The trough moves, so does the swine: on to Tusla.

Another black man killed at the hands of a white man, another charge of a hate crime. That is just one of the charges facing both Jake England, 19, and his roommate, Alvin Watts, 33 who are also being charged with multiple other charges including Murder-1 for the three gunshot victims who died on the 6th of April earlier this month in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unlike the Martin/Zimmerman situation in Florida, this case has evidence based on police reports of: “admissions by both defendants as to their involvement in the three murder charges and the two SWIK (shooting with intent to kill) charges” that according to First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond.


This situation appears to be quite different from the shooting in Sanford, where a lot of grey area surrounds the case. Zimmerman in his role of the Martin shooting claims his innocence, while this case in Tulsa you have an admission of guilt. An admission of guilt… is well, an admission of guilt. For one, there are two survivors in the Tulsa shootings. Secondly, there are two people being accused (roommates too) thus the pool of defense the defense team can draw from will be one that is severely limited. So there is no way that the Tulsa case will play out the same as the case in Sanford. The only question here will be life in prison or lethal injection.

Now, with the case of Zimmerman, I opined back in March that the charge of a hate crime or that Martins death was racially motivated was clearly speculative, based only on the fact that Zimmerman was white while Martin was black. That’s hardly enough evidence to say that something was motivated out of hate or prejudice. That however didn’t stop Al Sharpton and Jess Jackson from sticking in their beaks to claim otherwise. Jackson went even as far to say that: “"Blacks are under attack."

I found that funny then and I find it funny now. The reality is that blacks attack more whites than whites do blacks... and they do so at an alarming rate. According to a study done by the New Century Foundation in 2005 (a non profit organization founded in 1994 to study immigration and race relations) crimes that involve blacks and whites, blacks commit 85% of the 770,000 violent interracial crimes to the white populations 15%. Its worth noting that, American white population in the US is 4x that of black Americans.

Blacks target whites more so than any other race while committing violent crimes. In fact 45% of their victims are white to 43% being black. White people on the other hand commit only 3% of their violent crimes are against blacks. Now let’s think about these last two figures and maybe Jackson and Sharpton can give an explanation; because I don’t ever see or hear of an explanation when it comes to black on black crime. If they do speak out in these cases it’s always a community problem or it’s the nation, the illegal guns, the drugs or its our history that has failed them; I never hear ownership.


·  Blacks are an estimated 39 times more likely to commit a violent crime against a white than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery.

·  Blacks are 2.25 times more likely to commit officially-designated hate crimes against whites than vice versa.


This study was done in 2005; I will gladly give the benefit of the doubt and stand corrected if blacks are indeed “under attack” as Jackson says they are. All I need to do is see the evidence. Show me the numbers and show me the crimes. If we are going to just cherry pick random acts of violence and call them hate crimes or grasp on to the very few of white hate crimes committed against blacks that are an anomaly without any statistical evidence to state otherwise… then these numbers I present speak for themselves. That however won’t happen, because race and division is big business. Facts and truth mean nothing to these men. Ask Sharpton, he wouldn’t go to Tulsa because he was too busy “fundraising” in DC.

"I was scheduled to be in Tulsa this weekend but now feel that I can be more useful to the families of the victims to remain at my national convention and raise money for them," Sharpton said.

Remember who Jackson said was attacking Black America? It was “Big business” and I will say what I said a month ago regarding this: exploitation is big business.

Class warfare or socialism in action? Easter lessons for all

After countless readings, written words by myself and conversations over the years, i consider myself cemented in the mindset of freedom above all... economically and socially. This mindset of course doesn't lend itself to appeal to socialistic ideals. That however came into question today when i found myself staring over two easter baskets, pondering which one to raid.

As you can see below, the one on the right just had about nine pieces of candy. It also came with a DVD and a ball (not pictured) worth roughly $20 dollars combined. It was the basket of a 10 month old. The basket on the right, was the basket of a 9 year old. It also included a lot of chocolate worth probably $25.00. There was also two items not pictured. They were a season pass to Waldameer (amusement park) retail value of 75.00 and a Nintendo Wi game with a retail value of about 29.00.

Now, what would be "fair" would be to take a few pieces from each. I thought that at first. After a millisecond to total up the cost of each basket, i insisted on raiding the most expensive one on the right. Now, the 9 year old enters the room with me having a mouthful of chocolate and says: "Hey, that's my candy!!!" I explain to her the situation and i try to convince her that she has much more, so she should be ok with me taking from her. 

She doesn't agree. So i just simply say its half my contribution and half that other guy's (Rabbit and Claus always get unworthy credit). So therefore i am entitled to take what i want. Lesson over. So, luckily I'm not a socialist... but maybe a fascist?

