Consumerism

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Definitions of consumerism on the Web:

• the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically beneficial
• Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. ...

None of the 'things' (below) seem very 'far fetched' to me these days... People, in general, seem to scoff at the idea of modern day 'civil war' or an 'insurgency' within the United States. *I* see the United States as STILL pretty much North vs South... Also, to me, one of the main causes of all the 'strife' in the United States right now is the fact that our kleptocratic government and financial elites INSIST on propping up the 'failed economic policies' of the last few decades. I suspect that is because 'they' have nothing with which to replace the current 'system'... Meaning as the current financial system goes so goes our government. If the current financial system were to fail so would our government fail...

As you know, if you already read my blog, I have never advocated for violence in any way. The answer to me is the 're-education' of the dumbed down 'shopper class' in the United States who, even today, continues to be willingly 'manipulated' by greedy corrupt politicians and corporate elites...

The consumer/shopper class reacts to Black Friday/Cyber Monday in the same way that pavlov's dog's reacted to the bell...

Legacy

One of Pavlov's dogs, Pavlov Museum, Ryazan, Russia

The concept for which Pavlov is famous is the "conditioned reflex" (or in his own words the conditional reflex: the translation of условный рефлекс into English is debatable) he developed jointly with his assistant Ivan Filippovitch Tolochinov in 1901.^[8] Tolochinov, whose own term for the phenomenon had been "reflex at a distance", communicated the results at the Congress of Natural Sciences in Helsinki in 1903.^[9] As Pavlov's work became known in the West, particularly through the writings of John B. Watson, the idea of "conditioning" as an automatic form of learning became a key concept in the developing specialism of comparative psychology, and the general approach to psychology that underlay it, behaviorism. The British philosopher Bertrand Russell was an enthusiastic advocate of the importance of Pavlov's work for philosophy of mind.

Pavlov's research on conditional reflexes greatly influenced not only science, but also popular culture. The phrase "Pavlov's dog" is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking. Pavlovian conditioning was a major theme in Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World, and also to a large degree in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.

What Is Behaviorism?

By Kendra Van Wagner, About.com Guide

Definition: behaviorism (also very interesting)

The term behaviorism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson based on the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. Behaviorism was established with the publication of Watson's classic paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It (1913).

Behaviorism holds that only observable behaviors should be studied, as cognition and mood are too subjective. According to behaviorist theory, our responses to environmental stimuli shapes our behaviors. Important concepts such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and reinforcement have arisen from behaviorism.

Dictionary: classical conditioning (also interesting)

n. Psychology
A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response.

Who among you would NOT believe that our government, our Federal Reserve and our banks/corporations/retailers would not LOVE to have the ability to use 'conditioned reflex' and/or 'behaviorism/classical conditioning' knowledge and expertise to drive an economy. What incredible 'power' 'they' must feel 'they' have over such a large portion of the American populace...

Behavioral economics and behavioral finance are closely related fields that have evolved to be a separate branch of economic and financial analysis which applies scientific research on human and social, cognitive and emotional factors to better understand economic decisions by consumers, borrowers, investors, and how they affect market prices, returns and the allocation of resources.

Behavioral economics is that branch of one, which deals with the study and application of analysis with scientific approach on social,emotional factors for understanding the consumers,investors and the market,and the resources.

The field is primarily concerned with the bounds of rationality (selfishness, self-control) of economic agents. Behavioral models typically integrate insights from psychology with neo-classical economic theory. Behavioral Finance has become the theoretical basis for technical analysis.^[1]

Behavioral analysts are mostly concerned with the effects of market decisions, but also those of public choice, another source of economic decisions with some similar biases towards promoting self-interest.

Turns out that 'they' always have used this 'knowledge' to their benefit and, as we now clearly see, 'they' were very willing to use it to the detriment of the American people as long as it led to record corporate profits quarter after quarter and as long as substantial amounts of these 'profits' were continually funneled to our kleptocratic government elites in the form of 'campaign contributions' at the tip of the iceberg.

There are 'reasons' that there are 237 Millionaires in Congress - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Nov 6, 2009 ... Report Finds That 44 Percent of Lawmakers are Millionaires Vs. One Percent of Americans

*I* do NOT begrudge people for accumulating wealth... It's an activity I rather enjoy myself ;) But I sure would like to see an 'honest' breakdown of how many of these 'people' became millionaires AFTER their political career began...

You see I, personally, feel strongly that our government and our banks/corporations have simply 'shoved the American people to the side', out of the way, while 'they' have pursued their economic 'models' and 'behavioral sciences' for decades now...

And once again 'they' have 'outsmarted' themselves... 'They' are so much more 'intelligent' than the American populace. So much more 'educated'. So much more 'knowledgeable'. So much more 'ambitious'. So much more 'dedicated'. Than we... the people...

The American 'citizenry' to our elites is merely a 'population' (cattle if you prefer) to be manipulated for financial and/or political gain... At least in *my* opinion that is where we have ended up after decades of 'psychological abuse/warfare'.

I hope many more people will begin to realize that all of the things that are happening in our society are not random occurrences of fate. There is MUCH complexity involved. Complexity is one of the favorite 'tools' used against the citizenry to keep them 'in their place'. The things that 'occur' in our society and economy, in our 'politics', domestically and abroad, in our foreign relations/wars and interactions with foreign central banks are not, and never have been, random in nature to be dealt with by the whims of currently elected officials... It is very important, to me, that people understand and realize that world governments and now world financial elites as well, plan FAR in advance. Most of us are but 'pawns in the game'. 'They' have used every single tool at their disposal to control and manipulate the human condition. Not for the betterment of humanity... but for ever growing personal political and financial power...

If this belief makes me appear to be a One World Government conspiracy 'nut case' so be it... Or am I just a 'nut case', who fears an oppressive manipulative government controlled by greed, wealth and lust for power...

The main point I am trying to make today is that our government and our corporate elites are not stupid. That 'they' seek to use use science and knowledge against the citizens of the world to further increase their own power.

Do you not hear the calls now for Chinese consumerism? It is fast becoming kick the Americans to the curb, they have been consumed, time to kick that Chinese machine into gear... And Indian as well of course... Just swap out the 'consumers' for a better positioned group, demographically speaking... None of it is about US... it is ALL about wealth and power...

How much longer will American consumers instinctively rush to the local mall at the 'ringing of the bell'? How long before the Chinese and Indians, conditionally, do the same?

How much longer will the 'human race' be manipulated by elites to fulfill their own personal needs of wealth, personal gratification and their lust for ever growing power?

Will the 'people of the world' ever unite and say ENOUGH! (???)

