Sunday, December 1, 2013

Centuries-old temple ruins in Bujang Valley furtively destroyed

GEORGE TOWN, Dec 1 — Prehistoric ruins at an archaeological site in Bujang Valley some 1,200 years old were secretly demolished by a land developer, a Penang lawmaker said yesterday, even as Badan Warisan Malaysia seeks to list the historical spot as a Unesco world heritage site.
Confirming the matter with The Malay Mail Online, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy said he was shocked to discover the ruins of candi (tomb temple) site number 11 dug up from its spot near Sungai Batu and cast aside in a pile of debris.
“The candi was located at Sungai Batu and it was demolished by the developer, who is clearing the land for development, more than a month back,” he told The Malay Mail Online after he visited the site yesterday.
According to the Penang lawmaker, he received reports of the demolition last week and decided to visit the site to verify if they were true.
“This particular candi is hidden from sight behind an old oil palm estate so the developer probably demolished it first before clearing the oil palm trees,” he said.
Lembah Bujang, in the Merbok district of Kedah, is well-known as the richest archaeological site in Malaysia, with more than 50 ancient candi at the site.
Most of the candi are in ruins, and some have been reconstructed and moved to a site near the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum. Others, including candi number 11, were rebuilt at their original sites.
The ruins of these candi and other archaeological discoveries unearthed in this area date back more than 2,000 years. The destroyed example, candi number 11, is believed to have been built between the 11th and 13th century, according to research by historian Dr Mohd Supian Sabtu.
Outraged that such an ancient and significant archaeological site was not only unprotected but also allowed to be dug up to make way for development, Ramasamy said he will be writing to Badan Warisan Malaysia to seek action against the developer and the authorities complicit in the destruction.
“I learnt that the Merbok land office had given the developer the go-ahead to clear the land because ‘there were no historical sites’, so the land office should also be held accountable for this,” he said.
Lembah Bujang is the richest archaeological site in Malaysia.
Ramasamy also said the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum officials he spoke to appeared to have their “hands are tied” as they had no authority to stop the developer.
“Only Badan Warisan can do something and the Kedah state government should also do something as we are talking about an important historical site that should be preserved and protected,” he said.
The destruction of candi number 11, rebuilt on its original site back in the 1970s by an archaeological team, was chanced upon by a scholar who happened to be investigating the historical valley.
“A researcher, Datuk V. Nadarajan, who is conducting a study on the Lembah Bujang site, is the one to discover that the candi was demolished and had lodged a police report to stop the developers but nothing happened,” the Perai state assemblyman said.
I learnt that the Merbok land office had given the developer the go-ahead to clear the land because ‘there were no historical sites’, so the land office should also be held accountable for this. — Dr P. Ramasamy
Pointing out that Badan Warisan Malaysia was planning to apply to Unesco for Bujang Valley to be listed as a heritage site, Ramasamy said it only made sense that it should be doing everything to protect the site instead of ignoring this.
“In Penang, we do everything in our power to protect our heritage sites because George Town is a Unesco world heritage site, so how could the Kedah state government allow this to happen to the oldest archaeological site in the country?” he asked.
Bujang Valley is home to the oldest man-made structure recorded in Southeast Asia — a clay brick monument nearly two millennia old.
Excavations on the site have also uncovered jetty remains, iron smelting sites and relics with Hindu and Buddhist influences that point towards a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that traces as far back as 110 CE.
The site has been at the centre of research by various historians, archaeologists and university students in the past two decades.

Youth being sold lies, says ex-Election Commission official

The youth in the country depend on online news sources which do not provide “accurate” information unlike the mainstream media, says former Election Commission vice-chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (pic).
The recently retired civil servant said young Malaysians were among the most critical of the commission’s work and they “are the most effective at spreading information”.
“But they do not have time to watch television and view the prime channels which carry accurate information, based on ethical journalism or newspapers that print actual facts,” he told Umno-backed daily Utusan Malaysia’s weekend edition “Mingguan Malaysia” today.
“They shut their eyes and ears from explanations,” he added.
Wan Ahmad told the paper that the EC had often been misunderstood and he insisted that the body under the auspices of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had been fair and just to all.
He also declared innocence over claims that he was impartial in his job.
“Even though people accuse me of being unfair, playing politics and being impartial, all of those assumptions are not true.”
For years, the EC came under fire for not acting as an independent or non-partisan body, an accusation that the body has repeatedly refuted.
Former EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman recently admitted that the EC was only an appendage of Umno and Barisan Nasional to ensure their perpetual stranglehold on Putrajaya.
Opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih 2.0, the non-governmental organisation fighting for free and fair election have continuously heaped criticisms against the way the agency held elections, conducted the delineation exercise and its inability to remain independent.
Wan Ahmad blamed young Malaysians for the EC’s declining reputation.
 “The young would go back home and influence their parents, siblings, friends at stalls and coffee shops,” he said.
“The ones who have been influenced by inaccurate information will make a bad judgment and this does not benefit the country.” – December 1, 2013.

