Is War Mass Mental Illness? By James Jaeger

The important thing to remember about war is that PEOPLE don't generally instigate and fight wars, GOVERNMENTS do, especially EMPIRES. And the most common handy "reasons" for getting a war going are:

1. Real or imagined Limited Resources;
2. Real or imagined Threats from Others;
3. Bank loans going sour.


Real or imagined Limited Resources: The traditional reason tribes, and later city-states and nations, went to war was because their empire was expanding and needed more resources. What better and cheaper way to get them than to just TAKE them from your neighbor. Hey, the American Empire is still doing this, from the Indians' land to Saddam's oil fields.


Real or imagined Threats from Others: But in order for a government to churn its people up enough so they will a) tolerate excessive taxation for the war and/or b) allow their currency to be inflated by printing up paper money, a government has to do a good job pushing buttons, and what better button to push is there than exploiting the "scary differences" between people and groups. Them damn Japs, Krouts, Jews, Nazis, Niggers, Whites, NeoCons, Zionists, Arabs, Left-Wing Extremists, Fundamentalists, Terrorists -- the list goes on.


Bank loans going sour: But nothing is quite so beautiful as starting a war, or joining a war, in order to collateralize a bunch of loans that are going sour -- for instance, like what major bankers in the U.S. did when they machinated to allow the Lusitania to be sunk. This ploy got the U.S. cits so fired up the gov was then in a position to "justify" our entry into WW I. Oh, and did I mention that J.P. Morgan also got to have the U.S. gov collateralize his massive loans to the British, loans which were going south due to superior German submarine technology?


But today, the best wars are reserved for the entity that has a monopoly on force. And fortunately or unfortunately, only one such entity currently fits the bill today: the American Empire as the very DEFINITION of an empire is: an entity that has a monopoly on force. And what is this monopoly on force used for as such pertains to banking? Simple, the reason for the Empire's current wars is largely to roll over its debt. Since the current U.S. debt has increased from $2.7 trillion before Reagan to the current $8.4 trillion under Bush II, there are a lot of Treasury Notes, Bills and Bonds always coming due. And many of them are to the Chinese, so if we default on them: no more cheap DVD players and large-screen TVs.


But how are these going to get paid? And what about the other $29 trillion in off-budget debt the U.S. owes that no one is talking about? How is THIS going to get paid and rolled over (also known as re-financed)? Not by taxes; King Bush II has been LOWERING taxes. Answer: It gets paid by LENDING to a) U.S. citizens and large funds; b) foreign countries like China and Japan and; c) the Federal Reserve (which gets the money to "buy" the Treasuries by literally printing it up). But in order to BORROW enough money to pay and roll over these debts, the U.S. Congress has to have a pretty good excuse as to WHY they need even MORE cash. Hey, what better excuse than TERRORISM! Than WAR! Especially a LONG war, such as the 30-Years War or the COLD WAR or the WAR ON TERRORISM.


Nothing like a war that will "go on forever" to pay those bills and to encourage the public to vote in those Congressmen that will borrow this important money, money that will be used to "do good" and "bring freedom and democracy to the rest of the world." An in this mountain of perpetual WAR FUNDS there just happens to be enough spare cash to pay $500 billion in interest payments as well as a few billion in perks for each Congressman's home district and thus keeping him in office for "all the good work he's doing at home in the fatherland, I mean homeland."


But in order to keep rolling over those loans and paying tat interest to the banks, it helps if the gov can bring 1 and 2 into play. After all THAT'S why we MUST fight. Those goddamn Arabs and Jews or that madman Saddam and all his oil.


So war is not really "mass mental illness" unless you want to consider the public that is getting suckered into them as so stupid they might as WELL be mentally ill. And of course, this DOES perfectly describe much of the lumpen TV-watching, newspaper-reading public that spends its time buying endless consumer goods from China with credit cards and home equity. And running around drugged out of its mind on beer and prescription drugs so it can get it up for some extra leisure time to screw anything that walks. But alas, what else do citizens of an Empire do?!

I’ve been thinking about gasoline By Fred Cederholm

Column for on/after July 9th

I’ve been thinking about gasoline. Actually I’ve been thinking about volatility, global unrest, apocalyptic predictions, recent history, pump prices, ethanol, and DC rhetoric. When I filled up my PT Cruiser on July 5th at the local Casey’s, the price was $2.93 point 9 per gallon. Friday, when I pulled in to get gas for my weekend mowing; the same gas was now priced at $3.09 point 9 a gallon. This was a 16 cent increase in two days! There were similar jumps at all the fueling installations along the Lincoln Hwy (Route 38) from Rochelle to DeKalb.


