Internet Issues will cause delays

Will take a couple days to get the Newsletter about City Council out. Been having Internet issues, where signal comes and goes. Hard to upload and download under the conditions. Will have Newsletter up ASAP.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- January 5, 2014

The Case of the Missing Recovery - Paul Craig Roberts - January 3, 2014 - Have you seen the economic recovery? I haven’t either. But it is bound to be around here somewhere, because the National Bureau of Economic Research spotted it in June 2009, four and one-half years ago.                It is a shy and reclusive recovery, like the “New Economy” and all those promised new economy jobs. I haven’t seen them either, but we know they are here, somewhere, because the economists said so.                    Congress must have seen all those jobs before they went home for Christmas, because our representatives let extended unemployment benefits expire for 1.3 million unemployed Americans, who have not yet met up with those new economy jobs, or even with an old economy job for that matter.                     By letting extended unemployment benefits expire, Congress figures that they saved 1.3 million Americans from becoming lifelong bums of the nanny state and living off the public purse. After all, who do those unemployed Americans think they are? A bank too big to fail? The military-security complex? Israel?                       What the unemployed need to do is to form a lobby organization and make campaign contributions.              Just as economists don’t recognize facts that are inconsistent with corporate grants, career ambitions, and being on the speaking circuit, our representatives don’t recognize facts inconsistent with campaign contributions....



Tipped workers often face different minimum wages - USA Today - Brian Tumulty - December 30, 2013 - ... "It obviously only works for a certain type of lifestyle — if you don't have kids or a mortgage,'' said Leidy, 35, a Cornell graduate who is single. "We have to pay for gas and insurance before we even start work.''                          Advocates for low-wage workers say minimum-wage laws shortchange employees such as Leidy.                        The federal minimum wage for tipped workers hasn't increased since 1991.                   Tipped workers — who wait on tables in restaurants, serve guests at hotels, cut hair in salons and park cars at garages — also have been overlooked at the state level.                    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't acted on a recommendation the state Legislature made in the spring to convene a minimum wage board to hold hearings on tipped wages, according to Mark Dunlea, executive director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State.
"They are just stalling on it, and we're not happy,'' Dunlea said.                         New York sets different hourly minimums for various types of tipped workers, including $4.90 an hour for workers at resort hotels, $5 for food service workers and $5.65 for service employees.                         "The idea then is you are supposed to make tips on top of that to make the minimum wage that everyone else has,'' said Joann Lum with the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops based in Manhattan. "But as every bicycle delivery worker will tell you, you never know how much you are going to make in tips. On top of that, there are some restaurant owners who will take a portion of the tips, which is illegal, and they are left with even less."






Gov SWAT Teams Target “Rugged Individuals” Who Grow Their Own Food, Produce Their Own Electricity - SHTFPlan.com - Mac Slavo - January 3rd, 2014 - The dream of many Americans is to get out of the hustle and bustle of the daily city grind. And what better dream to have then to move your family outside of city limits to the countryside so that you can grow your own food, produce your own electricity with solar power, and live outside the purview of an ever expanding government apparatus?                          That was the goal for hundreds of residents living on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Many own their land outright and have been living on it for decades without so much as a peep from their local government. They’ve built their homes using whatever means they had available to them. They planted their own fruits and vegetables. They even set up their own personal power production stations using solar panels and miniature wind farms.                          And they’ve lived peacefully without violating the rights of those around them and leaving a very small “carbon footprint” to boot. For all intents and purposes, they achieved a life of independence and freedom.                  But the tentacles of tyranny are everywhere and no one is protected from their grasp.              Recently, agents of the Los Angeles county government started paying visits to these rugged individualists. They claimed they were “here to help,” as one resident puts it. But, as is generally the case when the government comes knocking, they were there for exactly the opposite.                 That was once a dream come true for many quickly turned into the new American nightmare.                   Code enforcement agents for the county showed up in droves. But they didn’t come alone. Along with them came heavily armed “Nuisance Abatement Teams” who raided the homes and land of these peaceful residents as they would those of a terrorist.





Arthur Laffer speaks about the United States Economy for 2014 - Economy will change because of politics
 

Hello '14 - Nice to meet ya

I've been taking some time away to get some rest as we ended 2013 and enter 2014. I think we are going to see some interesting things happen sooner rather than later this year. We've learned a lot and evolved a lot over the past few years. We'll keep moving forward in this year. In numerology this is a 7 year  (2+0+1+4)

2014 Predictions, Meaning and Symbols by Numerology Experts; 7 Things to Know About Year of 'Seven' - International Business Times - January 2, 2014

...For those interested in numerology and 2014 predictions and symbol meanings, here are seven things to know about 2014 and its link to the number 7.

