1 And there is nothing you can do to stop it.

2 Why do I have to be Obama's pussy?

Why oh why can't I be Palin's?

Palin's pussy has a lot of fun.  I mean, Todd get to love it.

Me?  All I get is MO'chelle's dick...and this stupid collar.  How the hell was I supposed to know that when he said 'Come'ear pussy', he was talking to the reporters licking his boots, and not me?

3

Maybe its time to start looking for a wife. Or at least a roomate, someone to split the house payment with so I can get out from under it faster.

4 O/T:  "The View: Donald Trump Talks About Birthers - The View"

wow, they are really pushing back and woop E says "would a white person have to show?"

He's right, he makes the same case as many mornons/moronettes mad before it was sort of a subject like sarah palin and christine o'donnell that we knew to not really bring up.

He says "there's something on that birth certificate".

So, if 'the donald' feels this way how many other big shots in this country feel the same way but PC says they can't say it?  

5 Macavity is a punk amateur. What the boned are truly waiting for is me! I've done it before and I'll do it again!

6 Let's talk for a while about who is not boned.

7 5 Macavity is a punk amateur. What the boned are truly waiting for is me! I've done it before and I'll do it again!
Posted by: Magical Mister Mistoffelees at March 24, 2011 09:17 AM (hsLUJ)

Not if I have anything to say in the matter ...

8 Boned like a chicken drumstick at KFC.

...I thought it was witty, anyhow.

The liberals in my social circle were cheering the failure of the austerity measure in Portugal yesterday, which, to my understanding, would do nothing but kick the can down the road again.  It's quite something to watch people cheer on cultural suicide, whether consciously or unconsciously, but liberalism does have a fascination with death, so it makes sense on some level.

 I suppose the instructive thing to take away from Portugal is a lesson most of us have learned before now, but there are a few stragglers - that is that even half-measures will generate outcry from the dependency/political class, which is why the Republicans need to go for broke, but they won't.

9 6 Let's talk for a while about who is not boned.

Posted by: Kathy Gryphon at March 24, 2011 09:19 AM (paPec)

why?

10 why?

Great point, George.

11 aww, poor kitteh

12 Yea for the Logans Run reference!!!! One of my favorite movies.

13 This is why we should have let them go down wholesale, without regard to platinum status.

We laughed at Japan when they did this. Silly Asians, you have to let the whole thing go down or suffer years and years of stagnation..And then when we looked into the abyss we did the same thing they did. Blinked and entered the strange area that destroys economies and social cohesion.

We should have taken our depression (ie the time it takes to reform capital and remake a financial industry)like grown Men and Women instead of forcing it onto future generations.

We should have guaranteed all deposits and let the rest crash.

14 If any of our nukleer engineers are taking a donut break; want to try explaining this article: 13 Neutron Beam events at Fukushima, but no observed criticality accident.

Can we chalk this up to another reason keeping spent fuel in ponds is a bad idea.

15 Yea for the Logans Run reference!!!! One of my favorite movies. /PEDANT MODE: ON Actually, it's a poem from T. S. Eliot's book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" called "Macavity". Peter Ustinov was quoting the poem. /PEDANT MODE: OFF

16 Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy

Two years ago, George Soros said he wanted to reorganize the entire global economic system. In two short weeks, he is going to start - and no one seems to have noticed.

On April 8, a group he's funded with $50 million is holding a major economic conference and Soros's goal for such an event is to "establish new international rules" and "reform the currency system." It's all according to a plan laid out in a Nov. 4, 2009, Soros op-ed calling for "a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order."

17 Just remember folks our Grand Parents or Great Grand Parents(depending on your age) endured tough times.
We can make it through whats coming, it wont be pleasant but we will be stronger for it.
Guard your freedom(what little we have left)and don't fall for any of the we have a better plan you just have to give us this or that in return.

 

18 You really think all these boned baby boomers will go quietly into the financial abyss?

19 4 O/T: "The View: Donald Trump Talks About Birthers - The View"

wow, they are really pushing back and woop E says "would a white person have to show?"

Posted by: curious at March 24, 2011 09:17 AM (k1rwm)

McCain is a white guy, right? Didn't he get bullied by the Senate into producing his long-form certificate due to having been born outside of the US? I hope that Trump reminded the scrunts about that upon the race-card slap-down but I doubt he did.

20 Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.depravity.

FIFM

Keep up the good work, Monty.  Ignorance is only bliss until hard and iron reality hits you hard in the face. 

So when can we expect Spain to fall?

21 Detroit died when there became more than three choices of manufacturers.

22 So when can we expect Spain to fall? When's their next bond auction of short and medium-term notes? If they can stay under 4% on the 3-years, they might be able to hang on for a while longer. If it costs them more than 5% to roll their short-term debt, they are going to be in a world of hurt.

23 Oh. Can I call this Butler Cat? Mr. Belvedere?

24 Doom posts always bring this guy to mind, from the Seventh Seal. Wish I could find it with subtitles, but right at 5o secs in, he declares the crowd "Doomed, doomed, doomed".

As an aside, the guy always reminds me a bit of GWB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkN6LfvJnSM

25  Detroit died when there became more than three choices of manufacturers.

Posted by: harleycowboy at March 24, 2011 09:33 AM (wSTfB)

Washington and the Unions killed Detroit. 

26 "Libya native Abu Yahya al-Libi, senior member of al Qaida, urged Libyan rebels to continue their fight against Muammar Gaddafi and warned of the consequences of defeat. Gaddafi has repeatedly blamed al Qaida for inciting the unrest against him."

Gaddafi got that right. And being warned by al Qaida to not fail isn't limited to negative consequences dealt by Gaddafi, but retribution from al Qaida for not trying hard enough to please them.

27 I know a Portuguese guy who just retired, moved home.  He recently cashed out and move back to the US.  He is regular dude, welder, but he could see the trouble coming.

I have some relatives who were Irish, they have kin from home sleeping in there spare room.  Foreshadowing, I'm sure.  (Note, the sleepers are an chip designer and rf software guy - I'd hire them in heartbeat if they were US citizens.)

Anecdotes of Doom

28 When's their next bond auction of short and medium-term notes? If they can stay under 4% on the 3-years, they might be able to hang on for a while longer. If it costs them more than 5% to roll their short-term debt, they are going to be in a world of hurt.

They just had a bond auction not a week ago.

Euro Jumps on Decent Spain Auction, Yen Consolidates after Spike

Spain sold EUR 4.1b of 10-year and 30-year bond today at average yield of 5.162% and 5.875% respectively. Yield were both down from 5.2% and 5.975% set in prior auctions. Demand was solid with bid-to-cover ratio for 10 year bond at 1.81 comparing to 1.54 last month. The results suggests that the EU agreement on competitive pact was well received by the markets.

So its already costing them more than 5%, if I'm interpreting this paragraph correctly. 

29 Wasn't Detroit one of the model cities for LBJ's program.

30 Since Portugal dropped today, who thinks the Irish might delay paying that big coupon thats due on the 30th - even if just for negotiating leverage.  Maybe scare the Germans by flying a few Ministers up to Iceland on Monday.

31 17 Just remember folks our Grand Parents or Great Grand Parents(depending on your age) endured tough times.
We can make it through whats coming, it wont be pleasant but we will be stronger for it.
Guard your freedom(what little we have left)and don't fall for any of the we have a better plan you just have to give us this or that in return.
Posted by: MarkC at March 24, 2011 09:29 AM (yPPVC)

A liberal friend of mine who's seen the light in regards to impending DOOM told me that she doesn't believe we can endure it the coming DOOM in the same way as preceding generations, because we have gone from American exceptionalism to American exceptions.  In our view, we're in for a particularly rough time, as a vast swath of the nation does not have it within them to endure tough times, let alone Great Depression v2.0bho.

They will throw fits, and break things, but they will not endure.

32 Detroit died when there became more than three choices of manufacturers.

I would say the beginning of the end for Detroit was the point at which the many manufacturers got down to only three.

