From In This Age of Plenty:
Why should the Government pay interest to a private banking system for the use of its own money, that it could issue itself without interest? This is exactly what the Social Crediters of the "Michael" Journal demand, when they urge the Federal Government to take back its power to issue the money for our country. Two famous Americans, industrialist Henry Ford (pioneer of the U.S. car industry) and inventor Thomas A. Edison (who, despite having attended school for only three months, managed to patent more than 1,000 inventions), also agreed with that proposal. What helped Ford and Edison, two great friends, to reach this conclusion is that they reasoned like engineers, who consider only facts and the physical laws of nature, contrary to most economists, who deal with arbitrary notions that many times do not fit with facts.
Ford and Edison were inspecting in 1928 the Muscle Shoals water power plant, built on the Tennessee River. They were interviewed by The New York Times", which reported these interviews in its issues of December 4 and 6, 1921. These interviews are reproduced in abbreviated form below, and the lessons they teach are just as valid today. (The information is taken from the May-June, 1998 issue of "The Social Crediter", 16 Forth Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LH, Scotland.)
Without the control of the Bankers, there would be no wars
"From the operation of this plant," Ford said, "many great things are possible, greater power production than this country has yet known... The one big thing which I see in Muscle Shoals is an opportunity to eliminate war from the world."
Mr. Ford was asked how this was possible.
"Just this way," he replied. "It is very simple when you analyze it. The cause of all wars is gold. We shall demonstrate to the world through Muscle Shoals, first the practicability, second the desirability of displacing gold as the basis of currency and substituting in its place the world's imperishable natural wealth...
"The essential evil of gold, in its relation to war, is the fact that it can be controlled. Break the control and you stop war. The only way to break the control of these international bankers, the way to end their exploitation of humanity forever, is to smash gold as a basis for the currency of the world..."
"But what have you to substitute?" he was asked.
"That's just where Muscle Shoals comes in," said Mr. Ford: "see what a spectacle we have. Army engineers say it will take $40,000,000 to complete the big dam. But Congress is economical just now and not in a mood to raise the money by taxation. The customary alternative is thirty-year bonds at 4 per cent. The United States, the greatest Government in the world, wishing $40,000,000 to complete a great public benefit is forced to go to the money sellers to buy its own money. At the end of thirty years the Government not only gas to pay back the $40,000,000 but it has to pay 120 per cent interest, literally has to pay $88,000,000 for the use of $40,000,000 for thirty years... Think of it. Could anything be more childish, more unbusinesslike!
[ ... ]
— "But suppose Congress doesn't see it, what then?" Edison was asked.
"Then Congress must fall back on the old way of doing business. It must authorize an issue of bonds. That is, it must go out to the money brokers and borrow enough of our own national currency to complete great national resources, and we must pay interest to the money brokers for the use of our own money.
"That is to say, under the old way, any time we wish to add to the national wealth, we are compelled to add to the national debt.
"Now, that is what Henry Ford wants to prevent. He thinks it is stupid, and so do I, that for the loan of $30 million of their own money, the people of the United States should be compelled to pay $66 million — that is what it amounts to with interest. People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt nor contribute to a pound of material, will collect more money from the United States than will the people who supply the material and do the work.
"That is the terrible thing about interest. In all our great bond issues, the interest is always greater than the principal. All of our great public works cost more than twice the actual cost on that account. But here is the point.
"If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good, makes the bill good also. The difference between the bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money brokers collect twice the amount of the bond and an additional 20 percent, whereas the currency pays nobody but those who contribute directly to Muscle Shoals in some useful way...
"It is absurd to say that our country can issue $30 million in bonds and not $30 million in currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurers and the other helps the people. If the currency issued by the Government was no good, then the bonds would be no good either. It is a terrible situation when the Government, to increase the national wealth, must go into debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control the fictitious value of gold."
~ more... ~
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
'Without the control of the Bankers, there would be no wars'
Colombia's Secret Police Activities Exposed
The documents showed what appears to be a political war against journalists, opposition groups and even members of the supreme court.
The evidence has led to the arrest of five former secret police officials.
Alvaro Urive, the Colombian president, has said he did not know about the unlawful activity, but the leaked papers appear to show links between the secret police and government officials.
Teresa Bo reports from Colombia's capital, Bogota.
Greenpeace Sues Dow, Sasol, Dezenhall for Corporate Spying, RICO
Today, Greenpeace filed a lawsuit against Dow Chemical, Sasol North America (which owns CONDEA Vista), and PR firms Dezenhall Resources and Ketchum, for hiring private investigators to steal documents from Greenpeace, tap our phones and hack into our computers.
First, we aim to put a dent in the arrogance of these corporate renegades who have for too long believed that ethics do not apply to their pursuit of ever-higher profits.
