Swinging heavy right this time

If you know me, you know I love to follow politics and economics. I believe both parties are false, and I believe in some fundamental principles on both sides, even far to the sides of both sides. I went all left on you about the war, and today I'm crazy right. The dollar continued it's slide against the Euro today, which got me to more reading on the dollar. Here's your thought for today:

“The eyes of our citizens are not sufficiently open to the true cause of our distress. They ascribe them to everything but their true cause, the banking system; a system which if it could do good in any form is yet so certain of leading to abuse as to be utterly incompatible with the public safety and prosperity.” - Thomas Jefferson

“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented.” - Major L.B.Angus

Congressman Patman: “Mr. Eccles, how did you get the money to buy those two billions of government securities?” Eccles: “We created it.” Patman: “Out of what?” Eccles: “Out of the right to issue credit money.” - Testimony of Marriner Eccles, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, before the House Banking and Currency Committee, 1941

“Every effort has been made by the Federal Reserve Board to conceal its powers, but the truth is that the Federal Reserve System has usurped the government. It controls everything in congress and it controls all our foreign relations. It makes and breaks governments at will.” - Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency

“Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States.” - United States Senator Barry Goldwater

“Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are the United States government’s institutions. They are not government institutions. They are private credit monopolies which prey upon the people of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign swindlers.” - Congressional Record 12595-12603 June 10, 1932

“This Federal Reserve Act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President Wilson signs this bill, the invisible government of the monetary power will be legalized. The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency bill.” - Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. , 1913

“The Federal Reserve is answerable to no one.” - Ronald Reagan

“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out. If the American people only understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution before morning.” - Andrew Jackson

“When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in our account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money.” - “Putting it Simply”, Boston Federal Reserve Bank

“We have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks. They are not government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government, and it has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.” - Senator Louis T. McFadden, Chairman US Banking & Currency Commission

“The principle we must keep in mind is that two people cannot both be the exclusive owner of the same thing at the same time. Yet fractional reserve banking operates on the theory that bank account holder A and borrower B can both own the same money at the same time. This practice is just as fraudulent as selling two buyers the same vacation home and giving them both exclusive title to the home, hoping that they don’t both show up to use it the same weekend. With fractional reserve banking, titles to money (gold) are spuriously created, meaning there are more titles to property than there is actual property. In fact, no new money is created, but the number of titles to existing money is expanded. And it is in this manner that the value of the dollar is diminished. In the absence of a gold standard, the crime is exceeded today to the point of absurdity, as only titles themselves are traded with no tie to any real property whatsoever. We have been swindled.”

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power of money should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.” - Thomas Jefferson

And, my favorite:

“The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution. I am an enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but coin. If the American people allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” - Thomas Jefferson.

So, you know how I feel about that topic. Join me in the information fun at mainstream marketplace.org and the subversive, sometimes-true, sometimes-crazy, always-fun Infowars.

Later this week I'll tell you about the fun school I toured this morning. I also taught a new voice student today--I love teaching voice!!

There's your indoctrination for the day. Hope you'll still come back!!

Alienation

We've alienated our country from the world, we've alienated our actions from our national values, we're alienating our soldiers from their lives, and I'm alienating many of my readers with this post.

My cousin Joel is serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. I now have the privilege of spending regular time with his wife and sister and learning first hand of what he's going through, and I just feel sick over it.

He's a changed man. He can't talk about what he's had to do there and who he has become because of it, and I really shouldn't talk publicly about the details I have. But suffice it to say that he had put his life on a good trajectory, had been sealed to his wife, had become activated in the church, and was becoming more of what he already was already, a decent guy. On his second tour, he was asked to do and chose to do things that made him a different man with a different trajectory.

As his wife talked about his life right now--driving convoys that don't stop for anyone or anything at anytime--hungry, hot, exhausted, pooping in a box in the back of the truck in front of all present, hot, and taking his showers every six days in contaminated, too-hot water--I felt sick, sad and angry. This is not a man who thought killing children would become part of his day job.

It's because I love and support my cousin and the troops he serves with that I hate this war. I feel "the devil and his angels laugheth"--along with military defense contractors and the ever-expanding Blackwater force, now building yet a new campus in SoCal.

Iraq has become a distraction and an exacerbator of the true threats to our country. Some of the the things we have done in the name of freedom cannot be justified through love of country or love of party (although I only have the former). The leaders changed the story, more and more information comes about how misleading the information and badly handled the tactics have been. Whether one favors the party that put those leaders in office or not, one is not obligated to buy faulty rhetoric from any party, and more and more people are less inclined to do so.

