Post Economic Collapse

[jordifs]

Question #1: What happens to personal debt if the currency used collapses and is replaced by another? (I believe personal debt will become null and void since contractual debt cannot be repaid.)

I believe the debt will never become null. The contractual obligations are not relevant to the currency itself.

Question #2: What happened to personal debt when the European countries switched to the Euro? Was your old debt switched over too, under a new rate?

In EU all existing debt switched to a new currency. The rate was fixed so each country exchange the old values for the new one with the same rate. Even this changed afterwards.

 

[Ca.]

Wiki description of Economic collapse. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Econmic_collapse

An economic collapse is a devastating breakdown of a national, regional, or territorial economy. It is essentially a severe economic depression characterised by a sharp increase in bankruptcy and unemployment. A full or near-full economic collapse is often quickly followed by months, years, or even decades of economic depression, social chaos, and civil unrest. Such crises have both been seen to afflict capitalist market economies and state controlled economies. However, in either case the causes and cures are quite different. The economic forecasting community is of two minds on the likely outcome of the financial crisis that erupted in 2007. Some commentators consider it to herald an international economic collapse while the majority, including governments and international organisations, predict a sluggish economy or a recessionary trend.

In talking to people lately, of the numbers whom understand or are grasping the true condition of the U.S. and global economic crisis, it is very small too how many are tuned in (the frequency fence) to the true reality of the situation, compared to the television version of reality. The PTB's (man behind the curtain) keep pushing the illusion to maintain order and as it fits their agenda, to keep it rolling until they pull the plug.


And article on 10 Practical Steps That You Can Take To Insulate Yourself (At Least Somewhat) From The Coming Economic Collapse. _http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com The reader's comments at the end of the article are of interest perhaps in gaining perspective. (No. 6 is questionable, as Katina and it effects as well as the Gulf oil spill situation of the purchase of a home or land has its limitations as far as security.)

Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that this "recession" will end and that the "good times" will return soon, but a growing minority of Americans are starting to realize that things are fundamentally changing and that they better start preparing for what is ahead. These "preppers" come from all over the political spectrum and from every age group. More than at any other time in modern history, the American people lack faith in the U.S. economic system. In dozens of previous columns, I have detailed the horrific economic problems that we are now facing in excruciating detail. Many readers have started to complain that all I do is "scare" people and that I don't provide any practical solutions. Well, not everyone can move to Montana and start a llama farm, but hopefully this article will give people some practical steps that they can take to insulate themselves (at least to an extent) from the coming economic collapse.

But before I get into what people need to do, let's take a minute to understand just how bad things are getting out there. The economic numbers in the headlines go up and down and it can all be very confusing to most Americans.

However, there are two long-term trends that are very clear and that anyone can understand....

#1) The United States is getting poorer and is bleeding jobs every single month.

#2) The United States is getting into more debt every single month.

When you mention the trade deficit, most Americans roll their eyes and stop listening. But that is a huge mistake, because the trade deficit is absolutely central to our problems.

Every single month, Americans buy far, far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Every single month tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the country than comes into it.

That means that every single month the United States is getting poorer.

The excess goods and services that we buy from the rest of the world get "consumed" and the rest of the world ends up with more money than when they started.

Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars leave the United States and don't return. The transfer of wealth that this represents is astounding.

But not only are we bleeding wealth, we are also bleeding jobs every single month.

The millions of jobs that the U.S. economy is losing to China, India and dozens of third world nations are not going to come back. Middle class Americans have been placed in direct competition for jobs with workers on the other side of the world who are more than happy to work for little more than slave labor wages. Until this changes the U.S. economy is going to continue to hemorrhage jobs.

The U.S. government has helped to mask much of this economic bleeding by unprecedented amounts of government spending and debt, but now the U.S. national debt exceeds 13 trillion dollars and is getting worse every single month. Not only that, but state and local governments all over America are getting into ridiculous amounts of debt.

So, what we have got is a country that gets poorer every single month and loses jobs to other countries every single month and that has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world which also gets worse every single month.

Needless to say, this cannot last indefinitely. Eventually the whole thing is just going to collapse like a house of cards.

So what can we each individually do to somewhat insulate ourselves from the economic problems that are coming?....

1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, "the borrower is the servant of the lender", is so incredibly true. The key to insulating yourself from an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent. You don't want a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get bad out there.

2 - Find New Sources Of Income: In 2010, there simply is not such a thing as job security. If you are dependent on a job ("just over broke") for 100% of your income, you are in a very bad position. There are thousands of different ways to make extra money. What you don't want to do is to have all of your eggs in one basket. One day when the economy melts down and you are out of a job are you going to be destitute or are you going to be okay?

3 - Reduce Your Expenses: Many Americans have left the rat race and have found ways to live on half or even on a quarter of what they were making previously. It is possible - if you are willing to reduce your expenses. In the future times are going to be tougher, so learn to start living with less today.

4 - Learn To Grow Your Own Food: Today the vast majority of Americans are completely dependent on being able to run down to the supermarket or to the local Wal-Mart to buy food. But what happens when the U.S. dollar declines dramatically in value and it costs ten bucks to buy a loaf of bread? If you learn to grow your own food (even if is just a small garden) you will be insulating yourself against rising food prices.

