Reaganomics driving us into Phase 2 of meltdown
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-2008-crash-isnt-over-only-covered-up-2011-03-08
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Our Time of Universal Deceit Needs An Orwell By Paul Craig Roberts
“Support the troops” originated in the public relations department of the military/security complex. What “support the troops” really means is to support the profits of the armaments industry and the neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony.
“Support the troops” is a clever PR slogan that causes Americans to turn a blind eye to the brutal exploitation of our soldiers and military families for profit and for an evil ideology.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27679.htm
“Support the troops” is a clever PR slogan that causes Americans to turn a blind eye to the brutal exploitation of our soldiers and military families for profit and for an evil ideology.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27679.htm
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
MARTIN ARMSTRONG IS RELEASED FROM PRISON
CREDIT TO WERNERUL FOR THE LINKS:
ARMSTRONG'S LATEST ARTICLE:
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/how%20and%20when%2003-01-2011.pdf
A NOTE FROM ARMSTRONG:
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/release%2003-08-2011.pdf
ARMSTRONG'S LATEST ARTICLE:
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/how%20and%20when%2003-01-2011.pdf
A NOTE FROM ARMSTRONG:
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/release%2003-08-2011.pdf
US backing for world currency stuns markets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/5050407/US-backing-for-world-currency-stuns-markets.html
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.
Daniel Ellsberg: This shameful abuse of Bradley Manning
The WikiLeaks suspect's mistreatment amounts to torture.
Either President Obama knows this or he should make it his business
Either President Obama knows this or he should make it his business
Friday, March 11, 2011
Jim Sinclair Interviewed By King World News
Posted: Mar 11 2011 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: March 11, 2011 at 12:47 am
Filed under: King World News
Filed under: King World News
Dear CIGAs,
Eric King of King World News was kind enough to interview me on today’s gold market action. Please click the link below to listen to the interview.
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2011/3/11_Jim_Sinclair.html
Eric King of King World News was kind enough to interview me on today’s gold market action. Please click the link below to listen to the interview.
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2011/3/11_Jim_Sinclair.html
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Stealing from Social Security to Pay for Wars and Bailouts By Paul Craig Roberts
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27644.htm
There is not enough non-military discretionary spending in the budget to cover the cost of the wars even if every dollar is cut. As long as the $1,200 billion ($1.2 trillion) annual budget for the military/security complex is off limits,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175361/
nothing can be done about the U.S. budget deficit except to renege on obligations to the elderly, confiscate private assets, or print enough money to inflate away all debts.Where is all this leading?
It is leading to the destruction of Social Security and Medicare.
There is not enough non-military discretionary spending in the budget to cover the cost of the wars even if every dollar is cut. As long as the $1,200 billion ($1.2 trillion) annual budget for the military/security complex is off limits,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175361/
nothing can be done about the U.S. budget deficit except to renege on obligations to the elderly, confiscate private assets, or print enough money to inflate away all debts.Where is all this leading?
It is leading to the destruction of Social Security and Medicare.
Saudi Arabia is losing its fear
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/saudi-arabia-revolution-protests
"It's very difficult to predict what will happen on Friday. My guess is that there will be protests. The larger protests will be in the eastern region and mostly by Shia Muslims. I also expect smaller protests in Riyadh and Jeddah. What tactics the security forces use will greatly influence not only the demonstrators but also the people watching from their homes. If undue violence is used against the demonstrators, it could possibly ignite the same fuse that led to full-blown revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya."
"It's very difficult to predict what will happen on Friday. My guess is that there will be protests. The larger protests will be in the eastern region and mostly by Shia Muslims. I also expect smaller protests in Riyadh and Jeddah. What tactics the security forces use will greatly influence not only the demonstrators but also the people watching from their homes. If undue violence is used against the demonstrators, it could possibly ignite the same fuse that led to full-blown revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya."
.Broke Town, U.S.A.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06Muni-t.html
Cities across America are facing dire financial distress. Meredith Whitney, a banking analyst turned independent adviser who correctly predicted the banking meltdown, has issued an Armageddon-like prediction of mass municipal defaults.
Cities across America are facing dire financial distress. Meredith Whitney, a banking analyst turned independent adviser who correctly predicted the banking meltdown, has issued an Armageddon-like prediction of mass municipal defaults.
Crisis in Context: 'This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,' by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff
http://seekingalpha.com/article/171610-crisis-in-context-this-time-is-different-eight-centuries-of-financial-folly-by-carmen-m-reinhart-and-kenneth-s-rogoff
Reinhart and Rogoff start right out with the following statement: “If there is one common theme to the vast range of crises we consider in this book, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom.” However, “Although private debt certainly plays a key role in many crises, government debt is far more often the unifying problem across the wide range of financial crises we examine.”