Yes, the media is stupid and doesn't help and it's hype oversimplifies and sensationalizes everything, but it doesn't change the fact that this is a horrific problem that impacts real lives in a horrific way--of soldiers and their families, of Iraqi families, and of those of us at home finding the hastening of our crumbling civilization. There is no good way out, and no real progress coming from staying in. The politicians and candidates have no good answers.

On September 20, 2001, President Hinckley said to President Bush, "President Hinckley stated, “I just want you to know, Mr. President, that we are behind you. We pray for you. We love this ‘nation under God.’ ” We all felt that way, didn't we?

In May, 2003, he gave a very thorough talk on the war, where he said,

One of our Articles of Faith, which represent an expression of our doctrine, states, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (A of F 1:12).

But modern revelation states that we are to “renounce war and proclaim peace” (D&C 98:16).

In a democracy we can renounce war and proclaim peace. There is opportunity for dissent. Many have been speaking out and doing so emphatically. That is their privilege. That is their right, so long as they do so legally. However, we all must also be mindful of another overriding responsibility, which I may add, governs my personal feelings and dictates my personal loyalties in the present situation.

...

This places us in the position of those who long for peace, who teach peace, who work for peace, but who also are citizens of nations and are subject to the laws of our governments. Furthermore, we are a freedom-loving people, committed to the defense of liberty wherever it is in jeopardy. I believe that God will not hold men and women in uniform responsible as agents of their government in carrying forward that which they are legally obligated to do.

He goes on to explain that we may and should fight for our liberty, and said, " In the course of history tyrants have arisen from time to time who have oppressed their own people and threatened the world. Such is adjudged to be the case presently, and consequently great and terrifying forces with sophisticated and fearsome armaments have been engaged in battle."

Such was adjudged to be the case, and we have had to assume our leaders saw clearly, and some still feel and hope they do. I'm losing that hope.

In 2006, Hinkley said, "When a man grows old he develops a softer touch, a kindlier manner. I have thought of this much of late. I have wondered why there is so much hatred in the world. We are involved in terrible wars with lives lost and many crippling wounds." He seemed pensive and sad as the war drew on when he spoke of it. I doubt he had lost his faith in his leaders and I am starting to, and I'm trying to hold on to the hope he had.


But I just wonder too much now. As oil tycoons and hedge fund managers sit on growing piles of cash and give corporations free reign to fill our food, water and air with their refuse, our economy is in the toilet and we have food shortages, poor health care, job losses and a housing crisis. Meanwhile, cash is ever-flowing into Iraq (yet somehow not into my cousin's food budget). And, although we've had no major attacks on American soil, I feel sick when I think of our heartless claim that it's better we fight them over there, as if the families and children on that soil are more expendable.

With sorrow for Joel in my heart, and anger at the egregious, arrogant smoke blown at us by those who we entrusted to lead us, I received this friendly email from my mom, created on 3trillion.org, which is her shopping spree she did for me using the money we spend on the war. I feel sicker than ever. Take a look at my "presents"---I got all of this for only $3 trillion--she even fit a hybrid car in there!!


End hunger and poverty related diseases
1 purchased for $195,000,000,000.00 each


New Clothing, Shoes, Coats, and School Supplies for Ten Million Children
1 purchased for $10,000,000,000.00 each


Buy a Hybrid
1 purchased for $21,000.00 each


Free, Fair, and Unbiased Media
1 purchased for $2,500,000.00 each


Plant 1,000,000 trees
1 purchased for $10,000,000.00 each


give every teacher a rai$e
1 purchased for $100,000,000.00 each


Increase sustainable Organic Produce in the US
1 purchased for $10,000,000,000.00 each


Sustainable Agriculture Education, Worldwide
1 purchased for $200,000,000.00 each


Healthy Food
1 purchased for $2,000,000,000.00 each


Kyoto Protocol Worldwide Compliance
1 purchased for $400,000,000,000.00 each


World Peace
1 purchased for $70,000,000,000.00 each


New National Power Grid
1 purchased for $100,000,000.00 each


Build 100 New Schools
1 purchased for $2,500,000,000.00 each


Free College for 20 Million Students for 1 year
1 purchased for $400,000,000,000.00 each


Wind Turbines to Power All of the United States
1 purchased for $1,000,000,000,000.00 each


End our Dependence on Foreign Oil
1 purchased for $500,000,000,000.00 each


Achieve Universal Literacy
2 purchased for $5,000,000,000.00 each


Universal Preschool
1 purchased for $35,000,000,000.00 each


Help all orphans
1 purchased for $280,000,000.00 each


Housing for America's homeless
1 purchased for $74,000,000,000.00 each


The house of your dreams
1 purchased for $2,500,000.00 each


Island in Bahamas
1 purchased for $15,000,000.00 each


Non-Violent Leadership Training (1 yr) for 10 Million Leaders
1 purchased for $300,000.00 each


Clean up Pollution
1 purchased for $160,000,000,000.00 each


Conflicted sorrow just doesn't say enough about how I feel today. It's time for some hoeing (and not the Big5 kind, there's too much of that coming from politicians).

