Show Reverance for our Country - Happy Birthday America!!!

Galatians 6: 1-16
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.

Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule -- peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Eva Cassidy

This fits my Mood this Evening




And Thank You to the Director and Producer of the documentary "The Secret of Oz," Bill Still and thanks to Alex Jones for the great interview he had today with Mr. Still. I would suggest this to people who know there is something wrong with our country's financial system, but can't put their finger on it.
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Description I found on the Internet:

Thirteen years ago, in a documentary called "The MoneyMasters", we asked the question why is America going broke. It wasn't clear then that we were, but it is today. Now the question is how can we get out of this mess. Foreclosures are everywhere, unemployment is skyrocketing - and this is only the beginning. America's economy is on a long, slippery slope from here on. The bubble ride of debt has come to an end.

What can government do? The sad answer is - under the current monetary system - nothing. It's not going to get better until the root of the problem is understood and addressed. There isn't enough stimulus money in the entire world to get us out of this hole.

Why? Debt. The national debt is just like our consumer debt - it's the interest that's killing us.

Though most people don't realize it the government can't just issue it's own money anymore. It used to be that way. The King could just issue stuff called money. Abraham Lincoln did it to win the Civil War.

No, today, in our crazy money system, the government has to borrow our money into existence and then pay interest on it. That's why they call it the National Debt. All our money is created out of debt. Politicians who focus on reducing the National Debt as an answer probably don't know what the National Debt really is. To reduce the National Debt would be to reduce our money - and there's already too little of that.

No, you have to go deeper. You have to get at the root of this problem or we're never going to fix this. The solution isn't new or radical. America used to do it. Politicians used to fight with big bankers over it. It's all in our history - now sadly - in the distant past.

But why can't we just do it again? Why can't we just issue our own money, debt free? That, my friends, is the answer. Talk about reform! That's the only reform that will make a huge difference to everyone's life - even worldwide.

The solution is the secret that's been hidden from us for just over 100 years - ever since the time when author L. Frank Baum wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Peace

As Nightly News becomes irrelevant, Alternative Media and News Expand

You can't seem to get much relevant news on the tube any more, maybe that is the reason why the nightly news on the the original major three networks lost a million viewers last year alone. (Audience).

I get the news I want to see through the computer. You can look at the conservative take and the liberal take, you can look at international, national, state, and local stories, and you can get breadth and depth. And you aren't being spoon fed pablum to people talking down to you, because they think you're an idiot. I don't need slick presentations. I need cold, hard facts.

I found the presentation above at the Trend sand Forecast Blog, which is Gerald Celente's video blog. Mr. Celente is recognized as the foremost trends forecaster in the world. He is the head of the Trends Research Institute. So if you would like a quick spot to go to to see the relevant issues of the day, then this is a site I suggest is worth taking a look at.

The Detroit Presentation itself is from PJTV. Pajamas Media is an American-based media company that uses the Internet to present and comment on the news. The site is said to have a Libertarian-Conservative slant.

Look at the expansion of Youtube, written about in this article from PC World entitled As YouTube Grows, Will it Go Premium?. "A new report from ComScore details just how far YouTube has come. For the first time, the average visitor to Google video sites -- mainly YouTube -- watched more than 100 clips per month. More importantly, almost 145 million people visited Google's video sites per month, accounting for 43.1 percent of all online video served." Youtube was started in February 2005 and bought by Google in November 2006. Look at the growth that has taken place in just five short years.

In my opinion, if these trends continue, you could see the end of the network news as we know it over the next decade. At the least, you will see the evening news become more stylized like morning news shows, which probably would be a good thing, because at least it would be entertaining.

Hickory City Pools -- Told You So! --- 8)

They huffed and they puffed. They Ballyhooed and Blustered,

but no matter how they try, the City of Hickory can't make this go away.

and that really has them flustered.

You see folks, everyone knows it's a con. If City Officials wanted to find money to open the pools in Ridgeview and West Hickory they could. They thought they were going to slide this under the radar -- per usual. Those of us who balked at how this issue has been handled have been ignored and all we asked for was to see where this $850,000 number comes from, because maybe we could help solve this problem, if we are made privy to the facts.