And, what is one of the major factors that accompanies this excessive debt accumulation? “A clear inflationary bias throughout history emerges.” Why? “Early on across the world the main device for defaulting on government obligations was that of debasing the content of the coinage.” The modern printing presses have just provided a technologically more advanced and more efficient approach to this process.
Reinhart and Rogoff start right out with the following statement: “If there is one common theme to the vast range of crises we consider in this book, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom.” However, “Although private debt certainly plays a key role in many crises, government debt is far more often the unifying problem across the wide range of financial crises we examine.”
And, what is one of the major factors that accompanies this excessive debt accumulation? “A clear inflationary bias throughout history emerges.” Why? “Early on across the world the main device for defaulting on government obligations was that of debasing the content of the coinage.” The modern printing presses have just provided a technologically more advanced and more efficient approach to this process.
"No Way Out" of Debt Trap, Gross Says: U.S. Living Standards Doomed to Fall
http://yhoo.it/fRbCqL
now after years of reckless spending, America’s debt level is nearing a breaking point and can no longer rely on foreign capital as a last resort. “When a country reaches a certain debt level, confidence in that country’s ability to repay that debt becomes jeopardized,” says Gross, citing the work of Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart in This Time Is Different.
now after years of reckless spending, America’s debt level is nearing a breaking point and can no longer rely on foreign capital as a last resort. “When a country reaches a certain debt level, confidence in that country’s ability to repay that debt becomes jeopardized,” says Gross, citing the work of Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart in This Time Is Different.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
This Time We’re Taking the Whole Planet With Us By Chris Hedges
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27627.htm
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/this_time_were_taking_the_whole_planet_with_us_20110307/
The worse it gets the more we demand illusionary Ronald Reagan happy talk. Those willing to cater to fantasy and self-delusion are, because they make us politically passive, lavishly funded and promoted by corporate and oligarchic forces. And by the very end we are joyfully led over the cliff by simpletons and lunatics, many of whom appear to be lining up for the Republican presidential nomination.
This time when we go down it will be global. There are no new lands to pillage, no new peoples to exploit. Technology, which has obliterated the constraints of time and space, has turned our global village into a global death trap.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/this_time_were_taking_the_whole_planet_with_us_20110307/
The worse it gets the more we demand illusionary Ronald Reagan happy talk. Those willing to cater to fantasy and self-delusion are, because they make us politically passive, lavishly funded and promoted by corporate and oligarchic forces. And by the very end we are joyfully led over the cliff by simpletons and lunatics, many of whom appear to be lining up for the Republican presidential nomination.
This time when we go down it will be global. There are no new lands to pillage, no new peoples to exploit. Technology, which has obliterated the constraints of time and space, has turned our global village into a global death trap.
FUNNY STUFF FROM JSMINESET.COM
The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ asks the wife.
‘They’re on sale, only $10 for 24 cans’ he replies.
‘Put them back, we can’t afford them’ demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.
A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.
˜What do you think you’re doing?’ asks the husband.
‘It’s my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,’ replies the wife.
Her husband retorts: ‘So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it’s half the price.’
HUSBAND DOWN!, HUSBAND DOWN!, AISLE 7
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Utah House stamps gold, silver as legal tender
CREDIT TO GOLDMELTER FOR THE LINK
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51364301-76/silver-gold-legal-tender.html.csp#
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51364301-76/silver-gold-legal-tender.html.csp#
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Nation Stripped Bare: Fascism Has Come to America
http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2099-a-nation-stripped-bare-fascism-has-come-to-america.html
A conversation during Civil War. (From work-in-progress Bright, Terrible Spirit):
"But in days past, I was a lawyer. Yes, a lawyer, can you believe it? It seems….ridiculous now, doesn't it? An orderly system meant to govern human society, to establish justice, to advance the progress and enlightenment of the human race. Yet that system, that civil cosmos – to which I was so passionately committed – embraced and protected the most wretched evils, entrenched the powerful in their unjust privilege, oppressed the poor and weak most relentlessly and wickedly, yet at every step – at every step – sang hosannas to itself as some kind of divinity. The "Law" – oh, what a hush of reverence surrounded that word, how deeply that reverence and respect penetrated the heart. Well, my heart, anyway. But in these last few years we have seen – in intense, concentrated, microscopic view – the truth about the law, a truth which too often escaped us in the slow unrolling of peacetime. The truth that there is no law, no Platonic Form out there to which we give paltry representation. There is only power: power in conflict with power, power seeking to drive out power, to establish its dominance, maintain its privilege. Power…acquiesces to law – sometimes – but it never, never bows to it. Power goes along with the law when it is convenient to do so, when it is not too restrictive, when it demands little more than the occasional sacrifice – for the powerful are certainly not above throwing one of their own to the mob when circumstances require. But when it comes to the crisis, power shreds the law like a filthy rag and has its own way. And then you see that the law is nothing but a rag, to be torn and patched and fitted to power's aims. The worst atrocities I have seen or heard of in this war have been committed wholly and completely under the law. This thing I held in such reverence was, is, nothing but a scrap soaked with blood and shit."
