New Monetary Systems for a Sustainable Democracy and "The Great Turning"

(Photo: dewo / Flickr)Our money system is ill-equipped to help us solve the pervasive socio-economic and ecological challenges we face. Transformation of our money system is critical because monetary diversity is just as important to human survival as biodiversity is to the fate of the earth.

There is a lot that we can learn from nature, and one important lesson is that diverse systems have greater strength and resilience. When conditions change, various components within a diverse system will step in to pick up where others fail. The weaknesses of monocultures are evident in agricultural systems where crops either flourish or wither each season. We also know that using permaculture, in which multiple types of plants are grown together to fill different functions and aid each other, creates greater abundance.

Less obvious is that these same principles can be applied to monetary systems. The dominant type of money, a fiat currency, essentially a mono-currency based on debt and scarcity, is failing most of us. Inherently, it encourages competition and hoarding, traits that mean some will win, and some will be left out. It is also required to perform functions that are at odds with each other: to both circulate in the economy and to be accumulated for future use. And it requires constant growth to survive, a trait that becomes more maladaptive as we bump into the limits of a finite planet.

Alternatively, new types of money are being developed to complement the dominant currency. Over the past 40 years, the number of complementary currencies has grown from two to many thousands. Time is proving that these new currencies can be designed to fulfill vital functions that the dominant currency cannot and that they actually strengthen the overall monetary system. This is leading to a whole new way of thinking about money.

Money is an agreement between people about how to structure exchanges. It can be used to connect unmet needs with unused resources, however a community decides to define those terms. And money can be designed to shape behavior in ways that are positive for individuals and for society, that encourage cooperation, trust, protecting the environment and sharing prosperity.

The transition to a more diverse monetary system is happening largely outside of governments and large financial institutions. People within communities are working together to solve problems and meet their basic needs. It is possible to create what Jacqui Dunne, coauthor with Bernard Lietaer of Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity Into Prosperity, calls "sustainable abundance."

And as long as complementary currencies are designed in ways that are transparent, hyper-democratic and restorative, they will avoid the negative forces of the current system that defaults to increased wealth inequality and isolation of individuals. We are in the early phase of a transition, from the industrial age to the information age, from growth at any cost to sustainability and from competition to cooperation. Conditions are ripe to create the kind of world in which we want to live and to fund it using a diverse monetary system.

Debt-based Currency Creates Scarcity, Competition...

CONTINUE READING HERE!

Weeding Out the Wolves

As Janet Napolitano preps her departure from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some past skeletons are falling out of her closet during the move.

Now, these discoveries aren’t scandals exactly… However, they’re glimpses into the new era of government surveillance that she single-handedly created during her tenure.

You see, there’s a reason she’s referred to as “Big Sis.” Under her reign as head of the DHS, the country has seen a rapid increase in both government-sanctioned spying and audacious disregard for basic Constitutional rights.

According to Big Sis, in order to fully beef up national security, civil liberties are a necessary trade-off. Not only that, but the American populous should embrace the change! This is a conclusion that Napolitano has drawn time and time again…

Unfortunately, you’re probably unaware of just how much that conclusion has affected the rights of American soldiers – the very defenders of American freedom.

In fact, there’s a DHS operation even soldiers themselves are in the dark about… It’s called Operation Vigilant Eagle, and it’s the most shameless measure of Napolitano’s legacy.

The Eagle Has Landed

“God and soldier, we adore, in time of danger, not before.
The danger passed and all things righted, God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.”

When the parade passes and the confetti is swept off of the streets, the returning soldier’s celebration is over – and soon forgotten.

It’s disgraceful, isn’t it?

To think, these brave men and women stake their lives abroad protecting freedoms that simply don’t exist anymore… not even for themselves.

Instead, they return home, often with mental and physical trauma, extreme impoverishment, unemployment, homelessness, deplorable health benefits, post-traumatic stress, suicidal thoughts and family and marital strain. Keep in mind that this is just the short list.

The United States is home to roughly 23 million veterans who’ve served in wars spanning from Afghanistan all the way back to World War II. And if you talk to the majority of them, they’ll tell you how the country they sacrificed so much for has swept them under the rug.

