Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
California’s State Capitol to get Edible Garden says wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Just days after Michelle Obama broke ground for a vegetable garden on the White
House lawn, California’s first lady announced that Sacramento is getting a public
edible garden too.
Maria Shriver announced Monday that a garden will be planted in May in a flower
bed on the east end of Capitol Park in Sacramento.
City Farmer News - Now an Apple Webapp
City Farmer’s webapp can be placed on an iPhone or iPodTouch. Presently Apple has
sold over 30 million of these devices. City Farmer’s webapp is a RRS reader, which
allows readers to keep up with the latest headlines from City Farmer News.
“Web applications - or web apps - combine the power of the Internet with the simplicity
of Multi-Touch technology, all on a 3.5-inch screen. iPhone and iPod touch let you
easily flick through news on Digg, play Sudoku or Bejeweled with a finger tap, and
quickly check movie times, train schedules, and favorite blogs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Complete stories here:
City Farmer News [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102525262230&e=001y6vI-E_m4cGTNhWKKcZhJUTwWZuj8Z63QCIXXnvisEfMBwQ0_6Hh5rpPXODA1ouz7BVd9ZAC6pZJjmqJOHV2rC2sZNmTx7fn34557oU-JTmLQ3Q0NyrmuA==]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael Levenston
City Farmer - Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture
>>>Should have seen the steam when hubby turned it yesterday. <<<
Great - it is really neat to see a compost pile working like it should... Never can seem to get enough of that stuff...
No matter how much compost I make, I always seem to use it all and wish I had more.
Extremist Attacks on Global Food Chain Increase 42%
March 26, 2009
Attacks on the global food chain from animal rights and environmental extremists jumped 42%—from 155 in 2007 to 220 in 2008—according to Arlington, Virginia-based Animal Agriculture Alliance ( Alliance ).
‘Worse yet, claimed attacks on food retailers in the USA from groups like the Animal Liberation Front exploded 377%,’ according to the Alliance news release.
The Alliance indicated that Bite Back magazine was its main source for compiling data on terrorist acts claimed by Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), DBF, a branch of ALF found in Sweden and the Netherlands, and other animal rights terrorist groups. But independent media reports and state agriculture groups also provided critical information.
The information compiled by the Alliance showed that ALF, ELF, DBF and related groups claimed a total of 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism and arson in 2008, up from 467 in 2007, an increase of over 35%. The overall level of animal rights extremist attacks in the USA on businesses that use animals—including medical research, consumer product safety, pets, circuses, rodeos, fur shops, hunting stores, farmers, ranchers, food retailers—surged nearly 40%.
An even more troubling development is the massive expansion of damages inflicted upon food retailers. Claimed attacks on food retailers in the USA, especially the brand names of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Hardee’s, increased from 9 in 2007 to 34 in 2008, an increase of 377%.
Extremist Attacks on Global Food Chain Increase 42% in 2008
Attacks on Food Retailers in USA Show Triple Digit Jump
http://www.animalagalliance.org/current/home.cfm?Section=2009_0225_Extremist&Category=Press_Releases
February 25, 2009 - Attacks on the global food chain from animal rights and environmental extremists jumped 42% - from 155 in 2007 to 220 in 2008 - according to Arlington, Virginia-based Animal Agriculture Alliance ( Alliance ). Worse yet, claimed attacks on food retailers in the USA from groups like the Animal Liberation Front exploded 377%.
The Alliance indicated that Bite Back magazine was its main source for compiling data on terrorist acts claimed by Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), DBF, a branch of ALF found in Sweden and the Netherlands, and other animal rights terrorist groups. But independent media reports and state agriculture groups also provided critical information.
The information compiled by the Alliance showed that ALF, ELF, DBF and related groups claimed a total of 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism and arson in 2008, up from 467 in 2007, an increase of over 35%. The overall level of animal rights extremist attacks in the USA on businesses that use animals - including medical research, consumer product safety, pets, circuses, rodeos, fur shops, hunting stores, farmers, ranchers, food retailers - surged nearly 40%. An even more troubling development is the massive expansion of damages inflicted upon food retailers. Claimed attacks on food retailers in the USA , especially the brand names of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Hardee’s, increased from 9 in 2007 to 34 in 2008, an increase of 377%.
