Part 8 - The Gold Rush Currency Wars

Yup.

WP

The Black Swan is on the Wing

Yes, Karl Denninger is correct: "Without comment... none is necessary..."



However, I will add what a friend is oft fond of stating: "I for one look forward to the coming pandemonium- debts will be paid."

WP

Forty Years since Nixon's Great Crime

In 2004, 2005, and 2007 I posted about the Nixon ending the Gold Standard.

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of Nixon ending the Gold Standard and since then, especially in the past four years our "leaders" have fully bankrupted us.

Gold in 1971 was priced at the artificial price of $35.00FRN because of the Bretton Woods System and by the end of 1971 it was priced at $44.20FRN- a 38.804% increase. Then, by the end of 1972 an ounce of gold sold for $70.30FRN a jump of just over 100% in sixteen and half (16½) months, peaked at the end of February 1975 at $185.25FRN and was down to $140.25FRN at the end of the year (appreciation to KITCO for making the graphs available). From then until the peak in 1980 until 1999 the pricing stayed relatively flat and if interested, you can see the average price from 1968 until today here (appreciation to the Gold Information Network for having the data available to all).

Now, let us recall that the peak price for gold was January 21st, 1980 at $850.00FRN and that it recently hit a "high price" of $1814.80FRN on the spot market which seems on the surface to be a new record, but it is not.

Thanks to inflation, it will take $2,328.45FRN to beat the old record, in equivalent FRN (1980 $850.00FRN = 2011 $2,328.44). This means that gold is $513.65FRN away from the record or 35.331% away and one third (1/3rd) away which seems like a lot, but even the JPMorgue thinks it very well may hit this price and pass it by the end of this year.

Many think and believe it- I know I do but unfortunately, I am not a wealthy man, nor do I have funds to allocate to it and frankly never have. My Wife and I put food on the table, pay our bills and store what we can and have done so for a number of years but never really had a lot of disposable funds. Some of this was unintended bills, others were our mistakes and will never blame others for OUR choices.

Banksters, corporations, politicians, and parasites do such- we do not. They never risk themselves, always others and the fruits of others labors is what they choose to use via corrupt legislation that become laws- which they pay for to the politicians.

Everyone knows this and most in the united States have their livelihood tied to this and they do not want it to end.

However, it cannot last as there is NO SUCH THING AS PERPETUAL MOTION.

The Republic of these United States is bankrupt and yesterday, the Iowa Straw Poll was won by Michele Bachmann by LESS one percent (1%). A woman who has always worked for government- first as an IRS Agent who put people in jail over taxes and then her husband and she collected a portion of her funds from foster kids.

The Bachmanns were licensed by the state from 1992 to 2000 to handle up to three foster children at a time; the last child arrived in 1998. They began by offering short-term care for girls with eating disorders who were treated through a program at the University of Minnesota, said George Hendrickson, the chief executive of PATH Minnesota, the private agency that handled the placements.

While Mrs. Bachmann may have envisioned herself caring for unwed mothers, as she said in 2006, Mr. Hendrickson, who worked with the couple for four years, said that to his knowledge, none were pregnant.

He said the Bachmann home was "technically considered a treatment home," which offered a higher level of reimbursement. (The current rate is $47 a day, Mr. Hendrickson said.) That designation required a higher standard of care from parents who had the educational and emotional capability to handle "serious mental health issues." Dr. Bachmann's training was an asset.

Now, realize today's $47.00FRN rate was just over $29.00FRN's (once again, using the BLS Inflation Calculator for this) in 1992 or $7830.00FRN for roughly nine months per child (scaled down to nine months for this figure for 1992). Today, that would be $12,597.31 for one kid (not counting the changes in law since then and the increase in monies via other programs for foster children). By 2000 that daily stipend was $43.68 or $11,793.60 for nine months per child. This does not take into account any ancillary business her husband GAINED by word of mouth for his therapy business because of the foster children.

Now, granted, these figures are estimation on my part but I think them valid when looking at this woman and those who tout her as a real conservative and a solution for our bankruptcy and in fact, most, as usual will not look or hear anything but soundbites.

