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quote=”sprite”] “I am coming around to accepting the veracity of the thesis of Jewish domination. However, …It seems to me that attacking the ideas and the system would be far more effective.” [/quote]
The question here is how to attack the ideas and the system. It would require a massive refusal of the middle class to cooperate with the financial system. In the first place, you have to convince the majority that there is a problem and explain what that problem is. That is a lot of convincing when you understand that the vast majority is neither economically or historically literate.
[quote=”sprite”]”…history shows us that while individuals come and go, systems of control remain and are serviced by succeeding generations of people from all cultures and the enslavement continues.”[/quote]
The 20th century saw the issue of wealth concentration increasing at an exponential rate particularly since the dollar was removed from the gold standard in 1972. During the depression of the 1930’s, under Roosevelt, there was an effort to halt the concentration of wealth but the past 60 years have seen a concentrated effort by the U.S. congress to speed up the process as if there was some kind of urgency to do so.
In 1913 creation of the Federal Reserve, a coalition of bankers, to be in control of monetary policy and simply requiring them to report their activities with no government control and creation of the Federal Reserve note making it an obligation of the federal government was a huge advance for wealth concentration.
During the 1950 & 60, congress chose to ignore the facts of the baby boom generation and our extended life spans and failed to make corrections to the Social Security system that would have been required to keep it solvent.
In 1972, the removal of the dollar from the gold standard was another step in concentration of wealth.
In 1981, the idea of supply side economics and changes to the tax code concentrated wealth even further and although moderated in 1995 it was reinstituted after 2001.
In 1999 elimination of Glass-Steagall and other financial changes allowed the wealthy to defraud homebuyers and investors thus moving more wealth to the top.
In 2009 an 2010 the Federal Reserve’s QE1 and QE2 effectively devalued the dollar by some 20%
Since the turn of the century, fighting wars on credit and the bailout of the wealthy have put the American economy at risk and a substantial portion of the U.S. congress seems bent on assuring the bankruptcy of the nation.
Unless the American voters become involved in candidate selection, the lobby industry is outlawed and elections are publicly financed there is little hope of making any change to the political system to combat the concentration of wealth.
[quote=”sprite”] I received an article which pointed out that the MF Global failure may have been a hit done by the Powers That Be in order to shake loose commodity speculators who kept pumping up the price of gold and silver. The Fed has an interest in seeing precious metal prices suppressed. Firstly, one of the Fed banks, Chase Bank, has a huge short position on silver and, secondly, the dollar’s inherent lack of value is brought to public light as silver and gold keep rising to what their prices should be.[/quote]
The price of gold was set at $35 per ounce in 1934. If you calculate inflation since then, up 290.6% and set the value of gold accordingly it would be worth more than $10,170 per ounce rather than the $1,700 to $1,800 it is currently.
The price of precious metals has been manipulated by speculators since 1972 keeping them artificially low.
[[quote=”hakesp”] I think Warren Buffett is a better source concerning the danger of derivatives.[/quote]
[quote=”Scott”]I know we have a few ‘traders’ as VIP Members and for them and anybody else with significant commodities exposure, this letter in the link below from Ann Barnhardt of Barnhardt Capital Management is a MUST-MUST-MUST read…
It is more important than ever that your investment strategy is ultra-defensive and, I would strongly encourage all of you to have at least 6 months worth of living expenses (whatever your local currency may be) in cash somewhere real safe…
Scott[/quote]
I think a good read can be found at [url=http://www.investopedia.com/articles/optioninvestor/08/derivative-risks.asp#axzz1eXljbTmo]Are Derivatives Financial “Weapons Of Mass Destruction”?[/url]The article contains a short history of the derivatives and comments by Buffett and Greenspan as well as some of the dangers in the derivatives market. It also includes what can happen when the criminal mind becomes involved in selling derivatives.
Scott, your advice is sound. The first priority for anyone should be for the immediate future
[quote=”chorizo”] The proposed Tax Bill is but a mear example of lack of auterity, over burden government [10,000 recent hired Caja workes] and indifference to both security and their cash cow “foreign money”.[/quote]
I imagine that those of us living here will suffer through it. By the time they figure out what they are going to do about taxes Laura will be long gone and we will all probably be six feet under.:lol:
[quote=”alewis”] It seems like there is something new everyday that contradicts what was said the day before.[/quote]
Welcome to Costa Rica.
It can take years to decide what they are going to do and then more years to decide how to do it.:lol:
[quote=”Scott”] I think you may be underestimating the size of the problem here Les… [/quote]
Not underestimating the problem just pointing out that we do not learn.
In the late 1990’s brokers kept pushing tech stocks saying they would go up forever and many investors lost their savings.
Beginning in 2002 the homes were exceeding the cost of construction but mortgage lenders pushed “creative mortgages” and convinced homebuyers that they could afford them. Banks went bankrupt, financial institutions had to be bailed out and many families lost their homes. All of this will be paid for on the backs of a diminishing middle class that cannot find employment
Now a warning that futures and derivatives are priced beyond their value. Where will it end this time?