5 - Make Sure You Have A Reliable Water Supply: Water shortages are popping up all over the globe. Water is quickly becoming one of the "hottest" commodities out there. Even in the United States, water shortages have been making headline news recently. As we move into the future, it will be imperative for you and your family to have a reliable source of water. Some Americans have learned to collect rainwater and many others are using advanced technology such as atmospheric water generators to provide water for their families. But whatever you do, make sure that you are not caught without a decent source of water in the years ahead.

6 - Buy Land: This is a tough one, because prices are still quite high. However, as we have written previously, home prices are going to be declining over the coming months, and eventually there are going to be some really great deals out there. The truth is that you don't want to wait too long either, because once Helicopter Ben Bernanke's inflationary policies totally tank the value of the U.S. dollar, the price of everything (including land) is going to go sky high. If you are able to buy land when prices are low, that is going to insulate you a great deal from the rising housing costs that will occur when the U.S dollar does totally go into the tank.

7 - Get Off The Grid: An increasing number of Americans are going "off the grid". Essentially what that means is that they are attempting to operate independently of the utility companies. In particular, going "off the grid" will enable you to insulate yourself from the rapidly rising energy prices that we are going to see in the future. If you are able to produce energy for your own home, you won't be freaking out like your neighbors are when electricity prices triple someday.

8 - Store Non-Perishable Supplies: Non-perishable supplies are one investment that is sure to go up in value. Not that you would resell them. You store up non-perishable supplies because you are going to need them someday. So why not stock up on the things that you are going to need now before they double or triple in price in the future? Your money is not ever going to stretch any farther than it does right now.

9 - Develop Stronger Relationships: Americans have become very insular creatures. We act like we don't need anyone or anything. But the truth is that as the economy melts down we are going to need each other. It is those that are developing strong relationships with family and friends right now that will be able to depend on them when times get hard.

10 - Get Educated And Stay Flexible: When times are stable, it is not that important to be informed because things pretty much stay the same. However, when things are rapidly changing it is imperative to get educated and to stay informed so that you will know what to do. The times ahead are going to require us all to be very flexible, and it is those who are willing to adapt that will do the best when things get tough.

Do you have any additional tips that you would like to share with us? If so, please feel free to share them in the comments below....

 

[Ca.]

It is not my premise to incite any emotion about this subject. I am not an economics's major, no have any real expertise in money issues. But it did become apparent that scene the dot com bust, in the Clinton presidency that here was a transfer of wealth in the process. Bush senior talked about it as new world order, the predecessor of the Clinton administration. This has been a train wreck in the making for some time, and now moving dangerously out of control economically. With 3 presidents serving multiple terms, Regan, Clinton, Bush W., to secure the failure of the American economy.

The recent labor day speech, talks of build a new infrastructure for America. Highways, Airport runways, Railway repair, again what is the purpose, if there are no jobs, no commerce, and no one with money to afford traveling. How does one travel if the public can not keeping a roof under there head, and money to feed there families or buy the gasoline. What is really behind this agenda.

The current jobless situation is not 9% as being printed, but more like 15% to 20% unemployment in states. Ad to that the endless bloodshed ( the millions of incest lives lost) the spiraling cost of the war (2.4 trillion) in Iraq and Afghanistan nations that neither wants our presence but fights to reject the supposed liberators.

And the wall street crime that continues to loot America with tax payers picking up the cost and enacting future generations with a bill they never ever be able to repay.

As Foreclosures Hit All-Time High, Wall Street on Pace to Hand Out Record $140B in Employee Bonuses
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has topped 10,000 for the first time in a year, as JPMorgan Chase reported massive profits in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that major US banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year—a record high. But on Main Street, foreclosures are also at record levels, and the official unemployment rate is expected to top ten percent. We speak to former bank regulator William Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/15/black


"Christmas Presents for Bankers"
As 2009 comes to a close, we take a look at the state of the US economy with economist Dean Baker and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. "After throwing the economy into the worst downturn since the Great Depression and bringing the whole sector to the edge of collapse, the financial industry has used its political power to succor itself back to life," Baker writes. "It is now stronger than ever."
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/30/christmas_presents_for_bankers


Despite House Passage, Feingold Maintains Opposition to Financial Reform Bill as "Too Weak" in Face of Wall St. Recklessness
Democrats may still be one vote short of approving an overhaul of financial regulation with Senator Russ Feingold vowing to vote against the measure again. The House approved the measure this week following over three weeks of conference committee negotiations. We speak to former investment banker turned journalist Nomi Prins, author of several books, including It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/despite_house_passage_feingold_maintains_opposition

Facing Poor Unemployment, Foreclosure & Bankruptcy Rates, Obama Campaigns on Economy in Lead-Up to Nov. Midterms
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/7/facing_poor_unemployment_foreclosure_bankruptcy_rates

Robert Scheer on The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street
We speak with veteran journalist and Truthdig editor, Robert Scheer, about his latest book, The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/7/robert_scheer_on__the_great

Failed Bank ListBank Closing Information - August 20, 2010
These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks.

The FDIC is often appointed as receiver for failed banks. This page contains useful information for the customers and vendors of these banks. This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership. Failed Financial Institution Contact Search displays point of contact information related to failed banks.