You see, the long 4th of July weekend was over and most families were getting back into the normal “dog days of summer” when the above mentioned price spike occurred. There were no new wars, there were no pandemic outbreaks, and there were no natural disasters. Crude oil reached a new high as the $76.00 per barrel ceiling was tested, but not breached.


The Middle East was rattled by the escalating events between Israel and the Gaza Palestinians. The Far East was rattled by test missile launchings by the North Koreans. The Western Hemisphere was rattled by uncertainty of the outcome of the Presidential election in Mexico. Meanwhile, the planet was diverted by the World Cup in Germany. (Italy won!) It was the undercurrent of fear which had apparently rattled the oil market. In 1933, FDR said: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This maxim now applies to oil/gasoline pricing.


Anyone familiar with my columns knows how I closely track Uncle $ugar’s oil consumption, global suppliers, world events, and regularly comment thereon. When oil prices left the $30.00 per barrel range some 30 months ago, I honestly felt the escalation was a temporary aberration. I mean… as recently as 1999, oil was testing $10.00 per barrel on its way down. I felt predictions of $100.00 per barrel crude and $ 5.00+ per gallon at the American pumps were ludicrous. I saw these as nothing but attempts at 15 minutes of fame (or notoriety) by the energy pundits and gurus. Now… I am not so sure that was or is the case.


Despite the habitual and ongoing record-challenging prices, consumption and imports of crude and distillates (domestically and worldwide) have not diminished one iota. True, some global crises and catastrophic events have come and gone over the past two-and-a-half years, but… each “temporal” event/crisis/situation has been supplemented AND supplanted by an even bigger and more volatile one. Is this planet any safer/less explosive, or are the promises of a secure and ongoing global energy supply any more credible than they were 30 months ago?


If you crunch numbers figuring the projected crude costs, refining costs, refining ratios of distillate output (by category of product) per barrel, add on Federal and State motor fuel taxes, transportation costs, etc.; $5.00+ per gallon at the pump pricing for US/us isn’t some horrific speculation --- it would be a certainty! With gasoline already at $7.00 per gallon in Oslo, $6.50 in Hong Kong, $6.40 in London, $6.30 in Brussels, $6.15 in Rome, $6.10 in Frankfurt, and $5.00 in Tokyo; don’t expect much (if any) sympathy from drivers elsewhere abroad. It is of little consolation that gasoline is now selling for 12 cents a gallon in Caracas.

Ogle County, Illinois is in the heart of corn country. Over a year-and-a- half ago, ground was broken for a mega-ethanol plant less than five miles from my home. There is at least a year’s more construction time required for its completion, and THAT was before it was just “decided” to retro-redesign it to more than double the projected output capacity. Ethanol MAY be a partial solution – way down the road (pun intended), but despite political rhetoric in this beginning of the 2006 campaign stumping season, don’t expect this to be a mitigating factor anytime soon. The first “Ethanol 85” pump in Ogle County was only just announced.

We’ve been sold a bill of “goods” regarding our energy policies (or lack thereof). I want to know what candidates for election in November intend to do to REALLY fix this. We know what incumbents have done (or haven’t) to get US/us where we now find ourselves. Opening up Uncle $ugar’s checkbook - fast and loose - will get us as far as it did in the aftermath of Katrina/Rita. Just what will $5.00+ gasoline do to this debt-driven ro-bust economy? I’m Fred Cederholm and I’ve been thinking. You should be thinking, too.

Copyright Questions, Inc. 2006 all right reserved.


To “audit” this column and to learn more about the subjects discussed, please check out:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address – March 4, 1933 (You’re familiar with the excerpt, but please re-read the entire speech in the context of our current situation.)