Destruction or defacement of property - especially smashing windows, etching windows, and painting (or paint bombing) windows, buildings, vans and billboards - were the most frequently used techniques used by extremist groups in their attempts to intimidate food chain businesses to shut down. The groups also adopted a new unsavory technique this year, using sponges to block toilets and urinals to cause expensive flooding and extensive clean-up.
In terms of terrorist activities, global animal rights extremist groups combined to claim over 600 separate terrorist acts, including:
* arson;
* firebombing autos and trucks;
* paint bombs;
* death threats;
* theft;
* issuing bomb threats;
* product tampering hoaxes;
* vandalizing grave sites;
* acid etching windows;
* gluing locks;
* paint stripping cars;
* slashing tires;
* flooding facilities;
* cutting off utilities to restaurants;
* hacking web sites; and
* damaging equipment.
Extremists claimed responsibility for the ‘liberation’ of thousands of animals during the year, and millions of dollars in damage. Mexico appears to be an emerging center for animal rights terrorism. In 2008, extremist groups in Mexico claimed more than double the amount of attacks than were claimed in the USA .
As disturbing as this news might be, the geographic array of attacks in the USA is equally disturbing. ‘We have seen a significant change in extremist activity directed against the food chain,’ said Kay Johnson Smith, Executive Vice President of the Animal Agriculture Alliance. ‘The numbers of attacks against food retailers in hotbeds of extremism like California and New York were noticeably lower, while attacks in other areas not widely associated with animal rights extremism increased markedly. For instance, the greater Kansas City , KS area appears to be the new home of an ALF cell, with two attacks having been claimed in the second half of 2008, one in Lenexa and the other in Overland Park . An ALF cell in Georgia claimed five actions. One targeted a butcher shop, another hit a meat company and three more were aimed at quick serve restaurants. Further, ALF cells in North Carolina , South Carolina , Utah and Texas all claimed actions.’
‘The message is loud and clear that the agenda of these groups is focused solely on advancing a vegan agenda through destruction and intimidation,’ said Johnson Smith. ‘The fact that extremists are willing to massively increase their attacks on the food chain during a serious economic downturn should cause major alarm for all companies and organizations responsible for feeding people. The exponential escalation of attacks is shocking and disturbing. All companies in the food chain need to be vigilant, enhance their security efforts and be sure to report all incidents to their local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).’
For more information on securing your facilities, contact the Animal Agriculture Alliance at info@animalagalliance.org or visit the website at http://www.animalagalliance.org.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, is a broad-based coalition of individual producers, producer organizations, suppliers, packer-processors, private industry and retailers. The Alliance’s mission is to communicate the important role of animal agriculture to our nation’s economy, productivity, vitality, security and that animal well-being is central to producing safe, high-quality, affordable food and other products essential to our daily lives.
Source: http://www.agweb.com/Get_Article.aspx?source=RSS&pageid=149362
Dirty Bomb Warning Ahead of G-20 Summit
March 27, 2009
by Ben Quinn
A new government report says that a terrorist attack is now more likely than ever.
After decades of campaigns by Irish Republicans and, most recently, Islamist militants, Britons have become used to the daily threat of terrorism.
But in a warning that the stakes have been raised – and just days before world leaders gather here for the Group of 20 meeting – a warning was given this week that a so-called dirty bomb on a British city is more likely than ever.
The government alert accompanied the launch of a major new antiterrorist strategy that encourages ordinary citizens to offer Britain an additional layer of security.
The new approach aims to train some 60,000 retail, hotel, and service industry staff to recognize terrorist threats. In addition, more resources will go into blocking access to information posted online on how to stage terror attacks.