This is what the administration of President Barack Obama has brought to open fruition in the United States of America. The debate is over. The question is answered. Facism has come.
A conversation during Civil War. (From work-in-progress Bright, Terrible Spirit):
"But in days past, I was a lawyer. Yes, a lawyer, can you believe it? It seems….ridiculous now, doesn't it? An orderly system meant to govern human society, to establish justice, to advance the progress and enlightenment of the human race. Yet that system, that civil cosmos – to which I was so passionately committed – embraced and protected the most wretched evils, entrenched the powerful in their unjust privilege, oppressed the poor and weak most relentlessly and wickedly, yet at every step – at every step – sang hosannas to itself as some kind of divinity. The "Law" – oh, what a hush of reverence surrounded that word, how deeply that reverence and respect penetrated the heart. Well, my heart, anyway. But in these last few years we have seen – in intense, concentrated, microscopic view – the truth about the law, a truth which too often escaped us in the slow unrolling of peacetime. The truth that there is no law, no Platonic Form out there to which we give paltry representation. There is only power: power in conflict with power, power seeking to drive out power, to establish its dominance, maintain its privilege. Power…acquiesces to law – sometimes – but it never, never bows to it. Power goes along with the law when it is convenient to do so, when it is not too restrictive, when it demands little more than the occasional sacrifice – for the powerful are certainly not above throwing one of their own to the mob when circumstances require. But when it comes to the crisis, power shreds the law like a filthy rag and has its own way. And then you see that the law is nothing but a rag, to be torn and patched and fitted to power's aims. The worst atrocities I have seen or heard of in this war have been committed wholly and completely under the law. This thing I held in such reverence was, is, nothing but a scrap soaked with blood and shit."
This is what the administration of President Barack Obama has brought to open fruition in the United States of America. The debate is over. The question is answered. Facism has come.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Why the Dollar's Reign Is Near an End
THIS ARTICLE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY DAN NORCINI
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
TO THINK ABOUT...
"Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war." - Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Four time bombs that will blow up Wall Street
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/four-time-bombs-that-will-blow-up-wall-street-2011-03-01
Too late to jail bank CEOs; only revolution will succeed
PAUL B. FARRELL TELLS IT LIKE IT IS ONCE AGAIN
Too late to jail bank CEOs; only revolution will succeed
PAUL B. FARRELL TELLS IT LIKE IT IS ONCE AGAIN
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? By Matt Taibbi
"...a veritable mountain of evidence indicates that when it comes to Wall Street, the justice system not only sucks at punishing financial criminals, it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism for protecting financial criminals. This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who's in office or which party's in power."
" the very definition of property — after all, depends in part on a legal system that defends everyone's claims of ownership equally. When that definition becomes tenuous or conditional — when the state simply gives up on the notion of justice — this whole American Dream thing recedes even further from reality."
Lost Horizons: The Degradation of the Democratic Dogma
http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2094-lost-horizons-the-degradation-of-the-democratic-dogma.html
CHRIS FLOYD IS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST MINDS AND BEST WRITERS
OF OUR TIMES.
YOU SHOULD FOLLOW HIM DAILY.
"Rhetoric is often empty and meaningless, of course; the current gasbag in the White House gives ample proof of that. But it's not entirely unimportant either. It sets down markers by which the hypocrisy of those in power can be judged; and it can help shape the consciousness, the perceptions and the expectations of individuals in a society. When even the word of compassion is no longer heard, when even the rhetoric of solidarity and fellow-feeling are scorned and demonized, then yes, something real has been lost, and people's society -- and their minds -- have been degraded."
CHRIS FLOYD IS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST MINDS AND BEST WRITERS
OF OUR TIMES.
YOU SHOULD FOLLOW HIM DAILY.
