tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-361974352024-03-13T09:07:40.186-04:00Biblical End Time Discussions"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.comBlogger331125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-11164991022268719812011-02-06T22:24:00.008-05:002013-02-06T15:04:18.003-05:00Global Stock Market Crash Imminent<h1 style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you’re reading this because stock markets have crashed and the world’s economy is collapsing – it’s time for you to learn the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">What is happening to our economy – and to us – is not random chance and it’s not because of the many reasons you are being told on your television and radio.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Mainstream media and world (political & financial) leaders are telling you many reasons why the global economy is crashing – and none of them are true.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Hopefully, you are now asking yourself a very important question. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">What is the truth?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">The truth is that the global economy has been built on a foundation of sand – and there are motives at work here – motives that do not benefit you or me. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Yes – there are many people who can describe the many pieces of the global economy – but there are very few people who truly understand how it works, why it was created and understand that it has always been unsustainable. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">You and I live in a system that has kept the world in financial bondage and is destined to fail – and fail it will. This isn’t opinion – it’s math. Some very simple math will tell you that the global debt based monetary system will fail. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">This is leading you to some obvious questions.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If some relatively simple math will show that the world’s economy has always been destined to fail – why wasn’t this prevented? Why haven’t we been warned? Who has let this happen? Who is behind this? Why are government and financial leaders leading us astray? More importantly - why are they lying to us?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Great questions – and you will not like the answers.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">In fact, you will find many answers on this blog that explain what is happening in our world. The answers will challenge your way of thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Many of the things that you have been told your entire life about religion (including Christianity), about the Lord’s prophecies, about the global financial system and about who governs the world – are simply not true. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">There is only one path to truth in this world – and I will explain it all here.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">The collapse of the global economy is just one piece of the puzzle. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">This mystery cannot be solved by only searching for things or solutions in this world.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">I’m sure there will be many who agree with my analysis of the global economy – but they will not want to bring God into the equation. They will see my references to Him and His prophecies – and will not want to believe what I’m telling you.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Let me be clear from the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">He is the reason I understand many of His prophecies.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">He is the reason I have created this blog – to give to you. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">He is the reason I do not fear the people behind this economic collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">He is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end – and He has told us what is coming. We haven’t been listening.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Much of what is happening can be summed up by two important facts:<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">We – as a nation – have walked away from God and His ways<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">We have vastly underestimated our spiritual enemy<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Most Christian churches do not understand what is happening because they believe incorrect interpretations of Bible prophecy.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Our enemy has created a wondrous fantasy out of the Lord’s prophecies – and most of the Christian world has taken the bait – hook, line and sinker.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">A classic case of bait and switch – on a global scale.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Don’t believe it? You will.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">They will try to take everything from us – until we have nothing left.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Who are ‘they’ you ask?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">While we fumble around trying to understand what is happening – the beasts of Revelation chapter 13 are gaining control of the world. They have controlled the world’s financial system for hundreds of years and have slowly infiltrated the world’s governments and the world’s religions.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">This coming stock market/economic collapse will be the ‘event’ they created to push the world to accept a new global financial system and world government. This world government is often referred to as the ‘New World Order’. Call it what you will – it’s all about control of the world’s population by an ‘elite’ few.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">The final push for world government began with the events of September 11, 2001 – and there have been many people working in the shadows over the past 10 years to bring about what we are experiencing today.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">The devil’s hands have indeed been busy. Over the past 5 years I have watched him work to move his plans forward - and deceive the world. In case you are wondering – he doesn’t fight fair. Never has – never will. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">For those of you involved with the New World Order – those of you who call yourselves the ‘elite’ - those of you who think you are ‘enlightened’, but swear allegiance to God’s adversary – those of you who walk in darkness and think that you have hidden your plans from God and His people - you are mere puppets on the grand stage. You are the blind leading the blind. I would advise you to get free of this abomination and make your peace with God before it’s too late. </span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Pay attention to what I’m telling you. Though you don’t believe me – I have been given a message for you. The day draws near when you will be cast into the place prepared for those who follow God’s enemy. You stand against the Almighty – do you expect to win this battle? I have seen your end. You’ve already lost. You will gain authority in this fallen world for a short time – and then it will end – forever. Search for the truth now – or face the consequences for all eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">As for everyone else – I will say again – it’s time for you to learn the truth about the world in which you live. A world of lies and deception - deception on a level that is almost unbelievable.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you feel that you’ve got God and this world all figured out and you don’t want your beliefs challenged – then there is no need for you to proceed.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you are squarely focused on yourself and what you can get in this world – and you don’t feel the need to change – then there is no need for you to proceed.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If, however, you feel lost and want to believe that there must be something more for us – then you should continue.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you feel that there is something seriously wrong with the world and you feel that if there really is a God that loves us – He would certainly show us the way of truth – then you should continue.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you consider yourself a Christian and you need some guidance on what is happening and why from a Biblical perspective – you should continue.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you are simply tired of the lies and are ready for some hard truth – then you should continue.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">One of the many truths you will learn is that you have been asleep – and it’s time for all of us to wake up.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">You will learn – as I have learned – that the Lord will show you the door – it’s up to you to walk through it.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">In the near future, when the world (Mainstream media, Obama, Bernanke, Geithner, Greenspan, Bush, etc) tells you a million lies why global stock markets are crashing and the global economy is collapsing – ask yourself how I and some other informed people knew it was coming.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you’ve seen ‘The Matrix’ – then this is your opportunity to take the red pill and see just how far down the rabbit hole this thing goes – or take the blue pill – walk away – and believe whatever you want to believe.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Remember – all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">If you want to begin to learn the truth about the world’s economic system and the motives behind it – the journey begins here: <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system-part-ii-market.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system-part-ii-market.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">jg – February 6, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #241600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal;">How long can the party in stocks last?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 11:23 am, by cmartenson<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/how-long-can-party-in-stocks-last/52040">http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/how-long-can-party-in-stocks-last/52040</a> </div>
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by Chris Martenson<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The headlines are screaming at the top of every financial media outlet tonight: <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Dow Closes Above 12,000 For the First Time in Two Years!<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">What's going on here? Is the recovery well and truly underway? And, if it is, why is the Fed dropping hints again that "QE3 may get discussed" at future Fed meetings,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/01/usa-fed-hoenig-idUSN0111833720110201" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #144370;">as Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said on Feb 1st</span></b></a>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Given the raft of good economic news lately, one might be forgiven for wondering what the Fed has in mind here. If everything is so economically rosy, why are they already dropping trial balloons about more Quantitative Easing? What are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">they</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>seeing that we are not seeing, that justifies more than $100 billion in thin air money each month, and why won't they just tell us what it is? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here's how<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/"><b><span style="color: #144370;">ChrisMartenson.com</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>member<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">dbworld</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>put it earlier today:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I thought I heard CNBC state the other day that there was seen an inflow into the US Equities market which hasn't been seen in a while. I didn't catch the details, but I'm hoping that Chris has a read on this and an explanation on why the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> stock market is so strong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While it's true that retail investors have only very recently begun moving more money into stock funds than they have been removing, reversing a 33-week-long outflow, this is focusing on the wrong element in the equation. Retail investors provide only a minor amount of the rocket fuel used to elevate the stock market over the past several months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look at the amounts here, and also pay attention to the timeframe:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lL1H-JWI/AAAAAAAAA-0/lkAdgv3EWSk/s1600/1+-+Stock_Fund_Outflows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lL1H-JWI/AAAAAAAAA-0/lkAdgv3EWSk/s400/1+-+Stock_Fund_Outflows.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Over a 36 week period spanning from May 2010 to the end of January 2011, there was only one instance of 'investors' putting more money into stock mutual funds than they withdrew, and that one ,outlier was well under a billion dollars. Over that 36 week period, over $100 billion was removed from the markets by investors. Even when money started moving back in over the past two weeks, I want you to note the scale; the combined total is $6.7 billion. Keep that figure in mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Instead, we should first focus on the massive injections of raw, potent, thin-air money (a.k.a. "credit easing") by the Fed into the financial system. Sometimes this is referred to as "liquidity," which it is. But that's too narrow a definition, because it is much more; it also happens to be high-powered base money (a.k.a. 'Wall Street rocket fuel').<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here's the stock market story over the past eight months:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lTd-01aI/AAAAAAAAA-4/hIMPIsA1zT0/s1600/2+-+DOW_and_QE_I_and_II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lTd-01aI/AAAAAAAAA-4/hIMPIsA1zT0/s400/2+-+DOW_and_QE_I_and_II.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Note that QE II began in early November of 2010 and that the stock market is up 20% since the end of August.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As an aside, I used to track the Fed's thin-air money programs very closely, and if you had told me as recently as three years ago that the Fed would have been running 11-figure POMO operations each and every month, I would have told you it was unthinkably impossible. But here we are, that is exactly what is happening, and I am largely numb to the process, which worries me somewhat, as it means that my baseline has shifted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At any rate, the point here is that from those August lows to now, retail investors have taken out far more money from the stock market than they've placed back in; a total of around minus $38 billion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But over that same period, the Fed has placed nearly an entire order-of-magnitude<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">more</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>thin-air money, some $350 billion dollars, into the hands of financial institutions, some of whom consider the stock market their personal playground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here's a chart of the cumulative POMOs by the Fed from the end of August 2010 to now:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lZNRIibI/AAAAAAAAA-8/1ktr4ecAlYU/s1600/3+-+FED_POMOs_2-2-2011_8-28-12_AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9lZNRIibI/AAAAAAAAA-8/1ktr4ecAlYU/s400/3+-+FED_POMOs_2-2-2011_8-28-12_AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Should we consider the injection of more than a third of a trillion dollars and a stock market that is up by 20% to be a coincidence? No, not in the least. The stock market has become, if anything, a liquidity gauge first and a discounting machine second. The fundamental that matters most is how much money is flowing into the machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it is my view that the trillions of dollars of thin-air money and deficit spending are finally finding their mark (asset prices) and doing their work, just as I predicted they would. Where some called for deflation to be the irresistible force that would drag us all down, I've consistently leaned towards the side of inflation. Although, to be fair, I have always hedged that view somewhat, with a 70/30 split held for nearly 5 years that was recently amended to 80/20 (in 2010 shortly after QE II was announced).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00284f; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;">On a Tear<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Unfortunately for the rest of the world it's not simply the stock market that is the lucky beneficiary of all this Fed largess. Thin-air money, once released into the wild, tends to have a mind of its own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Commodities are now setting new records almost daily. Where the stock markets still have some catching up to do, commodities are exploring virgin territory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9leaPlqrI/AAAAAAAAA_A/qoaUF-gbE-0/s1600/4+-+Commodities_over_past_year_2-1-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TU9leaPlqrI/AAAAAAAAA_A/qoaUF-gbE-0/s400/4+-+Commodities_over_past_year_2-1-11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This is serious business, folks. The future is not going to arrive 'someday.' For the billions of people who spend a huge portion of their income on food and fuel, it has already arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Looking at the above chart of the past 12 months, what we see is that everything, from metals to stocks to bonds to grains to energy, has experienced profound price increases. That pretty much covers everything you need to live on and the bulk of the paper universe. Such a chart is a historical rarity for any one country, yet it currently happens to apply to the entire world. You are living in historic times, which certainly belabors the obvious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00284f; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;">Your Lying Eyes<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On the flip side, the story we are being told almost daily is that inflation is very low -- too low, even -- in a worrisome sort of way. I am reminded here of an old Richard Prior skit where his wife walks in on him in bed with another woman. To her increasing agitation, he denies that he has been cheating on her, finally shouting, "<em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Who are you going to believe, woman? Me, or your lying eyes!?</span></em>"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, my lying eyes see something very different in that chart above from what I am being told; instead of worryingly low inflation, I see rapidly rising inflation that is very close to slipping out of control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I spend as much time on this subject as I do because the decisions you make based on whether you are protecting yourself from inflation vs. deflation are as different as to whether you grab an anvil or a life raft on your way out the door when facing an emergency. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I do my best to let the data do the talking, and right now it is saying<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">inflation</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00284f; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;">How long will it last?<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The old saying is,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Don't fight the Fed.</span></em> That's good advice. I have dutifully been following the developing story by watching what the Fed does, not what it says, and by letting prices tell me which way the wind is blowing. It's a regrettable position to be in, because it's nearly impossible to make any long-range plans when you have no idea what the Fed is going to do next. But here we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">How long the stock market rally will last is therefore unknowable, but stocks and bonds and commodities will remain elevated in price for as long as the Fed continues to dump hundreds of billions of thin-air money into the markets. The only problem is that there's no clear exit strategy for the Fed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Putting money<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">into</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>the markets is a very easy thing for the Fed to do. Letting rope let out under full sail is easy; tugging it back in is difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Fed faces a similar asymmetry. Market participants are always eager to take fresh money hot off the press. An infinite number of things can be done with that money almost instantly. But coming up with money to give<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">back</span></em>to the Fed for Treasury of MBS paper? All sorts of difficulties arise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"Wait, we'd have to sell a lot of things to free up that kind money and what, exactly, are you proposing to hand us in return? Treasuries? Um, no thanks, not right now. Agency debt? Uh, no, that doesn't fit our portfolio needs right now either. Perhaps next week?"<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Further, when the Fed goes to get its money back from the marketplace, that action will drain liquidity, creating ripples throughout all sorts of markets, especially and including knocking the stock market down. Very few people complain about adding thin-air money; a crowd roars its disapproval for the reverse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00284f; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;">Too Late<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The bottom line is that by the time the Fed becomes institutionally aware that inflation is raging across the globe - and I often wonder when they'll finally awake to the threat - it will be too late. Inflation will have the momentum, and it will take a vast overreaction on the part of the Fed to restrain it. They'll have to drain enormous amounts of liquidity and tolerate vastly higher interest rates to be able to do that, and I doubt they have the courage for such bold action. I think they will hesitate, equivocate, and ultimately be late.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">History suggests that inflation is best tamed early, but the Fed is already late and demonstrating a remarkable callousness by doing the exact opposite of fighting inflation. While we cannot know what it is that the Fed sees, or which demons it is fighting that provide the internal rationalization for risking a hyperinflationary outcome, we can only conclude that these threats are more spectacular than the alternatives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Unfortunately, these events conform to the main themes that I have been writing and advising about for the past several years. Sadly, they are not a surprise at all; the only mystery to me so far is how they have managed to carry on as long as they have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Events of the past few weeks - unrest in Tunisa/Egypt/Jordan, skyrocketing food prices, Dow cracking a 2-year high, dropping dollar with rising bond yields - make me even more confident in the conclusions of my recent report on <a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/martensonreport/dont-worry-theyll-just-change-rules" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #144370;">How This Will All End</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(published January 12) in which I derive a calculated estimate of when a final fiscal deterioration will overwhelm even the best of intentions. While the money-printing-induced high we're currently on may feel fun today, the unavoidable inflationary smackdown we'll experience tomorrow most certainly will not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/martensonreport/dont-worry-theyll-just-change-rules" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #144370;">Click here</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to read the report on <a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/martensonreport/dont-worry-theyll-just-change-rules" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #144370;">How This Will All End</span></b></a> (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-57791558990487977362010-10-25T16:20:00.002-04:002010-11-03T12:23:02.617-04:00A Nation Abandoned by GodWhat you will read on this website and in these blogs was added in the last months of 2005 and throughout 2006 - 2010. The articles are not listed in the order they were written since I have tried to keep subjects in order. The article below is a transcript of a sermon by John MacArthur. I have listed many of John’s books on the website because he is a man of God and truly speaks for the Lord. He is a man who is not afraid to say what needs to be said – regardless of the consequences. After finishing much of what is written on the website, I came across this sermon and knew, once again, that this wasn’t by chance.<br />
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I have read many authors and many articles on the subject of the Lord’s judgment, but none are as clear and concise as this sermon by John. There are many people who will be fearful and will begin to lose hope as events begin to unfold within our nation and the world. They will ask – Why? Why has God done this? How have we let this happen? Where do we go from here? The starting point is learning why. I believe that our nation is being given a choice. If we will truly, in our hearts, return to the Lord, we can become the greatest turnaround story in the history of the world (as John mentions below). It won’t be easy. The world and its spiritual ruler will do everything they can to prevent our turnaround. Our spiritual enemy has deceived us into believing that the world can offer us security and satisfy everything that we need. We are learning that the father of all lies has, not surprisingly, lied to us. If we will, as a nation, overcome this world and its deception, if we will seek God and his Truth…then we can be a source of God’s light in this dark world.<br />
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Everything here is based on God’s Holy Word – The Bible. As many things are revealed and explained to you on this website, always remember that all truth flows from one source – God Himself. You will also learn just how deceptive our enemy is and why he is called the father of lies. You will learn who the antichrist and the beasts of Revelation 13 really are. If you think that one evil world ruler is going to take control of the world in the near future, you will find that our spiritual enemy is much more deceptive than what you have been led to believe. The truth is that you see and hear from these beasts every day on the radio and television and read about them in your newspaper and on the internet. Sound unbelievable? It’s because you have eyes, but cannot see – you have ears, but cannot hear. Continue on and you will understand.<br />
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You will also learn what the ‘image’ of the beast will be. If you think the mark of the beast is simply going to be a microchip implanted into your right hand or your forehead, you’re in for a surprise. If you think that a secret rapture will take you away from here before things get really bad during a 7 year tribulation period, you’ve got some Bible study and praying to do. You will learn how to discern which leaders are trustworthy and those that are ‘ferocious wolves’. You will learn what it takes to attain true faith and what it takes to go from knowing about God, to actually knowing our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ personally. You will understand what the ‘narrow gate’ really is and why so many of us are on the broad road that leads to destruction. If you will invite God into your life, read His word and pray to Him – He will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid of what happens in this world – because you will be able to see and understand. Fear and death will no longer dominate you. If you read everything that is written here, read the Lord’s Word and seek Him, you will understand everything that I’m telling you.<br />
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My journey began in May of 2005. How did it start? As with anyone who has known the Lord, it began with humility. I finally acknowledged to my Creator that I did not know it all, did not understand it all and was certainly not walking in His ways. I prayed to Him that I truly believed in Him and His plan of salvation and would follow Him wherever He led me. He enabled me to overcome the world and communicate what I have learned to you. I will tell you, as any true Christian will, that all of my courage, strength, knowledge and wisdom – everything that is good in me – comes from God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Contrary to what you are told in this world, only God is worthy of our praise. Only He should be glorified.<br />
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Much of what is written here will be disturbing to many. Learning (and accepting) the truth can be very difficult – especially when we don’t like it. Many of us would much rather believe a lie than to accept a truth that causes us to examine everything about our lives and the world around us. Some things written here have been told to us in the Lord’s Word for centuries and therefore, will happen with 100% certainty. We will see a worldwide government and a worldwide church that are led by our spiritual enemy and will oppose the Lord. You will also read what I feel has been revealed to me about our nation’s future – here is where I believe we are being given a choice. Continue on our current path and we can expect our fall to continue unabated. If our nation chooses to turn from its evil ways and walk with the Lord, the Lord will heal us and strengthen us to stand in the face of overwhelming odds. I have not always understood all of the things I’ve been asked to do. My mind cannot grasp the enormity and complexity of God’s overall plan. I have simply been obedient. If the U.S. economy crashes at some point and this leads many to what I have written here, you can be sure that this is a sign that we are at a crossroads. Will this nation understand the magnitude of what is happening and ask for forgiveness? Will we humble ourselves, seek the Lord and give up our pursuit of worldly things and truly become a Christian nation – which will lead to our healing. Or will we continue to reject the Lord’s offer of salvation and continue on our own way – which will lead us to our destruction. You can be sure that the Lord will be watching for our decision. Always remember, He loves each and every one of us and His hope is that every one of us comes to repentance.<br />
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One final message before John’s sermon. Many professed teachers in the world today will tell you that you only need to ‘accept’ Jesus to be saved – ignoring many of Jesus’ warnings. I have learned, as any true Christian has learned, that the narrow path that leads to life is not an easy path to take in this world. You cannot simply attend church for an hour on Sunday and then lead a secular, worldly life and expect to enter the Lord’s kingdom. How do I know this? Because I used to live my life this way and I know that I was deceived. I knew about God, but I didn’t know Him. I now know the Truth – and the Truth will set you free. Let the Lord reveal the Truth to you and you will never be the same.<br />
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How did I know you would be led here to read what I have written? Well, that’s part of this story the Lord has given me to tell you. I will warn you again - the truth is going to be difficult to believe. Why? Because the ruler of this world has told us lies for a very long time. Many lies are now accepted as truth. To truly see and understand, you will need to pray. Even if you’ve never prayed before, even if you’ve never picked up a Bible in your life, the Lord is revealing the truth to us so that we will draw closer to Him. There is a reason why He is doing this now.<br />
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My hope and prayer is that your walk with God begins today.<br />
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<strong>A Nation Abandoned by God </strong><br />
Selected Scriptures<br />
By John MacArthur<br />
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It is a real delight to be with you tonight. I want to thank Pastor Hurd and Pastor Al for the opportunity to be here. Thank you, men, so much, this is a...this is a privilege and a...and a joy and a delight to me. I always love the opportunity to teach and preach the Word of God, but especially to meet and greet people who have listened to me on the radio through the years and come to me with all kinds of strange comments about...(applause)...thank you...come to me with strange comments about what they thought I looked like. (Laughter) This is it, better that you had never known. (More laughter).<br />
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It's a joy tonight to have my dear wife, Patricia, here. Honey, stand up and let them welcome you. (Applause) This...this is the best earthly gift has given to me by far and I have to take advantage of every moment I have with her in this world because there's no marriage in heaven, so I've got to take advantage of it while I'm here. And I'm delighted to be able to do that. God has blessed us with four children and by His grace they're in Christ and serving with us in our church and they married four who love the Lord and we have 14 grandchildren who are being raised in the things of the Lord. And it's exciting to see that happening. (Applause) We are very, very grateful to the Lord and His goodness in our family, and I say that only to say God has used Patricia in a remarkable way in the lives of our children, to nurture them in the things of Christ. What...what a great blessing to me.<br />
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It's not a small thing to have the opportunity such as I have tonight to try to put a little bit of perspective and focus on the issue of praying for our nation. There are so many things that could be said and probably should be said and I certainly don't intend to say them all, by any means. But trying to kind of funnel down our thinking a little bit so that our prayers can be direct is really helpful. I remember one of our kids, I used to go from room to room when the kids were little and pray with them. And one of my daughters, I got into the habit of just because she was sleepy, I think, saying, "And God bless the whole wide world. Amen." And I thought that was a little unspecific, I guess you could say. Needed a little more targeting in her prayers. And if I can tonight, I want to try to target our prayers a little bit as to how we can direct our prayers in what, I believe, is the most needful way...not to the exclusion of any other things, but this, I think, has to be the primary focus. And it may take me a little while to get to that point, and you need to kind of stay with me and you'll see how this unfolds and hopefully it will be helpful. That certainly is my prayer.<br />
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One of the most tragic scenes in the Bible and yet one of the most familiar to us is the scene of the strongest man who ever lived, a man by the name of Samson, finding out he had no strength. Judges chapter 16 records this. "When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines saying, 'Come up once more, for he's told me all that is in his heart.' Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands and she made him sleep on her knees, called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him and his strength left him. And she said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson," and he woke from his sleep and said, 'I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.'" And here's the telling line written by God the Holy Spirit. "But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. So the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains and he became a grinder in the prison." Sad. He didn't know that the Lord had departed from him. I can't imagine anything worse than being abandoned by God.<br />
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To the sons of Israel earlier in the book of Judges in chapter 10, God said this, "You have forsaken me, you have served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your distress." This was God saying to Israel, "I'm done with you, abandoned by God.<br />
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Proverbs chapter 1 records a similar sentiment. "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out My hands and no one paid attention. You neglected all my counsel, you did not want my reproof, I will even laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come on you, then they will call on Me but I will not answer. They will seek Me diligently, they will not find Me because they hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would not accept My counsel, they spurned all My reproof, so they will eat of the fruit of their own way and be satisfied with their own devices." Again being abandoned by God, turned over to the inevitable consequences of sinful choices.<br />
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A haunting line is found tucked away in the little prophecy of Hosea chapter 4 and verse 17, and it refers to Israel by the name Ephraim and it says this, "Ephraim is joined to idols," so says God. The next line, "Leave him alone." Sounds out of character for God, doesn't it? "Ephraim is joined to idols, bring him back," might sound a little more like God. "Let him alone?"<br />
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People and nations, even the covenant nation Israel can come to a point where they are abandoned by God. Jesus reiterated this in Matthew 15 when He confronted the Pharisees and then described them to the disciples. He said this, "They're blind leaders of the blind. Let them alone." When God lets you go, it's serious. When Jesus pronounces over you abandonment, it's serious.<br />
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Now I'm going to say something, you're going to have to hold on to your seat a little bit. I'm convinced beyond doubt that in this same sense, God has abandoned America. I know that's a strong thing to say and I'm going to show you why I believe you can see that clearly in Scripture.<br />
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Open your Bibles to Romans 1...Romans 1. Don't be surprised, by the way, by that statement because while you're turning there, Acts 14:16 says this, this is from the Apostle Paul, "In the generations gone by," that's past history, "God permitted all the nations to go their own way." This is not the first nation God has abandoned, nor if Jesus tarries is it the last, or is it now the only. This is the cycle of history and it is this very cycle of history that Paul describes in Romans chapter 1. Here in Romans chapter 1, beginning in chapter 18 running to the end of the chapter, you have the most clear presentation of God abandoning a nation, what that looks like, what happens and why He does it. This is the most graphic and the most detailed and the most comprehensive discussion of what it means for a people, a society to be abandoned by God. And it perfectly describes the moral chaos in our own nation today.<br />
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It starts with very familiar words. Verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven." Now let me stop you there for just a moment. We're talking about the wrath of God and I need to just let you know that in the Scripture and in reality there are five different manifestations of God's wrath. Okay? And you will recognize them. There is eternal wrath. That is that wrath which God unleashes on the unbelieving dead in hell...eternal wrath, suffering forever eternal punishment. That's eternal wrath.<br />
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There is also in the Bible eschatological wrath, that is the unfolding of divine wrath at the end of the age described in detail, for example, in Revelation 6 through 19, the pouring out of God's wrath in the breaking of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the dumping of seven bowls of wrath...eschatological wrath, that wrath is yet to come as is eternal wrath for all society, yet right now there are many experiencing eternal wrath, all the unbelieving who have left this world are experiencing.<br />
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The third kind of wrath is what I guess you could call calamitous wrath. That is that wrath of God which produces calamity in the world and the most notable illustration of that is the Flood which drowned the entire world, only eight people were saved. Massive wrath on the part of God against sinful man.<br />
Fourthly, there is consequential wrath, that's sowing and reaping wrath. That's the natural end of patterns and choices of sin. Whatever a man sows, he...what?...he reaps...that's consequential wrath.<br />
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But there's one other kind of wrath that is usually overlooked. We all understand eternal wrath, eschatological wrath, calamitous wrath, we all understand the...in the calamity of the Flood or God destroying Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, etc., etc. Throughout history these calamities continue to even happen and they all fit in the category of God's judgment of sin. But there's this other category of the wrath of abandonment, it is a form of God's wrath in which He lets go of a society and let's it catapult full speed without restraint in the direction of its own sinful desires and devices and choices. That's the wrath being described here. This is the cyclical reality of this wrath that has defined human history and will always until Jesus comes. As Paul said, in all the generations gone by, God permitted the nations to go their own way.<br />
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I don't believe we're waiting for God's wrath in this society. We haven't had a massive calamity such as the destruction of an entire city, we certainly don't want that to happen, pray that does not happen, but it could happen and God would be just in any calamity that He brought upon us. We have not entered into eschatological wrath that comes in the end times, we are experiencing, all of us do, consequential wrath of sin. But this massive concept of the wrath of abandonment I'm convinced is now at work in our society. We'd like to talk about the fact that America was founded on Christian principles and God was at the center of it, and all of that, whatever it might have been in our founding, it's no longer the way it is and I want to show you how you know that has happened.<br />
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Go down to verse 24. You see in verse 24 the first word "therefore," this means we're now going to see a description that connects to what has been said. If you go back to verse 18, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," and we could stop at that point. The wrath of God is revealed. And then it goes on to talk about the wrath of God and the reasons for the wrath of God. And then in verse 24 it then describes the wrath of God and here's the description. "Therefore God gave them over, or God gave them up, in the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them, for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. In the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman, burned in their desire toward one another, men with men, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do the things that are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, full of...or evil full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, and not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."<br />
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Now let me break that down for you a little bit. Three times the verb "gave them over" is used...three times. The wrath of abandonment is when God gives a nation over. This verb, paradidomi, can have a judicial sense. It's used often in Greek literature in terms of law courts and criminal courts. It comes down to handing a prisoner over for punishment. It's even used in the case of Jesus being handed over for a crucifixion. Each of these uses of the verb in this text express the fact that the wrath of God has acted to hand over a society to sentence...to hand them over. As the historian Schiller(?) said, years ago, "The history of the world is the judgment of the world." There comes a time in a nation when God has had enough and He literally lets go and turns them over to the sentence that they have passed upon themselves by their incessant sinful choices. To see it another way, they are deprived of restraining grace.<br />
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Now how do we know when this has happened? Note the progression. Verse 24, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them." Impurity speaks of sexual sin. The first thing that happens in a nation when it is abandoned by God is a sexual revolution. Moral, sexual perversion, pornographic desire describes the general character of the culture. You can't even count how many million pornographic web sites there are. When a society is abandoned by God, it operates out of its own perverse sexual passion without restraint. You can go back to the 60's and the sexual revolution of the flower children, or Hugh Hefner in the Playboy world and it has gone like a flood since then. It is characterized by, as you look at verse 24, lust coming from inside as Jesus said, "What comes out of the heart of a man is what defiles him," leading to impurity, this means sexual impurity, and to the dishonoring of their bodies. The heart is wicked and the bodies demonstrate it. The body follows the heart. Lust conceives in the heart, James says, and brings forth sin and sin brings forth death.<br />
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The first thing you look for in a society you're trying to discern whether God has abandoned that society is whether or not that society has gone through a sexual revolution so that illicit sex, adultery, every form of immorality is accepted as normal in that society. And we're there.<br />
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The second step in the progression, verse 26, "God gave them over, not just to passions that are explicable because they're men and women, but to inexplicable degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural." You know a society has been abandoned by God when it celebrates lesbian sex. God has given them over...gross affections, unnatural, unthinkable.<br />
So you follow a sexual revolution with a homosexual revolution, and homosexuality becomes normalized. Verse 27 adds the male part, "In the same way the men abandon the natural function of the women burned in their desire toward one another.." And by the way, it is a burning that is just hard to comprehend. There was a man named Halpern(?) who was the coroner for the city of New York and he did, I think, 26 or 28 thousand autopsies in his day. He said we can look at a corpse that had been murdered and tell you whether a homosexual killed that person by the multiple wounds. He's not a Christian, he's a Jewish guy and he just said, "There's something about the passions of that kind of involvement that are not explicable."<br />
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But interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit puts the women first here and the men after. Why? The Holy Spirit refers first to the degradation of women because they're usually the last to be affected in the decay of morals because their hearts are so naturally inclined toward a husband and toward the responsibility of nurturing children. But when they lead the parade, God has removed His restraint. And the amazing thing of it is this, verse 27, "The man abandoning the natural function of the women, burning in their desire toward one another, men with men, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." Right into this wrath of abandonment comes the wrath, the consequential wrath and even though it generates venereal disease and AIDS, they keep doing it. This is what step two looks like and we know this has come like a flood. But it's not the final step. The final step comes in verse 28, the middle of verse 28, "God gave them over to a depraved mind."<br />
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Now the version of the Bible you have, I'm reading the New American Standard, might have a different translation for depraved, so let me tell you what the word means...non-functional. It doesn't work, useless, can't think, can't reason, can't comprehend. And you look at this world and you say, "Rampant sexual immorality, out of control, destroying people willy-nilly even in the church, even in the leadership of the church. Homosexuality, same thing, rampant, out of control, demanding to be accepted as normal and the society rushing to affirm that acceptance. Isn't there anybody in the system who would stand up and call this what it really is, a massive, moral disaster? Can't they see it? Can't they figure it out? No...no. First Corinthians 1 says, "Man by wisdom knew not God." Human wisdom just on its own doesn't get there. Then you add that the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that do not believe and you've got a compounding blindness. And then you add the fact that they are blinded by virtue of the sweeping, dominating elements of their culture and you're just not going to get anybody to rise up and take that position and have people rally around it. You're going to have more people in leadership in the country outing themselves as homosexuals. If you think you've seen a lot of that, you haven't seen any of it yet as it becomes more and more accepted.<br />
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A depraved mind in the original language is one that's tested and found useless, therefore disqualified for its intended use. The reasoning faculty has been corrupted by the influences that surround it. MTV did a survey on morality. Boy, there's a...(laughter)...switch. And they took, you know, they took the Middle Ages idea of the seven deadly sins, you know, lust, greed, all those things, and they surveyed their audience about what they thought about that. And basically they thought all those things were virtues. Now they thought they were all virtues. Yeah. And when that happens and your entire sense of morality is warped, then your conscience is ill-informed and it doesn't function. So you have unconscionable behavior. And then you laugh at the Jerry Springer Show instead of falling on your face and weeping at the aberrations. A depraved mind, reasoning faculty so corrupt that it must be rejected as non-functioning. And as a result of that, what happens? God gave them over, verse 28, to a depraved mind. So as a result, they do the things that are not...what?...proper, fitting, sensible, reasonable.<br />
What do they do? They're filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, murder, deceit, malice. What's that? That's the nightly news. It's the local newspaper. Slanderers, haters of God, and on and on and on and on it goes. They're unconscionable. Conscience can only function...conscience is a sky light, okay? Conscience is a device that reacts to your moral code. If you're a Muslim, conscience tells you to blow up infidels because conscience is not a set of moral laws. It's not a set of moral rules. It's a mechanism, like pain. Pain is a mechanism God gave you that responds to your physical condition. It says to you something is wrong with your body. Pain is simply the device that tells you that. And it's a good thing, isn't it? It's a good thing cause it tells you've got a problem with your body you need to deal with. That's what conscience is, it's a mechanism God gave you that accuses you or excuses you, Romans 2 says, but only functions if it is morally informed accurately. And if you have a culture that has developed an aberrant morality, then you have consciences that function off of that aberrant morality. And you get all the stuff, all the inexplicable behaviors. And that's why in verse 32 it says, "Although they know the ordinance of God, all they know...all they know inherently in them, Romans 2, what is right and what is wrong, they who practice such things are worthy of death. They know that. They do them anyway and they give hearty approval to those who practice them.<br />
You know what that reminds me of? Bill Clinton's approval ratings went up in the middle of the Louenski(?) affair. Why? Because a culture like this approves of somebody like that, perfect fit. That's our kind of guy.<br />
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So they are without reason, without conscience. This is what it means when God abandons a society.<br />
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Sexual revolution, down one more step; homosexual revolution, down one more step; you can't ever get your way out of it because the mind, the cultural mind is gone...it's gone...it's gone. And I would put it this way, maybe simply, there's no surer indicator of a corrupted, wicked and abandoned society under God's wrath than when that society does not tolerate anger against sin. This society will not tolerate you standing up and displaying righteous indignation against sin. How long is it going to be before if you preach against it in your pulpit the government is going to come in and tell you, you can't do that? They've done it in Canada.<br />
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One night Larry King said to me, off the camera, he said...he said, "You know," he said, "I like you a lot but...he said...you're all...you're all caught up in the words of the Bible and you miss the message." So I said, "Well, what's a message with no words?" I don't think we miss the message.<br />
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It was C.S. Lewis who said, "The last experience of the sinner is the horrible enslavement of the freedom he desired."<br />
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So, Paul is unfolding for us this picture of what a society looks like when it's abandoned. It's not my description. Now you see why I said I think America is here going through the cycle of Romans 1.<br />
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Why does it happen? Let's go back to verse 18 and find out. Why does it happen? I'm going to give you the short version. Here's why it happens. Verse 18, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven in this form of abandonment against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men that makes up this society." Verse 18, "Who suppress...what? There it is, that's it...they suppress the truth...they suppress the truth." That's why I wrote the book The Truth War, it's always about truth, always about truth, always. From the Garden, it started out as a war of truth, right? God says you eat the fruit, you'll die. Satan says, no you won't, you shall not surely die. There it is. Adam and Eve believed Satan. They thought God was lying to them. That started the truth war, it's going on today. It's always about the truth. Simple, this happens when you suppress the truth.<br />