I hate 'consumerism'... not 'capitalism'... I hate omnipotent (almighty: having unlimited power ) governments and corporations. I want the 'people' of the world to stand up and do the right thing...

But maybe I am not an Ancient_Warrior... maybe I am an Ancient_Dreamer... after all...

Greg

Corporatism is a system of economic, political, and social organization where corporate groups such as business, ethnic, farmer, labour, military, patronage, or religious groups are joined together into a single governing body in which the different groups are mandated to negotiate with each other to establish policies in the interest of the multiple groups within the body.^[1] Corporatism views society as being alike to an organic body in which each corporate group is viewed as a necessary organ for society to function properly.^[2] Corporatism is based on the sociological concept of functionalism.^[3] Countries that have corporatist systems typically utilize strong state intervention to direct corporatist policies and to prevent conflict between the groups.^[4]

The word "corporatism" is derived from the Latin word for body, corpus. This meaning was not connected with the specific notion of a business corporation, but rather a general reference to anything collected as a body.

Corporatism has been supported from various proponents, including: absolutists, capitalists, conservatives, fascists, progressives, reactionaries and theologians.^[5]

Political scientists may also use the term corporatism to describe a practice whereby a state, through the process of licensing and regulating officially-incorporated social, religious, economic, or popular organizations, effectively co-opts their leadership or circumscribes their ability to challenge state authority by establishing the state as the source of their legitimacy, as well as sometimes running them, either directly or indirectly through corporations. This usage is particularly common in the area of East Asian studies, and is sometimes also referred to as state corporatism. Some analysts have applied the term neocorporatism to certain practices in Western European countries, such as the Tupo in Finland and Proporz system in Austria.^[6] At a popular level in recent years "corporatism" has been used in a pejorative context to refer to the application of corporatism by fascist regimes^[7] or to mean the promotion of the interests of private business corporations in government over the interests of the public.

The French Revolution and the overthrow of absolutist corporatism

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the existing absolutist corporatist system was completely dismantled due to its support of social hierarchy and special "corporate privilege" for the Roman Catholic Church.^[16] The new French government saw corporatism's emphasis on group rights as inconsistent with the government's promotion of individual rights.^[17] Subsequently corporatist systems and corporate privilege throughout Europe were abolished in response to the French Revolution.^[18] From 1789 to the 1850s, most supporters of corporatism were reactionaries.^[19] A number of reactionary corporatists favoured corporatism in order to end liberal capitalism and restore the feudal system

Civil war

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state,^[1] or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state.^[2] The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.^[1] It is high-intensity conflict, often involving regular armed forces, that is sustained, organized and large-scale. Civil wars result in large numbers of casualties and the consumption of large resources.^[3]

Civil wars since the end of World War II have lasted on average just over four years, a dramatic rise from the one-and-a-half year average of the 1900-1944 period. While the rate of emergence of new civil wars has been relatively steady since the mid-1800s, the increasing length of those wars resulted in increasing numbers of wars ongoing at any one time. For example, there were no more than five civil wars underway simultaneously in the first half of the twentieth century, while over 20 concurrent civil wars were occurring at the end of the Cold War, before a significant decrease as conflicts strongly associated with the superpower rivalry came to an end. Since 1945, civil wars have resulted in the deaths of over 25 million people, as well as the forced displacement of millions more. Civil wars have further resulted in economic collapse; Burma (Myanmar), Uganda and Angola are examples of nations that were considered to have promising futures before being engulfed in civil wars.^[4]

Scholars investigating the cause of civil war are attracted by two opposing theories, greed versus grievance. Roughly stated: are conflicts caused by who people are, whether that be defined in terms of ethnicity, religion or other social affiliation, or do conflicts begin because it is in the economic best interests of individuals and groups to start them? Scholarly analysis supports the conclusion that economic and structural factors are more important than those of identity in predicting occurrences of civil war.

Definitions of insurgency on the Web:

• an organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority (for example an authority recognised as such by the United Nations) when those ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency
• rebellion; revolt; the state of being insurgent
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insurgency
• insurgent - guerrilla: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment
• insurgent - in opposition to a civil authority or government
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Definitions of revolution on the Web:

• a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving; "the industrial revolution was also a cultural revolution"
• the overthrow of a government by those who are governed

Sunday

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2 Tim 3:1-7 -

3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Everyone has to admit that Biblical passages can make some very interesting reading...

Greg

Red Alert: The Second Wave Of The Financial Tsunami By Matthias Chang

Red Alert: The Second Wave Of The Financial Tsunami By Matthias Chang

Posted using ShareThis

Financial literacy

I saw something 'interesting' in today's 'local' paper... Namely that the Kansas legislature recently passed a law/bill (Senate bill 41) "in an attempt to ensure that students would begin learning more about the financial world." "The bill directed school districts to use textbooks that include personal financial litercay components, and encourage the state board of education to review and rewrite assessments for mathmatics and social studies to ensure that a greater understanding of financial responcibility is taught."

*I* also found it very interestingly noted that "in January, the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy approved a report with recommendations to improve financial literacy among all Americans."

A quote from council chairman Charles Schwab goes as follows... "There is no question that the lack of personal financial literacy has been a majoy contributing factor to the economic and financial crisis in the United States."

If you already happen to be a reader of my blog then you may know that I feel this 'personal financial illiteracy' was a decades long 'planned' event and outcome. It allowed the credit bubble and housing bubble to inflate to ever greater proportions. Especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the recession of that period and the jobless recovery that followed. At that time also, under the administration of George Bush, the government was desperate to find a way to prop up and reflate the economy. The obvious answer (to the Keynesian idiots) was to make credit so incredibly easy to get for ALL Americans that there was no way the economy could not recover. And recover it did...

It is too bad that it was those poor decisions in 2001 that have led to a great deal of our problems today. Though the government and the financial elites managed to drive the United States economy higher for several years they managed that remarkable feat ONLY by created an economy which was based on absolutely NOTHING but debt! With wild economic models that showed housing rising for eternity. With way TOO easy credit for EVERYONE. And with a constant loud drumbeat of 'consumerism' always in everyone's ears.

These 'achievements' were only possible DUE TO the financial illiteracy that existed then and exists still today in the United States. And it remains my contention that this financial illiteracy is and always was BY DESIGN! It is my opinion that our clueless kleptocratic leaders and soulless financial elites have once again 'outsmarted themselves'...

That 'they' have been SO successful in manipulating a large 'dumbed down' percentage of the American populace that it has finally back-fired on them in a way that will prove to be difficult if not impossible to reverse.

