tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37089192725376197232024-03-12T20:05:44.222-07:00Art by Michael BullAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-68169432008698708972016-11-10T19:37:00.003-08:002016-11-10T19:39:11.716-08:00Aged Pension Overpromise - A Disaster in the Making<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uX64d7zceVQ76lArkeY5b0McrovxGh5oOmI84WE3C-MhMC_NX5u0djIo7O4eRaDSxac9JmfLJqCcYxt0Z-ggrS4H56grO689UAncarKsrbKsnSx-bavvX00knlolRoopmBy8zTu62ys/s1600/IMG_0564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uX64d7zceVQ76lArkeY5b0McrovxGh5oOmI84WE3C-MhMC_NX5u0djIo7O4eRaDSxac9JmfLJqCcYxt0Z-ggrS4H56grO689UAncarKsrbKsnSx-bavvX00knlolRoopmBy8zTu62ys/s640/IMG_0564.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
An excerpt from an article
by Vern Gowdie for the Daily Reckoning.</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Why governments could start paring
back the age pension in 2020.</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
…. Meanwhile, the working majority — while being entertained
by the day to day legal and political theatre — get on with the day
to day issues. The ones that keep roofs over their heads…food on
the table...and who try to save a few dollars for their retirement.<br />
Presidents, Prime Ministers, judges and senior bureaucrats do not
have to worry about the latter of these issues…<em>saving a few
dollars for their retirement</em>.<br />
That’s well taken care of courtesy of the taxpayer, Wall Street,
cushy consultancy gigs with lobbyists, and, if you are so inclined,
you can even establish your own ‘Foundation’ to enrich (sorry, I
mean assist) causes close to your heart…oh like, your own bank
balance.<br />
For those who actually work (and don’t deal in graft, corruption
and manipulation) for a living, the age pension underwrites the
retirement years for the majority of people.<br />
‘<em>Around 65% of older Australians rely on a government
pension or allowance as their main source of personal income at
retirement.</em>’ That’s according to the Australian Securities
and Investments Commission (ASIC) Money Smart site.<br />
The percentage of age pension dependency is fairly consistent
around the developed world.<br />
More — not less — rely on social security to make ends meet in
their later years.<br />
But how sustainable is the pension system?<br />
On 25 February, 2015 Laurence J Kotlikoff (Professor of Economics
at Boston University) addressed the US Senate Budget Committee. This
was his opening statement (emphasis mine):<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>Chairman Enzi and Other Distinguished Members of
the Senate Budget Committee, </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>I am honoured to discuss with you our country’s
fiscal condition. Let me get right to the point. </em><strong>Our
country is broke.</strong><em> </em><strong>It’s not broke in 75
years or 50 years or 25 years or 10 years. It’s broke today.
Indeed, it may well be in worse fiscal shape than any developed
country, including Greece. </strong>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>This declaration of national insolvency will, no
doubt, shock those of you who use the officially reported federal
debt as the measuring stick for what our country owes. After all,
federal debt in the hands of the public is only 74 percent of the
GDP. Yes, this is double the debt-to-GDP ratio recorded a decade ago.
But it’s still a far cry from Italy’s 135 debt-to-GDP ratio or
Greece’s 175 percent ratio. </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>Unfortunately, the federal debt is not an economic
measure of anything, including our nation’s fiscal position.
Instead, the federal debt and its annual change, the deficit, are
purely linguistic constructs that reflect how you members of Congress
choose to label government receipts and payments.</em>’</blockquote>
Nothing like hitting them straight between the eyes!<br />
Kotlikoff told the US Senate committee what those of us with even
a passing interest in the economy already knew…the data is BS.<br />
Pure spin, deliberately doctored not to frighten the masses. They
want you dumbed down. Keep working. Keep paying taxes. Keep spending.
Keep borrowing. Ah, but will the political class <em>keep</em> their
promises? Do I really need to answer that for you?<br />
Let’s continue with the Good Professor’s candid address to the
(clueless) Senators.<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>Spending six decades raising or extending transfer
payments and cutting or limiting taxes helped members of Congress get
re-elected. But it has placed our children and grandchildren under a
fiscal Sword of Damocles that gravely endangers their economic
futures.</em>’</blockquote>
For 60 years, politicians of all persuasions have increased or
extended <em>transfer payments </em>— this is economic speak for
‘welfare payments’ — while at the same time reducing the taxes
that are needed to fund the increased social security largesse.<br />
Decrease your income and increase your expenses. What idiot
thought of this? A politician who wants to get re-elected. To hell
with tomorrow, this is all about getting the snout in the taxpayer
trough <em>today</em>.<br />
Well, tomorrow has arrived. Our children and grandchildren are
expected to pay for this overpromise with higher taxes, longer
working lives, and no expectation of ever receiving what their
parents and grandparents have come to expect as a given…an age
pension.<br />
I’m not so sure future generations are going to take too kindly
to honouring an arrangement they had no say in. Here’s Professor
Kotlikoff again: ‘<em>…a positive fiscal gap means the government
is attempting to spend, over time, more than it can afford...</em>’<br />
What’s the size of the financial albatross around the necks
(‘fiscal gap’) of future generations in the US?<br />
Professor Kotlikoff has done his own numbers and puts them into
context:<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>The U.S. fiscal gap currently stands at $210
trillion. This figure is my own calculation based on the
Congressional Budget Office’s July 2014 75-year Alternative Fiscal
Scenario (AFS) projection. </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>The size of the U.S. fiscal gap — $210 trillion
— is massive. It’s 16 times larger than official U.S. debt, which
indicates precisely how useless official debt is for understanding
our nation’s true fiscal position.</em>’</blockquote>
By now you’d hope the Senate Committee is feeling a little
uncomfortable about the liability the ‘as-yet-unborn’ are going
to inherit due to the decades of political vote-buying shenanigans.<br />
To bring home the enormity of the task confronting those charged
with balancing the books, Laurence the Brave hit them with this:<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>What’s Needed to Close the Fiscal Gap? </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>Our $210 trillion fiscal gap represents 58 percent
of the present value of projected future taxes. Hence, eliminating
the fiscal gap via tax hikes requires an immediate and permanent 58
percent hike in federal taxes. Stated differently, the overall
federal government is 58 percent underfinanced.</em>’</blockquote>
A 58% hike in taxes — TODAY (that was back in February 2015) —
is what’s required to finance decades of overpromise.<br />
Needless to say, the tax rates have not increased.<br />
The Australian government’s 2010 ‘Intergenerational Report’
shows we are on the same fiscal gap path as the US.<br />
<div align="CENTER">
<img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="395" name="graphics1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEghWcUPtWpV9l-ziz0hVb-CMgB-NwTwUPhZG1nWAesD44apLL3oTALUIrUHauD53yKxY3LvudEl8FGKQf78VzZFUGuJsDSHKdhLjmlgUwBTu_QF0nY6XvDssGvCY1NhSfMM2RPDSRj0o-XhJm2kfzx3MY8UQ8qwOW-VCMIcgjVz2addPSrY2bxvaClDwRSs=s0-d-e1-ft" width="450" />
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: Intergenerational
Report</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><a href="http://click2.portphillippublishing.com.au/t/FA/G2M/ODE/AAW7fg/f-M/AAX9Bg/AQ/kawa" target="_blank">[Click
to enlarge]</a> </span>
</div>
To quote from the report (emphasis mine):<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>Population ageing will increase spending on
health, age-related pensions and aged care. </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>Escalating health costs associated with
technological enhancements, such as new medicines, and increasing
demand for higher quality services, will add to fiscal pressures from
ageing. </em>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
‘<em>At the same time, slowing economic growth </em><strong>as
a result of an ageing population </strong><strong><u>will reduce</u></strong><strong>
the capacity of Australia to fund this increasing spending</strong><em>.</em>’</blockquote>
Whether Britain leaves the Eurozone, <strong><u>or</u></strong>
one of Hillary and Donald occupy the Oval Office, <strong><u>or</u></strong>
Bozo the Clown becomes our next PM (and no snide remarks here about
that being a quantum leap forward in political leadership), it
matters little to what’s important to you…funding your
retirement.<br />
The numbers are baked into the cake, irrespective of whose
backside shines the ministerial leather.<br />
Either future generations agree to a substantial increase in taxes
to pay for something they never had a say in (and will never)…<strong><u>or</u></strong>
future generations are going to wrest control of the fiscal<em>
‘</em>Sword of Damocles’ and use it to slash age pension
entitlements…<strong><u>or</u></strong> we could see a bit of both.<br />
My money is on the age pension being pared back substantially in
the coming years and decades. This won’t happen tomorrow, but,
after 2020 (only a few years away), tougher measures will be
introduced.<br />
Knowing this is coming is why you need to move into retirement
with as much capital as possible. Which means that avoiding the next,
potentially catastrophic, market correction should be paramount for
anyone who’s within 15 years of receiving the gold watch.<br />
What’s building within the system is a social disaster in the
making. You need to make your own plans to ensure you are prepared
for the time when overpromise is replaced by under-delivery.<br />
For anyone interested in reading Professor Kotlikoff’s address,
here’s the <a href="http://click2.portphillippublishing.com.au/t/FA/G2M/ODE/AAW7fg/f-M/AAX9Bw/AQ/N_0V" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
<strong>Regards,</strong><br />
<strong>Vern Gowdie,</strong><br /><strong>For </strong><em>The
Daily Reckoning</em><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-36771163939625493972016-10-08T20:35:00.000-07:002016-10-08T20:37:31.369-07:00After the Election Debacle :))<div class="ahil4d svmwUe sMVRZe">
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Jlsm893hy1A/VZZ2uxUny4I/AAAAAAAA0eg/E4EEBj-vwQ8/w417-h521-p/431642_10151144133110665_1558249445_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo" border="0" class="JZUAbb" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Jlsm893hy1A/VZZ2uxUny4I/AAAAAAAA0eg/E4EEBj-vwQ8/w417-h521-p/431642_10151144133110665_1558249445_n.jpg" width="256" /></a><span><span style="font-size: large;">To the Citizens of the United States of America</span> A message <span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span>from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II<br /><br />In
light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates
for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give
notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)<br /><br />Her
Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties
over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota,
which she does not fancy).<br /><br />Your new Prime Minister, Theresa May, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.<br /><br />Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.<br /><br />To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:<br /><br /><del>---------------------</del><br /><br />1.
The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,'
'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut'
without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be
replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise
your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').<br /><br /><del>----------------------</del><br /><br />2.
Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such
as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of
communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let
Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be
adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the
elimination of '-ize.'<br /><br /><del>-----------------</del><br /><br />3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.<br /><br /><del>---------------</del><br /><br />4.
You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers,
or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists
shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be
used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing
someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot
grouse.<br /><br /><del>--------------------</del><br /><br />5. Therefore, you
will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a
vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to
carry a vegetable peeler in public.<br /><br /><del>--------------------</del><br /><br />6.
All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start
driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you
will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of
conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you
understand the British sense of humour.<br /><br /><del>------------------</del><br /><br />7.
The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.<br /><br /><del>-----------------</del><br /><br />8.
You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries
are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips
are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal
fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.<br /><br /><del>-----------------</del><br /><br />9.
The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually
beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to
as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are
pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only
be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see
what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as
Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of
further confusion.<br /><br /><del>-------------------</del><br /><br />10.
Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good
guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play
English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialect in
Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears
removed with a cheese grater.<br /><br /><del>-------------------</del><br /><br />11.
You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of
proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in
time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American
football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds
or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).<br /><br /><del>-------------------</del><br /><br />12.
Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host
an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside
of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond
your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and
we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of
their deliveries.<br /><br /><del>------------------</del><br /><br />13.. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.<br /><br /><del>---------------</del><br /><br />14.
An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due (backdated to 1776).<br /><br /><del>-------------</del><br /><br />15.
Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with
saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes;
plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.<br /><br />God Save the Queen!<br /><br />PS: Only share this with friends who have a good sense of humour (NOT humor)!</span></div>
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<span class="cUjEhd" id="c250"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-87589510811540454732016-09-27T19:57:00.002-07:002016-09-27T19:58:16.049-07:00People Power and Politiics <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUvpNfeEDhR4fJJopTEsCM_Mv5AqPCs08fcq7qENyc34xFTdvW5j3kSWy10deTrMimGuo6efy7VyRVCizJvpbhalENBCVw1_yVwb5wVkyb0P4-oRX6tU7dAnoOcrC82A48Prz_XEeH2g/s1600/overseas+2010+143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUvpNfeEDhR4fJJopTEsCM_Mv5AqPCs08fcq7qENyc34xFTdvW5j3kSWy10deTrMimGuo6efy7VyRVCizJvpbhalENBCVw1_yVwb5wVkyb0P4-oRX6tU7dAnoOcrC82A48Prz_XEeH2g/s640/overseas+2010+143.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span><span style="font-size: small;">An interesting article by Gerald Celente</span></span><strong style="font-size: 19px;"> </strong><span style="font-size: 19px;"><span style="font-size: small;">of New York,</span></span><strong style="font-size: 19px;"> </strong><span style="font-size: 19px;"><span style="font-size: small;">for the Daily Reckoning, Australia.</span></span><br />
<br />
<strong style="font-size: 19px;">Donald Trump and the Rise of ‘People Power’</strong><br />
<strong>By Gerald Celente in New York, US</strong><br />
Last night we saw a red, white and blue living-colour freak show.<br />
Did last night’s circus resolve anything? Is this the best our
democracy can do? And more importantly, is Establishment politics dying?<br />
Whatever you think of Donald Trump, his candidacy is one big middle
finger to the Establishment. It’s part of the worldwide rise of ‘People
Power’.<br />
The People Power trend, while at a ripe old age in nations such as
Switzerland — one of the wealthiest, most democratic countries in the
world, where its people vote on issues that affect their lives and
livelihoods, and not political parties — is now growing globally.<br />
Direct Democracy, anathema in the US, the Land of the Free, where the
two-party Congressional Gang of 535 runs and rules the lives of 320
million citizens, found new life in Mother England when the people voted
to put their future in their own hands.<br />
In a stunning upset to the status quo, on 23 June, by a 52 to 48
percent majority, United Kingdom citizens voted to leave the European
Union, despite pressure from world leaders and higher financial
authorities telling them to remain.<br />
From President Obama to Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe, from
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde to Wall
Street’s biggest and boldest…dire warnings of end-of-world consequences
were issued if the public voted to leave the holy altar of the almighty,
infallible European Union.<br />
Beyond the UK’s Brexit, there is widespread disgust with the
entrenched ruling parties that have been running most European nations
since the end of the Second World War and the centralised control from a
supranational Brussels bureaucracy.<br />
Among the key elements that the ‘Leave’ campaign tapped into is the anti-establishment current spreading throughout Europe.<br />
For example, in a paper co-authored by Will Jennings, a professor of politics at the University of Southampton, wrote, ‘<em>Citizens now describe their “hatred” for politicians who made them “angry”, “incensed”, “outraged”, disgusted’ and sickened.</em>’<br />
He said the words used to describe politicians are arrogant, boorish,
corrupt, creepy, devious, loathsome, lying, parasitical, pompous,
shameful, sleazy, slippery, spineless, traitorous weak and wet. (<em>Financial Times</em>, 16 June 2016).<br />
Thus, the People Power trend — fuelled in Europe by the growing
contempt for the ruling elite, the loss of power of national governments
to centralised powers, high unemployment, falling wages and a declining
standard of living blamed on globalisation — is fuelling Direct
Democracy movements across the continent.<br />
Immediately following the Brexit vote, several populist European
parties pledged to launch referendums to ‘leave or remain’ in the
28-member EU bloc. Politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party
for Freedom, called the Brexit vote ‘historic’ and said, ‘<em>Now it’s our turn. I think the Dutch people must now be given the chance to have their say in a referendum.</em>’<br />
And, with polls showing that more than 40% of Brexit supporters cited
immigration as the most important factor in deciding how to vote —
blaming cheap migrant labour for the loss of jobs and human waves of
refugees and migrants for a loss of national identity — ‘keep them out’
anti-immigration movements will intensify throughout Western nations.<br />
For example, on 2 October, Hungary will hold a referendum to reject European Union quotas demanding they accept refugees.<br />
While the current take-back-their-country referendum movements
spreading across Europe are anti-Brussels super-state rule from
bureaucratic overlords and disenchantment with career politicians,
financial elites and an entrenched establishment, the Direct Democracy
trend that will spread throughout advanced nations is bigger than
Brexit.<br />
Appropriately administered by putting ‘We the People’ in charge of
our destiny, rather than obeying self-serving politicians and bloated
bureaucrats that enrich the few at the expense of the many, Direct
Democracy provides a blueprint for the revolutionary advancement of
society.<br />
Non-violent, intellectually and philosophically sound, emotionally empowering and potentially unstoppable, ‘<em>In due time, the voice of the people will be heard and their latent wisdom will prevail,</em>’ Thomas Jefferson wrote.<br />
However, as illustrated by my dear friend Thomas Naylor, may his soul
rest in peace, depending on the size and composition of nations, there
are formidable challenges that must be addressed. In assessing the pros
and cons of Direct Democracy in the US, in part he wrote:<br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>Switzerland is a tiny, well-educated, hard-working
country with a strong sense of community. The United States is not
Switzerland.</em><br />
‘<em>For starters, retrofitting the U.S. Constitution and legal
system to accommodate Direct Democracy would require the expertise of a
plethora of constitutional scholars and legal experts. For those legal
scholars and political scientists up to the challenge of designing such a
complex system, courage and dedication will be required.</em><br />
‘<em>A process would also have to be developed to bring important
issues to the table for consideration by a nationwide referendum. And
then there is the matter of the computer network and software required
to make Internet voting work. Although introducing Direct Democracy into
the United States sounds like a very good idea, it would involve a
number of conceptual, legal, constitutional, economic, technical and
political challenges. Such a move would require bold, creative
leadership combined with world-class marketing skills.</em><br />
‘<em>But the alternative is a nation whose government has lost its
moral authority and is tightly controlled by a self-serving
military/industrial/<wbr></wbr>congressional complex accountable only to
itself — a nation that has become unsustainable economically,
militarily, socially, environmentally and politically. The United States
is so large that it may no longer be governable and has possibly become
unfixable.</em><br />
‘<em>If there is a way out of our nation’s death spiral, Direct
Democracy just might be one of our last remaining viable options. We
could do a lot worse than emulate the Swiss.</em>’</blockquote>
Naylor founded the Second Vermont Republic and was professor emeritus of economics at Duke University. Naylor co-authored <em>Affluenza</em>, <em>Downsizing the USA</em> and T<em>he Search for Meaning</em>.<br />
Naylor’s points are valid. There will be legal hurdles to jump and
political obstacles erected that must be overcome. It will take passion
and persistence to push the movement forward.<br />
One path of progress in establishing a Direct Democracy is to redesign current antiquated systems with modernised 21<sup>st</sup>-century
online voting. While opponents of Direct Democracy will contend that
online voting can be subject to hacking and fraud, it can be far less
susceptible than the current stuffing of ballot boxes or rigging of
voting machines.<br />
In fact, voting online, with full transparency, would prove more
secure than any polling place run by party operatives. Indeed, we bank
online and buy online; surely we can vote online!<br />
With fast-accelerating advancements in technology, from artificial
intelligence to virtual reality, the only obstacles to online voting are
the people’s will to make it happen versus the politicians and special
interests benefiting from the current corrupt system.<br />
Indeed, the so-called representative democracy form of government we
adhere to in the West is a hoax…a cruel sham, a bone thrown to the
proles following the overthrow of the aristocracies of the 18<sup>th</sup>, 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup>
centuries that gulled the public into believing members of political
parties represent their interests…while, as abundantly evidenced with
spreading populist movements and the Brexit vote, a vast majority
recognise that the current political systems serve special interests,
not public interests.<br />
Realistically, can Direct Democracy and online voting become reality? ‘<em>It
does not take a majority to prevail…but rather an irate, tireless
minority, keen of setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men,</em>’
said Samuel Adams. Never in modern history have the trend lines for
People Power — the freedom of a collective society to shape its destiny
rather than living under the dictates of political gangs — been clearer.<br />
As proven by Brexit, (agree or disagree with the vote), the
‘brushfires of freedom’ were not set by ‘an irate tireless minority,’
but rather an irate anti-establishment, anti-status quo, anti-elite,
anti-centralised power, anti-globalisation MAJORITY.<br />
And win or lose, and for all his faults, Donald Trump represents the awakening of American ‘People Power’.<br />
<strong>Regards, </strong><br />
<strong>Gerald Celente,</strong><br />
<strong>For <em>The Daily Reckoning, Australia</em></strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-66050266708478449962016-09-26T21:51:00.002-07:002016-09-26T21:54:14.984-07:00The Duality of Humanity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8_wOedzsjxYl8mCS5PShZn8vVV8BJhbV6OFTM-YTAzPT8ifOz_ADngUkDH72BpuiABqpvKSuuDKcR8GYpvmSSSxPEt65zxaO0M_HgQziX2_KYmDMbMIKZGPy6OKHbJ-qGDFfBgvTl-s/s1600/IMG_1363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8_wOedzsjxYl8mCS5PShZn8vVV8BJhbV6OFTM-YTAzPT8ifOz_ADngUkDH72BpuiABqpvKSuuDKcR8GYpvmSSSxPEt65zxaO0M_HgQziX2_KYmDMbMIKZGPy6OKHbJ-qGDFfBgvTl-s/s640/IMG_1363.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A
Short Essay (1500 words)</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Michael
J. Bull 2016.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">There has been much written about the nature of human
beings, encompassed by literature from science, religion and
philosophy, and which often refers to the idea of the duality of
humans as 'body' and 'spirit'. A discussion of the spiritual side of
humanity has rarely been written which leaves out the factor called
“belief”, </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">at
which point the logic which is associated with scientific method is
lost, and the analysis is moved into pseudo-science and not
acceptable in scientific circles. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The
Body</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
definition of body is obvious as the body is the physical part of
humans and can be measured, studied, chemically defined and its
operation can be monitored and corrected when necessary. That is the
focus of modern Western medical research and practise. Eastern and
indigenous medicine appears to place emphasis on a more holistic
approach which includes both body and spirit by utilising the healing
power of the mind in addition to medicines for the body. The role of
the mind is not clearly defined. It seems to be the major controller
for the body while connecting with the non-physical side, or
consciousness, as well.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The
Spirit</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The spiritual side of humanity is described by
numerous religions, but the logic of medical science does not accord
with the religious analysis in many cases due to the absence of
scientific evidence. The bridge between the two is often resolved as
“faith” or “belief” by religion.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
question is whether the physical body and the non-physical spirit can
be demonstrated as a credible duality which makes a 'whole' human.</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Life
Force</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The most obvious non-physical attribute of humans, and
indeed all life, is, for the want of a better term, called the 'life
force' and has the attributes of being able to maintain, repair and
reproduce the physical body. Upon bodily death, that energy is lost
to the body and it rapidly decays into simpler chemical compounds. A
long held tenet of physics states that</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">
'energy can be neither created or destroyed'</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
While it is not known where life force energy goes at bodily death,
it's existence is logically and observationally impossible to deny. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>An
Experiment</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If one were to view (as a thought experiment) the
Universe from outside it, as an expanding bubble set within a matrix
which is unknown and not visible to us, it might appear as a bubble
within which everything was in motion. All of matter, micro and
macro and its energy, moves relative to every other part of matter
and energy. This may be a fair description of the galaxies, stars,
planets, atoms, particles and their related energies and motions as
we see them. From our position within the Universe, we measure motion
using an invisible and abstract concept which we call Time.
