What’s Happening To Our Monetary System?

The Great Collapse Has Officially Begun

From Zero Hedge

http://ift.tt/1lQQoUN

Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research

8-21-11

I’ve been warning of this for well over two years. My primary warnings were:

1) That 2008 was just a warm-up

2) That the REAL Crisis had yet to unfold

3) That the REAL Crisis would make 2008 look like a picnic

Well, the period I’ve been warning of is now here. What’s happening right now is not just a market crash, bear market, deflation, or any other item related to just one asset class.

Instead, this is a collapse of the entire US monetary and political system and the mentality of spending one’s way to wealth.

For 80+ years, the US has operated under a crony capitalist system in which politicians dole out political and economic favors to the chosen few whose bribes/donations funded their campaigns.

This system was aided and abetted by the US Federal Reserve, which dealt with any and all economic issues by printing more money. Whether it was the Asian Crisis, Long Term Capital Management, or the 2008 Crash, the Fed dealt with the issue by opening the floodgates and flooding the financial system with liquidity.

Aside from making moral hazard (the notion that those large firms who screwed up were never actually allowed to fail) the bedrock of the financial system, the Fed also blew a credit bubble which in turn funded bubbles in virtually every asset class: bonds, stocks, real estate, emerging markets, even some commodities.

Indeed, the vast majority of US economic growth over the last 40 years has been fueled by the Fed’s loose money policies. Bill King, an analyst and investor whom I admire, shared the below chart with me a while back. It charts US GDP growth in nominal terms (the dark blue line), the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the black line), and REAL GDP growth or growth that accounts for inflation (the light blue line).

As you can see, when we account for inflation, the US economic “miracle” of the last 30 years is in fact not all that miraculous. Take away easy credit and Fed funny money and the US GDP has barely grown at all since the ’70s

When your entire financial system is built on debt eventually you hit a brick wall. We did this in 2008. The Fed barely held the system together by going “all in” and funneling over $11 trillion in bailouts, backstopping the major US banks, and transferring north of $2 trillion in garbage debt to the public’s balance sheet (these are just the moves we know about).

This effort has now failed as the world collectively realizes that the Fed cannot hold the system together. This began to become clear when QE 2 spent $600 billion and the US got at mostthree months’ worth of improved economic data (while inflation exploded throughout the global economy, leading to riots, coups, and more).

In simple terms, we’ve now entered the Real Crisis, the END GAME, for our current monetary system. Before the dust settles on this mess, the US and its political, economic, monetary structure will look very very different.

However, before we get there, we will see riots, civil unrest, possibly martial law, for certain a Government shutdown, bank holidays, a debt default/ restructuring, the re-instatement of the Gold standard or something like it (possibly a basket of commodities), food shortages, and more.

We will also see trade wars, possibly another World War, a temporary backlash against globalization, a de-consolidation or fragmentation of corporate America, and other items.

Source

Robert Recommends...

• Economic Collapse in Prophecy


• History of Gold and Currency


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The post What’s Happening To Our Monetary System? appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

WingTsun – The Calm Before The Storm

WingTsun is Self – Defense Even When Standing Still

by: Keith Sonnenberg

WINGTSUN™ IS SELF-DEFENSE EVEN WHEN STANDING STILL

by Sifu Keith Sonnenberg

WingTsun is a self-defense method even when not moving. The first step, the Siu Nim Tau , was designed to create mental calm. When mental calm is accomplished, bodily control is also accomplished. Situations become clear. Time can seem to slow down. With this kind of concentration, people will even seem to be moving in slow motion.

The WingTsun postures are, in and of themselves, anti-grappling. Due to its unique structure, a WingTsun practitioner, when properly standing, is hard to grab, hard to get a hold of.

Rushing through a movement is not the same thing as speed. True speed is attained when only the most necessary movements are accomplished. If ever you feel an irrational impulse to rush through a series of movements, slow down or even pause and wait for your attacker to make his fatal mistake. Let your attacker rush through a “programmed” movement and take advantage of it.

