What is your definition of Government?

I don't really understand people. I don't understand the Rich, the Middle Class, or the Poor. What do I mean by that? I don't know what they want. I don't know what they are looking for. I just know that the way things currently are is not sustainable and yet it seems that most people are clueless about what is going on around them. I look at the headlines in the local papers and they deal with the trivialities of life.

What do I see? I see rigged financial markets, inept and corrupt governmental leadership, I see mega-corporations that can basically do whatever they want by throwing their weight (money) around, I see costs taking off in the core necessities of life, and I see people that are clueless about priorities and preparation. Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?

I know that I need to worry about myself, my friends, and those who are willing to listen and educate themselves about the relevant issues we are facing today. I need not worry about those who look at me as a pessimist. I am not a pessimist, but I am also not a wild-eyed optimist either. I believe that what we are setting up to go through is going to bring realistic expectations back to the forefront.

What we are seeing is a systemic problem. We are living in a time of flawed logic based upon unbalanced priorities. We are obsessed with consumption and pleasure based on Hedo-Economics. We must get back to realistic principles that take into consideration production, responsibility, conservation, thrift, and creating value.

Nearly two years ago we went down the path that has put us in the position we are in today. In the middle of September 2008, we set a course for spending our way into oblivion with no destination charted and no logical course established. All we did then and all we are doing now is throwing trillions into what appears to be a black hole. It sure seems that the more money that we put into this system that has been created, the deeper we go into the hole.

Now we are seeing the implosion of the European financial system. The Euro is close to freefall status with Greece leading the way and likely showing the fate of the other nations soon to follow in the Eurozone. The formation of the European Union and subsequent currency was supposed to create economic stability amongst its member states and keep this exact type of meltdown from happening.

This is all happening, because of the same uncontrolled and unregulated derivatives market that caused the Housing and Credit Bubble to burst here in the United States two years ago. And here we go again with governments looking to bailout the nations who have staggering debt burdens. In the history of mankind, has that really ever worked?

The heads of state are telling us to spread the wealth, while the World's conglomerate banking interests are consolidating the wealth and thus the power under their own corporate umbrella. Wake Up Folks, you are witnessing the undercurrent that has all of the makings of a James Bond Movie Plot, but this is real.

The problems we are facing are systemic. We have systemic fraud that has metastasized its way throughout the entire world's economic, political, and cultural system. It is like poison ivy that has invaded our property and has been allowed to fester long enough until the roots have become deep-seated. There are no easy solutions. It must be dealt with head on. You must dig out what you can and smother the rest. The problem will only worsen if you ignore it.

We are going to need government to help solve this issue, if we don't want the World to become Hell on Earth. But, it must be government of, by, and for the people. The governmental system we are seeing today is not working. Currently government is a Class System in and of itself. Here in the United states it was never meant to be that way. The Government was meant to represent the people's interest, not the bureaucracy's interest. We have way too many people who are getting rich as members of the bureaucracy, or attached to the bureaucracy, at a time when the Free Enterprise system is reeling. That is not the American System.

We are seeing a disintegration of our known way of life. Yes, we are headed into uncharted territory. This is not a normal business cycle. The Dollar is tied to the other World Currencies and Economies and as they go, we will be sure to follow, unless our nation's leaders begin to take steps to shore up the United States' sovereignty.

In my opinion, what we are going to see is strong inflation in staple commodities (Food and Energy) and you are going to see deflationary pressures on the discretionary economy (Luxury purchases, such as electronics, vacations, new cars, etc.).

People are going to have to help one another and this will be quite the conundrum, if we expect this help to come from the government side, because the issues we face could become quite overwhelming. How are we going to make available the resources under the current context of the Government's Bureaucratic Economics?

The government is going to have to become more responsive to the people. The government is not the bureaucracy. The government is the people. Currently, we see that the government, on all levels, has lost its mooring to its constituents and to it's constitution. Our government, as in the bureaucracy, no longer represents the values of the people. It represents the values of the employees of the government. This is another issue, when we look at its stability and sustainability.

