The JokeHeros Blog

Screwed over by??? BANK OF AMERICA!!

2010-07-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Look it up, the Prime Rate, often called the Federal Funds Rate is at all time lows, nearly ZERO PERCENT.

Good for: people in major debt, people who spend way beyond their means, (which pretty much describes our government and a majority of people who owe more than they make.)

Bad for: senior citizens and retirees on fixed incomes, people who save their money and spend frugally. People who tried to do right and not overextend themselves so that their kids do not end up in the poorhouse.

C'mon, what did people who worked their asses off all their lives, those on disability (who REALLY need it), and people like me who saved while most everyone else inflated the worst housing bubbles (two in a 20 year period!) do wrong to deserve this punishment? That's right, NOTHING.

ACCUSED PARTY: Bank of America: Receiver of TARP bailouts and Too Big Too Fail classification (aka doesn't matter how broke they are, we can't let them fail BULLSHIT!). I opened a savings account in 1991 as a young teen, scooping up nickels and dimes and depositing them in their Savings Account, keeping track of my deposits because that's how I was taught. My grandfather lived through the depression and frugality is a characteristic in my family.

So you figure if Bank of America is getting BILLIONS of dollars of our money, for FREE, they could at least reward those people who make up the heart of the bank: the depositors with more incentive to keep their deposits in their accounts, yathink?!

BUT NOOOO! They REWARD us by offering .0125 percent yield on a savings account. CD's are joke too because they target the near zero Prime Rate and your money is locked away.

I believe I made, having the minimum balance required to have a savings account, about 45 cents in "savings" last year. If I went under the minimum balance, a fee of 3 dollars would be charged to my account. That's a total of about SIX YEARS OF SAVINGS from BofA!

Now I could DOUBLE my entire deposit and make a WHOPPING 90 CENTS for 2010!

HOLY CRAP!

That's it. BANK OF AMERICA: GUILTY OF SCREWING OVER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

My personal sentence: ALL ACCOUNTS ARE CLOSED, MY BUSINESS WITH YOU IS DONE. I'M ENCOURAGING OTHER CUSTOMERS TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND REEVALUATE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU SCUMBAGS. YOU TAKE OUR MONEY FOR FREE AND PUNISH US AT THE SAME TIME. UNACCEPTABLE. I HOPE YOU FAIL!

Solutions: My local community bank offers the same services (free checking, savings, ATM, etc) without being a TBTF scumbag like BofA. Others may have the choice credit unions in your area to choose from. Check out moveyourmoney.org. Savings accounts anywhere are going to be a joke thanks to Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve, but at least BoA has one less customer to screw over.

STAY AWAY FROM B of A!

Thanks for reading.

Next blog: Accused Party: CITIBANK

Basic banking issues and "How I was screwed over by 'the man'!"

2010-07-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

I eventually bring up the idea on how current banking 'system', or banking 'philosophy' screws over everyone with counterfeiting money, and creating money out of thin air. Don't believe me? Look up the FIAT BANKING SYSTEM, aka FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING.

Anyways, I've been screwed over by my fellow man a few times this year so far, including: a layoff, having my truck broken into and radio stolen, and just yesterday, some idiot stole the tire pump off my bike as I swam at the city pool.

I was going through my financials, logging in receipts, verifying transactions, checking balances on my various monetary structures (credit cards, savings and checking, investments, etc.) Basically the stuff that is in my name but that I really don't have on me.

Which, in a sense, frightens me. I have x amount of money in the bank. If I need that money all at once and it surpasses their daily limit, I will probably get some resistance and have to go through a fair amount of hassle from the bank (and possibly Homeland Security?) Even though it's my money, it will probably take the bank a day or two to "process the transaction" (laughable, all the electronics in the world and still "process the transactions means we wait, and wait, and wait...)

Now, imagine EVERYONE, every customer at that bank saying "hey, I need my money too!" Well guess what, that's called a "bank run" and even though the bank is supposed to have all that money, well THEY DON'T! See, they lend and play with your money when you aren't looking, making bets and gambles and investments and creating and vaporizing your money out of thin air. The Federal Reserve is their with their guidebook (look up that gem of financial wizardry and manipulation) and plenty of 'paper' to supply the banks with their games.

Our invisible assets, what we see on banking statements, on our computer screens, at the ATM display. They are our assets but they are definitely not in our possession. When the SHTF and we need those assets, we may be stuck in line at a bank that can do nothing but shrug their shoulders and say "uh duhh uh we don't has your moneys, sorry!"

Be careful.

Back to the original point, I'm going to blog a few times on how "the man" has screwed me over, how I observe "the man" screwing YOU over, and screwing over people like my family and friends. Send me your "I was screwed!" stories or link them up. This should be fun.

This is what is wrong with our country...

