Economy

More on this bogus jobs report.

"According to the BLS, “In September, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force.” These individuals “wanted and were available for work,” but “they were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”
In other words, 2.5 million unemployed Americans were not counted as unemployed."

But it gets worse.

"A truer picture of the dire employment situation is provided by the 600,000 rise over the previous month in involuntary part-time workers. According to the BLS, “These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.”"

And worse.

"Turning to the 114,000 new jobs, once again the jobs are concentrated in lowly paid domestic service jobs that cannot be offshored. Manufacturing jobs declined by 16,000."

And worse.

"As has been the case for a decade, two categories – health care and social assistance (primarily ambulatory health care services) and waitresses and bartenders account for 53% of the new jobs. The BLS never ceases to find ever growing employment of people in restaurants and bars despite the rising dependence of the US population on food stamps."

And worse.

"While employment falters, the consumer price index (CPI-U) in August increased 0.6 percent, the largest since June 2009."

Thanks, Bernanke. And this is supposed to be good news. Obama and his cronies claim it's good news.

Another author is skeptical of the numbers right before the election.

"Economist John Williams of ShadowStats.com in his most recent October 5, 2012 commentary #473 surmises how the BLS produced "deliberately-inconsistent numbers" regarding new jobs.
Williams has consistently reported the Federal Government fudges numbers that measure the economy and jobs. While the BLS says the unemployment number is 7.8% for Sept. ’12, ShadowStats says it is really 22.8%."

Williams goes on to expose the BLS.

"The August-to-September change in the headline unemployment rate almost certainly was not a 0.3% decline.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) knows the reported change in unemployment was wrong – other than by extreme coincidence – and it knows what consistent reporting actually showed.  Only politics prevents the BLS from releasing the correct number, whether the unemployment rate actually declined, held even, or rose as predicted by consensus forecasters.  The lack of transparency here in the data preparation allows for direct political manipulation.
The problem is that the BLS knowingly has been preparing the seasonally-adjusted headline unemployment numbers on an inconsistent and non-comparable basis for some time.  The September number was prepared using a different set of seasonal factors than was used in coming up with the August number.  The reporting difference can be large, when proper consistent month-to-month changes are used.
The BLS has the correct number and could publish it…. Now would be a particularly good time for the BLS to come clean on its unemployment estimates, even if the numbers "confuse" data users."

Wow. I wonder if Williams will have a sudden, unexpected fatal heart attack after that.

Freedom of Speech

Copyright holders sending erroneous DMCA take-down notices for legitimate websites as a business strategy.

Federal Reserve

Author wonders if there's any gold in the central bank vaults.

"The U.K. has led the pack, up 362%, followed by the United States, which is up 223% – even before QE III. China is printing money as well, up 151% during the period, the European Central Bank, 146%, and Japan, 83%."

That's over the last five years, and the article claims that gold production from mining can't account for the increase in demand.

"Who is selling the gold that fills the gap between supply and fast-growing demand? Who is releasing physical gold to the market without it being reported, Sprott asks?"

And the selling of gold by central banks would keep the price artificially deflated.

""Under current reporting guidelines, therefore, central banks are permitted to continue carrying the entry of physical gold on their balance sheet even if they’ve swapped it or lent it out entirely. You can see this in the way Western central banks refer to their gold reserves.
"The UK government, for example, refers to its gold allocation as, ‘Gold (including gold swapped or on loan).’ That’s the verbatim phrase they use in their official statement.
"Same goes for the U.S. Treasury and the ECB, which report their gold holdings as ‘Gold (including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped)’ and ‘Gold (including gold deposits and gold swapped),’ respectively.
"Unfortunately, that’s as far as their description goes, as each institution does not break down what percentage of their stated gold reserves are held in physical, versus what percentage has been loaned out or swapped for something else.
"The fact that they do not differentiate between the two is astounding.""

Oh, boy.

Police State

The feds don't track how often their informants commit crimes. That's convenient. As if we needed more proof that laws are only for us serfs, not for our rulers.

House of Representatives bill HR 6566 orders FEMA and DHS to prepare for mass casualties and burials for different religions.

Misc

It seems to me that peer review exists to support the status quo by suppressing new ideas.

"The peer review system is satisfactory during quiescent times, but not during a revolution in a discipline such as astrophysics, when the establishment seeks to preserve the status quo."

Peer review should be about checking if a paper followed the scientific method, not about suppressing new ideas.

Comparison of the crisis in cosmology to the crisis in the financial markets, both in part created by using mathematical models divorced from reality.

Foreign Policy

Libyan parliament removes new prime minister win no confidence vote. How will anybody build a ruling coalition in Libya? This is another mess created by the US government and its allies.

War

Turkey returns fire on Syria for fifth day in a row. This article questions whether Syria is really attacking Turkey. It makes no sense, so it's unlikely. In fact, a week or two ago the news reported that the Syrian rebels moved their command base from Turkey into Syria. It seems more likely the rebels are shooting into Turkey and blaming it on the Syrians in order to draw Turkey, and all of NATO with them, into the war. The original article says the Turkish artillery has enabled the rebels to win a number of victories.

"That sounds pretty convenient. A false flag "attack" on Turkey by the rebels certainly fits the pattern thus far. ...This "shelling" then retaliation, then rebel seizure of border areas is having the effect of creating a de facto buffer zone inside of Syria from which the rebels and their US/Saudi/Qatari/Israeli partners can expand the fight further inside Syria. What an amazing coincidence that this "Syrian army" shelling is producing so many rewards and advantages for the rebels and their partners!"

That's convenient.

How Turkey blundered into the Syrian civil war.

"Turkey blundered into Syria's civil war soon after it erupted in March, 2011. Ankara allowed Syrian insurgent groups, funded and armed by Saudi Arabia, France, Britain, the US and Qatar, to operate from its soil. CIA established an important logistics and communications base for the insurgents at the US air base at Incirlik, Turkey. US, British and French special forces based in Turkey discreetly joined in the war to overthrow the Assad regime in Damascus – all part of Washington's undeclared but very real and intensifying multi-dimensional war against Iran, Syria's closest ally.
Each passing day of Syria's brutal civil war raises the risk that Turkey will send its armed forces into Syria, either to create so-called "civilian corridors"or no-fly zones to ground the Assad regime's air force. All-out NATO intervention led by the US could occur after American presidential elections."

