--- IMHO this man MUST be president! He may be a reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson and that is EXACTLY what we need!
I agree with everything he says in this video and have blogged about much of it myself.
VERY important stuff! Please take it to heart and think about it! ---
Key points in the video..
Political chaos is coming soon to a city near you
Social unrest will cause government to use force to control population
The "words" "anarchy" and "enemy combatant" will be used against Americans by our own government during it's efforts to control the population
A SINGLE person is already allowed, by law, to decide who is an enemy combatant, the attorney general or the president
(also *I* believe the term "domestic terrorism" will be much used to describe/define the early phases of an insurgency, should one occur)
(In the end the government of the United States of America will be no different in their actions/reactions than are Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc..) <-- Again that's me.. not Mr. Paul
Dangerous time in our history
An all powerful state is a threat
Blood in the street?
Street fight against the overwhelming power of the state?
Liberty and self reliance are what should matter to Americans!
Non-interventionist foreign policy
A FULL audit and more supervision of the Federal Reserve Bank (thieves! Abolish them!)
Abolish crony capitalism NO MORE BAILOUTS!
Get RID of the military industrial complex!
BE FOR LIBERTY!
PLEASE support Ron Paul for president of the United States of America ---
LOOK at the FED money printing! It's insane!
Source for these my good friend @ATTechFX on twitter
--- This guy ties it all together rather nicely IMHO.. The economy / economic problems, the middle east, the book of Revelation / the Tree of Life, what *I* call "the evolution of humanity". All packaged nicely with the "waves" of the Mayan calendar.
This first link gives a good overview of what this guy is talking about and includes most all of the topics mentioned above.. It was written MONDAY, MAY 18, 2009
"This is the true end date of the Mayan calendar, according to Carl Calleman, who happens to be one of my main gurus when it comes to Mayan cosmology."
"A couple of months ago I expressed my expectation that the Fifth day, beginning on July 31, 2011, will bring a global economic collapse, which would be the start of this end time scenario."
--- Tool knows something that most of us mere humans do not..
You may, or may not, be aware of my conspiracy theory that aliens live among us now. Hidden in plain sight as musicians, artists and scientists.
They speak to us.. if we will only listen.. ---
Lateralus
Black then white are all I see in my infancy. red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me. lets me see. As below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn beyond the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.
Black then white are all I see in my infancy. red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me. lets me see there is so much more and beckons me to look through to these infinite possibilities. As below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn outside the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line. Reaching out to embrace the random. Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.
I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.
With my feet upon the ground I lose myself between the sounds and open wide to suck it in, I feel it move across my skin. I'm reaching up and reaching out, I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me. And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been. We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going, going...
"Third Eye (intro)"
[Timothy Leary sample:]
Think for yourself Question authority
Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.
Some say the end is near. Some say we'll see armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will. I sure could use a vacation from this
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of Freaks
Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking time. Any fucking day. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.
Fret for your figure and Fret for your latte and Fret for your lawsuit and Fret for your hairpiece and Fret for your prozac and Fret for your pilot and Fret for your contract and Fret for your car.
It's a Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of Freaks
Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking Time. Any fucking day. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.
Some say a comet will fall from the sky. Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves. Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still. Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.
Some say the end is near. Some say we'll see armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will cuz I sure could use a vacation from this
One great big festering neon distraction, I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.
Learn to swim.
Mum's gonna fix it all soon. Mum's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.
Learn to swim.
Fuck L Ron Hubbard and Fuck all his clones. Fuck all these gun-toting Hip gangster wannabes.
Learn to swim.
Fuck retro anything. Fuck your tattoos. Fuck all you junkies and Fuck your short memory.
Learn to swim.
Fuck smiley glad-hands, With hidden agendas. Fuck these dysfunctional, Insecure actresses.
Learn to swim.
Cuz I'm praying for rain And I'm praying for tidal waves I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mum please flush it all away. I wanna see it go right in and down. I wanna watch it go right in. Watch you flush it all away.
Time to bring it down again. Don't just call me pessimist. Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't Welcome any change, my friend.
I wanna see it come down. Come down. Suck it down. Flush it down.
The pundits who claim there’s no QEIII coming, or that it won’t come until stocks and the economy utterly collapse, don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.
Neither do those who claim the Fed is out of bullets. Fact is, nothing could be further from the truth.
The Federal Reserve is the most powerful institution on the planet. Its Chair is the most powerful person in the world. In reality, even more powerful than the President of the United States.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not a fan of the Federal Reserve, at least not in its current state.
But I am a realist, and fighting the Fed — or underestimating its power and misreading its intentions — is one of the most harmful things you can do when it comes to your wealth.
Indeed, just this week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke admitted that the central bank is considering “unconventional means” to stimulate the economy.
THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT I TOLD YOU WOULD HAPPEN in my column of September 13 last year, titled The Federal Reserve’s Next Steps.
In that column, I clearly stated that “the Fed had plenty of ammo left” and that “… it has some very heavy artillery that it can — and will — bring to the fight against the debt crisis.”
Let me review them again with you now …
Fed Weapon #1: The Fed can print as much money as it wants. There is no limit to how much it can print. Period.
Fed Weapon #2: The Fed can also begin buying stocks and real estate for its own account. Or, it can buy commercial paper, corporate bonds, index futures. You name it. There is nothing to prevent the Fed from doing any of that.
Fed Weapon #3: The Fed can lower the bank reserve requirement — which is currently 10% for all bank liabilities over $58.5 million — all the way down to zero.
Fed Weapon #4: The Fed could penalize banks for not lending to the economy.
For instance, right now the Fed pays banks 0.25% on the excess funds they park with the Federal Reserve, funds that are above and beyond what is required to be held at the Fed as reserves.
Instead, the Fed could simply do a 180 — and tell banks that it is no longer going to pay them any interest on their excess reserve funds, forcing the banks to invest or lend their reserves.
The Fed can even go a step further, and effectively tax or penalize banks for not making loans out to the general economy.
Fed Weapon #5: The Fed can continue to engineer a “default on the sly” on all government obligations, effectively inflating away America’s debts, by DEVALUING THE U.S. DOLLAR, forcibly and clandestinely.
That’s ongoing. Don’t kid yourself just because the dollar recently rallied against the euro. It’s still sliding against the Swiss franc, the Aussie and Canadian dollars, the Japanese yen, the Singapore dollar, and other Asian currencies.
There are even other weapons the Fed can use.
It can cap interest rates on long-term Treasury debt. It did this before in the 1940s, where it capped the long-term Treasury bond yield at 2.5%, ending the cap with the Federal Reserve-Treasury Accord of 1951.
It effectively did the same thing in the 1960s when the Fed manipulated the yield curve by selling T-bills and purchasing an equal dollar amount of Treasury notes to reduce long-term rates.
It can even reduce interest rates on corporate securities, by printing up money to hand to the U.S. Treasury for it to purchase corporate securities.
It can purchase foreign government debt, by printing dollars, then selling those dollars to buy Japanese bonds, euro debt, or what have you. Essentially, this is another way of devaluing the U.S. dollar.
And more. Keep in mind how Bernanke thinks. In his own words, Bernanke believes that the dollar devaluation of 1933-34 was an “effective weapon against deflation … the devaluation and the rapid increase in the money supply it permitted ended the U.S. deflation remarkably quickly.”
Bernanke also believes that “a central bank whose accustomed policy rate has been forced down to zero has most definitely not run out of ammunition … a central bank … retains considerable power to expand aggregate demand and economic activity even when its accustomed policy rate is zero.”