Not until those 50+ members of the African-American community showed up at the last City Council meeting did we see City officials awaken to the issue they have created. I admittedly was a little torn by that evening, because I have wondered where these people have been. Where were they last Summer and Fall when Harry and I were talking about this issue. Do you know that only 70-some people voted from the Ridgeview precinct in the City Council election last November. That is the reason why your community has been taken for granted. But now you are here and I say welcome. Better late than never.

What we see here with the pools is the story of the Mick Berry City Management Era in Hickory. Government by decree and it is to be adhered to; no input, no roundtable, no debate... just do as he says. What seems to not be understood is that you can't have a city without people and without people, there would be no jobs for city staff. We have a city administration that is constantly hamstringing the functionality of the city, because they pigeonhole issues based upon personal desires.

And the City Council has given Manager Berry the authority to act in this manner. "Staff recommends" no debate. He has been given Carte Blanche to operate this city in whatever manner he sees fit. It is clear that he is in charge of the City's fortunes. Oh, the Council has a wishlist of tasks they want accomplished (directed at "Council Retreats"), but in the end if Manager Berry says something isn't feasible there is no further discussion. It reminds me of the parent driving to the beach telling the kids to sit in the back seat and keep their mouths shut. Or when the family goes to a social function and the children are told that they are to be seen, but not to be heard. You, the average people of Hickory, are those children.

And folks, that ain't the way that government in the United States is supposed to work! Let's get down to the brass tacks of this pool situation and of course my opinion of the issue:

Today's story in the Hickory Daily Record - Protesters want pools opened -

Karen Hoyle stated "The city promised us they'd re-open the pool this year, and it's time to deliver," she said. "This summer has been pretty miserable for our kids."

City manager Berry stated,"Berry said the City Council has not decided if the pools will be repaired and opened in the future. The city's recreation department is studying pool repairs or alternatives like entering into partnerships with organizations that have their own pools or building splash parks."

In reading many of the comments on the HDR website , it was easy to see that many of the people have no depth of knowledge when it comes to this issue and it surely seems that in the nearly two years that this blog has been in existence that City officials have fostered this type of "Keep it in the dark" mindset. Maybe if the local citizenry would get a little bit more involved in the local Gubment scene, then they wouldn't throw out these ignorant black versus white comments and other stuff that is frankly bigotted on many levels. And folks, you who read this blog know that I am no bleeding heart.

At the last city council meeting Reverend David Roberts showed some research and documents, pertaining to the Ridgeview Redevelopment plan established in 1999. In his readings, he discovered that in 1992 documents were signed by former City Manager Gary McGee, that detailed extensive plans to renovate and refurbish the pool. That was revisited again in 1995 and 1999. Those plans and promises were never followed through on. Since 1995, that is 15 years of promises that the city have not kept.

In my book that is being dishonest and it doesn't matter whether you are black or white. Promises made should be promises kept. Not only that, but this shows that there were no lines of communication pertaining to this issue and probably other issues involving that area. No wonder that the Ridgeview area has had problems in the past. It has basically been ignored when it comes to city investments. The truth of the matter is that the real investment dollars in Ridgeview are mainly attributable to Federal Grants.

I have talked with several people that have stated that the city has cooked up the $850k number to justify them closing these pools. Remember this comment in reply to my June Rant about the Hickory Budget:

I wonder if the best solution is to pick the better of the two old pools and do a temporary fix. A friend with pool knowledge suggests that a back-up filter/pump unit that runs at night only and through temporary and movable pipes might allow a pool to open. The additional pipes might, or might not, be moved out of the way when the pool is in operation for the public. The change to the pump inlet cages should not be such a big thing.

Then, start planning for a single new, really good, pool or aquatic center to replace the two old ones. With a good plan in place, there might be federal or other outside money to help build something modern and appropriately sized.

Did you look at what it costs, per visit, to swim in the Kool Park private pool. Pretty expensive.

One or two un-necessary teen-age pregnancies, a few extra teen-age arrests, a father drowning a decade from now because he never learned to swim: then the money to get a pool open is pretty small in total social cost comparison. I remember how important the first pool in Morganton was to me back in the 1950's.

