The economy is the basic foundation of Ron Paul's platform.  Perhaps you could tune-in?

by pdubya (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:21:52 PM

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to either write about and report on Paul's policies and approaches or use quicklinks to point to articles on his ideas on how to solve our current situation-- not general libertarian theories.

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:31:12 PM

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http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul370.html

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1045924545087333822

The rEVOLution is showing everyone who's mind is open HOW WE CAN take back our country and this economy.  That $20 million is not from multinational corporations...it's from us little guys.  I hope you have time to watch the interview, and Rob, I thank you for your open mind.

by Jeanette Doney (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 307 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 8:10:10 AM

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Things are about to get interesting....

by Shelby (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 28 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:23:25 PM

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But, then again, he keeps getting shut out of these debates -so who's to know any different?

by bucketslogg (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 259 comments [99 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:30:19 PM

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And he's certainly spoken for me with his stand on economic globalism. But I'm not sure I've heard his solutions to the current mess with housing, mortgages, etc. I'd like to know more.

It's really not that helpful to just throw out your candidate's name and say he has the answer, without spelling it out at least a bit-- Kucinich, Paul, whoever. 

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:34:36 PM

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AMI is the American Monetary Institute, which for 11 years been trying to educate American on what is money, which our government-controlled education system has deemed fit to keep its citizens ignorant. And for a very good reason!  Mrs. Kucinich came to the 2007 annual meeting, due to limits to Dennis's schedule.  Ron Paul is supportive of AMI's efforts but was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.  Ron explained his position last year here:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst040907.htm :: 

I've summarized AMI's efforts at GreatRedDragon.com under "A REAL [First Step] Solution To REAL Economic Problems."  The simple act of putting the Federal Reserve under control of the Treasury Department would eliminate much economic mischief by international bankers simply by NOT receiving interest payments on OUR money that the Federal Reserve creates out of nothing.  

Of course, after the powers that be saw the efforts being made by AMI, they created a bill that would remove the US Mint(s) and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from the US Treasury and put it under control of the Federal Reserve. 

Fortunately, that hasn't gone anywhere, yet. But it still sits on the shelf.  Of course, people don't give a damn. But when they see what happens to the stocks that make up their pensions, their money market accounts folded, or  gasoline at $10 per gallon, maybe they'll think about it then.

by Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 232 comments [9 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:20:17 PM

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Keep the faith everyone. The sky is our roof, the ground is our bed. Things will not disappear, the sky is not falling. We are wittnessing a change in values.

Equity gone is no loss, when you really had none to begin with.  What is developing is a credit worthiness market. It will come, despite the negativity toward it, because banks have no other choice, but to expand it, and provide security to patrons. As I have state in prior Posts, there will come the 2 Loan Mortgage Housing Policy. It will bring stability and end the fear of American defaults. Also our American Tax system, will use taxes to pay insurance premiums, that cover our indebtedness so the idea we as a nation will loose in defaults will be insured, and protected. This will change the BEARS into BULLS again.

It will be impossible for the markets to collapse, because of the end result I have projected. We are only in the adjustment modes now.

by Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:49:07 PM

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runs on banks,which in turn start riots, which in turn brings martial law. Those that have not stored away food staples I recommend you do so now.

Plant a garden, store some water in light proof containers. Crank up that old short wave radio and get real news from overseas. City dwellers think about country living, like NOW. Whatever happens tomorrow I thank You Rob for this great forum. We may actually have to start talking to our neighbors again before this is over, I cant figure out why we ever stopped.

by john riggs (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 463 comments [24 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:54:18 PM

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Merrill Lynch was supposed to send me retirement money and no one responds to emails my employere sends..I think this is like the Enron retirement plan:Steal the money and cook the books...Way too many crooks have gotten away with so much ,so long that we must face the music..The good news ,a chance to start really living sustainably..I think I wiil go buy a good bicycle tomorrow..Jean

by mcmahon (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 17 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:04:58 PM

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Tonight, just as word was getting out the DOW futures were down 500 some points, miraculously, it turned around and now is up 35 points.  The world markets are in freefall and the US stock market has a 500 plus point turn around in a matter of minutes?