1. Add 2, 0, 1, 4 and you get 7. Numerology.com describes the number 7 as "analytical and self-examining."

2. "We will begin to see a trend this year, through all areas of human life, to search for ways to bring us together," says the numerology Web site. Humanity will experience a more profound level of awareness, the site predicts.

3. "This number is calling for us to go within as opposed to keep looking for things in the outside world to make us happy," says numerologist Marcy Heller, resource person for USA Today. Self-reliance and reflection are key elements in Heller's 2014 predictions and meaning of the number 7.

4. "We're going to see a lot of things fall apart because we're preparing as a nation to go into a whole fresh start," says Dan Hardt, president of the Life Path Numerology Center in Indianapolis, another resource person for USA Today. Hardt's 2014 predictions seem to align with challenges that would encourage people to create something positive out of some mess.

5. "The 7 is spiritual, but not religious," explains numerology.com. The site says money is of little value to the number 7, which means people would tend to look into more profound causes instead of monetary gains.

6. People influenced by the number 7, according to the same site, are likely to be "in the military, most likely as analysts or strategic planners. More often, however, you will find them in the world of academics and science."

7. "On the negative side, the 7 can be cynical, verbally abusive, arrogant and oblivious of the pain and suffering of others," the site warns. This hardly reconciles with the "ways to bring us together" factor that the same site mentioned...

Cheers to 2014 - Numerology.com - Hans Decoz - The number 7 is the seeker, the thinker, the searcher of Truth (notice the capital "T"). The 7 doesn't take anything at face value -- it is always trying to understand the underlying, hidden truths. The 7 knows that nothing is exactly as it seems and that reality is often hidden behind illusions.

Welcome to the year of the Horse - (01/31/2014-02/18/2015) - Which happens to be my Chinese Zodialogical sign -

Goodbye '13 and with it its burdens

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1: 12-18

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

The Hound: There are many of us who suffer with the burden of worry, because we search for the truth and we study the ways of the World. I heard this message spoken yesterday and this message hit home with me about what I have witnessed over the last several years.

Reality: My Doctor asked me a couple months ago, when I went in for a routine checkup, what I did for fun. I told him that I don't have fun. I really don't have time for fun. I can't afford fun.

If I were as indulgent as many others I see, I would be dead now. These have been dead serious times in my life. I have lost a lot that I did not choose or deserve to lose. It was basically stolen from me and I am not happy about it. Now you tell me how you would feel. I live with knowing that it has happened for a reason. I have seen many people around me that have had the same happen. There is no solace in such a condition.

The Posse is coming folks... the Posse is coming. 

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- December 29, 2013

Art Cashin: (King World News) Director of Floor Operations for UBS Financial Services & CNBC Market Commentator - UBS has over $650 billion under management. Art has over 50 years of Wall Street experience, which gives him the ability to offer valuable insights to investors and traders. When he started in the industry, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was actually in the 700-800 range. He shares his analysis and gives the pulse of the market from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Art is one of the most respected people in the world when it comes to analyzing the action in the US stock market and provides an objective and unbiased view of the current market situation. His daily market commentary is read internationally by clients and peers.
King World News Interview - December 28, 2013 - There is no other alternative to the Stock market... will give some push, but there will be a pull back. Yellen (Fed Chief) will be tested in her first year. Mortgage applications have dropped off to levels when Lehman was deconstructed. Mortgage rates creeping up. Fed will have to reverse itself on tapering. Is the Fed in control? Have a history of poor forecasts. Markets may lose faith in the efficacy of the Fed. Europe has verbally held things together. Sovereign debt issue has not be solved. China is in trouble. They have to be careful. Their shadow banking system has created problems... trying to rein in... needs to be stabilized... every China government that has fallen fell because of food. India is concerned about currency flowing out due to Gold. Heavy duties and sanctions imposed. China has been a heavy buyer of gold. Concern for governments to control things. People should be concerned about western governments letting their Gold go. Central Bankers have let it go at low ($) levels. Geopolitics everyone thinks the world just goes up to the cliff, the World can go over the cliff. Austerity will lead to a backlash of protests. Geopolitical concers. Fed might be successful at creating velocity, which could lead to heavy inflation and then the Fed would have to taper at the "speed of sound." Hickory Hound: Taper = rising interest rates.