Mathematics indicates that the concept of time has a variability with
respect to motion, as outlined by the Theory of Special Relativity.
Quantum mechanics' Uncertainty Principle, which states that the
velocity and location of a particle cannot be known simultaneously,
supports the above variability of time as calculated by Einstein's
Special Relativity Theory. In this context from within the universe,</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it
is motion which defines time</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">,
not time which defines motion.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A summary of the above observation is that time is not
apparent without a change (caused by motion). It is that change which
defines time rather than time defining the change. In terms of
physics, change is called 'entropy' and it is therefore entropy which
defines time. From our point of observation within the universe,
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">entropy
(change) moves only from a state of order to a state of increasing
disorder </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(as
stated by the Laws of Thermodynamics), and that is why time appears
unidirectional to us. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span><br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Entropy in Reverse</b></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span><span style="text-decoration: none;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
can be strongly argued that the coalescence of random clouds of gas
in space into the formation of stars is normal entropy in reverse,
with matter moving from a state of disorder and random motion to a
more ordered state. The fusion of simple hydrogen into more complex
atomic structures as happens within a star seems to support the
reverse entropy hypothesis. If that is the case, then that process by
extension, constitutes a reversal of the 'arrow of time'.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">It
also suggests how the universe could be returned to the 'singularity'
which is thought to have preceded the 'big bang', or the birth of our
universe. Entropy has been considered only to move in one direction,
as has time. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
birth of a star may be visual evidence of the reversal of entropy,
and therefore the reversal of time.</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
The concept of the linearity of time is one which is difficult to
move away from, as evidenced by confusion when considering quantum
entanglement. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Returning to the universe 'bubble' concept in the
thought experiment, if one could observe the universe from outside it
then the existence of motion within would be apparent, but would that
mean that the motion observed is an agent of change? </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>An
Analogy</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Put another way, by analogy, if one were to stand
under (or in) a waterfall, the motion and energy of the waterfall
would be real and apparent. If one were to observe the waterfall from
a distance, outside of it, the motion of the water is observable but
the waterfall does not change as a whole. It will look the same
tomorrow as it does today. Then, observation of motion from outside
of a closed system (the bubble) yields a different result to an
observation from within that closed system. If motion is not causing
change, then time is not apparent. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
conclusion is that beyond the three dimensional limits of the
material universe, time may not exist. Time may exist only where
motion causes change, and therefore </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>time
is a product of change rather than of motion.</b></span></i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<b>Time</b></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The implication of these observations may be that a
dimension which does not form a part of the material universe is
independent of time. Such a dimension may include consciousness or
the concept of a spiritual dimension, which many believe exist but do
not understand through 'rational provable science'. The idea of
timelessness has been a part of these concepts from all cultures on
earth. Perhaps</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">
the foregoing may point to a basis within physics for the existence
of timelessness.</span></i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
apparent irreversibility of entropy (and time) when considering the
nature of the universe from within it, has a limiting effect on the
ideas that can be considered as possible, moving many of these to the
realm of science fiction. An example of this is the phenomenon of
quantum entanglement, which does not seem possible from the view
available from within the universe. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
ability to consider an idea arising from an observation of the
universe from outside its limits</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
enhances its inclusion in that which is possible. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Beyond the Physical</b></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
ability to consider an idea arising from an observation of the
universe from outside its limits </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is, in itself, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
demonstration that our consciousness exists outside of the material
universe, and outside of time.</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
It would not otherwise be possible to observe the universe from
outside it in a thought experiment.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>
In can then logically be concluded that if we, as a material part of
the universe, also possess a consciousness which is not a part of the
material universe then we are a composite of both.</b></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
That is the same idea which underlies the metaphysics which is called
spiritualism. There are many differing views and 'beliefs' about the
subject of spiritualism, but nearly all have that dualism of material
and non-material in common, and a link between life and other life by
a non-material commonality. The question of an 'afterlife' has been
pondered by man from antiquity. There is no doubt that our material
self returns to the earth. The question is what happens to the
non-material part of the self, the life force, and whether it
survives, changes form or returns anew. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The 'quantum leap' that science has yet to make is
perhaps the recognition of the link between Physics and Metaphysics.
That link, it can be argued, exists through the exploration of ideas
related to time and entropy, as outlined above. Time and entropy are
both areas thought by many to have no further possibilities for
expansion of understanding. This essay is written to question that
view and show that </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>there
may be a link between Physics and Metaphysics</b></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>which
can withstand logical scientific scrutiny without the need for
“belief” to bridge that gap</b></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
A change in perception opens new possibilities to enhance
understanding. That has always been the case in science. </span></span>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SEIZF7EsCEE/VzlL74DxZpI/AAAAAAAAB6A/CS1YA1qaUZoOgNVh0NHYmPtzHNb7P9JuQCPcB/s1600/2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SEIZF7EsCEE/VzlL74DxZpI/AAAAAAAAB6A/CS1YA1qaUZoOgNVh0NHYmPtzHNb7P9JuQCPcB/s200/2013.JPG" width="199" /></a></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Michael
Bull is a student of physics, art and some of the other sciences and
humanities. He sees that a balanced knowledge must consider the
findings of all of these different disciplines. He has written a
number of articles, including those published in New Dawn Magazine.
His blog is at michaeljbull.blogspot.com (physics);
mjbull.blogspot.com (art).</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-28547273270655209842016-09-13T19:57:00.001-07:002016-09-13T19:58:35.474-07:00Globalisation and Skullduggery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuWN7CKc2hH5nG0V33qiH97ec8tzmfoIHA0MOo1Dv8CmJdAOWxQO0eopTI_5WG9GEWDOZKS4sMmOqi85R2UuOHSj5WRY6dPOWQpMyTNDOv8jzxUsetTiyQRDY5bGaRXVQObONSizL0xg/s1600/P24-02-10_16.04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuWN7CKc2hH5nG0V33qiH97ec8tzmfoIHA0MOo1Dv8CmJdAOWxQO0eopTI_5WG9GEWDOZKS4sMmOqi85R2UuOHSj5WRY6dPOWQpMyTNDOv8jzxUsetTiyQRDY5bGaRXVQObONSizL0xg/s640/P24-02-10_16.04.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Another article from Jim Rickards on the deceit and stupidity of the global economy.<br />
<br />
<strong style="font-size: 19px;">Get Ready for ‘Unencumbered’ Interest <br />
Rate Policy</strong><br />
<strong>By Jim Rickards, Strategist, <em>Strategic Intelligence</em></strong><br />
‘A promise is a comfort for a fool.’ — Proverb.<br />
Janet Yellen’s recent speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was eagerly
awaited, and a complete non-event. The headlines were dominated by
breathless accounts of Janet Yellen’s speech at a Federal Reserve
conference in Jackson Hole.<br />
The robot scanners read the speech first; it took a while for humans
like me to catch up. But I’ve since had the chance to digest it. What
was striking about the speech was how ordinary it was. As I predicted
she would, she threw a bone to the hawks, saying ‘<em>the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened,</em>’ and then threw another bone to the doves: ‘<em>As ever, the economic outlook is uncertain, and so monetary policy is not on a preset course.</em>’ She also talked about ‘data dependence’ etc., and then went to lunch.<br />
The conference at which the speech was delivered was titled
‘Designing Resilient Monetary Policy Frameworks for the Future’. That
title at least suggested that some new thinking and new policies might
be on display. They weren’t.<br />
Yellen basically said that interest rate cuts, quantitative easing,
interest on excess reserves and forward guidance were sufficient to pull
the US economy out of a future recession if needed.<br />
In short, Yellen said the Fed’s existing toolkit is adequate, and is
unwilling to consider more radical tools or remedies. If you like weak
growth, money printing and market manipulation, get ready for more of
the same.<br />
She took negative rates off the table — she said they were
‘impossible’. She also agreed that ‘helicopter money’ — really fiscal
policy supported by Fed bond purchases to finance deficits — could be
useful, but made it clear that it was up to Congress to implement that
and the Fed would not lead the charge.<br />
Investors should ignore Fed noise. But that doesn’t stop markets from
overreacting to every syllable of Fedspeak. Gold investors just have to
live with day-to-day volatility until the world finally realises that
central banks are impotent and can safely be ignored in favour of global
macroeconomic fundamentals.<br />
Does this mean Jackson Hole was a non-event for gold investors? <br />
Not at all. <br />
Yellen was not the only one speaking there. Another major speech was
by an economist named Marvin Goodfriend, from Carnegie Mellon
University. His speech was called ‘The Case for Unencumbering Interest
Rate Policy at the Zero Bound’.<br />
In essence, the Goodfriend speech was about negative interest rates —
and just because Yellen doesn’t like them now, it doesn’t mean they’re
not coming in the future. That negative rate idea has been around for a
few years. But Goodfriend’s focus was to promote ‘unencumbered’ negative
interest rate policy, which means getting rid of things standing in
your way.<br />
Specifically, the No. 1 thing standing in the way of negative rates is cash. <br />
If citizens can go to cash, that makes it difficult to impose
negative rates on digital bank accounts. That’s also not a new insight.
The war on cash has been going on for a while, and prominent economists,
from Larry Summers to Ken Rogoff, have called for an end to cash.
Rogoff did so just recently, in a front-page article in the ‘Review’
section of <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>.<br />
What is new in all of this are ideas that Goodfriend presented to the
Fed to neutralise the role of cash. His preferred way is just to
‘abolish paper currency’, as his paper outlines in Section 5A. But then
Goodfriend laments that ‘<em>the public is likely to resist the abolition of paper currency.</em>’ He’s right about that.<br />
So Goodfriend comes up with a new concept called the ‘<em>flexible market-determined deposit price of paper currency.</em>’ Seriously, I’m not making this up; you can find it in Section 5B of his paper.<br />
In plain English, this means the ‘money’ in your bank account, and the ‘money’ in your purse or wallet, would be like <em>two different kinds of currency.</em>
There would be an exchange rate between the two, just as there is an
exchange rate between dollars and euros. The Fed could set this exchange
rate at whatever level it wanted and would not be obligated to ‘defend’
that rate at any particular level.<br />
What this means is that, if you go to the bank and withdraw US$1,000,
the bank might only give you US$980 in cash because of the ‘exchange
rate’ between your bank account and cash. Or if you deposit US$1,000 in
cash, the bank might only credit your bank account US$980 because of the
same ‘exchange rate’ between your cash and the bank account balance.<br />
In short, it’s a way to impose negative interest rates on physical cash.<br />
It’s true that Goodfriend is an academic, and not a policymaker. But
Yellen and other Fed bigwigs like William Dudley and Stanley Fischer
were sitting in the audience. In my experience, this is how things
start. Some ivory-tower academic writes about a policy proposal.<br />
A few other ivory-tower academics and beltway think tanks take the
idea and run with it. Then one of those academics gets appointed to a
policy position. The next thing you know, the policy is in effect.<br />
That’s how I saw SDRs coming years in advance, and that’s how I see the war on cash coming now. <br />
That’s why I also see a war on gold…<br />
Curiously, academic policymakers have spent so many years disparaging
gold they seem to have forgotten that gold is money. Once the war on
cash heats up — and certainly when that war is in full swing, out in the
open — people everywhere will turn to gold as an alternative form of
money. And then, once policymakers see the massive shift to gold, they
will launch a war on gold also.<br />
So my advice to people interested in gold is this: Get it now while you still can. What are you waiting for?<br />
But it’s not just the government and banks that are doing everything
they can to make it impossible for you to get your own money in the form
of cash. Now they have a new partner — big business! It seems that
businesses have their own war on cash. They hate handling it, and it’s
expensive to transport, store and insure. More and more, businesses are
refusing to take your cash.<br />
This is just another form of discrimination against the poor who may
not have banking accounts, or who rely on cheque cashing services and
live pay cheque to pay cheque. It’s also aimed at you because it forces
you into a digital system where your money can be hit with negative
interest rates, service fees, account freezes, bail-in charges and other
forms of theft.<br />
When pigs are going to be slaughtered, they are first herded into
pens for the convenience of the slaughterhouse. When savers are going to
be slaughtered, they are herded into digital accounts from which there
is no escape.<br />
The war on cash may be a losing battle for you and me, but there is
still shelter in physical gold, silver, land and other hard assets.<br />
The key defensive play is to obtain your gold now, while you still can, before the war on gold begins. <br />
As this realisation sinks in, it will create more demand for physical
gold, which is already in short supply. That demand-driven tailwind for
physical gold will take gold mining stocks much higher.<br />
These scenarios are more disturbing, and the tempo more rapid, than I imagined just a short time ago.<br />
The time to position yourself in gold and gold miners is now; don’t wait.
