-Are we in a recession? YES. Did 2/3 of our banks fail last Friday? NO.
-Is GM down 6% ? YES. Did GM go bankrupt? NO.
-Is the Dow down this week? YES. Did 2/3 of our banks fail last Friday? NO.
-Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in trouble? YES. Did 2/3 of our banks fail last Friday? NO.
-Are some more bubbles going to burst? (housing bubble, job bubble, the gold bubble, credit card bubble, etc)? YES. Did 2/3 of our banks fail last Friday? NO.
-Will we fall into a full-blown depression if Obama isn't elected? This is a possibility. Did 2/3 of our banks fail last Friday? NO.
I know, I know...some of you apologists have seen that banks are not dropping like flies, and are now trying to re-interpret the original hoax. "Oh, he mean't 60 banks, not 6,000"...or... "He meant 4 weeks, not 2 weeks"...or..."It wasn't Maurice Lippens, it was some other CEO." Friends, none of this holds up to either factual or intellectual scrutiny.
I could go on, but I would hope that by now, readers are able to figure this out for themselves, and begin exercising a higher standard of critical thinking. Many readers seem to rely on a myopic, biconceptual model, whereas they believe I must either defend this urban legend, or else I'm saying the economy is fine. I am saying neither - what I want to encourage you to do is to think deeply about these issues, and not rely on overly simplistic, dualistic models of thinking.
RESPONSES FROM THE PUBLIC & GOLD INVESTORS/RESELLERS
I've received hundreds of phone calls and emails about my article, Fortis Prediction a Net Hoax. Some readers have been very kind and supportive, thanking me for the information, or asking for clarification.
But the majority of these emails are requests (some begging and pleading) to retract my story. In fact, some of these people successfully got my article pulled from certain discussion boards and web sites. I began to wonder why it was so important to these people to censor my article? They are defending a truly outrageous claim - that an economic collapse will happen suddenly, that it will begin with the collapse of a majority of the US banks, and that it will happen by Friday July 11 or Monday, July 14, 2008 (the original claim, after all, alleged 6,000 bank closings within 2 weeks). What a completely bizarre set of ideas to try to defend.
But I may have an answer to this question. It turns out that the vast majority of negative responses I've received (including many personal attacks and threats) can be traced to gold commodities resellers, and people who participate on those discussion boards. These people stand to profit by scaring and manipulating the public into selling stocks and buying gold.
Historically, every time there's talk of inflation, bank troubles, or stock market crashes, people tend to rush out and buy gold (which explains it's artificially inflated price). In fact, I don't rule out the possibility that this entire hoax originated with gold speculators or gold resellers. I would encourage someone else to look into this closely, as this is a highly unethical and illegal practice.
I will also mention that there is a long history of people using the internet, spam, and discussion boards to manipulate commodities and stock markets. Additionally, I looked through the complaint files from the SEC, FTC, Better Business Bureau, FBI, and many state attorney general's offices. Guess what? They are riddled with complaints against gold speculators and gold resellers.
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