James Rickards: US 'Heading for Another Recession Soon' - Moneynews - Dan Weil - December 27, 2013 - While many experts were encouraged by the 4.1 percent economic growth reported for the third quarter, James Rickards, portfolio manager for the West Shore Real Asset Income Fund, wasn't one of them.                      "There is good reason to believe that the economy is heading for another recession soon, rather than the more robust growth economists keep predicting," he writes in The Darien (Connecticut) Times.                             "More than 50 million Americans are on food stamps, 26 million Americans are either unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work, 11 million Americans are claiming disability payments — effectively a new form of unemployment insurance — and labor force participation is at the lowest level since 1978."





Push of a Button: This Is How Fast They Can Lock Down the Entire Banking System - SHTFPlan.com - Mac Slavo - December 24th, 2013 - Late last week it was learned that some 40 million charge cards were obtained using physical processing systems located in Target retail locations nationwide. Though no details of the how the hack attack was executed have been released by Target, the FBI or other agencies investigating the breach, it is likely that the processing machines themselves were compromised. Target claims that the hack was sophisticated, but on the technical side, once hackers found a way into the credit card processing machines, probably via remote entry from servers somewhere in Eastern Europe or Russia, the theft of credit card data itself would have been fairly straight forward by using scripts or applications that simply capture the data and send it off to servers owned by the hackers.                           This was probably one of the largest credit card thefts in history, though it is not at all surprising. Two years ago we noted that cyber attacks would soon be targeting America’s e-commerce systems and just a few months ago it was noted that rogue terrorist groups were specifically working on sabotage operation to bring down the U.S. economy. While this latest attack on Target stores and their customers fell far short of crashing our economy or financial system, it proves, as did recent breaches of Pentagon military networks, that even the most highly secured systems in the world can be compromised.                               Furthermore, what this attack highlights is that with the right type of “event” the economy and financial system of the United States can be shut down… almost instantly...



Duke Grad Student Secretly Lived In a Van to Escape Loan Debt - Business Insider - Mandi Woodruff - December 27, 2013 - Yahoo editors have selected this article as a favorite of 2013. It first ran on Yahoo Finance on June 10 and was one of the most popular stories of the year. The article details the extreme lengths Ken Ilgunas went to in order to pay back his big student debt bill.                         By the time Ken Ilgunas was wrapping up his last year of undergraduate studies at the University of Buffalo in 2005, he had no idea what kind of debt hole he'd dug himself into.                        He had majored in the least marketable fields of study possible — English and History — and had zero job prospects after getting turned down for no fewer than 25 paid internships.                       "That was a wake-up call," he told Business Insider. "I had this huge $32,000 student debt and at the time I was pushing carts at Home Depot, making $8 an hour. I was just getting kind of frantic."                       Back then, student loans had yet to become the front page news they are today. Ilgunas could have simply deferred his loans or declared forbearance. He also could have asked his parents (who were more than willing to help) for a leg up. He could have thrown up his hands and gone to grad school until the job market bounced back.                      Instead, he moved to Alaska and spent two years paying back every dime. And when he enrolled at Duke University for graduate school later, he lived out of his van to be sure he wouldn't have to take out loans again.                            "I had no idea what I was getting into at the time. I didn't even know what interest was when I was 17," he said. "I just think that's awfully indicative of the incredibly poor personal finance education young people have at that time in their lives."                       In his book, "Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road from Debt to Freedom," Ken chronicles his journey out of debt.                          He was kind enough to share his story with us this week.                       He knew exactly where to go for work. Ken had spent a couple months working at a remote Alaskan truck stop the summer before graduating. So he called up his old contacts and landed a job there as a local tour guide, cook, and basically whatever the locals needed.                    "The day after I graduated, I was on a flight to Alaska and pretty much started work right away," he said. "As ignorant as I was, I did know that if I didn't deal with my loans, I'd have to deal with accumulated interest or delinquency or default. I wanted to pay it off as fast as humanly possible."                        It was a brilliant move for a 20-something needing to pay down debt in a hurry. "It's 250 miles from the nearest store, room and board were included, and there wasn't any cell service," he said. "You can amaze yourself with how much you can save when you reduce your cost of living. Almost every dollar I made went toward my student loans."

Merry Christmas on this sunny day 2013

Happy Birthday Jesus on this great and glorious day. There isn't a cloud in the sky today. Already went and helped serve to families in need. And now it is time to go eat with the family after I get a few things done.

Remember 3 years ago?