After all the smaller companies were assimilated it was easier for the unions to control the entire industry in the US.

33 Bored.

34 It's more like a judo-chop to the neck There are no strikes in judo. Throws, chokes and joint-locks only.

35 Monty, Honored Prince of the Doomed, esquire.

36 I would say the beginning of the end for Detroit was the point at which the many manufacturers got down to only three.

AMC was in business until the late 80s.  Granted, they were on the skids for a decade before, but technically we still had four US automakers until Chrysler bought them.

37 Wasn't Detroit one of the model cities for LBJ's program.

Steven Crowder has a good report showing the ruins of Detroit and in it he mentions that exactly that. Here's the video

38 They will throw fits, and break things, but they will not endure.

That will be a localized phenomenom, the trick will be to have your loved ones and resources far enough away from the critical mass of those exceptions.  I'm thinking three hours by car is good.  Even better with a couple of key bridges.

39 Ioway corn farmers

7th Seal, Death

40 What killed Detroit?

Democrats.

41 seems like an imprimatur from LBJ was like the kiss of death.

42

Iceland, Ireland, and Greece don't have their own currency - they have the Euro.  Different situation.  They are revenue constrained.  The US federal government is not.  We don't have to borrow money, nor even tax, in order to spend or to pay debts denominated in dollars.  Those two tools, at the federal level, are money drains to control the supply of dollars in public hands.  They don't "pay" for anything. 

The only worry is inflation.  At the federal level, it is inflation that must be monitored and controlled.  All the government has to do is maintain demand for dollars such that it can continue to use dollars to obtain the services and products it wants.  Taxes alone go a long way in this direction.  The government has plenty of ways to destroy dollar wealth.  Until the economy is fixed, I doubt that massive inflation is going to be a problem.  People are either scraping by and not consuming any more than they ever did (often much less) or they're deleveraging, or they're hoarding cash for fear of another pull back.  These are all deflationary forces.  Indeed, consider the nature of the "spending" that the stimulus has created.  Most of it is to sustain what was already being consumed at the state level - propping up state budgets.  All that huge stimulus did very little as we all know - and the reason for that is the minimal affect it had on demand for additional goods and services beyond what was already being consumed.  Very few new jobs had to be created to meet new demand. 

43 When I was on vacation in Florida last week, I saw a tourism ad for Detroit. You have got to be shitting me, I thought.

44 Let's talk for a while about who is not boned.

I've conveniently listed them all below:

45 For those interested, you can cast excellent bullets from Wheel weights. You need to add 1% tin (by weight) to get the fluidity up to fill out the mold. Gas checks mandatory for pressures in excess of 25000 psi (most rifles and some pistols). That means reduced loads and velocities not in excess of 2000 fps for accuracy. Effective and accurate hunting performance at ranges not to exceed 200 yds. Tin is available from Midway USA. That concludes the tip for the day.

46 Peanuts!  Popcorn!  DOOM!

47 Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 09:50 AM (WkuV6)

What is the old idea, don't settle in  a place that can be reached by public transportation.

48 A liberal friend of mine who's seen the light in regards to impending DOOM told me that she doesn't believe we can endure it the coming DOOM in the same way as preceding generations

Depends on the event that takes place I suppose.
In a total collapse many will not make it, that is why its a good idea to prepare the best you can to be able to take of yourself and your loved ones.

In a major depression like situation, I image the majority will make it.
Some will have an easier time then others though.

Read up on how people lived back then and what they did to survive, if your are lucky enough to have relatives old enough to remember talk with them they will be a wealth of knowledge.

 

49 I saw a tourism ad for Detroit.

For the new Thunderdome theme park in Certerline next to the Chrysler plant, right?

50
That will be a localized phenomenom, the trick will be to have your loved ones and resources far enough away from the critical mass of those exceptions.  I'm thinking three hours by car is good.  Even better with a couple of key bridges.

Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 09:50 AM (WkuV6)

You're probably right about that, which is the most ironic aspect of this entire debacle.  Liberals hardest hit will be the headline.

It's tremendously frustrating to see it all coming down the pipes, and still probably seventy percent of the populace believes what Washington tells them, and leaves them to be caught unawares.  It's criminal in the highest degree.

51 Bachmann's IN!

http://tinyurl.com/46aco4w

52 Back from my morning walk where I found that those Bose sound cancelling headphones not a good idea for morning walks. But what do I find.....boned some more.

It was a bad idea to let all these banks merge. I used to have a nice friendly small town bank here. It got bought out by a conglomerate in the 80s, then another conglomerate even bigger and finally by BOA. Yeah, these big banks need to be broken up and afterwards we need to go back to the old rules where you could not own ALL of the news media in an area. Break those SOBs up as well.

And this question:

13 Neutron Beam events at Fukushima, but no observed criticality accident.

Those were a bad choice of words for some idiot to put out. Basically what it meant was they detected neutron radiation during a survey. The fuel in those SFP was likely uncovered during all those boiling regimes. Concrete by itself is not a good shielding for neutrons. You need water, plastic, or some other material that has a lot of H2 in it. So when they lost their water the number of neutrons increased.

Believe it or not that used to be one of the ways you could determine water level in the reactor vessel with exterior power meters which uses neutrons as an indicator. If level dropped below the height of the external detector the count rate would increase dramatically if you increased the level the count rate would go back down. This even though water itself adds positive reactivity.

53 Reactionary, my concern is Obama and complicit beaucrats just lying about tax revenues to preserve the bond prices and dollar until they are out of office.

54

Washington and the Unions killed Detroit. 

Posted by: Truck Monkey at March 24, 2011 09:39 AM (yQWNf)

Let's not forget Detroit's own city government.  It was as much a suicide as a murder.  Once the business of governing was subordinated to racial greivance mongering things took a definite turn for the worse.  It's no one thing that killed Detroit.  It was the poisonous cocktail of Liberalism.

55 Monty, can you tell me how to find out how far off NH is from being in the LOTB?  I'm sure we're not far off, as much as I love my state.   I'd like to be prepared for my DOOM.

56 @44 sums it up pretty nicely!

BONED!!!

57 You could measure the failing of Detroit by the measure of how far left the city government became starting in the mid-60s.

When the "social justice" crowd took over and started stealing and other corrupt practices it accelerated.

58  I saw a tourism ad for Detroit.

They do have a Rosa Parks statue they are set to unveil at the Flint MI bus terminal (have been looking for a right time to do it for 2 years), and the Robocop statue should be set to unveil in Detroit soon.  Detroit is coming back! 

59
  Been using wheel weights for a long time in the black powder firearms I use. With a bit of care, the balls are superlative--not to mention super cheap.

60 Miss me yet?

61

Speaking of the Loyal Order of the Terminally Boned (LOTB)...

LOTB? ...

LOTB? ...

Lord of the Boned?...

Methinks you've started a meme here...

I propose we form a fellowship.  Yes, a Fellowship of the Boned.  We will form a team of economists and bankers from all the lands and they shall travel to Mount DOOOOOOM!  And throw the Euro (the One Currencey) into it, thus unmaking it.

Who is with me?

(Though, I think this story ends with all of us being consumed by the volcano...)

62 So, if Spain is boned, is this good or bad for my vacation plans?

Also, where is Colorado in the LOTB?

63 Deus Irae from The Seventh Seal

64 That which cannot continue, will not.

The open-bar is closing any minute now, and still the too-drunk-to-walk patrons are lining-up their last shots and cocktails.

All that's left is for them to start puking-up their shoes in the nearest receptacle that looks vaguely like a commode.  For some of the smaller, weaker bellies (Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal) they're already hurling - but a funny thing about that, once it starts it's pretty - ahem - contagious.

65 You can't blame all the failure on the unions even though they caused the failure of the auto companies. Go back and look at some of those Shorpy pics from 1900 before the auto companies were super big. Detroit was a thriving city even then.

