Big Ben, One Twisted Brother

Debt, Economy, Federal Reserve Bank, Government, Inflation

So as to get rid of the public debt, our government, via the Fed (which is an arm of the state), is debauching the dollar and all private savings.

In the name of “economic recovery,” wouldn’t you know it, Ben Bernanke is set to “swap some securities for others.” Or, to belabor the “maturity-extension program” baffle-gab,

“sell Treasury securities with remaining maturities of about three years or less, and purchase securities with six years to 30 years remaining.”

In the course of expanding what is known as “Operation Twist,” The man who directs the Federal Reserve wrecking ball claimed he “stands ready to take further action to put unemployed Americans back to work.” [Bloomberg.]

The last bit (my bold) is no joke, and assumes that inflating the money supply and endless liquidity alleviate joblessness. It’s the exact opposite.

What does this mean in the grand scheme of “ultra-loose monetary policy”? You can take this to the bank: Ben will continue to afflict us with ever easier money and lower interest rates, quadruple the money supply and hastened the collapse of the dollar.

As Peter Schiff prognosticated, “The reason I knew QE3 was coming [was] because I knew QE2 wouldn’t work and that’s why QE4 is gonna follow QE3—it never works, it just makes the economy sicker, it’s the reason we’re so screwed up.”

$7.77 Trillion: That’s the amount of money the central bank, chaired by Ben S. Bernanke, “parceled out” during “the bailout to America’s “Big Six,” ostensibly, to rescue the financial system. This according to “Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act” by “Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.”

Inflating America’s fascistic banking system has cost “more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.”

It “lasted from August 2007 through April 2010.” Officially.

But we all know Ben’s bacchanalia continues.

UPDATE II: SURFACE By Microsoft (Leaves The Idiot Pad In the Dust)

America, Business, Human Accomplishment, Technology

At 15:14 into the unveiling of the Microsoft Surface tablet, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky says that Surface “provides the best WiFi reception of any tablet today.” The Surface’s dual Wi-Fi (“wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections”) antennae are the part My Contact in the bowels of the beast nailed.

Well done, genius.

Congratulations to all for bringing to market this “well-designed, very cool” product, over which industry experts are already gushing: It goes “toe to toe” with Apple’s iPad, says one, and even bests it (as “it runs as a full computer,” and sports a physical keyboard), says another.

Although I’ve been kept in the dark until now, I’m looking forward to receiving one of these as soon as possible. What piques my interest in that the Surface is a transportable PC, a facility the idiot Pad never offered. (I don’t need mindless entertainment; I want the ability to transport my work wherever I go, without the burdens imposed by a cumbersome laptop.)

UPDATE I (June 20): This is the stuff that makes one patriotic, right guys? American-coordinated ingenuity (with wise division of labor, naturally). Damn straight. (Wives are always kept in the dark … but, all I can say is that they deserve a medal. What a marathon effort The Surface has been.)

And, as someone who has never been tempted by the Idiot Pad: Yes, my instincts, on seeing what this thing accomplishes were very much, “This is a good fit for me.” And it has a keyboard and the easy ability to use a mouse with it, as opposed to the frenetic finger f-ck the traditional laptop requires.

UPDATE II (June 21): In this context, and on a personal note, the pressure of the effort above over months has had some unexpected consequences. (I heard it said that in the US there are two types of engineers: overworked or unemployed. A tough economy would indeed force increases in productivity: fewer and fewer workers are doing more and more of work.) The upshot: My husband has come down with pneumonia. I will be taking some time to look after him (and hoping to remain uninfected).

THE WND COLUMN will resume next week. RT will be featuring a golden oldie. Make sure you Click to Like, Share and Tweet it.

Mercantilism Vs. Militarism

America, China, Energy, Neoconservatism, Trade

When a world power such as China pursues its national, economic interests, instead of busying itself with unprovoked, non-defensive wars, as America does—analysts in the US call it a free rider.

“China,” pontificates Niall Ferguson, “contributes almost nothing to stability in the oil-producing heartland of the Arabian deserts and barely anything to the free movement of goods through the world’s strategic sea lanes. …In terms of geopolitics, China today is the world’s supreme free rider.”

So that is what the US has been doing in the Middle East! Fostering “the free movement of good” there. I suspect the millions of Iraqis who’ve been displaced and murdered pursuant to our invasion in 2003 would dispute that notion.

Chinese mercantilism is not free trade, but is it not better than American militarism?

Noblesse Oblige Is Back

Democracy, Ethics, Etiquette, Europe, Family, History, Private Property

Stripped of their property by the political class (at the behest of the masses), landed aristocracy is making a comeback to a desperate Europe, in the role private property has always encouraged: duty and custodianship, in contrast to pillage politics (which is what the political class does).

Noblesse oblige means to “act with honor, kindliness, generosity,” as the privileges of high birth dictates.

At Taki’s (via Lew Rockwell.com):

With the exception of Greece, which with Anglo-American help had avoided its sister countries’ red servitude, the populations of the formerly Marxist region welcomed back their former monarchs (or their heirs) with open arms—going so far as to reverse the theft of much of their former property. The Balkan royals began once again to play supporting roles in their homelands’ public life. Simeon II of Bulgaria was perhaps the most successful. Acting as the focus of a grassroots political movement, he was elected prime minister in 2001.
…So steeped have we become in the politics of envy that the government robbing a rich man—better still, an ex-reigning sovereign—will bring joy to many. This is why the decades-old reduction of Britain’s landed aristocracy from a political force to a band of desperate folk trying (and often failing) to hold onto what is left of their inheritance begets either a smile or a yawn. If Simeon is to continue to play a useful role in his country’s life, he will need to seek justice—paradoxically enough—from the European Court of Human Rights. It is ironic that this is happening under Boyko Borisov’s scandal-ridden prime ministry. The contrast between monarch and politico could not be starker. …

MORE.