Bring on the Cleaver: the Congressional Black Caucus does what they do best.

The death of Trayvon Martin has divided people in many ways; be it politically, ethnically or racially. The amount of vitriol we have seen regarding this tragedy has only been rivaled by the amount of hyperbole that accompanies it. I have already exposed the racebaiters a few weeks ago, so no need to do that again. This time I want to call out the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). 

Now what happened in that case with Martin and Zimmerman is still pending, so for me to comment would be unfair. I have made comments before regarding this matter and after I took a step back and looked at it from a wide vantage point; I find it’s just not logical to continue to do so until after the case has been closed. With that said, there is no denying people who are profiteers off of segregation have taken the opportunity to do so.

Released in a 4-page resolution this week, sponsored by CBC Chairman Emmanuel Cleaver, the CBC backed resolution calls to address the controversial “stand your ground” law and in that report is also states that Zimmerman used quote:

“unfounded assumptions and racial bias led to the use of deadly force.”

Just one problem Mr Cleaver. We have no basis or evidence that there was racial bias involved. CNN has corrected their version where they had Zimmerman saying “coon” on the 9-11 tapes to now “cold” and NBC blames a terrible edit which made Zimmerman look racist. Other then those now corrected errors, how can we draw an “assumption” or conclude there was “racial bias” involved in this case? How can Zimmerman be described as a racist? We can’t. Being that as it may be, that doesn’t stop members from an organization who lines their pockets via race card games, people who are elected many times due to their race, from using this to maximize political capital.

Let’s just pretend that this racial segregation in the form of representative caucuses is acceptable for a moment. Would it not be understandable to expect elected representatives to at least be representing the views of the dominant ethnicity of their district? Take for example; Maxine Waters, who represents the 35^th district of California. Only 35% of her constituency is black, 47% of it is Hispanic. Why isn’t she in the Hispanic caucus? Or what about Keith Ellison, who has 73% of his district identifying themselves as White?

Out of 40 members that make up the CBC, thirteen of them are representing districts that are not predominantly black. These districts show African Americans being a minority demographic, and in some cases behind both White and Hispanic populations. Yet you have politicians being elected to serve a minority demographic first and foremost, despite the fact that it took the votes from other larger racial demographics to get them elected in the first place.

The most audacious however and symbolic of this utter hypocrisy, is the Chairman of the CBC, Emmanuel Cleaver who sponsored this resolution. Mr Cleaver who has sixty-nine percent of his district being white is rushing to judgment to label this man a racist, even thou there is not information to conclude Zimmerman was what he was being accused of. Again, 69% of Mr Cleavers district is white. Yet he is chair of the Congressional “Black” Caucus, elected out of Missouri and condemning a some random Joe six-pack in Florida, some 1,200 miles away of being... racist?

Mr Zimmerman may or may not be a lot of things. Does he appear to be a creepy guy, a wannabe cop, and reckless… obviously. A murderer? It appears so, but again, the case is still pending. But, a racist? The evidence to this point states he is not and unless there is something totally unforeseen, it appears he is not a guy using “racial bias”. 

Even if CNN and NBC corrected themselves and that may have led some to believe he was a racist, I don’t see anyone from the CBC pulling back their slenderest remarks or resolutions. Ironically, the only thing we can absolutely derive from this event is that the Congressional Black Caucus is build upon segregation, intimidation, collectivism and racism. If anyone should be condemned for relying on "unfounded assumptions", its the CBC. If anyone is guilty of “racial bias” it’s the Congressional Black Caucus.

A slightly out of the box solution to our gasoline/energy problem

Imagine a policy where the US drastically cut defense expenditures, increased our dependence on foreign oil, withdrew and stopped entering wars to protect or prop up the petrodollar and pay higher consuming costs not only at the pump and grocery store but everywhere else and in between. Would you believe it? Would you even accept this as remotely possible without destroying our economy? I know it sounds crazy and no, this isn’t a page out of the Obama playbook. This would be the policy going forward if I was sitting at the top of the elitist pyramid. It's not ideal but you have to play the hand that is dealt.

I know there are “greenies” or “tree-huggers” that are reading this and smiling. I hate to disappoint but it’s not a green agenda. No, this is a strategy that would keep America not only at the top of the neocolonial power structure; it would vastly strengthen its grip. How do you suppose this is possible? First and foremost it’s a strategy centered on oil.

We have all experienced the rising gas prices. We have seen the rising prices in commodities. We have felt the gouge in the pocketbook, as trips to the grocery store have become ever increasingly more expensive. The volatile relationship of humans and fuel has taken center stage as the issue of 2012. Emerging economies cannot grow without fuel and established markets crumble if they lose the access.