In short, the Fed can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants. So it does have plenty of ammo left, just as I said it did way back in September of last year.
In fact, in my opinion, the Fed’s battle against the financial crisis (and deflation) is just in its beginning stages.
The big question is whether the Fed’s actions will solve or alleviate any of the consequences of this great financial crisis.
My answer: I don’t believe it will. I do, however, believe that …
In the months ahead, the Fed will use many, if not all, of the above unconventional methods
It will not tell you when it employs them
The Fed will continue to inflate asset prices, but there will be extreme volatility and unintended consequences
You should not fight the Fed
And I believe that everyone should own the best asset class you can for these kinds of times: Gold, which has just hit record new highs.
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system,for if they did,I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” -Henry Ford
While the world waits with baited breath on the Contrived Drama of the Debt Ceiling, the real show has already been played out,secretly and behind the scenes. The first audit of the privately owned and foreign owned Federal Reserve by the GAO,has turned up $16 Trillion dollars of loans all over the world to prop up the global fiat empire. This massive money creation is over and above Hank Paulson’s $700 billion dollar heist of the American public. It is also in addition to QE1 and QE2 that resulted in an illusionary recovery of the economy. All of this money printing has done nothing to create any economic growth and it never will. The scary part is that this was done with no oversight or accountability . (Thank God we have someone like Ron Paul to hold these Elite accountable and expose their crimes before the collapse.)
“As a result of this audit,we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world. This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged,you’re-on-your-own individualism for everyone else.” Senator Bernie Sanders VT (Get the full report here.)
While Americans have been getting hammered,in this winter of our Empire,the Elite have been securing their bets gone wrong. Too Big To Fail should be Too Rich To Fail. As Americans continue to get crucified for speculating on the housing and stock bubble,the Elite get you to pay for their losses. This kleptocracy is a way of life and if the American people understood the enormity of this perverse crime,there would be revolution in the morning. And not just here in America,this money went all over the world to prop up the local Elite in foreign fiefdoms. The world is enslaved by debt and the wars they fund. We deserve better than this.
The sick thing about this report of the largest theft in human history,is the name of the report,Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Policies and Processes for Managing Emergency Assistance. The title of the article is the equivalent IBM conducting a review of the Holocaust,which they facilitated,and titled their report, Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Policies and Processes for Managing Lebensunwertes Leben. (Life unworthy of life.) This report shows that no one is coming to save you and you had better start thinking and acting for yourself. The report seems to be about how best to do this crime again. If tens of Trillions did nothing,how about hundreds or thousands of Trillions? The government is an active and willing participant in this crime. Banksters derive power from creating debt/money and politicians derive power from spending money/debt. It is a sick symbiotic relationship that will not be cut until the whole cancerous system collapses.
We are reaching the mathematical and inevitable end of our way of life. If not for these Trillions printed out of thin air,we would have entered into a unprecedented world-wide deflationary default. This would have destroyed all paper assets,because there would not be enough money to go around. The effect of paper asset devaluation would have rendered every nation,corporation,and individual,insolvent. The Elite fear deflation,because that means they would lose control over their source of power,the creation and spending of money. If the world economy collapsed,people would be forced to wake up from our credit induced acid trip and start looking for the drug dealer that ruined our lives.
When the dollar dies, millions will die. Without a viable currency all commerce will stop. It won’t just be the dollar it will be all paper currencies since they are all based off of the same fractional reserve lie. That will collapse all paper assets and destroy the world wide economy. Crops won’t get planted,fuel won’t be exported. This is the first time in human history that people also have no idea how to feed themselves. This will lead to millions of people left as hopeless as the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We laugh at how pitiful North Korea is…Don’t laugh,they are a lot closer to our future without money,than we are. Eventually,humanity will adapt to this new reality and a new way of life will emerge. Our job is to make it through the storm alive and hopefully with the assets to shape the new reality.
The inflation/deflation debate is over,yet again. This report shows the Elite will print unlimited amounts of fiat to prevent any systemic deflation. $16 Trillion dollars is larger than the total US Economy. In fact,without this massive injection,there would be NO US Economy. Any whiff of deflation,will be met with a MOAB bombs or Nuclear bombs of money creation. The inflection point is at some point people,corporations and nations will lose faith in the currency and sell their dollars,Euros and Yen to by real assets. It will become painfully apparent that the Elite are determined to destroy the currencies to keep their control system going. We don’t even really need more money to be printed. If the velocity of money sped up and people kept bidding on a limited pool of REAL tangible assets like gold,silver and oil,it would create systemic inflation that would destroy the dollar. (Reade the groundbreaking Silver Bullet and the Silver Shield.)
The dollar is going to fail. All currencies and paper assets are going to fail. It is a mathematical certainty. Unless more money is created in excess of the debt AND interest accrued the year before,the entire system collapses. If debt/money is created in excess,we reach a point where the exponential growth of compounding interest necessitates larger and larger amounts of debt/money to be created to keep the system from collapsing. This ever expanding money/debt eventually reaches the reality of limited amounts of resources in the natural world. More money chasing after a limited amounts of goods brings about hyperinflation and the destruction of the currency.
What do you do? I am not one for fear mongering,because fear mongering relies on an emotional response and not a logical response. You know your entire way of life is hanging on a thread. You saw it flash before your eyes in 2008. Your savings,your retirement,your job,your kids,your food,everything,rests on this fiat debt scam. There should be a default and/or a revolution any day. Knowing that it is coming and and knowing you are having a hard time committing to massive change for fear of looking stupid with the neighbors,what do you do? I spent 6 years putting together the Sons of Liberty Academy to help people get past this mental block and to give them the absolute confidence to take massive action in their lives to be aware and prepared for the largest event in human history. It is free and supported by the generous donations of our 8,200+ members. Join the Academy today to be aware and prepared.
“Until they become conscious they will never rebel,and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious?”- George Orwell
--- A very interesting note, IMHO anyway.. The headline I used on this post is word for word the headline that is in my local paper today. If you google "lawmakers fear plunge in stocks" now you will get NO results found! I have run across this many times with AP stories. They apparently have stories tailored for specific regions of the country. Slightly different versions here vs there..
Anyway.. this headline outraged me and perhaps that has something to do with the fact that it how now been completely PURGED from the internet!
I am outraged because the headline alone portrays the FACT that in Washington ALL that matters is continuing to support banks and corporations via the stock market. If anything ever panics the politicians it's certainly not that their constituents are "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore". It's an irrational fear that the stock market might go down!
WTF ever happened to the FREE markets that went up or down when they damn well pleased?! Based on economic conditions and Washington policy. Remember what George Bush said.. "I have to abandon free market principles to save the free market."
It has been this way since the stock market DID go down in 2008. And ALL the Federal Reserve Bank & the politicians have to point to as a "recovery" is a stock market that has been MANIPULATED higher for 3 years now!
What further proof can you possibly require that ALL of our politicians, BOTH parties, are owned lock, stock and barrel by special interests starting with Wall Street, banks and corporations?!
Here are a few quotes from the article below which I feel really brings this point home and demonstrates that it isn't citizens of the United States who matter to these people, only markets and money.. --- "desperate to show enough progress to head off a plunge in stock prices when Asian markets open ahead of the U.S. workweek"
"Boehner told rank-and-file Republicans in a conference call he hoped to be able to announce a "viable framework for progress" by 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday, before the stock markets open in Japan and elsewhere in Asia"
"Lawmakers fear a big drop in investor confidence in stocks and bonds could start in Asia and sweep toward Europe and the Americas, causing U.S. stock values to plunge on Monday."