Look at this picture of the hotel Tuller in the 80s compared to the linked 1900s.

66 Posted by: Purple Avenger at March 24, 2011 09:52 AM (absL3)

george
george
george
george
george
george

67 59
  Been using wheel weights for a long time in the black powder firearms I use. With a bit of care, the balls are superlative--not to mention super cheap.

Posted by: irongrampa at March 24, 2011 09:59 AM (ud5dN)

OK for balls, too hard for conicals in BP firearms. Pure lead is the right choice for conicals. I tried to load a wheel weight conical in a muzzleloader, I had to beat the damn thing down the bore with a mallet. Kind of slow to load.

68

http://www.theblaze.com

OK, I've tried to post the story that Glenn exposed about Lerner, 3 times now and you have rejected it.

69 Until the economy is fixed, I doubt that massive inflation is going to be a problem.

Not to be snarky, but have you been to a gas station or a grocery store lately?  I used to be able to fill the trunk of my car with groceries for $120 3-years ago, now $150 of the same stuff (in smaller packages, no less) barely fills half.

70 And I guess everyone knows about the tanking of Detroit and what? 900,000 people living there now, need to give thanks to the unions!!!!

71 Reactionary, my concern is Obama and complicit beaucrats just lying about tax revenues to preserve the bond prices and dollar until they are out of office.

Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 09:55 AM (WkuV6)

I certainly wouldn't say that you're wrong to suspect that.  We all know that Obie and all his kind are lying, traitorous scum, and sabotours to boot.  But let's assume they're doing that.  Ultimately, the "revenue" from taxes is not all that important.  If there is a tax shortfall that is allowing dollar oversupply and thus inflation, it will show up no matter what lies those vermin tell.  However, unless the complicity in the stats departments is total, we're only seeing major inflation in food and fuel - both of which are suffing supply shortages right now.  People still aren't buying up houses, even at the current low-low prices.  Durable goods and such are limping along, but demand isn't exactly stellar.

Consider how overtaxed US citizens and businesses are.  The states and cities are digging into us for every dime they can.  Hidden taxes surely eat up several percent of the everyone's income.  Unemployment is still high, driving down consumption.  There are many forces preventing the consumer from spending right now, and probably for the next few years at least.

72 Bachmann's IN!

http://tinyurl.com/46aco4w

Posted by: AeroFANatic at March 24, 2011 09:55 AM (h8FS0)

In that article i linked to the other day she was polling well in SC. (Even better than Palin)

73 Interesting that the UAW priced its workers at twice the market rate until Detroit imploded. Interesting because UGW (or 'government') is doing the same with its workers in the US. Is the US going to go the way of Detroit? Lovely.

74 Posted by: Goldi at March 24, 2011 10:03 AM (rsOPT)

Ace has a whole financial terrorism thread.

This is shaping up to be a "battle of the broads"

Jamie G
Valerie G
MO
Liz warren
hillary C.

versus

Sarah Palin
Michelle Bachman
Christine O'Donnell
Sharon Angle
?

75 Beck talking about "the woman tied to 9/11 and Fannie Mae"

guess who?

76 61

Speaking of the Loyal Order of the Terminally Boned (LOTB)...

LOTB? ...

LOTB? ...

Lord of the Boned?...

Methinks you've started a meme here...

I propose we form a fellowship.  Yes, a Fellowship of the Boned.  We will form a team of economists and bankers from all the lands and they shall travel to Mount DOOOOOOM!  And throw the Euro (the One Currencey) into it, thus unmaking it.

Who is with me?

(Though, I think this story ends with all of us being consumed by the volcano...)

Posted by: Warthog at March 24, 2011 09:59 AM (WDySP)

As long as it includes the songs from the old Rankin-Bass version of RotK.

Y'know, the one where they chant DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM over and over again.

I think that'd be just peachy.

77 Not to be snarky, but have you been to a gas station or a grocery store lately?  I used to be able to fill the trunk of my car with groceries for $120 3-years ago, now $150 of the same stuff (in smaller packages, no less) barely fills half.

Posted by: DocJ at March 24, 2011 10:04 AM (dt6br)

You're totally right about those costs - but that's not monetary policy.  It's not too much currency in circulation, nor is it government consumption of food and fuel.  That's supply and demand.  We've had a year of bad harvests world-wide, combined with 3rd world folks demanding better diets as their income rises.  We having Chinese car sales surpassing US car sales, with India right behind.  Our oil supply is constrained by a drilling moratorium in the gulf, in ANWR, in the great lakes, etc.  Other people, especially the Chinese, want food and energy resources.  That's why those specific things are being driven up.  Cutting the supply of dollars in circulation will not do anything to fix those.

 

78

Goldi, have you been using a service like TinyURL or TinyCC? 

Is this the story?

79
 Yah, I quit them long ago, too much problem with incorrect entry into the muzzle OR chamber.  If your powder charge (and casting diameter) is good, accuracy is damn good. All my .44's love .454 rounds, you don't need any Crisco at the end of the cylinder, to guard against flash-over.

80 Posted by: Pedantry J. Fuckwhistle at March 24, 2011 09:45 AM (g6nyw)

Not strictly correct. Judo is the sports aspect of Jujitsu, and when it first became popular there were some strikes. They were quickly eliminated, but if you go to a traditional dojo you might get a taste of it.

81 Doomed! Doomed, Doomed, Doomed!

82 Fortunately for Massachusetts, Scott Brown (R), is there to save them.  That's (R) Scott Brown.  Famous Republican senator.  You can tell by the (R).

83 Speaking of Detroit, they're idiots.  But we knew that.

84 And I guess everyone knows about the tanking of Detroit and what? 900,000 people living there now, need to give thanks to the unions!!!!

The census just put the population of Detroit at 713,777

85 And why are we boned?

More money down the federal shithole

This may seem like a small amount as far as “budgets” go but multiply it by hundreds of other projects nationwide and you will see why we have a 1.6T dollar deficit.

86 http://tinyurl.com/46aco4w

AeroFANatic at March 24, 2011 09:55 AM

That is good news!

87 wow, beck is talking about this site.  Is there a comparable republican/conservative site?

beck is laughing about how they need 86 people working on the push back against him.  They have a little boot camp to train a bunch of people???

PTI, progressive talent initiative, traiing pundits to appear on television.

88 Famous Republican senator.  You can tell by the (R). Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at March 24, 2011 10:11 AM

Yep. Unless the (R) is for RESET! overcharged

89

(Though, I think this story ends with all of us being consumed by the volcano...)

As long as it includes the songs from the old Rankin-Bass version of RotK.

Y'know, the one where they chant DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM over and over again.

I think that'd be just peachy.

Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 24, 2011 10:07 AM (WvFvd)

Well, given that we are now being dragged into a war lead by the French...

Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
We don't wanna go to war today,
But the lord of the lash says nay, nay, nay!
We're gonna march all day, all day, all day,
Cause where there's a whip, there's a way.

Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Left, right, left, right, left
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Left, right

A crack on the back says we're gonna fight.
We're gonna march all day and night
And more, for we are the slaves of the Dark Lord's war.
Left, right, left, right, left,

Where there's a whip, there's a way.
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
We don't wanna go to war today,
But the lord of the lash says nay, nay, nay!
We're gonna march all day, all day, all day,
Cause where there's a whip, there's a way.
Left, right, left, right, left, right
Left, right, left, right, left, right
Left, right, left, right, left, right
Left, right, left, right, left, right
Left, right, left, right, left, right

(We're taking a beating all right...)

90 Reactionary, I admit to being an absolute dope about these things.  But I think your equating "inflation" with merely "too much currency in circulation" is wildly off base, considering that something like, what?, 5% or less of the "money" that's out there is actually "currency" - the rest is credit.

Monetary policy may not be a prime factor here (I still think it is, but I'm not sure enough to argue the point), but credit policy is absolutely part of why costs are shooting-up through the sky.

