Friday, January 7, 2011

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Introducing the Utah Sound Money Act


photo credit: Corey Holmes

In 1980, Zimbabwe became a sovereign African nation, gaining its independence from the United Kingdom. At that time, their dollar was valued at a higher rate than the U.S. dollar, at a rate of 1 to 1.25. Earlier this decade, President Mugabe—in power since 1987—began to fulfill a long-standing campaign promise to equalize land ownership, through a campaign called Fast Track Land Reform. While white Zimbabweans constituted less than 1% of the population, they owned around 70% of the land. In 2000, Mugabe began to seize and redistribute land owned by whites to black Zimbabweans.

The economy quickly tanked in response to these moves, as well as the resulting sanctions imposed by several Western nations. That year it declined by five percent, then by eight percent in 2001, then twelve percent in 2002. Inflation quickly surpassed normal percentages and increased into the tens, then hundreds, then thousands, and then like an asymptote, skyrocketed towards infinity. At its highest rate, Zimbabwe’s inflation reached a monthly high of nearly 80 billion percent.

I carry in my wallet one of the most potent objects that can be used in teaching others the nature and importance of sound money: a 100 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar note—the highest amount ever printed. (Get your own!)

In the months prior to the collapse of their currency, Zimbabweans began using foreign currencies as a more stable medium of exchange. The government was quickly forced to legalize such alternative currencies, first licensing hundreds of businesses to sell their wares in foreign currency, and later suspending their currency altogether, legalizing the foreign currencies themselves for use in the country. Gold has become a coveted commodity as individuals look for a more reliable currency with which to engage in commerce.

Zimbabwe is just the latest of a long string of failed fiat currencies. A currency need not undergo hyperinflation, however, to be rendered worthless. Since its inception in 1913, the Federal Reserve Note (“U.S. Dollar”) has lost 96% of its value through a steady (and sinisterly mis-reported) inflation.

As with Zimbabwe, countries with central banks seek to enforce their monopoly on creation (counterfeiting) of the official currency through legal tender laws. In other words, alternative currencies are outlawed as a medium of payment; the legalization of competing currencies would, through the open market, result in the government losing its monopoly and ending up with a “continental”-like pile of paper with little to no value. (So concerned were the early leaders of the United States with this issue [they had learned from personal experience] that the U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 instituted the death penalty for anybody found counterfeiting the currency.)

Whether hyperinflation is in the future for the Federal Reserve Note or not, its eventual demise is near certain. Positioning ourselves through preparation and wise financial management to proactively respond to such events on the horizon is wise counsel—should not the same apply to our government?

Last year, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act which would, in his words, “allow[] for competing currencies [which would] allow market participants to choose a currency that suits their needs, rather than the needs of the government.” Gold, silver, or any other form of currency would be acceptable, under this proposal, for engaging in commerce.

While we wait for the federal government to do nothing to stem the tide of Federal Reserve Notes that will likely soon capsize our ship of state, states can, like individuals, position themselves to proactively prepare for any problem with the dollar, rather than later be forced to react under troublesome circumstances. Article I Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution says that “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts…” Additionally, no power was delegated in the Constitution to allow for the federal government to make anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender for commerce. That this limitation has long been ignored is no excuse for its ongoing abuse.

In the 2011 general legislative session, Utahns will have an opportunity to position themselves and their state on better financial footing by infusing the system with sound money—to the degree that willing participants choose to use either gold or silver as alternative currencies. The Utah Sound Money Act will soon be introduced to initiate this opportunity.

This bill is designed to reinstate gold and silver coin as an optional medium of exchange for use in commerce within the state of Utah. It nullifies legal tender laws for intrastate commerce, recognizing the inherent, inalienable right of individuals to engage in specie-based exchanges with each other on mutually agreeable terms. You can read the bill here (PDF).

The bill goes further. Among other things, it:

  • exempts gold and silver from sales and capital gains tax when used in intrastate commerce;
  • provides standing for Utah court declaratory relief from intrusive federal regulation;
  • outlaws searches and seizures, as well as disclosure, of gold and silver coin without a lawful warrant from the county sheriff;
  • makes use of the long-defunct Utah State Defense Force to store, safeguard, protect, and transport Utah’s specie holdings;
  • allows any Utah taxpayer to discharge his/her financial obligations to the state government in gold or silver coin, should they so choose;
  • establishes cooperatives (LLCs) to facilitate and promote intrastate commerce using gold and silver coin; and
  • allows for this increase in liberty at no direct nor initial cost to the state of Utah.

This bill does nothing to the federal government’s use of Federal Reserve Notes and monopoly over creating that fiat currency. This bill does not impose a gold standard, nor remove the dollar as a legal tender to be used in commerce. This bill does not do anything, really, other than increase the liberty of each individual to determine how they would like to engage in commerce, and with what currency.

On what rational grounds can an idea like this be opposed?

This is not to say that the language or implementation of the bill is perfect. I’ve had the opportunity to review the draft for several weeks and offer input to the author, and I have to say, the bill is fairly solid. Nonetheless, improvements may yet be suggested and incorporated—and that would be a good thing. But considering the state of the dollar, the liberty-suppressing imposition of legal tender laws, and the stranglehold over commerce (interstate or otherwise), this idea is one whose time is come.