I know first-hand. While I was with the McCain campaign, we worked closely with several veteran associations, and I had the honor of shaking hands with some of the nation’s most honorable men and women.

But here’s the scary thing about the recent DHS revelations…

Soldiers aren’t forgotten. In fact, they’re remembered in a manner they’d never wish on their worst enemy. You see, soldiers are the focus of an American law-enforcement effort called Operation Vigilant Eagle, tasked to the FBI by Napolitano back in 2009.

Its aim (i.e. how the government chooses to disseminate its aim) is to prevent “lone wolf” extremists from aiding terrorist organizations.

So how do they go about doing this? ...

CONTINUE TO READ THE SAD, SICKENING STORY HERE!

Myrtle Beach Outlaws Feeding the Homeless on Public AND Private Property

image source

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is widely known as a growing city due to its popular beaches and an economy geared toward the attraction of tourists, golfers, and vacationers. Any such community, of course, is naturally going to compete with other geographically similar locations. Thus, not to be outdone by other beach communities such as Orlando, Florida,[1] Myrtle Beach has now followed suit in banning good Samaritans from engaging in such charitable acts as feeding the homeless.[2]

In yet one more example of just how far the Nanny police state complex and the nightmare of overwhelming bureaucracy have become, not only has Myrtle Beach outlawed the use of public parks to feed those in need, frothing bureaucrats have also been instrumental in preventing these people from feeding the homeless on their own private property or even in churches.

Such is the revelation, previously unknown to many area residents, with the court case of Richard Hopkins, an area Quaker who feels that, as a follower of Jesus Christ, he is required to assist those less fortunate than he. While this may seem to many to be a noble gesture and an act of true charity to many, the city of Myrtle Beach, with its legion of bureaucrats and uniformed goons, sees Hopkins act as a crime.

Indeed, Hopkins does not deny the acts which he is accused of committing – feeding homeless people in Chapin Park on March 9 – and for that he was found guilty of a misdemeanor crime and given a $1,092 fine.

This issue initially arose around the fact that Myrtle Beach bureaucrats and city officials demand that a permit be issued for use of a public park by the very public that paid for the park to begin with. Hopkins, of course, was not using the park for commercial gain but that did not stop Myrtle Beach Law Enforcement from faithfully surrendering their brains and basic humanity to the city code guidelines and forcing Hopkins to cease feeding the hungry and even issuing him a citation for doing so...

CONTINUE READING ABOUT THE CRAZED AUTHORITARIAN OUTLAW STATE HERE!

What Steve King Has In Mind When He Hears 'Latino Outreach' OR... THE 3 HATEFUL AMIGOS!

Bombshell: Plutocrats Brazenly Collude to Hurt State Economies and Screw Working People

Illinois fatcats discuss plan to sabotage state bond ratings in scheme to destroy pensions.

[THIS IS WHAT OLD, RICH WHITE MEN DO! WHY? BECAUSE THEY ARE SENILE, OLD, GREEDY F**KS!]

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

These days, many Americans walk around feeling like no matter how hard they work, how much they manage to save or how carefully they plan for the future, the game is rigged against them. They suspect that behind closed doors, CEOs and Wall Street honchos are eagerly scheming to rip them off.

Their worst fears of corruption and collusion just came true in Illinois, where corporate titans were caught red-handed in the act of Rigging the Game.

Let’s step inside a recent gathering of the corporate-backed Union League Club of Chicago, where former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner, who now leads a band of plutocrats known as the “Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago,” recently launched into an hour-long diatribe on the evils of state pensions.

Fahner, a top GOP fundraiser, can’t abide the notion that teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public workers in the state of Illinois can still expect a decent retirement. Not a luxurious retirement, mind you — the average pension is $32,000 a year, and most state employees will not receive Social Security. But even a modest retirement for hard-working people is too much for today’s fatcats.

Fahner is part of a virulent strain of public raiders and economic crackpots who have become dominant in the Republican Party (and increasingly among the Democrats, too) who are hell-bent on destroying unions and attacking public employees. Ultimately they wish to privatize everything and reduce their tax responsibilities down to nothing.

