Although we have an incredible amount of technology today, which, for the most part is a good thing, sometimes it is the simple pleasures that bring the fondest memories.
My mother grew up on a small farm and although she and her siblings and parents lacked many material goodies and creature comforts (such as running water), they always had food on the table. Fresh vegetables, wild berries and fresh or home canned meats and canned veggies. I did not know my grandparents until they were much older and living in a small country house on a acre or so, but I sure enjoyed visiting them when I was a youngster. Granddad hunted until he was into his eighties (master marksman too) and when we were visiting him he would get up early and feed his hound dogs and we would all sit down to a hearty country breakfast prepared by grandma. Home made preserves, sausage of various types, eggs, biscuits, grits etc. and for dinner it was plenty of meat and a choice of root vegetable, lima beans or corn, bread, gravy and such, all delicious and made with love.
My mother did a good bit less home cooking and scratch cooking, but she had her specialties like pot roast, chicken pot pie, meat loaf, fresh fried fish and other seafood (we lived on the East Coast), beef stew and for lunch one of my favorite meals was a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup. We also had a wood burning fireplace in our house and we had one of those clam shell popcorn poppers that you could hold over the fire to pop the corn...delicious. Although dad worked some pretty long hours, most of the time the family was able to dine together and enjoy a good, often home cooked (as opposed to pre-cooked and frozen) meal.
My wife was reared by hardworking, but usually poor, parents and in her house scratch cooking was an economic necessity. My wife learned the art of cooking from scratch, with just a few basic ingredients and I have been quite thankful she learned that skill. (Though I'm a bit less thankful for my expanding waistline) Now, our son gets to enjoy delicious, made from scratch, meals most days and one of his favorite meals is a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup; sometimes it's Campbell's and sometimes it's some of our homemade and home canned soup. I know he will always have fond memories of sitting at the dinner table with the family enjoying a good home cooked meal.
For most people under 30, a home cooked meal made with love is something they will never experience. With half of all marriages ending in divorce (this corresponds with the increasing size of the frozen food section at the local supermarket) and most divorced single mothers constantly bitching to their male children about how their ex-hubbie in particular and men in general suck, it's no wonder we have a generation or two of emasculated men, some of whom grow up to be environmental homosexuals. (I actually think there are two types of homosexuality, genetic and environmental. One type is due to a genetic screw up and the other is due to the environment one is reared in.) The single parent family (male or female) is not what God intended.
Men have forgotten their biblically mandated role as a Godly head of the household and women have forgotten their biblically mandated duties as wives. Home economics is rarely taught in schools any more and it seems like more men today have an interest in cooking than do women. (This is not necessarily bad as a good cook can be male or female, but the food always seems to have more love if it was made by mom.) Too bad, because a good meal, eaten with the family, is one of those life experiences that tends to induce a sense of civility and compassion in a person.
When an older person drives by a restaurant that advertises "home cooking", they get a memory of a meal that may have taken hours to prepare and that was enjoyed by the entire family. For many younger folks, the memory they get is of a frozen TV dinner getting tossed into the microwave.
Sometimes the good 'ol days WERE the good 'ol days.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The times they are a changin'.
The Oakland California police department suffered the loss of four officers as a result of a saturday shootout that started after a routine traffic stop conducted by two motorcycle patrolman and ended in a final shootout with SWAT officers. Three police were killed outright and the fourth officer is on life support but has been declared brain dead. The four officers killed were Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35, and Officer John Hege, 41. The fine upstanding citizen that shot them was Lovelle Mixon, 26. Mixon was killed by the SWAT team who, thoughtfully, saved the Oakland taxpayers the cost of a trial and jail time before the bad guy would have been executed. I cannot find mention of nor do I remember a similar circumstance in recent memory where four police were killed, however, there have been a couple of similar incidents. (We pray for the souls of the officers and even for the soul of the bad guy; we do not get forgiveness if we do not give forgiveness)
There was the infamous 1986 Miami Shootout in which FBI agents Gerald Dove and Benjamin Grogan were killed and five other agents were severely wounded. They were trying to arrest a couple of heavily armed bank robbers, who were both expert marksman.
In 1997 there was the North Hollywood shootout in which two bank robbers, also heavily armed, but were lousy shots, wounded 10 police and SWAT officers. Had the bad guys been better marksman, those 10 injuries could have easily been 10 fatalities.
Now, the liberal take on this will be that the poor, downtrodden, oppressed bad guy was being unnecessarily harassed by the hate filled, bigoted po-lice and not only is it society's fault, but we need to ban assault rifles and guns in general so this kind of thing will not happen again. (ask the Aussies what happened to their violent crime rate after they banned and confiscated most guns there)
My take on this is a bit different. The Godless liberal swine, who have been extremely successful at removing God from school, Government and our everyday lives and who have fostered an educational system that rewards stupidity, led to the current situation we now find ourselves in. In the not too distant past, even the bad guys had some respect for law enforcement. Officer shootings were not unknown, but were extremely rare. Couple a failed education system with the break up of the traditional family, remove God, and you end up with a bunch of selfish, Satan loving animals looking only for their self-gratification. (Thanks liberals, job well done) They could care less whether they were shooting a policeman or a six year old kid. If we could only humanely euthanize liberals in the spirit of Godly love and compassion......................
There was the infamous 1986 Miami Shootout in which FBI agents Gerald Dove and Benjamin Grogan were killed and five other agents were severely wounded. They were trying to arrest a couple of heavily armed bank robbers, who were both expert marksman.
In 1997 there was the North Hollywood shootout in which two bank robbers, also heavily armed, but were lousy shots, wounded 10 police and SWAT officers. Had the bad guys been better marksman, those 10 injuries could have easily been 10 fatalities.
Now, the liberal take on this will be that the poor, downtrodden, oppressed bad guy was being unnecessarily harassed by the hate filled, bigoted po-lice and not only is it society's fault, but we need to ban assault rifles and guns in general so this kind of thing will not happen again. (ask the Aussies what happened to their violent crime rate after they banned and confiscated most guns there)
My take on this is a bit different. The Godless liberal swine, who have been extremely successful at removing God from school, Government and our everyday lives and who have fostered an educational system that rewards stupidity, led to the current situation we now find ourselves in. In the not too distant past, even the bad guys had some respect for law enforcement. Officer shootings were not unknown, but were extremely rare. Couple a failed education system with the break up of the traditional family, remove God, and you end up with a bunch of selfish, Satan loving animals looking only for their self-gratification. (Thanks liberals, job well done) They could care less whether they were shooting a policeman or a six year old kid. If we could only humanely euthanize liberals in the spirit of Godly love and compassion......................
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Why the NRA has failed and why we are doomed.
The National Rifle Association has long been considered one of the most effective lobbies on Capitol Hill. I had always considered this to be the case as many a politician who favored gun control went down in flames when targeted by the NRA. The NRA got its start, as their website states, when "Dismayed by the lack of marksmanship shown by their troops, Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association in 1871. The primary goal of the association would be to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis," according to a magazine editorial written by Church. After being granted a charter by the state of New York on November 17, 1871, the NRA was founded. Civil War Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who was also the former governor of Rhode Island and a U.S. Senator, became the fledgling NRA's first president."
From that rather humble beginning in 1871, the NRA emerged as the premier protector of the second amendment in America. I must say that I was very disappointed during the presidential election campaign to see that the NRA was only doing "the usual" when it came to opposing Obama. By the usual I mean running anti-Obama ads, sending out mailers and doing a few editorials in the American Rifleman. I imagine that the NRA was thinking that the gun owning public could not be stupid enough to elect an ultra left wing radical like Obama, so why waste any additional money over and above their normal marketing efforts to try to get Obama slammed.
When Obama got elected, it should have put the NRA in crisis mode. Although the Supreme Court had recently ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the second amendment protects an individual right to own guns, the decision should have been 9-0, as the second amendment is actually quite clear in its intent.
All Obama has to do is appoint two more activist Supreme Court justices and the previous affirmation of the second amendment could be overturned. The NRA also apparently forgot that Obama can destroy the second amendment by executive order. The military was recently ordered to stop selling surplus small arms spent brass to the public. The outcry did cause this decision to be repealed, but it could easily be reinstated. Ammunition importers are reporting that import permits for certain calibers of ammo are "getting lost". Major U.S. ammunition manufactures who do business with the Government can be coerced into cutting domestic ammo production in return for lucrative Government ammo contracts. In fact, a worker at one of the big ammo makers indicated that although civilian demand for ammunition was high, their factory was actually cutting production, despite the large profits that could have been made.
While the NRA would not want to go around advocating armed insurrection or elimination of certain Government officials (however desirable that prospect may be), their criticism of Obama has been anemic at best. Their position seems to be to just wait it out and in four years hope we get a pro-gun president. In the past, the NRA has fought hard to stop anti-gun politicians and then kind of glided along when pro gun politicians have control of congress. The NRA should have been preparing to keep the second amendment going all along.
The major wake up call for the NRA should have been the Gun Control Act of 1968. The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a federal law that broadly regulates firearms owners and the firearms industry. It initially focused on interstate commerce in firearms. However, the origins of the GCA 1968 were rather sinister. From the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership website: "Members of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) consider "gun control" to be an aggressive cancer. JPFO has a cure, a way to destroy "gun control". JPFO has hard evidence that shows that the Nazi Weapons Law (March 18, 1938) is the source of the U.S Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA '68). Adolph Hitler signed the Nazi Weapons Law. The Gestapo (Nazi National Secret Police) enforced it. In "Gun Control": Gateway to Tyranny we present the official German text of the Nazi Weapons Law and a side-by-side translation into English. Even more deadly: a side-by-side, section-by-section comparison of the GCA '68 with the Nazi Weapons Law. If you have this in your hands, no one can tell you that you're imagining things.
The clincher: JPFO knows who implanted into American law cancerous ideas from the Nazi Weapons Law. The likely culprit is a former senator, now deceased. We have documentary proof that he had the original text of the Nazi Weapons Law in his possession 4 months before the bill that became GCA '68 was signed into law. This former senator was a senior member of the U.S. team that helped to prosecute Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945-46. That is probably where he found out about the Nazi Weapons Law. He may have gotten a copy of it then, or at a later date. We cannot imagine why any U.S. lawmaker would own original texts of Nazi laws." If they are a liberal dimocrat, it's actually pretty easy to figure out why they would have copies of NAZI laws in their possession.
