On September 24^th, the New York Times published an article on the $700 billion bailout entitled “Plan’s Mystery: What’s All This Stuff Worth?”. This article explored the gov-co’s problem of putting a dollar value on mortgage-related assets that no one wants.

According to the NYT, “While prices of most stocks are no mystery — they flicker across PCs and televisions all day — the troubled investments [mortgage-based debt instruments] are not traded on any exchange. The market for them is opaque: traders do business over the telephone, and days can go by without a single trade.”

Hmph—so what’s the “price” for an investment when there is no market, virtually no one has been buying and, now, no one is willing to buy? Under the “free market” philosophy, that price should be Zero. However, “Valuing mortgage bonds, even the safest variety, requires guesstimates.” OK—instead of allowing the market to declare the price, perhaps Treasury will hire a psychic to predict the future.

“The reality is that we are not going to know what the right price is for years,” said Andrew Feltus, a bond portfolio manager at Pioneer Investments, a mutual fund firm based in Boston. “It might be 20 cents on the dollar or 60 cents on the dollar, but we won’t know for years.”

That’s not “reality,” that’s crapola. We won’t need years to learn what these debt instruments are worth—the free market has already placed today’s price the stocks at or near Zero. Whether the price might be 20 cents or 60 cents or Zero cents at some future date should not be our concern.

Wall St., however, will need “years” of confusion and uncertainty to conceal the fact that they’ve operated a fraudulent investment scam based on “pieces of paper” priced by Wall St. insiders rather than a public market. In other words, a Wall St. insider essentially walked in, looked at a piece of paper (debt instrument) and unilaterally declared it to be worth, umm, say, $100 million—much like I might declare the value of the pot I used to cook my dinner to be $100 million. Then, the Wall St. insider would sell that “$100 million” piece of paper to another insider for $200 million, and the second insider could sell the paper to a third for $500 million, and then sell it again the original insider for $1 billion. With a very small “market” restricted to just a few insiders, debt instruments could be sold and sold again and again in “round robin” fashion to artificially and fraudulently increase the apparent “price” of the instruments. Then, using a billion-dollar piece of paper as collateral, Wall St. insiders might go to a bank and borrow a “real” billion dollars.

Of course, if the American people realized that Wall St. has been valuing pieces of paper at $1 billion whose true price was Zero, somebody might be jailed for defrauding banks with worthless collateral. Therefore, Wall St. insiders insist we’ll need years—lots of years—to “discover” what the “true value” of these “assets” might be. So long as we don’t “discover” that these debt instruments are worthless, there probably won’t be any criminal prosecutions for fraud.

However, thanks to our $700 billion bailout, the government will now look at lots of these debt instruments, certify that they were (or should be) worth $1 billion and buy them for $100 million. Once gov-co certifies that these “troubled investments” had some real value, the evidence of fraud will be pretty much eliminated and some very wealthy people will be able to sleep soundly on their yachts.

All of this illustrates two fundamental problems of the modern economic system: 1) How do we establish the price of anything? And 2) How do we prevent the prices from being manipulated by insiders?

The science of mouse traps consists of discovering and using irresistible incentives (cheese) to cause unwitting mice to act in a way that’s contrary to their best self-interests. With science and skill, people have learned how to build better (cheaper) mousetraps to cause the mice to surrender something valuable (their lives) for something almost worthless: a taste of cheese (a/k/a the “free lunch”).

The modern science of economics is fundamentally similar to the science of mousetraps. By understanding economics (human motivations) and obtaining exclusive control over the supply of “cheese” (legal tender or credit), the rich and/or powerful cause and motivate the “mice” (people) to act in ways that are contrary to people’s own self-interests. By means of economics, the powerful motivate the people (mice) to surrender something valuable (their life energy) in return for something intrinsically worthless (legal tender). At bottom, our vaunted modern “economy” is a highly sophisticated machine used to rob the masses and enrich the powerful. As currently applied, our economy is a mantrap baited with legal tender.

Today, our modern economy (mantrap) is in crisis. The mice have started to see that: 1) the bait (legal tender or credit) isn’t even real “cheese” (gold or silver money); and 2) we can be badly hurt if we stick our heads in the economic trap.

This understanding is manifested by price instability and market volatility. We look at the stock markets and the Dow Jones is down 777 one day and up 490 the next. The price of crude oil soars to $140, falls to $95, and bounces back to $105. In just a few months, the price of gold hit $1,040, tumbled to $750, jumped up again to $910 and fall back to $840.

The price instability and market volatility that we see in the equity, bond and commodity markets are evidence that the people no longer have a reliable system of values. Without a reliable system of values, the people don’t know what to do. Should we buy or sell? Hesitate or go for broke? Shall we take another bite of “cheese” attached to a $700 billion dollar mousetrap or shall we go hungry?

Some mice are beginning to balk at the scent of cheese (legal tender) and refuse to enter the mousetrap. Government and whatever powers government serves have responded by providing bigger (inflated) chunks of artificial cheese to lure us back into the trap. But as more and more mice recognize that the new-and-improved “cheese” is really the same old cheese, only inflated and puffed up to look more tasty, more and more “mice” are refusing to enter the trap.