If it affects everyone, then everyone has an opinion on what to do about our dependency on fossil fuels. Some say, drive the prices sky high so we can jump-start innovation for green tech. While others say “drill baby drill” using our own resources to offset rising costs. Then there are those of us in the middle. While I can see the logic behind the green push and the tapping of our resources, the reality of the situation, unfortunately, is not so pragmatic.

Oil as we know is a global commodity traded around the world. What is traded and receives the most attention is crude oil. Crude oil is by far the most lucrative oil for its producers and the most inexpensive for the consumer. Its diverse applications make in the most valued of all fuels. As far as we go here in the states, it is true; we do have vast reserves of oil, but how much of it is crude oil is a big question mark.

 

The amount of crude oil we have here in the in proven reserves (as you can see above) is nothing like they have in the Middle East. This is why the Middle East remains so vital to the entire world. Just ask Dick, before he became "Vice Dick" back in 1999 while he was CEO at Haliburton.

 “The Middle East with two thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow” - Dick Cheney

 
 However, there are people like Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, who say the US has billions of untapped crude reserves, just waiting to be put into production. According to Hamm and his exploration and production company, the Bakken region alone has 20 billion barrels of crude. That would equal the entire US total in proven crude reserves according to the EPA numbers. And that is just in North Dakota and Montana. 

Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, Alaska and off shore are all seeing a new oil boom. The amount of oil we have in reserves is rivaled by no other nation in the world. Again, how much of it is crude, is open for debate, there is no denying the vast supply of fuels however.

With crude being the most lucrative and easiest to refine, it will remain the preferred fuel until the time comes when supply of it is vastly outstripped by demand creating equilibrium amongst other types of oil. If you look at the crude oil rich Middle East (who supplies over sixty percent of the world’s oil demands), its crystal clear what kind of clout you receive having the breadbasket of energy in your backyard. 

That region is home to some of the most backwards societies on the planet; yet our President will bow to their king, because he knows how vital they are. Now superimpose that type of power to the US, who already runs the petrodollar scam. So it doesn’t matter really what our reserves are made from. When the supply of crude becomes so depleted you will have all types of oil becoming economically viable. At that point, all oil will be worth not only pursuing but manufacturing and refining as well. 

So, it stands to reason, in a Machiavellian-esque outlook, the US should do all it can to pump the world of its crude, as quickly as possible. This of course will be painful in the short terms but the reality is that the price of oil isn’t going down anymore. The days of cheap gas are gone. 

The US dollar is nothing more then a mirage, its no more valuable then the paper it’s printed on. We are trading paper backed in confidence for tangible assets from other nations that have to invest in our nation just to get oil 66% of the time. Then those nations who take the dollars reinvest them back into this country, yes, that as you know is the short version of the petrodollar recycling process but I think its important to understand the significance of this and the opportunity that lies within it. That’s about as good as a scam as one can devise. If you did it, it would be called counterfeit.

When the Middle East and OPEC lose their stranglehold, the dollar dies. We have accumulated too much debt since OPEC agreed to trade oil for dollars in the early 1970's. The recoil from that action will have a dramatic impact on not only our market but the entire world market.

 

So, I say NO to: “drill baby drill”. 

I say YES, take a hatchet to defense spending and reinvest that money towards balancing the budget or subsidize gas prices for the American consumer (further pushing up consumption).

I say YES to further litigation and regulation, stifling American companies from extracting oil in the US. Bring on Green Peace and bring on the environmentalists.

I say NO to consuming 1.oz of the 695.9 million barrels we have as a nation in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Do whatever it takes to use up the rest of the world’s fuels, trading worthless paper for them in the process. The ends justify the means.   

Lets stop with the political hot potato concerning oil.

There has been a lot of talk of late centering around President Obama and the gas price hike we have seen in the US. Many people blame his policies, pushing alternative green energy over conventional energy (like Nat gas, coal and Crude). There has been people in the administration that have actually gone on record admitting as much. Dr Stephen Chu actually said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in late 2008 (before he became part of the cabinet):

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,"

According to the WSJ, Dr Chu would do this by quote: "raising gasoline taxes gradually over 15 years to coax consumers into buying fuel-efficient cars and discouraging sprawl".

Now, we haven't seen that happen as of yet. We already have seen however that the Administration does play favorites when it comes to the agenda or promotions of industries they see fit. We have seen that with Solyndra and GM. While that does point to an obvious flaw or at least a blurred line in the relationship between private industry and the state; it is something that isn't unique to the Obama Administration alone. It is also not he reason gas prices have gone up either these last few years.

