan. Global debt would reach US$45 trillion. 

But everything is good, happy, joyous.  Just dump your money in the stock market and real estate and keep slaving away to fund the beast like good little sheep.  Don’t forget to spend every last penny and charge up more debt to pay for Christmas.  The folks at the Fed are counting on you to keep the economy going or the terrorists will win.

Remember the good old days when Dubbya told Americans to  go to the malls or the terrorists would win?  It was so much similar back then in the days when the US only had a $5.7 Trillion deficit and that could be blamed on evil terrorists and not evil bankers.

And that gets me back to Afghanistan.  Osama bin dead for a while Laden was the reason that the United States used to justify the October 2001 invasion, even though the attack on Afghanistan was planned some time in advance and originally reported in  Janes’ Defense back in March 2001.  Yes, Osama and his cavemen buddies blew up the WTC towers and made the Air Force stand down and conveniently sent an instant  message warning of his plans to his good Israeli friends at Odigo and some other Israeli friends who, in their sudden joy at the good fortune and timing that allowed them to capture the collapsing towers on film, decided to high-five one another and dance with glee.

Anyhow, George Bush and the US Congress had to send troops to Afghanistan because they were harboring OBL.  Never mind that the Taliban said, “Just show us some proof that bin Laden was responsible and we’ll hand him over,”  - the US couldn’t be bothered and attacked anyway, conveniently setting up bases along the proposed pipeline route.

Eight long years later, Mr. I’ll End This War! is sending another 30,000 troops “to finish the job” to a country that cannot be conquered by American forces.  Ever.  But that’s not stopping Obama from further entrenching the US into Central Asia, as he now has a hard-on for Pakistan.  Yes, he said, “I continue to believe that the greatest threat to the United states’ security are the terrorist networks like Al Qaeda.  They have now over the border of Afghanistan and are in Pakistan, but they continue to have networks with other extremist organizations in that region and I do believe it is important for us to stabilize Afghanistan.”  He is offering all sorts of goodies to Pakistan for military cooperation, meaning the stationing more US troops in Pakistan.  Eight years later and Afghanistan is worse than it was under the Taliban, opium fields are flowing to fund the CIA black ops, and Obama wants to get into bed with Pakistan.  A trillion (or two or three, no one really knows) dollars later, the War on Terror is bloodier than ever.  There are currently 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan, and Obama wants to add another 30,000 (which is 35,000 with trainers factored in).  Eight years after the United States went in to Afghanistan to retrieve Osama bin Laden, the US wants to increase its troop strength by 50 percent.  Since the clusterfuck in Iraq isn’t enough to satiate the bloodlust, lets roll the dice and send everyone into battle.  Pakistan is a start, but let’s attack Iran, too!  Yep, people will be flocking to the recruiters and writing extra big  checks to the IRS to do their patriotic part by going to war in two more countries, none of which can ever be occupied by US forces.  But that doesn’t stop the Generals and executives at Halliburton from dreaming or the elitist shills in the mainstream media who are paid to sell you on the need for continued warfare.  It’s pretty obvious that “No more war” Obama fears for his life, as he can’t bend over fast enough or far enough to keep his Israeli and Corporate masters happy.  Oh, darn, I didn’t even get to the part about all those bases in South America. 

How much is this going to cost?  And who will pay for it?  It's not like there are that many employed people in the US as compared to just a year ago and revenues at the IRS collection centers are below forecasts for any number of reasons.  And the above numbers show that the US economy isn't going to be on the rebound anytime soon.  So why would the President of the united States set the stage for a global war that obviously will not have a positive outcome for the United States?  Obama is confident that the people will support him, but he hasn't given any reason to support his warlust.

I wish I could commission a poll to see how many Americans know why we are in Afghanistan and if they know the US is still in Afghanistan.  I would bet that most couldn’t find the country on the map.  I could bet that these same idiots would tell you that they “Support the troops” and some might even have faded yellow ribbon magnets manufactured in China adorning their vehicles.  

Sadly, humanity still doesn’t get it. 

Colorful San Juan del Sur

 

Finally, a cool paint scheme!  I love the bright colors seen in Latin America.  Sadly, many of the businesses (and homes) in San Juan del Sur have been painted sterile, bland and boring shades of white, gold and blue and the walls are covered with advertising, hence the lack of new material in my photo album. 

SJDS was losing its charm until The Pier added this funky paint scheme to the beach scene.  You can see more photos of San Juan del Sur here. 

The economy is so bad...

Seen on the letters page of What Really Happened:

The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

The economy is so bad I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid behindthe counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

The economy is so bad that CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

The economy is so bad if the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.