For example, the mice are refusing to pay $1 million for a house that’s only worth only $250,000. We are refusing to use our Master Cards to “shop ‘til we drop”—or “shop ‘til we’re trapped”. Local banks are refusing to use their power of fractional reserve banking to inflate $100 worth of cheese into $1,000 worth of artificial, inflated cheese (consumer credit loans).

Price instability and market volatility are ultimately based on a single reality: our means of measuring value—our medium of exchange (the dollar)—has no value. Having no intrinsic value, our dollar has become value-less. We are left to measure our prices with an elastic yardstick.

Imagine measuring the height of your child with an elastic yardstick that is supposed to be 3 feet long, but can sometimes be 2 feet long and at other times be 6 feet long. How tall is your son? Is he taller or shorter than other kids his age? Without a fixed standard of measurement, you can’t know if you should be proud or concerned by your son’s growth. Is your boy the tallest kid in his class? Then you might be proud. If he’s so tall as to suggest that he might have a pituitary problem, you might be concerned. If he’s abnormally short, you might want to take your boy to an endocrinologist for hormone shots to make him grow to a normal height.

But without some accurate measurement of what your boy’s height is, and without accurate measurements of the average height of all boys his age, you can’t know what to do. Without accurate measurements, you can’t know whether to buy him a basketball or take him to the doctor. So long as your unit of measurement (an elastic yardstick) is not fixed, you can’t truly know what to do.

In economics, prices are the measurements by means of which we decide “what to do”. For example, you may not want, need or be able to afford a new Cadillac priced at $50,000. But if you found someone willing to sell his new Caddy for just $5,000, could you afford to turn down the deal?

Prices tell us what to do. By means of prices, we know where we can afford to live, what food we can afford to eat, how much we can afford to spend on clothing, cars and vacations. Prices ultimately tell us how many children we can have, and even whether we should marry or divorce. (The primary cause of divorce in this country is “financial stress”.)

So long as prices are steady or at least changing at a predictable and moderate rate, almost all of us—from the homeless bum to the richest billionaire—can confidently handle our own financial affairs. We absolutely know if we can or cannot afford to eat a lobster dinner, buy a new Cadillac, or divorce our spouse so we can fool around with our secretary (or gardener).

But when prices become unstable, we don’t know what to do. Worse, once we realize that prices aren’t merely unstable, but are manipulated by the powerful in ways we cannot guess or predict, we become afraid to act. Price volatility pushes us toward a condition of self-doubt and fear, and we tend to panic or to do nothing. The inflatable/deflatable “cheese” is no longer sufficient to motivate us to build traps, sell traps, buy traps or stick our heads in the traps. Our “mantrap” economy grinds to a halt.

The ultimate reason for our current “economic crisis” is not financial. The financial problems are an effect, not a cause. The real cause is an unstable system of values precipitated by an “elastic” dollar which (like an elastic yardstick) can no longer provide accurate measurements (prices) on which we can rely to decide what to do.

For example, you might live in a house that’s priced at $250,000. You might want to sell your house. I might have 2,500 hundred-dollar bills (cash). Although my 2,500 green pieces of paper are currently “priced” at $250,000, it cost less than a nickel to print each of those 2,500 pieces of paper. Thus, the true “value” of my 2,500 green pieces of paper may be less than $125. So, if I come to your door and offer to pay you 2,500 pieces of paper (which cost only $125 to produce) for your $250,000 house, are you really willing to sell to me? Will you trade your three-bedroom, two-bath house for a pile of paper and ink that cost $125 to produce?

If so, you are exactly the kind of “mouse” that the modern economy needs and depends upon. You’re the guy who thinks he can safely stick his head in the trap and get a free cheese lunch.

Ohh, and don’t forget that if current inflation is running at 15%, if you take my 2,500 pieces of paper (cheese), by this time next year, that payment will only have a purchasing power of about 2,125 piece of paper. So, what should you do? Sell or just hunker down? Without stable prices and a fixed medium of exchange, how can you know what to do?

Price instability affects the buyer just as much as the seller. For example, knowing that price of American homes fell by an average of 17% over the past twelve months and will likely fall that much again over the next twelve months, do I really want to trade my 2,500 green pieces of paper today for a house that I can probably purchase for just 2,000 pieces of paper twelve months from now? What should I do? Buy, or hunker down?

Odds are that based on this legal-tender confusion of values, at least one of us will “hunker down” and refuse to transact. Either you will refuse to sell because your recognize my 2,500 pieces of paper are subject to 15% inflation, or I will refuse to buy because your house is subject to 17% deflation. Result? No transaction. No one voluntarily sticks his head in the trap to taste the cheese. Without willing victims, the mantrap economy begins falter. Gov-co screams “the sky is falling and you damn mice better fork over $700 billion to shore it up!”

Why does it all happen? Because the U.S. dollar is a pure fiat currency that has no intrinsic value. Despite our the prohibition at Article 1 Section 10 Clause of our U.S. Constitution (“No State shall . . . make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”), there’s been no gold coin in general circulation in this country since A.D. 1933 and no silver since A.D. 1968. We are living in a “brave, new world order” of fiat money where “everything is negotiable” precisely because we have no fixed medium of exchange and no fixed values. Thanks to our fiat monetary system, our constitutional fixed medium of exchange (our fixed means of measurement), has been replaced by an elastic and unreliable medium where no price can be known for sure.