Everyone of the GOP slate, except for one, has recently touted that the Federal Reserve needs auditing and the Thursday "debate" put on by FAUX NEWS was full of laughter due to the responses of those on stage- except for one, Ron Paul.

Across the Web, TV, Radio there are those who are and will continue to do their damndest to see him fail.

Each has a stake in his failure- whether they firmly believe he is wrong or have monied interests in the outcome, the goal is the same- the continuation of our ruin.

Ron Paul entered politics specifically because of Nixon's Great Crime and the only man who is running who has worked his entire career to see it corrected.

While still a medical resident during the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which caused him to read many publications by Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics. He came to believe that what the Austrian school economists wrote was becoming true on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon "closed the gold window" by implementing the U.S. dollar's complete departure from the gold standard. That same day, the young physician decided to enter politics, saying later, "After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded."

It is good to see more and more have awakened and are waking up, but they need context and history.

A goodly portion in Iowa did yesterday as Ron Paul nearly came in first- missed it by nine tenths of a one point (9/10ths of 1%) and for those that think this a loss, I will point out that the IRS Agent had roughly twenty percent (20%) of her supporters either cast votes for others or not at all and squandered $35,310.00FRN on poll tickets.

If he had won first place, all of those wanting Ron Paul to fail would have touted that the poll meant nothing, but they cannot now as those very same are touting it as propelling the IRS Agent into the lead.

This was a huge win for Ron Paul, but even more so for Liberty as he has often said, it is not about him, but the ideas of Liberty and Freedom.

Ron Paul started his career forty years ago, has spent those forty years fighting against Nixon's Great Crime and the next sixteen months will be the culmination.

What do you want, those that wish to dictate how you and others live, or a man who started his his career in politics for his and others liberties?

WP

Clinton asks Congress, whose side are you on?

Clinton asks Congress, whose side are you on?
By BRADLEY KLAPPER

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is questioning the priorities of lawmakers criticizing the U.S. intervention in Libya.

She's asking bluntly, "Whose side are you on?"

Hitlery, the answer to that question is simple, the Constitution of these United States, perhaps you should read it sometime you venomous harpy.

WP

The Silver Bears Are Back For Round Three, Explaining Two Key Recent Developments In The World Of Silver

The Silver Bears Are Back For Round Three, Explaining Two Key Recent Developments In The World Of Silver

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/09/2011 19:47 -0500

Confused by the recent downdraft in the price of (paper) silver... Even more confused by what is happening with the record open interest in the metal? Have no fear. The bears are here, and explain things in their traditionally simple and sound effect-filled way.

Hit the link and read the rest.

"Game over Ben."

WP

Fed To Remit A Record $78.4 Billion In Ponzi Cash To Treasury

Fed To Remit A Record $78.4 Billion In Ponzi Cash To Treasury

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/10/2011 13:43 -0500

After the Fed bought over $1 trillion of US Treasury bonds in the past 2 years, it is now reverse payback time, in which the Fed gives the Treasury just a little more cash. The FRB announced that per "unaudited" 2010 results (obviously), the Fed is provisioning to pay the Treasury $78.4 billion, a 50%+ increase from the $47 billion paid to the Treasury in 2009. What is the basis of this payment? Why the Fed's charter of course: "Under the Board's policy, the residual earnings of each Federal Reserve Bank, after providing for the costs of operations, payment of dividends, and the amount necessary to equate surplus with capital paid-in, are distributed to the U.S. Treasury." Which means that as the Fed buys up ever more Treasurys, and as rates continue their inexorable rise higher, the Fed will continue to receive interest payments from the US Treasury, which, at the end of every year, it will promptly remit back to whoever the current incarnation of Tim Geithner is, in essence nullifying the "checks and balances" impact of cash out interest expense on Treasury, and thus government, deficit decisions. In fact, the greater the amount of debt issued, and therefore monetized, the less the Treasury actually has to pay in interest. And in the meantime, the higher interest rates go, the greater the duration-adjusted loss on Fed holdings. But who cares about those: after all, results are all "unaudited" and the Fed will hold all securities to the earlier of "maturity" or default - as if anyone doubts which will happen first.

The following sums it up perfectly.

by Quinvarius
on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 13:59
#864371

Credit cards and mortgages should work this way.