2010-07-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

I've talked much about Goldman Sachs aka "the vampire squid" and it's leeching off the financial system of this country here and on a podcast I co-host called The About Nothing Show.
Just this week, as most people expected, Goldman Sachs (herein GS), 'settled' a civil law suit in its efforts to skirt the justice system many of us normal folks rely on for justice. The out-of-court settlement equaled approximately half of 1 billion dollars of a payout. When you realize that GS paid themselves nearly 20 billion dollars of bonuses in 2009, it seems that this 'fine' was not even a slap on the wrist, barely a drop in a bucket. Let's visualize these numbers:

GS Bonuses 2009 GS Settlement 2010
20,000,000,000 DOLLARS 55,000,000 DOLLARS

Be sure to look real close at the number of zeros in this figures.

Now, this is what is wrong with our country. It's called a MIS-ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES! We are a rich country, a lot of money is created and made here through our industry, exports, imports, and hard work many of us Americans (who are still employed) go through on a daily grind. Yet the end result of all this work has been allocated to the already wealthy banks and corporations that DO NOT CARE FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS OR FOR THE U.S. OF A! THEY ARE INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL ENTITIES!

YET! We hear the gov't talk about the rising deficit, the need to raise taxes, ballooning debt crises, bankrupt cities, counties, and even states. Heck, the Republicans made sure unemployment benefits would not be extended because "we need to stop spending". I sure don't remember them saying that "we need to stop spending" when they offloaded $750,000,000 to the banks, no questions asked, and when they didn't blink an eye at Ben Bernankes offloading of over $2,000,000,000,000 (that's right, TWO TRILLION) dollars to foreign and local banks.

So that's where all our wealth went, right to the top, the already-wealthy, the uber-rich, to cover their gambling debts. That's where all our hard work and taxes WENT, and WILL GO IN THE FUTURE. That includes YOUR GRANDCHILDREN paying high taxes because the government can't control spending and the rich and wealthy connected to Wall Street and the Banking system stole it all.

So the government, in the process of still needing astronomical amounts of money, squeezes the working class even more. They've strangled the middle class to death. Now they are going to try to squeeze pennies out of those who've already been strangled. Get ready for even higher taxes, higher utilities, and higher any-other-possible-fee the government can levy on us.

YET! They do not represent us when it comes to fighting the Vampire Squid and Wall Street in general. This is what is called TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. Look up this idea and see what kind of history it has in this country. History doesn't repeat itself but it sure does rhyme.

So, in effect, there is a WAR ON THE MIDDLE AND WORKING CLASS. It is a war between Wall Street and the Banking System vs. The Middle and Working Class. Wall Street has hired (through lobbying and campaign donations) the same government that is supposed to represent us, as the FOOT SOLDIERS in the war.

Wall Street, including their poster boy, GS, has, is, and will reap the spoils of this war.

This is why our country is in a sht-hole, this is why we can't get out of it, and this is why it will continue on regardless of what any lying Republican or Democrat politician promises us in the future.

Summary and Link to Oil Disaster

2010-06-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

To summarize my last blog:

Our Congress and President RUSHED through banking industry bail-outs to prevent a boogey-man ECONOMIC DISASTER that was really more of a threat than a feasible possibility.

Our current Congress and President DO NOTHING but sit, at a distance, to prevent a well described ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER that is probably more serious of a threat than we think.

TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to the banking industry and our economy is still SCREWED.

ZERO DOLLARS to the prevention of any further damage to the Gulf Coast, which is SCREWED.

Are you a visual person? Need stimulus in the form of fancy lights, flashing video, 7.1 surround sound? Well I don't have that, but take a gander at this live feed to get an idea of what's been going on for OVER A MONTH, 24/7!

http://www.deepwaterbp.com/

THANK YOU

Bend over backwards to save "banks" but sit back and watch the earth bleed?

2010-06-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been well over a month since the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico took place, initially with the loss of human life (let's not forget) and now with an endless trail of animal and sea life washing up on oil slicked shores.

BP is in charge of the cleanup/repair, and after failing a handful of times, is still at it, working on solutions that did not exist in the first place. Making this situation one of a giant guessing game. The inevitable environmental destruction is coming closer to home for those who live on the Gulf Coast. Destruction that may not be reversible. Some are calling this the worst natural disaster the U.S. has ever seen, and it was all man-made. A weak point in engineering, planning, technology, whatever. A disaster of giant proportions, no doubt.

Pissed off yet? Flash back to late 2008, a an ECONOMIC disaster of earth-shaking proportions was in the makings. Why was it "earth-shaking"? Well, because Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke, hearing the cries and moans of overpaid banksters and executives in their good ol' boys club, said it was. Them losing control of the monetary system they controlled, in which they take from the working class and stuff their pockets while creating NOTHING of value, was of course, "earth shaking" proportions, only to themselves of course.