Don’t snub the Chinese, Berita Harian tells Umno

Umno leaders have been told not to demonise the Chinese at the Umno general assembly next week as the issue of the community’s continued rejection of Barisan Nasional in the 2013 general election is expected to be raised at the gathering.
In its weekend editorial, Malay daily “Berita Harian” advised party leaders not to succumb to emotions and should instead consider the nation’s interests.
Its former group editor, Datuk Mior Kamarul Shahid, predicted that the Chinese support for the opposition at the 13th General Election will be raised by delegates at the assembly, where they are expected to push the party’s top leadership to make a stern stand whether to continue working with the Chinese or to abandon them. Previously, such a topic was never debated openly.
“Leaders cannot make emotional decisions like the delegates. They need to make logical decisions for the long-term interests of the people and country,” Mior wrote today.
He said if leaders continued to neglect the Chinese, they would lose the Chinese votes, but if they persevered and continued to work together, there was a possibility that the Chinese might change their stand and return to support Barisan Nasional.
He acknowledged that while there was still anger among the grassroots that the Chinese had abandoned BN and Umno, with many feeling that the Malay party no longer needed the community’s support.
“The Chinese are aware that their action in throwing their support behind the opposition in the last election has raised the anger of the Malays.
“The Malays feel there is no point in helping the Chinese if they are not supportive of the Government,” he said.
In the May polls, BN won 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats, ceding seven seats to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition compared with the 2008 polls. It also lost the popular vote, securing only 47% compared with the opposition’s 51%.
However, Umno won 88 seats, up from the 79 it had previously, thanks to support from rural Malays and Bumiputeras.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had termed the outcome as a “Chinese tsunami” although analysts had said data from voting trends showed it was a major swing in urban and middle-class electorate.
In May, Umno’s “Utusan Malaysia” front paged the question “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” (What else do the Chinese want?) in what appeared to be an attempt to shape the results of election 2013 as a Chinese-v-Malay vote. – December 1, 2013.

Actor Paul Walker Dead At 40 After Car Crash

Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images

 paul walker
Paul Walker has died at the age of 40 after he was involved in a single-car accident and explosion in Santa Clarita, Calif., Saturday afternoon, the actor's rep confirmed to TMZ.
The actor, best known for his leading role in "The Fast and the Furious" and its sequels, was reportedly in a Porsche with another person when the unidentified driver lost control and slammed the vehicle into a tree. The car burst into flames at the scene. Both were killed at the time.
"Sources close to Paul tell us he was in Santa Clarita for a car show to support the Philippines typhoon relief effort, and had been taking friends out for rides in his new Porsche GT," reports TMZ. "The accident happened during one of those test spins."
“At the conclusion of the accident the vehicle struck a light standard and the whole car was burned,” a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman told the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
The Santa Clarita Valley Signal was also reporting on the incident:
Spectators gathered at the scene, and several said the driver was the star of “The Fast and the Furious” series of films. One witness at the scene said he tried to put the fire out and recognized Walker inside the vehicle.
Walker is said to have business ties to Always Evolving Performance Motors, located down Constellation from the scene of the crash. Always Evolving hosted an open house and car meet on Saturday.
The driver of the car has since been  identified as Roger Rodas , former racer and CEO of  Always Evolving , the actor's performance and racing company.
Walker's official Twitter account confirmed the news:
It's with a heavy heart that we must confirm Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident...MORE: http://t.co/9hDuJMH99M - #TeamPW
— Paul Walker (@RealPaulWalker) December 1, 2013 From the full Facebook post:
It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. - #TeamPW
Universal Studios soon after released the following statement.
“All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”
Walker and the cast of "The Fast and Furious" were in the middle of filming the seventh movie of the series.
Filming began in late September and was scheduled for a July 2014 release.
fast and furious 7 set
While promoting his latest film, "Hours," earlier this month, Walker revealed that his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow, moved to live with him last year after living with her mother in Hawaii.
Paul Walker car crash scene tmz pic
TMZ.com
Here's a photo taken of Walker before getting into the vehicle.
Last photo of Paul Walker pic.twitter.com/830aUZBfAe
— Sampah Remaja (@SampahRemajaKL) December 1, 2013

Shock four-country poll reveals widening gulf between Britain and EU

Poll of France, Germany, Poland and the UK shows British hostile to EU, and other nations hostile to Britain

Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Sir Malcolm Rifkind wants a proper debate on EU membership. Photograph: AP
A powerful cross-party alliance including former Tory foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is calling for an urgent fightback against spiralling anti-European sentiment as a new four-nation poll suggests the UK could be heading out of the EU.
The landmark survey of more than 5,000 voters in the UK, Germany, France and Poland finds British people far more hostile to the EU and its policies than those in the other EU states, and strikingly low support for British membership among people on the continent.
At the same time, the total numbers of people in Germany and France who support giving Britain a special deal on membership to satisfy British opinion are heavily outnumbered by those who oppose doing so, which suggests that David Cameron may struggle to achieve his hoped-for tailor-made arrangement for the UK.
Testing cultural opinions, the poll finds very few British people choose to describe themselves as European. In other EU nations, enthusiasm for the concept of Europeanism is far higher.
Opinium found that just 26% of British voters regard the EU as, overall, a "good thing" compared with 42% who say it is a "bad thing". In Poland 62% say it is a good thing and 13% bad; in Germany 55% good and 17% bad, and in France 36% good and 34% bad.
When asked about the UK's contribution to the EU, there is little enthusiasm among our partners, and little to suggest they will go out of their way to keep us in. Just 9% of Germans and 15% of French people think the UK is a positive influence on the EU, with more Poles, 33%, taking that view.
Only 16% of Germans and 26% of French people back the idea of a special deal being struck for the UK. Cameron has said he intends to renegotiate the UK terms of entry and hold an in/out referendum if he wins a majority at the next election, offering the new arrangement to the British people in a referendum.
The idea of Britain leaving the EU does not appear to worry our European partners unduly. Just 24% of French voters said a UK exit would have a negative effect, compared with 36% of Germans and 51% of Poles.
Rifkind said: "There needs to be a serious debate about the real benefits of – as well as the real problems about – British membership of the EU. Without it we could do serious damage to Britain's interests."
Clegg said next year's European elections represented a key test and attacked those intent on taking Britain out of the EU. He said: "Everybody knows the EU needs reform. But simply carping from the sidelines and flirting with exit undermines British leadership in the EU, fails to deliver reform and leaves Britain increasingly isolated. The debate about Europe is no longer about who is for or against reform – everybody agrees on that – it is between those who believe we can lead in the EU and those who want to head for the exit.
"That's why next year's elections will be so important: the Liberal Democrats will be the leading party of 'in'. It's time we challenged Ukip and large swaths of the Conservative party who want to betray Britain's vital national interest by pulling us out of the world's largest borderless single market, on which millions of jobs depend."
Labour MP and former Europe minister Peter Hain urged pro-Europeans to stand up and fight: "This is a wake-up call for British pro-Europeans that Britain – especially if the Tories win the next election – is heading for an exit from the EU which would be an utter disaster for British jobs, prosperity and influence in the world. But it is equally a wake-up call for the Brussels Bubble, which is totally out of touch with Europe's citizens."
The poll shows concern about immigration to be almost as high in France as in the UK. In Britain, 64% of voters think the EU's immigration policies have a negative effect; 59% say the same in France.
It also reveals that more UK voters feel an affinity with the US than with their European neighbours, whereas our EU partners tend to choose other EU nations. When asked who they would generally support on occasions when there was a disagreement between the US and EU countries, 37% of UK respondent said they would tend to support America; just 10% would generally side with Europe.
British people are not negative about everything the EU does: 54% think free movement rules are good for tourism against 6% who think the reverse. There is also strong endorsement for free-trade benefits. Nearly half of those polled say the absence of customs controls and tariffs on goods and services is an advantage. Only 10% see free trade as a disadvantage.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: "This is a fascinating and comprehensive study into the relative relationships between countries within and about the EU. We, on these islands feel, due to our history as a globally trading nation, much more at home with our cousins in the Anglosphere than we do with our friends on the continent."

Bank Account Confiscations: Banksters Are Plotting To Keep Your Deposits- Will You Comply? (Video)


FOURTH REICH!

mnnlogo1


MNN. Nov. 29, 2013. The banking “crime” families are the Fourth Reich. Ia’kon, we are told [and did not see it ourselves] that Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem and found that the money-changers had turned it into a “den of thieves”. They were practicing usury, that is, charging interest on loans to people. It was immoral. He tipped their tables and exposed their debt scam to the people. A week later he was nailed to the cross.
He knew that the debt scam was a system of slavery.
He knew that the debt scam was a system of slavery.
  
In the Middle Ages usury was illegal in Europe. In 1080 the Knights Templar [the bankers] became the first international bankers. They instituted usury. On Friday October 13, 1307 King Philip of France and the Pope banished and kicked them out of Europe because of their illegal debt scam. They probably wanted it all for themselves! They landed on our shores. The 13 families then set up the corporation called the “crown”. Then their debt scam was set up here.  
This Nazi system of corporatism, masked as a country, to dominate the natural people started here on Great Turtle Island. It is all funded by genocide to steal our land, resources and funds.  
William Lyon McKenzie King was the longest serving Prime Minister of Canada, intermittently from 1921 to the 1940s. He was the chief executive officer of the Corporation of Canada and knew that: “Usuary once in control will wreck any nation”.  
We defend our Mother with drums ...
We defend our Mother with drums …
Prime Minister King knew of the dangers of private banks creating a country’s currency. He said: “Until the control of printing currency and credit is restored to government of the people, and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talks of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile”.  
In 1934 he created the Bank of Canada Act that kept the international bankers away from Canada’s door. In 1974 Pierre Elliott Trudeau illegally allowed the international bankers to get back into Canadian’s lives by printing money at interest.
We are 1 people. The Great Law of Peace instructs us.
We are 1 people. Our Mother and the Great Law instructs us.
We Indigenous ask people to help us to get rid of the money changers in the temple once and for all! In the following video Stewart Phillips asks everyone to support the Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq in New Brunswick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBLhUXhL5FQ&sns=fb
We Indigenous will chase the money changers from Onenwaregeh. Stand with us!
We Indigenous will chase away the money changers from Onenwaregeh. Stand with us!
We the real people will stop this debt scam causing the destruction of Mother Earth. As Roy Orbison sang about victims not being close anymore, you [corporatists] aren’t wanted.  “It’s over, It’s over, It’s over, It’s over”. Everyone working for the crown in the provinces and Ottawa will be held accountable by the real people. Thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JArvEJ64Mhe Ongwehonwe rising!  Roy Orbison. “It’s Over”!
MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L

This Inflation Is Supposed To Be GOOD For Japanese Workers?

