Global
Awareness
Cultural
Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
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| China
only has 7% of the world's arable land and fresh water, 3% of
its forests and only 2% of its oil. And although China's land
mass is roughly the same size as the United States, it has 4.5
times the population. In addition, China's enormous population
is unevenly distributed, with 94% living in the south eastern
part of the country. In the United States, this distribution
would translate to nearly one billion people living east of the
Mississippi River.
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United
States President George W Bush has built his new policy of
world democratic revolution on the assumption that democracy
in foreign lands would automatically welcome US imperialism
in the name of capitalistic free trade. In the Middle East,
in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the native land of Osama
bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11, 2001,
or even Egypt, democracy, if allowed to be practiced as a
free political process that reflects popular opinion and
historical conditions, will likely be problematic to US regional
and global interests, which includes its and its allies'
dependence on low-cost imported oil. The US has repeatedly
tried to topple democratically elected governments, the latest
example being the Bush White House's efforts to engineer
a coup in Venezuela. MORE>>
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To
a Westerner, it is hard to fathom why events that happened
half a century or even 1,000 years ago still hold such
significance that they dominate Arab perceptions of Europeans
and the American adventures in the Middle East. There were
crusades in medieval times lasting over 200 years, all
aimed at "liberating" Christianity's holiest sites from
Muslim control. There is the 20th century history of Christian
Europe's conquests of Arab land, in the dying days of the
Muslim Ottoman empire's presence in the Arab world. Though
each was unique in its own way, they all had one thing
in common: in one way or the other, they turned out to
be failures. MORE>>
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As
far as Saudis were concerned, the Twin Towers were far away.
Many Saudis felt that, at least to a degree, the arrogant Americans
deserved that disaster. Moreover, many Saudis remained in denial
of their country's connection, often subscribing to the view,
popular even among well-educated Arabs, that somehow the Israelis
were responsible for the atrocity. And the surge of American
hostility to Saudi Arabia, when it emerged that most of the hijackers
were Saudi, fostered an ever sharper sense of Saudi prickliness. MORE>> |
“A
profound concern with Muslim identity and unity has
been further stimulated by decolonization, demographic
growth, industrialization, urbanization, and a changing
international order associated with among other things,
the oil wealth beneath Muslim lands. Modern communications
have strengthened and elaborated the ties among Muslin
peoples. There has been a growth in the numbers who
make the pilgrimage to Mecca, creating a more intense
sense of common identity among Muslims from as far
afield as China and Senegal, Yemen and Bangladesh.
Growing numbers of students in the Middle East universities,
spreading ideas and personal contacts across borders.
There are regular and increasing frequent conferences
and consultations among Muslim intellectuals and
ulama (religious scholars) held in centers such as
Teheran, Mecca, and Kuala Lumper.
The
sense of Islamic Unity has also been reflected
in and encouraged by the actions of states and international
organizations. In 1969 the leaders of Saudi
Arabia,
working with those of Pakistan, Morocco, Iran,
Tunisia and Turkey organized the first Islamic Summit
at
Rabat. Out of this emerged the Organization
of Islamic Conferences, which was formerly established
with
headquarters in Jeddah in 1972. Virtually all
the states with substantial Muslim populations now belong
to the conference which is the only international
organization of its kind. Christian, Orthodox,
Buddhist,
Hindu governments do not have interstate organizations
with members based on religion. Muslim governments
do.”
There
are three results of this ascension to greater power
and influence that I feel you can be certain of:
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The
Gold Dinar as a settlement system first agreed to
by 28 Islamic states will encompass all of Islam.
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The
growing resentment for the USA's publicly
stated objective of bringing democracy
to all Islamic nations
including China will serve to transform
this organization into a transnational
government of sorts. It will
become a United Nations of Islam without
the divergent opinions that make the New
York based UN virtually
ineffectual.