The citizens are going to have to take back control of the government and that is hard to do when so many people don't seem to care. But, you know if you have been touched by the spirit of Liberty, and that spirit makes you understand that it is our obligation to put people into office that will represent credibility and accountability by instilling the tenants of fairness and justice for all. We need to be able to trust the leadership of our country. I know that this is going to be a long, hard, tedious struggle; but it is a struggle that we, the chosen, must endure.

The Backwoods Corporatists want to throw up road blocks to stop access to 21st Century High Speed Broadband

Notes from the Raleigh News and Observer show how the Conglomeration of Cable, Telephone, and other data communications providers are doing everything they can to keep progress from taking place and to protect their niche interests and soon to be antiquated capital cash-cow investments.

NC cities, cable still at odds on broadband entry - News and Observer - Gary D. Robertsen - 5/9/2010 - a summary of the article points out several issues.

Big telecoms in North Carolina keep fretting about towns like Wilson and Salisbury getting into the broadband business. Ever since a 2005 appeals court ruling upheld the right of towns and cities to offer high-speed Internet to their residents, large cable and phone companies have been urging the General Assembly to throw obstacles in the way. Local governments, they argue, don't have to pay taxes and can subsidize their rates to undercut the corporate competition.

Those efforts, however, have failed as mayors and local governments argue the big companies won't offer the kind of super-fast Internet at reasonable prices they say attracts high-tech industries. "We're trying very hard by providing broadband to bring new local businesses to our community, to bring jobs," said Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz, whose city has borrowed to build a $30 million fiber-optic network it will begin testing in a few months....

A 2005 Court of Appeals ruling involving then-BellSouth Corp. and the city of Laurinburg, which leased its fiber-optic network to outside customers, determined high-speed Internet fell under the definition of cable television. Only a few municipalities have entered into the broadband network business since then. Wilson has made the most dynamic effort. Wilson city officials borrowed $28 million, without a referendum by voters, to lay the fiber-optic lines and build other infrastructure to create Greenlight, which offers cable, phone and Internet service...

Greenlight has drawn nearly 5,000 household customers since it began offering the service in 2008. According to its website, it has the fastest residential Internet speed in North Carolina: 100 megabits per second, compared to 15 megabits offered to Time Warner residential customers in Wilson....

Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, recently proposed a moratorium on local governments getting into the business while the issue is studied further. Hoyle backed down after opposition from the North Carolina League of Municipalities and several companies including Google, Intel and Alcatel-Lucent. But he replaced the proposal with a requirement that any debt incurred for building a broadband network must be approved in a referendum. "What's wrong with the people being allowed the right to vote on debt that they're going to be responsible for repaying?" Hoyle asked. Kelli Kukura, a lobbyist for the league, said cable television groups have spent hundreds of thousands defeating referenda on similar broadband projects in other states, with ad blitzes on their own cable TV systems...

More efforts at a compromise are likely on the horizon. High-speed Internet service could mean the difference between economic prosperity and malaise for small towns in North Carolina. "In the 21st century, broadband is what electrification and water and sewer were in other centuries," said Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake.

It is amazing how much time, money, and efforts have been utilized to stop progress, especially on this issue, here in the Great State of North Carolina. Do representatives in this State represent the Corporate interests or the well being and quality of life of their constituents?

If asked, here in our area, about a referendum on Telecommunications in our area, how would our citizens respond? I am sure that they would be weary of the price tag, but those of us who believe in modern cutting edge technology can fight that fight with one word -- CHARTER!!!

The simpler people in this area may not see the connection between high-speed broadband and economic development, but they certainly despise the boogie man that Charter Communications has turned itself into in our area and the people in Hickory aren't too enamored with CenturyLink (aka Embarq, Sprint, Century Telephone, or whatever they are called next week)..

Wilson's local Broadband infrastructure service - Greenlight - offers a package of 10Mbps internet (up AND down), HDTV w/DVR, and Phone service for $119 per month. a higher tier package consisting of 20Mbps (up/down), television with all premium channels, and phone is $170/month. These aren't teaser rates. These are everyday packages! Do Charter, Embarq, or anyone else offer this kind of service at anything competitive with this kind of price?