This smells pretty fishy to my nose.  How long can DC's plunge protection team keep the shell game going?  Just as bundling worthless paper and bad loans into investment vehicles, somehow getting them AAA rated and then dumping them to unsuspecting world banks and pension funds came crashing down, government manipulation of the markets will not meet a pleasant end. 

The longer this crap continues, the more painful the end result will be.  Can the crash be put off until after the election?  I guess we'll find out.  Get the popcorn ready and pull up a chair, when the corruption at the SEC goes mainstream, the bloodbath will commence in earnest.

by brisa (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:59:06 PM

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FYI the economy will continue to fall until around April (home building, home sales, value and all) that will be the bottom I'm told, by June it will be turning around and by the election in November the U.S. dollar will be back to where it was a few months ago and the economy will be on track.

No need to panic this isn't the begining or the end of economic decline, and I'd bet your life wont change much. Did it change in the recessions of the 90'S?

In Argentina banks closed in the 90's. In the U.S. banks closed when? in the 30's? Our economy is not in that bad a shape silly. Every thing will be o.k. No body will be taking their money out of the banks unless they want to go shopping.

by Noah Hoffman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:03:59 PM

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You would bet 'my' life? Bet your own life.

 I don't believe images from the past are particularly good predictors for what is happening now. 

Though being pleasantly surprised would not be bad.

But it ‘would’ be a surprise.

by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [399 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:12:04 PM

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Totally.

 Those of us who KNOW and have been watching - I posted on this in August, remember ?  an article LOADED with links, btw, mostly ignored ..

 The US had dollar hegemony, now in six short months it's gone.

 This is a NIGHTMARE Of dimensions to which no one has a clue as to how long it will go on for, or what the next development MIGHt even be.

 ALL the candidates have been lieing to the US public - the friggin CITIZENS, with the exception of Dennis Kucinich who has the intelligent Dr. Michael Hudson as his top economic adviser. Does Dennis have an economic plan, you BET!  I am on Dr. Hudson's group, I watch everything they say and do the research that is suggested.

This url will take you to a site that will suggest to you that Dennis has been working for a very very long time on this issue.  Rin Paul is simply WRONG on so many issues as the Austrian economics doesn't deal with superglobalism. This is the era we are now in.

 There is economics that is known as the Third Path, which has to do with everyone being invested in the entity they produce for -- it's NOT socialism and of course the financial press doesn't want you to know about it! They are still in denial and delusionland themselves.

Greed on "their" part ( a fatal gambling addiction), ignorance on  our part, and just plain stoopid foreign policy has proven to be a toxic brew. Throw in lack of regulatory oversight and BAM!  the market is COOKED.

I not "tooting my own horn" but I saw this coming - I've tried to warn people.  I know WHO the good sources of information are.  I post about this CONSTANTLY on my blog and am trying to build up a swicki with the help of financial journalists for everyone to use.  But I need a better list of GOOD urls to send people to than I have before I can accomplish that. But there is a swicki on planetary healing on my blog that has quite a few, real TRUE sources of information - you are about to be fed an entire lot of cod's wallop!

Get Educated!! Educate your kids!! The time is here.  Peak oil, peak dollar, peak everything .. and the war crimes continue.

 For heaven's sake, demand IMPEACHMENT and get the rule of law "back on the table" - the devastation will be ENORMOUS if we don't get those hearings going and hold those responsibile to account.

End of rant- DUMP PELOSI!! This woman caused alot of this grief and she is huddle over PHONEY and ridiculous spreadsheets cooked up by Hank Paulson as I type this .. leaving ALL progressive legislators OUT of the discussion .. she is our democatic finanacial Joe Lieberman. 

