Each time I check exchange rates around the world, my heart sinks a bit.

The dollar is going down vs the euro, real, peso, holding sorta ok with the bhat.

What the hell is going on here? I've got some reals still around from my last trip there a couple years ago. I'm gonna hold onto them a bit longer then cash them for US dollars. Should make a couple hundred bucks on the deal.

Other than that, this currency this sucks!!

I'm just venting a bit on how poor the dollar is globaly and how it isn't making me want to take a trip anytime soon.

No wonder why we see so many adds for buying gold here. It's not that gold is doing well, it is that the dollar is doing so poor compared to other currencies...

Just an FYI to hedge your US $$$.



Posted On: Monday, August 21, 2006, 5:20:00 PM EST

A Free Put From Jim

Author: Jim Sinclair






“Anyone buying on a scale down with a limit up to 200 one ounce gold coins (approximately$126,000USD) starting from this evening’s gold price close, I am offering a FREE PUT at your average in price for the balance of 2006, starting from the last trading day of September 2006. This is for 10% of your intended position for each ten dollar drop, should it occur, evenly spread between now and the last day of September.”
-Jim Sinclair






I am NOT recommending any particular coin dealer. Use your own or find a new one

No person or company is joining me in this FREE PUT. This is between you and I.


Questions?

They will be answered on www.jsmineset.com

The Bush Regime has burned trillions of dollars of extra debt, then pissed the money away invading countries and making sure the skys are safe by banning water and lubricated condoms on airline flights. Every company is offshoring what it can so we can all save 6 cents on value meal and 5 cents on an airline ticket, so the trade deficit combined with the budget deficit means that the US is digging a much deeper financial hole on a daily basis. Interest rates are going up, which is choking the bloated housing market which has kept the economy going for the last few years.

There are no more gimmicks to pull to keep the economy going and the US and it's citizens have borrowed about every nickel they can against every piece of collateral they have. While important issues such as economics and global war are ignored our politicians spend their days arguing over flag burning and gay marraige and other extremely important stuff.

Basically, between that and our cowardice at the airports and all of the other shit, the world in general sees us a national clusterfuck of historical preportions, and the smart money is on nothing is going to improve until the Bush Regime winds up it's time in power, which is another 2.5 years off. Thus, loaning money to the US probably isn't the greatest investment right now, and thus the dollar is weakening.

Cat, when are you going to announce your canidacy?

Well, I figured that once my body count of women passed 1000, my election chances would go down. I passed that number sometime in the last 12 months, so I figure that if I ever ran for office I would have more paternity suits than campaign workers.

That being said, I'm a big Jim Webb supporter in the VA Senate race this year and I've been very highly entertained by our former governer, current Senator and lifelong caveman, George Allen, walking around the last 9 days with egg on his face and shit on his shoes after calling the guy who was videotaping his campaign speech a monkey. Always good to see our fine elected leaders in good form on the campaign trail.

Brought to you by the Catocony for office paternity partners and United Service Providers World Wide Associates.......

The USA used to be an economic production force to be reckoned with.

Now the USA produces little on the world market, and imports most everything it consumes.

When a country changes from exporting goods to exporting jobs, the value of their currency must fall.

The pocketbooks of Americans were bolstered by the FED lowering interest rates to unprecedented lows. This fueled rampant inflation in housing pricing. Now that the rates have stabilized, it's time for the American economy to show the world what is made of. Without refinancing fueling economic growth in the USA, the economy is struggling, and the world market is watching to see what will happen next. Until the world becomes comfortable investing in US dollars, the dollar will continue to languish.

The time will come when aggressive and irresponsible lending practises of US banks & mortgage companies will cause the US economy to implode. Foreclosure rates have increased almost 40% in the USA during the past 12 months. The piper must be paid, and that time is near.

I predict the FED will reduce rates to the ridiculous (less than 5%) before 2008 to fuel yet another round of rampant consumer bailouts.

After that, it is anyone's bet what will happen next! But when rates get lower in the USA you can expect your splooge fund to be stronger in the world economy.

Bush is incompetent, that is the reason the dollar is dropping. Of course, if you own an oil company, Bush is a great president.

We must do everything we can to defeat every republican at every level of public office during this mid-term election if for no other reason than to slow down the criminal thievary of Bu$h and his cronies.

I live in Arizona, where every republican running for office incessently blathers about every problem facing America being the result of little brown people coming here for Mexico.

I remember a time when US jobs were going to Mexico and people could make a living there. Now Walmart has moved all those Mexican jobs to China. What I really cannot understand is why any Mexican thinks Bu$hworld is the promised land!

The Bu$h mafia is also ramping up the fear card again. Water on airplanes is just the first step of many to come as we approach the general election. This month was the first time I have heard about the ORANGE threat level since the days before the our last general election. Of course the purple threat (gays) is still out there too.

Unfortunately, there are way too many stupid Americans that will vote for the political party that offers them nothing but hate and fear. Those lying bastards make me want to puke.

i was really hoping the election mess in Mexico would have hurt the peso much more than it did (or didn't). At least I would have a break in the exchange rate for a while.

Honestly even if the dollar improves 10% relative to the peso (or any other currency). It isn't a HUGE boost to my spending dollars abroad when you really think about it. It would amount to doing 10 chicks and getting the next one free. While not a bad thing, come on, it's not going to kill me either way.

It is more of a mental thing for me I guess.

I figured this would congure up some anti-Bushism, but I don't think he is the whole problem at all. It seems that ALL of our politicians are beating down the doors to hand people something for nothing. Except of course the mid to upper level tax payers (which many if not most of us here are).