What is the real value of a house priced at $250,000 or a derivative priced at $10 million? Answer: Nobody knows. More, no one will know, no one can know, until we restore a specie-backed monetary system. Gov-co is complaining that we have a problem with “illiquid assets”. “Illiquid” means that no one will buy the alleged “asset”—at least not at a price even close to what the last “fool” paid. Why won’t folks buy? Because they don’t know what the value of the “illiquid asset” really is. Why don’t they know? Because there’s no fixed medium of exchange and no fixed system of values. Because we don’t know the value, we won’t buy (or sell).

Without reliable prices, we don’t know what to do, and therefore we tend to do nothing. As we “hunker down” in confusion and fear, the economic mantrap grinds to a halt.

Now, the question becomes, can we “mice” find “cheese” (or anything else that’s real) to support ourselves without the associated trap? Amazingly, we’ve become conditioned to accept the “fact” that “cheese” can only be found inside the mantraps. I.e., without the trap (the fiat money economy), we must starve.

Lookit the $700 billion bail-out. What’s gov-co’s fundamental argument? They argue that if you freakin’ mice won’t stick your heads in a $700 billion trap, you’ll only wind up in a bigger, badder trap later on. The fundamental argument of the modern economy is that you freakin’ mice can’t survive without the mousetrap. Amazingly, we mice have been conditioned to believe that mousetraps are the source of cheese; that without mousetraps (and the free lunch they promise), there can be no cheese and we must therefore perish. Modern economic theory is the means by which those who have power to make the cheese (legal tender) have taught the mice to worship the mousetrap.

Today’s critical question is: Can the mice can make it without the trap? Can we survive outside the trap? The answer is Yes (some can) and No (some can’t).

The essential feature of any mousetrap is the promise of a free lunch. Those mice that are sufficiently moral, independent, and self-reliant to live without a free lunch can survive without the inflated cheese (legal tender) and without mousetraps. Those mice that are addicted to the free cheese (financial junk food and junk bonds) and who are unable or unwilling to independently provide for themselves will be trapped and destroyed. (Gov-co describes the mice addicted to the free lunch as “useless eaters”.)

What kind of “free lunch” is available to trap the mice? How ‘bout So-So Security? If you give them 15% of everything you earn for 45 years (a sum that for most people would be enough to generate over $1 million in saving if privately invested), gov-co will give you a $1,200 monthly pittance when you retire (maybe).

And then there’s the free lunch in your retirement funds. Just invest you legal tender today, and get rich quick tomorrow. It’s easy, it’s fun, and you don’t actually have to work. You just invest (gamble). It’s like going to an economic casino where all the players are guaranteed to win on every roll of the dice.

Easy credit is another free lunch that allows us to buy homes we can’t afford, didn’t earn and don’t deserve. And then there’s deficit financing so gov-co can seemingly provide “free” Medicare and Medicaid. How ‘bout mortgage-backed bonds, derivatives and Structured Investment Vehicles whereby the “really smart” mice can leverage thousands into millions and millions into trillions?

There is no end to the variety of “free lunches” whereby we are all promised “something-for-nothing” at someone else’s expense.

The problem is that, ultimately, there is no free lunch. The promise of unearned wealth is a lie. Sooner or later, those who nibble at the free cheese trigger the trap’s sudden smack. Each bite of “free” cheese only imparts more and more potential energy into the trap’s spring (debt) until the spring becomes so tightly over-wound, that it snaps with a vengeance. Today, our spring (debt) has almost sprung.

As I’ve previously written, the total American debt (government and private) is at least $75 trillion (some say $100 trillion). $75 trillion works out to $250,000 in debt for every man, woman and child. That debt can’t possibly be paid. That debt is the evidence of all the free “cheese” we’ve consumed over the past couple of generations. That debt is the kinetic energy stored in the “spring” in the “mantrap” we call our “economy”. When the spring pops loose, it’s gonna kill or maim every mouse in the trap.

I’m warning every “mouse” with ears to hear and eyes to see to flee the trap NOW. The “cheese” (free lunch and legal tender) will Ground Zero when the spring snaps. Get as far from that “cheese” as you possibly can.

Unfortunately, this is a “global” trap. When it snaps, few countries will escape the deadly “smack”. So where to you run? I doubt that there is any country that’s truly safe.

Nevertheless, if you already have wealth stored in some variety of “cheese” (stocks, bonds, retirement funds, So-So Security denominated in legal tender), recognize that your chances of ever eating that “cheese” are slim indeed. Do not rely on that artificial, legal-tender “cheese” to feed you when times get tough. If possible, take your legal tender (junk food/junk bond/junk cash) “cheese” and convert it into something truly “edible” like specie (gold and silver). More, begin to adjust your mindset to 1) recognize that you can’t prosper in the legal tender trap; 2) you must learn to survive without a free lunch.

Again, the “cheese” in our economic mantrap is legal tender. That “cheese” will be Ground Zero when the trap snaps. Get as far from legal tender as you can. Flee the green pieces of paper, Master Card and Visa. This whole damned economic trap is based on the belief that the people can’t survive without legal tender trap. I think we can. It’s the “system” that can’t survive without legal tender. Hold the gold you own; buy more if you can.

Buckle up.

Job Links: http://guile42.ipower.com

All Jobs posted are Direct and Immediate Hiring from Job Links in Middle East, Switzerland, USA, Europe and other Asian Countries.