If anyone who comes by here has forty bucks subscribe to peoplenomics.com. Right now that the BEST place to get REAL information - and you'll be current when you come on OpEd News to discuss what is REALLY going on .. I don't mean to put this on here as promotion . there's nothing in for me .. it's just that is gonna to be necessary to get a RELIABLE source of information in the upcoming days.

by ladybroadoak (39 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 394 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 12:39:38 AM

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I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow ..... with a long list.

 I figure if I don't use it this month, chances are I'll have to use it the next. And the prices won't be going down.... 

by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [399 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:06:30 PM

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The Global Elite's goal is to kill us off. Permanent worldwide blackouts were already "predicted" (via the Peal Oil hoax). Enough people better start learning what's going on. See my blog for information:

According to Christopher Story, editor of "Global Analyst", there's a top secret military team executing certain key members in the government. See the recent articles linked here.

by CB Brooklyn (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 465 comments [18 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:13:52 PM

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... it may be Prague Spring... or it may be Kristallnacht.  If I had any money to bet... it would be on the latter.  This is no "cyclical market" wobble.  This is the beginning of the end of "monitary culture."

The actual end will come by Spring. 

by waldopaper (15 articles, 3 quicklinks, 34 diaries, 609 comments [84 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:27:31 PM

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Ron Paul has been saying, not just since the first debate, but for years, that the failed Federal Reserve policy of managing the economy via interest rate manipulation and infusions of cash, i.e. expanding the money supply, creates artificial 'bubbles' and increases the troughs and peaks of economic cycles. These cycles beneift only futures traders, who treat our economy like a casino- betting on winners and losers, and the banking interests who control the Fed- who benefit from the 'fire-sale' that goes on after the collapses in order to consolidate their holdings at bargain-basement prices with the cheap dollars they themselves created!

No one else has the guts or even the intellectual capacity in the Presidential race to confront this very non-sexy but most critical aspect of our economic reality. Many in the government and the media can't get their heads around the monetary crisis in a 30-second sound bite or a two-sentence wizardry of throw-away punditry, so they ignore it and dismiss Dr. Paul as a 'Fringe' 'kook', by which they themselves reveal their own intellectual dishonesty and shortcomings. Ron Paul has written more books and papers about economic policy and structure than any of his opponents have even READ!

NOW is the time to talk about a total reordering of the American economic system. Leaving our money supply (and thus the reins of our economy!) in the hands of private bankers whose selfish interests come first and foremost ahead of the American People has proven disasterous at least three times in our nation's history. People have fought and died to prevent the establishment of a national bank, precisely for the reason that it consolidates too much power in the hands of too few people, who are accountable to no one. Why did President Andrew Jackson feel so strongly about his greatest accomplishment that his tombstone reads 'I Killed The Bank'? 

Now, most politicians talk about 'tweaking' the economy with 'targeted tax breaks' and 'incentive packages'. These naiive and disingenuous  proposals are nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. As Dr. Paul has said, if he as a physician saw that a treatment was not working on a patient, yet continued to add MORE of the same treatment, he would be sued for malpractice. The self-appointed 'leaders' of this economy should be sued for economic and fiscal malpractice, as their continuation of short-term fixes and continual bail-outs to the tune of billions of dollars for their well-connected friends in the financial realm has led to the biggest financial bubble in history, and what we now see is the beginnings of a downturn that will make the great collapse of 1929 look like a mere hiccup.

It's time to stop denying the obvious. The economy is in the hands of those who care only about their personal gain,  to the detriment of everything and everyone else.

xtrabiggg

+++++++++++++++++++++

by Thaddeus Kaczor Jr (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 46 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:33:13 PM

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gor fuckall... you really don't GET IT, do you?  "Reorder the economic system?"  There IS NO "economic system.""  There IS NO "government."  Right now, it's just what you and I will be dealing with in a few months... only on a more abstract, global level...  which is:  people shooting each other for toilet paper.