<strong>Regards,</strong><br />
<strong>Jim Rickards, <br />
For <em>The Daily Reckoning</em></strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-55346744350575484462016-09-11T20:06:00.000-07:002016-09-11T20:06:48.933-07:00More on Globalisation and your WealthAn interesting article by Bill Bonner - Phony Money.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXDWec7d69n3Lx6sbR2Cu7JtYks4oPV3Tv_Ng8wlJLRkjblMqBfdFxJMxivcKgijCq7nWlVo2oSWLl7f3Vg83_2sGh8pshcI1Kkm0-JzD8XlCDak7uFrpLtwv-OEj_gj7xescUrWCU5Y/s1600/IMG_1451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXDWec7d69n3Lx6sbR2Cu7JtYks4oPV3Tv_Ng8wlJLRkjblMqBfdFxJMxivcKgijCq7nWlVo2oSWLl7f3Vg83_2sGh8pshcI1Kkm0-JzD8XlCDak7uFrpLtwv-OEj_gj7xescUrWCU5Y/s640/IMG_1451.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<strong style="font-size: 19px;">Get Ready for a New Crisis…in Corporate Debt</strong><br />
<strong>By Bill Bonner in Ouzilly, France</strong><br />
We’re going back to basics here at the <em>Diary</em>. <br />
We’re getting everyone on the same page…learning together…connecting the dots…trying to figure out what is going on. <br />
We made a breakthrough when we identified the source of so many of today’s bizarre and grotesque trends. <br />
It’s the money — the new post-1971 dollar. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>Imposter dollar</strong></div>
This new dollar is green. You can buy things with it. <br />
Yes, it has lost more than 80% of its buying power since it was put in place. <br />
But still, it’s not so bad. <br />
Compared with the Argentine peso (current inflation rate: 47% a year), it is splendidly solid. <br />
But the new dollar is an imposter. The old one was connected to gold
at a fixed rate. And gold was anchored in the real economy. <br />
The new dollar has no gold backing. <br />
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes it’s silly to pay
someone to take gold out of the ground…and then put it back in the
ground and pay someone to guard it for you. <br />
But Buffett misses a vital point: Real money is essential to building real wealth. <br />
It’s what makes the economy operate smoothly. It helps us all decide
when to buy and when to sell…when to invest and when to refrain from
investing…and where to apply our scarce time and resources. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>Real money, real value</strong></div>
Real money has real value. <br />
Gold-backed money increased about as fast as the mining industry
could extract gold from the ground — which was about the same rate as
the economy was growing. <br />
So, when people got more money, they had a claim on more real wealth. <br />
But the new money was phony. <br />
Governments and banks could add as much of this new money as they
wanted. But it did not create or even track real wealth; it just took it
away from those who owned it. <br />
It was as if Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos tried to increase attendance at Oriole Park by printing extra tickets. <br />
Like a counterfeit ticket to a baseball game, the new money didn’t magically add a new seat to the stadium. <br />
The Fed made funding readily available to the banks…and the banks lent lustily to their customers. <br />
Each new bank loan created money that hadn’t existed before. Out of thin air. No additional wealth attached. Just credits. <br />
That’s why some economists call this new system ‘Creditism.’ Because
the new money is no longer based on real wealth, but on credit. <br />
And the flip side of credit is debt. <br />
You can see the problem already. There’s no limit to how much real
money you can have. Each additional dollar represents additional wealth.
<br />
Credit money is different. <br />
With credit, you know you can increase your spending dramatically.
But you know, too, that there is a limit to how much you can borrow. <br />
Eventually, you reach a point where you don’t have the cash flow to
service the interest on your debt. Then it’s time to open the book to
chapter 7. Or chapter 11. You are insolvent. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>New credit crisis</strong></div>
With real money, the more you have, the richer you become. <br />
But as the quantity of credit money increases, the economy becomes more and more vulnerable to a turn in the credit cycle. <br />
As the quantity of debt increases, the quality decreases. That’s what’s happening with corporate debt now. <br />
You’ll recall that, since 2008, corporations have been big borrowers.
According to analysts at Goldman Sachs, corporate America has more than
doubled its debt since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. <br />
And that’s a big problem… <br />
Here’s Michael Lewitt, editor of <em>The Credit Strategist</em> newsletter: <br />
<blockquote>
‘<em>As of the end of August, 113 companies had defaulted
on their debt in 2016, already matching the total number of defaults
from 2015. The year-to-date default count was also 57% higher than a
year earlier. </em><br />
‘<em>In case anyone is paying attention (it appears they are not),
the last time defaults were this high was in 2009 when 208 companies
failed during the financial crisis.</em>’</blockquote>
Yes, get ready for a new credit crisis — this time centred on corporate debt. <br />
‘But wait,’ you say, ‘the feds can print money. They can make sure we never again suffer a credit crisis. Right?’ <br />
Alas, no. They can’t create real money. They can only issue more
tickets for seats that don’t exist. That is, they can only make the
underlying problem worse, by lending more money to more people who can’t
pay it back. <br />
The first big crack in the credit money system came in 2008, when a
giant fissure broke open between mortgage debt and homeowners’ ability
to pay it. <br />
House prices fell. One in 20 houses was in foreclosure by 2010…and the suicide rate had risen 20%. <br />
And here’s the big, dirty secret of the system…and why the rich love
it so much…and why they’re giving millions to Hillary Clinton to keep it
going. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>First in line</strong></div>
When the housing bubble popped, about $800 billion (our estimate) worth of housing went into foreclosure. <br />
Houses are real assets. When owners couldn’t pay, the houses went to the banks that had lent the money against them. <br />
These banks hadn’t built the houses. They never owned them. They never earned the money that they lent to buy them either. <br />
<br />
Nor did the money come from savers who had deposited their money in the
bank. It was money that no one ever earned. It was fiction. <br />
But this didn’t stop banks using this fake money to capture real wealth — our houses. <br />
And this is how the rich — heavily concentrated in the financial sector— get richer, thanks to the new credit money system. <br />
It increases the values of their stocks, bonds, and real estate (thanks to low interest rates and Fed buying). <br />
It increases corporate profits, too, by lowering financing costs (and
incidentally reducing returns to savers) and by boosting credit-fuelled
retail sales. <br />
Most important — the rich are first in line when the counterfeit tickets are distributed. <br />
Then you go to the stadium…and you find them sitting in your seats. <br />
<strong>Regards,</strong><br />
<strong>Bill Bonner,</strong><br />
<strong>For <em>The Daily Reckoning, Australia</em></strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-29482395583816062032016-09-06T19:45:00.000-07:002016-09-06T19:45:49.318-07:00Globalisation and your Wealth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yGHplv-LYA0bIwQ0Z2KrGS057yfP4AlMO9jqH9zKCBWosbKAO_UTDqW_s2rnZBxVDTSNPOTDbpddjq-HFuw5P8Pp1h-_V-fiNHV_V-O93evbEK97Rzfk2uuVa8SAGfsIQDGsGXhP5Qs/s1600/Jabiru+in+a+Boab+Tree+SOLD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yGHplv-LYA0bIwQ0Z2KrGS057yfP4AlMO9jqH9zKCBWosbKAO_UTDqW_s2rnZBxVDTSNPOTDbpddjq-HFuw5P8Pp1h-_V-fiNHV_V-O93evbEK97Rzfk2uuVa8SAGfsIQDGsGXhP5Qs/s640/Jabiru+in+a+Boab+Tree+SOLD.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
An interesting article from 'The Daily Reckoning' written by Jim Rickards. It makes one despair for the younger generations' welfare in the future. The financial Elites need to be stopped.<br />
<br />
<strong style="font-size: 19px;">How Governments Can Kill Cash</strong><br />
<strong>By Jim Rickards, Strategist, <em>Strategic Intelligence</em></strong><br />
It’s almost as if someone hit the ‘start’ button right around April
11 — the beginning of IMF Spring Meeting week — and the elites have been
cranking out the inflation plans ever since.<br />
Of course, inflation is just one part of the global elite plan.
There’s a lot else going on that is aimed at destroying your wealth to
solve the global debt problem.<br />
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://click2.portphillippublishing.com.au/t/FA/F9I/LxE/AAW7fg/hqQ/MzMwMDY2fGh0dHA6Ly9wcm8xLnBvcnRwaGlsbGlwcHVibGlzaGluZy5jb20uYXUvNTUzMzM5Lz9lbWFpbD1NSUNIQUVMMy5CVUxMJTQwZ21haWwuY29tJmE9MjAmbz02MDk4JnM9MTIwNDkmdT0zNzU2NzgmbD0zMzAwNjYmcj1NQzImdmlkPUVEU21VZSZnPTA./AQ/aAzl&source=gmail&ust=1473301121879000&usg=AFQjCNFY9WcVjzqJrZksGW6vJWOKRV6qBw" href="http://click2.portphillippublishing.com.au/t/FA/F9I/LxE/AAW7fg/hqQ/MzMwMDY2fGh0dHA6Ly9wcm8xLnBvcnRwaGlsbGlwcHVibGlzaGluZy5jb20uYXUvNTUzMzM5Lz9lbWFpbD1NSUNIQUVMMy5CVUxMJTQwZ21haWwuY29tJmE9MjAmbz02MDk4JnM9MTIwNDkmdT0zNzU2NzgmbD0zMzAwNjYmcj1NQzImdmlkPUVEU21VZSZnPTA./AQ/aAzl" target="_blank">We write about these developments in <em>Strategic Intelligence</em></a>. Here’s a quick overview to give you the picture.<br />
The inflation plans described above may take a few years to
implement. The elites are discussing them now to condition the
intellectual environment for action later. Still, developments such as
actual changes in fiscal deficits and issuance of more special drawing
rights (SDRs) will take time.<br />
In the meantime, the global elites are using negative interest rates
to do the same thing as inflation — make your money disappear. One way
to avoid negative interest rates is to go to physical cash. In order to
prevent that option, the elites have launched a war on cash.<br />
The war on cash has two main thrusts. The first is to make it
difficult to obtain cash in the first place. US banks will report anyone
taking more than US$3,000 in cash as engaging in a ‘suspicious
activity’ using Treasury Form SAR (Suspicious Activity Report).<br />
It is the same in Australia. Any transactions over AU$10,000 must be
reported to Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
(AUSTRAC).<br />
The second thrust is to eliminate large-denomination banknotes. The
US got rid of its US$500 note in 1969, and the US$100 note has lost 85%
of its purchasing power since then.<br />
With a little more inflation, the US$100 bill will be reduced to chump change.<br />
The war on cash is old news, but there are new developments. On 4 May
2016, the European Central Bank announced that they were discontinuing
the production of new 500 euro notes. Existing 500 euro notes will still
be legal tender, but new ones will not be produced.<br />
This means that, over time, the notes will be in short supply and
individuals in need of large denominations may actually bid up the price
above face value paying, say, €502 in smaller bills for a €500 note.