Remember - Merry White Christmas 2010 - Hickory, NC - 12/25/2010 

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- December 22, 2013

The Hound: This week marks the 100th Anniversary of the Federal Reserve. Passed before the Congressional Christmas Break on December 23, 2013, it created the biggest change in the monetary and economic system in this country's history. The Dollar is now worth 1% of what it was 100 years ago today. The modern Socialist State was created through this Act. Individual freedom has been destroyed. We have Overlords who were never elected ruling over us. They control us through the monetary system. That goes against this nation's founding principle.


On The 100th Anniversary Of The Federal Reserve Here Are 100 Reasons To Shut It Down Forever - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - December 22nd, 2013 - December 23rd, 1913 is a date which will live in infamy.  That was the day when the Federal Reserve Act was pushed through Congress.  Many members of Congress were absent that day, and the general public was distracted with holiday preparations.  Now we have reached the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve, and most Americans still don't know what it actually is or how it functions.  But understanding the Federal Reserve is absolutely critical, because the Fed is at the very heart of our economic problems.  Since the Federal Reserve was created, there have been 18 recessions or depressions, the value of the U.S. dollar has declined by 98 percent, and the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 5000 times larger.  This insidious debt-based financial system has literally made debt slaves out of all of us, and it is systematically destroying the bright future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have.  If nothing is done, we are inevitably heading for a massive amount of economic pain as a nation.  So please share this article with as many people as you can.  The following are 100 reasons why the Federal Reserve should be shut down forever...

The Taper Is On – 8 Ways That This Is Going To Affect You And Your Family - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - December 18th, 2013 

100 Years Is Enough: Time to Make the Fed a Public Utility - WashingtonsBlog - Guest post by Ellen Brown -  December 23, 2013

G. Edward Griffin Unmasks the Creature from Jekyll Island - The Corbett Report - December 19. 2013 - On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Federal Reserve Act we talk to G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, about America’s central bank. We discuss the origins and functions of this monstrosity, as well as its role in maintaining and expanding the wealth and power base of the banking cartel that own and operate it. We also discuss the growing public awareness of the Fed and the rising movement of those seeking to abolish it.
Link to Interview


Why John Boehner And Paul Ryan Should Immediately Resign - The End of the American Dream Blog - Michael Snyder - December 11th, 2013 -  Thomas Jefferson once said that “the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”  In other words, he believed that government debt was the equivalent of stealing money from future generations on a massive scale.  Right now, the U.S. government is stealing roughly $100,000,000 from future generations of Americans every single hour of every single day.  And it is being projected that the U.S. national debt will more than double during the 8 years of the Obama administration.  In other words, the federal government will pile more debt on to the backs of our children and our grandchildren during the Obama years than had been accumulated during all of the rest of U.S. history combined.  The federal government is literally destroying the future of America, and what we are doing to our children and our grandchildren is beyond criminal.  If there was one thing that the Republicans in Congress were supposed to do, it was to do something about all of this debt.  These days Republicans can’t seem to agree on much, but the one issue that virtually all “conservatives” were supposed to agree on was the national debt.  The American people gave the Republicans control of the House in 2010 and 2012 for a reason.  Unfortunately, nothing has been done.  Our debt has continued to spiral out of control and now John Boehner and Paul Ryan are pushing a “budget deal” that will essentially give the free-spending Democrats virtually everything that they want for the next 10 years.  That is why John Boehner and Paul Ryan should immediately resign.


Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - Interview on King World News - December 22, 2013 - Link to Interview - Dr. Roberts speaks about Fed tapering saying it doesn't make any sense and it doesn't appear that they have stopped QE.  They are manipulating the stock market. There will be more manipulations in the days to come.  The current financial system is lawless.  The Press is not investigating any of this.  The Central Bank has become a Central Planning System (Socialist). The Capital Market decides nothing. There is no Free Market... GDP has been manipulated. Everything is manipulated. There is no basis for recovery of the economy.


Ten Cities Where Poverty Is Soaring - Wall St. 24/7 - Michael B. Sauter and Thomas C. Frohlich - December 5, 2013 -
5. Salisbury, N.C.
> Poverty increase: 12.4 ppt
> 2010-2012 Poverty rate: 28.4%
> Median household income: $33,083
> Population: 33,596

During the three-year period ending in 2009, Salisbury’s poverty rate of 16% was about 3% higher than the national rate. In the following three-year period between 2010 and 2012, the city’s poverty rate was approaching 30%. Salisbury has traditionally relied heavily on the manufacturing sector, particularly textiles and fabrics. In recent decades, however, manufacturing activity has declined significantly and continues to do so. Between 2010 and 2012, manufacturing jobs in Salisbury — as a percent of the workforce — shrank from 15.5% to 8.3%.