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The
US dollar - which is already in the crosshairs of
radical Islam - will become a target for all of Islam
in its defense against the forces of democracy. Islamic
states are ungovernable by our standards and we should
learn to accept that fact. Already in the march towards
a new form of government in Iraq, the US is applying
traditional methods of governing that have existed
in Iraq for centuries.
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Geopolitical
Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
| With
the dawn of the 21st century the world has entered a new stage
of geopolitical struggle. The first half of the 20th century
can be understood as one long war between Britain (and shifting
allies) and Germany (and shifting allies) for European supremacy.
The second half of the century was dominated by a Cold War between
the US, which emerged as the world's foremost industrial-military
power following World War II, and the Soviet Union and its bloc
of protectorates. The US wars in Afghanistan (in 2001-2002) and
Iraq (which, counting economic sanctions and periodic bombings,
has continued from 1990 to the present) have ushered in the latest
stage, which promises to be the final geopolitical struggle of
the industrial period - a struggle for the control of Eurasia
and its energy resources. MORE>> |
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In
a recent speech, General Wesley Clark stated, "We need
a president who will lead the way in developing an effective
governance structure for global economics, one which affords
all people and all nations a chance to prosper."
If you
reacted the way that I did when I read that, I know that
you have to go and wash up and put on clean underwear after
reading that, so I will be brief in my summation: Wrong.
Not only wrong, but wrong wrong wrong, which is a stupid
literary device I use here to indicate that Mr. Clark is
not only exactly180 degrees wrong, and could not be more
wrong, but that in the whole universe of wrong-ness, there
is not a small, tiny, little sub-atomic sliver of a part
of a tiny piece of what he said that is not wrong. The misty-eyed
and dim-witted One-Worlders of the country, and their idea
of a single benevolent global government, have a new champion.
And I will leave Mr. Clark and his presidential plan with
a gratuitous snotty and disrespectful aspersion on him and
his horrifying ideas, especially the one where he wants to
create a one-world government: "You ignorant commie
weenie bastard." MORE>> |
At
the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin
Franklin told an inquisitive citizen that the delegates to
the Constitutional Convention gave the people “a Republic,
if you can keep it.” We should apologize to Mr. Franklin.
It is obvious that the Republic is gone, for we are wallowing
in a pure democracy against which the Founders had strongly
warned. MORE>>
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Gold
Standard Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
| Alan
Greenspan, years before he became Federal Reserve Board Chairman
in charge of flagrantly debasing the U.S. dollar, wrote about
this connection between sound money, prosperity, and freedom.
In his article " Gold and Economic
Freedom " (The Objectivist, July 1966), Greenspan starts
by saying: "An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold
standard is an issue that unites statists of all persuasions.
They seem to sense that gold and economic freedom are inseparable." Further
he states that: "Under the gold standard, a free banking
system stands as the protector of an economy's stability and
balanced growth." Astoundingly, Mr. Greenspan's analysis
of the 1929 market crash, and how the Fed precipitated the crisis,
directly parallels current conditions we are experiencing under
his management of the Fed. Greenspan explains: "The excess
credit which the Fed pumped into the economy spilled over into
the stock market- triggering a fantastic speculative boom." And, "By
1929 the speculative imbalances had become overwhelming and unmanageable
by the Fed." Greenspan concluded his article by stating: "In
the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect
savings from confiscation through inflation." He explains
that the "shabby secret" of the proponents of big government
and paper money is that deficit spending is simply nothing more
than a "scheme for the hidden confiscation of wealth." Yet
here we are today with a purely fiat monetary system, managed
almost exclusively by Alan Greenspan, who once so correctly denounced
the Fed's role in the Depression while recognizing the need for
sound money. MORE>> |
As laid out in previous essays, the anti-gold forces are on
their last float of ice, ice that is quickly melting away before the
new (euro vs dollar) sun's golden rays.