The economy is so bad Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

The economy is so bad McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

The economy is so bad parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

The economy is so bad a truckload of Americans were caught sneaking into Mexico .

The economy is so bad Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.

The economy is so bad Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen

Thoughts on war in Nicaragua

I have traded one dictatorship for another.

Are we the proverbial frogs in a pot of boiling water?” asked my husband.  The more I think about it, I suppose we are.  Things don’t look too bad with your $5 rose-colored glasses purchased from some guy selling knock-offs at the beach, certainly not what you would expect from a dictatorship.  There are incidents in Managua and Leon, but life goes on regardless of the prevailing political winds.  Tourists are still heading this way, though it is fairly obvious that many if not most of them have experienced some sort of financial downsizing over the past year.  The cruise ships will begin to make their way into the port in a week, eliminating the official and adjective-rich “sleepy little fishing village” term used to describe the town in 99 percent of all blogs, newspaper articles, websites, and advertising brochures. 

Yet there is an undercurrent, a charge fueled with pictures of turbanistas throwing rocks at policemen and shooting mortars into campuses.  The Sandinistas claim these thugs are students, but it is obvious to everyone who sees these masked men that they are just gang members looking for someone to whack.

The political violence has been going on for quite some time, primarily  threats, and frame-ups against the opposition, which makes up 85 percent of the country.  It's hard to say what is a political attack and what is a criminal attack because for quite some time I have felt that having a particular party associated with your voter registration makes one immune from arrest or prosecution.  Many of my Nicaraguan friends and acquaintances, even the non-political ones, have stated that there will be some for of civil war/revolution in Nicaragua in 2010.  The writing is on the wall - sort of.  You see, every morning at 5:30, a van or two patrols the streets of Managua, looking for anti-government, anti-Ortega  signs or tags.  As soon as they see anything, they whitewash it, often spray-painting “Viva Daniel!  Viva la revolución!” on the walls, particularly in the poorest neighborhoods.  It is important that they equate the revolution with Daniel, even though his role was that of a bank robber.  Literally.  That’s what he did for the Sandinistas - rob banks.  The chaos that ensued in Nicaragua after the end of Somoza’s rule was as much Ortega’s fault as it was the US.  He is a man not capable intellectually of bringing about positive changes for the country, regardless of his wife’s PR efforts, or those of the gang leaders hired to spray paint the city.  Tagging the poor areas works on two levels.  First, the Sandinistas traditionally appeal to the poorest of the poor here.  These pro-Ortega tagsreinforce the idea amongst neighbors that the poor love and need Daniel.  What they really need is money for paint, which is the second reason that the Orteguistas tag poor neighborhoods.  They know that the average family living off $150 a month cannot afford $30 in paint to cover up the black, oil-based graffiti, so the message stays up for a long time.

 

The CPC painted over the "No mas dictadora" graffiti.)

Has the civil war/revolution already started?  The opposition has not fought back, so at this point we are only witnessing the acts of a dictatorship.  That may all change today, when the Sandinistas and the Opposition have a major anti-violence rally that in true Nicaraguan fashion promises to erupt in violence.

The Ortegas and the hard core members of the FSLN have deluded themselves, believing the propaganda littering the city somehow represents the will of the people.  If you have to assault journalists, shoot mortars in campus courtyards and hire gang members to stand in rotundas demonstrating on behalf of the government, then it should be pretty obvious that you don’t have the support of the people.  My mind always goes back to Zimbabwe.  Shades of Mugabe.  

Today the opposition will march against the government.  The Sandinistas are having an anti-violence march and see nothing ironic about that.  No one knows what will happen, though I have yet to meet anyone who believes that the protest will be without bloodshed.  There are a number of Managuans in town right now, escaping the chaos of Managua this weekend.  I don’t blame them.  The opposition needs a strong showing, so Ortega is most likely herding up government workers (most of who have had pay cuts because the government doesn’t instill confidence with foreign investors or Nicaraguans, hence the massive decrease in tax revenues) and demanding they protest in the rotundas.  You can see the lack of enthusiasm in their embarrassed faces.

Last week, orteguistas went into a university and attempted to herd students onto a bus and take them to a pro-government rally.  I am not sure if they shot the mortar rounds into the campus before or after their “request”.