If your position is perfect there is no need to change positions relative to your attacker. Do not move just for the sake of moving. If you move yourself without using your attacker’s force, you are giving your attacker an opportunity to attack your weak areas. These areas will be exposed due to your unsolicited movements.

Calmness and stillness allows explosive movement when necessary and at the proper moment. Breathing should be without a pattern but controlled. It should not reveal your intentions.

The body feeds the mind and the mind feeds the body. In other words, if you move frantically, it feeds the mind this information and it reinforces a fearful reaction. The mind feeds the body the information to control breathing and nervous activity. The body and the mind work together in this respect.

The form, Siu Nim Tau is a form with no foot movement. It teaches proper breathing. The correct breathing for ordinary practice is simply taking regular deep breaths using the diaphragm, swelling up the stomach area and again using the diaphragm to expel the air. You are expelling the “used oxygen,” a gas that you do not want to re-breath. This gas is actually carbon dioxide. The pace at which you breathe is also a contributory cause of nervousness. The better you breathe the calmer you will be. The old trick of breathing into a paper bag to get control of a panic attack is just that – a trick – a trick actually works! Breathing into a paper bag is just a conscious way of dissolving fear, worry, or panic. You can do the same thing without the bag. A few deep breathes works wonders.

A calm demeanor repels attacks. Stalkers, rapists, and other assorted criminals do not typically choose those of a calm and confident demeanor as their victim. It is probably judged as too risky and viewed as somebody that may be able to put up a fight.

Calmness helps with patience in waiting for the right moment to counter-attack. The patience required is often only a few seconds. However we know that time seems to slow down during these times and so it might seem like an unbearable wait.

In a real self-defense situation, the calm comes before the storm. When stillness turns into explosive movement, the counterattack should be merciless. Your attacker cannot be allowed to return an attack. Most laws state that you may use just the amount of force required to stop the attack, no more and no less.

The calmness that you cultivate in WingTsun training should transfer to your daily life. Transactions become less of a burden and living life is more rewarding.

Source

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The post WingTsun – The Calm Before The Storm appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

Be Mindful of Ideologies

Components to Ideology

By Paul Wesker

Socialism, Nationalism, Authoritarianism and Republicanism are some of what is termed as ideology. Simply put they are constructs that rationalize society and the political life of a community. They also give insight into the relationships of individuals and lay the foundation for the creation of particular political communities. They are also the source of policies upon which a government which espouses them enacts. They are meant to be the foremost consideration and ideal of each individual in society. This means that every citizen has to adhere to and promote the same. Furthermore, the life, thought and conduct of every adherent to these ideas must openly manifest and reflect the tenets of the ideology adhered to.

The power and influence of every ideology known to human civilization and society is derived significantly from popular support it enjoys. This means that the number of people as well their strong adherence to an ideology empowers that ideology above all others. It can even reach the point that the idea becomes the foundation of government and at the core of public policy. All the great ideologies in human history all share this trait. Moreover, they were so influential that they would be championed by a considerable number of members of the society. Is this loyalty intrinsic to that community? Was the tenet of the ideology so appealing that many identify with the same? The answer to these questions is that it is not always the case.

Every ideology employs a wide array of methods to gain popular support. However, the most potent of which is social engineering. The foremost concern of an ideology is its assimilation into the very mindset of an individual and thus permeates the social consciousness. This cannot transpire if an individual rejects or considers its teachings to be dubious or of questionable validity. The techniques in social engineering allow the ideology to break down these barriers. The insightful approaches forwarded by this methodology are keen on taking advantage and attacking the vulnerabilities in human nature. By appealing to a person’s background, tendencies, experiences and belief an ideology becomes accepted into the realm of what that person considers as important, legitimate and valid.

