From the great folks at the National Inflation Association
News Update - January 12, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Federal Agency's Claims of Jobs Saved by Stimulus Were 'Unclear and Misleading,' Says Inspector General
 |
| American Recovery & Reinvestment Act |
January 6, 2011
(CNSNews.com) - The Small Business Administration, which received $730 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase the availability of credit to small businesses, is making claims about the number of "jobs saved" that are “unclear” and “misleading” and which cannot be verified, according to a report issued by the agency’s inspector general.
“The lack of a definition for ‘jobs retained’ and the discrepancy in the forms used to collect job statistics from 7(a) borrowers and lenders has resulted in a performance metric with questionable clarity and transparency,” the inspector general said.
Under the Recovery Act, the SBA is required to report job creation and retention statistics in its monthly Recovery Act Program Performance Report, which is published on its Web site.
Neither of SBA’s two major loan programs, known as the 7(a) program and the 504 loan program, require loan recipients to tell the government whether those loans helped them to create or save jobs, the IG noted. But the banks and financial institutions that loan out the money do require small businesses to state on their loan applications how many employees they have.
From this data, lenders determine the number of jobs created and retained and send the information to SBA. According to the inspector general, however, only one of the programs asks on its application about how many job are to be saved -- the 504 program.
“In the 504 loan program, where job creation and retention is a program criteria, applicants are required to report the number of current employees, jobs to be created in the next 2 years, and jobs to be retained because of the loan,” the IG report said.
Applicants for the 7(a) program, however, are only required to report on their application the number of employees at the time of application and the number of employees “if [the] loan is approved.”
“In SBA’s Recovery Act Program Performance Report, the same term is effectively used to describe total employment in the 7(a) program and jobs at risk of being lost in the 504 program, which results in unclear and misleading reporting,” the IG report noted.
Because the SBA hasn't defined for lenders what constitutes “jobs saved” for the 7(a) program, “lenders are generally reporting all existing jobs at the applicant’s business as ‘jobs retained,’” the report noted.
The inspector general report was based on audited information provided by banks and financial institutions on 30 loans made under each program in 2009.
Top 10 Examples of Liberal Hate
Top 10 Examples of Liberal Hate
by Human Events - 1.11.2011
Even before details were clear about the Arizona shooting, Left-wingers tried to assess blame for the tragedy to Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the Second Amendment.
(1) Palin Derangement Syndrome: The Left’s obsessive hatred of Sarah Palin is well-chronicled and is often accompanied by violent rhetoric. Let these three examples suffice: (1) Keith Halloran, a New Hampshire Democratic candidate, said on a Facebook thread that he wished Palin had been aboard the Alaska plane that crashed, killing five including Sen. Ted Stevens; (2) Another New Hampshire Democrat, Timothy Horrigan resigned from the state legislature after writing this gem on Facebook: "Well a dead Palin wd be even more dangerous than a live one . . . she is all about her myth & if she was dead she cldn't commit any more gaffes"; and (3) foul-mouthed comedian Sandra Bernhard warned Palin she would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she tried coming to New York.
(2) Obama packing heat: Barack Obama has repeatedly sprinkled his political campaigning with words more appropriate to a street thug than the President of the United States. During his 2008 campaign he said in June, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” and in September, “I want you to go out and talk to your neighbors. . . . I want you to argue with them, get in their faces.” He kept it up during the recent midterm election with this comment: “If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends . . . .”
(3) Courtland Milloy’s spit wish: Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy said that after the health care vote he wanted to spit on and assault Tea Party members: “I know how the ‘tea party’ people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their ‘Obama Plan White Slavery’ signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.”
(4) Krugman’s flip flop: New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was first out of the box connecting the Arizona shooting to Right-wing speech that created a climate of hate, intoning, “the purveyors of hate have been treated with respect, even deference, by the GOP establishment.” He must have forgotten his own words in December 2009 during the health care debate when he wrote, “A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.”
(6) Daily Kos’ hypocrisy: Markos Moulitsas, of the liberal Daily Kos, was also quick to indict the Right for the Arizona tragedy, tweeting that Sarah Palin had “accomplished her mission,” a reference to her midterm elections bulls-eye target of politicians that included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. However, his Daily Kos website blog also included Gifford's district on a list of congressional districts "bulls-eyed" for primary challenges. And just last week, the website included a post declaring that Giffords was “dead to him” after she voted against Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House.
(7) Exterminate Republicans: This is what passes for a theater review in the Village Voice: Michale Feingold, while reviewing the play "King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe," wrote: "Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don't give a hoot about human beings, either can't or won't. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm."
(8) Hang Drudge: Liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy suggested stringing up Internet king Matt Drudge, saying, "Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about 6 feet in the air and watch him bounce.”