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres49.html

WHAT A DIFFERENCE 20 YEARS MAKE IN CRUDE OIL PRICES
http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/simmons1.htm

Gas prices, a round-the-world sampling
Oslo is not the place to fill up. Caracas on the other hand...
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/09/news/economy/global_gas/index..htm?cnn=yes

Gasoline (and Diesel) motor fuel taxes by state (current)
http://api-ec.api.org/filelibrary/2006-gasoline-diesel-taxes-summary.pdf

Gasoline motor fuel taxes by state (2002) http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gas_taxes_by_state_2002.html

Rising Gas prices Boost State Tax Revenue
http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/gastax06.html

Monthly Motor Fuel (Consuption reported by States (1998 to 2005)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/mmfr/mmfrpage.htm

How US Gasoline taxes by State Compare (January 2006)
http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/blog/notes/gas-tax-rate.html

Energy Solves Debt Problem By James Jaeger

Since the American Empire is in debt like no nation or empire has ever been in debt in the history of the world AND it collects no fees from its vassal states (yet it has been providing them with free security and almost infinite markets for decades), here's how it (and all its citizens) could bail themselves out of the $70 TRILLION long-term debt the Empire now faces.(1)


A) The Department of Energy gets serious about the development and commercialization of PLASMA FUSION and SOLAR, and then;


B) The U.S. succeeds in the major breakthroughs of both technologies and then SELLS electrical energy to the rest of the world thus paying off its $70 trillion debt. This $70 trillion dollar figure I am using includes all the current, off-budget and long-term debt of the U.S. government. Usually only the current debt figure of $8.3 trillion is given, but we owe MUCH more than this, as much as $70 trillion. Much of this is for the unfunded social security programs as well as what we owe to other nations that are funding our trade deficit, namely China and Japan.

If scientists and technologists in the U.S. were to make the major breakthrough, I see this as a way we could all dig ourselves out of debt. Cheap clean energy is a product all Americans as well as the entire world needs and wants. If we could produce cheap clean electrical energy and sell it to the world, the U.S. could buy in all the bonds that have been purchased by foreign nations, its own citizens and the Federal Reserve.(2)

It would thus be in a position very far from the position it's currently in, a position of inevitable default. I believe nations like China would be very happy to exchange debt for energy because they would then be in a better position to develop their economy upon a clean, cheaper basis. Also, they would not have to live in fear that the U.S. will default on their loans, because it ever did, it would ruin their economy as much as a failure to produce enough energy would inhibit its growth.

So here is the perfect way out -- not only for the U.S. government, but for its citizens and for the citizens in the rest of the world who are buying our debt. Inexpensive, clean energy will also remove the reason for oil wars and cause ALL products to be cheaper and better. With better, cheaper products and a cleaner world humming away on two inexhaustible sources of energy -- FUSION and SOLAR -- we won't have to worry about climate change and the horrors that go along with that.(3)

Plus, we will be able to advance as a world and more quickly be in a position to develop strong AI, therapeutic cloning (4) and explore Mars and the rest of the Solar System.(5) A friendly Singularity will also have a much better chance of arriving because the human race will have its house in better order and humans will be in a better position to augment and/or upload and thus keep up with it. I strongly believe Energy is the gateway to many, if not all, of the world's current problems.

Like a knot, if the correct string is pulled, the knot will loosen up. Scientists, technologists and concerned Citizens can make it happen if a well-managed government and/or a private industry with good incentives will focus their collective powers on attaining a solution.



(1) See EMPIRE OF DEBT by Bonner for details on how this figure has been arrived at as well as a complete explication of the debt situation.

(2) See "FIAT EMPIRE - Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitution" a film written and directed by James Jaeger

(3) See THE LONG EMERGENCY by James Kuntsler.

(4) See THE IMMORTAL CELL by Michael D. West, M.D. Also see film project on this subject by James Jaeger and Oscar-winning producer John Longenecker at http://www.immortalcell.com

(5) See ENTERING SPACE by Robert Zubrin.

Football and society By Joost van Steenis

The 75th Letter of an Autonomous Thinker

Zidane head-butted an opponent in the final of the World Cup 2006. He was sent off.

But suppose his opponent accused him to be a terrorist (Zidane has Algerian roots).

Suppose his opponent tried to cripple him by kicking him against his ankles. The Dutch national trainer Van Basten had to stop playing football because he was hit too much.

Zidane, Van Basten and scores of others are powerless against opponents that use sneaky methods to prevent that players can use their dazzling skills. Referees seldom take action against rough players.

It is even worse. A referee that punishes rough players too much (as happened in the match Portugal-Holland) is not accepted by the bosses.

But I do not write about football, I write about power that is central in human relations.

What can you do when you are time and again attacked?
What should you do when referees are not punishing offenders?
What do you think when the bosses permit illegal actions?
Maybe you do the same as Zidane and take the law in your own hands.