Both parties are trying to buy votes from people. We sure are a LONG ways off from Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country".

And if I hear one more time "Tax cuts for the rich" I'm gonna go nuts. With only about 50% of people PAYING taxes, who is left for a tax cut. You have to PAY taxes to get a tax CUT!!!

I'm doing OK in life, never thought that this would be considered rich though....

If you are wondering about the scope of the Bush tax cuts, virtually the entire current budget deficit is the result of the tax cuts.

Catocony,

Sorry for going off topic a bit, but is that correct that under the new air travel rules you can't bring condoms on board? Wow, how much more inconvenient can flying get?

For those of us who use condoms, very inconvenient.

I just read this thread and I was going to say just one word as to why the US dollar is so weak and the word is "Bush".

Well, I dont think we can blame everything directly on Bush, however, I have always been taught one thing about the Captain of the ship. Even if the Captain is sleeping in his bunk when something goes wrong, he is the one squarely to blame.

So Bush is the Captain of our ship and he is the one to be held responsible for this mess. When Clinton was the Captain, it seemed as if there was always good times and your dollar went a long way. You could buy a nice house at an affordable price. Food was cheap at the store...etc.

I liked the 80s, I liked the 90s. It seemed as if it was like the movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". Today, the movie on the screen that best describes Bush's Presidency is "The World Trade Center". His Presidency is like two large buildings collapsing on each other.

I am several times wealthier then I was before the Bush Presidency, however, I dont feel several times more secure. During the Clinton era, I was rest assured that my dollars would carry me. Today I feel as though I need to hoard my dollars and save as if the depression were around the corner. Instead of buying a new car, I go for used. Instead of going for the best hotels, I go cheap. Why is that? Its because with Bush you never know what is going to happen next and you will need every dollar you can hoard.

I am generally Republican, but in this case, I would cross party lines and elect any person who can actually do the job. Bush has not proven to me that he can do the job.

I hope one day we can return to the fast times.

About the only thing that has been holding up the USA economy these past few years is artificially low interest rates that encouraged everybody to buy an overpriced home or get a second mortgage on the increased value of their home.

Greenspan jacked up interest to hurt the economy in 2000 when Gore was running then drove interest way down immediately after the election. Although Greenspan is gone now, his replacement is just as evil. The resultant spending frenzy drove inflation to a point where the federal reserve had to raise rates and now all those fools living in overvalued homes with adjustable rate mortgages are in deep doodoo.

The high cost of oil, thanks to Bu$h wars, is also a major drag on our economy. I hope this gets bad enough that people vote their pocketbook instead of their paranoi this November.

Hotass2, you're right about about all those fools living in overvalued homes with adjustable rate mortgages being in deep doodoo. Saw a news story about how house foreclosures are up between 80, 90, sometimes 100% in many counties in California, over what they were one year ago. You can bet that if the foreclosure rate keeps going up like that, you'll be seeing a collapse in the housing market.

We're a country of 300 million people...why do we (in essence) get only two choices for President? And why is it out of 300 million people, the supposedly "best" is the son of a former President? (Please don't answer...I know why...the same reason why we could get ole Jeb or Hillary next round). When the time comes, I think I will vote for the guy who is neither a Rep or Dem just to give another party a shot at the lime light...I'm sure they can do no worse...

As for me...I'm trying to save as many dollars as I can too...just because I have no idea what is going to happen next...

AJ - Waiting and watching...hoping for the best...considering I feel like we are on a runaway roller-coaster...will it eventually smooth out or are we all going for one hell of a ride?

We only get two choices for president because over the years the Dems and Reps have stacked the odds so high against an independent being able to run that it's damn near impossible to even get on the ballot, unless you're uber-wealthy and hell bent on running.

As for where we're headed financially: http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm. I think Bush is best summed up with this one: "Instead of solving the big problems the President is inventing ways to put the nation further in to debt. He shows no sign of comprehending the problem, much less having a plan to deal with it."

If you look at the first graph on that page you can see that GW is really in a league of his own where running up the debt is concerned.

Those planning to vote in the fall may want to take note of this observation: "The nation’s debt burden has typically gone down only when there is a mixed government; that is one party has the White House and another controls one of the houses of Congress. When one party controls everything there is less over sight and less opposition to spending."

If our debt goes down, the dollar will rise. If our debt keeps increasing, well - you need only take a look at what happened to Argentina's economy over the past few years to see where that leads.

Lost my job. I don't care about the dollar because I ain't got any. I care about terrorists because we got 'em. The part I can't figure out is why my leaders (the Bush administration) are doing everything they can to increase the danger to me, and the likelihood that I would be the victim of a terrorist attack. It just doesn't make sense to deliberately create a safe haven for the bad guys, antagonize the forces that used to hold them in check, and create such international animosity that you motivate newly forming psyches to increase rather than decrease their hatred for us.

I always wanted to be proud of being an American. I just happened to be born right about when I was, instead. The things my country can offer in terms of freedom and opportunity to those who have less, are wonderful, but more and more are being bought with untenable, inappropriate, and often immoral trade-offs. Further, the opportunities and freedoms have become, for me inparticular, so limited that I'm no longer sure that I'm better off here. If this weren't home, I don't know if I'd choose it.

Now I go back to my new job, playing poker for fake money on line.

Sad but true ...

IMHO, as a country I think we are totally fucked. The housing market and toilet value of the dollar are only the beginning.