Why the Hell am I paying taxes for anything if the government gets paid to borow money? Why don't they just borrow even more money so they can make a bigger profit?

What a kick in the ass for a guy who works for a living. This is all so insulting, it is like Bernie Madoff telling you what he is really going to do with your money before you give it to him.

WP

The Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis Of QE2, And How To Best Hedge For Federal Reserve "Fat Tail" Risks

At least Bank of America is honest as to why it continues to recommend investors pursue risk assets: "Liquidity-friendly global central bank policies remain the lynchpin of our constructive view on risk assets...Our economics team believes that QE2 will come in the form of purchases of Treasury securities of $500bn - $750bn every six months until the economy reaccelerates."

As Hansel properly asked:

on Sun, 10/03/2010 - 16:54
#622777
Exactly. How would this plan be any different from what Reichsbank did?

The three B's (Bullets, Beans and Bacon) folks, first and foremost- then silver & gold  and in the exact order presented.

WP

FUCK YOU CHARLIE MUNGER!

Munger, your gurgles cannot come soon enough.

And while I am at it, you FUCK YOU TOO Paul Krugman- you delusional RAT-FACED ass!

September 25, 2010, 8:38 am
Default Is In Our Stars

Not in ourselves.

I think it's fair to say that a majority of economists believe that excessive private debt played a key role in getting us into this economic mess, and is playing a key role in preventing us from getting out. So, how does it end?

A naive view says that what we need is a return to virtue: everyone needs to save more, pay down debt, and restore healthy balance sheets.

The problem with this view is the fallacy of composition: when everyone tries to pay down debt at the same time, the result is a depressed economy and falling inflation, which cause the ratio of debt to income to rise if anything. That is, we're living in a world in which the twin paradoxes of thrift and deleveraging hold, and hence in which individual virtue ends up being collective vice.

You cheered this crap along- feeling your way and then blame the folks you helped rape!?! At least Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has the balls to admit when he is wrong.

Time to shut down the US Federal Reserve?
June 29th, 2010

Like a mad aunt, the Fed is slowly losing its marbles.

Kartik Athreya, senior economist for the Richmond Fed, has written a paper condemning economic bloggers as chronically stupid and a threat to public order.

Matters of economic policy should be reserved to a priesthood with the correct post-doctoral credentials, which would of course have excluded David Hume, Adam Smith, and arguably John Maynard Keynes (a mathematics graduate, with a tripos foray in moral sciences).

"Writers who have not taken a year of PhD coursework in a decent economics department (and passed their PhD qualifying exams), cannot meaningfully advance the discussion on economic policy."

Don't you just love that throw-away line "decent"? Dr Athreya hails from the University of Iowa.

"The response of the untrained to the crisis has been startling. The real issue is that there is an extremely low likelihood that the speculations of the untrained, on a topic almost pathologically riddled by dynamic considerations and feedback effects, will offer anything new. Moreover, there is a substantial likelihood that it will instead offer something incoherent or misleading."

And now states:

Shut Down the Fed (Part II)
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
September 27th, 2010

I apologise to readers around the world for having defended the emergency stimulus policies of the US Federal Reserve, and for arguing like an imbecile naif that the Fed would not succumb to drug addiction, political abuse, and mad intoxicated debauchery, once it began taking its first shots of quantitative easing.

Ben Bernanke has not only refused to abandon his idee fixe of an "inflation target", a key cause of the global central banking catastrophe of the last twenty years (because it can and did allow asset booms to run amok, and let credit levels reach dangerous extremes).

Worse still, he seems determined to print trillions of emergency stimulus without commensurate emergency justification to test his Princeton theories, which by the way are as old as the hills. Keynes ridiculed the "tyranny of the general price level" in the early 1930s, and quite rightly so. Bernanke is reviving a doctrine that was already shown to be bunk eighty years ago.

So all those hillsmen in Idaho, with their Colt 45s and boxes of Krugerrands, who sent furious emails to the Telegraph accusing me of defending a hyperinflating establishment cabal, were right all along. The Fed is indeed out of control.