This list includes banks which have failed since October 1, 2000.
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

What took hundred's of people to this job now runs around 30 to make money and cut labor. Its no different with mechanization of building runways, or highways. The only ones whom become rich are the politician's, lobbyist, banks, institution's that sell the bonds, and contractors, whom pay the minimum wage if they can get way with it, with little or no benefit's.
http://www.fark.com/cgi/vidplayer.pl?IDLink=5495130

Money, What Is It?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gizetn5VuA0

Missing ‘Big Labor’

Posted on Sep 5, 2010

By E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Watching the great civil rights march on television in August 1963, I couldn’t help but notice that hundreds carried signs with a strange legend at the top: “UAW Says.” UAW was saying “Segregation Disunites the United States,” and many other things insisting on equality.

This “UAW” was a very odd word to my 11-year-old self and I asked my dad who or what “U-awe,” as I pronounced it, was. The letters, he explained, stood for the United Auto Workers union.

It was some years later when I learned about the heroic battles of the UAW, not only on behalf of those who worked in the great car plants but also for social and racial justice across our society. Walter Reuther, the gallant and resolutely practical egalitarian who led the union for many years, was one of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s close allies.

Remembering that moment is bittersweet on a Labor Day when so many Americans are unemployed, when wages are stagnant or dropping, and when the labor movement itself is in stark decline.

Only 12.3 percent of American wage and salary workers belong to unions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from a peak of about one-third of the work force in 1955. A movement historically associated with the brawny workers in auto, steel, rubber, construction, rail, and the ports now represents more employees in the public sector (7.9 million) than in the private sector (7.4 million).


Even worse than the falling membership numbers is the extent to which the ethos animating organized labor is increasingly foreign to American culture. The union movement has always been attached to a set of values—solidarity being the most important, the sense that each should look out for the interests of all. This promoted other commitments: to mutual assistance, to a rough-and-ready sense of equality, to a disdain for elitism, to a belief that democracy and individual rights did not stop at the plant gate or the office reception room.
You might accuse me of being a union romantic, and in some ways I am, having grown up in a union town, loved the great union songs, and imbibed such novels about labor’s struggles as John Steinbeck’s fine and underrated “In Dubious Battle.”

So, for the record, I am fully aware of the union movement’s failures. I recognize that certain unions became corrupt and others were decidedly undemocratic, that some union contracts proved excessive, and that “solidarity” could turn into intimidation.

Yet these problems get more than ample attention, while labor’s achievements go largely unmentioned. The hugely constructive contributions of Reuther (or Sidney Hillman or Eugene V. Debs) are barely noted in standard renditions of U.S. history. Few Americans under 35 have much direct experience with unions. When the word union appears in the media these days, it is typically invoked in stories about teachers resisting school reform or the pension costs burdening local governments.

All but forgotten is the fact that our nation’s extraordinary prosperity from the end of World War II to the 1970s was in significant part the result of union contracts that, in words the right-wing hated Barack Obama for saying in 2008, “spread the wealth around.” A broad middle class with spending power to keep the economy moving created a virtuous cycle of low joblessness and high wages.

Between 1966 and 1970, as Gerald Seib pointed out last week in The Wall Street Journal, the United States enjoyed an astonishing 48 straight months in which the unemployment rate was at or below 4 percent. No, the unions didn’t do all this by themselves. But they were important co-authors of a social contract that made our country fairer, richer and more productive.

There are many complicated reasons why these arrangements broke down, but I do not see things getting substantially better unless we find ways of increasing the bargaining power of wage-earners—precisely what Reuther and his fellowship dedicated their lives to doing.

Beth Shulman, a writer, lawyer and union leader who died of cancer earlier this year at the age of 60, called our indifference to those who labor for low wages “The Betrayal of Work,” the title of her classic 2003 social portrait of our time. Whatever else they achieve, the unions remind us of the dignity of all who toil, whatever their social position, color or educational attainments. We should miss labor’s influence more than we do.

E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.

 

[Ca.]

Though i have not read ‘The Great American Stickup’: It Was the Economy, Stupid, it seems to cover what SOTT has pointed to for somtime now.

Robert Scheer
From Wikipedia

Robert Scheer (born 1936) is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle and The Nation. He teaches communications as a professor at the University of Southern California and is Editor in Chief for the online magazine Truthdig.[1]

Scheer's latest book, The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street (Nation Books), was released on September 7, 2010

Scheer's latest book, "The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street" (Nation Books), was released on September 7, 2010. Publishers Weekly wrote that the book "proves that, when it comes to the ruling sway of money power, Democrats and Republicans, Wall Street and Washington make very agreeable bedfellows.”

Scheer has written eight other books, including a collection entitled Thinking Tuna Fish, Talking Death: Essays on the Pornography of Power, With Enough Shovels: Reagan, Bush and Nuclear War, and America After Nixon: The Age of Multinationals. In 2004, Scheer published The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq and made it to the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List. It was co-authored by his oldest son, Christopher Scheer, and Lakshmi Chaudhry, senior editor at Alternet.

In 2006 Scheer published Playing President: My Close Encounters with Nixon, Carter, Bush I, Reagan and Clinton – and How They Did Not Prepare Me for George W. Bush; in 2008 he published The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America.