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What truth? Real truth. As Francis Schaeffer used to say, the true truth...biblical truth. You suppress this, that's where you go. Take the Word of God out of the place of its supremacy and you suppress the truth. Deny that it's true, deny its veracity, deny its authenticity, deny its inerrancy, deny its inspiration, deny its sufficiency, deny its clarity...that's the latest one that nobody really knows what the Bible means anyway, it's a wonderful book, we believe God gave it to us but we have no idea what it means. That's convenient. I mean, you can divide my life, my life up into attacks on the Bible coming from every imaginable angle...the truth is always under assault. This nation has succumbed to that. There are even churches that have decentralized the truth cause they think it offends, it's divisive. It's all we've got, folks. It's all we have. God saves through the truth. You're begotten again, Peter says, by the Word of truth. You're sanctified by the word of truth. Jesus said, "Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy word is truth," John 17:17. That's all we have.<br />
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Of course it's being assaulted by Satan. Of course the critics come along and say it's not inspired, it's not true, you can't believe it. Of course the mystics come along and say no, it's fine, but we have more revelation over here and more over there, and more over there. And the cults all develop out of extrabiblical revelation. And then there are others who come along and say, "Well, the Bible's fine, it's just not sophisticated. You need to add philosophy and other kinds of things to the Bible to fill it out." And now there are those who come and say, "Well, it lacks clarity." And that's an attack on the old perspicuity, the doctrine of perspicuity, that Scripture is clear, that God intended it to reveal not to hide. So the truth is diminished in its place, it's denied, it's rejected. It's amazing how people mock biblical truth today...amazing.<br />
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Oh, you can figure out a way to make it so smooth and soft, take out all the hard parts so it doesn't have the sting. But if you give the unadulterated, unexpurgated, pure Word of God, it will generate a negative reaction in many environments. You need to speak the truth in love, but all we've got is the truth. Suppress the truth.<br />
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Let me expand that a little bit. Give you four things to think about, four reasons for wrath that have to do with the suppressing of the truth. Number one, revelation. We've been given the truth. "Suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse."<br />
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What is this? This is not even talking about the Scripture. This is talking about the fact that God has inlayed His truth into the fabric of man's being. He is not without a witness to the truth. Look at chapter 2 for a moment, drop down in to verse 14, "The Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these not having the Law are a Law to themselves in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness." Part of being human like all the other parts of being human, be able to think and to make relationships, to speak and to act in the ways that humans act, those kinds of things are the familiar components of what it means to be human. But another one is, the Law of God written in the very fabric of man's nature so that he cannot plead ignorance. In fact, it says in verse 20 that he has enough of the Law in himself, enough of reason to be without excuse. You cannot plead ignorance, that which may be known of God. What is knowable regarding God. What man can know, what of the light that lights every man that comes into the world, John 1:9, is written in the heart. It is evident in them. Two ways, one, in reason...in reason. Where does reason inevitably take you? Reason inevitably takes you to an ultimate cause. Reason is simply a cause and effect device. Reason is simply thinking our way through patterns of cause and effect. This leads to this, this leads to this, this leads to this, and that's how reason works. And eventually you get back to the first cause of the massive universal effect of creation, so reason is a device given by God to all human beings that leads them directly back to Him...directly back to Him.<br />
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Any thinking person knows that. You can't have an effect without a cause, right? I mean, how simple do we have to be? You ask me where this watch came from, if I say, well there's a bunch of tin floating in a box and pulled it out and it started to tick and this is it...is ridiculous. Well how can you explain the universe that way? It's an absurdity. Nobody times nothing equals everything? That's totally irrationality.<br />
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I'll give you a little thing to think about. There was a scientist by the name of Van Noimen(?) And VanNoiman invented, or conceived of an invention called the ultimate machine...the ultimate machine. Okay? Called the VanNoiman Machine, all engineers and scientists know about. The VanNoiman Machine, he said, this is the ultimate machine, it is self-perpetuating. It has the capacity within itself to sustain itself. Wow! Secondly, it is self-repairing. Anything that ever goes wrong with it, it can fix. It has within itself the ability to fix itself, to generate whatever new parts it needs to reassemble them so that it functions. And then thirdly, it reproduces itself. It multiplies itself. This would be like having a car that generated its own fuel, fixed itself, and when you came out in the morning there were three little cars sitting next to it. (Laughter) Okay? This is a VanNoiman Machine. The complexity of this machine is staggering. And so it can't be built, it's way too complex. It becomes exponential, almost...almost to infinity to put something together like this, it can't be done. And yet that is exactly what every single organic cell in existence in the biological world does. It's a factory of perfect self-generating, self-repairing, self-reproducing machinery. Don't tell me that one time there was a pile of protoplasm and it decided to become this. My reason tells me there has to be a Creator. And do you know the whole world believed that until Darwin came along? Jonah out on a boat, and the sailors, pagan sailors say to him, "Why is this going on?" He says, "It's my God, He's doing it cause He's punishing me. And so it's my God." And they say, "Well who's your God?" He didn't say, "Well, let's see, He's the Hebrew God, He's the God of the Hebrew people, that's who He is." He didn't say that. He said this, he said, "Well, He's the God who made the earth and the sea." Oh, that's a natural assumption...natural assumption. Go to Mars Hill, Paul's up there, they have a deal there for the unknown god. Paul says, "I want to tell you who this unknown God is." He doesn't say, "This is...this is the Christian God of New Testament." He says, "This is the God who created everything. This is the God in whom we live and move and have our being." Everybody got it. Only in the modern world do we not get it.<br />
You go back to God, the massive first cause of everything. So that's in the fabric of being human. And you know, you have to work hard for a couple of hundred years to convince an entire society that that's nonsense and that what makes sense is nobody times nothing equals everything. And though it doesn't make sense, it works in a totally immoral culture because if there's no Creator, there's no judge. So reason is the first thing that shows you God. The second thing is morality which is built into the fabric of all of us and has again to be cultivated to the point where you've got a society of people whose reason doesn't need God, and whose sense of morality has been totally perverted.<br />
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Here we are. Here we are. Even though since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, divine nature clearly seen, clearly understood so that we're without excuse, this society has rejected God. That's our second point. Point one, revelation, God has revealed Himself to every person. Second, rejection, men have turned away from the truth. Verse 21, interesting, "Even though they knew God," that is humanity, that is society in any given period of time by God's creative design have the knowledge of moral law and reason that leads them back to a moral law-giver and a judge and a Creator, even though they know that innately, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but instead of doing what was reasonable and moral, they became empty in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. And the bottom line is that they don't like the God their reason leads them to and they don't like the God that their innate sense of what is right and wrong leads them to and so they abandon that God and the lights go out. And then you come up with stuff like a rock is a rat is a dog is a boy. Life is random. Truth is relative. People are basically free to do whatever they want. It's all good. Everyone ought to be free to do whatever he wants. The goal of life is self-satisfaction. Live it up and don't let anybody tell you, you can't do anything.<br />
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So they didn't honor Him as God. They weren't thankful to Him for what He had given. And the lights went out. They became empty in their speculations, their thinking, their patterns, their ideologies, their foolish heart went black. Empty human ideas, now you can't know God, can't know the truth.<br />
But you think you're smart. Look at verse 22. "Professing to be wise...professing to be wise, they became fools." That's the third step. You go from revelation to rejection to rationalization. Men insist they're doing fine, never did better. We're very advanced. Professing to be wise...reminds me of the guy lying in bed in the nut house, pounding his chest saying, "I'm Napoleon, I'm Napoleon, I'm Napoleon." And the guy in the next bed saying, "Well, I'm God, I'm God, I'm God." Just that kind of insanity. Or the lady who came to the psychiatrist's office with a duck on a string and said, "You've got to help my husband, he thinks he's a duck." This is no perception of reality. In fact, it says, "Professing to be wise, they became fools." The word is moraino from which we get moron, proud morons giving each other Ph,D.s. (Applause)<br />
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And finally, it comes down to...goes from revelation to rejection to rationalization to religion. Yeah, religion. That's right. Verse 23, "They exchanged the glory of an incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible men, birds, four-footed animals and crawling creatures." What religion is that? Oh how about environmentalism where you worship...what?...the creation, not the Creator. Wow. Yeah, this is man at his...you say, "Isn't this man at his highest? He's worshiping?" No, this is man at his lowest. False religion is man in the pit. He's gone so far down, he's created the fantasy of false religion. Religion is not man at his highest, it is man at his lowest. The ultimate insanity is to worship any other than the true God, right?<br />
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And so we see what happens in a society when God turns them over and we see why He turns them over. And that was just a quick overview. So we look at our nation, our hearts are broken, the mind is depraved, they think they're smart, they're morons. They can't get to the truth, the mind is completely gone. They invent bizarre religions. They become religious. And today they like to talk about being spiritual, right? I'm very religious, I'm very spiritual.<br />
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What in the world does that mean? What does that mean? As if you can invent your own worship and your own religion. That's man at his lowest. That's all the way at the bottom, total complete rejection of the true God and the true faith. That's where we are. Now the question is...how do we pray?<br />
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Turn to Psalm 81...Psalm 81. And I want the Holy Spirit to give you direction here as we think about this. See if this doesn't sound familiar, verse 11, Psalm 81 verse 11, "But My people did not listen to My voice or My word. Israel did not obey Me." So verse 12, "I...what?...gave them up." Wow. If He would do that with Israel, a covenant people, what do you think is going on in America, we're not a covenant people? "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their own heart to walk in their own devices. I let them go, I let them go to the consequences of their choices." This is God, He's abandoned them. But look at verse 13, and here's the heart of God that I think we have to grasp in America in this hour, here's God, His words, "O that My people would do...what?...?...yeah, there it is...that they would listen to Me, listen to Me. That Israel would walk in My ways." Right there, folks, is your mandate to pray.<br />
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What do you have to pray for? You have to pray for the Word of the living God to be proclaimed across this nation. And if it's not being proclaimed in churches, it's not going to be proclaimed anywhere else. This is not a time for weak men in weak ministries preaching weak messages. This is a time to call on God to raise up a generation of passionate faithful gracious loving preachers of the Word so that a nation can listen to God. That's the answer. Think God might react? He said...I love this, verse 14..."I would quickly.." you like that word? Isn't that a good word? I don't get the picture God's dragging His heels here. "I would quickly subdue their enemies, I would turn My hand against their adversaries and it would be so great that even the people who hate Me would pretend to obey Me." And then I love this, I love verse 16, "And I would feed you with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." That's metaphoric, I would just drown you in blessing.<br />
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God only wants one thing out of a nation. Listen and believe this book. I really get grieved even when I hear evangelical people in the media and the public eye kind of equivocating about the clarity of the gospel. It's all we've got. Or about the clarity of what Scripture says. Your prayer and mine has to be that God would raise up faithful preachers and people who would proclaim His Word across this land. Pray for this generation of young men that God will call and shape and send, pray for pastors everywhere. Pray for lay people, for Christians to be bold. There's only one solution and that's the truth...the truth by which God saves, by which God sanctifies, and if this nation will respond and listen to His truth, God will open the flood gates. We might be the greatest recovery story in history. But there's no other way than that people listen to Me and walk in My ways. It's not going to happen if there's a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. Pray that the Word, as Paul said, would have free course and that it would run with all its power across this land. With all its beauty and magnificence, all its power and grace, that people would hear and believe and be saved and be obedient, all that to the glory of God. I don't know what God's plan is, I just see here what His heart is. "O, that My people would listen to Me," that's the heart of God.<br />
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Our Father, we thank You for simplifying things, as You always do even in the midst of what is so profound. It all comes down to the truth again, the truth...the truth...the truth...the truth. Make us people of the truth. May we trust the truth, unleashing it in all its power, knowing that we...we have no..no other weapon but the sword and it is sharper than any other. So, Lord, we just plead with You that Your Word in all its saving and sanctifying and transforming power would explode across this nation, that the truth would replace the lies that abound everywhere, not for us but for Your own glory. This we ask in the name of our Christ. Amen.John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-83769952297278970122010-10-25T14:40:00.002-04:002010-11-03T12:23:22.370-04:00Deception and the WorldOn this website you will read what I feel has been revealed to me about many of the Bible’s end time prophecies. I have spent a lot of time over the past 5 years studying and praying about these prophecies. As you read what is written here, you will find that I do not agree with many popular beliefs regarding many of the Lord’s prophecies. It has become clear to me that many of the popular interpretations of these prophecies are not correct. In fact, I will explain to you in later posts why I believe our spiritual enemy will use these popular prophecy beliefs against us.<br />
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There are many people in the world today who consider themselves well-informed Christians. They believe that they fully understand the prophecies and warnings given to us in Daniel, Revelation and other books in the Bible. They are now either sitting back waiting for these things to happen (a secret rapture, an evil world leader, 7 years of tribulation, a peace treaty between the antichrist and Israel, etc) or they are actively proclaiming to the world that they have all the answers – we all simply need to listen to them.<br />
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What if many popular prophecy scholars today have it completely wrong? What if they have let worldly pursuits cloud their judgment? What if they have become focused on the world instead of our Lord? What if our spiritual enemy has offered worldly wealth and glory to them as part of his plan to deceive the world and they have unknowingly accepted because they’re not as mature as they think they are? What if there isn’t going to be a secret rapture, one evil world leader (antichrist), or a 7 year period of tribulation when the judgments of Revelation will be poured out on the earth? What if I told you that none of these things are specifically mentioned in the Bible, but are simply interpretations – interpretations that I believe are not true. What if we’re not as smart as we think we are? Our self-righteousness has been used mightily by our enemy.<br />
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If things begin to rapidly deteriorate in the world and none of the popular interpretations of prophecy come true, what do you think will happen? There will be many people in the world who are going to feel very lost and alone. This is why I have been given this message. It’s time for all of us to change our focus from the world to the Lord’s kingdom. If you are someone who has been in the church for some time and have believed (as I did for many years) many of the popular interpretations of end time prophecy, you will need to open your mind to the truth and pray to the Lord for confirmation of what I’m going to tell you. If you are someone who has never been in church or read the Bible, now is the time to come home. You don’t need any biblical knowledge to start on your journey to know Jesus Christ and our Father. You only need a desire to know the Truth – a desire to know your Creator and His plan for you.<br />
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I fully expect that initially - many non-Christians and Christians alike will not want to believe what is written here. The reason is that the truth is initially going to be difficult to believe. You’ll understand as you read through this website. I want to make something clear from the beginning – there is no personal agenda here. I do not seek worldly power, glory or wealth. The world offers me nothing of real value. Everything in this world is temporary – the sooner we all realize this, the better. The Lord has changed me over the past 3 years and given me knowledge so that I understand what is happening and why. Everything I have is His. I am simply running the race placed before me. So, with that said, we’re going to begin with what the Bible has to say on the subject of deception and being deceived in our world.<br />
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Let’s start by looking at what Jesus had to say on the subject of being deceived in this world. I believe that many prophecy scholars are missing something very important that Jesus tells us about our current times.<br />
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Mathew Chapter 24 begins with the Disciples asking Jesus about the end times.<br />
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<strong>“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"<br />
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Mathew 24:3-4)</strong><br />
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Jesus responds by warning us against deception. There will be many who claim to know Him and lead ‘many’ astray. Remember – many throughout the world are deceived.<br />
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<strong>“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mathew 24:10-13)</strong><br />
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These are very strong words and they speak very loudly to us today. Notice carefully – ‘many’ turn away from true faith (we’ll discuss this in more detail later) and ‘many’ false prophets will deceive ‘many’ people. When Jesus says ‘many’, he’s talking about billions of people – and this includes many professed Christians in the world. Who are these false prophets? These are people claiming to be God’s teachers and preachers who are, in fact, leading people away from the Truth. They are leading people away from true faith in Jesus Christ. They are people involved with false religions and they are people who claim to be Christians, but are not true Disciples. They do not follow Jesus, but follow our spiritual enemy. They have infiltrated God’s true church (more on this later).<br />
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<strong>“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Mathew 24:23-25)</strong><br />
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Once again, Jesus warns us of false prophets. He adds an additional piece of information here and I feel that it is one of the most important pieces of information given to us. In my years of attending church, I have never heard anyone discuss this – and I think I know why. In verse 24, Jesus tells us that these ‘false prophets’ will deceive ‘even the elect’. Who are the elect? These are God’s true children. They are His teachers, preachers and His true prophets. What Jesus is telling us here is that these false prophets are so deceptive, that they deceive even true believers. Why is this so important? Because it’s happening right now – to us. Our pride and our focus on the world has blinded us.<br />
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What we all must realize is that Jesus could obviously see into our future. He’s God – the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity. He could see exactly what would be happening in the world during our time – right now. Does He ever tell us that we would have it all figured out? No. What does He give us? Warnings. Time and again He warns us about deception. At a time when we should all be on guard against worldly and spiritual deception – we’ve allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep. We are not heeding our Lord’s warnings. We have become self-righteous because we know it all – while the ‘beasts’ are taking control of the world.<br />
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What, in the world today, is Jesus warning us about? You will find, as you read through these posts, that Jesus is warning us about many things. He is warning us about the ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13. He is warning us about false religions and their leaders in the world today and most importantly, He is warning us about the condition of the Christian Church. Many of us in the Church today are not true Christians. Many of us go to church and read the Bible – but many have not truly repented. Many have not truly asked the Lord for forgiveness and therefore, have not been born again by God. They have been deceived into believing that living a secular, worldly life is A-OK and that they can ‘believe’ and be saved without really following Jesus. They have not overcome the world and therefore, cannot ‘see’ or ‘hear’ what is really happening in the world around them. Every one of us must take a very hard look at our lives and determine who we are really following. If you are like I was, you’ll find that you are not following Jesus Christ. You have allowed yourself to be blinded by our enemy. If you will ask God to come into your life, your life will begin an amazing transformation – and you will be able to see with a spiritual eye. You will begin to follow the One who is not seen by our physical eyes because you will be able to spiritually discern His will for you.<br />
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How exactly, are these ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13 deceiving even God’s true children? How is it possible that we cannot see what’s happening? The truth is that they are right in front of you everyday. They have even told us what they are planning to do – and very few are doing anything about it. Now that’s deception. This is what Jesus could see. This is why we received so many warnings. In addition to Jesus’ own words, the Book of Revelation is clear – these ‘beasts’ deceive the whole world – even the elect.<br />
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<strong>“And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 13:13-14)</strong><br />
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<strong>“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” (Revelation 19:20)</strong><br />
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You’ll learn specifics about how events in the world today relate to these prophecies as you continue to read through the posts on this website. You’ll begin to see how they have deceived you your entire life.<br />
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For now, let’s continue to learn about our true enemy and how he is deceiving the world.<br />
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Who does the Bible tell us is our true enemy? Who is really deceiving the world?<br />
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<strong><br />
“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)<br />
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“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)</strong><br />
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<strong>“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)</strong><br />
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The Bible is clear on this subject – Satan is the ruler of the world and deceives the whole world. He is our true enemy. You will notice that specific nations are not mentioned – he deceives the entire world. The United States is not immune to this deception. What you will learn is that the U.S. is actually playing a vital role in deceiving the whole world.<br />
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Who overcomes this world and its ruler?<br />
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<strong><br />
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5)</strong><br />
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Only those who are spiritually regenerated (born again) by God through faith in Jesus Christ overcome this world and its deception.<br />
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In the movie ‘The Matrix’, the main character (Neo) discovers at one point that the world he has lived in his whole life is a fantasy created to blind him from the truth. The parallels between that movie and our world are very similar. You’ll understand after you read everything here. You’ll go through the same transformation that Neo went through in the movie. I know I did. At first, your mind will reject the truth outright. You will say it’s not possible, it’s crazy, this can’t possibly be true. There’s no way I could be that deceived. I’m intelligent. I could see this coming if it were real. As you begin to realize that it is true and that you have been deceived on a global scale – you might just feel physically sick – just like Neo. You will probably even think at some point that you’d rather go back to being completely ignorant of what is happening around you. It would be easier this way – simply ignore the truth. Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss.<br />
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If you will humble yourself, realize that you don’t know everything and pray for knowledge, wisdom, faith, strength, courage – and begin a relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ - God will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid. You will be set free from this world. He is looking for those who will allow Him to turn them into spiritually mature warriors. When the rest of the world is running away in fear and telling you to do the same, you will turn and face your enemy. You will fight when others fall. When your day of evil comes, you will stand. Why? Because the Lord will be with you – always.<br />
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If you are in a Christian Church today, then you know that Satan is the bad guy. You know that he is deceptive and evil. You know that he rules over this world. Does it make more sense that his plans would be widely known or that they are being done in secret – very deceptively? Will there be one evil world leader who somehow gets the nations of the world to join together as depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ books? In this deceptive world, does this really make much sense given that the Bible never points to one person as being the antichrist? Will the mark of the beast simply be the act of accepting a microchip implant or will there be deception involved with the mark as well? If you re-read Revelation 19:20 again (above), you’ll notice that those who have received the mark are ‘deceived’. Would the world even allow these things to happen (one evil ruler, chip implant as the mark) given that these prophetic scenarios are so widely known? Or does it make more sense that there is something very secretive, very deceptive going on in the world that will one day take control? In the light of the Lord’s Word, the truth is that billions of people are deceived by our spiritual enemy and because they have rejected the one, true God - their continued deception will eventually result in their eternal death. This lines up with what the Bible tells us about Satan and end time deceptions. This is not a fantasy created by a writer of fiction. This is the truth.<br />
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These are the questions that kept me up at night for a long time. I felt that something very important was going on in the world – but I had no real knowledge of it and wasn’t part of it. I came to the realization that what I was lacking was a real faith in Jesus Christ. I realized that I was truly deceived. I came to the startling conclusion that I had allowed Satan to blind me from the Truth. I realized that as long as I relied on myself, I was going to go nowhere. I would continue on the broad path to its tragic conclusion. So, I began to pray and asked God to come into my life and help me overcome the world and its deception. I searched for the Lord – and He revealed Himself to me. I asked – and received. I knocked – and doors were opened.<br />
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What I found - what was revealed to me after much prayer – is that the world is truly deceived – just as the Bible tells us it is. Something deceptive is going on right before your eyes. The devil is scheming against us – very deceptively – just as the Bible tells us he will do. He is the father of lies and therefore, his children in this world are liars. They lie because deception is part of the plan - a plan that is told to us by the Lord. Even though Satan wants to keep his plans secret, he (and those he controls in this world) cannot hide their plans from God. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ know the Truth – they have overcome the evil one. They see through his evil plans because they rely on the source of all truth to guide them – the Creator of the heavens and earth. They are light in a dark world – and the darkness will not overcome them. While the world will tell you that there are many in the world today, I’m here to tell you there are few true believers. There are few who have entered through the narrow gate – just as Jesus tells us. I also believe this is about to change in preparation for the end.<br />
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These things no longer keep me up at night. I sleep soundly. Why? Because the Lord watches over me – and the Lord never sleeps.<br />
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<strong>"He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;” (Psalm 121:3)</strong><br />
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Why is wealth being taken from the United States? When you begin to view the world from God’s perspective - and not the world’s – you begin to truly understand. It’s really very simple. We have allowed ourselves to be deceived. The result is that our lives are squarely focused on the world and we have left our Creator. He’s getting our attention.<br />
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<strong>"Friend deceives friend,<br />
and no one speaks the truth.<br />
They have taught their tongues to lie;<br />
they weary themselves with sinning.<br />
You live in the midst of deception;<br />
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"<br />
declares the LORD.<br />
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:<br />
"See, I will refine and test them,<br />
for what else can I do<br />
because of the sin of my people?<br />
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;<br />
it speaks with deceit.<br />
With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor,<br />
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.<br />
Should I not punish them for this?"<br />
declares the LORD.<br />
"Should I not avenge myself<br />
on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 9:5-9)</strong><br />
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<strong>June 2006</strong>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-89765464866944276332010-10-25T14:35:00.001-04:002011-11-10T22:46:25.457-05:00Knoxville News-Sentinel Articles - November 2005Hughs: The end is really near, local man contends<br />
By INA HUGHS, hughs@ knews.com<br />
November 8, 2005<br />
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The Book of Revelation is not pleasant reading. It describes Armageddon, the Day of Judgment in which, after a series of catastrophes, God chooses those who will be taken up into glory and those to be left behind to burn in eternal fire.<br />
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The litmus test is whether or not a person has confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.<br />
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"It is as simple as that," says John Gilmore, general manager of Knology of Knoxville.<br />
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He and I met for a heart-attack-on-a-plate breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and as the waitress kept us plied with coffee long after we finished eating, Gilmore explained his theory that the End of Time is near. There is nothing we can do to stop it, and the only hope for anyone is that he or she confess his or her sins and acknowledge that salvation only comes through the blood of Jesus.<br />
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There's a lot of eschatology going around these days, and if what some modern-day prophets are telling us is true, things don't look good. Signs of the end are all around: the threat of a world flu epidemic; the changing climate; the series of disastrous hurricanes; earthquakes and tidal waves; and war and carnage on every front.<br />
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For Gilmore, it is the threat of an Antichrist, the move toward globalization and a New World Order that woke him up to what is really happening and what he is supposed to do about it.<br />
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In two letters to the News Sentinel within the past month, Gilmore lists a glut of reasons that an ancient and powerful secret organization is, essentially, making all the calls as to what happens politically and militarily. So much so, they actually control who gets elected as world leaders. They are called the Illuminati, and their agenda is to secure from within their ranks power over politics, economics and the social order of the day.<br />
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Their agenda is "the new world order" referred to in the Book of Revelation.<br />
Both of Gilmore's letters can be read in full on the News Sentinel Web site, knoxnews.com.<br />
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Gilmore, 34, is well aware that people find his words and his beliefs threatening and are apt to dismiss them as being hokey.<br />
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"I certainly don't have the answers and am no great theologian, but I am convinced that the Antichrist is walking the earth somewhere today, that we are in the End Times, that the Illuminati is gaining control and moving us toward globalization, and that our only hope of getting into heaven when the time comes, and that time is near, is to accept Jesus Christ."<br />
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The Illuminati, he explains, is a secret organization composed of rich, powerful individuals acting in tandem to gain control of the world. Every president, he says, with the exception of Lincoln, Kennedy and Reagan (who were, by the way, all shot) was part of the Illuminati, and that is how and why they rose to such positions of power. The two Bush presidents, both members of Yale University's Skull & Bones secret organization, are members of the Illuminati as well, he says.<br />
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He says the Illuminati find special significance in the number 11. He calls it their code number.<br />
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Here, Gilmore offers a bit of spooky new math.<br />
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It was on Sept. 11, 1990, that the senior George Bush mentioned before Congress the phrase "A New World Order" for the first time. Eleven years later to the day, the World Trade Center was destroyed. The Madrid bombings were on March 11, 2004 - 911 days after Sept. 11, 2001.<br />
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And, says Gilmore, something very big is going to happen on Nov. 11, 2005 - three days from today.<br />
<br />
"Look at that date: 11-11-2005. Add 1+1+1+1+2+0+0+5, and what do you get?"<br />
Eleven.<br />
<br />
There's no bravado about Gilmore, and he's at a loss as to why he was chosen, but he feels God is using him to spread a warning, to encourage people to wake up and see what is happening to our country, to recognize that God is withdrawing His protection as the Illuminati tightens its grip on history and the Antichrist waits in the wings.<br />
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"I don't know why God revealed all these things to me," says Gilmore. "I just know what I have to do about it."<br />
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Not only is Gilmore spreading the word through letters to newspapers and the business world, he also is preparing materially for the coming disaster on Friday. He is storing up materially for the continuing hard, testing times between now and the Rapture, when it will be only the "true Christians" who will be accepted into heaven, while everyone else will perish.<br />
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He has sold his stock. His house is on the market. He is stockpiling nonperishable food, water, gas and other necessities.<br />
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His research into the unexplained events of 9/11 convinces him of an inside conspiracy: the fact that there are no photos of the plane that hit the Pentagon (he says there wasn't one); the ultimate and complete destruction of both towers (it had to have been more than airplanes, he says); and the fact that Bush seemed, by his behavior when told, to have been expecting it.<br />
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In fact, says Gilmore, it was Illuminati involvement that got us into previous wars: the sinking of the Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonquin - there being at least some evidence that United States leaders knew ahead of time about them all.<br />
"I don't know whether the Illuminati orchestrated these events, but they knew how to use them to their favor," Gilmore argues.<br />
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The mess that the world, the United States in particular, bears witness to God's displeasure: our national debt, the decline of our auto industry, and the push toward globalization - Revelation's New World Order - as evidenced by organizations like the World Bank and the United Nations.<br />
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"The Illuminati is trying to destroy national sovereignty," says Gilmore. "They are moving us toward a time when power will only be at the top. Everything will be in their control."<br />
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Gilmore, who is a Methodist, says he grew up in the church and has always believed in God but that until recently, "Jesus was not that high on my list."<br />
Within the past year, however, things have changed, as he says God revealed to him that the end is near and compelled him to tell as many people as he can:<br />
"The main thing I have to say, and this is what God is saying through me, is that God does love us, that God is with us. We just need to repent, ask to be saved, ask that His will be done in our lives - and then we have nothing to worry about when the time comes."<br />
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I stayed behind a while after Gilmore left the Cracker Barrel. I looked around at the people nonchalantly eating biscuits and gravy, laughing. Kids played checkers on a nearby bench. A man and his wife across the way were bowing their heads in a blessing before their meal.<br />
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According to Gilmore, three days from now, everything is to change. Our world will be blown apart by another, more-serious terror attack. Should I say something to them? Tap them on the shoulder and tell them to get on their knees? To go home and start loading up on canned goods and getting their money out of everything except, maybe, gold?<br />
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I admire Gilmore for doing what he's doing, because if I believed what he believes, that would be the right thing to do.<br />
Instead, I pay my bill and stop by the post office on the way to work to mail my granddaughter her birthday present.<br />
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She will be three on Friday. 11/11.<br />
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Ina Hughs may be reached at 865-342-6268 or hughs@ knews.com.<br />
______________________________________________<br />
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Opinions on end of days, 'Illuminati' get man fired<br />
Knoxville News-Sentinel<br />
11/12/2005<br />
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The Knoxville general manager of Knology Inc. was fired after he repeatedly appeared in local media espousing his belief in a coming apocalypse and a shadowy, all-powerful secret organization called the "Illuminati."<br />
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John Gilmore, 34, has worked for the West Point, Ga.-based cable television and Internet access provider for the past five years.<br />
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In a column published Tuesday in The Knoxville News Sentinel and in subsequent interviews on local television stations, Gilmore said the number 11 holds significance: the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred exactly 11 years after President George H.W. Bush said the words "New World Order" in a speech to Congress.<br />
Gilmore said Friday was a big day: Add up the digits of Nov. 11, 2005, as 1+1+1+1+2+5, and it equals 11.<br />
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Knology's vice president of marketing, Mike Roddy, confirmed Friday that the company fired Gilmore for continuing to express his opinions without drawing a clear enough separation from the company.<br />
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"The company's position is that everybody is entitled to their opinions and John is certainly among them," Roddy said. "John was asked not to represent his opinions as the company's and he continued the appearance of doing that as general manager of Knology and we decided to let him go. They just weren't the company's opinions."<br />
Gilmore said he understood the company's decision, because "I'm kind of well known in Knoxville being associated with Knology."<br />
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"There was no animosity," he said "We're all still friends."<br />
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"I was pretty much told that I'd be leaving at some point. ... Our heavenly Father told me that. I didn't know a time or anything, but it just worked out this week," he said.<br />
"To be honest, I'm waiting to see where my heavenly Father will lead me. I'm really being called to do other things."<br />
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A Knoxville lawyer who specializes in First Amendment issues said any kind of punitive action against someone expressing their opinions has a chilling effect.<br />
"Anytime any action is taken adverse to an individual as a stated or implied consequence of that individual's expression or statement on a matter of public or general concern, there are First Amendment implications," Rick Hollow saidJohn D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161144475785634042010-10-25T14:30:00.006-04:002011-11-10T22:47:07.942-05:00Prophecy, 9/11/2001 and the Illuminati - written in August 2005Hello Everyone! First of all, let me say that this is John writing this letter, although Karen does agree with everything I have written. You are welcome to talk to either her or myself regarding what I’m about to present to you. Depending on your current knowledge of world affairs and your religious beliefs, what I am about to tell you will most likely change your current view of the world and quite possibly your relationship with God. How’s that for the beginning of a letter? It will certainly change your view of me. Because of this, I have a few disclaimers. I am personally writing this email, nothing is copied or forwarded from someone else. This is long, but very important, so please finish reading it today. Finally, I’m not going to pull any punches here, the message of this email will be disturbing to you (depending on your faith). Initially, you will be skeptical, doubtful and will not want to believe some or all of what I’m about to tell you. I assure you it’s only the truth. If you remain skeptical, I urge you to pray, research some (or all) of this on your own and write to me with any questions. Believe me, you will have many questions. Lastly, and this is probably the most important piece to remember as you read through this, I was as spiritually blind as most people until May of 2005. The Lord has called to me, asked me to give up my pursuit of worldly things and follow Him and His purpose for my life. I have answered His call. I am a well-rounded, stable individual (thanks to my parents!) who has never been one to believe in (or write about) conspiracy theories or proclaim my Christian faith openly. I’m going to do both in this letter. The final disclaimer is this: please do not read this and discard it without much thought or because you think I’ve somehow gone off the deep end. If there is one thing I have learned over the past year, it’s this: There are no coincidences in our lives. Each of you is reading this letter for a reason. It’s up to you to determine what the reason is. I am simply a messenger here. From my recent experiences, you will either know the reasons right away or you will need to pray for God’s assistance. Either way, you are starting on a path today that will lead you to greater knowledge and I believe, will ultimately strengthen your faith in God. If you do not currently believe in God or that He sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross so that each of us may have eternal life, I feel confident that you soon will. With that final message, let me begin.<br />
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When I was a teenager, my mother told me the story of the book of Revelation in the New Testament in the Bible. For those of you who haven’t read it, many believe that it describes the final 7, horrific years of this age [based on Scripture, I no longer believe this to be true]. It describes an evil one world government (imagine a world government worse than Nazi Germany). Many people either stop reading it or never read it because of the things that are described in the book….war, famine, disease, death, the Wrath of God. Some of it is very disturbing and good people like ourselves, inherently do not like reading about bad things, so many of us choose not to learn about it. I have read it, and being interested in prophesy and mysteries, I have always wondered how the one world government forms. Surely, with the knowledge God has given us in the Bible and the number of Christians in the world today, it can’t possibly form for years! The truth is that it is being formed today, right in front of us. The problem is that we accept what the media tells us and are not researching on our own to learn the truth. The ultimate reason is that many of us simply aren’t paying attention…we’re too preoccupied with the stuff going on in our lives and are ignoring the signs (I’ve been as guilty as anyone). The Bible tells us that many will be deceived during the end times. I’m here to tell you that the world is being deceived today in an effort to bring about the one world government.<br />
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Let me ask you a question. Have you researched the events of 9/11 on your own and formed your own opinions? If you’re like everyone else I’ve asked, the answer is no. You have accepted what you’ve been told and moved on as I did.<br />
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Like most people, I accepted the official account of the events of Sept 11, 2001. There were some things about the official story that bothered me, but I eventually accepted what I was told and carried on with my life. After all, as with most people in America, I’m a very busy person with many important things to do. I now know that what I thought was important (job status, wealth, house, car, etc) really isn’t important at all. 9/11 slowed America down for a few months, then it was back to business as usual. Fast forward to May 2005. I’m sitting in class at UT on a Saturday afternoon. Out of nowhere a thought pops into my head….I never saw the plane that hit the Pentagon in any photo or video, surely there is a photo/video on the internet after 3 ½ years. That simple thought has led me to not only research 9/11, but eventually the people who are working on creating a one world government and most importantly, my Christian faith. The fact is, you will not find a photo or video of the airliner (757) that hit the Pentagon, simply because a 757 did not hit the Pentagon. An amateur photographer snapped a few digital photos of the wall of the Pentagon immediately after it was hit (all other photos/videos were confiscated by the FBI)…there are fire trucks next to the wall, the wall was definitely hit by something due to the blown out windows and black smoke, but there is only a 8’-12’ hole in the wall. All subsequent photos in the media showed the wall AFTER it collapsed. The 9/11 commission’s official account said that the plane ‘vaporized’ (no mention of the wings or tail section) and strangely no aircraft parts remained (except for a small plane engine that was not large enough for a 757 and something that looked like a small piece of aluminum foil on the lawn). Yet, the bodies on board somehow survived this ‘vaporization’ and were identified. I’m not making this up…this is the ‘official’ account. In fact, you will not find any current or past investigation (photos, aircraft parts, serial numbers, etc) in the past 3 years regarding the planes used in the 9/11 attacks. When was the last time the NTSB did not attempt to rebuild a crashed plane from the crashed parts to determine the cause of the crash? The fact is….never. Even the majority of parts from TWA flight 800 were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean and reassembled. All of this begs the question….if Flight 77 did not crash into the Pentagon, what happened to the plane and the people on it? There are some very interesting theories out there. I will leave it to you to look into them and I would be glad to give you my opinion if you’re interested. After finding all of this regarding the Pentagon crash, I then moved on to research the World Trade Center buildings.<br />
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On 9/11, I was attending a meeting in Auburn, AL. After hearing of the attacks, we watched the drama unfold on CNN like everyone else. After the planes hit, a couple of co-workers started talking about whether or not they would collapse. Having a civil engineering background (part of the code of being an engineer is offering your opinion even when it’s not asked for), I told them that the tops of both buildings might ‘shear off’ and fall due to the impact and resulting cracks/stress caused by the impact, but the majority of the buildings should remain standing. The WTC buildings (as with most tall buildings) were designed to withstand a plane crash into them and are built with center ‘cores’ of extremely strong concrete and steel. To our amazement, 10 minutes later, the south tower collapsed. They not only collapsed, but collapsed in less than 10 seconds….basically a ‘free fall’ collapse. Do you know how many buildings have collapsed due to fire in this manner in world history?....exactly 3. WTC 1, WTC 2 and WTC building 7. A Spanish firm was the first to question the ‘burning fuel’ theory (9/11 commission) since they had a tall building burn for 20 hours the previous year that never collapsed. The South tower collapsed first (after being hit last) in less than an hour. The North tower collapsed a few minutes later. Many experts initially said that it appeared that the towers were professionally demolished…..they then changed their story later on. There are pictures of survivors standing on the floors of the north tower where the plane impacted the building….if fires were raging out of control, they didn’t appear to affect these people.<br />