Most significant, as part of a broader ideological offensive against terrorism and amid growing concern that alienated Muslim youths are being recruited by terror groups, the government will allocate funds for influential groups and individuals in Britain’s Muslim community who speak out against extremism.
The 167-page document, regarded as the frankest assessment yet of the threat facing Britain , asserts that there is a need to ‘challenge those who reject the rights to which we are committed, scorn the institutions and values of our parliamentary democracy, dismiss the rule of law, and promote intolerance.’
The document made headlines with a stark warning that changing technology and increased illegal transportation of chemical, radiological, and biological materials make the prospect of terrorists assembling and exploding a dirty bomb more realistic.
Currently, the risk of a terrorist attack taking place in Britain is said by the authorities to be ‘severe’ – meaning that an attack is highly likely.
Continued and keep in mind, a thereat to Britan is also a threat to the U.S., for the jihadi consider us equally evil.
granny
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0327/p04s01-woeu.html
Border Patrol Battles Influx of Dangerous Criminals
March 24, 2009
Convicted criminals with various tattoos showing their particular gang affiliation.
New technology helps Border Patrol agents see places they normally couldn’t.
Border Patrol agents are arresting an increased number of dangerous criminals at the border, officials say.
‘We’re talking about major things. Homicides, sex offenders, big robberies, armed robberies—things to that degree,’ says agent Mike Scioli.
Scioli says more dangerous criminals are trying to enter the U.S. — a disturbing yet growing trend along the southern border.
This past weekend, a group of 34 illegals were apprehended by agents near Ajo. Two of them were members of a notorious and ruthless gang known as MS-13. How did agents find out? Finger prints and tattoos were a dead-giveaway.
‘These two individuals, not only did their criminal record prove they were gang members, but also their tattoo affiliations,’ Agent Scioli says. ‘They’re all under 13 as the 13th letter in the English alphabet which links them to the Mexican Mafia, the largest gang running in the US right now.’
Authorities say the gang has at least 850,000 members. Many of them have drug and human smuggling ties, great contacts to have when trying to enter the U.S. under the radar.
In response to this, local, state and federal officials have beefed up security significantly. Just last week, we got a look at what’s essentially an X-ray machine on wheels, which can detect virtually anything that anybody’s trying to hide or bring in illegally.
But these people aren’t coming in through checkpoints and other ports of entry. Many of them are military trained, organized crime members. Last fiscal year, the Border Patrol apprehended at least 60 hardened gangsters in the Tucson Sector. So far this year, they’ve already arrested 25 and the number is only growing.
Says Agent Scioli, ‘It just proves again that these aren’t people coming over for jobs, these aren’t people trying to take care of their families back in Mexico , they’re coming over to cause havoc.’
Source: http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=10057569
Italy Arrests 5 Bomb-makers
March 25, 2009
Italy’s telecommunications police have arrested five people in the southern city of Catania for distributing bomb-making instructions on Internet websites.
The probe originated during a routine monitoring of Internet services by telecommunications police, who found websites alleged to have been illegally distributing information for the building and use of explosive devices.
During the probe, police said they found audiovisual manuals for the building of rudimentary explosive devices, ‘war’ weapons, chemicals, dangerous bacteriological agents and other lethal devices.
The investigations were carried out with assistance from Italy’s Division of General Investigations and Special Operations (Digos) charged with investigating terrorism and organised crime.
The probe extended from the north to the south of Italy and several cities including Rome , Bergamo , Terni and Salerno .
During the searches, lethal and non-lethal ammunition was seized, including two rifles and seven handguns as well as extensive information about how to build explosives and how to tamper with telephone booths.
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3139425527
G20 anarchists plan wave of strikes against Canary Wharf and BT Tower
Posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 4:03pm
An anarchist group is planning to “switch off the lights” at some of London’s most iconic buildings, including Canary Wharf and the BT Tower, in the run up to the G20 summit in the capital next week, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
Full Story
These people need to be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.
No more mercy for them than they show for the victims of their attacks.