Scheer has taught courses at Antioch College, City College of New York, UC Irvine, UCLA and UC Berkeley. He is now a senior lecturer at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, where he teaches two courses each semester on media and society.

Scheer was the 1998 honoree of the Shelter Partnership, an organization of Los Angeles downtown businesses, and the USC School of Social Work's Los Amigos award recipient. He won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism for his writing in the Los Angeles Times and The Nation about the case of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. He has also received awards and citations from Stanford University, the Moscow Academy of Sciences, the University of California, San Diego, and Yale University.

Scheer and his son were creative script consultants on the Oliver Stone film, Nixon, which was nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay. He has appeared in small speaking roles as a journalist in several feature films, including The Siege and Bulworth. In 2005, the Mill Valley Film Festival premiered a documentary on the activist and philanthropist Stanley Sheinbaum which Scheer co-produced.

Political views
Iraq War
In an August 6, 2002, article, he wrote that "a consensus of experts" informed the Senate that the Iraqi weapons arsenal was “almost totally destroyed during eight years of inspections.” On June 3, 2003, Scheer concluded that White House justifications for the war were a "big lie." On November 4, 2003, he penned an article in favor of withdrawal from Iraq.[3]

End of Times relationship
Scheer has often expressed highly controversial thoughts. For example, on February 15, 2005, Scheer wrote an article entitled "What We Don't Know About 9/11 Hurts Us" for the LA Times. In it, he asked, "Would George W. Bush have been reelected president if the public understood how much responsibility his administration bears for allowing the 9/11 attacks to succeed?"[4] After running his column for more than 12 years and working as a reporter for the paper 17 years prior,[5] the Los Angeles Times ended a nearly thirty year relationship with Scheer in November 2005, citing the need to cut costs while subsequently replacing him with two right-wing columnists.[6] Scheer said in an interview with "Democracy Now!" that the paper's owner, the Tribune Company, currently owns a newspaper and a television station in the same market, which is illegal[7][8], and may have fired Scheer in an attempt to make it easier to obtain a waiver permitting the dual ownership from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He also commented during a November 14, 2005, appearance on Democracy Now! that,

Posted on Sep 14, 2010


By Robert Scheer

Editor’s note: This excerpt originally ran on The Huffington Post.

Excerpted from “The Great American Stickup.”

“It Was the Economy, Stupid”

“How did this happen?” ~ President George W. Bush

“It was a humbling question for someone from the financial sector to be asked—after all, we were the ones responsible.” ~ Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., former Goldman Sachs CEO

They did it.

Yes, there is a “they”: the captains of finance, their lobbyists, and allies among leading politicians of both parties, who together destroyed an American regulatory system that had been functioning splendidly for most of the six decades since it was enacted in the 1930s.

The big cop-out in much of what has been written about the banking meltdown has been the argument by those most complicit that there was “enough blame to go around” and that no institution or individual should be singled out for accountability. “How could we have known?” is the refrain of those who continue to pose as all-knowing experts. “Everybody made mistakes,” they say.

Nonsense. This was a giant hustle that served the richest of the rich and left the rest of us holding the bag, a life-altering game of musical chairs in which the American public was the one forced out. Worst of all, legislators from both political parties we elect and pay to protect our interests from the pirates who assaulted us instead changed our laws to enable them.

The most pathetic of excuses is the one provided by Robert Rubin, who fathered “Rubinomics,” the economy policy of President Clinton’s two-term administration: The economy ran into a “perfect storm,” a combination of unforeseen but disastrously interrelated events. This rationalization is all too readily accepted by the mass media, which is not surprising, given that it neatly absolves the majority of business reporters and editors who had missed the story for years until it was too late.

The facts are otherwise. It is not conspiratorial but rather accurate to suggest that blame can be assigned to those who consciously developed and implemented a policy of radical financial deregulation that led to a global recession. As President Clinton’s Treasury secretary, Rubin, the former cochair of Goldman Sachs, led the fight to free the financial markets from regulation and then went on to a $15-million-a-year job with Citigroup, the company that had most energetically lobbied for that deregulation. He should remember the line from the old cartoon strip Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

For it was this Wall Street and Democratic Party darling, along with his clique of economist super-friends—Alan Greenspan, Lawrence Summers, and a few others—who inflated a giant real estate bubble by purposely not regulating the derivatives market, resulting in oceans of money that was poured into bad loans sold as safe investments. In the process, they not only caused an avalanche of pain and misery when the bubble inevitably burst but also shredded the good reputation of the American banking system nurtured since the Great Depression.

If we accept a broad dispersal of blame or a sense of inevitability—or simply ignore the details, since they can be so confusing—we lose the opportunity to rearrange our institutions to prevent such disasters from happening again.

That this is true has only been reinforced by the tentative response of the Obama administration in its first year. Even after a crash that economists agree is the biggest since the granddaddy of 1929, the president’s proposed reform legislation stops far short of reintroducing the kind of regulation of the markets that prevented such disasters in the intervening 80 years. We still see a persistent fear, stoked by the same folks that led us into this abyss, that regulation and scrutiny will kill the golden goose of Wall Street profits and, by extension, U.S. prosperity.

