1st

G. Edward Griffin wrote the “pessimistic scenario” below in 1994. Incredibly, it is now unfolding before our eyes.***********A pessimistic scenario of future events include a banking crisis, followed by a government bailout and the eventually nationalization of all banks. The final cost is staggering and is paid with money created by the Federal Reserve. It is passed on to the public in the form of inflation.Further inflation is caused by the continual expansion of welfare programs, socialized medicine, entitlement programs, and interest on the national debt. The dollar is finally abandoned as the de facto currency of the world. Trillions of dollars are sent back to the United States by foreign investors to be converted as quickly as possible into tangible assets. That causes even greater inflation than before. So massive is the inflationary pressure that industry and commerce come to a halt. Barter becomes the means of exchange. America takes her place among the depressed nations of South America, Africa, and Asia—mired together in economic equality.Politicians seize upon the opportunity and offer bold reforms. The reforms are more of exactly what created the problem in the first place: expanded governmental power, new regulatory agencies, and more restrictions on freedom. But this time, the programs begin to take on an international flavor. The American dollar is replaced by a new UN money, and the Federal Reserve System becomes a branch operation of the IMF/World Bank.Electronic transfers gradually replace cash and checking accounts. This permits UN agencies to monitor the financial activities of every person. A machine-readable ID card is used for the purpose. If an individual is red flagged by any government agency, the card does not clear, and he is cut off from all economic transactions and travel. It is the ultimate control.Increasing violence in the streets from revolutionary movements and ethnic clashes provide an excuse for martial law. The public is happy to see UN soldiers checking ID cards. The police-state arrives in the name of public safety.Eventually all private dwellings are taken over by the government as a result of bailing out the home-mortgage industry. Rental property is also taken, as former landlords are unable to pay property taxes. People are allowed to live in these dwellings at reasonable cost, or no cost at all. It gradually becomes clear, however, that the government is now the owner of all homes and apartments. People are living in them only at the pleasure of the government. They can be reassigned at any time.Wages and prices are controlled. Dissidents are placed into work armies. There are no more autos except for the ruling elite. Public transportation is provided for the masses, and those with limited skills live in government housing within walking distance of their assigned jobs. Men have been reduced to the level of serfs who are subservient to their masters. Their condition of life can only be described as high-tech feudalism. (The Creature from Jekyll Island, pp. 562-563)THE NEW FEUDALISM! My country, my country, my country…

@guest”Clinton “mortal threat” in Pakistan as Taliban moves toward Pakistani capital. Coming soon-the “war of mass distraction” we all anticipated”Very true I can tell you for sure that taliban are incapable of overthrowing pak govt in next 100 years. The only way they can do it is if they get support of the public and only way they will get public support is by us propaganda machine. Cause more pressure us puts on pakistan, more antiamercanism and more support for taliban. They cite example of afghanistan(from CNN) but fail to mention afghan population is 25m+ on ther other hand pakistan population is 170m+ and pakistan have 12 million standing army and 1/2 million reserve. You tell me can few thousand taliban take over that country in a week. This is naked propaganda to put preesure on pakistan to make her aligned with us interests in the region one of which is to elevate india to tackle china in the region. There are reports that some of those taliban groups are being armed by us herself via Israel and india. Also remember today foriegn minister of israel said Afghan Pakistan region is more of a threat to israel than Iran is. Connect the dots. Us is persuing multi objective policy in the region which have destabilized the whole region. Would love to hear from PeterJB

8th!

I think the bankers have developed an underground futures market for foreclosed homes (intentionally or not), and we can say the foreclosed home prices are now in BACKWARDATION!!

NB is getting a bit to repetitive. Is it just that he enjoys his fame or does he get paid for his tv appearances. (I would demand payment, must be boring)

Dr. Roubini has it wrong – oh, not analysis – but about the market psychosis”the stock maket” is ignoring reality – it is psychoticthe good doctor says that markets do not predict/anticipate recessionstherefore, recessions do not predict/anticipate markets

Dr. Alan Keyes 4 MUST WATCH VIDEOS!!!http://loyaltoliberty.blogspot.com/

doctor ? you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up and say doctor