10 Odd Superstitions About Food
Posted: 25 Mar 2009 09:57 PM PDT
Superstitions can fill peoples lives with a bit of innocent fun, but they can also be incredibly crippling. This is a list of some of the more unusual superstitions that surround food. Many of these superstitions derive from Great Britain, and therefore ultimately found their way around the world through colonization.
10
Hollow Bread
Easy White Bread 1.Jpg
It was once (and perhaps still is) a superstition that if you found a hole in a loaf of bread you cut, it symbolized a coffin and meant that someone was soon to die. If a person found a loaf in this state, there would be days of discussion to guess who it might be that would be stricken down. Of course, these days we are less likely to cut our own loaves of bread, so this one is likely to die into obscurity.
9
Egg shells
Shells 5.Jpg
It was once a superstition that if you did not crush the ends of an egg after eating it, a witch would gather the shells and use them to craft a boat that she could use to sail out to sea to raise storms. This is a very ancient superstition which seems to originate in the 1580s. If you shattered the end of the shell, it would create enough holes to make it useless as a boat. We won’t even go into the logic of how a full-sized human might be able to stand in an egg shell - that was obviously not on the minds of our superstitious forebears.
8
Crossed Bread
Michael Pacher 004.Jpg
This innocent old superstition dictated that all loaves of bread must be marked with a sign of the cross before baking. The idea was that the cross would prevent the devil from sitting on the loaf - and thereby prevent him from cursing or spoiling the bread. The upside to this superstition is that bread rises much better in the oven when crossed - though obviously not from the influence (or lack thereof) of the wicked one.
7
Salt
Salt1.Jpg
We all know of the superstition surrounding the spilling of salt, but here is a slightly more unusual one. It used to be considered bad if you helped another person to the salt - there was even a little phrase that evolved from the superstition: “help to salt, help to sorry.” Salt is such an important part of human life that it is no wonder that it appears so frequently in the history of superstition.
6
Tea Rituals
Tea-8.Jpg
It used to be considered bad luck for two people to pour tea from the same pot. In addition, if you left the lid off the teapot while brewing tea, it was meant to mean that a stranger would visit soon. There were even a series of small rituals you could perform to determine the exact day, hour, and gender of the visitor by means of tapping the wrist.
5
Christmas Cake
Gb Christmas Cake
Superstitions surrounding Christmas are as numerous as Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands. One such superstition says that all members of a family must have a turn stirring the Christmas cake mixture or else bad luck will befall them. Young unmarried girls were especially supposed to have a turn - otherwise they would remain alone for another year.
4
Eggy Luck
P8130013.Jpg
In many parts of Europe, farmers would take a fresh egg into the fields in the hopes that it would bring a good healthy crop. Eggs were also used to tell fortunes - two yolks would mean a marriage was coming up soon, a black spot on a yolk was a bad omen - and an egg with no yolk at all was just about as bad as you could get.
3
Garlic
Garlic02.Jpg
In Greece there is an ancient superstition called the Evil Eye. It is believed that when someone gives you the evil eye, bad luck (usually minor) will befall you. Now you may be wondering why this is on a food superstitions list; the reason is that the way to prevent the evil eye from affecting you is to carry around a piece of garlic. This is unlikely to help you when you are having a night out looking for a date!
2
The Wishbone
Picture 5-11
Before we all sit back on our laurels and laugh at the superstitions around the world that would never afflict us; let us remember one of our own most revered superstitions, the pulling of the wishbone. In Western (especially American and British) tradition, two people use their pinky finger to break the wishbone. The person who wins the longest piece gets good luck and usually makes a wish. We may all say we aren’t superstitious - but this is something we have all done at one time or another which leads us to our last (and equally common) superstition:
1
Wedding Rice
Wedding-Picture-Photo-Shower-Of-Rice-Jurvetson-Pic.Jpg
Throwing rice at a wedding is such a common event that we don’t even bat an eyelid when we see it happening. But what most of us don’t realize is that this a very superstitious tradition with a very long history. The throwing of rice is meant to bring prosperity, wealth, and happiness to the couple. Frankly though, with the amount of money people spend on weddings these days, it would be more useful to throw wads of cash rather than rice.