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Something that has never been reported in the mainstream media is that at 5:30pm on 9/11 (hours after the towers collapsed), WTC building 7 completely collapsed. Other WTC buildings closer to the towers did not collapse. Among other offices, it housed the New York offices of the CIA and FBI. Many people (as I now do) believe it was professionally demolished. There are many other problems with the official account of the attacks of 9/11 and many things never reported by our media. Many firefighters reported secondary explosions both below and in the towers prior to their collapse….never reported by the media. The families of the victims have submitted a list of over 20 unanswered questions to the Bush Administration. To date, they have received no response and this has never been discussed in the media. Even with the many unanswered questions concerning 9/11, it is still very difficult for us to believe our government could somehow be involved in this. For me, after waiting over 3 years to think about it, it’s the underlying logical flaws in the events of 9/11 that cause me to believe our government was involved. If you believe the official account of 9/11, then you believe that Arab men learned how to fly Cessna’s (and not well, all of them were poor pilots and one was not even allowed to rent a small plane during the summer of 2001 based on his poor piloting knowledge and skills) which allowed them to expertly pilot and navigate some of the most sophisticated commercial airliners in the world. You also then believe that the most powerful military in the world somehow allowed a commercial airliner to crash into its headquarters 40 minutes after the planes hit the WTC. Are these things logical? The most sophisticated anti-aircraft systems and radar in the world are positioned around Washington D.C. and the Pentagon….all failed on 9/11. Where were the fighters? Good question…..they were delayed for some unknown reason, did not fly at top speed to D.C. and were sent from an air force base miles away when there were bases just a few minutes from D.C. Basically, the entire U.S. military defense system failed completely on 9/11. How many people and departments have been reprimanded for this complete failure? Not one. Not one person or dept has been demoted or reprimanded. I will also point to something that has never been discussed in the mainstream media. George Bush was informed of the attacks and then remained at the Elementary School in Florida for over 25 minutes continuing to read to children and answer questions from reporters. When was the last time that a President was in imminent danger and a potential target and was not immediately removed by the Secret Service to safety? In a Sherlock Holmes novel, the detective was able to determine the killer in the story because a dog did not bark all night during a crime, leading him to believe that the perpetrator had to know the dog. Sometimes it’s what we don’t see or hear that helps us solve mysteries. Did our President and the Secret Service know that he was not in danger? I have obviously left out many details. I invite you to research 9/11 on your own. I have listed a couple of websites and books at the end of the email to get you started if you want to learn the details.<br />
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You’re thinking as I did……if many of these things are true, why aren’t they reviewed and talked about in the media? If 9/11 was caused (or allowed) to happen by our government, what is the reason for something this horrific? I simply could not accept the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan were the only reasons. Well, this is where things get interesting. By an odd coincidence (I no longer believe in coincidences…. which I will explain later), I believe that I know the reasons for what we’ve seen. I happen to work with a gentleman who has spent the last 10 years researching secret societies. He and I have had brief discussions over the past 3 years, but I never took his information very seriously….until now. As I began looking into some of the things he told me regarding the objectives of the secret societies active in our world today, one group in particular seems to control almost all other secret societies. The goals of this group are what caught my attention and led to my further research into what they’re doing. Their objectives are eerily similar to what is described in the book of Revelation. This group is commonly known as the Illuminati (other names associated with the Illuminati – Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Freemasons and Skull & Bones).<br />
You can search on Google for information on the Illuminati and you’ll find vast amounts of information. I have listed a book at the end of this email that describes their influence over society for the past two hundred years and their future goals. There are a few reasons why I believe they are related to end time events:<br />
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1. They are the wealthiest families in the world (that you will never hear about) with the means to accomplish their goals. From what I’ve seen, they are worth trillions and have great control of the world economy. They exert immense control over banking, world finance & media. Some names are Rockefeller, Morgan, Onassis, and Rothschild. Very rich, powerful people.<br />
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2. Their #1 priority is bringing about a one world socialist government. It appears that they have been working on this goal for hundreds of years.<br />
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3. They appear to be involved with black/white magic and Satanism.<br />
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4. Evidence of their influence is everywhere. Our money (the most prominent symbols are on the $1 bill) and our architecture (search for Illuminati symbols & U.S. buildings) are both good places to start researching. Ever wonder what the ‘all seeing’ eye, pyramid and the eagle with 13 stars above it on the $1 represent? Find the pagan owl on our $1 bill. Very interesting.<br />
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5. Another interesting fact is that from what I’ve researched, there are only a few American Presidents that were not associated with Secret Societies. Lincoln, Kennedy and Reagan were not members of any secret society and all were shot. There are theories that say Lincoln and Kennedy could have been shot because their policies/views did not coincide with the Illuminati. It’s interesting to note that the Onassis family is one of the original 13 families of the Illuminati. Another interesting story is how George Bush Sr (Skull & Bones) was selected as our VP by Reagan in 1980 after Reagan (on more than one occasion) said publicly that he would not select Bush based on his secret society background. If not for a fraction of an inch, Bush would have become President a couple of months later when Reagan was shot.<br />
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6. The U.S. Federal Reserve is a private corporation…..few people know this. From what I can see, families of the Illuminati own large amounts (if not all) of stock in the Fed. Look at the history of the Fed…very interesting. Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law in 1913 and then said, ‘I have unwittingly ruined my country’.<br />
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7. In 1995, a game designer with knowledge of the Illuminati created an Illuminati card game. One of the cards showed the WTC towers being destroyed…another card showed the Pentagon on fire. Subsequent cards show disease, famine, terrorist attacks, war….similar to the book of Revelation. By itself, I would view it as a coincidence. It’s very peculiar when added to everything else.<br />
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8. From what I’ve read and seen, the Illuminati use the numbers 11 and 13 extensively. It looks like they use the number 11 to communicate to members that they were involved in a particular incident. On Sept 11, 1990, George Bush Sr mentioned ‘A New World Order’ for the first time in a speech to Congress on the Gulf War. 11 years to the day, the WTC was destroyed. The number 11 is all over the WTC attacks (another good topic to research). The Madrid bombings happened on March 11, 2004….911 days after Sept 11, 2001. The Indian attacks in Mumbai were on July 11th of this year. There are other instances of the number 11 in major news events.<br />
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It’s interesting to note that both George Bush and John Kerry were members of Skull & Bones. I, like most Americans, have not paid much attention to secret societies such as Skull & Bones, Freemasons and others. From what I’ve read, it appears that the Illuminati now control most, if not all of these societies. If you think it matters whether you voted for Bush or Kerry (both Skull & Bones), my research would tell you it doesn’t matter. We innocently debate among ourselves about conservative versus liberal politics, democrat versus republican, capitalism versus communism…..all the while, the Illuminati are moving their agenda forward with whoever is in power. There is a reason the Soviet Union was dismantled. Gorbachev was the first world leader to mention a ‘New World Order’ in a public speech. The Berlin wall came tumbling down soon thereafter. If the Illuminati are as powerful as some researchers indicate, I began to search for mention of them in the Bible. I reasoned that if they are the ones who bring about a one world government and the Antichrist, there is a good possibility that they are mentioned in the Bible. I began to read the Bible extensively (which is what I should have been doing my entire life). Late one night I came across 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2 Verse 7-8: ‘For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed (Antichrist), whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.’ Does it confirm the work of secret societies? I’m not sure, but I find it interesting that God chose the words ‘secret’ and ‘lawlessness’ in this verse while the Antichrist is referred to as the ‘man of lawlessness’ in the Bible.<br />
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I recently read a Christian author who said that God speaks to us through the circumstances of our life….if we would only listen. Before now, I had always incorrectly believed that God was in Heaven, we were on Earth and that God sometimes intervened in our life through prayer. I now know that God is with us always, is everywhere, loves us and is definitely communicating through the circumstances of our lives. I have had many examples of God answering my prayers over the past 2 months through many different circumstances. It really has been amazing. I began to pray regularly soon after researching 9/11 and the Illuminati due to the many obvious questions. Is this true? If it is true, why am I now discovering all of this? Why is this happening now? What should I do with this information? Initially, I was concerned with whether the Illuminati were as powerful as I was led to believe. I prayed for an answer to this question and received my answer a few days later. Through many different circumstances, I ended up in a building designed and built by the Illuminati. The fact that I ended up in this building was pure chance (or so I thought). As I began to realize the significance of what I was seeing, it dawned on me. God was providing my answer in a very dramatic way to finally get my attention. There is only one word to describe this experience: POWERFUL. At one point I re-entered the building after everyone else had left to take a second look at the images and writings in the building (because at the time I was having a hard time believing what I was seeing). There was no doubt that the building was built by the Illuminati and the future purpose of the building also became clear to me (the building was constructed in the 1920’s). As I stated before, this is one of many circumstances where God has shown me answers to my many questions. After 34 years of minimal prayer and worship, I can honestly say after the past 2 months that there is nothing in this world that cannot be accomplished by praying to our Heavenly Father.<br />
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So, after weeks of research and long nights, the final question became…what do I do with this information? What will other people think? I spoke to my pastor about this and received the exact same answer as I received from my prayers…Prepare. We can’t stop it, so we must be prepared spiritually first and foremost, and ensure that others are prepared. Jesus tells us that these things must happen, but not to worry. I just never thought that I would see them unfold during my lifetime. My student Bible makes an important statement that we all forget at times: ‘As Christians, we must never forget that there is an ongoing behind the scenes battle of good versus evil.’ We must always remember that Satan is at work in the world and through God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, it is our duty to fight against evil. I have sat on the sidelines over the course of my life and watched others become actively involved in working for Christ while I did very little. I believe that I (and now you) have been given this message as a way to get us in the game. God has shown me what is really important in this life and I am making changes because of it. If you haven’t already, my hope is that you will do the same.<br />
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The final piece of this is….. what does the future bring and how do I prepare for it? This is difficult to communicate, but I believe we are going to see another ‘Terrorist’ event later this year. Unfortunately, I believe it’s potentially going to involve multiple U.S. cities and make us forget 9/11. Why do I believe this? There are a couple of reasons, and I would be glad to share them with you, for now I will simply say that there are signs. The reason for these ‘events’ is simple….the powers controlling this will use fear to further reduce freedoms and liberties throughout the free world. Currently, the world is being kept in a constant state of fear…terror alerts, bombings, plane crashes….we are constantly bombarded with worry. This is referred to in the Bible. If you haven’t read the Patriot Act, I would encourage you to do so. Many ‘temporary’ provisions of the Act were made permanent by Congress…with little notice from our media. As for day to day preparation, Karen and I are moving everything out of the stock market. I’m still working on this, but precious metals do well during times of uncertainty, so we’re moving a significant % of our savings into gold. I realize these things may sound strange, but the time will come very soon when we cannot depend on past ‘trends’, stock market or otherwise. I continue to pray for guidance and ask that you do the same.<br />
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I have no doubt that some of us are ready and have been ready for whatever comes our way. I will tell you that after much soul-searching, I was not ready for any of this. By ready, I mean a true belief that Jesus Christ died for me and the commitment of my life to him. As my brother and I have discussed, simply believing Jesus Christ died on the Cross is not enough. We must live our lives according to His will and commit ourselves to Him for the glory of God and our own salvation. Like most people, I went to Church on Sunday when it was convenient for me (and I wasn’t too tired), rarely prayed and gave to the Church whatever I didn’t spend in a given month. I then wondered why I never had a close relationship with God. It seems so simple now. I will admit that all of the things I have recently discovered initially depressed me. It’s not easy for good people to accept that evil is very powerful and can affect world leaders and world events. The Bible tells us that we cannot defend ourselves against Satan without God on our side. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 10:20 ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.’ Amen! Whether we choose to believe it or not, there is spiritual warfare being waged in our world. All of the things in this world that distract us from what’s important, who do you think is behind it? Without the armor of God, you are on the field of battle with nothing to protect yourself. A year ago I will admit that I was scared and fearful after learning these things. Now I fear nothing in this world….and you will feel the same through your relationship with God. As my pastor said while we were discussing this, ‘Bring it on! I’m ready.’<br />
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Why was I depressed about these things I have learned? …because I love this world, I love my family, I loved my life and because of the society that I live in, I forgot one of the most important things we must never forget as Christians, that this life is simply a brief stopover before our true life in eternity begins. As Christians, we must separate ourselves from the world and the things in it. Not easy to do. Why do Jesus and His Disciples warn us time and again about the many temptations that Satan will throw at us? Because Jesus knows that it is difficult for us. Matthew Chapter 13 Verses 13:14 ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’ Jesus is telling us that we must believe in and follow Him to receive eternal life and God’s purpose for us in this life. I will say that although I know all of these things are coming to pass, I have never experienced the peace that I now enjoy. It’s amazing how wonderful life is when you are released from the worries of this world and are able to place your life in His hands. Jesus told us that He is the Truth and the Truth will set you free from this world. I won’t lie to you, when you’re looking out over the edge of the precipice, it takes true faith to step out and know that God is going to catch you. My reason for sending this to you is the sincere hope that you are prepared for what is to come if you are a Christian, or like myself, find the faith that will lead you to truly believe that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected by the grace of God, so that you can have eternal life. He is, after all, the savior of this world! We will go through some tough times ahead, but we have God and each other to help us through. Best of all, the good guys win!<br />
You are wondering if what I’m telling you is true. I assure you that it is. Remember, I’m just the messenger.<br />
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A couple of books that I have read that provide thorough information on these topics. There are many others as well.<br />
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‘Rule by Secrecy’ – Jim Marrs<br />
‘Inside Job - Unraveling the 9/11 conspiracies’ – Jim Marrs<br />
Couple of websites relating to 9/11:<br />
Reopen911.org<br />
911Truth.orgJohn D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161542355447001942010-10-25T14:25:00.001-04:002011-11-10T22:47:27.382-05:00Prophecy, Spiritual Warfare and November 11 - written in Sept 2005As I mentioned in the first letter, when you pray for guidance and knowledge, God will answer your prayers and in my case, he isn’t wasting any time. You may be wondering whether I have, in fact, gone off the deep end and you may also be wondering why I am sending another letter to you. In this respect, nothing has changed over the past 3 weeks – God is leading me where I need to go and what I need to do. It’s that simple. He has given me additional knowledge and He has also asked that I give this information to each of you. You are probably wondering how God is communicating to me (and rightfully so). I have said before that I believe God communicates to all of us through the circumstances of our lives if we would only listen. I have been listening as well as I know how (with some help from local Pastors) and have discovered something that is truly amazing to me. He knows our strengths and our talents and uses these for not only His will on Earth when we choose to follow Him, but He also uses our strengths to further His communication with us. In my case, God is using His Word, His inner voice, numbers, circumstances and my interest in solving problems to give me information that I need to know. I have gained greater knowledge as I have solved the problems that He has presented to me. I realize that this may sound strange to some of you, others may know much more about this than I do. I can only say that it is a wonderful feeling when you realize that God is talking directly to you through the Holy Spirit and using you and your talents for His will. Another question that you are probably pondering is ‘Why is He giving this information to John?’ Believe me, I have prayed for an answer to this question. The answer is simple. When we choose to follow God’s plan for our lives, He will use the talents and abilities given to us for His will. When I chose to turn my life over to him, He began to give me my true purpose in this life. I have realized in recent weeks that He has been leading me to where I am my entire life. I’m only now understanding this, which I will explain later in this letter. I will also say that other people are getting the same message that I am. Where will this lead my family and me? I honestly don’t know. I will say that while I know we are about to face some difficult times, it is very exciting to know that we are now on the path that God has planned for us. For Karen, our family, and myself the adventure has only just started. He has a plan for all of us; it’s up to each of us to choose to accept His offer of salvation through his Son, obey Him and follow His will for us.<br />
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Here’s where I need to give you another warning about the contents you are about to read. We (Americans) are about to face the most difficult times our nation has ever encountered. Since we need to stay grounded in the Word of God, please remember the following scriptures as you read the remainder of this letter:<br />
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‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” –Jeremiah 6:16<br />
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‘I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But you said, “We will not listen.” –Jeremiah 6:17<br />
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‘The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’ – Ezekiel 33:1-6<br />
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I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people.” – Amos 7:14-15<br />
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I believe that God is giving me a warning to give to you and anyone who will listen. He has shown our nation mercy in recent decades, but I believe that His protection of our nation has ended. What happens when a nation falls away from God? God removes his protection and the powers of Satan have free reign. Could 9/11 and recent climate/weather changes be signals to us that He is removing his protection in an effort to get our nation to repent? Is it a coincidence that our weather seems to be more unpredictable and definitely more intense? You may be thinking to yourself, ‘But we’re the good guys! There are millions of good people in this country!’ If you use this world’s idea of good and evil as your baseline, you would be able to make an argument that we’re living in a good nation. If you look at the U.S. through God’s eyes, you see our nation from a much different perspective.<br />
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I don’t believe anyone would disagree that our nation’s Godliness and moral standards are declining. Since 1973, it is estimated that the U.S. has performed over 47 million abortions. Think about that number for a minute. 47,000,000. 47 million Americans who never got a chance in this life. 47 million of God’s children who never got a chance to do His will in this world. We are slowly removing God from our government, our schools and the offices where we work (there is now a movement to remove God from our money) all in the name of ‘political correctness’ or to prevent people from being ‘offended’. Pornagraphy is now a $10 billion dollar business in this country and continues to grow. If it’s not right in God’s eyes, it shouldn’t be right in ours. I now view the world and the issues in it by God’s word and His word alone. It doesn’t matter how you phrase it, if it goes against God’s word, it goes against God’s word. We haven’t learned from the history lessons in the Bible that tell us what happens to nations that do not follow God’s word. We talk a good talk in America, but as a nation, we are ignoring His will for us. Casinos and lotteries have been built and implemented in many states. Studies have shown repeatedly that the poorest people in our country play lotteries. We recently implemented a state lottery in Tennessee after churches fought against it. The CEO of the TN lottery is a multi-millionaire. The next time you’re in a convenience store, take note of the people who are funding her salary. Jesus warned us against taking advantage of the poor. We are the wealthiest nation on Earth and many of us live in luxury, yet we strive for more power and wealth while billions of people across the globe would be happy simply to know that they were going to have something to eat each day. What was the number one topic Jesus spoke of in His gospels? Money.<br />
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This all leads me to this. I believe that the ‘terrorist’ event I mentioned in my first letter will occur on November 11th of this year. I believe that it will involve multiple cities, and I strongly believe that Las Vegas will be one of the cities affected by this event [a few weeks later I felt that the Lord also communicated that San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York and Atlanta would also be affected]. Why do I believe that November 11th is the day? It’s been an interesting journey. I realize this requires a large amount of faith, so hang in there with me. For the past 15 years I have seen 11:11 everywhere and often. I initially began to see it on digital clocks and thought I was subconsciously looking at clocks at that time in the afternoon or at night. I then began seeing it on trip mileage, phone numbers, billboards, ID’s, etc. After the first few years of seeing it over and over, I began to experience some apprehension each year as November 11th approached. I had no reason to believe that the date was related to what I was experiencing, but I felt as though I was being sent a message, but could not understand it. Karen and I met with our neighbor Krista (who was our physician’s assistant for our OB/GYN) early last year to learn the due date of our son Jake. As Krista was calculating the date, I half jokingly said, ‘It better not be November 11.’ Her response after finishing her calculation was ‘How did you know?’<br />
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When the Internet was created, I discovered that 11:11 is a worldwide phenomenon. Thousands (if not millions) of people around the globe have experienced the same thing. There are websites dedicated to this and they’re even making a movie about it this year. So, seeing 11:11 became part of my life and while I would mention it to people on occasion, I stopped thinking that it was a message. That is, I stopped thinking about it until I started researching the Illuminati earlier this year. When I discovered that the Illuminati used the number 11 in events to communicate to its members, I suddenly became very interested again in 11:11. If you question this, research the number 11 and 9/11/01. I believe you will be amazed at what you find. There is some very interesting math involved with November 11 of this year. 9/11/2001 has one 11 in the date. 3/11/2004 (Madrid bombings) has two eleven’s (3+1+1+2+4 = 11). 11/11/2005 has 3 eleven’s (1+1+1+1+2+5 = 11). There are 911 days between 9/11/2001 and 3/11/2004. There are 611 days between 3/11/2004 and 11/11/2005. The difference between previous years and this year? Never in our lives has the month, day and year on November 11th added up to 11. Earlier this year my brother Charlie and I were discussing these things. At the end of the conversation he asked ‘Do you ever see the number 11:11?’. It turns out that we both started seeing it in the early 90’s. The difference was that until this conversation, he only saw 11:11 on digital clocks. After telling him that I see it everywhere in addition to digital clocks, he paused for a few seconds and asked me if I was watching the British Open (golf). When I told him that I had it on, he told me to look at the leader board. I turned around and saw that Tiger Woods was eleven under par on the eleventh hole. In July, Karen and I both started seeing 5:42 and 5:24 on digital clocks as well as 11:11. I can understand if you are skeptical. I realize it sounds unbelievable. If you haven’t taken the time to research the Illuminati, doing so will remove some of your doubt. I have had the thought for some time that if I ever figured out what 11:11 meant, I would stop seeing it. I can honestly say I haven’t seen it in over a month. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. It is entirely possible that I could be misinterpreting God’s message for me. It is also very possible through prayer, that we can delay or stop what is happening in our world. When evil attacks us, we should always pray to God for assistance and intervention. I pray that we will be protected from what is to come, but I will also say that I am making plans in the event something does happen.<br />
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Why Vegas? One night the power went out in our home and the alarm clock in our bedroom needed to be reset. I left my watch downstairs, so I opened the top drawer of my dresser to get the time off another watch. As I was reaching into the drawer, I noticed a luggage tag next to my watch…..for some reason I flipped it over. It was from a company trip in 2003 to Las Vegas. I wasn’t sure why I flipped it over…then realized that I had been praying for greater knowledge of coming events. Could this be an answer? I laid on my bed thinking about this for a few minutes and again, without really thinking about it, turned my head and looked directly at a photo on my end table of the same trip. It was a photo of me, Karen and Olivia (2 months old) on the Gondola ride in the Venetian. I have to admit; at this point I was thinking coincidence all the way. I studied the photo for a few minutes, and not seeing anything significant, started to place the photo back on the table when something told me to take the photo out of the frame. I did so. In the bottom left-hand corner of the photo was the date of the photo and a photo number: 3/12/2003 11-3.jpg. Add up the numbers in the date. Coincidence?<br />
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Even if you don’t quite believe what I’m saying about God and the information he has given me, take a moment and look at our nation from an economist’s point of view. Our country has a national debt approaching 8 trillion dollars. That’s Trillion with a T. The average American household has over $12,000 in credit card and other revolving credit debt. Housing prices have increased dramatically in the past 5 years (doubled in many areas) leading many Americans to use the equity in their homes to finance spending while losing site of the fact that our houses are only worth something when they sell. The world economy simply cannot sustain itself unless the U.S. stops spending and starts saving and the rest of the world does the reverse. If our economy tanks, the world economy is going to suffer greatly. Foreign countries now own over 45% of our national debt. If they stop buying our treasuries, the party’s over for us. No more cheap credit. If you read the news closely, many economists are saying that America’s debt is now something to be concerned about over time, but as long as we don’t have another major hurricane disaster or ‘terrorist’ event, the economy will continue to grow. There are an increasing number of articles and publications warning about America’s debt. The warning signs are all around us. I recently read in the Wall Street Journal where a well known economist uses 10 metrics to determine if a country’s economy is on a ‘bubble’ and at risk for a significant ‘correction’. The author said that America’s economy qualifies as being on a ‘bubble’ on 8 of them. The problem is that we continue to wrongly believe that the good life will continue regardless of the signs around us and our nation’s separation from God. I realize this seems like a lot of gloom and doom, but I feel as though we are asleep at the wheel and need to be awakened! There are many Christian writers who are sounding the alarm, but are not loud enough. We are being quieted by ‘political correctness’ and a lack of conviction.<br />
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I mentioned in the first letter what Karen and I are doing in preparation for coming events. Here are a few more details. I realize that a large amount of faith is required to do what I’m doing. I’ve prayed about what to do and these were my answers. I ask that you pray for guidance as well.<br />
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1. I am getting out of the stock market completely. There are no ‘safe’ stocks during times of crisis. Simply get out of the market altogether.<br />
2. Since my 401(k) plan does not offer anything other than stocks and a few bond funds, I’m taking the money out, paying the tax penalty and putting the money in something safe (not spending it!). If your 401(k) has investments that are not stock/bond related and carries no risk (guaranteed interest investments), I suppose that would be fine. If you aren’t changing jobs and can’t take your money out and you don’t have safe options, I would suggest that you take a 401(k) loan for the maximum amount allowable and move it to something safe. Better to have the money in something safe and pay yourself back each month, than lose a significant amount of your savings when the stock market falls.<br />
3. Instead of stocks, I’m in a fund that tracks the price of Gold. If you’re interested the fund is ISHARES COMEX GOLD TR. Symbol – IAU (It’s up $14/share since I bought it last year). I’m sure there are others. Be aware that many ‘funds’ include Gold, but many other investments as well. Be sure that you know everything that a fund invests in.<br />
4. Similar to most areas, home values in Knoxville have skyrocketed in the past 2 years. If you are comfortable with your mortgage, I see no reason to sell your home unless you need the equity to get free of debt. As always, this is something to pray about. Many Americans have taken out multiple mortgages or ‘interest-only’ loans to finance spending and other things…with the hope that housing prices continue to rise. If you’re in a similar situation, now would be a great time to sell and downsize or rent. Use the funds to pay down your debt or invest in something that is much less risky. It’s also a great time to lock in a fixed rate mortgage if you have any type of an adjustable rate mortgage or ARM.<br />
5. Have more cash on hand than usual.<br />
6. Make sacrifices now to get out of debt. Everyone’s goal should be to become debt free (other than a mortgage) as soon as possible. Not only does debt place stress on you and your family (Satan loves to place stress and uncertainty in your life); it prevents you from doing everything God asks you to do. There have been many times in my life where my Church needed additional funds for the general budget, to help a family, to support a new mission….and I couldn’t contribute due to my spending and debt. This world tells you that you need a new car (Employee discount!), that you need a bigger home (Interest only mortgages!); go shopping (low credit card rates! – free T-Shirt!) and that you deserve all of these things. God tells us that we need clothing, a roof over our head and food to eat. He will take care of everything for us when we give our lives and finances over to him. Dave Ramsey provides excellent guidance for setting a budget and getting out of debt. If you need help, he is a great source for financial planning.<br />
7. I’m going to stock up on the basics – water, non-perishable food, fuel, etc.<br />
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Another topic that I feel I need to reference relates to spiritual warfare. The best way for me to communicate this is through my own experiences. Before I was a Christian, Satan for the most part left me alone. He tempted me with wealth, pursuit of money, new stuff to keep me in debt, etc. to keep my focus on things other than my own salvation and to keep me off God’s plan for my life, but he did not aggressively attack me. Once we become Christians, we have chosen God and chosen to fight Satan and his evil purposes in this world. As many of you know, this is the greatest experience up to this point in your life! Although this is truly a wonderful, life changing event in our lives, we must never forget that once we have chosen to serve God and are saved, we become a target of Satan and evil in this world. I believe that Satan takes a special interest in new Christians. We haven’t matured spiritually yet, so we are vulnerable to attack. Satan knows that as we become more mature both in our spiritual relationship with God, His word, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, the more protected and prepared we are when faced with Satan’s temptations and attacks. The final piece of this is that once a Christian begins to follow God’s plan and begins attacking evil and spreading God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, Satan does not take our aggression lying down, evil fights back. How do I know this? Because I have experienced all of these things over the past year. I have had doubts placed in my mind about the things that I’m doing. Are you sure God wants you to do this? What if you’re wrong? No one wants to hear these things! People want good news, not bad, so go back to the sidelines and get out of the game! Wasn’t your life easier before you began getting involved with these things? Why bother? Are you sure you’re saved? Would you be having these thoughts if you were saved? You’re using Scripture, are you sure that you are using it correctly? The Bible was written by men, how do you know that the Bible was inspired by God? Anything and everything has been thrown at me in an attempt to separate me from Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. Only through the Holy Spirit can we hope to resist these attacks. At first, unbeknownst to me, God began preparing me for this. He has guided me to a local ministry that is focused on the intensifying spiritual warfare being waged in our world. Their Pastor (Mike McClung) has created a series of CD’s on spiritual warfare that I listen to everyday (www.lionheartministries.org). If you want to learn more about God’s word, the Christian faith and spiritual warfare, I highly recommend that you order his CD’s.<br />
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I mentioned that God has used the circumstances in my life to communicate to me and to place me in positions where He needed me. The other side of this is that Satan has used non-believers to try to prevent me from doing what God has asked me to do. As I continue to do God’s work through my job, I have noticed that something, very quietly (for now) is objecting. Here’s an example. I’m a General Manager of a broadband company in Knoxville. On our cable systems throughout the Southeast, we provide the Playboy channel among other ‘Adult’ channels. The Playboy Channel recently sent our Ad Sales department in Knoxville a 30 second promotional commercial for their ‘Adult’ content. It just so happens that this is the first year that I have had control over the advertising shown on my system in Knoxville. I refused to broadcast the promotion. I believe my exact words were ‘drive over the tape with your car.’ Our marketing department objected. I refused. I was then told ‘we have a contractual obligation, every other division is showing it, it’s ‘tastefully’ done, we’re showing it after 10pm, etc, etc’. I refused. More reasons were thrown at me. I finally told them that as long as I was running this division, we were never going to promote pornography again….and that’s exactly what we were doing – promoting pornography. This must have made the point more clearly, because I was never contacted again.<br />
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Two weeks later our marketing department sent direct mail to every one of our digital customers explaining how to set parental controls on their digital boxes to prevent anyone other than adults from viewing ‘adult’ films. This is a good example of how spiritual warfare is waged. Stand up for God and He will make great things happen through you. Once you have done the little things for Him, He will give you much bigger things to do. I met with our CEO and Vice Presidents on Friday of last week to discuss removing ‘adult’ content from not only our system in Knoxville, but all of our systems in the Southeast. We discussed this for over an hour before they promised me that they are going to give the decision serious thought. What will our CEO decide? If he listens to God, we will remove this programming from our systems….and how nice would it be for a cable company to actually move in the right direction when it comes to this content. If we remove it and customers choose us instead of our competition because of it, will it put pressure on our much larger competitors to do the same? Here’s a summary of the thoughts running through my mind at the moment I was going to initiate this conversation with our CEO….Don’t do it! Lost revenue! Lost customers! You can’t force your values on other adults! …and I almost didn’t say anything. In the end, I asked myself ‘What would Jesus Christ do in this situation?’ The answer is that Jesus attacked evil at every opportunity…so I asked Jesus to help me and give me the courage I needed. The doubt and questions ran away and I initiated the conversation. We’re not asked to fight alone. In fact, God warns us against it. These things may seem like coincidences, I assure you they are not. Spiritual warfare can be very quiet, hardly noticeable. Other times it can be very obvious. On Monday of this week I received an email from our marketing department that we are increasing the price of our Adult movies. More revenue! The battle continues.<br />
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As I have started to do more and more for God through my job and our community, I began to think that it wouldn’t surprise me if Satan tried to take me out of my organization. I was now using my position of influence to rebel against the flow of this world and do what God was asking me to do. After thinking about this for awhile, I realized that evil already tried to take me out. A few months ago I planned to promote a very good, dedicated employee to a supervisor position. He has always worked very hard and deserved the promotion. Before I offered him the position, unbeknownst to me, he received a speeding ticket. Instead of paying the ticket and moving on, he decided to contact a powerful political figure in Knoxville (who I knew personally) to fix it for him. This person said sure, he’d take care of it for him…he knew the judge. To show his gratitude, my employee took this person out to dinner…a very expensive dinner (as much or more than the cost of the ticket). A couple of weeks after the ticket was ‘taken care of’, the political figure called to tell me he heard that I was considering this person for the supervisor position. He then proceeded to tell me that this employee had him fix a DUI ticket that he received in a company truck and that under no circumstances should the employee receive the promotion (he probably had someone else in mind). I told him that I appreciated the information and I would talk to the employee about it. After talking to the employee and determining that it was simply a speeding ticket in his own vehicle, I called the political figure and told him that the employee would receive the promotion since it was only a speeding ticket. This person went ballistic and demanded that I not promote him. I refused and promoted him anyway. This person then spoke to a Vice President of our company and demanded that they fire me and two of my managers due to the poor performance of our division (we perform very well). Three executives initially agreed that there could be a problem and something should probably be done. Our VP of Operations, after being informed of this, rebuked all of them in front of our CEO….adamantly. Our CEO sided with him and has banned one of the executives from ever returning to Knoxville and any contact with the politician. This is a very good example of how Satan works. He didn’t ask our CEO to fire me; he simply placed a thought in an employee’s mind…’it’s only a speeding ticket, no one will ever know.’ A short term gain (that’s not really a gain at all) turns into something much worse. Satan will never tell you the long term consequences of your actions. Evil does the same thing with alcohol, drugs, embezzlement, etc. It almost always starts small and then mushrooms out of control. Enron and WorldCom come to mind. ‘You’ll be rich and no one will ever know.’ Ask Bernie Ebbers how that turned out for him. He’s going to die in jail. I didn’t understand why other managers were included at the time. I do now. Both are moving in the right direction spiritually and are being prepared by our Father for greater things. The other side knows this. It wasn’t our time to leave our company, so we stayed. Never forget that God is in complete control. When it’s time for us to leave, it will be God’s will.<br />
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God works in our lives everyday. The difference for me is that I can see it now. In my position, many charities ask me for company donations. In the past, as with most corporations, I have only donated to charities where my company received something in return….sponsorship, publicity, etc. Over the past 4 years, a local charity has asked me many times for a donation and each time I have refused because I didn’t feel that our company received anything for the donation (cold – but that’s life in corporate America). A few weeks ago I received another letter from this charity (SMA - Families with Spinal Muscular Atrophy). For once, I decided to actually read the letter. I learned that this is a life threatening disease that affects children. Many children die from the disease before the age of 5. I decided that it was time to send a check. So, I sent them some money and thought nothing more about it. Three days later I received a voicemail message from the director of the charity. I could tell she had been crying, she said ‘Mr. Gilmore, I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your donation. We received a letter today from a poor family in Knoxville who just lost their 4 year old daughter to this disease. They needed some financial help with the funeral and we had none to give. In the same stack of mail we received their letter, we received your donation that allowed us to help them. It was a miracle. God bless you.’ In the same stack of mail. I had to close my office door for awhile to compose myself. I cannot imagine the anguish that these people felt losing a child. God knows and provided for them. He has taught me much over the past 2 months. Sometimes the lessons are easy, other times they are very difficult. In this case it was this….you don’t need to gain ANYTHING for yourself to help others. Jesus taught us that if we’re asked for something, give it. Selfishness will destroy us spiritually if we let it.<br />
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One last story. A few weeks ago our General Manager in Columbus, GA (a good friend of mine) and I were discussing how God was working in our lives. He mentioned that he was made aware of a little girl who had a terminal disease and did not have long to live. He was told that she loved a certain country singer (not one of the top artists). Through his contacts he was able to get a guitar signed by this artist and give it to the little girl. He went on with his life and didn’t think much more about it. The guitar and the autograph were not worth much and he was glad to help. She died a few weeks later. My friend later found out that she loved the guitar so much, she asked that it be placed next to her coffin at the funeral. We don’t know how our actions truly affect others, but God knows. He loves each and every one of us. Through my friend, He gave the little girl much happiness before she left this world to be with Him.<br />
<br />
The important thing is that God has opened my eyes to this ongoing warfare. We need the Holy Spirit in order to see it and discern what is right. It has not been easy to get the strength to write about these things and then send it to everyone I know. There is one reason that I have been able to overcome all of my doubt. That reason is God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are human beings. The Bible teaches us that we cannot take on Satan alone. We will fail without God’s power on our side. Have you ever given in to temptation, only to have that decision cause you pain? With His power, we can overcome everything that the devil throws at us. Without Him, we are vulnerable to evil and will ultimately fail to resist. Satan does not want me sending these letters and he doesn’t want you to read them. Since he has failed to stop me, he will create doubt in your minds. Don’t listen, Gilmore’s losing his mind, the stock market will remain stable, Homeland Security will protect us…I can hear it all now. Evil would much prefer that you are kept in the dark and will therefore, be fearful and alone when faced with what’s coming. I recently purchased a very good book on our adversary and what he is capable of doing. I have listed it below if you are interested. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ‘If I’m just a good person I’ll be in Heaven some day’ or ‘I believe in God, but I’m not so sure about Jesus Christ’. We all have evil thoughts at times and they are the work of our adversary. The devil is relentless in his attack on our relationship with God and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ sealed the devil’s fate…..so the devil will do whatever he can to separate us from Christ. It’s very important that we learn how to fight back.<br />
<br />
What does all this mean? From my own experiences, I can see this warfare intensifying and it’s going to continue to intensify. If you’ve been in the battle, I commend you. If you’re like me up until a few months ago, it’s time to get in the game. It’s time to place God #1 in your life. I know what it’s like to place God #4 on my list of priorities versus #1! If you want to find true happiness, love and satisfaction in this life, move Him to #1. I will be glad to help you in any way I can.<br />
<br />
You probably noticed that I haven’t written much about 9/11 conspiracies or the Illuminati in this letter. The reason is that now they simply don’t concern me as much. I am more concerned with following God’s plan for me and my family. He will take care of the rest. The important thing is that we are prepared spiritually for what’s coming through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I continue to pray for our country and for all of you.<br />
<br />
I always recommend a good study Bible to those that ask me for reading material, but if you’re interested in a couple of good books outside of the Bible relating to what I’m writing about, here are a couple:<br />
<br />
‘The American Prophecies’ by Michael D. Evans<br />
‘When the Enemy Strikes’ by Charles Stanley<br />
‘A Modern Prophesy’ by John Tunstall<br />
<br />
God Bless.<br />
<br />
JohnJohn D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-86479817407760573412010-10-25T14:24:00.000-04:002011-09-15T11:16:58.306-04:00Philly Fed Misses - Markets Soar<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">We are watching greed coupled with ignorance - blind the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Even though underlying economic data continues to deteriorate (unemployment, wages, manufacturing, inflation, local – state – federal deficits, etc.), stock markets rocket on the news that central banks are ‘helping’ the European dollar liquidity issues (albeit with more debt) and the hope of additional QE.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The world is placing its hope with the very people planning its demise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Expect extreme volatility to continue throughout markets until the rug is pulled out from under us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Remember – all of this ‘help’ is being done now so that the central bankers and world political leaders can tell you later that they did everything possible to save the system.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We know the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">jg<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">September 15, 2011</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><b>______________________</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Philly Fed Misses, Market Soars As Inflation Roars Back With Prices Paid Doubling<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/philly-fed-misses-market-soars-inflation-roars-back-prices-paid-doubling">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/philly-fed-misses-market-soars-inflation-roars-back-prices-paid-doubling</a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 11.25pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by </span><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden"><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Tyler Durden</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"> on 09/15/2011 10:10 -0400</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Love bizarro day, Embrace bizarro day, Have its child. The Philly Fed missed consensus of -15.0, printing at -17.5, though better than last month's abysmal -30.7 print... and stocks rip on expectations of more, more, more, intervention. As for how QE will work when the Philly Fed just announced its Prices Paid category doubled from 12.8 to 23.2... well, it don't matter to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">From</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.philadelphiafed.org/research-and-data/regional-economy/business-outlook-survey/2011/bos0911.pdf"><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">the report</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Responses to the Business Outlook Survey this month suggest that regional manufacturing activity is continuing to contract, but declines are less widespread than in August. The survey’s broad indicators for activity, shipments, and new orders all remained negative for the second consecutive month. Responding firms, however, indicated that employment was slightly higher this month. The broadest indicator of future activity remained positive and rebounded this month, suggesting that recent declines are not expected to continue over the next six months."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And on Inflation, which is back:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Increasing costs were somewhat more widespread this month compared to last month. Nearly 29 percent of firms reported paying higher prices for inputs this month. Only 6 percent reported lower prices. The prices paid diffusion index increased 10 points, its first one?month increase in seven months.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Full table:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u_IByhmgB4E/TnIU0GZuxII/AAAAAAAAA_0/VY4bHTW04kc/s1600/Table+-+Philly+Fed+Sept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u_IByhmgB4E/TnIU0GZuxII/AAAAAAAAA_0/VY4bHTW04kc/s320/Table+-+Philly+Fed+Sept.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">And chart:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hC-_ci-eY3s/TnIU6B2AB3I/AAAAAAAAA_4/ZFjucUJY6WE/s1600/Chart+-+Philly+Fed+Sept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hC-_ci-eY3s/TnIU6B2AB3I/AAAAAAAAA_4/ZFjucUJY6WE/s320/Chart+-+Philly+Fed+Sept.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div><br />