The debt problem with Americans is HUGE. Add to that FACT an unemployment rate of at least 17.5%, soaring foreclosures, wild commodity price fluctuations and you begin to understand that the American consumer is no more and will NOT be back any time soon.

It seems to me now that what the government has decided to do to address these problems is for the government itself to REPLACE the consumer in the American economy. 'They' are doing this by forcibly confiscating money from the entire American populace, redistributing that money to the banking elites who in turn use those tax dollars to reflate the the stock markets, mainly commodities, to 'give the impression' that the American economy is improving.

'They' are currently working frantically to come up with more and more ways 'they' can TAKE money from hard working Americans. Be that throught the markets, through massive tax increases (cap & trade, health care 'reform'), and any other means 'they' can dream up.

Another of my contentions is that our kleptocratic government and our financial elites KNOW that the economy of the United States is 'doomed to failure', that 'they' KNOW our social and cultural safety nets are about to collapse, that 'they' KNOW the United States is about to default on it's debt and that 'they' are doing nothing more right now than to 'buy some time' while 'they' consider the easiest way to transform the capitalistic democratic economy of the United States into the new paradigm of totalitarianism, dictatorship, oligarchy, tyranny, fascism, police state... take your pick but it's coming...

The debate over cap and trade (pretty non-existant) and over health care 'reform' should have proven by now to ALL Americans that we the people have absolutely NO input whatsoever into what/when/why/and how this government decides, unilaterally, to do. If you DO NOT SEE IT then you are blinded by stupidity...

I'm trying to be better prepared for those days to come... I Hope many of you are as well...

It is WAY WAY TOO LATE NOW to "attempt to ensure that students would begin learning more about the financial world." And, besides that FACT, if and when all Americans DO have adequate financial literacy then there will/would BE NO MORE ridiculous asset bubbles with which to pump up a totally debt based economy!

Bastards...

Greg

Work ethics

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You may click here for a discussion of work ethics.

There was a time in this country when work ethics really meant something... I was taught all the right things by my own father as I grew up. My dad made sure that I knew and understood what good work ethics were... Because of my dad I knew that working hard, doing your very best, having loyalty were all very important things. Suffice it to say that somehow my dad instilled in me the 'desire' to work hard and succeed. That to be successful in your occupation was indeed a very important part of life.

When I was young I had some menial jobs. I had a job when I was 15 years old at Dogpatch USA. It was a rustic themed amusement park that opened in the late 1960s based on the fictional town of Dog patch from the Al Capp comic strip "Lil Abner". My 'job' was at/on a small 'trout farm' area. I baited hooks for customers and when they 'caught' one of the fish I took it off the hook for them and carried it to the processing window for the customer where it was cleaned, dressed and packaged. That was my 'first' job...

Eventually I got married and had need for a regular income. I was 19 years old by then. I had no 'skill' to speak of at all and no clue really as to what I might want to do. I ended up working in the office equipment field just as my dad had for many years. I repaired old school 'typewriters' for like 20 years with a small number of companies. I was good... I was a damn good repairman. I took great pride in my work and I wanted to be the 'best' repairman out there.

That's what my dad taught me above all else. That whatever you choose to do it should be your goal to do it better than anyone else. It should be your goal to be the best at whatever you do. And this always seemed to make a lot of sense to me. It always seemed a logical thing. I still live by that rule today...

Eventually personal computers came along. A guy I worked with at the time gave me a TIMEX sinclair 1000 computer. It had 1k of on-board memory and I was fortunate enough to have a 16k expansion pack that plugged into the back. Sometimes it wriggled on it's rubber feet a bit and would bump the expansion pack and wipe out hours of work. I learned to save often lol

I fell absolutely in love with the whole idea of being able to tell a machine what to do and have it follow my directions to the letter. I used to hook that darned thing up to our only TV set in the living-room and work for hours writing code in BASIC. I gambled at the time... Football, basketball and baseball. I ended up writing a good program that gave me a 60% winning percentage in college basketball (no easy feat ;) I just compared the outcome of every game played to the Vegas 'line' to discover exactly where the linesmakers had the most difficult time predicting the outcome of the game. My poor wife rarely got to watch TV lol

Of course as time moved on so did I. I entered the never ending upgrade cycle that computers were and still are to this day. And I continued to love and learn programming. In the early 1990's I wrote 'shareware' software for BBS' (Bulletin Board Systems), mostly BBS games which users played on-line. It was a fantastic experience. We had the equivalent of blogs or forums where I could meet and communicate with other active programmers. After many years of coding, strictly as a hobby, I eventually landed a real job as a programmer. My wages went up by about 8,000.00 a year even though I was actually under-paid, looking back lol I worked for NPC International (used to be $NPCI but went private). I was on fire at NPC. So thrilled to be a professional programmer! I worked at NPC from about 1997 till about 2000. By the time I left my wages had gone up another 8,000.00 per year. Remarkably my income had risen by about 16,000.00 a year in just 3 short years. (And now I see that NPC was sold to Merrill-Lynch Global Private Equity Group in 2006...) I made a poor decision in changing jobs for a couple grand more writing educational software for a small company that went bankrupt in 2003.

Like so many other people then and now we lived on two incomes. That's just the way it was, the way it worked. My income represented about 60% of our total income. When I lost that job it hurt, bad. I had no idea how much debt we had at the time... I was involved in other things and didn't pay attention to that sort of stuff at all. I assumed everything was fine... Boy was I wrong! lol We filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Eventually I did land a good job with Kansas City Southern ($KSU) in downtown Kansas City, MO. It was another 31% boost in income... But it required me, at least at first, to live away from my family in a hotel, in a strange town where I knew no one, with the privilege of driving Interstate 35 twice a day (not fun)... So I quit. I walked out on a 60,000.00 a year job after about a month. They were great at $KSU, it was a wonderful place to work really. it was my dream job come true. It was the job that I thought had been my final goal all along.

I stress out easily (as many of you know lol). And though I loved my work as a programmer it was the corporate politics that I detested... always. (Here's a pretty good article on 'corporate politics' for those who might be interested...). While working in Kansas city for that one short month I made 4 times the pay trading. I researched my 'watch list' at night, gave my wife the orders to put in the next day and did very well...

That's when and why I made the decision to trade full time. to work for myself. To be my own boss. That was 2004.

I live in the real world. I see people people. I know people. I have family. I'm an 'on the street' sort of guy. I try to pay attention to what's going on around me.

To me 'work ethics' have changed dramatically in this country over the last couple of decades. I, personally, don't think it is the people who have changed near as much as corporate America. It used to be accepted as fact that in this country if you worked hard and did your best then you would be rewarded for your efforts. It no longer 'seems' to be that way...