"The only aides attending the White House meeting were budget director Jack Lew and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who emphasized the concern about Asia." ---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Precariously short of time, congressional leaders struggled in urgent, weekend-long talks to avert an unprecedented government default, desperate to show enough progress to head off a plunge in stock prices when Asian markets open ahead of the U.S. workweek.
With the White House consigned to the periphery of negotiations, Republicans sought as much as $4 trillion in deficit cuts over a decade as a condition for raising the nation's debt limit.
But after hours of staff negotiations followed by a meeting of Congress' top four leaders, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leaders of intransigence, adding he would not accept anything less than a deal that raised the debt limit through 2012.
"Their unwillingness to compromise is pushing us to the brink of a default on the full faith and credit of the United States. We have run out of time for politics. Now is the time for cooperation," he said in a sharply worded statement. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, Michael Steel, responded mildly. "Like the President and the entire bipartisan, bicameral Congressional leadership, we continue to believe that defaulting on the full faith and credit of the United States is not an option," he said in a written statement.
Obama met earlier in the day with the Republican and Democratic leaders — but only briefly— the day after Boehner abruptly broke off his own once-promising compromise talks with the White House.
In talks through the afternoon in the Capitol, congressional aides were looking at an immediate debt limit increase of about $1 trillion, officials said, with slightly higher spending cuts to be locked into place simultaneously.
Another $1.4 trillion in additional borrowing authority would be needed to satisfy Obama's demand that any deal extend into 2013. "A two-step process is inevitable," Steel said, although and based on Reid's accusation, it was clear the two sides had not yet been able to bridge their differences.
On one point, there was no disagreement — time is running out.
Congressional aides labored to produce a tentative agreement by Monday, congressional officials said. Even that would allow scarcely enough time for the House and Senate to clear legislation in time for Obama's signature by the Aug. 2 deadline, a week from Tuesday.
More urgently, Boehner told rank-and-file Republicans in a conference call he hoped to be able to announce a "viable framework for progress" by 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday, before the stock markets open in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, according to two participants.
Lawmakers fear a big drop in investor confidence in stocks and bonds could start in Asia and sweep toward Europe and the Americas, causing U.S. stock values to plunge on Monday.
Barring action by Aug. 2, the Treasury will run out of the money needed to pay all its bills, triggering a possible default that could seriously damage the domestic economy and send damaging waves across the globe. Obama has warned repeatedly of the possibility of a spike in interest rates that could affect Americans' mortgages, credit cards and other forms of personal debt.
"The bipartisan leadership in Congress is committed to working on new legislation that will prevent default while substantially reducing Washington spending," McConnell said in a written statement not long after he, Boehner and Democratic leaders met with Obama at the White House.
Obama appeared grim-faced as he convened the meeting around the big table in the White House Cabinet Room. He was flanked by Boehner, R-Ohio, and Reid, D-Nev. Vice President Joe Biden, McConnell and Pelosi also attended.
The only aides attending the White House meeting were budget director Jack Lew and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who emphasized the concern about Asia.
Afterward, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a stern statement: "Congress should refrain from playing reckless political games with our economy. Instead, it should be responsible and do its job, avoiding default and cutting the deficit." Under normal procedures, Boehner would need to have legislation on the House floor by Wednesday to allow enough time for a measure to reach Obama's desk in time to meet the debt-limit deadline.
Negotiators were working against two avowedly non-negotiable demands — Obama's insistence on a plan that assures no rerun of the current crisis until 2013 at the earliest, and Boehner's requirement that spending cuts over 10 years must exceed the size of any increase in borrowing authority — without any rise in taxes.
To comply with both edicts, under most estimates, legislation would have to cut more than $2.4 trillion across the next decade, since that is the amount of additional borrowing authority the Treasury is expected to require to pay the nation's bills. Also complicating the talks were divisions within each party.
Liberal Democrats are generally opposed to cuts in Medicare and Social Security, while Obama hopes to use the negotiations to appeal to voters who want big cuts in federal deficits.
Tea party-backed Republicans, dozens of whom are in the House, adamantly oppose any higher taxes, while Obama has made more revenue the price of admission to the talks. It was unclear how much Reid, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Boehner and McConnell would rely on the results of earlier talks, those that Biden held with lawmakers for several weeks in the Capitol and negotiations Obama had with leaders in a group and with Boehner.
Judging from accounts provided by officials in both parties, Obama had previously agreed to significant changes in benefit programs, including raising the raise of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 for future recipients, and also slowing the projected rise in Social Security cost of living benefits. His concessions triggered a revolt earlier in the week by Senate Democrats, who feared he was giving away too much without getting enough additional government revenue in return.
For his part, Boehner had been ready to agree to an overhaul of the tax code that would result in a net increase of revenue to the government of $800 billion over a decade.
There also had been a general agreement to cut $1 trillion or more from hundreds of government programs ranging from the Park Service to foreign aid and agriculture, and to chalk up another $1 trillion in savings by assuming the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There was another possible element of a deal on the shelf — legislation that McConnell and Reid have developed that would let Obama raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion in three installments over the next year or so without prior approval by Congress. Instead, he would be required to recommend spending cuts assured of coming to a vote in Congress.
Additionally, that proposal envisions establishment of a special congressional committee to recommend cuts in benefit programs such as Medicare and Social Security and possibly draft a tax reform bill as well. ___ Associated Press writers Charles Babington and Larry Margasak contributed to this report.
--- Everything is DESIGNED to STEAL your f'ing MONEY! Keep that in mind, do not forget it and you will be fine.. Do NOT borrow money from these thieves. If at all possible they will enslave you to debt for life..
You may click here for video source if you prefer ---
--- BAH! Show me a central bank anywhere that is not corrupt? Especially the Federal Reserve Bank here in the USA! Why does the USA have such a great interest in the Kabul central bank? To make sure worthless American fiat is used "properly"?! Our own central bank is about as corrupt as they come! Check this out The Fed Audit July 21, 2011 http://ow.ly/5KXS7 ---
A new report says Afghan President Hamid Karzai has banned U.S. Treasury advisers from the country's central bank, where they had been working to prevent the flow of money from getting into the wrong hands.
The audit by the U.S. special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, which was released Wednesday, says the ban has been in place since May. The report adds the U.S. Treasury has no plans to re-engage at Afghanistan's central bank because working conditions for the U.S. advisers have become "hostile." Corruption allegations Acting Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Herbert Richardson said Wednesday the United States has poured billions of aid dollars into a country "plagued by corruption, insurgency, and the narcotics trade." He added that "it is essential that we use all available tools to ensure that U.S. dollars are protected from fraud and diversion to the insurgency."
The audit says President Karzai's ban on U.S. advisers is just one of several examples of the Afghan government's lack of cooperation on international efforts to improve Afghanistan's financial sector. The report cites unwillingness of the country's attorney general to prosecute those suspected of financial crimes. Former bank official fears for his life The country's central bank has been at the center of controversy since its former head resigned last month and fled to the United States. Abdul Qadir Fitrat told VOA his life was in danger from those he tried to prosecute for "stealing millions" from Kabul Bank.
Afghanistan's largest private lender lost more than $900 million in funds and nearly collapsed last year due to alleged mismanagement, cronyism and questionable lending.