The €2.00 premium in this example is like a negative interest rate on
cash.<br />
The whole idea of the war on cash is to force savers into digital
bank accounts, so their money can be taken from them in the form of
negative interest rates. An easy solution to this is to go to physical
cash.<br />
Yet if physical cash becomes scarce — or nearly worthless due to
inflation — savers may pay a slight premium for large-denomination
notes. Your premium disappears because the note pays no interest. The
elites have actually figured out a way to have negative interest rates
follow you from digital accounts to paper money.<br />
Another solution to negative interest rates is to buy physical gold.
But if the government has a war on cash, can the war on gold be far
behind? Probably not.<br />
Governments always use money laundering, drug dealing and terrorism
as excuses to keep tabs on honest citizens and deprive them of the
ability to use money alternatives such as physical cash and gold. When
you start to see news articles about criminals using gold instead of
cash, that’s a stalking horse for government regulation of gold.<br />
Guess what? Back in May 2016, Bloomberg wrote an article on criminals
using gold. This is one more reason to get your physical gold now,
while you still can.<br />
As if inflation, confiscation, and negative rates weren’t enough, the
global elites are coordinating a new plan for global taxation. As
usual, there’s a technical name for global taxation so non-elites won’t
understand the plan. It’s called base erosion and profit shifting, or
‘BEPS’.<br />
The BEPS project is being handled by the OECD and the G-20, with the IMF contributing technical support.<br />
The website is worth a look. To paraphrase that famous line attributed to Trotsky, ‘<em>You may not be interested in BEPS, but BEPS is interested in you.</em>’<br />
The global elite plan doesn’t stop there. There’s also the climate
change agenda led by the United Nations. This agenda goes by the name
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).<br />
The science of climate change is a sticky topic. It’s enough to know
that climate change is a convenient platform for world money and world
taxation.<br />
That’s because climate change does not respect national borders. If
you have a global problem, then you can justify global solutions. A
global tax plan to pay for global climate change infrastructure with
world money is the end game.<br />
Don’t think that climate change is unrelated to the international
monetary system. Christine Lagarde almost never gives a speech on
finance without mentioning climate change. The same is true for other
monetary elites. They know that climate change is their path to global
financial control.<br />
That’s the global elite plan. World money, world inflation and world
taxation, with the IMF as the central bank of the world, and the G-20
Leaders as the Board of Directors.<br />
None of this is secret. It’s all hiding in plain sight.<br />
<strong>All the best,</strong><br />
<strong>Jim Rickards,<br /> Strategist, <em>Strategic Intelligence</em></strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-55057548298375063712016-08-18T22:01:00.000-07:002016-08-18T22:02:15.526-07:00How to Make a Child into a Delinquent : 12 Easy Rules<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQLAyzZ09IPx46eW57GNcHfKwhzVKKlwwW4sR8Ky3vUZhyU2d3E_Ygje4QI2_rZpawgQzKyb0vTAzzgwtKz87pAfatNTZ9_Tz0aqKCrcnYNvQRDFDg6m-FI49L_IL0dOmSBEiBXQ1T4w/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQLAyzZ09IPx46eW57GNcHfKwhzVKKlwwW4sR8Ky3vUZhyU2d3E_Ygje4QI2_rZpawgQzKyb0vTAzzgwtKz87pAfatNTZ9_Tz0aqKCrcnYNvQRDFDg6m-FI49L_IL0dOmSBEiBXQ1T4w/s640/IMG_0077.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<ol>
<li>Begin in infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living.</li>
<li>When he picks up bad language, laugh at him. This will make him think he is cute.</li>
<li>Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is 21 and then let him 'decide for himself''.</li>
<li>Avoid using the word 'wrong'. It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecuted.</li>
<li>Pick up everything he leaves lying around, books, clothes, shoes, etc. Do everything for him so he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility onto others.</li>
<li>Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feast on garbage.</li>
<li>Quarrel frequently in the presence of your children. In this way they will not be too shocked when the home is broken up later.</li>
<li>Give a child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them?</li>
<li>Satisfy his every craving for food, drink and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustrations.</li>
<li>Take his part against neighbours, teachers, policemen. They are all prejudiced against your child.</li>
<li>When he gets into real trouble, apologize to yourself by saying 'I never could do anything with him'.</li>
<li>Prepare for a life of grief. You will be likely to have it.</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-16306666808176250812016-05-25T14:50:00.002-07:002016-05-25T14:54:03.716-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOc5hyh1cIkiM6_yB1dzo6H7lUUeUQvrEHYfUI9JvEe-ht8aJdSp28D0CZUsK4zT0VGau68a1uWlQB1lESIYeWaPe3UmWU4NS30AmGJq-DG_Tr1xYAgZwRQyYXQM8PjRLQnWOcfwlBLw/s1600/IMG_0079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOc5hyh1cIkiM6_yB1dzo6H7lUUeUQvrEHYfUI9JvEe-ht8aJdSp28D0CZUsK4zT0VGau68a1uWlQB1lESIYeWaPe3UmWU4NS30AmGJq-DG_Tr1xYAgZwRQyYXQM8PjRLQnWOcfwlBLw/s640/IMG_0079.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>The Journey</u></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To Ignorance add Learning to find Knowledge,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Add Doing to Knowledge for Experience,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To Experience add Empathy to find Wisdom.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Within Wisdom to be found is the Essence,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the Essence leads to the Source. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-19521853669223126002016-05-15T16:55:00.003-07:002016-05-15T16:55:59.095-07:00HMS 'Prince of Wales' 1787<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3dBuMS2kliiLXl6_YxkD1FbohWTm8wwd7H0Z2UheHnzJzFWnW7tkwsEPP1x5Zz2sSUm9N_6WkkysQlKvV2G914756EKfUzIDkWqrO9tyPY0MqiyiQGYUV4rKlqYy6v5UnHyYFR5k_Vw/s1600/IMG_1670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3dBuMS2kliiLXl6_YxkD1FbohWTm8wwd7H0Z2UheHnzJzFWnW7tkwsEPP1x5Zz2sSUm9N_6WkkysQlKvV2G914756EKfUzIDkWqrO9tyPY0MqiyiQGYUV4rKlqYy6v5UnHyYFR5k_Vw/s640/IMG_1670.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
MJB 2016. 12"x 16" acrylic on canvasAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-30305848778161139352016-02-29T14:23:00.001-08:002016-02-29T14:23:31.946-08:00Travel Expands the Mind's Horizons - A personal Journey of over 55,000 km in Oz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCXUPyCsP9mEmV0V1aGMo_BMGd7887qZaLrl-Vn16iSQXqJV4nWaPxi79CNDmCNEIBi-u5xDm27jat9cYGT8r_IezQjsAhcV6JRIMLa59akBdMznmZBxOV3ONDUN4jub1Z_xUlSohqHI/s1600/IMG_1642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCXUPyCsP9mEmV0V1aGMo_BMGd7887qZaLrl-Vn16iSQXqJV4nWaPxi79CNDmCNEIBi-u5xDm27jat9cYGT8r_IezQjsAhcV6JRIMLa59akBdMznmZBxOV3ONDUN4jub1Z_xUlSohqHI/s640/IMG_1642.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This land is approximately the size of continental USA and has a population of 23 million, most of which is concentrated along the eastern seaboard. Sorely needed is a political leadership with the vision to see the possibilities the land offers beyond the populous areas. Much of the semi arid areas need only the addition of water to become productive, self-sustaining and bountiful. The great rivers of tropical northern Australia are the source of almost endless water if thoughtfully developed, retained and piped to where the water is needed. There has not been the required political vision and fortitude since the 1950's when the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric and irrigation system was built in south-eastern Australia. One needs to travel to expand the vision of the possible.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-27200993031656749932016-01-30T21:32:00.000-08:002016-01-30T21:33:07.359-08:00"Crossing the Bar" - MJB 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-32864814443767622262016-01-29T21:14:00.002-08:002016-01-29T21:14:56.612-08:00"The Immigrant" - MJB 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-17894628256158207482016-01-25T23:18:00.001-08:002016-01-25T23:18:39.053-08:00" Desert Crossing - The Tanamai Track " - MJB 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-64203319918084603632016-01-22T20:36:00.001-08:002016-01-22T20:36:35.900-08:00" Amalfi, Italy " - MJB 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-73624978049829947042015-12-27T16:18:00.003-08:002015-12-27T16:18:47.040-08:00"Bushfire" MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-53937177682138841392015-12-23T20:57:00.000-08:002015-12-23T20:57:07.230-08:00The Dictionary of Polly Waffle :(( help for befuddled voters in the endless US elections. :)) - Merry Christmas !<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Accepted
custom and practice: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Some
money-waster on which I wish to keep wasting money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Accountability:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
There is none.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Addressing
the issues:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Something that somebody else does.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Anticipated
investment:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
What we've got our fingers crossed for.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Anti-war
movement:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Minority group of wimps to whom you've given money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>At
this point in time:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I haven't got a good answer but I thought the words might impress.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Bigots:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
People who don't agree with minority groups of any sort whether
you've given then money </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">or not.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Clearly:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Something that is totally unclear.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Compassion:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Spending public money to buy votes.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Insensitivity:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The public objecting to their money being spent to buy votes.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Demonstration:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
People who vote for you wanting something.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Mob
violence:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
People who don't vote for you wanting possibly less.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Deployment:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Moving people somewhere else that you should have fired.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Downsizing:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Firing people.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Economic
stimulation:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Taking more money from the poor and transferring it to the rich.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Entitlement:
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Achiever's
money being given to non-achievers.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Equal
opportunity:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Offering an advantage who you think might vote for you.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Fistful
of dollars:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Any minuscule profit made by the private sector.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Government
innovation:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Something old your opponents suggested about which you hope they</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">might
have forgotten.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>I'm
glad you've asked that question:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I think you're a low bastard for asking such a good question.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>I'm
tackling the issue:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I've given it to somebody else.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Informed
source:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Works for the same faction in the same political party as you do.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>It's
not the money it's the principle:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
It's the money!</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>I've
been reliably informed:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I overheard it.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Knowledgeable
observer:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
You.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Self
styled politician:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Phony.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Guru:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
See self styled politician.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Troubled
times:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
We made the trouble.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Unidentified
source:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
You</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Man-in-the-street
reaction:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Something about which the man in the street has not the vaguest idea.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Moderate
unionists:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Mythical beings who terrify you.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Parliamentary
allowance:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Monies taken from the taxpayer by a politician and then given to </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">another
politician.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Political
biography:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Lies about politicians you don't like.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Political
autobiography:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lies
about yourself.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Political
history:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Lies about everybody.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Private
greed:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Non-government individuals making money whilst enjoying them selves.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Public
service:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Government individuals trying to find a way of stopping
non-government </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">individuals
making money whilst enjoying themselves.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Resourced
social policies:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Non-governmental, non-earning people – paid for.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Ringing
endorsement:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
One other person agreed with me.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Seek
a greater commitment from the community:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Ask for more money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Special
interest group:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A minority to whom you want to give money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Special
interest lobby:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A minority to whom you don't want to give money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>A
proud people:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A minority to whom you are going to give money, whether they want it
or not.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Simplistic:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
An absolutely correct statement to which you have no answer.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>To
the best of my knowledge: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
really have no idea.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>We're
making a significant difference:</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Some economic indicator moved 1 point of 1%. </span></span></span>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-16687525437424877842015-12-16T20:12:00.000-08:002015-12-16T20:12:25.190-08:00Antarctic Research Icebreaker " Aurora Australis " - MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-78216266169185529732015-12-13T14:22:00.001-08:002015-12-13T14:23:20.049-08:00"Rain upon the Rock" - MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-41198163111888334812015-12-07T19:03:00.000-08:002015-12-07T19:03:17.831-08:00" Southerly Buster" - MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-2553768811448586102015-12-06T18:24:00.001-08:002015-12-06T18:25:20.366-08:00A thought provoking Article on Standardisation of People<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
<strong style="font-size: 18px;">Are ALL Men Really Created Equal?