That’s why Fahner has declared war on pensions and is promoting a pension crisis in order to justify it . He has called for cost of living cuts, raising the retirement age, capping pension earnings and shifting the cost of the pension obligation of teachers to local school districts , many of which are too poor ever to pay . He styles himself as a savior who wants only to protect the public from debt, when in reality he is a brutal plutocrat who will stop at nothing to line his pockets at public expense and reduce his and his friends' taxes...

CONTINUE READING HERE!

COPS Gone Wild ! Bully Edition 2 #MiztirE

Compilation of bully cops arresting people for dancing ,beating up on kids, the elderly and more. Subscribe to Miztir E above.

Catherine Austin Fitts-The Big Question is How Violent will Things Get?

http://usawatchdog.com/old-system-str… Catherine Austin Fitts of Solari.com says, “I think bail-ins are coming . . . the big question is not will we be able to get out insured deposits. I think the big question is how violent will things get?” Fitts biggest worry is not financial collapse. She says, “I don’t think the people who run the U.S. military or run the United States government are going to say we’re happy to collapse rather than go to war. They are going to go to war. They’re going to shake somebody down.” Fitts goes on to add, “I think gold is the greatest form of insurance you can have during this transition period.” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with money manager Catherine Austin Fitts.

Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/catherine-austin-fitts-the-big-question-is-how-violent-will-things-get/#4UBj8A60KizAiC1L.99 

THIS IS WHAT THE CRIMINAL WASHINGTON/CORPORATE ALLIANCE IS ALL ABOUT!

Orwell vs. Huxley and how they are relevant now (INFOGRAPHIC)

Orwell vs. Huxley and how they are relevant now (INFOGRAPHIC) HERE

GMO Re-Education: Monsanto, Dow and Biotech Firms Unite to Launch Disinformation Site

SWEET! THIS IS WHAT THE RICH, WEALTHY, CRAZED AUTHORITARIANS DO!

Daisy Luther
Activist Post

If you had a question about how to protect yourself from a criminal known to break into houses in your neighborhood, would you ask him how to protect your home and then take his suggestions, or would you be suspicious he might be answering them in a way that would make your home even easier to encroach?

If you had a question about the honesty and integrity of a person in an authority position, would you ask that person to investigate himself and then accept his findings? (I mean, if you were a normal person, not if your name is Barack or Eric.)

If a company came out with a new medication that promised to cure your ills overnight, would you ask the company that produced it whether it was safe and trust them to be honest, or would you feel that their answer might be colored by their urge to make a buck?

So why on earth would anyone possibly believe that the likes of Monsanto, Dow, and DuPont would be spreading anything but sales-driven propaganda on their new website GMOAnswers?

Are they serious or is this some kind of big public relations joke being played out on a national platform? Are we being punked?

What kind of person would look up their answers on a website SPONSORED by the very people who are putting out the toxic garbage they’d like us to believe is food? ...

CONTINUE READING HERE!

Parody video shows why GOP ‘gynaeticians’ shouldn’t dictate women’s health

David Cross and Amber Tamblyn slam "gynoticians" with a new video on women's health and reproductive rights

Worst Interview Ever?! Fox News Embarrassed

Published on Jul 30, 2013

"It's got plenty of competition but this may just be the single most cringe-worthy, embarrassing interview on Fox News. At least in recent memory. Fox News anchor Lauren Green had religious scholar Reza Aslan on her FoxNews.com show Friday to talk about Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, his book that has been stirring up some online controversy recently. And right off the bat, Green gets to what is important: "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?" Aslan seemed a little flabbergasted: "Well, to be clear, I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim."*

Reza Aslan is a religious scholar and author of "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth." He is also Muslim. This blew the minds of Fox News, including host Lauren Green, who quite possibly gave the most embarrassing, insipid interview in Fox News history. Can a non-Christian possibly be interested in Jesus? Is there any attempt to hide Fox News' agenda? How many times can an anchor phrase the same question again and again?! Cenk Uygur breaks down this ridiculous interview.

*Read more from Slate:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slates...