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</div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-73497889135498715132010-10-25T14:23:00.009-04:002011-06-24T09:16:03.347-04:00United States Monetary System and Descent into Fascism<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.do" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.do" name="OLE_LINK1"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">June 24, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Excellent article on our monetary system and the Constitution – and where we are headed as a nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Time to end the apathy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">jg</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">_________________________________</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-us-monetary-system-and-descent-fascism-interview-dr-edwin-vieira">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-us-monetary-system-and-descent-fascism-interview-dr-edwin-vieira</a><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Guest Post: The U.S. Monetary System And Descent Into Fascism An Interview With Dr. Edwin Vieira<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by </span><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden"><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Tyler Durden</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"> on 06/23/2011 22:23 -0400</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Submitted by David Galland of </span></i><a href="http://www.caseyresearch.com/editorial.php?page=articles/interview-dr-edwin-vieira&ppref=ZHB231ED0611B"><i><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Casey Report</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The U.S. Monetary System And Descent Into Fascism An Interview With Dr. Edwin Vieira</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The following interview with Dr. Vieira was conducted in early June of 2011 for the subscribers of </span></i></b><a href="http://www.caseyresearch.com/crpmkt/crpSolo.php?id=231&ppref=ZHB231ED0611B"><b><i><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Casey Report</span></i></b></a><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> – but after careful consideration, we decided that the content is so important; it needs to be shared with a wider audience. Feel free to pass it along.</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">David Galland</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Managing Editor</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Casey Report</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For more than thirty years, Edwin Vieira, Jr., has practiced law, with emphasis on constitutional issues. In the Supreme Court of the United States, he successfully argued or briefed the cases leading to the landmark decisions Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, and Communications Workers of America v. Beck, which established constitutional and statutory limitations on the uses to which labor unions, in both the private and the public sectors, may apply fees extracted from nonunion workers as a condition of their employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He has written numerous monographs and articles in scholarly journals, and lectured throughout the county. His most recent work on money and banking is the two-volume</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution</i> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(2002), the most comprehensive study in existence of American monetary law and history viewed from a constitutional perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He is also the co-author (under a nom de plume) of the political novel </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">CRA$HMAKER: A Federal Affaire</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(2000), a not-so-fictional story of an engineered crash of the Federal Reserve System, and the political upheaval it causes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">His latest book is:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>How to Dethrone the Imperial Judiciary</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">... and </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Constitutional "Homeland Security," Volume One, The Nation in Arms</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We first met Dr. Vieira at our Casey Research Boca Raton Summit and were sufficiently impressed to want to hear more, and to share more, of his work with readers of The Casey Report.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Before kicking things off, I’d refer readers to Dr. Vieira’s in-depth and excellent paper, "A Cross of Gold," as that provides a more detailed analysis on how the corrupt U.S. monetary system might transition into something more honest and effective.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Getting started, from a big-picture perspective, technically speaking, is the current U.S. monetary system actually constitutional?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, technically speaking, factually speaking, legally speaking, no. In a word, no.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There are two levels to consider. First, there's the straight currency level – what is supposed to be the official monetary unit. Then there is “other,” which I distinguish as different from the official monetary unit because the Constitution doesn’t prohibit private parties from creating media of exchange for their own uses, as long as those media of exchange are non-fraudulent and they’re operated in an otherwise honest commercial fashion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But the official unit of currency is supposed to be the dollar, and I'll tell you exactly what a dollar is – it's 371.25 grains of silver in the form of a coin. That was determined as a historical fact in 1792. Actually the dollar was adopted before the Constitution was even written. It was adopted by the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, the so-called Spanish milled dollar, which was the actual unit that was circulating then, because there had been essentially no coinage under the various colonial regimes in colonial America. So that's the dollar unit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, do we have that now? The answer is, "Well, essentially, no." First, obviously they are not coining a true dollar, they coin a Liberty Silver Dollar, but that's 480 grains, not 371.25 grains. And you have various gold coinage with dollar denominations on it, but those dollar denominations have no real relationship in terms of market exchange ratio to a silver unit of 371.25 grains.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So the short answer is that within the coinage system we don’t have what we're supposed to have. We have silver coins, we have gold coins, but they’re not properly weighted or regulated. And then, of course, we have these base metallic coins, which have no constitutional status at all – at least with respect to being legal tender for their face values. So on the coinage side, we have a mélange and a mess. At least there is some silver and gold coinage, but it doesn’t meet the constitutional requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On the other side, the so-called official paper money side, the Constitution does not provide for official paper money. What it does address are two provisions; the first, dealing with the states, specifically says, "No state shall emit bills of credit." As a word of explanation, bills of credit were the founding fathers' terminology for paper currency. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is interesting because the paper currency they actually used and emitted were bills of credit that promised to pay something, typically gold and silver coins, specified on the face of the bill. So even those types of paper currency, fully redeemable paper currency, were outlawed for the states because the states had emitted them in vast excess. That was the historical basis for the outlawry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now, turning our attention to Congress, you need to recall that Congress only has the powers that are granted to it. You don’t look in the Constitution for prohibitions on Congress's authority and assume that it can do everything that isn't prohibited. You look for delegations of authority, and you assume that anything that hasn’t been delegated is prohibited.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you look at the original draft of the Constitution in the Constitutional Convention, the Federal Convention of 1787, it said, "Congress shall have the power to borrow money and emit bills on the credit of the United States." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That language was taken from the Articles of Confederation. The Congress operating under those articles had the power to borrow money and emit bills – emit paper currency – and they did it. They emitted the so-called continental currency from which came the phrase "not worth a continental" because they emitted so much of it that it depreciated very close to worthlessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">At the Constitutional Convention, you had people in attendance who had been members of the Continental Congress. They had been members of various state legislatures. These were the leading political figures in the country. They had to a large extent been the ones who had emitted continental currency or had emitted various state bills of credit. So this was a question that wasn't in some way alien to them as they had been involved in it only a few years earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So the first draft of the Constitution was put forward with the same power that the Continental Congress had, and there was a debate. You look at Madison's notes, and it was a rather vociferous debate, and they threw out the words "emit bills," so that now that provision of the Constitution says, "Congress shall have the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States." It says nothing about emitting bills.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, by hypothesis, if the power is proposed and then stricken from the final version, it doesn’t exist, right? You don’t need to be a Harvard law school graduate to understand that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So we look at those two provisions of the Constitution: One explicitly prohibiting the states from emitting bills of credit, because otherwise the states would retain that power. And the other with respect to Congress, where they didn’t grant the power, even though the power was proposed to be granted and that proposal was overruled, and so it wasn't granted. Based on that it is clear, I would say, that there is no power in Congress or in the states to issue bills of credit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What we have now is something I think goes almost beyond the bill of credit, though it’s not really fiat currency because the Federal Reserve note, according to the statute, is supposed to be redeemed in "lawful money." So in principle one could go back to the Federal Reserve Bank or one could take it to the Treasury – both have the obligation of redemption – and you could exchange a Federal Reserve note for one of these base metallic coins now in circulation. So, I guess it still could be called a bill of credit in the sense that you can actually receive some coinage, but what is the coinage that you receive?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interestingly, we had an example of this type of problem in the period around the Civil War. During the Civil War and just after, the Union Government issued “greenbacks” – legal tender U.S. Treasury notes – and that was the first time that the government had purported to issue any kind of paper currency under the Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">They did it once again under a wartime emergency – and for a short time, those things were not redeemed because the government was not paying out gold except as interest on bonds. They had to suspend specie payments during the war, but the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that issuance of those greenbacks, I think erroneously, but they upheld it specifically on the basis that the greenbacks were to be redeemed in the constitutional currency of gold and silver.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All right, so even the furthest extent of error that has been made by the judicial system, with respect to paper currency, was premised on that paper currency being a true bill of credit in that it would be redeemed in the constitutional coinage of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, if you look at the Federal Reserve note, you have a number of problems with it: Number one, it's not issued by the Treasury. It's issued by this banking cartel. No Federal Reserve note can come into existence unless one of the 12 regional banks, each of which is a private corporation, goes to the Board of Governors with certain assets defined in the statute and asks the Board of Governors to generate Federal Reserve notes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Board of Governors can't generate Federal Reserve notes on its own, neither can the Treasury. So these things are being generated by a private corporation, and they’re not redeemable as a matter of law in the official constitutional silver or gold currency of the country. So they probably have four or five constitutional strikes against them. Especially if you look at the difference between U.S. Treasury notes and Federal Reserve notes. Treasury notes were always the product of some specific statute enacted by Congress, where Congress would say that so many millions of dollars' worth of these notes are to be emitted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Right, and emitting those notes obviously falls within their right to borrow money.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, assuming that that's what they’re doing – and that was the Supreme Court's decision in the legal tender cases after the Civil War – they said, well, that’s a form of borrowing money. It really isn't because it's a form of generating money. You don’t borrow money when you generate money – the concept is nonsense – but even assuming that that's the case, Congress has the power to borrow money and they specify a certain amount of money.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, they haven’t specified a certain amount of money to come out of the Federal Reserve system ever. There's absolutely no specification – that's all left to the whim of the Federal Reserve banks. So assuming that Congress had the power to generate Treasury notes, they would do it in a controlled fashion by telling us exactly how much is supposed to come out with each emission. Here they have purported to delegate this power to a consortium of private bankers, so this is like six or seven strikes. This is worse than baseball.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And at this point, you really cannot redeem your Federal Reserve notes for anything anywhere. I mean, you can trade them with other people for other goods, and then you can take them to the bank and redeem them in base metal coins worth a fraction of their face value.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, initially Federal Reserve notes were required to be redeemed in gold, and then that was removed in '33 and '34 with the gold seizure. So now we have notes that, as John Exter used to say, are an IOU-Nothing Currency – because with respect to the banks and with respect to the Treasury, they owe you nothing, and if you go into the marketplace, you may be able to get whatever someone will give you for them, but you have no legal right to demand any particular amount of anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A redeemable currency, by law, is a currency that has a requirement that the issuer redeem it in something that is specified, a certain weight of gold, a certain weight of silver, whatever. So at one time, Federal Reserve notes were redeemable currency.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now, I suppose, as I said, they’re not a fiat currency because you can get this base metallic stuff for them, but the constitutional requirement, assuming that you could have a bill of credit at all, would be that it had to be paid in the constitutional coinage unit. So this is the problem. Constitutionally, the thing is a first-class mess.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So you’ve got eight strikes or so against this currency, constitutionally speaking, and yet the situation persists. Why hasn’t there been a successful challenge to the system in the courts? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Looking at challenges that have come up over the years, I would start by looking back to the '30s, because in the '30s you had two events. The first was a gold seizure followed by the second, the prohibition of gold clauses in contracts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You had one set of cases that came up to the Supreme Court dealing with the prohibition of gold clause contracts, and one can only look at those and shake one’s head and say, "Well, this is just, you know, fraud, complete double talk, nonsense." And interestingly enough, they never took on the gold seizure. They never decided a case on the gold seizure, even though cases were brought to them. They refused to hear them, and I think the reason was even they knew they couldn't figure out how to justify that one, how to rationalize that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Subsequently, you’ve had attempts by people to challenge the Federal Open Market Committee in particular, because the Federal Open Market Committee of course is composed not only of the members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now, arguably, because they’re appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, you could say they’re officials of the government, although that's an open question that's never really been decided. But the other members of that committee are representatives of the private Federal Reserve regional banks, about which there have been a number of challenges brought on the ground that you can't allow private parties to participate in that kind of a committee – a committee that is essentially making governmental monetary policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Every one of those challenges has been thrown out without reaching the merits. They’ve been thrown out on some kind of standing ground – either the courts have refused to hear them at all, or they’ve thrown them out on what I would call tangential grounds, really not getting to the merits. I think the ultimate reason for that is probably out of fear or prudence, depending on how you want to characterize it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I mean, if I'm a judge and somebody comes to me with one of these cases and says, "I want you to overturn this entire monetary structure by knocking out this important provision or that important provision," I say to myself, "Well, yes, I guess I could do that, legally speaking. I can write an opinion saying that this provision of the law is unconstitutional and it's no longer effective."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But then what happens?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I can't write, in my opinion, an order to Congress to pass a particular statute to correct that situation, so although I can throw a judicial monkey wrench into the gears, I can't do anything to prevent the disaster that will then occur as a result of blowing up that mechanism. Ergo, wearing the hat of a judge, I'm going to stand back and not get involved but rather leave it to Congress to solve, if possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But once you start down that path where you have, let's say, a certain amount of elasticity on when you follow the Constitution and when you just look the other way, doesn’t that set the stage for all sorts of gyrations and further miscarriages of justice and even fraud? As Doug Casey has commented on numerous occasions, at this point the country is being operated on a very corrupt basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, I agree with him 100%. After the Civil War, in the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>Knox v. Lee</i> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">legal tender case, the Supreme Court could have said, "Yes, we understand this was done during the Civil War, but it’s unconstitutional, and you can't continue with this. And so any contracts that were made in this illegal money will be revalued in constitutional money." If they had taken that position back then, they could have worked it all out because they did just that for the confederate states.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The confederate states were considered to be an illegal operation entirely, a criminal rebellion. The confederate states generated a huge amount of paper currency, and a number of cases came to the Supreme Court after the Civil War dealing with the enforcement of contracts in the confederate states that had been made implicitly or explicitly in confederate money. What were we going to do with these contracts?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And the Supreme Court said, "Well, to the extent the contracts were for an illegal purpose, such as supplying arms to the Confederate Army, then they were void, but if it was a contract to buy wood or something from a farmer or whatever, these people were forced into using that currency because that's where they were, they had no choice, and we will simply revalue those contracts and enforce them for their fair worth, that's just simple equity."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">They could have done the exact same thing with respect to the greenbacks of the Civil War – saying that the greenbacks were unconstitutional and let's never do this again. But they didn’t, and as a result set a precedent, and one precedent leads to another, and that's precisely why we're here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The same thing during the 1930s with the gold clause cases: They could have declared that statute unconstitutional right then and there because nothing had yet happened, but they played this game in the Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, the Supreme Court ducked crucial issues and allowed precedents to be set for the creation of a monetary system that is clearly unconstitutional and, importantly, unsound. So here we are today, with everything totally screwed up. Do you think the monetary system now operating in the U.S. – and around the world, for that matter – can survive as is? Or is it going to have to change, and relatively soon?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, it’s going to have to change, raising the questions, “In what direction and under whose control?” Historically, the United States has seen each one of these faulty systems go into self-destruction mode, followed by the government ratcheting things up to the next-higher level.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thus the First Bank of the United States was followed by the Second Bank of the United States, neither of which was really a central bank. They were just private banks that operated as fiscal agents for the government. And there were a lot of state banks, and these all went into some kind of failure mode.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Along comes the Civil War, and they come up with the National Banking System, which was a cartelization of banks tied into the U.S. Treasury, so they moved it from the level of individual banks – that might have been state chartered or chartered by Congress but were nevertheless essentially separate private entities – into a cartel structure that had a direct connection to the Treasury.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now that direct connection to the Treasury was that those banks had to buy U.S. Treasury bonds, and then they would deposit those with the Treasury, and they'd get 90% of the value of the bonds back in currency, which they could then use for their own private purposes. That system didn’t work because at that point in time, people were not interested in amassing ever greater federal debt, and the expansion of that banking system depended upon amassing ever greater amounts of federal debt.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, that system goes into crisis and what do they do? Do they correct it? No, they go to the next level and give us the national lender of last resort, the Federal Reserve System. Essentially improving the cartel structure. That thing lasts only from 1914 to 1932, about 20 years, before it collapses. Does Roosevelt solve this problem by dealing strictly with fractional reserve? No, he raises it to another level by expanding the powers of the Federal Reserve System and taking gold away from the American people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That lasts until after World War II, at Bretton Woods, when the United States Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve note become the World Central Bank and the World Central Reserve Currency, as a matter of fact, and how long does that last? Until 1971, right? By then, so much gold has left the country because of the profligate policies of Congress, especially the war in Vietnam and Johnson's War on Poverty, that Nixon finally has to stop gold redemption in 1971.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Which brings us to the present, and we are again back in crisis mode, and what are they telling us? "Oh, we've got to go to the next level. We've got to create a New World Central Bank." Maybe this will be the IMF or whatever, but we are going to expand the thing to the next level until we have the final blowout. Because this is what they’ve always done.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It seems to me that once the U.S. government starts talking about a global currency that Americans will finally say, "No, enough, we're just not going there.” For a lot of reasons, nationalism and because of the negative examples being provided by the failing experiment with the euro?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">While I have long been shocked at the depth of the apathy of the American people, I have a hard time believing they would turn our currency over to the IMF or any international body. If you agree, doesn’t that mean that we could be at the point now – in this crisis – where it's not going to go any further? That the madness stops here?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yes, I was not saying that their plan will work, rather I was just restating what their plan is. I don’t think it's going to be successful. The euro gives us a good example of why it's not going to be successful. Also, they have another difficulty; to set up a system of this kind, they’re going to have to pass some serious legislation to tie us into some kind of world currency system.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Which will never happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's right. Can you imagine what the deadlock would be in Congress over that? So actually we have an opportunity here. The door has finally opened for some serious monetary reform because the other side has come essentially to a dead end.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Because they can't keep amassing ever-increasing amounts of national debt. We're reaching the limit on that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's right. So here we are, and now the question really comes back to whether there are enough people in America who understand this and are willing to take the appropriate steps to start putting in some alternative?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I don’t think this can be done from the top down. I don’t think Congress is going to solve this problem, and certainly the bankers are not going to give them the right legislation to solve this problem. It has to be solved from the bottom up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bottom up?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The beauty of the constitutional system is, we have these intermediate political bodies called the state governments that have certain reserved constitutional authority. They haven’t been exercising it for a long time, but it's there, and part of that is monetary, and interestingly enough this has already been decided by the Supreme Court. It's not as if I'm inventing this idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">After the Civil War, we had a similar situation. Before they went back to gold redemption, you had depreciating legal tender Treasury notes circulating, and there was gold and silver circulating as well. That had not been withdrawn from circulation, so in the first case of this kind, the State of Oregon had a law that required that its taxes be paid in gold and silver coin and someone tried to pay in legal-tender Treasury notes on the theory that Congress has made these legal tender for all debts and therefore that overrides the laws of the State of Oregon requiring payment of taxes in gold and silver.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, the case gets all the way to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court says "No, wrong. The states have residual sovereignty.” They are sovereign governments, except to the extent that they’ve surrendered certain powers to the national government, and one of the powers they have not surrendered is the power of taxation – one of the basic governmental powers. I guess you could include borrowing and spending, so forth and so on, but they have the right to perform basic governmental functions, taxation being one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If a state determines for its own purposes it needs to tax in gold coin and silver coin or bullion, then the state can do it and Congress has nothing to say about it. From which it would follow that step number one would be for a state to start saying, "We’re going to tax or spend or borrow," or whatever, in gold coin, silver coin, gold bullion, silver bullion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Recently there was legislation in Utah defining gold as being legal for settling debts and so forth. Correct?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, there's a statute that just came out in Utah, which I would call more of a “making a statement” statute than a substantive statute, because they recognize the United States gold and silver coin as legal tender. Well, they have no choice – it is, that's constitutional. The statute merely recognizes that people can make contracts, enforceable contracts using gold and silver coin, and that's also their right. But it's the first time that a state has actually stood up and said something about monetary policy. Even so, a journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Looking at the descent of the dollar and its steep downtrend since 2002 – against other currencies and, of course, gold – one can’t but wonder, how much further can it fall before you get a real crisis? One that the government won’t be able to deal with?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Based on the historical precedent you mentioned, it just continues to go down until it reaches the point they have to come up with something else. Given the strong probability that, in time, the Fed is going to have to step back in with another round of quantitative easing, do you think that could be the trigger for the bottom falling out from under the dollar?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I think so, because of the large percentage of debt required to finance the government at this point – I think it is now running around 46%. Victor Sperandeo has done some work on hyperinflations and found that apparently once that number gets over around 40-41%, that's the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">According to his work, in every big example of hyperinflation since the French Revolution, that number is apparently the tipping point on the rollercoaster. You’ve gone over the top, and now gravity takes over and down you go to the bottom. They can't stop the thing. So we're now</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>at</i> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">46%, at least it was on the 12th of May, 46%, and it doesn’t seem to me there's any will or intelligence in Congress to correct this, and it's not going to be the Federal Reserve that corrects this, it's going to have to be done legislatively.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, the government could do something radical to correct the situation – there is always the “if-then” type analysis, but assuming that they don’t take radical steps to correct it, which seems a safe assumption, that’s the direction we’re heading in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So we could already be over the top on this, as far as this is concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yes, that’s the fear – and once we're over the top, that's the end of the game. The rollercoaster goes to the bottom. There's no stopping it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interesting in this whole discussion is that the U.S. has been the driver in the global adoption of the monetary system we now have, starting with Bretton Woods and then when Nixon stopped gold redeemability. At that point, everybody just sort of went along, continuing to use the U.S. dollar as a de facto reserve currency. But all of a sudden, today, you look around and can’t help realizing the problem is global in scale, leaving none of the paper currencies as a viable alternative. Are there any conceivable solutions to a crisis of this scale?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you want to go back to a sound currency system and a sound political system – and by sound political system, I mean one in which the political powers can't manipulate money – then it has to be tied to some free-market commodity, right? Historically the two that have worked have been gold and silver, and that actually is the constitutional standard, so unless we want to change the Constitution, we have to work with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Fortunately it will work, so we can do that. The mechanism for doing it is the question, and as I say, it's got to come through the states. Looking at this from the investor's point of view, I don’t know if there are good investments in the collapse of Western civilization. Which is what we're facing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A lot of people think that if you own gold, enough gold, that you'll come out of this okay. What is your general view on that?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In the hyperinflationary event, if you held something like 15% or 20% of your total portfolio in gold and the rest of it goes to zero, you won't gain anything but you will not lose anything. That said, my interest has never really been in this from an investment point of view, except investment in a political sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Looking down the road in an attempt to see what this country will look like if we go through a hyperinflationary event – and if out of that doesn’t come a sound currency and restrictions on the government's power to manipulate money and credit – it appears to me that what could emerge is a first-class fascist police state.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Because restricting the government’s ability to manipulate the money also restricts their ability to do everything that they are currently? Putting in those restrictions would then limit them from being involved in so many parts of the economy, as they now are. Obviously, in a monetary system built around sound money, they couldn’t keep spending money at this level.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's right. If you have a system based on real money, we would not have this elephantiasis of government. So that was the great failure of the Supreme Court not asking, "Wait a minute, if we let them have this, where will that lead?" They didn’t look down the road. Maybe they did. Maybe that's what they wanted. Maybe they were extreme nationalists of the Hamiltonian view of "The more power the better," but an intelligent person will look and say, "Wait a minute, we can't put these powers into the hands of mere politicians."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So do you really think a collapse of the Western civilization is avoidable at this point?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No. That's what I'm worried about.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It seems avoidable if the politicians acknowledged the reality of the situation and dealt with it accordingly, but do you see any hope that it's politically likely?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, I'm going to give it a year or two to see what the states start doing here. We're seeing more and more resistance, at least verbally, coming out of state legislatures and even out of some state governors to various encroachments by the people in Washington. We’ve seen some push-back in the healthcare area, TSA, and then there's this business with illegal immigration, and now some states are beginning to talk about monetary reform.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There's not too much the states can do about TSA. There's probably not too much they can do about healthcare, because that would have to be decided in the courts, and god knows that's a wasteland. Immigration is kind of back and forth/up and down, but on monetary reform, if a state passed the right statute, they could potentially bring that about within 30, 60, or 90 days. Especially if they put in one of these electronic gold/electronic silver type systems, which is off-the-shelf technology. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">How could it work?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Within 90 days of the passage of the statute, you could have everybody in that state with electronic gold debit cards dialed into the price structure in all of the supermarkets and so forth. People could essentially opt out of the Federal Reserve System if they wanted to.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So watching the states for a hopeful plan is something we can do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's right, and if they don’t do it within the next year or 18 months, then I would begin to become very pessimistic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Since we’re talking about being pessimistic, let’s talk a bit about the real dark side of all of this – namely that it appears to many that the U.S. is in the early stages of becoming a police state. Supporting that view, there are things I thought I’d never see in my lifetime, institutionally sanctioned renditions and torture, Guantanamo, the recent Supreme Court ruling that police can kick down your door based upon hearing what they consider to be a suspicious noise – the list of things the government is doing these days goes on and on, including the current blatant attempt to assassinate Gaddafi. So where do you think we are on the scale from 1-10, 1 being perfect liberty and 10 being full-on police state?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">About 6-1/2 to 7, because they’ve set up the principles for it. You don’t have to have the police breaking in every day to have a police state, you simply have to have the judiciary saying, "If they break in, we'll let them do it." It's the principle of the thing. The NKVD didn’t arrest everybody in Stalin's Russia, but the principle was in place so they could arrest anybody, and that's the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you type “police brutality” into Google or some other search engine, how many YouTube hits do you think you'll get? Huge number, right? And they become more grotesque every day. If I were a Supreme Court justice, I might look at this and say, "This is the real problem in the country," but of course those people live in an ivory tower, so they don’t know or perhaps care about reality. If they did, they would know enough to know this is becoming a real problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, as a Supreme Court justice, would I want to give them a principle that allows the police to solidify and expand that kind of oppressive behavior? And the answer would have to be, "No, I don’t." The Constitution could never have foreseen this or allowed for this, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Right.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And yet they allow for it. Now, either this is the biggest bunch of idiots that has ever been assembled in judicial robes in the history of humanity, or there's some other agenda going on here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Assuming that they are not complete idiots, what could that other agenda be?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In my view, and I've written about this for years, the people at the top levels of government understand that their monetary system is inherently flawed. That we're on the Titanic, in a sense, and they know that this ship is going to sink. They don’t know when, but they know when it sinks, they’re going to have a huge amount of economic dislocation, social crisis and civil unrest to the level of revolt.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So they started developing this police state mechanism in the hopes of keeping the lid on the garbage can when the monetary system breaks down. The upper echelons of the judiciary have been going right along with this because they know what the program is. This is obvious. No one in his right mind would stand by and allow the sort of excesses we’ve seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just the other day, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply at all because you can sue the police after they’ve mistakenly broken into your home. But when they break into your home and they kill you, then what?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Not a lot of recourse then.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Right, like that poor ex-marine that was shot 60 times in Arizona, and he's dead – now what, can he bring a lawsuit? Have we lost our minds? I mean, you don’t have to be a Harvard-educated lawyer to know that this is insanity. This does not rise to the level of just mere error. No one in his right mind can write these kinds of opinions, which means that either they’re insane, which I don’t believe, or they have another agenda, and the judicial opinions are simply camouflage – they’re propaganda to convince us that "Oh well, this is all right" because Judge Flapdoddle told us that it's all right.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Likewise, when you look at what's been going on with the government’s spending, which is clearly insane, I mean, who would have thought they could even conceive of running a $1.5 trillion annual deficit?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And going up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And going up, and planning on this continuing well into the future. In your paper "A Cross of Gold," you mentioned that all told, the U.S. government’s total outstanding obligations at this point add up to something like 200 trillion dollars?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yes, that's Professor Kotlikoff's, at Boston University, figure, not mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So it’s hard to draw any other conclusion than that the government is operating in a complete fantasy. That everything is completely off the rails. Then you look at the judiciary and some of the things they have approved and looked the other way on, and it sure begins to look like fascism to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You and I see it, a lot of our readers look at it, but most people are so passive about it. Everybody is so quiet, and there is nobody making any waves – is that because it's too late? Before you answer, I'll give you just a quick anecdote that I think makes the point.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I was at a party not too long ago with a bunch of young people, and we were talking about some topic that was mildly controversial, and one of them said, "I’d love to look up more about that online, but I don’t want it to be part of my permanent search record.” So, the youth of America already have it in their heads that anything they do online is being monitored and will be in their search records forever and accessible to the government.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Back to my question, have we reached that stage where people are quietly huddling behind the doors of their houses, trying to keep a low profile so the government will leave them alone?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Given the current state of things, I'm sure there are a lot of people deliberately deciding to adopt a low profile, politically or socially. A lot of this has to do not so much with politics but what your neighbors or your coworkers will say about you, right? If you tell them something that is actually happening in the world, you will be labeled a conspiracy theorist; they’ll look at you as if you're crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But what about the activists? At a certain stage, the great mass of people will look around for leadership figures. When the economic crisis comes, they’re going to want someone to tell them how to get out of it. They’re not going to know the answers themselves. The question is, will there be activists, leadership figures, proposing the right solutions – and how soon will they come along?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's why I look at this Tea Party Movement, using that in a generic sense, an indication of the ground swell of discontent that's out there. There's a huge amount of that, but at this point it's not particularly directed. Of course the establishment is trying to co-opt it, with Gingrich and others trying to claim that they’re leadership figures in this movement, and that deflects it from the direction in which it ought to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By contrast, you do have the Ron Paul-type movement. I mean, look at Ron Paul as an example. This is not a charismatic figure. He's a very diffident individual, a very shy individual, not someone that you could possibly imagine as a man on a white horse in a political sense. He certainly has had very little real effect in Congress. He's been the gadfly, he's been the critic, but he hasn’t put in any legislation of consequence that has been passed. He's made a lot of noise about the Federal Reserve, but he's constantly being blocked by the real power structure in Congress in terms of getting anything done there. Yet nevertheless a whole political movement has essentially crystallized around him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I look at him as the surfer on the wave. The surfer is not the important thing, the wave is the important thing. The surfer would be nowhere without the wave. That wave is out there, and it's just waiting for the right surfer. He's the first one that's come along, but there will be others, perhaps some state governor who is actually competent, and he looks at this monetary system and he says, "To hell with this. Here's what we have to do," and they put in that alternative currency statute, the proper one, not the kind of statement that was made in Utah, but a proper functioning one. In which case he will become the next president of the United States, and then we will see what will happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Any time the states try to go their own way on issues that the federal government doesn’t like, the federal government starts to threaten them with losing their highway funds or education funds, or whatever. Isn't that part of the problem?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, it certainly is part of the problem, and that's why you're going to have to have some real leader in the state who is going to say, "We have priorities, and our first priority is correcting the monetary problem, the currency problem, and we'll worry about those federal education funds later. In fact, what we may do is stop paying some money to the federal government."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Unfortunately, once you allow the federal government to have the kind of influence they now have over the states, the states have essentially rolled over. So, at some stage, they have to say no.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's why I say that at some point down the line, if we see nothing happening on the state level – if we see these bills being put in and being constantly defeated, and no one comes forward to take leadership on these issues – well, I'll throw up my hands and say, "We just don’t have the leadership group, we don’t have the Patrick Henrys, we don’t have the Thomas Jeffersons, we don’t have the Sam Adams, we just don’t have those people anymore, and that's the end.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But I don’t believe it will come to that. We have over 300 million people in this country, we can't find a few hundred?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, we will certainly keep an eye on the states for somebody to show up one of these days. Governor Christie in New Jersey seems like a pretty sound guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I want to see just two things, because there are two things of real consequence right now in terms of the major powers of government historically and in terms of political philosophy. Those two things are the power of the purse and the power of the sword. In order to continue spending at the levels it now is, the government has to maintain control over the monetary system, and it has to have some kind of control over military and police force.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Under our Constitution, those two powers are supposed to be ultimately in the hands of the people. We're supposed to have a free-market-oriented and -controlled monetary system based on gold and silver, so the politicians really do not have control over the purse. They have to come to us and ask for taxes. They can't manipulate the money and use inflation as a hidden tax. We've lost that. We failed to assert it – let's put it that way.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On the other side, we see this police state developing, with a centralized Department of Homeland Security in Washington that has tentacles reaching down into every local and state police force. This is completely contrary to the Constitution because the Constitution tells us that the thing that's necessary for the security of a free state is what? A well-regulated militia. And what is a well-regulated militia? It's composed, as the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 said even before the U.S. Constitution, of the body of the people – the people organized in a certain way. Think of Switzerland.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, we've lost control over those two key elements, and until we get them back, we can only continue down this road to the full-blown police state. So in sizing up any politician, I'd start by asking them these two things: “What are you going to do in the state to return us to a system of constitutional currency with an alternative system in this state because we can't do it in Congress?” And, number two, “What are you going to do to revitalize some kind of state militia structure, perhaps using Switzerland as the model because they’ve been very successful over the years, so that we are no longer under the control or answerable to Janet Napolitano?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If the states can’t regain control over those two things, the rest of it is a waste of time. If you don’t have control over the high ground, as the military people would say, then you’ve lost the battle. Education funds, transportation funds, all the rest of this stuff is not even icing on the cake if you let the federal government continue to have those two powers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">They took power over the money a long time ago, and they have been systemically organizing this police state since well before 9/11; in fact, the plans for the Patriot Act were drawn up before 9/11. They understand where the high ground is, and that's why if you are a state politician and you can't answer those two questions – if you don’t tell me that those are your number one and number two priorities – forget it, we'll look to somebody else for leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It seems to me that unless and until there is some sort of a push-back on the state level, the situation is going to grow increasingly dangerous, looking for a trigger, so to speak. Much in the way the Arab Spring blew up almost overnight. People looked at that and said, how did that ever happen? These are some of the most oppressed people in the world, ignorant and backwards and everything else, and all of a sudden they are in the streets, risking their lives for more freedom. So, it would seem that it's just a matter of time before we see something akin to an American Spring here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oh, I think so, yes. It's just terrible to think that we have to take second seat to the Egyptians in the promotion of liberty. Not to criticize the Egyptians, but Egypt has never been considered to be a country that philosophically was in the forefront of that area.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Speaking of Egypt, I think the jury is still out on whether the military will allow the freedom movement there to take power. The Saudis are falling all over themselves to give the Egyptian military money, as is the U.S. government, so it would appear that we're now trying to solidify their power.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">EDWIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please don’t say “we” when referring to the people in Washington. Don’t include me in that list.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">DAVID:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(laughs) Doug Casey often says the same thing. And on that note, I’ll sign off by thanking you very much for your time. Let’s do it again some time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For those of you who wish to hear more from Dr. Vieira, James Turk of the GoldMoney Foundation recently posted a video interview that you may find of interest. </span></i><a href="http://www.goldmoney.com/video/vieira-interview.html" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here's the link.</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-22093162111356627542010-10-25T14:22:00.001-04:002011-02-16T11:04:27.118-05:00How to Fake an Economic Recovery - February 16, 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is one of the best articles I’ve seen that describes the deception surrounding our current ‘recovery’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No comments needed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">jg – February 16, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">___________________________</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-how-fake-economic-recovery">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-how-fake-economic-recovery</a> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Guest Post: How To Fake An Economic Recovery<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden"><span style="color: #1e439a;">Tyler Durden</span></a> on 02/16/2011 07:44 -0500</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Submitted by Giordano Bruno of <a href="http://neithercorp.us/npress/2011/02/how-to-fake-an-economic-recovery/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">Neithercorp Press</span></a></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">How To Fake An Economic Recovery</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F97d3KFyzw/TVvzojmvwOI/AAAAAAAAA_E/-W70_bjLrbU/s1600/Snake+Oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F97d3KFyzw/TVvzojmvwOI/AAAAAAAAA_E/-W70_bjLrbU/s1600/Snake+Oil.