Friends from various companies and employers keep on sending email about their immediate and Job listings, these are all posted in this link Job Links: http://guile42.ipower.com - this site is updating everweek for new Jobs and links are updated everyday for New Jobs offered around the Globe.

Visit the Job links and Send to all friends and Job Seekers

Job Links: http://guile42.ipower.com

Happy Job Hunting!

Job Links: http://guile42.ipower.com

And that includes my unfrugal trip to New York.  So!  All balanced and such.  Well, except for the ridiculous amount of groceries- that's because I had a housewarming party and bought drinks and liquor, and there's no good other obvious spot for "booze" than "Hobbies" and that's just not how it is.  The rent check hasn't been cashed yet, so that's why I appear to be homeless, also.  I'm fine, I'm fine.  And don't freak out, dad, this is only what I spent, and I have other stuff saved and not spent and I'm being very wise, but that's not part of the spending.

So, that is what I did last month, and it's a load off my mind.  Perhaps one day I will be able to put myself through grad school and maybe buy a place, at least if money is worth anything anymore after this banking crisis plays out.

This month I'm trying something also a little more esoterically "green".  I am going to volunteer.  At something.  Somewhere.  I'm not sure what.  Maybe something environmental, maybe other things too.  I need to get out and give back, and be active in my community for a while.  I was singularly bad at the "green activism", and I've always been better at donating to charity than working for it.  So, once more into the breech.

Plus, Christmas is coming, and I'm dreading the season and all the giving.  I want to start giving somewhere and someway it's actually needed for a while.

Hollywood Gossip - I admit I am woefully behind on this one. If it doesn't air on the radio during my twenty minute commute, I probably haven't heard. Is it cheating if I log onto TMZ? I did read on Dads House that Miley Cirus is dating a 20 year old model, and her father is in full support of the relationship. It is a big age difference, however, I hardly think Miley is your typical 15 year old. It might be my nievete when it comes to Country Stars, but they always seem to be a lot more down to earth than the rest of Hollywood. I'm guessing Billy Ray knows his daughter a lot better than the rest of us, and I don't see him encouraging the relationship just for some publicity. As long as she doesn't end up Prego and ruin a great career like Jamie Lynn Spears, I'm going to continue to be a fan. I adore her show, and think she is a great role model for kids. Yes, I hated the Vanity Fair pics, but I'm going to give Miley and Billy the benefit of the doubt, and trust that some crazy "artist" at the Photo Shoot convinced them those were tasteful. Oh, and I really love that duet she and her dad to together. I haven't figured out how to embed youtube stuff in Wordpress yet (Read: at the moment I've had enough wine that I really don't feel like figuring it out.) so I linked to it instead.

Television - I freely admit I probably watch less than five hours of television a week. The time most people spend watching TV, I'd rather be  dicking around on the computer.

God, this is pathetic, but I literally just ran down to the basement where The Boyfriend is watching Monday Night Football, to ask him if I there are any other shows I follow besides Gray's Anatomy and The Office. He replied "You watch that Make Your House, Clean Your Room show". He's referring to Clean House. Gray's and The Office are really the only two shows I watch religiously, and it's just my luck that they come on at the same time every week. Thank God for DVR. If I am bored, though, I like to watch A&E's Intervention, The Dog Whisperer, Law & Order SVU (I used to watch this more before they made Elliot into a Crazy Cop, which seems to be the center of every episode - "The week, Elliot is pushed to the Edge." - Wait, wasn't that last week?) How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It's Always Sunny is Boyfriends favorite show. I find it depraved, but laugh at it anyways. Also just started catching Desparate Housewives again because I love how they've fast forwarded five years into the future. That was a great idea by the writers.

Politics - I do not feign to be even the least big educated on this subject. Guess how many minutes I've spent watching The Debates? Less than ten. I hate to say this, but all that "your vote counts" stuff is wasted on me. I don't really think any of our votes count that much, because I don't think the President, whoever he may end up being, can really change that much about our country. Call me ignorant, that's ok. At least I don't spout off a bunch of bullshit about crap I really don't know a damn thing about.

I am, however, in the Mortgage Industry. I am a full time working mom, and I truly enjoy what I do. I got into the mortgage industry at the height of the refi-boom, so this is my first experience with a down period. Values are declining, and people have to truly qualify for the homes they are buying now. It may have affected my income negatively, but I don't see it as a negative thing. IMHO, three years ago investors decided they didn't care if people could afford the house they bought, because if it foreclosed the house would be worth twice what they'd lended on it. I don't have a college degree, so I certainly didn't see this turn of events coming, but I can't understand how these highly educated banking wizards didn't understand that this Market was inevitable. With the pluthera of foreclosures and short sales on the Market, banks are eating it. And how banks are doing affects everything else in our economy (except maybe gas).

I'm not sure what needs to happen to drag us out of this recession. But the country has seen a recession before. What I worry about is a full fledged depression. Our banks might be FDIC insured - but what does insurance really mean if every bank goes under? Again - I don't pretend to be truly educated about this shit. I think the majority of us know only about 2% of what effects the real issues. And I think our president knows about 50%, thats all.

Well there ya go - I successfully completed a post that encompassed Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll. I mean, Hollywood, TV, and Politics. And folks, don't fear, thats probably the first and last post you'll ever see on my blog regarding politics.

But, it was nice to swerve from the usual for a change.