(9) Outright assaults: Sometimes the hatred on the Left exceeds talk and escalates to violent assaults. Cases in point: In August 2009, members of the Service Employees International Union beat up Kenneth Gladney for distributing "Don't Tread On Me" flags at a Missouri town hall meeting. In June 2010, Nathan Tabor was punched in the face by a Democrat during a Tea Party protest in North Carolina. Last October, Human Events reporter Emily Miller was physically assaulted while interviewing Rep. Charlie Rangel during the “One Nation Working Together” rally at the National Mall in Washington.
(10) Greenpeace "knows where you live": Greenpeace advocated mass civil disobedience last April with this blog item on its website:“The proper channels have failed. It's time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and skepticism. . . . If you're one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.”
 |
| photo by James Heckley |
by Human Events - 1.11.2011
Even before details were clear about the Arizona shooting, Left-wingers tried to assess blame for the tragedy to Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the Second Amendment.
When it became clear that the gunman was a deranged lunatic whose political philosophy was more in tune with the loony Left than the Tea Party, liberals continued to cry out against a so-called climate of hate perpetuated by Right-wingers. Perhaps those making that charge have forgotten the hatefulness and violent words coming from their own. Here are the Top 10 Examples of Liberal Hate.
(1) Palin Derangement Syndrome: The Left’s obsessive hatred of Sarah Palin is well-chronicled and is often accompanied by violent rhetoric. Let these three examples suffice: (1) Keith Halloran, a New Hampshire Democratic candidate, said on a Facebook thread that he wished Palin had been aboard the Alaska plane that crashed, killing five including Sen. Ted Stevens; (2) Another New Hampshire Democrat, Timothy Horrigan resigned from the state legislature after writing this gem on Facebook: "Well a dead Palin wd be even more dangerous than a live one . . . she is all about her myth & if she was dead she cldn't commit any more gaffes"; and (3) foul-mouthed comedian Sandra Bernhard warned Palin she would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she tried coming to New York.
(2) Obama packing heat: Barack Obama has repeatedly sprinkled his political campaigning with words more appropriate to a street thug than the President of the United States. During his 2008 campaign he said in June, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” and in September, “I want you to go out and talk to your neighbors. . . . I want you to argue with them, get in their faces.” He kept it up during the recent midterm election with this comment: “If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends . . . .”
(3) Courtland Milloy’s spit wish: Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy said that after the health care vote he wanted to spit on and assault Tea Party members: “I know how the ‘tea party’ people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their ‘Obama Plan White Slavery’ signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.”
 |
| Bush & Krugs, celebrating his '08 Nobel Award. |
(5) Bush Derangement Syndrome: Before it fades into history, the liberal hatred of President Bush should be recalled. Codepink, Michael Moore, rap stars and Hollywood comedians hurled vitriol against the President. A movie was made about his assassination. But as an example of violent rhetoric, special attention should be given to remarks made by New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who later apologized for describing fellow Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer as "the man who, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it."
(6) Daily Kos’ hypocrisy: Markos Moulitsas, of the liberal Daily Kos, was also quick to indict the Right for the Arizona tragedy, tweeting that Sarah Palin had “accomplished her mission,” a reference to her midterm elections bulls-eye target of politicians that included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. However, his Daily Kos website blog also included Gifford's district on a list of congressional districts "bulls-eyed" for primary challenges. And just last week, the website included a post declaring that Giffords was “dead to him” after she voted against Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House.
(7) Exterminate Republicans: This is what passes for a theater review in the Village Voice: Michale Feingold, while reviewing the play "King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe," wrote: "Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don't give a hoot about human beings, either can't or won't. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm."
(8) Hang Drudge: Liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy suggested stringing up Internet king Matt Drudge, saying, "Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about 6 feet in the air and watch him bounce.”
(9) Outright assaults: Sometimes the hatred on the Left exceeds talk and escalates to violent assaults. Cases in point: In August 2009, members of the Service Employees International Union beat up Kenneth Gladney for distributing "Don't Tread On Me" flags at a Missouri town hall meeting. In June 2010, Nathan Tabor was punched in the face by a Democrat during a Tea Party protest in North Carolina. Last October, Human Events reporter Emily Miller was physically assaulted while interviewing Rep. Charlie Rangel during the “One Nation Working Together” rally at the National Mall in Washington.
(10) Greenpeace "knows where you live": Greenpeace advocated mass civil disobedience last April with this blog item on its website:“The proper channels have failed. It's time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and skepticism. . . . If you're one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.”
1963 Communist Goals for America = 2011 Reality
 |
| There is nothing "Progressive" about Socialism. |
Extension of the Remarks of Honorable A.S. Herlong, Jr.
of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives
Entered into the Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35 ._1. on Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG [said:] a. "Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:.