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1e439a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This may be a highly distasteful proposition, but just for a moment, I want you to sit back, and imagine that you are a member of the corporate banking elite. You are a walking talking disease ridden power mad pustule who naively believes himself intellectually superior to the vast majority of humanity and above the inherent laws of conscience, honor, and general good taste. You are a villain in the purest sense, in that you not only do great harm to the world, you actually SEEK to do great harm to the world, if only to benefit yourself and your exclusive circle of “friends”; a clan of degenerate blood thirsty sociopaths with delusions of omnipotence that stalk the night like Armani wearing Chupacabra exsanguinating the joy from poor unsuspecting cultures. You are capable of anything, and sadly, you take “pride” in this fact…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You aren’t “rich” in the traditional sense. You aren’t a “Bill Gates” or a “Donald Trump” (I’m beginning to wonder if Donald Trump is even solvent, or if his entire fortune is a special-effect courtesy of NBC). No, you don’t “make” money, you MAKE the money. You are a global financier. You are a central banker. You create the fiat that the rest of the country uses to sustain its fantasy economy. You dominate trade through monopoly and corporate fraud. You control the flow of currency through an economic system using fractional reserve banking, artificially pegged interest rates, and your ever trusty printing press. You put your substantial monetary clout behind BOTH major political parties, and groom presidential candidates to your globalist standards. Any politician who desires to climb the ladder of power turns to you for assistance, not the voting public. You have a tremendous financial stake in every corporate news provider in the country, if not own them outright. You invite their top reporters to posh banquets, give them unlimited access to prominent social figures and high rollers, and fly them to private alcohol addled orgies in the middle of the California Redwoods (I wish this was all made up). Forget responsible journalism, they love hanging out with you, and would probably write whatever you tell them to.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now that you have placed yourself in the tight fitting shoes of the “enlightened few”, I want you to imagine that you have engineered an implosion in national credit sectors using ultra-low interest rates to fuel mortgage and derivatives bubbles that would contract at an unprecedented pace once it is revealed to the wider investment world that those equities which they prized only days before are now “toxic”, essentially worthless, due to mass debt defaults on loans which never should have been made in the first place. Yeah, you’re a real dirtbag.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, you aren’t finished yet! Your ultimate goal is centralization, and the key to centralization is to remove all options available to the masses but one; the option which garners you the greatest amount of dominance. A global economic system based on a single world currency and a single unaccountable governing body would be ideal. What would you call this world currency? I don’t know, how about something innocuous sounding like….Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s), which you can then label as a mere “basket of currencies” when it is really a parasitic financial instrument meant to absorb currencies until it replaces them completely:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0214/g20-business.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0214/g20-business.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In order to begin instituting this world currency, you would first need to remove the standing world reserve currency from its exalted position, that currency being the U.S. dollar. This seems rather impossible to many mainstream analysts who cannot fathom the possibility of a breakdown in the mighty Greenback, but you have already set the stage. You have created a progressive debt singularity so immense that no amount of fiat, no amount of taxation, no amount of austerity could ever satiate its hunger. You now have the perfect excuse to print the dollar with wild abandon until its withered, corpsified remains are six feet underground, leaving the door wide open for the tap dancing fast-talking SDR to take its place.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The issue is, how do you convince the general public that all is well until you are ready to unleash hyperinflation and fiscal Armageddon? How do you make them believe with all their hearts that they are not in the midst of a debt meltdown and the end of their financial sovereignty, but basking in a full-on economic recovery?!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You can’t stop wealth destruction now that the avalanche has been set in motion. You can’t stop inflation and dollar devaluation (nor would you want to. Hey, you’re evil incarnate, remember?). The effects on mainstreet are beyond your ability to hide, but, what you CAN manipulate, are the statistics and indices that Americans rely on for psychological comfort. You give everyone a blindfold and a cigarette and you do what you do best; lie!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here is a step by step guide to fabricating an economic recovery out of thin air….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Don’t Count The Unemployed, Discount Them:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jobless people are a real downer and a pesky nuisance because they represent living breathing proof that a recovery is not taking place. By most standards, a recovery in jobs markets can be claimed if meaningful evidence shows a return to unemployment standards (normal unemployment) set before the recession / depression was triggered. If you are a global banker today, however, this will not due. Instead, you simply change the definition of “normal unemployment”. Thus, the debilitating jobless rate which was originally thought of as “bad”, is now thought of as “natural”. You must then publish long-winded white papers using more subjective statistics devoid of common sense while feigning a logical pretense:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-05.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-05.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This only satisfies a small portion of the populace, though. Next, you must rig the manner in which unemployment is calculated to always overlook certain subsections of jobless. Never count those people who have been unemployed so long that they no longer receive benefits. Always count people who are underemployed as fully employed, even if they are only able to scrape together ten hours a week through part time McSlavery. After this, change the manner in which raw data on unemployment is actually collected.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">First, the Labor Department derives most of its raw data on unemployment not through any traditional mathematical means, but through two separate surveys which are open to wide interpretation; an establishment survey, and a household survey. The establishment survey is what we hear about at the beginning of every month, while the household survey tends to float under the mainstream radar. In 2009 and 2010, the Labor Department deemed the household survey data (a phone driven survey of 60,000 households) “more reliable” for indicating job growth, because it was accurate in counting small business hiring and self-employment. So, you have two separate surveys (unscientific indicators of employment) combined together to produce a job growth rate number, and an unemployment percentage, both of which represent, at the most, a GUESS on the current state of jobs in this country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">While the establishment survey showed only 36,000 jobs created, the household survey somehow showed around 600,000 new jobs created!?:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Basically, the BLS is asking you to believe that over 600,000 people either started their own businesses, or were hired by home based businesses in the month of January alone. I’m curious as to where all the capital inflows are coming from to launch such a revolution in home entrepreneurship in the middle of the greatest credit crisis in history. Oh well, if the Labor Department says it’s true, it must be…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The juxtaposition of odd data collection methods is the reason why the government was able to claim a drop from 9.4% to 9% in the jobless rate while announcing only 36,000 jobs created! The household survey has become an incredibly useful tool for generating arbitrary employment data which can be molded to say whatever government officials and central bankers want it to say. Anyone who controls the source data for a calculation controls the outcome of that calculation. It’s that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What I wouldn’t want, if I was the Labor Department, is for some outside independent citizens group to monitor my survey methods while in progress. That would make life for a statistical huckster very difficult indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As Long As Stocks Are Green, The World Is Golden:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Near zero interest rates can be very useful if a central bank wishes to throw a tidal wave of fiat into a particular index in order to make it appear healthy. Certainly, the Fed has avoided admitting to any manipulation of the stock market. QE measures are all “above the board”, and all is well in Bernanke’s Mayberry. A question arises here though that desperately begs to be answered; if the stock market’s meteoric rise from near destruction to the 12,000 point mark is “real”, and completely in tune with a legitimate recovery, then why is the Fed still keeping interest rates at near zero after almost three years, and why are they continuing quantitative easing measures? Could it be that without constant liquidity injections from the Fed, the stock market would once again collapse like a wet paper sack? We know that in 2009, it was revealed that bailout funds which were supposed to go towards muting the effects of toxic bank assets were actually being pumped into the equities of healthy banks instead, meaning,the money has not been allocated to the areas promised:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1436061/more_shocking_news_on_2009_bailout.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1436061/more_shocking_news_on_2009_bailout.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We also know that top hedge fund managers have openly stated that stocks will remain bullish because QE funds are propping up the market:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tepper-tells-cnbc-fed-will-prop-up-market-2010-09-24"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tepper-tells-cnbc-fed-will-prop-up-market-2010-09-24</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And, frankly, if you are a global banking cartel intent on keeping the American people in the dark, it makes perfect sense to prop up stocks. A Dow in the green is like a mass dose of fiscal lithium; it calms investors into a stupor. Even people who are otherwise unconcerned about economics will keep track of the Dow as if it is a solid indicator of their personal financial safety. A great test would be to observe market reactions to a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and a freezing of QE in order to counter inflation. Will the Dow stand on its own two feet then? I seriously doubt it, but then again, I don’t know that the Fed will ever raise interest rates again…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Inflation? What Inflation?:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Unmitigated inflation spells doom for any society. It’s like some monetary based animal instinct deep down in our collective unconscious. The moment we hear the word “inflation” or see prices rise dramatically, we revert to survival mode and begin honing our mammoth bone battle mallets. Governments and central banks throughout history have made it their top priority to hide the effects of inflation from the citizenry at all costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To mask inflation is nearly impossible, especially where commodities and base goods are concerned. That’s why our government and private central bank calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) without counting food or energy. Most grains and crude oil have doubled in price over the past year alone, and this does not reflect well on the safety of the dollar, or the effectiveness of liquidity measures by the Fed. China, whose inflation is but a prequel to our own, is also distancing food and energy price surges from its CPI numbers, giving the false impression of leveling markets:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-lowers-weighting-surging-food-prices-cpi"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-lowers-weighting-surging-food-prices-cpi</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Corporate retail chains have a tendency to absorb rising prices of base goods to avoid alienating their customer foundation, hoping that the increases are temporary. When retailers realize that prices are not going to drop back down, they eventually relent, and shelf costs skyrocket. The bottom line is clear; overall worldwide food averages were up over 28% in 2010:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/FoodPricesIndex/en/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/FoodPricesIndex/en/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Crude oil prices continue to hover near the $90 mark even though inventories are at a 20 year high:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/gasoline-inventories-jump-20-year-high-gas-price-surges"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/gasoline-inventories-jump-20-year-high-gas-price-surges</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The World Bank is now warning of possible disasters (which they helped create) in the wake of “dangerous price levels”:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-worldbank-food-idUSTRE71E5H720110215"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-worldbank-food-idUSTRE71E5H720110215</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Our government’s response? Complete denial that there is any significant threat of inflation. Denial that overprinting of the dollar and its subsequent devaluation has anything to do with rising prices. Scapegoating everything from weather, to speculators, to the fake “recovery” itself for price spikes. The longer they keep the terminology of inflation out of the mainstream, the less Americans are likely to prepare for an onslaught of the dollar.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Create Debt To Pay Off Debt:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is pretty self explanatory. If foreign investors want nothing to do with you, your explosive national debt, or your depreciating currency, where is your government going to get the money to continue spending like a drunken trophy wife at Macy’s? If you default, the jig is up, and no one will buy your recovery yarns. Instead, print even more fiat and use it to purchase your own Treasury bonds! This serves two purposes; first, it props up the federal bureaucracy which gives the impression of stability (at least for a time), and, it furthers your goal of squeezing the dollar like a grape.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Remove All Checks And Balances:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you plan on decimating an economy, you can’t very well have people pointing fingers at you while you do it. That would be inconvenient. It’s funny, but for years, ratings agencies like Moodys helped global banks facilitate the mortgage and derivatives crisis by categorizing worthless assets as AAA securities. Without them, no one would have invested in such garbage in the first place, and the banking fraud would have been immediately exposed. Now that ratings agencies are finally doing their job and downgrading the creditworthiness of banks and countries that possess extreme liabilities, the SEC is moving to marginalize them:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-financial-regulation-creditraters-idUSTRE7180OD20110209"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-financial-regulation-creditraters-idUSTRE7180OD20110209</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interesting that as the U.S. nears a possible credit downgrade, we suddenly no longer care what ratings agencies have to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The SEC in itself is one enormous joke, and in no way a practical overseer of banking activity. The organization has shown itself to be either fantastically incompetent, or deliberately indifferent to ongoing financial fraud. I never thought I would find myself agreeing with a cretin like Bernie Madoff, but according to the middle-weight Ponzi artist, global banks he dealt with, like JP Morgan and HSBC, had to be perfectly aware of the scam he was undertaking, otherwise, it could not have been possible:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-madoff-interview-idUSTRE71F0QD20110216"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-madoff-interview-idUSTRE71F0QD20110216</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Likewise, the SEC’s complete lack of proper investigation into such activities turned Wall Street into a globalist playground where much bigger conmen than Madoff have nested and bred like fleas. It’s not that the system needs more regulation, or more legal wrangling; this would accomplish nothing, because the system is regulated by the criminals! Therefore, new laws can be enacted in concert, and the government can deem the system reformed and recovered, all while the underlying corruption remains untouched. If the poison that instigated the fall of the markets is not uprooted, treachery will continue to reign supreme, and healthy markets a childish illusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Creeping Terror</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Two years ago I was in my local Borders bookstore and noticed that they had downsized their stock selection by what looked to be nearly a third. I made a point to ask if this was a chain wide phenomenon. Most employees I talked with said yes. I then asked if they had begun cutting employee hours by significant margins and specifically laying off longtime workers that had built up substantial pay increases. Again, the consensus was yes. Finally, and most importantly, did Borders discuss these changes with their staff in a manner that was informative and open, or, was there a lot of confusion amongst employees as to what exactly was going on? The response was that they were overwhelmingly bewildered by Borders’ lack of clear communication as to the direction of the corporation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My suggestion to them was to start looking for another job, because their company was about to declare bankruptcy. They, of course, denied this was remotely likely:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704329104576138353865644420.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704329104576138353865644420.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It may sound like a stretch, but the reason I bring up Borders’ impending chapter 11 is because, to me, it represents a microcosm of the creeping nature of economic collapse, especially when that collapse is being wielded and delegated.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>[TD: Borders <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/borders-book-chain-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-with-1-29-billion-debt.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">filed for Chapter 11</span><span style="color: #1e439a; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a>this morning]</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Borders has been on the verge of default for quite a while. Did they refuse to relay this information openly to their employees because they selfishly wanted to maintain profit margins just a little longer until they were ready to pull the plug? Of course! Do global bankers with aspirations of a centralized currency keep the true destabilization of the market spectrum and the coming international dollar dump to themselves because in the end they will benefit from our shock and awe? Of course!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EEEEEE; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Whether a person loses everything all at once, or a piece at a time, the end result is the same, however, there is something especially cruel in the idea of fiscal theater; the act of inspiring false hope that a financial environment is sound when it has, in truth, already suffocated. Why would our modern day robber barons put so much energy into constructing a fake recovery? There are many reasons, but first and foremost, to create apathy. To lure us towards inaction. To swindle us into assuming the storm will blow over, and all will return as it was. Unfortunately, recovery without intense restructuring of our economic system is impossible. The fundamentals do not support the suggestion in the slightest. The question is, who will be at the helm when the dust settles and this restructuring does eventually occur? Will the American people take the lead, as they should, and commit to a concrete free market rejuvenation of our financial environment? Or, will we sit back yet again, and let the banksters set us up for the next grand disaster?<o:p></o:p></span></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161544748444201032010-10-25T14:20:00.002-04:002012-07-28T12:06:15.652-04:00The Illuminati and the Dollar bill<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gilmorejohn123&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0060530456&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>I was in Border's bookstore the other day studying the Bible and doing some writing when I began thinking about the symbols on the dollar again. I briefly looked at some of the symbols in the past, but I began to feel that there was more to it. I found a book 'The secret symbols of the Dollar Bill' and read it that night. The author talks about the history of the symbols, numerology, etc, but only mentions freemasonry a few times. He gives a very good discussion on how the symbols appeared, but he repeats the government’s reasons why they were placed on the dollar. Regardless, based on what I have learned previously, I now believe that this country was founded by freemasons (secret societies) for the main purpose of leading the world into a new world order (one world government). It’s one thing to believe that our country has been corrupted by secret societies over time, but very different to believe that this may have been our #1 purpose all along. Why do I believe this? To start, many of the original 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence were known to be freemasons. Washington’s inauguration was basically a Masonic ritual. I also believe that this plan is shown to us on the back of the dollar for everyone to see…which includes that their plan started in 1776. If there's one thing I've learned, the illuminati doesn't do anything without telling all of us un-illuminated people what's about to happen in some subtle way....but the symbols on the back of the dollar and what they explain to us are absolutely amazing to me. Here we go.....<br />
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The plan is listed on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. This is the roundel on the left side of the back of the dollar (the front of the great seal is on the right side of the back of the dollar). Start at the top of the roundel with the Latin words 'Annuit Coeptis'. This is translated as 'he favors our undertaking' and implies that the undertaking is a daring one. This leads to three questions....who is 'he'?, what is the 'undertaking' and who are the people doing the 'undertaking'? The answers are found in the other symbols on the same roundel. I believe the undertaking is listed at the bottom of the roundel - 'Novus Ordo Seclorum'. This can be translated as 'A new order for the ages' or 'A new world order' (We must ask ourselves why these words are in Latin - what is being hidden? 'In God we trust' is in English - why use Latin for the other phrases?). Who is undertaking the task of bringing about a new world order? The illuminati use the pyramid to symbolize their command and control structure (you see this symbol everywhere - governments, currency, corporations, etc). The pyramid has 13 courses (or levels) representing the 13 illuminati bloodline families. The base of the pyramid includes the date 1776 in Latin numbers and the top of the pyramid is unfinished. So, the 'undertaking' begins in 1776, but when does it end? When is the 'undertaking' complete? The 'all seeing eye' is the answer to who 'he' is and also when the 'undertaking' is complete. In the occult, the 'all seeing eye' surrounded by light represents ‘the eye of Horus’ (from a spiritual standpoint - this would represent Satan - who was an angel of light)....where the illuminati believe they receive their supernatural power to rule over the world. So, the undertaking (task) is complete when the new world order is complete and the Illuminati gain absolute power over the natural world. It also explains who sits atop the illuminati hierarchy.<br />
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The obvious argument is that all of these symbols have a logical explanation by our government. People will say that ‘he favors our undertaking’ is simply referring to God’s favor in establishing our nation. I would agree if this was the only phrase or symbol presented on the roundel. We’re also told that ‘A new order for the ages’ is simply a reference to our country. Why would we use ‘order’? Why not nation or republic? When has any public figure referred to a nation as an order? It doesn’t make sense. If you have any knowledge of secret societies, you know that each ‘society’ is referred to as an ‘order’….an example would be the Order of Skull & Bones. So, it is much more logical, given the facts, that a new secret society ‘order’ is referenced here (and obviously one that consolidates all the others). People will also point to 1776 at the bottom of the pyramid to say that it definitely refers to the establishment of our nation. As with all illuminati symbols or information, there is a meaning for the general population and then there is the true meaning that only the ‘illuminated’ ones understand. Something else was also founded in 1776. In early 1776, Adam Weishaupt formed the ‘Order of Perfectibilists’, which was later known as the modern day Illuminati. Its mission was the establishment of a ‘New World Order’ that would abolish national boundaries, religions, private property and marriage. He was later initiated into a Freemasonry lodge in Europe. He began incorporating his system of Illuminism into that of Masonry. Apparently, he succeeded. There are always two stories with these people, the lie that everyone is led to believe and the truth that only they know.<br />
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Probably the worst ‘official’ explanation is that of the ‘all seeing eye’. We’re told that it represents God. If you believe that our nation was founded by Christian men, then these Christian men directly disobeyed the second commandment with this image. ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol (‘graven image” in the King James translation) in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.’ – New International translation. Many people simply assume that this commandment is referring to idols such as statues or that it refers to immoral or degrading representations of God. God forbids ANY image of himself because there is absolutely no way for us to adequately represent Him. How can we correctly represent His Holiness, Power, Love, Justice and Glory in an image? There are no images on earth that can represent Him, so He makes it clear that we are not to do so. In addition, this ‘all seeing eye’ is commonly known in the occult as representing Lucifer. It would take someone approximately 30 seconds of research to see this. Why would Christian men create an image representing Lucifer on the Great Seal of the United States? The answer is that they were either spiritually immature, uneducated Christians or they were not Christians. Based on everything else they accomplished during this time period, I think we can all assume that these were very intelligent men who knew exactly what they were doing. Most of us have seen the Alexander Tytler (sometimes spelled Tyler) email. He supposedly wrote in the late 1700's, after studying the fall of the Athenian Republic, that ‘democracy’ is always temporary in nature. What does he say the final result is – dictatorship and bondage. Whether or not he did, in fact, write this is open to debate. What is interesting, is that it does appear that America has passed through the various stages that has ultimately led to other democracies downfall. I have attached a copy.<br />
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What is interesting is that the reverse side of the great seal was rejected from our currency until 1935 when Roosevelt (some say he was a 33rd degree mason, others say that he was a member of other secret societies) approved it. The truth is that millions of Americans are carrying around in their purses and wallets the answers to some of the Bible's most intriguing questions....how does the one world government come into being? Who is behind the formation of this government and how does the "beast...out of the earth" come to power? The Bible tells us that deception will continue to get worse during this age…….and God never lies. In America, we have simply refused to believe that it could happen here during our lifetime. 2nd Timothy 3:13 ‘evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.’<br />
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I now believe that anytime the 'New World Order' has been threatened, America has brought it back in line.....WWI, WWII, etc. George H. Bush even mentioned on Sept 11, 1990 that Saddam Hussein's aggression threatened a 'New World Order'....and must be stopped.<br />
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There is always a hidden message not known by the general population. We all believe that the Statue of Liberty represents just that....Liberty. The truth is that it was given to the U.S. by French freemasons as a symbol that the Illuminati control our country....just as they control France. The lighted torch (or eternal flame) is one of their most prominent symbols. It is always used to communicate to their members that they were behind a particular event that will further their cause. The flame on JFK’s grave is another example. (Why do I mention Kennedy? The following was taken from the JFK Library official website: <em>Executive Order 11110: On June 4, 1963 President Kennedy signed this virtually unknown Presidential decree, which had the authority to strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal Government at interest, essentially putting the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank out of business. The order returned to the federal government, specifically the Treasury Department, the Constitutional power to create and issue currency without going through the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank. President Johnson reversed the order shortly after taking office in November, 1963. Some conspiracy theorists believe this executive order was the cause of President Kennedy's assassination</em>.) I’ve even heard talk of an ‘eternal flame’ at ground zero. Their use of numbers in the media and elsewhere is unbelievable once you know they use 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 33, & 39 extensively to communicate...among other things. Simply seeing the flight numbers on 9/11 should tell those with some knowledge that the illuminati was involved. Flight 11, Flight 175 (1+7+5=13), Flight 77 & Flight 93. The dates of 'terrorist' events should tell everyone they are involved - 9/11/01, 3/11/04 (Madrid – 911 days after 9/11/2001), 7/7/2005 or 777 (London), 7/11/06 (Mumbai, India). National ID cards have been approved by Congress starting in 2008. The date the law was passed in Congress?....5/11/05. The date it will become law? ….5/11/2008. When did WWI end?....11/11/1918 at 11am. The list goes on and on and on.....<br />
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Isn't it ironic that the nation most associated with freedom in the world will be a major contributor to the world's bondage? The problem is that most of us have allowed ourselves to be deceived into believing that evil will never overtake us in this country....when it already has. Now that’s deception. We are currently the lone superpower in the world simply because they believe it’s their plan. Ultimately, this is all part of God’s plan, but they obviously can’t see this. They are simply being deceived by those they serve. When it’s time to shift power back to Europe, we’re going to be devastated in some manner that will cause us to lose our military and economic power while at the same time strike unbelievable fear in the world. They’ll tell us that it’s another catastrophic ‘terrorist’ event. In reality, it will be God’s judgment on our nation. The illuminati will have then escalated the ‘terrorist’ problem to a new level calling for a more drastic solution. How will the world protect itself against this perceived threat? We’ll need to band together. Who will lead us in this endeavor? I think we know the answer.<br />
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The obvious problem with being deceived is you don’t know it while it’s happening. We’ve all got blinders on. The quote 'We have met the Enemy and he is us' certainly applies. Only the Lord can open our eyes to the truth, and since we haven't heeded His warnings as a nation, He's going to open them in a very big way...and soon.<br />
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One last thing that looks ominous. Many conspiracy theorists mention that these global societies are using TV and movies to communicate their plans to us. Before 9/11, there were plenty of cases of this…a miniseries in early 2001 depicting a terrorist attack on the WTC, the movie A Long Kiss Goodnight in 1996 (Geena Davis & Samuel Jackson) depicting an attack on the WTC. Other examples are listed at http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Hollywood_911.htm. What is ominous is that I believe they’re doing it again. There is a miniseries on Fox called Vanished (Friday nights at 9:00 pm) that started a few weeks ago (I think you can watch past episodes online). I’ve watched it since it started. The plot is based on the kidnapping of an American Senator’s wife. What is interesting is that they continue to hint at a ‘shadow government’ of powerful people who control our government. Believe it or not, they actually mention freemasonry and use Masonic symbols and codes throughout the show. So far, anyone in the show who begins to uncover these things gets shot, stabbed or killed. Watch it if you get the chance. You’ve probably seen the trailers for “Jericho” on Wednesday nights. After two episodes, it’s apparent that many major American cities have been hit with nuclear weapons…no explanation yet as to who has done this or why. I watched the movie ‘Signs’ again a few weeks ago and one of the scenes caught my eye. It’s Mel Gibson’s character talking to Jacquin Phoenix’s character after they discover that aliens have appeared over numerous cities. I found a copy of the dialog and copied it below. I believe that God is also getting a message across, we simply need to listen.<br />
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Take Care.<br />
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John<br />
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“People break down into two groups when they experience something lucky. Group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign-evidence that there is someone up there watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck, a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those 14 lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation isn't 50-50. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in the group number one. When they see those 14 lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there'll be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See, what you have to ask yourself is, what kind of person are you? Are you the kind who sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or look at the question this way-is it possible that there are no coincidences?”<br />
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- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JL3T/conspiracyarc-20/104-8924776-1297547?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=1789&link%5Fcode=xm2" title="Signs (Vista Series)">Signs</a> (2002) - 00:40:07-00:41:50<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=63&chapter=3&verse=3&version=31&context=verse">Titus3:3</a>At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.<br />
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James 1:16<br />
Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=24&verse=4&version=31&context=verse">Matthew 24:4</a><br />
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=52&chapter=16&verse=18&version=31&context=verse">Romans 16:18</a><br />
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=53&chapter=3&verse=18&version=31&context=verse">1 Corinthians 3:18</a>-19<br />
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"<br />
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Today is January 21, 2009. I wrote the post above on the Illuminati and our dollar bill at the end of 2005. It was my first blog post after writing the two letters that were reviewed by the Knoxville News-Sentinel. At the end of the post, I mentioned how the media is manipulated by the Illuminati to convey hidden messages – through movies, etc. Ever since I woke up and started paying attention to what the global elite are doing – occasionally I’ll see something that I find interesting in this regard.<br />
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I was watching one of the NFL Conference Championships this past weekend and noticed a trailer for an upcoming movie – The International. The basic premise of the movie is that there is a very powerful private bank that is involved in murder, conspiracy, corruption, extortion, drugs, weapons, etc. – on a global scale. We’re told in the preview that this bank ‘controls everything’, sends messages by assassinating political leaders, is involved with buying and selling military weapons and ‘everyone’ is involved. Anyone who ‘moves against this bank either ends up dead or disappears’. We are led to believe that this is a very large private bank – central banks are never mentioned. This, in itself, is enough to interest me since the international bankers behind the Central Banking System are apparently engaged in many of the things mentioned in the preview for this movie. Although I find this movie interesting – it’s not why I’m adding this to the original blog post.<br />
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As the trailer was nearing its end – a couple of messages appeared that got my attention. Toward the end of the trailer the following was displayed – ‘Follow Your Money. Find the Truth.’ I have seen the trailer before – but the trailers I’d seen never displayed this message. What caught my attention was that in between the first message – Follow Your Money – and the second message – Find the Truth – the logo for The International rotated vertically. I noticed that there was something shown in black on the back of the logo – but it spun so fast I couldn’t tell what it was. I have a DVR – so I reversed the trailer and paused it – and could see that it was the United States Federal Reserve emblem. As I mentioned earlier – there’s no mention of the Fed or Central Banks anywhere else throughout the trailer. Why was someone showing the Federal Reserve emblem and associating it with – follow your money and find the truth? What really got my attention was this – if you really do follow your money (how it is created and managed by the Federal Reserve) – <strong><em>you will find the truth</em></strong>. It appears that either someone involved with this movie is attempting to send a message – or someone is once again telling everyone what is going on – and laughing at our inability to understand. I suppose that it could be a coincidence – but I believe it’s too close to the truth to be a mere coincidence. Anyway – something interesting to note. I have copied a link below to a shorter online trailer that shows the Fed’s emblem (shown at the 27 second mark). I have not been able to find an online trailer that shows the message – follow your money, find the truth.<br />
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If you are confused (or interested) about my comments regarding the Federal Reserve System, I suggest you skip ahead in the blog and read the post entitled ‘Our Monetary System – How Central Banks Control the World’s Economy’.<br />
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<a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html</a><br />
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<br />John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-91888396425381561302010-10-25T14:04:00.006-04:002010-11-08T10:53:06.781-05:00World Bank President Robert Zoellick Calls For 'New International System of Commerce' and Return to Gold Standard<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here we see another world leader proposing a ‘new international system of commerce’ and a return to a gold standard. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do you think they know something is coming? No doubt about it. They know that the current system is inherently unstable and will collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Time for a new system that is stable for the long term. This new system will eventually utilize one currency – most likely backed by gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch as the central banks pull the rug out from under everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get ready – the game is about to begin.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">jg – November 8, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">___________________________</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">World Bank President Robert Zoellick Calls For Return To "Old Money" Gold Standard<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden"><span style="color: #1e439a;">Tyler Durden</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">on 11/07/2010 20:26 -0500</span></span><span class="taxonomy"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/world-bank-president-robert-zoellick-calls-return-old-money-gold-standard">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/world-bank-president-robert-zoellick-calls-return-old-money-gold-standard</a> <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One of the most serious condemnations of the race to the currency bottom to date comes not come from some peripheral media, but from the head of the World Bank itself, who in a just released Op-Ed in the Financial Times says that since the system of floating currencies established by the 1971 Bretton Woods II system, has broken down, it is time to look to a new international system of commerce, one which "<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">should also consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation and future currency values.</span></strong>" In other words, welcome back gold standard 2. Of course, this proposal will never attain more than a casual academic reference, as even a partial gold standard will immediately establish a lower bound on how much any given monetary authority can debase its (and, by retaliation, others') currencies. What, however, if very curious, is why this proposal is being floated precisely 3 short days after the Fed has launched its most ambitious attempt to reflate global asset prices and devalue fiat paper. And as is well-known, the IMF has also been quietly proposing a return to an ven more powerful version of the SDR.... Just what will take for the scales to tip, and for the dollar to remain a reserve currency just in retrospect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">From the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda8f512-eaae-11df-b28d-00144feab49a.html#axzz14eJqS7oK"><span style="color: #1e439a;">FT</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; width: inherit !important;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Writing in the Financial Times, Robert Zoellick, the bank's president since 2007, says a successor is needed to what he calls the "Bretton Woods II" system of floating currencies that has held since the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate regime broke down in 1971.<br />
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Mr Zoellick, a former US Treasury official, calls for a system that "is likely to need to involve the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound and a renminbi that moves towards internationalisation and then an open capital account". He adds: "The system should also consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation and future currency values."<br />
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His views reflect disquiet with the international system, where persistent Chinese intervention to hold down the renminbi is blamed by the US and others for contributing to global current account imbalances and creating capital markets distortions.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, with a market primed to discount every inflationary possibility, it would not be surprising to see precious metals to continue their near parabolic move higher over the past few days. Silver is already flirting with the $27 in the spot market tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Full<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5bb39488-ea99-11df-b28d-00144feab49a.html#axzz14eJtLAWa"><span style="color: #1e439a;">comments by Zoellick</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; width: inherit !important;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">With talk of currency wars and disagreements over the US Federal Reserve’s policy of quantitative easing, the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Seoul this week is shaping up as the latest test of international co-operation. So we should ask: co-operation to what end?<br />
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When the G7 experimented with economic co-ordination in the 1980s, the Plaza and Louvre Accords focused attention on exchange rates. Yet the policy underpinnings ran deeper. The Reagan administration, guided by James Baker, the then Treasury secretary, wanted to resist a protectionist upsurge from Congress, like the one we see today. It therefore combined currency co-ordination with the launch of the Uruguay Round that created the World Trade Organisation and a push for free trade that led to agreements with Canada and Mexico. International leadership worked with domestic policies to boost competitiveness.<br />
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As part of this “package approach”, G7 countries were supposed to address the fundamentals of growth – today’s structural reform agenda. For example, the 1986 Tax Reform Act broadened the revenue base while slashing marginal income tax rates. Mr Baker worked with his G7 colleagues and central bankers to orchestrate international co-operation to build private-sector confidence.<br />
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History moved on after the huge changes of 1989 and the experience of the 1980s is still being debated, but this package approach was significant for its combination of pro-growth reforms, open trade and exchange rate co-ordination.<br />
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What might such an approach look like today? First, to focus on fundamentals, a key group of G20 countries should agree on parallel agendas of structural reforms, not just to rebalance demand but to spur growth. For example, China’s next five-year plan is supposed to transfer attention from export industries to new domestic businesses, and the service sector, provide more social services and shift financing from oligopolistic state-owned enterprises to ventures that will boost productivity and domestic demand.<br />
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With a new Congress, the US will need to address structural spending and ballooning debt that will tax future growth. President Barack Obama has also spoken of plans to boost competitiveness and revive free-trade agreements.<br />
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The US and China could agree on specific, mutually reinforcing steps to boost growth. Based on this, the two might also agree on a course for renminbi appreciation, or a move to wide bands for exchange rates. The US, in turn, could commit to resist tit-for-tat trade actions; or better, to advance agreements to open markets.<br />
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Second, other major economies, starting with the G7, should agree to forego currency intervention, except in rare circumstances agreed to by others. Other G7 countries may wish to boost confidence by committing to structural growth plans as well.<br />
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Third, these steps would assist emerging economies to adjust to asymmetries in recoveries by relying on flexible exchange rates and independent monetary policies. Some may need tools to cope with short-term hot money flows. The G20 could develop norms to guide these measures.<br />
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Fourth, the G20 should support growth by focusing on supply-side bottlenecks in developing countries. These economies are already contributing to half of global growth, and their import demand is rising twice as fast as that of advanced economies. The G20 should give special support to infrastructure, agriculture and developing healthy, skilled labour forces. The World Bank Group and the regional development banks could be the instruments of building multiple poles of future growth based on private sector development.<br />
<br />
Fifth, the G20 should complement this growth recovery programme with a plan to build a co-operative monetary system that reflects emerging economic conditions. This new system is likely to need to involve the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound and a renminbi that moves towards internationalisation and then an open capital account.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The system should also consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation and future currency values. Although textbooks may view gold as the old money, markets are using gold as an alternative monetary asset today.</span></strong><br />
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The development of a monetary system to succeed “Bretton Woods II”, launched in 1971, will take time.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But we need to begin</span></strong>. The scope of the changes since 1971 certainly matches those between 1945 and 1971 that prompted the shift from Bretton Woods I to II. Serious work should include possible changes in International Monetary Fund rules to review capital as well as current account policies, and connect IMF monetary assessments with WTO obligations not to use currency policies to remove trade concessions.<br />
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This package approach to economic co-operation reaches beyond the recent G20 dialogue, but the ideas are practical and feasible, not radical. And it has clear advantages. It supplies a growth and monetary agenda that parallels the G20 financial sector reforms. It could be built upon prompt incremental actions, combined with credible steps to be pursued over time, allowing for political dialogue at home. And it could help rebuild public and market confidence, which will remain under stress in 2011. Perhaps most importantly, this package could get governments ahead of problems instead of reacting to economic, political and social storms.<br />
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Drive or drift? How the G20 decides could determine whether multilateral co-operation can achieve a strong economic recovery.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Little can be added here except for one recent popular quote, which explains why we eagerly welcome more and more high level individuals condemning the fiat system, and petitioning to a reversion the system that actually worked without creating quadrillions in imaginary debt-money (and the inevitable fiat devaluation that always follows): "What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; text-indent: 1119.2pt;"><span class="on"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px -28px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">5</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-52374109030280446222010-10-25T14:00:00.000-04:002010-11-03T12:22:09.631-04:00Bank of England Head Mervyn King Proposes Eliminating Fractional Reserve Banking - November 1, 2010<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve been waiting for someone in power to say this – and here we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As things continue to get worse economically – we’ll see more and more world leaders propose a new global monetary system to replace the current one that is collapsing. This rhetoric regarding a new monetary system started in 2007/2008 during the financial crisis (see previous blog posts) – but the rhetoric has waned over the past two years as government and Federal Reserve ‘stimulus’ has propped up the system. Now that we’re nearing the inevitable collapse of the system – expect the rhetoric for a new system to increase.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you’ve seen me say before – this is not random – it is planned. Our current system requires debt and money to grow exponentially forever – which is mathematically impossible in a finite world. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel certain that the governor of the Bank of England knows this. You and I are being conditioned for the next phase of the plan. A phase that I believe will start with a significant global stock market crash.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">jg – November 1, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;">__________________________<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Bank of England Head Mervyn King Proposes Eliminating Fractional Reserve Banking<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bank-england-head-mervyn-king-proposes-eliminating-fractional-reserve-banking">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bank-england-head-mervyn-king-proposes-eliminating-fractional-reserve-banking</a> <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/george-washington"><span style="color: #1e439a;">George Washington</span></a> on 10/31/2010 21:02 -0500</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">→</span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">Washington’s Blog</span></a></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mervyn King - the governor of the Bank of England - has proposed abolishing fractional reserve banking.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the BBC <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/2010/10/post_1.html"><span style="color: #1e439a;">noted</span></a> last week:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mervyn King, the governor of the <a href="http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">Bank of England</span></a>, has tonight made a big intervention into the debate on banking reform. In a speech at Buttonwood, New York, he [listed] much more radical proposals.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> 1. Forcing the riskiest banks to hold capital "several times the magnitude" of requirements at present.<br />
2. The Volcker rule-style enforced breakup of banks into speculative and non-speculative arms.<br />
3. The "Kotlikoff proposal", which forces banks to match each pool of risks with a requisite amount of capital, preventing losses in one spilling over into another.<br />
4. Stunningly, Mervyn King imagines<b> the "abolition of fractional reserve banking"</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Eliminating fractional reserve banking explicitly recognises that the pretence that risk-free deposits can be supported by risky assets is alchemy. If there is a need for genuinely safe deposits the only way they can be provided, while ensuring costs and benefits are fully aligned, is to insist such deposits do not co-exist with risky assets."<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> King does not advocate any of these radical plans - but the fact that he goes out of his way to list them, and to place them on the agenda of the <a href="http://bankingcommission.independent.gov.uk/bankingcommission/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">UK's Independent Commission on Banking</span></a>, means that we are not yet at the end of the debate about long-term reform of the banks.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> ***<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Beyond the technicalities, the fact that a central banker in a G7 country is prepared to imagine such outcomes is itself significant.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moreover, King <a href="http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Mervyn-King-Letter001.jpg"><span style="color: #1e439a;">wrote</span></a> to Ben Dyson and stated:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You suggest that banks should be<b> forced to conform to the underlying purpose of the 1844 Bank Reform Act.</b> You might be aware that I have said publicly that <b>I think ideas in this spirit - such as those advocated by John Kay - certainly merit serious consideration </b>in the debate as to how we reform our financial system. I remain sympathetic to these views. But as I said in my previous letter, I do not want to prejudice the outcome of the Banking commission's deliberations. Now the Commission has been set up, I think we all should wait to see its conclusions."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Dyson <a href="http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/2010/08/mervyn-king-says-stop-fractional-reserve-banking/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">explains</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 1844 Bank Charter Act ('Reform' is a typo) was a piece of legislation that prohibited commercial banks from printing paper notes (£1, £5, £10 and so on). Before this law was passed, banks were permitted to print as many paper notes as they wanted, up to the point where they printed too many and went bankrupt (as everyone cashed in their paper notes at once).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That situation should sound very similar to the situation that we have today - we currently allow commercial banks to 'print' money in the form of digital bank deposits (the numbers in your bank account). In the years up to 2007, the banks 'printed' far too much of this digital money, to the extent that they - and the economy - started to collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 'underlying purpose' of the 1844 Bank Charter Act was to <b>prevent the commercial banks creating money </b>and to restore that privilege to the state. It had become obvious to the government of the day that if banks were allowed to create money, they would keep creating money up until the point where it destabilized the economy, so they could not be trusted with this responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, in plain English, Mervyn King appears to be saying:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I agree that banks should probably be stopped from creating money, and recommend John Kay (or Laurence Kotlikoff's) proposals. But it's not for me to say - let's leave it to the Banking Commission."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's very reassuring to know that the top guy at the Bank of England understands the root of the issue and is promoting solutions that would go a long way to addressing it. Both John Kay and Laurence Kotlikoff's proposals would prevent commercial banks from creating money (or 'issuing credit') for their own benefit at the expense of the wider economy and the public.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ironically, while King is proposing the potential elimination of fractional reserve banking (i.e. a return to 100% reserves), Ben Bernanke has <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20100210a.htm#fn9"><span style="color: #1e439a;">proposed</span></a> the elimination of <i>all </i>reserve requirements (i.e. requiring <i>no </i>reserves):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Federal Reserve believes it is possible that, ultimately, its operating framework will allow the elimination of minimum reserve requirements, which impose costs and distortions on the banking system.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-52914052760524891532010-09-14T10:33:00.000-04:002010-09-14T10:33:57.523-04:00Dangerous Exponentials<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">It's rare - but there are people out there who truly understand exponential growth and how it relates to our economic system. Anyone who understands our monetary system - and how it is required to grow forever - typically come to the same conclusion. Our lives in the next few years are going to be radically different than they are today.<br />
<br />
What happens when exponential growth reverses (Debt, money, energy, population, etc.)?<br />
<br />
Nothing good.<br />
<br />
The attached paper (below) by Dr. Tim Morgan (tullett prebon) is an excellent review of exponential growth - how it relates to our monetary system and energy - and what it means for our future. Dr. Morgan mentions Chris Martenson's work multiple times.<br />
<br />
If you want to understand what is happening to our economy - there is no better place to start than watching Dr. Martenson's Crash Course.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse" mce_href="http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse">http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse</a><br />
<br />
If you want to read my analysis of our monetary system and how it relates to Bible Prophecy - start here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://endtimediscussions.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/dangerous-exponentials-tullett-prebon-sept-2010.pdf" mce_href="http://endtimediscussions.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/dangerous-exponentials-tullett-prebon-sept-2010.pdf">Dangerous Exponentials - tullett prebon - Sept 2010</a><br />
<br />
John - September 14, 2010</div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-6981140834105850642010-08-23T20:19:00.003-04:002010-08-23T20:20:41.935-04:00Hindenburg Omen Creator Has Exited the Market<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If anyone has money in the stock market – time to pay attention. September and October typically see high stock market volatility – and with much of the ‘stimulus’ ending – it could get interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> stock mutual funds have seen a net ($) outflow for 15 consecutive weeks (totaling almost $50 billion).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If you are unfamiliar with the ‘Hindenburg Omen’ – it is a technical indicator that has preceded all <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> stock market crashes since 1987. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It has now been confirmed on three separate days over the past 2 weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“It is named after the Hindenburg disaster of May 6th 1937, during which the German zeppelin was destroyed in a sudden conflagration." Granted, the Hindenburg Omen is not a guarantee of a crash, and the five criteria that must be met for a Hindenburg trigger typically need to reoccur within 36 days for reconfirmation. Yet the statistics are startling: "Looking back at historical data, the probability of a move greater than 5% to the downside after a confirmed Hindenburg Omen was 77%, and usually takes place within the next forty-days." The last Hindenburg Omen occurred during the lows of 2009. Today, we just had another (unconfirmed) Hindenburg Omen. It is time to batten down the hatches - something big is coming.”</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This link shows the criteria:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hindenburg-omen-here">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hindenburg-omen-here</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">jg – August 23, 2010</div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">______________________________</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 14pt;">Hindenburg Omen Creator Has Exited the Market<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/">www.zerohedge.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hindenburg-omen-creator-has-exited-market">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hindenburg-omen-creator-has-exited-market</a> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 8pt;">Submitted by</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 8pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden"><span style="color: #1e439a; font-size: 11pt;">Tyler Durden</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span><span class="submitted"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 8pt;">on 08/23/2010 13:43 -0500</span></span><span class="taxonomy"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">As we<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/second-hindenburg-omen-confirmation-many-days-third-ho-event-one-week"><span style="color: #1e439a;">reported first</span></a>, last week saw the second confirmation of the Hindenburg Omen, most recently sighted for the first time on August 12. Presumably this is an indication of putting one's money where one's mouth is (and away from the market).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">From the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/08/23/yes-folks-hindenburg-omen-tripped-again/"><span style="color: #1e439a;">WSJ</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">The latest trigger has prompted the Omen’s creator, Jim Miekka, to exit the market.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">“I’m taking it seriously and I’m fully out of the market now,” Miekka, a blind mathematician, said in a telephone interview from his home in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Surry</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Maine</st1:state></st1:place>. “I would’ve probably stayed in until the beginning of September,” depending on how the indicators varied. “That was my basic plan, until the Hindenburg came along.”</span></strong><b><br />
</b><br />
The Omen has been behind every market crash since 1987, but significant stock-market declines have followed only 25% of the time. So there’s a high likelihood that the Omen could be nothing more than a false signal.<br />
<br />
But that isn’t stopping Miekka from taking any chances, especially as September, typically the market’s worst-performing month, sits only one week away.<br />
<br />
“It’s sort of like a funnel cloud,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to crash, but it’s a high probability. You don’t get a tornado without a funnel cloud.” He added he’s not currently shorting anything, although he may look to short Nasdaq stock index futures in the next few weeks, “depending on how the technicals go.”<br />
<br />
Despite the ominous forecast, there are some glimmers of hope. Miekka doesn’t expect to sit on the sidelines for very long. In fact, Miekka, who is an avid target shooter despite being blind, is looking at put volumes and various moving averages that will offer clues of when he will start buying again.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-80039675773421316322010-08-16T14:22:00.013-04:002010-08-22T20:16:09.507-04:00There Will Be No Double Dip - It Will Be A Lot Worse<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More Truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This article contains a lot of good economic information that everyone should know.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all need to take it one step further – and not assume that the governments and banks of the world are trying to prevent a collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I’ve said many times – a global economic collapse is part of a plan for world government and world domination. There’s no way to sugar-coat this truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you don’t think it’s possible - it’s time to learn how the world’s economy really operates. It’s all about debt – and control of the world’s population.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get ready – a global stock market collapse is coming – and soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">jg – August 16, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">_____________________________________</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/">www.zerohedge.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/matterhorn-asset-management-there-will-be-no-double-dip-it-will-be-lot-worse">http://www.zerohedge.com/article/matterhorn-asset-management-there-will-be-no-double-dip-it-will-be-lot-worse</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #b98647; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">THERE WILL BE NO DOUBLE DIP…..</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by Egon von Greyerz – Matterhorn Asset Management</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, there will be no double dip. It will be a lot worse. The world economy will soon go into an accelerated and precipitous decline which will make the 2007 to early 2009 downturn seem like a walk in the park. The world financial system has temporarily been on life support by trillions of printed dollars that governments call money. But the effect of this massive money printing is ephemeral since it is not possible to save a world economy built on worthless paper by creating more of the same. Nevertheless, governments will continue to print since this is the only remedy they know. Therefore, we are soon likely to enter a phase of money printing of a magnitude that the world has never experienced. But his will not save the Western World which is likely to go in to a decline lasting at least 20 years but most probably a lot longer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The End of an Era<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The hyperinflationary depression that many western countries, including the US and the UK, will experience is likely to mark the end of an era that has lasted over 200 years since the industrial revolution. A major part of the growth in the last 100 years and especially in the last 40 years has been built on an unsustainable build-up of debt levels. These debt levels will continue to swell for another few years until the coming hyperinflation in the West leads to a destruction of real asset values and a debt implosion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the last 100 years the Western world has experienced a historically unprecedented growth in production, in inventions and technical developments leading to a major increase in the standard of living. During the same period government debt, as well as private debt have grown exponentially leading to a major increase in inflation compared to previous centuries.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmC_HKjsEI/AAAAAAAAA8k/pf-qyccQz9I/s1600/cpi-usa1800-2009_sm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmC_HKjsEI/AAAAAAAAA8k/pf-qyccQz9I/s400/cpi-usa1800-2009_sm.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Until the early 1970s the growth in credit to GDP had been going up gradually since the creation of the Fed in 1913.. But from 1971 when Nixon abolished gold backing of the dollar, virtually all of the growth in the Western world has come from the massive increase in credit rather than from real growth of the economy. The US consumer price index was stable for 200 years until the early 1900s. From 1971 to 2010 CPI went up by almost 500%. The reason for this is uncontrolled credit creation and money printing. Total US debt went from $9 trillion in 1971 to $59 trillion today and this excludes unfunded liabilities of anywhere from $70 to $110 trillion. US nominal GDP went from $1.1 trillion to $14.5 trillion between 1971 and 2010. So it has taken an increase in borrowings of $50 trillion to produce an increase in annual GDP of $13 trillion over a 40 year period. <b>Without this massive increase in debt, the US would probably have had negative growth for most of the last 39 years.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Total US debt to GDP is now 380% and is likely to escalate substantially.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDD2BF2yI/AAAAAAAAA8s/gPJHMx07e9Q/s1600/Debt-to-GDP-chart-13.8.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDD2BF2yI/AAAAAAAAA8s/gPJHMx07e9Q/s400/Debt-to-GDP-chart-13.8.10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The coming hyperinflationary depression and the credit and asset implosion that is likely to follow will most probably lead to the end of a 200 year era of growth for the Western world. If only the excesses from the 1970s were corrected we might have a circa 20 year decline. But more likely we will correct the era all the way back from the industrial revolution in the 18<sup>th</sup> century and this could take 100 years or more.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So after the tumultuous and very painful times that we are likely to experience in the next few years, the West will have a sustained period of decline. <b>All the excesses in the economy and in society must be unwound.</b> These abnormal and unreal excesses are not just corporate executives, bankers, hedge fund managers or sportsmen earning $10s to $100s of millions but also a total collapse of ethical and moral values as well as a breakdown of the family as the kernel of society.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most people believe and hope that this major trend change could not happen today with all the measures that governments have at their disposal. But very few people comprehend that it is precisely the government interference, controls and regulations as well as money printing that have created the problems in the first place. Power corrupts, and the more pressure a government is under the more they intervene. Because they believe that their interference in the economy will save the country – read Obama, or the world – read Gordon Brown.<b> Little do they understand that each interference, each regulation or each dollar or pound or Euro printed will exacerbate the problems of the economy manifold.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Governments now have two options; continue to spend and print money like the US or introduce austerity programmes like Europe. Whichever way they chose will not matter since they have reached the point of no return. <b>The economy of the West cannot be saved by any means. </b>But governments both in the US and in Europe will still apply the only method they know which is to print money.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Government is Stealing from the People<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Very few people understand that money printing is a form of robbing the citizens of their money and their work. Money is supposed to be a medium of exchange for goods and services equalling the value of the good or the service produced. For example, an individual works extremely hard to earn an annual wage of say $40,000 which he receives in the form of paper money. The government, due to its mismanagement and incompetence simultaneously prints $40,000 in order to cover its deficits. So the government has by pressing a button produced the same amount of money that a man had to work a year for. This is what is currently taking place all over the world and which will accelerate in coming months and years leading to a total destruction of paper money. <b>Paper money has completely lost its function as a medium of exchange or a store of value. This is why gold is gaining and will continue to gain value against perishable paper that is called money.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Deflation Inflation or Hyperinflation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only reason that the US could build up such a major debt is that the US dollar has been the reserve currency of the world and therefore the US has been able to finance its debts and deficits internationally. The US has now reached a point when debts have to increase dramatically for the country just to standstill. Like all Ponzi schemes this one will also come to an end – and this very soon. The US dollar will decline dramatically and lose its reserve status and the US government will be unable to finance its deficit in any market. This process will lead to endless money printing, collapsing treasury bonds (substantially higher interest rates) and the dollar becoming worthless in a hyperinflationary black hole.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let us just reiterate that hyperinflation arises as a result of money printing leading to a currency collapse and not from demand pull. The slight deflation that we are experiencing currently is a prerequisite for hyperinflation. The fear of a deflationary implosion forces governments to print money, leading to a collapsing currency which historically has always been the cause of hyperinflation.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Real M3 (source: Shadow Government Statistics) is falling at an unprecedented rate. This is the precursor to economic decline, quantitative easing and inflation (see early 1970s in the chart).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDH6DI_OI/AAAAAAAAA80/VNga3Ysslwg/s1600/real-m3-16.8.10.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDH6DI_OI/AAAAAAAAA80/VNga3Ysslwg/s400/real-m3-16.8.10.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many “experts” make the analogy between the deflationary period in Japan since the 1990s and the US today. In our view the US is in a totally different situation for the following reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the early 1990s Japan could still export their production to the rest of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the current downturn all countries (even China and India) will suffer and there will be no one to export the problems to.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ability to export made Japan a creditor nation with major payment surpluses. US are a major debtor and have been for 25 years.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Japan had a very high personal savings ratio at the time (which has now disappeared). US has had a declining savings rate for years (the US savings rate is now going up which it always does in a downturn).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The balance of payments and the personal savings surpluses made it possible for Japan to finance their budget deficit without resorting to QE. Very soon he US will only be able to finance their deficits with QE and so will most of the rest of the Western world.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Japanese unemployment in 1992 was 2% and went slowly up to 5% by 2000 where it is now. Real US unemployment is 22% and increasing.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many major sovereign states are now virtually bankrupt and the financial system is on life support. This was not the case in the 1990s.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The above are some of the reasons why the current US situation is totally different to Japan. QE will accelerate in the US and worldwide.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What will make this process so much more complex than the world has ever experienced is that the same development is likely to take place in many countries around the world simultaneously. It will most probably happen in the UK, the rest of the EU and most other European nations. Due to the total interdependence of the world financial system, it will be difficult to forecast which countries can withstand the coming worldwide tsunami of money printing but many Asian countries probably stand a good chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can we be wrong in our forecast of a hyperinflationary depression? Yes, of course we can. But the alternative can only be a deflationary collapse which would be unacceptable to (dropping money from) helicopter Bernanke and deficit demagogue Obama as well as most other governments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conventional wisdom and most experts say that we will not have inflation but deflation. The problem with most conventional wisdom is that it is only conventional without an ounce of wisdom. When have the world’s so called experts, politicians etc ever been right on the current crisis? They will be wrong this time again.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The “conventional wisdom experts” also say that it will be years before we can see inflation or hyperinflation. In our view it can happen a lot faster. The world economy is resting on a foundation of matchsticks. All that is needed is a change in confidence or psychology for this fragile foundation to crumble.<b>Falling currencies, rising bond yields and falling stock markets could very quickly result in a vicious and fast spinning hyperinflationary circle. The frailty of the financial system could make this happen like a flash fire.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Wealth Creation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Banks and the financial industry have throughout history existed in order to finance production and trading of goods. But in the last 100 years and especially in the last 20-30 years it has become a major industry in its own right and an important but unproductive part of the economy in many countries. Today, the financial industry is too a great extent involved in trading for its own and clients’ accounts, creating a raft of obscure instruments that only benefit the banks and as well as financing consumption rather than investment. All of these areas are totally non-productive and the only beneficiaries are the participants in the financial industry. And the rewards have been absolutely astronomical. In investment banking, hedge funds and private equity in particular, the most massive wealth has been created. Many players have become billionaires or created fortunes of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in the last 10-15 years just by shuffling money around. In the past fortunes were created by building factories and industries. But today any normal employee working in Wall Street or the City in London will, by just showing up to work, make hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. <b>This is the proof of a world totally out of balance when people dealing in money become the richest segment of society. Since this activity contributes very little to the prosperity of a nation (but very much to its participants) it is not sustainable. </b>The biggest reason why it exists is the massive amount of money that governments have created or printed and the fact that the financial industry has developed into a fractal wealth creation machine for the benefit of its participants.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the last 40 years in particular the rich are getting richer and the average person has seen very little increase in real income. In the US, the real annual income of the bottom 90% of US families has increased by only 10% since 1970. And in the expansion between 2002 and 2007, median US household income dropped $2,000. <b>The perceived increase in wealth for the majority of Americans derives from an increase in their debt level not from an increase in real earnings. So the improvement in living standards that the average American and many other Western countries have enjoyed in the last 40 odd years is primarily based on debt – debt that can never be and will never be repaid with normal money.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other hand, management has achieved a major increase in income and wealth. In 1973, chief executives in the US earned 26 times the median income. Today they earn 300 times. This enormous widening of the gap between the top few percent in society and the masses is morally and socially unacceptable. When the bad times start in earnest, this is likely to lead to major social unrest and violence directed against the privileged.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The Focus will Shift<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a major part of 2010 the focus has been on the problems within the EU starting with Greece, then Spain, Portugal, Italy etc. The problems in Europe are major and many European countries as well as the European financial system will lead to massive money printing. Although the problems in Europe are very serious, the US economy is in a much worse state. The diversion of the focus away from the problems in the US economy onto Europe has suited the US Administration perfectly. It can hardly be a coincidence, for example, that US rating agencies downgrade the Sovereign debt of Greece and Spain on the same days as Treasury auctions are held. But the problems in the US economy are deteriorating at a rapid rate; factory orders, consumer confidence, existing home sales, retail sales, the ECRI index (Economic Cycle Research Institute) are all falling more than expected and real unemployment, personal bankruptcies (will exceed 1.6 million in 2010), trade deficit, state and federal deficits are all increasing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ECRI index is an important leading indicator. It has now fallen for 10 straight weeks.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDLrXHd8I/AAAAAAAAA88/fgPWXy3LVaA/s1600/ECRI-FED-FUNDS-recessions-WLI-FFR-since-1965-16.810-694x504.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGmDLrXHd8I/AAAAAAAAA88/fgPWXy3LVaA/s400/ECRI-FED-FUNDS-recessions-WLI-FFR-since-1965-16.810-694x504.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are <b>three insurmountable problems in the US economy</b> that are of a magnitude and gravity which can only be remedied by money printing:<o:p></o:p></span></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Federal and state deficits</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> will soon escalate at an exponential rate. The US Federal debt has increased from $ 8 trillion in 2006 when Bernanke took office to soon $ 14 trillion. Many forecasts expect this debt to go up to nearer $ 20 trillion in the next 5 years. In our view it will be substantially higher. Add to that interest rates of 15% or higher and the American people will work just to pay taxes that don’t even cover the interest payments on the federal debt. This is why the US will either default or more likely print unlimited amounts of money.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The real unemployment rate is now 22%. </span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since 2007 over 8 million Americans have lost their jobs and it will get a lot worse. Non-farm unemployment in the 1930s reached 35% and we would expect this level to be reached in the next few years.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 12.75pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The financial system is bankrupt. </span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Banks are failing at a much faster rate than last year. To date circa 110 banks have failed. More seriously the assets of the failed banks are only worth an estimated 30-50% of their balance sheet value. Banks are valuing their toxic debt at phoney values with the blessing of the government. But even debt that today is considered safe will soon turn toxic with the consumer coming under enormous financial pressure. Add to that the OTC derivatives held by US banks of at least $ 400 trillion. A big percentage of these are worthless and there are virtually no reserves to cover potential losses.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Within the next few years, the three areas above are likely to result in the biggest money printing programme in world history and simultaneously lead the US (and many other countries) into the abyss.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Markets<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There has probably never been a period in world history which has caused the amount of wealth destruction that we are likely to see in the next few years. If we are correct in our assumption that the West will see a correction of the excesses of the last circa 40 years but more probably of the last 200 years, since the start of the industrial revolution, we could see a total annihilation of the assets that have been fuelled by the credit bubbles. The spike in asset values in the last 100 years, which is unprecedented in history, is likely to be corrected by a waterfall which could start at any time. We will issue a separate report in the next 10 days covering our market predictions and the importance of physical gold for wealth preservation purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">16th August<br />
<br />
Egon von Greyerz<o:p></o:p></span></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-6098847898708798062010-08-13T16:47:00.000-04:002010-08-14T10:57:33.073-04:00Is a Crash Coming?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It’s rare – but occasionally you’ll see a mainstream media article that contains some truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This is one of those articles.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For the record – the Fed is not ‘nervous’ or ‘worried’ about these developments. The Fed created these developments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From the article – here’s the #1 reason things are heading south. Remember – this is what happens when your money is created by debt. Eventually – the math of exponential debt growth catches up to you – and runs you over.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“People still owe way too much money. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Households, corporations, states, local governments and, of course, Uncle Sam. It's the debt, stupid. According to the Federal Reserve, total U.S. debt—even excluding the financial sector—is basically twice what it was 10 years ago: $35 trillion compared to $18 trillion.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If you think this is a mystery to the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the IMF, Bernanke, Greenspan, Obama, Geithner, etc., etc. – you’re living in a fantasy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I have a feeling that the next couple of months – which have historically seen significant stock market volatility – will be rather exciting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">jg – August 13, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 13.3pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">_________________________</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">August 13, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Is a Crash Coming? Ten Reasons to Be Cautious<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.3pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">Wall St. Journal<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Could Wall Street be about to crash again?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This week's bone-rattlers may be making you wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don't make predictions. That's a sucker's game. And I'm certainly not doing so now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But way too many people are way too complacent this summer. Here are 10 reasons to watch out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1. The market is already expensive.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Stocks are about 20 times cyclically-adjusted earnings, according to data compiled by Yale University economics professor Robert Shiller. That's well above average, which, historically, has been about 16. This ratio has been a powerful predictor of long-term returns. Valuation is by far the most important issue for investors. If you're getting paid well to take risks, they may make sense. But what if you're not?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2. The Fed is getting nervous.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> This week it warned that the economy had weakened, and it unveiled its latest weapon in the war against deflation: using the proceeds from the sale of mortgages to buy Treasury bonds. That should drive down long-term interest rates. Great news for mortgage borrowers. But hardly something one wants to hear when the Dow Jones Industrial Average is already north of 10000.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3. Too many people are too bullish.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Active money managers are expecting the market to go higher, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Active Investment Managers. So are financial advisers, reports the weekly survey by Investors Intelligence. And that's reason to be cautious. The time to buy is when everyone else is gloomy. The reverse may also be true.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 7.5pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGVS2PVW2dI/AAAAAAAAA8c/l82fg0tcu6Y/s1600/Wall+Street+-+October+24+1929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/TGVS2PVW2dI/AAAAAAAAA8c/l82fg0tcu6Y/s400/Wall+Street+-+October+24+1929.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 7.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 7.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><b>Crowds panic on Wall Street on Oct. 24, 1929.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 7.5pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4. Deflation is already here.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Consumer prices have fallen for three months in a row. And, most ominously, it's affecting wages too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, last quarter, workers earned 0.7% less in real terms per hour than they did a year ago. No wonder the Fed is worried. In deflation, wages, company revenues, and the value of your home and your investments may shrink in dollar terms. But your debts stay the same size. That makes deflation a vicious trap, especially if people owe way too much money.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">5. People still owe way too much money. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Households, corporations, states, local governments and, of course, Uncle Sam. It's the debt, stupid. According to the Federal Reserve, total U.S. debt—even excluding the financial sector—is basically twice what it was 10 years ago: $35 trillion compared to $18 trillion. Households have barely made a dent in their debt burden; it's fallen a mere 3% from last year's all-time peak, leaving it twice the level of a decade ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6. The jobs picture is much worse than they're telling you.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Forget the "official" unemployment rate of 9.5%. Alternative measures? Try this: Just 61% of the adult population, age 20 or over, has any kind of job right now. That's the lowest since the early 1980s—when many women stayed at home through choice, driving the numbers down. Among men today, it's 66.9%. Back in the '50s, incidentally, that figure was around 85%, though allowances should be made for the higher number of elderly people alive today. And many of those still working right now can only find part-time work, so just 59% of men age 20 or over currently have a full-time job. This is bullish?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Today's bonus question: If a laid-off contractor with two kids, a mortgage and a car loan is working three night shifts a week at his local gas station, how many iPads can he buy for Christmas?)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7. Housing remains a disaster.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Foreclosures rose again last month. Banks took over another 93,000 homes in July, says foreclosure specialist RealtyTrac. That's a rise of 9% from June and just shy of May's record. We're heading for 1 million foreclosures this year, RealtyTrac says. And naturally the ripple effects hurt all those homeowners not in foreclosure, by driving down prices. See deflation (No. 4) above.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8. Labor Day is approaching. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ouch. It always seems to be in September-October when the wheels come off Wall Street. Think 2008. Think 1987. Think 1929. Statistically, there actually is a "September effect." The market, on average, has done worse in that month than any other. No one really knows why. Some have even blamed the psychological effect of shortening days. But it becomes self-reinforcing: People fear it, so they sell.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">9. We're looking at gridlock in Washington.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Election season has already begun. And the Democrats are expected to lose seats in both houses in November. (Betting at InTrade, a bookmaker in Dublin, Ireland, gives the GOP a 62% chance of taking control of the House.) As our political dialogue seems to have collapsed beyond all possible hope of repair, let's not hope for any "bipartisan" agreements on anything of substance. Do you think this is a good thing? As Davis Rosenberg at investment firm Gluskin Sheff pointed out this week, gridlock is only a good thing for investors "when nothing needs fixing." Today, he notes, we need strong leadership. Not gonna happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10. All sorts of other indicators are flashing amber. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, while still positive, weakened again in July. So did ISM's new-orders indicator. The trade deficit has widened, and second-quarter GDP growth was much lower than first thought. ECRI's Weekly Leading Index has been flashing warning lights for weeks. Europe's industrial production in June turned out considerably worse than expected. Even China's steamroller economy is slowing down. Tech bellwether <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=CSCO"><span style="color: #093d72;">Cisco Systems</span></a> has signaled caution ahead. Individually, each of these might mean little. Collectively, they make me wonder. In this environment, I might be happy to buy shares if they were cheap. But not so much if they're expensive. See No. 1 above.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 6.0pt; margin-right: 6.0pt; margin-top: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Write to </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Brett Arends at <a href="mailto:brett.arends@wsj.com"><span style="color: #093d72;">brett.arends@wsj.com</span></a></span></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-32570464095390010342010-05-20T12:31:00.005-04:002010-06-06T18:13:40.484-04:00Global Monetary System Nearing its End - May 19 2010Hello everyone,<br />
<br />
This will be the final email I send out regarding what’s going on with our economy and the world’s financial system. I have a blog – and will continue to add to it – but this stuff is becoming repetitive – and I’m not sure that sending you updates at this point really benefits anyone. These things are not exactly uplifting and it’s getting worse every day.<br />
<br />
So – here’s what you need to know. There are four – very important things you need to understand as events unfold in the coming days/months.<br />
<br />
1. The world’s economy is collapsing – and has been collapsing for the past 3 years. It has always been unsustainable – we just happen to be alive at the end of our exponential debt/money growth curve. Exponential growth always ends with a steep incline up – then a catastrophic fall – always. Unlike our political and financial leaders – math doesn’t lie. You may not believe this now – but it will become clear to everyone very soon. Things are accelerating rapidly. At some point – you’ll begin hearing the talking heads on TV using the term ‘free fall’ quite often. If you don’t understand why everyone isn’t saying this now – ask yourself how many times (high school, college, economists, etc.) you’ve heard someone explain how our banking/monetary system works. Enough said. If you want a refresher – here are a couple of links to related blog posts: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system.html</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system-part-ii-market.html">http://endtimediscussions.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-monetary-system-part-ii-market.html</a> <br />
<br />
2. This global economic collapse is not an accident or random event – nor is it going to be a surprise to many of the world’s political and financial leaders. There is an agenda at work here – and it is evil. No other way to say it. The people behind this are the richest, most powerful people in the world – and they have been scheming for hundreds of years – to bring the world to the brink of the abyss. Why? They have used their financial strength to cause financial panics in the past to move their plans forward – we’re watching the same game plan play out before us on a global scale. The goal has always been a one world socialist government (very similar to the USSR or China) with the global elite running the show. If you think Obama appears to lean toward Socialism – you’d be correct – but probably not in the way you think. George W. had his role as well. Alice – this rabbit hole goes far deeper than most people know.<br />
<br />
3. Regardless of what you’re told - all of the government stimulus plans, positive media spin and central bank ‘actions’ over the past 2 years have been done for one purpose – to give the impression that the world’s governments and world’s central banks have done everything possible to save the system. They are attempting to shift the focus (blame) for all of this to sovereign fiscal mismanagement, individual and corporate debt loads, bad mortgages, etc. What they don’t tell you is that exponential debt growth is required for the system to function. The problem today is that the global system is now saturated with debt – a direct result of the debt based monetary system itself. This is why trying to solve a debt problem with more debt (see U.S. and European bailouts) is doomed to failure. Systemic failure may happen today, tomorrow, next month – but it is coming – and there is nothing that anyone can do that will prevent this (except changing the system). Again – math doesn’t lie. At some point – even mainstream media will begin acknowledging that something is seriously wrong – you’ll know we’re at the end when this happens.<br />
<br />
4. Don’t panic. If God could see these people and their evil plans since the foundation of the earth – and told us about them 2,000 years ago (Revelation 13, 17, & 19 are some of His references to these people) – I feel confident that He has a plan for His people to stand against them. He always has a plan for His people – and He always will. Regardless of what happens here – our focus needs to remain with Him. If this makes you uncomfortable – time to pick-up a Bible and start learning the truth. We have allowed our enemy to blind us – time to turn things around and focus on what’s important. <br />
<br />
There are some very intelligent money managers/institutional investors/Economists/Arm-chair quarterbacks, etc. – who are now saying what I’ve been trying to tell people since 2005 – the system appears to be unsustainable – and it’s going to lead to some very unpleasant things. Read the exerpts below.<br />
<br />
As for today – we’re seeing some massive Central Bank intervention and German efforts (ban on naked short selling) to save the Euro and keep all of the balls in the air. Other than a possible short term uplift - it won’t help. We followed the same game plan in 2008 – and the result was not good (See: Lehman Brothers bankruptcy). Asian and European stocks are tanking again today (down 2% on average) and the Dow is currently down 120 after plunging 200 points earlier. Over 80% of the stocks on the NYSE are currently declining (same story as yesterday). Expect this type of volatility to increase until we experience another ‘event’ like May 6th – then – all bets are off. Wealthy people will then find out that they have built their lives on a foundation of sand. Sound familiar? If not – again – it’s time to pick-up a Bible and start learning how to build your life on a solid foundation.<br />
<br />
Take Care,<br />
<br />
John – May 19, 2010 <br />
__________________________<br />
<strong>Bears Come Roaring Forth</strong><br />
<br />
By Barry Ritholtz - May 19th, 2010, 9:30AM<br />
<br />
I am on an email list that is from a group smart hedgies and strategists. The discussions range far and wide, and while I sometimes disagree with the conclusions, but I always find the conversation provocative.<br />
<br />
Lately, they’ve been emailing a collection of warnings of various fund managers and strategists:<br />
<br />
• Long time Dow Theorist Richard Russell set out this dire warning:<br />
<br />
“Do your friends a favor. Tell them to “batten down the hatches” because there’s a HARD RAIN coming. Tell them to get out of debt and sell anything they can sell (and don’t need) in order to get liquid. Tell them that Richard Russell says that by the end of this year they won’t recognize the country. They’ll retort, “How the dickens does Russell know — who told him?” Tell them the stock market told him.”<br />
<br />
• Reuters reported that well regarded hedge fund manager Seth Klarman “sees few bargains in the current environment and predicted on Tuesday that the stock market could suffer another lost decade without any gains.” Klarman is concerned that we could see “another 10 years of zero returns.” He has 30 percent of assets at his $22 billion Baupost Group in cash, he said. (His firm started in 1982 with $27 million and has averaged 20 percent annual gains ever since).<br />
<br />
• Raoul Pal of Global Macro Investor got even more specific warning in his newsletter: Crash Is Coming In Two Days-To-Two Weeks. He sees as an “archetypal crash pattern — a sharp decline followed by a failed rally followed by a collapse.”<br />
<br />
• But as Art Cashin of UBS pointed out in his morning missive, stark bear warnings are not restricted to equities. He cites Nouriel Roubini warned on the U.S. Treasury Market:<br />
<br />
“Bond market vigilantes have already woken up in Greece, in Spain, in Portugal, in Ireland, in Iceland, and soon enough they could wake up in the U.K., in Japan, in the United States, if we keep on running very large fiscal deficits,” Roubini said at an event at the London School of Economics yesterday. “The chances are, they are going to wake up in the United States in the next three years and say, ‘this is unsustainable.”<br />
_______________________<br />
<br />
<strong>Global Macro's Raoul Pal: Here's Why A Crash Is Coming In Two Days-To-Two Weeks</strong><br />
<br />
Joe Weisenthal <br />
May. 18, 2010, 2:15 PM <br />
<br />
<br />
We don't mean for it to be doom and gloom day, but Richard Russell isn't the only big name pundit to be calling for a fall.<br />
<br />
Raoul Pal, who writes Global Macro Investor newsletter, and whose bio cites stints at GLD and Goldman Sachs, is out with a very specific crash call. In his latest note he calls for a big move down in just two days to two weeks.<br />
<br />
That's refreshingly specific!<br />
<br />
So what's the reason?<br />
<br />
It's all about what he sees as an archetypal crash pattern -- a sharp decline followed by a failed rally followed by a collapse.<br />
<br />
It looks like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjO_T1UdI/AAAAAAAAA1k/fZjHoVdQEnc/s1600/1+-+Crash+Pattern.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjO_T1UdI/AAAAAAAAA1k/fZjHoVdQEnc/s400/1+-+Crash+Pattern.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Image: Global Macro Investors</div><br />
That's an unspecific chart, but here's a more specific one, based on the current post-flash crash market.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjRdE_v8I/AAAAAAAAA1s/sXC0GhJ-ICI/s1600/2+-+Crash+Market.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="297" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjRdE_v8I/AAAAAAAAA1s/sXC0GhJ-ICI/s400/2+-+Crash+Market.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Image: Global Macro Investors</div><br />
And now, here's the kicker. It's the current market vs. 1929, which is what prompts him to see a crash as imminent.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjTcaG5CI/AAAAAAAAA10/_1lW_8V_4BM/s1600/3+-+1929+vs+Today.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="276" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjTcaG5CI/AAAAAAAAA10/_1lW_8V_4BM/s400/3+-+1929+vs+Today.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Image: Global Macro Investors</div><br />
And finally, here's the flash crash vs. 1987<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjVQuj4gI/AAAAAAAAA18/aSohwjiXC_E/s1600/4+-+1987+vs+Today.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LHrmqLknSkk/S_VjVQuj4gI/AAAAAAAAA18/aSohwjiXC_E/s400/4+-+1987+vs+Today.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Image: Global Macro Investors</div><br />
Get the picture?John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-78915380577439402662010-05-20T12:30:00.001-04:002010-10-25T13:58:47.701-04:00The Astounding Failure of the US Educational System - October 21, 2010<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you have read through the posts on this blog – then you have seen me ask you a very simple question multiple times:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">How many times in your life has someone educated you on our debt based monetary system – how it works, who controls it, etc?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you are like most people in the world – the answer is - never.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Chances are that when you were taught ‘Economics’ – you were taught about ‘micro’ or ‘macro’ economics – which taught you about supply/demand curves, investment strategies, interest rates, bond prices/yields, GDP, unemployment figures, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">What you are never taught are things like – how is money created? What is the Federal Reserve and who owns it? How does the Federal Reserve control interest rates and money supply volume? Why are private banks allowed to create money? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The biggest question of all:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">How in the world did we let a private banking cartel control the world’s economy?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">No – we are never educated on the really important questions. As I’ve said before – you can play the game all you want – just don’t <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">change the game</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">By ‘change the game’ – I mean replacing the Federal Reserve and its debt based money with a sound monetary system and giving the power to manage our money supply back to Congress (as mandated by the Constitution) and the American people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In doing so – the American people would – once again – become a sovereign nation – indebted to no one.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Regardless of what you are taught – we are not a sovereign nation as long as we are indebted to a private banking cartel. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In case you didn’t learn this in history class or ‘social studies’ – central bankers run the world – not governments – and certainly not the world’s people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It’s time we started thinking on our own (become critical thinkers) - and stop blindly accepting the lies we are told.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">As with most things we are told/taught by our government and world leaders – there is a hidden agenda behind what has happened to our educational system.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">jg – October 21, 2010<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">__________________________</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/astounding-failure-us-educational-system" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000cc;"><br />