Ayn Rand’s quote on gold speaks many truths about our current situation:

Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men’s protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims.

This bill seeks to impose a protecting shield around those who wish to voluntarily engage in commerce under its provisions by defending against the destroyers whose counterfeiting operations oppose any competition. For the sake of our liberty—even if you have no desire to use gold or silver—this bill should be supported by all Utahns who have the remotest of concerns about preserving our wealth and staving off financial ruin.

*******

You can download the Constitutional Tender Act template here:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/legislation/constitutional-tender/

Track Constitutional Tender legislation in the states at this link:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullification/constitutional-tender/

*******

Connor Boyack [send him mail] is the state chapter coordinator for the Utah Tenth Amendment Center. He is a web developer, political economist, and budding philanthropist trying to change the world one byte at a time. He lives in Utah with his wife and son. Read his blog.

Copyright © 2011 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Fashion Bug and Dockside Home Decor Shutdown in Port Richey

More people applied for unemployment aid last week

Washington— More people applied last week for unemployment benefits, one week after applications fell to the lowest level in more than two years. Applications rose by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 409,000 in the week ending Jan. 1, the Labor Department said today. They fell to 391,000 in the previous week, the lowest point since July 2008.

Fewer than 425,000 people seeking unemployment benefits signals modest job growth. But economists say applications need to fall consistently to 375,000 or below to substantially bring down the unemployment rate. Applications for unemployment benefits peaked during the recession at 651,000 in March 2009.

Last week's increase isn't enough to reverse the downward trend. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 410,750, its lowest level since late July 2008.

The weekly unemployment benefits figures provide a real-time snapshot of the job market. Applications reflect the level of layoffs, but can also indicate whether companies are willing to hire.

The average has fallen by more than 76,000, or 16 percent, in the past four months. That drop has led many economists to forecast that December's jobs report, to be released Friday, will show a big increase in hiring. Employers may have added 145,000 net new jobs, analysts project, while the unemployment rate is expected to dip to 9.7 percent.

Other recent data has signaled that economic growth is accelerating, and that hiring may follow suit. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its index of service sector activity expanded at its fastest pace in more than five years. On Monday, the group reported that its manufacturing index rose to its highest level in seven months.

And payroll services provider ADP said Wednesday that private employers added a net total of 297,000 new jobs last month. That's the most in the ten years that ADP has tracked the data.

Whistling I May Soon Be: Fraudclosure

Oh, it will be time to get out the smiley and sit back to enjoy this show.....

Massachusetts’s highest court is poised to rule on whether foreclosures in the state should be undone because securitization-industry practices violate real- estate law governing how mortgages may be transferred.

The fight between homeowners and banks before the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston turns on whether a mortgage can be transferred without naming the recipient, a common securitization practice. Also at issue is whether the right to a mortgage follows the promissory note it secures when the note is sold, as the industry argues.

Here's the issue, as I've pointed out. Mortgages and property recordation are a matter of State Law, whether the banks like it or not. They clearly didn't like it back in the 2000s and the 1990s, so they did what banks always do: they simply ignored the law.

This was all fine and well when foreclosures basically never happened, because if you got in trouble you could sell for more you owed. But when prices started falling, that became impossible.

The banks had "figured" they could never, ever lose under this paradigm. After all, real estate never goes down in price. Therefore, the law didn't matter because they'd never see the inside of a courtroom. They further reasoned that if push came to shove they could "lobby" (read: bribe) Congress and The States to guarantee that whatever they did would be ruled "ok", or at worst, they'd get a handslap fine. This has been a good strategy thus far - witness drug money laundering for Mexican gangs, illegal transfers of money to Iran, bilking state and municipal governments via various bid-rigging scams and other similar behavior.

Unfortunately, such a strategy requires that all fifty State Court systems be corruptible. If you run into just one that isn't, you're screwed.

We may be about to see exactly that happen:

The Massachusetts homeowners argued that the banks that took their homes didn’t follow their own rules for transferring mortgages into mortgage-backed trusts that issued bonds. The banks and the mortgage-bundling industry counter that the securitization documents themselves assign the mortgages.

Remember my posting of a handful of PSAs? Those PSAs require that physical delivery and endorsement take place. Not "contractual" delivery, physical delivery and physical endorsement, showing an unbroken chain of endorsements from origination onward.

Massachusetts Land Court Judge Keith C. Long in Boston ordered the banks to prove they had the right to foreclose in the first place.

In March 2009, he ruled they didn’t. Published notices listed U.S. Bancorp unit U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo as the foreclosing parties when they weren’t the actual mortgage holders at the time of the 2007 auction, a violation of state law, the judge said.

This case, incidentally, turned on the same sort of practice (retroactive transfers) on the back end, that is, after you defaulted and the foreclosure suit was filed. The Judge tossed it, saying that's a violation of State Law.

The banks then came back and tried to argue that this didn't matter because they had been constructively transferred. Unfortunately it appears that The Judge read the PSA which clearly stated that the Trustee had certified he had physically received the notes and that each one was properly endorsed through an unbroken chain of assignments when the MBS deal closed.