My husband's dad called him today to find out about grandma's moving plan. And he mentioned something about my husband's aunt plan on moving to NY as well. She lives in our state but different city; about 45 minutes from where we live.

My husband's families have always been asking my husband to move to NY.

I thought about it. I did like the idea. But then something struck me. How the heck are we going to haul all our pets? And how are we going to afford a house in NY? If I move to NY, I am not about to live in the boonies. No way. If I move to the city, I want to live in the city.

We are in a debt reduction mode and we just talked about a plan to eliminate all debts--mortgage included--by year 2015. We owe $145,000 on our mortgage. With our current plan, it is highly possible to eliminate that by 2015--and we will still be able to save my bonuses and both of our raises.

Where in NY will I find a job that gets me $100,000/year? Just for me. And as for my husband, I would very much like him to make way more than me. Ok, how about $150,000/year? Then it would be very possible for us to afford a house in the $500,000 - $750,000 somewhere close to the city in NY. But if no one can guarantee these salaries then forget it. Forget about living in the city. I am happy and very content living in the smaller city where we make over $100,000/year and we live on one salary---and!! and!! with our current plan, we should be able to retire with millions before we hit 60!!! How awesome is that.

I love where we live right now. We live so close to work--mine is only 5 minutes drive. We make good salaries. We own a house--that will be paid off in year 2015. The weather is nice all year round--no snow, no sleets, nothing crazy. The beach is only 20 - 30 minutes away. We are surrounded by water. It's super. I love it here. I really do. The one thing I absolutely love about this place is that it is so laid back here. I don't have to worry about catching up the subway or bus. I can park my car where ever I want. I can go the groceries whenever I want. I don't have to be on anyone's schedules. Everyone is nice and warm. I just love it here.

I love New York--to visit. I adore New York--for its glamorous life. However, the place where I am now is where I belong until I am ready to retire. I am not moving to New York. By that time, I will be moving to Savannah, Georgia--where I can sit back and relax in one of their pocket parks.

To the dismay of analysts, Americans are closing their wallets and hanging on to their money (Wall Street responded today). Now why would we do that? There is nobody to bail out the rest of us. Our 401K's are tanking, jobs/layoffs are shaky, and prices are either rising or holding high, save for gas (yipee).

So what of McCain and Obama? They both lobbied for the bailout. And what was the result? Well, you saw the market today. Now Hank Paulsen is going to have his pals administer the bailout.

Folks, we've been had. Money doesn't disappear; somebody has it. And it certainly isn't in the pocket of Joe Six-pack. Wells Fargo will tell you. So will Citigroup. And so will Washington...

The World of rjjrdq

Technorati Tags: Wall Street, bailout, government

The pope announced last week that he would begin a televised reading of all 73 books of the bible beginning yesterday. Spare me notes arguing about the number of books in the bible - I’m not going to get mired down in apologetics - and just stick with me.

So, think about it - right now GOING OUT OVER THE AIR - from Rome, is The Word. In its entirety, whole and complete, without any books tossed aside or neglected.

Who rules the air? Who does St. Paul call “the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works on the children of unbelief…” in Ephesians 2:2?

That’s right. [Satan]

This is a battle. There are things seen and unseen. Right now we see a battle being played out, politically, economically and socially. But there is another battle being played out as well - all around us, borne on the invisible air. I think Benedict is brilliant in doing this. The Word being breathed into the air, unabridged, and the Holy Spirit rides on the breath. This is very cool.

[links and italics added] One commenter there notes:

If you are interested in watching the live internet feed, this links directly to Italian television. http://www.labibbiagiornoenotte.rai.it/dl/Bibbia/index.html

Click on the upper right red box for the live feed to the reading [or go directly here]. It’s in Italian. They’re up to Judges 17 as of Monday 4:45 [PM] EST. [1st Samuel 30 as of Monday 10:00PM, EDT]

So this stuff is pouring out into the air... a word mentioned just once in Revelation:

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!"

It is done... the Pope's thing... the Bible reading... this coming weekend... Hmm... Now maybe I'm reading waaaay too much into this (hey, it's my blog), but here's how Ambrose Evans-Pritchard describes the spreading global financial crisis in today's (Monday's) UK Telegraph [emphasis and links added]:

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been forced to pull her head out of the sand, guaranteeing all German savings, a day after she rebuked Ireland for doing much the same thing. Reality intrudes.

During the past week, we have tipped over the edge, into the middle of the abyss. Systemic collapse is in full train. The Netherlands has just rushed through a second, more sweeping nationalisation of Fortis. Ireland and Greece have had to rescue all their banks. Iceland is facing an Argentine denouement.

The US commercial paper market is closed. It shrank $95bn last week, and has lost $208bn in three weeks. The interbank lending market has seized up. There are almost no bids. It is a ghost market. Healthy companies cannot roll over debt. Some will have to sack staff today to stave off default.

As the unflappable Warren Buffett puts it, the credit freeze is “sucking blood” out of the economy. “In my adult lifetime, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people as fearful,” he said.

We are fast approaching the point of no return. The only way out of this calamitous descent is “shock and awe” on a global scale, and even that may not be enough.