Ideologies are known to solicit tangible responses from those who adhere to its tenets. This is due to the fact that an ideology demands a manifestation from those that believe in it and in turn demonstrates the power it holds to the society at large. Social engineering is again at play. It enables the belief system of ideologies to become the basis for mass social action. Rallies, protests, upheavals, strikes and revolutions are instigated through it. It has already been established how social engineering facilitates the imprinting of the ideology into an individual. It can also move that individual to act on those ideas.

By the same process to appealing to a person’s experiences, personality and inherent views an action, as espoused by an ideology, can even be views to be, at the least an extension of, if not an expression of a person’s own convictions and aspirations. This means that social engineering play an important role in ideologies and how they develop.

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The post Be Mindful of Ideologies appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

What’s Happening To Our Monetary System?

The Great Collapse Has Officially Begun

From Zero Hedge

http://ift.tt/1lQQoUN

Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research

8-21-11

I’ve been warning of this for well over two years. My primary warnings were:

1) That 2008 was just a warm-up

2) That the REAL Crisis had yet to unfold

3) That the REAL Crisis would make 2008 look like a picnic

Well, the period I’ve been warning of is now here. What’s happening right now is not just a market crash, bear market, deflation, or any other item related to just one asset class.

Instead, this is a collapse of the entire US monetary and political system and the mentality of spending one’s way to wealth.

For 80+ years, the US has operated under a crony capitalist system in which politicians dole out political and economic favors to the chosen few whose bribes/donations funded their campaigns.

This system was aided and abetted by the US Federal Reserve, which dealt with any and all economic issues by printing more money. Whether it was the Asian Crisis, Long Term Capital Management, or the 2008 Crash, the Fed dealt with the issue by opening the floodgates and flooding the financial system with liquidity.

Aside from making moral hazard (the notion that those large firms who screwed up were never actually allowed to fail) the bedrock of the financial system, the Fed also blew a credit bubble which in turn funded bubbles in virtually every asset class: bonds, stocks, real estate, emerging markets, even some commodities.

Indeed, the vast majority of US economic growth over the last 40 years has been fueled by the Fed’s loose money policies. Bill King, an analyst and investor whom I admire, shared the below chart with me a while back. It charts US GDP growth in nominal terms (the dark blue line), the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the black line), and REAL GDP growth or growth that accounts for inflation (the light blue line).

As you can see, when we account for inflation, the US economic “miracle” of the last 30 years is in fact not all that miraculous. Take away easy credit and Fed funny money and the US GDP has barely grown at all since the ’70s

When your entire financial system is built on debt eventually you hit a brick wall. We did this in 2008. The Fed barely held the system together by going “all in” and funneling over $11 trillion in bailouts, backstopping the major US banks, and transferring north of $2 trillion in garbage debt to the public’s balance sheet (these are just the moves we know about).

This effort has now failed as the world collectively realizes that the Fed cannot hold the system together. This began to become clear when QE 2 spent $600 billion and the US got at mostthree months’ worth of improved economic data (while inflation exploded throughout the global economy, leading to riots, coups, and more).

In simple terms, we’ve now entered the Real Crisis, the END GAME, for our current monetary system. Before the dust settles on this mess, the US and its political, economic, monetary structure will look very very different.

However, before we get there, we will see riots, civil unrest, possibly martial law, for certain a Government shutdown, bank holidays, a debt default/ restructuring, the re-instatement of the Gold standard or something like it (possibly a basket of commodities), food shortages, and more.

We will also see trade wars, possibly another World War, a temporary backlash against globalization, a de-consolidation or fragmentation of corporate America, and other items.

Source

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• Economic Collapse in Prophecy


• History of Gold and Currency


• We Are Our Governments


• Is timeshare a financial investment?


• Top Secret – WikiLeaks And Openleaks


• Why Invest In Stocks?

The post What’s Happening To Our Monetary System? appeared first on Robert JR Graham.