See you on the other side.  

by waldopaper (15 articles, 3 quicklinks, 34 diaries, 609 comments [84 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:00:20 PM

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If you are not being sarcastic and truly believe your statement, then you should probably EAT the shotgun rather than 'shoot someone for toilet paper'. I'd prefer to look for less apocalyptic solutions and try to educate and enlighten people about their ooptions before resorting to anarchy and chaos. This isn't Iraq... yet.

xtrabiggg

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by Thaddeus Kaczor Jr (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 46 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:14:43 PM

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by Munich (1 articles, 86 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1125 comments [86 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 9:55:24 PM

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well., the shock doctrine [this is disaster capitalism] would have about "now" as a good time for McBushie and the 'have mores' to strip the mine bare. Or SOMETHING pertaining to that. The fox is in the house.

by remo (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 96 comments [37 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:04:28 PM

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Only Ron Paul has an understanding of what is really happening to the US dollar and our economy. He has studied, written and spoken about US and international monetary policy for 40-some years and sits on congressional oversight committees on the economy, finances and monetary policy.

You have been writing about Ron Paul.  You should know this!

As we head into a Fed-created recession, Paul alone among the surviving candidates is qualified to comment authoritatively on the problem, and the financial/market show commentators all know this.  It would be ludicrous for them to host Romney, Hillary or anyone else when they could have Paul as a guest.

Representative Paul serves on three Congressional committees:

    * Committee on Financial Services
        _Ranking Member - Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology
        _ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation

    * Committee on Foreign Affairs
         _Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight
          _Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere

    * Joint Economic Committee

Visit the Ron Paul Library (online), a collection of over 1,000 articles and speeches by Ron Paul, especially this section on the economy and monetary policy:
http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/topic.php?id=9

by Jim McClarin (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:49:53 PM

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It ain't pretty and it'll probably get worse. I believe you are a positive influence in the search for a solution to the dangerous situation we have brought upon ourselves. Inteligent and well intentioned people can analize a problem and come up with diferent conclusions on how to solve it. I am a pragmatist, I do not care what is the procedence of a logical proposal. The root of the present economic situation is the fiscal and economic policies of the present and previous administrations. When government, through a Central Bank( Federal Reserve ) can create money to finance deficit spending, there is only one and unavoidable result, money looses value and inflation develops. When government abandons its function as provider of only those basic services that can not be better provided otherwise, the cost of govrnment ends up being higher than what the productivity of the private sector can support. When government power allies itself with select economic groups, the functioning of a free market is distorted, and fascism raises its ugly head, when government kills the free market, communism raices its ugly head. To be productive humans must enjoy the product of their labor, to be free humans must have choices and must be protected from oppresion by political or economic forces. Our Nation is in need of citizens that rationaly analize the present situation and stop doing the same things that have caused it . To do the same and expect different results is insane. I agree with you and Ron Paul when both of you say we have to bring our troops home and use our resources to take care of our domestic needs. Our monetary policy is desastrous and we have to move away from fiat money into a commodity based dollar. Our present political and economic stablishment has made a mockery of our Constitution, and the democratic process, but the masses are to blame for their sheep like behavior.  

by E J Antunez (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 11:07:14 PM

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And all day long, gold has been dropping precipitously, continuing its week-long slide (from $910 to under $860). This seems counter-intuitive to me. I thought commodities should be going UP when paper is going down. ???

by Irvthom (7 articles, 2 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 91 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 12:12:56 AM

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Gold takes a short dive when the market dives, then soars. Time to buy?

Some say it will soon pass $1600 

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 7:06:01 AM

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So I take what little money I have and do that? Buy Gold? Then how do I spend that to buy goods? I can see the check-out girl at the Winn-Dixie now ... they have a hard time if the electronic cash-register goes down making change as it is ...

by Mr M (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 2845 comments [654 recommended, 27 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 9:25:45 AM

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You only go to it if you have savings or investments, not for near term cash.

Not that I am even close to knowing anything about investing. 

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:26:10 AM

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Glad you are awake, Rob. Stay awake. Your help is needed.

What to do ? There's not much any of us can do except stay awake and take it instride. You can expect the exchanges to bounce back and the Press to call for quiet. Heard it on the local news this morning (not in the USA).....