You are correct when you speak of the presidents in this way. We have not had a representative gov't for the people of America since the early Reagan years; he made a public statment on TV in those days ; "I believe our tax and debt system has become unamerican." He set into motion plans to bring back the Gold standard; then he was shot. Oddly enough, Kennedy as well wanted to get rid of the federal reserve. The Federal Reserve is no more Federal than Federal Express guys. It is a privately owned Bank, not a branch of gov't. The bottom line is all they care about is themselves.

There is so much to say here. My father died from radiation he received in ww2, as well as two uncles who were shot. They all left their HS lunchrooms to go fight fascism and what this country stood for in those days; true freedom........and how do we repay their memory? How do we honor their brave efforts? By foolishly absorbing ourselves in ignorance and allowing a holligan pack of stooges, like Bush, CLinton, Kerry, and the like, who all work for the same BIG BOYS who control the whole fucking game anyway, to piss away the natural resources of our once great country; all our industry, all our gold and silver as wealth, all traded away to foreign interests, and their own greedy pockets are fed well.

Don't kid yourself. We are in for WW3 and probably sooner than you think. There are far too many people on the planet right now and not enough resources under this system of greed. As a species we have not learned to co-exist with each other harmoniously, primarily because we have not conquered our fear. 9-11 was just the beginning of their end game of control. Guys with box cutters........? Please! Are we all really that stupid? They believe we are, and that is why they have trashed America into the toilet of globalism, where 5% of the worlds population will eventually control all the real wealth and natural resources, and the rest of us will work for them if they allow us to.

HOw did all this happen? Ever contemplate that? I loved the America I grew up in. I believed I was free, and would do anything to fight for that freedom. But over the past 4 decades the power mongers of the globe have littered the planet with wars, fear propaganda, and essentially a load of bull shit that people can't seem to see for what it really is.....Bull Shit! The people still have the power. We can still shift this enivitable doom if we all act to kick out people like Bush and get some REAL and honest PATRIOTS back into office that love America; that care first about bring the industry back and the jobs; that love the Constitution and BILL OF RIGHTS, the most important document ever written as far as I am concerned.

It is completely assinine to say we are fighting Terrorism when we do not give a shit who crosses our borders, but my kids can't bring water onto the airplane. Is is equally assinine to say we are DEFENDING FREEDOMS BY TAKING OUR FREEDOMS AWAY. No, this war on Terror is all a bunch of crap. Bush and Bin Laden have been in bed for years, and are probably hanging our right now screwing a few hookers together and having a good laugh. They all work for the BIG BOSSES. The real sindicate that they answer to and that makes them rich. They don't give a shit about you or America.

Guys with boxcutters my ass! Lets find our what the fuck really happened on 9-11-01 and hang the real orchestrators by the balls! Lets say fuck you to all the Demos and Reps, conservatives and liberals, and just focus on getting good AMERICANS back in office. Lets demand honest elections again! Shit, the housing market! The Dollar! The dollar has been doomed ever since we came off the gold standard. Federal Reserve Notes are nothing by ass paper backed by nothing. They used to be backed by real gold and silver, but where is that gold and silver now? Where the fuck did it go? Is it in Fort Knox? My bet is Fort Know has been empty for quite some time now.

Our forefathers new this would happen if we did not have it spelled out clearly in our constitution. So they did spell it out. ONLY GOLD AND SILVER COIN will be the legal money of America. But, as usual, the people have been asleep. The average person walking down the street has no idea what the BILL OF RIGHTS are, and probably doesn't even know what is in the constitution. How can we be free when more than 80% of our people don't even know what freedom is?

Well, I am ranting..........sorry. My advice is to get out of all American investments fast. My hope is that there are still enough smart people left in this country to actually say ENOUGH and get our real government back......the one the constitution says we should have. We have a constitution, but we have let them walk all over it and virtually ignore it every step of the way for the past 30 years.

I believe housing markets will crash in most American communities soon, very soon......probably more than 70%. Places like where I live in California, Fairfield County Connecticut, Boston, New York City; places where people will be able to hold on to upper management jobs now turned to globalism, will probably see a decrease of up to 25%. But since people will still be working in thise areas the housing market will stay alive in about 30% of America.......everything else over the next 10 years is going down the toilet....especially for those sorry suckers who have variable interest rates or who just bought their home last week.

God help us. They are pushing us each day closer and closer to WW3. They have decided there are too many fuckers on the planet they don't like, and ultimately they want their upper crust 5% of the worlds population to control the rest of the remaining 95% in a fascist system that gives you priviledges. All your Rights will be gone.

I for one can not live in this kind of world.

SP

Steve,

William Jennings Bryant lost the silver argument 110 years ago, and he wanted to replace the gold standard with silver. As far as the gold standard goes, there's not enough gold to back up the actual wealth that's in this world, so it's not coming back and nobody misses it in the first place. It's archaic and completely irrelevent to today's economies.

To the board in general, don't get caught up in the whole Bilderberg Group/New World Order bullshit. It doesn't exist, there is no secret cabal that runs all mechanisms on the planet. It's foolish really, but people can believe what they want to.

Are you sure about this? "there's not enough gold to back up the actual wealth that's in this world" It would seem to me that it would depend on the value of "gold" and "wealth". Either can be revalued. Besides, I thought there already was a relationship between SDRs and gold. Indirectly the world is on a gold standard already. I'm no economist, just a poor day trader.

Cat and I diverge on drug policy and I find him a bit harsh, but his political posts have been very to the point. People want to believe that someone is responsible for their suffering. The world is an interconnected mess and we are simpletons who give our power to those that affirm our prejudices.

In the USA, we think that GW will protect us and we need to give him all power. The bearded fucks think that if they kill us then it is worth dying for. Everyone uses some sort of GOD to justify and explain themselves. Lame.