In football players earn a lot of money and the public get a lot of pleasure – the Romans said already a long time ago: "Give the people Bread and Games and you can rule forever". (see http://members.chello.nl/jsteenis/violencedemocracy6.htm)

What do you do when referees in the real world only punish masspeople that take the law in their own hands. What do you do when you are time and again kicked in real life?

Something is terrible wrong in our world when people blow up hundreds of masspeople as just happened in India. But who is the real culprit, who causes that people act in this way? I think f.e . of the Indian elite who cannot solve the Indian problems and see what happened in Mumbai.

Masspeople have a dilemma.
They accept everything that is decided high-up till the bucket is full. Then they hit back and they are right (but mostly not in their methods).
Just as Zidane they attack fellow-masspersons, not the invisible elitepeople behind the screens.

Masspeople have no hope on a better future, on a life that is comparable with the life of the referees and their bosses.

Can you reproach these powerless people that they take the law in their own hands?

Can you reproach Zidane to attack an opponent that transgressed the line that separates nice from less nice people?

I applaud when some people become active because enough is enough. Some people suddenly want to break the overall control of the elite.

But mostly I do not agree with the methods. Masspeople mostly attack only their own kind, they hardly attack people with power.

Just as Zidane instinctively attacked a fellow-player and not the referee or the president of the FIFA.

It does not interest leaders in the football world or in the real world what happens down under. They take the easiest way out by punishing the perpetrators and not by looking at the reasons why an attractive player as Zidane did what he did. And why should they, the elite lives on its eliteworld that is not disturbed by this kind of actions of masspeople.

I prefer actions that will close the gap between mass- and eliteworld, actions that not hurt masspeople but target those people that defend the existing world-order. These elitepeople only want to continue to live on their safe and privileged eliteworld.

Anyhow I cannot reject activities of people who are time and again hurt by actions of people who live elsewhere.

I only wish they should find better targets.

Yours truly, Joost van Steenis
http://members.chello.nl/jsteenis
Ways to improve masspower

June interest on the national debt : $98bn so far this year By BabylonToday

The usually fat month of June interest on the national debt logged 98 billion bringing the fiscal annual total to 337+ billion dollars paid, in interest alone, on our national debt..... so far, this fiscal year.This logs in at just 15 billion under last year's total interest and 26 billion under the U.S. all time high, for interest paid on our debt, and there are still 3 months - a full quarter - to go in this fiscal year.

Bear in mind with average debt maturity of around 55 months, this is just the beginning of the massive interest bill that is due to come down the pike, for higher rates paid in recent years, having been averaged down by some of the lowest interest rates in 40 years that were paid over the years prior to this period. Looks like it promises to be quite a ride. How's it all goin otherwise gang?

http://www.babylontoday.com/

God bless

Unknowable By BigFisherman™

July 9, 2006

The unknowable has arrived. This is evidenced by the certainty with which the pundits integrate the volatility of the financial markets into their worldview. But there is an increasing false bravado in discussions of the competency of our hallowed financial institutions. So Keynesians, desperate for a plan, cling to bankrupt concepts for generating and maintaining wealth. Concepts soon to be antiquated by nature’s immutable laws. So can one short conviction? Well, those going long the VIX have done well in the past several weeks as it has bounced from historic lows. But speculation is not our game. The primary trend must be ascertained for long term investment and life style decisions. This has served us well.

The lines of probability continue to guide events. Recent volatility in gold is not inconsistent with a monthly data series of the past several years. The last few months of data do not significantly alter estimates of the long term rate of growth. The run up bumped the upper end of possible price scenarios, and most significantly the resulting lines of probability indicate that there will be no return to “new economy” processes. The rapid declines of the past few weeks do not cause use to reject this line of thinking, but rather to enforce it.

So liquidity is tight as the yen carry trade begins its long unwinding. Investors in the squeeze, expecting easy money relief from the fed, are trampling each other to position themselves under the helicopter doors. Instead they find the Bernanke Brigade brandishing the imperial jawbone like a crazed door gunners, blathering with abandon at any glints of inflation. But words offer little to those used to creating liquidity by front running the Fed. As they nurse their wounds they curse Brutal Ben, and question their station in life.