Hey Anthony "Bug-Face" Wiener & Henry "PIG-FACE BASTARD" Waxman, THE SAME GOES FOR YOU TOO!

WP

Whistle Blower Comes Forward With Solid Proof The Price Of Gold And Silver Is Being Manipulated By Major Financial Institutions

Whistle Blower Comes Forward With Solid Proof The Price Of Gold And Silver Is Being Manipulated By Major Financial Institutions

April 12, 2010
By Michael T Snyder

(The Intelligence Daily) — For a long time many of us have had very serious suspicions that the prices of gold and silver were being highly manipulated. But now, thanks to the mind blowing testimony of one very brave whistle blower, the blatant manipulation of the world gold and silver markets is being blown wide open. What you are about to read below is absolutely staggering. Once the American people learn how incredibly corrupt the world financial system is, it is going to change everything. The government that we are all trusting to guard the integrity of the financial system is failing to do that job. It turns out that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has been sitting on solid evidence that the elite banking powers have been openly and blatantly manipulating the price of gold and silver. Even though they were basically handed a “smoking gun”, they have done absolutely nothing with it. But now the information has gone public and the CFTC is red-faced.

First video embedded in article that will not display.



Second video embedded in article that will not display.


http://www.youtube.com/v/jok3XLBz_SI

Reading the linked articles from the comments, I found the follwoing video from Germany, under under Joe Fitzroy's comment dated April 13, 2010 @ 11:50PM, which shows the tungsten based "gold bars".



It is coming.



Base Staccato you Sons of Bitches! Base Staccato!

WP

Barclays' View On The GMAC Scandal Underscores The Perceived Fall-Out Severity In Judicial States

Barclays' View On The GMAC Scandal Underscores The Perceived Fall-Out Severity In Judicial States

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/20/2010 23:41 -0500

From Barclays' Jasraj Vaidya, who states: "At this stage, we are unable to ascertain what that exact issue might be. What is certain is that foreclosure timelines in those states for GMAC loans will be extend further, potentially adversely affecting their eventual severity" which echoes verbatim what Zero Hedge suggested a week ago on the Florida Judge news: "The implications for the REO and foreclosures track for banks could be dire as a result of this ruling, as this could severely impact the ongoing attempt by banks to hide as much excess inventory in their books in the quietest way possible." Jasraj also notes: "Using publicly available data from HUD and RealtyTrac, we have created a list of judicial foreclosure states. These are states where judicial foreclosures are most common and in which the lender has to appear before a judge and obtain a court order before initiating foreclosure proceedings against the delinquent borrower. Such states tend to have much longer foreclosure timelines than non-judicial states. What is striking about the list of states in the GMAC announcement is that all but one (North Carolina) are judicial states. Also, all judicial states in the country but one (Delaware) are in the GMAC list. This would hint at some potential issues with judicial states that is driving the GMAC directive." In the meantime, class actions lawyers across the country will not be sleeping for days.

Full Barclays report:

It was reported on Bloomberg today that GMAC has sent a memo to all brokers suspending all foreclosure activity against delinquent borrowers in 23 states. Further action has also been frozen on all properties for which foreclosure has already been implemented. Any buyers of those properties face an extension of the closing date by 30 days and have the option to cancel the agreement to purchase.

Read that again.

Full Barclays report:

It was reported on Bloomberg today that GMAC has sent a memo to all brokers suspending all foreclosure activity against delinquent borrowers in 23 states. Further action has also been frozen on all properties for which foreclosure has already been implemented. Any buyers of those properties face an extension of the closing date by 30 days and have the option to cancel the agreement to purchase.

Now, read the earlier post on GMAC:

GMAC's Full Letter To Agents... Something Does Not Add Up

Zero Hedge has obtained the GMAC Letter referred to earlier by Bloomberg, and contrary to subsequent reports by the bailed out lender that this is merely a procedural adjustment, something does not add up. To wit, note statements such as:

Do not proceed with evictions, cash for keys transactions, or lockouts. All files should be placed on hold, regardless of occupant type.