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative toatomic war. [Some of these goals have become policy.]
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. [Surrendering without a fight]
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. [Use our own taxes to achieve these self-destructive goals!]
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the US has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. [ Judges (#16) and elected officials (#15) who destroy the Constitution can be charged with perjury but after that the only charge left is treason.]
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. [surrender US ingenuity & void all protections.]
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. [ These Congressmen, McCain R-AZ Feingold D-WI; Shays R-CT Meehan D-MA, & their advisors via campaign finance reform would cripple the 1st Amendment's free speech & undermine the US Constitution!] [ 40,000,000 abortions have killed more American children than all wars combined!]
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. [The 'technical' civil rights of a student minority of one! see (#28)][Everson has been cited in 6000 cases since 1947!]
17. Get control of the schools _b. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. [Dumbing Down = Goals 2000] Get control of teachers' associations. [PTA] Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy making positions. [textbook press _c.]
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. [The media reeks of these goals and the 'party lines'.]
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." [Produce & promote 'degrading & obscene' MUSIC, cartoons & movies to harm our children.] [#21 & #23]
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." [NEA]
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. [ACLU & ALA in public & school libraries encourage obscenity to harm our children.][Schools should not be free speech zones.]
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. [ textbooks]['Break down [family] standards of morality'] [MTV, cable & "R" rated trash.]
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." [Condom & prostitution based Sex Ed. vs. abstinence which is ALWAYS 100% effective.] [Who needs biological warfare agents when deadly plagues like HIV-AIDs & incurable STD's are so easy to proliferate, so easy to destroy physically, mentally & spiritually.] [ diversity = perversity.]
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." [i.e. destroy God's vision for his children.]
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." [ This was a reality after the Court perjurously invented the "separation of church and state" in Everson v Bd. Ed 1947. Note: Engel v. Vitale, 82 S. Ct.1261 (1962) & Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963), see (#16)] c., d.
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. [#29 & #30]
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. [ e.g. the unconstitutional Federal Dept. of Education, funding, et. al.]
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. [Make anti-American, white collar terrorism & perjury OK!]
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. [Most of the NEA & AFT policies are anti child, anti parent & anti family.]
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. [Is it a stretch to think that a $40 Billion company like Disney which owns ABC (#20; #21;#25), promotes "Gay Days"(#26) and Domestic Partner Benefits (#26; #40) would expect families to attend their theme parks and buy their products & stocks?] [Consider: the NFL which funds the United Way which funds homosexuals & pedophiles (#26) which infiltrate schools, businesses & Boy Scouts!][Yahoo.com (#26)] [ Sacrificing our kids for career & money!] ['Infiltrate and gain control of' associations (#17): AARP, AMA, ABarA, NOW, APA (#39 ; #41),PFAW, etc.]
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. [HHS - HRS kidnap children from parents without due process.]
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. [Ex-Surgeon General J. Elders wanted to make illegal drugs legal & fry our children's brains.]
40. Discredit the family d. as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. [no fault!] [The divorced child's sense of security is diminished and harmed for the rest of his life.]
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. [Corrupt parental: authority, possession & rights. (#39.)]
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike." e.
* * *
www.neprimer.com = "The New England Primer, 1996" a new edition of the 1843 Primer which is of the series of 'original American public school textbooks'. [ ©2001-2003, Permission is granted to duplicate & distribute unedited only.]
* * * SUMMARY and NOTES * * *
a.) Our editorial comments which are inserted into some of the goals above are [italicized and bracketed]. We also emboldened words of a goal that specifically targets our children, families or schools.
b.) Twelve goals above have emboldened words; i.e. 25%that DIRECTLY target our children, families or schools!
c.) If you add the 12 direct bold+[ '9 indirect bold] words, then 21 goals or 47% target our children, families or schools!
d.) Serious & IMMEDIATE consideration should be given to a Constitutional Amendment which provides for elective Bible Curriculum, Bible reading and prayers to be mandated in all public schools. Life is too short & the consequences of living by trial & error too deadly ( HIV/AIDs) to prohibit Bible instruction. In the mean time home school your child in "The New England Primer, 1996" which is available online by an Email Order Form: http://neprimer.com/emof/nep-emof.htm .
e.) Consider the American's New Millennium Duty; "The 3 R's of the Slippery Slope: Repent, Reject and Restore." (If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, & pray, & seek my face, & turn from their wicked .. II Chro 7:14)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Or local library that carries the Federal Register: Call No.: J, 11, R5 Reel 12 Congressional Record, Vol. 109, 88th Congress, 1st Session, Appendix Pages A1-A2842 Jan. 9-May 7, 1963
Page 3 of 3 is intentionally left blank. 8/15/01; Rev. 11/09/2010 08:02:51, Printed: 1/12/2011.
 |
| Thank You, http://www.freakingnews.com/ |
Monday, January 10, 2011
Egyptian Muslims Act as "Human Shields" for Coptic Christian Mass
A STANCE IN THE FACE OF TYRANNY!