When the GCA 1968 passed, the NRA should have taken a more active role in promoting firearms ownership. The NRA did consider opening retail firearms training centers, but did not want to cause animosity to retail gun dealers and range operators. They should have done it anyway. The NRA also should have considered starting or purchasing an ammunition manufacturer and possibly getting into firearms manufacture as well, so as to ensure a steady supply of ammo and guns in the event the government pressured ammo and firearm manufacturers into cutting production, but before an actual ban took place or if the government restricted certain ammo and gun imports, the NRA could pick up the slack.
The NRA should also have considered the formation of an NRA militia, since the original purpose of the organization was to improve army marksmanship. The militia would be a potential deterrent to any Government efforts to confiscate guns from citizens.
The one thing the NRA could not have figured, but the one thing that will make groups like Handgun Control, Inc. ultimately prevail is the changing nature of society. The liberal education system has done a magnificent job of dumbing down the public. Most high school graduates can barely read and write and they, in general, know nothing about U.S. history or the founding fathers. Half of all marriages end in divorce (the percentage is higher among evangelicals) and a recent article mentioned that 40% of births are out of wedlock. I was listening to the radio the other day and one of the announcers mentioned that Rush Limbaugh's approval rating was only 11% for people age 40 and younger. I'd guess that 9% of that 11% comes from those age 30-40. Under age 30 and you have been completely corrupted by liberals/Satanists.
The liberal education system has effectively destroyed the country. God has been removed from schools. If you are a person of faith you are viewed with scorn and derision. We have gotten away from our Biblically mandated directives and are paying the price for this. Ephesians 5:22-33: 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
We have a clear mandate on how to behave as husbands and wives yet 50% of all marriages end in divorce. The duties of a Godly wife from proverbs 31: 13-27
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family
16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
So, how many men do you know today that fulfill the Godly duties as a husband. How many women fulfill their Godly duties as a wife. I'm not suggesting men should adopt the Taliban approach to women, but men have been utterly emasculated by women and refuse to teach them the ways of God and what is expected of them.
Some issues that developed from the "empowerment" of women are that it dilutes the labor pool to the point that, for the most part, two incomes are required to maintain a household at a reasonable standard of living, whereas, back in the day a man could provide for his family on only his income. The high divorce rate has produced many single parent families and with 40% of children being born out of wedlock, one can expect the the majority of households will not have a Godly husband and father to teach their sons how to grow up to be Godly men. Our society IS doomed and no matter how effective the gun lobby is we will end up being disarmed and "dealt with" by our Government. The NRA could have, however, been more effective and cognizant of the underlying problem and prolonged our demise, perhaps by a few decades.....and we may have been able to turn things around........or not.
From that rather humble beginning in 1871, the NRA emerged as the premier protector of the second amendment in America. I must say that I was very disappointed during the presidential election campaign to see that the NRA was only doing "the usual" when it came to opposing Obama. By the usual I mean running anti-Obama ads, sending out mailers and doing a few editorials in the American Rifleman. I imagine that the NRA was thinking that the gun owning public could not be stupid enough to elect an ultra left wing radical like Obama, so why waste any additional money over and above their normal marketing efforts to try to get Obama slammed.
When Obama got elected, it should have put the NRA in crisis mode. Although the Supreme Court had recently ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the second amendment protects an individual right to own guns, the decision should have been 9-0, as the second amendment is actually quite clear in its intent.
All Obama has to do is appoint two more activist Supreme Court justices and the previous affirmation of the second amendment could be overturned. The NRA also apparently forgot that Obama can destroy the second amendment by executive order. The military was recently ordered to stop selling surplus small arms spent brass to the public. The outcry did cause this decision to be repealed, but it could easily be reinstated. Ammunition importers are reporting that import permits for certain calibers of ammo are "getting lost". Major U.S. ammunition manufactures who do business with the Government can be coerced into cutting domestic ammo production in return for lucrative Government ammo contracts. In fact, a worker at one of the big ammo makers indicated that although civilian demand for ammunition was high, their factory was actually cutting production, despite the large profits that could have been made.
While the NRA would not want to go around advocating armed insurrection or elimination of certain Government officials (however desirable that prospect may be), their criticism of Obama has been anemic at best. Their position seems to be to just wait it out and in four years hope we get a pro-gun president. In the past, the NRA has fought hard to stop anti-gun politicians and then kind of glided along when pro gun politicians have control of congress. The NRA should have been preparing to keep the second amendment going all along.
The major wake up call for the NRA should have been the Gun Control Act of 1968. The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a federal law that broadly regulates firearms owners and the firearms industry. It initially focused on interstate commerce in firearms. However, the origins of the GCA 1968 were rather sinister. From the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership website: "Members of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) consider "gun control" to be an aggressive cancer. JPFO has a cure, a way to destroy "gun control". JPFO has hard evidence that shows that the Nazi Weapons Law (March 18, 1938) is the source of the U.S Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA '68). Adolph Hitler signed the Nazi Weapons Law. The Gestapo (Nazi National Secret Police) enforced it. In "Gun Control": Gateway to Tyranny we present the official German text of the Nazi Weapons Law and a side-by-side translation into English. Even more deadly: a side-by-side, section-by-section comparison of the GCA '68 with the Nazi Weapons Law. If you have this in your hands, no one can tell you that you're imagining things.
The clincher: JPFO knows who implanted into American law cancerous ideas from the Nazi Weapons Law. The likely culprit is a former senator, now deceased. We have documentary proof that he had the original text of the Nazi Weapons Law in his possession 4 months before the bill that became GCA '68 was signed into law. This former senator was a senior member of the U.S. team that helped to prosecute Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945-46. That is probably where he found out about the Nazi Weapons Law. He may have gotten a copy of it then, or at a later date. We cannot imagine why any U.S. lawmaker would own original texts of Nazi laws." If they are a liberal dimocrat, it's actually pretty easy to figure out why they would have copies of NAZI laws in their possession.
When the GCA 1968 passed, the NRA should have taken a more active role in promoting firearms ownership. The NRA did consider opening retail firearms training centers, but did not want to cause animosity to retail gun dealers and range operators. They should have done it anyway. The NRA also should have considered starting or purchasing an ammunition manufacturer and possibly getting into firearms manufacture as well, so as to ensure a steady supply of ammo and guns in the event the government pressured ammo and firearm manufacturers into cutting production, but before an actual ban took place or if the government restricted certain ammo and gun imports, the NRA could pick up the slack.
The NRA should also have considered the formation of an NRA militia, since the original purpose of the organization was to improve army marksmanship. The militia would be a potential deterrent to any Government efforts to confiscate guns from citizens.
The one thing the NRA could not have figured, but the one thing that will make groups like Handgun Control, Inc. ultimately prevail is the changing nature of society. The liberal education system has done a magnificent job of dumbing down the public. Most high school graduates can barely read and write and they, in general, know nothing about U.S. history or the founding fathers. Half of all marriages end in divorce (the percentage is higher among evangelicals) and a recent article mentioned that 40% of births are out of wedlock. I was listening to the radio the other day and one of the announcers mentioned that Rush Limbaugh's approval rating was only 11% for people age 40 and younger. I'd guess that 9% of that 11% comes from those age 30-40. Under age 30 and you have been completely corrupted by liberals/Satanists.
The liberal education system has effectively destroyed the country. God has been removed from schools. If you are a person of faith you are viewed with scorn and derision. We have gotten away from our Biblically mandated directives and are paying the price for this. Ephesians 5:22-33: 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
We have a clear mandate on how to behave as husbands and wives yet 50% of all marriages end in divorce. The duties of a Godly wife from proverbs 31: 13-27
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family
16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
So, how many men do you know today that fulfill the Godly duties as a husband. How many women fulfill their Godly duties as a wife. I'm not suggesting men should adopt the Taliban approach to women, but men have been utterly emasculated by women and refuse to teach them the ways of God and what is expected of them.
Some issues that developed from the "empowerment" of women are that it dilutes the labor pool to the point that, for the most part, two incomes are required to maintain a household at a reasonable standard of living, whereas, back in the day a man could provide for his family on only his income. The high divorce rate has produced many single parent families and with 40% of children being born out of wedlock, one can expect the the majority of households will not have a Godly husband and father to teach their sons how to grow up to be Godly men. Our society IS doomed and no matter how effective the gun lobby is we will end up being disarmed and "dealt with" by our Government. The NRA could have, however, been more effective and cognizant of the underlying problem and prolonged our demise, perhaps by a few decades.....and we may have been able to turn things around........or not.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Dead Cat Bounce or sustained recovery?
I recently made a couple of posts dealing with the economic outlook and then the Dow goes from a low of 6469 to today's close at 7216. So the Dow jumps up about 747 points in a week or so. Is this the start of a sustained recovery or is it basically a temporary bounce? My feeling is that it is only a temporary bump up.
People obviously thought it was time to do some buying and this may continue for a bit, but there is really nothing going on in the U.S. or world economy to justify a sustained rally. The Chinese have been recently begging for assurances that we will not screw them over. Considering the actual value (or lack thereof) of the dollar, I'm surprised that we are not having to take a shoebox full of cash to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread. The reason this is not happening is that, apparently, the rest of the world is worse off than we are and there needs to be at least one foundation currency. The fact that much of the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money has gone to European banks and other financial institutions is not sitting too well with me as it reminds me that about two thirds of our gold reserves went to rebuild Europe under the Marshall Plan. We are well past the time to keep bailing out ungrateful European countries.
Anyway, back on track. I still think we are going to see the Dow at 5000 or 4000 before we finally hit bottom. The big unknown is what will happen if we have another 9.11 or a conflict starts up somewhere. I feel there is a 99% probability Israel will attack Iran in the near future. Iran has about 6000 gas centrifuges in operation; this is not in dispute. (We had 20,000 gas centrifuges operating during the Manhattan Project, but 6000 is sufficient to produce enough enriched uranium to make a bomb.) Iran has produced enough enriched uranium to produce an atomic bomb....also remember Israel is a small nation and two or three nuke strikes would wipe it off the map. The Russians have completed the Bushehr reactor in Iran and it is undergoing testing. It can produce enriched uranium or plutonium, either of which can be used to make an atomic bomb.