Anything to loot more wealth from us.

"But the Kurdish independence movement has sprung again to life. Syria will very likely resume aiding Kurdish PKK fighters to exact revenge on Turkey for abetting anti-regime guerillas. This is a huge problem for Turkey as Kurds make up 15-20% of its population.
By fueling Syria's civil war, Erdogan has kicked the Kurdish hornet's nest."

If that happens, that would have been a major blunder.

"Interestingly, polls show a majority of Turks oppose Erdogan's Syria interventionist policies as dangerous and unnecessary. Foes on the left accuse Erdogan of restoring Turkey's Cold War role as America's policeman in the Mideast. Others see a secret plan by Ankara to restore Ottoman-era rule over Syria. France is also stirring the pot in Syria, eager to reassert its former influence in the Levant. America wants to stick its finger in Iran's eye. The British are there to pick up the crumbs."

What a mess.
 Philippines reaches peace agreement with Muslim rebeles.

Politics

Rasmussen has Romney ahead 49-47 in first full poll since debate.

Global Warming and Energy

Obama's government spent $2.6 billion on 1,500 solar projects in 2010 and 2011.

"A Government Accountability Office report shows that there were 65 federal initiatives to support solar technology in 2010 and 2011.
During that time, officials from six federal government agencies reported obligating $2.6 billion for more than 1,500 solar energy projects, with more than 90 percent of these obligations coming from the Department of Energy.
Of the $2.3 billion the DOE spent those two year, most — $1.7 billion — went to fund the Section 1705 loan guarantee program, the very same program that gave taxpayer backed loans to failed solar companies like Solyndra and Abound Solar.
Solyndra received a $535 million loan guarantee in September 2009 and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in August 2011 — the company laid off 1,100 workers, and prompted a congressional investigation.
Abound Solar closed a $400 million DOE loan guarantee in December 2010, and after years of selling reportedly faulty solar panels and drawing on $70 million of the loan guarantee, the company declared bankruptcy in June 2012. Abound’s bankruptcy happened just seven months after the company’s CEO called them the “anti-solyndra.”"

And check this out.

"Solar has also continued to grow over the past two years, adding more than 1300 megawatts of utility-scale capacity between the beginning of 2010 and June 2012, tripling the 619 megawatts of capacity in place at the end of 2009, according to the EIA.
However, solar energy is heavily subsidized — at nearly $970 million in 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s also one of the most expensive.
Using data compiled by the Institute for Energy Research, the Journal reported that solar energy subsidies cost $775.64 per megawatt hour. In contrast, sources like oil and gas cost only 64 cents per megawatt hour.
“So for every tax dollar that goes to coal, oil and natural gas, wind gets $88 and solar $1,212,” reports the Journal."

Wow.

Economy

A private survey discovered that job creation slowed down in September from August. That's quite a contrast the BLS statistics claiming unemployment dropped from 8.1 to 7.8 percent. What's even more bizarre is the private survey showed greater job creation than the BLS survey.

War

The UN finally acknowledges the revolutionaries in Syria, backed by the US and western governments, are terrorists.

Politics

Obama raised $181 billion in September. I hope everybody else is as turned off by the constant barrage of commercials and phone calls as I am. This puts Obama's total for the election near $1 billion.

"Though the campaign spent months discouraging talk that the Obama Victory Fund would raise $1 billion, the effort is close. By the end of August, Obama had raised $766 million and September's contributions bring that total to $947 million."

That pretty much guarantees he will top $1 billion before its over.

Hypocrisy of liberals.

"This Newsbusters headline should sum up this next selective outrage: Unlike the 2,000-Death Count in Iraq, ABC, NBC, PBS, MSNBC Skip 2,000 Marker in Afghanistan."

Conservatives are the same way.

At the same time one Obama spokesman blames Bush for the economy, another claims the Obama team never blamed Bush.

Obama's political appointees were involved in the decision to erase the pensions of 20,000 non-union workers at Delphi.

Tax and Spend

Study shows money should go to fix roads instead of building new ones, but politicians to the opposite to advance their own interests.

Five Obamacare taxes we have to look forward to.

Foreign Policy

In the six months after the US and NATO toppled Qaddafi and empowered al Qaeda in Libya, Obama and Clinton's state department cut security at US facilities, forcing them to rely on local militias. We all know how that turned out for four dead Americans.

Tax and Spend

Joe Biden admits Obama wants to raise taxes by a trillion dollars.

"You know the phrase they always use: ‘Obama and Biden want to raise taxes by a trillion dollars.’ Guess what? Yes, we do in one regard – we want to let that trillion dollar tax cut expire so the middle class doesn’t have to bear the burden of all that money going to the super wealthy. That’s not a tax raiser. That’s called fairness where I come from."

You can't make this stuff up. This is why Obama has basically gagged Biden this campaign, but not good enough. I've been reading news all evening, and I haven't seen this. I had to get it from Boortz. I'm going to lose a valuable source of info when Boortz retires.

Contrary to Obama's claims, Social Security is toast.

How does the government promote tourism?

"The federal government’s latest taxpayer-funded effort to promote U.S. tourism is dogged by lavish spending, cronyism, and questionable accounting, according to a report released Thursday by two U.S. Senators."

I'm sure the same is true of every government program.

Global Warming and Energy

Bureaucrats are using private computers anonymous emails to network with lobbyists and otherwise advance their cloak and dagger personal agendas in an attempt to thwart the FOIA law.

"These tactics range from the widespread use of private emails, hiding meetings with lobbyists, using “handles” and lobby groups as “cutouts” or go-betweens with pressure groups with whom the administration doesn’t want a paper trail. I even detail the White House arranging for a digital equivalent of a “safe house”, a privately owned and managed computer server on which to quietly conduct discussions about the IPCC presumably away from the taxpayers’ prying eyes.
But I also have an affidavit admitting to an elaborate system established by one activist agency — NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) — to view its emails remotely on a non-official computer, purchased with taxpayer money and used for the taxpayer’s business but access to which is being denied the government for inspection, whose use erases any trace of the records back on government servers."