Man we are fucked.

Bluelight,

Basing the value of the modern world on rocks dug out of the ground is a bad idea. Gold is nothing, substitute another rock or mineral for it and you could equally call that the standard. Why don't we go on the Zinc Standard or Copper Standard?

There is no gold standard in today's global economy. If you're old fashioned you can certainly squirrel it away but you can't go down to the store and buy a box of Frosted Flakes with it. The US dollar is fiat money just the same as I believe all world currencies are.

Alexjamer: The voting for someone other than a Republican or Democrat so they could get the limelight strategy has already been tried and tested. In the 2000 election those who voted for Nader gave George Bush the presidency. Look where we are now (and please don't tell me it didn't make a difference whether Gore or Bush became President; it ain't so).

Laguy -

It's Alec.

Yes. I know this all too well...one would have to be totally deaf, dumb, and blind not to have heard your sound bite (above) in the media.

However I don't care for the Reps or the Dems...and no matter how hard I try...one or the other is going to win...I know this. Therefore, should I totally give up and not cast any vote?

If I vote for "anybody" besides Reps and Dems...in my heart I'll be pleased with myself for taking a stand...and just maybe...just maybe...there are enough people like me out there who will suddenly do exactly what I am contemplating...and maybe...perhaps 10 million to one...something freaky will happenen that will put all politicians on notice...

Funny how Lieberman lost his seat...huh? And yes, I heard all the analysis why he lost his seat...please...no need to impress me.

I realize that I have no alternatives...I want to see a third party rise to power and then maybe a 4th? But, I'll be damned if I vote Rep or Dem this next election. Call it my own little protest. But I hope others join me when they cast their ballots...

AJ - A former registered Republican.

The two party system has some inherent problems but it's the best system around. The only stable govenments on the planet are two-party systems. Add in one or more other parties and you end up, especially when we are like today, basically a 50/50 split, with tryany by the minority. Let's say the Green Party or Reform Party was to get a few House seats. If the Dems and Reps are even, then this small batch of Reps could effectively control most government action. If they got pissed and voted as a block, you could have situations like you tend to see in Italy and Germany and other countries - they spend more time forming and reforming governments than they spend governing. Remember, there is quite a bit more to representational government than the actual voting on issues. This mechanism - writing bills, scheduling hearings, committee meetings, etc - is where the real decisions are made. If this process is halted and started over from scratch every six months because some environmentalist or libertarian faction decides they weren't respected enough and decide to caucus with the formerly minority party just to hit at the former majority party, the already slow system would not even get rolling at all.

Now, if there was more and better competition within the individual parties, that would go a much longer way than having a bunch of fly-by-night single-issue 3rd and 4th parties cropping up and dying off all the time.

Although I don't think there is a literal "syndicate" of people running things -- some cabal who are all in cahoots, using their own subspace relay connections to secretly agree on how to collect wealth unto themselves, orchestrate major plots against governments (the USA's or anyone else's), and set things up so that when the top 1% of the people have 99% of the wealth THEY will be in the top 1% -- nevertheless I do see a "system" in place.

That system is one in which majorly confusing interconnectedness screws the little guy. In which there is a WIDE gap between actions, policies, and plans of leaders, on the one hand, and results on the other. In which the club at the top says one thing and does another, and sets up socialism for the rich and Social Darwinism for the poor. In which an "elite" (although they aren't all each other's bed-buddies) has much more opportunity to see benefit, or avoid detriment, than a "proletariat" does. I don't like using Marxist terms -- it implies that I would favor a planned economy, which I most certainly don't -- but this to me is a simple inequity in wealth distribution.

I recently lost my job. I feel quite cynical about "work" these days. Going to an office, or a workplace, or an investment firm, in the United States, is no longer (to me) an act that helps out the commonwealth. The general good of society, in my experience, isn't somehow increased by my own actions. All the self-help books about "what do I want to do with my life" suggest that people in a rut should find a way to direct their energies toward "service." But for me, the actual act of TAKING A PAYCHECK is, in itself, so closely allied to "the system" that it feels somehow like I've been co-opted into a damaging, immoral "system" that PREVENTS me from helping my common man, or protecting America from our threats, or being a good citizen.

It just feels that way. I can't prove it. But basically, the old adage that "work is the glue that binds a society together" doesn't fit, for me. I've always experienced "the current way that we work is what prevents society from functioning." In addition, as a member of the lower classes and not the 1% governing elite, I also find myself in a position in which "going to work" is simply the way that I enable OTHER people to "let their money do their work for them."

Ya know how they say, that working for someone else is a bad trade off? How, you should "let your money do your work for you?" Well, I don't have that luxury. I can't afford to buy a business, or even stocks. So, for me, going to work, is how the "system" with Bush (or Kerry; yes, they're both in the club) at the head forces ME to help Cheney's money, in the form of Haliburton et al. stock, "do his work for him." It's not how I could ever become part of the elite; nor, how we could more equitably distribute wealth; rather, it is how "they" squash "the little guy."

I feel very bad for the last few living men of the WWII generation. They look at a land that they loved, and felt that they risked their lives to save from the threat of militarism, global dominance of Fascism, and foreign threat, and they don't see too much thankful behavior. My generation (I'm 40 years old) doesn't know what we want, or what we love. Sure, we like the "freedom" to have air conditioning and pizza whenever we want it -- and so would much of the rest of the world (which is a lesson that seems lost on our leaders).