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Did Wall Street Miss A Bribe Payment?

by John Rubino on July 30, 2013 · 4 comments

It’s hard to know which aspect of today’s world future historians will find most appalling. But the fact that during the greatest financial crime spree ever, not a single major Wall Street executive has gone to jail has to rank right up there.

Yes, the occasional insider trader and Ponzi scheme operator is prosecuted, but that kind of crime is just background noise in a major financial market. Someone is always doing such things and getting caught. But the systemic stuff, the selling of clearly-defective bonds to less-than-savvy municipal pension funds, the paying of rating agencies to slap “AAA” on those bonds without even looking at the underlying mortgages, the manipulation of markets in ways that would be impossible if regulators were not either paid-off or active participants — these things were (and are) rampant, and that the perps are still rich and free testifies to the completeness with which Washington is now owned by the big banks.

And yet…this year some regulators (who may have missed the memo explaining how things work) have actually accused some big banks of doing something wrong – in public.

JPMorgan to pay $410 million to settle power market caseNEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed on Tuesday to pay $410 million to settle allegations of power market manipulation in California and the Midwest, the latest in a series of high-profile inquiries by U.S. federal energy regulators.

The settlement, announced by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will allow Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to close the books on one of several costly run-ins with regulators over the past year. It came days after the bank said it was quitting the physical commodities business.

JPMorgan Ventures Energy Corp, the commodity trading unit that became one of the biggest U.S. electricity traders with the 2008 acquisition of Bear Stearns, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $285 million and disgorge $125 million for “manipulative bidding strategies” from September 2010 through November 2012.

It is the second largest penalty in FERC history, and comes as the once-quiet government regulator steps up its pursuit of market malfeasance after gaining expanded powers from Congress in 2005, part of efforts to crack down on market manipulation after Enron Corp’s spectacular collapse.

The FERC deal did not cite specific traders or JPMorgan’s commodities chief Blythe Masters for any wrongdoing. Masters spent billions of dollars over the past five years to build JPMorgan’s oil, power, gas and metals business into the biggest on Wall Street.

JPMorgan had vowed in May to fight the FERC charges and disputed allegations that employees lied or acted inappropriately during the investigation. After a court battle over the disclosure over documents, the bank entered settlement discussions.

On Tuesday, FERC laid out Masters knowledge of the traders abusive bidding strategies, including spreadsheets given to her detailing a seven-year plan to churn up to $2 billion in profits from potentially loss-making power plants.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs’ manipulation of the aluminum market has just come to light. Here’s the clearest explanation we’re likely to see:

There are maybe three possible explanations for this public shaming:

1) Whoever it is that moves the bribes from banks to the major political parties and regulators forgot to deliver the envelopes, and the political division of the empire decided to send the banking division a message. That’s believable. In the Sopranos there was always intra-family intrigue with messages being sent back and forth by various means.

2) The major players understand that the public is getting surly, so they’ve decided to sacrifice some businesses that the banks have milked for all they’re worth and are willing to abandon. That’s the most likely, when you consider that JP Morgan’s “settlement” amounts to less than 2% of its annual profit and no one in the organization is going to jail for what was clearly fraud. Here’s the key passage from the above article:

“On Tuesday, FERC laid out JPMorgan’s commodities chief Blythe Masters knowledge of the traders abusive bidding strategies, including spreadsheets given to her detailing a seven-year plan to churn up to $2 billion in profits from potentially loss-making power plants….The FERC deal did not cite specific traders or Blythe Masters for any wrongdoing.”

3) Washington has decided to start policing the banks and insisting that they make their money more-or-less honestly….Nah, this doesn’t even belong on the list.

SOURCE

Noam Chomsky: The State Fears Its Own People

Chomsky on terror, Snowden, and why "security" is usually an excuse for government repression.

July 29, 2013  |  

 

In a recent media appearance Noam Chomsky said that whistleblower Edward Snowden, who remains in Russia after releasing a trove of documents about secret NSA surveillance, should be honored.  

"He was doing what every citizen ought to do," Chomsky says in the video below. "He was telling Americans what the government is doing."