In other words, the PSA said that there was no such thing as a "constructive" transfer (although the UCC does allow it) - the clear language said that a physical transfer was required and worse, State Law required actual endorsement to an entity (not "in blank") because State Law requires that the documents be recordable. Unfortunately for the banks the record showed that the endorsement was indeed in blank and thus the alleged "endorsement" transferred nothing because as a matter of State Law such transfers are prohibited. Ergo, sorry, you didn't own the note and can't recover from this at this time because the allowed time to cure had expired.

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. We shall see how the Massachusetts Supreme Court rules on this one. Incidentally, The State Attorney General backs the borrowers.

Discussion below (registration required to post)

The Biggest CES Flops of All Time

For five decades, the Consumer Electronics Show has shown the world the future -- technologies such as the VCR, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and HDTV. But that pressure to impress can sometimes result in disaster. Here are the biggest CES flops of all time.

Two-way eurozone split led by Germany could solve 'rolling debt crisis'

Telegraph columnist Roger Bootle tells Robert Miller why the eurozone faces a 'rolling debt crisis' for years to come and why a break-up is now 'more likely than not'.

North End New Bedford Shaw's to close; 100 jobs at stake

NEW BEDFORD — Shaw's Supermarket on Kings Highway will close its doors by mid-February, one of five stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to be shut down, according to Mayor Scott W. Lang.

Lang said he was informed of the store closings Wednesday morning by a representative from SuperValu, Shaw's Supermarkets' parent company.

The Kings Highway store has about 100 full- and part-time employees, who were notified Wednesday morning that their store would be closing by Feb. 17, according to Lang.

Some employees will have an opportunity to move to other stores in the area — there are Shaw's Supermarkets in Fairhaven, Wareham and Dartmouth — although it is unclear exactly how many employees those stores will be able to absorb, Lang said.

A Shaw's representative said the closings are a result of competitive markets and today's difficult economic environment.

Shaw's has had a presence in the North End since 1981 when it took over space in the former First National Store at Kings Highway.

In August 1988, that store was closed when what was then the area's first Super Shaw's opened in a new shopping center known as the Fieldstone Marketplace.

Two other stores in Massachusetts are scheduled to close — the Shaw's at 99 Main St. in Stoneham and one at 209 Revere Beach Parkway in Revere — as well as two Shaw's in Rhode Island.

The workers at the New Bedford store as well as the two Rhode Island stores — the Shaw's at 1500 Bald Hill Road in Warwick and the store at 1493 Hartford Ave. in Johnston — are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 791.

Peter Derouen, a spokesman for the union, said the union planned to meet with representatives from the company later this week.

"We obviously don't manage the company," he said. "We want to make sure that (the closing is) done correctly and that our members are represented properly and that's what our goal is."

Union leadership was informed about the store closings Wednesday, as well, Derouen said.

"There's been rumors flying around for a long time about a whole lot of things," he said. "But we didn't know anything until today."

Language in the union contract governs store closings, said Derouen, although he declined to be more specific about that language.

"We'll obviously try to lessen that overall number (of layoffs) and keep it as minimal as possible," he said.

Lang said he intended to call the state Secretary of Labor today to ensure that affected workers are informed of their unemployment rights and have access to job training as necessary.

It is unclear what will happen to the space Shaw's occupies on Kings Highway but Lang said the city would work with the company to find a new tenant.

The space is about 70,000 to 80,000 square feet, according to Lang.

Lang said it was not his impression, based on the conversation with the SuperValu representative, that the recent opening of a Market Basket in the city had anything to do with the company's decision to close Shaw's.

However, Lang continued, "I believe Market Basket has forced competition in this area. ... Shaw's, obviously, is in the middle of this competitive mix. ... Everyone's got to be on their toes."

SuperValu, which owns multiple supermarket brands in addition to Shaw's, recently opened a Save-a-Lot in retail space on Cove Road that had been largely vacant since the Shaw's that had been there closed in 2006.

Wall Street Fat-Cats Flip Public Service Workers the Bird

Economic Consequences Of The “New World Order”

By Giordano Bruno

Neithercorp Press – 1/05/2010

A common misconception among less aware segments of the American populace is that the phrase “New World Order” was concocted by attention seeking “conspiracy theorists” in dank basement apartments and sinister mountain shacks across the country. In reality, anti-globalists and Constitutionalists had nothing to do with the term’s creation (and most of us have decent digs, too). The truth is that mumblings of a “New World Order” have been floating around various elitist circles for decades, and every once in a while, those mumblings are publicized in the mainstream media. Globalists created the warped ideal; we just point out that it exists. Lately, we haven’t had to try very hard…

As most readers here are probably already privy to, elitist spokesman George Soros (who for some reason reminds me of the bloated floating Baron Harkonnen from the movie ‘Dune’) recently let spill all kinds of NWO gossip in a candid interview with the Financial Times. If you have not seen it yet, or you believe only kooks talk about the New World Order, I suggest you watch the below interview twice for good measure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki4cqqMZ7JE&feature=player_embedded