Sorry, this is blog my ranting place, and you sure got it today. Hope you love me anyway.

More mundane updates

The one event of the week that I had to announce outside of my lengthy treatise on my own self below, was that Lucy is learning to sleep better. I had a horrible week of no sleep because she's been sick with a cough and up many times at night. She nursed and then fussed and didn't want to nurse but didn't want to go be rocked or held so I finally just had to put her in her bed, as she was getting all mad and scratching and hitting. She was mad for a while, but I really could see nothing I could do and I was out of my mind with exhaustion.

She was getting in the habit of fussing after nursing, nothing worked to make her feel better. I just decided when I needed her to sleep I'd put her in bed. Now, it's the end of the week, although I've had to get up a lot to give her medicine and help her with a bad cough, she is going to sleep both at night and at naps with very little or no fuss--I just put her in bed. The benefit of waiting 21 months I guess is they figure out faster that it's easier just to go to sleep.

She actually went over to her bed tonight, looking longingly at it, before we realized she was tired and wanted to be put down.

So, although I have no rest to show for this wonderful blessing, I am very excited of the prospects once she is well. The only problem is she does that infant thing of waking up at 5-6 a.m. and fussing, and would probably go back to sleep in five minutes if left alone, but at that time of day, everyone would wake up if I let her fuss--none of the heavy sleeping I could count on at 3 a.m. Can't wait until we have more space in the new place!

David has been a saint, letting me sleep until 9:30 on Saturday, and getting a great nap today. He is the crabbiest, most wonderful man in the world.

Lastly, I've really been excited about the new place because I want to get serious with the home food production thing vis a vis Animal Vegetable Miracle. I don't think this is just my silly hippie self, but that I'm being led to make this change. Then I came across this article in the NY Times about the increasing price of food (and how they expect it to continue to rise quickly due to a falling dollar, demand, crop failure, raising food for gas--as in ethanol, and oil prices). The article gives you the feeling we really will start to see a time where we have to eat less for economic reasons, not just because we want to look skinny.

It's becoming more obvious that those who follow the prophet's guidance to pay of their mortgage, keep out of debt, have a savings and plant a garden will stave off the future problems as our economy pays the price of sustained unsustainable practices. The problem is our economy relies heavily on consumer spending and borrowing, and more and more consumers are out of cash and credit. Without a HUGE cash bailout to families (no $1200 will cut it), their consumers will have their hands tied. I think the corporations forget that the employees they are laying off and their consumers are the same people.

I read some really interesting scriptures about this today, but I'll save those rants for my scripture blog, which I've been woefully neglecting.

Val writes her congressman (and the newspapers, and all the candidates)

Here is my beef with the state of the nation for today. This is my letter I wrote to pretty much everyone today (this copy went to the presidential candidates). Agree with me or not, whatev. But if you do happen to agree, write your representative! If you don't, love me anyway.

---

A New York Times article today about increasing foreign investment touched a nerve that has been getting more raw for me over the past months which I feel should be part of the election debate:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/business/20invest.html?hp

I am an independent, and I actually am fine with most immigration, as most of us got here that way one way or the other, and the land we're protecting once belonged to many of those we're protecting it from anyway.

But we are so distracted by concern about Mexicans coming over the border to pick our fruit and clean our houses that we are failing to notice thousands of non-citizens buying up land and homes in the US, taking advantage of a weak dollar and an ailing economy.

While working Southern Californians like me can never hope to own a home here, wealthy investors from foreign nations are snapping up (even over-priced) property with ease, making the American dream even more distant for regular American families like ours.

At the same time, we allow investment firms operated by Arab nations to "save" our nation's banks and corporations, assuming the benefit of propping our tumbling stocks will outweigh the long-term impact. Our government continues to borrow money from some of these same nations, even those with vast idealogical differences, to support our spending habits. The years ahead will show how short-sighted this is.

THIS PROBLEM WILL HAVE MUCH MORE LONG-TERM IMPACT on Americans' lives than illegal immigration of low-skilled and migrant workers doing our unpleasant work. This needs urgent attention. If Americans were aware of the extent and the pace of this investment, they would be alarmed, whether they leaned left or right. Action needs to be taken to protect our ability to have our own home, and not just rent our American homes from foreign and immigrant landlords, however nice they may be.

As a candidate, as a senator, and if you win the White House, please protect American land for American citizens and start now to set strict limits on the purchase of American property by non citizens. Please don’t wait until after the election, but help make this a needed part of the election discussion.