Hank Paulson, on a single sheet of paper, drafts a proposal where Congress would allow 750 billion dollars AT A TIME (not total) to be given to his power to dole out to banks as needed to make sure this earth shattering event did not take place. In probably less words than it takes to type this, he said: "Do this NOW or the global economy as we know it will die!" He urged Congress to pass this bill, even asking them to pursue an emergency weekend session so that it could be passed by the next business day.

Our worthless Congresspersons, save for a few true American patriots, said, wait, if we are going to pass this, let's make sure we all get a little piece for ourselves. They rejected the initial single page bill and turned it into a 400 page pork filled bill that allowed them to ALSO STEAL FROM THE TAXPAYER FUNDS! As if they don't steal enough already. Most Congresspersons didn't read the entire bill, but I bet they made damn sure that their sections were up to snuff.

A lot of resistance was felt, and Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke threatened Congress with MARTIAL LAW if they did not pass the bill. The bill, designed to save the earth from self destruction, passed. Banksters across the world rejoiced! The world was saved, Ben Bernanke became a self described Super Hero. The TARP bill would be the biggest joke of our country's time: banksters gave themselves billions of dollars in bonuses, the money wasn't spent how they planned, and trillions, that's right, TRILLIONS of dollars later, our economy is STILL bad.

Back to the present. No one knew, back in 2008, just what would really happen if the banks were allowed to fail. Actually, they knew, they just didn't want to accept it. One bank fails and others come in to take over its assets, simple as that.

Today, we know EXACTLY what will happen if oil continues bleeding from the earth. Where's the urgency from our Congress to stop this environmental disaster the way they attempted to stop the financial disaster? Aren't Democrats 'environmentalists'? Imagine, and I laugh just thinking about it, if this happened on Dubya's watch, the Dems would be howling from all corners of the continent!! All we've seen is Obama yell at BP and tell us just how much he understands the people who this disaster affects.

Bend over backwards for the banks and elite, stand back and blather worthless hype for the environment and the lives affected by the worst natural disaster in the history of the U.S.A.

Our politicians are nothing more than COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURES.

Why couldn't the government say "We are ALL going to be involved (all being offshore drillers, oil companies, government agencies involved in this particular drill site) and do what it takes to stop this leak AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. In the end, we pass the bill on to BP."

Instead, we sit back, wait and watch BP fumble and bumble while millions of BARRELS of oil bleeds into the Gulf of Mexico. What is going on here?!?!

Modern Day Alchemists

2010-04-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

19th and 20th century men and women in a quest for the Philospher's Stone... the magic ingredient, recipe, piece of the puzzle that could turn "worthless" lead into "valuable" gold. Sitting around in a lab, bubbling chemicals, glass beakers and vials, and hundreds of concoctions, some scientifically created, others thrown together from any materials lying around. While scientific in nature, alchemy also relied on the inherent magic of the Philospher's stone key.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Men and women in 3 piece suits, sitting behind speed dial phones, on top of million dollar rugs and gold toilets, trading desks and high frequency trading computers and flash servers, all in an effort to turn worthless "paper" into valuable "profit". In the 21st century case, this was a highly lucrative and profitable alchemists venture (Goldman Sachs bonus pool for 2009 was upwards of NINETEEN BILLION DOLLARS while the US suffered. Note that says BONUS, and does not include their normal salary and perks).

These modern day alchemists have found the Philospher's Stone... the ability to turn worthless paper, gambling debts, swaps, repos, accounting tricks (all thrown together much like an alchemists experiment) into cold hard green CASH in the form of profits. Where did these econo-alchemists find their Philospher's Stone? From our legislative, judicial and executive branch representatives, of course! The representatives who collectively form the Philosopher's Stone and gave the econo-alchemist banksters the magical keys, recipes, and materials to turning lead into gold. After all, they do get a cut of that newly created gold (Obama received nearly a million dollars of donations from Goldman Sachs).

See, we as taxpayers, working class stiffs, we are the ones in the salt, coal, and lead mines, losing limbs, experiencing injuries and suffering, destroying our souls and the earth in the process of mining that worthless lead, which we receive a mere pittance of a salary that allows us to live comfortable lives, raise families, and leave our next generations a bit of security. So, that lead we mine isn't necessarily worthless and many people are proud of their hard work... but doesn't it chap your hide that:

These econo-alchemists take that worthless lead that YOU WORKED FOR and turn it into gold? Your MORTGAGE, a piece of paper saying you promise to pay a certain amount per month with a certain interest rate (because you work in the salt mines and have a steady income) is jumbled together with other mortgages (including those created with fraud, zero income verification, low credit scores, exaggerated incomes, shady and difficult to understand interest rate increases) and sold to "SOPHISTICATED INVESTORS" as a gigantic piece of jewelry (with the complicit fraudulent actions of rating's agency who say "Yeah, that's a nice piece of jewelry, it's so shiny! You should invest in it!"). These banksters then receive a steady stream of investment money OFF OF YOUR MORTGAGE from you not ONCE, but TWICE when the pension fund you invest in to secure a retirement future ALSO PAYS INTO THE ALCHEMISTS POCKET!