Behold the global command and control economy. We needn’t bother making our own decisions any longer. I offer my humble gratitude for being relived of this burden. But I am not worthy. After all, growth will be balanced. Risks will be managed. Even my wealth will be managed with an acute sense of social responsibility. I am grateful to tax assessor for increasing my contribution by five fold these past five years. Even the local elites have social engineering to accomplish. And I fervently pray to mammon for forgiveness for ever doubting that our financial masters could ever fail to provide oil and commodities in abundance.

All of these scary peak oil and scarce commodity shows on TV are just the usual fear mongering by constituencies up to no good, mostly nasty price gougers in the resource sectors. The many rumors of funds with difficult circumstances are just that, rumors. Clearly the great pyramid of derivatives has remained well balanced on its all knowing eye. The rouge economic waves we have felt of late are not caused by deep dislocations in the sea of commerce. We are simply witness to the genius of risks spreading beneath the surface. Prices have been appropriately aligned once again. And of course, there has been just a modest redistribution of wealth for the greater good. Life is good at the greater Goldman Sachs.

But we can see how clearly risks have been quantified and structured for the generations to follow: Just look at the magnitude of the derivatives pyramid. So many claims against the future. Mortgages that will last for generations. I suppose for the many they have finally come for the children. I guess I expected more of a fight.

We have used this recent pullback in precious metals shares as an opportunity to begin repositioning our precious metals portfolio for increased volatility and increased potential. Even after this pull back, and after taking a few new positions our average share position is up 151%. The average annualized unrealized gain is 54% with an average holding period of 1199 days. Gold as insurance is at fire sale prices, and defensive bullion positions should be increased perhaps with a wee bit of palladium.

(A precious metals update, and crossing the divide commentary follows for subscribers.)

Copyright © 2006. Rodney C. Cook, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.obsceneprophets.com/Articles/OPW20060709.aspx

An Inconvenient Truth by James Jaeger

06 July 2006

Yesterday I saw AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.

This is the most important film ever made.

Gore and the filmmakers make the case that Global Warming is real and the subtext is that it's an extinction level event.

We have 10 years to make significant changes. The 10 years started in 2005. The film doesn't say this or the above, and leaves out a few important studies (such as Global Dimming) and conclusions (such as Fusion and Solar are the answers) but nevertheless, the film will get the public pointed in the right direction.

So get that idiot, bozo neighbor of yours or your stupid moron brother or your God-will-save-us friend and DRAG them to the theater. If they refuse to go, CUSS them out real good and tell them you will never talk to them again. Then follow through with this threat if they don't go.
NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY SHOULD BE YOUR ATTITUDE.

People that are still denying global warming and/or causing it ARE THE ENEMY! Period. Treat them as such by not supporting or fraternizing with them. OSAMA BIN LADIN is your best friend compared to Global Warming. Hitler is your bosom buddy compared to Global Warming. Gengis Kahn is a sweetheart compared to Global Warming. Stalin is someone you can bring home to meet your mother, compared to Global Warming.

Put simply: We as humans don't want to screw with Global Warming.

Al Gore was too modest and politically correct to say what I have just said, but you could tell, this is what he was thinking as he delivered the movie. So there, I have said it for him.

The Solution to our Problems:

THE SOLUTION TO OUR ENERGY PROBLEMS IS ALSO THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING AND THE SOLUTION TO SO-CALLED TERRORISM.

In Kunster's book, THE LONG EMERGENCY, Kunster paints a very bleak future of the post-plentiful-oil world we are entering now that PEAK OIL has probably happened. I concur with his basic analysis of the chaos that will ensue when a world of 6.5 billion people -- allowed to grow because of easy, abundant oil -- finds its tank on empty and no gasoline stations in site.
BUT, there is at least one major flaw in his thinking. He completely overlooks plasma fusion. Chapter four, "Beyond Oil," explores: natural gas, hydrogen, coal, hydroelectric, solar, wind, synthetic oil, thermal depolymerization, methane hydrates, zero-point energy and nuclear energy (fission).

He admits he is ignorant on zero point, but he makes NO MENTION OF PLASMA FUSION. Major outpoint.

As I have written many times here and countless other places, I stand firm that our energy problem AND global warming problem can be simultaneously solved by pushing through:
A. SOLARB. PLASMA FUSION

Distributed nano-assisted solar can, and will, be able to supply enough electricity to power HOMES and SMALL BUSINESSES.

Centralized plasma fusion will be needed to supply the electrical requirements of TRANSPORTATION and HEAVY INDUSTRY.