Chomsky goes on to explain that governments always claim security as their justification for civil liberties abuses, but that overwhelmingly the security in question is that of the state ... from its own population. To smatterings of applause, Chomsky goes on to explain how America's drone campaign abroad is a far bigger threat to our security than leaked information about surveillance. 

Watch Chomsky discuss the relationship between the state, the people, and "security" below. 

SOURCE

The Important Things We DON’T Have Money For, And The Crazy Things We DO Have Money For…

In an age of "belt tightening" and "budget cuts", you would think that government officials would be trying to spend our money wisely.  Unfortunately, when it comes time to cut spending our politicians tend to do everything that they can to protect their own interests and their own pet projects, but they don't seem to mind implementing cuts that deeply hurt military families, the poor and the elderly.  The facts that you are about to read will likely upset you very much.  The federal government and our state governments are wasting money in some of the most ridiculous ways imaginable.  Meanwhile, we are being told that we don't have any money for a lot of really important things.  Our hard-earned tax dollars are being horribly mismanaged, and the American people deserve to hear the truth about this gross negligence.

Now before I go any further, I want to make it very clear that I believe that the federal government and our state governments are already taking in more than enough money.  They should be able to do everything that they need to do on the money that they are already extracting from all of us.  And if we had been living within our means all this time, we would not be drowning in debt as a nation today.

Unfortunately, our politicians did choose to go into tremendous amounts of debt, and the American people did not stop them.  So now we are rapidly heading toward a debt crisis unlike anything the world has ever seen before.

And our politicians should be reducing spending.  There is no question about that.  But what this article is about is priorities, and right now our politicians really seem to have their priorities messed up.  What follows are some examples of this...

The city of Detroit says that it is totally broke and has no money for pensions...

...but somehow the city has 444 million dollars to spend on a new hockey arena for the Detroit Red Wings.

Large numbers of federal employees have been hit with mandatory furloughs in 2013 due to the sequester...

...but somehow the federal government is able to spend tens of millions of dollars to fill our skies with surveillance drones.

The U.S. government is so broke that it has had to borrow more than a trillion dollars from China...

...but somehow we have plenty of money to help  "modernize China’s energy grid".

The U.S. Congress has cut $60,000,000 for schools on Indian reservations across the country...

...but somehow the IRS is able to pay out $70,000,000 in bonuses to their workers.

It is being projected that federal budget cuts will cost the U.S. economy1.6 million jobs through the end of 2014...

...but somehow the federal government has plenty of money to provide many former members of Congress with six-figure annual incomes for life...

Members of Congress receive retirement benefits that are far more generous than those earned by the average worker, according to a recent Bankrate analysis.

Not only do congressional representatives and senators earn the guarantee of a monthly pension check -- a benefit that has become increasingly rare for most U.S. workers -- they also receive Social Security payments and can opt to pay into the federal Thrift Savings Plan, a 401(k) style-plan with fees that are far lower thanmost retirement plans.

As a result, longtime members of Congress can easily retire with six-figure annual incomes for life.

The Obama administration is forcing the U.S. Army to reduce the number of active combat brigades from 45 to 33...

...but the Obama administration has no problem finding millions of dollars to send to radical jihadist Syrian rebels that are beheading innocent Christians over in Syria.

Barack Obama says that there simply is not any money available for White House tours...

...but the Obamas are able to spend hundreds of millions of dollarson exotic vacations.  In August, Obama and his family will be spending 8 days in a beautiful home on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard.

The federal government says that there was not enough money for the traditional 4th of July fireworks at many military bases around the country this year...

...but somehow the National Institutes of Health has $509,840 to spend on "a study that will send text messages in 'gay lingo' to methamphetamine addicts to try to persuade them to use fewer drugs and more condoms."

Due to "budget cuts", swimming pools for military families are being shut down all over the country...

...but Barack Obama felt that it was so important to send $500,000,000to the Palestinian Authority that he signed a national security executive order last Friday that enabled him to get around an act of Congress that was intended to prevent him from sending that money to them.

The state of California is so strapped for cash that it may have to releasethousands of violent criminals back on to the streets...

...but somehow the state of California has plenty of money to provide a multitude of welfare benefits for illegal immigrants.

