Yes, We Have No Bannanas

Marilyn Barnewall has a very informative article on money that you should read.

As it turns out, we really don't have any money at all, just a fiction we call 'legal tender'.

Uncle Sam Says: Gold and silver have I none, but worthless paper? Tons, and tons!

Because we've abandoned the gold standard, the government has no spending limits. The income tax exists primarily to service the interest on the national debt from the Federal Reserve (which is neither Federal, nor a reserve) and not to pay for all of those fun little programs we love so much like urine soaked crosses and farm subsidies for poor farmers like Ted Turner.

What is Bush doing about it? Nothing!
What did Clinton do about it? Nothing!
What has any president done about it? Nothin...wait...John F. Kennedy ordered over $4 billion in United States Notes to be printed and we know what happened to him.

We all hear talk about the 'national debt' but few of us realize where it comes from. Is it necessary? Not in the least.

What can we do about it? I'm open to suggestions.

Tancredo For President?

I might consider voting with the GOP again if Tancredo runs in 2008.

There are a couple of caveats to that however:

1. Who would be his VP? Ron Paul would be a good choice.
2. What is the rest of his platform? I'm not a one issue kind of guy. If he's Reaganesque on issues such as abortion and taxes, I could be swayed.
3. Even if he turns out to be a candidate I can support, I will still maintain my Libertarian party affiliation.

Time will tell. I can't imagine that the GOP power structure will allow him to run but stranger things have happened.

Hard Hearted Woman

I spoke to my soon to be ex-wife today when I dropped my daughter off.

I told her, "Since it's Ressurection Day, I was thinking. If Jesus can come back from the dead, our marriage can be ressurected too."

She threw out all sorts of excuses and bluster about why that just isn't possible and how she is moving forward with her life etc.

I pressed the issue a bit more and asked her how she thought that divorce was somehow better for our daughter than staying together. More bluster.

I continued to press her and say that what she's doing just isn't right before God. She didn't deny it, she just made excuses and said, "There were a lot of things that weren't right about our marriage for a long time." How is that an excuse to continue to do what is wrong?

She knows she's wrong and I pray for her every day. I don't know why she's hardening her heart. She hurting our daughter the most and it breaks my heart.

I took my daughter to the circus this weekend and after it was over and we got outside, she looked up at me and said, "I wish mommy would have been here with us."

Doesn't that woman know that she's breaking that little girls heart? Why can't she see that? It's so frustrating. The only thing this poor little girl knows is that her mommy and daddy should be together but they aren't.

It's difficult but I'm going to continue to love her and my daughter and serve God. If she does divorce me then she has to answer to Him for it. My precious little girl is going to suffer the most though.

Keep me in your prayers everyone.

Shocked Again!

This woman is married to a rich man. She has couple of affairs, they get divorced. She gets over $40 million in cash and assets. I don't generally go around feeling sorry for rich people but but I was starting to make an exception. He really got screwed! Then, toward the end of the article, it says,

The couple met in 1978 when Howard Sosin was an assistant professor at Columbia University. At the time, she was married to another man and working in retail.

All sympathy was pretty much tossed out the window right there. What was he expecting? Oh, she'll be faithful to ME because I'm her true love! The story doesn't mention it but there was apparently no prenuptual agreement either. What a fool!

update:
Upon further reflection, it looks like she might have married him before he was rich but still. Why would he expect her to stay faithful when she already proved willing to have an affair.

Shocked!

An Islamic school in Canda posted a story complete with illustrations about killing Jewish soldiers in a glass case in the school. The teacher praised the student by writing "God bless you, your efforts are good," on the essay.

After an Ottowa newspaper obtained two translations of the paper, they confronted the school who claimed to be SHOCKED at the content and they suspended the teachers.

You can find the article here.

Who is shocked by this? I'm certainly not. Do you think it was just the parents of that child teaching him about Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Jihad? I think not.

Relgion of peace? Yeah, sure, whatever you say.

I Was Wrong

...but not by much.

SCROTUM, ...err...SCOTUS declined to hear the case. So, they can take time out of their precious schedules to find non existent rights for homosexuals but not a woman that is being starved to death by her husband with the backing of judge who is sympatetic to the Hemlock Society.

As I said before, we are DOOMED.

I Think She'll Be Gone

It's 2:09 AM here on the Left Coast and I'm headed off get some sleep. I've got a feeling in my gut that Terri Schaivo won't be alive by the time I wake in the morning (around 8:30 AM).

I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm very, very wrong.

A Warning From the Federal Reserve...

This article from Yahoo is a bit frightening.

What does this mean for you? It means higher prices and further declines in the value of the dollar. In other words, if you need to borrow money, it's going to cost you more and more to borrow money that is worth less and less.

How long is this going to continue? Until our fiat currency system collapses and we're all broke. It's a Ponzi scheme, the more money that is created (out of thin air I might add), the less existing money is worth.

We are due for a Financial Reckoning Day.

Identity Theft

A friend of mine got a phone call today; it was someone trying to sell him a membership for product discounts. It was supposed to include free frequent flier miles and a $100 gas card. The woman on the phone asked for his bank account number so that they could verify that he had the money to spend on the membership. My friend did the smart thing and hung up immediately.

NEVER EVER EVER give someone your bank account information over the phone. Even if your bank calls you, they should not ask you about your account information; they have it all right there. They might ask you for the last 4 of your Social Insecurity number or you mother's maiden name. They should never ask for the whole thing though. If they get insistent about something, tell them you will go to a branch to take care of it. They'll likely hang up on you.

You can find more information about identity theft HERE

How To Make Oil Cheaper

Nuke China.

That's it.

With China out of the picture, demand for oil would drop significantly and the prices would go down with it.

Our nukes would be better put to use on North Korea to be honest so we'll rule out bombing China.

Seriously though; a boycott on Chinese goods (voluntary, not government mandated) would cause the Chinese demand for oil to drop since their production would drop and the price of oil would follow.

Along those same lines, our government needs to step aside and let interest rates rise up to natural levels which will also slow demand for Chinese goods.

I suppose we could also invade Venezuela and just take their oil. Hugo Chavez hates America so that seems like a good enough reason to knock him off.

We gripe and complain about the cost of oil yet we don't seem to have the political will to kick OPEC in the balls and make demands of them.

Now with this stupid LOST treaty, any oil in international waters pretty much belongs to the UN.

We're Doomed

There's not much left to say about the Terri Schiavo story. I heard the audio of Terri responding to her father. I heard a human being in there trying to communicate.

If Terri dies from this we're doomed.

Don't just pray for her, pray for this country.

Children of Divorce

I read this article by Bob Just on the effects of divorce on children.

Why is it that we have accepted 'hapiness' as the prime mover of our decisions? Our families are under assault because we have been trained to think of ourselves first.

If you're contemplating divorce; think again. If you're being physically abused or there is adultery, nevermind but don't be selfish, think of your children.