The scariest Halloween costume

The story of Halloween goes back over 2000 years to the ancient Celts. Druidic priests regarded October 31st as the end of the year. Not only was it their day for celebrating the year’s harvest, but also a festival for honoring the dead. In order to appease the wandering spirits that they believed roamed at night, the Celtic priests made fires in which they burned sacrifices, made charms, and cast spells.
As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin. As Halloween 2007 approaches, traders in the global money markets are betting that Federal Reserve chief Ben “B-52” Bernanke will sacrifice the US dollar with another rate cut, in order to cast a magic spell over Wall Street.
But if “B-52” Ben delivers another big-bang, a half-point rate cut to 4.25%, it might unleash a cadre of evil spirits, ghosts, and demons that would haunt the US dollar to its graveyard.

~Gary Dorsch, Global Money Trends

How low?

We’ve long assumed that a collapsing dollar would take the global economy with it, but perhaps we were being too pessimistic? After all, the Dollar Index has fallen by 45 percent since 2002, but life goes on. Moreover, when the greenback slipped to historical new lows on Friday, hardly anyone seems to have noticed.



And where does the White House stand? In an interview last week, veep Cheney hinted that the government would take a hands-off attitude toward the US currency. "We do believe in a strong dollar,” he said, “but we think that the key is that it be allowed to adjust based on market forces out there, and that's exactly what's happening." To speak of the dollar’s wholesale collapse as an “adjustment” is like saying that the fiery collapse of the Trade Towers was an adjustment to airborne traffic. Not only has the Dollar Index slipped to historical lows in recent days, it has entered an airless void on the charts (see above) without so much as a token word of support from anyone high up in the U.S. Government.

~Rick Ackerman, Rick's Picks

Unheard of ... endgame ... NAU 101

Unheard of ...



ENDGAME ...



NAU 101

Ignorant thinking ... not

Loveland resident Daniel Carr's work is exceptionally beautiful.
A designer of collectible coins, he's the man behind the official New York and Rhode Island state quarter designs for the United States.
Sadly, some people are taking Carr's entire oeuvre a bit too seriously. They should not.
Not long ago, Carr, who also casts funny and gimmicky coins, came up with a bright idea. He fashioned a collectible coin based on an imaginary currency called the "amero" - a mix of "America" and "dinero." It is something analogous to the European euro. Analogous but fake. Carr's denominations range from 20 to 1,000. [...] I find the idea of a North American Union, as I do most conspiracy theories, pure baloney. How could all these enormous institutions have the ability to work in precise cohesion to control the entire continental economy when the government can't even figure out how to plow the snow on my street? [...] There have been some theoretical discussions about the amero in the past. Though not a single official in any country in North America has ever moved to produce this currency.
Still, for Carr a little controversy is clearly good for business. And his site, dc-coin.com, now features a disclaimer for visitors.
"My goal with these coins is not to endorse a Union of North America or a common 'amero' currency. I fully support the United States Constitution," Carr wrote. "I expect that these coins will help make more people aware of the issue and the possible ramifications. I leave it up to others to decide if they are in favor of, or against, a North American Union."
Viva conspiracy!

Source: The Denver Post

Get it in your head!

As for Paul’s relationship with [Alex] Jones:

I fear that Paul isn’t about to denounce Jones, and it’s a shame. When Paul made his most recent appearance on Jones’s radio show, I asked the candidate’s spokesman why he continues to associate with Jones. I detected some quiet frustration in his answer that Paul had promised the interview and that he keeps his word in such matters. Considering that Jones’s entire operation exploits gullible people willing to believe anything about 9/11, he might want to consider making fewer such promises in the future.

Indeed. Or none at all, even. Between that, his fears of a new Gulf of Tonkin incident in the Persian Gulf to precipitate war with Iran, and his warnings about the plans for a North American Union (replete with new Amero currency), people might start to get it in their heads that he’s a crank.

Source: HotAir.com

FXStreet Question of the Week

Q) Hi Ed, Having traded forex for quite some time now and make my daily living from it, I find your insight quite enlightening. I would love to hear your comments on the Amero.

Ed Ponsi) Thank you for your question. The Amero is a proposed currency union that would create one common currency for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, in much the same way that many European countries now share a common currency, the Euro. It's important to note that the Amero currency is currently just a proposal from the private sector, and there is no current legislative push to make this concept a reality. In order to see if this idea makes sense, let's compare the proposed Amero with the Euro.

The European Monetary Union makes a good deal of sense because there were so many different currencies used in Europe prior to the introduction of the Euro. Ten years ago, a tourist visiting Europe might have needed German Marks on Monday, French Francs on Tuesday, Italian Lira on Wednesday, and so on. The expense and effort of constantly exchanging these currencies was a common and accepted part of this experience. Now think about businesses buying and selling goods across these European borders; they constantly had to monitor exchange rates and use financial instruments to protect or "hedge" themselves against unpredictable changes in exchange rates. The introduction of a common currency alleviated the expense and effort of this task, and companies experienced improved profitability as international trade was simplified by the use of a common currency.

Because it would initially encompass fewer currencies and a larger geographic area, the benefits of the Amero would be less dramatic. One proposal sees the Amero eventually encompassing all of North and South America, but the logistics of creating a monetary union between just the U.S., Canada, and Mexico seem daunting enough. For one thing, there is the issue of losing sovereignty over one's own monetary policy. The member countries of the European Monetary Union cannot set their own interest rates and must obey the edicts of the European Central Bank (ECB). Then there is the issue of national pride; many of my friends in the U.K. are staunch opponents of Euro adoption, and this is a sentiment that is widely held throughout that land. Great Britain would have to surrender the British Pound and accept orders from the ECB on interest rates if the Euro were to be adopted, and this is not a scenario that sits well with many in the U.K.

Do Canadians and Mexicans share similar provincial feelings? While the Mexican Peso has been a troubled currency, the Canadian Dollar is one of the current rocks stars of the currency world. In my opinion, Canadians would have to be barking mad to discontinue their autonomy and merge the Loonie with the woeful greenback. In case you missed it, the Canadian Dollar is now worth more than the U.S. Dollar.

Source: FXStreet.com

Requiem for the US Dollar

The Goldman Sachs plant as the new head of the Bank of Canada ensures the takeover of the Canadian banking system, the introduction of the newly inaugurated amero currency, and lost sovereignty for Canada . This is tragic. With a crippled US banking system, a faltering USEconomic system dependent upon housing, and a Mexican failed state in the making, my hopes for the viability of the amero currency are dim. This garbage regional currency is doomed from the start. Canada is a small economy with an absolutely gigantic treasure of natural resources. The relative size of the three economies bodes poorly for the amero. With 30 million population in Canada , 300 million in the Untied States, and 120 million in Mexico , Canada cannot pull the three-horse team running ahead of a bizarre stagecoach. Cheap Mexican labor, ample Canadian minerals & resources, even with a spiffy new network of corridor transportation lines, cannot comfortably mesh with US entities.

The lopsided imbalanced upside down corrupted mix of US elements, steered toward consumption not investment, large & powerful rather than efficient, directed by wrong priorities, dominated by corrupt Wall Street and aggressive military forces simply is bound to produce little on the positive, and much on the negative. This queer alliance will not stop gold or silver prices from rising to great heights. This queer alliance will not prevent the energy prices from rising either. The main policy behind the amero currency will be inflation, no different from the USDollar.

Source: The Market Oracle

Double fuckin' standard!

The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver's licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version.

New York is the fourth state to reach such an agreement on federally approved secure licenses, after Arizona, Vermont and Washington. The issue is pressing for border states, where new and tighter rules are soon to go into effect for crossings.

The deal comes about one month after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a plan whereby illegal immigrants with a valid foreign passport could obtain a license.

Saturday's agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government's post-Sept. 11 effort to make identification cards more secure. [...]

New York has between 500,000 and 1 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom are driving without a license and car insurance or with fake driver's licenses ...

Source: Newsday.com

That's just great! While certain law-abiding Austrians don't get to the take advantage of "the right to free travel", illegal aliens get more and more rewards ... for pooping on immigraton laws. Fortunately, there is a more attractive country than the taco-flavored consumer nation no. 1: Commodity-rich Canada ... kick-ass currency ... and apparently more rational immigration laws.

What NAU?

SPP + TTC + NAFTA [...] In March, 2005, the President of the United States, the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada met in Texas for the creation of the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). This new agreement was never submitted to the Congress for debate, discussion and/or decision. It was, rather, given to the Department of Commerce where a new division was created (under the same title) to implement working groups in the following areas: manufactured goods, movement of goods, energy, environment, e-commerce, financial services, business facilitation, food and agriculture, transportation and health. All aimed at formulating a working agenda that would result in the advancement of a North American Union (NAU).