Do not proceed with REO sale closings. GMAC Mortgage will communicate instructions to the assigned agent regarding the management of the properties in Pending status. If the contract has already been executed by both parties, the Asset Manager will request an amendment to extend the closing date by 30 days or as otherwise designated by the Asset Manager. Please provide appropriate notice to the REO purchaser that, pursuant to Section 1 of the GMAC Mortgage Addendum to Standard Purchase Contract, GMAC Mortgage is exercising its sole discretion to extend the Expiration Date of the Agreement by 30 days at this time. If the REO purchaser wishes to cancel the contract, GMAC Mortgage will terminate the Agreement and return the earnest money deposit.

The Banksters are quite scared and for those facing possible foreclosure, read carefully and do your own research- hard research.

No, I am not encouraging anyone to be a deadbeat, I am pointing out that you may have been screwed- again.

WP

The Revolution Was

The Revolution Was

[This essay was first published as a monograph in 1938, now republished in Ex-America, copyright Caxton Press.]

There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom.

There are those who have never ceased to say very earnestly, "Something is going to happen to the American form of government if we don't watch out."
These were the innocent disarmers. Their trust was in words. They had forgotten their Aristotle. More than 2,000 years ago he wrote of what can happen within the form, when "one thing takes the place of another, so that the ancient laws will remain, while the power will be in the hands of those who have brought about revolution in the state."

Worse outwitted were those who kept trying to make sense of the New Deal from the point of view of all that was implicit in the American scheme, charging it therefore with contradiction, fallacy, economic ignorance, and general incompetence to govern.

But it could not be so embarrassed, and all that line was wasted, because, in the first place, it never intended to make that kind of sense, and secondly, it took off from nothing that was implicit in the American scheme.

It took off from a revolutionary base. The design was European. Regarded from the point of view of revolutionary technique, it made perfect sense.
Its meaning was revolutionary and it had no other. For what it meant to do, it was from the beginning consistent in principle, resourceful, intelligent, masterly in workmanship, and it made not one mistake.

The test came in the first one hundred days.

No matter how carefully a revolution may have been planned there is bound to be a crucial time. That comes when the actual seizure of power is taking place. In this case certain steps were necessary. They were difficult and daring steps. But more than that, they had to be taken in a certain sequence, with forethought and precision of timing. One out of place might have been fatal. What happened was that one followed another in exactly the right order, not one out of time or out of place.

Having passed this crisis, the New Deal went on from one problem to another, taking them in the proper order, according to revolutionary technique; and if the handling of one was inconsistent with the handling of another, even to the point of nullity, that was blunder in reverse. The effect was to keep people excited about one thing at a time, and divided, while steadily through all the uproar of outrage and confusion a certain end, held constantly in view, was pursued by main intention.

The end held constantly in view was power.

AND

Not even a New Dealer any longer maintains that the four steps directly involving gold, namely, the seizure of it, the repudiation of the government's gold contracts, then the confiscation of the gold, and lastly the devaluation of the dollar, were necessary merely as measures toward national recovery. In the history of the case there is no more dramatic bit of testimony than that of Senator Glass, formerly Secretary of the Treasury, who in April, 1933, rose from a sick bed and appeared in the Senate to speak against the Inflation Amendment. He said,

"I wrote with my own hand that provision of the national Democratic platform which declared for a sound currency to be maintained at all hazards…. With nearly 40 per cent of the entire gold supply of the world, why are we going off the gold standard? With all the earmarked gold, with all the securities of ours they hold, foreign governments could withdraw in total less than $700,000,000 of our gold, which would leave us an ample fund of gold, in the extremest case, to maintain gold payments both at home and abroad…. To me the suggestion that we may devalue the gold dollar 59 per cent means national repudiation. To me it means dishonor. In my conception of it, it is immoral…. There was never any necessity for a gold embargo. There is no necessity for making statutory criminals of citizens of the United States who may please to take their property in the shape of gold or currency out of the banks and use it for their own purposes as they may please. We have gone beyond the cruel extremities of the French, and they made it a capital crime, punishable at the guillotine, for any tradesman or individual citizens of the realm to discriminate in favor of gold and against their printing press currency. We have gone beyond that. We have said that no man may have his gold, under penalty of ten years in the penitentiary or $10,000 fine."