The main issue for the Israelis at the moment, and the reason I think hostilities may be imminent, is that Russia is resuming sales of the S-300 ( NATO designation SA-10 Grumble) surface to air missile. Although the Russians have fielded a more advanced version known as the S-400 (NATO designation SA-21. The S-400 can engage spaceborne targets.), the S-300 is an extremely potent SAM. It can deploy within 5 minutes and can track 100 targets simultaneously and upgraded versions can engage up to 36 targets at the same time.
If you are an IDF General, you are acutely aware that you do not need to lose a bunch of multi-million dollar aircraft to a missile that cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars or less. Israel MUST strike Iran before these SAMs are deployed in significant numbers. All bets on the economy are off if that happens.
Another major terrorist attack could equally accelerate the death spiral of the economy. I hope I'm wrong, but facts are facts.
S-300 Launch
Update 03/22/2009: Looks like the Russians are holding off on the S-300's to Iran for a while. I still think we are going to see an Israeli attack on Iran soon since Obama's latest olive branch to Iran cannot be sitting too well with our Israeli friends. Israel is not going to allow Iran to ring its nuke facilities with S-300's and it is not going to give Iran time to develop an atom bomb or two either. Something has got to happen soon.
People obviously thought it was time to do some buying and this may continue for a bit, but there is really nothing going on in the U.S. or world economy to justify a sustained rally. The Chinese have been recently begging for assurances that we will not screw them over. Considering the actual value (or lack thereof) of the dollar, I'm surprised that we are not having to take a shoebox full of cash to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread. The reason this is not happening is that, apparently, the rest of the world is worse off than we are and there needs to be at least one foundation currency. The fact that much of the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money has gone to European banks and other financial institutions is not sitting too well with me as it reminds me that about two thirds of our gold reserves went to rebuild Europe under the Marshall Plan. We are well past the time to keep bailing out ungrateful European countries.
Anyway, back on track. I still think we are going to see the Dow at 5000 or 4000 before we finally hit bottom. The big unknown is what will happen if we have another 9.11 or a conflict starts up somewhere. I feel there is a 99% probability Israel will attack Iran in the near future. Iran has about 6000 gas centrifuges in operation; this is not in dispute. (We had 20,000 gas centrifuges operating during the Manhattan Project, but 6000 is sufficient to produce enough enriched uranium to make a bomb.) Iran has produced enough enriched uranium to produce an atomic bomb....also remember Israel is a small nation and two or three nuke strikes would wipe it off the map. The Russians have completed the Bushehr reactor in Iran and it is undergoing testing. It can produce enriched uranium or plutonium, either of which can be used to make an atomic bomb.
The main issue for the Israelis at the moment, and the reason I think hostilities may be imminent, is that Russia is resuming sales of the S-300 ( NATO designation SA-10 Grumble) surface to air missile. Although the Russians have fielded a more advanced version known as the S-400 (NATO designation SA-21. The S-400 can engage spaceborne targets.), the S-300 is an extremely potent SAM. It can deploy within 5 minutes and can track 100 targets simultaneously and upgraded versions can engage up to 36 targets at the same time.
If you are an IDF General, you are acutely aware that you do not need to lose a bunch of multi-million dollar aircraft to a missile that cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars or less. Israel MUST strike Iran before these SAMs are deployed in significant numbers. All bets on the economy are off if that happens.
Another major terrorist attack could equally accelerate the death spiral of the economy. I hope I'm wrong, but facts are facts.
S-300 LaunchUpdate 03/22/2009: Looks like the Russians are holding off on the S-300's to Iran for a while. I still think we are going to see an Israeli attack on Iran soon since Obama's latest olive branch to Iran cannot be sitting too well with our Israeli friends. Israel is not going to allow Iran to ring its nuke facilities with S-300's and it is not going to give Iran time to develop an atom bomb or two either. Something has got to happen soon.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Those pesky FEMA Camps.
A few years back, some extremist web sites began putting out information on FEMA concentration camps. Some in the main stream media have picked up on this and I wanted to provide my own commentary. Are there actually FEMA concentration camps in the United States? Yes. Before going into any more detail on that answer, I want to look at some history.
Article 1 Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." ( Habeas Corpus, Latin meaning "to hold the body") Habeas Corpus is a writ by which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention. A martial law declaration suspends the constitutionally guaranteed right of habeas corpus.
The Posse Comitatus Act, passed on June 16, 1878 prohibits most members of the U.S. armed forces from performing state law enforcement functions. Exclusions include the National Guard, which is under state control and the Coast Guard.
Backing up a bit, there is also the Insurrection Act of 1807 which governs the Presidents ability to deploy troops within the United States to suppress lawlessness and rebellion. This act was modified by the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, but the changes were repealed in the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill.
Martial law has been declared in the U.S. during the War of 1812, The Civil War and WWII. Martial law was not declared during Hurricane Katrina, rather, it was called a State of Emergency which was essentially the same thing. Guns were confiscated in New Orleans and citizens were left defenseless for a time.
Moving forward to more recent times the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team will be assigned to Northcom and will serve as an on call federal response force for civil emergencies or disasters.
Now, planning for natural disasters, plagues, terrorist attacks is a prudent and responsible act on the part of the government. The disclosure of the FEMA concentration camps came via a Presidential Directive signed by Ronald Reagan in April 1984 that allowed FEMA to engage in a national readiness exercise known as REX 84. The REX 84 plan called for the suspension of the constitution, declaration of martial law and appointment of military commanders to run state and local governments. Since the development of this contingency plan, over 800 concentration camps have been constructed. (The largest of which is in Alaska and has an estimated capacity of over one million people.) Excerpt from the Department of the Army Historical Summary:FY 84, page 36: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) directed the participation of several federal civil agencies in NIGHT TRAIN 84 under its own exercise title of Readiness Exercise (REX) 84 BRAVO."
The Army Historical Summary indicates that the original purpose of the camps was that in case of some type of nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union, society would break down in the affected areas and there would be a need to contain large segments of the population. Other uses would include population containment as a result of natural disaster or epidemic.
On January 22, 2009 HR 645 was introduced by Representative Hastings of Florida:
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.This Act may be cited as the `National Emergency Centers Establishment Act’.SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure–(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AS NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.(a) In General- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall designate not fewer than 6 military installations as sites for the establishment of national emergency centers.(b) Minimum Requirements- A site designated as a national emergency center shall be–(1) capable of meeting for an extended period of time the housing, health, transportation, education, public works, humanitarian and other transition needs of a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster;(2) environmentally safe and shall not pose a health risk to individuals who may use the center;(3) capable of being scaled up or down to accommodate major disaster preparedness and response drills, operations, and procedures;(4) capable of housing existing permanent structures necessary to meet training and first responders coordination requirements during non disaster periods;(5) capable of hosting the infrastructure necessary to rapidly adjust to temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance needs;(6) required to consist of a complete operations command center, including 2 state-of-the art command and control centers that will comprise a 24/7 operations watch center as follows:(A) one of the command and control centers shall be in full ready mode; and(B) the other shall be used daily for training; and(7) easily accessible at all times and be able to facilitate handicapped and medical facilities, including during an emergency or major disaster.(c) Location of National Emergency Centers- There shall be established not fewer than one national emergency center in each of the following areas:(1) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions I, II, and III.(2) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IV.(3) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions V and VII.(4) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VI.(5) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions VIII and X.(6) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IX.(d) Preference for Designation of Closed Military Installations- Wherever possible, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall designate a closed military installation as a site for a national emergency center. If the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense jointly determine that there is not a sufficient number of closed military installations that meet the requirements of subsections (b) and (c), the Secretaries shall jointly designate portions of existing military installations other than closed military installations as national emergency centers.(e) Transfer of Control of Closed Military Installations- If a closed military installation is designated as a national emergency center, not later than 180 days after the date of designation, the Secretary of Defense shall transfer to the Secretary of Homeland Security administrative jurisdiction over such closed military installation.(f) Cooperative Agreement for Joint Use of Existing Military Installations- If an existing military installation other than a closed military installation is designated as a national emergency center, not later than 180 days after the date of designation, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense shall enter into a cooperative agreement to provide for the establishment of the national emergency center.(g) Reports-(1) PRELIMINARY REPORT- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) an outline of the reasons why the site was selected;(B) an outline of the need to construct, repair, or update any existing infrastructure at the site;(C) an outline of the need to conduct any necessary environmental clean-up at the site;(D) an outline of preliminary plans for the transfer of control of the site from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Homeland Security, if necessary under subsection (e); and(E) an outline of preliminary plans for entering into a cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f).(2) UPDATE REPORT- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) an update on the information contained in the report as required by paragraph (1);(B) an outline of the progress made toward the transfer of control of the site, if necessary under subsection (e);(C) an outline of the progress made toward entering a cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f); and(D) recommendations regarding any authorizations and appropriations that may be necessary to provide for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site.(3) FINAL REPORT- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) finalized information detailing the transfer of control of the site, if necessary under subsection (e);(B) the finalized cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f); and(C) any additional information pertinent to the establishment of a national emergency center at the site.(4) ADDITIONAL REPORTS- The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, may submit to Congress additional reports as necessary to provide updates on steps being taken to meet the requirements of this Act.SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.This Act does not affect–(1) the authority of the Federal Government to provide emergency or major disaster assistance or to implement any disaster mitigation and response program, including any program authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or(2) the authority of a State or local government to respond to an emergency.SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.There is authorized to be appropriated $180,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to carry out this Act. Such funds shall remain available until expended.SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.In this Act, the following definitions apply:(1) CLOSED MILITARY INSTALLATION- The term `closed military installation’ means a military installation, or portion thereof, approved for closure or realignment under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note) that meet all, or 2 out of the 3 following requirements:(A) Is located in close proximity to a transportation corridor.(B) Is located in a State with a high level or threat of disaster related activities.(C) Is located near a major metropolitan center.(2) EMERGENCY- The term `emergency’ has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).(3) MAJOR DISASTER- The term `major disaster’ has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).(4) MILITARY INSTALLATION- The term `military installation’ has the meaning given such term in section 2910 of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note).