To document that this was not some minor action, it must be understood that SPP is headed by three top cabinet officers of each country. Representing the United States are Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Security of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The representatives from Canada and Mexico are, likewise, heads of top departments in the respective governments.

This is not a theoretical exercise being undertaken by any of the “think tanks”. Instead, SPP is at work producing an action agreement that, as presently planned, will be implemented directly by regulations/directives without any envisioned direct Congressional input, oversight, or approval. At this point in time, no new laws are contemplated for submission to Congress. This means that the plan is aimed at creating the NAU through agency regulation/directives.

If implementation of this plan is allowed to continue, there will be no area of immigration policy, trade rules, environmental regulations, capital flows, public health, plus dozens of other key policy areas that the U.S. government will be able to decide alone, or without first consulting some appropriate NAU regulatory body.

It appears that the current direction is following the “road-map” laid out in the May, 2005 report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) titled, “Building a North American Community”.

The end result of all of this on the sovereignty of the U.S. should be obvious. The model is the European Union. While we would, supposedly, remain as a country many of our prerogatives would be superceded by a North American court and parliamentary body and the dollar would become the “Amero”.

Again, the current direction is for all of this to happen without any Congressional approval. . . just regulations and directives.

On to the next component in the equation. [WHOLE ARTICLE]

Source: AmericanDaily.com

Willkommen zu den secret.news 35

German newscast ...feat. the new North American currency, Schuldgeld -- Fiat-Verschuldung, Fiat Currencies ... 6th minute>> ::HERE::

:: WARNING ::

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul spoke at the Value Voters Summit Friday. [...] Paul hit on other campaign themes of personal liberty and enforcing the U.S. constitution.

Ron Paul defended U.S. sovereignty and he warned “We’re working on a North American Union” and ‘an Amero’ (a proposed regional currency) referring to illegal attempts to integrate the governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Ron Paul promoted a non interventionist foreign policy and following the Constitution when going to war, “you declare it, win it, and get out! You don’t go to war because of U.N resolutions!

Ron Paul, an opponent of the Federal Reserve, warned against ‘central economic planning’ and ‘creating money out of thin air’. ‘We’re on the verge of a bankruptcy’.

Paul passionately argued for freedom and property rights.

Source: USADaily

In other news:

North American Union? [Amero?] No chance, says US ambassador

Know the deal!?

Despite the dearth of definitive data on this deal, its dishonesty is demonstrable. To take one further example from the spp.gov website:

“Myth: The SPP is a movement to merge the United States, Mexico, and Canada into a North American Union and establish a common currency.

Fact: The cooperative efforts under the SPP, …seek to make the United States, Canada and Mexico open to legitimate trade and closed to terrorism and crime. It does not change our courts or legislative processes and respects the sovereignty of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The SPP in no way, shape or form considers the creation of a European Union-like structure or a common currency. The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our Founding Fathers.”

While you ponder the veracity of this claim -- and debate which is “myth” and which is “fact” -- I’d like to introduce you to Robert Pastor Ph.D., vice president of international affairs, professor of international relations, and director of the Center for North American Studies, American University in Washington, D.C.

At the beginning of November 2002, this highly credentialized individual gave a speech in Toronto entitled “A North American Community -- A Modest Proposal to the Trilateral Commission”. It is perhaps the clearest exposition of the SPP and its objectives.

Pastor argues, among other things, that NAFTA should be raised to a new level of cooperation. On this new level, the existing “two bilateral legislative groups” (Parliament and Congress) would be merged into one North American Parliamentary Group. There’d also be a Permanent Court on Trade and Investment -- though he doesn’t say how such a court would stop traditional U.S. contempt for Canadian economic interests (softwood lumber, anyone?) -- as well as a North American Commission to deal with immigration and customs, and propose measures like a continental infrastructure and transportation network, harmonized (sic) regulatory policies, a customs union, and a common currency.

On the latter point he said: “Mexicans and Canadians do not want to be incorporated into the United States, and they are ambivalent about adopting the American dollar, but they are more willing to become part of a single country of North America and of a unified currency, like the ‘amero,’ proposed by Herbert Grubel.” Grubel, of course, is a former MP and now a senior econo-theologian at the Fraser Institute, the British Columbia-based neocon propaganda factory that has more influence on national policy than do elected MPs. He made his proposal in 1999!

If you have considered spp.com’s “myth” vs. “fact” distinction while you read the discussion on Pastor, consider again this “fact” claim: “The SPP in no way, shape or form considers the creation of … a common currency. The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our Founding Fathers.”

Significantly when Pastor speaks of the amero, he assumes that Canada and Mexico would convert their currencies to the U.S. dollar, thereby surrendering the right to set national monetary or economic policy.

One would think that in the time since the amero was formally suggested (1999) and SPP discussions were begun (2005) we, the Canadian public, would have been informed about them. Problem is, we aren’t supposed to know about it until it’s a done deal. Who will be doing this deal? Consider Pastor’s final charge to his audience:

“The challenge of the Trilateral Commission – (is) to sketch an alternative future for the entire continent that the people will embrace and the politicians will feel obligated to accept.”

There you have it. A clique of econo-political elites is going to remake North America in its own image and the citizenry of the three countries has no say in the matter! How much does Pastor’s Brave New Economic Order reflect actual discussions on the SPP? I’m sure inquiring citizens would like to know.

Source: TehranTimes - Iran's Leading International Daily

The supreme currency

History repeats itself. Hitler invaded Poland and all of Europe. Hispanic & Muslim nations now invade the U.S.; world conquest is the Objective.

Hitler convinced the German People their neighbors were the cause of their economic problems. He convinced them the only way to recover was to recognize their inherent right to invade and take back land they had stolen from them. Germans were declared the supreme race and all others were inferiors who did not deserve to live. It was their heritage as proud Aryan people, it was their duty to take over the world and repopulate it with the master race.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, and current President Calderón both insist where a Mexican stands, is also Mexico. They insist they have a right to cross international borders to resolve economic crises they blame on their neighbor. They demand a union between all nations in the America’s for Mutual Prosperity and Security to honor the racial heritage of the latinos. [...] How much more documentation does it take to define intent of the invaders who have come into the United States illegally?

Fox admits, the amero is coming, he admits the invasion is by design to help the sagging Mexican economy and promote open borders, he admits he is backing invasion because his people need jobs and jobs are in the United States, he admits he wants to destroy American Sovereignty and replace it with a new Union of states including all of north and south America, he admits he is stealing American jobs and wealth, and some United States citizens think unbridled illegal alien invasion is purely an economic driven invasion.

Fox is similar to Hitler who told his citizens it was their national right to invade other nations and then promoted that invasion with all of the government support he could give them.

Source: American Chronicle

Not enough paper

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox goes on Larry King and talks about an Americas trade pact, and the blognoscente froth at the mouth about prospects for a single currency, the “Amero.” The only U.S. trading partner more feared than Mexico right now might be the Chinese. [...] Made in the USA [...] Many of the tools may be made in America, but they’re definitely going to customers overseas.

~Lisa Eckelbecker TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

FT / Europe on the Amero aka Noonie

Could the US dollar be destined to join the D-Mark and the franc in the graveyard of defunct national currencies? Vicente Fox, former Mexican president, told CNN this week that he had talked to US president George W. Bush about the possibility of a regional currency for the Americas. [...] Dana Perino, White House press secretary, has dismissed Fox’s claim.

“There is no plan under way to create such a currency,” she said.

Ideas for an American currency union, including the US, Canada and Mexico, have been circulating among academics since the creation of the euro in 1999. Its advocates have even given the hypothetical currency a name: the amero.

Now would be a convenient time for the merger to take place, after the Canadian dollar recently reached parity with the US dollar for the first time in 30 years. (Perhaps instead of the amero, it could be called the noonie – a North American version of the Canadian dollar, which is known affectionately as the loonie.)

~The Financial Times EUROPE, Oct 11 2007

The Late Great American Melting Pot

A lot of the time I wish my government, the American government, would just wake up out of its funk and start doing the right thing for its citizens. Everyday I hear about some scandal involving a government official, mud-slinging among presidential candidates, illegal immigrants standing up for their “rights” (excuse me?) and their supporters doing the same.

It’s a downward spiral we’re in. And the sad thing is, apparently there are few leaders willing to do anything about it. Oh sure, they claim they’re doing what’s right for America, but honestly, how is giving amnesty to illegal immigrants going to help Americans? They don’t call it that, of course, but they sugarcoat it and hope people won’t notice what they’re swallowing. [...] Having a unified currency among several countries has more disadvantages than advantages. It means that the member countries can’t solve their economic problems by adjusting their money supply or stimulate its growth. Instead, they must go with the flow, do what the other members are doing even when it’s not really helping.

I have nothing against our neighboring countries, but they should know this can adversely affect them as well because it will dilute their individuality the same as it would for America. America’s identity, its sovereignty, its cultural heritage and pride would simply fade away. So, too, will Canada and Mexico.

Gone are the days of us being known as the Great American Melting Pot. Instead, we are fast becoming a nation of “mini-nations”, each seeking their own agenda at the detriment of the greater good.

Source: MeAndMyDrum.com

Austrian School of Common Sense

The Crack Up Boom

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973 ) was a notable and highly respected economist and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement. He has been called the "uncontested dean of the Austrian School of economics". The Ludwig von Mises Institute is named after him. The Ludwig von Mises Institute is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. It generally advances a view of government and economics expressed by Ludwig von Mises. The Institute is funded entirely through private donations and does not consider itself a traditional think tank. While it has working relationships with individuals such as U.S. Representative Ron Paul and organizations, it does not seek to implement public policy and has no formal affiliation with any political party (including the Libertarian Party), nor does it receive funding from any. The Institute also has a formal policy of not accepting contract work from corporations or other organizations.

Von Mises believed that significant credit expansion created business cycles. He continually warned of the dangers in inflation which can lead to hyperinflation and of the importance of governments and central banks not resorting to massive credit creation and the printing presses in order to prolong an artificially induced economic boom.

"The course of a progressing inflation is this: At the beginning the inflow of additional money makes the prices of some commodities and services rise; other prices rise later. The price rise affects the various commodities and services, as has been shown, at different dates and to a different extent. This first stage of the inflationary process may last for many years. While it lasts, the prices of many goods and services are not yet adjusted to the altered money relation. There are still people in the country who have not yet become aware of the fact that they are confronted with a price revolution which will finally result in a considerable rise of all prices, although the extent of this rise will not be the same in the various commodities and services. These people still believe that prices one day will drop. Waiting for this day, they restrict their purchases and concomitantly increase their cash holdings. As long as such ideas are still held by public opinion, it is not yet too late for the government to abandon its inflationary policy.

But then finally the masses wake up. They become suddenly aware of the fact that inflation is a deliberate policy and will go on endlessly. A breakdown occurs. The crack-up boom appears. Everybody is anxious to swap his money against "real" goods, no matter whether he needs them or not, no matter how much money he has to pay for them. Within a very short time, within a few weeks or even days, the things that are used as money are no longer used as media of exchange. They become scrap paper. Nobody wants to give away anything against them. It was this that happened with the Continental currency in America in 1781, with the French mandats territoriaux in 1796, and with the German Mark in 1923. It happened with the dollar in 1973. It will happen again whenever the same conditions appear. If a thing has to be used as a medium of exchange, public opinion must not believe that the quantity of this thing will increase beyond all bounds. Inflation is a policy that cannot last."

Ludwig von Mises, The Theory of Money and Credit

Source: Gold Investments Market Update

Step by step...

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed the existence of a plan conceived with President Bush to create a new regional currency in the Americas, in an interview last night on CNN's "Larry King Live." (TRANSCRIPT)



ALCA is the acronym for the Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas, the name of the FTAA in Spanish.
King, evidently startled by Fox's revelation of the currency, asked pointedly, "It's going to be like the euro dollar (sic), you mean?" "Well, that would be long, long term," Fox repeated.

Source: WND

...in other news:

White House dismisses talks of common currency

The White House this morning categorically denied that President Bush is considering or has ever considered agreeing to a common currency for the U.S., Mexico and Canada to rival the Euro.

"I can assure you that President Bush is not, and has not, given consideration to any other currency for the United States. Period," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto in an e-mail.