If we as a people learn anything from this crash, however, it should be that there are no adults watching the store, only a tiny elite of self-interested multimillionaires and billionaires making decisions for the rest of us. As long as we cede that power to them, we can expect to continue getting bilked.

Three key myths consistently propagated about the financial markets proved devastating in this event. The first is that buyers and sellers are all logical and well informed about what they are doing, so the markets will always be “corrected” to provide accurate price values. The second is that whatever happens in these “free markets,” the general public will not be hurt—only irresponsible gamblers will lose their shirts. The third is that whenever the government gets involved, it will only screw things up; even if regulators only ask questions, it will poison the pond and spook the fish, to everybody’s detriment.

All of these assumptions were proven false; the brave new world order of super-rational high-tech derivative marketing based on a Nobel Prize-winning mathematical model turned out to be a prescription for financial madness. A win-win system too good to be true turned out to be a cruel hoax in which most suffered terribly—and not just that majority of the world’s population that suffers from the whims of the market, but even some who designed and sold the new financial gimmicks. Left to their own devices, freed of rational regulatory restraint by an army of lobbyists and the politicians who serve them, one after another of the very top financial conglomerates imploded from the weight of their uncontrolled greed. Or would have imploded, as in the examples of Citigroup and AIG, if the government had not used taxpayer dollars to bail out those “too big to fail” conglomerates.
Along the way, these companies—including the privatized quasi-governmental Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac monstrosities—were exposed as poorly run juggernauts, with top executives having embarrassingly little grasp of the chicanery and risk taking that was bolstering their bottom-lines. Worst of all, damage from this economic chain reaction didn’t, of course, stop at the bank accounts of Saudi investors or American CEOs but led to soaring unemployment and federal debt, the acceleration of the home foreclosure epidemic, massive unemployment, and the wholesale destruction of pension plans and state education budgets.

 

[Easy Van Larry]

I really feel strongly that severe inflation is on the way. For those of us that have been saving and being responsible, that isn't good. For everyone that has been spending like there is no tomorrow, they may get to pay their debts off with plenty of devalued dollars, but not have enough cash to buy more expensive groceries.

 

[herondancer]

Hi Easy Van Larry,

Welcome to the forum. :)

Don't forget to check out Tips and advice for Newbies and the Forum Guidelines. We'd love to know a bit more about you and how you find the Forum. Just start an intro thread in the Newbies board.

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In the meantime, it's a good idea to bookmark the Cassiopaea Esoteric Glossary and the Cassiopedia, as they are very useful references that can be used when you encounter concepts/terminology that you may not be familiar with. They should be consulted before posting questions on the forum.

Note that there are some "off limits" areas to the forum that are restricted to all but active forum participants, and we ask you to please keep the noise down. You will also not be able to edit or delete your posts until you reach a minimum of 50 posts. In that respect, it pays to use the "Preview" button prior to posting your message so that you can see how your post will look to others.

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Looking forward to your participation. Are you a punster? I'm guessing by your nick.

Herondancer

P.S.: Also, if you're not aware of it, the Signs of the Times news page is an excellent place to get your news. ;D

 

[Ca.]

This is a news letter passed on to me. This is also reflective of the session stated by the C's that the world will no longer deal with U.S. being the biggest beggar to buying there debt, which continues to sky rocket as "they" just keep printing more and more money to hide the fact it probably has already collapsed. The repercussion's from this activity will be disastrous, yet predictable. I could not find the session, but remember it was recent. Also even though this information is very, very, interesting, and close to reality, he is still selling something. So it's a little long and fear based.

Dear DailyWealth Subscriber,

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What upcoming event will have a huge impact on America's future... and yours? Porter Stansberry explains...

Video below:
http://clicks.dailywealth.com//t/AQ/AANv8A/AAN6AA/AAL29w/AQ/AoJqcA/lscx

 

[Ca.]

This is very troubling to read, that the strain of the activity resulting due to the down turn is starting to show its seems are becoming more and more fragile. This information, won't make local news like who won last nights ball game. The people whom have lost or can't find a job continues to increase, already devastating statics's that upswing brings, with little hope of any turn around in the current condition. Ad to that the complication of the unstable weather condition's.

The rise in fuel, today hitting 91.82, 27 cents higher than the last day, in the untied states. It is predicted to move near record levels of $5 gallon like 2008, in the near future. This will make for more difficult times for those barely making ends meat at the current minimum wage, as everything across the board will follow its lead to inflation and toward economic collapse.

Oil is a weapon, that if one doesn't follow the patters of the Psychopath global elite game of behavior, then expect retaliation.

Terrorism has new another new face, called starvation.


Demand for Food Rises in San Francisco and Nationwide
Thursday, December 23, 2010 6:53


RJ Richards

This is a troubling article so close to Christmas. Talk about getting a cold glass of water thrown in your face…

From The San Francisco Chronicle’s “City Beat” Blog:

San Francisco saw a 41 percent increase in people asking for help feeding themselves and their families this year compared to last year, according to a new survey of homelessness and hunger by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

St. Anthony’s, Glide and the San Francisco Food Bank have been reporting major increases in demand for meals and groceries since the economic downturn and along with the city’s Human Services Agency provided the statistics compiled in the report.