The Afghan government said Fitrat was partially responsible for the scandal, which prompted the International Monetary Fund and some international donors to suspend aid to the country. Tracking the money The U.S. Congress has appropriated over $70 billion since 2002 to improve security and development in Afghanistan. The audit by the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction says efforts to track U.S. dollars and other international aid have been hampered by the Afghan government.
U.S. officials say millions of dollars in cash payments flow through the international airport in Kabul. The audit notes that Afghan officials delayed for months the installation of cash counting machines at the airport, and that the serial numbers on cash disbursed to Afghan contractors and to recipients of U.S. aid payments are still not being recorded.
The report also says that Afghan officials continue to allow VIPs to bypass the main security and customs screenings without verifying their declared cash with currency counting machines. Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
Stockbrokers, brokerage houses and bond dealers give the bulk of campaign dollars in this politically influential industry, which also includes commodities dealers and exchanges, investment banking houses, stock exchanges and venture capital firms.
Between 1996 and 2004, the majority of donations from the securities and investment industry to federal candidates and parties went to the GOP, but the industry changed its tune in 2006, giving 53 percent of donations to Democratic candidates and parties. During the run-up to the 2008 elections, these companies gave 57 percent of their contributions to Democrats. The shift may reflect the industry’s efforts to maintain political clout with a Democratic-controlled Washington, D.C. Security and investment companies contributed $154.9 million to federal campaigns during the 2008 cycle, more than double the donations of the previous two years. Economic policy and banking deregulation are key interests of the industry. The security and investment industry backed the “bailouts” of late 2008, as the departing Bush administration tried to head off a global economic meltdown by shoring up failing mortgage-backed assets. Yet the industry fears that the Obama White House will impose stringent regulations on financial instruments and the mortgage market. In order to curry favor with the incoming president, the industry’s employees and political action committees hedged their bets by donating a combined $23.7 million to then-Sen. Barack Obama and his opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), during the 2008 campaign. Of that sum, 63 percent went to Obama.
---
They ALL contribute heavily to BOTH political parties buying as much greedy corrupt human trash (ie; politicians) as possible.
This is who politicians take their orders from.. Not citizens. (And many other sectors also.. It is a plutocracy you know..)
Man I'm tellin' ya.. What this country needs is an EF5 tornado to take out 30% of every United States town and city in existence..
I know of one local home building contractor here.. Two years ago the owner basically shut down his business completely due to lack of work / housing demand. He laid off ALL of his employees, about 15 people. He had no payroll for two years.
He picked up odd jobs here and here and kept the corporation alive, at least on paper. He built no new homes over the last two years.
He hired back his original crew of about 15 people PLUS an additional 45 NEW employees whom he has guaranteed a job for at least the next 5 years..
He went from building ZERO houses over the course of the last two years to now having at least 50 new homes lined up for construction and they're still coming in at a rate of two or three a day!
---
I know a bit about a local pizza franchise as well..
Average number of employees before the tornado?
About 12
Number of employees now? 2 months later..
50 +
---
Who TF knows? Maybe terrorists would be doing us a big favor if they DID nuke us?!
Though it's hard for me to imagine a nuke doing more damage than that EF5 tornado did..
Life goes on.. Joplin should have a RIPPING local economy for at least a decade I figure..
Thank you mother nature for cleaning out the old and making way for the new. Now if we could only get government and the Federal Reserve Bank to do the same.
But all they seem to be interested in is protecting the status quo, supporting the rot and decay of this debt based ponzi scheme of an economy for as long as possible until it collapses in on itself.
Turns out Wikileaks founder Julian Assange couldn’t make good on his promise to release secret information that could supposedly take down a Swiss bank and create a PR nightmare for Bank of America.
Assange made the claim in 2009 and last year, saying he had documents that would reveal an “ecosystem of corruption,” according to a CNBC report.
He told Forbes he had scores of documents that didn’t prove the banks were breaking any laws, but did show they were far less-than-honorable.
Assange didn’t name the Swiss banks, but vowed to release the information early this year. Now, it’s July and there’s still no sign of the supposed incriminating evidence.
He also claims to have a hard drive from a bank of America executive containing some embarrassing info. Still no word on what that is either.
Change of Leadership
Much of Bank of America’s leadership has departed since Assange first made his threat and the “ecosystem of corruption,” he vows to expose might not make such a splash now that the bank has a new CEO, CFO and chief legal officer, according to CNBC.
It might just look like old news to most media outlets in America.
Top Secret Writers originally reported on the bank case after whistleblower and former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer handed Assange sensitive banking information where he noticed “plenty of suspicious activity.”
The information provided to Assange reportedly holds account information of 2,000 offshore banking clients.
But Assange hasn’t released anything yet and plenty of eager journalists and banking watchdogs are wondering if he ever will. In the end, the whole ordeal could end up looking like a massive hoax.
Not delivering on documents is becoming a trend for Wikileaks.
After all, only three percent of the 250,000 secret diplomatic cables leaked to Assange have been published, and experts are starting to think that unreleased documents are becoming Assange’s insurance policy against any backlash that could end up with him sitting in a jail cell, or worse, depending on who he manages to rub the wrong way.
*****
Ben Norris is a freelance writer and independent journalist from Phoenix, Arizona. He is an Arizona Press Club scholar, human rights advocate. BenjaminJames has 52 post(s) at Top Secret Writers
It seems powerful financial elites are no where near giving up the ship just yet. This sort of thing clearly SHOWS just how much this debt based ponzi scheme economy depends on financial firms retaining the ability to rip off consumers with endless fine print giving every option to the corporation and absolutely none to the consumer while peddling sub-prime predatory loans and inflicting usury on as many Americans as is possible. Without this ability, obviously, our financial system would quickly collapse. ---
Agency's powers curbed awaiting Senate approval of new director nominee
By Jim Puzzanghera, Tribune Washington Bureau July 19, 2011
The federal government's new agency to protect consumers from financial fraud opens Thursday with a new director nominee on deck, but it won't be quite the aggressive watchdog promised a year ago.
Because of political squabbling, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will launch without an appointed director. And the lack of leadership has consequences.
The agency won't have power to crack down on mortgage brokers, some of which helped lead the nation into the housing debacle four years ago. It also won't have authority over payday lenders and remittance companies, the other largely unregulated sectors of the financial services industry that it was created to police.
"It's very disappointing that the centerpiece of the president's financial reform agenda is not ready to hit the ground running," said Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America.
Republicans and much of the financial services industry vehemently opposed the agency and stalled efforts by the Obama administration to install a director, a five-year appointment that must be confirmed by the Senate.
The White House announced Sunday that Obama had decided to bypass Elizabeth Warren, the liberal Harvard law professor who has spent nearly a year organizing the sprawling agency and hiring staff but who was seen as too controversial to be confirmed by the Senate. Obama instead nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who had been hired by Warren to be head of enforcement for the agency.
But Republicans say they will oppose any nominee unless Obama agrees to changes in the structure of the agency. With the agency formally opening for business Thursday, there is not enough time to put a director in place, even one who had broad support. And without one, the agency legally cannot exercise expanded consumer protection powers Congress granted it in last year's financial regulatory overhaul to try to prevent another crisis, government officials said.
Besides being unable to use its authority to regulate mortgage brokers and other financial firms outside the conventional banking industry, the agency initially will be denied broad authority to prohibit "unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices" or to issue rules requiring better disclosures of the terms of financial products, the inspectors general of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve determined.