No surprise at all which proves once again that the law can't protect us from government. The only way to protect ourselves from government's power of coercion is to abolish it.

Health Care

Government is giving people meningitis.

"The outbreak of fungal meningitis has been tied to steroid shots used to treat back pain. The steroid was custom-made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts, New England Compounding Center. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday also published the names of clinics that received the injections on its website."

Steroids are illegal except when government says they're not. Only government approved agents can prescribe them and only government labs can create and distribute them. That's why people are dying.

Education

Here's a perfect example, teacher predation of students covered up by administrators, of how government's power of coercion not only corrupts individuals, it institutionalizes corruption.

"Three faculty members at Triton Regional High School -- math teachers Jeff Logandro, 32, and Daniel Michielli, 27, both of Blackwood, N.J.; and health instructor Nick Martinelli, 28, of Cherry Hill, N.J. -- allegedly engaged in sexual activity and other misconduct with separate members of last year's senior class.
And when the school's top administrators were told of the alleged activities, Principal Catherine DePaul and Vice Principal Jernee Kollock worked to protect the teachers rather than turn them in, authorities allege."

A rational person might think that one example of this barbaric, institutionalization of corruption and abuse of children would wake every American up and motivate them to take away the government's power of coercion, but despite so many cases, it never happens. I realize that Americans were brainwashed in government schools, but surely they can overcome that. I'm always so disappointed they never do.

Government school teacher supports Democrats.

"A Philadelphia high school teacher is under investigation after she reportedly ordered a student to take off a t-shirt supporting Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and compared the shirt to a Ku Klux Klan sheet.
The incident occurred at Charles Carroll High School in Port Richmond. When the student refused the order, she tried to throw the girl out of class.
The teacher reportedly told the 16-year-old student that the high school was a “Democratic school” and then threatened to use a marker to cross out Romney’s name."

I predict nothing will happen to this teacher. She will return to class after being told to be more discreet in her oppressive support for Democrats.

Isn't it funny how, whenever a Democrat is president, claim to support the Constitution but they never demand the federal government abolish the Department of Education and all interference in education?

"That’s why neither the word “education” nor “school”  (or, for that matter, ”compelling national interest”) is in the Constitution, and even a commission created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that there is no constitutional federal role in education. Washington does have jurisdiction over District of Columbia schools, and a responsibility under the 14th Amendment to prohibit discrimination, but that’s it."

Don't tell conservatives, or liberals obviously.

War on Drugs

Border agent killed by friendly fire. Another victim of government's anti-some-drug policy. The FBI always claims it won't comment on ongoing investigations, but here it is. It's odd they're making this claim so quickly. Friendly fire is an easy way to cover up an insider murder too. The ubiquitous corruption caused by the war on drugs makes it impossible to know for sure what happened. In an environment in which the police are all legalized criminals, assaulting and stealing the property of others, you can never know.

Misc

People seem surprised that unlimited data plans are coming to end. Anybody who thought bandwidth was free was a fool. You can't get unlimited food for a flat rate. You can't get unlimited diamonds for a flat rate. You can't get unlimited data for a flat rate. You must pay for what you consume. This is a fundamental law of economics.

Both the Beatle's first single, Love me Do and the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, were released 50 years ago today. Wow. 1962 was the best year ever.

Local

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that anybody who wants to read the 36 page Soviet-style plan from the Downtown Dayton Partnership and comment on it in the next 11 days. Comment were open for 30 days, but this is just being reported today. This is designed to limit public comment so only government officials and representatives of big businesses have the time to comment. Here's my suggestion to turn Dayton around:

"The abominable experiment with big government in Dayton has produced a declining population for 50 years. Our terrible economy is just the latest symptom of long, government-driven decline. Forget central planning. It's always counter-productive. Abolish the Downtown Dayton Partnership. Stop stealing people's money to fund central planners who destroy wealth, and the people will use their own money to invest in or purchase from local businesses and create wealth that will enrich everybody in the region.

We need fewer bureaucrats and more producers. That means cutting government spending, abolishing bureaucracies wholesale, abolishing the income tax and lowering property taxes."

They'll probably ban my email.

Headline reads: "Bath salts traffickers plead guilty". Realistic as I am, if you had told me a couple of years ago this would be a headline today, I'd have laughed at you. If this headline doesn't make you realize our country is committing suicide by police state, I don't know what will.

Another power outage, this time in the worst neighborhood in Dayton with no wind and only light rain.

Apparently large, well-trained policemen can chase down 17 year old girls, pepper spray them, haul them back to the jail, strip them naked in private, then hose them down without fear of prosecution.

Police State

Boston airport replacing X-ray machines with millimeter wavelength scanners ostensibly to reduce cancer risk and nude-scanner ability.

Economy

The government claims the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent in one month. Baloney. Obama's cronies manipulated these numbers even more than usual to cover his terrible debate performance and give him a boost going into the election. Here's the last line of the article.

"A broader measure of unemployment—which includes job seekers as well as those in part-time jobs--held steady at 14.7% in September. "

Those two numbers can't both be true.

The stock market hit a five year high on the unemployment news. Isn't that rosy for the president. It's all a crock. The stock market is up because Ben Bernanke is printing an unending supply of counterfeit money to prop it up. This is all corrupt manipulation of the numbers.

Republicans are right: this is a manufactured October surprise. I'm sure Obama, Geithner and Bernanke have been planning it for months or longer.

""It appears that Obama has hired infamous Iraqi Information Minister Baghdad Bob to calculate the unemployment rate. Anyone who takes this unemployment report serious is either naïve or a paid Obama campaign adviser," Americans for Limited Government, a conservative group, said in a statement this morning. "

I agree. I guess it is possible over a million people dropped out of the work force. The Washington Post claims that the drop was not caused by workers dropping out of the work force like previous drops have been, so this number is just a lie. UPI reports people did drop out of the work force.

"The drop from 8.1 percent was made possible by the addition of 114,000 jobs in the month and the subtraction of 456,000 people from the workforce.
That figure is critical because 342,00 more people dropped out of the work force than found jobs."

This is terrible news, not good news like Obama pretends.

Here's the government employment summary. This confirms UPI's report:

"The unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today."

and,

"The number of unemployed persons, at 12.1 million, decreased by 456,000 in September."

