Why we no longer need ridges on the edges of our coins

Someone wrote in to the Big Site Of Amazing Facts, asking why some coins had ridges around the edges and others didn't.....

Perhaps you noticed that United States dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and silver dollars have ridges, or grooves, around their edges. They were not put there for decoration, but had a very important purpose at one time in history.
During our country’s earlier years, all coins were made of gold or silver, and did not have ridges. Each coin’s value was based on the amount of gold or silver in it. For example, a $10 gold piece contained ten dollars worth of gold, and silver dimes contained ten cents worth of silver.
But some dishonest people sought to make an illegal profit from these coins. They filed off the edges and sold them for their value in gold or silver. The smaller-sized coin often went unnoticed, but this dishonest practice decreased the value of the original gold or silver coin.
To prevent this, the government began milling, or grooving, the edges so a coin could easily be identified if it was trimmed.

This is no longer necessary, since our coins are no longer made of gold and silver, but our government doesn't want to advertise that fact.

However, because Ben Bernanke is print money like it's wallpaper, the scrap value of a nickel is now 6.8 cents!  The junk metal in a nickel is now worth more than 1/20th of Bernanke's paper dollar!  One entrepreneurial guy has purchased about twenty million of them.
Think about it....As long as someone has to give you 20 of our five cent pieces of metal in exchange for a worthless $1.00 bill.....

Here's Zero Hedge:

He (Kyle Bass) still owned stacks of gold and platinum bars that had roughly doubled in value, but he remained on the lookout for hard stores of wealth as a hedge against what he assumed was the coming debasement of fiat currency. Nickels, for instance.

“The value of the metal in a nickel is worth six point eight cents,” he said. “Did you know that?”

I didn’t.

“I just bought a million dollars’ worth of them,” he said, and then, perhaps sensing I couldn’t do the math: “twenty million nickels.”

“You bought twenty million nickels?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How do you buy twenty million nickels?”

“Actually, it’s very difficult,” he said, and then explained that he had to call his bank and talk them into ordering him twenty million nickels. The bank had finally done it, but the Federal Reserve had its own questions. “The Fed apparently called my guy at the bank,” he says. “They asked him, ‘Why do you want all these nickels?’ So he called me and asked, ‘Why do you want all these nickels?’ And I said, ‘I just like nickels.’”

He pulled out a photograph of his nickels and handed it to me. There they were, piled up on giant wooden pallets in a Brink’s vault in downtown Dallas.

“I’m telling you, in the next two years they’ll change the content of the nickel,” he said. “You really ought to call your bank and buy some now.”

He's right.  Take a look at the dollars in your wallet.  Every one of them is made out of paper.  

Ryan Sheffield's 12 Political Compromises

My Bar Friend Ryan Sheffield has put a list of "12 Political Compromises" on Facebook.  This is his governmental wish list. 

As a side note, Ryan is one of those creative people who can do just about anything he wants to do.  Go here to view (and purchase) some of his artwork, mostly drawings of authors that incorporate their quotations.  I think I've used the Twain and the Hunter S. Thompson to liven up posts on this site a few times. 
Go here to download (no purchase required) his two e-books.  I've read some of his stories, and they're good stuff. 

IMHO, Ryan is very close to the Kingdom Of God, i.e., the Libertarian Party, with this list.  My additional commentary is in italics.  Here goes:

1. Repeal Citizens United. You would be hard-fought to find any normal citizen who thinks it’s a good idea for corporations, labor unions and special interest groups to have an unfettered cashflow into political campaigns. It doesn’t matter what “side” you are on, you should probably oppose Big Money syndicates controlling the election process and fueling the obnoxious TV commercials you are being bombarded with every day.

Why do we have big corporations and super-pacs giving a rip who gets elected?  Well, to produce a successful product, you have to convince millions of citizens to purchase the product.  That's the hard way.  The easy way is to get Congress to mandate the use, purchase, or monopolization of the product.  Corporations want protection from competitors.  In a nation with a massive government, it's far more effective to purchase one Congressman that to sell to 330 million Americans.  Here's something from the Cato Institute:

The proper answer to large expenditures for speech is either more speech or, if the existing system proves unworkable, a constitutional amendment. As for money, it's just a symptom. We have a big money problem because we have a big government problem. By restraining the regulatory and redistributive powers of the state, we can minimize the influence of big money. Restoring the Framers' notion of enumerated, delegated, and limited federal powers will get government out of our lives and out of our wallets. That's the best way to end the campaign-finance racket, and root out corruption without jeopardizing political speech.

In other words, if it really matters who wins the elections, your government has gotten too big.  If governments can mandate profits for favored corporations, government has gotten waaaay too big. 

2. Close the “Revolving Door” and shut lobbyists out of government. This is an extension of number 1. Again, no one wants these organizations, right or left, buying and bribing politicians or running their own regulatory agencies. Politicians work for us, not the highest bidder.

Once again, lobbyists are just a symptom.  They're not the disease.  If the government matters enough to justify the hiring of lobbyists, the government has gotten too big. 

3. End the “War on Drugs.” This doesn’t mean we have to legalize EVERYTHING, but this “war” is a bottomless money pit and a failed experiment. It is the reason the violent cartels exist and the reason your idiot son is snorting bath salts in your basement.

Precisely.  Exactly.  Ever since Nixon began the War On Drugs in 1970, the only drug whose use has declined is....tobacco.  That's because tobacco is legal and no longer cool.  
There are a few antibiotics that should possibly be restricted because unfettered use causes viruses to mutate and grow stronger.  
Everything else?  Well, ask yourself which currently illegal drugs you want the Mexican and Afghan Drugs Lords to have a monopoly on. 