"people, don't floud the gates"

He, certainly a senior member of the European Bank Group's PPT, was meaning to say...."people, don't run on the Banks".

What we're witnessing right now is the beginning of the end of this highly succeptable, flawed, corrupt, system-in-a-bubble global financial, capitolist marketplace. It's not working. It is based on lies and wars and lies as reasons to go to war. Read it again, the beginnnig of the end. Not the end. If you haven't tasted the coffee by now, you're a tea sipper. Hotdamn we're in good shape ! All these warnings !

It's 08:45 here in Europe just now. The NYSE hasn't opened yet. I'm not expecting a bloody tuesday. I am expecting a bloody summer.  

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 1:45:58 AM

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The Fed Funds rate was just lowered .75% in an "emergency" move. Be very, very worried.

by Robert Sargent (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 318 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 7:52:28 AM

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When the market is losing altitude and the lift is out from under the wings, just pull back very hard on the stick, stall, go into a flat spin, then WHAM!

by John Sanchez Jr. (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 1791 comments [148 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 8:44:26 AM

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I agree...US is on the way as well.

by Michael Morris (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 16 diaries, 316 comments [4 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 7:55:59 AM

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been following London and Frankfurt live and online since they opened.......

they're riding the bull ! Squeezing it for all it has. Translation : both Frankfurt and London, almost in unison are buying and selling and the curves go up and down....ZIG ZAGGING or "playing the market" on what's called a "bullish" (rough) market. I'm impressed. Wonder how long they can play the game.

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 8:19:56 AM

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Oh my, another looming disaster the sky is going to fall RIGHT NOW!!  But, I am sitting in a nice warm house tippy-tapping away on my computer just like the rest of you.  Which means the electricity is on, and likely fresh clean water still coming out of the taps.  I think that if every one of us spent a week or so living like the poor buggers in Iraq or Afganistan (on whom the sky DOES fall, daily) we would perhaps feel that there are issues more important than a lot of filthy rich 'losing' money at the crap tables of Wall Street.  (Losing money they never had, by the way.....just like poker, it ain't yours while the money is still on the table).  Hysteria and Panic is what seems to drive us these days, common sense is the commodity that is in shortest supply.  I have no dog in this hunt, having no intention of selling any of the equities in my 401k......Unless you are living day to day in the stock market (in which case one might consider 'Getting a Life') it is just another day.  Even in the 30's, nobody really jumped out of the windows.

 Veteran 66'-68

by Roger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 465 comments [22 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 9:21:53 AM

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when you find some bargains, let me know!

by Robert Sargent (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 318 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 9:42:36 AM

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Roger, you is in denial of the facts.

just another day

A major shift is about to take place. Once it happens, your US$ won't be worth the paper it's printed on. Just another day, my elbow ! 

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:50:20 AM

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I'm told by a prominent financial consultant that wealthy Americans, in record numbers, are now applying for long term visas in Europe and trying to move as much of their cash overseas with them, seeking the advice of the consultant on how best to move their money with them. This seems to be a highly defensive panic strategy and could be a sign of things to come. 

by Shelby (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 28 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 10:10:07 AM

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Super article, this one is. And yes, the U.S. will follow.

Gold? A near worthless trinket material that is nothing more than an arcade belief system. Mountains are dismantled, streams rendered useless for all time, millions of gallons of fuel consumed..all in search of the shiny metal, and in a pinch a hungry man would trade a Big Mac for a pound of the stuff.

The world's most consumptive country is about to get a lesson on supply, demand and exponential growth, but this one is being sponsored by the University of Universal Law and the instructor is Mother Nature. She can be a bitch!

by Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:21:10 AM

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I have no idea how old you are nor how much first-hand experience you have of what happened in the late twenties and early thirties of the last century. But I was seven years old two weeks before the market crashed and my memories of the tragedies, disasters, and hardships of those times are still very clear to me.