But we're currently, more and more, denied the act of seeking out more meaningful freedoms in our daily lives -- freedom to find a better way to do things, freedom from religious and cultural superstitions that hold us back, freedom to cross the globe and experience other cultures, freedom to improve the planet rather than merely accrete material wealth to ourselves. Freedom from fear, freedom from want -- what were FDR's four freedoms? -- those have been ignored. We're in fear, America's poor (and currently myself) are in great want, and worship is certainly not free in this country (or else candidates wouldn't be speaking about how 'Godly' they are in order to get elected).

One of the most touching experiences I had in my younger days comes to mind. I was on my "junior year abroad" experience, riding a cheap milk-run coach south from Blackfriars train station in London toward Canterbury, in the mid-1980s. I was on a Chaucer pilgrimage, already a meaningful trip for a soulful literature major like myself. I was following the route the characters in his "Canterbury Tales" were taking when they told their stories. How amazing, to see a land that actually existed just like in the story books. We don't have much of that in America, places that literally come out of books.

The train ride was in itself a trip into the past, very much like I'd seen in American WWII propaganda films. It was a rickety old thing, wooden slat seats that you could reverse depending on which direction the train car was going. The "garden province" of Kent in all its midsummer English glory opened itself up before me, trees and shrubs in bloom and home vegetable plots backing up to the train tracks. All that was best of southern England. I thought, this was what my uncles and cousins saw when they came here for training after D-Day.

Onto the train stumbled an old man, one of those people you feel probably once had a strong gait and a confident demeanor. He had long since lost his musculature, and now you wondered why he was traveling alone. He could hardly get down the car for its rocking as it sped up out of his station, so I quite naturally jumped up to help him sit down. A conversation ensued. When he heard my American accent, he literally teared up and hugged me. He informed me that he loved his home province, that he felt Americans had saved it from the Hun.

He wanted to thank me. He kept thanking me. He found out about my relatives who had flown in the battle of Britain and gone down in the Channel, he thanked me again. I hadn't done anything. He had been home guard during the war, because as a policeman he had been worth more in the town than in the army. And he thanked me again and again.

Then he said something like, "We don't ask your generation to do that. And you shouldn't. I understand you boys when you don't want to go to Vietnam." (I didn't correct his radically poor math. I'm literally 15 years too young to have been in the running for that war.) Then, and I do my best to quote, "Your country has abandoned you. Folk like you and me, we're no longer welcome in a democracy."

At the time I didn't think, that I was "folk" like him. He was old, doddering, with a funny accent, an odd smell, clothes that were twenty years out of date, he had a home and garden in Kent and he wanted to stay in this little pretty place and have a little pretty even twee life until he died. I was going to make my mark in the world, conquer things, become rich and famous. Because I had opportunity. He was, to me at the time, a member of Britain's lower class, someone who hadn't had "economic opportunity," and therefore his presumptions were not my own. I could stand outside the class system.

Well, now I understand what he was saying to me. It's nice to know, at least one member of the WWII generation doesn't hold it against me, that I'm not a gung-ho nationalist in the manner in which they all were reported to be. I'm not a "patriot" in the sense that I prefer America over all else. (I like the Canadian health system, the Dutch bicycle method, the German economy, Italian food, Japanese space management and design. And I drive a Korean car. So sue me!)

I had often felt guilty about that fact -- about how much LESS I was willing to put on the line for "my country" than my great-uncle Clyde put in to such an extent that he became a radio-man, flew in a bomber, and died in the English Channel. I wasn't willing to run a radio for the damn US military, I didn't intend to. Not unless a real threat popped up.

Then, on 9/11 (and before, if you knew something about international relations), there was that real threat, popping up. What was wrong with me, I thought, that I wasn't willing to put my own life on the line like the WWII generation had done? Why wasn't I dedicated, thankful, responsible. Where was my sense of duty?

Well, I'll tell ya. If a nonagenarian bobby from Kent right off feels it's sensible to tell an American college kid whom he's just met that he needn't fight for his country, maybe there's something to it. If the WWII generation can see through it, and despite their great patriotism, they know that the nature of a nation has shifted out from underneath them, maybe that college kid should listen.



(Message edited by book_guy on August 28, 2006)

The Army just raised the enlistment age to 42 I believe, it's not too late to join in the fun.

Lieberman didn't lose his seat but he did lose the Democratic nomination in a Democratic primary to a Democratic candidate. That this happened is not an argument against the two-party system but rather an example of how it should work.

Incidentally, trying to disparage a statement by calling it a "soundbite" is not an ineffective argument. It is no argument at all.

And now that I have given the matter some thought, I actually like the idea of former Republicans throwing away their votes on third-party candidates rather than voting for Republicans. Indeed, I encourage all former and present Republicans to do so in the next election and hope after doing so they feel real good about themselves and have a sense of self-validation that motivates them to do the same in subsequent elections.

There is going to be a lot of pain for the middle and lower class's of Americans. This false economy that we are in is starting to show cracks in it's shell.

Bankruptcy's are on the rise and the so called reforms that Congress passed a few years ago are only going to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BankruptcyGuide/TheBankruptcyBoomIsBack.aspx?GT1=8473

Some of you have talked about the housing market slowing down, and I agree that it has. I know of at least one coworker that purchased a townhouse and now she has two mortages both of them are adjustable and one or them is intrest only. I figure that within the next two years she is going to be selling blood or something else in order to keep a roof over her head.

The only ones that are going to benefit from the poor showing of the dollar are the large corporations that manufacture products that are exported out of the country as a weaker dollar will make those products less expensive for whatever overseas market will buy them.

While Bush cannot be blamed for ALL of the problems going wrong with our country. One hell of a lot of them have happened on his watch and he should be held acountable for them. I expect a huge anti Republican vote this fall, and I would not be suprised come 2008 the mindset of most Americans will be anybody but a Republican.

This will hurt John McCain's chances to become the President as I think he would do a good job in the White House, however he has been spending a lot of time making nice to the social conservitives that run the Republican party at this time. So I would have to think twice about supporting him.

RG.

I used to respect McCain but now he has gone so far up Bush's ass you cannot recognize him because of the brown mask.

There seems to be no Republican willing to take on the extreme right and the fundamentalist Christian fascists. In my opinion that makes it a one party race for the next few years at least. Maybe eventually someone with a real pair will stand up in the GOP but I don't see it happening for a long time .

"There seems to be no Republican willing to take on the extreme right and the fundamentalist Christian fascists."

This for me is the real horror of the new right. I really don't mind the "business oriented" ethic (lower taxes, more entrepeneurship, privatizaing certain sectors that could benefit from it, etc.) of much of the official Republican platform, although I could easily be categorized in other matters as a raving Bolshevik. What I mind about America in general, is a rise in Fascism. Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, extremely fundamentalist version of Christianity, a rise in "social conservatism" that exports itself by its own theology into EVERYONE'S bedrooms and living rooms, not just the rooms owned by the adherents.

I wonder if, in a Malthusian sense, this is simply a natural development rising out of limited resources in a society based on wealth accumulation. Or out of some other longer-term demographic shift? Or just a swing of the pendulum to the opposite of the 1960s revolutions and reforms? Or another indicator of the irreparable decay and disintegration of a decadent culture that has run its course?

Whatever the issue, the challenge before "thinking individuals" -- whether mongers or not, people who stand outside the system and need to learn to accomodate themselves to it -- is how to manage a life and lifestyle that is bearable, enjoyable, and not a threat to one's wellbeing; while nevertheless, meanwhile, seeing all around oneself threats to one's right to his own thoughts and ways of existence. Some things will just drop off the map suddenly, perhaps not without a fight, but no one of us is big enough to simply get our way all the time.

For example, imagine a sudden change in "policy" -- not necessarily law, just in enforcement, who looks the other way and when, and threats of hampering to the point of bankruptcy by investigations and arrests that never amount to a conviction -- changes in this type of policy that lead to Club Hombre having to close down. Or, to all flights from the USA to Thailand and Brazil without a legitimate "business voucher" being impossible to get a ticket for, such that you have to fly there via Europe.

Some of us can work around it, quite simply, by being wealthy enough to go via Europe. Others of us will find our choices modified, and we'll have to figure out an accommodation of our own making.

These acts of accommodation are already going on around us. It's just that there will be more and more of that, as time goes on. Strip clubs are closing down here in the Bible belt, while they're increasing in urban centers to the extent that they've become mainstream. How does one accommodate oneself to this change? I haven't accomplished that, just yet ...

Book,

I haven't heard such big words and language syntax since the dude with the Masters in English from Florida State was over cleaning my pool the other day, but seriously, business owners and your other "classic" Republicans - namely, rich white guys - are still voting Republican primarily because of inertia. They've been doing it so long and hating Democrats for so long they simply hold their noses on the religous crap and still vote with their wallets. Funny thing is, their wallets are taking a hit as well and the religious shit so overwhelms the rest of the Republican platform, the pro-business stuff barely exists anymore.

It took the crackers and religous freaks in the South decades to finally realize that the Democrats were no longer the party of segregation. They kept voting for Democrats long after segregation ended and the Democrat platform was nowhere near where they want. Funny thing is, the Republicans needed the votes and swung right their way about 12 years ago. I don't think it will take business owners and educated suburbanites nearly as long as it took the high school dropout and hillbilly crowd to realize that the Democrats had turned moderate to liberal on them, so we may be seeing, right now, the beginnings of a Republican reallignment as your local stock broker realizes he's in bed with people praying for the end of the world so they can "go see jesus".

I live in the Washington D.C. area, the iron bubble, as I like to call it. Homeland Security is going to bring over 40,000 to 60,000 jobs here in the next 10 years. This area will not see a change that drastic but the rest of the country's bubbles will pop. Im not a Bush supporter. I actually think the man is an ignorant dimwit. I call him the Paris Hilton of politics. Id take Reagan with the memory loss problem over this clown. The rich good ol boys have definitely taken this country down an old curvy dirt road with the bridge out. We will find out if this thing has brakes or not really soon.
To sum it up really fast- the economy has all the indications of a major recession. We are in a Vietnam situation in the Middle East. Our administration doesnt care about either of these because they are all millionarres. It really doesnt effect them or their family or friends.
Solution to the problem- Vote out these criminals. Period. We will have to pay for the mistakes of these fools for 20 years plus but its a start.
If I were the the president-hmmm-definitely bring the troops home. If you say no way, then I would immediately have a nation wide draft including everyone. Everyone 18 years old and up and no sex discrimination. That should change some minds real quick. No one wants to see Betty White strapped with an M-16. Well, then again.... Id stop spending more money then I brought in. The days of living like a cokehead with a open ended credit card are over. GW is good at living like this. Id have a deficit telethon- sorta like the Jerry Lewis one but way bigger. It would be the USA's brightest moment in history. Id bring back Jackoff Smirnoff, or whatever that 80s Russian comedians name was. He'd say " I love this country". Limited Edition Jim Neighbors and Charro Cd's would be passed out like candy. People would once again forget about party lines and come together for the cause. Money would poor in. People would crowd around the deficit banner in NYC like it was New Years Eve. Watching it count down to zero. Gay marriages would flourish and then seven years later gay divorces would flourish. Prostitution would be legalized in America. Can you say "Terma". Pot would also be legalized. This would cause prisons to empty and Bill Clinton could finally inhale. Vote for me in 2008. My running mate would be Shakira because shes honest. Her hips dont lie. My slogan would be "Those who hesitate....masterbate" This rant was not aproved by the FCC. HaHa

(Message edited by richerich on August 29, 2006)

(Message edited by richerich on August 29, 2006)

Khun Mor, I live in Arizona and John McCain has not done shit for us. John is all about John and getting his mug on television. The guy is unpredictable and would be a disasterous president.

