 Blucie.com
. . . where the skies are always blue and logic prevails
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By removing the gold standard we allowed our identities to be stolen
collectively as citizens. If we think that those who advocated lifting
the standard were well-intentioned, check out this quote from the man for whom Keynesian economics was named, John Maynard Keynes (context below):
"By a continuous process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
citizens. By this method, they not only confiscate, but they confiscate
arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually
enriches some."
~John Maynard Keynes [A.K.A. Evil Overlord]
Removing a gold standard is a deliberate attempt of a government to
loot the savings of a nation. Ours was lifted in 1971 and since then
our currency has been tied to nothing. As Alan Greenspan noted in 1966,
"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect
savings from confiscation through inflation." As long as the government
isn't required to keep to some sort of anchor (be it a gold standard or
other), they need only write out IOUs and US taxpayers are on the hook
for payment.
It has become so egregious that recently the Federal Reserve gave out
two trillion dollars in loans, and refused to disclose the recipients
to us, their lender. It's cockiness to the nth degree. It's like a
thief has stolen our credit cards and is racking up hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of debt that we cannot pay back. Except it's
legal.
The following is excerpted from: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard"
1) During the 1939–1942 period, the UK depleted much of its gold stock
in purchases of munitions and weaponry on a "cash and carry" basis from
the U.S. and other nations.[citation needed] This depletion of the UK's
reserve convinced Winston Churchill of the impracticality of returning
to a pre-war style gold standard. To put it simply the war had
bankrupted Britain. John Maynard Keynes, who had argued against such a
gold standard, proposed to put the power to print money in the hands of
the privately owned Bank of England.* Keynes himself said: "By a
continuous process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly
and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By
this method, they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily;
and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some".
* Replace "Bank of England" with "Federal Reserve Bank" and that's us
2)Alan Greenspan, at that time the Chairman and President of
Townsend-Greenspan & Co., Inc., an economic consulting firm in New
York, argued in 1966, before the advent of monetarism, that, “…under
the gold standard, a free banking system stands as the protector of an
economy's stability and balanced growth… The abandonment of the gold
standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking
system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit… In the absence
of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from
confiscation through inflation.”[11]
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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| A couple of weeks ago I caught an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Restaurants on the show are mere weeks from having to shut their doors. In their hour of need, world-renown restaurantier Gordon Ramsey sweeps in to save the day. He takes inventory of the menus, tests their food and takes inventory of their facility, workflow and books. At the end of his evaluation, he directs a complete overhaul of the restaurant, from the menu and décor to the marketing strategies and workflow. |
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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Never again. That's my answer to those who suggest the "right" thing to do is vote for the lesser of evils. There are no lesser evils. There are simply two brands of evil, both of which will control the populace if given the opportunity. It will look different, but a vote for either major candidate is a vote for expanding tyranny.
In one ring, we have those who want us all to fork over our rights to avert "climate change." When I was a kid, the prevailing climate fear mongering was that we were heading toward the next ice age and we were all going to freeze to death. Now they're telling us we're going to boil over. Incidentally, it was when the world cooled that we had major disaster; remember the Dark Ages? Anyway, since it's a such a travesty that the climate is changing (isn't that always the case?), I'm supposed to give up my incandescent light bulbs. Incandescents, by the way, turn on immediately, offer more flattering light, and coincidentally (???) have a much lower profit margin for GE, one of the companies who lobbied for the change because . . . they're so concerned about the environment. Isn't that sweet? So yeah, let's all save the planet by making everyone buy fluorescents and help GE make a profit while we're at it.
In the other corner, we have the 9-11 fear mongers. They have expanded Big Brother like I never dreamed possible prior to the big, bad day. The Patriot Act rendered our constitutional liberties worthless. It's all in the name of protecting us though, so that's supposed to make it okay.
Our forefathers warned us about people who would promise us security in exchange for small losses in liberty, but as far as I can tell we didn't hear a thing they said and are diving in head first.
So this time I am a one issue voter: FREEDOM. This November I will not hold my nose as I vote, and I will not walk away from the voting booth ashamed. If I must write in my candidate, so be it. Both major candidates promise to protect from different villains, but their promises will go up in smoke, along with our liberties. I was fooled before, but not again. If I must, I will go down with this ship. There can be no more compromise or there will be no more freedom to give: Go RON PAUL 2008.
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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In one of the opening scenes of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Andy Anderson's friend doesn't show up to work because she's been dumped for the umpteenth time. Andy brings a cashmere sweater and a coffee to the friend's apartment, opens her blinds, gives her a pep talk and gets her back in the game and on her way to work.
In thinking about popular shows (Seinfeld, Friends, Sex and the City, etc.), friends are like that. They barge into each other's lives and mess with each others' programs. This morning as I was lying in bed in my clothes from the night before at an hour too embarrassing to mention, I wondered if anyone has real friends like that. I had a kitchen full of dishes, a pile of work looming over me and my daughter sighing bored moans. Andy Anderson would have been a welcome sight.
Don't get me wrong, I have great friends, but I don't know anyone who has friendships like that. I can't be the only one who thinks that sounds appealing. Why else would that be such a popular storyline?
We could be and have friends on par with SATC, etc. - I'm sure of it. And if I paid attention to the needs around me of those I care about, I know it would motivate me to get my own butt in gear. All it would take is truly listening to one another and being willing to take risks. Those mythical people have nothing on us: The people I know are just as flawed, ridiculous, talented and funny as the rest of them.
Anyone need Caribou tomorrow?
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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I don't know about you, but occasionally I leave my garage door open after I hit the hay. Maybe I'm tired; maybe I want to air it out. Who knows why? It's my property and no one is welcome inside unless I've invited them. This is America, after all, land of private property rights.
Or so I thought. Apparently some Lakeville, Minnesota cops disagree. Last week Troy Wolde left his garage door open overnight. Two police officers noticed, let themselves into his home and woke him up by banging on his walls at three o'clock in the morning. Why? It was as just a friendly reminder not to leave his doors unlocked.
How thoughtful. It feels so good to live in a country where police don't do unreasonable searches without probable cause that a crime has been committed. Lakeville must be way too boring.
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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Well, my dream candidate has arrived. Looks like I'm not the only excited one. Last time I checked on meetup.com there were 89,000 members of Ron Paul meetups across the country so far. Compare that with the candidates in second place: Mike Huckabee and John Kerry have about 7100 members.
Last night several dozen supporters with two big banners and a drummer braved the cold streets of Minneapolis for a New Year's Eve rally for our man Ron Paul. It was fun and cold. There were lots of cheers and honks, with occasional jeers. A smaller group of us stood behind Don Shelby at WCCO's 10pm newscast, waving our signs and cheering. Shelby appeared annoyed and they closed the shade. All the negative attention just seemed to encourage us though. When I saw the irritated face of a newsman in the window, I was filled with amusement. Then a cute blonde woman behind me smiled at him and he warmed and smiled in return, a scene which seemed apropos in Revolution fashion.
Grassroots as it is, the official campaign seems to gravitate to cheeseball ads, but there are some great ads on YouTube that can now be supported independently. Here's one that can't be, but worth checking out:
I showed that one to my mom (a baby boomer) and she loved it. However, there are a few in this series that can be supported. They're great too, although not as gritty or succinct:
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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| I decided that, like Picasso, I'm going through my blue period. The world and the policymakers in it have been nothing but getting on my nerves lately. The good news in this nomenclature is that blue periods by definition are only snippets in time, i.e. they MUST be temporary.
After Mark ran for office a second time I went through a blissful period of apathy, due to a combination of fatigue and hopelessness. Reports would come to me of stupid things politicians in DC and here in the Minnesota capital were doing and I would laugh ... |
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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| Growing up, my dad would repeat the cliché, "If you aren't a liberal [socialist] when you're young you've got no heart." He didn't finish the quote because he's still a socialist and I'm not sure if he considers himself old either. In any case, as a libertarian I've been called selfish and heartless, and as a bleeding-heart libertarian, I'm here to set the record straight. |
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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| In 1992, 32-year old Mart Laar became the prime minister of Estonia. At the time the former Soviet state had 1000% inflation, was corrupt and poor.
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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| Recently it dawned on me that Superman wasn't rich. Sure, he had his Fortress of Solitude, but let's face it, it was sparce. He could have used a little help from Martha Stewart there.
The thing that surprised me is that he could have been. He could have capitalized on his powers and made himself one wealthy SOB. |
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| Posted by Hannah Jordan at | | | |
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