Second, we believe it is every citizen's right to stand up for the health of their children and community without fearing retribution, an invasion of privacy, conspiracy against them or theft of their belongings. We believe Dow and Sasol conspired to do this to Greenpeace; we aim to stop this before it happens to you.
Boxes of files from the security firm hired by Dezenhall Resources and Ketchum on behalf of Dow, Sasol North America, and other companies, reveal daily logs, emails, reports, phone records and other evidence that shows what these corporations were working to disrupt: the private lives of community members in Louisiana fighting to keep their communities free of toxic poisons and community meetings and efforts to educate the public about the public health threats posed by these companies. [see a sample of these files here]
The public relations firms involved - including Nichols Dezenhall (now known as Dezenhall Resources) and Ketchum - acted as intermediaries between the chemical companies and the private investigator spies.
~ more... ~
December 7 Is The Unofficial Pan-European Bank Mutiny Day
by Tyler Durden
After German blog "All is Smoke and Mirrors" floated an idea of an organized bank run (something attempted previously in the US without much success) in France in response to French austerity protests (which have resulted in no gains), the effort has since expanded to a pan-European organized bank run day on December 7, 2010, and has metastasized to Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Greece. We are confident that very soon the rest of Europe, which is currently gripped in a climate of extremely unpopular austerity, will join in this symbolic protest against banking, which unlike the US, may just succeed, considering the European banking system is in total shambles, and in far worse shape than its American counterpart.
Since virtually all actions in 2010 by the global central banking cartel have been geared toward stabilizing the European banking system which continues to wobble on the edge of a complete systemic collapse, perhaps the marginal withdrawal of a few billion in deposits could be just the straw that forces a reset first in Europe, and shortly thereafter in the rest of the globalized developed (and then developing, proving what a joke the whole concept of decoupling is) world. As America has demonstrated so very well, 25 weeks of consistent withdrawals from domestic funds (sorry CNBC, there have not been inflows yet, confirming yet again that fact and propaganda don't mix yet) have resulted in a quarter in which bank earnings were simply said crushed. Had Americans followed through and withdrawn their deposits from banks it would have been the final straw. Luckily, the lack of organization among the US population gave the US banking system a reprieve. In Europe things are different: banks are not as reliant on trading, however, they are far more reliant on a stable deposit base to sustain the Ponzi. Therefore, even a partially successful withdrawal campaign could have far more dire consequences to the continent's banking system, and bring the financial system to its proverbial knees.
And before some accuse the blog's activism of some vile form of megalomaniacal quackery, we should highlight that the action has already been noted by such reputable newspapers as Suddeutsche Zeitung. Furthermore, in just 24 hours 1,500 readers have pledge their support to the action's various Facebook support sites, and another 48,000 are on the waitlist. We hope that more alternative media (the mainstream will unlikely support such a radical venture) catches on, and more Europeans realize they have all to gain and little to lose from forcing the balance of power to shift away from the banks, and into the hands of the people.
~ more... ~
Was FBI Grooming Portland Puspect for Terror?
FBI undercover operatives helped fund Mohamed Osman Mohamud's would-be terrorism plot to detonate a car bomb during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on Friday at a crowded public square in the heart of the city.
Operatives helped him find components needed to create a bomb and schooled the 19-year-old Somali-born man in how to set off the explosives.
The sting operation enabled the FBI to amass a formidable amount of details about what a grand-jury indictment Monday charged was Mohamud's attempt to use a car bomb as a "weapon of mass destruction."
But Mohamud's attorneys and some local Muslims are raising questions about whether the operatives who posed as co-conspirators played their role too well.
Defense attorney Steve Sady questioned whether the operatives were "basically grooming" Mohamud to try to commit a terrorist attack.
"The information released by the government raises serious concerns about the government manufacturing a crime," according to a statement released by Sady and Steven Wax, public defenders assigned to represent Mohamud.
~ more... ~
Interpol puts Assange on most-wanted list
Interpol, at the request of a Swedish court looking into alleged sex crimes from earlier this year, has put WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on its most-wanted listed.
The Stockholm Criminal Court two weeks ago issued an international arrest warrant for Assange on probable cause, saying he is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force in August incidents.
Sweden asked Interpol, the international police organization, to post a "Red Notice" after a judge approved a motion to bring him into custody.
The "Red Notice" is not an international arrest warrant. It is an advisory and request, issued to 188 member countries "to assist the national police forces in identifying or locating those persons with a view to their arrest and extradition," according to Interpol.
The Swedish court ordered Assange, 39, formally arrested in his absence, which requires Swedish authorities anywhere in the world to detain Assange if they come across him. Sweden's director of prosecutions, Marianne Ny, had requested the arrest-in-absence.
~ more... ~
image from http://www.spitting-image.net