H4A2

Yeah -- the more I see the guy the less I respect him. Especially now that he rimming the Right Wing Republicans and the fundamentalist fascist christians to get more cozy as the election draws closer.

I used to think that, if I had to hold my nose and vote for a member of the Republican party, McCain might be a viable choice. His campaign finance reform thing was a great idea, for example. But then I started paying attention to him.

But most Senators have that problem. Gore had that problem, and Kerry. The last time the US elected a Senator as President was JF Kennedy, and he hadn't been Senator very long and, you have to admit, the whole "groundswell of youth" thing was rather unprecedented in the country. Anyone who is a longstanding Senator will have a visible record of wrestling with complicated issues, and coming down on several seeming sides of a given issue. Usually they are voting about a BILL, not about an issue; so, for example, rejecting campaign finance reform once or twice doesn't mean the Senator dislikes the reform, as much as perhaps he dislikes some rider which outlaws abortion or gun control that have been stuck on that bill.

It's hard for aSenator to get elected anything but back to his seat.

Although McCain is more likeable than many other Republican office holders, and he probably wouldn't be as partisan as the present crew if he were President, I sometimes get the impression there is something a bit off kilter with him. For example, one hears he has a temper underneath that usually cool exterior, and I do wonder (even if it may be politically incorrect to do so) whether his days in a prison camp scarred him in a way that would be detrimental to an effective presidency.

Quite apart from this, his recent kissing up to the Christian right is unsettling. I would choose him though over many other Republicans but that is not saying a whole hell of alot.

These are sensative issues, for certain. Between all our beliefs and intrepretations of what the LAW should be, we as a nation need to find the common denomenator like our forefathers did in the late 1700's.

They hated oppression, and getting screwed out of their money with excess taxation of which I believe we all would agree, more than 80% of it is total bullshit.

I believe in America, and the values of Freedom, Justice, and the Pursuit of Happiness that are God given rights. I believe in the constitution for these united states; I believe we were established to be a free REPUBLIC, and as Thomas Jefferson said,"We give you this constitution to protect against democracy." In a free REPUBLIC, you are sovereign, and you have God granted UNALIENABLE RIGHTS that cannot be denied unless someone is sticking a gun in your mouth. In a DEMOCRACY, the mob rules.........democracy is essentially mob rule, and the mob can be bought. You are not sovereign, and you are granted PRIVILIDGES by those in power. You have no rights. Essentially, without anyone understanding this simple point of law, we are losing everything.

Cat.........
I wholeheartedly disagree......(and I am a Bryant fan). Federal Reserve notes are notes of slavery. They are backed by absolutely NOTHING but supposed labor and market predictions of futures tables.....what does all that mean? They can be affixed with any value at any time by whoever prints the money. Remember, the Federal Reserve is a private bank. This is a DEBT-FIAT MONEY CURRENCY system, it has been used to crash economies at will for centuries......now it is happening again as our forefathers spin in their graves.

The men who wrote the FEDERALIST PAPERS, which were the precursurs to the constitution, were the most brilliant men this country will ever know. They knew that as soon as we kicked Englands ass off the continent, they would be back and attempt to take over the country by taking over the banks........200 some odd years later, they have accomplished this task.

Any precious metal or other can be used,and they knew this. Otherwise widespread inflation would devalue the currency at will. Bryant knew what he was talking about, and this idea is far from frivilous. Look at the silver certificates from 1957....on the dollar it says, "the holder of this NOTE will be redeemed one dollar of silver." Paper money is nothing but an IOU. It used to be an IOU that meant something.......now you can wipe your ass with it.

$1 of silver today will give you around 13 federal reserve debt notes. $1 of Gold will give you around 625! This is inflation, and the paper ass money is worth less and less. But if we still had our precious metal stores in Fort Knox, that paper NOTE would still be worth something. There would be no interest, and people would work for what they earned.....prices on everything would go down to meet the demands of the supply of whatever backs up the currency. This is a system that works for the people, and not for the greedy.

Anyway, without going into an entire course here, there are countless examples of how fucked we are because we went off the gold standard ILLEGALLY! Question: If the us constitution is indeed the LAW OF THE LAND (any lawyers out there?), and it says ONLY CONGRESS WILL HAVE THE POWER TO CREATE AND ISSUE CURRENCY IN GOLD AND SILVER COIN...........how the fuck did we get here?

We got here because people became too comfortable, too stressed out, too stoned, too drunk, and were never taught what it truly means to be free. We are as overtaxed, overworked, and stress out as from the time before the Revolution in 1776. We have let this military industrial debt money complex destroy what once was the greatest country on the face of the planet. President Eisenhower warned us of this rising "military industrial-complex," and also warned us that one day America would become an imperalistic greedy war-mongering super-state, rampaging the globe for more and more profit for less and less people. He was our last great president.......he was correct. America is gone. The illusion of freedom and wealth in America is now a bullshit story.

I believe we have the ability to get it back, but I also believe that many people will die trying, not only here, but globally.