-------------------------------------------
This actually appears to be a fairly benign bill, however, it basically transfers (see bolded text) control from FEMA directly to the military, which would be under the direction of Homeland Security. Once you are on military property you are subject to military law as opposed to civilian law. It's a bit easier to skirt the constitution under military law.
Many of the camps were constructed by Kellog, Brown and Root (Now known as KBR) after being awarded a $385 million dollar contingency contract by DHS. FEMA also ordered 107,200!!!! prison rail cars from Gunderson Steel. These look like typical rail car carriers.
While these camps were set up mainly for disaster response, they could easily be used for more sinister purposes. Let's not forget that it was a Dimocratic (intentional spelling) administration that sent over 110,000 Japanese Americans to prison camps here in America. Today, our government has the capacity to inter 2-3 million people on a moments notice. That is something we should all be a bit concerned over.
Update 03/18/2009: From CNS News: link: http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=45206 Excerpt: (CNSNews.com) - "The U.S. Army has launched an inquiry into how and why active duty troops from Fort Rucker, Ala., came to be placed on the streets of Samson, Ala., during last week's murder spree in that tiny South Alabama community. The use of the troops was a possible violation of federal law." (Probably not a big deal, but it's another foot in the door.)
Article 1 Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." ( Habeas Corpus, Latin meaning "to hold the body") Habeas Corpus is a writ by which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention. A martial law declaration suspends the constitutionally guaranteed right of habeas corpus.
The Posse Comitatus Act, passed on June 16, 1878 prohibits most members of the U.S. armed forces from performing state law enforcement functions. Exclusions include the National Guard, which is under state control and the Coast Guard.
Backing up a bit, there is also the Insurrection Act of 1807 which governs the Presidents ability to deploy troops within the United States to suppress lawlessness and rebellion. This act was modified by the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, but the changes were repealed in the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill.
Martial law has been declared in the U.S. during the War of 1812, The Civil War and WWII. Martial law was not declared during Hurricane Katrina, rather, it was called a State of Emergency which was essentially the same thing. Guns were confiscated in New Orleans and citizens were left defenseless for a time.
On February 19, 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the forcible internment of about 110,000 Japanese American citizens. This was done via Executive order 9066. In 1944 the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of this order!?!
Moving forward to more recent times the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team will be assigned to Northcom and will serve as an on call federal response force for civil emergencies or disasters.
Now, planning for natural disasters, plagues, terrorist attacks is a prudent and responsible act on the part of the government. The disclosure of the FEMA concentration camps came via a Presidential Directive signed by Ronald Reagan in April 1984 that allowed FEMA to engage in a national readiness exercise known as REX 84. The REX 84 plan called for the suspension of the constitution, declaration of martial law and appointment of military commanders to run state and local governments. Since the development of this contingency plan, over 800 concentration camps have been constructed. (The largest of which is in Alaska and has an estimated capacity of over one million people.) Excerpt from the Department of the Army Historical Summary:FY 84, page 36: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) directed the participation of several federal civil agencies in NIGHT TRAIN 84 under its own exercise title of Readiness Exercise (REX) 84 BRAVO."
The Army Historical Summary indicates that the original purpose of the camps was that in case of some type of nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union, society would break down in the affected areas and there would be a need to contain large segments of the population. Other uses would include population containment as a result of natural disaster or epidemic.
On January 22, 2009 HR 645 was introduced by Representative Hastings of Florida:
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.This Act may be cited as the `National Emergency Centers Establishment Act’.SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure–(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AS NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.(a) In General- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall designate not fewer than 6 military installations as sites for the establishment of national emergency centers.(b) Minimum Requirements- A site designated as a national emergency center shall be–(1) capable of meeting for an extended period of time the housing, health, transportation, education, public works, humanitarian and other transition needs of a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster;(2) environmentally safe and shall not pose a health risk to individuals who may use the center;(3) capable of being scaled up or down to accommodate major disaster preparedness and response drills, operations, and procedures;(4) capable of housing existing permanent structures necessary to meet training and first responders coordination requirements during non disaster periods;(5) capable of hosting the infrastructure necessary to rapidly adjust to temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance needs;(6) required to consist of a complete operations command center, including 2 state-of-the art command and control centers that will comprise a 24/7 operations watch center as follows:(A) one of the command and control centers shall be in full ready mode; and(B) the other shall be used daily for training; and(7) easily accessible at all times and be able to facilitate handicapped and medical facilities, including during an emergency or major disaster.(c) Location of National Emergency Centers- There shall be established not fewer than one national emergency center in each of the following areas:(1) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions I, II, and III.(2) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IV.(3) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions V and VII.(4) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VI.(5) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions VIII and X.(6) The area consisting of Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IX.(d) Preference for Designation of Closed Military Installations- Wherever possible, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall designate a closed military installation as a site for a national emergency center. If the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense jointly determine that there is not a sufficient number of closed military installations that meet the requirements of subsections (b) and (c), the Secretaries shall jointly designate portions of existing military installations other than closed military installations as national emergency centers.(e) Transfer of Control of Closed Military Installations- If a closed military installation is designated as a national emergency center, not later than 180 days after the date of designation, the Secretary of Defense shall transfer to the Secretary of Homeland Security administrative jurisdiction over such closed military installation.(f) Cooperative Agreement for Joint Use of Existing Military Installations- If an existing military installation other than a closed military installation is designated as a national emergency center, not later than 180 days after the date of designation, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense shall enter into a cooperative agreement to provide for the establishment of the national emergency center.(g) Reports-(1) PRELIMINARY REPORT- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) an outline of the reasons why the site was selected;(B) an outline of the need to construct, repair, or update any existing infrastructure at the site;(C) an outline of the need to conduct any necessary environmental clean-up at the site;(D) an outline of preliminary plans for the transfer of control of the site from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Homeland Security, if necessary under subsection (e); and(E) an outline of preliminary plans for entering into a cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f).(2) UPDATE REPORT- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) an update on the information contained in the report as required by paragraph (1);(B) an outline of the progress made toward the transfer of control of the site, if necessary under subsection (e);(C) an outline of the progress made toward entering a cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f); and(D) recommendations regarding any authorizations and appropriations that may be necessary to provide for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site.(3) FINAL REPORT- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a report that contains for each designated site–(A) finalized information detailing the transfer of control of the site, if necessary under subsection (e);(B) the finalized cooperative agreement for the establishment of a national emergency center at the site, if necessary under subsection (f); and(C) any additional information pertinent to the establishment of a national emergency center at the site.(4) ADDITIONAL REPORTS- The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary of Defense, may submit to Congress additional reports as necessary to provide updates on steps being taken to meet the requirements of this Act.SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.This Act does not affect–(1) the authority of the Federal Government to provide emergency or major disaster assistance or to implement any disaster mitigation and response program, including any program authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or(2) the authority of a State or local government to respond to an emergency.SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.There is authorized to be appropriated $180,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to carry out this Act. Such funds shall remain available until expended.SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.In this Act, the following definitions apply:(1) CLOSED MILITARY INSTALLATION- The term `closed military installation’ means a military installation, or portion thereof, approved for closure or realignment under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note) that meet all, or 2 out of the 3 following requirements:(A) Is located in close proximity to a transportation corridor.(B) Is located in a State with a high level or threat of disaster related activities.(C) Is located near a major metropolitan center.(2) EMERGENCY- The term `emergency’ has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).(3) MAJOR DISASTER- The term `major disaster’ has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).(4) MILITARY INSTALLATION- The term `military installation’ has the meaning given such term in section 2910 of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note).
-------------------------------------------
This actually appears to be a fairly benign bill, however, it basically transfers (see bolded text) control from FEMA directly to the military, which would be under the direction of Homeland Security. Once you are on military property you are subject to military law as opposed to civilian law. It's a bit easier to skirt the constitution under military law.
Many of the camps were constructed by Kellog, Brown and Root (Now known as KBR) after being awarded a $385 million dollar contingency contract by DHS. FEMA also ordered 107,200!!!! prison rail cars from Gunderson Steel. These look like typical rail car carriers.
While these camps were set up mainly for disaster response, they could easily be used for more sinister purposes. Let's not forget that it was a Dimocratic (intentional spelling) administration that sent over 110,000 Japanese Americans to prison camps here in America. Today, our government has the capacity to inter 2-3 million people on a moments notice. That is something we should all be a bit concerned over.
Update 03/18/2009: From CNS News: link: http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=45206 Excerpt: (CNSNews.com) - "The U.S. Army has launched an inquiry into how and why active duty troops from Fort Rucker, Ala., came to be placed on the streets of Samson, Ala., during last week's murder spree in that tiny South Alabama community. The use of the troops was a possible violation of federal law." (Probably not a big deal, but it's another foot in the door.)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
U.S.-China Chicken War
Excerpt from Xinhua article, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/13/content_11002317.htm
GENEVA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday blasted a U.S. measure blocking Chinese poultry imports, saying the "clearly discriminative measure" can serve as a good example for the WTO's training courses.
The U.S. measure, or Section 727, is contained in the Omnibus Appropriation Act of 2009, which was approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. It bans any funds from being used to "establish or implement a rule" allowing imports of poultry products from China.
Also:
China imported 580,000 tons of chicken products from the United States last year, accounting for 73.4 percent of total chicken imports, according to figures from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
--------------------------
The Chinese are understandably irked by U.S. blocking of their exporting chicken to us. American poultry companies aren't too happy about it either. Tyson had been trying to get our government to pass legislation which would prohibit country of origin labeling on chicken products. Tyson is partnering with Jiangsu Jinghai Poultry Industry Group Co. Ltd., to raise, process and sell chickens. The new processing plant could turn out up to one million chickens per week.