The report surveyed 27 cities and few saw as big an uptick in food requests as San Francisco. Sacramento reported a 22 percent increase, Los Angeles 21 percent, Chicago 17 percent, Seattle 10 percent and Boston 9 percent.

Other alarming statistics? Despite giving out 42 million pounds of food this year – a 16 percent increase from last year – San Francisco couldn’t meet 30 percent of the overall demand for food help.

“It’s not surprising that there’s increased demand for food given the economy and given joblessness,” said Trent Rhorer, director of the Human Services Agency. “People are having to choose between rent and food and everything they can do to stretch a dollar, they will.”

There are now 33,798 city residents receiving food stamps, a 27 percent increase since last year and a 61 percent increase since two years ago, Rhorer said.

If there’s any silver lining, he pointed out, it’s that the federally funded food stamps are infusing $4.8 million in food purchases every month into the local economy. In addition to grocery stores, 31 restaurants in the city accept food stamps including Subway sandwich outlets and a host of small Tenderloin cafes.

Rhorer said the city has coped with the food stamp demand by last year setting up a call center which handles 10,000 questions a month on that subject alone.

Also, a new website – www.benefitssf.org – allows people to apply for food stamps online rather than coming to the office during work hours. Each month, 500 people apply that way, a third of them during the evenings and weekends.

The report also showed that one in 839 housing units are foreclosed upon in the city every month, the median household income is $70,770 and 11.6 percent of city residents are living below the poverty line.

I don’t like reading this kind of thing anytime, but it is quite sobering on Christmas. My heart goes out to anyone who is hungry in this world, but since this is my actual country I find it especially distressing that so many hunger in America.

Sometimes this happens because of the decisions that people make. There’s no since denying this fact. Sometimes this happens because of something unexpected and unforeseen happening in a person’s life. Other times there are people who just can’t operate in society. They would actually rather live on the streets and just “get by”. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. No matter what the case or circumstance might be the fact is that the American economy is on edge.

We have all became addicted to having things and so we have gone into deep debt. We have accepted a government that operates the same way, but instead of dealing in “thousands”, it deals in “trillions.” In the case of San Francisco, the government has made it so things are so expensive that you either have to be wealthy or on the government handout train to get by. Many people who fought the good fight for years suddenly found themselves jobless and in deep trouble. Now they have no choice but to accept help to feed their family (well there’s always a choice, but I don’t want to make a blanket statement here).

In many cases (far from all), government handouts make you feel terrible or even worthless. You give up your freedom when you take them. I know sometimes you might have to, but there’s no denying that freedom is sacrificed.

If we can pull out of this economic toilet flush, then let’s hope that these same people who felt the sting will rise up and help boot some of these fools out of office. Even a city like San Francisco can change. Agree or disagree with the last statement, we had better hope that all levels of government change or the numbers we read this year will be far worse in the years to come.

Credit: Heather Knight
Link: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=79529

Bull vs. Bear: How high will oil go in 2011?
Posted by Nin-Hai Tseng, writer-reporter
December 28, 2010 5:00 am

The already fragile economic recovery would be vulnerable to rising oil prices. Where will the price of a barrel go in 2011? Analysts argue both sides.


For most of December, prices for crude oil traded at two-year highs on improving equities markets, a weakening US

Dollar and record demand from China. Prices pushed above $90 per barrel on December 7 and reached $91.51 on December 22 – a marked jump from their levels near $70 a barrel in September.

The development is significant. Some economists believe that if prices rise much more, especially past $100, it will likely dampen America's already slow economic recovery. As the price of crude rises, so does the price of gasoline, and a higher price at the pump will hurt consumer spending overall.

So where will oil go in 2011? Will it surpass the psychologically significant $100 mark at a time when demand for oil from most emerging economies is expected to rise? Or will it retreat as China tries to rein in growth amid worries over inflation?
Here's a look at the bull and bear arguments for the black gold next year.


Bull: The other side of $100


A growing number of traders and analysts think prices for crude oil will stay relatively high – with some predicting it could top $100 a barrel sometime next year.

A few factors will probably support prices in 2011, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC). The banks forecast that prices could climb past $100 a barrel next year as central bankers pump cash to help accelerate economic growth.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent decision to inject up to $600 billion into the economy through a bond-purchasing program is expected to weaken the U.S. Dollar. The greenback has historically influenced the price of oil and other commodities, including gold and base metals that are mostly priced in the currency. So when the value of the dollar falls typically in tandem with interest rates, that tends to push up the price of commodities, including oil, as investor search for higher returns.

Indeed, the dollar has generally been weakening for some time. It's anyone's guess how the value of the greenback might fair next year, especially as the ongoing debt crisis in parts of Europe has put the value of the euro relative to the dollar on a very volatile ride.

Needless to say, growth in emerging markets might also help prices next year -- helping reduce stockpiles of crude oil.

Though forecasts at UBS do not predict prices surging anywhere past $100 a barrel, the bank nevertheless characterizes its prediction as "bullish," forecasting that prices could hover around $80 a barrel next year.

Analysts there say non-OPEC countries and Russia have for years slowed production of crude and supply appears "anemic." With limited supply and stronger demand coming mostly from emerging economies, prices are poised to stay relatively strong. UBS forecasts demand growing at 1.7% in 2011 as the outlook for the global economy improves.