From:
I would really appreciate it if you could give me and the readers here an indication of what we could likely expect next. Here is my prediction by ranking of which will happen next which are major landmarks on our road to chaos. Could you please rank them according to your own understanding of our situation? Please add what I have failed to identify.
1. China reduces or fails to purchase US Treasuries
2. Real unemployment hits >25% www.shadowstats.com
3. Commercial Realestate hits major new lows
4. Fed increases the money supply again by >10%
5. Obamaites increases deficit by another 2 Trillion, we will have to have a few more bailout, commercial real estate, newspapers, airlines, etc.
6. US becomes majority owner of more than 50% of Banks
7. few 3rd world countries experience governmental collapse, food riots, tin pot imperialism(land grabs)
8. Huge rapid(days weeks?)currency devaluation ala Iceland
9. Union strikes
10. Russian debt default(intrade.com/widgets/crisis/WorldCrisisIndex.html)
Thank you for your informed opinion. I am bullish on the U.S. People’s capacity to grow our way out of this if the voters were to change direction and demand a laissez faire government, no capital gains tax extreme turn to free enterprise. However, I don’t see that it is likely that people will demand such a change when its much easier to vote gutless and continue voting for a handout, “welfare state” etc. If anything, people will be crying for more handouts and the government to do something, just fix it.
It is on this basis that I can see no other possibility for our country’s financial future than major inflation, currency devaluation, and being hobbled with a European kind of socialist welfare state, no? My only confusion about what scenario is most likely is that even though the US will be undesirable, it’s the only game in town for international investors. That’s because most all the other countries in the world will just be worse off than the US.
That deserves a thread of its own.
[This is what you get, with a bargain on baby formula at the little corner grocery, there have been several cases of the stolen formula, involving terrorism funding.
granny]
=== Google Blogs Alert for: stolen baby formula ===
Leader-Telegram Online
The food is in storage while the New Berlin wholesaler is defending a
federal lawsuit that it knowingly bought more than $4 million worth of
stolen baby formula with the intent to resell it. Kaloti’s attorney
Raymond
Dall’Osto of ...
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BJIC03QMJ0V
Leadertelegram.com Front Page News
http://www.leadertelegram.com/
First Impressions » Cat paws & baby formula
By jmehalik
The case itself involves a February 2007 warehouse raid that uncovered
the
many thousands of cans of powered baby formula, which agents believed
were
stolen from retailers. Labels with the “use by” date were stripped off
or altered. ...
http://firstimpressions.theindianalawyer.com/content/?p=165
First Impressions
http://firstimpressions.theindianalawyer.com/content/
ANGIOSTRONGYLUS MENINGITIS - USA (02): (HAWAII)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Sun 22 Mar 2009
Source: KPUA Hawaii News, Associated Press (AP) report [edited]
http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=17462
Rat lungworm patients recovering
[The 38-year-old woman] has come out of the coma caused by rat
lungworm disease enough to respond to friends and her parents. She
has been hospitalized since 8 Dec 2008. [The 24-year-old man] is now
conscious and able to track people with his eyes. He was put in
intensive care in January [2009].
Both remain at Hilo Medical Center, where they are breathing with the
assistance of a machine. The disease is spread through vegetables
containing larvae of a slug that carries the rat lungworm. A 3rd
person who contracted rat lungworm disease has recovered enough to
walk and live at home.