The consumer bureau still will have plenty of other powers to exercise. The agency immediately will take over from banking regulators the authority to enforce 18 consumer protection laws that existed before last year's financial overhaul. Those include rules governing credit cards and oversight of mortgage servicers.
Some banks aren't happy that they will face oversight, while competitors such as payday lenders initially won't.
"One of the purposes of the (legislation) was to have a level playing field, and that certainly will not be accomplished," said Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association. Visiting a bank in Tupelo, Miss., recently, Hunt said he counted 14 payday lenders in a mile stretch.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of the architects of the financial regulatory overhaul, said the agency's situation wasn't a major problem — yet.
"A month without raising the debt limit would be a disaster," he said. "A month of not adopting new rules for check cashing, not a disaster."
But Frank said that if the agency remains without an appointed head for "many more months," he would be "very disappointed."
Warren acknowledged the limited initial authority, telling lawmakers last week that when the consumer agency has its director and fully operational powers, it will be "a very good day."
Some Republican lawmakers, who opposed the creation of the agency, said it should not get any power until it has a Senate-confirmed director.
"I think everybody's still very much in a wait-and-see mode, and we're running up against a deadline without somebody to give the direction that's needed," said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who introduced legislation blocking the transfer of all powers to the agency until it has a director.
Capito and nearly every other Republican in Congress opposed the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing it would restrict access to credit by average Americans. Banks opposed the agency as well, saying it made no sense to remove consumer protection from the oversight of banking regulators who could balance it with the health of financial firms.
Warren, who specializes in consumer bankruptcy, argued that those regulators made consumer protection a low priority. In 2007, she proposed creating an agency to protect consumers from bad loans and other financial products.
The idea quickly was embraced by consumer advocates and the Obama administration, who made it the focal point of the most sweeping rewrite of financial regulations since the Great Depression. They charged that existing federal regulators put bank profits ahead of consumer protection in the years leading up to the subprime-market meltdown.
Warren appeared the obvious choice for the agency's powerful director. But strong Republican opposition made the White House nervous that the nomination would be filibustered in the Senate, preventing Warren from playing any role in organizing the agency.
So in September, Obama appointed Warren to dual White House and Treasury adviser positions that did not require Senate confirmation. Under the law, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is responsible for launching the agency and would exercise its authority until a director was confirmed.
Geithner delegated the job to Warren, who has been hiring staff, meeting with bankers and consumer groups, and readying the agency for operations.
In May, nearly all Republican Senators vowed to block any nominee for the job unless the administration made major changes to the agency's structure, including replacing the director with a five-member bipartisan commission.
White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said Obama will continue to oppose any efforts like these "that weaken the agency and hurt American consumers."
Obama could install Cordray without confirmation during the next Senate recess, a controversial practice known as a recess appointment. But Republicans have tried to prevent such appointments for the consumer agency and other key vacant positions by blocking the Senate from going into a formal recess.
The consumer bureau could run for a short time without an appointed director, but that will slow it from addressing long-standing holes in consumer protection, said the Consumer Federation's Plunkett.
"Not having a director merely pushes the agency back further," he said. "It's like holding the runner at the beginning of a race. It's going to make it harder for the runner to catch up."
Politicians just don’t get what is going on. They are living in a dream world where they are so wrapped up in themselves that they fail to realize (1) they are the problem, and (2) the emperor truly has no clothes. They said Nero fiddled while Rome burned. They are jousting for position only to be able to blame the other party for the next election and to HELL with our future. The majority of politicians are so wrapped up in themselves they are completely disconnected from the people. They rant and rave over pointless dogma but are clueless to how the real world actually functions. They must be living under a rock because they are completely void of any common sense whatsoever and are oblivious to the future. They assume that government is exempt from EVERY law and economic principle and can actually manipulate their way out of anything. Some are just lining their pockets and getting theirs before it is too late.
Mobile Field Force (Quotes are mine on things I found to be particularly interesting.)
The NIPAS Mobile Field Force was created in the Spring of 1994 to maximized the effectiveness of initial response efforts by police "when a major civil disturbance occurs." "Civil disturbances, union conflicts, public demonstrations, and other events involving large or disorderly crowds require skillful response by police agencies."
Identical to the Emergency Response Team, the Mobile Field Force follows the original principles of NIPAS… agencies pooling their resources to provide the best service possible for their communities, the retention of local control, and cost savings through the sharing of specialized equipment. "Member agencies participate in the Mobile Field Force voluntarily. However, if they choose not to supply resources to the team, they may not request its services."
"The social, economic, and political mood of our country, as well as other countries, raised the speculation that the 1990s and beyond may be trying times, and civil unrest could occur."
To "effectively deal with events" such as "labor-related conflicts", as well as "social and political demonstrations", NIPAS adopted the Mobile Field Force concept. "The Mobile Field Force program is designed to provide rapid, organized, and disciplined response to civil disorder, crowd control, or other tactical situations."
"The NIPAS Mobile Field Force provides its member agencies with a planned, organized, and rapid response" to:
"control unruly crowds" (either hostile or passive);
"seal off" problem areas, regardless of size;
rescue citizens or officers from crowds;
"clear an area" of hostile individuals "by use of proactive tactics"; and "apprehend multiple offenders", if required.
The team provides professional, efficient, and cost effective response for its member agencies.
---
Sounds like the government is ready to go to war with you..
They ask for like 23% and then 'settle' for 'only' 12%
We have something called the MPSC, Missouri Public Service Commission. They are supposed to watch out for public utility consumers in Missouri. Oversight, whatever..
As far as I can tell anytime & every time Empire District Electric wants to increase our rates, it happens. PSC or no PSC the end result seems to be the same for us, higher energy costs.
This is another 'tax' on American citizens as a percentage of the increase in revenue is funneled to government in the form of taxes. The utility company gets to keep what's left.
The other night I said to Mrs Warrior, "We'll just QUIT using our air conditioner!"
But she says to me, "Not this time of year, we have to use it this time of year."
Full disclosure the high here has been pushing 100 degrees on a daily basis for weeks now ;) Humid too..
But that just made me wonder about 'humans'.. Because 'humans', for thousands of years before our time, somehow managed to survive without 'air conditioning'. GASP!
Anyway, I just thought it would be so cool, (no pun), to organize a large number of Americans, across the nation, to protest high energy costs.
Say a nation wide "Don't use your air conditioner" week.
Send a message. Hit em where it hurts by taking a huge bite out of their revenue stream for an entire week. See if we can poke a hole in their quarterly earnings.
Sadly *I* just do not have the time, nor the ability, to spearhead such an endeavor. I'm not some community organizer or something..
Maybe 'one of you', dear readers, have the necessary time and skill to make something happen?
Some people are at least taking a shot at it..
From the WikiPedia page above..
"Because of an excessive decade-long increase of 313%, a Facebook page was started in May of 2011 to oppose the Empire District's relentless rate hikes."
Damn.. I can't seem to find this Facebook page.. Maybe the Empire Distric Electric company didn't approve of it? Bastards..
--- Excerpt from AP story, full link provided below ---
The House Republican rank and file were advised in a GOP meeting that, barring action by Congress, the government would be able to pay only about half its bills after Aug. 2, and separately that a default could cost the government trillions of dollars in the form of higher interest rates on the debt.
"No matter what 50 percent you choose to pay, there are things in that 50 percent you don't pay that would have really severe consequences," Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., said afterward.