A total of about 38 million dollars is being cut from "meals on wheels" programs around the nation due to the sequester...

...but somehow the federal government has plenty of money to hassle ordinary citizens with ridiculous amounts of red tape.  For example, a small-time magician out in Missouri that does magic shows for kids was recently forced to submit a 32 page "disaster plan" for the rabbit that he uses in his shows.

With priorities like this, is it any wonder that our national debt is completely and totally out of control?

If the U.S. national debt was reduced to a stack of one dollar bills, it would stretch from the earth to the moon five times.  It would circle the earth at the equator 45 times.

If our politicians would have been spending our money wisely all of these years, we would have enough money to do the essential things that the government should be doing.

But instead, our money has been wasted in some of the most bizarre ways imaginable, and yet the American people just continue to sit back and allow our politicians to flush our money down the toilet.

So what do you think about all of this?  Are there any additional examples that you would add to the list above?  Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below...

SOURCE

EPA to Raise Allowable Glyphosate Pesticide Levels in Food Crops by 3,000%!

Another win for biotech giant Monsanto equals another loss for humanity.

IT TRULY APPEARS THAT THE GOVERNMENT/CORPORATION ALLIANCE IS TRULY OUT TO KILL US!

Melissa Melton
Activist Post

Just days ago, RT.com reported that the U.S. Environmental “Protection” Agency is set to raise the allowable limits of Monsanto’s best-selling glyphosate pesticide Roundup in our nation’s food crops to ridiculously high levels:

Through the EPA’s new standards, the amount of allowable glyphosate in oilseed crops such as flax, soybeans and canola will be increased from 20 parts per million (ppm) to 40 ppm, which GM Watch acknowledged is over 100,000 times the amount needed to induce breast cancer cells. Additionally, the EPA is increasing limits on allowable glyphosate in food crops from 200 ppm to 6,000 ppm.

Supposedly they were able to do this because a two-month open comment period that began May 1st drew little public resistance.

This is in spite of a flurry of new studies coming out just this month demonstrating the detrimental effects of pesticide on the environment and all manner of things living in it:

CONTINUE READING HERE!

Announcing a Project to Modify or Replace the US Monetary System

VERY INTERESTING SUGGESTION!

image source

David Redick
Activist Post

The US Dollar (USD) has been the world’s primary reserve currency (used for most international transactions, even when the US is not a party, and for bank reserves in all nations) since 1920, which has helped support its value due to high demand. The use of the USD for most oil sales since 1973 (the ‘Petrodollar’) has also brought helpful demand, but that is fading.

Due to excessive creation of new money (‘traditional’ monetary inflation, plus the Bernanke ‘spike’ in 2008 and recent QE activity), the USD has lost over 95% of its purchasing power (PP) since the Federal Reserve System (the ‘Fed’, our central bank) was created in 1913.

The rate of decline worsened with the end of gold ‘backing’ in 1971. To prevent losses, many nations now avoid owning or using the USD (or other assets denominated in USD), and instead trade with each other using their own currencies (led by the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and S. Africa, plus Japan and Australia). This could lead to a major reduction in the USD role as a world reserve currency, and cause a 50% to 90% crash in value (PP) due to reduced demand. Such a crash could happen soon, and would cause; 1) Large losses for all holders (persons, firms, governments) of dollar-denominated assets (cash, CDs, bonds, annuities, life insurance, equities, real estate, etc.), and 2) A major increase in interest rates, which would blow-up the US budget and business loan rates! Thus, we must consider changes that will prevent the crash.

I hereby volunteer to be the collector of ideas, and use this input to write a draft plan, seek approval from contributors, then publish a comprehensive final plan for a modification of the current US Monetary System. The system includes the Fed and its ‘Fed Notes’, Treasury Dept. bonds and policies, legal tender laws, the FDIC, mints, banks and various banking laws and regulations.

