Sunday, March 31, 2013

He Is Risen!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.   They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’  Then they remembered his words.  (NIV)

Vox Day explains it so much more eloquently than I am capable of doing.

Friday, March 29, 2013

GOOD Friday

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

I am continually amazed at the lack of understanding of orthodox Christianity.  It is really pretty simple. 
  1. We, as humans, break the few simple rules that God the Creator has given us.  Because of this, we cannot approach God and our relationship with Him is broken.
  2. God is a just god.  He must punish rule breaking (sin). Therefore, we suffer generally and specifically for our sin.
  3. God still loves us, and has provided a way for us to reestablish our relationship with Him.  He did this by taking on the shell of a human and living the perfect human life among men without sin, thus becoming the perfect sacrifice.
  4. God sacrificed Himself, taking on our sins for which He is not guilty, to satisfy the requirement for the punishment of sin.
  5. Because the requirement for punishment has been satisfied, we are able to re-enter the relationship with God.  God now views us as men who have never sinned.
But, again, there is a simple rule to take advantage of  this wonderful gift from God.  You must believe that God is God, and that He did what He did for you.  If you do not believe, then you cannot have a relationship with Him.  If you do not have a relationship with Him, you will continue to suffer punishment for all eternity.

Scotty Smith explains it eloquently.

That's it in a nutshell. Great and voluminous books have been written explaining this, and to be truthful, such a simple message does indeed generate many, many questions.  Should this cause you to have questions, I suggest you start by obtaining a copy of the Bible, or even just of the New Testament, and read the Gospel According to John.  It would be good to read it in a modern translation, such as NIV or NASB, not some archaic version of a language of which the lexicon has evolved where the words have changed meaning.

Reading about what God has done for us may be the most important thing you do in life.

Happy Good Friday, and Happy Easter.

    Thursday, March 28, 2013

    ATT - Not Your Phone Company

    The globalists are at it again, this time in the form of ATT, the Arms Trade treaty, sponsored by your friendly (global) neighborhood United Nations.

    I have several issues with the UN in general, and the ATT in particular.

    My primary issue with the ATT is that a bunch of non-elected "officials" are trying to push through treaties which, if approved, will encumber sovereign states' ability to set internal governance and foreign policy. But then, that is what the UN has been all about since its debut.

    The other issue I have with ATT is the raw dishonesty of it. It reads almost like a "for the children" legislative attempt by the American Left. Ostensibly, the purpose is to “prevent terrorism” in the name of saving lives.  This is patently a misdirection considering that terrorists kill very few people compared to legitimate governments.  If the UN truly wanted to save lives, it would attempt to ban international arms deals between governments.  However, that would put the quietus on a $70 billion industry, and there are too many moneyed interests for that to happen.

    As a major arms importer, India has pointed this out. 

    While Britain and the US are believed to have major part on drafting of such a one-sided treaty, China - another major exporter - has maintained a low profile and may be willing to go along for the simple reason that their key interests (non-commercial transfers of conventional arms in the form of gifts, loans and lease) have been secured as such transfers have been left out from the scope of the treaty, sources said.

    According to officials, countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil and several other importing states tried to bring the focus back on illicit arms transfers to non-state actors, illegal trafficking of arms and to correct the balance of obligations.

    Indeed, the arms exporting cartel (US, UK, France, China) are protecting their economic interests by promoting a lopsided treaty.

    What surprised many delegates attending the conference the approach of the US, especially given that it is fighting a major wars against terrorist outfits and non-state actors like al Qaeda and the Taliban in countries like Afghanistan, and still it did not take any step to block arms supply to them.

    Deception aside, there are other reasons to dislike ATT.  A section of the language that many countries are taking issue with reads like this: 

    A State Party shall not authorize any transfer of conventional arms covered under Article 2(1) or of items covered under Article 3 or Article 4, if it has knowledge at the time of authorization that the arms or items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes as defined by international agreements to which it is a Party, including grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

    The issue some countries have with this language, as the Heritage Foundation points out is that “crimes against humanity” is often used as a political tool to bash other countries whose foreign policies run counter to the basher’s policy.  Furthermore, over 100 countries want to strengthen this language to include something call “customary international law” (CIL) which pertains to armed conflict.  For Americans, this is a dangerous tack.

    One of the main strategies of liberal activists who dislike various parts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (in particular the First and Second Amendments) is to argue that U.S. courts have an obligation to use CIL to reinterpret the Constitution, reshape U.S. laws, and remake U.S. policies. In a phrase, this is a strategy of “bringing international law home,” with the additional proviso that the international law in question is being invented to advance the political aims of the elites doing the inventing.

    Included in the treaty is a registration scheme which would directly contravene US law.  There is a reason why we have a Bill of Rights.  As I alluded earlier, legitimate governments pose the biggest threat to the well being of humanity.  Historically, registrations schemes have always lead to confiscation.  The US Founding Fathers understood this principle, which is why they codified the Bill of Rights.

    Unsurprisingly, the Obama administration is in favor of all of this mess.  If the Senate ratifies this treaty, we become a country of fools.

    Wednesday, March 27, 2013

    Hyperinflation

    There have been over 50 documented instances of hyperinflation in modern history.  There are two primary factors related to the cause of hyperinflation.  First, there is a significantly large disparity between the supply of a specific form of currency and demand for goods and services, and second, confidence is lost in that specific form of currency so that its purchasing power becomes devalued.