SP

Steve,

Perhaps you need a laxative but it's apparent you've had zero exposure to modern economic theory - modern being since about 1920. Bryant wanted silver because there was a hard money shortage in the US - they were already struggling to maintain gold assets to fund the Industrial Age.

Keep in mind - it is a global economy. Commodities flow wherever they are needed and desired. Seeing as the Federal Reserve is not a private bank - again, take a laxative before reading some of the screwball economic opinions and conspiracy theories you've been reading or watching on TV - you have little to worry about there.

Not to bash you but whenever I hear crap like this, it's usually from someone who's had a few failures in life, and needs to blame something external. Slave money? Are you pissed you didn't get a small business loan or something? Did you have to file bankruptcy at some point?

I must admit I haven't heard anyone advocate the gold standard - or is it the silver standard, remember Bryant wanted to eliminate the gold standard and replace it with more readily available silver - in quite some years, but I quit the economics business in 1993 to go into high tech and I don't keep up with trends like I used to. But, as an actual living, breathing former economist (I have a degree and everything), what you're advocating is fairly naive.

Read a little on monetary theory and then rethink your position on keeping piles of gold laying around. If we were still on a hard cash/gold system, we would be 30 years behind where we are today and inflation would be a lot higher with a lot less real growth.

Last time I heard someone advocate the gold standard it was Jack Kemp. I went to see him talk maybe ten years ago based on his reputation as a thinking man's conservative, but after hearing his talk I decided he was distinctly a dullard.

Not a comment about Stevepenman's post (it just didn't hold my interest and so I didn't finish reading it) but a general comment about Cat's.

There are actually a number of people advocating getting back to a fair currency.......the reason you never hear about it is because all the media is controlled by big brother. If people really understood who slanted the banking/money system is toward filling the pockets of the rich, and leaving everyone else with barely enough to survive, there would be a revolution by morning. But, people are too busy finding out what is happening over at BlockBuster. A fair currency based on gold and silver would bring all prices down; a loaf of bread would cost 2 cents once again. One dollar would actually mean something once again. Your house would cost $2000 of real money once again. Inflation would end.........and people who prey off this system and tip it to the extreme so they are filthy rich would wind up having a fair share for their efforts as well. Oh my friend, I understand economies very well. Certainly well enough to understand that anyone who promotes the current system of debt-money non-sense that only fills the pockets of the rich more and more each year, is a greedy SOB who as well, thinks only about himself. This is the problem with the world today..........GREED.........GREED..........GREED.........

But don't listen to me; listen to George Carlin here. He sums it up pretty well IMHO;

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=935607276

SP

PS - Cat -

I do very well financially, thank you. But I work with people, and listen to their stories. The average person is fucked by this system more and more each day, and although my life has been very fortunate, it is hard for me to look the other way and turn a blind eye.

Nothing personal against you either.

SP

I think we should raise taxes.

Yes, that's right. The United States is the LEAST taxed of all developed nations. There is nearly an exact one-to-one ratio between level of taxation, and level of general safety and wellbeing for citizens, across the developed world.

It's just, that our government should SPEND those taxes intelligently. Not on yet more kickbacks, yet more "bad welfare state" freebies (though some people do need help at certain times), and MUCH less military spending. Certainly not on the "war on drugs," which should be changed from a combat to an epidemiology model immediately. And not on abstinence training or other religious agendas.

Thereby, we could make our country safe and great. Instead, we posture. We hike about making our citizens less safe and less great, in order to reassure our insecurities. We're a young adolescent male, picking fights with everyone.

As Lieutenant Worf said on Star Trek, "The true test of the warrior is WITHIN!"

If we stopped building bridges to nowhere and all the other pork barrel crap that gets added after the fact to almost every appropriations bill, there would be no need to raise taxes.

I'm totally for a flat rate tax at a reasonable percentage so the super rich cannot get away with relatively minimal tax by using the loopholes availble now. Tax accountants would all be superflous and I'm sure my present 35% rate would be lowered considerably.

Book guy, you are a fucking genius. You start with wanting to raise taxes, which is brilliant in itself, but then you go on to quote a TV character, which by the way, was ripped off from someone else in the real world. BTW, you do know that Lt. Worf is not a real person, its just a character on a TV show. Actually, now that I think about it, Lt. Worf is not even a real person on the TV show. Anyway, back to my point... turn off the TV, get outside, and experience life first hand. Its much more fun finding the good in the world than focusing on what is wrong, because if you look hard enough you can find either. BTW If no one else just said what I just said, I take credit full for it. (damn, I hope I didn’t just quote Captain Kirk) AZ

If you really want to reform taxes, there have been several studies on how to create an efficient, mildly progressive tax that is cheaper to pay than avoid.

Now I know that this will never happen but here goes.

Taxes are a lousy way to perform social engineering. Scrap that and just look for the simplest way that is efficient and effective. No Income tax, sales tax or VAT. Financial transactions are taxed at the Bank/Institution. Far cheaper to collect and enforce. Studies have shown it to be mildly progressive. Most importantly, it is cheaper and easier to comply than evade.

Now how your taxes get spent, well… That's a horse of a different color.

FairTax.org - the tax solution combined with the Senator from Oklahoma's anti-pork barrel spending bill and anybody can save our Country from debt.

For all you intelligent (D)s out there. Answer me this question, how will America be better off financially with the (D)s in charge when they constantly complain the (R)s aren't spending enough money on programs currently?

*Intelligent (D)s mean people that won't answer, "by ending the war on terrorism".

Relying on the govt to "spend taxes intelligently" flies in the face of my life experience.