91 Posted by: Vic at March 24, 2011 10:12 AM (M9Ie6)

I live in the metro NY area. Our commuter trains are not fully utilized. If the densest metro area in the country can't fill its trains, why would anyone think that spending billions on trains in less densely populated areas is a good idea?

This is the kind of thing that convinces me that the problem with our politicians isn't venality or malice; it's rank, glaring stupidity.

92 "wow, they are really pushing back and woop E says "would a white person have to show?"" Well, yes, woop E, believe it or not, us white folks have to justify ourselves all the time. The legality of John McCain's running for president WAS looked into because he was was born overseas as the son of a naval officer.

93 As for the inflationary aspects of the economy right now: there is a supply/demand pressure on food and fuel, no doubt. But there is also the fact that QE1/QE2 have pumped a lot of unbacked liquidity into the system. We've exported a lot of our inflation to, e.g., China -- China's Yuan is pegged to the dollar, so when we inflate our currency, we also inflate theirs. (But the Chinese would be worse off still if they let the Yuan float, so they grit their teeth and bear it...for now.) That inflation is going to come home sooner or later; you can't keep debasing your currency forever and not have it come back to bite you. I don't get the argument that we can (effectively) just blow off our debt to foreigners. We received goods and services for the money we borrowed, and those goods and services must be paid for, one way or another. It's not some magical process where we can just say, "Nope, I ain't payin'!" and things will just roll merrrily right on as they have before. You can do this to some extent if you're Argentina or Greece or Ireland because, hey, who gives a shit? Your economy is tiny. But America is the holder of the default reserve currency and the largest economy in the world by far. If *we* default, it matters. It matters a lot...and not just to us. It matters to anyone involved in the world economy. Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

94 If you live in a City, I would advise that you relocate to the country if you can.

95

Economic doom is pretty juicy lately, but I remain convinced that the real reason America is over is because of the destruction of our culture.  Consider today's young people.  Many of them are upstanding citizens.  But every crop has a higher and higher proportion of scum.  Trash.  Vermin.  Self indulgent, ill bred, intemperate, ignorant little villains.  Why?  Bad parenting and teaching.  Why bad parenting and teaching?  The Liberal parasite has terminally infected our culture and tainted nearly all of our institutions.  It's producing people who can't function, and don't want to.  Liberalism has defeated its main enemy - discipline. 

Let's say that tomorrow we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold in the US, dug it up, paid our debts, and balanced the budget with massive cuts to the government.  It's too late.  No matter what we achieve, it can't be maintained by the new people, because they are damaged by a toxic ideology.  It breed weakness of mind, spirit, and body. 

In the slum areas we even suffer inbreeding, as people neither go in there, nor escape from there.  It's like the Apalachia of the inner cities.  On top of that, the best citizens are taxed such that their children are each a burden, and the worst are paid to breed like rats.  Whether the population goes up or down, demographics is against us. 

That's the real doom. 

96 @89,

Dude, way too much awesome in one post.  Slow it down a notch!

Man, it must have been fifteen years since I've seen that movie.  I feel that I ought to purchase another copy now.

97 Posted by: More pedantic than you at March 24, 2011 10:16 AM (LH6ir)

well seriously, you can be forced onto the LIRR or Metro North and out of your car or those hideous commuter buses from staten island.

98

I'm thinking he just forgot how to use  a doorknob...

http://tinyurl.com/6hh8rb6

99 OT:  Quake in Burma

100 Just system restored back to pre-sp1 release of Win7 (which was the best OS ever imo) The SP broke it and made it crashy.

101 Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:19 AM (4Pleu)

Monty, I cannot see how we can be forced to pay foreign debt short of war. I assure you, when people are told they have to give up their homes and property to satisfy a debt that they don't feel they owe, (Such as myself. Democrats ran up the debt against my wishes, Democrats should have to pay it.) they will simply refuse to do so.

People will not care about their "theoretical" debt. They will simply default and ignore it until they are forced to pay at the point of a gun. Of course we won't be able to get credit anymore, but I think that's what got us into the mess in the first place. Too easy credit.

102 Reactionary - it is hard to admit that Ayers was right, the way to destroy America was through the schools.

103

The first link has the debt clock at $12.312 Trillion. That made me laugh. Old picture...

US debt clock right now $14.252 Trillion.

The picture in the first link was almost $2 Trillion off. Sadly, that picture wasn't THAT old.

104 DocJ: Actual cash (referred to as M0 and M1 in money-supply terms) is a pretty small percentage of "cash", actually. M0-M1 is only about 10% of the money supply.

105 Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:19 AM (4Pleu)

What worries me is that the shirtless beer pong playing crowd in DC does believe this which is why they are so eminently calm.

106 87 wow, beck is talking about this site.  Is there a comparable republican/conservative site?

Those freakin' headlines look like they were all written by a bunch of womyn's studies majors at some northeast shithole little university.

By the way, this is a link to media matters.

107 that's where we come in

108 Here's Wikipedia's entry on money supply, for those who won't already know.

109

If you like your doom, you can keep your doom.  Me, I'm taking this as a good omen.

http://bit.ly/eQf3g7

110

Economic doom is pretty juicy lately, but I remain convinced that the real reason America is over is because of the destruction of our culture.  Consider today's young people.  Many of them are upstanding citizens.  But every crop has a higher and higher proportion of scum.  Trash.  Vermin.  Self indulgent, ill bred, intemperate, ignorant little villains.  Why?  Bad parenting and teaching.  Why bad parenting and teaching?  The Liberal parasite has terminally infected our culture and tainted nearly all of our institutions.  It's producing people who can't function, and don't want to.  Liberalism has defeated its main enemy - discipline. 

Let's say that tomorrow we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold in the US, dug it up, paid our debts, and balanced the budget with massive cuts to the government.  It's too late.  No matter what we achieve, it can't be maintained by the new people, because they are damaged by a toxic ideology.  It breed weakness of mind, spirit, and body. 

In the slum areas we even suffer inbreeding, as people neither go in there, nor escape from there.  It's like the Apalachia of the inner cities.  On top of that, the best citizens are taxed such that their children are each a burden, and the worst are paid to breed like rats.  Whether the population goes up or down, demographics is against us. 

That's the real doom. 

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 10:20 AM (xUM1Q)

EXACTLY.

The problem with spending at the moment exists because the moral fiber of the nation is essentially gone.  Virtue is little aside from a memory, and no nation can last long against that.

The Left has done its work well in eroding the foundation of the nation.  An economic recovery is impossible as long as this void of character exists.

111

But there is also the fact that QE1/QE2 have pumped a lot of unbacked liquidity into the system.
I respectfully disagree.  QE pumped a lot of reserves in to the banks.  That money is sitting in heaps doing nothing.

We've exported a lot of our inflation to, e.g., China -- China's Yuan is pegged to the dollar, so when we inflate our currency, we also inflate theirs.

Don't forget - China also increased it's currency supply by 24% in 2010.  I'll dig up the reference if you need it.  We're not the only ones to blame.

That inflation is going to come home sooner or later; you can't keep debasing your currency forever and not have it come back to bite you.

Agreed.  But it will come back in what form?  Chinese purchases of goods and services?  Maybe someday, but not soon, and not all in a rush.  I believe it will be manageable, especially if we fix our broken trade policy with that nation.

I don't get the argument that we can (effectively) just blow off our debt to foreigners. We received goods and services for the money we borrowed, and those goods and services must be paid for, one way or another.

The Chinese will be paid.  In dollars.  Just like everybody else.  Nobody is holding a gun to their heads and making them trade with us in dollars.  They are free to stop whenever they want.  But they've created an export economy, driven by artificial stimulii, that will not allow them to move to a better model any time soon, even if they want to.  They'll take dollars and like it.

Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:19 AM (4Pleu)

Agreed, but I don't think that's even on the table.   

112

Okay I will try this again.  I had to bail last night after I got offered another free back rub and back adjustment!