The reason the U.S. is hesitating is that chickens in China are still, for the most part, raised by peasant farmers and the quality control is spotty at best. The Chinese also have to deal with the environmental problems created by its 1.3 Billion citizens. Many Americans would prefer to purchase chicken produced here as it is much safer than Chinese poultry. This is also why Tyson would prefer not to have the country of origin label on Chinese chicken. (Ya gotta love Tyson. Their commercials tout the wholesomeness of their chicken and how kids love it, but the reality is Tyson does not give a rats ass about child safety if they want to import Chinese chicken and then hide where it came from)
As the above article states, China imported 580,000 tons of U.S. chicken. Obviously China would like a bit more balance in the chicken trade. Until the safety of their chicken can be better assured, we should not import it despite any animosity this may create. We have not yet forgotten the recent food safety issues dealing with melamine tainted milk and baby formula, dog food, toothpaste and candy. Non-food issues include lead paint in toys and sulphur laden drywall, which can damage AC and electrical systems, copper plumbing and can cause health problems. Bottom line....safety first, politics second.
Update: The Country of Origin labeling law did pass and is now in effect. While at the store, be sure to check the label.
GENEVA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday blasted a U.S. measure blocking Chinese poultry imports, saying the "clearly discriminative measure" can serve as a good example for the WTO's training courses.
The U.S. measure, or Section 727, is contained in the Omnibus Appropriation Act of 2009, which was approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. It bans any funds from being used to "establish or implement a rule" allowing imports of poultry products from China.
Also:
China imported 580,000 tons of chicken products from the United States last year, accounting for 73.4 percent of total chicken imports, according to figures from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
--------------------------
The Chinese are understandably irked by U.S. blocking of their exporting chicken to us. American poultry companies aren't too happy about it either. Tyson had been trying to get our government to pass legislation which would prohibit country of origin labeling on chicken products. Tyson is partnering with Jiangsu Jinghai Poultry Industry Group Co. Ltd., to raise, process and sell chickens. The new processing plant could turn out up to one million chickens per week.
The reason the U.S. is hesitating is that chickens in China are still, for the most part, raised by peasant farmers and the quality control is spotty at best. The Chinese also have to deal with the environmental problems created by its 1.3 Billion citizens. Many Americans would prefer to purchase chicken produced here as it is much safer than Chinese poultry. This is also why Tyson would prefer not to have the country of origin label on Chinese chicken. (Ya gotta love Tyson. Their commercials tout the wholesomeness of their chicken and how kids love it, but the reality is Tyson does not give a rats ass about child safety if they want to import Chinese chicken and then hide where it came from)
As the above article states, China imported 580,000 tons of U.S. chicken. Obviously China would like a bit more balance in the chicken trade. Until the safety of their chicken can be better assured, we should not import it despite any animosity this may create. We have not yet forgotten the recent food safety issues dealing with melamine tainted milk and baby formula, dog food, toothpaste and candy. Non-food issues include lead paint in toys and sulphur laden drywall, which can damage AC and electrical systems, copper plumbing and can cause health problems. Bottom line....safety first, politics second.
Update: The Country of Origin labeling law did pass and is now in effect. While at the store, be sure to check the label.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Iron Chef Cat Cora, her lesbian partner and the Bible
OK, so here is an excerpt from a Fox News article on Cat Cora:
Cat Cora, star of Food Network's "Iron Chef America," announced Tuesday that she was 4-1/2 months pregnant with a boy. But this is where it gets interesting. Cora's partner Jennifer, with whom she already has two sons, is also pregnant, and due in April, three months before Cora.
But we're not done. It gets even more interesting. Cora is carrying Jennifer's biological child. And their second child, now 23 months old, was conceived using Cora's egg, but carried by Jennifer.
-----------------------------
Now you are probably saying to yourself, "But Nutjob, the world is going to hell in a handbasket and you're wasting space on a couple of screwball carpet munchers." Well yeah, however, this is a good opportunity to bone up (sorry, bad pun) on what the Old and New Testament have to say about homosexuality. One thing for sure, Cat and her partner are extremely selfish and self-centered. (self-worship IS idol worship)They have no regard for the mental anguish their children will undoubtedly suffer. As long as they both get the gratification they are looking for, then to heck with everyone else, including their soon to be screwed up children.
Alrighty then, let's examine some old testament passages dealing dealing with gay folks:
Leviticus 18:22: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination."
Leviticus 20:13: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
Deuteronomy 22:5: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garmet: for all that do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God."
(Ya got me, this passage does not specifically deal with homos, but it does address transvestism which, apprently was practiced by certain idol worshippers living in Canaan.)
Deuteronomy 23:17: "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite (homosexual) of the sons of Israel."
There are many additional passages in Genesis, Leviticus, Judges, Kings, Ezekiel, etc that deal with homosexuality.
So, with the New Testament comes a new covenant via Jesus. Is the New Testament covenant more kinder and gentler to poofters than the Old Testament?:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers (bye bye congress) will inherit the kingdom of God." The passage continues that you can become justified if you repent.
Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."
There are other passages in Galations, Colossians, Timothy, Titus etc. These passages deal with uncleanliness, defilement, abominations and so forth.
Some additional commentary from Wikipedia on translational issues, in this case 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
The word translated as "practicing homosexuals" has challenged scholars for centuries, and has been alternately rendered as "abusers of themselves with mankind" (KJV), "sodomites" (YLT), or "men who practice homosexuality". The original term is very unusual, ἀρσενοκοίτης (arsenokoitēs), thought to mean "one who has sexual intercourse with a male" (Greek ἄῤῥην / ἄρσην [arrhēn / arsēn] "male"; κοίτην [koitēn] "sexual intercourse"), rather than the normal terms from the Greek culture. Within the Bible, it only occurs in this passage and in a similar list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. Paul may have been drawing from the Greek (Septuagint) translation of Leviticus 18:22: καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικός· βδέλυγμα γάρ ἐστιν (kai meta arsenos ou koimēthēsē koitēn gunaikos. bdelugma gar estin "And you shall not have sexual intercourse with a male as with a female. For it is unclean.") Boswell (1980) argues that this is a term specifically created by Paul. Given its unusual nature, the fact that Paul did not use one of the more common Greek terms, and given its direct reference to the Levitical laws, it is a matter of debate whether Paul was referring generally to any person having homosexual sex, or whether (as discussed below) it referred only to anal sex of any form (cf. Elliott 2004). Other translations of the word include Martin's (1996), who argued it meant "homosexual slave trader" and Boswell (1980) who argued it referred to "homosexual rape" or homosexual prostitutes. Scroggs perceives it as referring to pederasty.[36
and an extra-Biblical account of Sodom:
The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo (20 BC - 50 AD) described the inhabitants of Sodom in an extra biblical account:
"As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after other women, and defile the marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another, doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature, and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome by violent desire; and so by degrees, the men became accustomed to be treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they also made their souls most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of men, as far as depended on them" (133-35; ET Jonge 422-23).[10]
---------------------------------------------
The Old and New Testament are actually pretty unequivocal in their condemnation of homosexuality. Romans 1:26-27 specifically mentions lesbianism. Groups such as Religious Tolerance.org attempt to twist otherwise contextually precise translations and ignore passages which do not suit their agenda. From their website: "Similarly, in order to comprehend what the Bible says about gay and lesbian relationships, we must pass over the references to homosexual rape, male sexual abuse of boys, and homosexual prostitution, same-sex orgies by heterosexuals, Pagan sexual rituals in temples, etc. We would be left with only those references relating to consensual sexual activities within homosexual partnerships. There may not be any of these."
This just makes me want to reach for the barf bag. Hmmmmmm, let's see....if we remove all Biblical references to activities that fags engage in and we look for specific approval of consensual sexual activities within homo partnerships, of which we can't locate any references, then it must be OK. See, since the Bible considers homosexuality an abomination, then ANY type of sex between people of the same sex is an abomination and the Bible will never approve of any specific sex act between homosexuals.
Here is yet another gem from their site:
"Homosexuality and sodomy are not ethical sins. No one is being hurt, no one is being cheated, no body's rights are being infringed upon. Homosexuality is a religious sin, analogous to other Biblical prohibitions, like not eating the carcass of a dead animal, or not sleeping with a woman during her menstrual cycle." American Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
I just love liberals, oops I mean Satanists. So, by Rabbi Shmuley's standard, if I go boink a goat, that is not an ethical sin and is not prohibited by the Bible despite any scriptural references to the contrary.
(all non-public domain excerpts claimed under fair use doctrine)
Although Cat Cora and her partner is the specific issue, it illustrates a much larger problem. Despite any statistics to the contrary, America today is largely a Godless society getting ready to reap our just reward. Ninety five percent or more of clergy today are either wolves in sheep's clothing or have been emasculated to the point that they are not only ineffective, but counterproductive. God help us all.
Cat Cora, star of Food Network's "Iron Chef America," announced Tuesday that she was 4-1/2 months pregnant with a boy. But this is where it gets interesting. Cora's partner Jennifer, with whom she already has two sons, is also pregnant, and due in April, three months before Cora.
But we're not done. It gets even more interesting. Cora is carrying Jennifer's biological child. And their second child, now 23 months old, was conceived using Cora's egg, but carried by Jennifer.
-----------------------------
Now you are probably saying to yourself, "But Nutjob, the world is going to hell in a handbasket and you're wasting space on a couple of screwball carpet munchers." Well yeah, however, this is a good opportunity to bone up (sorry, bad pun) on what the Old and New Testament have to say about homosexuality. One thing for sure, Cat and her partner are extremely selfish and self-centered. (self-worship IS idol worship)They have no regard for the mental anguish their children will undoubtedly suffer. As long as they both get the gratification they are looking for, then to heck with everyone else, including their soon to be screwed up children.
Alrighty then, let's examine some old testament passages dealing dealing with gay folks:
Leviticus 18:22: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination."
Leviticus 20:13: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
Deuteronomy 22:5: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garmet: for all that do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God."
(Ya got me, this passage does not specifically deal with homos, but it does address transvestism which, apprently was practiced by certain idol worshippers living in Canaan.)
Deuteronomy 23:17: "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite (homosexual) of the sons of Israel."
There are many additional passages in Genesis, Leviticus, Judges, Kings, Ezekiel, etc that deal with homosexuality.
So, with the New Testament comes a new covenant via Jesus. Is the New Testament covenant more kinder and gentler to poofters than the Old Testament?:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers (bye bye congress) will inherit the kingdom of God." The passage continues that you can become justified if you repent.
Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."
There are other passages in Galations, Colossians, Timothy, Titus etc. These passages deal with uncleanliness, defilement, abominations and so forth.
Some additional commentary from Wikipedia on translational issues, in this case 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
The word translated as "practicing homosexuals" has challenged scholars for centuries, and has been alternately rendered as "abusers of themselves with mankind" (KJV), "sodomites" (YLT), or "men who practice homosexuality". The original term is very unusual, ἀρσενοκοίτης (arsenokoitēs), thought to mean "one who has sexual intercourse with a male" (Greek ἄῤῥην / ἄρσην [arrhēn / arsēn] "male"; κοίτην [koitēn] "sexual intercourse"), rather than the normal terms from the Greek culture. Within the Bible, it only occurs in this passage and in a similar list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. Paul may have been drawing from the Greek (Septuagint) translation of Leviticus 18:22: καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικός· βδέλυγμα γάρ ἐστιν (kai meta arsenos ou koimēthēsē koitēn gunaikos. bdelugma gar estin "And you shall not have sexual intercourse with a male as with a female. For it is unclean.") Boswell (1980) argues that this is a term specifically created by Paul. Given its unusual nature, the fact that Paul did not use one of the more common Greek terms, and given its direct reference to the Levitical laws, it is a matter of debate whether Paul was referring generally to any person having homosexual sex, or whether (as discussed below) it referred only to anal sex of any form (cf. Elliott 2004). Other translations of the word include Martin's (1996), who argued it meant "homosexual slave trader" and Boswell (1980) who argued it referred to "homosexual rape" or homosexual prostitutes. Scroggs perceives it as referring to pederasty.[36
and an extra-Biblical account of Sodom:
The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo (20 BC - 50 AD) described the inhabitants of Sodom in an extra biblical account:
"As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after other women, and defile the marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another, doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature, and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome by violent desire; and so by degrees, the men became accustomed to be treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they also made their souls most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of men, as far as depended on them" (133-35; ET Jonge 422-23).[10]
---------------------------------------------
The Old and New Testament are actually pretty unequivocal in their condemnation of homosexuality. Romans 1:26-27 specifically mentions lesbianism. Groups such as Religious Tolerance.org attempt to twist otherwise contextually precise translations and ignore passages which do not suit their agenda. From their website: "Similarly, in order to comprehend what the Bible says about gay and lesbian relationships, we must pass over the references to homosexual rape, male sexual abuse of boys, and homosexual prostitution, same-sex orgies by heterosexuals, Pagan sexual rituals in temples, etc. We would be left with only those references relating to consensual sexual activities within homosexual partnerships. There may not be any of these."
This just makes me want to reach for the barf bag. Hmmmmmm, let's see....if we remove all Biblical references to activities that fags engage in and we look for specific approval of consensual sexual activities within homo partnerships, of which we can't locate any references, then it must be OK. See, since the Bible considers homosexuality an abomination, then ANY type of sex between people of the same sex is an abomination and the Bible will never approve of any specific sex act between homosexuals.
Here is yet another gem from their site:
"Homosexuality and sodomy are not ethical sins. No one is being hurt, no one is being cheated, no body's rights are being infringed upon. Homosexuality is a religious sin, analogous to other Biblical prohibitions, like not eating the carcass of a dead animal, or not sleeping with a woman during her menstrual cycle." American Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
I just love liberals, oops I mean Satanists. So, by Rabbi Shmuley's standard, if I go boink a goat, that is not an ethical sin and is not prohibited by the Bible despite any scriptural references to the contrary.
(all non-public domain excerpts claimed under fair use doctrine)
Although Cat Cora and her partner is the specific issue, it illustrates a much larger problem. Despite any statistics to the contrary, America today is largely a Godless society getting ready to reap our just reward. Ninety five percent or more of clergy today are either wolves in sheep's clothing or have been emasculated to the point that they are not only ineffective, but counterproductive. God help us all.
Market uptick, but economic outlook still sucks.
This is kind of a follow up to my earlier post on the economic outlook. I'm going to include some links to other sites, as well as excerpts from some of the articles that you may not generally find in the mainstream media (who are in the tank for Obama and will not generally publish anything that makes the milk chocolate messiah look bad). The market is up today and may stay there for a spell, but the reality is that the overall world economic outlook is bleak.
Link: http://www.rense.com/general85/fedd.htm
Excerpt from The Federal Reserve is Bankrupt:
By Matthias Chang3-10-9
The Federal Reserve is bankrupt for all intents and purposes. The same goes for the Bank of England!
This article will focus largely on the Fed, because the Fed is the "financial land-mine".
How long can someone who has stepped on a landmine, remain standing hours, days? Eventually, when he is exhausted and his legs give way, the mine will just explode!
The shadow banking system has not only stepped on the land-mine, it is carrying such a heavy load (trillions of toxic wastes) that sooner or later it will tilt, give way and trigger off the land-mine![1]
In a recent article, I referred tothe remarks of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Obama calling for the shadow banking system to be outlawed.
Even if the call was genuine, it is too late. The land-mine has been triggered and the explosion cannot be averted under any circumstances.
The only issue is the extent of the damage to the global economy and how long it will take for the world to recover from this fiasco a financial madness that has no precedent. The great depression is "Mary Poppins" in comparison!
The idea of a central bank going bankrupt is not that outlandish. I am by no means the first author who has given this stark warning. What underlies this crisis (which I initially examined in an article in December 2006) is the potential collapse of the global banking system, specifically the Shadow Money-Lenders.
Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor said [2]:
"The process of socialising the private losses from this crisis has moved many of the liabilities of the private sector onto the books of the sovereign. At some point a sovereign bank may crack, in which case, the ability of the government to credibly commit to act as a backstop for the financial system including deposit guarantees could come unglued."
Please read the underlined words again. "Sovereign bank" means central bank. When a central bank "cracks" i.e. becomes insolvent, "all hell breaks lose", because as the professor correctly pointed out, "any government guarantees will ring hollow and will be useless".
If a central bank goes belly up, it is as good as the government going bankrupt. Period!
In another article, Roubini admitted that the pressure on "the financial land-mine" is totally unbearable. He wrote: "The US Financial system is effectively insolvent". It follows that if the financial system is bankrupt, it is a matter of time before the "sovereign bank" goes belly up. This is a given!
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4965408/Warren-Buffett-says-financial-crisis-is-economic-Pearl-Harbor.html
Excerpt from Warren Buffett says financial crisis is economic Pearl Harbor:
He also warned that recovery would not come quickly.
Acknowledging his own failure to foresee the scale of the crisis, he admitted: "It's fallen off a cliff. Not only has the economy slowed down but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen."
Mr Buffett, recently ranked the second-richest American by Forbes magazine, said that fear was the greatest cause of damage to the economy, claiming it is now dominating the public's behaviour to an alarming degree.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4958395/Thanks-to-the-Bank-its-a-crisis-in-the-eurozone-its-a-total-catastrophe.html
Excerpt from Thanks to the Bank it's a crisis; in the eurozone it's a total catastrophe:
Spain's agony is already well advanced. Industrial output has fallen 24pc. Some 352,000 people have lost their jobs in two months. BBVA expects unemployment to reach 20pc next year, touching 4.5m. Premier Jose Luis Zapatero can do nothing as long as Spain remains in monetary union.
He cannot devalue to claw back 30pc in lost labour competitiveness against EMU's German bloc, or take emergency steps to slow the property crash. In an odd lapse last week – perhaps a slip – he advised Spaniards that the best thing to do in these dark times was to ****.
Yes, it is dangerous for the Bank of England to buy up a third of all long-dated gilts. But it would be even more dangerous to allow deflation to run its course in an economy where debt levels have reached such extremes. Debt and deflation are a deadly mix.
The errors that led to our current predicament are well-known. A small army of economists – Austrians, Monetarists, and Keynesians – warned that central banks were playing with fire by fixing the price of credit too low and ignoring asset bubbles. The $6.7 trillion in reserve accumulation by China, Japan, and the petro-powers drove bond yields too low for safety.
Credit signals were gravely distorted. In Britain, Gordon Brown poured petrol on the fire by pushing the fiscal deficit to 3pc of GDP at the top of the cycle. Wretched man. However much we rage at Sir Fred or Citi-wrecker Chuck Prince, let us not forget that this crisis was confected by governments. To blame the free market is to miss the bigger point.
But I digress. We are now faced with the post-debt wreckage. The task at hand is to hold our societies together as best we can. One dreads to think what would have happened if the Hoover-Brüning nostalgics had succeeded in blocking every remedy.
As it is we have seen industrial production collapse in every region. The drops in January were: Japan (-31pc), Korea (-26pc), Russia (-16pc), Brazil (-15pc), Italy (-14pc), Germany (-12pc). Falls that took two years from late 1929 have been compressed into five months.Spain's agony is already well advanced. Industrial output has fallen 24pc. Some 352,000 people have lost their jobs in two months.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/4966754/World-in-grip-of-Great-Recession-as-growth-dips-below-zero-IMF-warns.html
Excerpt from World in grip of Great Recession, IMF warns.:
Domestic demand across the world was being hit by continued deleveraging by world financial institutions and a collapse in consumer and business confidence.
"When we release our next package of forecasts at the spring session, that is to say in April, everything leads us to believe that it will indeed reveal a negative global growth for the first time in 60 years," he said
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=apE182UITs2E&refer=economy
Excerpt from German Manufacturing Orders Extend Record Plunge:
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- German manufacturingorders collapsed in January as the global recession smothered exports.
Orders plunged 38 percent from a year earlier, the biggest drop since data for a reunified Germany started in 1991, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. From December they fell 8 percent, four times as much as economists expected and extending their worst decline on record.
“The annual slump is absolutely catastrophic,” said Alexander Koch, an economist at UniCredit MIB in Munich. “The extent of declines is terrifying.”
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a19xonLTkHIw&refer=economy
Excerpt from Global Confidence Drops as Economies Crumble, Bailouts Needed:
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence in the world economy dropped in March as the slump proved deeper than forecast and the Obama administration launched new rescues of financial institutions, a survey of Bloomberg users on six continents showed.