I understand that the local populace might worry about the initial cost of the outlay of this infrastructure and the management of the system. There will be a tax cost associated with such a project, but it is a true investment that holds merits of value.

As State Representative Jennifer Weiss of Wake County stated. "In the 21st century, broadband is what electrification and water and sewer were in other centuries."

Folks, this is how we communicate with one another. Are we going to let corporations hamper our ability to communicate with one another? This is the interstate highway of communications. We want to drive at faster speeds and these companies want us on dirt roads. I think that I have expressed in this blog the importance of the Broadband issue to our area. Any tax increases, in the name of this effort, should be 100% earmarked to this effort only and the entity should be established and operated completely in the open.

I think, along with many of my compatriots in this effort, that people would be willing to approve some increase in taxes in the name of this effort, if they feel that this effort would be fruitful towards the creation of new jobs, more competitive pricing, increased educational opportunities for the populace, increased opportunities and support for our existing industries, and a greater quality of life in general.

We all hope that the Google effort comes our way, but there is certainly nothing wrong with having contingency, thoughts, ideas, and plans available if we are not chosen by Google.

Response to comments about Chicken Salad

The following article is a response to Mr. Gary Ewing's comments regarding the airport issue discussed in the previous article entitled Making Chicken Salad out of Hickory City Government. I really want to thank Mr. Ewing for his input and context regarding the comments associated with the airport issue.

The third comment is not attributable to me. I have never left an anonymous comment on this blog.

But, I don't have a problem with others leaving anonymous comments. I have found over time that those comments are usually very reliable. People leave anonymous comments, because the information may be sensitive to their livelihood and subject to retaliation, so I don't mind anonymous comments that bring further context and dialogue to the discussion at hand.

Mr. Ewing, I don't believe that the person who posted this comment intended to besmirch you. I also know that besides yourself and Joe Brannock, that Steve Ivester was on that commission and so there were definitely aviation experts on board. I would love to hear about your notes. I certainly want to get together with anyone that will make themselves available to me, so that I may better understand this issue and the reason why our community's airport is being allowed to continue to flounder.

Just look at the common thread of most of the task forces that are created in this city. There are always people with great knowledge and passion associated with those endeavors, but in the end the people at the helm of the Whitener building do what they want to do, which I have heard many times runs contrary to the findings of the task forces.

As Joe stated, "the City had already decided what it wanted out of the Task Force."

Here is what I understand and believe. If the people at the helm of Hickory City government want your opinion, they will ask you for it. They know where they want to take us and they don't care to have people that they feel lack proper knowledge having any input.

I don't believe that it is about the city reacting versus acting. They act on what they consider to be their priorities (lifestyle issues, such as Graffiti and Drinking). The reason that they don't act on tough issues (usually dealing with economic growth), unless it is laid in their lap, is because it might be risky and there may be negative political consequences associated with any failures.

The general practice does not involve conservatism or conservative values, because lord knows how many times that they have been all too willing to interject themselves into issues of personal lifestyle and preference.

This city follows a route of austerity. They are very frugal and risk averse in practices of economics and social engineering. Austerity is associated with strictness, sternness, forbidding and uncompromising character. That describes this city in many ways. They tend to pigeonhole people and ideas. They have a playbook that they adhere to and do not deviate from.

I will not name names, but those who pay attention know them. They have one person that they go to about Economic Development. They have one person that they go to about statistics and demographics. They have one person that they go to about commercial real estate. They have one person that they go to about real estate development. They have one person that they go to about banking issues. And if you aren't one of those people, then basically you have no input.

The issue is about control of outcomes. And therein lies the problem. You cannot have creativity when you live in such a static world. The world is complex and ever evolutionizing and unpredictable. A world of such unknowns demands creative, "outside of the box" thinking. You cannot harness individuals (or concepts) with that type of mindset and ability.

We seem to have city leadership that refuses to accept and participate in this principle (of an exponentially changing world). Therefore we are stuck and cannot move forward from what have become dark ages for our community.

It's like a person that is standing still on the side of the road, while the car they were riding in drives off into the sunset. We may as well be moving backwards. It's a risk to hitch that next ride. We want to get to our destination, but we ain't gonna get there, if we don't trust ourselves to hitch that next ride. So let's get goin' people.