Ideas for a banner for my brother divorce party??  Someone asked if he knows about it.  Yes he does.  I skimmed thru a few comments but nothing grabbed me.  C'mon, this is the funniest bunch out there.  Throw some funny at me.

 

 

 

113 Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 10:20 AM (xUM1Q)

wow that would be the germ of a really good thread.  Bet it would generate a lot of discussion.

114 DOOM!

115 Monty, I cannot see how we can be forced to pay foreign debt short of war. You're thinking of a world that doesn't exist any more. All finance is interconnected now, to a degree that non-specialists really don't appreciate. Markets are global; they have been for fifteen or twenty years. All banks are intertwined, as are brokerages and investment-banks. Counterparties abound -- that's why the fall of Lehman nearly brought the whole damned thing to ruin. We must pay our debts. Just shafting the foreigners isn't an option. We'll pay one way, or we'll pay another...but we will pay. (Even Democrats understand that shafting bondholders isn't an option, I guarantee you. If it comes down to shafting the old folks or shafting bondholders, Granny and Grampy are going to get the hosing of a lifetime.)

116 "Interesting that the UAW priced its workers at twice the market rate until Detroit imploded. " The saddest thing of all. Foreign auto makers, Toyota, Honda,Volkswagen, have all built factories in the U.S. They hire huge numbers of workers. Guess where they did NOT build those plants. Michigan has the workforce that is experienced in building autos, the transportation, the auto executives, auto engineers, designers, colleges with specific auto engineering programs. The Japanese take one look at the union mentality in Michigan, and the liberal, anti business attitude and run like hell to Tennessee. A few years ago, one of the Japanese companies was deciding where to build a very large factory. Our democratic party governor was taking some of their executives around the Detroit Auto Show. So of course UAW from the Delphi plant, a GM spinoff, threw up a picket line across the street.

117 Thanks for that, Monty.  I thought it was about that but didn't have the numbers at my fingers and, sigh, didn't bother to look them up first.

118 Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:29 AM (4Pleu)

I hear what you are saying but I'm thinking they would gladly give away tracks of land than have the unions forego their pensions.  Yeah those who worked in the private sector will be screwed but not any of their pets, like the unions.

Heck people are already making jokes about re drawing the map and giving away the border states to mexico.  It's not funny, even beck made a comment this morning.

119 Ok, so we're DOOOOOMMMED!!!!

What do I move my 401K money into to survive teh DOOM!

120 We must pay our debts. Just shafting the foreigners isn't an option. We'll pay one way, or we'll pay another...but we will pay. (Even Democrats understand that shafting bondholders isn't an option, I guarantee you. If it comes down to shafting the old folks or shafting bondholders, Granny and Grampy are going to get the hosing of a lifetime.)

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:29 AM (4Pleu)

I don't see it. I see various stories about States looking at minting coins (strictly forbidden by the U.S. Constitution I believe) but in the event of the financial collapse of the dollar, this or something like it is going to happen. I am currently trying to convert dollars into assets that will be useful in a collapsed economy. I see the great depression coming only worse. 

The point is, when we become a Weimar USA, people are going to refuse to participate. (If they can. They will probably be forced back into the system with government guns.)

121 Reactionary: You seem to agree with the "flight to quality" theory of the optimists. (That foreigners will keep investing in the US because, hey, who else is out there?) I think that's badly misguided. China, Russia, Brazil, India -- all these countries are starting to look at America's books, and they're not liking what they see. At some point, they're going to want *real* money for their stuff, not some wildly-inflated toilet paper. At some point, world trade is going to move off the USD by necessity. We are, sooner or later, going to have to accept a world in which the USD is *not* the reserve currency; it will have to compete right along with every other currency -- and it's going to get smacked around if we don't stop debasing it. We've been abusing our status as the holder of the default reserve currency for a long time. We've forgotten that the world has other choices now, and pretty soon, that vaunted "flight to safety" is going to change course to someone else (or several someone elses -- diversification is always good advice, in this as in so much else).

122 why are people making jokes that the pres was "locked out of the White House".   Things like "well hillary's in there now and she locked him out".  Stuff like that.

123 Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:19 AM (4Pleu)

What worries me is that the shirtless beer pong playing crowd in DC does believe this which is why they are so eminently calm.

I have to work with the DC crowd occasionally, they do not see debt as a fiscal problem - the know it is a political or "optics" problem, but are unwilling to consider the future consequences of debt -- they believe it can always be monetized away.  They believe that the money will always flow to us because of our economic engine and the "strength of our institutions".  They can see the headlight on the train coming, but have convinced themselves it is one another track.

124 99 OT:  Quake in Burma

Burma is a very repressive military regime (if you want to see an example of Burmese brutality, watch the latest Rambo), but God help the innocent people caught in the wake, along with those in Thailand that are affected.  Their building may not be up to the standards that would allow them to survive such a large quake.

/Is it bad that every time I hear of an earthquake occurring in a country that is seeking nuclear weapons, which Burma is, I think first that it may be a weapons test? 

125 Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 10:36 AM (/G5LI)

Beck keeps talking about "the coin guy" who got like twenty years in prison or something.  Can you put (an) entire state, states, in prison?

126 fuck macavity, the pussy.

127

Detroit died in the 1980's under Mayor Coleman Young. I was still a child then but his antipathy towards the white suburbs started a 'white flight' from Detroit from which it never recovered. Within a decade, you had the most productive, tax paying people racing to the suburbs, my relatives included.

Detroit being the murder capital of the US didn't help it as did the celebration of the Tiger's World Series win and the infamous view of the burning car. Between safety concerns and Coleman's rhetoric, whites couldn't get out of the city fast enough.

p.s. Detroit's image forever tarnished by 1 torched car. How many carbecues in France daily?

128

@113

Thanks curious.  I think it's just one of those things all of us in the middle and on the right are lamenting.  It's no fun to talk about because it's such a downer.

But I think your equating "inflation" with merely "too much currency in circulation" is wildly off base, considering that something like, what?, 5% or less of the "money" that's out there is actually "currency" - the rest is credit.

Posted by: DocJ at March 24, 2011 10:16 AM (dt6br)

No disagreement with your statement re the debt form of the money.  But in a sense, all money is debt - it begins existence as a token of government indebtedness once it is spent into existence, and we accept that debt mainly because the government can then demand it back from us in the taxes.  But the charts right now point to deleveraging - the reduction of that debt - on the consumer side.  The consumer, right now, is not willing to take up the productive capacity of the economy, which is why we have a slow down.  Credit available to the private economy is still crunching - not due a lack of lendable reserves, but due to a lack of credit-worthy enterprises.  Prices are an expression of the demand for goods/services vs the demand for dollars.  Right now the demand for dollars only appears to be shrinking relative to food and fuel.  Maybe I'm wrong and government spending is driving those costs up - but I just don't see it.  I do see a threatened oil supply, and a diminished food supply, both in the face of growing demand for each.  I don't see how the US government's spending policy can do much about that, unless our objective is to reduce the food and fuel available to recipients of government largess, which while considerable, can't be drastically reduced without major problems that would probably come to include depopulating that pool of people.

129 Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 10:36 AM (WkuV6)

yep, that is entirely what I'm seeing too.  You articulated it beautifully btw

130

... shafting the old folks or shafting bondholders, Granny and Grampy are going to get the hosing of a lifetime.)

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:29 AM (4Pleu)

Exactly. 

the State can take from the populace in one of two ways, really.

Directly - Taxes

Indirectly - Inflation (debasing the currency).

The State can up your benefits on paper but the reality is they'll take more of it back.  That gallon of gas or that can of cat food for Macavity is going to cost you a little more.  With Obama at the wheel, expect them to take the most duplicious route.

131 119 Ok, so we're DOOOOOMMMED!!!!

What do I move my 401K money into to survive teh DOOM!