Many in the West call out the Muslim World for not standing up to maniacal, homicide bombers. These fanatics are faithfully reported by the mainstream news as being in the extreme minority. However, the silence of the so called peaceful majority in the face of these attacks had been deafening. Until now. Here's one such act of love and courage that the West was calling for and should be lauded, in the land of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian Muslims Act as Human Shields
by Ashley Samuelson McGuire - Washington Post
"I know it might not be safe, yet it's either we live together, or we die together, we are all Egyptians." Such are the words one expects of great leaders on the battlefield, of politicians preparing a nation for war, of civic leaders rallying people for an inspiring cause.
But these are the words of Cherine Mohamed, a 50-year-old Egyptian housewife.
These words became a slogan of sorts for many brave Egyptian Muslims who chose yesterday to risk their lives in the wake of the New Year's violence and attend Christmas Masses with their Coptic Christian brethren, serving as human shields against further potential acts of extremist violence on the Christian holy day.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE STORY
 |
| Egyptian Muslims act as "Human Shields for Egyptian Coptic Christians Reuters: Asmaa Waguih |
Many in the West call out the Muslim World for not standing up to maniacal, homicide bombers. These fanatics are faithfully reported by the mainstream news as being in the extreme minority. However, the silence of the so called peaceful majority in the face of these attacks had been deafening. Until now. Here's one such act of love and courage that the West was calling for and should be lauded, in the land of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian Muslims Act as Human Shields
by Ashley Samuelson McGuire - Washington Post
"I know it might not be safe, yet it's either we live together, or we die together, we are all Egyptians." Such are the words one expects of great leaders on the battlefield, of politicians preparing a nation for war, of civic leaders rallying people for an inspiring cause.
But these are the words of Cherine Mohamed, a 50-year-old Egyptian housewife.
These words became a slogan of sorts for many brave Egyptian Muslims who chose yesterday to risk their lives in the wake of the New Year's violence and attend Christmas Masses with their Coptic Christian brethren, serving as human shields against further potential acts of extremist violence on the Christian holy day.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE STORY
Forget Them Not!
Whether or not you agree with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no question that the defenders of liberty who give their lives there deserve our respect and honor. In that spirit, I pass on the excellent observation below, from an anonymous source:
Lindsay Lohan, 24, and Paris Hilton have gotten their names and faces all over the news because they spent a few days or weeks in jail for acting out negative behavior, resisting arrest, cocaine possession, and being drunk and disorderly in public .. not to mention their insolent attitudes.
So what do you know about these men?
Justin Allen, 23
Brett Linley, 29
Matthew Weikert, 29
Justus Bartett, 27
Dave Santos , 21
Chase Stanley, 21
Jesse Reed, 26
Matthew Johnson, 21
Zachary Fisher, 24
Brandon King, 23
Christopher Goeke, 23
Sheldon Tate, 27
Don't recognize their names? Well I can tell you none of them starred in a movie or made a record album, hit a home run or did a celebration in the end zone after scoring a touchdown. And none of them bragged about showcasing their talents for their fans while being paid millions and millions of dollars.
Give up? Then I should tell you they were all Marines who gave their lives for us this past week. They died for honor and for country. They're all heroes of the highest magnitude.No, you read nothing about them in the news, because they weren't newsworthy, but you can honor them as I do by forwarding this. It's a small sacrifice on our part, compared to theirs.
Thank you.
 |
| Forget Them Not |
Lindsay Lohan, 24, and Paris Hilton have gotten their names and faces all over the news because they spent a few days or weeks in jail for acting out negative behavior, resisting arrest, cocaine possession, and being drunk and disorderly in public .. not to mention their insolent attitudes.
So what do you know about these men?
Justin Allen, 23
Brett Linley, 29
Matthew Weikert, 29
Justus Bartett, 27
Dave Santos , 21
Chase Stanley, 21
Jesse Reed, 26
Matthew Johnson, 21
Zachary Fisher, 24
Brandon King, 23
Christopher Goeke, 23
Sheldon Tate, 27
Don't recognize their names? Well I can tell you none of them starred in a movie or made a record album, hit a home run or did a celebration in the end zone after scoring a touchdown. And none of them bragged about showcasing their talents for their fans while being paid millions and millions of dollars.
Give up? Then I should tell you they were all Marines who gave their lives for us this past week. They died for honor and for country. They're all heroes of the highest magnitude.No, you read nothing about them in the news, because they weren't newsworthy, but you can honor them as I do by forwarding this. It's a small sacrifice on our part, compared to theirs.