But later it contradicts these numbers,

"The civilian labor force rose by 418,000 to 155.1 million in September, while the labor force participation rate was little changed at 63.6 percent."

So again, these things cannot all be true. They contradict each other. This report is a fraud. I understand they collect data through different methods, but that just makes the fraud easier.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is on the defensive, claiming there is no conspiracy to manipulate the numbers. What else would they say? Did you expect them to a conspiracy?

"In fact, the BLS says it does not at the moment have a single political appointee working in the entire agency."

So they're unaccountable to the people? How is that good for us? Those people can be fired.

"Haugen explained that one factor that likely led to the 0.3 percent drop in this month's unemployment is the fact that people in the 20-24 age group (including college students and people who are often working temporary summer jobs) left the job market this summer earlier than expected.
"In August you had an unusually large decline in employment" among that demographic, he said. Because the BLS does seasonal adjustments for its data, it was primed for a big decline in September, when young people have traditionally left the work force. "What happened was there was a big decline in August and not a decline in September. Because there was no decline [when it was expected] there's a big increase after seasonal adjustment.""

So now he's blaming it on the inaccuracy of the season adjustment. He wants us to believe it's pure coincidence that this year, for some unknown reason, young people left summer employment early just in time to make the unemployment rate look improved in the last report before the election. This is looking more and more corrupt to me.

""What we tell people is that you need to wait for additional months of data in order to see what the pattern is.""

So he intends to adjust the rate after the election. How convenient for Obama. I doubt this will have much effect on the election. Conventional wisdom says that people make up their minds about the economy during the summer before the election. I believe people believe their eyes more than government numbers. I doubt anybody out there was planning to vote for Romney because the official employment rate was 8.1 percent, but will now switch their vote because the official rate fell to 7.8 percent.

More people are forced to defend these bogus numbers, claiming there is no conspiracy. I love this. It's about time the American people started calling bull**** on everything government tells us.

""Bollocks,"' Wharton School economist Justin Wolfers said. "Once you understand how the numbers are collected and processed, you understand that it's literally impossible to fool with the numbers.''"

Fortunately for us, we can put this to the test. Let's see if these numbers stand the test of time. I predict they will be revised down after the election.

"Manipulating the unemployment rate would require the cooperation of thousands of people -- not to mention violating federal laws."

It might violate federal law, but the government violates federal law constantly, and Obama is the most lawless president in my lifetime. And I don't believe it would be that hard to fudge the numbers. All it would take was some non-random polling. For example, if the household survey just happened to survey more homes where young people quit work for the summer earlier than is typical, you might get exactly the result the BLS bureaucrat describes above. But to me the most important aspect of this controversy is people are finally beginning to distrust even the most mundane government reports as they always should have.

War

Air Force silenced general for criticizing Osprey.

The war on the border between Syria and Turkey is heating up. Turkey is a NATO ally, and the US backs Turkey against Syria. The freaks in Washington are probably salivating in hopes Syria will kill more Turks so they can use that as a pretense to invade.

"Also, Turkey's parliament passed a one-year measure approving military intervention into Syria if necessary. Under the Turkish constitution, the government needs that permission to operate outside Turkey."

What a quaint idea. Maybe we should add a provision like to our Constitution.

Global Warming and Energy

Frauds try to blame the warm period around the time of Jesus on the Roman empire and China's Han dynasty.

Local

It looks like liability issues have forced Kings Island to tear down Son of Beast despite it having no flaws.

Foreign Policy

Nearly a month after four Americans were killed by an al Qaeda affiliate, FBI investigators finally reach US consulate in Benghazi.

Tax and Spend

The federal government paid unemployment benefits to 2,362 millionaires. You think that's bad?

"In fact, these millionaires collectively raked in more than $20 million in unemployment benefits."

No matter how bad things are, they can always get worse. And they're going to get a lot worse for Americans.

Misc

Facebook tops 1 billion users. The CIA loves it.

Scientific fraud is growing. I'm sure it correlates with government spending on science.

Freedom of Speech

After seven years of litigation, Google reaches an agreement with publishers over scanning books which allows publishers to pull their books from Google's electronic library. This is a victory for copyright censorship. The whole point of copyright is to limit people's access to information. In what world is that a good thing? In practice it makes authors dependent of government for excessive profits they could not make in a free market, tending to make them more supportive of government in general and government interventions in the marketplace specifically. Copyright ends up empowering giant publishing corporations who are bed with the government and who restrict what books get published for readers. Nothing about this is good for the people.

Politics

Contrary to what I read last night, this writer says Obama looked clueless last night. It can never be a good for a president to look clueless. He said this debate was as one-sided as any he's ever seen. That's a pretty bold statement.

Liberal Reuters calls the debate a victory for Romney and claims Romney gained ground in the polls because of it. If the polls have moved that quick, they'll probably keep moving.

"The poll found that Obama's seven-point advantage over Romney had narrowed to a five-point lead, 48 percent to 43 percent, but a truly accurate reading on the debate's impact will not be possible for several days, he said."

Wow. They even reported that the polling will continue to change.

Romney has been campaigning for the presidency since 2007. Apparently last night this guy learned something:

"Are there still things we don’t know about Romney’s details?  Yes.  But, as he said, we do know the broad contours of his plans and we’re starting to get a firm grasp of the values that inform his decisions."

Are you kidding me? How stupid do you have to be the believe that Romney communicated this honestly for the first time in five years? This is a bunch of crap. Romney said what he thought would gain him the most votes. To his credit, he finally realized that saying the same thing as Obama wasn't working for him, so he said the same things Republicans always say when Democrats are in the White House, and conservatives fell for it and got excited about it the same way they always do. It's a charade, and the people who fall for time after time after time are fools. Apparently this guy learned something else last night.

"We’re finally getting to know Barack Obama.  The empty suit who led the throngs of adoring worshipers can no longer hide behind the supporting cast of left-leaning media."

It took him this long to get to know Obama? This guy isn't making himself look good.

"You’re not only learning how to be president, you seem to be learning more about the values of the Constitution.  No student is perfect, however, and you still have some growing to do.  I look forward to helping you accomplish that growth.  There are many others who will join me."