"There are people out there who keep saying we don't need to increase the debt limit at all. I think this was a way of saying, the people who are saying that need to look at the practical consequences of what they are saying."
---
*I* think "[we] the people" who are saying "we don't need to increase the debt limit at all" (a MAJORITY I might add) are telling YOU that you need to look at the consequences of FOREVER spending MORE money than you are taking in!
Consumer debt is consistent with bankruptcy filings --- Research by the Federal Reserve indicates that household debt is at a record high relative to disposable income. Some analysts are concerned that this unprecedented level of debt might pose a risk to the financial health of American households. A high level of indebtedness among households could lead to increased household delinquencies and bankruptcies, which could threaten the health of lenders if loan losses are greater than anticipated.
Here are the last few lines from the report above..
"Unless federal policies change, Congress would repeatedly face demands to raise the debt limit to accommodate the growing federal debt in order to provide the government with the means to meet its financial obligations."
I don't hear much talk, lately, about the millions of American citizens being forceably removed from their homes to help out banks balance sheets.
Why are the American people being shut out of this debate exactly like they were shut out of the Healthcare debate?! Why are all the negotiations taking place between politicians behind closed doors?
You politicians think we are stupid in "fly-over" country. Well guess what?! We think you are about the stupidest people on the planet. And that's not to mention self indulgent, greedy, corrupt and arrogant!
HERE is what I see you talking about now.. "require a steady decline in spending as a percentage of the overall economy over the next decade." NOT cuts, but "a steady decline in MORE SPENDING!"
Have you politicians ever considered the fact that maybe we need an economy based on something other than predatory lending and usury?! Something other than a debt-based ponzi scheme economy?! Or is the plan simply to kick the American consumer to the curb and replace them with a growing middle class, full of potentially new debt slaves, in China?
Drug makers have have become expert at creating diseases to sell their pharmaceutical cures.
CNN | Carl Elliott | If you want to understand the way prescription drugs are marketed today, have a look at the 1928 book, "Propaganda," by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations in America.
For Bernays, the public relations business was less about selling things than about creating the conditions for things to sell themselves. When Bernays was working as a salesman for Mozart pianos, for example, he did not simply place advertisements for pianos in newspapers. That would have been too obvious.
Instead, Bernays persuaded reporters to write about a new trend: Sophisticated people were putting aside a special room in the home for playing music. Once a person had a music room, Bernays believed, he would naturally think of buying a piano. As Bernays wrote, "It will come to him as his own idea."
Just as Bernays sold pianos by selling the music room, pharmaceutical marketers now sell drugs by selling the diseases that they treat. The buzzword is "disease branding."
To brand a disease is to shape its public perception in order to make it more palatable to potential patients. Panic disorder, reflux disease, erectile dysfunction, restless legs syndrome, bipolar disorder, overactive bladder, ADHD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, even clinical depression: All these conditions were once regarded as rare until a marketing campaign transformed the brand.
Once a branded disease has achieved a degree of cultural legitimacy, there is no need to convince anyone that a drug to treat it is necessary. It will come to him as his own idea.
Disease branding works especially well for two kinds of conditions. The first is the shameful condition that can be destigmatized. For instance, when Pharmacia launched Detrol in the late 1990s, the condition the drug treated was known to doctors as "urge incontinence." Patients called it "accidentally peeing in my pants" and were embarrassed to bring it up with their physicians.
Pharmacia fixed the problem by rebranding the condition as "overactive bladder." Whereas "incontinence" suggested weakness and was associated mainly with elderly women, the phrase "overactive bladder" evoked a supercharged organ frantically working overtime.
To qualify for a diagnosis of "overactive bladder," patients did not actually have to lose bladder control." They simply needed to go to the bathroom a lot.
The vice president of Pharmacia, Neil Wolf, explained the branding strategy in a 2002 presentation called "Positioning Detrol: Creating a Disease." By creating the disease of "overactive bladder," Wolf claimed, Pharmacia created a market of 21 million potential patients.
Another good candidate for branding is a condition that can be plausibly portrayed as under-diagnosed. Branding such a condition assures potential patients that they are part of a large and credible community of sufferers. For example, in 1999, the FDA approved the antidepressant Paxil for the treatment of "social anxiety disorder," a condition previously known as "shyness."
In order to convince shy people they had social anxiety disorder, GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Paxil, hired a PR firm called Cohn and Wolfe. Cohn and Wolfe put together a public awareness campaign called "Imagine being allergic to people," which was allegedly sponsored by a group called the "Social Anxiety Disorders Coalition."
GlaxoSmithKline also recruited celebrities like Ricky Williams, the NFL running back, and paid them to give interviews to the press about their own social anxiety disorder. Finally, they hired academic psychiatrists working on social anxiety disorder and sent them out on the lecture circuit in the top 25 media markets.
The results were remarkable. In the two years before Paxil was approved for social anxiety, there were only about 50 references to social anxiety disorder in the press. But in 1999, during the PR campaign, there were over a billion references.
Within two years Paxil had become the seventh most profitable drug in America, and Cohn and Wolfe had picked up an award for the best PR campaign of 1999. Today, social anxiety disorder, far from being rare, is often described as the third most common mental illness in the world.
It is hard to brand a disease without the help of physicians, of course. So drug companies typically recruit academic "thought leaders" to write and speak about any new conditions they are trying to introduce. It also helps if the physicians believe the branded condition is dangerous.
When AstraZeneca introduced Prilosec (and later Nexium) for heartburn, for example, it famously repositioned heartburn as "gastroesophageal reflux disease," or GERD. But it also commissioned research to demonstrate the devastating consequences of failing to treat it.
If all drugs were harmless, disease branding would be relatively harmless, too. But no drug is completely benign.
For example, Detrol can make elderly people delirious and may cause memory problems. Paxil is associated with sexual dysfunction and dependence. It also carries a black-box warning for suicide in children and adolescents. Side effects like these are a part of every drug. But they are never part of the brand.
"Consumers are fatigued," said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight. "The only real good news on the consumer side of the economy is that gasoline prices started to fall, but are still relatively high."
Another potential problem: Businesses may be forced to cut orders in the coming months after adding to their stockpiles for 17 straight months. Sales across all levels of businesses fell in May for the first time in nearly a year, the Commerce Department said in a fourth report. Fewer sales are a sign that companies may have overestimated consumer demand.
---
Economists are idiots.
"Consumer demand" is toast and it has been since 2007/2008. That happens often when corporations fire all their workers (cost cutting) to prop up earning to help keep alive the mirage of a strong stock market. When "consumers lose their jobs they often have difficulty paying for things like mortgages, car loans, credit card bills and FOOD! Once consumers lose their home to the bank through foreclosure they're normally not in a big rush to go shopping at the f'ing mall are they?! DUH!
"Businesses may be forced to cut orders in the coming months after adding to their stockpiles for 17 straight months."
IMHO they didn't overestimate shiite.. Corporations are obviously in on this economic prop job because their ass is on the line here. Just like local, state and federal government. Just like banks. Are they trying to tell us that companies haven't had a clue how bad the economy is for the last 17 months?!
You (ie; United States government / Federal Reserve Bank / Primary Dealers / corporations) better stop MANIPULATING everything economic and allow CAPITALISM to work. If our system feels it needs a deflationary spiral and a depression to heal who TF are you to tell it otherwise?!
You continue ONLY to extend and pretend and make things worse!
HERE'S an idea for you.. Why don't you simply F*CK with the CPI again?!