And when the "gold cases" went to the United States Supreme Court — the unreconstructed court — the judgment was one that will be forever a blot on a certain page of American history. The Court said that what the government had done was immoral but not illegal. How could that be ? Because the American government, like any other government, has the sovereign power to commit an immoral act. Until then the American government was the only great government in the world that had never repudiated the word engraved upon its bond.

Does any of this sound familiar?

WP

A consideration: Great Britian, France & Israel

Mr. Sharkey sent a question that is well worth considering.

"Given Great Britain, France and Israel's great concern with Iran's Nuclear program might we have variation on Suez 1956? A joint GB, French and Israeli air and missile strike?"

As I said, something to consider.

WP

GUEST POST: From the pen of Jim Huston

Things have been a bit hectic the past two weeks and I see no need to go into detail- suffice to say, things have been hectic. Now, this morning, when I checked the Paranoid in box, I found a request from Mr. Jim Huston asking to if he could submit a guest post. Now, if you do not recall, a few weeks back, I posted a link to as well as a good portion of a post that CSMK brought to my attention entitled, A Defense of Defense. I was surprised by his request but more than happy to oblige this man, as I truly respected that short essay, and without further ado, I gladly post more of his words and thoughts.

WP

I am presenting some of my thoughts on Millions, Billions and Trillions. I have been simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the dollar amounts being used in all of the "Bailout" and "Deficit" articles and wanted some amount of scale, for my own understanding. I fashioned this as a narrative...

My ignorance knows no bounds.

I readily admit that I do not know the currently accepted definition of "man" or "mankind." The genus "man," as applied to the meaning of "human," is estimated to be about 2.5 Million years old. But do not worry; this is not about quibbling over the details of precise definitions. This simply is a preface to introduce some of my confusions.

I was reading a column that included some "ancient history," and wondered how old that history had to be, to call it ancient. A quick check for the term, taking only minutes in this age of computers, revealed that ancient history is considered to begin with the advent of writing; the ability, oddly enough, to record history; somewhat circular I know but as I said, is that anything to quibble about?

Another computer check found that the term "ancient history" validly applies to many civilizations, those of Persia, China, Rome or Greece, for instance. Recorded "Ancient History" itself, is said to begin with that of ancient Egypt, at about 4000 BC, for a culture that then lasted for 5,000 to 5,500 years.

My original wonder about the word "ancient" in relation to history was prompted by a column about finance and the current state of the economy; the budget and the bailout. And while you may consider this foray into historical age to be a tiresome digression, I was fascinated by the fact that in history, for the genus "mankind," the entire period that our species has existed on earth, mentioned no number larger than "million," and even at that, it was a paltry 2.5 Million years..!

Yet here I was reading figures in, not just Billions, but Trillions and the meaning of the numbers had begun to lose all meaning. Despite the fact that it is the primary function of numbers to express quantity, they had lost that value. One article told of Microsoft having the problem of possessing too much money; needing to find a valid use for its Sixty Billion Dollars in cash. That's $60,000,000,000, 60 followed by nine zeros!

The author evidently had the same problem as he attempted to give this some scale, with: "that is more than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Hungary. It is more than the GDP of Iceland, Luxemburg and the Slovak Republic combined. Kind of him, but this of course does not help me, as neither the population nor the GDP of these countries are familiar enough for size comparisons; it might just as well have said "A Bunch."

I do know that the US has a total population of about 333,000,000 people (that's 333 Million) and even I can mentally multiply by counting 333 to 666 to 999 to find that I remain, at three times our population, at 999 Million, still under 1,000 Million (one billion). Rounding that up to 1,000 Million still requires counting ten times; 100, 200, 300, ... 900, 1000 (to ten hundred million) to reach One Billion.

I am neither lazy nor innumerate, but I had demonstrated to myself that Bill Gates may be perfectly and properly compared to the early comic book character Scrooge McDuck, fond of swimming in his money bin.

While the real dollar value still escapes me, I am overwhelmed and impressed with the magnitude in the difference. But here is the quandary: I have only considered Millions and Billions, and most of the articles on the debt and the bailout are talking about Trillions of dollars, neither subtle nor academic; as the full phrase used by the senators is "Trillions of Taxpayer Dollars."