Japan’s new economic religion, lovingly dubbed Abenomics, relies mostly on a money-printing binge that monetizes the entire government deficit plus a chunk of its public debt, month after month. Printing yourself out of trouble and to wealth works every time. For the elite. This is a lesson learned from the Fed. But how are workers and consumers faring? And by implication the real economy?
We keep getting juicy morsels of data on this phenomenon. Abenomics is accomplishing its two major goals – watering down the yen and stirring up inflation – pretty well. Over the last 12 months, the yen has been devalued by 20% against the dollar that the Fed is trying to devalue as well. So this is quite a feat! It’s been devalued by 28% against the euro. And inflation is heating up.
The consumer price index, released today, rose 0.1% in October and is now up 1.1% for the 12-month period. Less “imputed rent,” inflation rose 1.4% year over year. Service prices were up 0.4%, but goods prices jumped 1.9%. At this rate, Abenomics will have no problems meeting or exceeding by March, 2015, its “2% price stability” target, as the Bank of Japan has come to call it with bitter cynicism.
What isn’t happening: wage increases!
The Japanese Statistics Bureau just reported incomes and expenditures of households with two or more persons. This is by far the largest category of households in Japan. Due to the cost of housing in large urban areas – and due to remnants of tradition – a large number of singles live with their parents. This category is further divided into “workers’ households,” “no occupation” households, and “other” households.
Incomes of the all-important “workers’ households” rose a measly 0.1% from a year ago to ¥482,684. In nominal terms. But adjusted for inflation – yes, here is where the benefits of Abenomics are kicking in – incomes fell 1.3%. Disposable incomes fell 1.4%. The details were ugly: “Current income” (salaries and wages) dropped 1.2% and “temporary bonuses” plunged 19.5%. Income from self-employment and piecework plummeted 20.8%.
So these strung-out workers’ households whose belts are being tightened by Abenomics and whose real incomes are being whittled away by inflation, how can they spend more to perk up the economy? Turns out, they don’t. Spending rose a scant 0.4% in nominal terms from a year ago – but adjusted for inflation, spending fell 1.0%.
And this despite rampant frontloading of big-ticket purchases. The consumption-tax hike from 5% to 8%, to take effect on April 1, is motivating households to buy big-ticket items now and save 3%. It has turned into a frenzy. Durable goods purchases, the primary target of frontloading, jumped 40.4% in October from a year ago. While it’s goosing the economy now, it will create a hole starting next spring. Japan has been through this before.
When the consumption tax hike from 3% to 5% was passed in 1996, Japanese consumers went out on a buying binge of big-ticket items to avoid paying the extra 2% in taxes, and the economy boomed. The hangover came around April 1, 1997, when the tax hike became effective. The economy skittered into a recession that lasted a year and a half. Now Japanese households are frontloading to avoid an additional 3% in consumption tax. The hangover next year is going to be painful.
But frontloading of a few big-ticket items is hitting day-to-day expenditures. These households spent 1.8% less on non-durable goods and 2.0% less on services, compared to prior year. Hence, the drop of 1% in overall spending by these households, despite their splurging on a few big items.
This is the benefit of inflation without compensation! A process that ever so slowly hollows out the middle class and pushes the lower classes deeper in the quagmire. It’s hurting workers and consumers. It’s constraining the real economy. Yet, holders of assets that the central bank inflates into the stratosphere benefit. Japan isn’t the only country that is practicing this large-scale redistribution of wealth from workers to holders of inflated assets. Abenomics is following the playbook of the Fed. But it’s pushing it further to the extreme.
The dogfight over Japan’s biggest problem, its gargantuan government deficit, entered its annual ritual of leaks and pressure tactics that usually lead to a pre-Christmas draft budget with an even bigger deficit. But this time, it’s different. Very different. Read….. Japan Is Used To Natural Disasters, But This One Is Man-Made

Metallic Money (Gold/Silver) vs. Credit Money: Know the Difference

Longtime correspondent Jeff W. succinctly explains the difference between metallic money (gold and silver) and credit money.
You’ve probably read many articles about money–what it is (store of value and means of exchange) and its many variations (metal, paper, etc.). But perhaps the most important distinction to be made in our era is between metallic money and credit money.
Longtime correspondent Jeff W. succinctly explains the difference between metallic money (gold and silver) and credit money:
 