The Initial Plan

Subject to modification, and with further definition below, the initial plan is; 1) Terminate the Federal Reserve System, 2) Make existing ‘Fed Notes’, deposits and bonds (M3) immediately redeemable for gold by any bearer on demand (100% backing will deter a ‘run’ to redeem for gold), 3) Require that all ‘Fed Note’ denominated cash and instruments be converted to the new ‘gold money’ (see plan below) by a certain date, 4) Terminate legal tender and many banking laws to allow private mints and ‘free banking’ without licenses (but with full disclosure of mint gold reserves, bank loans, etc. required by law), 5) Create a new system of gold coins, and redeemable notes and token coins, to replace the current ‘Fed Note’ currency, with ‘weight of 24 carat gold’ (or more weight for lesser carats) as the unit of account (no ‘Dollar’ or ‘price’ of gold), and 6) Design and implement the plan without formal agreements with other nations (this would just dilute and delay the new plan), but seek their ideas and keep them informed of the US plan and schedule so they can make compatible plans (or be left out!). This plan is documented in detail in Chapter 4 of my book Monetary Revolution USA, and posted at part 2 in the left margin ofForward-USA.org.

CONTINUE READING HERE!

7 Charts That Prove That The Stock Market Has Become Completely Divorced From Reality

VERY INTERESTING CHARTS!

SEE THEM HERE!

Apple, Walmart, McDonald's: Who's the Biggest Wage Stiffer?

Paul Buchheit, UsAgainstGreed.org

All three companies pay the majority of their employees poverty-level wages.

 

 

Apple, Walmart and McDonald's are among the largest corporate employers and  profit-makers in the U.S., with a total of 2.6 million employees worldwide (1.6 million in the U.S.) and combined 2012 pre-tax profits of more than $88 billion. 

All three companies pay the majority of their employees low wages: poverty-level wages. This is borne out by  SEC data and the companies' own press releases. The only question is who gets away with the most profits while their employees are forced to tap into public money -- our tax money -- for food stamps, healthcare and other assistance. 

Walmart: Underpaying the Most People 

Walmart employs about  2.1 million workers, two-thirds of them in the United States. Its 2012 revenue is three times that of Apple, and about 15 times that of McDonald's. The company  claims its average full-time wage is $12.78 per hour. That's just under $26,000 per year. (IBISWorld  says Walmart pays associates $8.81 per hour.)

Based solely on its U.S. business, Walmart makes over $13,000 in pre-tax profits per employee (after paying them), which comes to more than 50 percent of the earnings of a 40-hour-per-week wage earner. 

A little-known fact about Walmart that impacts most of us: A  study in Wisconsin by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce determined that a typical Walmart store costs taxpayers over $1.7 million per year, or about $5,815 per employee. 

Not mad enough yet? Four members of the Walmart family made a combined  $20 billion from their investments last year. Less than half of that would have given every U.S. Walmart worker a $3 an hour raise, enough to end the public subsidy. 

McDonald's: Paying the Lowest Wages 

McDonald's employs 440,000 workers worldwide, most of them food servers making the  median hourly wage of $9.10 an hour or less, for a maximum of about $18,200 per year. The company's $8 billion profit, after wages are paid, works out to the same amount: $18,200 per employee. 

PayUpNow.org estimates that U.S. income per employee is approximately the same as the worldwide figure. As for franchises, which make up about 80% of worldwide stores and add well over  a million employees to the global total, their sales totals are " not recorded as revenues by the Company," although franchise fees are included. 

At fast food establishments like McDonald's, not only are workers poorly paid, they also have little hope for advancement. According to the  National Employment Law Project, managerial, professional and technical occupations make up 31.1 percent of jobs throughout the U.S. economy, but only 2.2 percent of jobs in the fast food industry. 

In summary, for the U.S. and around the world, McDonald's makes over $18,000 in pre-tax profits per employee (after paying them), almost 100% of the earnings of a full-time food service worker. The company's own employee  budget recommends a second job to make ends meet. 

Apple: Making a Half-Million per Employee 

Now for  Apple. Like Walmart and McDonald's, the company pays extraordinarily  low wages to its store workers, an average of about  $12 per hour, or $24,000 per year for a full-time employee. In-store salespeople make up about  half of the total workforce. 

With 80,000 worldwide employees (50,000 in the U.S.) and a 2012 profit of $55 billion ($19 billion declared in the U.S.), Apple made an astonishing $697,000 per employee in 2012 (almost  $400,000 in the U.S.). 