</strong><strong>By Bill Bonner </strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong>
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<br /></div>
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We are sitting at a restaurant next to Waterford harbour. <br /><br /> This is where thousands of desperate emigrants assembled for the trip to America.<br /><br />
But during the famine in Ireland and the Highland Clearances in
Scotland, passage across the Atlantic was as likely to be a ticket to a
watery grave as to a better life. <br /><br /> Death rates were as high as 30% — earning the vessels the name ‘coffin ships.’ <br /><br />
If the emigrants made it to the US or Canada, their prospects improved.
Their children or grandchildren might grow up to be president. Or, like
your editor, at least get a chance to visit Waterford again.</div>
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<strong>Phony stimulus</strong></div>
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Back in the US, nonfarm payrolls increased by 211,000 in November…adding to the 271,000 jobs created in October. <br /><br /> Word on The Street is that Fed chair Janet Yellen will stick to her plan to begin normalising interest rates later this month. <br /><br />
Meanwhile, from Europe came news that Mario ‘Whatever It Takes’ Draghi
also disappointed investors yesterday. The president of the European
Central Bank’s latest stimulus package was less stimulating that
investors had hoped for. <br /><br /> It was as though a child had expected a
new bike for Christmas. And then, looking under the tree on Christmas
morning, all he finds is a sweater and a book. The poor boy is in a funk
for the rest of the day. <br /><br /> The Dow sold off 252 points — or about 1.5%. <br /><br /> That’s the trouble with these phony stimulus measures. You’ve got to keep stimulating…or the spoiled kids get in a bad mood. <br /><br /> But let’s change the subject… <br /><br /><em>Bill Bonner Letter</em>
subscribers will recall from their November issue how Yuval Harari, a
professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, describes
the idea that all men are created equal as a ‘myth.’ <br /><br /> It is the kind of shared narrative — not based on any objective reality — that holds a modern society together. <br /><br /> Today, we dig into the archives for more on the subject…</div>
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<strong>Size matters</strong></div>
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‘<em>It is largely a matter of scale…In fact, it could all be reduced to a matter of scale,</em>’ said a visitor yesterday. <br /><br />
We were talking about the way things work…and why there is such a big
difference between the way people are able to function reasonably well
in small groups and the way they seem to blow themselves up in large
ones. <br /><br /> ‘<em>Yes,</em>’ our friend went on, ‘<em>once you get beyond what is usually known as the “human scale,” things lose all their meaning.</em>’ <br /><br />
It is a question that has puzzled us for years: How is it that a
reasonably intelligent man can perfectly well drive through traffic
without killing himself, but ask the same man his thoughts on global
warming, the War on Poverty, or public education…and what you get is
such preposterous nonsense you can barely believe your own ears? <br /><br />
We have mentioned many times that there is a world of difference
between a New England town meeting and the US Federal Government. The
size of the New England town meeting is one that the human brain is
prepared to deal with. <br /><br /> At the town meeting, a man can know which of the people he is dealing with is a moron and which is a self-interested hustler. <br /><br />
But when it comes to national politics, the same man is totally
ill-equipped for the job — like a mechanic who shows up with a pair of
pruning shears…or a veterinarian with a wrench in his hand. <br /><br /> He
is ignorant of the facts…innocent of the procedures…and completely
helpless in front of the controls. He can’t tell the connivers from the
honest bumblers. He has lost the points of reference that are meaningful
to him. <br /><br /> What can the poor fellow do but resort to myths, lies, and such oversimplifications as take your breath away? <br /><br /> ‘<em>If we don’t fight the Commies in Vietnam,</em>’ he said in 1965, ‘<em>we’ll have to fight them in California!</em>’ <br /><br /> ‘<em>If you want a better educated population, you have to spend more on public education,</em>’ he said in 1975. <br /><br /> ‘<em>If we don’t stand up to the Evil Empire, it will take over the world,</em>’ he said in 1985. <br /><br /> ‘<em>If you invest in a balanced portfolio of stocks, you will always make money over the long run,</em>’ he said in 1995. <br /><br /> What can he do? <br /><br />
He replaces local knowledge and experience with empty slogans. He
replaces the detailed evidence before his own eyes with broad
categorical generalisations. Precise figures and intricate calculations
give way to statistics and averages.</div>
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<strong>Jingoisms, myths, and scams</strong></div>
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The
world he sees on TV becomes his world, too — a world where the local
details are washed out and replaced by caricatures and national
averages. <br /><br /> It gives rise to a whole new understanding of things.
Standards are set not according to local custom or individual
experience but according to the great wash of national broadcasting in
which particularities are bleached out…local colours faded and real
knowledge is lost in the spin cycle. <br /><br /> Instead of speaking his
local dialect, he is soon speaking the lingua franca of the nightly
news. Instead of wearing the clothes he likes, he is dressed to suit The
Gap or Brooks Brothers. Instead of his own thoughts, his mind is full
of jingoisms, myths, and scams. <br /><br /> As the scale of his world increases, local nuance and particularities lose their appeal. <br /><br />
The man begins to see himself and his world in new terms. It no longer
matters whether his house is comfortable and attractive on his terms;
now it has to be acceptable in national terms. <br /><br /> He comes to
realize that many people are lodged in ‘substandard’ housing. And the
standard is hardly one that the man can set for himself. Instead, it is a
standard set by people with no detailed knowledge whatsoever. <br /><br /> It is a standard based on averages…generalities…and incentives of which he is completely unaware. <br /><br />
How many square feet per person? How much heating? How much
air-conditioning? How do these standards suit the National Builders’
Association and the Steamfitters Union? <br /><br /> Then, to make sure that all houses meet their standards, rules are imposed — building codes…zoning rules…materials standards. <br /><br />
The owner can no longer ask himself: Is this house safe enough for me?
Now, the question is: Does this house meet modern safety standards? <br /><br /> By today’s standards even the Sun King, Louis XIV, probably lived in substandard housing.</div>
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<strong>A standardised world</strong></div>
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Education, too, takes on a new look... <br /><br />
It is not enough to learn things; the busybodies are incapable of
organising real, individual learning. What they can organise is
‘Education.’ <br /><br /> Educators can’t be bothered with individual
students as they actually are, nor even with local curricula. Everyone
has to learn the same thing. And they have to learn it the same way. <br /><br />
The world may be infinitely complex. But in the national educational
program, the details have to be knocked off — like the fine, detailed
trim work of an old house — so that all that is left is measurable,
standardised, quantified, and allocated by bureaucrats who may have
never met a single student in their entire lives. <br /><br /> And the formula for improvement is always the same: Are educational standards falling short? Spend more money! <br /><br />
Who cares if anyone is actually learning? The critical thing is that
all students get the same claptrap pounded into their poor heads so that
they leave the machinery with the same prejudices and illusions. The
same myths. The same narrative. <br /><br /> The woodchopper from New
Hampshire or the cabbage grower from California soon discovers that not
only does he live in a ‘substandard’ hovel and that he is ‘uneducated,’
but also that he is ‘poor’ to boot. <br /><br /> Poverty is always a relative measure, but relative to what? <br /><br />
A man may be perfectly happy with his lot in life. He may have no
running water, no central heat, and no money. Imagine him tending his
garden, feeding his chickens, and fixing his tattered roof. Out in the
woods, he may even have set up a still for refining the fruits of the
earth into even more pleasurable distillates. <br /><br /> In fact, by all
measures that matter to him, he could have a rich, comfortable, and
enjoyable life. But as the scale of comparison grows, the details that
make his life so agreeable disappear in a flush of statistics. <br /><br />
He finds that he is below the ‘poverty line.’ He discovers that he is
‘disadvantaged’ and ‘underprivileged.’ He may even be delighted to
realize that he has a ‘right’ to ‘decent housing.’ <br /><br /> Maybe he will qualify for food stamps. <br /><br />
The idea of being ‘poor’ may never have occurred to him before. He may
live in a part of the world where everyone is about as poor as he is…and
all perfectly happy in their poverty. <br /><br /> But now that the spell
is on him, it sits like a curse. Poverty seems like something he has to
escape…something he has to get out of…something that someone had better
do something about! <br /><br /> His new scaled-up consciousness has turned
him into a malcontent. The poor man — previously happy in his naïve
particulars — is now miserable in his role as a poverty-stricken hick.</div>
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<strong>Twisted opinions</strong></div>
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The
worst thing about it: TV and popular opinion twist him toward thinking
that it is the public view of himself — not his own private view — that
really matters. <br /><br /> In a matter of months, he has forgotten how content he really is. <br /><br /> The public spectacle has turned him into a chump. <br /><br />
He sees himself on TV as an unfortunate hillbilly. The national
newspapers say he needs help. They even make fun of the way he talks.
And now the revenuers are in the woods looking for his still! <br /><br />
All over the world, local customs, styles, manners, accents are
disappearing. As the scale increases, with the expansion of the
globalised market economy, people are being homogenised, levelled. <br /><br />
Their food, their music, their clothes — all are mixed together,
standardised…and like mixing remnants of paint cans — you end up with
grey. <br /><br /> Regional variations hang on only in vestigial, folkloric form. <br /><br />
Whether you go to New Orleans, Nashville, or Vienna, you will hear
about the same music, find the same fashions in the same shops, and be
able to eat the same McDonald’s hamburger. An investor in Mumbai speaks
the same language as one in New York. <br /><br /> But it is the
particularities of investments that make the difference between
investment failure and investment success. These are the very things the
world financial media cannot be bothered with…the kind of precise,
detailed, particular, local knowledge that you really need for
investment success. <br /><br /> Instead, what the investor gets is the
equivalent of a public school education: He knows nothing much… and
thinks he knows everything. <br /><br /> And since all investors know pretty
much the same thing — which is to say, they all share the same
illusions and take them for wisdom — the markets tend to reflect the
popular fashions as if they were the season’s latest blue jeans.</div>
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<strong>The death of privacy</strong></div>
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The same phenomenon plays itself out in a nation’s foreign policy, too. <br /><br />
A man knows perfectly well that he needs to be able to defend himself.
Around the hills of New Hampshire, he may judge the risk of attack so
slim that he goes unarmed. But walking through the back alleys of
Manchester he may wish he were packing heat. <br /><br /> As the scale increases, he is unable to judge the risk. <br /><br />
Give him a little TV news…and he is ready to go to war with people he
has never met, in places he has never been, for reasons he will never
understand. <br /><br /> Here again, the scale of the thing makes a mug of
the man. He cannot know the facts, the people, or even the theory. He
doesn’t know what he’s buying. But he’s ready to pay with his life. <br /><br /> Even in matters as personal as health, a man soon finds himself the victim of scale. <br /><br />
The state of his health scarcely matters; what matters are statistics.
He is overwhelmed by the slogans and prejudices of the national media. <br /><br />
Does he weigh too much? Does he get enough exercise? Does he eat enough
seafood? Should he have a check-up every year; what do the statistics
say? What do the papers tell him? <br /><br /> The large-scale chatter
doesn’t even stop at the bedroom door. He may have enjoyed a perfectly
satisfactory sex life. But now he is confronted with
comparisons…averages…the statistical expectations of the national press.