A can arrive in 5 years and B can arrive in 10 years (see iter.org) IF the world's opinion leader nations direct a majority of their efforts to developing these two technologies. Allocating intellectual power and money to other items on Kunstler's list will only cause his so-called LONG EMERGENCY to materialize.

Focusing on A and B will allow the world to segue into its next energy infrastructure and move us towards all the incredible things science and technology will deliver. Robert Zubrin, in his most important book, ENTERING SPACE, outlines the terawattage the planet needs into the next 100 years and how it can be made available.

Traitors in High Places:
We can't let the nuts take over the insane asylum. Both houses of Congress and the Executive MUST be flushed out. Religionists with deus ex machina panaceas have their heads in the sand. Congress is in a condition of treason to U.S. citizens and others in the world by reason of their negligent actions and inactions, among with are failure to provide appropriate security, wasting resources, taking bribes, failing to brief the public in a meaningful way and failure to follow the supreme law of the land. INCONVENIENT TRUTH conveys the feeling that the current people in political power are insane fools. And they are.

What you can do now:
No matter what party you are a member of, DON'T vote for an incumbent. The incumbents are insane fools. New blood is thus part of the solution. Also a greater number of congressmen should be technically- and science-oriented. Lawyers are no longer appropriate as members of Congress because the congressmen are elected to MAKE DECISIONS on behalf of the People. Lawyers, which most of Congress is currently comprised of, are not qualified to make the kinds of decisions that are required in today's technological world. This is why nothing is getting done and why these people will take us over the cliff unless we IMMEDIATELY replace them with fresh talent and THEN start qualifying the fresh talent by upgrading it to representatives that HAVE backgrounds in science and technology.

Get what I am saying:
1. We need to PURGE all of Congress now. Their network of double dealing with each other to ensure their mutual pork programs at the public's expense is no longer tolerable.
2. We need to vote in non-incumbents now. There will be chaos, but the new blood will open the door to significant change and fresh ideas. This will result in out-of-the-box thinking and solutions that will eventually bring order to the initial chaos.
3. Once the new blood is in Congress, many of them will still be lawyers and incompetents. These people need to be FURTHER qualified, keeping the gems and replacing the incompetents with decision makers that have backgrounds in science and technology who can make rational decisions based on real data.

This is a three-step process:
Step 1: Fire all the incompetents indiscriminately.
Step 2: Bring in new appointments for both parties.
Step 3: Upgrade the new appointments with people trained in science and technology.

ANY OTHER PROGRAM WILL DELAY AND FAIL. It will not allow the rational people who understand the situation to function in a timely and appropriate manner. The world has caught fire and it's NOT terrorism. Terrorism is only a SYMPTOM. The resources of the planet are being mismanaged and misappropriated by idiots and bozos. An untrained human brain, nor a Congress of untrained human brains simply can't make the proper sequence of decisions that will lead to viable programs and projects, projects that will result in an improved planetary condition. As a world, we are in an EMERGENCY condition. The next condition down is DANGER. The one after that is NON-EXISTENCE. That means you are DEAD because your planet's climate and/or biosphere no longer exists in a condition sufficient to your life support or the life support of the project of civilization.

To get out of EMERGENCY we need to promote people and technologies that have long-term viability. We need to by-pass those people and technologies that have brought us to the condition of emergence we now face.

(if you are pro-global warming, check this out)
http://www.mecfilms.com/universe/menu3.htm

Banking On Armageddon: The Revelation Hoax By SB Kayser

PART 1

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. This is a quote that has been around for quite some time but I wish I could recall who wrote it first.

Having recenlty been caught in some intense discussion that left me pondering, today I'll let the devils' advocate within me offer her two cents.

There is a crowd out there who expects to be redeemed and rescued by God at some point down the road and I find this state of mind frightening enough in itself. Not that I am anxious to face the Creator Of All Things, that would make me belong to that very crowd. Presuming that only The Great One can end the mess pratically overnight is rooted in a cheap logic that spreads laziness and worst a lack of self-confidence. In case you're just speculating on my account I am not a creationist either but I have no problem with the idea or the concept of a Supernatural Intervention which I'd add, has made everything work perfectly, Man included.


The lack of knowledge combined with the path of least resistance will always remain a lethal cocktail in many instances, especially when applied on a large scale and coercively. They also are the ingredients needed to create a climate of serfdom. Organized religions consequently thrive to survive, just like you and me and will always find a way to remain acknowledged. Therefore it shouldn't come as a surprise that the root of the word is the Latin verb ligo, comes religo, to tie or bind over again, to make more fast - from religo.