I think many younger workers who have tried to participate in capitalism over the last couple of decades have become quite 'disenchanted'.

dis·en·chant (dsn-chnt)

To free from illusion or false belief; undeceive.

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[Obsolete French desenchanter, from Old French, to break a spell

I think 'disenchanted' is the perfect word in this case... Because, all around me, I see people waking up, I see people breaking free from illusion and/or false belief. I love the old French 'to break a spell'. A spell has been broken. A yoke has been and is being thrown off. The culture of greed and corruption that runs through our society and culture like a spreading cancer has destroyed much of what used to be a sound foundation. It is the 'slipping away' of many of the beliefs that many Americans hold dear that is so frightening to many people.

You see, I feel that society has taken a turn for the worse now... generally, overall. That everyday people in many cases no longer feel that they are a part of a larger 'plan'. An honorable plan to make our lives and our country ever better, ever stronger, ever more fulfilling. That somewhere along the way we have 'lost our way'.

I don't think 'they' realize or understand, yet, what is happening in America and with/to the American people. I don't feel like 'they' understand that 'things' have changed dramatically. I don't think 'they' undersand, yet, that 'things' will never be the same.

In this country pride in a job well done has been replaced with the 9 to 5 grind that pays the bills and nothing more. Money/labor has definitely become a 'necessary evil' (unpleasant necessity: something that is unpleasant or undesirable but is needed to achieve a result).

We went through a period of unbridled envy and self gratification. For a time the 'goal' seemed to be nothing more than spending ridiculous amounts of money to obtain as much Chinese slave labor 'junk' as one possibly could. Obviously this could not last long.

It was 'they', the financial elites and our government, who pushed for this. To drive corporate earnings. This was the plan all along. To enslave the American people to the financial sector and to government itself. This was the true reason for keeping interest rates artificially low and offering ridiculously easy credit terms to the under-educated, naive masses.

That offering of easy credit and the 'promotion' of envy and greed as valid lifestyles has all but destroyed our country from within.

The American people have been taken advantage of for the past few decades as they never have been in the history of this country.

Stop and think for a few minutes about how many advertisements you see and/or hear each and every day. Hundreds? Thousands? From insurance to cereal to toys to cars... on and on obviously for what would seem to be eternity. Every single day the American people are bombarded with advertising. Everyone in this country has their hand out for money. Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Target, used car dealers... again it would go on forever... lumped together as 'retailers'.

Think, for a minute, about the bills that almost every American is required to pay. Mortgage/rent, home insurance, home maintenance, car payments, car insurance, car maintenance, gas for the car, gas to heat their home, water, electric, food, clothing.

Now add to that many things that the American people do pay as a normal course of living in 2009. Cable TV, phone service, internet service, vacations, random repairs, pets and pet supplies, appliances, furniture.

And then add to that the many ways Americans waste money each day. Starbucks, toys for the kids, toys for the pets, meals outside the home, music, movies, tattoos, parties...

Easy credit made it easy for even the poorest of Americans to have everything they wanted... Now those poorest Americans are feeling the brunt of this economic downturn the most. They never bothered to read the fine print on anything they signed. Turns out they signed their life away for a fancy car and a big flat panel TV. Now their interest rate is 30% to 40% on huge loan amounts that they never should have had access to in the first place. Now their gas, electric and water is being shut off as they fight to keep their cell phones and internet access secured...

Throw in a job loss for a middle class American family who has been lured into depending on two paychecks plus credit cards to pay the bills...

And what our government is proposing these days astounds me! It seems the ONLY answer that our government and financial elites have to our 'problems' is to 'grow the economy', 'banks need to loan more money', 'we should relax lending standards', 'we need the consumer to spend money'. 'They' expect things to be the same as they were before. The way they were in 2004 or 2005... Are 'they' really completely blind to the realities of the day? Do they really not see the drastic changes that have occurred at the very core of our society and culture? Can 'they' really not see that the American people, as a whole, are sick and tired of playing the same old game of making politicians and corporations ever wealthier at their own expense?

The PROBLEM is debt! MASSIVE debt. On the backs of the American people, on the back of our government, on the back of our corporations, on the back of our small businesses. And our government's answer to the debt problem is astonishingly MORE DEBT!

What we need in America is a return to the moral values of our past. A return to the time when people knew and understood the meaning of right and wrong. When people knew and understood the meaning of fairness and honor. A time when America was one for all and all for one.

I, personally, think we are past the point of no return on those issues. It took us decades to destroy what was once great about America and the American people. It will, by necessity, take us decades to restore it.

But for it to ever be restored will require that we take the government apart, completely. And that we completely rethink corporate America. That we rethink what our corporation's 'interpretation' of capitalism is and correct it to what it was meant to be. Capitalism was never intended to destroy the very fabric of American life. Of that I am pretty sure...

So alas I end up where I always tend to end up...

Until we completely rid ourselves of greed and corruption by ending the tyrannical regimes of our current governmental and financial systems we will never be free.

Greg

The coup

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Be advised that the 'Federal' Reserve is nothing more than a cabal of 'PRIVATE' banks who place the accumilation of MONEY above ALL ELSE! The 'Federal' Reserve has NOTHING to do with the federal government... Or at least that is SUPPOSED to be the case! But what has happened to us during and after the great market collapse is that the 'Federal' Reserve AND the Central Bankers/financial elites have effectively TAKEN OVER our government.

Will America stand long for this tyranny?

All political leanings aside we NEED many more people like Alan Grayson on the side of the American people pitted against the 'Federal' Reserve and the banker elites...

Please watch this short video to see what the 'Federal' Reserve is doing with YOUR TAX DOLLARS!

The TRUE story

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Is that there isn't one...

Our government has reached the point, in *my* opinion, that it completely controls the flow of information that 'we' are allowed to receive.

Nearly a year into the obama administration it seems that playing with words and numbers may be the most important 'tool' 'they' have left. I DO NOT mean to imply that this began with the obama administration. But the current administration does happen to be the one that promised us transparency like we have never seen before...

He who controls 'information' controls all. Don't you think?

If you'll look around a bit you'll see that virtually nothing is as it seems anymore.

'They' have been monkeying around with ways to meticulously massage economic data for years, even decades, now. The obvious 'goal' being to have the ability to present said data in a way that the markets and public will find most acceptable. Here is a link to several data sets that have seen reporting methodology change significantly over the last few decades. Look at this carefully, this is very important 'stuff'.

Inflation, Money Supply, GDP, Unemployment and the Dollar - Alternate Data Series on ShadowStats.com

As I have pointed out here, more than once, it is *my* belief that 'they' use complexity and obfuscation to control the dialog.