I have been told that I am too political. Well, I see things that just aren't right and I refuse to accept that "that is just the way things are" mentality. I have been told a lot of stuff that I don't want to believe, but it all keeps adding up.

I just want people to do the right thing. We have all made mistakes, but if we can move past where we are right now, and get back on the right track, I would be happy. All I ever wanted was what was sold to me as the American dream. Well, we aren't going to get there on the path that we are presently on.

I am an outsider and I don't want to be a member of a cabal. I truly want to see equality in justice and the pursuit of happiness. I want everyone to have a chance to succeed in this community. I am tired of seeing a rigged game!

Making Chicken Salad out of Hickory City Government

Sunday Morning in the Hickory Daily Record we once again were brought journalistically to the scene of the Buffalo's Sinkhole fiasco (Will the sinkhole ever be more than a hole in the ground? & Sinkhole timeline). Personally I don't see how this is a pertinent story, I thought we were past all of this. Must have been a slow news cycle. I guess since the L-R Boulevard extension issue was brought to closure in April that somehow the HDR thinks they can magically wave a wand and see this process brought to an end also.

Personally, I feel that the Sinkhole issue is old news in and of itself. I thought so when I wrote the editorial on August 10, 2007 entitled Buffalo's dumpsite drama too personal for city's leaders? After nearly three years, I still believe that the city can remedy all of this by condemning the property and cleaning it up, but the city has steadfastly refused to do so.

I love the Orwellian double speak from the City Manager that is provided in this article:

Hickory Manager Mick Berry said that's because currently, Mason's not violating any ordinances, despite the fact there's grass and small plants growing out of the mound of dirt on the property.

"Our code supports the property owners," he said. "We're not heavy-handed. He had to get the water flowing through the culvert, which he did. And he had to push the dirt into the hole or level it out, and he did. It doesn't look pretty, but he's in compliance."

The property also has to be fenced in, which Mason has done.

And although Hickory has sent Mason letters in the past, saying he was violating the public nui-sance ordinance, Mason has never had to pay a fine, Berry said.

"We use the possibility of the fines to get the property owner to (fix the property)," he said.

Raise your hand if you haven't heard the Mayor (and inferences from the City Manager) berating Mr. Mason over this issue in the past and using this issue as a political talking point. Do you remember all of the heavy handed propaganda that took place over this issue, especially in 2006 and 2007?

The light is shown on this issue by a comment at the bottom of the HDR article that relates to what many of us have heard behind the scenes:

Because of Rudy running his mouth, the City of Hickory (through its insurance carrier) paid the sinkhole folks $400,000.00 (no, that's not a typo - Four Hundred Thousand Dollars) to settle the lawsuit. They then tried to cover it up by making the settlement "confidential", despite the fact that state law says you can't do that.

It's interesting that in this timeline and article the HDR chose to completely forget about that little bit of info.

There seems to be a pattern here of the city using Civil Litigation in combination with Closed Session City Council meetings for political purposes. Apparently, City parties have consistently tried to usurp North Carolina General Statutes by requesting that settlements be kept confidential. If what they are doing is above board, then why does the city keep requesting that these settlements be kept out of public view? The appearance of impropriety is impropriety.

Look at the following comment posted on this blog in relation to the Randolph's Billiards Issue - Randolph's Billiards versus the City of Hickory and the Drinking Establishment Ordinance.

This relates back to the cleansing of Union Square that the Council has sought to accomplish.

People might recall that Cersil Brothers, who owned the old Ferguson Plumbing Building, sued the City over the refusal to issue their permits in August, 2008. They used a bunch of "funny math" about the number of arrests / incidents / etc at bars to support their call for a moratorium on the issuance of permits.

After several months, the City settled that case -- by paying out $10,000.00 to the Cersil Brothers, and that doesn't take into account the thousands paid to the various law firms to defend the action.

Ten Grand of Taxpayer's Money, not to build a taxpaying business within the City.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Oh, and the timing of that Settlement is pretty interesting, too -- it was approved on Election Day last November -- after Rudy, Sally and Jill had safely retained their seats. The vote came after the polls had closed, and after it'd been bumped on no less than three consecutive council meetings.