CMBS, RMBS, CDO, CDS, TALF, TARP, ZIRP, and a whole manure filled barge full of other alphabet soup "programs", along with the usual avenues (stocks, bonds, currency manipulation, inflation, taxes) are just a short list of the ingredients these banksters use to create GOLD from LEAD, robbing us of our worth in the process.

WALL STREET CREATES NOTHING! BUT THEY LIVE LIKE KINGS IN GOLD TOWERS!

The study of Alchemy as a legitimate scientific philosophy died in the 20th century. When will the modern econo-alchemists rats be run off the ship?

They may see their end in sight, after all they are doing everything in their power to profit before their number is punched. Go ahead, let them take everything we have ... just be sure to make what they stole from us COMPLETELY WORTHLESS.

Take the Philospher's Stone out of the hands of the bankster econo-alchemists... NOW!

(special thanks to Zerohedge article commentator who first made this point and turned the giant light bulb over my head back on, I will name you when I relocate the article)

First thoughts on SEC vs. Goldman Sachs. Is Fraud "God's Work?"

2010-04-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

If I commit a crime and the cops come looking for me or charge me, it is NOT a "witch hunt" or an "attack" by the authorities. If you listen to the shills and apologists on CNBC you'd believe that innocent little Goldman Sachs is being wrongfully charged by the evil and ugly SEC for fraud.

The endless supply of GS shills harp how "this is a GS stock buying opportunity".. "GS is a great company and nothing can phase them".

Why do these parrots feel this way? Because GS is the mob of the stock market, they break the rules, get away with it, pay off the authorities, pay off or eliminate their enemies (Merril Lynch and Bear Stearns anyone?), or kneecap those who don't pay them on time (American taxpayer via the Treasury anyone?). These parrots are the hang arounds of this mob, making money off their association with them knowing that their mere miserable survival as parrots relies on the mob continuing business as usual. And that's how it's been for the past few decades.

Is it a political move? Who freaking cares. GS and JP Morgan and all the other mafia families of Wall Street need to fall. A CNBC shill made the comment that this is "the best the SEC can do against Goldman?!" as if saying "haha this is all you got". Well we couldn't get Al Capone on racketeering and fraud, but we got him on a simple tax charge. Because all we had on him was tax issues mean that he was innocent of racketeering and fraud? Because all we have on GS is this fraud on a mortgage backed security mean they are completely innocent of fraud?

Our first opportunity to kill this virus and leech on the American taxpayer occurred in October of 2007 when they went insolvent as an investment bank. They had no pulse, and Hank the dirtbag Paulson gave them billions of taxpayer dollars to go and commit their fraud in the markets to become rich again. After all GS is part of the cabal that controls the gambling 'house'... how could they lose? Paulson knew this, thats why he guaranteed that GS would pay back TARP. Paying us back our own money... wow, that's such a great achievement.

If GS was wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow, the world would not end, and we would all be better off for it, regardless of what the big mouths on CNBC say, and regardless of the fact that Lloyd Blankfein believes he's doing God's work.

Kudos to the brave few analysts who came on CNBC and spoke up about fraud of GS in the wake of the onslaught of CNBC parrot shills who believe GS can do no wrong. Be sure to start your car with your drivers door open every morning. The GS Vampire Squid is under attack and will probably begin its retaliation soon.

Stick it to the FEDERAL RESERVE!

2010-03-14T04:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, well, the Federal Reserve is powerful, to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars, that sticking it to them is pretty much out of the question, as an individual.

The Federal Reserve and the Banking System (Wall St., Banksters, Goldman Sachs, and such) keep power over us by keeping us tied to the dollar, the paper dollar. Pull out your wallet and look at the 'bills' that you keep in there (it's ok if your wallet is empty, so is mine). Find or borrow a bill and notice at the top it says "Federal Reserve Note"... this FRN is what links you and every other U.S. American citizen to the whim and whip of these private and pirate entities. They control the value of this dollar by controlling the amount of dollars that circulate through the system. If they want, they can flood the economy with an abundance of these dollars, making each dollar you hold WORTH LESS (not worthless, but worth less.)

Or they can pump this dollar full of value by removing dollars from the economy. The less dollars in the system, the more each one is worth in terms of purchasing power. (This is a general rule that has exceptions, but follow this argument for the point of this article).

Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, and the banking system CREATE NOTHING. They make billions of dollars in salary and bonuses per year creating ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. What they do do is take your money and play with it, gambling it, investing it, and profiting from it. If they win, they throw you crumbs in the form of higher stock valuations or dividends. If they lose, they make you pay for their losses (see TARP Bailouts). Inflation is their tool of theft of choice if nothing else works to take your money.

Now, YOU on the other hand, you work, you create tangible products, your work results in capital. Let's say you are a carpenter. You turn raw wood into functioning products that fit into our cultural world and thus creates value. You get paid in dollars, thus tying you STRAIGHT TO THE PUPPET STRINGS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE!

Now, let's say you decide to convert your FRN's (Federal Reserve Notes aka dollar bills) into something like SILVER ROUNDS (we can't call them coins because only the U.S. Mint can create coins.) Silver rounds are just that, round, and often times pure or 99.9% silver or various fraction percentages. At this time, 1 oz of silver rounds, coins, or bullion can be estimated at say 20 dollars a pop. One 20 dollar bill = 1 oz of Silver rounds.

Converting your paper dollars into silver converts your capital into a tangible item that will ALWAYS BE 1 OZ OF SILVER. Leaving it in paper dollars means that it is now subject to the whims and games of the Federal Reserve's Fractional Banking System and it will gyrate up and down worse than an exotic dancer at a Friday Night strip club. This dizzying game the Federal Reserve plays with us causes economic bubbles, the most recent being the Tech Bubble, The Housing Bubble, and the current Stock Market bubble.

When the bubble pops and your paper notes, stock certificates, or retirement accounts are demolished, you get stuck with the losses.

Investing in precious metals helps PRESERVE the wealth you CREATED when you worked 40-60 hours a week. It may not give you a ROI (Return on Investment) but it preserves the wealth you created. You can stack up some silver rounds in a safe, pass them on to your future generations, use them as barter, or liquidate them for a temporary supply of Federal Reserve Notes.

It's time to see these FRN's as the horrible leashes and handcuffs that they are. Each bill gives power to the corrupt Federal Reserve. We are the workers in this country, we are the ones that work and create products and capital. It is UP TO US what we use as a form of exchange for goods and services. That can mean bartering and alternative forms of currency.

It may boggle the mind that currency in past civilizations have included beads, pelts, cacao beans, feathers, precious stones and metals. This is OUR CHOICE. We are the ones who create wealth. It is Wall Street who is currently taking it from us.

Invest your money WISELY. Follow ONE SIMPLE RULE: NEVER LOSE MONEY. Preserve your wealth. Turn your worthless cloth/paper Federal Reserve Notes into something that will always hold value. Don't let the Federal Reserve control you because it is their mantra and goal to skim as much money off of the working class as they can.

The Stock Market is nothing more than a casino run by the house we call the Federal Government. Look at the governments balance sheet and deficits. How long can this casino keep running and paying out? Place your bets. I've placed mine.

ROI - RETURN ON INVESTMENT

2010-03-13T03:07:00.000-08:00

I wanted to talk about investing in "silver or gold"... but the big question is "Why invest in gold and silver?" 4 years ago I had no concept of investing in these two precious metals. It's taken me quite a bit of time to realize just what this means overall.... I worked my ass off for my money and I want my money now to work for me...

Thinking about what you spend money on. You worked 80 hours and got paid for it in capital, which converts to a paycheck, which becomes "dollars".

How do you spend your dollars?

Are 'aesthetic' concepts a good investment? Take for example: a typical lawn, southern CA. The original flora of this land did not include green lawns and shade trees, it was full of drought and heat resistant plants. We spend hours spending money on cutting, fertilizing, trimming, seeding, weeding, pesticizing, aerating, feeding and worse of all, DRAINING GALLONS OF POTABLE water to keep these things green. During the 4-6 months of summer like (dry and hot) temps we get, if you don't water your lawn at least once every 3 days it begins to burn.

Is the amount of water spent maintaining 'green lawns' in drought prone areas a good RETURN OF INVESTMENT? Is a green lawn worth the gallons and gallons of drinkable potable water used?

Some may say "try to sell a house without a lawn"... well, try to sell ANY house right now. Think drought resistant plants, shrubs, bushes.

Want a higher return of investment from the lawn space you free up by avoiding thirsty patches of grass? Plant FRUIT trees and VEGETABLE gardens: instant return of investment: food to eat, and seeds to carry over for the next season. No need to invest new money to have a crop the next year. Spare fruit and vegetables? Pass them on to your relatives, neighbors, farmers market, or exchange it for other foods or services (hint: before the Federal Reserve controlled us through paper dollars, this is how we did things)

Children get a lesson in biology and horticulture. Families spend time together working on a garden together as opposed to spending time on Xboxes, phones, text messaging, soap operas, American Idol, drinking, arguing, and so on.

The money you have saved from less water usage is SPENDABLE money, which can then be reinvested in something else of good use.