Thank you.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The National Inflation Association's Top 10 Predictions for 2011
 |
| Photo: Elizabeth Delaney |
It is therefore a treat to see someone or an organzation, like the National Inflation Association, put its money where it's prognostication is. Here are the NIA's predictions for 2011:
The NIA's Top 10 Predictions for 2011.
January 04, 2011
1) The Dow/Gold and Gold/Silver ratios will continue to decline.
In NIA's top 10 predictions for 2010, we predicted major declines in the Dow/Gold and Gold/Silver ratios. The Dow/Gold ratio was 9.3 at the time and finished 2010 down 15% to 8.1. The Gold/Silver ratio was 64 at the time and finished 2010 down 28% to 46. We expect to see the Dow/Gold ratio decline to 6.5 and the Gold/Silver ratio decline to 38 in 2011. Later this decade, we expect to see the Dow/Gold ratio bottom at 1 and the Gold/Silver ratio decline to below 16 and possibly as low as 10.
2) Colleges will begin to go bankrupt and close their doors.
We have a college education bubble in America that was made possible by the U.S. government's willingness to give out cheap and easy student loans. With all of the technological advances that have been taking place worldwide, the cost for a college education in America should be getting cheaper. Instead, private four-year colleges have averaged 5.6% tuition inflation over the past six years.
College tuitions are the one thing in America that never declined in price during the panic of 2008. Despite collapsing stock market and Real Estate prices, college tuition costs surged to new highs as Americans instinctively sought to become better educated in order to better ride out and survive the economic crisis. Unfortunately, American students who overpaid for college educations are graduating and finding out that their degrees are worthless and no jobs are available for them. They would have been better off going straight into the work force and investing their money into gold and silver. That way, they would have real wealth today instead of debt and would already have valuable work place experience, which is much more important than any piece of paper.
Colleges and universities took on ambitious construction projects and built new libraries, gyms, and sporting venues, that added no value to the education of students. These projects were intended for the sole purpose of impressing students and their families. The administrators of these colleges knew that no matter how high tuitions rose, students would be able to simply borrow more from the government in order to pay them.
Americans today can purchase just about any type of good on Amazon.com, cheaper than they can find it at retail stores. This is because Amazon.com is a lot more efficient and doesn't have the overhead costs of brick and mortar retailers. NIA expects to see a new trend of Americans seeking to become educated cheaply over the Internet. There will be a huge drop off in demand for traditional college degrees. NIA expects to see many colleges default on their debts in 2011. These colleges will be forced to either downsize and educate students more cost effectively or close their doors for good.
3) U.S. retailers will report declines in profit margins and their stocks will decline.
Although most analysts on Wall Street believe retailers will report a major increase in holiday season sales over a year ago, NIA believes any top line growth retailers report will come at the expense of dismal bottom line profits. NIA expects many retailers to report large declines in their profit margins for the 4Q of 2010 and first half of 2011. Retailers have been selling goods at bargain basement prices in order to generate demand. Americans, being flush with newly printed dollars from the Federal Reserve, have been eager to buy up supplies of goods at artificially low prices. However, shareholders will likely sell off their retail stocks on this news. As share prices of retail stocks decline, retailers will begin to rapidly increase their prices by mid-2011.
4) The mainstream public will begin to buy gold.
Although the mainstream media continues to proclaim we have a gold bubble, it is impossible to have a gold bubble when mainstream America isn't buying gold. The average American is more likely to be a seller of gold through companies like Cash4Gold, in order to raise enough dollars to put food on their table. Most Americans today don't even know the price of gold. During the next 12 months, we expect to see a huge ramping up in the public's knowledge about gold. More Americans than ever will know the current price of gold and understand that it is real money. By the end of 2011, we expect the general public to begin looking at gold as an investment, just like they began looking at Real Estate as an investment in 2003. Sometime during the next six months, we believe you will overhear a stranger at a restaurant talking about investing into gold. We believe the price of gold could surge to as high as $2,000 per ounce in 2011.
5) We will see a huge surge in municipal debt defaults.
In the closing months of 2010, we saw yields on municipal bonds rise to their highest levels since early 2009. After 29 consecutive weeks of inflows into municipal bond funds, investors are now pulling money out of municipal bond funds by record amounts, with $9 billion exiting municipal bond funds in the five weeks leading up to Christmas. NIA believes there could be a small dip in municipal bond yields over the next couple of months as investors realize that municipal debt defaults might not be imminent, but we expect municipal bond yields to begin rising again by mid-2011 with a huge surge in municipal debt defaults coming in the second half of 2011. Although the Federal Government has a printing press that it uses in order to pay its debts, cities and municipalities do not.
6) We will see a large decline in the crude oil/natural gas ratio.