Here's the rest of the Revelation passage that began with the pouring out into the air:

Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

Shock and awe on a global scale?... Hmm... The air pouring of Biblical truth ends in just a few days. Anchoress recommends prayer and fasting. Call this a hearty second to that very modest proposal. This was the sub-headline for the Telegraph article:

We face extreme danger. Unless there is immediate intervention on every front by all the major powers acting in concert, we risk a disintegration of global finance within days. Nobody will be spared...

Every major power? Nobody spared? Either his language is deliberately apocalyptic or unconsciously so. Either way, it seems eerily in synch with the language of the heavenly battle going on in parallel.

UPDATE I: This BBC explanation of the Pope's comments today is priceless.

UPDATE II: More details on the reading...

...the Bible will be read from beginning to end in various languages by nearly 1,200 readers. The Pontiff's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will conclude the marathon Saturday, reading the last chapter of Revelation... The site of the reading will be the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusaleme in Rome. Organizers received 180,000 requests to participate in the event. [and we hear faith is dying in Europe] Benedict XVI spoke about the event... “The Word of God can thus enter into homes to accompany the lives of families and single persons: a seed that, if properly welcomed, will not fail to bear abundant fruit."

UPDATE III: Re. 'shock and awe', the period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur (last Tuesday through this coming Thursday is described as "the Days of Awe". Hmm... If I'm doing my math right, a Sunday start and Saturday finish for the Bible reading means that, in rough terms, the transition from Old Testament to New Testament will occur on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of atonement (Wednesday sundown to Thursday sundown, this week). Not sure what that means, but it's interesting. (My kid has the day off in the very Jewish town in which I live.)

Any reasonable person should approach media produced information with some degree of skepticism. Obviously, television networks, Internet sites, blogs, campaign ads and other sources of information express opinions of those who run them. These opinions are not designed to inform the public of the absolute truth. Information is tainted in order for networks to please their supporters and monetary contributors. Note the influence of money here. “Money talks” is a maxim that is all too true. Networks cannot operate without money, so those who give them money have the most say in what information is reported in what way. Money often influences people to act in ways differing from what they would do outside its influence.

Unfortunately, the case of the bailout is no exception. Money played an important influential role in winning Democratic votes to support the second bailout.

At first glance, I fell for liberal arguments that the first bailout failed from lack of conservative support. However, now I see the lie here. Democrats hold a majority in the House of Representatives, and could have passed this bill without the help of any Republicans. In fact, if 12 more Democrats had voted for the bill, it would have passed. Those included in the opposing votes were Barney Franks’ own financial board members, and five committee chairmen. I find it strange how Franks failed to get his own people to support the bill.

The Second Bailout Bill:

So the original Paulson Plan, a 3-page plan that turned into a 120 page House bill, fails with 228 opposing votes, 205 supporting. Congress then takes a little break for the Jewish Holiday, comes back and passes a new bailout bill that is over 450 pages long. The vote was successful 263 to 171. So what was hidden in all those pages that gained so much Democratic support? MONEY

Congressmen were outraged at the original plan that called for 700 billion dollars in government spending, but quickly ratified a second plan that included an extra 140 billion in pork barrel spending.

Democrats were only willing to cooperate for the administration called for – a bailout to help the financial crisis – in exchange for they wanted – earmark spending including 20 billion dollars for ACORN, a community organization group that has been caught in several scandals including voter fraud and has been known to use questionable tactics to achieve its desires. (Note that Obama receives criticism for his ties to ACORN)

In a time of such financial crisis and large government spending, I find this earmark spending and required manipulation of Congressmen to get them to do what’s right absolutely appalling! Not to mention that stock prices have worsened since the bailout passed, as government is not sure what to really do with all this money now that they have the approval to spend it. Nothing is really being accomplished because the government can’t figure out what to do with the money. In a way, the bailout turned out to be a blank check written to government at taxpayer expense. Oh it was a check for a national necessity to keep our financial markets from crashing but with extra expenses attached to please greedy politicians. Also, the “blank check” in the hands of government costs each taxpayer $2300.

We are in a time of financial crisis, but the reason that we got into this situation comes largely from irresponsible financial choices and spending money that we don’t have. In some ways, like the earmark spending and lack of direction or clear plan of action, Congress is part of this irresponsibility. The more I learn about the economic crisis at hand, the more I see that our economy is bleeding from a collection of decisions from many irresponsible individuals. It seems that this bailout is only a tiny band-aid that doesn’t really cover the wound.

My fear is that the pain of this wound will continue to grow if some healing actions are not enacted quickly. I’m even more afraid if irresponsibility continues that the economy may bleed to death. 

NEW YORK — Oil prices plunged below $90 a barrel Monday, coming within reach of year-ago levels as a widening financial maelstrom spreads overseas and crimps global demand for energy.

A barrel of oil has not been this cheap in eight months, suggesting that the climate in which oil soared to unheard of levels is coming to an abrupt end.

Crude's stunning fall comes just three months after prices surged close to $150 a barrel. Investors, it appears, have little faith that the $700 billion U.S. rescue plan will provide a quick fix for the stumbling U.S. economy.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $6.07, or 6.4%, to settle at $87.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was crude's fourth straight negative session and its lowest settlement since Feb. 6.

Oil prices have tumbled 40% since peaking at $147.27 a barrel on July 11.

World stock markets plunged Monday amid growing investor anxiety that the U.S. debt crisis is enveloping Europe. Germany announced a bailout package Sunday totaling $69 billion for Hypo Real Estate, the country's second-biggest commercial property lender. Ireland, Iceland, Denmark and Greece moved quickly to guarantee bank deposits to ease consumer anxiety.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years, losing as much as 800 points.