Sorry Mom, butHo hum anyway

You are absolutely right, there can be no similarity between Afghanistan and Pakistan as far as a Taliban takeover. In addition to the points of difference that you’ve made, Afghanistan is a warlord country because of the terrain and the lack of normal civic institutions. Pakistan on the other hand, has a large educated middle class, a growing technical and professional class, and a feeling of national unity. Given that Pakistan is so different from Afghanistan, this scare propaganda of rising Islamic influence reminds one of the USA’s continued use of “developing evils” such as Saddam Hussein’s WMDs, Iran’s nuclear capabilities, suitcase bombs, anthrax packages through the mail, and Russia’s “aggression” in Georgia et cetera.It’s also correct that the U.S. with its consistent invasions and meddling and unbalanced Middle East policy is simply becoming the world’s most visible troublemaker. And all of this through the leadership of (can there be any worse than the present Secretary of State?) an administration with a continuation of the Bush/Neocon failed Middle East policy .This will fail also, but at what cost?Hopefully, most Americans aren’t buying into the propaganda. Today’s Rasmussen Poll shows that 34% of Americans strongly approve of the Obama’s Administration’s performance, while 32% strongly disapprove. This isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for the first 100 days of an Adminstration.

Now this is an interesting take – that there is no threat of a Taliban takeover in Pakistan. It depends on how you define ‘takeover’ and how you define ‘Pakistan’. If you define ‘Pakistan’ as the government in Kabul and a ‘takeover’ as its overthrow, OK. But the Taliban are certainly taking over parts of Pakistan. Will they take over enough parts to trigger war with India? Will they succeed in basically creating a rogue state within a state, in more areas than just the Afghan border area?Anti Americanism is, I am sure, rampant there anyway. It is a Moslem country, don’t forget.India tackle China? I don’t think so. Pose a back door threat, OK, but not ‘tackle’ them. Just wait till the war of resources that will be waged between these ‘EM’ powers with 1 billion plus populations. It will be something to behold, and not in a good way. I hope our boys are clear of the region before it erupts.Having visited China in December, my path now takes me to Bangalore next week. I will try to glean what I can. Hope I am far enough away from any trouble.

8>)

A question for the thinking hats on this blog:How many years will it take for the economy of China to overtake the US?Let’s assume that the US economy is standing still and will be at the side of the road for the foreseeable future. Currently China has the surplus savings to afford stockpiling and purchase of whatever it needs from Australia, Africa, SE.Asia, S. America and Russia. Assume China’s growth will be on the order of 6-8 percent? Variable include: what is ‘real’ GDP?….PPP basis?, financials? weapons manufacture? etc.Unknown variables include currency disruption, resource constraint, and geopolitical events. China will probably maintain the peg as long as they hold dollars?Lastly,How long will it take for the US to realize that it is a few minutes to 12:00??

2nd

George S. McGovern is no RGE Monitor PeterJB, but he was a Democratic Senator from South Dakota, a former presidential candidate and a supporter of Obama over Hillary in the presidential race. Here’s a take from his views in the San Jose Mercury News today regarding the Obama Administration’s foot dragging in withdrawing troops from Iraq and accelerating the war in Afghanistan:“Has either the great God above or his creatures here below designated us to run the Middle East? What do we say to the Iraqi people who have indicated overwhelmingly in several polls that they want U.S. troops out of their country now? Why would we not understand this sentiment considering that our military equipment has smashed Iraqi homes, public buildings and infrastructure, including electricity and running water?“Of course, the most painful cost of these wars is the deaths of more than 4,200 brave American troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens. This is to say nothing of our political judgment and moral standing in the world…“Our policymakers contend that we must maintain U.S. troops in the Middle East to curb terrorism. I strongly believe that it is our military presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East that is driving terrorism against the United States.”McGovern said the bonuses that have rightly angered people “are peanuts compared with the $12 billion a month we have poured into Iraq and Afghanistan over the last six years.” (from “President Obama, Bring Troops Home”)

Wiseguy, eh. Nyuk Nyuk. Well take this! 5th!

g,i poled the excess of one million dead in iraqand Afghanistan over the last 10 years, this was in the after life obviously, and all of them, women,children and confused adult males of fighting ageagreed, the cluster bombs and other weaponry wasnot appreciated.hmmm? so strange. they do not understand economics, macro or micro.puke here.

Soaring U.S. Budget Deficit Will Mean Billions in Bond SalesApril 22 (Bloomberg) — Millions of lost jobs mean billions in lost tax revenue for the U.S. government, and billions in additional Treasury debt to fund a federal budget deficit that may soar to more than four times last year’s record $454.7 billion.Employers cut 3.7 million positions from their payrolls in the six months since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, and the unemployment rate reached a 25-year high of 8.5 percent in March. That suggests receipts for April — the biggest month for tax collection — are likely to come in well below April 2008, analysts said.With spending on unemployment insurance and other safety- net programs rising, the deficit is already at a record $956.8 billion six months into the fiscal year. To help close that gap, the Treasury Department has more than quadrupled borrowing, pushing the government deeper into debt.“Tax receipts are just collapsing,” said Chris Ahrens, head of interest-rate strategy at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, one of 16 primary dealers required to bid at Treasury auctions. The need to sell more debt “is a big issue in the Treasury market and it is ongoing. The surging budget deficit is the primary cause.”The government will have to sell $2.4 trillion in new bills, notes and bonds in fiscal 2009, according to UBS. From October through December, the Treasury sold a record $569 billion, up from $82 billion in the same period a year earlier, and auctioned another $493 billion in the last quarter, up from $156 billion. That helps to make up for the drop in tax receipts, pay for the rise in spending and refinance maturing debt. Along with the principal, the sales add additional interest costs to the deficit for years to come.Unemployment BenefitsAt the same time, government spending has climbed 33 percent in the fiscal year through March, as relief programs such as unemployment benefits expand. Labor Department expenditures have more than doubled to $52.7 billion and payments by the Department of Health and Human Services have risen by $40.6 billion, or 12 percent. Spending by the Agriculture Department, which runs the food-stamp program, is 18 percent higher, or $9.9 billion more than in the same period a year ago.These increases will contribute to a record federal budget deficit this fiscal year. On March 20, the Congressional Budget Office forecast the shortfall will reach $1.85 trillion, dwarfing the previous peak. UBS estimates a budget deficit of $1.65 trillion, Ahrens said.Plummeting ReceiptsRising unemployment and lower consumer spending helped drag income-tax receipts from individuals and small businesses down 15 percent in fiscal 2009 through March, compared with a year earlier. Data due in May will likely show that the recession curbed estimated-tax payments in the first quarter, while the drop in financial markets caused capital gains to shrink.With the tax cuts from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package also taking effect in April, “that combination is going to give you weak tax revenues,” said Douglas Lee, chief economist at Economics From Washington, an independent consulting firm in Potomac, Maryland.From the start of the fiscal year through March, personal income-tax payments fell to $429.7 billion from $503.5 billion in the year-earlier period, according to Treasury budget statistics. That’s the first such drop since 2003, according to department records.“There’s been a huge hit, not just to income but to wealth,” said Ethan Harris, co-head of U.S. economic research at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “The economy did not turn in the first quarter of the year.” The numbers “are worse than most of us would have expected coming into the tax season.”Lower Earnings, Higher RefundsThe federal government is also losing revenue from corporate tax receipts, which have fallen 57 percent from the first six months of fiscal 2008. Not only are companies earning less — and paying less in taxes — they are getting more in refunds.Obama’s economic-stimulus package included a provision allowing small businesses with losses in 2008 to carry back those losses for five years rather than two, so companies can claim refunds against taxes paid in the past. Business refunds in January through March of this year were $40.4 billion, almost double the $22.3 billion of a year ago.Personal income-tax refunds are also higher than last year, up 11 percent to $207.8 billion. That may be because people who pay estimated quarterly taxes based their estimates on 2007 earnings, and overpaid as the economy collapsed in 2008, Lee said.Close the GapStates and cities are also being hit hard by unemployment’s effect on tax revenue.The 23,300 Wall Street jobs that disappeared in the year through February helped blow a $16 billion hole in New York state’s budget. State officials are trying to close the gap by raising taxes, which will likely restrain spending and slow recovery.The attack on bonuses led by members of Congress also hurts. As payments are scaled back or eliminated, tax revenue falls. It’s not just a problem for New York: Individual tax receipts were 4.5 percent less than forecast in Minnesota during February and March.“While lower-than-expected withholding-tax receipts are always a matter of concern, this shortfall appears to be due to lower-than-projected bonus payments,” the Minnesota Management and Budget office said in its April Economic Update.At the federal level, concern over the budget deficit extends beyond this year’s “disaster,” Harris said. Social Security and Medicare costs are also rising as baby boomers age, and the Obama administration has a number of new programs beyond stimulus — including revamping health care — that it wants to spend money on.“It’s going to be a structural issue,” Harris said. “You have a Congress that’s lost its fear of deficits, so it’s still going to be hard to turn the deficit around once the economy and tax receipts have recovered.”

Looks to me as though Karl Rove and Grover Norquist have gotten their wish: the guv’mint is officially drowning.

All speculation and no facts; very boring hyperwindy post.