Analyze EVERY dollar you spend. Are you receiving a good return on your investment?

Guns vs. Stocks

2010-02-24T02:13:00.000-08:00

So I had the privilege and the pleasure of participating in one of the many transactions that make this country great: purchasing a fire-arm and exercising my right to bear arms (well, I will bear these arms after a 10 day waiting period).
Not having a lot of money but having spent much of the past 5 years of my employment SAVING money, I know stand at a cross roads on where to INVEST some of the extra hard earned money sitting in my useless bank account.

First off, thanks to Helicopter Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve, and the fractional banking system that has our economy strangled against the ropes and has our Congress, President, and Judicial System in their pockets, I am no longer able to keep my money in a so called SAVINGS account that yields .01 percent. Especially with a ZOMBIE bank that received our money through a fleecing transfer of wealth called the TARP bailout.

Second, stocks are a complete joke: the country is in a recession/depression experiencing serious deflationary pressures and the market has rallied 60 percent since March 2009. Wall Street has sucked up billions of dollars that the aforementioned Helicopter Ben has rained into the system and used the dollars, OUR dollars that we create when we work, and paid themselves hefty bonuses and ensured that the only recovery to be seen is their own on WALL STREET. After stuffing their pockets with OUR dollars, they used what the couldn't fit in any other orifices to pump the stock market up to give the ILLUSION that the economy is getting better. Manipulation and fraud in the market is incessant (way to go SEC). ZERO CONFIDENCE VOTE FOR THE STOCK MARKET.

So (cue Americana music), I decide to purchase a simple American made firearm. As I sat at the local firearms dealer and inspected the gun, I realized this forged, tangible piece of steel was way more of an investment than a piece of paper stock (that could easily become worth less than toilet paper) or even a cloth/paper dollar (that could easily become worth less than toilet paper [see Zimbabwe/Weimar inflation.])

The confidence I had signing the proper documents and forking over my hard earned cash was A COMPLETE 180 from the last time I made a stock purchase through my online broker. This tangible and valuable item would soon be in my possession, I would have complete control over it and keeping it well maintained and properly stored will help retain its VALUE AS AN INVESTMENT. Years from now, if I no longer have use for this firearm, I could always clean it up, and re-sell it, quite possibly getting close to original purchasing price, or at least a fair value because the buyer would also know the firearms VALUE AS AN INVESTMENT.

CONTRAST THIS TO A STOCK: I punch in a 'buy' order for a number of stocks of a particular company. I become anxious and nervous as my mouse arrow lingers over the "buy" button, as I realize that not only will I never actually SEE these stocks and keep them in my possession, that in a blink of an eye, their VALUE AS AN INVESTMENT could easily go to ZERO, no matter how good my intentions were as a stock holder. I click buy and then become ANGRY: I soon realize that the online transaction was not only read by a sleazy FLASH TRADING SERVER from GOLDMAN SACHS, they likely interfered with the transaction raising the asking price and thus making money from this transaction by picking at my money JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN! Then I sit and nervously wonder where exactly my money went. I sulk over to the sofa and turn to the local SHILL POLLYANNA business channel (CNBC) and wait for the spin and lies hoping it makes me feel like I didn't just let Wall Street rob me in broad daylight.

In conclusion: Part of investing is also feeling good about and UNDERSTANDING EXACTLT where you put your money. Right now, that gun made 1000 times more sense than any stock available that I know of. The time to invest in stocks is NOT now, it just makes too much sense.

Next Time: Stocks vs. Silver?! and then: Transfer of Wealth vs. Robbery: Whats the diff?

What you gonna do when it comes for you?

2010-01-16T00:40:00.000-08:00

Rewind to Monday...
You did your Monday routine without a hitch, woke up to Tuesday, went to work, did whatever you do, came home. Wind the day down with some TV, internet, whatever. Go to sleep and next thing you know it's Wednesday. Just another week...

Transport yourself to an island just off the Atlantic Coast where a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and its aftermath shook the foundation of an entire country in a matter of mere SECONDS that Tuesday. Tens of thousands dead and injured in a matter of MINUTES. Men, women, elders, and children smashed underneath ceilings of collapsed buildings. Survivors caked in concrete dust. Bodies lay strewn in the streets in the hopes that someone will identify them and claim them before they begin to decay. The terror felt since that fateful day is something that the survivors will live with for the rest of their lives. The saga continues as I type this blog in the comfort of my own home.

Like a very intelligent Anthropology professor of mine once said, summed up: Nature is not a blank slate where we paint our lives upon. Nature is not fixed, nature is alive, and stronger than man. Yet we live as if nature should bend to adapt to our cultural fixations. Who lives bending themselves to the laws that nature has set? There are some, but the majority, I doubt it. We expect everything in our environment to conform to what we want.. man's delusion of grandeur, passed on through generations.