Source: The Washington Times

Ex-Mex Prez: "Amero is inevitable"

Speaking on the Larry King show, former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed every assertion made by Jerome Corsi in his new book, NY Times bestseller "The Late Great U.S.A: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada" (WND Books, ISBNs 0-9790451-4-2, $25.95, July 2007). Not only did Fox admit that he and George W. Bush have "agreed" to create a common currency, the Amero, he contended that a North American Union is "inevitable". [...] "Finally" says the author of "The Late Great U.S.A" "here is unequivocal proof, straight from the mouth of Mexico’s former president, that Bush’s goal is to erode United States sovereignty in order to create free movement for Mexico’s peasant class across our border, in the process flooding us with even more anchor babies and illiterates ready and willing to take advantage of our country’s all-too-generous welfare programs".
Mexico’s invasion of America can and must be stopped, but in order to do so, every citizen must rise up and demand an end to it. "George W. Bush has been bought lock, stock and barrel by the elite and multi-national corporations pushing for a merger with Mexico, but he has utterly no right under the Constitution to push for a merger of the U.S with Mexico or any other country"
Fox’s comments are part and parcel of Mexico’s ongoing campaign to destroy American sovereignty to its benefit. "Going by what Fox has said on national television, it’s clear that Mexico has declared war on the United States" Corsi asserts. "It’s the only way such words can be interpreted. Since Bush has no interest in protecting our interests, and since all too few legislators have stepped up to condemn a North American Union and shared currency, it’s up to we the people".

Source: Webwire.com

For whom the boondoggle tolls

This globalist boondoggle will further open our borders, undermine our laws, weaken our dollars - and ultimately lead to the absorption of our nation into a "North American Community," the end of the United States as we know it. Our money will become the "amero," and the government will take land through eminent domain to build this superhighway. What is even more troubling is the tolls will be collected by foreigners: China, Mexico and South America to name a few. We need to inform the politicians to stop selling our sovereignty, our freedom, our jobs, our Social Security and our highways! Write, fax or e-mail your congressman. Write also to President Bush and Condoleezza Rice [and vote Ron Paul].

Source: Lahontan Valley News

Poker Joes, Nez Perces, and Jews

One hundred and thirty years ago Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces made his famous surrender speech to General Miles on the frozen fields of Montana, a short distance from the safety of the Canadian border. The task of representing the tribe to the US Army would have normally fallen to a war chief such as Joseph's brother Ollokut, or Looking Glass. Unfortunately by then they were both dead, as was another war chief, Poker Joe. [...] So what does Poker Joe have to teach us today? Plenty. [...] Today it is just as easy to sitting around the warm glow of the television set absorbing spin and the mindless brainwashing of unfettered consumerism every bit as unaware of the forces on the move as were the naïve Nez Perces on the plains of Montana. Meanwhile the General Howards and the General Miles of today are strategizing. Has anyone heard of the North American Union? Of a joint currency called the Amero? Do you know what a VCHIP is? Do you think Bush and the rest of the oilmen and bankers care a rat's ass about the welfare of the tribe? Years ago holocaust survivor Elie Weisel, referring to the overarching treat of nuclear annihilation we all share, said "We're all Jews now". I'm suggesting we're all Nez Perce now.

Source: OpEdNews

Capsize the buck!

The Financial Times has reported that "the Qatari and Vietnamese governments ... are rapidly divesting in dollar denominated securities [and that this] will not come as good news to the US government. Overseas investors hold half of America’s $4,400bn of marketable government debt, up from a third in 2001 according to the US Treasury department." For at least some financial observers, the idea that Qatar is dumping the dollar without the implicit, if not explicit, approval of American political powers-that-be is hard to fathom.

In fact, as has been pointed out by FMNN commentators in the past, Qatar is a staunch ally of the United States and the jumping off point for its invasion into Iraq. Not only that, but the ruling family owes its position to U.S. military invations [...]

The relationship between Qatar and the US is so close that even the Qatar creation of the Al Jazeera news network seems suspect. An outgrowth of the BBC, elaborately funded by the Qatar ruling family, could Al Jazeera be a "controlled opposition" news network rather than an actual homegrown information initiative, as has been portrayed?

In any event Qatar's announced dollar dump comes at a critical time, as the Financial Times points out. And as mentioned above, FMNN has heard that suspicious-minded financial critics of the US administration are asking if it could have anything to do with the North American Union that the American power structure seems to favor - one which would see a "super state" created from Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The lead currency of such a super state would be the so-called "Amero." Of course, the dollar itself will have to capsize in a big way before Americans will be persuaded to give up their precious currency.

Source: FreeMarketNews.com.

Amero: "thoroughly debunked rumor"!