You got to be kidding me. Just use the standard conservative rhetoric, and they'll jump on your bandwagon like dogs on a bone.

Apparently Romney didn't cater to conservatives, but to moderates:

"He used the first presidential debate to speak out forcefully to its wide television audience against the idea of cutting taxes for the wealthy, noting that “high-income people are doing just fine in this economy.” Asked if there was too much government regulation, he answered, “regulation is essential.” And he praised the Massachusetts health care bill, calling it a “model for the nation.” "

He did all this, but conservatives are all tingly for him. You got to be kidding me. We are so doomed.

"Mr. Romney ran to the right in the Republican primaries in 2008 and this year, describing himself this winter as having been a “severely conservative” governor. This week, he pivoted to the center, as many political analysts had long expected him to do, seeking to appeal to more centrist general election voters."

Shifted to the center my a**. He's been running as big tax, spend and regulate liberal all along, and apparently he still is. This is no shift.

Police State

The UK has developed a new version of the national ID card: cell phones and social media. Expect that to come to the US any day. Maybe the CIA funded Apple as well as Facebook. This is another example of the government co-opting the private sector for its nefarious purposes.

Manson family member wins parole. I bet his is related to the state's budget problems.

Socialism

Swing voters wary of Obama-union connection.

SEIU President Andy Stern was Obama's most frequent visitor at the White House before Obama made him a member of Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Health Care

Top 10 drug company settlements.

Foreign Policy

Over two weeks after the attack in Benghazi, the US still has not secured the consulate, leaving sensitive documents available to anybody who wants to pick them up. They say the US can't get any personnel there to secure the site, but apparently reporters can get there and walk around just fine.

Misc

Why Korean companies out-compete Japanese companies.

"Frankly speaking, from what I've seen, Korean companies will continue to beat Japanese companies for the foreseeable future. There's no way out. Why? Because inside a Korean company, there are no factions fighting for position like what goes on at a Japanese company.
My Samsung friend put it this way,
"At a Korean company everyone is on the same bus and we are all going the same way. At a Japanese company, the leaders have a very difficult time getting everyone pointed in the same direction.""

That was AMD's problem too. Politics, fiefdom building and infighting stunted AMD's growth.

I agree that Roger Goodell is dragging the NFL into decline. This is a very insightful article. Goodell does act more like a tin-plated bureaucrat than a CEO. I still disagree about the Seahawks-Packers call. NFL officials routinely refuse to call pass interference on a hail mary, and I think different regular referee crews would have made different calls on that play because it was that close. What they wouldn't have done was make two different signals in the end zone. That was the real blunder because it was a PR blunder.

"Most people would laugh at any suggestion the NFL is in decline. Profits and television ratings continue to increase with no end in sight, they say. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. The NFL is a monopoly, or more accurately a monopsony buyer of football talent, which in turn comes from a single source – large, mostly government-controlled universities that sponsor college football. The other major North American sports can draw upon substantial foreign markets in addition to colleges. The NFL has never successfully developed an overseas market. And as American universities face dwindling state support and budget crises, football will become less and less relevant – especially as potential liability from brain-injury lawsuits increase."

The sports market is about to suffer a serious shock along with the rest of our economy.

"Goodell's single-minded obsession with his own authority has not driven customers away from games as such, but it's made the product much less enjoyable for the average fan. Bureaucracy always results in higher costs and lower quality, even when it's not immediately perceptible. "

That's right. Goodell is the first commissioner whose name I hear every day. We should never hear his name. He's trying to make himself bigger than the game, and he's taking the game into decline because of it.

War on Drugs

Analysis of government's drug policy.

"Most importantly, FDA-approved drugs and products help to make Americans fatter, weaker, dumber, sicker, poorer, and in general less healthy. We have been lulled into substituting prescription drugs for healthy lifestyles. "You don't need to correct unhealthy conditions in your life, just take this pill everyday for the rest of your life. The experts at the FDA have approved it and your doctor has advised you to take them." Collectively, this process is unconscionable, even though it is now considered normal."

Absolutely.

Socialism

Unionized government workers get paid by taxpayers to non-government work on behalf of the unions.

"Imagine thousands of government employees reporting to work each morning at their government offices and then doing no government work. They use government workspace, government telephones and government computers, all while working on projects unknown and unidentified to their government employers. They receive hefty taxpayer-funded salaries, promotions, bonuses and benefits, plus generous government pensions when they retire—all without doing any work on behalf of the taxpayer. Instead, they work as paid political operatives for powerful government unions.
Welcome to the common practice of "official time." Sometimes called "release time," it's a mechanism by which the government pays union officials to work on union matters during their government workdays. This mechanism—enshrined in law and contracts—is an enormous subsidy to public-employee unions, who defend it fiercely.
The Office of Personnel Management reports that federal employees spent over three million hours on official time in 2010, costing the taxpayers about $137 million in salary and benefits costs."

But because the work these people do promotes coercive unions, the damage done is much greater than the lost $137 million. This is another way government uses our tax dollars against us.

It looks like unions are trying to destroy American Airlines.

"The tweet referred to three separate incidents in which seats in American flights came unbolted from the floor, prompting an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and inspection of eight other jets.The loose seats on three American flights have added to concerns about the airline. American said the problems were related to the fixtures that attach the seats to tracks on the floor.
The Federal Aviation Administration sent inspectors to New York to physically inspect the American Airlines planes. The FAA inspectors are also visiting the maintenance facilities where work was done, said Lynn Lunsford, an FAA spokesperson.
Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, a U.S.-based airline passenger rights group, said the loose seats incident could have been the result of sabotage by upset union workers.
The airline has suggested that pilots may be behind the rise in reports of mechanical issues. The pilots union has denied calling any work action at American Airlines.
It says pilots have been documenting "serious maintenance-related issues" that must be reported under law."

It also seems like the workers are intentionally running the flights behind schedule.

"Since early September, American's cancellations and delays have greatly exceeded those at other airlines. "

"Flight operations at bankrupt American Airlines improved Monday, but a significant increase in flight delays and cancellations during the past three weeks is causing some travelers and travel agents to book flights with other airlines, industry officials said."