So; is the difference between Million and Billion comparable in magnitude to the difference between Billion and Trillion? Can it be expressed as a ratio: Million is to Billion as Billion is to Trillion? How might this be illustrated?

I did attempt some research on this. I saw the "dollars laid end to end to circle the earth" descriptions, complete with graphics. I've also seen the "dollars stacked some number of miles high" graphic, along with the lists of how much could be bought with this vast amount of dollars. None of these, for me, conveys the amounts or values in any meaningful way. But I thought of one comparison that could resonate for almost anyone: A Time and Dollars equivalency.

How old are you; how long have you been alive? How long do you expect to live? How old will your children or your grand-children be when the public debt is once again under control or paid off? Here are some relevant time/dollars:

One Million seconds is 12 days.
One Billion seconds is 31 years.
One Trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

I can now treat spending and time as equivalent examples: one dollar can be expressed as one second of time or one second may convert directly to one dollar. Thus, with 86,400 seconds (or dollars) in one day; in spending $1 dollar per second for 24 hours, you have spent $86,400 dollars.

One Billion seconds from your birth, you will be half way to retirement (to retire at 62 years or Two Billion seconds).

Microsoft's 60 Billion Dollars, spent at a rate of one dollar every second, 24/7 would last 1,860 years. That may be fine for that Egyptian civilization mentioned, but our country is just a bit past 230 years old.

And most amazingly, the difference in magnitude between Billions and Trillions displays that the human race was just beginning to walk upright and to acquire those traits that make them human One Trillion Seconds ago, or 31,688 years in the distant past.

That first Man, had he begun spending at the rate of $1 dollar per second, (86,400 seconds or dollars per day) and continued doing so, round the clock 24/7 to the present time, he would have both lived and spent only One Trillion seconds and Dollars in the entire history of the human race.

He would, however, have spent less than 1/10 (one tenth) of the National debt, which is now reported at 10.7 Trillion Dollars. A group of ten of those "first men" doing the same would still be short of the National debt by .7 Trillion - 700,000,000,000 (Billion) short.

None of this addresses "The Bailout" as I can find several differing figures (estimates) for that amount. Suffice it to say that it is well past and beyond my comprehension. Of course I am not alone; I do not believe that any congressman understands or appreciates these magnitudes any better than you or I do. I suggest that there are some congressmen and other politicians that cannot even write the figures for Billion or Trillion correctly.

The cost of the war in Iraq is stated to be: $255 Million per day. That is spending at a rate of $ 2,951.40 dollars per second for that one day. Said differently, it takes a full 12 days of seconds to equal 1,036,800 (one million 36 thousand 800 dollars) and that twelve day's worth of seconds is spent daily. Again said differently, that $ 255 million per day for one year, or 365 days, is: over 93,075,000,000 (Billion dollars) or $280 dollars for every man woman and child of our population. That calculates to $ 1,118 dollars for a family of four, just for the costs of that war per year.

I still cannot claim a thorough understanding of magnitudes expressed in such figures, but I know with a personal certainty, that neither I nor the taxpayers can afford to pay at the rate the government is spending. Period.

Jim Huston

Tim Berners-Lee is right.

Plans by Internet service providers to deliver targeted adverts to consumers based on their Web searches threaten online privacy and should be opposed, the founder of the Web said Wednesday.

"I just want to know that when I click on a link it is between me and the Web, and the Internet service provider is not going to immediately characterise me in different categories for advertising or insurance of for government use," Tim Berners-Lee told a Web conference in Madrid.

"The postman does not open my mail, the telephone company does not listen to my telephone conversations. Internet use is often more intimate than those things," he added.

New software called Webwise allows Internet service providers to show adverts to their clients based on their Web browsing habits instead of based on the content of a single Web page as currently happens.

Of course, there are SO MANY who want to listen and it is not just governments.

WP

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Found via the blog Friends of Ours:



It sounds as if the former capo Michael Franzese knows that which he speaks of:

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

WP

Police identify 200 children as potential terrorists

Police identify 200 children as potential terrorists

Drastic new tactics to prevent school pupils as young as 13 falling into extremism
Exclusive by Mark Hughes Crime correspondent
Saturday, 28 March 2009

Two hundred school children in Britain, some as young as 13, have been identified as potential terrorists by a police scheme that aims to spot youngsters who are "vulnerable" to Islamic radicalisation.