Wouldn't want those pesky facts out there to confuse the voters now, would we?

Coincidence? Then consider this - the Council also tried to sit on the release of the Settlement Agreement by inserting a "confidentiality" clause in it, despite the fact that state law specifically prohibits agreements with such provisions.

I was informed on Friday evening that Randolph's was granted their permits back on Friday May 7th at 5:30pm. This happened even after the Hickory Police Department had contacted Randolph's lawyer via certified mail, stating that they did not want to work with Randolph's management and the city wanted to go back to court to finish the hearing. The scheduled date would have been in September.

I have been told that before the alcohol permits were taken that Randolph's patrons were being written tickets left and right for parking in the City parking lot behind Randolph's. Apparently the issuance of these tickets has pretty much ceased since January. I have also heard that city employees have been directed not to frequent Randolph's and there would be consequences if they did.

The presiding Judge Beecher Gray stepped in and said he would rule on the motion to dismiss and he did. The City contended that they wanted to finish their case in court. The judge told them their case had already been heard and he would rule over the phone and then he proceeded to dismiss the case.

You see folks, this seems to be the rule around here. This is the heavy handedness that Mr. Berry states doesn't go on around here. Remember the open storage ordinance, was that not heading down a heavy handed path until certain people realized that they didn't have the numbers on council and cooler heads prevailed. I have also heard that the City of Hickory could possibly have to legally settle with the former establishment "127 North" over their heavy handed dealings with them and the losses of revenue that are directly attributable to those dealings.

When these city officials act in this manner are they representing you? Anything that city officials do, which the city is held monetarily liable for, is paid for by the taxpayers of the City of Hickory? Do you feel comfortable with the city throwing its weight around in this manner? Are you happy that a large portion of your tax fees are going to pay for unnecessary legal fees and settlements? All for what appear to be personal preferences, vendettas, and political purposes?

What are the rules pertaining to this Drinking Establishment Ordinance? I have never seen anything laid out in Black and White. Ambiguous ordinances, such as this, are what this city is known for creating and are just begging lawsuits. They are arbitrary and not equally enforced. Any laws constructed in such a manner are not worth the paper that they are printed on and are basically a waste of energy and effort.

Another good example of mismanagement is the Airport. Mind Blowing - The City's Mismanagement of the Hickory Regional Airport (and once again the story behind the story isn't pretty).

Part of what hasn’t been recognized here is that the sweetheart deal that Riverhawk’s predecessor got is DIRECTLY attributable to Mayor Rudy Wright.

Just after Mr. Wright took office, it was time to renegotiate with Profile Aviation. City Staff members had researched the earlier agreements and noted the problems – there was no control over Profile’s actions, essentially, and they acted as though they owned the airport. Hickory’s airport had a horrible reputation among pilots because of the way they were treated by Profile. Many opted to go to Morganton or Statesville for fuel (which was cheaper), service and overnight accommodations rather than to have to put up with the lack of service at Hickory.

There was a plan of action for improving things during the contract renegotiation. Unfortunately, Mayor Wright was good buddies with the guys that owned Profile. The result was that the discussion would occur in closed session at a council meeting and by the time Staff could meet the following morning already knew the negotiating parameters. Thus, nothing could be fairly negotiated because the other side already knew not only the strategy but the details of how it would be approached. Rudy was seen numerous times leaving Profile’s offices on Wednesday mornings, where presumably he’d briefed them on the prior evening’s meetings.

Imagine if the Panthers tried to play a football game, but the other side knew all their hand signals and how they intended to approach not only the game, but every single play. It’s much harder, if not impossible, to win that way – especially if the coach keeps intentionally sending you down the field the wrong way!

What ended up was a sweetheart deal that gave away the farm, all the cows on the farm, the crops yet in the ground and the farmer’s wife! That agreement was entered into over significant objections by virtually all of the staff members involved.

You can’t negotiate anything close to a fair deal under those circumstances. Look at the contract – there’s no independent audit provisions – Hickory’s income from the airport was based solely on what Profile TOLD them they made. There was no way to get to the books for an independent audit, no control over hours of operation, prices to be charged, etc.