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/astounding-failure-us-educational-system</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The Astounding Failure of the US Educational System<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Submitted by <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/smartknowledgeu" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1e439a;">smartknowledgeu</span></a> on 10/21/2010 04:23 -0500<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The below article titled “<i>The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Docile</i>”, by John Taylor Gatto is a fine read as a complement to my latest article “<a href="http://www.theundergroundinvestor.com/2010/10/inside-the-illusory-empire-of-the-banking-commodity-con-game/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #1e439a; text-decoration: none;">Inside the Illusory Empire of the Banking Commodities Con Game</span></i></a>.” Who is John Taylor Gatto? Mr. Gatto was the NYC “Teacher of the Year” three times, and a teacher that became highly disillusioned with the formal education system due to its failures to stimulate critical thinking in children.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I find it odd that people that find value in the information I provide to my clients as well as information that I provide publicly on my blog often desire to know of me, “<i>Where did you go to school?</i>” I find it even odder that many people find my attendance of an Ivy League university to be validating of my knowledge base and thinking skill set, as if attending an expensive university is responsible for the thought processes that have enabled many of my big picture, long-term predictions of the global economy to be accurate. I believe there is absolutely no correlation between the cost of an education and intelligence or even between formal education and knowledge, although oddly people believe this relationship to exist. <b>If there is a provable relationship between formal education and intelligence, it is probably an inverse one. The more letters you have behind your name (MBA, PhD, JD, MFA, CPA) the greater level of stupidity one likely possesses, as the attainment of a higher level of education means that one has been exposed for a far longer time period than the average citizen to the indoctrination process.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I find oddest of all, the expressions on people’s faces, when I inform them that I sincerely believe that the knowledge I gained through formal institutions of academia was detrimental to my understanding of how capital markets operate. In fact, I explain to those that inquire of my educational background that I had to rewire my brain and purge it of nearly all of the false business concepts and stupidity I learned in school because I later found the great majority of what I had learned in school to be not only downright deceptive, but also in my opinion, deliberately erroneous. Many people express genuine shock when I tell them that my formal education was, as was my education on Wall Street, almost entirely useless to any of the investment research and analysis I perform today and that my understanding of how capital markets move is entirely the result of self-education.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"When we look at the information Gatto has uncovered regarding the purpose of the education system as designed by the men that funded and implemented the foundation of the American educational system in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, we discover, in fact, that the US educational system accomplishes exactly what it was designed to do – to dumb down people and suppress the natural inquisitiveness and critical thought processes of children."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">In fact, an article I wrote titled “<a href="http://www.theundergroundinvestor.com/2010/05/delaying-a-college-education-in-this-economy-is-the-right-choice/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #1e439a; text-decoration: none;">Delaying a College Education in this Economy is the Right Choice</span></i></a>” probably generated some of the most perplexed responses I have ever witnessed up close and in person when discussing the content of this article with others. Some of the responses I have heard are as follows:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But isn’t this the BEST time to send my kid to college? The economy is terrible now, so after he graduates, the economy will be much better, right?</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">You don’t REALLY mean that, do you? Everyone needs a diploma to fall back on. Who’s going to respect you without a college degree?</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">How is my child going to get ahead in life without a college degree?</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Even when someone saw eye to eye with my viewpoint and generally understood the points I was trying to make in that article, in the end, they still bowed down to societal norms because of the fact that he or she has been conditioned to believe in the institutional system of education.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Yes, I understand what you’re saying, </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">he or she would tell me<i>. But I still need to send my child to college. What other choice do I have?</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">And that’s exactly what the elite want you to believe – that you have no choice but to indoctrinate your child through a formal institutionalized process versus providing an alternate path of education and enlightenment for your child. In the article below, Gatto states, <i>“It’s no secret that the US educational system doesn’t do a very good job.” </i>But when we look at the information Gatto has uncovered regarding the purpose of the education system as designed by the men that funded and implemented the foundation of the American educational system in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, we discover, in fact, that the US educational system accomplishes exactly what it was designed to do – to dumb down people and suppress the natural inquisitiveness and critical thought processes of children.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Gatto reveals that Eldwood Cubberly, the future Dean of Education of Stanford University, argued, in his 1905 dissertation for schools that should be factory-like in production “<i>in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products…manufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry.</i>”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I have pointed out numerous times the banker-funded state of business academia in America as my rationale for why business degrees are often useless. I have often told those considering entering business school that I could sit down and talk to them for three hours and probably grant them knowledge that will be a thousand times more valuable than anything they will learn during a two-year MBA program at Harvard Business School. I say this not out of arrogance. I acknowledge that I still have a long road to travel in my own educational journey. I say this only because I am 100% convinced that the business school curricula of all traditional institutions of academia will never provide the knowledge young adults need to succeed in today’s Empire of Illusion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Today, revered professors all across the US teach students the nonsense that bankers want them to learn and that bankers want them to believe is real, NOT the reality of how currency markets, stock markets and commodity markets truly operate. Gatto confirms my thesis by pointing out a statement from the Rockefeller Education Board, a key institution that was a critical force in shaping modern education in America:<i> “We shall not try to make [students] into philosophers or men of learning or men of science…The task we set before ourselves is simple…we will organize children…and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/6146284/The-Educational-System-Was-Designed-to-Keep-Us-Docile-John-Taylor-Gatto" target="_blank" title="View The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Docile (John Taylor Gatto) on Scribd">The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Docile (John Taylor Gatto)</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-31008436344639296462010-05-20T12:25:00.013-04:002010-10-27T16:27:36.992-04:00Why Does Fiat Money Seemingly Work?Excellent article on the history of fiat currencies - and why all have failed.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: helvetica, arial, verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
<h3 class="post-title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #bb0044; font-family: georgia; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: normal normal bold 110%/normal 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</h3><h3 class="post-title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #bb0044; font-family: georgia; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: normal normal bold 110%/normal 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="post-title" href="http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-does-fiat-money-seemingly-work.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why does fiat money seemingly work ?</a></h3><div class="post-header-line-1" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">written by Trotsky, edited by Mish</span><br />
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This is part 2 of a 2 part series. Part 1 was <a href="http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/misconceptions-about-gold.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Misconceptions about Gold</a>.<br />
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Imagine that you live on a small island mining the local salt mine, together with Pete the fisherman and Tom the apple grower. You'd exchange your salt for Pete's fishes and Tom's apples, while they would exchange fishes and apples between them.<br />
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One day Pete says: "Instead of fish, from now on I will give you pieces of papyrus with numbers marked on them. (Papyrus grows in near unlimited quantities nearby, to the obvious benefit of Pete)." Pete continues "One papyrus mark will represent 1 fish or 5 apples or 2 bags of salt (equivalent to current barter exchange rates). This will make it easier for us to trade among ourselves . We won't have to lug fishes, apples and salt around all the time. Instead, we simply present the papyrus for exchange on demand."<br />
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In short, Pete wants to modernize your little island economy by introducing money - and he already has one of those $1 papyrus notes with him, which he's eager to exchange for salt.<br />
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You'd laugh him out of the room, since you would realize that the papyrus per se is not of any value. If you were all to agree on using the papyrus, its value would rest on a promise alone - Pete's promise that papyrus he issues is actually backed by fish. Since the stuff grows everywhere, he could easily issue it by the bucket load. In fact, it's unlikely that any of the islanders would ever come up with such an absurd idea.<br />
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More likely they would use another good for which there is an actual demand (for instance, a rare type of sea-shell that is prized as an ornament and only seldom found on the island) as their medium of exchange.<br />
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In short, a free market medium of exchange/store of value can only be something with an already established demand. No worthless object would ever emerge to function as money in a free market.<br />
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So how did it happen?<br />
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How did essentially worthless objects come into widespread acceptance as money? To answer that question, we need to take a brief look at history.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Flashback: Rome 27 BC</span><br />
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Rome’s history of inflation and money debasement actually began with Cesar’s successor Augustus, whereby his method was at least not a<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prima%20facie" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">prima facie </a>fraud. He simply ordered the mines to overproduce silver in an attempt to finance the empire that had grown greatly under Cesar and himself.<br />
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When this overproduction began to have inflationary effects, Augustus wisely decided to cut back on the issuance of coins. This was the last time that a Roman emperor attempted to honestly correct a monetary policy blunder, aside from a brief flashing up of monetary rectitude under Aurelius some 280 years later.<br />
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Under Augustus’ successors, things began to deteriorate fast. Claudius , Caligula and Nero embarked on enormous spending sprees that depleted Rome’s treasury. It was Nero who first came up with the idea to actually debase coins by reducing their silver content in AD 64 , and it all went downhill from there.<br />
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It should be mentioned that Mark Anthony of Hollywood fame financed the army he used in his fight against Octavian – then later Augustus – also with debased coinage. These coins remained in circulation for a long time, obeying <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham%27s_Law" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Gresham’s Law</a> – "bad money drives good money from circulation".<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntjWXvw3AI/AAAAAAAAA3k/kG-Oleq21OM/s1600-h/silver-coin.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078762240772987906" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntjWXvw3AI/AAAAAAAAA3k/kG-Oleq21OM/s400/silver-coin.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: An AD 275 specimen of Aurelian’s Antonianus, 1 part silver to 20 parts copper .<br />
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In AD 274 Aurelius entered the scene with a well-intentioned monetary reform, which fixed the silver-copper content of the then most widely used coin (the Antonianus)at 1:20 – however, just as soon as this reform was instituted, the silver content resumed its inexorable decline.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnv2I3vw3KI/AAAAAAAAA40/0KoABvu5w0U/s1600-h/emperor.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078923637054037154" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnv2I3vw3KI/AAAAAAAAA40/0KoABvu5w0U/s400/emperor.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: <a href="http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/hyper.htm#ROMAN" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Emperor Diocletian the price fixer</a><br />
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In AD 301 Emperor Diocletian tried his hand at reform, this time by instituting price controls, an idiocy repeated numerous times thereafter, in spite of the incontrovertible evidence that it never works (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incomes_policy" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Richard Nixon’s ill-fated experiment</a> being the most recent example) .<br />
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Naturally, those price controls accelerated Rome’s downfall as goods simply began to disappear from the market place. Merchants began to hide their goods rather than accept the edict to sell them at a loss. This is of course why price controls are always doomed to failure.<br />
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One recurring feature of Rome’s long history of debasing its money was a perennial trade deficit due to overconsumption. Does this sound vaguely familiar?<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The leap from clipping coins to outright fiat money</span><br />
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How was the leap from debasing coinage to outright fiat money accomplished?<br />
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There are two distinct intertwined historical developments that led ultimately to the present system.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Goldsmiths become bankers</span><br />
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The idea of fractional reserve banking was first introduced by the forerunners of our modern day banking system, the goldsmiths.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntmY3vw3BI/AAAAAAAAA3s/QwvKbqAz24A/s1600-h/bank-receipt.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078765582257544210" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntmY3vw3BI/AAAAAAAAA3s/QwvKbqAz24A/s400/bank-receipt.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Goldsmiths were used as depositories for gold and silver, and the receipts they issued for such deposits soon began to circulate as the first bank notes – especially once they hit upon the idea to make them out to the ‘bearer’ instead of tying them to a specific deposit.<br />
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Above: An early goldsmith bank receipt<br />
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The convenience of carrying these bank notes instead bags of gold and silver soon caught on, and it didn’t take long for the goldsmiths to realize that deposits were rarely claimed in great quantities. It followed that one could temporarily lend deposits out and collect interest on such loans. So far so good – this is the legitimate business of banks.<br />
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But the goldsmiths decided to go one step further, issuing additional receipts for gold, even if they were not actually backed by a deposit. This is what came to be known as ‘fractional reserves banking’ - lending out far more ‘money’ than one actually has in the form of deposits.<br />
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Obviously this is fraud. Nonetheless, it’s perfectly legal today, but in essence it remains the same fraud it has always been, with the main difference being that today it's a more sophisticated as well as officially sanctioned fraud.<br />
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When bank notes were backed (at least partially) by gold and silver on deposit, fraud of this nature was frequently held in check by bank runs (or from a banker's perspective, fear of bank runs). Nowadays, no such fear exists. The ‘lender of last resort’ – the central bank – can (at least in theory) prevent such bank runs by conjuring new ‘money’ out of thin air. In essence, a de facto insolvent banking system is supported by this trick.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Tally sticks and Charles II</span><br />
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The other historical development that can be seen as an ancestor of the modern day fiat money system is England’s application of the medieval ‘tally stick’ method of recording debt payments.<br />
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Taxes in the largely agricultural economy of the Middle Ages were usually paid in the form of goods, and these payments were recorded with notches on wooden sticks that were then split length-wise (one half remained with the tax payer serf, as proof of payment). This was an ingenious method of avoiding counterfeiting.<br />
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In AD 1100, King Henry the First ascended the English throne, and adopted the tally stick method of recording tax payments. By the time of Henry II, taxes were paid twice a year, and the tally sticks recording the partial tax payment made at Easter soon began to circulate in a secondary discount market – i.e., they began to be accepted as payment for goods and services at a discount , since they could be later presented to the treasury as proof of taxes paid.<br />
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It didn’t take long for the King and his treasurer to realize that they could actually issue tally sticks in advance, in order to finance ‘emergency spending’ (not surprisingly, such emergencies often involved war – after the extortion of tax money the second big hobby of governments).<br />
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The selling of these claims to future tax revenue created the market for government debt – an essential part of today’s fiat money system as well.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnto0Hvw3DI/AAAAAAAAA38/cSfPRk-tCbc/s1600-h/stick-money.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078768249432235058" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnto0Hvw3DI/AAAAAAAAA38/cSfPRk-tCbc/s400/stick-money.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><br />
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A wooden stick, masquerading as ‘money’.<br />
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By 1660, the English monarchy , after a brief hiatus of experimentation with a pseudo-republican government under Cromwell, was reinstated and Charles II began his reign but with vastly reduced powers, especially in the realm of taxation.<br />
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Since Charles had to beg for tax money from the parliament, he struggled mightily with paying his vast pile of bills. Whenever Charles wrangled permission to raise taxes from parliament, he immediately went to cash in the future tax receipts by selling tally sticks to the goldsmiths at a discount. This necessitated the introduction of previously referred to method of making such debt payable to the bearer, which allowed the goldsmiths to sell it in the secondary market to raise funds for more lending to the King.<br />
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They also began to pay interest to depositors, in order to attract still more funds. At that stage of the game, the goldsmiths had a good thing going for them, since the King was the equivalent of a triple A rated sovereign borrower, who could always be relied upon to cover his debt with future tax receipts. No one thought it problematic that the vaults soon contained more wooden sticks than gold . There was an active market in this government debt, and the goldsmiths profited handsomely.<br />
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The King meanwhile decided to circumvent parliament and began to issue tally sticks as he pleased (as an aside, one half of such a stick, which originally remained with the treasury had a handle and was called the ‘stock’ - the term that has evolved to describe shares in publicly listed corporations today) .<br />
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Naturally, Charles was more than happy to exchange wooden sticks for gold, and not surprisingly, soon kicked off a veritable credit boom by upping his wooden sticks production.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnv-t3vw3LI/AAAAAAAAA48/kjihvXyvuy8/s1600-h/charlesIIA.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078933068802219186" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnv-t3vw3LI/AAAAAAAAA48/kjihvXyvuy8/s400/charlesIIA.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: Charles II, the "Merry Monarch", in all his splendor, eyes focused on the loot.<br />
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Why was he nicknamed the "Merry Monarch"? Well, you would be merry too if you could kick off an enormous credit boom by exchanging sticks for gold.<br />
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So what does a king do with all that gold he received for sticks? During his 25 year reign, he waged 3 losing wars (2 against the Dutch, one against France); he survived 4 different parliaments (only the first of which wasn’t hostile to him); he helped to establish the East India Company, made shady deals with Louis XIV of France (his cousin), sired a horde of illegitimate children of which he acknowledged 14, and was renown for his hedonistic court. That's a lot of "merry".<br />
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Of course, there was a natural limit to this debt expansion. Once all the money attracted from depositors had been transferred to the King, additional deposits could only be acquired by means of offering higher interest rates than previously.<br />
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By 1671 the annual discount on the King’s debt had reached 10% and due to redemptions nearly overwhelming funds raised by new debt issues, things clearly had ceased to work for him. Charles suddenly and conveniently remembered that there was a law against usury on the books, and lo and behold, interest rates in excess of 6% were not permissible.<br />
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With all his recent loans carrying a far bigger discount, he simply declared the debt illegal, and stopped payments on it (with a few judiciously selected exceptions). Overnight, the King’s tally sticks reverted back to what they had really always been – worthless sticks of wood.<br />
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The King’s creditors, chiefly the goldsmiths and their customers, had, quite literally, "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_sticks" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">drawn the short end of the stick</a>" (if you ever wondered where this expression came from, this is it).<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnts7nvw3EI/AAAAAAAAA4E/zU4VR0u003s/s1600-h/charlesII.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078772776327765058" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rnts7nvw3EI/AAAAAAAAA4E/zU4VR0u003s/s400/charlesII.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: Charles II as he is apparently remembered today – a knight in shining armor, not the tyrannical thief that he really was.<br />
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Although tally sticks were still used until the early 19th century, and even formed part of the capital of the Bank of England when it was founded in 1694, the secondary market never truly recovered from this blow. Charles had, with the stroke of a pen, killed the better part of London’s budding banking system, and transformed countless of his creditors into destitute involuntary tax payers.<br />
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To add insult to injury, he even gained a propaganda victory, as the public tended to blame the goldsmiths for the mess (they were of course not entirely innocent, and above all had been quite gullible).<br />
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What the tally stick system and its application by Charles II however did achieve, was to plant the idea of how a fiat money system might actually be made to ‘<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">work</span>’.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">John Law’s fiat money experiment in France </span><br />
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It was a Scotsman – John Law – ironically born in the very year (1671) when Charles defaulted on his debt, who tried the first great fiat money experiment inspired by these ideas. Living in exile in France, he found a willing partner in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II,_Duke_of_Orl%C3%A9ans" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Philppe II Duke of Orleans'</a> near bankrupt state for putting his ideas into practice.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnwL5Hvw3MI/AAAAAAAAA5E/E9VrD11q6Fo/s1600-h/Phillipe.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078947555726908610" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnwL5Hvw3MI/AAAAAAAAA5E/E9VrD11q6Fo/s400/Phillipe.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: Philippe II, Duc d’Orelans, the Regent of France. When Louis XIV of France died in 1715, Philippe d'Orleans became Regent to the five-year-old King. Together with John Law, they combined to economically wreck France.<br />
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John Law's basic idea was that the more money in circulation the greater the prosperity of a country. His ideas can be found in a treatise he published in 1705 entitled <a href="http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/hyper.htm#LAW" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Money and Trade Considered</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntxXXvw3FI/AAAAAAAAA4M/Ga0j657zajw/s1600-h/john-law.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078777651115646034" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RntxXXvw3FI/AAAAAAAAA4M/Ga0j657zajw/s400/john-law.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Right: John Law - World's first Keynesian economist<br />
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In his words, "Domestic trade depends upon money. A greater quantity [of money] employs more people than a lesser quantity. An addition to the money adds to the value of the country."<br />
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With the above logic, John Law arguably became the world's first Keynesian economist.<br />
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John Law became the comptroller general of finances and set up the Banque Generale Privee (later the ‘Banque Royale’), which used French government debt as the bulk of its reserves and began to emit paper money ‘backed’ by this debt – with a promise attached that the notes could be converted to gold coin on demand.<br />
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In an effort to make the new paper money more palatable to a distrustful public, it was decided to make it acceptable for payment of taxes (this idea is key and we will get back to it). A credit and asset boom of vast proportions ensued, especially after Law decided to float the shares of the Mississippi company, which enjoyed a trade monopoly with the New World and the West Indies.<br />
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Between 1719 and 1720 shares in the company rose from 500 to 18,000 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_livre" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">livres</a>. Then, predictably, the bubble burst, and it lost 97% of its market capitalization in the subsequent bust. Enraged and nervous financiers tried to reconvert their bank notes into specie in the ensuing massive economic crisis, but naturally, the central bank’s promise of convertibility could not be put into practice – it had inflated the supply of bank notes too much (the notes traded at discounts of up to 99% in the end).<br />
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The government at first tried to stem the tide with edicts forbidding the private ownership of gold , but in the end, the enraged mob drove Law into exile, and the fiat money experiment ended with the Banque Royale closing its doors forever .<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rntze3vw3HI/AAAAAAAAA4c/oI-kbdy1NhY/s1600-h/john-law3.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078779978987920498" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/Rntze3vw3HI/AAAAAAAAA4c/oI-kbdy1NhY/s400/john-law3.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><br />
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Above: 1720: Investors in Law’s Mississippi Company scam want their money back<br />
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The crisis following the collapse of Law’s Mississippi enterprise gripped all of Europe – the eloquent master of fiat disaster had seduced investors from all over the continent, many of whom were suddenly penniless. Confidence in other European corporations eroded as well, and a great many bankruptcies took place.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Failures Everywhere</span><br />
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The history of the world is filled with examples like the above. Unfortunately time and space considerations will not let us detail the backdoor coup that enabled the <a href="http://www.mises.org/story/1353" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">establishment of the Federal Reserve</a>, <a href="http://www.mises.org/freemarket_detail.asp?control=258&sortorder=articledate" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FDR’s sinister gold confiscation</a>, <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/blumert/blumert35.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Nixon’s dropping of the last remnant of the dollar’s gold convertibility</a>, or <a href="http://www.computersmiths.com/chineseinvention/papermoney.htm" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">China’s earlier experiment with paper money</a> which ended in a disastrous hyper-inflation.<br />
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The brief monetary history of Rome is intended to establish the fact that the State has sought to engage in theft from the citizenry via monetary debasement from the very dawn of Western civilization. The focus on the 17th century application of the tally stick system in the UK as well as the focus of the transformation of London’s goldsmiths to bankers is meant to establish from whence the idea of putting together a workable fiat money system stems. This is an extremely important part of monetary history but is generally a less well known one.<br />
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The above historical recap was written to fill in some additional as well as essential information if one wants to understand how we arrived where we are today. With that history lesson out of the way, let's now address the question we asked at the top. How did worthless objects come into widespread acceptance as money?<br />
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Public Demand for Fiat Money</span><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
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For a long time, States were forced to accept gold's role as money. The absurdity of introducing unbacked paper money wasn't considered a viable avenue of robbing the citizenry. Rather, heads of State resorted to 'clipping' their coins or diluting their precious metals content if they wished to inflate. These early instances of inflation via reduction of the precious metals content of coins were intimately connected to the downfall of entire empires – most famously, the Roman empire. But along came Charles II, followed by John Law who had a brilliant idea for gaining public demand for fiat currency.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Demand for fiat money was created by its acceptance for payment of taxes.</span><br />
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What we have here, is really no less than the explanation for why pieces of paper with some ink slapped on them are not a priori laughed out of the room, as we proposed would happen with Pete’s papyrus promises in paragraph one. The demand for this paper is established by its acceptance for the payment of taxes.<br />
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The two major pillars of the system are based on coercion: directly via the legal tender laws (which decree that fiat currency must be used/accepted for all payments of debt, public or private) and indirectly via the value imputed to government debt which rests on the faith in the government’s ability to extort enough future tax revenue to be able to repay its debt.<br />
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This latter point is extremely important for the system to function. Government bonds are the tally sticks of our age, and serve as the main ‘backing’ of bank notes and their digital counterparts in circulation. They are what is tying the government and the banking system together, via the central bank.<br />
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The central bank has the power to ‘monetize’ such debt by creating money out of thin air, however, this roundabout way of going about it is an essential part of the confidence game, the creation of the illusion of value.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Theft of Purchasing Power</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnwyB3vw3NI/AAAAAAAAA5M/eAJ-zexw-1A/s1600-h/purchasing-power.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078989487492619474" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnwyB3vw3NI/AAAAAAAAA5M/eAJ-zexw-1A/s400/purchasing-power.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: Fiat currencies in the 20th century - monetary catastrophes unfolding at varying speed since the birth of the Federal Reserve.<br />
<br />
Image thanks to the Gold Eagle editorial<a href="http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_04/greene032104.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"> Fiat Money Systems</a>. (click on image for a better view)<br />
<br />
Since the central bank’s balance sheet is largely composed of government debt, it has an incentive to manage the public’s ‘i<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">nflation expectations</span>’ and inflate the currency as inconspicuously as possible.<br />
<br />
This does of course not mean that the inflation racket is inhibited per se. The theft has merely been organized in such a way that the people don’t complain too much.<br />
<br />
If the government had to actually raise taxes instead of borrowing the staggering sums of money it uses to keep its welfare/warfare programs running (and keeping the vote buying mechanisms well oiled) it would have to raise taxes by so much that it would face a rebellion.<br />
<br />
Instead government resorts to inflation.<br />
<br />
Inflation is nothing but a cleverly disguised tax and that is the real meaning of that last chart.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The fox guards the hen house </span><br />
<br />
Richard Russell, in a recent missive, reminisced about the $125 his first job after college earned him <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">per month </span>and the then high $22.50 he had to pay every month for his $10,000 GI life insurance policy. A new car cost $450. Those were princely sums in the 1940’s, but have become what he now calls ‘chump change’.<br />
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Obviously this hasn’t happened overnight although it can, as witnessed by Zimbabwe. Rather the public has become used to and injured by the ‘inflation tax’ proceeding at what appears to be a snail’s pace (at least according to the government’s official ‘inflation data’, which is like the fox guarding the hen house). It is of course not possible to measure an ‘average price’ of disparate goods , so this is just another part of an elaborate scam.<br />
<br />
With the legal tender legislation in place, fiat money has also successfully put gold out of circulation. After all, no one is going to use ‘good money’ for transactions when he has the choice of using ‘bad money’ instead. Indeed, what has happened is that gold has increasingly shifted from the world’s monetary bureaucracies into private hands, as a store of value.<br />
<br />
On a global basis, only about 2.5% of all official central bank reserves are in gold nowadays (obviously, some countries have far larger percentages of their reserves in gold, most notably the US and many European countries – even so, these reserves pale in comparison to the amount of fiat money and credit they have issued).<br />
<br />
<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Everyone is Happy </span><br />
<br />
It is also important to note that although they are being subjected to a hidden tax, most citizens actually are quite happy with things as they are. As <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north539.html%20%20%20%20%20" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Gary North has observed in a recent essay</a>, everybody involved appears to be happy, the robbers as well as the robbed.<br />
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The banks are happy to be part of a cartel led by the central bank, which gives them immense latitude in indulging in consistent and flagrant over trading of their capital – spurred on by the moral hazard created by having a ‘lender of last resort’ at their disposal, with no restrictions on how much ‘money’ it can conjure up out of thin air;<br />
<br />
The politicians and the bureaucrats are happy because there is no restriction on their spending and there is nothing stopping them from buying votes or indulging in whatever ‘pet projects’ they happen to dream up.<br />
<br />
And lastly, among the people who should actually rise in protest, there are large sub-groups that are either wards of the State and dependent on its largesse (the shameful secret of the welfare state is that it makes irresponsible slaves out of previously free and responsible people), or have been seduced by the banking cartel’s propaganda and amassed so much debt in the pursuit of consumption that they are quite happy to see money being devalued at a steady pace.<br />
<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
Wealth Producers Have No Say </span><br />
<br />
In a nation of debtors, inflation is the politically most palatable form of monetary policy – after all, everybody is focused on the short term (politicians and bureaucrats on their terms of office, consumers on their debt and their desire to buy more things they don’t need with money they don’t have, and so forth).<br />
<br />
No one considers for a moment, that in the long run, this policy means ruin. Over time, the middle and lower classes will see their real incomes and living standards shrink ever more, while the true beneficiaries of inflation – those who get first dibs on every dollop of newly created fiat money – amass more and more of the wealth that is stolen from its producers by inflation.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, the small elite that actually profits from the fiat money system is quite content to take the long term view for itself.<br />
<br />
The actual producers of wealth are a very small group, too small to have a decisive voice in how things should be run. They would have to pull a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Galt_%28Atlas_Shrugged%29" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">John Galt</a> type stunt and all go on strike if they wanted to exercise some pressure. Unfortunately, big business is usually in bed with the State and also happy with the status quo.<br />
<br />
One must always keep in mind that big corporations are generally not in favor of truly free, competitive markets. They give lip service to the idea, but concurrently lobby for anti-competitive regulations all the time.<br />
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<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Decades of successful propaganda</span><br />
<br />
The propagandistic effort in support of the fiat money system has been enormous over the decades, and has been extremely successful.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnuAC3vw3II/AAAAAAAAA4k/JWaerXYA7y8/s1600-h/comics-metalmen-1.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078793791602744450" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnuAC3vw3II/AAAAAAAAA4k/JWaerXYA7y8/s400/comics-metalmen-1.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a>Left: Greenspan unlocks the secret of making fiat money "<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">as good as gold</span>".<br />
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When Alan Greenspan told <a href="http://www.ronpaul2008.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Ron Paul</a> on occasion of his semi-annual testimony in Congress that he believed "<a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul253.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">we have had extraordinary success in replicating the features of a gold standard</a>" he knew quite well that this was a bald-faced lie.<br />
<br />
And yet, no one outside of Ron Paul would have even thought of questioning this absurd assertion.<br />
<br />
As to why it is obviously a lie, consult the chart above. The dollar has lost 96% of its purchasing power since the Fed has been in business.<br />
<br />
Let us also not forget that there still is a remnant of a market economy operating alongside the huge swathes of economic activity that have been appropriated by parasitic entities such as the State and its dependents.<br />
<br />
It is this remnant that produces all of our wealth, in spite of the fiat money system. It involuntarily supports the system’s continued viability by doing what it does best – enhancing productivity, and thereby exerting downward pressure on the prices of goods and services (which works against the upside pressure on prices created by monetary inflation).<br />
<br />
This in a nutshell shows why the system ‘seems’ to work – and actually does work on a short term basis.<br />
<br />
<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Economic Interventionism vs. the Free Market</span><br />
<br />
Apologists of the current system tend to laud its "flexibility". In reality this argument is nothing more than an argument for economic interventionism which history proves time and time again can't work in the long haul.<br />
<br />
Another commonly heard argument is: "If the economy is to grow, so must the supply of money", as if that were immediately obvious. In fact, most people who hear this sentence do believe it to be a truism. In reality, increasing the supply of money confers no benefit whatsoever on society at large. It is not important how much money one has in terms of number entries in one’s bank account, it is important what this money can buy. Didn't John Law's experiment prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt?<br />
<br />
It is not 100% certain that a modern free market economy would settle on gold as its money. In fact, it is not important what would emerge as money. What is important is that the decision on what should be used as money would be arrived at voluntarily by the collective actions of market participants.<br />
<br />
That said, it seems highly likely that the previous historical period of trial and error that has led to the establishment of precious metals as money would still be accepted as having produced a satisfactory outcome by a modern free market economy. After all, we know that gold trades in the marketplace as if it were money. See Trotsky on Gold - Misconceptions about Gold for proof.<br />
<br />
In a free market with a relatively stable supply of money, the supply and demand for money would still be subject to fluctuations similar to that for other goods, depending on time preferences. The free market interest rate would at all times correctly signal to entrepreneurs what the state of time preferences was at a given point in time, allowing them to allocate capital in the most efficient manner.<br />
<br />
A fiat money system with interest rates administered by a bureaucratic central economic planning agency meanwhile constantly sends wrong signals to entrepreneurs about expected future demand and the true cost of capital and thereby encourages malinvestment.<br />
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The phases during which credit expands and malinvestments proliferate are known as "economic booms", and everybody loves them. When the liquidation phase occurs, otherwise known as "busts" few people are aware that it is the preceding booms that are at fault. And so the cry for more monetary and fiscal intervention arises, which lengthens and deepens the malaise by putting malinvested capital on artificial life support.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, the free market tends to consistently lower the prices of goods and services over time. That is the logical result of increasing productivity. This is why the widely accepted tenet that we "need some inflation of the money supply to enable the economy to grow" is a complete lie.<br />
<br />
Government mandated fiat currency simply does not work in the long run. We have empirical evidence galore – every fiat currency in history has failed, except the present one, which has not failed <span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">yet</span>.<br />
<br />
Nonetheless, the current fiat system is more ingeniously designed than its predecessors and has a far greater amount of accumulated real wealth to draw sustenance from, so it will likely be relatively long lived at least as far as fiat money systems go.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnuCzXvw3JI/AAAAAAAAA4s/SXFydoFdLv0/s1600-h/Bernanke1.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002268; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078796823849655442" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/RnuCzXvw3JI/AAAAAAAAA4s/SXFydoFdLv0/s400/Bernanke1.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><br />
How long can this one last?<br />
<br />
Bernanke shows us...<br />
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"It will work this long."</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div>In a truly free market, fiat money would never come into existence. And that is why Greenspan is wrong. Governments can not create something "<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">as good as gold</span>". History clearly shows that that only the real thing will do.<br />
<br />
Trotsky<br />
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/</div><div class="post-body" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-does-fiat-money-seemingly-work.html">http://www.globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-does-fiat-money-seemingly-work.html</a></div>John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-48598021054797652692006-10-19T05:00:00.001-04:002009-06-24T08:50:43.404-04:00Alexander Tyler's Study of DemocracyAlthough this information is attributed to Alexander Tyler, I can find no proof that he actually wrote this. I have posted it here not because of who wrote it, but because I feel it certainly parallels our nation's path over the past 200 years...and I feel it accurately describes our final years as a sovereign nation.<br />__________________________________________<br /><br />About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:<br /><br />"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."<br /><br />"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:<br /><br />1. From bondage to spiritual faith;<br />2. From spiritual faith to great courage;<br />3. From courage to liberty;<br />4. From liberty to abundance;<br />5. From abundance to complacency;<br />6. From complacency to apathy;<br />7. From apathy to dependence;<br />8. From dependence back into bondage<br />__________________________________________<br /><br />If you’ve had an email account for very long, chances are that you’ve seen this at some point in recent years. Over the past few years I’ve probably had it sent to me 3-4 times by friends or co-workers. The reason this study is being sent around the internet is because it very closely describes the history of democracy in America. What was one of the main reasons people came to America when it was founded? Religious freedom. Has our nation shown great courage defending freedom and liberty around the world since we were founded? Absolutely. Do we have great abundance? We’re the wealthiest nation the world has ever seen. Are we now complacent? Less than 50% of our nation consistently votes. Many of us are dependent on the government for some type of assistance. Most of us blindly accept what our government tells us. Is this apathy? Take a look at how much of our federal budget is now dedicated to entitlements – social security, medicare, etc. It is estimated that if nothing changes by 2040, there will be almost nothing left in the Federal budget after entitlements. Our federal budget and national economy cannot support the financial promises our leaders have made. We are heading straight for a financial collapse predicted by the email above. If we apply Biblical prophecy to this coming collapse we see our future – a future in bondage. Once it begins, how do we escape this bondage? The Bible tells us that there is only one way to overcome this world and its bondage – faith in Jesus Christ and God’s Holy Word. You may say that we’re going to make some changes in America before things go past the point of no return. You’d be wrong. I realize this is hard to believe and accept. If I continued to rely on my own understanding, I would probably agree. If I rely on God and His Word, I see a different future. A future told to us 2,000 years ago. The truth is that things aren’t just happening by chance. The battle that has raged throughout the history of man is about to be brought to our doorstep. It is a spiritual battle that will continue to intensify until Jesus returns for us at the end of this age. As you read through the information given on this blog, you will have your eyes opened to the truth. Many will not want to believe what is written here. Because of this, they will flee from the truth and will not be prepared for what we face. Don’t be one of them. Don’t look for answers in this deceptive world. Seek the One who gives us the truth and arms us against our true, spiritual enemy.<br /><br />Though the world will tell you different, God has never left us. He has been with us since the beginning. It is up to each of us to choose to know Him.John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161553132628835292006-10-18T16:35:00.003-04:002010-06-22T20:32:13.069-04:00Will there be a pre-tribulation rapture of God's saints?<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gilmorejohn123&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=076843209X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>As the Lord has revealed more to me about what is happening in the world today, I felt that He would begin to open up how these events are related to the Book of Revelation. I began to pray about this and study Revelation. If you’ve ever studied Revelation, you know that it is very difficult to understand. The imagery and symbolism seem overwhelming. Over a couple of days I began to become frustrated with my inability to glean any additional knowledge and decided to take a break from these studies for awhile. The next day a friend sent me a link to a Christian website focused on prophesy. I noticed a small ad for a book by Steve Wohlberg at the bottom of the website entitled ‘End Time Delusions’. Since it contained a study of Revelation and this was something that I had been praying about, I was immediately curious. After reading a few pages online, I decided to purchase the book. After completing the book, I know the Lord guided me to it. It contains a thorough study of end time prophesy based solely on scripture and disagrees with many current end time Christian beliefs. After further study of scripture on my own, I agree with many of Steve’s conclusions. I now believe that we are nearing the end of the book of Revelation, not the beginning. The following articles contain excerpts from his book. We will first look at the current Christian belief of a pre-tribulation rapture of God’s saints.<br />