Maybe that will fix inflation at least huh?
The government, FED, banks corporations & economists KNOW (or at least BETTER know) that the ONLY thing capable of fixing this economy is continued exponential credit expansion through predatory lending and usury!
That's the way ponzi schemes WORK you f'ing idiots!
Ron Paul: Cancel $1.6 Trillion Fake "Debt" Owed to Federal Reserve WRITTEN BY JOE WOLVERTON, II THURSDAY, 14 JULY 2011 11:48
With the “shutting down” of the federal government looming, Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are scrambling to hit their respective marks on the stage of public attention. Reportedly, Republicans in the Senate are unanimously behind passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment, while Democrats in both houses are clamoring to raise the debt ceiling, lest Social Security checks not be mailed. The performances are predictable and the soliloquies are so well-rehearsed and so familiar to critic and citizen alike that most of the dramatized sound and fury goes unnoticed and little of the legitimate signal breaks through the noise of rhetoric.
As has become his custom, however, there is one man in Washington consistently breaking the fourth wall, going off script, and speaking directly to the people.
--- Following excerpt is from an AP story in today's paper. Is it any wonder that congress can't get anything done with all the political posturing of an election campaign season in the way? ---
McConnell predicted that if Congress fails to act, Obama will argue "that Republicans are making the economy worse and try to convince the public, maybe with some merit, if people start not getting their Social Security checks and military families start getting letters saying their service people overseas don't get paid."
"You know, it's an argument he has a good chance of winning, and all of a sudden we (Republicans) have co-ownership of a bad economy," McConnell said. "That is a very bad positioning going into an election."
McConnell said his first choice was to reach a good compromise with Obama.
Short of that, "my second obligation is to my party ... to prevent them from being sucked into a horrible position politically that would allow the president probably to get re-elected because we didn't handle this difficult situation correctly."
It seems to me that it is a reliance on science and the complexities thereof that are causing many of the stalemated problems we face. From politics to the Federal Reserve Bank and indeed to the economy, consumerism and even capitalism itself..
Honest debate is one thing.. IMHO, constant attempted manipulation of each other via the social sciences is something entirely different.
Hello everyone.. I have grown quiet over the last couple of days as I attempt to trade this kooky market in earnest..
I had a good day what seems like ages ago but was actually about 3 days ago lol Did about +350 pips, largely on NZDUSD shorts, and was back to FX flat.
I came into the market with a short bias and short entry orders to back it up on Wednesday, that turned out not to be such a great decision. I STILL need to learn to be more patient and not think I KNOW what the market is going to do..
Over the last two days I have had a total of 16 positions / individual entries. 8 of these 16 have now been taken out on stops that were too wide on entries that were too early.
That resulted in an average loss of 91 pips per entry on the 8 closed positions.. Ouch but survivable at a cost of about 2% to my account and still have 8 positions open. Of course the gains from three days ago offset about half the losses also.
These open positions include
2 AUDUSD shorts avg sell = 1.0733
1 GBPAUD long entry = 1.4863
3 NZDUSD shorts avg sell = 0.8382
2 USDCAD long avg buy = 0.9577
Now you're all caught up so leave me alone.. I'm NERVOUS here!
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today said that the Federal Reserve is prepared to act with an additional round of quantitative easing if there is any weakening of the U.S. economy and threat of deflation. Bernanke also said that the Fed could act in other ways to stimulate the economy, such as cutting the interest rate that the Fed pays to banks on their $1.5 trillion in excess reserves that they currently keep parked at the Fed. NIA believes this $1.5 trillion alone would multiply into $15 trillion once it circulates through the U.S. economy and if Bernanke on top of that unleashes any additional quantitative easing, it will just about guarantee hyperinflation. Bernanke has made it very clear that he is prepared to print money until the U.S. dollar becomes worthless and the incomes and savings of all U.S. citizens are destroyed.
Ron Paul today asked Bernanke whether or not he watches the price of gold and if he thinks gold is money. Although Bernanke admitted that he does watch the price of gold, Bernanke said that gold is not money, but it is only an asset. Bernanke explained that central banks only hold gold as a "tradition". The truth is, gold has been accepted as money throughout all civilizations over periods of thousands of years. Bernanke doesn't want U.S. citizens to wake up and realize that they can opt-out of the criminal Federal Reserve system if they get rid of their U.S. dollars and store all of their wealth in gold and silver. To see a video of Ron Paul's exchange today with Bernanke, simply visit our blog at: http://inflation.us/blog/2011/07/video-of-ron-paul-asking-bernanke-if-gold-is-money/
The U.S. Constitution defined gold as legal tender and the current fiat currency system we have today where Bernanke can steal from the purchasing power of the poor and middle-class and redistribute this wealth to his banker friends on Wall Street is unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal. The U.S. dollar originally only had purchasing power because it was backed by gold. Today, the U.S. dollar is a fiat currency that is backed by nothing. Any remaining purchasing power the U.S. dollar still has is just an illusion and will soon evaporate due to Bernanke's actions.
In order for an item to function as money, it should be liquid and easily tradable, easily transportable, and durable. It should be divisible into smaller units without destroying its value and should also be fungible, meaning one unit of equal weight must be equivalent to another (which is why diamonds can't be used as money). The item must also be a specific weight, measure, or size, so that it is easy to count. It must be long lasting, durable, and not perishable or subject to decay (which is why food items can't be used as money).
Money must be easily recognizable and most importantly, it must be difficult to counterfeit. The U.S. dollar simply isn't real money because Bernanke has been counterfeiting trillions of dollars out of thin air. Money shouldn't require a mark or image to be valuable, but it should just be valuable based on weight and measure. Gold is valuable based on its weight and measure, and fits all of these other qualities and characteristics as well. Never do people explore shipwrecks hoping to discover U.S. dollars, because dollars that Bernanke can print at will even if they could survive the corrosion of the ocean, simply won't have any purchasing power left by the time explorers can locate them. People explore shipwrecks for gold, because it will last underwater for thousands of years and always retain its value.
When Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ordered their central bank to implement exactly the same monetary policies that Bernanke has been ordered to implement here in the U.S., the Zimbabwe dollar became worthless and Zimbabweans were forced to pan their rivers for gold. Citizens of Zimbabwe who were able to find 0.1 gram of gold after a long hard day's work of shifting through thousands of buckets full of mud, were able to take that 0.1 gram of gold and exchange it for a loaf of bread. Those who were too old or weak to pan for gold simply couldn't afford food and starved to death.
NIA recommends to all U.S. citizens that they read this eHow article about homemade gold panning: http://www.ehow.com/how_7763218_homemade-gold-panning.html This is a skill all Americans will need to have in order to survive hyperinflation. Unfortunately, unlike in Zimbabwe, most gold in U.S. rivers has already been explored for, so Americans might not be as lucky as Zimbabweans.
In order for an asset to be considered money, its supply must be kept scarce. Bernanke has spent a total of $4.7 trillion since the financial crisis of late-2008, which has flooded the world with excess liquidity of U.S. dollars and led to massive inflation in the prices of food and energy, the two items that Americans need most to live and survive. The inflation problems in China are a direct result of their currency peg to the U.S. dollar and willingness to accept the dollars we print in return for the real goods they produce. As soon as the Chinese central bank decides to end their currency peg, China's currency will increase in purchasing power and all of the monetary inflation the U.S. has exported to them will flow back to the U.S. like a giant tsunami.