Instead, all the control was given to Profile.

There was a chance to eliminate that when Riverhawk took over, but once again it was lost. We can thank Jill Patton and Brad Lail for failing to have any significant input into that, but in fairness, they had no records to review to know the issues. Instead, they knew only that which the contract allowed them to know – a contract that was overseen by Rudy for the benefit of his friends at Profile.

Hickory had a chance to take their airport back, but instead got a task force packed with people who either knew nothing about airports or were looking to skew the deal. How often does that kind of thing happen here? To figure it out, you really only have to look at who leaves and when. Tim Deike, who was the Airport Manager then, left about this same time. Coincidence? Or, like so many other department heads, did he realize that it’s not possible to fight that type of corruption without the support of a strong City Manager who has the balls to stand up for what’s right. Hickory could have easily taken over operations at the airport, and the income from those operations gone to make it self-sustaining. Instead, we end up with a tiny piece of the action, no control over the airport and once again the taxpayers get the short end.

Again, we see the City operating behind the scenes on this issue. From what I have heard the situation has worsened and there really is no chance of it getting any better. This issue is going to cost Hickory Taxpayers a bundle, when in essence the city has an asset of great value here. But, this venture is being operated under a buddy-buddy scenario and the guise of covering political missteps, instead of doing what is best for the citizens of the area at our airport. And is that not the essence of commonality that we are seeing involving all of these issues?

I heard Hal Row last week addressing the local economy. He stated that when the economy starts picking up, and times start getting better, that you usually start hearing things from people about business stirring up and things going on, but he hasn't been hearing anything. Well Hal, I'm hearing a lot of things about business in the area, but you and I aren't privy to those circles. We aren't invited. There seem to be all kinds deals being made in closed session at City Hall, at the meeting before the meeting, and/or on phone calls.

Which type of government do you trust, the meeting out in the open or the one behind locked doors? Didn't you always love the scenes when JR Ewing said, "Trust me?" These people are telling you to trust them. If everything is above board, then it is time to release all of these closed session minutes to the public. I seem to have misunderstood who these people are working for. Are they working for the Citizens of Hickory or Themselves?

I am also reminded of Ray Hunt, a property owner in Southeast Downtown (across from Clark Tire). He told me about his tenant, who has not paid rent in a substantial period of time. Mr. Hunt had previously told this tenant that he was going to have to get his stuff off of the property, because he needed to have work done on the building so that he could find a new tenant, one that would pay their rent. The current tenant proceeded to go to the city to report Mr. Hunt's building as untenable. The City sent officials to the building and issued code violations, but they never contacted Mr. Hunt, who is the owner of the building. Mr. Hunt is upset about the city never contacting him about the violations and how they could be remedied. The city is bound to have methods to contact the man. What if this were you? Wouldn't you be upset?

The Hound -- And this is the reason why I keep this blog independent and go to the council meetings and report as much as I can to you about them, even when I know that most of y'all scan over most of it.

I am your personal eyewitness at City Council meetings. 75% of the time, there is no other independent news gathering source present at the City Council meetings. They just get the information from the City's Communication Director Mandy Pitts. They get the information that the city wants them to have. Mandy does a great job doing what she does, but who does she represent? Does she represent the citizens of Hickory or does she represent the City Bureaucracy? She is no different than a PR representative at a corporation.

Look at a Corporation with $80+ million in revenues and hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Would our local media outlets not dig further into issues involving that company, if they were doing things that negatively affected the stockholders of that corporation? Would a reporter go to the CEO or President of a company and ask them questions and take their word as the Gospel? Or would they dig for verifiable information and try to obtain corroborating information involving the story?

You see that is the City of Hickory, a corporation that takes in over $80 million in revenue and has a budget that is approximately the same. Mayor Rudy Wright is the Chief Executive Officer, City Manager Mick Berry is the President, and the other Council members are the Board of Directors of the City of Hickory Incorporated. And the Citizens and people who pay taxes and for services in Hickory are the shareholders.

