Shaky banks

My mother found an article by an blogger that she follows regularly regarding the shaky, and conceivably illicit activities that the larger banks in America do with their depositors money.  The things on the list include buying stock, infrastructure, commodities, etc.  Ellen Brown is exactly correct when she says that this is "a 'macro' risk indeed – not just to our economy but to our democracy and our individual and national sovereignty."  I think that now is the time to begin moving what little long term savings I have away from FDIC-insured banks into more stable banks.

It is a sad day when FDIC insurance is the least stable entity of all the financial entities.  For more on the FDIC instability read here and here.

I have posted the full text of Ellen Brown's article below but you can read the original version on her blog here.

History of Jewish Occupational Position

I found a curious opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.  The subject matter of the article is the, not merely survival but, continued success of Jewish people throughout the past few millenia.  This particular author gives religious-reasoned necessity to read and write as an important factor.  While I absolutely agree with this thesis, I suspect that the truth of the matter is far more complicated.  It does lend credence to the Old Testament/Torah, through which repeatedly God states in no uncertain terms that He will bless His chosen people.

Inflation? Is the CPI accurate?

John Mauldin had a good piece today on the definition of inflation.  Inflation is one of the critical, yet elusive, economic parameters that is studied today.  Mauldin seems to think that the current CPI is accurate despite the fact that they leave out food and fuel.  I tend to disagree, as food and fuel make up a huge portion of any living person's monthly expenses.

O, if only we were lithovores..  then perhaps the CPI would be more accurate.

The Measure of Obama

Most of you know I am no fan of Obama, and I have previously called him narcissistic, but this is perhaps a more accurate representation of him.   He is no great president, not a leader, or a uniter, or any of the things that he promised.   He is not a religious man, or even a spiritual man.  He believes only in his own goodness and seeks only to magnify and glorify himself.

2011: A visual diagram of the European debt crisis

I just recently found this visual representation of the European debt crisis.  I imagine the data is old but the overarching trends in borrowing are similar.

My country is different!

Below I have transcribed a copy of John Mauldin's latest "Thoughts from the Frontline".   I have edited it to remove some of the personal/sales touches that he adds to his letters, but you are free to read the original version.

This is an absolutely pivotal article that begins to distill the underlying structural elements that we observe in the world financial and economic crisis, and give you an idea of how to protect yourself from the insanity that has, is, and likely will be, propagated by central bankers.  It is the latest iteration of my quest to become the "little priest in Germany" who avoided the German mark crisis in the late 1910's.

Hurried Pace of Modern Life

And to think what these people would say if they could see Twitter.   I think they would roll over in their graves.

http://xkcd.com/1227/

Death for life

Someone sent this to me in a mass mailer.  Since, I do not send out mass mailers as a matter of personal decency, I will instead preserve and disseminate this via my blog.

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ

 and the American Soldier;

 one died for your soul,

the other for your freedom.

Thank a soldier today for their offer to maintain your freedom.

Azerbaijan: An oft forgotten nation

Stratfor published an interesting piece regarding Azerbaijan.  There are a few key points that I want to highlight.  First, he points out that America is adolescent in its use of the global power that it wields now by being the last major economic power still standing well enough.  Between partisan politicking and a general idiocy regarding the rest of the world, America has crippled itself in terms of foreign policy.  Second, he makes a point regarding the Western idea of avoiding nepotism (the hiring of family and friends), as "neither universally shared nor admired."   His final key point is one regarding the "Arab Spring" and the fantasy of the Western media of portraying the rebels as liberal people seeking freedom and democracy, when the small fact of the matter is they seek neither freedom nor democracy.

Japan: The Mother of All Painted Corners

Round two of John Mauldin's exposé on Japan.  It clearly displays the juxtaposition between the two diametrically opposed general philosophies of economics: Austrian economics, branched from the economist Friedrich A. Hayek and Neo-Keynesian economics branched from Lord Maynard Keynes.  The answer to the age old question of whose theory is more correct may be answered in the next few years.  For a more culturally relevant discussion on the differences between Hayek and Keynes, see this link.

Japan

I found another interesting article from John Mauldin regarding the global "race to the bottom" and the associated persistent "currency wars".  Although I very much agree with his underlying philosophical interpretation of how real economic value works, I am not 100% sure that it is correct.  There are more forces here at work that either he or I can see yet that I suspect will influence the exact nature of the outcome in Japan.  Forces such as culture, ideology, and religion play considerable roles in determining specific economic outcomes also, as much or more than simply reviewing government and economic forces.

Regardless, an excellent and worthwhile read nonetheless:

The Banal Transcendence of Europe

I had a fascinating article forwarded to me by John Mauldin.  The original article is from Stratfor's George Friedman regarding the death of the soul of Europe.  It is well worth the read.