Let's look at the real facts. Right now the city has $10,087,675 in undesignated fund balance budgeted for the next fiscal year. That means that the city has over $10 million dollars set aside in the bank that is going towards nothing.

Let's say that they fix one of these two pools and the actual cost is $200k. They would be able to finance that over 5 years at a cost of around $50k per year and with some guarantees from public and private interests they would be able to defray those costs through increased attendance at the pools by church and civic groups who would guarantee attendance and monitoring of the pools through the public-private partnership.

If you consolidate the numbers of attendees into the use of this one fixed pool, then you can easily achieve these numbers. Then you don't stop there as this city has shown itself to be so apt to do -- put a band-aid on it and wait until the band-aid falls off and put another band-aid on it, repeat process until infinity or collapse, whichever comes first. Show some brains and integrity and invest in a new city pool with the slip and slide splash park to be finished within 10 years or foster the ability (through the public-private partnership) of an entrepreneur to make this happen.

This should not be looked at as a handout. These pools are for everyone and the use of them is not free. The Mayor has stated that pools are "Passe." Passe as in the French word meaning no longer fashionable, in wide use, etc.; out-of-date; outmoded. Has the Mayor been to the Y during a weekday? Has he seen Kool-Park's attendance?

Maybe the problem is that these pools were allowed over time to fall below standard. People have paid to go to these pools for years, while they were not being kept up to standard. City officials would not understand this because no one associated with them attends these pools. The city has run these pools with the bare minimum of maintenance. The one at Ridgeview doesn't look very inviting. It looks like an armed encampment with all of the barbed wire that surrounds it.

As I have stated before, when I was a kid I attended First Baptist Summer camp. We used to go to the pool in West Hickory twice a week. There were well over 100 kids attending that pool every day during the hours I was there -- maybe even 200. Let's say you charge $3 a head, that is a minimum of $600 per day, $4200 per week, $50,400 for a 12 week pool season.

I know that I used to be a member of the Y from 1999 to 2003. My fee for an individual (myself) per month was $30 to start (in '99) and went to $42 four years later. Heck, at night you couldn't find a parking space and with all of the activity you could hardly find a time where you could dip a toe in the pool. I was spending $500 a year and was having to work around their schedule to utilize the facility. Does that make sense? I can only imagine what the overcrowding is like now and y'all are saying send'em some more.

If you partner with Churches, civic groups, and others, then you can easily achieve the numbers I detailed above. What about concession stands to sell food and drinks? That could easily double the take. And, if done right, this facility could double those conservative projections. A facility that could generate $200k in 3 months is easily feasible.

Let's look at other spending that has become a staple of the Hickory City Budget. The City has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix awnings and facades downtown. The City just put $25,000 into a slush fund for graffiti and is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for wayfinding, new logos, and signage all pointing the way downtown. The City is also paying $50,000 to contribute to the salary of the administrator of the Downtown Development Association. It seems clear to me where the priorities lie.

You know, my preference is for this to be done privately, but this area has proven that that won't work. Local private investors are unwilling to invest in anything that does not provide an instantaneous bang for the buck.

Look at the south side of the tracks from 127 to Hildebran on Hwy 70. Besides Steve Ikerd investing in that area, no one has stepped forward and frankly it has gone to pot. Drive down 70 and look at all of the vacant buildings. Look at Main avenue from 4th street SW to Longview. It is kind to say it is a nasty place. Cheap begets Cheap!!!

No! we are going to have to start investing some public money to pull those areas back up. These monies and all other monies in this city need to be administered with guideposts and strings of accountability attached. You give some money and if the investors don't follow through, then you rebuke them and make sure that they never see a penny of public funds again. That should be the way that the system works at every level of government -- the carrot and the stick.

The Oldsters in this community don't want to invest in the kids. Most of the young middle aged folks like myself understand that you must invest in your future or there will be none. You know that I am not saying that we should throw money at this issue. I am saying that we can utilize seed money to make this happen and through public-private partnerships we can recoup and move on to other projects that will make the quality of life in this community better for EVERYONE in this community!!!