Apple, more than the other two companies discussed here, has numerous high-paying positions in engineering, design, programming, marketing, etc. Reports by two independent  salary trackers indicate that the overall average salary at Apple is about $50,000. Even with this much higher figure, Apple pays its U.S. employees only $1 for every $8 in profits. 

So who's the biggest wage stiffer? Apple is by far the worst in rewarding profitability. But Walmart underpays the most people, and McDonald's pays the lowest wages. For those of us who subsidize these companies with tax dollars for their employees' food stamps and Medicaid, it doesn't matter who's worse. We're all getting stiffed.

SOURCE 

Google disables Press TV Youtube account

Google has prevented Press TV from accessing its Youtube page since Thursday, causing a large number of viewers and subscribers to contact the channel to find out what has happened.

“We have not been able to upload any new videos since early Thursday,” said Press TV newsroom director, Hamid Reza Emadi, adding that Google has disabled the channel’s account without giving any explanation.

“Viewers keep emailing Press TV asking why the page is not being updated,” he said.

Emadi said Press TV “has yet to find out whether its Youtube account was blocked on political grounds or there were technical issues that could be resolved and the channel could get back on Youtube very soon.”

Via Press TV

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Jim Rickards: Most Likely Outcome Is Still A Monetary Collapse

In his latest interview Jim Rickards gives an update on his economic and monetary outlook and compares it with his view two years ago when he was writing his book. In particular, he talks about the scenario that is unfolding currently: a monetary collapse.

In general he recognizes that we are going through a major transition which started in 2007. We are on our way to a new economic and monetary situation. Major transitions are characterized by unstability, or a bubbly environment. That will continue till one of the following scenarios becomes reality:

1. Chaos, or monetary collapse.
2. A basket of currencies acting as a world reserve currency.
3. SDR (special drawing rights) issued by the IMF.
4. A form of a gold standard.

Mr. Rickards still expects a collapse of the dollar as the most likely outcome. That has not changed since he has written his book.

Long term outlook – Monetary collapse

Mr. Rickards sees that we are heading towards the first of the four scenarios. Although he does not pretend to know the future (which nobody does evidently) he comes to his conclusion by analyzing the evolution. Up until now, based on the decisions and behaviour of policy makers, he believes there is enough evidence to believe that all signs point to a monetary collapse.

Just to clarify things, he adds, “there is nobody who really wants a collapse. The reason why it could happen has more to do with a basket of factors, including [but not limited to] the inherent instability of the monetary system, the inability of policy makers to correctly analyze the situation, wishful thinking, denial, delay, bad monetary science, wrong assessment of risk, etc.”

Is it too late to change direction and avoid a collapse? Mr. Rickards believes it is not; we can still avoid it. The key point, however, is that policy makers are not showing signs of understanding the seriousness of the situation and their policy outcomes. They neither show signs of reversing course and solving the underlying structural issues. Going forward, those are the most important signs to force a reversal of the path we are on.

Mr. Rickards adds to it that chaos is not the end of the analysis. In other words, suppose the world will face a collapse it will undoubtedly result in rather draconian executive orders.  We might end up in a form of a gold standard based on a gold backed SDR. A gold standard or an SDR standard are the two most likely outcomes of a collapse; a combination of both is also a realistic possibility.

Gold – Short term outlook

The long term outlook for gold remains positive. Shorter term, however, increased volatility is likely. Both higher and lower prices are in the cards. It  all depends on policy makers, in particular the US Fed. Between August and September there are two FOMC meetings with a press conference: September and December. Suppose the Fed would “taper” their bond purchases they will not announce it in December because it will be right before the new Chairman will take over. September is the most likely month to announce it.

So the September FOMC meeting will be an important one. Basically there are two possible outcomes. Tighteningmonetary policy is the first one. Doing so in a weak economy will have deflationary consequences. It will lead to higher interest rates and lower precious metals prices. Accommodative monetary policy, by contrast, would be bullish for gold and will lead to higher prices going to the end of the year.

Listen to the interview.

SOURCE