What is most interesting about this interview is Soros’ focus on the fate of the dollar in the NWO. He openly confirms nearly everything I and many others have been warning about for the past three to four years in the span of only ten minutes! Why would Soros make such admissions? Well, I suspect that some elites believe that they should not have to hide their pet project for a “new order” from us lowly serfs, while others perhaps have been given the green light to start selling the masses on the supposed benefits of greater centralization. Soros literally tries to paint the collapse of America as “necessary”, and the devolution of the dollar as “healthy”, though I doubt that many people will be swayed by his charms. It’s hard to trust a guy that leaves a slime trail…

While Soros may not be the best used car salesman on the lemon lot, there are plenty of establishment media lackeys and fraudulent pundits that do have a knack for refining globalist talking points and making them more palatable to the public. What alternative economic analysts are now discovering is that there are actually two economies; the one that the MSM and the government presents, and the one we all actually live in. The year of 2010 was highly representative of this strange developing duality. So many malfunctions in terms of employment, debt, inflation, and bonds (especially municipals), and yet, so much “good news” pouring out of the networks. This is rather similar to the media frenzy just before the final market plunge of the Great Depression; government reports and mainstream news were overwhelmingly positive, right before the entire system took its last flaming nose dive into the gutter and stayed there for a decade.

If we are to take anything from the recent Soros interview, it would be that the globalists are closing in on their target for the implementation of their new world order, or “new economic order”, or whatever interchangeable label they happen to be using at the moment. But what does this mean for the rest of us? When George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Henry Kissinger, Nicolas Sarkozy, Vladimir Putin, Gordon Brown, and so many others mention their desire for a “New World Order”, what exactly are they referring to? In terms of the economy, how will this elitist philosophy change our lives, and our nation? To know our destination, we must first examine the path we are currently on. What have been the results of globalism and centralization so far? What is the most likely next step? Let’s review where the elites have led us up until now, and where they have expressly proclaimed they would like to take us in the future…

Harmonization: The Economic Sucker Punch

“Harmonization” is a very pleasant sounding term for a very insidious financial practice, and it is also something we will be hearing a lot about if the NWO design is allowed to continue. In order to understand what economic harmonization entails, one should research the mechanics and purpose behind monopolies. Monopolies are formed first and foremost to remove a very particular free-market factor; competition. Competition allows for the organic growth of markets by relying on the general populace to decide which business and financial models work best. Those models that do not pass the social test are ignored and allowed to die away, while those that pass are supported by the public and allowed to carry on. This natural order of commerce is supplanted when the largest suppliers (businesses or countries) form unions, fix prices, and squeeze out smaller entrepreneurs before they find an opportunity to present a superior idea or business model. By removing competition, monopolies take away the citizen’s ability to choose, or to even participate in the economy in any capacity beyond the role of mindless consumer.

Global harmonization works in a similar way, except in this case the monopoly is not over a specific product or resource, but the resources of entire continents. Competition among nations is squashed. As in the European Union, more successful countries are forced through unilateral trade agreements to transfer their wealth to faltering nations. Not only this, but the economic policies which once made them more competitive are scrapped and replaced with policies that deliberately stunt national growth. Decisions on what kind of commerce works best are no longer made by the citizenry, and are instead centralized into the hands of a select few. Any state that resists or strives for sovereignty is branded irresponsible, or even dangerous; a threat to the so called “balance”.

While globalists like Soros maintain that there are long term benefits to harmonization, including a better standard of living for everyone, in effect, harmonization only seems to make all countries equally poor.

IMF and World Bank lackeys love to bring up the plight of Africa when peddling harmonization and certainly African countries would benefit temporarily by siphoning capital from richer nations, but ultimately, it is the IMF, World Bank, and the UN that ravaged Africa in the first place with their loan sharking, resource theft, and attempts to interfere with African industrialization in the name of unsupported global warming arguments. (Hey, as soon as NASA or the Climate Research Unit in East Anglia makes the source data for their experiments available to the public instead of copping out and claiming national security privileges, I’m perfectly willing to give them a fair shake.) In the FT interview, Soros boasts about IMF allocations of SDR’s to needy African countries, as if they do it out of the kindness of their hearts. Anyone who has studied the history of the IMF knows that they do not do charity.

In the end, dirt poor nations might progress, but never enough to actually prosper, and all at the cost of finding themselves beholden to the IMF. This is the essence of the New World Order. This is the dark side that elitists never openly delve into; total centralization, total poverty, total control, no other options…

Middle-Class Beheaded

In a centralized global economy, financially secure classes of common people become a problem. The less the masses have to worry about everyday survival, the more time they have to question the system’s validity, or its leadership. Therefore, the globalist hierarchy benefits by removing such subsections of the population like the middle-class altogether. This process has already commenced in the midst of the engineered credit crisis, as well as the continued devaluation of the dollar that Soros speaks of so fondly.