The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index fell to 5.95 this month from 8.5 in February. A reading below 50 means pessimists outnumber optimists. Sentiment about Europe and the U.S. slid, while respondents in Asia were less pessimistic about their region, the survey showed.
The global economy may shrink for the first time since World War II, with trade collapsing by the most since the Great Depression, the World Bank said this month. The erosion of confidence is exacerbating the decline; U.S. banking stocks are down 26 percent since the last survey despite a third effort by the government to help Citigroup Inc.
“The financial crisis and the economic recession are feeding on each other, and that’s adding to pessimism,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Bank in Amsterdam who took part in the survey. “We’re still in no man’s land waiting for stimulus packages to take effect. The light at the end of the tunnel is still far away.”
I could have just as easily posted 100 more similar articles/forecasts. It amazes me at how many people have their heads in the sand. Basically, consider the world economy to be a large turd in the toilet bowl..........the flush lever has been pushed and nothing can stop it from going down the drain. My suggestion, stock up on guns, ammo and MRE's.
Link: http://www.rense.com/general85/fedd.htm
Excerpt from The Federal Reserve is Bankrupt:
By Matthias Chang3-10-9
The Federal Reserve is bankrupt for all intents and purposes. The same goes for the Bank of England!
This article will focus largely on the Fed, because the Fed is the "financial land-mine".
How long can someone who has stepped on a landmine, remain standing hours, days? Eventually, when he is exhausted and his legs give way, the mine will just explode!
The shadow banking system has not only stepped on the land-mine, it is carrying such a heavy load (trillions of toxic wastes) that sooner or later it will tilt, give way and trigger off the land-mine![1]
In a recent article, I referred to
Even if the call was genuine, it is too late. The land-mine has been triggered and the explosion cannot be averted under any circumstances.
The only issue is the extent of the damage to the global economy and how long it will take for the world to recover from this fiasco a financial madness that has no precedent. The great depression is "Mary Poppins" in comparison!
The idea of a central bank going bankrupt is not that outlandish. I am by no means the first author who has given this stark warning. What underlies this crisis (which I initially examined in an article in December 2006) is the potential collapse of the global banking system, specifically the Shadow Money-Lenders.
Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor said [2]:
"The process of socialising the private losses from this crisis has moved many of the liabilities of the private sector onto the books of the sovereign. At some point a sovereign bank may crack, in which case, the ability of the government to credibly commit to act as a backstop for the financial system including deposit guarantees could come unglued."
Please read the underlined words again. "Sovereign bank" means central bank. When a central bank "cracks" i.e. becomes insolvent, "all hell breaks lose", because as the professor correctly pointed out, "any government guarantees will ring hollow and will be useless".
If a central bank goes belly up, it is as good as the government going bankrupt. Period!
In another article, Roubini admitted that the pressure on "the financial land-mine" is totally unbearable. He wrote: "The US Financial system is effectively insolvent". It follows that if the financial system is bankrupt, it is a matter of time before the "sovereign bank" goes belly up. This is a given!
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4965408/Warren-Buffett-says-financial-crisis-is-economic-Pearl-Harbor.html
Excerpt from Warren Buffett says financial crisis is economic Pearl Harbor:
He also warned that recovery would not come quickly.
Acknowledging his own failure to foresee the scale of the crisis, he admitted: "It's fallen off a cliff. Not only has the economy slowed down but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen."
Mr Buffett, recently ranked the second-richest American by Forbes magazine, said that fear was the greatest cause of damage to the economy, claiming it is now dominating the public's behaviour to an alarming degree.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4958395/Thanks-to-the-Bank-its-a-crisis-in-the-eurozone-its-a-total-catastrophe.html
Excerpt from Thanks to the Bank it's a crisis; in the eurozone it's a total catastrophe:
Spain's agony is already well advanced. Industrial output has fallen 24pc. Some 352,000 people have lost their jobs in two months. BBVA expects unemployment to reach 20pc next year, touching 4.5m. Premier Jose Luis Zapatero can do nothing as long as Spain remains in monetary union.
He cannot devalue to claw back 30pc in lost labour competitiveness against EMU's German bloc, or take emergency steps to slow the property crash. In an odd lapse last week – perhaps a slip – he advised Spaniards that the best thing to do in these dark times was to ****.
Yes, it is dangerous for the Bank of England to buy up a third of all long-dated gilts. But it would be even more dangerous to allow deflation to run its course in an economy where debt levels have reached such extremes. Debt and deflation are a deadly mix.
The errors that led to our current predicament are well-known. A small army of economists – Austrians, Monetarists, and Keynesians – warned that central banks were playing with fire by fixing the price of credit too low and ignoring asset bubbles. The $6.7 trillion in reserve accumulation by China, Japan, and the petro-powers drove bond yields too low for safety.
Credit signals were gravely distorted. In Britain, Gordon Brown poured petrol on the fire by pushing the fiscal deficit to 3pc of GDP at the top of the cycle. Wretched man. However much we rage at Sir Fred or Citi-wrecker Chuck Prince, let us not forget that this crisis was confected by governments. To blame the free market is to miss the bigger point.
But I digress. We are now faced with the post-debt wreckage. The task at hand is to hold our societies together as best we can. One dreads to think what would have happened if the Hoover-Brüning nostalgics had succeeded in blocking every remedy.
As it is we have seen industrial production collapse in every region. The drops in January were: Japan (-31pc), Korea (-26pc), Russia (-16pc), Brazil (-15pc), Italy (-14pc), Germany (-12pc). Falls that took two years from late 1929 have been compressed into five months.Spain's agony is already well advanced. Industrial output has fallen 24pc. Some 352,000 people have lost their jobs in two months.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/4966754/World-in-grip-of-Great-Recession-as-growth-dips-below-zero-IMF-warns.html
Excerpt from World in grip of Great Recession, IMF warns.:
Domestic demand across the world was being hit by continued deleveraging by world financial institutions and a collapse in consumer and business confidence.
"When we release our next package of forecasts at the spring session, that is to say in April, everything leads us to believe that it will indeed reveal a negative global growth for the first time in 60 years," he said
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=apE182UITs2E&refer=economy
Excerpt from German Manufacturing Orders Extend Record Plunge:
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- German manufacturingorders collapsed in January as the global recession smothered exports.
Orders plunged 38 percent from a year earlier, the biggest drop since data for a reunified Germany started in 1991, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. From December they fell 8 percent, four times as much as economists expected and extending their worst decline on record.
“The annual slump is absolutely catastrophic,” said Alexander Koch, an economist at UniCredit MIB in Munich. “The extent of declines is terrifying.”
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a19xonLTkHIw&refer=economy
Excerpt from Global Confidence Drops as Economies Crumble, Bailouts Needed:
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence in the world economy dropped in March as the slump proved deeper than forecast and the Obama administration launched new rescues of financial institutions, a survey of Bloomberg users on six continents showed.
The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index fell to 5.95 this month from 8.5 in February. A reading below 50 means pessimists outnumber optimists. Sentiment about Europe and the U.S. slid, while respondents in Asia were less pessimistic about their region, the survey showed.
The global economy may shrink for the first time since World War II, with trade collapsing by the most since the Great Depression, the World Bank said this month. The erosion of confidence is exacerbating the decline; U.S. banking stocks are down 26 percent since the last survey despite a third effort by the government to help Citigroup Inc.
“The financial crisis and the economic recession are feeding on each other, and that’s adding to pessimism,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Bank in Amsterdam who took part in the survey. “We’re still in no man’s land waiting for stimulus packages to take effect. The light at the end of the tunnel is still far away.”
I could have just as easily posted 100 more similar articles/forecasts. It amazes me at how many people have their heads in the sand. Basically, consider the world economy to be a large turd in the toilet bowl..........the flush lever has been pushed and nothing can stop it from going down the drain. My suggestion, stock up on guns, ammo and MRE's.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Obama snub.
Our leader is at it again. While I have never been a fan of Barack Obama, his recent snub of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is really appalling and is not only a staggering slap in the face to a staunch ally, but is a complete embarrassment to any American who has the slightest degree of intellect and feelings of national pride.
Now, while Obama may have some book smarts, he came from an extremely dysfunctional family. It has been rumored that he is actually the son of Frank Marshall Davis, a left wing activist. (Do not know if the rumor is true, but Obama looks more like Davis than he does Obama Sr.) I'm sure a psych profile of Obama would produce some interesting results. At any rate, my point is that while Obama may have some book smarts, he is basically an emotionally retarded, infantile minded narcissist who should not be leading the United States.
While Gordon Brown decided to offer our President a pen holder made from the wood of the sister ship of HMS Resolute (Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/mar/02/gordon-brown-barack-obama-desk-plague ) Barack decided to return the gesture by giving the British PM a set of 25 DVD's which were not compatible with the European standard. The juvenile choice of Obama's gift speaks volumes about Obama himself. In another act of supreme insult to our British friends, Obama returned the British gift to the U.S. of the most famous bust of Winston Churchill, which was given to "W" after the 9/11 attack.
Barack has also forgotten his history. It was British MP William Wilberforce, an evangelical man of strong conviction, who spearheaded the move to end slavery in Britain. Accordingly, the slave trade was abolished in the Empire in 1807 and slavery was abolished in 1833. Considering the supposed reverence Obama has for Lincoln, he should have been even more enthusiastic over the British anti-slavery efforts.
Hopefully the rift with our long time ally can be repaired by the next administration, provided Obama does not run us into the ground before then.
Now, while Obama may have some book smarts, he came from an extremely dysfunctional family. It has been rumored that he is actually the son of Frank Marshall Davis, a left wing activist. (Do not know if the rumor is true, but Obama looks more like Davis than he does Obama Sr.) I'm sure a psych profile of Obama would produce some interesting results. At any rate, my point is that while Obama may have some book smarts, he is basically an emotionally retarded, infantile minded narcissist who should not be leading the United States.
While Gordon Brown decided to offer our President a pen holder made from the wood of the sister ship of HMS Resolute (Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/mar/02/gordon-brown-barack-obama-desk-plague ) Barack decided to return the gesture by giving the British PM a set of 25 DVD's which were not compatible with the European standard. The juvenile choice of Obama's gift speaks volumes about Obama himself. In another act of supreme insult to our British friends, Obama returned the British gift to the U.S. of the most famous bust of Winston Churchill, which was given to "W" after the 9/11 attack.