Anything you are able to portray as extremely complex, extremely difficult to understand, allows you to easily manipulate selected pieces of data to portray virtually any 'story' in any light you wish at any given moment.

My point being that there is no longer any 'honesty' in anything our government tells us. And without honesty there can be no 'trust'.

And... without 'trust' there can be no government or economy...

Even as our government, economy and society/culture continue to unravel the government, with the assistance of the main stream media, continues to tell the American people, and the world, that things are getting 'better'.

To me it is a very 'matrix like' manipulation of reality.

What *I* continue to see, personally, is the fact that the government has done NOTHING to squarely address ANY of our core problems at all!

I am 100% convinced that the government of the United States has already 'fallen'. It has already 'failed'. A 'coup d'état' has already taken place and it is led by Goldman Sachs. It's not at all difficult to discover many of Goldman Sachs's 'ties' to the government of the United States. Took me just a few seconds to find this page listing some of them. Go LOOK and see what YOU can find. Knowledge IS power my friends...

Military historian Edward Luttwak says: “A coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder”.

What ARE our 'problems'?

Maybe I attempt to 'oversimplify' with my constant use of the terms 'greed' and 'corruption'. I am prone to 'over simplification' myself... *I* believe virtually all of our 'problems' can be encompassed with the phrase 'Too big to fail'. It is *my* opinion that our government CERTAINLY 'sees' itself as 'too big to fail'.

Our government's obvious ties to, and dependence on, the financial sector, and I use the term loosely, via the Federal Reserve system, Central Banks, Regional banks, Insurance companies, and drug companies is FRIGHTENING!

This entire market run higher has been nothing more than a collusion by/of the United States government and the financial sector. The government with the assistance (voluntary or forced) of the FED/Central Banks, hedge funds, Sovereign wealth funds, and even very wealthy individuals (Buffet) has manged to reflate the previous bubble to a degree that I would not have thought possible.

Our entire banking system has already collapsed. Our banks are already insolvent. *I* believe our entire medical industry is, or soon will be, insolvent as well. First and foremost the Insurance companies. But also across the board. Hospitals and drug companies.

As cash strapped Americans seek to cut costs and deleverage in any way they possibly can unnessasary medical costs, certainly health insurance, shows up on the chopping block rather quickly. Especially if one is rather 'healthy' and perhaps 'young' to begin with. Most 'young' otherwise 'healthy' Americans families can save 6,000.00 a year by simply dropping their health insurance. This has been going on for YEARS in this country as insurance costs have continued to climb WAY ahead of (mis-reported) inflation. It's not a new thing at all. Now 'they' want to make it 'illegal' to live in the United States of America and not buy health insurance. WTF?!

After our financial system collapsed and as our kleptocratic government watched our economy change rapidly it became obvious to them very quickly that insurance companies, and the entire health care industry itself, was in grave danger of collapse. Due merely to 'cost cutting' by the American people. What a 'predicament' to be sure... Americans MUST delever as never before just to survive this economic disaster. But the conundrum is that very deleveraging threatens to expose the LIE that things are getting better.

And why/how is our economy in such grave danger? Once again use the K.I.S.S rule! (Keep It Simple Stupid). It is NOT nearly as 'complex' as those in Washington and on Wall Street would have you believe! Our government AND corporate institutions have for decades become so enamored of greed and corruption that now 'they' are UNABLE to EXIST without MONEY!

It is NOT 'they' who are important! It is NOT 'they' who matter! It is *my* opinion that 'they' MUST fail if America is to survive...

WE are the only thing that matters. We the people. And I speak NOT only of the 'people' of America! I speak of the people of the world... It is TIME for people all over the world to rise up and finally, once and for all, put a STOP to this man made, contrived, ridiculous notion that 'people' cannot exist without a government to tell them what to do. It is TIME for PEOPLE all over the world to stand up and shout 'WE can do it better!' PLEASE try to understand and remember that WE do NOT need them! 'They' need US! 'They' (in theory) work FOR us! Even though in reality 'they' prove time and time again that 'they' truly work for NO ONE but themselves!

Humans, mankind, took a 'wrong turn' somewhere along the line of history. We (humans) have veered wildly off the course of improving the state of mankind on the planet. We seem to be headed into some very strange direction in which the 'goal' seems to be the 'prevention' of our ability to progress. We all, collectively, do this by turning over our freedoms, our liberty, our aspirations, indeed our mandated task of 'improving' the human condition, to governments...

'Too big to fail' is a LIE! It has always been a LIE! Our economy and financial system has ALREADY failed! Our government is close behind. We, people around the world, can help most by by helping the current oligarchy cease to exist. By DEMANDING it's dismantlement.

Tyranny is upon us now... Will we fight? Or will we simply lie down and die?

THIS time, in THIS great nation, will turn out to be the most important time in the history of the United States of America.

It will BE the time our greedy and corrupt government and corporate elites were destroyed by the PEOPLE.

Or... it will be the time that the people were destroyed by our greedy and corrupt government and corporate elites...

'Time' is running short. The choice is ours...

I pray we choose wisely...

Greg

A Gerald Celente moment

Here is a large portion of the truth as *I* personally see it to be...

Gerald Celente is a brilliant man, IMO. Please take 15 minutes of your valuable time to see what he has to say... "The second American revolution has begun."

Part 1 of 2



Part 2 of 2

1948 cartoon - Make Mine Freedom

Seems we have been at least attempting to deal with the same problems and issues for a very long time in this country. Odd, when you think about it, to see just how little progress we have managed to make...



Don't forget.. capitalism is a f'ing ISM too!

LMAO

Greg

Freedom

I don't WANT freedom for the United States of America... We are BLESSED with a wonderful document. Our constitution. It is ours. It belongs to us. We the people. Fight for it each and every one of you. It is worth the effort.

But don't be for freedom for the United States of America. Be for freedom of ALL the peoples of the world.

It is the only way...



Greg

Productivity report

My ass...

productivity

Definition

The amount of output per unit of input (labor, equipment, and capital). There are many different ways of measuring productivity. For example, in a factory productivity might be measured based on the number of hours it takes to produce a good, while in the service sector productivity might be measured based on the revenue generated by an employee divided by his/her salary.

What we hear is that improved productivity is good for our economy... It's good for profits. It's good for earnings. It's good for the bottom line.

That's all fine and good I suppose...