When we released our top 10 predictions for 2010, crude oil was $73 per barrel and we predicted that oil prices would rise to $100 per barrel in 2010. Crude oil ended up rising by 26% in 2010 to $92 per barrel, coming short of our outlook. However, it is possible our $100 per barrel oil forecast might be off by just a month or two. We wouldn't be surprised to see $100 per barrel oil within the first two months of 2011 and if so, we expect to see a huge movement in America this year towards natural gas.
The crude oil/natural gas ratio currently stands at 20. Historically, the crude oil/natural gas ratio has averaged 10 and based on an energy equivalent basis, crude oil and natural gas prices should have a 6 to 1 ratio. Brand new fracking technology has caused natural gas supplies in the U.S. to rise to record levels. Although our country might be flooded with natural gas, the natural gas fracking boom that is taking place across the U.S. today is causing ground water in the U.S. to become contaminated. Americans living near natural gas wells that use fracking, are finding that they can now light the water coming out of their faucets on fire. New government regulations are likely to crack down on natural gas fracking and this will come at the same time as American individuals and businesses begin to convert their automobiles and machinery to run off of natural gas. A large decline in the crude oil/natural gas ratio in 2011 is likely, possibly do wn to as low as 15.
7) The median U.S. home will decline sharply priced in silver.
For the past couple of years, being able to make ones mortgage payment has been the primary concern for the average American. In an attempt to support housing prices and keep mortgage interest rates at artificially low levels, the Federal Reserve has been implementing massive quantitative easing and buying mortgage backed securities. NIA believes the Federal Reserve will be successful at putting a nominal floor under Real Estate prices. NIA also believes that the Federal Reserve's actions will cause a massive decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, which will allow Americans to more easily pay back their mortgages with depreciated U.S. dollars.
However, the Federal Reserve will not be successful at reinflating the Real Estate bubble. In fact, in terms of real money (gold and silver), NIA believes Real Estate prices will decline to record lows. The median U.S. home is currently priced at $170,600 or 5,500 ounces of silver. Priced in silver, the median U.S. home price is down 16% from one month ago and 45% from one year ago. After the inflationary crisis of the 1970s, silver rose to a high in 1980 of $49.45 per ounce. The median U.S. home price in 1980 was $47,200, which means the median U.S. home/silver ratio declined to a low of 954.
With the Federal Reserve printing money at an unprecedented rate and record amounts of new homes built during the recent Real Estate bubble, NIA believes it is inevitable that the median U.S. home will decline to a price of 1,000 ounces of silver this decade and possibly as low as 500 ounces of silver. In 2011, we believe a decline in the median U.S. home price to 4,000 ounces of silver is possible.
8) Food inflation will become America's top crisis.
Starting a few decades ago and accelerating in recent years, America has seen a boom in non-productive service jobs, mainly in the financial sector. Most of these jobs were made possible by inflation. Without inflation, which steals from the purchasing power of the incomes and savings of goods producing workers, the majority of the jobs on Wall Street would not exist today and our country would be in much better financial shape because of it.
With most Americans in recent decades seeking non-productive jobs in the financial services sector because that is where they could access the Fed's cheap and easy money, very few Americans sought jobs in the farming and agriculture sector. In the 1930s, approximately 28% of the population was employed in the agriculture sector, but today this number is less than 2%. Agriculture currently makes up only 1.2% of U.S. GDP, compared to the services sector, which makes up 76.9% of U.S. GDP.
There is currently a major shortage of farmers in the U.S. and a lot of land that was previously used for farming has now been developed with Real Estate. To make matters worse, agricultural products now trade on the international market and Americans must now compete against citizens of emerging nations like China and India for the purchasing of food.
Prices of goods and services do not rise equally when governments create monetary inflation. Inflation gravitates most towards the items that Americans need the most and there is nothing that Americans need more to survive than food and agriculture. As the U.S. government prints money, the first thing Americans will spend it on is food. Americans can cut back on energy use by moving into a smaller home and carpooling to work. They can cut back on entertainment, travel, and other discretionary spending. However, Americans can never stop spending money on food.
The days of cheap food in America are coming to an end. The recent unprecedented rise that we have seen in agricultural commodity prices is showing no signs of letting up. In the past few days, sugar futures reached a new 30-year high, coffee futures reached a new 13-year high, orange juice futures reached a new 3-year high, corn futures reached a new 29-month high, soybean futures reached a new 27-month high, and palm oil futures reached a new 33-month high.
We estimate that it takes as long as six months for rising agricultural commodity prices to be felt by U.S. consumers in their local supermarket. Even if food producers and retailers accept substantially lower profit margins in 2011, we are still guaranteed to see double-digit across the board U.S. food inflation in the first half of the year. That is correct, let us repeat, NIA guarantees that Americans will see double-digit food inflation in the first half of 2011.