Private wages fell to historic lows at the beginning of 2010:

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20100525/1aincome25_st.art.htm

Prices on essential goods and energy are now inflating, despite falling demand:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-16/news/25193927_1_wheat-costs-ephraim-leibtag-food-inflation

The U.S. housing market lost $1.05 trillion in value in 2009, $1.75 trillion 2010, and is expected to lose $9 trillion before it bottoms:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B84X720101209

Real unemployment remains at a relentless 20%, while welfare benefits have been extended up to 99 weeks. Such a large portion of Americans have remained jobless for so long, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has now increased the upper limit of how long someone can be listed as jobless from two years, to five years:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-28-1Ajobless28_ST_N.htm

As forced globalization continues, “lucky” countries will see a complete disintegration of private home ownership, two working parents in every family, wage reductions to counter low demand, and price spikes in food and energy. In places like China with a long history of wage slavery, this is actually a step up! So it all evens out according to George Soros. Unfortunately, the U.S. is more likely to see hyperinflation, rather than a mere reduction in our standard of living. Currency destruction would decimate the middle-class in America. Soros hints at this probable future, but then glosses over it as a “painful but needed” change.

One question that no interviewer seems to put to these parasites is, who really “needs” the New World Order? Who benefits from its proliferation? Certainly not the middle-class, and certainly not the poor. So, who’s left to reap the spoils? Ask Soros. He knows…

Dollar On The Highway To Hell

Not to harp about the past, but in 2007/2008, stating that China was going to drop the dollar and dump Treasuries while converting to a consumer based economy causing the greenback to lose its world reserve status while the IMF introduced SDR’s as the new global currency did not exactly win me any respect in financial circles. I still get arguments from devout deflationists and random green-shoots proponents on occasion. Now, here’s George Soros TELLING YOU, for the most part, what is going to happen to the dollar, and sounding a lot like Neithercorp. It’s enough to give me the heebie jeebies.

Soros mentions the pending bilateral trade agreements being used by China to rout the dollar in Brazil and Argentina, but for some reason fails to point out Russia’s agreement to abandon the Greenback. He also fails to mention China’s numerous interest rate hikes or increased bank allocations which have utterly failed to stem inflation, leaving the government with only one other option; dump U.S Treasuries, allowing the Yuan to quickly appreciate giving Chinese consumers greater buying power to compete with rising prices. All that’s left is for our Treasury Dept. to finally release that delayed report accusing China of currency manipulation. Retaliation ensues, and down goes the dollar.

It’s not a question of IF this will happen, but WHEN? How long can the dollar truly hold out while interest rates remain at near zero, the private Federal Reserve continues its QE2 madness, and our national debt continues to grow beyond all imagining? Something has to give, and that something will be the rest of the world’s patience with the dollar.

Stall tactics are beginning to lose their effect. Rumors yesterday of a possible Fed rate hike did cause quite a stir, and even hit commodities, but frankly, I’ll believe that when I see it. A meaningful rate hike would make the Fed’s quantitative easing programs pretty difficult to pursue and knock the wind out of the Dow, considering the only thing propping up the whole farce is the constant flow of cheap fiat. When the central bankers turn to interest rate gossip to keep investors smitten with the dollar, it might be time to question whether or not foreign banks may be preparing for a policy change concerning U.S. Treasuries soon. This is, of course, all by design.

The bottom line is that the dollar has no place in the NWO. Soros admits it. Most other globalists have openly demanded it. I think in this case, they aren’t just feeding us propaganda.

Global Currency, Global Government, No More Fairytales

With all the talk in the MSM of global currency lately, I still have yet to see a viable argument for its usefulness. Just as with globalism, no real debate is pursued on global currency, only the presumption that such a step is “inevitable”. Sorry, but globalism is not inevitable, and neither is the rise of Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s). These are economic tools and methods which are enacted by a relatively small group of men. They are not universal laws of physics handed down by the gods.

A global currency changes nothing in terms of the problems already associated with our current collapse. It definitely doesn’t make anything better. While the IMF does claim to have ample gold reserves to back the SDR, almost every new paper currency starts out backed by PM’s or some other resource. The problem is that every currency under the control of central bankers and not the people ends up losing all tangible backing and becomes yet another fiat prison. The only purpose behind a global currency would be to streamline the centralization process; to perpetuate the psychology of globalism in the masses, making the construction of global government easier to introduce.

Would global government be as wondrous and as Utopian as it is always presented? Will we finally get our Star Trek uniforms and flying cars? Not a chance. Global governance will not be Utopia; not under men like Soros, and certainly not under the IMF. The promise of paradise has always been used to make people do stupid and horrible things, from the Assasseens of Iran spoken of by Marco Polo, to the Russian communist disaster of Lenin and Stalin, and beyond. Blind collectivism and feudalism has never led to peace, prosperity, wisdom, or spaceships propelled by dilithium crystals. What it HAS led to, consistently, is death, destruction, mayhem, and sometimes the loss of entire chapters of human knowledge. It leads not to enlightenment, but to the dark ages.

Once a system like this is instituted, its hold over younger generations is vicious. We have all grown up in the midst of the globalist experiment, and while many of us have broken free mentally, we still have never experienced life without the constant poison of elitist politics and prattle. Imagine a colonialist from the American Revolution visiting our time and witnessing all the freedoms, cultural and economic, that were stolen away from us before we were ever born. They would shriek in absolute horror and run for their musket!

There is a certain innocence and a certain joy inherent in true freedom, not just freedom of the mind as we have so far settled for today, but freedom of daily life. To live without someone always out to dominate you or your family; that is something I would like one day to witness, or at the very least make possible for tomorrow’s Americans. If the NWO is not confronted and dismantled, who knows how long it will be before another common man thrives free.