Just like playing favorites when it comes to energy sources, the Obama Administration is guilty of a double standard in handling or at least blaming the source for fluctuations in gasoline prices. This was a stump speech in Indiana from 2008, one in which President elect Obama was campaigning on the high oil prices pushing blame on the Bush Administration and the oil companies, staying true to his populist ideals:

There have been examples of President Obama deflecting when it comes to what is happening with the price of gas, blaming everyone from speculators to people driving SUV's. So its pretty clear, the Obama Administration has favored alternative energy over conventional and he has also used double standard logic to defend the rise in oil prices.

Again, these are not reasons why gas prices have went up. As i pointed out earlier this year, we here in the US are now actually a net exporter of fuel for the first time since the 1940's, yet prices in gasoline have only went up. The reason is very simple. Its a global economy and oil is the heart of the global economy, there is very little one country can do to offset the global price that is measured in US inflationary dollars. 

Now, with that said, the biggest reasons we are seeing rises in fuel prices specifically at the pump is also simplistic. The world is consuming more oil, the supply has remain unchanged, thus the law of supply and demand have driven the price up. Just look at the demand.

 As we can see the emerging markets and growing economies are consuming more and more oil and we are consuming less. We are seeing now the fruits of their labor that comes from producing our cheap goods. The emerging economies are showing the world what it means when people say "a rising tide lifts all boats". And to the contrary, ours are staying stagnate or sinking. That's just cause and effect. Now what about supply?

 oilprice.com

As we can see here and pointed out by Gail Tverberg:

"Since 2005, world crude oil supply has bumped up against what seems to be a limit of 75 million barrels of oil a day. No matter how hard companies try to extract more crude oil, and no matter how high world oil prices rise, they seem unable to extract more than 75 million barrels a day (MBD)."

So again, supply has stayed level, while demand has risen and while some look at the price of gas and the recession and rise in prices during the recession as proof of something to use as an excuse for blaming the administration its clearly not based on fact. Here is the graph that really tells what is happening.

Chart courtesy of Gecko Software
As you can see above, the demand in oil has increased with the price, nothing fishy or speculative about that. Its just simple mathematics. What we seen in the march from 2002-2008 is what we are seeing now. 2008 wasn't some anomaly; it is reality. That is where the economic equilibrium now lies, but the more reckless spending and the more we rely on credit that dilute savings; the equilibrium will only rise in terms of dollars.

This idea that we can spend and borrow our way to prosperity is going to have some consequences; cheap oil is one of them. And when you factor in the emerging economies, it only speeds the rise in prices that much quicker. Call it cause and effect, call it 2+2= 4.... whatever you do call it, just call it what it really is, not what you want it to be. Stop pretending this is some partisan issue when clearly, this long term, cannot be a political football. Now if you want talk about getting Nat-Gas powered cars... that's a different issue. Natural gas is really where our ultimate prize lies.

Get your Burl "silver" Ives on.

Everyone remembers the movie “Indecent proposal”. The movie where Robert Redford offered Woody Harrelson's character 1 Million dollars for one night with his wife, who was played by Demi Moore. The movie gave a complex view of how people value themselves in relation to money and it probably made a lot of people play the “what if” game because of it. I remember being a teenager playing the “what if” game myself. More often than not, it was centered on money as well. For example: 

How much would it take for you, to let Michael Jackson fondle you?
If reincarnation allowed you to come back as someone, who would it be?
If you won a million dollars, what would you do with it?
  
The first scenario was when MJ was in his heyday of molestation, so it was relevant then – not proud of it, but true nonetheless. That last scenario was the one I would think about often to myself.  Being that i was young, the answers were predictable for a kid who just wanted to play sports and nothing else. Those fantasy dollars were chasing imaginary possessions like: cars, houses and basketball court's in my backyard(s). You get the idea. As I got older, the view became more conservative, one built on investing and preserving that wealth. I’ll get back to that later. 

Up until recently I haven’t given the “what if” game much thought. That is until I seen this story of a woman in Michigan, who won a lottery worth: 1 million dollars. 

Amanda Clayton, a 24 year old unemployed female, won the "Make Me Rich!" lottery earlier this month as reported on by everyone in the national media. The overview is simple. Mrs Clayton took a lump-sum payment of 500K after taxes and bought two houses and a car. Or exactly what I would have done…20 years ago. 

The rub is that Mrs Clayton also collected $200 in food stamps monthly even after she had won. Now any reasonable person would understand or sense an obligation to end his or her case and stop receiving the foodstamps but Mrs Clayton does have a point. She went on record stating that:

“I thought, maybe, it was OK because I'm not working. It's hard. I am struggling."