My mother's sister was the personal secretary of the owner of a department store in Western Kentucky. She knew enough about his affairs to know that when  he killed himself by jumping out of the window of the top floor of his building,  his investment portfolio was down to slightly less than a million dollars.  He had lost more than $4 million and could see the rest going.

My memory is still good enough at 85 years old so I could tell you dozens of stories about the Great Depression that only seems "great" in retrospect, but didn't seem so when we were going thru it. 

There is one huge difference between now and the thirties that will mean the difference between life nad death for millions of people.  At that time, most families, even the well-to-do in the community, knew how to and did make a garden and have a small orchard, raise chickens (or rabbits), keep a cow, and even feed at least one hog for slaughter when the first cold spell hit. Now, not one person out of 50 can do very many, if any, of those things.

Recently, when a senior highschool class was asked what would be the best thing to do if a severe food shortage developed, they said, "Open more supermarkets". That shows you the troubles we're headed for when the false house of cards we call our economic system collapses.

I'm in Costa Rica partly so I can grow food the year around and, having stopped eating flesh foods 54 years ago, still get all I want to eat from local sources. Things will be best for those who're close enough to the soil and a simple way of life to be able and willing to grow some extra of what they grow best and then trade the surplus of that food for their needs of that they can't grow.

Even if we had time to do it exactly the best way, we're not likely to open our minds to discuss, adapt, and adopt the "Ethical Innovations" (what I call EthiVations) in food, housing, clothing, education, and transportation that would save us from the results of our lack of ethical consideration of the systems we've let grow like Mopsy until they're destroying us. So, I suggest you find a refuge in a small country with a sub-tropical climate where use of enough land can be acquired for a good level of survival and thrival. I've chosen Costa Rica. But there are other places. It's just that none of them suit me as much as CR does. As far as I'm cooncerned, it's too late to save the large industrial countries from what their people have brought on themselves with their warped interests in "fun and frolics".

Bill Manning, lsgift@gmail.com

by billmanning (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 12:46:42 PM

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I was just a lab rat in the glorious US.  Barely survived and don't have a dime.

by Amber Larson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 13 comments) on Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008 at 9:14:41 PM

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Watch to see if GLD and SLV, two exchange traded funds in gold and silver fall a little bit with the general market.  If they appear to be falling with the market, wait until they move up while the market is still moving down, and then buy in. If they do not fall with the market at all and begin to move up right away while the market is going down.  Then buy in right away. People converting stocks into cash will be looking for a safe place to park it.

It wouldn't hurt to take a little money out of the bank, put some into gold coins & some into cash, and keep it in a safe.

Regarding what this crisis means overall, I'm going to post a short article explaining the fundamentals in a nutshell, because as bad as this could get, it might represent a chance to do something that hasn't happened in a long time - make a change to the monetary system.

by Paul Rye (7 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 500 comments [44 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 1:59:34 PM

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 Anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made ecologically friendly with cannabis hemp. All paper, plastics, packaging, textiles, fuels, lubricants, paints, varnishes, plywood, structural components, insulations, livestock feed, many cosmetics, and health foods, over 25,000 known products can be made with it. Canvas is Dutch for cannabis, it's fiber is the longest and strongest in nature. For thousands of years all ships sails and most linen cloth was of hemp fiber. Henry Ford built and fueled a car with it. The cellulose plastic panels ten times stronger than steel. Synthetic plastics were developed using cellulose technology. Neither Ford or Diesel intended to run their engines with dirty petroleum. One acre of hemp equals four of timber for pulp and you harvest it every year, tree's take a lifetime. Do the math on that! It is ten times more efficient than corn for ethanol production. It grows with little or no fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to foul the soil and water, in soil and conditions other crops wont grow,  from the Equator to the Arctic Circle. Every Nation can benefit. It is said that farming 6% of our farmland with hemp could take care of our energy needs. It is by far the best source of biomass, but you will never hear it! It's seed is the single most nutritious thing you can eat. Our Government actually stockpiles it as a strategic food source under Executive order #12919, yet censor this information and deny it to us today. This seed could replace the need for hormones and remnants in our feedstock which is why American beef is banned in Europe and possibly why your ten year old daughter is developing breats. It will end world hunger.