But doesn't it also kinda mean putting the squeeze on those employees you still have who already consider themselves lucky to still have a job? Isn't it really nothing more than saying to those employees You must bust your ass MORE THAN the 110% you busted your ass last week/last month/last quarter. And if you're lucky and produce more work and more profits we'll be 'nice' and not cut your pay... We'll consider being nice and not eliminate your job... Can improved productivity not also be accomplished through drastic cost cutting? Including payroll reductions? Less spending on R&D? Less advertising? Don't all these things 'improve the bottom line'?

Isn't increased productivity merely another way of saying to your employees 'I have you spread over a barrel and am free to rape you as I please'?

Don't get me wrong. Under 'different' circumstances, in a 'different' economic environment I can see where increased productivity would be a good thing. As factories, business' increase capital spending to upgrade equipment and software. As those same companies 'share the wealth' that would be the benefit of cost savings and productivity gains with the employees who help make it happen. You know... like in a healthy, growing, expanding economy...

That is not 'this' economy...

'This' economy seems to me to have become one in which the 'goal' is to screw the American worker/people as much as you can possibly get away with. Most of it done as a way to make the economy 'appear' to be different than it really is...

Anyone else notice how WONDERFUL earnings have been? Anyone else notice/understand how GDP was blatantly manipulated with government spending to make it 'appear' much stronger than it really is? Anyone else notice any of the media 'propaganda' designed to convince us everything is getting 'better' when the opposite is true?

Let's be serious for a moment here... The United States is faced with demographics problems for which there is virtually no known plan... Baby boomer retirement is a HUGE problem... For Social Security for medicare for any/all 'entitlements' 'they' have created. For retailers in ALL sectors (guess I have to exclude medical services and devices though). For tax revenues way into the foreseeable future. For the housing market as they downsize. Demographics is enough in and of itself to completely alter the way of life in America. All by itself. Over 'time'.

But actually demographics may be the least of our problems... That stuff takes time... It's happening, but it happens rather slowly.

We're involved in an economic collapse right now.

I see/sense weird stuff around me... I pay more 'attention' to the economy these days than I used to I guess. But it 'seems' really strange. *I* see both deflation and inflation at the same time. What the hell would that be called?

We have a 'consumer' who now refuses to be defined as such. The 'consumer' in the United States is not only tapped out and over indebted... The 'consumer' in America is in large part very pissed off! Why/how could they NOT be?! Americans are constantly bombarded with advertising from every direction. SOMEONE has their hand out to 'take your money' no matter WHERE you turn! Many people are sick of it... The undisguised brutal efforts to seperate Americans from their paychecks...

It is *my* hope that Americans will ALL see the light. Money IS the problem in large part. Or the 'love' thereof to be more precise... Greed, the love OF money and the resulting corruption it creates CANNOT be corrected by the government forever spending MORE and the FED running the printing presses day and night. That is RIDICULOUS! Our problems CANNOT be addressed by begging the American consumer to buy houses and cars! THAT is what got us where we are!

We have a possible (likely even?) currency crisis staring us in the face...

We have NO jobs!

We have foreclosure like we have NEVER had before. With many more still looming on the horizon...

Tax revenues continue to collapse everywhere... We need tax revenues.... as *I* understand them... For things like expensive wars in the middle east... 'entitlements', social safety nets... 'Junk like that'... So I guess our kleptocratic 'leaders' are planning a nice bunch of tax increases to deal with that little problem. 'They' KNOW how to take our money from us... 'They' are VERY good at that part of the game...

Utilities are going nuts with rate hikes... Seems to me anyway... In the midst of the worst economic decline in many DECADES my own electric company is seeking a 25% rate increase in the state of Kansas. I guess we're 'lucky' in that Missouri faces only a 10% hike... This is the sort of 'help' jobless Americans need?!?!?! Gouge gouge gouge...

Commodities are bubblishious... Don't you think? I'll tell ya what *I* think... I think commodities are the bubble vehicle being used by the government and the banks to 'recapitalize'. Once again on the backs of the American people. 'They', both government and the financial elites, are using OUR money to take on some of the most outrageous 'gambles' anyone has EVER seen! 'They' are 'all in' on the 'audacious hope' 'they' can prop up the economy long enough for the 'consumer' to return...

The 'consumer' is NOT returning. Things have 'changed' and you had BETTER believe in it...

It is NOT capitalism that has failed... It is what 'they' have done to our constitution and economy and society that has failed... It is the 'progressives' who have been proven wrong. The wealth re-distributors who have been proven wrong. It is greed and corruption throughout our government and financial system that threatens to destroy us. People, American people and people around the world, are understanding this more at a gut level now than ever before. That is *my* belief. The 'game' is rigged. The deck is stacked. Taking money from citizens has evolved into a 'science' that is capable of destroying the world in which we all live...

It is *my* belief that it must STOP.

In *my* opinion our economy continues to 'flounder around'... Looking for a tiny narrow ledge on which it might be able to attach it's finger nails...

What might that 'ledge' be?

Be very afraid when you hear talk out of Washington about forcing the 'rich' to pay more of 'their share'. The 'rich' don't pay taxes... The American people pay taxes. All of them. Every single tax increase 'they' implement will be paid, in the end, by the American middle class and lower... The financial elite ALWAYS pass tax increases on the the American people. I would think EVERYONE understands how this works by now... What would you expect?! The greedy bastards are actually going to pay their fair share and do what they can to 'help' the economy? LOL If you believe THAT then you have fallen into the rabbit hole already...

'They' have done their best to DESTROY their own customer base! That is their IGNORANCE on display for all to see!

Health care 'reform' is going to save us all??? Hear this at least this one time... NO ONE will see ANY difference in Health care for AT LEAST THREE YEARS! The government, as bills are now written, will politely 'collect' all the money it can for THREE YEARS before a damn thing changes... Which happens to be about 2012... which is another story all together lol As I have said MANY times before... To *me* all the health care 'hogwash' is about NOTHING MORE than funneling BILLIONS if not TRILLIONS of dollars directly into the insurance companies!

I'm just 'rambling' today... I guess my only 'point' being (if there is one) that everything 'they' do only makes things worse... not better. 'They' attempt ONLY to 'whitewash' the rotted fence which is our economy. 'They' KNOW everything *I* know... plus a lot more I'm sure. I'm no economist by any means... I'm just an American guy...

But I'm telling you... 'They' know and discuss much more than 'we' are EVER privy to hearing. 'They' HAVE plans that 'we' know absolutely NOTHING about. 'They' see the collapse just as well as *I* and even better... 'They' have more 'resources' than do I... But 'they' are not about to take the loss of their power lying down... THAT I would bet 'fiat currency' on...

Keep 'telling' the 17.5% of UNEMPLOYED Americans that things are getting BETTER! Keep telling the millions who have lost their homes to foreclosure and the millions more who face the same fate that things are getting BETTER! Keep telling Americans who have seen their retirement accounts vanish before their very eyes that things are getting BETTER!