It is time for average citizens to start barging their way into the governmental decision making process or the World of Austerity will justify encroaching upon even the most meager pleasures you have taken for granted until eventually they justify leaving you with nothing at all.

Sobering Messages by Eric King of King World News

Widening US Deficit To Collapse the Dollar

Looking at the year 2010 on the chart you can see a huge chasm between spending and revenue. Keep in mind that like most countries the US has two sets of books, so the situation is much more dire than the illustration. Let’s go with what the graph states for now and look past 2010 where we see the fantasy of increased revenue. Revenues will not increase, and when the economy has its next leg down there is a high likelihood of further decreases in revenue.

The above chart is a graphic image of the problem with the government forecasts. Spending increases dramatically and there is the underlying assumption that revenues will increase as well. This projection does not take into account the fact that we are in a depressionary cycle which is ready to have another leg down.

An already weak economy will become even weaker. This means less tax revenue, which flies in the face of government forecasts which call for an increase in revenue. As the chasm increases in size between spending and revenue, faith in the US dollar will evaporate. This will lead to a significant devaluation of the dollar, or an outright collapse.

Many developed countries face similar problems today and this is one of the major pillars of this secular bull market in gold. Make sure you have gold as your insurance policy. This means owning physical bullion, not paper promises.

Eric King
KingWorldNews.com

The Fed, Debt and Systemic Collapse of the US

Higher Taxes Guarantees A Depression

The Meaning of “Austerity” - by James Corbett of the Corbett Report

Austerity (Austere)
1. severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding: an austere teacher.
2. rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent: the austere quality of life in the convent.
3. grave; sober; solemn; serious: an austere manner.
4. without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe: an austere life.
5. severely simple; without ornament: austere writing.
6. lacking softness; hard: an austere bed of straw.
7. rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor.

Is this the United States of America?

What does United States of America mean? It means that Individual States of Government have come together in common interest to form a Union that allows Interstate Commerce and Common Defense amongst the citizens of those states. The individual States are meant to empower the Union.

Instead, we see a Federal Government that has neutered the States and their rights and at the same time the Executive Branch of the Federal government of the United States has neutered the legislative branches of the House of Representatives and the Senate. So in essence, we are moving full speed towards government by decree, not representative democracy. And this is all being done because our representatives at every level have willingly gone along with this corrupted system.

Government is gaining way too much control over the people and power is being consolidated and centralized and it rolls down hill. In the long run this type of tyrannical system will not last, but in the meantime we will be subjected to the whims and fancies of an arbitrary system controlled by very few people and their will be a lot of angst and pain in the process of this system being implemented.

Why is this happening? It is simple really. The system is corrupted at every level and it is rotten to the core. I am going to come out and let you know who I follow. People like Gerald Celente, Bob Chapman, and Catherine Austin Fitts have had what is going on pegged. There are others, but these three individuals are the people who have awakened me.

The corporatocracy has infiltrated the bureaucracy and they have become one and the same. Look at the only sector of the United States economy that has continued to grow over the last twenty years. It is the government sector.

We have seen the productive capacity of this country decimated, because the citizens of this country picked sides in the Republican-Democrat competition and gave blind faith to the leadership of the parties to implement philosophy. This adherence to the left-right paradigm sanctioned the lack of accountability and usurpation of our freedoms in the name of a false and temporary fix of security. In the end, none of the real issues that we as a nation face have been dealt with. Instead the bountiful treasure, once held by the country, has been pilfered.

When we had a productive capacity, the service sector was fruitful, because there was a growing economy with full employment. That meant individuals and the enterprises they represented could invent, create, and manufacture products that created value. And that expanded value created wealth for all who were involved in the process. Full employment meant higher wages, because there was more competition for labor. The service sector was filled and growing with people who specialized in their field, because wealth demanded services that supported a higher quality of life and standard of living. People wanted the finer things life had to offer.