<br /><br /> Is he doing it often enough? Is he doing it well enough? <br /><br />
Before, these matters were personal and private. He used to set his own
standards. But now, there is no such thing as a private matter. There
is scarcely anything that is so private, so personal, so detailed, so
local, and so important that it does not yield to large-scale
standardisation. <br /><br /> No longer does he know what really matters
except by reference to the public spectacle, from how frequently people
make love to what kind of misgovernment they have in Iraq. <br /><br /> We are now all the same, all the time. <br /><br /> We live in the same houses. We eat the same food. And we suffer the very same illusions as everyone else. <br /><br /> If we are unhappy, it is because the TV says we should be. <br /><br /> Only now we are all equal…</div>
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</div>
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<strong>Bill Bonner,</strong><strong>For <em>The Daily Reckoning, Australia</em></strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-8531914924977646132015-12-05T19:14:00.001-08:002015-12-05T19:14:18.981-08:00"Day's End" - MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-80588941153625686012015-11-28T14:39:00.000-08:002015-11-28T14:39:31.544-08:00" Yellow River " MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-73643941136823622452015-11-21T23:30:00.000-08:002015-11-21T23:30:54.951-08:00'The Road Home'. Acrylic 12x16" MJB 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3708919272537619723.post-35930858950643977002015-11-07T21:42:00.002-08:002015-11-07T21:44:36.058-08:00World War I - The Gallipoli Campaign - Truth is the First Casualty.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: right;">
Painting by M.J.Bull 2013</div>
<h1 class="entry-title">
Gallipoli: The Untold Story – ‘The first casualty of war is truth’</h1>
<div class="post-info">
<span class="date published time" title="2015-04-24T07:04:22+00:00">(An article presented by David Jones for New Dawn Magazine, April 2015 and published online.)</span><span class="author vcard"><span class="fn"></span></span> </div>
<h2>
<a href="http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/43162.jpg"><img alt="43162" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5645" height="222" src="http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/43162.jpg" style="margin: 5px 10px;" width="250" /></a></h2>
<h2>
By GERRY DOCHERTY & JIM MACGREGOR</h2>
The truth about Gallipoli has, unlike its victims, been buried deep.
Historians like Peter Hart who describe it as “an idiocy generated by
muddled thinking”<sup>1</sup> are justified in their anger, but not
their conclusions. The campaign was conceived in London as a grotesque,
Machiavellian strategy to fool the Russians into believing that Britain
was attempting to capture Constantinople for them. The paradox of its
failure lay in its success. Gallipoli was purposefully designed to fail.<br />
A secret cabal of immensely rich and powerful men – the Secret Elite –
was formed in England in 1891 with the explicit aim of expanding the
British Empire across the entire globe. They planned a European war to
destroy Germany as an economic, industrial and imperial competitor and,
to that end, drew France then Russia into an alliance termed the Entente
Cordiale. Their massive land armies were needed to crush Germany.
France would be rewarded with Alsace and Lorraine, while Russia was
conned into believing she would get Constantinople.<sup>2</sup> Thereafter, seizing the Ottoman capital became a “widespread obsession, bordering on panic” in St Petersburg.<sup>3</sup><br />
Had Britain encouraged the friendship of Turkey in 1914, the disaster of Gallipoli would never have happened.<sup>4</sup> The Turks generally disliked the Germans and their growing influence,<sup>5</sup> and made three separate attempts to ally with Britain. They were rebuffed on each occasion.<sup>6</sup> They also pleaded in vain with the French to accept them as an ally,<sup>7</sup> and protect them against their old enemy, Russia.<sup>8</sup>
Poor fools. The French and British alliance with Russia was at the
expense of the Turks, not an alliance with the Turks to save them from
Russia. Britain and France planned to carve up the oil rich Ottoman
Empire. To that end, the Turks had to be pushed into the German camp and
defeated.<br />
In July 1914 the majority of the Turkish cabinet was still well disposed towards Britain,<sup>9</sup>
but their faith was shattered by the seizure of two battleships being
built for them in England. As an essay in provocation it was
breathtaking.<sup>10</sup> “If Britain wanted deliberately to incense
the Turks and drive them into the Kaiser’s arms she could not have
chosen more effective means.”<sup>11</sup> Winston Churchill (a loyal
servant of the Secret Elite) seized the dreadnoughts because they were
“vital to Britain’s naval predominance.”<sup>12</sup> The truth ran much deeper.<br />
Back in February, Russia laid plans for her Black Sea fleet to take
Constantinople by landing 127,500 troops and heavy artillery from
Odessa. Arrival of the dreadnoughts from England would destroy this
plan.<sup>13</sup> Russia’s Foreign Minister Sazonov issued a thinly
veiled warning to London on 30 July: “It is a matter of the highest
degree of importance that… these ships must be retained in England.”<sup>14</sup>
Fearful that Russia would renege on her commitment to war should the
ships be released, the Secret Elite withheld them. It kept Russia on
board and helped drive Turkey into the German camp (they signed a treaty
on 2 August), but it created a major problem. How to prevent the
Russian Black Sea fleet from seizing Constantinople? Two German warships
provided the answer. On 4 August, while off the coast of Algeria, the
battle cruiser <em>Goeben</em> and attendant light cruiser <em>Breslau</em> received orders to head for Constantinople.<br />
Vastly outnumbered (73 to 2) by French and British warships, the
escape of the German cruisers to Constantinople, 1,200 miles away, is
described as a “fiasco of tragic errors” by “fumbling” British Admirals.<sup>15</sup>
The British Admiralty supposedly had no idea where they were heading,
but the reality was very different. On 3 August, Kaiser Wilhelm
telegraphed King Constantine to say that both warships would be
proceeding to Constantinople. This information was transmitted to
London,<sup>16</sup> and to the British naval mission in Athens.<sup>17</sup> Naval Intelligence in London had intercepted and decrypted the actual encoded message from Berlin to <em>Goeben</em>: “Alliance concluded with Turkey. <em>Goeben</em> and <em>Breslau</em> proceed to Constantinople.” The Admiralty knew,<sup>18</sup> but relayed information to the Mediterranean fleet that “was either useless or inaccurate.”<sup>19</sup> <em>Goeben</em> and <em>Breslau </em>were
allowed to escape in order to neutralise the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Foreign Secretary Sazonov was outraged that the Royal Navy had failed to
prevent it.<sup>20</sup><br />
The Ottoman Ambassador in Berlin summed it up perfectly: “Considering
the displeasure and complications which a Russian attack on
Constantinople would produce in England, the British navy having enabled
the German ships to take cover in the Sea of Marmora, has, with the
Machiavellianism characteristic of the Foreign Office, foiled any
possibility of action by the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”<sup>21</sup> Safe arrival of the <em>Goeben</em> rendered a Russian amphibious operation well-nigh impossible,<sup>22</sup>
and the British Ambassador at Constantinople admitted that their
presence served British interests, since “they protected the straits
against Russia.”<sup>23</sup><br />
On 9 September Admiral Arthur Limpus, head of the British naval
mission in Turkey, was recalled. Turkey, although still neutral, closed
and mined the Dardanelles. In late October <em>Goeben</em> and <em>Breslau</em>
bombarded Sevastopol and other Black Sea ports. Infuriated, Tsar
Nicholas insisted on war with Turkey and the seizure of Constantinople
for Russia. British and French fears that he would make peace with
Germany if Constantinople was denied him gave the Tsar overwhelming
diplomatic leverage, and it was agreed that Turkey must now be brought
into the war.<sup>24</sup><br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
War Declared & the Secret Elites Initiate Gallipoli Campaign</h2>
On 2 November Russia declared war on Turkey. Britain and France
followed suit three days later. “November 1914 brought a kind of holy
war fever to the Russian Foreign Ministry.”<sup>25</sup> With over one
million Russian casualties for no gain, anti-war protests and revolution
stalked the streets of Petrograd. In London, fear of Russia signing a
peace treaty with Germany loomed large. How was Russia to be kept in the
war with the promise of Constantinople, without actually allowing it?
The solution, an attack on Gallipoli, was fraught with pitfalls. The
Tsar had to be tricked into believing Britain was generously responding
in his hour of need by mounting an all-out effort to take Constantinople
for Russia.<br />
The Gallipoli campaign supposedly arose from an urgent call for help
from the Russian commander-in-chief Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolaevich on 31
December. Would Britain create a diversion to relieve pressure on
Russian troops fighting in the Caucasus?<sup>26</sup> This widely held
view is wrong. The suggestion came not from Nikolaevich, but from the
British military attaché at Petrograd, Sir John Hanbury-Williams.
Intimately linked to the Secret Elite and their leader Lord Alfred
Milner,<sup>27</sup> Hanbury-Williams was frequently in close contact
with Nikolaevich. He expressed anxiety about Russia’s domestic morale,
but never even mentioned the Dardanelles. It was Hanbury-Williams who
planted the idea of a British demonstration against the Ottoman Empire.<sup>28</sup> Next day this was presented to the British War Council and magically transformed into a desperate plea for help from Russia.<br />
Having already decided their strategy to keep the Russians out of
Constantinople, the Secret Elite now cleverly made it appear that the
idea came from Russia. It was all pre-planned, “long before any kind of
military imperative in the Ottoman theatre was apparent.”<sup>29</sup>
The Secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence, Maurice Hankey,
proposed a solution that met all requirements, and it is no coincidence
that Hankey was himself a member of the Secret Elite.<sup>30</sup> The Gallipoli campaign would be mounted as a sop to the Russians, but set up to fail.<br />
Days later the military dynamic changed. The Turkish 3<sup>rd</sup>
Army was decimated in the Caucasus and, irrespective of whose suggestion
it had been, there was no need whatsoever for any British intervention
to help Russia. Nonetheless, on 20 January Britain informed Russia that
she would undertake not just a demonstration, but a complete operation
to penetrate the Dardanelles and Gallipoli. The Russians desperately
wanted to take part, but were told to concentrate all efforts against
Germany on the Eastern Front. The Secret Elite moved into top gear. An
objective that required long months of careful preparation was rushed
ahead at breakneck speed with disregard for the basic prerequisites for
success.<br />
Churchill assumed command and chose men for their ineptitude rather
than ability. He turned to Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden, recently
appointed commander of the Mediterranean Squadron after years in a
desk-bound job, as superintendent of the Malta dockyards. Slow and
ineffective,<sup>31</sup> Carden was tasked with drawing up a plan for a
naval attack on the Dardanelles, and relaying it to Churchill within
days for presentation to a War Council meeting.<sup>32</sup> On 15 January Carden was informed that <em>his</em> plan had been accepted<sup>33</sup>
and that he would be in command. What had happened? The ‘plan’, rapidly
cobbled together on the back of an envelope by a second rate officer,
was to be used as the blueprint for the Gallipoli campaign. The
reluctant Carden was given no option other than to get on with it,<sup>34</sup> and was effectively set up to take the blame when it failed. For fail it must.<br />
Rear-Admiral Arthur Limpus, an eminently more experienced and
knowledgeable man who had spent years in Turkey advising on all naval
matters, including the defence of the Dardanelles, was overlooked.<sup>35</sup> Here was the man “who knew the Turks and the Dardanelles intimately,”<sup>36</sup>
yet Churchill shunned him because “the Turks might be offended” and it
would be “unfair and unduly provocative” to place in command a man with
an inside knowledge of the Turkish fleet.<sup>37</sup> Limpus “knew all their secrets,”<sup>38</sup>
and more about the Dardanelles and the Turkish navy than any other
naval officer, yet we are asked to believe that he wasn’t given command
because it was considered ungentlemanly – “not quite cricket.”<sup>39</sup> Limpus had been sent to the Malta dockyards to sit at Carden’s old desk. Outrageous stupidity or cold calculation?<br />
Limpus was opposed to Churchill’s plan,<sup>40</sup> stressing that the first stage must be an amphibious landing, not a naval attack.<sup>41</sup> He was not alone in his opposition. In 1906, naval chiefs considered a naval assault too risky.<sup>42</sup> Any attack on Gallipoli would “have to be undertaken by a joint naval and military expedition,”<sup>43</sup> and Churchill himself stated in 1911 that it was “no longer possible to force the Dardanelles.”<sup>44</sup>
Rear-Admiral Carden was ignorant of the fact that any chance of success
at Gallipoli was absolutely dependent on a combined naval and military
operation. Without long, detailed joint planning, and a sufficient
number of troops, it was impossible. Lord Kitchener, the British
Secretary of State for War, refused to make troops available and Carden
was ordered to proceed with a naval attack.<br />
The Russians were turning the screw. Pressure for immediate action influenced the War Council’s decision.<sup>45</sup>
On 14 February, Sazonov stated that the time for moderation had passed.
Tsar Nicholas agreed, informing the French ambassador that his people
were making terrible sacrifices in the war without reward.