Click to Read More.

Watch for these consolidations in later this year:

1. 1. Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W. R. Grace Co. Will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace
   2. Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner, Cracker
   3. 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood
   4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa
   5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become: FedUP
   6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild
   7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PouponPants
   8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!
   And finally...   

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

I caught my aunt and uncle's names on a list of political donors in the Nashville area today.  They gave $12,900 to Friends of Fred Thompson Inc.

I'm highly upset about this for a few different reasons, the least of which is political.

I'm itching to write something vitriolic about them here, but I think I need to zip my lips (or my keyboard, as it were) and sleep on it - they are family, after all.

It's all crap. If those systems worked, would someone need to advertise the sale of the "Proven System" to make money? Have you ever noticed that when you click those links you see someone sitting in an apartment or house with drab surroundings and generally liter about them. They are rarely dressed as if they have real money and one of the biggest tell's is the watch they have on. If it looks like a $10 timex, they probably didn't make a million on the "Proven System" they are trying to sell you. Even if you see a them wearing a Movado I wouldn't be so sure they didn't get it out of a pawn shop with no "guts".

I make some of my money on line. I do well. I haven't made a million off of my work and I probably never will. Well, if you counted all of my earnings from day one it might total a half million or at least close to it. With that thought in mind I have been working on the internet for over 8 years now. If we divide a half a million by 8 we get $62,500 a year. It's not a fortune, but it's a living.

Keep in mind that's not every year either. There are ups and downs. Market trends and more. It is a science of sorts. There are those who profess that they can teach you the "secrets" of this and it will take all of 15 minutes. Just click here and pay and then you too can make you stake on the Internet gold mine! Don't fall for it. Check them out and look at there sites but don't fall prey to the scams. Some of the info they didn't know they had is right there on the site. They don't know that the best part of what they have is free on the website. That's because they don't have the knowledge they are trying to sell to you. They bought it from some other website.

I have spent years looking at different programs and joining into different advertising systems. Many of them have worked out well for me and I still use a few of them as my standard money makers. I have a few I have dropped totally as they were worthless and more of a waste of space.

AdSense:

This is one of the ones I will never let go of. It is balanced and clean. Flexible and more or less a good monetary generator. I have this system among others on all of my web sites and on all of my blog's. Don't think of clicking your own ads in your AdSense banners or blocks. You will get banned quickly. It's not worth watching all of your hard work get flushed away because you got greedy. It takes time to build an income with any system.

WidgetBucks:

WidgetBucks claims to be the ultimate AdSense alternative. It inserts 'dynamic' ads that cycle through several products in real-time, while displaying those products "Ratings", descriptions and "best prices." Widgetbucks created a stir with its aggressive advertising campaign, and promise of high click payoffs. With WidgetBucks, your income structure is based on pay-per-click, where you are paid for each click made on an ad by a legitimate website visitor. You do not earn anything for conversions, or products sold as a result of those clicks. Also, don't even think of clicking your own ads. The core of Widgetbucks ads is that they dynamically cycle through a list of products, rather than showing a static ad that only changes with a page refresh. Widgetbucks ad code uses Javascript snippet's to call up Flash-based ads. At the end of the day Widgetbucks is perhaps one of the easiest publisher programs to use.

Kontera:

Kontera’s ContentLink is a double underlined contextually relevant keyword on a web page that upon mouse-over opens a small bubble like box that displays and links to an ad from one of Kontera’s advertisers. Kontera’s ContentLink can be a nice source of additional revenue along with AdSense and any other advertising programs you use, without taking any extra space on your web page. This is a huge value as you don't have to sacrifice any more page space to the ads themselves. Instead you can devote more space to making a web page work for you and be attractive to the visitor. Kontera works best with web sites that have a lot of textual content and traffic. They do have a requirement of 500,000 pageviews per month. However even smaller sites should apply. The more pages your visitors view, the higher chance of them to view and click an ad. The only draw back is the appearance of the Double Underlined text. If there are too many of them per page it tends to look spamish.
I am starting my experimental phase with Kontera on a few of my other sites now. I will let you know how it works out.

LinkShare:

LinkShare is a provider of affiliate marketing solutions which enable online merchants to offer commission for sales driven by other websites, called affiliates. LinkShare provides the technology for a merchant like Dell to partner with and track transactions originated by affiliated websites. The LinkShare network of merchants and affiliates make it easy for both parties to locate and partner with each other. They work and blend well as you can choose your advertising partners and products to be displayed as well as placement. Many of the advertisers run "stores" which can simply be attached to your site with a few lines of code. If you want to run a web store and don't have a large budget to lay out and buy into the dealer programs out there, this might be the alternative for you.

Commission Junction:

Much like LinkShare they handle affiliate based advertising. This is one of the programs I dropped after a few months. OK it took me about 2 years to drop them. My payments slowed to a trickle. Most of the advertisers I was working with left the program. I decided that was enough. They had to go.

I have also worked with several other systems and programs - I will review those later. But for the most part they were in effective and really were more of a waste of time and effort.

For more information read our press release here:  http://www.prlog.org/10125528-acceptx-to-host-business-seminar-for-orthodontists.html

Be Smart!