You see she is struggling, she doesn’t have a job and if that wasn’t hard enough, maybe you will tear up when you know that she quote:

“I have no income and I have bills to pay. I have two houses."

How is someone able to hit the lottery for seven figures and still legally be eligible for food stamps? Because, according to federal guidelines; gambling and lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don't count as gross income. Therefore, one could hit the Mega-Millions 350 Million dollar Jackpot and still collect their foodstamps. So technically speaking, she wasn’t breaking any laws. Technically is one thing, morally or ethically is another.

Now, you are probably asking yourself… what does that have to do with you and the “what if” game and Mrs Clayton striking it rich then still collecting foodstamps? It’s obvious that what Mrs Clayton did was unethical and really a microcosm for many in society, who feel they are entitled to benefits. Many times, those benefits are goodwill or tax dollars from others used to give the less fortunate a hand; to only be stolen and pillaged by people that could otherwise do for themselves but would rather go this route because it easier.

Now, when I played the “what if” game as I got older I would always say I would invest the money in a CD or save it in a Money Market or just conventional savings account. Back when I was doing my dreaming (in the mid-90’s) a Jumbo CD yield was anywhere from 4-6%. Obviously I would have taken out multiple CD’s because of the limitations of the FDIC, but that is really all you would have to do to live off the interest. Pretty simple, no money manager needed. Sure it’s not exotic but its conservative and simplistic. What about now? 

 Graph from: Bankrate.com

In the 90’s we could live off of 35-40K a year, the yield we could expect from a million dollar investment. I assume that would be sufficient for Mrs Clayton (she may only be able to own one house thou) and I know it would be for me. Now with that said, let’s play the “what if” game in today’s environment. 


For anyone of us that frequent a bank and see the rates on the wall, we know the return isn’t worth them holding our cash. As you can see from the link below, a jumbo today would yield you at the most 1.15% with most of the interest rates being below 1%. Using today’s interest rates, it would have us collecting anywhere from $7,500-$13,000 off of 1 Million dollars in Jumbo CD’s. That is not livable by most standards.

 http://www.bankrate.com/funnel/cd-investments/cd-investment-results.aspx?prods=15,24

What this says is what we already know: fiat money, fractional reserve banking and our entire monetary policy/system is starting to eat itself. The debt driven - black hole gathers strength. It’s hurting the poor and those people who rely on cash of course but like we see here, it hurts the savers (where true capital comes from) and instead, favors the wealthiest and credit whores. As I pointed out with pending interest rate tsunami that is coming when/if the FED raises interest rates and the fact that the American consumer is tapped out and saturated in debt, our demise is only a mater of time. Today, the “what if” game for me and hopefully anyone else (including you too Amanda) only consists of silver and gold… and some guns.  

The pigs are at the Sanford trough

There has been a media firestorm surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old tragically killed in Florida last month. Martin, who was unarmed and black, was returning home from a 7-Eleven when he was gunned down by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, who is half Spanish and half white, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. 

Photo from: AP

  

The tragic death of Martin is undeniable. A young man cut down before even reaching the age of adulthood by the hand of an adult, is a tragedy that has a unique sting to it. Anytime a child or teenager is raped or murdered by an adult; it always cuts deeper and this is no exception.  

Now, much of this case is still pending but it appears this was a murder and if it was race motivated or not, is anyone’s guess at this point. The only person that could answer that for certain is Zimmerman and Zimmerman only. If it is in fact a hate crime, then Zimmerman wouldn’t be the first or the last white man to kill a black male. Just as there will be black males who kill white males. 

The motives for individuals involving any violent act have to be taken at a case by case basis. There is crime and murder everyday involving all races in a variety of ways and this will continue happening everyday, until the day every man exists this earth. In fact, the more the population grows, the more tragedies there will be, it's just simple math.

What is interesting to this author, is the relevance of this situation in terms of race and the charge of racism. How often do we look and say that these events that take place so often daily are racially motivated? And if they were, then it would be a racist committing a murder. There is nothing you can do to stop these events from happening; it’s up to each of us individually to do so. 

Racism and terrorism is the necessary evils of a free and open society, it's consequences we have to live with. We don’t have to like it, but it's individual responsibility that will keep them at a minimum, not exclusion and division; they only fuel the fires of the very same things they are against.