Posted by: JT2 at March 24, 2011 10:34 AM (iXLkL)

Buy a farm. Make sure you learn how to run it though. *I* am getting into the Natural gas business. (CNG for transportation.) Natural gas is selling for (approximately) .43 cents per gallon right now. (From the gas company.) When gas is $5.00/ gallon, I expect natural gas to be perhaps $1.00/ gallon. It also doesn't need to be refined, it just needs to be dried out. (water removed.)

The point is, by setting up a natural gas filling station in my community, i'm making it possible for a fuel system to continue to be available when gasoline is impossible to obtain.

132 122 why are people making jokes that the pres was "locked out of the White House".   Things like "well hillary's in there now and she locked him out".  Stuff like that.

The WH staff locked him out of the WH because they were not informed as to the time of his arrival.

133 If you were to throw a wake for Detroit, would anyone show up? I think people who give a fuck are falling rapidly down the endangered species list.

134 Anyone???_{anyone???anyone???}     Hello?_{hello?hello?hello?}

Where are you putting your 401K money's?

Fidelity DOOM-2012 Fund™ ?

135 Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 10:42 AM (/G5LI)

two years ago the hedge funds were buying up farmland like mad, just about the same time the banks who suddenly were securities dealers too were buying ships and oil and having them float out there on the ocean, literally.  Guess their "floats" are going to pay off big.

136

What Who killed Detroit? America?

Democrats.

FIFY

137 ETFs - Oil, Ag, Silver, Gold.

138 125 Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 10:36 AM (/G5LI)

Beck keeps talking about "the coin guy" who got like twenty years in prison or something.  Can you put (an) entire state, states, in prison?

Posted by: ... at March 24, 2011 10:38 AM (k1rwm)

My point exactly. You can people out in ones and twos, but in the millions? Gonna have to try another tactic.

If a financial collapse occurs, a lot of people think the country will break up into regions. I'm in the Texas region, and I can't think of a better place to be. The way things are going nowadays, i'd rather be part of the Republic of Greater Texas, than the US of A.

139 Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 24, 2011 10:43 AM (UO6+e)

oh wow, thanks, geez you so cannot make this stuff up

140 I understand that straight razor futures are sharply up. Thanks, Monty!

141 Aren't whites a minority in Texas now?

Don't sound too safe to me....

142 beck talking about Samantha power, who apparently pushed BO to go into Libya.  Wasn't she also the biotch who bashed hillary and ultimately helped bring hillary's campaign to a halt?

143

No disagreement with your statement re the debt form of the money.  But in a sense, all money is debt - it begins existence as a token of government indebtedness once it is spent into existence, and we accept that debt mainly because the government can then demand it back from us in the taxes. 

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 10:39 AM (xUM1Q)

That only applies to "Fiat" currencies. "Specie" currencies are assets. And which party got us off the Gold standard? The Democrats!

Why? So they could play games with the money!

144 China, Russia, Brazil, India -- all these countries are starting to look at America's books, and they're not liking what they see. At some point, they're going to want *real* money for their stuff, not some wildly-inflated toilet paper. At some point, world trade is going to move off the USD by necessity. We are, sooner or later, going to have to accept a world in which the USD is *not* the reserve currency; it will have to compete right along with every other currency -- and it's going to get smacked around if we don't stop debasing it.

We've been abusing our status as the holder of the default reserve currency for a long time. We've forgotten that the world has other choices now, and pretty soon, that vaunted "flight to safety" is going to change course to someone else (or several someone elses -- diversification is always good advice, in this as in so much else).

Posted by: Monty at March 24, 2011 10:36 AM (4Pleu)

So, what will they go to?  What other issuer of currency would you trust?  No other nation is as open as the US in terms of allowing people to spend our currency on whatever they want, including US land, companies, and other productive assets.  They're not going to the Euro - those people are boned harder than us because of the layabouts in the South and the Muz who are all over.  Think they'll go to the Chinese currency, which to this day is pegged against a foreign currency to Chinese advantage?  Their options are limited, unless they want to go to barter.

Even if they switch for future trade, our debts at that point will still be dollar denominated.  They can't force us to pay with anything else.  Unless they want war, and that would be the worse economic miscalculation of all time.

But lets say they do go to barter, like an oil-backed "currency" or some such.  So what?  Our international purchasing power diminishes.  That should have already been happening due to the trade deficit.  It will not happen over night.  It will be a slow process.  And ALL will suffer - not just the US.  The only way that hurts us is with oil imports.  That's bad, but it would push us off oil and into nukes/nat gas, or it would force us to crack our own uptapped resources.  There is no other vital necessity that can't be on-shored for the right price.  There is no natural resource we can't get here, other than an adequate supply of oil.

It will not be the end.  In some ways it might be beneficial.  After all - we don't need foreign loans to spend, particularly when it comes to domestic spending.   

145 Granny and Grampy are going to get the hosing of a lifetime.)

Remember Grandpa and Grandma vote, at every election, at every party meeting.  Do you think they are going to let themselves be screwed - I doubt it.  I think angry old people voting for the party handing out the most sweets is part of the longterm Democratic plan.

146 The libs/dems are saying "we can always go back to the gold standard".  I finally got so fed up hearing it I said "there isn't enough gold out there, physical gold for the US to go back to the gold standard even if they bought gold from everyone on the planet holding it"....they shut up

147 145 Granny and Grampy are going to get the hosing of a lifetime.)

Remember Grandpa and Grandma vote, at every election, at every party meeting.  Do you think they are going to let themselves be screwed - I doubt it.  I think angry old people voting for the party handing out the most sweets is part of the longterm Democratic plan.

Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 10:50 AM (WkuV6)

allow me to introduce myself, my name is "death panels"

148

Let's say that tomorrow we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold in the US, dug it up, paid our debts, and balanced the budget with massive cuts to the government. 

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 10:20 AM (xUM1Q)

If we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold, the feds would claim it 'for the people', and add 17 new spending programs based on the formula of: dollars on hand * 1.68 = spending.

149 The WH staff locked him out of the WH because they were not informed as to the time of his arrival.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 24, 2011 10:43 AM (UO6+e)

I think that the staff was very surprised to see Jugears McFuckstick reporting to the office before the crack of noon...

150 Jean, if you don't already know, I think you'd be really really surprised at how many Grannies and Grampies are in fact Tea Partiers and already realize they're in for a rough time and are ready for it.

151 two years ago the hedge funds were buying up farmland like mad, just about the same time the banks who suddenly were securities dealers too were buying ships and oil and having them float out there on the ocean, literally.  Guess their "floats" are going to pay off big.

Posted by: a worried curious at March 24, 2011 10:45 AM (k1rwm)

I don't know if my CNG filling station idea will pay off big, but I am hoping it will help my community weather the storm. If we are using locally produced Natural Gas rather than refined oil for gasoline, our reduction in use of oil can assist those in other areas by lowering the domestic demand for oil. The "Pickens Plan" was/is a really good idea for the country, both locally and overall.

I'm jumping in with both feet. I cannot think of a better application of my money than lowering my communities dependence on Oil. If things collapse, communities will HAVE to cooperate for the common good.

152 Posted by: Like high-compression V-8s at March 24, 2011 10:55 AM (lT0LC)

we're collecting all the world's lithium

153 It isn't old people driving the status quo. When people with a lot of money stand to lose big, they press their bought politicians to fix it, which they do and will do this time. They will fuck all of you who work a little harder until the risk of losing is off them.

In case I am not clear enough: They bail out the rich and you pay. Get used to it.

154 @98

Returning from a five-day trip to Latin America, video shows the president strolling up to french doors at the White House and trying the handle on a locked door. He appeared to be whistling as he made his way down to another set of doors that were open.

That's usually what happens when the people on the inside don't want you back.

155 beck had a caller and is having a "moment of putting it all together".  I used to think the researchers find everything the blogs find and just fail to mention it, now I'm thinking they just don't read the blogs.  A caller gave him information on Mrs. Cass Sun  styne aka sam pow ers and suddenly he thinks he knows why we are in libya.

odd that, sam and hill on the same old page

156

That only applies to "Fiat" currencies. "Specie" currencies are assets. And which party got us off the Gold standard? The Democrats!

