The Noble Lie

Catherine Austin Fitts, former investment banker, former Bush Sr. HUD Commissioner, the woman who discovered massive-scale S&L style scamming of the HUD market by insiders, author of the magnum opus "Dillon Reed & Co Inc., The Aristocracy of Stock Profits," writes insightfully and powerfully about how the banksters made a killing by killing our economy. To my knowledge, she coined the term "tapeworm economy." Her experiences with insiders scamming HUD, and the government's legal assault of her company Hamilton Securities, are a microcosm of the collapse of the US real estate market that started our current financial crisis.

• Catherine Austin Fitts - 2009: The Year of the Great Vampire Squid
• From the vault: Catherine Austin Fitts on the Jim Puplava show

I have followed Fitts and her work at Solari.com for a while. Her two essential economic questions are: "Who's your farmer? Who's your banker?" You can find the answer to the first question at your local farmer's market. The second question is one that people are increasingly asking themselves, and finding a better answer in local credit unions and smaller banks. I kissed my big bank goodbye years ago and have been much, much happier at our local credit union, who was not up to their eyeballs in phony baloney derivatives when the 2008 economic tsunami hit.

I cannot deny
All the evil traits and the filling of the crates
When you do come out
And you slither up to me in your pimpin majesty
But I cannot grow
Till you eat the last of me, oh when will I be free
And you, a parasite
Just find another host, just another stool to post

Cause you, my tapeworm tells me what to do
You, my tapeworm tells me where to go

Pull the tapeworm out of your ass

- System of a Down, "Needles"

"Nothing but widespread suffering will produce an effect on Congress.... Our only safety is in pursuing a steady course of firm restriction - and I have no doubt that such a course will ultimately lead to restoration of the currency and the re-charter of the bank."
- Nicholas Biddle, President, Second Bank of the United States

The above quote was a threat direct to Congress from the last private financial system to snake its coils around the federal government, when its charter was revoked. He made good on his promise, causing the panic of 1837 which started an economic depression. Today, Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn came to Congress, to make the same threat in the PR-laced parlance of our times.

"Any substantial erosion of the Federal Reserve's monetary independence likely would lead to higher long-term interest rates as investors begin to fear future inflation," Kohn told a House subcommittee.

Kohn's testimony comes as Congress debates President Barack Obama's plan for regulatory reform, which envisions the Fed taking on an expanded role monitoring risks across the entire financial system to help ward off future financial crises.

...

Kohn warned that congressional meddling in the Fed's affairs could threaten the United States' AAA credit rating and drive up interest rates.

"History provides numerous examples of non-independent central banks being forced to finance large government budget deficits," he said. "Such episodes invariably lead to high inflation."

Granted, I'm no UMich Phd economist, but I thought a central bank which injects billions of dollars into major financial institutions, without telling us who got all that cash and under what terms, created fear of inflation. I'm no fan of government defecits, but history also provides examples of privately-owned central banks facilitating large-scale financial fraud, severely damaging economies and lives.

For the first time in my life, a movement to audit the private and opaque Federal Reserve has actually made some traction. As the economic crisis worsens, as more people become aware of the deep secrecy of the Fed's workings, the number of politicians who can peg their career to challenging this massive institution increases.

The movement has galvanized around HR 1207, a House bill introduced by the now-famous Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and backed by 250 co-sponsors, the majority of the House. The bill made its way onto the legislative agenda.

I have no doubt that any investigation of the Federal Reserve will uncover fraud and "mismanagement." The stench has gotten so bad that they stopped publishing their M3 money supply numbers in 2006.

My question is, if this does go anywhere (and that's a behemoth of an if), what will happen next? Will it be the last nail in the coffin of the dollar? Will it result in "widespread suffering?" Could it lead to the opposite intended effect of its sponsor, namely IMF loans and restructuring? What will be the cost of restoring transparency to our financial system, and are we ready to pay it now?

Bernie Madoff visited suffering upon many people because he was running a massive Ponzi scheme disguised as an investment opportunity. What if we learn our whole economy is a massive Ponzi scheme?

(UPDATED to fix the title/URL, and numerous other typos.. no more insomnia blogging for me)

UPDATE II - Bloomberg reports: Medvedev Shows Off Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’ at G-8. And recall when the actual Mayor Bloomberg sued the FED for disclosure himself.

Life has been very full, little time for in-depth blogging. I hope everyone is well.

GlobalResearch.ca has a good, detailed, multi-source wrap-up of Bilderberg 09 coverage and their plans to remake the world economy, that is definitely worth checking out.

