State of North Carolina University System -- We've Got a Problem Here!!!

To my family and friends associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am sorry for what is going to have to be said here, but it is time. I truly don't understand why what is happening down there is being allowed to drag on in the manner that it is being allowed to drag on in. I would love for someone to explain why this spectacle is being allowed to develop and come to the fore in the manner in which it has, but I can assure you that it most certainly can and should be handled better than what we have seen thus far.

It is time that the Board of Governors of this State set aside the biases and move forward in cleaning up this mess, What we are seeing at the oldest institution in the UNC system can best be described as CRAZY. There is a definite Lack of Institutional Control and no excuse is going to cover up the lack of forthrightness from Chancellor Holden Thorp and the Board of Trustees in charge of the Academic Integrity of that institution.

What we have seen cannot be explained away by crying about rogue Sports Agents and Representatives. Who let someone like this Chris Hawkins character to have access to UNC-Chapel Hill facilities and access to its players without checking him out or seeing what he was up to. Who could not have known about Marvin Austin's travels and lifestyle, when he was posting it all over the internet. And the nail in the proverbial coffin on the Academic Integrity front is the Tutorgate issue and the lack of forthrightness in which it is and has been being handled. Reports are that University Administration is manipulating the Honor Court System. It is visible to anyone who is not closely tied to the University that there is definitely a systemic problem involving UNC-Chapel Hill. The reports of 13 visits to the campus by NCAA investigators, since the investigation's inception, should help you understand that.

The Raleigh News and Observer has taken some time to get moving forward with its investigation of an issue that came to light in late May and Early June, but an article this morning certainly does bring some important issues forward. The article is authored by the News and Observer's Executive Editor John Drescher and is entitled UNC's Heels must be held to the fire:

When UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp appeared before the Faculty Council last week to discuss investigations into the Tar Heel football program, the scene was set for the faculty to blitz him with questions.

Thorp signaled serious problems a few weeks earlier in opening a news conference by saying, "To anyone who loves this university, I'm sorry about what I have to tell you." Shortly after, 13 players were kept out of the season-opening game in Atlanta.

So how many questions did Thorp get last week from the Faculty Council? Two. Not 22. Two. One more than one. The number of points the other team gets for tackling you in your end zone.

Steven Bachenheimer, a microbiology professor, asked whether UNC has relaxed its standards in seeking football glory. Tom Linden, a journalism professor, asked why UNC agreed to pay the associate head coach $74,500 in severance as he left UNC one step ahead of possible NCAA sanctions.

Good for them. But there were more than 75 council members in attendance. Here are a few questions the others should have asked:

1. You are investigating whether a tutor employed by the university to work with football players gave inappropriate aid. That tutor also worked for coach Butch Davis and tutored his high school son. Is it appropriate for a tutor to work for both the university and the football coach?

2. You have indicated that academic misconduct might have occurred. If so, who is ultimately responsible?

3. If the NCAA hadn't investigated football players and their relationships with agents, would UNC have learned of the possible academic cheating? If not, isn't that a problem?

4. Some players used social media to discuss their travels and possible contact with agents. Shouldn't UNC's compliance officers closely monitor Twitter and Facebook?

5. Will you conduct a sport-by-sport review to see whether other athletes might have received inappropriate academic aid?

6. Should the $70 million expansion of Kenan Stadium be cancelled or scaled back, depending on the results of the investigations?

7. Is UNC admitting more football players who don't meet typical UNC admission standards than it did five or 10 years ago?

8. Are you satisfied with the oversight of the athletic department?

9. Is it possible to have a winning football team and maintain top-rate academic standards for all students?

10. What have you learned about operating a Division I football program since starting your job as chancellor?

The Faculty Council missed an opportunity, but it will have another when it meets with Thorp next month. Our reporters will work to get answers to these questions.

The underside of big-time college sports isn't pretty. A university needs the faculty to be its conscience. At UNC, faculty members need to get engaged on this issue. They need to get in the game.