"Rhetoric is often empty and meaningless, of course; the current gasbag in the White House gives ample proof of that. But it's not entirely unimportant either. It sets down markers by which the hypocrisy of those in power can be judged; and it can help shape the consciousness, the perceptions and the expectations of individuals in a society. When even the word of compassion is no longer heard, when even the rhetoric of solidarity and fellow-feeling are scorned and demonized, then yes, something real has been lost, and people's society -- and their minds -- have been degraded."
Friday, February 25, 2011
Behind the Arab Revolt is a Word We Dare Not Speak
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27568.htm
Fascism is a difficult word, because it comes with an iconography that touches the Nazi nerve and is abused as propaganda against America’s official enemies and to promote the West’s foreign adventures with a moral vocabulary written in the struggle against Hitler. And yet fascism and imperialism are twins.
Fascism is a difficult word, because it comes with an iconography that touches the Nazi nerve and is abused as propaganda against America’s official enemies and to promote the West’s foreign adventures with a moral vocabulary written in the struggle against Hitler. And yet fascism and imperialism are twins.
US/Israel Assassinations And Cyber Worms Don’t Work
THIS IS A GOOD ONE. PLEASE READ IT ENTIRELY
http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/usisrael-assassinations-and-cyber-worms-dont-work/#more-10114
http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/usisrael-assassinations-and-cyber-worms-dont-work/#more-10114
The CIA's Killing Spree in Lahore By Mike Whitney
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27558.htm
When CIA-agent Raymond Davis gunned down two Pakistani civilians in broad daylight on a crowded street in Lahore, he probably never imagined that the entire Washington establishment would spring to his defense. But that's precisely what happened.
Does Clinton know that after Davis shot his victims 5 times in the back, he calmly strode back to his car, grabbed his camera, and photographed the dead bodies? Does she know that the two so-called "diplomats" who came to his rescue in a Land Rover (which killed a passerby) have been secretly spirited out of the country so they won't have to appear in court? Does she know that the families of the victims are now being threatened and attacked to keep them from testifying against Davis?
When CIA-agent Raymond Davis gunned down two Pakistani civilians in broad daylight on a crowded street in Lahore, he probably never imagined that the entire Washington establishment would spring to his defense. But that's precisely what happened.
Does Clinton know that after Davis shot his victims 5 times in the back, he calmly strode back to his car, grabbed his camera, and photographed the dead bodies? Does she know that the two so-called "diplomats" who came to his rescue in a Land Rover (which killed a passerby) have been secretly spirited out of the country so they won't have to appear in court? Does she know that the families of the victims are now being threatened and attacked to keep them from testifying against Davis?
TELL THE BASTARDS THEY'RE FULL OF SHIT!
CREDIT TO GOLDMELTER
This letter was too good not to pass along.
Oh boy, THIS Senior Citizen nails it! See comment below!
Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010.
...Here's a response in a letter from a unknown fellow in Montana...
I think he is a little ticked off ! He also tells it like it is !
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight...
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to
such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the
bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our
entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are
"greedy".
It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the
American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for
what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America
for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You
know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch."
Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: 'Account overdrawn'."
~~Francisco d'Anconia from "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
This letter was too good not to pass along.
Oh boy, THIS Senior Citizen nails it! See comment below!
Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010.
...Here's a response in a letter from a unknown fellow in Montana...
I think he is a little ticked off ! He also tells it like it is !
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight...
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to
such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the
bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our
entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are
"greedy".
It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the
American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for
what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America
for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You
know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch."
Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: 'Account overdrawn'."
~~Francisco d'Anconia from "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
Thursday, February 24, 2011
TO THINK ABOUT...
CREDIT TO GOLDMELTER
Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the
same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning
disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that
would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and
its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is
done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot
understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was
mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to
realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other
people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing
baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most
of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father
I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a
much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others
in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if
Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing
by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our
team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning..'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a
team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.
The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and
played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear
as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on
base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the
game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but
impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much
less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other
team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps
to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball
right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the
ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have
been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out
of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling,
'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball.
The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero
for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball
high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled
the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on
their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit
the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing
his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the
same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning
disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that
would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and
its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is
done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot
understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was
mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to
realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other
people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing
baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most
of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father
I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a
much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others
in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if
Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing
by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our
team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning..'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a
team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.
The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and
played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear
as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on
base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the
game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but
impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much
less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other
team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps
to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball
right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the
ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have
been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out
of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling,
'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball.
The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero
for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball
high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled
the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on
their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit
the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing
his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)