"American executives said members of the Allied Pilots Association have filed a significant increase in maintenance reports and adopted other tactics that led to a surge in late and canceled flights. "

Here's how it's affecting American's business:

"Alex Eaton, president of World Travel Service, the state's largest corporate travel agency, said the situation has caused difficulties for his clients and his agency.

"AA has been the carrier of choice for a majority of our clients for many years, so we have a lot of people booked on AA," Eaton said. "Without exception, every client has either been impacted directly by a flight cancellation or has asked what might happen if a flight is canceled and what, if anything, can be done to fix it. All well in advance of actually traveling.

"What has made this even more difficult is not simply the inconvenience but the uncertainty of the situation. We have had numerous complaints from clients, and I know of at least one company that has issued a companywide memo instructing travelers to avoid booking AA at all costs." "

Backgound. Duct tape on American Airlines engine in flight. Third flight has loose seats.

"Union workers, however, insisted this is not a case of sabotage. The Transport Workers Union of America released the following statement: “The facts are TWU has ratified agreements with the airline in recent weeks for all its members. Problems related to seats are less likely a labor problem, but rather a management issue related to outsourcing work to third-party facilities.”"

Even if it isn't a "job action", it could be the sabotage by disgruntled workers. Timco is the third party facility. Pilots calling in sick, canceling flights. On some days American cancels more than 5 percent of flights. American to cut 1,400 jobs.

"In his notice to the state on Monday, Waldron said that as many as 668 fleet service clerks and crew chiefs could lose their jobs at Miami International Airport, as well as 323 mechanics, 174 plant maintenance workers and 102 airport agents."

You know this is causing friction.

Economy

The middle class has lost income each of Obama's three years.

Politics

Biden has been awfully quiet this campaign, and this gaffe about the middle class being buried for the last four years explains why.

This picture of Obama and Romney happily smiling together exposes the two party charade. These guys are working toward the same goals: enriching themselves and the rest of our rulers at our expense, and whomever voters elect, that's exactly what will continue to happen.

Tax and Spend

Thomas Sowell explains why capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than guaranteed income.

Thomas Sowell really misses the point by focusing on the pay of politicians. No matter how much you pay them, the power of coercion will still attract the worst people in the country to government work, the worst of those worst will still rise to the top. Power corrupts regardless of how much people are paid. Besides which, becoming a politician is the fastest way to get rich.

NASA spends your tax dollars having Curiosity check in on Foursquare providing further evidence it's mission is humanity's most outrageous publicity stunt. I wonder how much Foursquare paid for this.

Media

Is the Weather Channel naming winter storms to provide better service or as a marketing gimmick. I bet on the latter.

Freedom of Speech

Head of the MPAA, corrupt Chris Dodd, admits SOPA and PIPA are dead, but government's assault on the internet will not stop.

It's good to see George Will highlight North Carolina's attack on blogger for promoting the paleo diet, bringing to the mainstream.

Federal Reserve

Protests in Iran over rapid printing of the currency. Apparently western intelligence agencies are printing it as well. This headline says Iran cracks down on money changers. I wonder if they used the biblical term to make Iranians look backward. Unsaid in these articles is how sanctions have reduced Iranian oil production.

"Iranian oil production, the backbone of the Islamic republic’s economy, fell by 12 percent in the first three months of the year and is likely to fall even more, industry experts say, as sanctions make it increasingly hard for the country to find markets for its crude.
The decline, documented in a May report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is sharply at odds with statistics provided by Iran’s Oil Ministry that register no significant change in output over the past year. But it is accelerating so fast that if current trends continue, Iran could lose its position as the second-largest crude oil producer in OPEC to Iraq by June 2013, the organization’s statistics show. "

Iran is also facing declining oil reserves which is why they need to develop nuclear power. Here's some more info.

"Security forces used tear gas and batons against demonstrators angered by a dramatic collapse in the national currency, the rial, which has lost about a third of its value against the US dollar since Sunday. The hour-by-hour decline of the currency provides vivid evidence of the damage wrought by international sanctions, which were imposed over Iran's nuclear program."
"Behind the rial's decline lies a precipitous fall in Iranian oil exports, which have dropped from about 2.5 million barrels per day last year to 1.1 million barrels in August, according to the International Energy Agency.
This has deprived Iran of billions of dollars of revenue and exposed the regime's failure to avoid the damage caused by sanctions."

This highlights why Iran would want a bomb. The predatory behavior of western governments is wreaking havoc and killing Iranians. It seems more stupid than ever to bomb Iran now. In fact, this could be considered a success for Obama's sanctions for people who like forcing others into misery.

War

Turkey targets Syria with artillery after Syrian mortar kills family in Turkey.

Police State

US anti-terrorism intelligence efforts are really anti-American intelligence efforts.

"A multibillion-dollar information-sharing program created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 has improperly collected information about innocent Americans and produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism, a U.S. Senate report concludes. It portrays an effort that ballooned far beyond anyone's ability to control."

The only surprise here is that the Senate admitted it. The government isn't scared of terrorists. They love the terrorists because they are an excuse for implementing a police state to control the people they're really afraid of: us. All of their programs are aimed at controlling us. These things are called fusion centers.

"“Top officials of the Homeland Security Department have known about the problems for years, but hid an internal department report on the program’s flaws from Congress while continuing to tell lawmakers and the public that the fusion centers were highly valuable … . A 2010 internal assessment by the department discovered, for instance, that four of its claimed 72 fusion centers did not exist, even as department officials kept using the 72 figure publicly with Congress."

Business as usual for government.

Appeals Court upholds indefinite detention of Americans.

Brazilian government plans to track all cars by RFID chip starting next year. No thanks.

What can stop the murders in Chicago? Dramatically reducing the burden of government in Chicago, Illinois and the US. This violence and corruption of the people are a reflection of the violence and corruption of the government that oppresses them.

Busted TSA agent describes how thoroughly government corrupts people.

"A TSA agent convicted of stealing more than $800,000 worth of goods from travelers said this type of theft is “commonplace” among airport security. Almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers since 2003. "
"Brown often worked alone, screening luggage behind the ticket counters. He was frequently told the overhead surveillance cameras, installed to prevent theft, were not working.
“It was so easy,” he said. “I walked right out of the checkpoint with a Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word.”
With more electronics than any one individual could need, Brown began to sell the stolen items on eBay. At the time of his arrest, he was selling 80 cameras, video games and computers online. Brown said the theft was comparable to an addiction.
“It was like being on drugs,” he said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ but the next day I was right back at it.”"

These aren't isolated incidents.

"“It was very commonplace, very,” Brown said, describing the frequency of theft within the TSA."
"But while Brown believes he might have been one of the worst thieves at the TSA, he imagines the agency’s culture makes it easy for others to do the same. Many officers don’t care about their work and complain about low pay and being treated badly, he claims, which prompts them to steal. To make it even easier to get away with, TSA managers also never search their employees’ bags."

The government steals our money in the form of taxes then pays these guys to steal from us more at the airport. We're the stupidest people in the world.

Federal Reserve

Voltaire is credited with saying, "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value -- zero." History of hyper-inflation. Yes, Virginia, it can happen here.

Health Care

Cheap diabetes drug proven to lower risk of cancer and prolong life of people with cancer, but neither the FDA, Big Pharma nor the media will publicize those results.

"Remember the big to-do that the New York Times created in 1998 over a cancer drug that a Nobel Prize winner said would "cure cancer in two years?" (That quotation was later denied.) On the day that news story was released the stock price soared for the company making the developmental drug then said to cure cancer. But for metformin, a drug first approved by the FDA in 1958, there is little fanfare. Its patent expired years ago and it is a generic drug with low profitability. A quick check on Google shows just six news outlets online are distributing the story. Of the 7 billion people on the planet, how many will learn of this?"

This is because Big Pharma and therefore the FDA and politicians profit from cancer, so they don't want to cure it.

Using grains to domesticate humans.

"Both Oppenheimer and Diamond would predict a strong connection between state power and grain production. Oppenheimer’s model required first herdsman, people with a mobile and reliable food source, and then farmers, sedentary people who could produce an even greater food surplus to produce the state, and according to Diamond all of these things are correlated historically and geographically. Both models agree with a disturbing idea: just as agriculture is the domestication of animals and plants, the state is the domestication of humankind. The only difference is the "cattle" are not eaten directly... yet."

Wow. This is shockingly obvious now that I read it, but it had never crossed my mind before.

Foreign Policy

US intelligence agents knew within a day of the attack in Benghazi that it had been executed by al Qaeda operatives, yet Obama continued to lie about it 15 days later at the UN. Obama lies even when it's not in his best interest. I'd call him a compulsive liar. Much like Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Libyan diplomats repeated requested increased security, but officials in Washington denied the requests.

"Issa, R-Calif. and Chaffetz, R-Utah said the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months before Sept. 11."

This keeps getting worse and worse for Obama, but it doesn't seem to be sticking. Here's an even more up to date report:

"Within hours of last month's attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, President Barack Obama's administration received about a dozen intelligence reports suggesting militants connected to al Qaeda were involved, three government sources said."

Somebody should paste a giant letter L on Obama's forehead.

Iranian official says Iran will enrich uranium to 60 percent to fuel nuclear submarines if nuclear talks fail. Why would he say this? Like Ahmadinejad's provocative speeches, this shows a fundamental disconnect in how Iranians think versus how Americans think. Maybe he thinks this will pressure western countries to compromise more in nuclear talks, but it makes it makes it more likely Israel or the US will bomb them. Why make it easy for politicians to kill them?

Tax and Spend

Lockheed Martin, the government's biggest contractor, reportedly will not send out layoff notices as required by law because of Obama's bribe promising to pay any legal penalties they incur for breaking the law.

Here's a great example showing how aggressively Obama is trying to trap people on welfare and collapse our economy under the burden of government: Obama administration officials have met with Mexican officials 30 times to promote food stamps for Mexican immigrants.

If scientists want to hide their work, all they have to do is reject taxpayer money. If they take taxpayer money, then the taxpayers have a right to see their work.

Two thirds of recalled scientific papers are recalled because of misconduct. This shows how badly government funding of science has corrupted the scientific community. Scientists who committed misconduct would lose their jobs in the private sector, but the government loves when they commit misconduct that promotes political causes.

Over a million people in Ohio have subsidized cell phones. That's nuts.

Local

Another wreck in I-75 construction directly attributed to construction barrels. More details.

Illegal Immigration

Romney says he will continue Obama's illegal policy of allowing young illegal aliens to stay in the US. I can't think of one Obama policy Romney would change. Romney knows he can't promise immigration reform, but he does.

"I’m not going to take something that they’ve purchased. Before those visas have expired, we will have the full immigration reform plan that I’ve proposed."

Baloney.

War on Drugs

Two border control agents killed along major drug smuggling corridor. Two more casualties of the illegitimate, unconstitutional US drug policy.

Politics

Another judge blocks another voter ID law, this time in Pennsylvania. The only reason to block these laws is to enable voter fraud.

Obama and the media are trying to downplay expectations for Obama because he can't defend his record.

Cato claims 70 percent of self-identified libertarians plan to vote for Romney. I'm skeptical.  If this is true, why are Republicans claiming Ron Paul supporters have abandoned Romney?

Mitt Romney is being schooled for his debate with Obama by the same guy who schooled loser McCain. I almost bust a gut on that one.

How many of the people who voted in Ohio today will illegally vote another time? I bet most. If we can't live in a free society, free from the oppression of our neighbors, then we should at least limit voting to one day.

Freedom of Speech

Upcoming international meeting about regulating the internet. Government's hate free speech, and international agreement will provide cover for regulation of the internet by the US.

Local

The water in my hometown was voted best tasting in the state. We always knew that.

Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Fast and Furious guns blamed for more deaths, but the guns didn't kill people. Those people would have been killed regardless of Fast and Furious because of the incentives created by government's war on drugs. It's a shame the Fast and Furious story has been isolated from the story of the war on drugs.

War

The Iraq war was a failure.

"And it is not a partner of the United States on any of the key issues in the region: From its evasion of economic sanctions on Iran to its support for the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad, Iraq stands in Tehran’s camp, not Washington’s. The reality is that the United States has not achieved its national-security objectives in Iraq and is not likely to do so."