Agents (and/or Agent Runners) may be threatened with Prison and agents have gone to prison before over these types of issues we have seen involving this scandal. If you are utilizing a client as a runner (look up Kentwan Balmer's association to this scandal) to facilitate the transfer of money, then that does constitute money laundering. If you are wiring coaches cash (the allegations against John Blake)to steer a player, then that is money laundering. It is money laundering, because you are utilizing cash to skirt the technical merits of the law. Not only that, but it is a way to evade taxes.

Agents (especially runners) will be given some form of immunity to come clean and spill the beans. The agents are not going to go to prison to help save a University’s image. They will drag the University down with them. The coaches and players at any rogue university athletic programs would have to willingly participate in any such operation (scheme). The Money laundering and tax evasion issues make this a Federal offense, which brings in the FBI, along with the issue of interstate commerce. This means that the power (and ability) of the full force of the Federal Government can be utilized to track all of the money trails.

As far as the Academic scandal, the tenured professors should be insulated from any possible intimidation by any overzealous leadership looking to cover up what has been happening in athletics. So, why is there silence? I would be afraid, as a member of the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill, that people would construe that the lack of academic integrity is not limited to the football team, that the lack of academic integrity is not limited to the athletic department, and/or that the lack of academic integrity is not limited to a couple of tutors and perhaps a rogue professor or two. The question begs to be asked, has this lack of academic integrity permeated the entire institution. Is it an integral part of the Chapel Hill culture. Are the Administrators and Faculty in Chapel Hill only paying lip service to academic integrity? Are they a part of the problem?

I believe that the silence from everyone with close ties to UNC-Chapel Hill, including the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors of the UNC system, is a sign of trouble within the institution itself. The only solution for the corruption is to bring in an outside group to independently investigate the entire structure of the university. There are just way too many conflicts of interest in this investigation. It has been obvious for years that there have been two sets of rules when it comes to the UNC system, those for Chapel Hill and those for everyone else. This structure needs to be brought back to its roots with a focus on real integrity. The silence and lack of openness suggests a dark undercurrent that must be exposed and eliminated.

I believe that the Alumni of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill need to step forward and say enough! And I believe the Alumni of the other Universities in the North Carolina system should also demand action. This scandal has already tarnished the image of UNC-Chapel Hill to a great extent, whether certain people want to live in denial about that reality or not. If this investigation into this corruption is allowed to drag out to its inevitable conclusion, without the admittance that there have been problems, then it is going to devalue a degree from Chapel Hill.

The Bottom Line is that there is no way out for UNC-Chapel Hill. They should do the right thing and plead mea culpa and throw themselves at the mercy of the NCAA, but is there a pervasive arrogance that makes them think that they are going to get away with this? Can they not see the shadow of the hammer coming down upon them. Are they willing to get themselves fried?!?

I love sports, but when it comes to sports it has been obvious that the tail has been wagging the dog for a long, long time down in Chapel Hill. The pushing the limits and win at all costs mindset has been fully exposed. People have gotten their identity wrapped up and intertwined in the success and failure of the athletic program to the extent that they forget the purpose of the university is to educate our future leaders, do vital research that will improve the quality of our lives, and act as an economic driver that progresses the vitality and sustainability of our State’s economy. Those priorities should never take a backseat to Athletic Entertainment.

This is not going to go away until some real action is taken. It is time to do just that.

The War on the Middle Class

Gold Rises to Record on Increased Demand for Wealth Protection - Bloomberg - By Pham-Duy Nguyen and Nicholas Larkin - Sep 16, 2010

*** Gold is a real asset. The increase in the value of Gold and Silver directly correlates to the value of the dollar. In the early 2000s the U.S. budget was nearly in balance, on April 2, 2001 Gold had fallen to $255.91 at the closing bell. Here at 1:30am on 9/17/2010 it has spiked to $1,278.50 and many investors that I follow believe that Gold could reach $1,500 by year's end and Siver is headed to $28 in that same time period.

The cause for this is the wreckless and aimless spending of our government and the aimless monetary policy implemented by the Federal Reserve. What is the method to all of this madness? What is the endgame?

If I reverse engineer what I am witnessing here, I would swear that the Federal Reserve is going to devalue the dollar to reduce the debt that we are in. They think that moderate inflation can kickstart the economy and reduce the value of the national Debt that has been accrued. I don't think they can control such policy and we are going to see more substantial inflation than they want.

If the consensus policy of the Federal Reerve (the controllers of the Money Supply)towards the Consumer Price Index (Inflation/Deflation) is admitted to be 10% inflation next year, then it would relate to a desire for a real inflation rate of 20%, because the numbers the government uses are cooked. If this is attempted, I believe that we could easily see double that and real inflation (Staple Goods and Services) would be around 40% for Fiscal Year 2011. Gas would be back at over $4 per gallon, by the end of 2011 and food would see a substantial run up. Discretionary Goods and services will hold steady, because consumers will not be able to afford them, because their dollars will be eaten up by the necessities of life.

Yen hits 15-year high vs dollar - Reuters - 9/14/2010

Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record - CNBC - 9/16/2010

***Under all of these scenarios, it is the Middle Class that gets hammered, because the rich can afford precious metals as a hedge and the poor are receiving hand delivered entitlements from the government. Can one not see that the vast majority of the middle class are already living on the edge? They are the real losers. Those with less than $150,000 annual household income are generally considered middle class, because of taxes. The poor may think families with combined income of $150,000 are rich and some of these people may even think they are wealthy. Well that theory is going to be tested, if we start seeing the kind of inflation that I point to above. That type of inflation would test the fabric of our society.

I will leave you with this:

Here Are 13 Signs That We’re Actually In A Depression Right Now - Gregory White
Business Insider - 9/7/2010

Base-Dynamics - Base-Dynamism

The other day I had lunch with some friends who discussed what is going on with the economy on the local scene. In that discussion I touched on the necessity to basically create something out of nothing or as little capital input as possible. I addressed this as Base Dynamism.

Maybe I created a new term there, but here is what I was getting at:

Base - the bottom support of anything; that on which a thing stands or rests: a metal base for the table.

Dynamics - Physics . the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion and equilibrium of systems under the action of forces, usually from outside the system.

Dynamism - any of various theories or philosophical systems that seek to explain phenomena of nature by the action of force.

Base-Dynamism in this terminology is a realization that the structure of our community is no longer viable. Hence, we are no longer going to be able to rely on the current structure that has been in place for generations to create, generate, maintain, and sustain commerce, productivity, wealth, and economic growth.

The core of our community has been and still is being torn down to its foundation (base). We were a furniture and textile hub and because of globalization, we cannot compete when it comes to the production of these material goods.

Local furniture and textile manufacturers offshored their production of these goods in order to maintain expected profits, but what they failed to realize is that this was the most temporary of fixes, because once the production of these goods move offshore, then these company owners no longer control the product. They complicate the production, distribution, and intellectual property chains of command involving their rights to their product. Essentially the product can be nationalized and/or someone else can decide to produce the product, thus cutting the product owner and other existing middle men out of the loop. So basically this short term fix has resulted in these company owners giving away their industries. The Chinese say Thank you very much!

In this community, the people from top to bottom seem to have a sense of entitlement. They think that something is going to be handed over to them like they are running a relay race. The Trust Fund Babies expect Grand Daddy's legacy and money to get them to the finish line in life and the average people in the community expect there to always be a job waiting on them that will provide a living wage, benefits, and retirement funds. We are living in an age of transformation where no such guarantees will be provided.

Most of the people I have seen think they should be rewarded just for breathing. We have cracks in the foundational principles upon which this community was built. If we do not restore a solid foundation, then anything we do will crumble to the ground. We need a "Habitat for Humanity" type of effort to restore the foundation of this community. What does that mean?

It means that we need the skilled people in this community to be willing to volunteer to help start-up businesses get going. We need people to open their minds to industries and businesses that don't even currently exist in any tangible form. Some of these businesses aren't presently located in our area and some don't exist anywhere on God's green Earth.

There are ways that such efforts can reward you, but there are no guarantees that they ever will. I know people that are working creatively towards such efforts. They are willing to do work in which there is no guarantee that there will ever be a payoff, but they understand the big picture. I am one of those people.