We use credit money every day. It’s the only kind of money we have. But because people in Europe and America have historically used metallic money for over 2,500 years, we still have cultural habits that come from the gold money era.When the U.S. removed gold and silver coins from circulation in the 1930’s and 1960’s and replaced paper gold certificates and silver certificates with Federal Reserve notes, the paper money looked very much the same. But the thing that the paper money represented changed dramatically. The paper money now represents units of credit money that have no guaranteed relationship with the prices of gold or silve r or anything else.
Because the nature of credit money and metallic money are not well understood, and because money is so important in our lives, it is worthwhile to examine and discuss how these two kinds of money are different.
1. Tangible vs. intangible. A gold or silver coin is a physical object that has weight, volume and physical characteristics. Credit money is a record of the existence of a debt. Credit money exists in the intangible world of information and human relationships. Where Mr. A owes Mr. B a specified unit of money, and where that debt is recorded on paper or another recording medium, and where the record of that debt passes from one person’s possession to another as a medium of exchange, you have credit money.
Gold coins are minted; debts are recorded. The two forms of money could hardly be more dissimilar.
2. Old vs. oldest. Metallic money has been used by people for about 2,600 years. It has been used sporadically and in certain places. Credit money has been used for at least 5,000 years, when people first started recording debts on clay tablets, pieces of wood or ivory, etc., and trading those IOU’s as money. Before debts were recorded in writing, they were, in prehistoric times, discussed verbally, remembered, and sometimes traded in verbal transactions. This is how very primitive people still trade using debt today.
3. Persistent vs. ephemeral. Some gold coins more than 2,000 years old are still in existence today. But it would be very rare for any performing loans to be more than 100 years old, and many loans are of very short duration. Much of the U.S. Treasury’s debt issue is very short term, lasting only 90 days or one year. Where gold coins can last for thousands of years, debts are constantly coming into existence and going out of existence.
The U.S. debt holdings of the Federal Reserve are constantly churning and rolling over, whereas gold holdings in vaults can lie stationary and do not need to be replaced or rolled over.
4. Hard to create vs. easy to create. To create a gold coin, someone has to first mine the gold from the earth, refine it, mill it, stamp it into circular shapes and then stamp the governmental pattern on it. To create a piece of credit money, a debt has to be created and then a piece of paper printed or a record created on a computer. Anyone who has no intention of paying back his debt, such as the Federal government, can potentially issue debt in infinite amounts. There is an issue of whether that debt is worth anything, however.
5. Always good vs. sometimes good. A gold coin that is legal tender will always be accepted as money. With credit money, some of it is good and some of it is bad. In recent years Zimbabwe’s credit money went bad. Before that, the Weimar Republic’s credit money became worthless. All circulating debt has a mixture of good and bad. When a lot of it goes bad at the same time, it causes a crisis, where the “toxic debt” must be guaranteed or purchased by government or else banks and other financial institutions will go bankrupt.
6. Non-interest bearing vs. interest bearing. Most debt specifies interest payments as part of the loan agreement. The Federal Reserve notes we use as money are claims on interest-bearing debt owned by the Federal Reserve. Credit money has the quality that there is a continuing flow of interest payments away from the users of money in the general population and toward creditors. There is no such continued flow of wealth from debtors to creditors in a gold money system.
7. Does not need money supply expansion vs. needs expansion.Because interest payments are constantly flowing out from families, businesses and communities to financial centers and wealthy creditors, credit money results in economic sluggishness unless there is a constant expansion of the supply of credit money. Under a gold money system, people can function much better with a constant money supply because there is no leakage of interest payments. Each community can continue to circulate its own holdings of gold money without having to pay any of it out in the form of interest payments.
8. Government does not need to enable creating more debt vs. government must enable debt creation. In order to keep a credit money economy going, more debt must be continually created. Government and financial leaders who do not want to be blamed for a downward spiral of slowing economic activity must see to it that more debt is constantly being created. Under a gold money system, there is no pressure to constantly increase the burden of debt.
9. Not as bubble prone vs. more bubble prone. The fractional reserve method of banking encourages asset bubbles because new money is created as borrowers take out new loans. When people borrow money to buy bubble assets (e.g., houses 1981-2006), it creates enormous amounts of new money to feed the asset bubble. Many asset bubbles were also created during the gold money era due to fractional reserve banking, but where the unit of currency is guaranteed by government to be equal to a fixed weight in gold, the inflation threat is taken out of the picture and that restrains bubble creation somewhat.
To support the value of their currencies under a gold money system, governments must also often raise interest rates in order to encourage investors to sell gold in exchange for bonds paying good interest. Higher interest rates also discourage the formation of asset bubbles.
10. Does not enable ZIRP vs. enables ZIRP. A zero interest rate policy is impossibl e under a gold money system. The demand for gold would soon deplete government’s gold holdings to zero. Under a credit money system a policy of low interest rates and financial repression can be imposed for an indefinite period of time.
11. Does not increase lending activity vs. increases lending activity.Low interest rates and the ease with which credit money is created lead to increased lending activity and higher debt loads. Under a gold money system, debt will necessarily be created at a slower rate. By stepping up the pace of debt creation, a credit money system serves the interests of the banks.
12. Has no problem with debt saturation vs. has serious problems with debt saturation. Continually increasing debt leads ultimately to debt saturation. When a country’s people and businesses are saturated with debt, it makes it much more difficult to continue to increase the debt load. That leads to stagnation and slowing economic activity in a credit money system. A gold money system does not tend to lead to debt saturation and has no similar problems with debt saturation.
13. Increases wealth disparities vs. does not increase wealth disparities. The higher debt load facilitated by a credit money system results in greater flows of wealth from the debtor class to the creditor class. The higher debt load leads to increased disparities in income, more very poor and very rich and fewer of the middle class.
14. Holds its value vs. does not hold its value. Gold-backed currencies have an excellent track record of holding their value. Credit money tends to inflation, the rate of which largely depends on how fast new debt is being created.
15. Government as a guarantor of savings vs. government provides no guarantee. One of the three functions of money is as a store of value. (The others are a medium of exchange and a unit of account.) When the U.S. government guarantees that 35 U.S. dollars will buy an ounce of gold, as it did in the years 1934-67, government aid savers by acting as a guarantor of that store of value.
When the U.S. went off the gold standard in 1971, it changed the relationship between citizens and their government when government no longer provided that guarantee.
16. Defaulters are bad vs. defaulters are only partly bad. In a gold money system, a person who takes out a loan and does not repay it is considered a bad person, almost a thief. He has robbed his creditors of the money they were rightfully owed. In a credit money system, however, the creation of new debt is so important that anyone who goes into debt is a hero of the economy.
That is why under a debt money system, it is considered more important that new debt be created (e.g., as student loans) than to worry about whether they will ever be paid back or to pin blame and guilt on loan defaulters.
Conclusion: As we see, it is no exaggeration to say that the transition from gold money to credit money changes everything. It changes every individual’s relationship with his own money, with government, and with banks. It changes the power relationships within society. It changes the patterns of ownership and wealth accumulation.
It is very important that citizens and investors understand the credit money system that they are trying to operate within. For people with over 2,500 years of experience with gold money, it is difficult to understand it and get used to it. But anyone who does understand it will be better off because of making better-informed decisions. We might as well get used to it because we shall likely have to live with a credit money system for a very long time.
Thank you, Jeff, for an insightful and extremely important overview of the critical differences between credit money and gold/silver. The key distinction of all these important distinctions is the ephemeral nature of credit-money (and any form of fiat currency). History teaches us that a financial-political crisis of sufficient magnitude reveals the underlying value of credit-money–i.e. zero–in a brief but cataclysmic loss of faith/trust.
As correspondent Harun I. observed in Why Is Debt the Source of Income Inequality and Serfdom? It’s the Interest, Baby: “Governments cannot reduce their debt or deficits and central banks cannot taper. Equally, they cannot perpetually borrow exponentially more. This one last bubble cannot end (but it must).”
When the current bubble bursts, the difference between metallic money and credit money will be starkly visible: no one will trade gold or silver for any amount of paper/credit money, and the ephemeral financial instruments (“assets”) that dominate today’s financial system will be revealed for what they are: phantom promises of value.
Of related interest:

BREAKING: Second Time China Sends Fighter Jets To Chase U.S. and Japanese Military Planes.

Chinese fighter jets have chased the US and Japanese military aircraft inside China’s newly declared Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea.
Chinese defense authorities say they sent more fighter jets to the newly-declared air defense zone in the East China Sea on Friday. This is the first time Chinese fighters fly over the region.
Friday was the second day Beijing deployed its aircraft to the controversial zone.
The Chinese air force described the mission as a defensive measure in line with international law. Beijing also says the country’s air force will remain on high alert and take measures to deal with all air threats to protect China’s national security.
The Chinese Air Force spokesman, Col. Shen Jinke, said Chinese warplanes had been scrambled to identify US surveillance aircraft and several Japanese planes crossing through the zone.
China sends warplanes and China media urges countermeasures against Japan planes.


2 unidentified planes not squawking currently in the No-Fly Zone.
Zoom into the area east of Shanghai.
America Vs China: America blinks first
“Washington tells airlines to notify Chinese authorities if flying through area amid escalating tensions in South China Sea”
America blinks first and submits to outrageous Chinese demands
that aircraft identify themselves in international airspace. Washington making itself look weak and pathetic like this is a bad omen I’m sure we all agree.
(South China Morning Post) Chinese military aircraft were scrambled yesterday after US and Japanese planes flew into the mainland’s new air defence identification zone.
Earlier, South Korea announced plans to include a tiny island contested with China under its own air defence zone, potentially raising the diplomatic temperature further.
PLA Air Force spokesman Shen Jianke said the air force ordered Su-30 and Qian-11 planes to verify the identity of the aircraft inside the zone yesterday morning.
USS George Washington on station
131129-N-BD107-155 PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 29, 2013) Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) stand-by in the hangar bay for a break away with Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) after a replenishment-at-sea.
George Washington and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, provide a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
Built right on time to join the frey