Wealth is a stable commodity relative to inflation and someone somewhere is gathering that wealth at the expense of the masses because we do not understand the underlying value of those things in which we invest.
Now the question is are we being stripped of all we own by a few or is it because we are too stupid to do basic research and understand the true value of things.
When we are gulled by someone else we blame them but the real problem is that we allowed it to happen.
[quote=”Scott”] “The futures and options markets are no longer viable. It is my recommendation that ALL customers withdraw from all of the markets as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of protecting themselves and their equity.” [/quote]
“The sky is falling, [b]THE SKY IS FALLING[/b].” ~ Chicken Little
I see several problems with this message coming from a financial manager the first of which is in posting the message on the internet rather than in private communication with the clients although this might already have been done.
A public broadcast such as this might be taken seriously and acted upon by investors other than the clients of the poster thereby making a market fall as the result of the advice rather than any weakness in the market although the latter might be true.
A financial advisor, as the title implies, has a fiduciary duty to their clients in knowing the underlying intrinsic value of the instruments in which their clients invest and I can imagine three scenarios that would bring this warning.
1 ~ That the clients invested at a time when there was decent upside potential and that potential has been reached.
2 ~ That the investment was made by a misinformed client in spite of advice against it in which case the advisor should have a signed disclaimer at hand
3 ~ That the investment was a result of advice given when the upside potential was shaky at best simply to gain a commission.
Although I believe the advice is sound it comes quite late in the game as the markets have been over-valued for some time.
This is [b]“déjà vu all over again”[/b] as Yogi Berra once said.
On the heels of the housing bubble/financial crisis we are seeing portions of the investment market becoming severely overpriced in relation to intrinsic value. When home prices exceeded the cost of construction the intrinsic value was exceeded but homebuyers were unaware of the fact and mortgage lenders began pushing creative loans that allowed prices to continue to rise.
As an example, my wife and I purchased a home in California in 1998 for $143,000. The replacement value of the home was $120,000 implying a cost of under $4.00 per foot for the land in a highly urbanized area where bare lots were selling for more than four times the price.
In preparation for my retirement and our move to Costa Rica we sold the home in December 2006, eight years later, for $429,000, exactly three times what we had paid. We could have purchased two lots and built two homes for that amount. Instead we paid off the mortgage and a second home improvement loan, paid cash for our home in Costa Rica and the move to get here.
Our future investments will be made in things that we can touch and see on the property we now own. Luck certainly plays a part in how things turn out.:lol:
[quote=”Harperanne”]I eat a health mixture that contains cottage cheese and flax oil. Does anyone know if those items are available either at a supermercado or a health food store (can’t remember the Spanish name for it)? Would appreciate anyone’s help.[/quote]
Cottace cheese at WalMart, Auto Mercado and others catering to expats.
Flax seed oil should be available at the Macrobioticas.:lol:[quote=”Scott”] “Now Ms. Chinchilla’s “reform” proposes, among other things, a 14% value-added tax on all goods and services to replace a 13% sales tax on goods only and tax hikes on small and medium-sized businesses. Far from simply raising taxes on the rich, as the politicians want people to believe, this proposal will hit ordinary Costa Ricans hard.”
What do you think?[/quote]
The system of taxation in Costa Rica is regressive in the extreme and as long as the wealthy run the government it will continue to get worse.
In spite of the Tico penchant for being non-confrontational Occupy Wall Street may be heading for Costa Rica as Ocupan Edificio Central. 😆
[quote=”sprite”][quote=”waggoner41″]Those who hold power worldwide are not about to destroy the very source of their power, consumers, in a military conflagration
[/quote]Waggoner, you are making the mistake of believing that the power holders are as rational as you are…[/quote]
You are correct that sanity has left the seats of power whether in Washington or Wall Street.
Addressing your following post… we did make the decision to move to Costa Rica before the meltdown for the very reasons you state. A beautiful country and wonderful people on the periphery of the world stage is a good place to be. We never had intentions of going back. You dont leave Paradise for Hell even if it is to visit. We returned to say our last good-byes in person in 2009. My extended family is quite large but unless they decide to visit here we will never see them again face to face.
That said, we [b]all[/b] have those we care about whom we have left behind and the industrial world is on the verge of economic collapse. We do have a right to care about what happens to those we left behind.
Consider this though…we have seen protests before, anti war, the hippies generation and the civil rights movement but what we have never seen is a movement that has spread so far so fast as the Occupy Wall Street protests. From a couple of hundred students on Wall Street to a worldwide protest in hundreds of cities world wide within the space of a month and a half and still growing exponentially. Although violence has been minimal to this point I think it will become very violent in some areas before very long.
I am led to wonder what will come next. Taking the incident in Oakland on the 27th as an example there are many who are thinking that those in authority may be going too far. There may be an anti-authority backlash that might put more people on the streets in protest and it might become something beyond the capability of law enforcement to control. If the military is called in to suppress the movement what comes next?
If those in the military see their friends and family who, even though they may not be out in the streets, are voicing their distaste for the violent reaction of law enforcement, what will they do? Will they join in the suppression of the movement or will they desert rather than confront those they care about?