Such efforts will get us on a path and get us moving again. From this path other avenues of opportunity will open. That is how dynamic growth will take place and has the possibility of growing exponentially, but it all starts from baby steps. All we need is one breakthrough accomplishment, one tangible success, and from there we will begin to become a credible entity and be on our way to being a credible community. As one of my mentors stated. Credibility comes from telling people what you are going to do and doing it.

We are going to turn this community around. We are going to bring High-Tech industry to Catawba County. We are going to become a Creative Community. We are going to begin growing again and we are going to have Exciting, Interesting, and Intelligent people become interwoven into the fabric of Hickory. If you aren't willing to roll up your sleeves to help, then please just get out of the way. Don't tell us what we can and cannot do. There is a Force of Determination at work here folks. We are going to make things happen. Bank on it!

September Rant -- Visionary or Dreamer? It's all the same

What I am trying to do with this blog, and the other works I am involved in, is gather as much information as I possibly can and utilize available resources to project what I see happening in the future.

Over time we have seen a lot of local focus on "feel good" initiatives, such as the All-American City Award and Tennistown USA. The Google initiative had many positive attachments related to it, but in my opinion it was a no-brainer to chase that one. What I don't believe we have seen are any extraordinary steps taken towards outside of the box development. We have always followed the path of least resistance and picked the low hanging fruit.

I think that this area needs to change its focus. I keep hearing what we were and it is good to know our history -- our real history, not the propagands. This area used to be a hotbed for entrepreneurs. Look at the evidence along the railroad tracks and down Old Highway 70. The question isn't how do we get those specific industries back, but how do we get that Wild West economic gunslinging mindset back.

What is it that we want to be? We can't sit back and wait for this to develop or wait for investors to come to us, we have to create an environment. Nothing is going to fall into our laps. We have to get out front and lead on these economic development issues. What we should have learned by now, is that playing follow the leader will get us scraps and that is if we are lucky.

You know when we will know that Hickory has turned around? When other Municipalities and Industrial leaders are coming here to look at our successes!

And the trends show that we are going to have to learn how to deal with Global interests. I am for Fair Trade. I truly believe we should fight hard for Fair Trade, but the reality of today is that if we are going to make any economic progress, we are going to have to play with the cards we are dealt.

There are opportunities out there. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wanted to get back home to Kansas, so she got on the path to Oz. We want to get back home to prosperity and standing pat is not doing that. Identifying some opportunities and moving towards these goals is not going to pay off today, but we have to get on the path or it will never happen.

An example is Visionaire Jets. I had a person close to me say that Jim Rice, the CEO of Visionaire Jets, is a dreamer. It ticked me off, because Mr. Rice has been very open with me relating to the Visionaire project. If you ask him a question about the history of this project, he is very much forward about what has happened and his involvement in the project over the years. He'll tell you right up front that this project carries inherent risks and it isn't guaranteed, but if you allow him to demonstrate how this project is sequenced, structured, and the attention to detail devoted to it, then you know that the project is doable.

So that is what I want to relate to the open-minded people who follow this blog, because I believe that you are intelligent enough to understand this. All entrepreneurs are visionaries. They are people who are willing to take a risk, because they envision and believe that there is a need for a product or service that their mind and soul compel them create and be involved in.

When it comes to business, especially pertaining to innovation and ingenuity, it seems that people who are trying to lay a foundation to start a creative endeavor are labeled "Dreamers." And this label has a negative connotation. Only when entrepreneurs have found success are they labeled "Visionaries." But in the end are they not one and the same? You can be a dreamer who fails on your first four attempts, but if you succeed on the fifth, then you are a visionary and the first four failures get lumped in with he overall "Vision."

I want this area to become a hotbed of innovation and in order to make that happen we have to get past just talking about that as a desire. One of the key ingredients necessary to do that is to change people's thought processes and perceptions when it comes to business. I think we have turned businesses off (and away), when they witness the risk averse mindset that has permeated this area -- the same people who are quick to label people dreamers. Did those past generations who started the furniture and textile businesses in this area have that mindset?