The point I am trying to make is that submission in this particular case may easily mean the irrationality of following The Scriptures word by word, a doctrine which has been instilled over the centuries by the devout religious leaders of the three monotheistic faiths equally. All of which have serious motives to keep things the way they are, in other words stagnant. Fundamentalism is a very important factor. Without an ultimate threat, that of Armageddon more precisely, the three religions would most likely have merged by now, possibily been replaced with a fourth one . If this hasn't occurred don't look any further than the famous quote when power is at stake: Divide and Conquer.

The People who drafted the chapter of The Revelation were simply geniuses. As much as those behind our fascistic debt propelled monetary system and so many other social hoaxes. There exist terrifying interpretations of the Four Horsmen but here is an interesting one - that I do not endorse per se. Today and unless one is gravely illiterate nobody should doubt that some parts of the Bible have been gravely corrupted, twisted to suit the interests of TPTB (read: The Powers That Be) thousand years ago and this to serve further agendas rightfully. Have you ever noticed the recurrent and intriguing trend about just every religion: they all generated their own dark-ages after a golden age phase, why is that?

Who can regulate our fears is the master of everything.

Anyone having achieved high school is aware that spiritual fears have dominated Man's realms throughout the ages. Though it should strike us as odd that Jesus' words do not allude for certain to eternal damnation in The Gospel of Judas. This has always been what the Gnostics and the Christian Anarchist theological and social philosopher Jacques Ellul believed by the way. Why should I consider such points of view today, would you ask? Well in time of universal deceit the Devil wears pink and mainstream ideas are like highways, they provoke collisions in chain. Being in the majority alters behaviors, too often makes humans resemble a herd of sheep jumping off a cliff.

On a more existential level, it is a proven fact that historically many societies - among which some were very advanced - have existed and been destroyed, wiped out... before ours. After all the only thing that doesn't change is the change itself. Not that I consider myself an alarmist, I have kept in the back of my head that the Mayan Calendar ends December 21, 2012 exactly. Creepy ins't it?

Realistically every civilization has prophets warning the crowds of "the end of days" in their own languages and metaphors though but on the other hand we can firmly embrace the conclusion that "Life On Earth" always survived. Even after the symbolic fall of Sodom And Gomorrah or even Babel for example. Although ancient civilizations are not my field of expertise I can tell you that I subscribe to the view that history ought to be debamboozled seriously. Should hidden history keep you guessing, here is a book titled The Disinformation Guide to Ancient Civilizations which may help you see through the fog.


Going back to our Armageddon D-day, while it is true that any disaster can cause apocalyptic death rates, it does't mean that the planet will be annihilated. Unlike us Mother Nature can forecast everything. While TPTB behind this war without end want us to focus on rooting out evil under the pretense of avoiding Armageddon, I would ask you to take a cold but very close look at the arm race and war cycles and how they originate. One does not need to have a Mensa registered IQ to grasp the role played by progressive taxation, without which TPTB couldn't find a way to finance them. This reality becomes even more painful and awful knowing that every citizen is supposed to pay for his protection but remains at the mercy of an out-of-control corporate sponsored government whose plots will shatter his life or that of his beloved ones eventually. Ask you this silently: how many wars per century?

One thing is more than certain: the Armageddonites are very close to their most intimate wish and it is all what counts in their eyes. Yet again this upcoming taxpayer induced Day Of Reckoning must be rejoicing them. Whatever happens remember that lies are exponential and cause highly damaging bubbles of cherished delusions.

Still banking on Armageddon?

previous: Debt Based Hedonism, Hypno$i$ , A Short Story About Billions and Trillions , Invariable Rules

I’ve been thinking about our deficits with oil, manufactured goods, capital, and China By Fred Cederholm

I originally had presented the monthly trade deficit figures in Millions, It should be in BILLIONS! I should have caught that earlier sorry

Column for on/after July 2nd

I’ve been thinking about dependence. Actually I’ve been thinking about our deficits with oil, manufactured goods, capital, and China. The forthcoming July 4th holiday was supposed to be a celebration of American Independence and the freedoms we enjoy. But… the self-sufficient America of bygone days has devolved from a “production engine” for the world’s goods and capital. The world’s creditor nation has become the largest debtor nation. Freedom of choices at home (and abroad) are now governed by these our dependencies.