Who in Haiti was prepared for what happened? Did they have any warning? Earthquakes give no "immediate" warnings. Southern CA lives with daily minor quakes every day of the year, ( http://www.data.scec.org/ ) us locals eventually shrugging them off as just another minor earthquake. Every once in a while we shiver about the "Big One", but then go back to our usual routine, focusing on American Idol or America's Top Dancer and wasting our money on LCD tv's and fancy rims for our cars.

Each minor earthquake should be a reminder of what is about to come. It's not about "if" a natural disaster is going to happen... it's about WHEN. Whether you live in earthquake country, or tornado alley, or hurricane alley, or along a coast where the probability of a deadly tsunami is higher than the coastal residents know, this is a fact, is it not?
We saw what happened with Hurricane Katrina. Do not rely on our government to help YOU. Or your family. Help yourselves. Stock up on food, water, supplies (firewood, medicines, batteries, blankets, extra fuels, etc.) Urge your neighbors, your relatives, anyone you care (or don't) care about to do the same.

Because when it is our time, just like at the time of our deaths, we will be standing alone, every man for himself. Friends turn to enemies when hunger and despair take over. Mans primal instincts take over and chaos can and will ensue.

Be prepared. Scout's Motto. My motto as a youth. It's time to carry this into my adulthood. I hope for yours and your families sakes you also are prepared for what could happen wherever you may be.

What does being prepared mean? It first starts by being mentally prepared, be completely aware of what you will need in case of a natural disaster. Think clearly, make a list, write it down, and begin to build your safety net. It's weird to think about, right? It wouldn't be if you were a survivor in Haiti and found yourself with 2 weeks supply of food, water, and supplies.

Because it's better to have something and not need it, then to need something and not have it. Right?

Black Holes do exist!

2009-12-29T01:44:00.000-08:00

All is quiet these holiday weeks. While most people are catching up with passing out xmas gifts, catching up on work, or preparing for the upcoming new year's celebrations, some momentous events are taking place in the financial world.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government sponsored entities are currently engorged with billions of dollars (possibly trillions?) of bad mortgages. They are using taxpayer money, thanks to congress, to buy up bad mortgages from the banks that wrote them and keep the bad mortgage on their taxpayer supplied 'books'. In the meantime the banks get rid of their bad gambling debts and continue on with their bonuses and risky bets that destroyed our economy to begin with.

When we gamble and we lose, we can't go crying to the house for our money back. We can try to go to the house with a gun in our hand and demand our money back, but we'd end up in a back room getting our hands smashed with a hammer.

When the banks gamble and lose, they didn't go crying to the house for their money back. They pulled a gun out and pointed it at our economy and said "If you don't cover our gambling losses, we are going to pull this trigger!" And it worked... and the government is taking from our wallets and giving our money to the banks so that their ledgers don't look so bad.

One of the ways they are covering the banks bad gambles is through Fannie and Freddie. The longer the banks sell their bad mortgages to the Fannie/Freddie, the longer the government backstops and supports Fannie/Freddie with OUR MONEY, the longer investors invest in the securities that Fannie/Freddie are selling (see China demanding that the U.S. guarantee the securities that they purchase) the bigger and badder this ugly monster gets.

And they expect me to believe that the housing market is getting better?!?! If that was the case, we wouldn't have to pursue any of these programs that benefit the banks and rip us off in the process.

Fannie and Freddie are devouring hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and they are still insolvent, they still have a negative value.

How much money are we going to dump into these black holes. The more bad mortgages they buy up, the more terrible their books are going to look. The stock converges to zero, and the taxpayers lose. Or is the government going to allow financial trickery to let them hide these bad assets? If I was to do that I'd end up in jail.

This proves, to me, that our economy is no longer a free market economy based on supply and demand, products and labor, and all the other concepts we once read about in economics books.

Our economy is now (and probably has been the past few decades) about blowing BUBBLES, housing/tech/equities/commodities (look at oil) and then popping them. When these bubbles inflate, the common man can make a few bucks, while the banks make billions of bucks. When these bubbles pop, the common man loses his shirt (or his house) and guess what?

The banks and CEO's still make billions of bucks. There's the economy in a nutshell.

What is going to pop the Fannie/Freddie bubble? Since the taxpayer is now ALL IN on this bubble, how much are we really going to lose when it does?

It's raining housing developments!

2009-12-28T00:21:00.001-08:00

So an article comes out today how the winter phenom known as "El Nino" will not end troubles for the Inland Empires water shortage.
El Nino is a weather pattern that brings warmer winter temperatures with above average amounts of rain fall for the season.
Another article comes out how the Obama administration is looking at solving California's water crisis that is taking place in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Sounds good eh? The state and federal government is talking about and taking a look at ways to circumvent and minimize our current water concerns.