If people want this area to move forward, then they are going to have to invest in upstart companies who are willing to be located in the Hickory region. I know that people don't have the equity that they had 5 to 10 years ago, because the value of their property has fallen, money market interest rates are ridiculously low, and the stock market has gone nowhere over the last decade. But, I think that lessons can be learned from all of this.

People have been all to willing to invest their money in blind faith and not have a direct interest in their personal assets. First things first, our economy has moved from Bubble to Bubble to Bubble with no real stability for a long, long time. Middle Class wealth was invested in banks who used it for Casino Style Derivatives that created no value and thus no wealth. All it has done is dilute the value of the dollar, further diluting individual net worth. The only people who have enjoyed success are Financial Administrators who can't lose. They make a percentage on the way up and they make a percentage on the way down.

Wall Street has taken your money and offshored it. They got their big bonuses and you saw a temporary uptick. They continued to get their bonuses and U.S. companies started to fail. The bonuses kept rolling, foreign companies started growing, and you lost your job, and started having to dig into your investments to survive. They still keep making their bonuses, the value of your assets have fallen, and now many people have nothing left.

But the people who do have assets need to take them away from Wall Street and the Mega-Banks and start investing it in the local community. That is what creates Base-Dynamism. That will get you a better return on your investment. We are to the point in this country where the Middle Class does not have much money left to invest. What capital we do have left is going to have to be invested wisely. I honestly feel that the wisest place to invest your money is in the local community.

I won't get into that today, but I would love to see a local micro-lending fund made up from local investors. I'd love to see a local stock market for local upstart companies. All of this would be done with signed guarantees that entrepreneurs would reinvest back into this community. That would create jobs in our area. That would create wealth and value for our community. That is my vision of what could be, which is a lot better than the vision of where I see us headed.

May God's Peace be with us all.

The Reason to buy Local -- Gerald Celente

The Hounds pre-text Commentary: I have spoken many times of the voices that I follow and who I am learning from. These people include Catherine Austin Fitts, Gerald Celente, Bob Chapman, Warren Pollock, etc. All of these people tell you not to take their word for the gospel. They say that every person needs to figure things out for themselves and take care of themselves and the people close to them.

These people have a common thread. They believe that the American people need to detach themselves from the Mega-Corporate grid as much as possible. The Corporatocracy is poisoning us with the additives that they put in food, beverages, and even the water supply. These chemicals are taken into your system. Open you mind! Maybe the reason why you feel bad is because of the shortcuts and additive chemicals that are being put into your food! Maybe?

Food and Drinks are chemicals. We all know that if we take care of our property, think house or car, that it will last longer. Then why don't we take care of ourselves in much the same manner?

I see many locally owned restaurants that are currently struggling. People want cheap food and there is a cost to pay when you go that route. These corporate restaurants take short cuts. They use cheaper grades of food and mass produce their own food and ingredients. Most of it is convenience food. What many of us in the business call Frankenfood. Their wholesale food cost is 15% cheaper than Small-Business restaurants. That is hard for a small business to compete against. The Mega-Corporate restaurants' prices are going to be cheaper, but these corporate restaurants send their profits to Wall Street and Wall Street sends it offshore. Small businesses keep money in the community! I want you to remember that the next time you go out to eat. Buying local may cost a little more, but when you do so, you are investing in your community and thus your neighbors!

Gerald Celente : ...People are finally looking and seeing for themselves what's going on the second American revolution is under way , we call it the twenty percent solution ...twenty percent of the people out there , they do not buy corporate food they do not eat eggs from these factory farms ..that are like concentration camps for chickens the Auscwitz Farms mass produced , mass consumed mass murder.... Do Not go to Wall Mart , Cosco , support your local Merchant break the chains , literally and metaphorically , twenty percent can break the back of all the chains ...do not take another sip of Coca Cola , Pepsi Cola ...do not go to MacDonald do not go to Burger King , eat local support your local restaurant ...the country will turn around...



Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.

“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.

The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.

The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”

In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.

“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”

“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”

“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”

“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”

The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.

“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News

“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist

“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today

“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
- CNBC

“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal

“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times

“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News

“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News

“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune

“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times

“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York Post