You see, when you are “dependent,” the options to choose that are open to you become constrained and colored by the vary nature of that dependency. It was two years ago that I first wrote “TH*NK*NG about Dependence on Independence Day” and I have since received emails asking for updates on the data/information. What differences have two years made?


We are more dependent on foreign oil, but with a slightly different percentage mix of suppliers. Our Department of Energy just provided the April figures on June 28, 2006. The top seven sources of Uncle $ugar’s crude oil imports for April 2006 were: Canada (1.710 million barrels per day--MBPD), Mexico (1.601 MBPD), Saudi Arabia (1.582 MBPD), Venezuela (1.171 MBPD), Nigeria (1.022 MBPD), Iraq (0.531 MBPD), and Angola (0.389 MBPD).
This compares with: Canada (1.596 MBPD), Mexico (1.541 MBPD), Saudi Arabia (1.161 MBPD), Venezuela (1.372 MBPD), Nigeria (1.044 MBPD), Iraq (0.755 MBPD), and Russia (0.193 MBPD) for April 2004. The biggest drops in oil supplied involved Venezuela (down 15%) and the Russians who were our 7th largest supplier in 2004, but failed to make even the top 15 in 2006. The Saudi’s picked up most of the slack with April imports from them increasing 36% over 24 months ago. The price per barrel of imported oil was $ 40 in June 2004, $ 52 in June 2005, and ended June 2006 at $ 73. Will this trend continue to escalate?


We are more dependent on foreign manufactured goods. Think about how many more US companies have downsized domestically and out-sourced production abroad in the past twenty-four months. Our current (monthly trade) deficits increased as well. The MONTHLY trade deficit for April 2006 was $63.4 BILLION, for April 2005 was $57.0 BILLION, for April 2004 it was $48.5 BILLION, and for April 2003 it was $42.0 BILLION. This steady increase holds true (comparatively) for each of the year’s other eleven months. See any trends?


We are dependent on foreign capital. On June 30, 2006, our national debt was $ 8.408 TRILLION; on June 30, 2005, our national debt was $ 7.827 TRILLION; and at June 30, 2004, our national debt was $7.274 TRILLION—an increase of $581 BILLION from June 2005 to June 2006 on top the increase of $553 BILLION from June 2004 to June 2005. Our May 2006 M2 money supply (results published June 29th) stood at $ 6.797 TRILLION, our June 2005 M2 money supply was $6.516 TRILLION, and our June 2205 M2 money supply was $6.289 TRILLION. This is on top of the national debt figure noted above. The broadest definition of the bucks in circulation, the M3, was $9.651 TRILLION in May 2005, while at June 2004 the M3 money supply was $9.294 TRILLION. I cannot provide the 2006 equivalent of the M3 money supply since the Fed/US Treasury stopped publicly reporting this number in March of 2006. Trust me that Uncle $ugar’s printing presses are still running - overtime.


The Japanese are still the "hands down" largest holders of our obligations, but it’s the Chinese who are accumulating the greatest amount of current "deficit dollars." In 2006, the Chinese will once again sell US/us some $200 BILLION more of their goods and products than they buy of whatever it is that we still make/sell. We buy their chotchkies; they buy our public/private debt instruments and they will continue to buy our companies.


In 2005, China’s Lenovo did buy IBM’s personal computer business for $1.25 billion and China’s Haier had bid $1.28 billion for the Maytag appliance company - it was eventually acquired by U.S. rival Whirlpool in 2006. What American corporate icons are now in the crosshairs of the Chinese “shopping list” - General Motors? Ford? Microsoft? Halliburton? Enjoy the 4th of July fireworks displays even if they are made in… I’m Fred Cederholm and I’ve been thinking. You should be thinking, too.

Copyright Questions, Inc. 2006 all right reserved.
asklet@rochelle.net

To “audit” this column and to learn more about the subjects discussed, please check out:

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imp orts/current/import.html

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

MONEY STOCK MEASURES in Billions of dollars http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/current/ MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

Trade in Goods (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with China
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html#2006

Two Terrifying Articles On The Housing Bubble By Mish And Ben Jones

(06/29) Global Property Boom ‘Turning Into A Bust’ By Ben Jones
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=966


and

(06/29) Musical Chairs By Mish
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2006/06/musical-chairs.html