Previously,
we listed all the reasons why paper will continue to fall
versus gold, and why it will stay that way for many, many
years to come. This time, we will present the anti-gold forces'
most powerful arguments why gold is not "that" safe an investment
- and why their arguments just don't wash anymore (if they
ever really did). MORE>>
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Economic
Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
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Most
of us are aware of the extreme inflation that paper money experienced
in the German Weimar republic in the 1920's. Many of us have
also heard of the paper money collapse in Eighteenth century
France under John Law. We are also aware of rampant inflation
and fiscal crises in various third world countries from time
to time.
You
have probably also heard that the Chinese were the first to
use paper currency. What was not clear to me was whether the
Chinese experience with paper money had been a good one (it
varied), and if they had also experienced paper money collapses
(more than once). Since I am interested in any information
which might help direct my own investments, I wondered whether
there are clear historical parallels and lessons to be learned
from the Chinese experience with paper money (yes and no).
In particular, is the US dollar likely to collapse and what
signs should we look for? MORE>> |
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Deep
in Debt, Caught in a Net This old English proverb
concisely describes the financial condition of many Americans.
Household debt is rising at an 8.8 percent annual rate, home
mortgage debt at 14.2 percent. Total debt in the United States
doubled from 1998 to 2002, from $16 trillion to $32 trillion
and may double again in the next five years. The Federal
government, which sets the pace, reported a $555 deficit
for the 2003 fiscal year; its total debt is given at $6.783
trillion. For the next two years the budget deficits are
estimated at $566 billion to $644 billion each, which should
increase its total debt to more than $8 trillion, or some
$27,000 for every man, woman, and child. MORE>> |
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"The
Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles
much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's
possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government." William
Colby, former CIA Director, 1995 MORE>> |
After
repeated warnings from currency analysts and market advisors
(including yours truly) that the U.S. currency system is
on the verge of becoming a blocked, two-tier system we now
have confirmation that the country is one step closer to
realizing this. When fully implemented, the new U.S. dollar
will mean a "banana republic" type currency and
across-the-board devaluation. MORE>>
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The
Europeans would like it to be a light, golden crisp. The
more fanatical of our Arab and Muslim friends probably want
it to be incinerated. The Chinese would likely prefer it
pretty dark, but with visible, charred remains, so they can
still show it off - like a trophy. MORE>>
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"If
the American people ever allow private banks to control the
issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation,
the
banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will
deprive the people of their property until their children
will wake up
homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."---Thomas
Jefferson MORE>> |
When
John Law was faced with crippling sovereign debts in eighteenth
century France he issued a lot of successful paper money
and made the country feel rich. He was clever, brave, charming,
honest and - for a while - extraordinarily popular. Unfortunately
he also caused virtually everyone who had any money in
France to lose it, which tends to overshadow those other
qualities. How it happened is worth understanding; and
never more so than now. MORE>>
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Energy
Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
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Several
years ago energy investment banker Matt Simmons coined the term “production
treadmill” to describe the current state of natural gas production
in North America. In simple terms, “production treadmill” describes
the situation in which more wells must be drilled every year
to keep production flat. Today the treadmill is accelerating. North
American exploration and production companies (E&P's) will
drill a record number of natural gas wells this year only to
see production fall. MORE>> |
"I
know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -Albert
Einstein
According to
a recent article by veteran British military analyst Joseph
Vialls, Russia has sent the most advanced and feared missile
in the world, owned only by Russia and China, the P270 Moskit,
also known as the “Sunburn,” to Damascus and Tehran. This can
only be understood as a counter to the Israeli threats to use
nuclear weapons against their enemies. MORE>> |
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Solution
Awareness
| cultural | geopolitical | gold
standard | economic | energy | solution |
Revolutions
throughout history have always been initiated by a small minority
of highly dedicated contrarians. When any given society has
become tyrannical and in need of reform, the overwhelming majority
of that society's citizens will be apathetic (and sometimes
downright antagonistic) to any cause that upsets their routine
in life. MORE>> |
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Study
any account of the growth of America and one fact always jumps
out at you -- the heroic self-determination of the men and
women who shaped the events of our history. MORE>> |
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