Breaking The Circle, Starting Anew

Stopping the advancement of the New World Order, at least in terms of economics, does not require a “magic bullet” scheme, a busload of lawyers, or even an audit of the Federal Reserve (though one would be nice). What it does require, is an alternative. Do most Americans participate in the corrupt establishment system because they like it? No. They participate because they feel there are no other viable options, and since very few government officials seem to be coming forward with said options, there is nothing to do but build a better system for ourselves.

This means average people starting their own alternative economies in their own communities based on trade, barter, and sound money (precious metals), in conjunction with fiat until the bottom finally falls out of the dollar. It means cutting down the weekly trips to Walmart and buying as many goods as you can from local Liberty Movement based providers. It means setting up statewide networks of micro-industries, farm and garden co-ops, and gold and silver distributors, and turning away from the NWO completely. It means a return to true free markets owned and operated by the people, without any interference from corporations or government.

If they want a centralized economy, then we decentralize the economy. If they want to break up legitimate community, then we support legitimate community. If they want to break down 10th Amendment rights, then we support the Constitutional imperative of the states to determine their own internal matters. If they want us to rely solely on the dollar, then we convert our dollars to gold and silver, and trade with each other. Neithercorp is now working on a project with Oathkeepers which we believe will make these alternatives a reality.

If anything is going to turn for the better, ever, that change is going to start with regular people. There is no other way around it. When the colonies of the American Revolution rebelled against the British Empire, they did so first by dumping the corrupt British economic system, and setting up their own free markets. They did not just declare independence; they took concrete actions which removed their dependency on their enemy. They forced the British to choose; accept that the colonies had their own system and move on, or attack the colonies, try to force them to conform, and expose British tyranny for all the world to see. The British chose the latter, bit off more than they could chew, and the rest is history. The point is that the colonists created a win-win scenario. We must do the same.

Some might claim that times have changed and circumstances are different, but this is irrelevant. The concept still applies, and is actually in use by the Liberty Movement already. The alternative media is a perfect example of how offering a better option to the public can destroy a controlled mainstream system, like that of the MSM. Their numbers are plummeting, while ours are skyrocketing. They are becoming obsolete, while we become more necessary. And all we had to do was offer the truth, and free participation. Imagine that…

As Soros points out in the FT interview, now is the time to act. We know what the globalists plan to do to our currency and our economy, so why wait around for the leaky ship to sink when we could be using that time to build a better boat? Now, it is our turn to act. We must set the pace. We must take matters into our own hands, before someone else makes the important decisions for us. We must determine our own destinies. There is precious little left to lose, and everything to gain.

You can contact Giordano Bruno at: giordano@neithercorp.us

If you would like to contribute to Neithercorp’s new solutions based project with Oathkeepers, visit our donations page here: http://neithercorp.us/npress/donate/

« Sen. Kit Bond Jumps Aboard The Lobbying Gravy Train »

We're not picking on Kit Bond or the GOP. This is a Washington problem.

Ask Billy Tauzin.

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Source - Huff Po

WASHINGTON -- Outgoing Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) is headed for a pay raise, announcing on Tuesday he'll be joining a high-profile law firm that lobbies on transportation issues. While in Congress, Bond served as ranking member on a subcommittee that doled out transportation funds. Now he is joining the St. Louis-based law firm Thompson Coburn as a partner.

"I joined this firm to be a lawyer, not to be a lobbyist," Bond told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, pointing to ethics rules that ban former lawmakers from lobbying for two years after leaving the chamber. "I do not plan to be involved in lobbying Congress."

Still, the firm touted the two-term governor and four-term senator's time as a lawmaker when announcing the hire. "Senator Bond has been a tremendous friend of the business community during his forty years of public service, and combines both legal and policymaking expertise with a deep understanding of the issues of importance to our clients," Thompson Coburn Chairman Tom Minogue said in a press release.

The firm primarily lobbies within the transportation sector, including contracts with Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Authority, and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, a San Francisco-based transit project.

Bond will work on transportation, agriculture, biotechnology and international trade -- the same issues he focused on during his time as a lawmaker. Not only did Bond serve as ranking member on a subcommittee which allocates funds for transportation, during his time in the Senate Bond also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars back to his home state in earmarks.

Continue reading...

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Billy Tauzin - Wikipedia

Career as a Lobbyist

While recovering from a difficult fight with cancer, Tauzin resigned from Congress and began work as the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, a powerful trade group forpharmaceutical companies. Five years later he announced his retirement from the association (as of the end of June, 2010).[4]

It was reported that PhRMA had offered more than $2.5 million per year for his services, outbidding the Motion Picture Association of America, which had offered Tauzin $1 million to lobby for it.[5]

Two months before resigning as chair of the committee which oversees the drug industry, Tauzin had played a key role in shepherding through Congress the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, a bill which had been criticized by opponents for being too generous to the pharmaceutical industry. The switch from regulator to lobbyist was widely noted.[6]

This link was explored at great length in an April 1, 2007 interview by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. The report, Under the Influence, pitted Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) against Tauzin and accused him of using unethical tactics to push a bill that "the pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote". Along with Tauzin, many of the other individuals who worked on the bill are now lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry. Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko levied similar criticism.[7]

As head of PhRMA, Tauzin was a key player in 2009 health care reform negotiations that produced pharmaceutical industry support for White House and Senate efforts.[8] Reportedly, proposals for Medicare Part D cost reductions and permitting drug importation from Canada were dropped in favor of $80 billion in other savings.

Tauzin now is on the Board of Directors at Louisiana Healthcare Group.

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The Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House Pharma Deal

More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, who promised in his campaign to change Washington’s mercenary culture of lobbyists, special interest influence and backroom deals. But within a few months of being sworn in, the President and his top aides were sitting down with leaders from the pharmaceutical industry to hash out a deal that they thought would make health care reform possible.

Continue reading...

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2010/02/12/the-legacy-of-billy-tauzin-the-white-house-phrma-deal/

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« Dylan Ratigan: Stand Off Looms Over Debt Ceiling, Deficit Hypocrisy From Both Sides - N.M. Gov. Gary Johnson »

Video - Ratigan with Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson - Jan. 3, 2011

Excellent discussion. Here's a profile on Johnson from Politico...

Former New Mexico Republican Gov. Gary Johnson is a teetotaling triathlete who looks the part of the laid-back Mountain West politician.

But don’t let the jeans and black mock turtleneck he's sporting on his new website fool you: Johnson is starting to sound like a mad-as-hell populist with an eye cast on 2012 and the building fury aimed at Washington.

“I’m finding myself really angry over spending and the deficit,” he said in an interview with POLITICO this week. “I’m finding myself really angry over what’s happening in the Middle East, the decision to stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. I’m angry about cap and trade. And I’ve been on record for a long time on the failed war on drugs.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30714.html

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December increase seals strong holiday for retail

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. retailers sealed their strongest holiday sales increase since 2006, as a robust November more than offset spending that tapered off in December.

For investors, whose expectations were riding high, the December figures were disappointing. But retail revenue still rose significantly.

Combining November and December, holiday revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3.8 percent over last year, according to an index compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's the biggest increase since 2006, when the same figure rose 4.4 percent.

The index tailed off to a 3.1 percent increase in December after a 5.4 percent rise in November.

A blizzard took a bite out of sales in the week after Christmas. Early holiday discounts, which started in October, had shoppers finishing more of their shopping before the December rush.

"The overall season was good, but the strength came from the beginning of the season," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at International Council of Shopping Centers. "This is kind of a wake-up call. It's back to reality. (December reports) show that consumers are pretty frugal, and sales are uneven."

As merchants reported their figures Thursday, many retailers including Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Macy's Inc. reported gains below Wall Street expectations. Bon-Ton Stores Inc.'s sales were virtually flat and company officials blamed the severe snowstorms.

Among the winners was Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which saw robust gains that beat Wall Street estimates.

The figures are based on revenue at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

The disappointing December figures were surprising given earlier data from MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse and anecdotal evidence that pointed to a strong December.

The holiday 2010 had very few nail-biting moments -- aggressive discounting on holiday goods as early as late October brought in consumers, giving stores better than expected sales for November. Based on reports from malls, shoppers bought more than expected and threw in more items for themselves.

Strong online sales, which some retailers don't include in their monthly figures, brighten the spending picture as well. Americans spent 13 percent more online this holiday season, ringing up a record $30.81 billion in online sales, according to comScore, an Internet research firm.

Still, December figures that disappointed investors underscore the challenges retailers face in getting shoppers back in the malls in the coming months when there's no reason to buy.

Among the retailers who disappointed investors was Target Corp. Its 0.9 percent increase in revenue at stores open at least a year fell well short of analysts' 4 percent estimate. Its shares fell $ 3.81, or 6.5 percent, to $55.13.

Sales for key gift categories were pulled forward into November, Target Chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement, and merchandise with lower profit margins made up a higher portion of sales than expected.

Gap Inc. suffered a surprise 3 percent drop in December. Analysts had expected a 2.6 percent increase.

Among department stores, Macy's revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 3.9 percent, below the 4.5 percent estimate. But the combined November and December figure rose 4.6 percent. The company is sticking to its profit outlook for the fourth quarter.

J.C. Penney Co. posted a 3.7 percent increase, helped by strong sales of fine jewelry and women's accessories. Analysts had expected a 3.3 percent gain. Bon-Ton said its revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 0.1 percent. The company said that the Northeast blizzard shaved off between 1.5 and 2 percentage points.

"After a strong start to the holiday season in November, sales and traffic trends for our brands were less consistent in December," Sabrina Simmons, chief financial officer of Gap, said in a statement.

Man Gets Ticket While Paying for Parking

Click this link ......