Ron Paul today pointed out exactly what we said in our last article. Since the last Presidential election about three years ago, the U.S. dollar has lost about half of its purchasing power priced in gold. Although the U.S. government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported only 2% annual price inflation over the past three years, when you account for how the U.S. government used to calculate price inflation before the implementation of hedonics and quantitative easing, annual price inflation has actually been closer to 9%. Soon when price inflation begins spiraling out of control, Bernanke will be forced to raise the Fed Funds Rate north of 10%, which will cause our interest payments on the national debt to soar to over $1 trillion per year. The U.S. government will then need to immediately end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other entitlement programs, to have any chance of survival.
It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us
The July 10th FIFO changes required by Frank(en)Dodd Kinda freaked me out. FXCM had to "do their best" I suppose to implement the changes in their trading software.
However it is my own opinion that all brokers in the United States and under the authority of the NFA will be doing exactly the same thing forex traders will be doing. Which is to find a way(s) to use new Frank(en)Dodd FINREG rules to their advantage. Brokers have an advantage over us in this matter since they write the software that we use to trade the market.. Talk about conflict of interest.. jeeze..
Lets briefly look at the overall picture of rules changes we, forex traders in the USA, have seen from FINREG..
All of the new rules affected me personally.
First we saw the banning of the ability to hedge our positions in the FX market. I never liked or used hedging much myself as I never really found an effective way to do it. I'm not saying that there aren't effective ways to use it just that I, as a shorter term trader, never seemed to find them.
However it still pissed me off that the government of the United States of America was thrusting themselves into my business and telling me what I could and could not do in the forex market. I don't like that so I simply moved my forex account offshore, to the UK, still using my current broker, FXCM.
(BTW, you can still "hedge" pretty effectively by using two reverse correlated pair if you want, it's not really that difficult).
Then the second FINREG rule hit me.. It banned all offshore forex trading for all United States citizens. I was forced to switch my account BACK to the United States as my broker was forced to comply with this new rule. This pissed me off too because it's supposed to be MY money and MY life and who gave the government the authority to tell me where I am allowed to trade forex?!
So, none-the-less, my account was forced back to the USSA (United Socialist States of America).
So now the third new FINREG rule that is affecting me and my trading is the new FIFO rule.
This new rule is requiring brokers to make significant changes to their existing trading platforms.
I talked to FXCM's twitter representative about these new rules and possible work around scenarios. (If you use twitter and trade forex on FXCM you should definitely follow @JasonForex. IMHO Jason is a great guy, very helpful. IMHO Jason is likely the VERY BEST thing about FXCM LMAO)
At any rate the way FXCM has implemented the new FIFO rule is to "ask" traders to use the summary tab to manage their trades. The summary tab groups any all positions you might have in the same pair. Also available on the summary tab are new selections to set "net" stops and "net" limit orders to manage your open trades.
I found this to be confusing as you also have the ability to set individual stops / limits on market orders and limit entry orders before entering the market. However those stops / limits, after entering a trade, cannot easily be seen at all anywhere on the system. That in itself was causing some of my trades to close unexpectedly as I had placed stops / limits on them before opening them and then after entering the market those are reflected no where. I assumed they would show up in the "net" stop on the summary tab as an average stop but they do not. In fact the two stops / limits seem to be entirely independent of each other, sort of.. It turns out that the first stop or limit encountered will take precedence over a secondary stop.. This situation occurs if you have set a stop / limit on a market order or limit entry order and also have set a "net" stop on the summary tab. I find it very easy to get lost in the stop / limit options here. Obviously FXCM, and I'm sure all NFA regulated brokers, had to make hasty, likely not fully tested, changes to their trading platforms to comply with these new FINREG NFA rules. I'm sure the changes will be will be more cosmetically hidden in the future with subsequent software releases.
Maybe you like the new "net" stop / "net" limit on the summary tab as implemented by FXCM.. I don't, period.
The way I normally try to trade is to scale into a position. Normally my first entry will be my worst entry and my last entry will be my best entry. This means that FIFO should actually work in my favor, or at least not affect my trading too much, because I also scale out of trades normally worst entry out first, to reduce risk on the overall trade, and so on. Which most of the time should pretty much match FIFO.
What was bothering me was the confusion over stops. AND the fact that the "net" stop selection on the summary tab will NOT allow you to lock in profits on a trade OR close out individual positions within a trade! It REQUIRES your stop be a LOSS on your net position to accept it as a valid entry! That quickly became my biggest concern personally as we all know how difficult it can be at times just to hold onto forex gains ;) It also operates on the entire trade rather than separate entries.
Due in large part to the ineptitude of our regulators via Frank(en)Dodd and FINREG it turns out to be pretty easy to find a workaround for these changes by playing one FINREG rule against another. Sort of..
The no hedging rule can be used to effectively manage stops & limits on individual entries. Though the FIFO (first in, first out) rule will still apply.
Lets use an example here to try to clarify how this works..
Say we buy USDCAD 4 times in an attempt to build a long position (full disclosure, this is a current trade I am in).
1st entry 0.9663
2nd entry 0.9658 (too close I know..)
3rd entry 0.9638
4th entry 0.9613
By the time we get to the last entry at 0.9613 I'm under water on the overall trade pretty far so I want to protect myself from extreme risk due to volatility, and just plain being wrong on the trade, by putting a stop loss on at least some of my exposure.
The way the no hedging FINREG rule works in combination with the new FIFO rule is if you are long a pair and enter the same pair short it will close the first long you entered (due to FIFO rule). Knowing this I entered a limit sell order on USDCAD at 0.9603 (10 pips below my last / best price entry. (I think the dollar may pop as market risk increases). I also entered a 2nd limit sell order at 0.9593 which will act as a stop loss on my second (worst) entry ie; 0.9658.
When / if these limit sell orders execute they will act as stops and close my first 2 long entries (unfortunately for considerable losses).
Using this same technique you can also easily set stops which will lock in gains on an open position in the black which is now difficult if not impossible to do on FXCM's platform.
The same technique can be applied to limit orders to take profits as well. In the example of my USDCAD longs I have a limit sell order at 0.9663 which will, currently, close my 2nd entry (1st entry already went on 0.9603 stop) at 0.9663 or +5 pips, reducing risk. In this case I also have a limit sell order at 0.9693 which, currently, would apply to my 3rd entry for a gain of some 55 pips. My profit target on the final position is not set as yet (eyeing at least 0.9773) and I currently have no stops on the last 2 long entries.
Using these techniques allows you to still have fairly fine control over your trades on the FXCM trading platform. The most serious drawback is management of stops / limits.
If you manually close a position during a trade and have (loosely speaking) associated entries as stops limits you MUST be very diligent about keeping up with these as they will still exist after you manually close a position.
If I had a stop & limit on each of my (currently) 3 USDCAD long positions that would require 6 separate limit sell orders one each as a stop and one each as a limit.
So IF you want to try this technique do so at your own risk and be very diligent about managing your stops / limits when used in this manner.
8 beers late in the evening is no excuse for failure to do so ;)
IMHO the worst thing about the new FIFO rule is that it makes it impossible to scalp in the same direction in the middle of a good trade. ONLY in the United States of America! But I suppose we should blame congress for that and not our brokers..
For the record, so far I hate every single new FX Frank(en)Dodd FIN-f'ing-REG rule..
IMO regulators are most often (captured) BASTARDS!
Happy pipping to all and I sincerely hope this might have helped someone at least a little.