The fact is that there is not enough water for the amount of people currently living in southern California at the rate it is being consumed. That is the underlying problem.

So what does Riverside County plan on doing about it?

"Riverside County supervisors on Tuesday will consider what many say could be one of the largest developments ever in the county: the 11,150-home Villages of Lakeview, a project opposed by hunters and environmentalists because of its proximity to a state wildlife preserve."

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_lakeview14.454af83.html

That's right, an ADDITIONAL 11,150 homes in an area suffering through a severe housing crisis, where homes are STILL expensive compared to the average income of the area. (Don't believe the NAR hype that homes are cheap, they are not, and the banks/NAR and shill media are doing everything in their power to make sure home prices stay up, after all it preserves THEIR profits).

11,150 homes ... the article makes no mention of the water crisis, traffic or school considerations. All the county 'supervisors' see is dollar signs flashing in their eyes... a development that will have their name on a plaque somewhere. Delusions of grandeur filling their veins and leading their actions.

This is why California and local governments are in such terrible shape, decisions like this keep being made.

"Lewis said the project is designed with the wildlife area in mind."

Yeah right, c'mon everyone. This project is designed for one thing and one thing only: $$ $$

The Beginning...

2009-12-27T00:12:00.001-08:00

Xmas, probably the most bloated and vapid holiday to ever exist is finally over. I am not talking about the spirit of the holiday that includes family, friends and goodwill. I'm talking about incessant commercialization that bleeds out of our TV's, computer screens, billboards and store windows. Buy buy buy... spend spend spend.

Never you mind that 90 percent of what is available for purchase in the form of xmas presents is shoddy, cheap, probably from China, probably not really a 'need' and will be forgotten in a couple of months, if not weeks. Does little Billy really need that shiny noisy plasticy attention getter that is going to lose a wheel or break an arm on December 26th after a few hours of playing with it?

Never mind that Xmas purchases usually have repercussions of debt in the form of months of credit card bills, at usurious bank rates that can often double the amount of money spent once it's been completely paid off. How much did you REALLY spend on Guitar Hero once you finished paying it off a year later.

Never mind that children learn to expect things that they may or may not deserve "just because it's Xmas".

Never mind that while people fight for parking spaces and stew in long lines, the government is continuing it's usual squeeze on the middle class, often times pursuing controversial objectives while the people that they supposedly represent are distracted with the holidays.

The good parts of what Xmas is shouldn't be relegated to one time of the year, it can and should take place at any time. "Giving" and wishing "peace" on our fellow man shouldn't be a one time event that only takes during the winter. A week before we all get plastered celebrating a new year that really isn't new, as very few people change their terrible habits and life as we know it remains unchanged.

I imagine Xmas as a giant ball of people, rolling down a hill, picking up bodies as it gains steam, losing others at the same time, smashing common sense and decency at is rolls down the hill of humanity. I was ejected from that ball of inhumanity and greed after having worked in a retail store many years ago, and I've stepped away from xmas as a whole and am now a complete observer.

If theres two types of Xmas, I say there's a good and a bad.

The bad is say, commercialization. I am out of the loop there, never again to 'celebrate' commercialization. Store signs, boxes, posters, advertisements, wrapping paper and ribbons that last 1 week before they fill up our trash cans and poison our land fills. The throw aways of the time. The list goes on. What throw aways are on your list?

The good is say, goodwill toward men, peace on earth (or at least my immediate personal space). That, I will celebrate. I will not celebrate it one day out of the year in supposed honor of the birth of Jesus. Jesus lived many calendar years spreading his message, and there is no law saying you should only follow it to honor his birth, which by our make believe calendar is December 25th. How are you an actor on December 25th?

I will celebrate it at all times, regardless of whether it's cold and snowy outside, or whether its 100 degrees and climbing outside.

While I wish peace for those who yearn for it, I will not cower under those with a different agenda. Next year starts a 'new' calendar year where we can expect another 365 days of the same BS from those who wish to stir up our emotions and stir up hate or deceit among those below them.

I'm talking about the lying media, the lying government and politicians, banks, corporations and their puppets (those around us) in the population who lie and shill for them and who profit each and every time one of us falls for their propoganda. They turn brother vs brother and all watch as we fight amongst ourselves like medicated laboratory rats in an observation cage. Petty and weak.

I'm also talking about those around us whose agenda, much like the list I wrote above, is self serving and exploitative of the people they attack. Those 'close to home'. Those who steal from their own families, neighbors and friends, who wear two faced masks, back stabbers, liars, cheats and thieves. Petty and weak.

How much different are these lowly thieves from the giant thieves that run this country? Treat them the same way. Please.

The goodwill of Xmas is winding down and fading away, the new year is coming.

Prepare for it, desensitize yourself, and be ready. Scouts Motto: Be Prepared.

-JQ