However, don’t tell that to those people who make a living off division, collectivism and race baiting that bit; it wouldn’t fit their agenda. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as this tragedy started to simmer towards a boiling point across the country, the usual suspects had arrived (well at least half anyway) all feasting on this tragedy like pigs at a trough. Under a guise of racial justice, you can’t help but notice the stench of wicked self promotion, racism and cynicism trailing their every move, like freshly flattened skunk; beneath a tire on the road to collectivism.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson Sr have become synonymous, if not the face of every national crime, injustice, slandering etc etc involving a black victim and a white perpetrator or instigator, for the last forty years. Both of their entire careers and livelihood, have been made possible by racism, and the dividing of people based on race and creed. But above all, the creation of national headlines based on isolated incidents, is where their pockets get lined in emerald.

I could understand the national outcry if we were seeing an influx of murders like this happening everywhere but that isn't the case. We live in a country of 300+ million; it’s statistically unavoidable to not have incidents like this happen. Even if this case was involving the grand wizard/master of the KKK, it’s still an isolated incident. One person killing another person isn’t indicative of anything broad or sweeping.

In this case, we have a potential racist who uses self defense and felt his life was in danger even though the kid was unarmed while Zimmerman was. Zimmerman felt fear for his life even as he was following the young man. Pretty damning to me and he should be tried and/or punished accordingly. You also have the police department who didn’t arrest Zimmerman or at the very least detain him for questioning. This is also worth an investigation from local or state authorities. But how this is a national story is beyond me.

Even our own President’s Press Secretary,  Carney said as much earlier this week:

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin’s family but obviously, we’re not going to wade into a local law-enforcement matter.”

But that didn’t last long, as we all know by now. The president, true to his populist DNA, flipped the script and appeased to those calling for justice when the media began to run with this story. By doing so he did the exact opposite of what he said (and it was the right thing to do then and now) just days earlier, he waded into it. And why wouldn’t he? A populist running for re-election following the breeze of the assembling masses? Surprise…surprise. Titus Livius said it best:

The populace is like the sea motionless in itself, but stirred by every wind, even the lightest breeze.

Mr. Livius, I would like you to meet our President of the United States, Barack Obama; he is the Pacific Ocean in terms of populace seas. Our President however isn’t a race baiter, he isn’t out to divide anyone more so than any politician is by political nature. Al Sharpton however does not share that trait with our President. These were his quotes this week concerning this tragedy speaking at a rally in Sanford, Florida. Notice the vast amounts of pronouns and the context and which how they are used.

 

“Violence is killing Tray Martin, on’t act like we are the ones [who are] violent. We didn’t shoot nobody.”

“I want our people to understand that how you behave is going to be a reflection on this case”

“[No matter] how angry we get, don’t let them make you act in a way that they will say, ‘see, that’s what to think with Trayvon.’”

“We are going to act intelligent, we going to act dignified. And, we’re going to be determined. We may be angry, but we’re not mad dogs. We’re too smart to fall for [that].”

This is deliberate, divisive language. This is man who’s made a career of divisiveness. Outside of working as James Brown’s manager (that must have been pretty cool to be honest) for a brief stint, what has he done to create anything or provide a service before getting his own show on MSNBC? He’s been a preacher at some point just like Jesse Jackson was and just like Jesse Jackson, he has only made a living creating movements and rallying around isolated incidents to gain national exposure for his own personal gains.

Al Sharpton has appeared on numerous television shows, has tax fines from the IRS and leans, been fined by the FEC for breaking campaign finance rules – the man is opportunist, and a hot mess of greed, corruption and exploitation. I would call him the biggest leech and scourge on the black community but that distinction belongs to Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson hasn’t made the trip to Florida from what I have heard as of yet, but he did offer up this tidbit:

"Blacks are under attack." 

From whom you might ask? “Big Business” is according to Jackson. 

Blacks are under attack, indeed. But the attacks are coming from within, under a masquerade of outrage while concealing the truth that is self promotion via division and sensationalism. After all, if we eliminate racism what would that do in terms of job security for these two? Jesse's on a roll, apparently it is big business that is responsible. Exploitation is big business (just ask MSNBC and Al Sharpton) because it's always turning profits; to bad that there is a victim and family in mourning to make this happen.

Hyperinflation, the end game or will it be crippling interest? Choose your side.

Recently I saw an interview done with Kyle Bass, which was done in early November as a part of AmeriCatalyst 2011. The interview was over an hour in but if you start at the 46-minute mark, I assure you will be glad you did as it will lead you to the same conclusion that I came to and its one I want to address today. That is concerning the Keynesian debt system and interest payments on the debt. 

Kyle Bass, who founded Hayman Capital in 2006, made a fortune betting against the sub-prime mortgage bond market. Yes, that same bond market that was at the forefront of the great meltdown in 2008-present. You can also find Bass’s surging rise to the top in Michael Lewis’s book 'Boomerang: The Meltdown Tour'.

