FUNNY NUMBERS AT THE FED

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So our government lies to us once again. Where's the news in that? The one thing that we can absolutely depend on is that we are being lied to and defrauded by politicians, bankers, insurance execs, oil execs, Wall Street and damned near everybody else involved in the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.

Prepare yourselves, your families, your friends and communities. When this thing comes apart there is no way to even to begin to know what's going to happen.

Pray for protection.

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE IN THE STOCK MARKET?

"The reports last week of increased jobless claims, increasing trade deficit, and an inflation rate for food and energy prices that doubled over the last month should have put a lot of pressure on the open trading markets. Frankly, the stock market is now brushing off most poor economic news at the moment--a trend that analysts worry about because it shows a decoupling of economic fundamentals, and the effect it has over real stock market moves. The electronic trading industry continues to move markets irrespective of economic fundamentals.

In the real world, and on the street, higher jobless claims at a time when seasonal employment should be improving the rate are worrisome. With it, we have to add the notion that producer prices rose 0.4 percent in September. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, inflation moved up just 0.1 percent. One of the concerns over inflationary pressure is that the Fed is likely to add stimulus to the U.S. economy through a Quantitative Easing strategy--which essentially has been called "printing money." The result of this action typically creates inflationary pressure on products.

Lastly, the trade deficit for August moved up 8.8 percent on record imports from China. This is both good and bad. The good side of it is that it shows demand in the U.S. for products is still strengthening, which equates to improved economic activity. But it is also a concern because of the growing trade deficit and the perception that it ships jobs overseas."
YRCW

This article points out something that I don't think many people are aware of; the completely irrational nature of the stock market at this point. You might as well just take your money to the casino and bet it on the game of your choice because that's what we've got with the markets. It used to be that a person could invest based on research and fundamental economics. Now however, the game is being rigged. The markets are controlled by traders with access to computers and software that allow them to trade in milliseconds, changing the value of investments all over the world for no reason outside of short term gain. Remember the "flash crash"?

How can anyone be comfortable knowing that their savings and maybe even their primary source of income is at the mercy of some kid with a computer playing what is essentially a giant game? Can the normal investor understand this system well enough to take advantage of it? Can they even understand it enough to make a cogent argument for the market as a safe repository of their funds? Does the average retiree even understand computers well enough to conceive of the system that is working against their interests?

Of course the investment guys they deal with tell them that everything is under control, that their money is safe. Really? How can they know? They don't control the guys with the computers, either. They can be the best investment guys in the world, doing research and analysis, carefully charting a course through the markets when all of a sudden somebody, in less than the blink of an eye, makes a move that drops the value of an investment for no logical reason, like a tornado sweeping across the plains. Is that a manageable form of risk or just a disaster waiting to happen?

If you don't think I'm right just ask yourself why the market keeps going up when the economy keeps retracting? Doesn't there seem to be a disconnect?

And where does the government come up with these inflation numbers? They don't count food and fuel? What? I don't know about you but outside of my house payment those are the two biggest items in the budget and they're going up fast.

The Producer Price Index keeps going up yet producers aren't passing this on to consumers? If that's the case then we're either on the edge of big time inflation as the cost of goods sold will rise to reflect the cost of production or businesses will start shutting their doors. It's that or the government is lying about the true rate of inflation by somehow cooking the books, again.

It seems to me that nothing can be trusted any longer. The world has become a cesspool of lies and deceit. The government lies, the media lies, even our priests and preachers can't be taken at face value. I know that in the Catholic Church we are seeing constant and purposeful distortion of the truth by many Church leaders to satisfy a political agenda that runs counter to the teachings of the Church itself.

We can no longer be complacent in our daily lives. Everything must be checked for truthfulness. Everything we read, hear and see has to be doubted until we can verify its accuracy. Personally, I don't trust anyone except family and a few friends. I believe in the Catholic Church and the deposit of faith but not the people that control it. I certainly don't trust our federal government at all. I have some confidence in the state and local government but not much. I do trust local law enforcement but believe that they are going to be presented with some horrific choices in the near future that may make it impossible to completely trust them, too.

So what can we do? Personally, I don't worry about it. I figure that it'll all work out the way God wants it to and I'm just going with the flow. I pretty much figure life's going to suck for the foreseeable future and that's just the way it is. The thing is, there's only so much we can do outside of prayer and some basic preparedness. The rest is up to God.