Shockingly, except for Glenn Beck (who was kind enough to feature our food inflation report), absolutely nobody in the mainstream media is doing anything to warn Americans about the food inflation crisis that is ahead. In fact, left-wing groups like Media Matters (funded by George Soros) have been working tirelessly to try and discredit NIA's research while reassuring Americans that they need not worry about food inflation. The truth is, when Americans realize that they can no longer take food for granted, we will likely see the outbreak of an all out food price panic with everybody rushing to the supermarket to stock up on goods before prices rise even further. The end result will likely be government price controls and empty store shelves, but NIA doesn't project this to occur until later this decade.
9) QE2 will disappoint and the Federal Reserve will prepare QE3.
The Dow Jones is now back up to 11,670, which is where it was in mid-2008 before the crash. NIA believes that most of QE2 has already been priced into the market, before the Federal Reserve even prints the $600 billion. At some point, we expect it to become apparent to all that the U.S. economic recovery is phony and stock prices are rising solely due to inflation. In our opinion, we will see some sort of catalyst that causes the stock market to sell off at some point and the consensus on Wall Street will be that QE2 will not be enough to save the U.S. economy. By the end of 2011, we expect the Federal Reserve to begin planning QE3. QE3 might be the final dose of inflation that causes the U.S. economy to overdose into hyperinflation.
10) Sarah Palin will announce she is running for President as a Republican.
NIA believes that Sarah Palin has been setup perfectly to run for President in 2012 and that she will announce her candidacy for the Republican nomination with great fanfare from tea party supporters in 2011. We give Sarah Palin credit for recently speaking out against the Federal Reserve's QE2 and warning Americans about the food inflation crisis that is ahead. Unfortunately, we believe Sarah Palin is not a true independent and is being controlled by the Republican establishment, which is just as responsible as the Democrats are for the financial crisis we have today. As President, Palin would be unlikely to implement the measures that are necessary to prevent hyperinflation. In our opinion, we need to elect a true libertarian candidate as President who will cut government spending, balance the budget, and restore sound money. NIA intends to support Ron Paul, if he decides to run for President.
It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free!
From the NIA's Website:
The National Inflation Association is an organization that is dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation and helping Americans not only survive, but prosper in the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis. It is important to know that we are not investment or financial advisors. Our site and newsletter are meant for informational and educational purposes only and should not be used to make investment decisions. All we ask in return is for you to please spread the word about NIA to your friends, family members and business associates so that we can help them survive the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis. You can email us any questions/comments at: editor@inflation.us or reach us by telephone by dialing 1-888-99-NIA US. It is our pleasure to hear from you and respond to your questions.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Ret. Senator Alan Simpson Calls Seniors the "Greediest Generation"
I received a forwarded email from an outraged man from Montana, who gave the retired Senator a piece of his mind, via a letter which as since gone viral. The Montanan gets a little "Salty" with his choice of words, nevertheless he deserves a hearty 'atta boy' for giving the former member of one of the world's most exclusive country clubs 'the business'.
Here it is:
Hey Alan,
Let’s get a few things straight…
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS…
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63)…
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud…
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN…
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills…
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt…
To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU…
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and health care benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are “greedy”. It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.
Always say what you mean ! !
always mean what you say ! !
NEVER COMPROMISE .........
 |
| President Obama and Alan Simpson - Loeb/Getty Image |
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Laurence Vance: Why I Pick On Republicans
 |
| Government Coercion, GOP-Style modified from public domain art |
"After all, both the left and the right are fundamentally the same - authoritarian statists who wish to use the force of government to make society in their own images and to compel others to live in ways that they approve of."
- Doug Carkuff
And from Dallas Libertarian Examiner's Gary Reed:
"There seems to be little conception by either right or left that any government with sufficient coercive power to establish their agenda for them could and inevitably would turn on its creators and grind them into dust for the benefit of the government itself. Or more precisely, for the benefit of the rulers who run the government."
Why I Pick On Republicans
By Laurence M. Vance
"There seems to be little conception by either right or left that any government with sufficient coercive power to establish their agenda for them could and inevitably would turn on its creators and grind them into dust for the benefit of the government itself. Or more precisely, for the benefit of the rulers who run the government."
Why I Pick On Republicans
By Laurence M. Vance
January 03, 2011
So, the Republicans are back in control of the Congress again. Ho-hum. Time to start writing about the Republicans again.
I haven’t always picked on Republicans. In fact, I used to be one, faithfully voting for all the Republicans on the ballot to keep those evil Democrats out of office. As a conservative who had never been exposed to libertarianism, I was a Republican by default. Oh, the political ignorance of youth!