Towards the latter part of this interview, Mr Bass says that if the FED raises the interest rates, for every 1% point moved higher it will “create an additional 140 billion in interest expenses”. That got me thinking.

The FED is already on record saying they will not move interest rates until 2014 at the earliest, so the amount of liquidity in the system will only explode until then. That we know is a given.

What isn’t a given is what happens when they do raise interest rates. Kyle Bass seems to think that the Keynesian end point is zero and that, of course, would lead to massive hyperinflation. I assume that to be somewhat true as well, although I think the FED will do something to intervene to prevent that from happening, because:

A. they are too arrogant not to

B. their sole responsibility is to control our money supply.

So, even with unemployment news getting better the last few months, we are still (as we have said before) in the period of time of the worst, extended lack of job growth; then any point in modern Keynesian history. There is another factor and that is the FED isn’t going to raise rates for the next few years; then it hit me.

What happens when the FED has to go the Volckeresque route and raise rates too early 80’s height to stave off inflation, assuming zero isn’t the end game?

Will we see a repeat of the “October massacre” of ’79 sometime in the future, where interest rates were raised dramatically? In 1979 inflation was running at 13%. After those interest rate hikes by Volcker over the next few years, inflation dropped to 3.2%.

That, however, was not the politically smart thing to do at the time but it was the prudent thing for the country going forward. It also brought on a recession and I can’t think of any politician let alone anyone from the FED willing to do so in this day in age outside of Ron Paul.

“Strictly speaking, it probably is not “necessary” for the federal government to tax anyone directly; it could simply print the money it needs. However, that would be too bold a stroke, for it would then be obvious to all what kind of counterfeiting operation the government is running. The present system combining taxation and inflation is akin to watering the milk; too much water and the people catch on.” – Ron Paul

 

It is also important to note, that interest rate hike also made the perfect organic soil for a vast economic expansion to blossom as well, go figure.

If we know the interest payments are 450 Billion on the debt last year (combining both public and intra debt) and we have heard from Kyle Bass that for every point raised brings about an additional $140 billion in interest… and if we approached the prime rate today what Volcker’s prime rate topped out at 21.5 percent, what would our interest payment be?

It would be a whopping 2.9 Trillion in additional interest payments…annually. On top of the 450 billion currently obligated by law to pay… annually. Thus the interest payment today, on the debt, at early 1980 levels; would be about as much as the entire federal budget is today. If that isn’t a sign of the times and further proof of us living beyond our means, I don’t know what else is. No wonder Bass thinks the end game is zero. No wonder he has over 20 million nickel coins and bars of gold in his drawer… hyperinflation here we come!

The post 9-11 double-sided coin

The continent of Africa has been in the news quite a bit of late and it's been a mixed bag of reasons why. Economically speaking, there has been astonishing progress and growth in emerging markets like Angola, who has seen its GDP increase over 1000% since 2000. There has also been a major boom in China and African trade agreements, as more and more African nations are brokering deals to send their vast resources into the commodity starved eastern power. George Clooney was arrested protesting at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington for the ongoing civil war that is ravishing the nation. Then we have had the blitz of KONY 12 the last few weeks and the bizarre twist, in which we seen the creator of the viral sensation get arrested for creating a scene in public naked and belligerent. 

The most fascinating aspect of KONY 12 wasn’t the astounding swath of attention through social networking then subsequent conventional media. It wasn't Jason Russell's public meltdown caught on camera. Nor was it the removal of an African warlord, because even when he was arrested, somebody would fill the vacuum. No, the single most important aspect of this “movement” is something nobody is talking about and that is the American public double standard.

For over a decade now, we have all at one time or another heard the world Islam and it immediately became synonymous with the word terrorism. I have done it. We see it in person, in the media (all facets of the media) and every other aspect of our lives. It’s only human to do so, considering the coverage and the emotional impact a 9-11 will have on a country. When you add the fighting of two wars to defeat terrorism, it only adds to the cognitive dissonance we experience as a whole.   

However, an open mind and a clean motive will allow you to understand that Islam, like any other widespread religion, is for the most part, made up of peaceful, good natured people. If we take the 1.5+ billion people whom call themselves Muslims, it is mathematically unavoidable to not have some bad apples. We have seen just 19 Hijackers on 9-11 send the world into a tailspin. We have heard of just 75-100 people alone taking on the US military in Afghanistan. To this day that has us still counting losses in blood and treasure. Economically, the cost being somewhere in the hundreds of billions. In the form of life, priceless.   