As a Republican with some libertarian leanings and with a tutelage in foreign policy realism, I was intrigued by Dr. Paul’s campaign. But the deeper I dug, the more I realized that Dr. Paul is not just a libertarian-leaning Republican. His online activism brings back bad memories of what the internet was like in the 1990s, when it was the home to conspiracy theories that wouldn’t get even a first look in the political realm. In short, he’s a modern remnant of the John Birch Society, complete with ongoing conspiracy theories about the imminent demise of American sovereignty at the hands of shadowy international organizations.

Witness Paul’s obsession with the “North American Union.” The idea behind this theory is that the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP),” a dialogue between the United States, Mexico and Canada to address trade concerns, lays the foundation for the unification of the three countries. Why Canadians would want to join up with an America that they are none too fond of, and why either country would want to carry the deadweight that is modern Mexico are questions left unanswered.

Paul asks: “What is a ‘dialogue’? We don’t know. What we do know, however, is that Congressional oversight of what might be one of the most significant developments in recent history is non-existent.” [...] Other aspects of the supposed SPP are more outlandish. There are the persistent rumors that the United States is preparing to launch the “amero,” America’s answer to the Euro. This rumor is pretty thoroughly debunked here, and again, it is unclear what America and Canada really have to gain from tying their currencies to each other, much less to Mexico’s.

Source: humanevents.com

Mexico: The dragging component for the Amero

BankIntroductions.com, a Canadian company that specializes in global banking strategies and currency consulting, is advising clients that the amero may be the currency of North America within the next 10 years. "The amero would compete against other regional currency blocks," BankIntroductions.com says. "At present, with the Canadian dollar approaching par, more talk for an amero currency unit will become popular in Canada." The company says that with the successful implementation of NAFTA, "the one dragging component for the amero will be Mexico, but in time this will change."

"Implementation of the amero currency may actually give Mexico an economic boost, thus helping to alleviate Mexican immigration pressures into the United States for those Mexicans seeking financial gain," BankIntroductions.com advises. [...] WND also reported the African Union is moving down the path of regional economic integration, with the African Central Bank planning to create the "Gold Mandela" as a single African continental currency by 2010.

The Council on Foreign Relations also has supported regional and global currencies designed to replace nationally issued currencies. In an article in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, entitled "The End of National Currency," CFR economist Benn Steil asserted the dollar is a temporary currency.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Almighty Chaos

Something has snapped in the spirit of the time; events have gone beyond human capacity to control, predict or even conceptualize. Those who insist they know what is happening are merely pretending, or dissembling. When novelty arises, when old structures disintegrate before new patterns reveal themselves, there are no experts.

Perhaps the best oracles we can consult are systems analysts like Erwin Laszlo. Laszlo studies chaos theory and believes global civilization is a few years away from what he calls “the chaos point.” According to Laszlo, we are at a “crucial decision-window” of instability. “When we reach the point of chaos,” Laszlo tells us, “the stable ‘point’ and ‘periodic’ attractors of our systems will be joined by ‘chaotic’ or ‘strange’ attractors.” These “strange attractors” will propel us, like booster rockets, to evolutionary development or entropic debauch. In other words, we should prepare ourselves for the unknown and inexplicable.

The current economic crisis provides an intriguing case in point. [...] It seems inconceivable that the financial institutions and speculators didn’t anticipate large-scale defaults. Perhaps they were counting on the Federal Reserve to bail them out. During the last months, in fact, the Fed, along with its European counterpart, has poured hundreds of billions of newly invented dollars into the financial markets, temporarily stabilizing the system and rewarding the speculators while doing nothing for the masses of people facing eviction from their homes and creating the prospect of hyperinflation.

The Fed, a private institution, “injects liquidity,” quips the New York Times, without needle or syringe. As a Lehman Brothers economist notes, “All they do is write down a number and credit that amount of cash to the bank. It’s a bookkeeping entry.” The Fed’s miraculous capacity to create instant cash brings up deeper questions about the nature of money today — what is it? De-linked from the gold standard, money is based on little more than our collective belief in it.

In Third World countries, currency crises — often brought about by predatory speculation — frequently lead to frozen bank accounts and long breadlines, followed by a change of currency that creates immense profit for the banks and the government. Of course, many believe that such a thing could never happen here. Recently, there have been rumors of a plan to form an American version of the European Federation, uniting Mexico, the U.S. and Canada under a new currency, the “Amero,” and a new constitution, devised by the bankers.

Source: Common Ground Mag