I just hate to see the people that just don't get it, especially the older ones, keep on living as though nothing has changed, as though it's still 30 years ago when America was on top and the rest of the world be damned. Because that's an illusion being sold to them by the money interests to buy enough time to suck every last bit of wealth out of the system. And when they've done it and they pull the plug all the people that bought into their snake oil will be shocked, confused and angry. And a bad situation will quickly become a nightmare.

And that is the truth.

A TALE OF TWO AMERICAS

So, how's that economic recovery working out for you? If you are a member of the middle class or working class the links below pretty much tell the tale.

20,000 + homeowners make last ditch effort to save their houses from foreclosure.

Homelessness up 50% in New York City.

1 out of 6 take government aid.

Dow continues to slide.

U.S. auto sales may hit 28 year low.

New home sales hit 40 year low.

Existing home sales at lowest rate in 15 years. Inventory at 11 year high.

U-6 unemployment rate at 16.5%. May actually be higher.

But what if you belong to the upper middle class and above or the political class?

Luxury retail booms while bargain retail suffers.

Congresswoman's family gets special treatment where scholarships are concerned.

Oval Office gets makeover while Obamas are on vacation.

Luxury car sales growing.

Bankers keep getting richer.

I don't care if the rich get richer or if they spend their money like crazy. Actually, if they spend their money they'll create jobs, which is a good thing. The links above are meant to point to a bigger problem; we are splintering into two separate realities in America. For the majority of Americans, things are getting worse. But for those at the top, life is just swell. The problem is that those at the top, the ones that have the power to make the changes necessary to get the economy going again don't feel the economy the way the rest of us do. In their world, things are fine.

They use the government to create programs and taxes that take the little bit of money the normal guy has to send it to themselves through bailouts, TARP and healthcare. And along with our money comes control over our lives.

And this is where it'll get ugly. If the people begin to believe that their leaders are living in a world of luxury and privilege, and that the people are being excluded from the opportunity to achieve the same level of success by laws and regulations created and passed by those at the top, and worse yet that we are being forced to pay for this luxury and privilege, something will give.

We've always had the minority of people in America that want redistribution of wealth and won't be happy until the wealthy are destroyed. That's a stupid, childish and incredibly dangerous political viewpoint. The average American, on the other hand, doesn't mind at all if someone makes boatloads of money because they worked hard and earned it. Hell, most don't even care if it was inherited or if somebody won it in the lottery. As long as we have the same OPPORTUNITY to achieve success ourselves.

The thing is, it seems like now everyone at the top, from the politicians to the Wall Streeters, to the bankers and attorneys are doing their damnedest to pass laws and regulations that will effectively consolidate their wealth while closing the door to the rest of us. The upper classes seem to get all kinds of public monies thrown their way when they make stupid decisions that invariably rob the average guy. So they not only get us on the front end but then they force us to pay for it through taxation. And then they take expensive vacations, buy expensive stuff and live in private neighborhoods while the rest of us fight to keep a roof over our heads.

Can you see where this is going to lead?

The French Revolution comes to mind. And that may be exactly what some at the top are hoping for. They may believe that they have the power to control and squash massive civil unrest, and that it would present the perfect way to suspend our Constitution and the protections it affords us. I used to think that stuff like this was crazy talk and conspiracy nut territory. Not so much anymore.

Too many buttons are being pushed. I don't think that the powers at the top are stupid so I have to think that the decisions they're making are being made with a rational goal in mind. The only end that I can see is a collapsed economy and a population enraged. If this is the goal then there is a rational reason for it. The only reason I can see is to seize control and consolidate power. Why else would someone intentionally destroy our country and economy?

I've been surprised that we've lasted as long as we have but I suppose that is mostly because it has allowed the money guys to extract as much wealth as possible from the system. Since we seem to be running on fumes now, and if this is truly a plan designed to collapse America, our time must be short.

What happens next? I don't know but I'm sure it won't be pretty. All we can do is pray and ask for guidance and protection. The forces in play are so great that there is nothing we can do to stop them. It seems that every part of our economy has been pushed to the edge and all we're waiting for is the final nudge to send us over.

I hope and pray that I'm wrong, that somewhere behind all this evil that surrounds us we see there is a plan, not to destroy us, but to set right the country and return America to what it was meant to be.

I'm not going to hold my breath.