    I have been writing about the EU debacle over Cyprus, which has followed Greece and Iceland, and is a precursor to Spain and Italy.  Related to all this is the fact that there is €15 trillion collective government debt in the EU and $17 trillion federal debt in the USA, it appears that we are satisfying the second cause of hyperinflation.  The West may be witnessing the forming of the perfect storm when it comes to monetarism and governmental meddling in the economy.

    The ultra-rich, banksters, and spendthift governments have become addicted to easy money.  Alas, the collective intelligence of the consumer class is not as low as they wish, and when the consumers quit spending, the economic miscreants resort to an insidious device, namely low interest rates.  The rush of liquidity into the economy restores the flow of easy money, but it is akin to adding gasoline to a fire.  Eventually, the fire will get away from you.

    There is an extremely good chance that we will witness hyperinflation in the next few years, if not the next few months.  Something besides fiat currency or debt-backed securities had better be in your piggy bank.

    Tuesday, March 26, 2013

    More on Cyprus

    As the EU engages in the rape and pillage of Cypriot bank accounts, certain other countries in Europe are beginning to get the jitters. Not to worry! says Spain's PM:
    The plan "is an exceptional and unique case, which has been exceptionally applied to Cyprus," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a press conference at the Elysee presidential palace.
    He may be lying.
    Olli Rehn, The EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs warned that more Cyprus-style bailouts could be needed.
    Matt Basi, head of sales trading at CMC Markets, told MailOnline: 'The general perception is that were   Europe to take another turn for the worse, they (Spain and Italy) are the two largest economies most susceptible.'
     
    He added: 'This (Cyprus) bail-out is a potential template for other bail-out packages.
    Now, as all this was going down, I wondered why Russia was being so quiet.  I fully expected the Southern Fleet to take up a station off the coast of Cyprus.  After all, many people know the old warning:

    - You don't screw around with Mother Nature,
    - You don't screw around with Mother-in-law,and
    - You don't screw around with Motherf---ing Russians.


    But it appears that Zerohedge has figured out why the Russians are so quiet.  In this column, Tyler Durden quotes a Reuters report:
    While ordinary Cypriots queued at ATM machines to withdraw a few hundred euros as credit card transactions stopped, other depositors used an array of techniques to access their money.
    No one knows exactly how much money has left Cyprus' banks, or where it has gone. The two banks at the centre of the crisis - Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and Bank of Cyprus - have units in London which remained open throughout the week and placed no limits on withdrawals. Bank of Cyprus also owns 80 percent of Russia's Uniastrum Bank, which put no restrictions on withdrawals in Russia. Russians were among Cypriot banks' largest depositors.
    He goes on to opine:
    The stealth withdrawals by Russians of course means that the two megabanks are now utterly drained of capital, and that the haircuts on those who still have unsecured deposits with the two banks will be so big it will likely mean a complete wipeout of all deposits. As in 0% recovery on your deposits!
    In other words, by now any big Russian funds in Cyprus are long gone, and the only damage accrues to the locals: for one reason because their money over the critical EUR100K threshold has been "vaporized", and for another because the marginal driving force and loan demand creator in Cyprus, the Russians, are gone and are never coming back again.
    This is what passes for monetary real-politik in the New Normal - an entire nation becomes collateral when pursuing a wealthy group of people. And the "wealthy group" is victorious in the end despite everything...
    Get your money out of banks. Now.

    Banking crisis over? I don't think so...

    It apears that the European Union is well on its way to re-establishing feudalism in the Euro Zone.  The debacle in Cyprus will establish a precedent for future behaviour.

    Backed by euro zone finance ministers, the bailout plan will spare the Mediterranean island a financial catastrophe by winding down the largely state-owned Popular Bank of Cyprus, also known as Laiki, and shifting deposits of less than €100,000 to the Bank of Cyprus to create a "good bank", leaving problems behind in a "bad bank".

    Deposits above €100,000 in both banks, which are not guaranteed by the state under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve Laiki's debts and recapitalise the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest, through a deposit/equity conversion.

    So, to preserve the appearance of cohesiveness, the EU will resort to out-and-out theft. Further, the question remains, will it really do any good?  What is the incentive to leave any money in a Cypriot bank?  Or any EU bank for that matter?  Or any bank anywhere?  The pittance of interest that banks pay these days on deposits is hardly worth the risk and the hassle.  Considering the risk of confiscation and the government's propensity for using banks a form of surveillance, it makes sense to unbank or at least underbank.

    Monday, March 25, 2013

    “When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.”   A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

    

    I can relate to Winnie-the-Pooh. I used to think I was smart.  The older I get, the more I feel like a "Bear of Very Little Brain".

    The world is moving fast.  It gets faster by the minute.  I think it is even hard for smart people of keep up, let alone those of us who are not as endowed.  With the advent of the "information explosion", the human brain processing functions have become stressed.  How will we as a species deal with this stress?  Will our descendents develop new thinking patterns?  Will their brains function differently from ours?  How will we process all of the information that comes our way?  Do we even need to?

    The evidence all points to the fact that the average human brain cannot handle the strain that it commonly finds itself under.  Why else would there not have been a virtual revolt at Nancy Pelosi's singular act of political condescension when she said, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it”?  Did Americans really not care about what was about to happen to them?  I don't think so.  I think we have become desensitized to critical thinking because of the overwhelming amounts of information that come our way every day. The thought of digesting an additional 906 pages of federalese was just too much for most people.

    I am one of those people.  I get over a hundred emails a day, most of them work related.  I am bombarded with information everywhere I go, and almost all of it is relevant to my life on some level.  The pace I keep during the work week is frenetic.  I need to get my arms around what is happening to me.  I need to get ahead of the game.  I need some wisdom.