Shortly after the meetings began, Bilderberg tracker Jim Tucker reported that his inside sources revealed that the group has on its agenda, “the plan for a global department of health, a global treasury and a shortened depression rather than a longer economic downturn.” Tucker reported that Swedish Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, “Made a speech advocating turning the World Health Organization into a world department of health, advocating turning the IMF into a world department of treasury, both of course under the auspices of the United Nations.” Further, Tucker reported that, “Treasury Secretary Geithner and Carl Bildt touted a shorter recession not a 10-year recession ... partly because a 10 year recession would damage Bilderberg industrialists themselves, as much as they want to have a global department of labor and a global department of treasury, they still like making money and such a long recession would cost them big bucks industrially because nobody is buying their toys.....the tilt is towards keeping it short.”

(Found via Aftermath News)

Another $165 million to the "insurance" folks who destroyed our economy, courtesy of John Q. Taxpayer.

I also just noticed that Google is now embedding their AdWords feces all over YouTube videos. Remember what I taught you about Firefox and DownloadHelper?

Boys and girls, it's that time of the year again. The Bilderbergers are meeting, greeting, and carving another slice out of the world pie. No doubt they have a lot to talk, and gloat, about this year. The media's coverage of such events, since they are no longer a secret to as many people, has gotten interesting to say the least. The Guardian piece is an especially chilling story of a reporter (guest, comedian?) tailed and hounded by police to the point where he is clearly in mental distress. Be sure to read the comments on these stories, too.

• [Times Online UK] Shadowy Bilderberg group meet in Greece
• [UK Guardian] Our man at Bilderberg: I'm ready to lose control, but they're not
• [London Daily News] Bilderberg blackout, media more obsessed with Hoggs moat coasts

I can't help but think back to last year, when King Abdullah of Jordan and his motorcycle entourage cruised through my neck of the woods and cleared out a local inn for the evening, just in time for the Bohemian Grove gathering a few counties down from us.

A younger G. Edward Griffin interviews Norman Dodd as he discusses his investigation of the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Endowment, Rockefeller Foundation, and Guggenheim Foundation for the Reece Commission. What he learned shocked him to the core, that these massive cornerstones of society were all interlocked together, using war and ideological control of the education system to steer America toward an insidious collectivist future.

I am not optimistic about this Frankenstein's monster of a stimulus package that we just passed. Of course, the irrelevance of Congress's bickering is made clear by the Federal Reserve's decision to kick out a cool trillion in loans to buy up bad assets.

In a related story, somebody finally had the cajones to answer the question every American has been asking: why can't that bailout money just go directly to us? The answer will make you spit take. It's because instead of doing the right thing and SPENDING your money, you will likely be irresponsible and SAVE your money.

First off, he's wrong. Almost all of us are in debt bondage of one form or another. A large portion of the money we got would be going right back to the banks in the form of loan, mortgage and credit card payments. Who would be stupid enough to save their money at 1-4% when they are getting socked for 15-30% or more on their credit card debt? Many of us suffer from crumbling infrastructure in our personal lives, from vehicles that don't run to houses that are falling apart. Also, if people save their money, unless they are suggesting that this money would be hidden under mattresses, it would be saved by being deposited in..... a bank. And I didn't even go to Harvard.

Secondly, are you trying to tell us that capitalism is only sustainable when the majority of people sustain their voracious spending and borrowing habits? No wonder we're in the mess we're in.

OH! YEAH! I never fail to stand up and cheer when this dude starts ranting. NO to bailouts, period. If  our money goes to bail out anybody, it goes to the public. It's our money. Maybe hand over some to the states for infrastructure projects. As always, we will immediately hand that money back over to the Beast in the form of debt and bill payments, and worthless consumer junk.

I'd prefer stainless steel handcuffs for these criminals.

"Ring of Power: Empire of the City" is a spectacular, and very long, documentary. Weighing in at over 4 hours, it covers the Egyptian crypto-history of the Bible including the Hyksos Kings, the "Twelve Tribes of Israel," secret societies, Queen Elizabeth II, the Rothschilds, the City of London, September 11, and New World Order and Globalism.

If you decide to track down and verify the claims made in this documentary, you are in for quite a ride. Many fascinating discoveries and some false leads are to be had in this documentary.

This film is also the first place I heard and appropriated the wonderful portmentau, bankster. I'll add notes the next time I watch it (soon).

Part 1

Part 2

I think it's worth mentioning that this was Rod Blagojevich on TV a day before his arrest and fall from grace. This is not to say that he isn't a crook -- crooks are a dime a dozen in the halls of power, especially in the home of the Windy City, infamous for its corruption. What we know is that he was demanding that Bank of America extend the loans necessary to get the striking Republic Windows and Doors paid their back wages. Blagojevich directed every state agency in Illinois cease all business with Bank of America until such loans are extended. Challenging banks is never a great move for one's political career.

These loans were ultimately extended, and the workers got paid.. after struggle. I love these guys -- it's time to stand up for what is yours.