B2

1. You get all the money from your ancestors or you win a lottery which is less likely to happen

2. Investement... This is how the rich get rich!

Invest In What?

There is only one way you can get rich and that is to invest. There are a lot of different type of Investements you can do. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds etc... My two favorites are FOREX and REAL ESTATE

The reason I say these two because with forex you have very high returns. You can have about an average of 10% monthly. On good months you can even make 25%.

Real Estate is a must for anyone who wants to get rich. You can't expect to be rich and not own any land. Obviously you aren't going to start out with sky scrapers, but you have to start. Start somewhere.

Forex

Knowing how your economy if fluctuating is a must in today's world. Now if you are going to be following your economy anyways why not make some money off it. Trading forex is simpler than you think and you can make it more complicated than it is if you go the wrong way. You can get a head start about forex at www.babypips.com. This is a very good site to get you started on general knowledge about how forex works. Remember not to get too involved with all they systems out there because nothing works as good as Price Action. Price action is just how the prices move and trading based on this will give you better results than anything else. You need patience and the motivation to trade forex. If you have the motivation to be rich, the patience, and most importantly the right mindset of rich then there is nothing in your way that stops you from becoming rich.

Some links to start out

www.forex.com

www.fxcm.com

www.acmusa.com

www.oanda.com

Real Esate

Just like the founder of Mc Donald said that his proffession is selling burgers but his business is real estate. You eventually will have to own land to become rich. Just owning your own house is not it at all. You house that you live in is a liability. You need to own land that is your assest. I will get into this more in my future posts

P.S. Remember you get rich by building up you assests and not by owning a balling house or a Ferrari. You can ofcourse buy a Ferrari and mansion, but that comes after you have built up financially stable. In other words buying those without being in dept. Also remember you mindset is the most important thing about getting rich because this is what will lead you to your sucess.

For now you best Investement would be some books to increase your Financial IQ.

Some Recommended Books

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

Investing 101 - Kristof

Zero to a Million - Ryan P. Allis

Real Estate Riches - Dolf De Roots

and ofcourse any book by Warren Buffet is a right one.

-- These are just some books to get you started out and you will see more in my future posts.

Have a great day and remember a good way to do things are atleast do one thing towards your success each day!

Lookout for new posts or you can suscribe to the rss link to make it easier to keep up

http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-23830

This is the first year I have ever invested money.  I did what I was "supposed to do" and put $4000 in an IRA and have also been contributing 30% of my paycheck in an effort to live frugally and save for retirement.  I no longer have all of that that money.  Had I kept it in my original account, I would  be earning 5.25%.  I am irritated and nervous.  I will not do it again.  That is A LOT of money to me.  I feel ill.

I know I know...wait it out.  I don't really have a choice but to do so.  But I will tell you what, I will not be contributing any more money.  This situation just further spurs my desire to drop-out.  In other words--I no longer will play the game by the rules.  I will find alternatives.  After all, I have lived my entire life doing things differently...why stop now.   BAH.

So I guess that is the bright side.  It is even more incentive to do what I am doing--changing my life in a way that I live by my own rules, within the prescribed rules of course.  I have choices.

Thought about travel all day and found some great sites:

http://www.hostels.com/

http://attitudetravel.com/

http://804.flightlookup.com/rtw/rtw_1.php?region=AP5

will check them out later.

I want to go to the Olympic Peninsula.  That will be our next trip.  YAY!!

October 06, 2008
A Question
Posted by Charles Featherstone at October 6, 2008 01:59 PM

*** begin quote ***

Some years ago, I signed up for U.S. Treasury press releases regarding bond and note sales. I don't remember why I did this, and generally I never bothered to read the e-mails.

*** end quote ***

Once upon a time, Treasury debt, specifically T-Bills, were only available in 10k$ denomination. Once upon a time, FDIC insurance was only available up to a very limited amount. (I remember it as 10k. But that was a long long time ago.) Obviously, there was some payoffs -- legal campaign contributions or illegal graft -- and "insurance" was raised to 100k.

Why do we need FDIC?

Small depositors can deal directly with the Treasury via Treasury Direct!

So, explain to me again WHY we need any FDIC insurance?

Is it a payoff to banks who make contributions? Or is there another scam going on?

Sigh!

# # # # #

საერთოდ აღარაფერი აღარ მეწერინება... არ ვიცი რისი ბრალია.. ისედაც აბნეულად ვცხოვრობ, იმდენ დროს ვფლანგავ სულ ტყუილად კარგად მისაბეგვი ვარ რა :( ალბათ სტიმული არ მაქვს თუ რა ხდება ვერ გავიგე. ემოციურადაც გამოფიტული ვარ და საერთოდ ვერ ვიტან რომ ბოლო დროა წუწუნის მეტს არაფერს ვაკეთებ... რაღაც გადაწყვეტილება უნდა მივიღო, ვიპოვო გზა რომლითაც მინდა ვიარო,მიზნები დავისახო და ვიზრუნო მათ შესრულებაზე, მაგრამ ეს ყველაფერი იმდენა ხუინიად მიმაჩნია ხანდახან....

აი ესეა რა... ისევ ვერ გავიგე რა მინდა საერთოდ...

ან ვიცი...

ბევრი ფული მინდა, ძალიან ბევრი და მოგზაურობა დედამიწის გარშემო....