Constantinople must be incorporated into his empire.<sup>46</sup>
Sazonov implied to the British ambassador that he would resign, and be
replaced by Sergei Witte, a pro-German sympathiser who would immediately
seal a treaty with Germany.<sup>47</sup> All warnings against a purely
naval attack were ignored. The navy’s objective was to “bombard and take
the Gallipoli peninsula with Constantinople as the objective.”<sup>48</sup>
After the disastrous failure the Dardanelles Commission asked, “How can
a fleet take a peninsula? And how could it have Constantinople as its
objective? If this meant… that the Fleet should capture and occupy the
city, then it was absurd.”<sup>49</sup> It was all absurd.<br />
Naval bombardment of the outer forts of the Dardanelles began on 19
February and ran for six days. It caused some damage but destroyed all
hope of surprise and merely led the Turks to strengthen their defences.<sup>50</sup>
The main naval attack took place on 18 March. On the previous day
Vice-Admiral De Robek had to take charge when Carden suffered a nervous
breakdown. It was no surprise. He was never fitted for the task and felt
completely undermined by the Admiralty’s refusal to provide
custom-built minesweepers. They were utterly essential but he was given
only North Sea trawlers that could barely make headway against the
strong 5-6 knot current. Eight powerful destroyers, which could have
been fitted with sweeps, remained idle that fateful day while the
officers sat playing cards,<sup>51</sup> and only two out of a total of 387 mines were cleared.<sup>52</sup>
A fleet of 16 British and French battleships bombarded the coast, but
were unable to penetrate the minefield and six battleships were sunk or
disabled by mines. The <em>Bouvet</em> sank within two minutes with over 600 men trapped inside. It was the disaster predicted as far back as 1906.<br />
<blockquote>
<strong><br /></strong></blockquote>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
A Campaign That Could Never Succeed</h2>
Orchestrated chaos shrouded a campaign that could never succeed.
Kitchener meantime had changed his mind and agreed to make troops
available for a combined attack, but the naval assault had gone ahead
before their arrival. Maurice Hankey, acting more as strategic adviser
to the War Council than its Secretary,<sup>53</sup> stated, “combined
operations require more careful preparation than any other class of
military enterprise. All through our history such attacks have failed
when the preparations have been inadequate.”<sup>54</sup> He listed ten
points to be met if a joint attack was to succeed. Was he saying, “it
will fail as long as we do not take the following measures”? According
to the War Council minutes, Hankey’s plan was not even discussed.<sup>55</sup> In the event, every point he made was studiously ignored.<br />
Military leadership, like naval, was barely functional. General Sir
Ian Hamilton, a man in the twilight of his career who “knew little of
the Dardanelles, the Turkish army or of modern warfare,” was chosen to
command.<sup>56</sup> Scared of Kitchener, and hamstrung by his long-subservience,<sup>57</sup>
he noted in his diary, “It is like going up to a tiger and asking for a
small slice of venison.” During the Boer War he had witnessed Kitchener
respond to an officer’s appeal for reinforcements by taking half his
troops away.<sup>58</sup> The genial Hamilton, like poor Carden, was a scapegoat made to order.<br />
Summoned by Kitchener on 12 March, Hamilton was brusquely informed,
“We are sending a military force to support the fleet now at the
Dardanelles and you are to have command.” Hamilton was stunned, later
admitting, “My knowledge of the Dardanelles was nil, of the Turk nil, of
the strength of my own forces next to nil.” When asked if a squadron of
modern aircraft with experienced pilots and observers could be made
available, Kitchener testily replied, “Not one.” 150,000 men was the
minimum required strength for the task, but Kitchener insisted that
“half that number” would do handsomely.<sup>59</sup> No attempt was made to co-ordinate intelligence about the defences at Gallipoli, not even at strategic level.<sup>60</sup> Hamilton was given a cursory briefing, two small tourist guidebooks and old, inaccurate maps.<sup>61</sup>
Detailed reports from Admiral Limpus and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles
Cunnliffe-Owen, another officer with considerable knowledge of
Gallipoli, were kept from him.<sup>62</sup> Hamilton set off within 48
hours, together with some inexperienced members of staff who did not
even know “how to put on their uniforms.”<sup>63 </sup>So much for detailed preparation.<br />
The chaos continued. There was no discussion, no plan, no
naval/military coordination. Indeed, it was a worse situation than
preceded the naval operation.<sup>64</sup> Gallipoli was to be invaded
with a mixed force of 80,000 men from Britain, France and the Empire.
Raw Anzac troops and unseasoned French recruits were to be thrown into
battle for the first time. Marshall Joffre, the French
commander-in-chief, was profoundly opposed to the whole operation and
initially refused to provide troops. Political expediency forced his
hand.<sup>65</sup> A French army Colonel who had spent years in
Constantinople also opposed the attack, but like everyone else with
intimate knowledge of the area, its topography and defences, he was
dismissed.<sup>66</sup> Lieutenant-Colonel Cunnliffe-Owen, the British
military attaché at Constantinople in 1914, who had personally conducted
a detailed survey of Gallipoli, was likewise deliberately overlooked.
In London when staff were being scratched together for Hamilton’s team,
Cunnliffe-Owen was passed over. His detailed reports on the peninsula
were never shown to General Hamilton.<sup>67 </sup><br />
Kitchener agreed to the deployment of 18,000 men from the British army’s 29<sup>th</sup>
Division. Its commander, Shaw, had served with distinction at Mons and
was considered a highly competent and “impressively professional
soldier.” Two days before leaving for Gallipoli, when continuity was
all-important, Shaw was inexplicably replaced by Major-General
Hunter-Weston. He immediately rejected his allocated ship because it
lacked first class accommodation, and was transferred to the luxury
liner <em>Andania</em>.<sup>68</sup> Major-General Shaw suffered the
same fate as Admiral Limpus. A competent, knowledgeable man was rejected
in favour of Hunter-Weston, a laughing-stock in the British Army,<sup>69 </sup>spectacularly incompetent, and “one of the most brutal commanders of the First World War.”<sup>70</sup> Ask yourself, what was going on?<br />
Hamilton arrived to find his army scattered in confusion over much of
the Mediterranean. Some battalion commanders couldn’t trace their
companies. Ships came from Britain with such poorly written orders that
captains did not know their destination.<sup>71</sup> On their arrival
at Mudros, the ships were found to be loaded in a shambolic fashion, and
had to be taken 700 miles to Egypt to be unloaded and repacked.<sup>72</sup>
Such was the lack of preparation that even the simplest questions could
not be answered. “Was there drinking water on Gallipoli? What roads
existed? Were troops to fight in trenches or the open? What sort of
weapons were required? What was the depth of water off the beaches? What
sort of boats were needed to get the men, the guns and stores ashore?
What casualties were to be expected? How were they to be got off to the
hospital ships? It was simply a case of taking whatever came to hand and
hoping for the best.”<sup>73</sup><br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
An “Amateurish, Do-It-Yourself Cock-Up”</h2>
You couldn’t make it up. There was a shortage of guns, ammunition,
aircraft and, above all, troops. Hamilton’s requests for additional
supplies and reinforcements were either ignored or refused.<sup>74 </sup>Gallipoli veteran Charles Watkins described the campaign as an “amateurish, do-it-yourself cock-up.”<sup>75</sup>
It was designed to be exactly that. The quality of preparation and
leadership guaranteed it. General Ian Hamilton was the Secret Elite’s
Patsy-in-Chief, unwittingly abetted by the incompetent Admiral Carden.
These were the men chosen to fail.<br />
The Gallipoli landings went ahead on 25 April 1915 with the terrible
slaughter and wounding of many incredibly brave young men, dispensable
pawns on Imperial Britain’s chessboard. Despite the fleet now having
some thirty powerful destroyers equipped to sweep the mines, and many
officers totally confident that the fleet could now get through, no
further attempt was made to force the Dardanelles. The navy would play
no further part other than ferrying the men ashore, taking off the
wounded, and providing a safe haven off-shore for the likes of
Hunter-Weston. Successful mine sweeping had always been the key to a
successful naval assault, and with the new minesweepers and a clear run
through to the Straits, the fleet could have greatly assisted the army
with controlled bombardments of Turk positions from within the channel.
It would, of course, also have been able to cripple <em>Goeben</em> and <em>Breslau. </em>For the above stated reasons, that would not be allowed to happen.<br />
For years knowledgeable men had insisted that a well planned and resourced <em>combined</em>
naval and military attack was the only type of operation that might
succeed, but never at any point in the entire Gallipoli campaign was a
joint assault carried out. The elites in London ordered the shambolic
attack by the navy when they knew it was bound to fail, and now ordered
an equally shambolic attack by the army in the full knowledge that it
too could never succeed.<br />
Gallipoli was a lie within the lie that was the First World War. The
campaign ended in military defeat, but geo-strategic victory for the
British Empire. By late 1915, with Russian forces pushed back on the
eastern front and any likelihood of their intervention in Constantinople
gone, the British government began planning withdrawal from the corpse
strewn peninsula. The last Allied troops were taken off on 9 January
1916, leaving behind 62,266 of their comrades. The majority of the dead
on both sides have no known graves. Many of the 11,410 Australians and
New Zealanders who died<sup>76 </sup>suffered unspeakable deaths, deliberately sacrificed on the altar of British imperialism.<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
A Myth Obscures the terrible Truth</h2>
Over the last century, in both Britain and Australia, Gallipoli has been turned into a heroic-romantic myth,<sup>77</sup>
a myth promoted by court historians and pliant journalists in order to
hide the stark truth. It was a ruse, a sop to the Russians to keep them
in the war in the belief that allied forces would capture Constantinople
on their behalf. Put into the hands of incompetent generals and
admirals, starved of troops, determined leadership, ill-equipped,
ill-advised and certain to fail, the attack on Gallipoli as an integral
part of the imperial strategy was a stunning success.<br />
We are aware of at least one renowned Gallipoli historian and writer
in Australia who agrees with our thesis. Like us, he proposes that “it
was the intention of the British and French governments of 1915 to
ensure that the Dardanelles and the Gallipoli campaign would not
succeed” and was “conceived as a ruse to keep the Russians in the war…”
He believes that while the proposition has circumstantial evidence to
support it, there is “little or no documentary evidence.”<sup>78 </sup>He is very unlikely to find it. As revealed in our book <em>Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War</em>,
masses of crucial documents relating to the First World War were
shredded or burned, or have been kept hidden away to this very day in a
high security establishment at Hanslope Park in England. The individuals
responsible for the war, responsible for Gallipoli, were many things,
but they weren’t so stupid as to leave incriminating evidence lying
around. Historians in Australia and New Zealand must stop protecting
their comfortable careers and start acknowledging the terrible truth
about Gallipoli. Peddling mythology as truth is an insult to the memory
of those brave young men.<br />
Just as in Britain, the Government of Australia seeks to be the
guardian of public memory, choreographing commemoration into
celebration,<sup>79</sup> ritually condemning war while the rhetoric gestures in the opposite direction.<sup>80</sup>
The War Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park proudly exhorts, “Let Silent
Contemplation Be Your Offering,” yet the deafening prattle of political
expediency mocks the valiant dead with empty words and lies. Don’t be
fooled. Those young men died for the imperial dreams of wealthy
manipulators, not for ‘freedom’ or ‘civilisation’. They died deceived,
expendable, and in the eyes of the power-brokers, the detritus of
strategic necessity. Remember <em>that.</em><br />
<em>To read exclusive extracts from their book <em>Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War</em>, including their latest research on Gallipoli, please visit the authors’ blog at <a href="http://firstworldwarhiddenhistory.wordpress.com/">firstworldwarhiddenhistory.wordpress.com</a>. <em>Hidden History </em>is available from all good bookstores and online retailers.</em><br />
The authors contributed the article “The Secret Origins of the First World War” to <a href="http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/special-issues/new-dawn-special-issue-vol-9-no-1"><strong>New Dawn Special Issue Vol 9 No 1</strong></a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02775535136454172432noreply@blogger.com0