With the Fed showing no signs of slowing its bond-purchasing program -- at least not yet -- and growing demand from emerging economies, it seems plausible that oil prices will climb higher.

Bear: A brief jump explained


But not everyone is so bullish. Despite talk that crude could shoot as high as $100 a barrel, Phillip Verleger of PKVerleger LLC, a Colorado-based economic consulting firm on energy and commodities, doesn't buy the hype.

Verleger forecasts that prices could fall as low as around $75 a barrel in 2011 and says the recent spike in crude above $90 can be explained more by isolated and unforeseen factors than pure laws of consumer demand and supply.

For one, the East Coast in particular felt prices surge after a refinery in Canada's Nova Scotia area, which produces much of the region's supply, was shut down this fall, which helped reduce supply at a time when demand for heating oil rose.

What's more, demand for oil surged in China as authorities shut down power generation to reach 2010 emissions targets and consumers were forced to rely more on diesel generators.

"It's hard to see how the market could sustain $100 a barrel," says Verleger, adding that China's demand for oil could be curtailed in 2011 as government officials continue to control growth amid concerns over rapidly rising prices

Decline and Fall (Maybe) January 1, 2011
By Michael Collins http://www.opednews.com/

The best thing about 2010 is that it's over. It was a year filled with utter stupidity, mendacity, and greed beyond all bounds on the part of our rulers, also known as The Money Party. Lots of fiddling while Rome and the rest of the world burned. Knowledge is power and among the ruling elite in the United States, the power was off. Somebody forgot to pay the bill or paid with a bad check, no doubt.

A Decade of Job Stagnation In 2000, 135 million citizens were employed. In 2010 there were 139 million Americans employed. Given the 9.7% increase in population since 2000, we would expect to see at least 148 million citizens with jobs. Nobody much wants to talk about this or the true unemployment figures produced by the US Census called "U6". That measure accounts for, "Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force." Bureau of Labor Statistics

The "U6" unemployment figure is 17%, well above the official 9.8% we hear all the time. The official number accounts for 15 million citizens. But when we use U6, we add 9 million citizens forced by economic conditions to work less than they want in part time jobs and 2.5 million marginally attached to the work force - those who gave up looking and get no benefits. That gives us a real world total of 26.5 million citizens out of work or working part time against their will.

Using more refined, politically neutral measures (closer to those in the Great Depression), the over all unemployment percentage is 22.5%, a total of 34.6 million citizens without employment. Shadow Government Statistics calculates the real unemployment rate by adding in "long term discouraged workers" (those who stopped looking), a measure the government no longer uses.

If people don't have jobs they suffer more, have less advantages to offer their children, and drift quickly into poverty. They face homelessness and risk falling so far behind they'll never recover. Thanks to the dreadful members Congress who voted for the new bankruptcy bill in 2007, those unemployed will always have their medical bills to pay. Thoughtful bunch.

The Response - Crackpot Economics You'd think that the government would have the most able hands on deck for this economic storm. But we've got the same old crew, dominated by Wall Street insiders and big bankers without credibility. These are the folks creating MPD (multiple personality disorder) economics. They argue that we have to focus on the deficit and get that down (even that policy was disastrous in the Great Depression). Then they argue that we need to give away $900 billion in tax revenues so the top 1% will have enough wealth to trickle down on the rest of us.

They can't have it both ways. Lowering the deficit while lowering income at the same time is simply absurd logic. They think nobody is paying attention. It's important to know that the people behind these policies know exactly what they're doing. They just think we're stupid, a fatal error. The key players now include Obama, the Bush Clan, Bill Clinton, and the usual suspects from Wall Street and the big banks.

They have their own media monopoly to crank out the nonsense. The Fed is doing its part with Quantitative Easing 2 which, as Numerian says, "" is experimental and unprecedented, except when it was used in Weimar Germany with disastrous results, or more recently in the hyperinflationary economy of Zimbabwe."

Other Major Failings We got health care reform but Congress forgot to do anything for the people. The elimination of "preexisting conditions" as a means to open up more coverage for adults was postponed until 2014. The self-employed are totally screwed with their rates doubling and tripling in some cases. And there was no action to curb the outrageous cost of pharmaceuticals thanks to a major cave in by the president. Medicare, for example, is barred by law from negotiating discounts from big pharma. That about sums it up. The only reform was a massive bailout for the health insurance companies.

Nothing has been done to address the rapid increase in citizens in poverty. That would require jobs. The only jobs those in power produce are for themselves and their cronies.

The Gulf of Mexico was polluted by the worst oil company by a long shot, BP. The president surrendered national sovereignty over the 200 mile off shore exclusive economic zone by allowing BP to run the cleanup. That included permission for the use of a highly toxic oil dispersant, one that they knew toxic. But it did the job required. It kept the evidence off the surface. Shame about the rest of the Gulf. They don't care. They don't have to.

Presidential Hit Squads This year saw a radical shift in power from everyone else to the White House. The president's national security advisor revealed that the White House had a hit list of US citizens abroad determined to be terrorists. Never mind the time honored process of arrest, indictment, trial, and sentencing. If some bureaucrat nominates a "bad guy," he's toast. Shame if that turns out to be one of us. There's no reason this needs to be limited to citizens overseas since it's the ultimate in lawlessness from the start. Piss off the wrong person and you're in the cross hairs.