Why? So they could play games with the money!

Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 10:49 AM (/G5LI)

I don't disagree with why they did it, though as I recall it was Nixon who finally closed the gold window.  But even 'specie' currency didn't have absolute value.  In the 1700s there were currency trading houses in Amsterdam and Hamburg where gold and silver coins from different states were traded at relative values that fluctuated almost daily.  Anyway, all money is, to a greater or lesser degree, given value by official fiat within a given country.  If the king wants you to pay your tax in sea shells, well, you better get down to the beach quick.  Cuz all your neighbors will be there.  Gold currency can also be inflated - by increasing the supply.  When the spanish were looting the gold from the new world they flooded Europe with it to buy all manner of goods, and the value of gold dropped significantly, beggaring Spain's neighbors to some degree. 

Also - a gold backed currency makes you vulnerable to foreign chicarnery.  Back when the dollar could be converted into gold, France took advantage of a trade surplus (which, as I recall, they engineered) with the US to drain the US gold reserve.  The Chinese peg is an artificial trade deficit creator - they'd do exactly the same. 

The problem isn't fiat money.  It's bad government.

157 Let's say that tomorrow we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold in the US, dug it up, paid our debts, and balanced the budget with massive cuts to the government.

I would put more faith in a miraculous gold find, then the chances of us digging it up in the face of environmental lawsuits or the current political system paying our debts, balancing a budget, or cutting anything.

158

The Kittehs of Apocalyptic Doom give me hope and inspire me, thank you Mr. Monty, thank you.

 

(yes, it's joke on one level, but completely serious on another)

159 Beck says "the blaze" "will still respect you in the morning"

160

Economic doom is pretty juicy lately, but I remain convinced that the real reason America is over is because of the destruction of our culture.  Consider today's young people.  Many of them are upstanding citizens.  But every crop has a higher and higher proportion of scum.  Trash.  Vermin.  Self indulgent, ill bred, intemperate, ignorant little villains.  Why?  Bad parenting and teaching.  Why bad parenting and teaching?  The Liberal parasite has terminally infected our culture and tainted nearly all of our institutions.  It's producing people who can't function, and don't want to.  Liberalism has defeated its main enemy - discipline. 

 

I agree with you to an extent. Children born out of wedlock to blacks is around 72%, hispanics about 50% and whites 25%. The liberal destruction of the family unit is going to lead to further chaos in DOOM world. In reality, the only people you can really count on are your family, friends, church and community. Government can never replace those. We've already seen how the destruction of the family is affecting the black population. My god-daughter's family is black. They have 4 single girls - the loves of my life ranging in age from 18 - 27. All of them completed university or are in university now, working and no out of wedlock pregnancies. Seriously, I hit a demographic jackpot.

When I get back to Korea, I want to bring my church some copies of Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. I can only imagine the shock and can already hear my young friend Suzi gasp 'REALLY?' when I explain that Latesha is testing a 4th man to try to find out if he's the father of her bastard child.

In DOOM world, families will rule. Keep yours close.

161 141 Aren't whites a minority in Texas now?

Don't sound too safe to me....

Posted by: JT2 at March 24, 2011 10:48 AM (iXLkL)

Mexicans are decent people and not nearly so much of a problem as when they are living in Corrupt Mexico. I personally don't think they should be here illegally, but I haven't noticed any particular problem with them. Besides, if worst comes to worst we can always deal with it as that old joke says... "We haven't played Cowboys and Mexicans yet."

162

If we found a miraculously huge deposit of gold, the feds would claim it 'for the people', and add 17 new spending programs based on the formula of: dollars on hand * 1.68 = spending.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at March 24, 2011 10:53 AM (SNs7J)

Yeah, I'm sure you're right.  Which only reinforces my point - Leftist beliefs are the problem in the US, much more so than economics.

163 Obama apparently has 2 meetings today, the 1st with Turbo Tax Tim and the 2nd with his national security team.

164  The WH staff locked him out of the WH because they were not informed as to the time of his arrival.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 24, 2011 10:43 AM (UO6+e)

*whistle* *whistle* *whistle*...

*whistle* *whistle* *whistle*...

..if I only had a braaaiiinnnn

165 146 The libs/dems are saying "we can always go back to the gold standard".  I finally got so fed up hearing it I said "there isn't enough gold out there, physical gold for the US to go back to the gold standard even if they bought gold from everyone on the planet holding it"....they shut up

Posted by: a worried curious at March 24, 2011 10:51 AM (k1rwm) 

What about silver? (Which is more like what I was thinking.)

166

@102 I think that is an old communist strategy before Ayers.

The WH staff locked him out of the WH because they were not informed as to the time of his arrival.

If he doesn't DO anything how do you know he's gone?

167

So Monty, how long before the EU collapses and Germany abandons the euro?

Spain's collapse I think will be the breaking point. Most of the center-right governments in Europe are more concerned with their own houses than their idiot socialist neighbors.

168 149 The WH staff locked him out of the WH because they were not informed as to the time of his arrival.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 24, 2011 10:43 AM (UO6+e)

Hopefully it is an omen of the future.

169

...send not to know
For whom the bone bones,
It bones for thee.

170 Should I buy stock in the bigger currency printers now, in anticipation of the rush orders from Europe?

171

What about silver? (Which is more like what I was thinking.)

Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 11:04 AM (/G5LI)

Probably not all that workable either.  The industrial use of silver is also going up, tough also silver is way easier to get at.  It's actually a by-product of many other forms of mining work, in addition to being mined for its own sake. 

Besides - I can't imagine how you'd get there from here.  What would happen if the US started buying up all the silver?  The price would skyrocket.  That alone would introduce all manner of price/value instability.  It would be a mess. 

I doubt that there is really any workable way to go to a commodity currency, and I think it would be a disaster if we did.  We already have huge debt in dollar terms.  Converting that debt into something we can't easily get is folly of the worst kind.

172

The problem isn't fiat money.  It's bad government.

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 10:59 AM (xUM1Q)

Fiat currencies are more enablers of bad government than are specie currencies.

173 Should I buy stock in the bigger currency printers now, in anticipation of the rush orders from Europe?

Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 11:09 AM (WkuV6)

Heh heh.  Given that most of that money will be generated by a little man who walks over to a computer and adds zeros to some accounts, I'd hold off on investing in a lot of hardware. 

174 So, The Bundesdruckerei Group and the Banknote of America Corporation should be good investments, right (unless they already moved).

175

Economic doom is pretty juicy lately, but I remain convinced that the real reason America is over is because of the destruction of our culture.  Consider today's young people.  Many of them are upstanding citizens.  But every crop has a higher and higher proportion of scum.  Trash.  Vermin.  Self indulgent, ill bred, intemperate, ignorant little villains.  Why?  Bad parenting and teaching.  Why bad parenting and teaching?  The Liberal parasite has terminally infected our culture and tainted nearly all of our institutions.  It's producing people who can't function, and don't want to.  Liberalism has defeated its main enemy - discipline. 

 Posted by: Canadian Infidel at March 24, 2011 11:01 AM (GKQDR)

One of my constant points in all my discussions. Economics is NOT independent of Social Morality. As I also point out, Edmund Burke (considered the father of Conservatism) and Adam Smith (The father of economic theory) were not only contemporaries but also good friends and their philosophies were complimentary, not contradictory.

176

They will throw fits, and break things

Mom?

177

Fiat currencies are more enablers of bad government than are specie currencies.

Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 11:10 AM (/G5LI)

Fair enough, but all governments are going to be ill behaved, if history is any guide.  I fear that the problems of commodity debt are harder to solve than those of fiat money debt.  Inflation hurts a lot less than austerity, and does less economic damage.