The service sector has now become the servant sector. We have seen a service sector filled with people who don't have the credentials of the specialists. This has meant that the specialists have had their professional status, and therefore earnings, slashed because of the influx of people who would normally be working in factories manufacturing merchandise, equpiment, and supplies. Now the people in the newly formed servant sector are forced into a free for all competition for a dwindling job market as real wealth continues to be sucked out of our nation. Subtract 2-2 and you might figure out that these servant sector jobs won't last forever either. The death of these industries is next.

Our State and local leaders have gone along with all of this because of the reasoning of personal status. Their leadership is impotent, because they aren't willing to take a real stand. Oh, they'll send some meaningless resolution to Raleigh or they will go to Raleigh or Washington and plead for representatives at those levels to do something. Has this been effective?

These leaders are more than willing to follow the path of least resistance, because it isn't personally affecting them. Effective leadership is hard work. It's a lot easier (and in many cases more lucrative) to go along to get along. I can't tell you how many times that I have been told, "Thom needs to look out for Thom." That fosters the mindset of -- "As long as I've got mine, Screw You."

That is the crux of the problem. The selfishness of society has enabled the tolerance and endorsement of corruption. The average person that turns a blind eye towards what they consider "fudging the rules" has enabled the Society of Sociopaths that are at the top of the Economic and Political Food Chain. These Sociopaths are the people who have destroyed our economy. These Sociopaths are the people who are consolidating power in their own interests.

So essentially our leaders are (by inaction) sanctioning a sociopathic society. They are endorsing the Financial Derivative Bubble, they are endorsing the British Petroleum oil spill, they are endorsing the usurpation of States Rights that would allow States to solve issues that personally affect their States, they are endorsing the takeover of our government by the world banking cartel (Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan as the main players), they are endorsing the actions of Rahm "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste" Emanuel, they are endorsing the actions of radicals like Cass Sunstein, Janet Napolitano, and the others that are attempting to bury the Constitution...

I am not the weirdo here folks. I have my priorities straight. Do you think George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams were weirdos?

I am not saying that I am one of these great men. What I am saying is that I follow their principles. I revere these men who were willing to take a most courageous stand against the English throne. Are you so separated from reality and history that you do not realize that they put their lives on the line to create the great experiment that is this country -- that people seem so willing to throw away. You cower in fear towards the great swindle that has taken place and the tyranny that is being installed to cover up all of the illegality that has happened.

It is time that the States take back power. Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana Governor, came to power because of Katrina and yet, much like his predecessor, he has shown incompetence in the face of a Federal Government that has completely bungled this British Petroleum situation. It sure makes it look like an inside job. Look at our own Governor Perdue who has sidled up to the Federal Government and thwarted any attempts to mandate accountability in dealing with the Financial or Health Care legislation that has been inacted against the will of the People.

We have a Federal government that demands privacy for corporate interests, such as the Federal Reserve System, Goldman Sachs, and British Petroleum; yet they look at the citizens of this country as potential terrorists who deserve no right to privacy and who deserve no right to freely speak, have their interests represented, or demand accountabilty. Look at the new internet and broadband communications regulations that the FCC and FTC want to administer. They want to come into your home with a box and be able to monitor the sites you visit and the channels you watch. If you are truly clueless, please go read the articles below and the Book 1984 by George Orwell. We are headed that way and it is full speed ahead.

I have to admit that I am thoroughly disgusted by what I see. When I have addressed the issues of Goldman Sachs links to cronysim, conflicts of interest with the Government, and corruption; I have been told that it is about regulation. No, it is about investigation and enforcement of laws. You can pass all of the laws in the world and if people continue to turn a blind eye, and regulations aren't administered and enforced, then they are meaningless, and the corruption will continue on unfettered. If we allow this corruption to continue, then it's over folks, our country is done, and along with that will go your liberty as written in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I hope that God will grant you the courage to wake up!

Stories of Relevance:
CHINA TO OVERTAKE USA IN MANUFACTURING
Obama oil spill commission picked for their politics, not engineering skill...
BIG SIS: Internet Monitoring Needed to Fight Homegrown Terrorism...
Napolitano Advocates Government Surveillance of Internet to Fight Homegrown Terrorism
States Need To Launch Criminal Investigation Into BP, Federal Government’s Role In Oil Spill