4. Stop treating the environment as a partisan issue. The environment SHOULD be something we all agree on. It affects us all equally. As long as free enterprise exists, there must be checks & balances on pollution, deforestation and animal cruelty. This is not “socialism.” It’s the necessary price business owners must pay for the ability to run operations that affect our natural surroundings and resources. The beautiful but unrealistic Libertarian idea that simply boycotting polluters will solve the problem is a pipe dream. Especially if the public is unaware they are polluting in the first place (or simply doesn’t care.) We need to agree on what “facts and science” are and deal with the problems accordingly. Present “free market” alternatives. That is healthy and good. But accept science before you make suggestions. Economic freedom doesn’t make toxic waste taste any better.

The environment is a classic economic "externality".  You want to purchase powder-coated metal parts from me, so I powder-coat the parts.  You give me money.  I give you painted parts.  We're the only two people involved in the deal.  But not if I dump a lot of leftover zinc and iron-phosphate into the Trinity River.  Then a lot of other people become a party to our deal.  That's called an "externality". 

The classic Anarchist position in this case is to boycott the polluters.  The classic Libertarian position, however, is to sue the shit out of them if they have done YOU harm.  (Plus, all environmental regulations should be voted on by Congress, not enforced by appointees.)  Go here and here for two more excellent Cato downloads on how we could help the environment, lower the bureaucratic costs, and also let manufacturing businesses prosper. 

5. Audit the Federal Reserve and, preferably, abolish it. A private banking organization with no oversight or accountability should NOT be in charge of the nation’s economy. Central banks were never a good idea. But private and secret central banks are even worse.

Oh yes, yes, yes, Mr. Sheffield.  Yes, yes, yes.  And when we End The Fed, let's level all their buildings and plow salt into the earth where they stood so nothing will ever grow there again. 
The Fed was founded in 1913 to stabilize the money supply.  Since 1913, the dollar has lost 97% of its value. 

6. Legalize gay marriage. It doesn’t affect you. Just let it happen, move on, and turn your attention to issues that actually affect us all.

Yeah.  If God doesn't like gay people, why does he keep making so many of them? 

7. Disrupt and destroy the partisan divide. We are all screwed if this extreme partisanship continues to divide us. The culture of the American media has made it impossible for us to discuss issues and make progress. The main source of this problem? Pigeonholing. If someone asks you if you support the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare, for the other partisans), your answer should be nuanced and thought-out and should NEVER place you squarely in a political party. The common practice of assuming what “side” someone is on based on a single opinion is the MOST destructive aspect of our modern political culture.

In my opinion, we have so much extreme partisanship and a partisan divide because the only choice we have is between two partisans.  You can pick the Crips or the Bloods.  I've commented on this dozens of times elsewhere, but let's say the Crips and Bloods are the only parties to hold office for the last 75 years.  They both advocate slavery, puppy torture, and poor dental hygiene.  But the Bloods have a better position on Healthcare. 

So you always support the Bloods.  Otherwise the Crips will win.  If a 3rd gang (The Libertarians) comes along advocating an end to slavery, puppy torture, and are pro-brushing and flossing, they're written off as a wasted vote.  They might help the dreaded Crips win !!  So what's the solution?  How do we end all of this partisanship of Us vs Them? 

Through a system of approval voting.  Go here for an explanation.  It would allow most of us to comfortably step outside the Us and Them boxes and safely try out some other points of view. 

8. Recognize that gun control is like drug control. They will always exist and banning them only makes them more dangerous. People have a Constitutional right to arm themselves and threatening to take that right away only makes the loony “patriot” gun nuts all the more rabid and frothing at the mouth for their insurrection fantasies. Compromise: Don’t sell assault rifles at K-Mart. Gun store owners are always going to be more scrutinizing than a 16-year-old making minimum wage at a big box store.

I became a rabid 2nd Amendment nutcase when one of my co-managers brought in plans for a WWI-era machine gun that we could make at the shop.  I totally understood those blueprints, and I'm a borderline mechanical idiot.  Ryan is correct.  Guns aren't going away if someone like me can make one. 
I don't have insurrection fantasies, but do have the fears.  I now sometimes carry a gun, because cops are too dang heavy. 

9. Remove the words “socialism” and “capitalism” from the healthcare debate. It should be universally considered the “noble” goal to provide affordable healthcare for all American citizens. The road to that goal is (and SHOULD be) up for debate, but the endgame should not. The question is how to pay for it and how to ensure that quality of care (and personal decision-making power) do not decrease. It’s going to be difficult to sort out, but it’s hard for me to believe that there is anyone in America who does not think it’s a positive thing for everyone to have healthcare. “Healthcare is not a right.” You’re correct. Now let’s sit down and figure out how to make it one in a way that we can all agree on. If your opinion on healthcare is little more than “I support the President because he’s a Democrat like me” or “I dang’ol hate commies!,” you should probably stop voting.

I think that true Capitalist Healthcare has never been tried.  Here's my modest proposal.  If this became the system in an 8-block Free Market Zone someplace south of downtown, people would be flying in from all over the state for treatment.  And I think this would meet Ryan's criteria of a noble solution for a noble goal.  Hit the link. Please. 
But I do like the word "capitalism", because when regulators and Nanny-Staters allow unbridled acts of capitalism to take place, capitalism usually works.  Lap Band surgery and Lasik eye surgeries have become 80% less expensive, mostly because Medicare, Medicaid and insurance policies don't cover them. 

10. All censorship is wrong. A message to the left wing: All speech must be permitted, even what most would consider “hate.” I’m sorry. Free speech is an “all or nothing” issue. We can never open the door for authority to tell us what we can and can’t say or express. A message for the right wing: Seriously, just think about it. Is it really worse for your kid to see a naked lady than it is for them to witness a mass murder? Obviously not, if you’ve ever watched primetime TV. Get your priorities straight.

Here's a Ryan Sheffield print.  It's gonna be the first one I order:

11. Recognize that nearly every one of those infographics, chain emails, or biased news articles you share with your friends is chock-full of misinformation, omission, and partisan agendas. Yes, even the ones that agree with your position. “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Mark Twain

That's why I probably won't watch the (ahem) debate between The Obamneys.  Much truthiness will be thrown around that's half-right, half-wrong, manipulated, and taken totally out of the original context.
 
My questions about the infographics, chain emails, news articles and partisan agendas usually come down to this...  a) Does this person want to leave me and everyone else alone? b) Does this person's agenda promote or discourage ethnic, racial, or national Tribalism?
Nothing else matters. 

12. Talk to each other. Stop being so goddamn clique-y with your politics. Talk to someone who disagrees with you without letting the debate devolve into a talking points recitation contest. We need more open minds, less partisan cheerleading. I feel like I’m watching a word-war between Crips and Bloods who haven’t yet realized that the only thing dividing them is the color of bandana they wear.

Sorry, I’ll shut up now.  

Some of my responses were old talking points and some were new. 

Sorry about breaking Ryan's post down into a word-war between Crips and Bloods and Libertarians. 

The LP bandana is red and blue with porcupines on it.  

I'll shut up too.  At least until tomorrow morning.  

Be sure to hit the links at the top for Ryan Sheffields art and stories !!   

Can you imagine Mitt Romney running this ad?

A modest proposal for the Federal Reserve

I found this over at Cafe Hayek, written by Sheila Baer. 

Are you concerned about growing income inequality in America? Are you resentful of all that wealth concentrated in the 1 percent? I’ve got the perfect solution, a modest proposal that involves just a small adjustment in the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy. Best of all, it will mean that none of us have to work for a living anymore.


For several years now, the Fed has been making money available to the financial sector at near-zero interest rates. Big banks and hedge funds, among others, have taken this cheap money and invested it in securities with high yields. This type of profit-making, called the “carry trade,” has been enormously profitable for them.

So why not let everyone participate?

Yep.  Bernanke prints the money.  Loans the money to friends at Zero interest.  Friends of Ben invest it at a higher interest rate.  Then profit.  Then repeat, over and over. 

In the meantime, any money that you 99% suckers have saved becomes devalued. 

Stop Adjusting For Inflation

Statists and their apologists often claim that government spending isn't out of control if you adjust for inflation. 

Bullshit. 

Inflation is nothing more than government spending without legislation. 

Every penny lost from these 1947 dollars was lost because of government-sponsored inflation.  They printed more and more money.  Flood the market with dollars, and dollars will purchase less and less. 
In an honest accounting system, any record of government spending would include the amount stolen from these dollars. 

Go here to see the source for the chart.  Interesting post. 

Ben Bernanke now has another competitor

This kid has done something illegal that Ben Bernanke is paid to do. 

Hit This Link !!!

Poster came from here. 

Hey, you people occupying Wall Street !! Look at this !!

There is no chance of a U.S. credit default

I heard former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan say this on Meet The Press yesterday. 

"The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default."

There.  Don't you feel better already? 

Why don't we go ahead and print 14 of some trillion dollar bills, and call it even?

What 28 ounces of gold would purchase in 1916. And today.

From Tarrant County Libertarian Party Chair John Spivey's Facebook page:

Hey Federal Reserve fans! I just did some fun research - Shortly after the Fed was hatched, in 1916, Chevy released it's "Model-T Slayer", the 490! Very slick, this roadster with the optional "full electrical system" ran $550 or 28.9 ounces of gold. Today, the Chevy's roadster, the Camaro Convertible 2 SS with several fun options runs $47,145... or 28.3 OUNCES OF GOLD! ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME!!!!!!

Coming Soon: The One Hundred Trillion Dollar Federal Reserve Note

This is a one hundred trillion dollar Federal Reserve Note.  (It's from the Zimbabwe printing press, not the Bernanke Publishing Company.) 

No one in Zimbabwe thought they would ever hold one of these. 

The people who inflated Zimbabwe's currency to the point of uselessness claimed to be doing so for the good of The People. 

This piece of paper isn't linked to anything of value, just like the U.S. currency isn't linked to anything of value. 

Printing one hundred trillion-dollar banknotes creates massive problems for the general populace, but it solves problems for the elite few who run the government printing presses.  Therefore, the elite few are going to run the shit out of the government printing presses. 

Like Zimbabwe, the U.S. has very few safeguards in place to prevent someone from printing all the money they think we need, and using it to pay their buddies for stimulus packages, TARP plans, deficit non-reduction schemes, and the like. 

It will happen here.  Hide and watch. 

In which Ron Paul gets Ben Bernanke to say that gold ain't money

Here's the most amazing video you'll ever see.

It explains why the stimulus didn't "work", other than in its intended purpose of helping Bernanke's buddies.
It explains why prices are rising.
It explains why our national debt is rising.

It reminds me of Clarence Darrow grilling William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Can you spot the difference between the genuine and the fake $100 bills?

This is a counterfeit $100 bill. 
Counterfeiters are printing them in China, and they are virtually indistinguishable from the ones that The Fed prints over on Blue Mound Road in Fort Worth. 

The FBI is working with the Secret Service to figure out how to stop these guys.  According to an agent that I met at a wedding, they're magnifying these fake bills to the size of a basketball court, and trying to detect little mistakes that will help distinguish these fakes from the real thing. 
This counterfeit money isn't backed by any commodity (gold, silver, etc.) and it could wreak havoc on our economy. 

This is a genuine $100 bill. 

There is almost no way to distinguish this one from the Chinese counterfeit one.  It isn't backed by any commodity (gold, silver, etc.) and it could wreak havoc on our economy. 

If you take either of these to a bank, you can swap them for 100 pictures of George Washington, or 20 pictures of Abraham Lincoln, or 5 pictures of Andrew Jackson.  The bank will not give you any gold or silver in exchange for them.  They are only worth what people think they're worth. 

Chinese counterfeiters and Ben Bernanke are both paying their bills with worthless paper.  All discussions of the new debt ceiling are fundamentally silly, because we've been paying our debts with worthless paper for about 35 years. 

In the meantime, don't bother looking at your paper money very closely.  All of it is fake. 

Yes, they walk among us

A very nice lady comes into my Starbucks almost every morning.  We've made small talk a few times. 

Today she showed up wearing this: 

Yeah, she's one of theTrue Believers who thinks that Judgement Day will be tomorrow. 

I asked her about any possible backup plans, just in case God/Jesus/Spirit didn't descend on Jerusalem and start holding court. 

She said that they don't even think about that possibility, since that would be "doubting God, and doubting God's word." 

She left me with some helpful tracts. 

I've scraped the main page from their website, mostly because you lazy folks NEVER hit links.  Don't bother reading it.  Just get the general flow of the thing. 

I can promise you this....  When the world doesn't end tomorrow, the Family Radio scaremongers will remain in business.  They'll drop back and punt to a later date.  The donations will continue to flow. 

Just like the Global Warmists will continue trying to panic the populace when the glaciers haven't melted in 2013. 

Just like the Warmongers kept banging the drum for more invasions after we didn't find WMD's in Iraq. 

Just like the early church kept going after the disappointment of not having Christ return within their lifetimes.

Just like we keep pumping money into so many things, rather than admit we need to start over. 

Here's the site.   Sorry for the lack of formatting.  If all of you readers are taken up into the sky, and I'm left behind to take care of the dachshunds, I'm going to spend my free time improving my HTML skills. 

**********************

The purpose of this tract is to inform you of the great
urgency there now is in the world for each and every person to be reconciled to
God. The Bible is the Word of God! Everything the Bible declares has the full
authority of God Himself. Now, at this time, information is coming forth
from the Bible which clearly reveals God’s plan for Judgment Day and the end of the
world itself. The Bible has opened up its secrets concerning the timeline of
history. This information was never previously known because God had closed up
His Word blocking any attempt to gain knowledge of the end of the world. We
read about this in the book of Daniel:

Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for
the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

However, now in our present day, God has opened up His Word
(the Bible) to reveal a great deal of truth concerning the end of time (and
many other teachings). Also, in the same chapter of Daniel, it says:

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

God is now opening up His Word because we have arrived at
the time of the end. For this reason, it has become very obvious to the serious
student of the Bible that we are now living in the last few days of earth’s
history. As a matter of fact, because we are living at the end of time, God is
now revealing to His people the following information:

THE BIBLE’S CALENDAR OF HISTORY

The Lord has opened up His people’s understanding to the
“Biblical calendar” found on the pages of the Bible. The genealogies of the book
of Genesis, primarily in chapters 5 and 11, can be shown to be a precise
calendar of the history of mankind in this world. The Bible’s calendar of
history is completely accurate and trustworthy.

Since this Bible calendar is given by God in His Word, it
can be trusted wholeheartedly. In this brief pamphlet, we will share some of
the conclusions derived from the Biblical calendar and from other studies in the
Scriptures. However, the amount of information available is far too
abundant and complex to get into much detail in this short pamphlet; but we
can and will give precise and compelling dates. These dates can be trusted
entirely because they come right out of the Bible. (EBiblefellowship has no affiliation with Family Radio; however, we highly recommend that you obtain a free copy of the book “We Are Almost There!” by writing to the following address: Family Stations, Inc., 290 Hegenberger Rd., Oakland, CA 94621. This book goes into far greater detail regarding the timing of Judgment Day and the end of the world. Also, you can read or download “We Are Almost There!” online at:
http://www.familyradio.com/).

TIMING OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN HISTORY

11,013 BC—Creation. God created the world and man
(Adam and Eve).

4990 BC—The flood of Noah’s day. All perished in a worldwide flood. Only Noah, his wife, and his 3
sons and their wives survived in the ark (6023 years from creation).

7 BC—The year Jesus Christ was born (11,006 years
from creation).

33 AD—The year Jesus Christ was crucified and the
church age began (11,045 years from creation; 5023 calendar years from the flood).

1988 AD—This year ended the church age and began the great tribulation period of 23 years (13,000 years from creation).

1994 AD—On September 7^th, the first 2300-day period of the great
tribulation came to an end and the latter rain began, commencing God’s plan to
save a great multitude of people outside of the churches (13,006 years from creation).

2011 AD—On May 21^st, Judgment Day will begin and the rapture (the taking up into heaven of God’s elect people) will occur at
the end of the 23-year great tribulation. On October 21^st, the world
will be destroyed by fire (7000 years from the flood; 13,023 years from creation).

ONE DAY IS AS 1000 YEARS

The child of God has learned from the Bible that the
language of Genesis 7 has a twofold meaning:

Genesis 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will
cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living
substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Historically, as God spoke these words, there were seven
days remaining for Noah, his family, and the animals to get into the
safety of the ark; but spiritually (and the Bible is a spiritual book), God was
speaking to all of the people of the world and was declaring that sinful mankind
would have 7000 years to find refuge in the salvation provided by Jesus
Christ. How can we know that? We know this is so based on what we read in 2
Peter, chapter 3:

2 Peter 3:6-8 Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are
now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The context of 2 Peter 3 is extremely important! In the
first few verses, God refers us to the destruction of the world by the flood
during Noah’s day. Then we find an interesting admonition that we ought not to be
“ignorant” of one thing, which is, 1 day is as
1000 years, and 1000 years is as 1 day. Immediately following this bit of
information is a very vivid description of the end of the present world by
fire.

What could God be telling us by identifying 1 day along
with 1000 years?

Since we recently have discovered the Biblical calendar of
history on the pages of the Bible, we find that the flood of Noah’s day occurred
in the year 4990 BC. This date is completely accurate (for further information on the Biblical timeline of history, please go to:
http://www.familyradio.com/). It was in
the year 4990 BC that God revealed to Noah that there would be yet 7 days until the
flood of waters would be upon the earth. Now, if we substitute 1000 years for
each one of those 7 days, we get 7000 years. And when we project 7000
years into the future from 4990 BC, we find that it falls on the year 2011 AD.

   4990 + 2011 = 7001

Note: When counting from an Old Testament date to a New Testament date, always
subtract one year because there is no year zero, resulting in:

   4990 + 2011 – 1
= 7000 years exactly.

The year 2011 AD will be the 7000^th year from
the flood of Noah’s day. It will be the end of the length of time given to
mankind to find grace in God’s sight. This means that the time to find refuge
in Christ has grown extremely short. We are only a little ways off from the
year 2011 AD!

It is not unusual that God’s people have been given
insight into the timing of the end of the world. Actually, the Bible tells us
this is normally the case. In times past, God has warned His people of
approaching periods of judgment:

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing,
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.

JUDGMENT DAY: MAY 21^st, 2011

We know that the year 2011 is the 7000^th year
from the flood. We also know that God will destroy this world in that year.
But when in 2011 will this occur?

The answer is amazing. Let’s take another look at the
flood account in the book of Genesis:

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same
day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of
heaven were opened.

Faithful to His Word, God did bring the flood 7 days later
in the 600^th year, on the 17^th day of the 2^nd
month of the calendar aligned with Noah’s lifespan. It was on this 17^th
day of the 2^nd month that God shut the door on the ark, securing
the safety of its occupants and also sealing the fate of everyone else in the
world outside of the ark. They would all now certainly perish in that
worldwide catastrophe.

Genesis 7:16,17 And they that went in, went in male
and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare
up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

Earlier it was mentioned that the church age came to an
end in the year 1988 AD. It so happens that the church age began on the day of Pentecost (May 22^nd) in the year 33 AD. Then 1955 years later, the church age came to its conclusion on May 21^st, which was the day before Pentecost in 1988.

The Bible teaches that the end of the church age would
occur simultaneously with the beginning of the great tribulation:

Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.

On May 21^st, 1988, God finished using the churches and
congregations of the world. The Spirit of God left all churches and Satan, the
man of sin, entered into the churches to rule at that point in time. The Bible
teaches us that this awful period of judgment upon the churches would last for
23 years. A full 23 years (8400 days exactly) would be from May 21 ^st, 1988 until May 21^st, 2011. This information was
discovered in the Bible completely apart from the information regarding the
7000 years from the flood.

Therefore, we see that the full 23-year tribulation period
concludes on May 21^st, 2011. This date is the exact day that the great
tribulation comes to its end, and this is also the most likely landing spot for the
7000 years from the flood of Noah’s day.

Keep in mind that God shut the door on the ark on the 17^th
day of the 2^nd month of Noah’s calendar. We also find that May 21 ^st, 2011 is the end of the great tribulation period. There is a strong
relationship between the 2^nd month and 17^th day of Noah’s
calendar and May 21^st, 2011 of our Gregorian calendar. This
relationship cannot be readily seen until we discover that there is another
calendar to consider, which is the Hebrew (or Biblical) calendar. May 21 ^st, 2011 happens to be the 17^th day of the 2^nd

month of the Hebrew calendar. By this, God is confirming to us that we have a very
correct understanding regarding the 7000-year timeline from the flood. May 21 ^st, 2011 is the equivalent date to the date when God shut the door on Noah’s
ark. Through this and much other Biblical information, we find that May 21 ^st, 2011 will be the day when God takes up into heaven His elect people.
May 21^st, 2011 will be Judgment Day! This is the day God shuts the door of salvation on
the world.

In other words, in having the great tribulation period
conclude on a day that identifies with the 17^th day of the 2^nd

month of Noah’s calendar, God is without question confirming to us that this is
the day He intends to shut forever the door of entry into heaven:

John 10:9
I am the door: by me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

The Bible is very clear that Christ is the only way into
heaven. He is the only portal into the glorious kingdom of heaven.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any
other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved.

Once the door (Jesus) is shut on Judgment Day, there is no more salvation
possible on earth:

Revelation 3:7 …These things saith he that is holy,
he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man
shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

The Bible teaches that on May 21^st, 2011, only true believers elected by God to receive salvation will be raptured
(taken up) out of this world to meet the Lord in the air and forever be with the
Lord:

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

All the rest of mankind (billions of people) will be left behind to experience the awful judgment of God, a horrible period of 5 months of torment upon earth:

Revelation 9:3-5 And there came out of the smoke
locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the
earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass
of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men
which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given
that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five
months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh
a man.

THE END OF THE WORLD: OCTOBER 21^st, 2011

By God’s grace and tremendous mercy, He is giving us
advanced warning as to what He is about to do. On Judgment Day, May 21^st, 2011, this 5-month period of horrible torment will begin for all the inhabitants of the earth. It will be on May 21^st that God will raise up all the dead
that have ever died from their graves. Earthquakes will ravage the whole world
as the earth will no longer conceal its dead (Isaiah 26:21). People who died as saved individuals will experience the resurrection of their bodies and immediately leave this world to forever be with the Lord. Those who died unsaved will be raised up as well, but only to have their lifeless bodies scattered about the face of all the earth. Death will be everywhere.

The Lord also emphasizes these awful 5 months of destruction
in the final verse of Genesis, chapter 7:

Genesis 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the
earth an hundred and fifty days.

Five months after May 21^st, 2011 will be October 21^st, 2011. It so happens that October 21^st of 2011 is also the
last day of the Biblical Feast of Tabernacles (held simultaneously with the
Feast of Ingathering). Tabernacles is held in the 7^th month of the
Hebrew calendar. The way God speaks of this feast in the Bible is very
significant:

Exodus 23:16 …the feast of ingathering, which is
in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of
the field.

Exodus 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of
weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at
the year's end.

The Feast of Tabernacles / Ingathering was said to be in
the “end of the year” even though it was observed in the Hebrew 7^th

month, which is not the end of the year. The reason for this is that the
spiritual fulfillment of this particular feast is the end of the world. The date October 21^st,
2011 will be the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the
last day of earth’s existence. The Bible describes what will take place on October 21^st, 2011 in the following passage:

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as
a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.

Along with the entire world and universe, all those who
have sinned against God and were left behind will likewise be consumed by this
fire and be eternally destroyed:

2 Thessalonians 1:8,9 In flaming fire taking vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power;

On October 21^st, 2011, God will completely destroy this creation and all of the people who never experienced the salvation of Jesus Christ along with it. The awful payment for their sinful rebellion against God will be completed by the loss of everlasting life. On October 21^st, 2011, all of these poor people will cease to exist from that point forward. How sad that noble man, made in God’s image, will die like a beast and perish forever:

Psalm 49:12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

There is much more to share. But please, dear soul, be warned that the time for salvation is drawing to a rapid close! God
has given the world 7000 years from the flood, and now only a few days remain
until we reach May 21^st, 2011. Before we know it, time will have run
completely out. The few grains of sand remaining in our hourglass will have
elapsed and be gone forever. Although little time remains, there is
still wonderful hope for anyone today:

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a
time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

It does not take God much time at all to save someone. In
the last hours of a terribly sinful life, the thief on the cross was saved by
Christ:

Luke 23:42,43 And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Our prayer is that you will receive this tract in the
spirit of genuine concern in which it is being offered. As you read this
pamphlet, please carefully consider the verses quoted from the Bible, for they
are the Word of God, and as such, possess absolute power and authority. Our only
hope for salvation is through the reading of the Word of God. It is now that
the door of heaven (Christ) is open. It is now that God is saving a great
multitude of people from around the world outside of the churches and
congregations:

Revelation 7:9,13,14 After this I beheld, and, lo, a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands; …What are these which are arrayed
in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

God saves through the hearing of the Word of God and no
other way:

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.

Read the Bible with all your family (especially your
children); and along with your reading, pray for mercy. Pray to the merciful and
gracious God of the Bible that He might deliver you from the approaching
destruction. We learn a little about God’s tremendous compassion in the book
of Jonah. God also gave advance warning to the people of Nineveh regarding the
destruction of their city:

Jonah 3:4-9 And Jonah began to enter into the
city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall
be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast,
and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For
word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid
his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he
caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the
king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste
any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered
with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from
his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God
will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

God did not destroy the people of Nineveh. Although there
is no possibility that God will not follow through on His intention to destroy
the world in 2011, we can know from His dealings with the people of Nineveh that
God is tenderhearted and full of mercy. This should encourage each one of us
to go to God and beseech Him for His great mercy.

Psalm 86:15,16 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and
gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and
have mercy upon me;…

**********************

Yeah.  What he said.  If Judgement Day is tomorrow, I don't think I'm going to be posting any longer.  I'll be too busy being tormented.  Or looting, depending on how one interprets the Book Of Revelation. 
  
On the upside, I think God will probably End The Fed. 

Ron Paul, the cost of diapers, and Ben Bernanke's toilet paper

Kimberly-Clark is about to raise the prices of diapers and toilet paper. 

DALLAS, March 17, 2011-Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today announced that its baby and child care and consumer tissue businesses are notifying customers of plans to raise prices in North America during the second and third quarters of 2011. The company said the increases are necessary to offset inflationary pressure from higher raw material and energy costs.

Net selling prices in the U.S. and Canada for Huggies baby wipes and diapers, Pull-Ups training pants and GoodNites youth pants will increase on average between 3 and 7 percent, with implementation timing ranging from June 19, 2011 to August 17, 2011. In addition, net selling prices in the U.S. for Cottonelle and Scott 1000 bathroom tissue will increase approximately 7 percent, effective June 19, 2011. The price changes vary by brand and pack size. Kimberly-Clark's net sales in North America for these consumer products exceeded $4 billion in 2010.

Here's who the price increase is hitting the hardest, from a piece by Monika Diaz of WFAA:

DALLAS — A Dallas non-profit is keeping a close eye on the disposable diaper price hike soon to hit stores, and it worries it will hurt their budget.
"We can't afford to be hit," said Jeanne Reyer, executive director of Captain Hope's Kids.
Every week, the charity distributes 9,000 diapers to agencies that help homeless babies and toddlers across North Texas.
"We are spending nearly $7,000 in diapers a month," Reyer said.
Irving-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced it is going to increase its prices in North America for products including diapers, tissue paper and toilet paper.
For example, the cost of Cottonelle toilet paper will go up 7 percent; the price for Huggies diapers, baby wipes and and training pants will jump between three and seven percent.
Kimberly-Clark claims the hike is needed because of the rising costs for raw materials to make its products.
Other companies, including Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, are also looking at rolling out price increases.

And here's the reaon for all of this misery, as explained by Dr. Ron Paul.  Ron Paul's political opponents paint him as naive, out-of-the-mainstream, an extremist, and overly pessimistic. 
They call him Dr. No. 
But he's almost always right. 
This is an excerpt from his book The Revolution: A Manifesto:

When the Fed intervenes like this, increasing the money supply with money and credit it creates out of thin air, it causes all kinds of economic problems.  It decreases the value of the dollar, thereby making people poorer.  and in the long run even the apparent stimulus to the economy that comes from all the additional borrowing and spending turns out to be harmful as well, for this phony prosperity actually sows the seeds for hard times and recession down the road. 

First, consider the effects of inflation, by which we mean the Fed's increase in the supply of money, on the value of the dollar.  By increasing the supply of money, the Federal Reserve lowers the value of every dollar that exists. 

(That's why the government is trying to get you out of dollars, and into purchases of things they want you to buy.  Like purchasing all the houses that they're stuck with from their Community Reinvestment Act/Fannie/Freddie real estate debacle, or purchasing cars and trucks from those new auto companies they acquired.  They are honest to God trying to get you to spend money by announcing that your money will soon be worth less.  Good God in heaven.)

If the supply of Mickey Mantle baseball cards were suddenly to increase a millionfold, each individual card would become almost valueless.  The same principle applies to money: the more the Fed creates, the less value each individual monetary unit possesses.  When the money supply is increased, prices rise -  with each dollar now worth less than before, it can purchase fewer goods than it could in the past.  Or imagine an art auction in which bidders are each given an additional million dollars.  Would we not expect bids to go up?  The market works the same way, except in a free market there are numerous sellers instead of the one seller in an auction. 

All right, some may say, prices may indeed rise, but so do wages and salaries, and therefore inflation causes no real problems on net. 

This misconception overlooks one of the most insidious and immoral effects of inflation: its redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to the politically well connected.  The price increases that take place as a result of inflation do not occur all at once and to the same degree.  Those who receive the new money first receive it before prices have yet risen.  They enjoy a windfall.  Meanwhile, as they spend the new money, and the next wave of recipients spend it, and so on, prices begin to rise throughout the economy - well before the new money has trickled down to most people. 

The average person is now paying higher prices while still earning his old income, which has not yet been adjusted to account for the higher money supply.  By the time the new money has made its way throughout the economy, average people have all this time been paying higher prices, and only now can begin to break even.  The enrichment of the politically well connected - in other words, those who get the newly created money first: government contractors, big banks, and the like - comes at the direct expense of everyone else.

These are known as the distribution effects, or Cantillon effects, of inflation, after economist Richard Cantillon.  The average person is silently robbed through this invisible means and usually doesn't understand what exactly is happening to him. 
And almost no one in the political establishment has an incentive to tell him. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the price of diapers and toilet paper is going up.  There isn't a long-term shortage of wood pulp, paper, or anything else.  There's an increase in the money supply.   Ben Bernanke is printing it. 
If you caught someone in your home stealing 3-7% of your savings, I hope that you would shoot him, or at least knock him in the head, "civility" be damned. 
Nobody voted for this, nobody is debating it.  The Fed is paying off Washington's debts by printing more money.  It doesn't hurt the rich that much, since they typically get to spend the funny money first, and it's a horrible burden on the poor. 

If current trends continue, we won't have to worry about the high cost of Kimberly Clark's toilet paper.  Ben Bernanke's will be a lot less valuable. 

Pics came from here and here and here. 

Gene Simmons of KISS says we should End The Fed

If we've won over The God Of Thunder, can the rest of America be far behind?



And just for the heck of it, I think I first saw this on Harper's site.  Here's Gene Simmons doing a military medley for the troops.  It kinda works, doesn't it? 

Why Libertarians favor a small government

This is why LIbertarians are so adamant about a small government.  We want a very small government.  In the words of Grover Norquist, we want a government small enough to drown in a bathtub. 
Here's Rep. Maxine Waters, quizzing Ben Bernanke and confusing the heck out of the Discount Rate and the Federal Funds rate.   

Watch CBS News Videos Online

If you need help, you can go here, or read this. 

Please remember, Rep. Waters has been on the House Financial Services Committee for years.  Years.  She has a staff.   
I'm no Ben Bernanke (or Federal Reserve) fan, but you have to enjoy the look on Bernanke's face.  Remember the Fed hearings where Alan Greenspan had to answer questions that Mary Bono (the late Congressman Sonny Bono's widow) was reading from index cards?  This is kinda like that, but worse. 

Go here, where even CBS is wondering "Is Maxine Waters Really As Dumb As She Seems?"

Remember, when it comes to government involvement in almost anything, small is good.  Very small. 

I found the Dummies book cover on Stephen Smith's blog.

Why things are costing more and more and more and more

I found a great link on Radley Balko's site.

Check out these pics of American currency.


If you go to the site, notice how many banknotes said "payable in gold" or "two dollars in silver" or "payable to the bearer on demand", or similar verbiage. You could walk into the bank and swap this piece of paper for some silver or gold.

Do you think our government was a little more careful about printing batches of these babies?

Compare that system to the junk you see below. The little piece of paper that you sometimes see blowing down the street, and don't even bother to chase after? It says "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE".

Why is it legal tender? Because they say so.

There are no longer any safeguards in place to prevent our government from spending these in the billions and printing these things by the trillions. You can to RonPaul.com for a good explanation of Fiat Money, Inflation, and Dr. Paul's proposal for an open competition in currencies.

Good luck when prices start doubling. A special prize will be awarded to the reader who sends me the first earnest MSM editorial blaming greedy corporations for the price increases.

Ben Bernanke - Time Magazine's Person Of The Year

Ben Bernanke, violently fighting against Ron Paul's "Audit The Fed" movement, is Time Magazine's Person Of The Year.

Gag me with a dirty diaper.

My vote would go to The Climaquiddick hacker/whistleblower. Remember when whistleblowers (who saved taxpayers and investors millions of dollars) were lionized and admired?

The Climategate Hacker's achievements makes Bernanke's inflationary achievements look small.

Bernie Madoff vs The U.S. Dollar - which was the worst investment?

Now we're getting somewhere.
Ron Paul has made a motion for Congress to consider allowing alternative currencies in the United States.




Why is this a good thing?
We in the U.S. now have what is called a "fiat" currency. A fiat, according to these folks, is "a command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort".

In other words, all those pictures of dead presidents printed on greenish paper in your purse or wallet or checking account? They're only worth something because our government has declared that they are worth something, and must be accepted for all debts, public and private.

But that sounds like a reasonable system, doesn't it? What would happen to retail cashiers if they had to have registers with 3,682 different bill and coin slots? What would happen to pricing? Exchange rates? Wouldn't things get complicated?

Yes, having only one type of currency in circulation is convenient. But who controls the amount of this fiat currency in circulation?

Senators who have to be re-elected every few years. Representatives who believe that their congressional district is somehow special, and needs money. Presidents who want to send the kids off to Foreign Adventures in a sandbox somewhere on the other side of the world.

Our government spends more than it takes in because they know if they get in trouble, they can always print more money.
Here's a chart showing the number of dollars printed, in billions, ever since the creation of The Federal Reserve. Note the Obama uptick on the far right. A 2009 dollar is now worth a 1913 nickel.

This devalued crap was printed to pay off government debts.