One other piece of data to chew - the worst hyperinflation events in history (Wiemar, and Zimbabwe) were in currencies backed by gold in the first case, and dollars (foreign currency) in the second case.  In other words, convertible into something the government could not supply.  Most of the other similar events have been the same - governments had to rapidly debase their own currency in the process of trying to buy up the currency or precious metal they needed to pay off their debts.  Given that no government is trustworthy, I fear specie more than I fear fiat.

178

I doubt that there is really any workable way to go to a commodity currency, and I think it would be a disaster if we did.  We already have huge debt in dollar terms.  Converting that debt into something we can't easily get is folly of the worst kind.

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 11:10 AM (xUM1Q)

Money is really just a score keeping system vis a vis other people. All I want is something where the people in Washington can't dick around with it. I'm moving most of my money into assets that are hopefully mostly beyond their ability to get at. Land, Cattle, Energy, material.

Don't know if it will work, but it's the only thing I can think of to do.

179

Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 11:14 AM (/G5LI)

Interesting. Thanks.

Sadly, the quote was mine but was

Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 24, 2011 10:26 AM (WvFvd)

180

One other piece of data to chew - the worst hyperinflation events in history (Wiemar, and Zimbabwe) were in currencies backed by gold in the first case, and dollars (foreign currency) in the second case.  In other words, convertible into something the government could not supply.  Most of the other similar events have been the same - governments had to rapidly debase their own currency in the process of trying to buy up the currency or precious metal they needed to pay off their debts.  Given that no government is trustworthy, I fear specie more than I fear fiat.

Posted by: Reactionary at March 24, 2011 11:16 AM (xUM1Q)

I think I see what you're getting at. I'm not talking about "Gold Certificates" or "Silver Certificates." I'm talking about the real thing. Hard to play games with the real thing. Yeah, paper money is convenient to use, but it is also convenient for a government to mis-use. Until the U.S. Government (or whatever subsequent government occurs.) establish a renewed faith in it's credibility, i'd rather deal with the annoyance of carting in a wheelbarrow full of metal than the convenient paper from which they can steal the value.

181

wasn't mine but was

Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 11:14 AM (/G5LI)

182 So Monty, how long before the EU collapses and Germany abandons the euro? I think that the Germans and the French, anxious to avoid the debacle that the dissolution of the Euro would entail, would instead agitate for a two-tier system: the northern "healthy" countries would keep the "Euromark" (because that's what the Euro really is); the basket-case Med countries would get a lower tier "Eurodrachma" (or whatever). The ruse would fool no one (least of all the bond-holders of shitty Med debt denominated in Euros), but the EU will do anything to save face and avoid admitting that the Euro is a bust. Plus, dissolution is anything but easy, even for a small country like Ireland. Coverting back to the Irish pound will incur still more fees and debts, and there will inevitably be legal action if Euro-denominated debt is redenominated in Irish Pound debt -- because this will be a de facto if not a de jure default on bond-debt. Another possilbility is that there is a basic takeover of sovereign government fiscal controls by the ECB and the EU in Brussels. The Euro never made any sense because monetary policy can't work without being tied to fiscal policy; the EU is now learning why that's true. But it's unclear to me that the EU countries will be willing to give up their national sovereignty to an unelected central bureaucracy simply in order to bail out some profligate Mediterranean countries. I've also heard some rumors that the ECB will float a "eurobond" issue at some point, backed by the bank itself rather than any member nation, but again -- the Euros backing it *are* national, so someone has to pony up the money eventually. (Probably the Germans and the French.) So it's really just a whitewash again.

183

Interesting. Thanks.

Sadly, the quote was mine but was

Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 24, 2011 10:26 AM (WvFvd)

Posted by: Canadian Infidel at March 24, 2011 11:23 AM (GKQDR)

Sorry. Hurriedly copying and pasting can sometimes cause that result. I'm constantly arguing with Libertarians about the interconnectivity of Fiscal and Social conservatism. I keep telling them that there IS no boundary between the two. There is only an illusion of a boundary.

The Georgian age of moral turpitude was followed by the Victorian age of Moral discipline and England's rise to it's greatest status in History. Fiscal Discipline is a subset of Moral discipline. You simply cannot separate the two.

184 Specie currencies don't prevent the boom-bust cycle; they simply prevent it from growing beyond a certain point. Human nature being what it is, you're always going to have speculative bubbles, and governments will always try to find ways to debase *any* currency (just as the Romans did with the silver Denarii). But advantage of a specie or commodity-backed currency is that it limits the "leverage" a government can use in getting into debt. Also, privatized currencies can compete just like any other commodity and prevent debasement. Privatized currencies have been held back in past times (mainly due to the difficulty of maintaining a good exchange-rate listing) but modern technology has removed many of these barriers. I personally think privatized currencies or a return to "free banking" is a much better solution. At minimum, I think we should abolish fractional-reserve banking and get rid of the Federal Reserve (the whole idea of "central banks" is rather absurd).

185 Ugh, sorry about that, Canadian Infidel >.<;;  I did not notice that I'd misquoted.

186 I will restate my doom currency scheme: pennies = lead shot (00); nickles .17/.22 cal pellets; dimes = .22LR; quarters = 9mm/.38/12g; $1 = .223; $5 = .308.  Larger debts to be settled in specie metals or direct trade using a common simple sale contract.

187 187 I will restate my doom currency scheme: pennies = lead shot (00); nickles .17/.22 cal pellets; dimes = .22LR; quarters = 9mm/.38/12g; $1 = .223; $5 = .308.  Larger debts to be settled in specie metals or direct trade using a common simple sale contract.

Posted by: Jean at March 24, 2011 11:40 AM (WkuV6)

Lately i've been advising my friends to invest in Metals. Lead is my number one recommendation with copper being second.

(You can get all the tin you need from pennies.) 

188 In addition to the above, I would consider some sort of instant sale corporate bond/stock system/commodity tied to a credit/debit card format.  All exchanged privately.

189

To the Tune of "Too Young"  Nat King Cole

They try to tell us we're too Dumb
Too Dumb to really be insolvent
They say that insolvent's a word
A word we've only heard
But can't begin to know the meaning of
And yet we're not too Dumb to know
This insolvency will last...though years may go

190

Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 24, 2011 11:32 AM (WvFvd)

No problem. Just wanted to give credit where it's due.

 

Fiscal Discipline is a subset of Moral discipline. You simply cannot separate the two.
Posted by: DiogenesLamp at March 24, 2011 11:28 AM (/G5LI)

Agreed.

Time to run.

Thanks for the DOOM Monty!

 

191 21 Detroit died when there became more than three choices of manufacturers.

I think my stint as Mayor was helpful as well.

192 Thanks, Barry - gas is now $4.04.

193 No, wait... it'll get much worse very very soon; then what will we call it?

If we've already used "DOOM" what do we have next?

For those of you missing it, we're paying 0.68% in interest payments on our debt, instead of a more common number around 5%.  And we're inflating our currency, which makes our debt less valuable to investors; so the rate will have to increase.

If you take out interest payments and calculate out the rate at 5%, we don't owe 400 billion a year in interest, we clear 1.2 trillion a year in interest.

But no worries, we've planned ahead so we've got the extra 800 billion a year this will cost just laying around so we can pay it.

Just remember, if you're planning on closing the deficit hole you may need to cut/save/raise about 800 billion more than you expect once the interest rates stabilize at their common (higher) rates.

194

Why repugnican leadership thinks avoiding shutdown with an irregular sprint to the rear is going to save them is evident stress disorder.

As others have pointed out,  there'll be 2 or 3 TEAs to oppose them in every primary.

195

Don't fall for the moonshine that we can simply default on our debt any time we like. We can't.

Who needs default when there is the repudiation option?  Stage an uprising/crisis, "collapse" the existing government, and the "new" government that follows simply repudiates the debts of the prior one.   Nice and easy.

196 Excellent post, Monty - perhaps your best ever!

197 emlak haberleri emlak haber emlak haberleri proje haberleri proje haberleri emlak