In declaring China’s ADIZ, the Xi leadership apparently counted on being able to put pressure on the US-Japan alliance and isolate Japan.
The Chinese air force yesterday scrambled Su-30 and J-11 fighter jets after a dozen American and Japanese military aircraft entered the air defence identification zone (ADIZ) proclaimed by Beijing last weekend in the East China Sea.
The incident is the first direct Chinese reaction to a US or Japanese incursion and heightens the danger of a miscalculation leading to a clash and conflict.
Having declared the ADIZ, which overlaps with Japan’s own ADIZ and provocatively includes the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, the Chinese government has come under pressure from hawkish sections of the ruling elite not to back away.
WASHINGTON — U.S. drones are heading to the Senkaku Islands.
Japan and the U.S. will step up joint warning and surveillance activities over the islands in Okinawa and other parts of the East China Sea. The U.S. military’s Global Hawk unmanned spy planes will be heavily involved in these activities around the islands known as Diaoyu in China.
The increased joint activities, which will also involve the Japan Self-Defense Force’s E-2C early warning aircraft, are to reduce the risk of accidental clashes amid heightened tensions.
U.S. advises airlines to comply with China air zone demands
BEIJING —
The United States on Saturday advised U.S. carriers to comply with China’s demand that it be told of any flights passing through its new maritime air defense zone over the East China Sea, an area where Beijing said it launched two fighter planes to investigate a dozen American and Japanese reconnaissance and military flights.
It was the first time since proclaiming the zone on Nov 23 that China said it sent planes there on the same day as foreign military flights, although it said it merely identified the foreign planes and took no further action.
 
China launched two fighter planes Friday to investigate flights by a dozen U.S. and Japanese reconnaissance and military planes in its newly established maritime air defense zone over the East China Sea, state media said.
The state-run China News quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Shen Jinke as saying the Chinese fighter jets identified and monitored the two U.S. and 10 Japanese aircraft during their flights through the zone early Friday, but made no mention of any further action.
DB

Carney warns against taking out big mortgages

The Governor of the Bank of England has warned homeowners against relying on property prices rising to pay off debt if they can no longer afford them when interest rates rise

Mark Carney said he was less concerned about the housing market now that the Bank of England has pulled the Funding for Lending for mortgages. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
 
Mark Carney has warned home-owners not to take out big mortgages that they will not be able to afford when interest rates start to rise.
The Governor of the Bank of England said those looking for a home could not simply rely on the price of their house rising to pay off the debt and had to think if they would be able to pay their mortgage five or 10 years from now.
“Are you counting, even subconsciously, on the price of your house keeping going up and if something happens an ability to sell it quickly and not facing the consequences of not being able to pay?,” he told the Guardian.
Earlier this week the central bank withdrew its support package for mortgage lending, warning that rising house prices could derail the UK’s recovery.
Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) – which allows lenders to borrow at rock-bottom rates in exchange for providing loans – will not apply to household lending from February next year.
Following that decision, Mr Carney said he was now “less concerned” about the housing market.
He said: "The right way to do policy – to protect against the boom and bust cycles – is to act early in a graduated, proportionate way and that reduces the probability of having to act in a bigger way later."
His warning comes as the Nationwide Building Society’s latest housing data showed prices rose 0.6pc on a month-on-month basis in November, with annual growth at 6.5pc. This was the biggest annual rise since since July 2010, and means the average house price is just 6pc below the all-time high.
Resurgent property values have raised fears of another housing bubble, caused in part by the Help to Buy scheme, which provides Government subsidies on loans for borrowers with small deposits. However, economists said it was too early to gauge the impact of Help to Buy.
 

Greek doctors protest austerity cuts in Athens


 
Greek doctors and health workers have taken to the streets in the capital, Athens, to voice their outrage at the country’s harsh austerity program, Press TV reports.


On Friday, striking doctors and medical employees gathered at the Greek Health Ministry in central Athens for the second time this week to protest the government’s planned health cuts.

The protesters are also angry at the Greek government’s plan to amalgamate several state hospitals in the capital; a measure that will see at least 3,000 medical workers lose their jobs.

In an interview with Press TV, Giorgos Patoulis, the president of Athens Medical Association, who was among the demonstrators, criticized the government’s “lack of strategy on healthcare.”

“The government is improvising with no political or fiscal vision. Meanwhile, doctors are not getting paid and the life of patients is at risk. The troika [of international lenders] is deciding on our healthcare without having the faintest idea of the country’s realistic needs,” said Patoulis.

The Greek government also plans to shut down six major hospitals and three psychiatric institutions in Athens. In response, doctors say they will continue their strike until at least December 9.

Mihalis Giannakos, secretary of the Public Hospital Workers Union, told press TV that the closure of major psychiatric hospitals in Athens will hurt the “most vulnerable Greek patients,” stressing, “They cannot afford healthcare. They will soon be populating benches and subway terminals.”

The debt-ridden country has imposed steep slashes on healthcare and social services since being bailed out by other eurozone states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2010.

Athens has promised its international creditors that it will cut 4,000 state jobs and put 25,000 civil servants on a redeployment scheme by the end of 2013.

On November 27, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Greece will remain mired in recession in 2014 for a seventh straight year, and will likely need additional financial aid.

MKA/SS

First U.S. Marijuana Business Licensed


Oliver Stone – “I feel like a dissident against the American Empire”


Published on Nov 29, 2013
Filmmaker Oliver Stone and Historian Peter Kuznick sit down with RT’s Sam Sacks to talk about their mini-series “The Untold History of the United States.” The two also address the latest news about NSA surveillance, drones, and Wall Street greed. And Oliver Stone explains why he feels like a dissident against the US empire.
Find RT America in your area: http://rt.com/where-to-watch/
Or watch us online: http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/
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Gold And Silver – Reverse Bubble. Huge Rally When Broken. Note Bitcoin Results.