This is pretty much exactly what many critics predicted back in 2003. If Americans had stayed ten more years, or 20, all this would still have happened once they left.

Afghan bomber kills 14 including three Americans. Two more Americans killed in gunfight with Afghan soldiers.

Foreign Policy

Here's disgusting portrait of what we've done to our country.

"Twitchy police and security men were everywhere. I watched President Barack Obama’s convoy race north along Park Avenue, guards pointing automatic weapons from open windows.
New York looked like an armed camp, or Damascus under siege. I did an interview at the Regency Hotel where Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was staying with an army of guards and press officials."

We're the stupidest people in the world.

"Crowds and supporters of the Iranian Mujahidin-i-Khalq, an anti-Tehran cult, were bused in from far and wide. I asked a black American wearing a yellow vest with pictures of the cult’s leader why he came. “They paid me to,” he replied. The mujahidin, formerly listed as terrorists by the US, had just been taken off the list thanks to Israeli help. Israel has supplied the mujahidin with fake nuclear “evidence” of Iran’s alleged weapons program. The muj, in turn, passed on the doctored info to US intelligence." 

"Netanyahu overplayed his hand at the UN, using a silly cartoon bomb and a red marker to press his demand the US attack Iran. Even many Israelis thought his bluffing went too far, carrying signs reading, “not now, not alone.” There is growing anger in the Pentagon, State Department and CIA over Netanyahu’s effort to provoke a US-Iranian War."

Don't you love our allies?

"The Israeli leader has shamelessly meddled in the US election, undermining President Obama and openly backing stumbling Republican Mitt Romney."

This might be a another reason Romney can't gain any traction against Obama. As much as Americans support Israel, they don't like foreigners publicly and flagrantly interfering in our elections.

Freedom of Speech

Copyright enforcement AI cuts off life stream of Hugo Awards. So government has so scared internet companies that they've created AIs to patrol against copyright infringement. Forget Skynet. The copyright AIs are already waging war on us.

Health Care

The five worst Obamacare taxes coming in 2013.

Economy

Business activity, unexpectedly according to government's fake experts, shrank in September. Doesn't that signal the start of a recession?

"Usually a CR spends at the same level as would result from continuing the previous year’s policies—in this case, $1.039 trillion. This CR’s additional spending, however, pushes the rate of spending to that consistent with the total spending level of $1.047 trillion provided in the Budget Control Act of 2011."

Nothing surprises me with these guys.

Media

MSNBC busted for editing video to harm Romney again.

Tax and Spend

Obama has warned government contractors to disobey the law regarding sending out notice of layoffs due to the government sequestration law that takes effect in January because those layoff notices would be coming right before the election. Now Obama has promised to use taxpayer money to fight lawsuits regarding the layoffs, but only for companies that break the layoff notice law. Obama is using our tax money to bribe companies to break the law.

House Republicans join Democrats to increase spending in 2013.

Our government over-taxes us in a big way, but that doesn't stop the UN from trying to tax us too.

Government defaults are already starting with postal service retirement benefit default.

"Because of congressional inaction, the U.S. Postal Service today defaulted on a $5.6 billion pre-payment for future retiree health benefits, the second such default in two months."

I like the author blames Congress instead of the Post Office for losing money.

Police State

TSA fails to notice handgun in passenger's purse. The passenger foolishly mentioned the handgun after she arrived at her destination only have a cop steal from her to "make if safe" in the name of the state. She should have just went about her business. The article also links a story of a cop in Philadelphia who, while "making a gun safe", accidentally discharged it. How would we survive without all this safety provided by the government?

Supreme Court declines to hear case against TSA nude scanners and gropes, tacitly allowing them.

Man turned down for job as a cop because he scored too high on the intelligence test. Decision upheld by federal court of appeals.

"Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took the exam in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125. But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training."

I don't think boredom is their real concern. I think independent thinking and the ability to see the true nature of government police is their bigger concern.

Politics

A couple of weeks ago, Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment trashed Ron Paul and his supporters by passing an ex post facto rule scripted on the teleprompter even though it failed to pass the voice vote. This culminated months of corruption undermining Paul and his supporters during the primary. But now that Romney appears to be in trouble, the establishment is blaming Paul supporters for not supporting Romney. Karma sucks, doesn't it?

Ron Paul supporters in the Republican Party sitting on the sidelines in Nevada. Romney is suffering from self-inflicted wounds. If he had followed the rules during the campaign, allowed the Paul delegates to go to Tampa then allowed them to vote for Paul on the first ballot, none of this would have happened. This is happening because Romney and the establishment broke the rules in order to screw over Paul and his supporters, and he angered and alienated them by doing so.

Misc

Scientists are predicting a newly discovered comet might become brighter than the moon. That would be awesome if it happened, but electrical universe proponents have a different view of comets.

"2012 S1 could indeed become a spectacular apparition in Earth’s sky, although this author recalls comet Kohoutek, the so-called “comet of the century,” which subsequently became synonymous with spectacular duds. However, 2012 S1′s chance depends on factors that have nothing to do with how much dust is on its surface, how much ice is contained in its nucleus, or how close it approaches the Sun. What will determine its fate is the electrical potential that will develop between the comet and the Sun. How much charge it will accumulate, and how rapidly that charge disperses are going to be the deciding factors."

Here's the trajectory shown in the post.

That's an impressively linear trajectory. If the trajectory was more circular, that would mean the comet was passing through increasing electric potential more slowly, giving it more time to balance charge. Since its approach is nearly linear, it should be experiencing greater electrical stress. Maybe that's why the comet is unusually bright even though its still very distant. If this is the case, it should be spectacular. It might even explode.

Based on this trajectory, this comet could only have come from far away. It's very unlikely then it was created in the solar system. The electrical universe theorists have to explain Kiuper Belt objects. Were they born from the outer planets then pushed beyond their electrical influence?

Does Ben Bernanke own a pot of gold?

Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, is an expert practitioner of Keynesian economics. He has formulas that dictate how much money he should print. Keynesians control every central bank on Earth, and they universally reject the gold standard in public. On the other hand, central banks all over the world are buying gold. Why the hypocrisy? So the question is, does Ben Bernanke, the most powerful central banker in the world, personally own a pot of gold? Does he believe what he says, or is he a hypocrite?