The greed of the few at the expense of the vast majority might just produce something very unexpected. Might there be a repeat of the Arab Spring throughout the industrial world?
Just thinking.
[quote=”Imxploring”]
In the US we’re paying the price now… besides trying to be the world’s voice of “freedom”… and police at the same time. We’ve created our own path to ruin with a lot of folks that think they have a RIGHT to everything… and they have insured those rights by bringing a bunch more folks into the world that were born into, and raised with this same belief! Much like a Ponzi scheme, this one has run it’s course… time to run…[/quote]You’re right in much of what you say but the issues go back further than the 1930’s. The first grand mistake was the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, setting the debt limit in dollars rather than as a percent of GDP in 1917, taking the dollar off of the gold standard in 1972, supply side economics in 1981, recision of Glass-Steagall in 1999 and over regulation over the years are just some of the major causes of this recession.
The Social Security issue is a result of ignoring the baby boom bubble and longer life spans back in the 1960’s.
It’s all political and we all know it. Now we have a congress elected for their ideological bent rather than their intelligence and common sense.
[quote=”Scott”] According to: [ http://21stcenturywire.com/2011/04/12/2577/ ] West vs China: A New Cold War Begins.[/quote]
Do an internet search for [b]Dr. “Christof” Lehmann bio[/b] and you will find that all of the Libertarian web sites are quoting one source that has [b]an opinion[/b]. The only bio that seems to be available is his own self-proclaimed biography found at The 4th Media web site: [url=http://en.m4.cn/category/christof-lehmann/]Christof Lehmann[/url]
I have not found any other confirmation of his background.
[quote=”Scott”][ http://www.thedailybell.com/3139/NATO-Preps-for-World-War ] NATO Preps for World War?[/quote]
[b]Each of us has our own opinion so here is mine in response.[/b]
[quote=”Scott”]The line in the sand will be drawn at some stage in the not so distant future, the question is will the U.S. be foolish enough to cross that line?[/quote]
The line in the sand has already been drawn. This is not a military confrontation however, it is economic and so far, the U.S. has failed to find a way to level the playing field. Those who hold power worldwide are not about to destroy the very source of their power, consumers, in a military conflagration
One thing is certain. The current U.S. congress is embroiled in ideological warfare and proving to be incapable of agreeing to the very simple solutions to the economic recession in the U.S. Until they do the economy will continue its downward economic spiral.
Although moderates comprise the vast majority of America’s voters the far fringe of both progressive and conservative political thinking has hijacked the political process. The solution to this situation requires that the moderate majority start paying attention to what is happening, vote the fringe ideologues out of office and replace them with moderates who can compromise and move forward.
[quote=”Scott”]Do expats living in Costa Rica have a right to care about the increasingly high probability of a nuclear confrontation that could annihilate millions of people? Damned right we do …[/quote]
This does not affect only expats, it has an effect on the entire planet. The OWS protests have moved from a few individuals on Wall Street to a global protest movement within a month and a half. These citizens realize that the ideological standoff cannot continue without major economic harm.[quote=”maravilla”]it’s hardly dribble to understand the far-reaching grasp of US imperialistic politics even though many of us live outside the US.[/quote]
The gravest error in the past century was the conservative idea that the U.S. could accomplish nation building in two nations that were created by drawing lines in the sand without considering the religious and ethnic makeup of the populations within those borders.
The fact of the matter is that both Afghanistan and Iraq will revert to what they were before the U.S. arrived as soon as the U.S. leaves.
[quote=”crltd”]the above posts diagram the hope and unfortunately the reality.
there is no middle ground here.
history will repeat itself, as it has again and again..[/quote]Actually I think the middle ground exists in realizing that those we are electing to congress are failing us badly. It isn’t a matter of left or right, it’s all of them.
The right refuses to raise taxes and the left objects to budget cuts when the vast majority of Americans realize that both have to be done.
We are electing economic and historical illiterates who have no ability to view the future consequences of their actions.
[quote=”maravilla”]the ruskies lie just as much as the US.[/quote]
So far there is nothing from the [url=http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/main_eng]Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs[/url] regarding a travel warning to the U.S.
From the [url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/russian-federation]British Embassy in Russia[/url]…nothing.
From the Russian Embassy to the U.S. [url=http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Embassy/index.html]Russian-American Relations[/url]…nothing.
As far as a travel advisory from the U.S., the killing of Anwar al Awlaki is just the latest in a string of al Q’aeda leaders killed, each of which has resulted in further threats against the U.S. and Americans. Those of us who live in Costa Rica have very little to fear even when traveling to and from the States so this entire discussion here is really just another opportunity to take jabs at whomever we wish to blame for problems in the U.S..
Getting into a discussion of what is going on as far as the U.S. political leaders (congress, president, et al) is an exercise in futility. Each of us has our own view of the deadlock that is hindering economic recovery. The stupidity and lack of foresight of our representatives in congress over the past hundred years have combined to cause the current recession and the current congress does nothing but create divisiveness in the entire population.