In Europe and Canada cannabis has been proven to destroy tumors, prevent Alzheimers, and promote the growth of brain cells, but you will never hear it. Think about all the needless suffering! In fact it's being used to treat Alzheimers, epilepsy, MS, autism, chronic pain, nausea, migraine, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, herpes, skin disorders, cystic fibrosis, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Tourettes, Crohns diseae and more. Yet our FDA refuses to allow testing and only demonizes it. All mammals birds, fish, and reptiles have cannabinoid receptors throughout their body that work independent of those that govern the heart and breathing, this is why cannabis cannot kill you. There is no detox for cannabis.

Currently the United States is one of a few Nations left not growing industrial hemp, to the Canadians delight. China produces 40% of the worlds crop and is developing new technology for paper, plastics, fuels, plywood, textiles, and more that will keep the United States at a economic and strategic deficit for years. www.yunnanhemp.com

Few people know that hemp became illegal not because of how it effects the body, but because it would have ruined Hearsts and Duponts timber and petroleum fortunes during the 30's and beyond. They used the media and brainwashed the public to believe that the most useful plant on the planet for thousands of years was evil and worthless. They succeeded. Just like weapons of mass destruction, people will believe anything. In fact the world is in the shape it is today because of this one single prohibition. All the petro pollutants and chemicals killing us could have been avoided. Oh well! Cannabis is illegal and demonized because billionaires want to remain billionaires. Cannabis hemp industrialization will create millions of Earth friendly jobs from the farm to the laboratory, create social harmony and begin a redistribution of wealth. If people only knew the Truth!

by Garry Minor (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 56 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 3:37:37 PM

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Remember this all happened before. Now it's on a larger scale. be educated!!!!WATCH THIS  CLICK HERE

by Louis Park (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:09:43 PM

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This Scare came before. it was a run on the banks by the powerful elete to usher in the federal reserve. Please watch these and inform others.

CLICK HERE and then CLICK HERE

by Louis Park (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:58:50 PM

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YES!

by Robert Sargent (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 318 comments) on Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 11:24:06 PM

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Lets get a WPA program of building windmills,sustainable living..We are forced to think local w the end of the oil age..I hope we will think about all the material things we have worshipped were not worth anything anyhow..Will be be kind to one another??Jean

by mcmahon (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 17 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 9:09:07 AM

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Start with giving the unemployed jobs, building windmills, reclaiming the environment,  and then give all the prisoners in jail for victimless crimes jobs-- save a fortune and give them money to put into the economy (keep testing them for hard drug use though)

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 11:29:47 AM

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'cause this thread has a weener in it.

Bill Manning, Jean, Rob,  e'erbody else with half a brain.......

Bill hit the proverbial nail on the head. So did Jean. Rob rustled his pom-poms at the right moment. We can't all move to Costa Rica but we have all moved away from the dirt, the gardening, the chicken coup, that stanky old pig out back. We moved away from having to cook our water to wash, cook, clean and disinfect. We moved away from being grounded. That's where we need to go now...we need to get grounded again. I know Rob's pretty much grounded although his harvest from fall 2007 looked nice but a bit puny. Mine was non-existant. I'm sure Bill did well. Reality is gonna bite us all in the south side while we're lookin' north if we don't get ourselves grounded again, real quick. Hell, even if everything on Wall St. turns out okay and we're all made out to be fools....being grounded the way Bill described it sure can't hurt any.

Do ya'all see this reality ?

Are we willing to work together as a community ? I don't lieterally mean "we" as in us here...but in general.

Can we, on a communal basis, form a number of smaller reality based communities....just in case ? We're gonna be needin' each other a lot, soon. No one of us knows all about chickens. (e.g.) No need to go off the deep end with Prof. Pete's polygamy even if the idea sounds good to me. A lil summit to eat and some clean water would do the trick.

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 1:18:31 PM

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