Journalists have been attacked, as have newspaper offices. And yet it sounds more dangerous here than it really is - or really was until just recently.  It’s hard to write about, as it is too easy to cross the line of intensity that causes the reader to think of Nicaragua as a war zone.  A lot of people want it to be, as violence and revolution sell papers and pay foreign correspondents lots of money.  This is the threat of what I am trying to explain - and I know that I am doing a poor job of it.  I am reminded of the end of the Cold War, when my colleagues couldn’t face the obvious because they need an enemy.   They were blind to reality.  Sometimes I think that us how foreign journalists are when they cover Nicaragua.  They want war.  They want to reinforce their bias of Nicaragua that equates it with the war-torn images of the Eighties.  That was an exciting period for journalists.  Sometimes tourists have the same expectations.  They want to believe that the war didn’t end twenty years ago, that they are living an adventure.  The same holds true with photography.  So many people come here wanting to photograph poverty, but the poverty is not as intense as the black and white photos in the New York Times from twenty years ago.  You can see the disappointment in the faces of the shutterbugs.  It’s difficult to explain why so many people have an unconscious desire to make the country worse than it is.  

This is one reason that I have refrained from writing about the events here (aside from pure laziness).  It’s too easy to write and convince others that there is civil war in the country when it is still far safer in Managua than Detroit, Miami or Los Angeles.  Or at least until today.  I have no idea what will transpire on the streets of Managua in a few hours or what will happen to the Sandinista party over the next year.  This is a country where lead floats.  I am proud that Nicaraguans are vocal and take action, as opposed to the United States where stolen elections are met with a whimpering, “Well, in four more years things will be different” as Americans go back to their televisions, living in fear of speaking out and drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

My hope for today is the there is no violence, that the opposition comes out in heavy numbers and the orteguistas retreat for a while.  I have no illusions that the leopard will change his spots, though.  Daniel Ortega and his family have most likely amassed more money from Nicaragua than even Arnaldo Aleman, another former President caught with his hands in the national treasury. 

 

(The government is encouraging the poor to buy lottery tickets to make up for the revenue shortfalls.)

Interestingly, last week the Nicaraguan legislature voted to not honor any debts owed to Venezuala, as the excess of one billion dollars in assistance and low-interest loans never went into the national treasury, but instead went to a private company managed by Ortega’s family.  There is no transparency, but it appears that Ortega is trying to lend the foreign aid to Nicaragua.  It would be interesting to see what ALBA wants for collateral for these loans.  I could see the Ortega cabal trying to lay more claim to the country than even the Pellas family.

What does this mean for Nicaragua?  I don’t know.  There seems to be no hope that things will work out for the best.  I hear the words “civil war” and “revolution” constantly.   No one wants it, it just seems to be inevitable.  I suppose that it is better than living under a dictatorship.

This will be a historic day for Nicaragua.  Hopefully, it won't be too violent.

Machu Picchu

Stairway to the Sun.

copyright Kelly Ann Thomas

All rights reserved.

Under H.R. 2454 (Cap and Trade Bill), homeowners need upgrades and a license to sell a house

This is just disturbing.  It's not like there is any money for the additional $700 billion necessary for troops in Afghanistan, or money to treat the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with life altering injuries, or money for the socialized medicine (bye bye privacy) via private, for-profit insurers, or money the bailouts and stimulus programs, or money to find the bankrupt FDIC, or money fro the retiring Baby Boomers, but let no one doubt that government bureaucrats and politicians won't find new ways to tax us until we are facing taxes that exceed 100 percent of all income derived from anyone not part of the New World Order.

It's a long excerpt, but you should read the entire post by Frank Carrio at http://www.nachi.org/forum/f14/cap-and-trade-license-required-your-home-44750/

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. 

The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year.

• No one is excluded.

However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else. 

But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it. Probably the worst one is this:

• A year from now you won't be able to sell your house. Yes, you read that right.

The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes ("mobile homes") are included.

• In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.
• To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured.
• Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements.
• Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner.
• If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act.

You can read the synopsis of HR 2454 here.

Update: Despite the latest book debunking Global Warming ("The Real global Warming Disaster: Is the Obsession with 'Climate Change' Turning out to Be the Most Costly Scientific Blunder in History" by Christopher Booker - click here to read the article and review in the U.K. Telegraph);  "Climategate"  " in which a hacker released more than a thousand emails showing that scientists not only could not explain why temperatures were not going up, but also how to manipulate data to prove their hypothesis that man is the cause for global temperature increases;  numerous examples of poor collection techniques, some of which are included here;  and  Al Gore's ten-digit financial ties to the carbon trade industry, the Cap and Trade Bill (subsequently renamed for PR reasons) is still a viable option for the House and Senate because, well, they like taxes and bureaucracy and maintaining total control over the population.