Unemployment Insurance: State Trust Fund Loans

The Federal Unemployment Account (FUA) provides for a loan fund for state unemployment programs to ensure a continued flow of benefits during times of economic downturn.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 30 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands are currently borrowing to cover unemployment benefits. Four
states, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Tennessee, have repaid their loans in full.
As of December 13, 2010, the most recent balances of outstanding state loans from the FUA are:

State

Loan Balance

as of Dec. 13, 2010

Began Borrowing

Alabama

$283,001,164.19

September, 2009

Arizona

$212,184,077.48

March, 2010

Arkansas

$330,853,383.31

March, 2009

California

$9,112,847,509.67

January, 2009

Colorado

$381,881,712.41

January, 2010

Connecticut

$498,452,705.05

October, 2009

Delaware

$24,840,505.48

March, 2010

Florida

$1,835,100,000.00

August, 2009

Georgia

$482,000,000.00

December, 2009

Idaho

$202,401,700.22

June, 2009

Illinois

$2,239,582,343.13

July, 2009

Indiana

$1,911,332,372.08

December, 2008

Kansas

$88,159,421.40

March, 2010

Kentucky

$795,100,000.00

January, 2009

Massachusetts

$387,313,005.04

February, 2010

Michigan

$3,810,391,759.10

September, 2006

Minnesota

$475,988,154.16

July, 2009

Missouri

$722,116,933.16

February, 2009

Nevada

$590,548,230.71

October, 2009

New Jersey

$1,749,563,533.38

March, 2009

New York

$3,176,873,427.71

January, 2009

North Carolina

$2,430,963,662.58

February, 2009

Ohio

$2,314,186,799.00

January, 2009

Pennsylvania

$3,008,614,960.83

March, 2009

Rhode Island

$225,472,937.00

March, 2009

South Carolina

$886,662,351.97

December, 2008

Texas

$1,699,051,361.86

July, 2009

Vermont

$32,657,064.94

March, 2010

Virgin Islands

$17,134,491.24

August, 2009

Virginia

$346,876,000.00

October, 2009

Wisconsin

$1,424,768,541.29

February, 2009

Total

$41,696,920,108.39

Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.

German Eggs, Meat Hit by Dioxin Contamination

EINNEWS, January 5---A potentially devastating outbreak of dioxin in food has been reported in Germany. Eggs and meat are affected, with contamination seeming to stem from feed laced with industrial fats.

Traces of dioxin have been found in at least 3,000 tons of an animal feed additive sold in Germany. More than 1,000 farms have been banned from selling eggs and 8,000 chickens have been destroyed.

Dioxin is a poisonous chemical, linked to the development of cancer in humans.

Police carried out searches on Wednesday at the Schleswig-Holstein farm which produced the fat. The company sold the fat to 25 German feed manufacturers. Police are involved because under current German law, offenders who use harmful or banned substances in food and animal feed can be fined or face up to three years in prison.

Dioxin contamination can be costly to the industries where contamination is discovered. A dioxin contamination of Irish pork products at the end of 2008 cost the domestic industry more than 100 million British pounds.

Read more news about Germany's food industry.

Indymac Boys Get Sweetheart Deal

« Mishkin Says Economic Strength Makes QE3 'Much Less Likely,' Comments On Ron Paul - Video »

Bloomberg Video - Jan. 3 2011 - Frederic Mishkin, a professor at Columbia Univ. and former Federal Reserve governor, talks about the Fed's policy of quantitative easing. Mishkin also comments on the U.S. economy the outlook for inflation and Ron Paul. Article inside.

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(Source - Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin said the central bank will likely complete its $600 billion bond-purchase program, known as QE2 for the second round of quantitative easing, though a third round is unlikely.

  • “The fact that the economy is stronger right now makes it much less likely we’re going to see a QE3,” Mishkin, an economist at Columbia University in New York, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop With Betty Liu.”

Mishkin said a third round of expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet could feed the perception that the Fed is purchasing Treasury debt to facilitate the government’s deficits, and that could weaken the Fed’s independence.

In the new Congress, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, author of the book “End the Fed,” will chair a House subcommittee overseeing the central bank. The House Oversight Committee will be led by California Republican Darrell Issa, who is aiming for increased Fed transparency, such as shortening the five-year delay on releasing Federal Open Market Committee meeting transcripts.

  • “It’s going to be a lot more entertaining,” said Mishkin.
  • “I don’t mean that in a good way.”

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Previously from Mishkin...

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National Taxpayer Advocate Releases Annual Report to Congress, Says Tax Reform Is #1 Priority

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released her 2010 Annual Report to Congress, which lists the twenty-one most serious problems encountered by taxpayers (as required by § 7803(c)(2)(B)(ii)(III)):

The Most Serious Problems Encountered by Taxpayers: Top 5 Issues

  1. The Time for Tax Reform is Now
  2. The IRS Mission Statement Does Not Reflect the Agency's Increasing Responsibilities for Administering Social Benefits Programs
  3. IRS Performance Measures Provide Incentives that May Undermine the IRS Mission
  4. The Wage & Investment Division is Tasked with Supporting Multiple Agency-Wide Operations, Impeding its Ability to Serve its Core Base of Individual Taxpayers Effectively
  5. IRS Policy Implementation Though Systems Programming Lacks Transparency and Precludes Adequate Review

The Most Serious Problems Encountered by Taxpayers: Issues 6-21

Additional Material:

Press and blogosphere coverage:

The Year That Wasn't

The American Dream.

REALITY REPORT #75 - Investing for Control