It is expected and highly probable to have a small percentage of people be violent and/or suicidal by human nature alone. Then suppose you factor in degrading aspects like: lack of education, no commerce to provide steady work or access to true representative government… the numbers of bad apples only swell.

And that is where we find the disconnect in our rational.

Here we have a tyrant, named Joseph Kony, who leads the Lord’s Resistance Army. That “Lord” at the forefront of the acronym isn’t some arbitrary name for a gang. It means what it does in Uganda, as it does here. That "Lord" being the very same as the Jedeo-Christian "Lord". Joseph Kony is the mastermind of a  guerrilla war against the Ugandan government (whom are Muslim’s) as he is hell bent on installing a theocracy ruled by the Ten Commandments; to replace the Islamic theocracy already in place. Where have we seen this movie before? Oh yhea, it’s called the Crusades. 

Dont tell that to people like Rush Limbaugh though. He actually went on his radio program trying to politicize the situation last year after Obama sent in 100 troops to "to remove them from the battlefield".  Now I personally don't agree in any military engagements in Sudan or Uganda, but i also don't defend a guy like Joseph Kony because it's politically expedite either. Now Rush Limbaugh later apologized for it days later but the damage was done. Here you have in Rush, a Christian-Conservative defending Joseph Kony based on the fact that he was a Christian, without even so much of a thought who or what he has done.

That is the type of mindset many of us here in the states use when the subject of religion comes up regarding Islam. What Limbaugh did was a microcosm of what most of us have done and many of us still do, we relate Terrorism to Islam and Christianity to righteousness. Even though Kony himself is a terrorist responsible for countless murders, executions and war crimes - it was assumed at face value he being a Christian, he was "fighting the good fight". Now most people who watched the video seen him for whom he was but the fact that he was calling himself a Christian goes relatively unnoticed, while anytime a brown person commits an act of terrorism, his relgion is bundled alongside his actions.

Just like many self described Christians, such as Jim Jones and David Koresh, their acts don’t jive with the overwhelming majority of Christians. Could those two and Joseph Kony actually find biblical evidence and accounts justifying their actions? Sure. The Old Testament is littered with stories or commands to kill non believers amongst other heinous acts. One of the most telling comes from Deuteronomy (13:7-12 NAB):

If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him.  Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you.  You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.  And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. 

Now, many of you are probably saying to yourself, well those laws were for Jewish people and those were their laws... and you would be correct. However, the Bible doesn’t come with a disclaimer and if it is truly the word of God, why should it? And if it is simply a case of “lost in translation” like many parts of the Bible when something controversial comes up (funny how that problem never arises with the messages of eternal love and forgiveness) why would God trust man in the first place? Why trust an obvious fallible messenger   to be the courier of his word, if he cant even copy the word from one sheet of paper to the next without error? That however is another discussion for another day.

So, because books like the Bible and the Koran are obviously open to interpretation, you will always have people for a myriad of reasons using these books as a tool (consciously or subconsciously) to justify or promote what they read literally. Most Christians do not do this. Just as most Muslims do not. However, many here in the states, seem to lose sight of that.

The Koran has many passages where it talks of peace with “people of the book” meaning Christians and Jews. Yet some Muslims choose to find other passages that contradict those passages in favor of something more hostile, because it suits or justifies their means to an end. Just as what happens with some Christians and their relation with the Bible. There is plenty of uplifting and spiritual enriching lessons to be found in both books, but like the Koran (and YouTube) there is dark places to go and find the justification for almost anything you want.

So, if we are to condemn Joseph Kony as a murder and support (and i do) that he is someone who should be found and put to death based on his actions and nothing else, fine. If we are to ignore his motives and his faith as a Christian, separating them from his cruel and ruthless actions, fine again. Then, it is only logical we treat Muslim extremists the same way.

Irony is a dish best served with a pair of latex gloves.

We all have seen the video or heard about KONY 12. Launched just two weeks ago, KONY 12 was/is a viral campaign who's sole goal is to not put an end to the Lord’s Resistance Army, who operate in Uganda. No, the goal is to gain awareness, so much so, that by the end of 2012, we will have seen the arrest of one Joseph Kony, head of the LRA.

Now, as we all have heard by now, the creator of KONY 12, Jason Russell, has apparently left the reservation. According to multiple reports (well basically police reports) he was arrested for not only stripping in public but for also "having a go" in the solitary sense, in public (think Pee-Wee Herman)...while screaming. Whoa. So needless to say, its rather amusing, the irony of the situation. Not that anyone is keeping score, but lets suppose we are, what would it look like so far?

Image courtesy of  http://knowyourmeme.com/

 

D'oh!