The Federal Reserve was created to stabilize the money supply. The dollar has lost 95% of its value since then. Things have less value as they become more common.

What do you think this new mega-increase in the money supply will do to the price of eggs and butter and beer?

(A special prize will be given to the first reader to email me an editorial blaming these upcoming price hikes on GREEDY CORPORATIONS.)

And why can our government get away with this? It's because our currency doesn't have a competitor. If someone owes me money, I'm required to accept Obamabucks as payment. (Or Bushbucks, Clintonbucks, Reganbucks, Bernankebucks, Greenspanbucks, etc. I'll be fair.)

What would happen if some banks were once again allowed to print their own currency, the way many banks did prior to the government monopoly? (One of our worst presidents once made it illegal to own gold, BTW. Statists hate, hate, hate competition.)

What would happen if some of these banks had honest managers/owners, and conscientious boards of directors, and they vowed to keep their money supply at a constant level?

Whose currency would you prefer? The system run by these hypothetical banks, or the system currently overseen by Reid, Pelosi, Obama, Bernanke and Company?

People would start asking if there's anything worse than losing 95% of value. Taken as a whole, even Bernie Madoff's investors fared better than that.

End The Fed, by Congressman Ron Paul - Pure, Undiluted Greatness

I got an advance copy of a long-awaited book in the mail today. Here's one of the opening paragraphs.

"....After all is said and done, the Fed has one power that is unique to it alone: it enables the creation of money out of thin air....Given that money is one half of every commercial transaction and that whole civilizations literally rise and fall based on the quality of their money, we are talking about an awesome power, one that flies under cover of night. It is the power to weave illusions that appear real as long as they last. That is the very core of the Fed's power.
As President Obama said of the economic boom that went bust: "I think it's important to understand that some of that wealth was illusory in the first place."
Exactly.

Those are among the opening paragraphs of Ron Paul's new book "End The Fed". I'm about halfway through my advance copy (I LOVE my new status as a member of the fourth estate), and so far, the book is pure, undiluted greatness. Brilliant.


When I get through reading a good book, there are markings on about 10% of the pages. By the time I got a few pages into "End The Fed", I was losing the ability to distinguish between the good, the great, the superlative, and the immortal passages that should be tattooed on Ben Bernanke's nether regions.
There's no point in underlining and highlighting in a book when it inspires this kind of frantic vandalism:


Here are a few of Dr. Paul's comments on the Fed's practice of pumping money into the economy whenever it suits them:


"It is and should be a mainstream cause to end the power and secrecy of the Fed. It's my own view that ending the Fed would address the most vexing problems of politics of our time. It would bring and end to dollar depreciation. It would take away from the government the means to fund its endless wars. It would curb the government's attacks on the civil liberties of Americans, stop its vast debt accumulation that will be paid by future generations, and arrest its massive expansions of the welfare state that has turned us into a nation of dependents....Essentially you take away from the government the capacity to expand without limit. It is the first step to restoring constitutional government. Without the Fed, the federal government would have to live within its means. It would still be too big and too intrusive, just like all state governments are today, but the outrageous empire at home and abroad would have to come to and end."


This little snippet got 3 stars in the margin:


"Even the Fed itself claims that part of its job is to keep inflation in check. This is something like the tobacco industry claiming that it is trying to stop smoking or the automobile industry claiming that it is trying to control road congestion. The Fed is in the business of generating inflation.....the entire reason for the Fed's existence is to generate more (inflation), not less of it.
What the largest banks desire is precisely what we might expect any large corporation to desire: privatized profits and socialized losses. The profits come from successful loan activities, sometimes during economic booms. But when the boom turns to bust, the losses are absorbed by third parties and do not affect the bottom line. To cover losses requires a supply of money that stretches to meet bankers' demands.....
Whenever instability turns up, so do efforts to socialize the losses."

Paul goes on to explain the history of the Fed, and how its stated goal was to stabilize the money supply. But then,


"In practice the reality has been much different. One only needs to reflect on the dramatic decline in the value of the dollar that has taken place since the Fed was established in 1913. The goods and services you could buy for $1.00 in 1913 now cost nearly $21.00. Another way to look at this is from the perspective of the purchasing power of the dollar itself. It has fallen to less than $.05 of its 1913 value. We might say that the government and its banking cartel have together stolen $.95 of every dollar as they have pursued a relentlessly inflationary policy."


Dr. Paul gives us a chapter on his intellectual influences, and gives some credit to his grandmother, who knew her Bible well. Shortly after the end of WW2, prices were rising because of inflationary war financing, causing Grandmother Paul to remember Genesis 47:15, a passage describing Joseph has become Pharaoh's Bread Czar:

"So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, 'Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.' "
Our current problem was well established, even in ancient Egypt. Debased currencies fail. Governments cannot manage money.

That's my new favorite Bible verse. Genesis 47:15.
Dr. Paul also discusses FDR's ham-handed attempts to eliminate competitors of Fed Funny Money:

"Roosevelt, by executive order (6102) in 1933, confiscated all gold held by private citizens, with a few minor exceptions such as numismatic (collector) coins, and levied severe penalties on those who disobeyed. The penalty (for owning gold) was $10,000 and/or ten years in prison. In today's money, that's more like $400,000. It was a rather bold, arrogant move from which much harm has come."

And then he writes:

Before gold became legal in 1975, many gold bugs were buying it. I purchased my first gold shortly after the breakdown of the Bretton Woods Agreement. The law was circumvented by buying numismatic coins (any coin dated 1947 or older was considered a numismatic coin). Mexico accommodated American citizens by minting the beautiful Mexican 50 peso, weighing 1.2 ounces, and placing the date 1947 on it.

I love it. I've read through chapter 3, but will probably finish the book tonight.
You must own this book.
Sometime soon, when we're assured of the official on-sale date, we're going to have the Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup at the Border's Books at Hulen and I-30 in Fort Worth. This book will be the topic for discussion.
Stay tuned.