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[ProMED-mail thanks Brent Barrett for the follow up report on the 3
patients. The CDC fact sheet on angiostrongyliasis can be found at
http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/angiostrongyliasis.htm
The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Hawaii is available at
http://healthmap.org/r/007B
- Mod.EP]
[see also:
Angiostrongylus meningitis - USA: (HI) 20090106.0046
2008
This message contains the following:
1. Children’s Hooded Fleece Jackets with Drawstrings Recalled by Golden
Grove Trading Due to Strangulation Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09162.html
2. La Jolla Sport Recalls Children’s Hooded Sweatshirts with
Drawstrings Due to Strangulation Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09163.html
3. Children’s Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Recalled by
Dysfunctional Clothing Due to Strangulation Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09164.html
4. Holiday Lights Recalled by Four Star Group USA Due to Fire Hazard;
Sold Exclusively at Safeway Stores
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09165.html
5. Children’s Fishing Poles Recalled by Zebco Due to Violation of Lead
in Paint Standard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09166.html
6. Children’s Hooded Sweatshirts Recalled by MM Compound Due to
Strangulation Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09167.html
7. Children’s Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Recalled by Rusty
North America Due to Strangulation Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09168.html
Never heard of that one before.
Where is it typically found?
Chinese firm wants to keep Gottschalks in business
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009 - 3:13 pm
Gottschalks Inc.’s fight for survival remains ongoing. A Chinese company determined to keep it open has submitted a bid for Gottschalks, the Fresno retailer confirmed today.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1732182.html
Sacramento notifies federal government that Mayor Johnson is on federal grant suspension list
By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009 - 3:37 pm
Last Modified: Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009 - 5:42 pm
The city of Sacramento plans to immediately begin notifying federal agencies providing federal grants and other funds that Mayor Kevin Johnson is listed among those forbidden from receiving such funds, City Manager Ray Kerridge said today.
http://www.sacbee.com/1089/story/1732213.html
Hydrogen gas leak quickly contained in S. Sacramento
By Sandy Louey
slouey@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009 - 4:38 pm
Sacramento Fire Department personnel responded to a hydrogen gas leak this afternoon at the Procter & Gamble facility in south Sacramento.
The hazardous material incident was reported at 1:31 p.m. at 8201 Fruitridge Road. There were no evacuations and no one was injured, said Capt. Jim Doucette in a news release.
During a routine maintenance, a hydrogen storage tank valve failed, creating a small leak that caught fire, he said.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1732360.html
First - China has already reduced their openness to purchasing US Treasuries. Note their attempts to introduce ‘Global Currency’ along with Russia at the next G20 Meeting. OPEC countries are looking for something other than US $ to settle with. This hints at their unease with the stability of our currency.
The Trillions being put into the system are not going into the area that it is needed. Obama’s ‘Recovery’ programs put the lion’s share into the M3 category. For it to functionally stimulate the economy it has to work its way into M1.
I see the various monetary categories as:
M1 Volitile cash base
M2 adds Fungible cash base
M3 adds Static cash base
Unemployment
U1? U2? U3? U4? U5? U6? I don’t put much stock in them. U3 is what they use, but U6 is a better reflection of actual case at hand.
They can’t be reconciled within even a million jobs of actual.
Don’t really account for multiple jobs by same person.
Inflation
Do you, or anyone really believe the finagling they do with this one? Food, Clothes, Gas, etc, etc. 3% range is bunk.
I see more inflation increase than money supply increase.
GNP
While this figures in a major way into the necessary comparisons, the figures are intentionally overstated. (just like the Chinese do)
I regularly am asked what ratio or what index or what sign should I be looking for.... I don’t trust any of them! You almost have to observe, listen and ask questions all around the country to get a gut feeling of where we are... Totally unscientific but you get a feel for the most important aspect - public inclination.
I know this isn’t a straight answer to your questions - no ranking 1-10 but when you are dealing with fudged figures and when you have to distrust every motivated quotation.
Sorry I am short on time to fully get into it tonight, but will try to answer more as I can.
Don’t know about cooking them up in a stew, but I’m planning how to feed us and FrogDad is planning how to protect it.
As I stocked my bags of flour, salt and boxes of lard, I wondered, “what would I DIE without??”.
Butter!
Can make lots of bread, need butter!
So I found a recipe for canning butter - and cheese. You may have covered those, this thread is long (HUGE actually!), and I’ve just found it, so will take a bit to catch up.
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