Speaking of bond sales because of the soaring deficit…mortgage interest rates are under 5%….when will they start rising due to inflation premiums? Anybody have a clue how much more long term debt the Gov’t is going to continue to buy to TRY and quantitively ease interest rates further down?

Just read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and you’ll get the idea of how this all plays out. Obama, Geithner, Frank–none of them know what they are doing. Those of us who do are not willing to help them out. They are headed for a train wreck and we’re not going to stop them (as if they arrogant would listen anyway). When the dust settles, we’ll be back to see if there’s any profit to be made out of the dust and rubble.

You’re good! Mark

@ prior thread..comment: i love this poetry.can only respond in kind, quoting another poet……”they call it excellence; they call it the New World Order; a change that is upon us. We have climaxed at the bottom of the attentional Bell Curve, in every possible way and manner.Hanlon’s Razor rules supreme in every corner of the Globe. Then follows that which is termed evil.Ho hum”Hide reply Reply to this comment By PeterJB on 2009-04-21 17:59:38.TOM WAITS – Bottom Of The World.”My daddy told me, lookin’ backThe best friend you’ll have is a railroad trackSo when I was 13 said, I’m rollin’ my own,And I’m leavin’ Missouri and I’m never comin’ homeAnd I’m lost, and I’m lostI’m lost at the bottom of the worldI’m handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liarI’m lost at the bottom of the worldSatchel Puddin’ and Lord God MoseSitting by the fire with a busted noseThat fresh egg yeller is too damn rareBut the white part is perfect for slickin’ down your hairAnd I’m lost, and I’m lostI’m lost at the bottom of the worldI’m handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liarI’m lost at the bottom of the worldBlackjack Ruby and Nimrod CainThe moon’s the color of a coffee stainJesse Frank and Birdy Joe HoaksBut who is the king of all these folks?And I’m lost, and I’m lostI’m lost at the bottom of the worldI’m handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liarI’m lost at the bottom of the worldWell I dined last night with Scarface RonOn telapia fish cakes and fried black swanRazorweed onion and peacock squirellAnd I dreamed all night about a beautiful girlAnd I’m lost, and I’m lostI’m lost at the bottom of the worldI’m handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liarI’m lost at the bottom of the worldWell, god’s green hair is where I slept lastHe balanced a diamond on a blade of grassNow I woke me up with a cardinal birdAnd when I wanna talk he hangs on every wordAnd I’m lost, and I’m lostI’m lost at the bottom of the worldI’m handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liarI’m lost at the bottom of the world”..the bottom. “we” are getting close.some have seen it and fallen through.the point where there is no direction but upwardand onward.that “diamond on a blade of grass”, without thatwe might all fall through…..

see THIS documentary for a bigger picture re. Iran/US/UK politics…I am serious – it is VERY good, don’t let your prejudices put you off…

World economy won’t recover until year (current_year + 1)

take exaple of the universe, its growing(expanding) at some point either gravity will reverse the growth(expansion) or it will simply torn apart even atoms and sub atomic particles will tear apart. moral of the story is nothing grows indefinitly.

@ PeteCASeems like you have no knowledge of the area. Buner is not a province its a small district no more than 100 sq km. your entire analysis is rubish. you don’t backup your statement with any facts. Without any knowledge of the geography you cannot understand the extent of taliban advances. The sixty miles that you are talking about are 15000 ft+ high mountains, are you saying these rag heads have air lifting capabilities. we are talking about no more than 10000 taliban. islamabad is a big city with population of aprox 2 1/2 million. Islamabad is considered to be one of the most liberal cities in the coutry. are you telling me that 10000 taliban with ak 47′s can control a city of 2 1/2 million of hostile population. I didn’t even mentioned the city have large no of army personal there because the army headquaters are in that city. Please stop scaring people we already had a healthy dose of that during the previou neocon administration. Read some history and aquaint yourself with little bit of knowledge before comenting.

what…but I need to hate SOMEONE…there MUST be an evildoer somewhere…someone who is substancially worse than the rest of the planet…Besides what’s USA going to do with all that money that has been spent on weapons if we are going to be reasonable with each other?

S’okay … some things have to be repeated.Subgenius: I thoroughly enjoyed the Robert Newman link – thanks. Brilliant!

We integers are all wise guys! Like my first girl, an imaginary number! Yeah.

Don’t give a damn about the world in general and the US in particular (the realm of arrogance ant paranoia, kitsch and violence). I’m off to Brazil where my real estate is doing pretty well and there’s more fun

For more information on gpswatch. i would recommend a specific blogpost definitely not presented right here.

Nice Post…

I saw this really good post the other day….