The United States still occupies Iraq and Afghanistan. While China offers to invest in a top to bottom railroad system from China to the warm water port at Karachi to distribute their goods, US predator drones bomb villages killing ordinary citizens along with whomever they're after. 800 military bases worldwide spread ill will. As economist Michael Hudson points out about the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China): "When they say we don't want to hold dollars, by that they mean, we don't want to finance our military encirclement, which is what the dollar standard has financed."

The Good News The best news out of 2010 is that the forces in control, The Money Party, have been unable to crush the will of the people to survive and see future opportunities for improvement. All over the country families are helping each other weather the storm, parents and adult children are opening up their homes to others in need, adjusting their retirement plans, taking extra jobs, and working harder to stay afloat. Ad hoc communities of care and compassion are emerging to buck the tide of government indifference, malfeasance, and fraud.

The United States has an inverted pyramid of intelligence. The vast majority have far greater talents, knowledge, and wisdom than the ruling elite, who have failed miserably at every turn over the past year and decade, for that matter. The goal is to wrench power from the fumblers before they do totally irreparable damage.

Perhaps those in the under thirty generation are the key. They were told to work hard, go to school, and acquire skills. They were also sold on the magic of the stock market. All they've seen over the past decade is a flat job market, stock manipulations, wasteful wars, and hysteria about terror - all at the expense of rebuilding the nation's infrastructure (which would spark a real recovery) and producing work worthy of a people who want the best for their families, friends, and the country.

Happy New Year. Time to throw the bums out.

 

[Ca.]

THE MADNESS OF A LOST SOCIETY 2 : FINAL WARNINGS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRvjufH29vE​

 

[HiThere]

Video below:
http://clicks.dailywealth.com//t/AQ/AANv8A/AAN6AA/AAL29w/AQ/AoJqcA/lscx

Thank you for this link, chilling as it is. I couldn't get the last part of the video to play but what I saw/heard seemed realistic and well-founded.

 

[Ca.]

This is a different spin, of the collapse of America, not as past post that have brought a mathematical understanding to the diabolical economic colamity. Make no misstake in understanding and as reiterated by SOTT, that this event like "911", has been an orchestrated event. Manipulating the masses, with greed, and deception, intertwined to snag so many on global scale for a future agenda.

The Native American Philosophy, was never take from nature, more than one needs, and always give thanks, for the taking of life to feed life.

Never kill and animal for the sake of killing, as it would disrupt the balance, and one would inherit the karma.

Imagine America applying these principles to there economic responsibility's.

(Part 1) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7cylfQtkDg

(Part 2) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqfvUA2vRAM&feature=related

(Part 3) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9piIziXU9RE&feature=related

(Part 4) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z57zs_Q67Ng&feature=related

(Part 5) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BqJMwKZdyE&feature=related

(part 6) Indigenous Native American History 101

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJKHSzUPgWA&NR=1

 

[Ca.]

The collapse of the U.S.A. could and more than likely will cause a domino effect, that will be felt around the world, as reiterated by the C,s many moons ago.

Fasten the economic seat belt, and by perhaps being proactive will have tremendous dividends then being reactive. They are not whistling Dixie !

Networking, stocking up, preparing assets to trade, barter, and give away, could be the mantra that may help limit the trauma, to sudden economic change of the coming designed failure. The best of luck to one and all, together we can pull through this united as to divided.

End of Liberty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQv-sdMCClQ&feature=related

U.S. Army prepares to invade U.S.-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgMx2F41XD0

Katrina: Martial LAW-friendly persuasion: 9-8-2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4IbxUMWu8Q&feature=related

Military Train Convoys Filmed In Oregon As Domestic Troop Movements Continue To Skyrocket 8-2-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQdhZN3QmzQ

THE REALITY DETACHED AMERICAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxBDDk4Y-M&feature=channel_video_title

ANSWERS......?..................... :)

Womanshare-Improving lives one exchange at a time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzOBEcEDSt8

Riding Bikes with the Dutch - Movie Trailer 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9RATQKiOZE

TED Talk 2011 - Marcin Jakubowski on the Global Village Construction Set & Open Source Ecology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsHKrP-66s

People Eating Insects and Bugs - Wild Food School / FORAGING Times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BABxr7f-kpI

Solar Panel Construction 1 - Open Source Ecology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iFFD-a7Qig

UK Man Eats Only Foraged Food
http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/enlightened-simplicity/uk-man-eats-only-foraged-food.html

Return to Nature in Russia
http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/co-housing/return-to-nature-in-russia.html

Innovate or Die - Aquaduct: Mobile Filtration Vehicle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-mvfjyiao

Electric Cargo Bike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIea5W4U8Wc

Learn the Secrets About Canning And Preserving Food
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXSlGkfJ2YA

 

[Ca.]

Barter Markets- Self Help Solution To The Disaster thats coming Oct 10, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtF-HL0PpA0

 

[HiThere]

Barter Markets- Self Help Solution To The Disaster thats coming Oct 10, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtF-HL0PpA0

Encouraging that people find ways to manage outside the money system!