I remember taking a political survey in seventh or eighth grade in which I scored, I think, an 8 out of 10, with 1 being extreme liberal and 10 being extreme conservative. Obviously, it wasn’t the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. I suppose it was on the basis of that survey that I considered myself a conservative. I don’t remember any political discussions at home growing up.
The first election in which I was old enough to vote was in 1980, but I don’t remember voting or even being registered until perhaps the 1982 midterm elections. Even so, I really don’t remember in which election years I voted and in which ones I didn’t. I think the last time I voted as a frustrated, libertarian-leaning conservative and still somewhat ignorant Republican was for Bush the elder against Clinton in 1992. I didn’t care much for Bush, but he was a Republican and Clinton was a Democrat.
Russian Army to be Muslim Majority in a Few Decades
 |
| Mongol-Tartar Invaders of Russia |
From "Prophecy News Watch"
When discussing the Islamization of the West, France is usually cited as being the worst-off of the Western democracies. It has an estimated Muslim population of 10%, perhaps as high as 15%, and the demographics of the situation — a very low birthrate among the native French, and a baby boom among the Muslim immigrants — do not bode well for the future of France.
If we expand the definition of “the West” a bit, it becomes necessary to add India and Russia to the list of Most Islamized Western Nations. India has the largest, oldest, and most intractable “Islam problem” of any Western democracy. The Muslim minority in India is over 150 million (13+% of the population) and is growing relative to the Hindu population. India lives under the constant threat of terror attack. Its citizens experience deadly bombings and other forms of violent jihad with mind-numbing regularity.
Russia is a special case. Its Muslim population is estimated at 10% to 12%, and its demographic situation is worse than that of France, so that Russian Islam is expected to grow rapidly. If present trends continue, Muslims will comprise a majority of the Russian military within a couple of decades.
However, as analysts often point out, Islam in Russia is different from virtually anywhere else. The most fanatical Osama-loving terrorists and their sympathizers are confined mainly to Chechnya, Dagestan, and other small republics in the southern Caucasus. To the extent that these ethnicities have migrated to Moscow and other parts of Russia proper, the problem of Islamic terror has spread, but its practitioners are still mainly from those Caucasian ethnic groups.
A large part of the Muslim population in Russia is Tatar. The Tatars are a Mongolian ethnicity, and have been in Russia for almost eight hundred years, since the they first conquered the Eastern Slavs. When Ivan the Great threw off the Tatar yoke two and a half centuries later, the Tatar Muslims became subordinate to the Orthodox Christians of Holy Russia, and have retained that status ever since, except for a brief atheist interregnum between 1917 and 1991.
Western analysts have generally regarded the Tatar brand of Islam as mild and innocuous, especially compared with the virulent versions found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia. Since the Tatars are estimated to number between seven and eight million, or around half of Russia’s Muslim population, this cuts the percentage of “problem” Muslims in half, making the scope of the issue roughly the same as it is in the Netherlands.
If we expand the definition of “the West” a bit, it becomes necessary to add India and Russia to the list of Most Islamized Western Nations. India has the largest, oldest, and most intractable “Islam problem” of any Western democracy. The Muslim minority in India is over 150 million (13+% of the population) and is growing relative to the Hindu population. India lives under the constant threat of terror attack. Its citizens experience deadly bombings and other forms of violent jihad with mind-numbing regularity.
Russia is a special case. Its Muslim population is estimated at 10% to 12%, and its demographic situation is worse than that of France, so that Russian Islam is expected to grow rapidly. If present trends continue, Muslims will comprise a majority of the Russian military within a couple of decades.
However, as analysts often point out, Islam in Russia is different from virtually anywhere else. The most fanatical Osama-loving terrorists and their sympathizers are confined mainly to Chechnya, Dagestan, and other small republics in the southern Caucasus. To the extent that these ethnicities have migrated to Moscow and other parts of Russia proper, the problem of Islamic terror has spread, but its practitioners are still mainly from those Caucasian ethnic groups.
A large part of the Muslim population in Russia is Tatar. The Tatars are a Mongolian ethnicity, and have been in Russia for almost eight hundred years, since the they first conquered the Eastern Slavs. When Ivan the Great threw off the Tatar yoke two and a half centuries later, the Tatar Muslims became subordinate to the Orthodox Christians of Holy Russia, and have retained that status ever since, except for a brief atheist interregnum between 1917 and 1991.
Western analysts have generally regarded the Tatar brand of Islam as mild and innocuous, especially compared with the virulent versions found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia. Since the Tatars are estimated to number between seven and eight million, or around half of Russia’s Muslim population, this cuts the percentage of “problem” Muslims in half, making the scope of the issue roughly the same as it is in the Netherlands.
KAZAN: A Taste of Tartar in "James Bond's Russia"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
