Big Lie

Don’t Show Bernanke This Chart Of Gold Loans In India

"The chart shows the staggering eightfold increase in India's gold loans 'which monetize the idle gold in the country', in just four short years. In short it proves that in India, gold is the only real money, and is the only fallback option in a country where inflation is still rampant, and where even simple peasants prefer to keep their wealth not in the local paper currency, which has been losing its value aggressively in recent years, but in the shiny metal. Must be 'tradition.'" Continue reading →

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Detlev Schlichter: It’s a mad mad mad mad world

"Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, has some exciting new ideas about how to make Japan’s economy grow. How about the government borrows a lot of money and spends it on building bridges and roads all over the country? If that doesn’t sound so new, it is because it isn’t. It is what Japan has been doing for 20 years, and it is the main reason why Japan is now the most heavily indebted nation on the planet. But never mind. The Keynesians agree that this policy was a roaring success, and that this is why the country needs more of it. Mr. Abe also plans to force the Bank of Japan into printing more money, and this is surely going to be a great success, too." Continue reading →

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Germany ‘exporting’ elderly to foreign retirement homes

"Growing numbers of elderly and sick Germans are being sent overseas for long-term care in retirement and rehabilitation centres because of rising costs and falling standards in Germany. The move, which has seen thousands of retired Germans rehoused in homes in eastern Europe and Asia, has been severely criticised by social welfare organisations who have called it 'inhumane deportation'. But with increasing numbers of Germans unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes, and an ageing and shrinking population, the number expected to be sent abroad in the next few years is only likely to rise. Experts describe it as a 'time bomb'." Continue reading →

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Charles Burris: American Statolatry

"Statolatry has become the principal form of worship in contemporary America. People erroneously talk about 'separation of Church and State' when 'the State' has replaced 'the Church' as the idolatrous venue for worship. As the Church had its calendar of Holy Days of Obligation and sacraments, so too the State has its own sacred holidays, icons, protocols and rituals. Each day in rote, millions of captive children in government schools recite the Pledge of Allegiance, their solemn oath to this sacred creed, without giving it cursory reflection or thought." Continue reading →

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The Evolution of Government

"Over the past few years, I’ve shared a handful of images that capture the essence of government. Now I have something new to add to the list – an image showing the evolution of government. The clear message throughout is that government means coercion. And that coercion doesn’t become legitimate merely because 51 percent of the population decides to plunder 49 percent of the population. Which is perfectly shown by the final image, which accurately portrays today’s system of government and the IRS." Continue reading →

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Lord Obama on Shared Sacrifice

"So what's the definition of shared sacrifice, and what's the definition of 'forward?' 54 Christmas trees, a 300 lb. gingerbread presidential palace, and a dandy $4 million Hawaiian vacation. Robert Keith Gray, a former Eisenhower staffer, revealed that last year the U.S. presidency cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion. Over the same period, the entire royal family cost British taxpayers about $57 million. There’s nothing 'royal' about the current level of 'presidential perks': The Obama family costs taxpayers more than every European royal house put together." Continue reading →

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The Invisible Hand Strikes Back

"The system proved a good deal more fragile than people have been led to expect. Couple that with the Fed's ongoing money-printing that has literally doubled equity values and you get increasing resistance to the whole idea of stock investing. First people are frightened by the breakdown of the system itself and then they are exposed to ongoing – 'industrial strength' – monetary manipulation. What do those in the industry expect? What do elites that have built up the modern stock market believe people will do with their money? People 'get it' ... and not in a good way." Continue reading →

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Ordinary Folks Losing Faith In Stocks, Plowing Into Bonds

"Since they started selling in April 2007, eight months before the start of the Great Recession, individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds, a category that includes both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, according to estimates by the AP. That is the equivalent of all the money they put into the market in the previous five years. Instead of stocks, they're putting money into bonds because those are widely perceived as safer investments. Individuals have put more than $1 trillion into bond mutual funds alone since April 2007." Continue reading →

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The Fiscal Cliff’s Structural Endgame

"This Grand Bargain is coming apart as the promises made to everyone cannot possibly be met. Claims on welfare and disability programs are skyrocketing at the same time that the demographics of an aging populace are causing 10,000 people a day to enter Social Security and Medicare, the two costliest government programs. Meanwhile, the upper middle class that pays most of the taxes has been slammed with lower income and a devastating drop in their housing-based net worth." Continue reading →

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