Barack has also forgotten his history. It was British MP William Wilberforce, an evangelical man of strong conviction, who spearheaded the move to end slavery in Britain. Accordingly, the slave trade was abolished in the Empire in 1807 and slavery was abolished in 1833. Considering the supposed reverence Obama has for Lincoln, he should have been even more enthusiastic over the British anti-slavery efforts.
Hopefully the rift with our long time ally can be repaired by the next administration, provided Obama does not run us into the ground before then.
So, how bad will the economic situation get?
How bad will the economy get? There are differing opinions on this, but the facts speak for themselves. The general consesus is that the downward economic spiral began with the subprime lending mess. In a nut shell, this was precipitated by groups such as ACORN, with the backing of some notable dimocrats (intentional spelling), Barney Frank et al, pressuring congress to get banks to lend money to anyone who could fog a mirror. This led to the development and widespread use of exotic loan products such as Option ARM loans, pick-a-pay loans, NINJA loans (No Job, No Income or Assets) and so on. These loans could be bundled and sold via products such as MBS/mortgage backed securities. Credit rating agencies were complicit in this as well by rating these junk mortgage products as AAA rated or somewhere thereabouts. Since this freed up lending institutions to sell their (bad) paper, there was ever greater incentive to fund more and more of these loans.
Having a real estate appraisal background I can tell you many appraisers saw this coming two years before most everyone else. One of the reasons for this was that mortgage brokers work on commission and banks were also eager to sell their paper. One recent survey indicated that 90% of appraisers felt pressured to "make the deal work." The actual number was more like 99.9%. If an appraiser refused to "hit the number" the broker or LO needed to make the deal work (i.e. appraise the house high enough to payoff the house, which had declined in value, the new SUV's, the flat screen TV's and other toys) then the appraiser was blacklisted and these blacklists were shared with other lenders, so the honest ethical appraiser was driven out of business while the number hitting scumbag was thriving. Many banks made use of AMC's which are Appraisal Management Companies. Until the law changed, AMC's were owned by the banks (there is still a tight relationship between the banks and AMC's since, if the AMC does not play ball with the appraisal values the bank can stop using them.) who would skim up to 75% of the appraisal fee. Driving down the price paid to the independent fee appraiser also helped put the honest appraisers out of work. The AMC's would only assign work to the appraisers who could hit the number. They would also lower the pay and demand faster turn times so the appraisals were decreasing in quality and the only appraisers who were "approved" to work for the AMC's were the unethical appraiser. The HVCC/Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which is pending, mandates use of AMC's which will ensure the housing crisis will continue in perpetuity. Many lenders are already mandating use of AMC's in anticipation of the HVCC passage.
Now, I have already mentioned that a big problem was the government mandating that banks loan to anyone with a pulse. What if you were an honest bank that did not want to do this? Then you engaged in Red Lining. Red Lining is illegal discrimination, so banks that did not want to lend to risky borrowers would flag certain zip codes/areas and instruct their underwriters to kill the appraisal so the deal would not fly. The result of this was that rehabbers and certain homeowners were not able to conduct legitimate revitalization in some inner city neighborhoods.
So, where is the housing situation at today? Currently banks are sitting on approximately 3 million foreclosed homes that have not been put on the market. While most people think the housing crisis is ending, keep in mind that the Alt-A (people with b,c,d, credit) defaults are just starting to hit and the conservative estimate is that there will be around 1.8 million Alt-A defaults. So 3 million homes plus 1.8 million homes = 4.8 million foreclosures that have yet to hit the market and further depress prices. Add to this 2 million unemployed in 2008 and 1.3 million unemployed so far in 2009 (which could end up being another 5 million unemployed by the end of 2009) and housing prices will not hit bottom for at least 3 years, or longer. Most people are not aware of just how bad the housing situation is due to the National Association of Realtor's propaganda division, which would make even Joseph Goebbels envious.
We also tend to localize the economy to our own borders and not think about the situation in the rest of the world. It's as bad in Europe and Asia as it is in America. We can't forget that all of the Obama bailouts WILL result in hyperinflation to equal Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe. Even before the bailouts, if everyone who held U.S. dollars cashed them in, they would only get 10 cents on the dollar in hard assets. Today it would be more like 3 cents on the dollar. I am expecting hyperinflation as early as 6 months and no later than 12 months. The stock market may be getting an upward bounce today, but I can see the DJIA at 5000 or 4000 shortly.
As to actual unemployment, currently 31 million people are on food stamps. This is a bit over 10% of the U.S. population. The latest government unemployment figures show 8% unemployment, but as 12% of mortgages are in default or late pay status, this would indicate a true unemployment rate of at least 10%-13%. This does not include underemployment where, say, an engineer gets terminated and can only find work at a fast food joint. Consider that a majority of job losses have been occurring in the financial sector, the construction sector, the real estate sector and the high paying manufacturing sector. Remember that the top 20% of income earners pay about 80% of the taxes. Now, it is not an even sliding scale, but with the top 10% of the top 20% of income earners out of work, the result is a loss of up to 30% or so of federal, state and local tax revenue. Obama's plan may call for tax increases, but there will be no one to pay them.
The retail sector will start losing more big retailers by mid-year and a 30% vacancy rate on commercial property is expected soon as well. The real estate trusts have been taking a hit. Worldwide freight shipments are down as is worldwide manufacturing. China is seeing a big increase in the number of unemployed (remember there are 1.3 billion Chinese, so a 10% unemployment rate over there puts 130 million out of work) as is much of Europe.
For the first time since the Civil War, we could see Americans starving to death. This is not an exaggeration or scare tactic. An objective look at the facts can lead to no other conclusion. Folks need to get into a survival frame of mind.
Having a real estate appraisal background I can tell you many appraisers saw this coming two years before most everyone else. One of the reasons for this was that mortgage brokers work on commission and banks were also eager to sell their paper. One recent survey indicated that 90% of appraisers felt pressured to "make the deal work." The actual number was more like 99.9%. If an appraiser refused to "hit the number" the broker or LO needed to make the deal work (i.e. appraise the house high enough to payoff the house, which had declined in value, the new SUV's, the flat screen TV's and other toys) then the appraiser was blacklisted and these blacklists were shared with other lenders, so the honest ethical appraiser was driven out of business while the number hitting scumbag was thriving. Many banks made use of AMC's which are Appraisal Management Companies. Until the law changed, AMC's were owned by the banks (there is still a tight relationship between the banks and AMC's since, if the AMC does not play ball with the appraisal values the bank can stop using them.) who would skim up to 75% of the appraisal fee. Driving down the price paid to the independent fee appraiser also helped put the honest appraisers out of work. The AMC's would only assign work to the appraisers who could hit the number. They would also lower the pay and demand faster turn times so the appraisals were decreasing in quality and the only appraisers who were "approved" to work for the AMC's were the unethical appraiser. The HVCC/Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which is pending, mandates use of AMC's which will ensure the housing crisis will continue in perpetuity. Many lenders are already mandating use of AMC's in anticipation of the HVCC passage.
Now, I have already mentioned that a big problem was the government mandating that banks loan to anyone with a pulse. What if you were an honest bank that did not want to do this? Then you engaged in Red Lining. Red Lining is illegal discrimination, so banks that did not want to lend to risky borrowers would flag certain zip codes/areas and instruct their underwriters to kill the appraisal so the deal would not fly. The result of this was that rehabbers and certain homeowners were not able to conduct legitimate revitalization in some inner city neighborhoods.
So, where is the housing situation at today? Currently banks are sitting on approximately 3 million foreclosed homes that have not been put on the market. While most people think the housing crisis is ending, keep in mind that the Alt-A (people with b,c,d, credit) defaults are just starting to hit and the conservative estimate is that there will be around 1.8 million Alt-A defaults. So 3 million homes plus 1.8 million homes = 4.8 million foreclosures that have yet to hit the market and further depress prices. Add to this 2 million unemployed in 2008 and 1.3 million unemployed so far in 2009 (which could end up being another 5 million unemployed by the end of 2009) and housing prices will not hit bottom for at least 3 years, or longer. Most people are not aware of just how bad the housing situation is due to the National Association of Realtor's propaganda division, which would make even Joseph Goebbels envious.
We also tend to localize the economy to our own borders and not think about the situation in the rest of the world. It's as bad in Europe and Asia as it is in America. We can't forget that all of the Obama bailouts WILL result in hyperinflation to equal Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe. Even before the bailouts, if everyone who held U.S. dollars cashed them in, they would only get 10 cents on the dollar in hard assets. Today it would be more like 3 cents on the dollar. I am expecting hyperinflation as early as 6 months and no later than 12 months. The stock market may be getting an upward bounce today, but I can see the DJIA at 5000 or 4000 shortly.
As to actual unemployment, currently 31 million people are on food stamps. This is a bit over 10% of the U.S. population. The latest government unemployment figures show 8% unemployment, but as 12% of mortgages are in default or late pay status, this would indicate a true unemployment rate of at least 10%-13%. This does not include underemployment where, say, an engineer gets terminated and can only find work at a fast food joint. Consider that a majority of job losses have been occurring in the financial sector, the construction sector, the real estate sector and the high paying manufacturing sector. Remember that the top 20% of income earners pay about 80% of the taxes. Now, it is not an even sliding scale, but with the top 10% of the top 20% of income earners out of work, the result is a loss of up to 30% or so of federal, state and local tax revenue. Obama's plan may call for tax increases, but there will be no one to pay them.
The retail sector will start losing more big retailers by mid-year and a 30% vacancy rate on commercial property is expected soon as well. The real estate trusts have been taking a hit. Worldwide freight shipments are down as is worldwide manufacturing. China is seeing a big increase in the number of unemployed (remember there are 1.3 billion Chinese, so a 10% unemployment rate over there puts 130 million out of work) as is much of Europe.
For the first time since the Civil War, we could see Americans starving to death. This is not an exaggeration or scare tactic. An objective look at the facts can lead to no other conclusion. Folks need to get into a survival frame of mind.
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