The number was revealed to The Independent by Sir Norman Bettison, the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police and Britain's most senior officer in charge of terror prevention.

He said the "Channel project" had intervened in the cases of at least 200 children who were thought to be at risk of extremism, since it began 18 months ago. The number has leapt from 10 children identified by June 2008.

The programme, run by the Association of Chief Police Officers, asks teachers, parents and other community figures to be vigilant for signs that may indicate an attraction to extreme views or susceptibility to being "groomed" by radicalisers. Sir Norman, whose force covers the area in which all four 7 July 2005 bombers grew up, said: "What will often manifest itself is what might be regarded as racism and the adoption of bad attitudes towards 'the West'."

"One of the four bombers of 7 July was, on the face of it, a model student. He had never been in trouble with the police, was the son of a well-established family and was employed and integrated into society."

"But when we went back to his teachers they remarked on the things he used to write. In his exercise books he had written comments praising al-Qa'ida. That was not seen at the time as being substantive. Now we would hope that teachers might intervene, speak to the child's family or perhaps the local imam who could then speak to the young man."

Pathetic! Simply panty-waist pathetic. They lack the courage to simply state that Muslims ARE not integrating into Western Culture and these young men scare us so we wet our panties.

WP

"...Canned Food & Shotguns."

A friend just sent this too me, and yup, that Gremlin knew- just like we do.

WP

Hitlery is in Mexico

Clinton: US shares blame for Mexican drug wars
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 11 mins ago

MEXICO CITY – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that America's "insatiable" demand for illegal drugs and inability to stop weapons smuggling into Mexico are fueling an alarming spike in violence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Clinton said the United States shares responsibility with Mexico for dealing with the violence. She said the administration will work with Mexican authorities to improve security on both sides of the border.

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," she said. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

"I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility," she told reporters accompanying her to Mexico City a day after the Obama administration said it would send more money, technology and manpower to secure the United States' Southwestern frontier and help Mexico battle the cartels.

Obama himself said Tuesday that he wanted the U.S. to do more to prevent guns and cash from illicit drug sales from flowing across the border into Mexico.

I see she is performing Mexico's famous Donkey Show...

WP

Gun Rights Examiners Launch Website

David Codrea says:

While we're waiting for the official Examiner.com site to stop producing error messages, I want to introduce you to a site you can go to that will give you "one-stop shopping" for all Gun Rights Examiner commentary--mine as well as the folks handling a dozen cities nationwide.

Check out (and bookmark) www.gunrightsexaminers.com. It's the creation of Cleveland GRE Daniel White, and I'm very grateful that he took the time, made the effort and showed the leadership to do this. It's especially been a pain because Examiner urls are long and convoluted--so this give us a common link we can use to better publicize our work.

Now a simple one stop shop- just like Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms is supposed to be!

Oh, and while there, check out the latest entries at the Howard Nemerov's Austin GRE & John Pierce's Minneapolis GRE- which is the 3rd in a series (parts 1 and 2) covering frequently heard Gun Myths.

WP

Legislator wants to change rule that let Mercedes-driving woman collect food stamps

Legislator wants to change rule that let Mercedes-driving woman collect food stamps
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 8:21 AM
Updated: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 02:40 PM
By Rita Price
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A state representative says she wants to amend the state budget to prevent unemployed people from collecting food stamps if they have significant assets.

Rep. Shannon Jones, a Springboro Republican (biography), said today that she will introduce an amendment in response to a food-stamp flap in Warren County.

Officials there say they are angry that a woman who lost her job is eligible for food-stamp benefits even though she had $80,000 in a bank account, a home worth more than $300,000 and drives a Mercedes.

Excuse me? Did you say $80K in savings, a home worth $300K, drives a Mercedes and gets FOOD STAMPS!?!

Oh, it is clear to me now:

"We don't want people to push themselves into poverty to feed their families," said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.

Gee, thanks for explaining to us, Sob-Sister Lisa, how everyone else has to suffer while that cow lives better than most of us.

WP