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(The following excerpts are taken from <strong>‘End Time Delusions’</strong> by Steve Wohlberg)<br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gilmorejohn123&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0768429609&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>The following five teachings have become immensely popular in modern day Christianity (especially with the ‘Left Behind’ book series):<br />
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1. All true Christians will soon vanish in the rapture.<br />
2. Seven years of apocalyptic terror will overtake those left behind.<br />
3. One evil man, the antichrist, will take over the world.<br />
4. The antichrist will enter a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, claiming to be God.<br />
5. The nations of earth will attack Israel at Armageddon.<br />
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The question is.....are these teachings accurate according to Scripture? We will review Scripture relating to question 1 in this discussion.<br />
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Although ‘rapture’ isn’t a biblical word, is the biblical doctrine there? The Bible certainly does teach us that Jesus Christ will return for His people. Our Lord Himself said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:3). The questions we must ask ourselves:<br />
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1. Will Jesus come invisibly?<br />
2. Will the Church disappear?<br />
3. Does the Bible really teach vanishing Christians?<br />
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The most quoted passage used to support the rapture concept is 1 Thessalonians 4:17. In this verse Paul wrote that true believers will someday be ‘caught up….in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Does “caught up” mean disappear? Is Paul describing a silent return of Jesus Christ before an apocalyptic seven-year tribulation? We don’t need to guess, the answer is in the context. Here is what Paul actually wrote:<br />
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For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).<br />
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Rapture teachers interpret this event as silent and secret, yet doesn’t it seem rather loud and visible? There is a shout, a voice and a trumpet. Look carefully, Jesus Christ comes down from Heaven shouting and blowing a trumpet. The dead rise. Then true believers are ‘caught up’. Do you see anything here about vanishing Christians prior to the tribulation? Rapture promoters interpret ‘caught up’ to mean disappear because this view fits their prophetic system, yet it must be admitted that the text doesn’t say this.<br />
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Two thousand years ago, at the end of His earthly life, Jesus Christ was also ‘taken up,’ (Acts 1:9). This doesn’t mean that He disappeared, leaving His clothes on earth. Instead, in full view of His wondering disciples, ‘while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight’ (Acts 1:9). This event was highly visible. Luke said Jesus Christ was ‘taken up,’ and then clouds are mentioned, just like Paul wrote about believers being ‘caught up…in the clouds’.<br />
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Notice carefully the full context of Acts 1:9:<br />
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Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven (Acts 1:9-11, emphasis added).<br />
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Here we have holy angels – in the form of men in white robes – explaining the simple truth about Jesus Christ’s return. They told the disciples that just as Jesus was literally and visibly ‘taken up’ into the clouds, even so would He ‘come in like manner as [they had seen] Him go into heaven.’ They taught no secret coming or vanishing Christians. Everything will be highly visible, just as the ascension of Jesus Christ.<br />
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Let’s return to 1 Thessalonians and take a look at the thief-in-the-night idea:<br />
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For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape (1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3).<br />
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Here Paul compares the coming of Jesus Christ to the arrival of a midnight thief. Rapture promoters interpret this to mean Jesus will come like a silent thief to snatch believers off this earth before seven years of chaos – then driverless cars will collide, pilotless planes will crash and babies will be found missing from their cribs. Yet is this really what Paul is saying?<br />
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First of all, the day when Jesus comes as a thief is clearly the very same day in which He descends with a shout and a trumpet blast. Secondly, it comes as a ‘thief in the night’ only upon the unprepared. When it hits, ‘sudden destruction comes upon them [the lost], as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.’<br />
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Do you see what Paul is really saying? Jesus’ coming as a ‘thief in the night’ does not mean He will come quietly and invisibly to steal believers out of this world, as is taught in rapture movies and best-selling books. Rather, it means He will come unexpectedly, bringing ‘sudden destruction’ upon the unsaved. Thus it is not a secret coming, but only a sudden one. Will the unprepared get a ‘second chance’ to be saved during a subsequent seven year tribulation? Paul answered this question when he wrote, “They shall not escape” (verse 3).<br />
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Here’s a simple summary of what 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3 really says:<br />
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1. Jesus Christ will literally descend from Heaven with a shout and a trumpet blast.<br />
2. The dead in Christ will rise first and true believers will be ‘caught up’, just like Jesus Christ Himself was visibly ‘taken up’ into the sky almost 2,000 years ago.<br />
3. This cataclysmic ‘day of the Lord’ will burst upon the unprepared like the unexpected arrival of a midnight thief.<br />
4. ‘Sudden destruction’ will overwhelm the lost, ‘and they shall not escape’.<br />
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When taken literally, these words describe the visible second coming of Jesus Christ, not a secret rapture.<br />
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Jesus Christ predicted, ‘Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming’ (Mathew 24:40-42). This is probably the second most quoted Scripture in the Bible used to support the doctrine of an invisible return of Jesus Christ and vanishing Christians. Supposedly, ‘one will be taken and the other left’ means believers will disappear in an unperceived flash, while the rest of the world suddenly wakes up in mystified ignorance wondering, Which way did they go?<br />
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Again, the key is in the context. Mathew 24 begins with our Savior quietly sitting upon the Mount of Olives. His “disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” (Mathew 24:3). Obviously, the disciples were thinking about Jesus’ return and the end of the world. In response to His disciples’ please-clarify-the-end inquiry, Christ’s very first words were, “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Mathew 24:4). We should pay close attention to the forcefulness of this response! Why? Because it clearly implies that when it comes to this exact topic of His “coming”, Jesus knew there was going to be a great deal of deception whirling around. What is even more dramatic is that Christ raised His “Don’t be Deceived” warning four times in this single sermon (see Mathew 24:4-5, 11, 24). One gets the idea that end time deceptions will someday sweep over planet earth like a massive tidal wave. The only way to avoid being swept away is to pay close attention to the exact words of Jesus Christ.<br />
Our Lord continued, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Mathew 24:24). Here Jesus said satan’s delusions will eventually become so subtle and powerful that only “the elect” will come through unscathed. Who are the “elect”? Based on the context, they must be a group of people who know the Truth Teller and the Bible so well that even the devil can’t mislead them. Verse 31 tells us that “the elect” are people who are ready for the return of Jesus Christ.<br />
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Immediately after the warning about false prophets and deception, Jesus said, ”Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Mathew 24:26-27). Here Jesus draws a razor-sharp contrast between false views of His return and the truth.<br />
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Concerning false views, don’t miss that little word, “secret” in verse 26. Jesus plainly warned that some will mistakenly promote a “secret” coming. Based on the context, we discover that this will be one of those powerful delusions which only God’s faithful elect will avoid. Far from being a secret event, Jesus Himself compares His return to the brilliant flashing of lightning bolts hurtling across the sky.<br />
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Jesus finally answered His disciples exact question by fully unveiling what His return would be like:<br />
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And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Mathew 24:30-31).<br />
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There’s no question about it, his “coming” will be unmistakably visible to “all the tribes of the earth”. This entire passage parallels Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. In both Mathew 24:30-31, and in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, we read about clouds, noise, a loud trumpet, a gathering together and true believers being transported into the sky.<br />
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Let’s look at one more passage describing an event predicted to occur “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52). This is probably the third most quoted pro-rapture verse used to support the idea of vanishing Christians prior to a nightmarish seven-year tribulation. Notice carefully what Paul really wrote:<br />
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Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).<br />
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Is Paul saying believers will some day vanish while their loved ones blink? Not at all! He is simply saying that the dead will be raised and our sinful bodies will be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” When will this moment take place? Paul’s answer is clear. It will occur “at the last trumpet,” when “the trumpet will sound,” that is, at the very end of the world. This is the very same “great sound of a trumpet” Jesus Christ said would be heard when He finally commissions His angels to gather his people at His second coming (Mathew 24:31).<br />
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We’ll continue this study concerning current Christian end time beliefs with upcoming discussions on the 7 year tribulation theory, the antichrist, the ‘beasts’ of Revelation and discussions on the nation of Israel.John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161723851784065982006-10-17T16:04:00.002-04:002010-06-22T20:30:51.597-04:00Will there be a future seven year period of tribulation?In today’s world, from what I see and hear on television and on the radio, it appears that most Christians subscribe to the theory that all true-believers in Jesus Christ will be taken out of this world in a secret ‘rapture’ prior to a seven year tribulation period. The rapture is then the signal to the rest of the world that the antichrist will soon come to power, God’s wrath will be poured out onto the Earth over these seven years and Jesus Christ will return at the end of the seven years to save Israel and God’s saints from the antichrist at the battle of Armageddon. If you’ve read the ‘Left Behind’ books, then you are very familiar with this interpretation of Biblical prophecy. Basically, the belief is that the majority of the Book of Revelation will come to pass during these seven years. This is commonly referred to as the ‘futurist’ view of Revelation. (We’ll explore who started this interpretation of Revelation in a future discussion on the antichrist and the ‘beast’). If you’re like me, this has been what you’ve been taught your entire life, so we simply accept this interpretation as fact. The problem, once again, is that every one of us needs to read God’s word and verify for ourselves that what we’re being taught is biblically accurate and a correct interpretation. In a previous posting, we reviewed Scripture relating to the secret rapture theory. As I mentioned in that discussion, I no longer believe that there will be a secret rapture. I now firmly believe that Jesus Christ will only return for us one time at the end of this age. Based on Scripture, I also no longer believe that there will be a seven year period of tribulation for the entire world. I'm not saying that I know exactly what is going to happen or that Steve Wohlberg is 100% correct on his interpretation, but I do feel strongly that today's popular interpretation of this prophecy is inaccurate. I believe that Steve gives us some important insight into this prophecy, but there is still something missing - which I will discuss after an excerpt from his book.<br />
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Before we begin the discussion on the seven year tribulation period, keep in mind the warnings that Jesus gave His disciples during the Mount of Olives sermon (Mathew Chapter 24) “Take heed that no one deceives you”. Jesus warned us four times during this sermon not to be deceived. Jesus was well aware of the fact that our enemy would be deceiving many during the last days of this age. If you believe, as I do, that we are in the last days, then it stands to reason that there are many deceptions out there both in the secular world and within Christianity. It also follows that if we, as Christians, believe in end time prophesies that are based on speculative interpretations of Scripture, there is a very real possibility that we are being deceived. Keep this in mind as you read this discussion taken from Steve Wohlberg’s book ‘End Time Delusions’.<br />
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<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gilmorejohn123&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1883012902&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>Where does this ‘seven year’ concept come from anyway? It may shock you, but if you look for ‘seven years of tribulation’ in any concordance, you won’t find it. The truth is, from Genesis to Revelation, there is no exact passage that specifically mentions a seven year period of tribulation. Amazingly, the entire theory is really based on a rather speculative interpretation of two little words in a single verse. The text is Daniel 9:27; and the two little words are ‘one week’. Let me explain.<br />
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Daniel 9:24-27 contains a prophecy from the angel Gabriel to encourage the Jewish people that they would be given a ‘second chance’ to return to Jerusalem, rebuild their temple and ultimately, receive their Messiah (Jesus Christ).<br />
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This controversial prophecy literally reads:<br />
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Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (62 weeks): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:24-27 KJV)<br />
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Thus we have a prophecy about “seventy weeks”. Gabriel then subdivides the period into three smaller periods of seven weeks (verse 25), sixty two weeks (verse 25) and one week (verse 27).<br />
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Seventy weeks equals 490 days. A day in prophecy represents a year (see Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6). Thus 490 days are really 490 years. The prophecy starts with a direct “commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” after the Babylonian captivity and reaches down to the first coming of Jesus Christ. After 69 weeks (483 years), “shall Messiah be cut off”. All Christian scholars apply this to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. After the crucifixion of our Lord, “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”. While there are differences of opinion as to who “the people of the prince” refers to, the majority of scholars nevertheless apply the destruction of “the city and the sanctuary” to the second destruction of Jerusalem and its rebuilt temple by Roman armies under Prince Titus in 70 A.D.<br />
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So far, we have seen 69 weeks fulfilled. That leaves “one week”, otherwise known as the famous “70th week of Daniel”. Again, that highly controversial text literally says:<br />
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And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease….. (Daniel 9:27 KJV)<br />
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Based on the day-year principle (which is valid), the ‘one week’ remaining in this prophecy must refer to a period of seven years. Pro rapture promoters claim this is the seven year period of tribulation. Their idea is that while the first 69 weeks (or 483 years) did reach to the first coming of Jesus Christ, the prophetic clock has stopped because the Jewish people largely rejected Him. They then slide the 70th week (the last seven years) all the way down to the end times, call it tribulation, and say it applies to the Jewish people after we’re gone. Rapture teachers interpret Daniel 9:27 as follows:<br />
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1. “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” “He” is the antichrist who will make a covenant (or peace treaty) with the Jews during the seven years of tribulation.<br />
2. “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease….” In the middle of the seven year tribulation, the antichrist will break his covenant, turn against Israel, and stop their animal sacrifices.<br />
3. The phrase, “he shall cause the sacrifice…..to cease” is viewed as irrefutable proof that a Jewish temple (which includes sacrifices) must be rebuilt on the Temple Mount inside Jerusalem.<br />
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Therefore, according to countless modern interpreters, Daniel 9:27 is applied to a future antichrist, a future peace treaty made with Israel, a future seven year tribulation and a future rebuilt Jewish temple inside Jerusalem. All of this will supposedly start with the rapture. Honestly, that’s a lot to interpret from that single verse, especially when Daniel 9:27 says absolutely nothing about any seven year tribulation, antichrist or rebuilt Jewish temple!<br />
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This may shock you, but historically, the vast majority of well-respected Bible scholars have not applied Daniel 9:27 to a seven year period of tribulation at all. Neither have they interpreted the “he” as referring to a future Mr. Deadly. Instead, they applied it to Jesus Christ.<br />
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Notice what the world-famous Bible commentary written by Matthew Henry says about Daniel 9:27: “By offering Himself a sacrifice once and for all He (Jesus) shall put an end to all the Levitical sacrifices.” Thus Matthew Henry applied Daniel 9:27 to Christ, not antichrist. Another famous commentary written by British Methodist Adam Clarke says that during Daniel 9:27’s “term of seven years”, Jesus Himself would “confirm or ratify the new covenant with mankind.”<br />
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Here’s one more statement from a book called, Christ and antichrist, published in 1846 by the Presbyterian Board of Publication in Philadelphia. On page 2, under Recommendations, are endorsements from many Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist ministers, including an official representative of the Southern Baptist Convention. Commenting on the final week of Daniel 9:27, that ancient volume states:<br />
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…sometime during the remaining seven, He (the Messiah) was to die as a sacrifice for sin and thus bring in “everlasting righteousness”. Here are allusions to events so palpable that one would think, the people among whom they occurred, could not possibly have misapplied the prophecy.<br />
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The following ten points provide logical and convincing evidence that Daniel’s famous 70th week has no application to any future seven year tribulation at all. Rather, this great prophetic period was definitely fulfilled nearly two thousand years ago.<br />
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1. The entire prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 covers a period of “seventy weeks”. Logic requires that “seventy weeks” refers to one consecutive block of time, in other words, to seventy straight sequential weeks. The truth is, there is no example in Scripture (or anywhere else!) of a stated time period starting, stopping and then starting again. All biblical references to time are consecutive: 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:4), 400 years in Egypt (Genesis 15:13), 70 years of captivity (Daniel 9:2), etc. In Daniel’s prophecy, the “seventy weeks” were to begin during the reign of Persia and continue to the time of the Messiah.<br />
2. Logic also requires that the 70th week follow immediately after the 69th week. If it doesn’t, then it cannot properly be called the 70th week!<br />
3. It is illogical to insert a 2,000 year gap between the 69th and 70th week. No hint of a gap is found in the prophecy itself. There is no gap between the first seven weeks and the following sixty two weeks, so why insert one between the 69th and 70th week?<br />
4. Daniel 9:27 says nothing about a seven year period of “tribulation”, a “rebuilt” Jewish temple or any “antichrist”.<br />
5. The stated focus of the prophecy is the Messiah, not the antichrist. After the Messiah is “cut off” (referring to Christ’s death), the text says “And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” In the past, this has been consistently applied to the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Jewish temple by Roman armies led by Prince Titus in A.D. 70.<br />
6. “He shall confirm the covenant.” Paul said “the covenant” was “confirmed before by God in Christ” (Galatians 3:17). Jesus Christ came “to confirm the promises made to the fathers” (Romans 15:8). In the King James Version, Daniel 9:27 doesn’t say “a covenant” or peace treaty, but “the covenant”, which applies to the New Covenant. Nowhere in the Bible does the antichrist make, confirm or break a covenant with anyone. The word “covenant” is Messianic and always applies to the Messiah, not the antichrist.<br />
7. “He shall confirm the covenant with many.” Jesus Christ said, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many….” (Mathew 26:28). Behold a perfect fit! Jesus was quoting Daniel 9:27 specifically.<br />
8. “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” After exactly three and a half years of holy ministry, Jesus Christ died on the cross, “in the midst of the week [in the middle of the seven years].” At the exact moment of His death, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom….” (Mathew 27:51). This act of God signified that all animal sacrifices at that moment ceased to be of value. Why? Because the Perfect Sacrifice had been offered!<br />
9. “For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate.” “The abomination of desolation” (Mathew 24:15) is not a simple subject, yet we know that Jesus clearly applied this event to the time when His followers were to flee from Jerusalem before the destruction of the second temple in A.D. 70. In a parallel text to Mathew 24:15, Jesus told His disciples, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies [Roman armies led by Prince Titus], then know that its desolation is near” (Luke 21:20). The disciples did “see” those very events. Because of the “abominations” of the Pharisees, Jesus told them, “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Mathew 23:38). Thus Gabriel’s statement in Daniel 9:27 about Jerusalem becoming “desolate” was perfectly fulfilled in A.D. 70.<br />
10. Gabriel said that the 70 week prophecy specifically applied to the Jewish people (Daniel 9:24). During the period of Christ’s public ministry of 3 ½ years, the Master’s focus was largely upon “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mathew 10:6). After His resurrection and then for another 3 ½ years, His disciples preached mostly to the Jews (Acts 1-6). After that second 3 ½ year period, in 34 A.D., the bold Stephen was stoned by the Jewish Sanhedrin (Acts 7). This infamous deed marked the then-ruling Jewish leaders’ final, official rejection of the gospel of our Savior. Then the gospel went to the Gentiles. In Acts 9, Saul became Paul, the “apostle to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). In Acts 10, God gave Peter a vision revealing it was now time to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-28). Read also Acts 13:46. Thus approximately 3 ½ years after the crucifixion, and at the end of the 70 week prophecy given for the Jewish people, the gospel shifted to the Gentiles exactly as predicted in Bible prophecy.<br />
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Point by point the events of Daniel’s 70th week have been fulfilled in the past. These eight words found in Daniel 9:27: “confirm…covenant…many… midst…sacrifice…cease…abominations…desolate” all find perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ and early Christian history.<br />
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The entire “seven year period of tribulation” theory is an end time delusion. It may even go down in history as the “greatest evangelical misinterpretation of all time”. The whole concept is like a gigantic bubble. Once Daniel 9:27 is correctly understood and the sharply-pointed pin of truth is inserted, “Pop goes the seven years!” It’s a fact: There is no text in the Bible which teaches a “seven year tribulation”.<br />
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The current debate and tremendous confusion over pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib is really a smoke screen of the enemy to hide the real issue. What is the real issue? We’ll find out when we study what the Book of Revelation truly teaches about Israel, Babylon the Great, and Armageddon.<br />
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As I said before, Steve does a very thorough analysis of this prophecy. However, after reading Steve's interpretation, I still have some concerns - because I believe we're missing something very significant. Although Steve points out that the 70th week should logically follow the 69th week, the angel made it clear that these 70 weeks are divided - seven, sixty-two and one. If these 'weeks' were to follow chronologically, then why mention a division? Why not simply say that 70 weeks have been decreed? I believe it is certainly possible that the prophecy was given in divisions because they do represent different periods of time. Verse 26 also mentions that "the end will come like a flood" and "war will continue to the end". The fact that this verse mentions the "end" twice, leads me to believe that this prophecy<em> does</em> speak to events at the end of this age. Let's take a look at verses 26 and 27 again step by step.<br />
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"After the sixty-two 'sevens', the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing" (vs. 26). So, this is telling us that Jesus Christ will be crucified at the end of the sixty-two sevens, not during the middle of the last 'week'. The verse continues, "The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the santuary." This is most likely referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman Empire. The verse ends with, "The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed." This verse is clear - war is going to continue until the end of this age and things will continue to intensify as we near the end. If you look at the world today - war has continued and things seem to be intensifying. Because of this, I believe that the angel was referring to events at the end of the age. The reference to 'desolations' could very well relate to the same judgments that are mentioned in the Book of Revelation - war, famine, disease, etc.<br />
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Verse 27 is where things get very difficult. The verse starts with, "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'." Most prophecy teachers today believe that 'he' refers to some future world leader (<em>the</em> antichrist) and Steve believes that this is a reference to Jesus Himself. Believing that this person is a future world leader is pure speculation - there is no way for us to be sure until an event takes place during our lifetime that will give us a clue. I don't believe this is a reference to Jesus for a couple of reasons: 1. Many translations do not translate this verse as saying <em>the</em> convenant, but rather <em>a</em> convenant. 2. God's new convenant through the blood of Jesus does not apply to 'many', but to<em> all</em> of us. 3. Why would God's covenant only last for one 'seven'? I believe that this is a reference to some type of agreement on earth, but it is impossible to know what it is....for now. Some say that this relates to a peace treaty with Israel - again, pure speculation. A covenant could be any type of agreement - and the covenant is with 'many', there is no specific reference to Israel. The point here is that it does appear to me that someone (a world leader, a religious leader, etc) will setup some type of agreement for 7 years with many in the world. This verse, in no way, makes any reference to a secret rapture or that the judgments of Revelation will occur only during this 'covenant'. If you notice closely, we are told very clearly that war and desolations will continue until the end, <em>then</em> a 'covenant...for one seven' is mentioned. The covenant is mutually exclusive of the war and desolations. Therefore, the covenant will simply be another sign that tells us where we are in God's prophetic plan - it will not usher in the judgments of Revelation or be a sign that the secret rapture is near.<br />
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Let's continue verse 27: "In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." (NIV) Like the beginning of verse 27, this is very difficult to interpret. Some translations don't even mention a temple. Will a future Jewish temple be rebuilt and animal sacrifices started again? I don't believe that there is anyway for us to determine this from this text. If it is rebuilt, it will certainly be considered an abomination by God, since it will be an open rejection of Jesus by Israel. Once again, this is something that we must pay attention to as world events unfold.<br />
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Why did I include Steve's analysis of this prophecy if I don't agree with alot of it? Because I believe that Steve is a spirit led Christian who is searching for the truth.....just as I am. Neither he nor I accept what is popular simply because many believe it. He and I are both reading God's Word and praying to uncover the truth of what we face....and it may turn out that we both are correct about some of this prophecy. I do know, however, that this prophecy in Daniel cannot be sold as a 7 year period of tribulation for the entire world that incorporates an evil world leader and the judgments of Revelation. While the “Left Behind” books are interesting and certainly entertaining, they are not based on solid interpretation of biblical end time prophesy. We all forget that our enemy, Satan, is very deceptive. We underestimate his ability to deceive us (both Christians and non-Christians). The only way to “see” the truth in this world is with God’s help to open our spiritual eyes. If Jesus warned us many times about being deceived during the end times, it stands to reason that today’s “popular” interpretations of end time prophecy could be completely inaccurate. When was the last time you watched a television program on end time prophecy, or listened to a radio program or read a book on end time prophesy that did not subscribe to a secret rapture, a seven year tribulation period, the rebuilding of a 3rd Jewish temple and a battle at Armageddon when the world attacks Israel? If you’re like me, the answer is …never.<br />
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After thoroughly studying scripture related to end time prophesy, I believe that we’re all being deceived by this interpretation of prophecy (a secret rapture, 7 year period of tribulation, one antichrist). Why? As Steve mentioned, we’ll get to specifics when we discuss the antichrist, the “beast” and Armageddon. For now, simply think about what could happen if there isn’t a secret rapture. What if there is a nuclear war and we’re all still here? What if things begin to deteriorate very quickly in this world and we’re not being removed? War, famine, death, disease all begin to escalate. What do you think our enemy will begin whispering in our ear then? He’ll whisper all kinds of things to make you question your faith, God and His Holy Word. This deception will be used against us in the future. I have no doubt about this. We’ll talk about what I believe we’ll see and experience in place of the secret rapture and seven year tribulation when we discuss the antichrist and the ‘beast’ of Revelation.<br />
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The most important thing for us to remember now and in the future, is that we <em>must</em> remain close to our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ. We must pray to God for wisdom, knowledge, understanding and strength. We must continually read His Word and apply it to our lives and to what is happening in our world. If we are truly close to God, we should never be surprised at what happens in the world.John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1161979214161982282006-10-16T14:15:00.001-04:002010-06-22T20:33:36.104-04:00Who is the antichrist? Part 1As I’ve mentioned in other postings, most Christians today believe that the antichrist of the Bible will be a man who rules over a future one world government. This person will be dynamic, well spoken, good-looking, a gifted politician….and evil. I have to say that until earlier this year, I believed this as well. It’s hard to take a step back and re-evaluate your beliefs when you’ve been told something over and over your entire life. It’s even harder to take a fresh look at end time Bible prophecy when the prevailing interpretation of end time prophecies by popular Christian teachers is all that you see and read. The question we must ask ourselves is this - are these interpretations accurate according to Scripture? Although the topic of the antichrist is one of the most talked about prophecies, I believe that most Christians in the world today have been sold an interpretation by many teachers of God’s word that is untrue. It’s not that these teachers are willfully deceiving people, but nonetheless, they are incorrect in teaching that the antichrist will someday be one evil world ruler.<br />
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This discussion will require you to have an open mind. You will need to put away your preconceived notions of what the antichrist will be. The truth is that the antichrist is here among us today…..preparing for the day when the “beast…out of the sea” mentioned in Revelation 13 will return. It will take some time to cover this topic, so I’m going to discuss this over multiple postings. I will warn you…..it is highly likely that you will not want to believe the truth. You must overcome the world and its deception. Most of all, pray about these topics. Ask God to reveal the truth to you and ask Him for wisdom. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). I now pray about anything I’m told before I accept it as the truth.<br />
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Although Jesus warned us to “Take heed that you are not deceived” (Mathew 24:4) during the last days, I believe that the world today is being deceived at a level unprecedented in human history. Why is this happening now? Because the political ‘beast’ and the religious ‘beast’ of Revelation are almost here. Satan is deceptively ushering in both of these ‘beasts’. Why are we allowing ourselves to be deceived? Many people don’t believe in the Bible and its truth and therefore, don’t read God’s words of prophecy and warning (“my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” Hosea 4:6). Many of us who believe in God, simply are too busy to take time to read God’s word and pay attention to what is going on around us (again, our enemy is very deceptive). And lastly, fear has overtaken us on many levels. We simply don’t want to believe the truth of what is happening in the world because it scares us. We disregard the truth because believing the truth would require us to think and pray about what is really important and what God wants us to do about it. It’s much easier to focus on material things, our jobs, where we’re going on vacation this year, etc, etc. Due to fear and/or complacency, we have allowed our government to take away many of our freedoms (Patriot Act) and have even allowed our government to essentially remove the Bill of Rights (Military Commissions Act of 2006). Whether you believe it or not, we are being setup for future ‘events’. "while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." 2 Timothy 3:13<br />
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Many of us take a look at what’s happening in the world and we think “how can I do anything significant to help this? How can I fight the good fight? I’m just one, insignificant person. I’m putting my faith in Jesus returning in a secret rapture to take me away from all of this.” These thoughts are from our enemy…plain and simple. The fact is, each of us can do incredible, amazing things….but not by ourselves. “With man this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Mathew 19:26) I’m writing about these things because I have thought these thoughts and allowed the enemy to shut me down for a very long time. No more. It’s time to pick up our rod and our staff and fight the wicked one who deceives. God is looking for warriors. You are one of them. The choice is yours. Do you want to follow God or continue on your own path? I say this because if you are reading this, in all likelihood you are going to face the antichrist, the ‘beasts’ of Revelation and the mark of the beast (we’ll discuss the mark at a later time). Are you ready? Have you put on the full armor of God? (Ephesians 6:10-20) When the ‘day of evil’ comes, will you be able to stand?<br />
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The following discussion is from Steve Wohlberg’s book “End Time Delusions”. Steve has done a great job of researching these topics. I highly recommend that you purchase this book. Let go of what you’ve been told in the past about end time prophecy and read this with an open mind.<br />
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<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gilmorejohn123&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0816318468&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>‘Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.’ –Winston Churchill<br />
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What does the Bible really teach about this mysterious subject? The word ‘antichrist’ or ‘antichrists’ is found only five times in Scripture and all of these references are found in two small books right before the Book of Revelation. The two little books are 1st and 2nd John. The exact verses are 1 John 2:18-22, 26; 4:3-4:6; and 2 John 7. That’s it. When we read these verses (and others near them), we certainly don’t read about any future Mr. Bad guy. On the contrary, we find:<br />
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1 John 2:18 The early Christians had heard that antichrist was coming.<br />
1 John 2:18 Even now there are many antichrists<br />
1 John 2:18 This is evidence that the last time has come<br />
1 John 2:19 These many antichrists “went out from us”.<br />
1 John 2:22 Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is antichrist.<br />
1 John 2:26 These antichrists are trying to seduce us away from Jesus Christ.<br />
1 John 4:3 There is a spirit of antichrist.<br />
1 John 4:3 The spirit of the antichrist denies Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.<br />
1 John 4:3 The spirit of antichrist is already in the world.<br />
1 John 4:4 True Christians must overcome every form of antichrist.<br />
1 John 4:6 The spirit of antichrist is the spirit of error.<br />
2 John 7 There are many deceivers and antichrists in the world.<br />
2 John 9 To overcome these antichrists, Christians must abide in the doctrine of Christ.<br />
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After an objective look, what have we discovered? Do any of these verses describe a solitary Mr. Sin who only shows up after we’re gone? Definitely not! The Word of God describes not just one, but many antichrists. According to 1 John 2:19, these many antichrists “went out from us”, which means out from inside the Christian church! They are subtle, deceptive and at war with true Christians. They may profess a certain faith in Jesus, yet their faith is superficial. They actually deny the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22, 26). According to the Bible, the goal of these many antichrists and of the spirit of antichrist is to deceive Christians away from God’s love, from the gospel, and from the true doctrine of Jesus Christ (2 John 7, 9). Genuine Christians do battle with these spiritual enemies of truth; and in the strength of Christ, overcome them (1 John 4:4).<br />
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This is everything God’s word actually says about “antichrist”, “antichrists” and “the spirit of antichrist”. None of these insightful passages point toward only one person – like Nicolae Carpathia (Left Behind books)– who appears as a cunning politician only after we’re gone. The truth is quite different. In reality, they all refer to seductive and deceiving elements which are here now and which true Christians must face and overcome.<br />
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It’s true, God’s Book reveals other prophecies about the emergence of an evil “little horn” (Daniel 7:8), a dreadful “beast” (Revelation 13:1), and the “man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). It is primarily these prophecies that are now being used to support the idea of a future Mr. Abominable – one who will rise up outside of Christianity after the rapture. Yet consider this – the definite trend of the Bible’s literal “antichrist” passages clearly points to things that are here now and which true Christians must face and overcome. So why would its other antichrist prophecies about the “little horn”, “the man of sin”, and the “beast”, suddenly reverse this trend and apply to things which Christians will not face because they will first vanish in the rapture?<br />
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We may trust that today’s much-respected prophecy teachers know their stuff and won’t lead us astray, but in the final analysis, we must look to God’s Word for ourselves. So far, as we have done this, we’ve seen that all of the Word’s clear “antichrist” statements apply to deceptive elements inside of Christianity – elements we must face and overcome. The problem is that most prophecy books don’t tell us this. As we continue this discussion, checking God’s Word closely and listening to His voice, you will discover many other things you won’t learn in popular prophecy books or movies.<br />
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Are you starting to feel uncomfortable yet? Over the past year and a half, the Lord has brought me out of my comfort zone time and again to show me the truth and bring me closer to Him. As I mentioned in my very first letter to friends and family (August 2005), I now check everything against God’s Word. As we continue our study of His Word and end time prophecy, you’ll be amazed at what the Bible truly says about the “antichrist”, “little horn” and the “beast”. I've mentioned many times that there are no coincidences in our lives. You are reading about these things for a reason. The Lord has chosen to reveal the truth to you.......John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1162229923713680292006-10-15T12:36:00.000-04:002007-04-23T11:35:06.602-04:00Who is the antichrist? Part 2I’m continuing our discussion on what God’s Word reveals to us about the antichrist. We continue with excerpts from Steve Wohlberg’s book “End Time Delusions”.<br />________________________________<br /><br />In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. -George Orwell<br /><br />What the majority think is often wrong. People thought the Titanic was unsinkable, yet she sank like lead. Many believed the infamous Y2K computer glitch would spark global economic meltdown as the world’s clocks ticked over to 2000 A.D., yet January 1 arrived with hardly a hiccup. What the majority of humans think will happen, often fails to occur.<br /><br />When it comes to the arena of Bible prophecy, how many mistakes are being made? As we have already seen, at this very moment, millions of Christians fully expect to vanish in the rapture before the antichrist arrives. Again, the idea is: first the rapture, then the antichrist. This sequence is being taught around the world in books, magazines, seminars, on radio, television, in pulpits and on the internet.<br /><br />As we saw earlier, the most quoted verse about the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There Paul wrote that true believers will someday be “caught up”. In Paul’s second letter written to the same group, he referred to the same event as “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” (2 Thessalonians 2:1). In his second letter, immediately after describing “our gathering” to the Lord, Paul wrote about something or someone that is clearly antichrist (verse 3). The question is: What did Paul teach about the sequence of events? Did he say the church would be gathered to Jesus Christ before the antichrist comes, or will antichrist come first, before we are gathered to our Savior? Amazingly, Paul gives us a straight answer, and his answer is not what the majority of prophecy-minded Christians think!<br /><br />Look closely. Paul wrote:<br /><br />Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).<br /><br />Do you realize what you just read? Paul’s words are quite penetrating when it comes to the issue of which comes first, “our gathering” or the appearance of antichrist.<br /><br />Here is a more detailed analysis of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3:<br /><br />Verse 1: Paul wrote about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” This is obviously the same event as the descent of Jesus Christ from Heaven and our being “caught up together” to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). It’s important to realize that the Greek word for “coming” in verse 1 is “Parousia”, which clearly applies to the visible second coming of Jesus Christ (see Mathew 24:27). The exact same word is used in verse 8 describing “the brightness of His coming [Parousia]”.<br /><br />Verse 2: Here Paul addressed a distortion about the timing of the coming of the Lord that was confusing the early Church. He urged the Thessalonians not to be “soon shaken” or “troubled” by false influences which were teaching, either by “word” or “spirit” or “letter” that “the day of Christ had [already] come. Because of this false teaching that “the day of Christ” was just around the corner in their own day, some of the Thessalonian Christians had quit their jobs, stopped providing for their families and were just hanging around in idle expectancy waiting for Christ’s imminent appearance (Thessalonians 3:10-12).<br /><br />Verse 3: Paul clarified the truth with this warning, “Let no once deceive you by any means; for that Day [when Jesus comes to gather us – verse 1] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and that man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”<br /><br />Verse 3 is pointed and clear. Paul wrote that before Jesus Christ comes to “gather” His people to Himself, “the falling away” and the rise of the “son of perdition” (the antichrist) must come first. Thus to those early Thessalonian believers, Paul’s message was that “the day of Christ” was not just around the corner. Something big must happen first – the “falling away” and the antichrist must be revealed. Paul directly, specifically and earnestly warned the Church not to be deceived about this very thing! Evidently, he knew that satan would work hard to deceive the saints in this exact area.<br /><br />When we put these pieces together, it becomes clear that before “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him (verse 1), “the falling away comes first” and the antichrist must be revealed. Therefore, contrary to popular opinion, it’s antichrist first and then the Church is “caught up”, not the other way around.<br /><br />Paul’s voice echoes down through the corridors of many centuries: “Let no one deceive you by any means” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).<br /><br />I know, many don’t agree with this, but remember this - people also thought the Titanic was unsinkable.<br />______________________________<br /><br />Based on what the Lord has revealed to me, it has become clear that current, popular opinions regarding our government’s ultimate motives and end time prophecy interpretations are both modern day deceptions. We want to believe that our government is looking out for our best interests. We also want to believe that Jesus will take us out of here before things really get rough. The truth is that our government does not have our best interests in mind and Jesus is not going to “rescue” us from tribulation. The crowns in heaven are forged through trials and tribulations here on earth. So, the question becomes …….Who is deceiving us? The Bible makes it very clear:<br /><br />“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)<br /><br />Evil men and women in our modern world are being influenced by satan. Through them, our enemy is working to bring about the ‘beasts’ and gain control of this world. Should you be afraid? Absolutely not! Why? “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4-3:5). No fear. Seek the Lord and His mighty power in order to stand against the enemy.<br /><br />Read on as we identify the antichrist and the beasts………John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197435.post-1162234562545981672006-10-14T13:08:00.000-04:002007-04-23T11:35:16.317-04:00Who is the antichrist? Part 3We continue our discussion on the antichrist from Steve Wohlberg’s book “End Time Delusions”.<br /><br />_____________________________<br /><br />The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. –Flannery O’Connor<br /><br />Millions of Christians are now being taught that the antichrist will be some evil person who will rise into power outside of Christianity after the rapture. What if this idea is a horrible mistake? What if the antichrist rises up inside of Christianity before the Church is caught up to Christ? Because few would be looking for an antichrist within, can you imagine what kind of harm he could do? Hold onto your seats, for you are about to discover that Paul taught this very thing.<br /><br />Paul wrote, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [when Jesus comes to gather us – verse 1] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Almost everyone agrees these words predict the rise of the antichrist. What many have missed is that Paul is describing an antichrist that rises in the wake of “the falling away”. What does this mean? Once again, a little knowledge of Greek comes in handy. The original word Paul used for “the falling away”, is apostasia, which literally means an apostasy or departure from Jesus Christ inside the Christian Church. In fact, many versions of the New King James Bible place the heading “The Great Apostasy” right above 2 Thessalonians 2. As we are about to see, this “falling away” unquestionably takes place inside the church.<br /><br />In the first century, the Christian Church remained relatively pure from heresy, false doctrine and open sin. With His cosmic perspective, God saw a change would come and He revealed this sober reality to the writers of the New Testament. A brief survey of the following Bible passages shows plainly that an apostasy, departure or “falling away” from Jesus Christ was predicted to occur inside of Christianity.<br /><br />1. Acts 20: Paul told “the elders of the church” of Ephesus (vs. 17) that soon many false Christian leaders would rise up from among themselves to “draw away the disciples” after them (vs. 30). He was so burdened about this coming apostasy that he warned the church “night and day with tears” (vs. 31).<br /><br />2. 1 Timothy 4: The Holy Spirit clearly warned that “some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (vs. 1). Here again is a predicted departure from the faith inside the church.<br /><br /><br />3. 2 Timothy 4: Paul predicted a time would come when many in the church would no longer “endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside by fables” (vs. 3-4). Friend, there is no doubt about it. These words point toward an apostasy in the church that will lead professed Christians to turn from Bible truth to fictitious fables.<br />4. 2 Peter 2: Peter told the early believers that soon “there will be false teachers among you” (vs. 1). “Among you” means inside the church.<br /><br />5. Jude: After urging believers to contend earnestly for the original faith, Jude warned that “certain men” had already “crept in unnoticed” among them (vs. 4).<br /><br /><br />6. Revelation 2: Jesus Christ himself sadly told His followers in the Church of Ephesus, “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…” (vs. 4 & 5). These words are clear! Many Christians in the early church of Ephesus were falling away from their initial love for Jesus Christ, who died for them.<br /><br />Thus we see Paul, Peter, Jude and Jesus Christ all passionately concerned about a “falling away”, which means an apostasy, occurring inside the Christian Church. We might compare this apostasy to a disease entering a portion of the human body. As a result, a malignant cancer finally develops. The shocking reality is that God’s Word has predicted a similar disease-like condition would eventually overtake a large portion of Christianity. According to 2 Thessalonians 2, as a direct result of this unhappy condition, a diabolical spiritual cancer would rise up.<br /><br />Paul called this cancer, “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).<br /><br />We call him antichrist.John D. Gilmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942792398384057165noreply@blogger.com0