I'm not going to beat the Hickory Daily Record over the head, if anyone wants to do so, then feel free to do so in the comments section. What was written on Sunday was about pulling an old issue out of the playbook without bringing anything new to the topic. What was the purpose of the article?

I just wish that the HDR would look into these issues more in depth and maybe do a series on some of them. Nothing notable or worthwhile can be written in 500 words or less. Demand some real answers from the City, and if they don't answer, then tell the public that they wouldn't. Look up some of the business agreements and relevant court documents... Talk to the relevant parties... And do some behind the scenes intelligence gathering. The Keys should be relevance and purpose. HDR, we need you to fulfill your role as the community's newspaper.

The Plunge Protection Team and the Ponzi Economy

On Thursday afternoon, May 6, 2010, you witnessed what was a historical Wall Street market Roller Coaster ride. In a period of 30 minutes, you saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall right at 1,000 points and then bounce back (almost immediately) over 600 points. I know most of y'all get your info from the boob tube or reading the major syndicated newspapers, but deep down you know that you aren't getting the whole story and therefore you aren't getting the real story.

Webster Tarpley pretty much hits the nail on the head in the following summarization:



The President's Working Group on Financial Markets (the Plunge Protection Team) was created by Executive Order 12631,[1] signed on March 18, 1988 by President Ronald Reagan.

The Group was established explicitly in response to events in the financial markets surrounding October 19, 1987 ("Black Monday") to give recommendations for legislative and private sector solutions for "enhancing the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of [United States] financial markets and maintaining investor confidence".[1]

What we are seeing is that the Stock market is rigged and it is not worthy of investment. Many of us learned that after the Tech Bubble burst in 2000 and the manipulation that took place in after 9/11. Pump and Dump has become the rule of the day. Only the big Wall Street cartel banks (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Citi) can afford to play this game. It is a game of Inside Information and Market manipulation that is influenced by massive high volume triggered computer program trading.

These gigantic Financial Institutions are making money playing both sides against the middle. They make money playing long(on the way up) and then yo-yo shorting (on the way down) the market. They can also arbitrage the market trading millions of shares for fractions of a cent. When done by trading millions of stocks and not having to pay the transaction costs associated with the average investor's investments. And they make money through transaction costs by having their floor traders buy and sell stocks for clients (glorified bookies getting paid vigorish). We are told that this is what "makes the market." That is a load. They are privatizing the profits and nationalizing the losses. And all of this is facilitated by the World's Central Banks, including the United States Federal Reserve.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. How many times are the American people going to be duped by people who are supposed to have a fiduciary responsibility to act in our best interests. In the current Ponzi Scheme economy, we have seen the action of every man for himself exacerbated to its fullest extent. Personally, I have learned my lesson. For the rest of my life I will never invest in any securities and commodities traded on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ ever again.

The Transnational Mega-Corporate Financial Institutions are consolidating assets and interests. They are larger and more powerful than most nations. They influence the decision making authority throughout our government. If we are going to take back our government and be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then we must divest ourselves of the financial interests that the financial institutions have influence over. The best thing we could ever do is boycott Wall Street and let the Oligarchs start attacking one another, because left to their own vises they will.

It is time to put an end to the Command Economy. You will not win in this system. This is a system of control. You cannot have a true market under this system. This is about consolidating power by accumulating wealth and buying off governments (elected officials and bureaucracies). Under this system, winners and losers will be chosen and odds are you will not be chosen as winners.

We are in a depression, not a recession. Many of you think that this is a normal business cycle and eventually things will naturally turn up. This is a structural problem that has been caused by corruption that has permeated throughout the social and economic system. As I have stated, we have built conflicts of interest, inside information, actions of provocateurs, etc. into the World Economic System and the system must be reset through valid Economic principles in order to begin growing again.

We cannot grow an economy by suppressing people. There has to be a middle class to buy products and services. People have to be able to advance socio-economically through hard work and perseverance and we are seeing the middle class destroyed under the current economic realities. What incentive do people have to be productive citizens and not trash the world, if they are essentially going to be turned into servants for the Fat Cats?

Max Keiser basically lays it all out there in explaining the Ponzi Economy: