Saturday, November 24, 2012 at 3:00AM I have two videos for you today, the first is the government as your partner.
Interesting that a group of political junkies who attended this Republican debate booed the Golden Rule.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 3:00AM 
I thought we would see a little boom if Romney was elected, but I had not thought about the flip side—an Obama Crislet. It is interesting that before the election there was almost no talk from the punditocracy and especially Obama about the large tax increases scheduled for 2013. Now this is on the agenda for immediate action, sort of.
So President Obama has to make a decision, almost immediately, about how to deal with continuing Republican obstruction. How far should he go in accommodating the G.O.P.’s demands?
My answer is, not far at all. Mr. Obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. And this is definitely no time to negotiate a “grand bargain” on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
That was from everyone’s favorite Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman.
Here is my advice to Speaker of the House Boehner:
My answer is, not far at all. Mr. Boehner should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. And this is definitely no time to negotiate a “grand bargain” on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
Obviously I know that there were few Republican victories last Tuesday, but if Obama really takes the line that Krugman suggests, and since this has been his line for the last two years this seems likely, then Boehner will have no choice. Four more years of extend and pretend will lead to a catastrophic failure. It is better to have a lower deficit now, rather than ignore spending and tax increase as an option.
We are better off with the two trillion forced spending cut combined with a 4 trillion tax increase than to do what Washington does best, nothing. Yes, there will be a recession next year. Yes, Obama will blame the Republicans. Yes, he will get away with it. But the deficit must be cut.
As a second best alternative, letting Obama have free reign might be the best partisan option. That way when the crisis comes, the blame will be fairly placed. The economy will get worse no matter what happens.
The biggest risk is that blame will be put upon free market policies. We do not have free market policies, and have not for decades, if then. If that happens, then we might end up with the troika of Argentina, Venezuela, and Greece as the modern template for a “modern” America.
I think , as Ron Paul suggests in this clip, that we are already over the cliff, the question is, how hard will we fall?
Monday, November 19, 2012 at 3:00AM 
Alan Greenspan is right and wrong in what he is saying.
Yes technically the Federal Reserve could print all the money it wants and pay all spending or debt it wants to pay. By law, in a de jure way, Federal Reserve notes cannot legally be refused to pay a debt. Paying off debt in such a manner would in reality, in a de facto way, be a default.
If the US is unable to roll over its bonds, if it is unable to find buyers, then the Federal Reserve can print money. Imagine for a moment if the currency in circulation suddenly over a few years went up by 5 to 10 trillion. The effect would have to be grossly inflationary.
This is why I think that if the Treasury was unable to roll over its debt it would default. As bad as default is, hyperinflation is worse. The US has defaulted on several occasions, one as recently as the 1970’s.
The only way to know what a future president would do is to consult the crystal ball. Mine is cracked.
Yes, the US can print all the money it wants. But this should not be a point of glee, but a sensation of impending doom.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 5:00AM This is the first Max Keiser Report I have shared for some time as I find him annoying. The interview at the end of the show with a retired Scotland Yard detective is worth viewing though, even with annoying Max’s lack of manners and interview skills. The system, what I have been calling Babylon, is corrupt at its heart.
I do not know if this will be of interest to many of my readers, but I suggest fast forwarding to the interview if you think it may be. (…Although the story at the beginning about a man buying enema kits, using them, and then returning them to the drug store is disgusting and an apt analogy in many ways. I may look up the story and blog about it.)
Economics Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 5:00AM 
Steven Martens asked a question in a comment on my most-read blog post this month, Band of Angels (Behold He Comes). It was an interesting enough question that I decided to make another blog entry about slavery. After giving a reference that 4% of the total slaves crossing the ocean were going to America, Steven asked:
My question is: Why would a judgment of God come upon North America and seem to not land upon the countries which ended up owning the 96%?
I have several comments on this. The first is that I doubt the guestimate Steven provides. Just a modest increase in the estimate of slaves transported to America or a modest decrease in the estimate of the total number of slaves shipped would dramatically increase the percentage. Or an increase in the total slaves shipped would decrease the percentage. One would also need to factor in that the slave trade stopped in America relatively early.
But I risk quibbling on this if I am not careful. The 4% estimate of the percentage of slaves that ended up in North America may in fact be too high. The entire slave trade was huge. The death rate for slaves in the Caribbean was quite high and this required constant replacement slaves. Wikipedia estimates it at 1/3 dying in the first year after arrival.
One recurring theme we have all seen in old movies and books from the time was the fear that the slaves had of being “sold south.”
Between 1820 and 1860 more than 60 percent of the Upper South’s enslaved population was “sold South.” Covering 25 to 30 miles a day on foot, men, women, and children marched south in large groups called coffles. Former bondsman Charles Ball remembered that slave traders bound the women together with rope. They fastened the men first with chains around their necks and then handcuffed them in pairs.
I am not too confident with this figure of 60% being sold south either, but it was a big fear for the slaves. By selling south I am not meaning that the slaves were exported to the death trap that was the Caribbean. I am meaning that slaves from Virginia were sold south to Georgia. Anyone who has ever been in Georgia knows how horrible that would be! (Note to reader, the beloved editor of the prophecypodcast.com, Pam Dewey, lives in Georgia.) The reality was that this was a much harder life as it involved the establishment of new plantations in new areas.
Why then was America specially chosen to be punished? It may not have been. The natural consequences of multi-generational slavery had their own reward. Breaking up families to sell them south is a another good example why the American version of slavery was so evil, but not quite as good as the original example of the evils of sex slavery I had in the original post on slavery. “What we sow is what we reap.” Or as Proverbs 6:27-28 tells us.
Can you build a fire in your lap
and not burn your pants?
Can you walk barefoot on hot coals
and not get blisters?
You cannot be involved in multi-generational slavery and not get burned. It is certainly possible that the hand of God in Judgment was laid on the South. This can be true even if others are worse. Here is an example from Isaiah 10:
1-4 Doom to you who legislate evil,
who make laws that make victims—
Laws that make misery for the poor,
that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
What good will your money do you?
A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,
or just some corpses stacked in the street.
Even after all this, God is still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
Assyria was worse than Judah, yet Assyria was used to punish Judah. The next verses tell us that Assyria was "the rod of God's anger." Assyria too will receive judgment at the appropriate time. The North may have been no better than the South or Caribbean slavery worse than American Slavery, it really does not matter because what “goes around comes around.”
Yes others were worse, but is this a valid point? 2 Corinthians 10:12 tell us:
Of course we shouldn’t dare include ourselves in the same class as those who write their own testimonials, or even to compare ourselves with them! All they are doing, of course, is to measure themselves by their own standards or by comparisons within their own circle, and that doesn’t make for accurate estimation, you may be sure. (Philips)
Yes, our excuse that the other guy was worse will not be well received on the Day of Judgment.
If you are a part of the system then you will receive the punishment due to that system, even if your share of the evil is smaller than others. Since it is impossible to entirely remove oneself from the system that I have been calling Babylon, this is not a happy thought. God does not have to do anything. The natural consequences of our own actions are punishment enough. Looking back on my own life, I see that this is so—no divine intervention needed.
So was the calamity that was the Civil War from God as punishment? I do not know. But I do know that no one can do evil and not have it come back to haunt them. Thanks Steven for reading my blog and posting such an interesting question.