'Black Friday' approaches now... One of the favorite 'holidays' of our wonderful retailers. The very DAY the OFFICIAL Christmas shopping season BEGINS in America! WOOHOO! I NEVER say, and never intend to say, let the streets run red with blood. *I* am all about PEACEFUL dissent! I want to make 'Black Friday' run red with ink! *I* want to 'hit 'em where it hurts'... Right in the balance sheet... WE can stop ALL this OURSELVES! I plead with EVERYONE to STOP PLAYING the game! Stop spending every dime that you do not absolutely HAVE to spend! Lets ALL have a 1950's Christmas this year! Let's HELP those business' that have grown too LARGE to either downsize or disappear. Lets HELP capitalism SUCCEED! Lets HELP our markets, government and society collapse so that they can be rebuilt as they were/are meant to be. For the betterment of Amricans. For the betterment of mankind. Not the bastardized, ruinous version of capitalism that we have been lead to believe is acceptable.

If you have a ridiculous amount of debt because you or someone else in your family have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous financial elites then STOP paying it! Tell them that 'they' belong in hell and should head that way immediately! 'They' have not yet brought back 'debtors prisons'. Maybe 'they' will at some point, who knows... So make haste now while you can. If you have lost your job and cannot pay your bills make it someone elses' problem too! Don't allow them to force continual pain on you and your family. Help me force that pain onto them, where it belongs. 'They' have all destroyed themselves through egotistical ignorance.

Sorry, not feeling very 'optimistic' today...

Happy holidays...

Greg

Thomas Jefferson quote

---
The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered. - Thomas Jefferson

Man... that guy was good huh... He always makes *me* feel like less of an 'extremist'... Thank God for that lol

Greg

Muslim terrorist attack kills 11 and wounds 31

'Hasan report'

It's almost Christmas SHOPPING SEASON! WOOHOO!

'They' are already faced with the great Swine Flu panic of 2009... The very LAST thing 'they' are interested in doing is 'playing up' the whole 'Muslim terrorist' thing that a few 'extremist' are talking about.

I already saw the INCREDIBLE difference in coverage switching between CNN and FOX News... CNN was all about a good, yet troubled man, haunted by the stresses of war... FOX News was at least interviewing people and family who knew the man well.

Apparently Hasan made no secret of his 'dislike' of the United States of America's involvement in the middle east. Apparently, even in the military, he made his displeasure about American foreign policy well known. I heard a former fellow soldier talk about Hasan's outbursts. I heard his cousin saying that he had been seeking discharge or guarantee he would not be deployed to the middle eastern conflict since 9/11. He TOLD everyone he could how he felt. Much as I do now. Why did people not listen to him and get him OUT of the military?! Why do people not listen to me now?

I suggest the powers that be were 'afraid' to even 'consider' confronting a Major who also happened to be a psychiatrist. Not to mention a Muslim... It's our new 'politically correct' military. Like it so far? Most all the Americans Hasan shot and 'killed' or wounded were unarmed... That, in and of itself, seems surreal... They were on a military base for crying out
loud...

I do not mean to or intend to speak ill of all Muslim people. That would be stupid. Only the ones who murder 11 unarmed Americans and wound 31.

But jeeze... come on... Is the headline not 'Muslim terrorist attack kills 11 and wounds 31'?!

'Worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11' (sub title...)

Someone explain to me how it is different than a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. A suicide shooter in the USA.

Hasan had a Jordanian heart...

But... of course... that would NOT bode well for Christmas shopping season now would it?

Lets just wait and see what the MSM news coverage looks like. Lets just wait and see what the White House has to say...

We'll see... I truly hope I am wrong about the media and Washington on this one. I truly do. IF I am not... Then the economy trumps ALL. Even you and I and our personal safety.

Greg

Greg on God and religion

Religion can be a 'path' to an improved life for many people. But, at least to me, God and religion are two very different and separate things. If you have not yet done so please see my top link to '2008 - God's final witness' to see my true feelings about God.

I feel that God has given man his 'chance' to succeed already. I, personally, feel that part is now done. And that man's attempt at ruling himself has been a dismal failure.

What remains is what God has in store for man next. I fear greatly that it will not be admiration...

*I* fear that it will be retribution. That God is about to put man in his place in such a way as NO ONE will be able to deny it is true.

The millennia that have passed and man's control of and changes to 'organized religion' have had an extremely detrimental effect on the true word of God, the Eternal One.

Jews, Christians and Muslims cannot ALL be correct in their beliefs. This has troubled me for a very long time. All three have their 'roots' in the God of Abraham. I suggest that it is MAN, not God, who has so greatly 'distorted' the picture of the Eternal One.

I have great respect for Muslims in that they seem to take God and religion much more seriously in their culture than do most in the West. While I am not able to condone their, at times, very harsh treatment of their own people based solely upon religious beliefs I MUST respect their dedication to the same.

I agree we, in the west, are a Godless society and culture. And it has taken it's toll.

There no longer seems to be any accountability for anything in the United States of America.

Government can artificially keep interest rates low and pump up a housing bubble to please the financial elites seemingly with complete immunity from the dire consequences that result.

IF anything even remotely related to financial reform and regulation comes out of Washington it will end up being a pimple on the butt of the financial elites. Why? Because Washington is OWNED by lobbyists! Washington is not ABOUT to bite the hand that feeds them!

Personal responsibility is non-existent in the United States of America. The top 1% of earners are paying 40% of the tax burden! The top 50% of earners pay more than 97% of taxes! Where ARE the other 50%?! WHO are they?!

I think maybe I know... the 'bottom' 50% of Americans are the 'shopper class' . The bottom 50% of Americans who pay NO tax are where you will find the greatest debt burden! This is what our government has done to 'lift them out of poverty'. Totally remove their tax burden and give them unlimited access to easy credit!

Industry responsibility is a thing of the past as well. At one time in America (maybe the 1950's even...) there was an unspoken societal/cultural understanding that for capitalism to succeed it MUST be fair and just for all involved. That usury could not be allowed. That moral hazard must be shunned and avoided at all costs. That greed could not be the ultimate ruler of all decisions. That power and wealth should not be misused to take advantage. That we were 'all in this together'.