Gold and silver are in reverse bubbles, if you will, where price has been both severely
distorted and suppressed by central banks, the visible tools of the otherwise hidden
moneychangers, those on the top of the population pyramid who want to control and
enslave the entire world in a totalitarian state of existence.  Ironically, the best and only
hope for the [not so] free world comes from China and Russia.  It is a twisted world in
which we live.
There are so many pieces to the entire puzzle, and for all the known ones, those which
are most important are unknown to the great majority.  All one can do is to continually
monitor events and prepare accordingly.  The best predictor of the future has always been
past behavior.  For centuries, the most reliable preparation has been the ownership of
gold.
There is no evidence that it will be any different, this time around.  In fact, given the gross
manipulation of both gold and silver, once this artificial reverse bubble bursts, the results
will be equally distorted to the upside.  Where not too long ago, one often heard $5,000 to
$10,000 the ounce for gold, the numbers have accelerated to as high as $50,000 and $500
the ounce for gold and silver, respectively.
If anyone wants a glimpse into what the future holds for gold and silver, just look at how
Bitcoin has rallied to $1,200+!!!  Not even two weeks ago, it traded at $460, and now, it is
almost worth the same as an ounce of gold.  Without any warrants as to the reliability or
sustainability of this recent phenomenon, it clearly shows the appetite for an uncontrolled
[by central banks/governments] alternative to any fiat currency.  The world is finally
waking up to the central banker’s huge fiat Ponzi scheme.
Bitcoin is a digital currency, aka a crypto-currency,  that has no intrinsic value.  For now,
it is an anonymous e-currency taking the world by storm.   What seems to be the strongest
point for acquiring Bitcoin is that it is continually going up in value, and it is momentum,
not fundamentals, that keeps carrying the day.  It runs the risk of becoming a Tulipcoin.
Putting aside whether the novelty of Bitcoin can survive any number of stress tests, which
it has not yet had to do, any way possible for operating outside of the existing central
banking cartel’s fiat scheme has enormous appeal.  We do not see Bitcoin going up in
value so much as the fiats are eroding in confidence.  Where it used to take $400 in fiat
Federal Reserve Notes, [FRN] to buy a Bitcoin, it now takes over $1,200 FRNs to buy the
same coin.  This exposes the downside to fiats.
This is the good news for gold and silver holders.  Once the suppressive manipulation
bubble bursts for gold and silver, the number of fiats it takes to buy an ounce of gold,
[currently about $1,260] and an ounce of silver, [ about $20], will rise in value, as in
true measured value.  Bitcoin is the precursor for how reality will immediately set in
and catapult precious metals that will likely leave Bitcoin in the dust.
As to why the Western central bankers continue to successfully manipulate/suppress
gold and silver is open to debate.  In large, central bankers set and control currencies
world-wide, and most people are oblivious to the insidious nature of fractional reserve
banking and the corrupt criminal enterprises that run them.  They do it because they
operate with impunity and get away with it.
China is becoming an unexpected center stage protagonist for ridding the world of the
fiat “dollar,” once and for all.  It has become their mission, one in which they will not fail.
There is a book entitled “The Ugly American,” from 1958 and a film in 1963 that was
popular for some time.  Its focus was on America’s inability, even unwillingness to
understand foreign cultures, and particularly true of the American government.  To
that can now be added another adjective, “The Ugly and Ignorant American.”  The
country is filled with a population that remains clueless about its 
de facto and
bankrupt corporate federal government, and especially its own fiat currency.
China will become the wake-up that will show the world how America is, and has been
for a few decades, a Third World country living off the fumes of a once thriving nation.
We hope to address China as the likely replacement for both national and monetary
superiority, next week.
A look at the charts.  There has not been any notable change in the charts since last week.
The dramatic rise in Bitcoin is the best reminder for all those buying and holding physical
gold and silver, for whatever length of time and at whatever price, better days are assured.
It is just a matter of time.
It could be said that the nine week rally from the June low is being corrected by a 13 week
decline, which is relatively more labored.  While a positive, it does nothing to suggest a
turnaround, at this point.
GC W 30 Nov 13
The noted clustering of closes can take price in either direction.  One of the advantages of
reading developing market activity is that it is 
followed, not led or anticipated in advance.
This means we do not have to know in advance which direction price will head, in the week
or more, ahead.  Instead, we wait for a concrete signal, and 
then go with prevailing market
strength.  It is the best way to avoid being on the wrong side of any market.
GC D 30 Nov 13
Silver’s strong August swing high rally has been negated by the much slower decline that
is now trading under the strong rally bar, 3rd from the August swing high.  Until the small
range of last week, the preceding decline, none of the 4 bars overlapped by much,
indicative of a liquidating market.  Whether the small weekly range becomes significant,
as a potential form of stopping action, remains to be seen.
SI W 30 Nov
Price could still go marginally lower and not break the previous zone of support.  In any
down trend, sellers have proven themselves.  The onus is on buyers to demonstrate the
ability to effect change.  For now, there is no evidence that buyers are stepping in and
taking over. The ongoing “fate” of precious metals remains in the central bankers pockets.
SI W 30 Nov 13