Now 'they' use division and misdirection, obfuscation and manipulation, out right lies, smoke and mirrors to hide the 'truth' from the American people. 'They' pompously prosecute insider trading as if 'they' truly care. 'They' trumpet the break up of multi-billion dollar, DECADES long!, ponzi schemes while the government itself remains the greatest ponzi scheme of all! 'They' 'threaten' the insurance industry with tough new laws and regulations while behind the scenes 'they' work feverishly on bills that will pump billions if not TRILLIONS into the pockets of these very SAME insurance behemoths! 'They' manipulate the market in a feeble attempt to recapitalize our insolvent financial industry. 'They' MUST for 'they' depend upon the financial industry for their very existence.

Politicians exist ONLY to win reelection now... Most all of them govern by political winds and polls. All 'they' care about is the ability to continue their gilded Washington existence! It is NOT about us! None of it! Please help those who do not understand this see the truth.

These are NOT God's problems... God HAS no 'problems'. These are problems created by man. And man's solutions seem only to make the 'problems' progressively worse... Man has been allowed, by God, to rule himself for 6,000 years. It was the 'grand experiment' I suppose. Does the failure of mankind reflect that God has failed too? Didn't/wouldn't God have always known that mankind was destined to fail? Has God waited patiently for millinena just for the satisfaction of proving that mankind is worthless and hopeless? Has God been busy counting down the number of days until He gets to say... 'SURPRISE!'

When it is all added together... When one makes the seemingly foolish attempt to tie up ALL the loose ends, a very strange and frightening picture begins to emerge.

The collapse of the United States of America (financially, politically and culturally)

The collapse of economies and societies around the world

Global warming/climate change

Natural disasters, death and disease

December 21, 2012
Maya Calender
Mayan Inca Aztec
Mayan Prophecy 2012
Egyptian Prophecy
End of Days
Our Lady of Emmitsburg
Gianna Talone Sullivan
Edgar Cayce
I Ching
Native American Prophecy
Nibiru
Nostradamus
Not in the News
Earthquakes
Floods
Consciousness Shift

The singularity

The alignment of our galaxy

The possible shift of our magnetic poles

And God's wrath upon the earth...

Who is to say what is truth and what is fiction? You? Who is to cast it all aside as a number of convenient coinsidences? You? Who is to say that they are not ALL pointing to the same thing? The same event? You?

Who is to say that 'God' and the 'angels' were not an alien race who visited us upon the earth 6 short millennia ago? You?

Not me...

I care not about my own creditability... I only seek 'information'. I only seek 'knowledge'. In the links above you will find scientific 'fact' mingled with religious philosophy mingled with unfounded fear. Do I believe it all? No... Do I deny it all? No... Do I have the answers to it all? No... But to me it seems to be becoming a more and more important mystery for us all to solve. In our own way. Drawing our own educated conclusions based on what we know. Based on what we see occurring around us.

Maybe many people are merely seeing 'the end' in many different ways. Does it really matter? The actual mechanism of the end?

Greg

Regression into chaos

My son and I were talking... again. I was saying that right now a person, almost anywhere, can walk into a convenience store in their 'pjs' and no one would so much as blink an eye. (Well, under certain circumstances depending on the 'style' of the 'pjs' and the 'personal attributes' of the person wearing them... But that's not what I'm talking about...)

I was thinking about the 1950's. As I often do. I love comparing the 'mores' of today to what I imagine they might have been in the 1950's. I was born in 1956 so I don't remember a whole lot about the 1950's personally. But of course I do read. Probably way to damned much...

Anyway, I'm just saying that if someone walked into a 'store' wearing their 'pjs' in the 1950's it might have been 'frowned upon' then, more than it is in 2009.

We seem, to me, to have reached a point in time in American history, in American society, in American culture, where the 'rule' has changed from 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' more to something like 'do whatever the hell you want, no one cares'. But I wonder what the effects on a country's 'social conscience' might be, over time.

Is a society in which everyone can very freely 'do whatever they want' actually 'progressive'? Or could it be more a regression into chaos?

Our entire financial 'system' was allowed, mainly by our inept politicians but also by society as a whole, to 'do whatever 'they' wanted'. What 'they' wanted, our financial elite class, was the 'freedom to enslave' as many Americans as 'they' possibly could with onerous debt burdens. As fast as 'they' possibly could... 'They', it seems, have an insatiable desire for small 'green pieces of paper', and/or the digital representation of same (IOUs), go figure... I guess 'they' are collectors or hoarders...

One of the main 'problems' in America is our education 'system'. I feel that problems in and with our education 'system' helped the 'greed blinded' financial elites ensnare an even greater percentage of of the American populace.

Many of the most deeply 'ensnared' class, I dare GUESS, are high school drop outs.

But no one seems to care.

Not in 2009.

The under-educated high school drop outs just 'did whatever they wanted'. The 'shopper class'. They wanted to experience a lifetime's worth of material 'things' in under a decade. They wanted it all the moment they could get their hands on it. Many of them exchanged really cool cars once a year if not more. At a great financial loss each time. Digging deeper and deeper into the 'trap' that our financial elites had prepared for them.

As 'sad' as it might be I am convinced that we need strong financial laws and regulations to protect stupid people... If we are going to breed them, feed them, and use them as 'cattle' then we should be at least somewhat responsible for their care...

Now, with health care 'reform/bailout' being forced upon us and all the talk of taxes upon taxes upon taxes to pay for a myriad of programs that we cannot afford, it seems our government can 'do whatever 'they' want' as well... Watch for MANY more bailouts and taxes coming down the pike though they will be called many other names... 'Stimulus' and 'investment' two of the current favorites...

I just seem to sense that everyone 'just doing whatever the hell they want' doesn't 'seem' to be working all that well as a 'socially progressive' thing to do...

Don't be afraid little sheeple... 'They' can't hurt you.

Greg

See how 'they' screw us!

We need to wake up people! This article from 'The Business Insider' demonstrates what 'they' are doing with OUR hard earned money! There are never any strings attached to OUR money to make sure we are making a safe, let alone profitable, investment in a company. The government, the FED w/the central banks CONTINUE TO TAKE our money without asking! 'They' STEAL it from US and give it to whomever 'they' wish. When BILLIONS at a time VANISH into thin air 'they' act as if it's only worthless green paper, it's just a fiat currency after all anyway... It is... Our money has lost 95% of it's value since 1913 and it continues to weaken horribly today. These people have not a CLUE what they are doing! How can we possibly stand by and watch them throw the future of our entire country away with the only GOAL being to save their own a$$ and hang onto their illegitimate power?! Please read the article below and be very angry as you should be...




Greg

Orrin Hatch on HC constitutionality

I hope you will please take 5 minutes of your time to watch & listen to Orrin Hatch's feeling about the constitutionality of what the congress and obama administration are attempting to do with health care. This would equate to a HUGE tax on the MOST vulnerable people in a horrific economy...



Greg