NIA New Email - 11/30/11

The Federal Reserve along with the European Central Bank, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, Bank of England, and the Swiss National Bank are all lowering their U.S. dollar swap rates by 50 basis points! This is going to create massive worldwide monetary inflation and flood the world with U.S. dollars!

The Fed claims that these coordinated actions will enhance their capacity to provide liquidity support to the global financial system in order to "ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity."

It was also announced this morning that arrangements have been made to establish temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements so that liquidity can be provided in each jurisdiction in any of their currencies should market conditions so warrant. Although the Fed said, "there is no need to offer liquidity in non-domestic currencies other than the U.S. dollar" at this time, the stage is now set to create massive worldwide monetary inflation in other fiat currencies as well. The whole entire global fiat currency system could soon come to an end. The only solution to the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis will be a global digital gold backed currency.

NIA believes China will soon announce that they have dramatically increased their gold holdings to backup their rapidly growing foreign currency reserves, which have now reached $3.2 trillion. China's central bank just announced this morning that they are lowering their reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to 21% from 21.5%!

NIA considers precious metal stocks to be extremely undervalued at this time and we believe they are set to outperform gains in gold and silver in the months ahead. We believe silver stocks have the most upside potential and that silver exploration stocks, although the most risky, could be the biggest silver gainers.

An artist you should get to know...

I found this artist on Ebay.  Boy I love her stuff.  Here are two of her watercolors that I just had to have.  She is located out of Memphis and her ebay name is laniehase.

Pretty arent they?

Scrapbooking Freebie Friday - Late sorry!

You dont have to have the My Memories software to use this!

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1


Every Friday I'll be posting a free scrapbooking kit you can use. Just click the above link and download it to your computer. Play around with it and come back here and show and tell...Cant wait to see what you have created!

All my readers/friends get $10 off if you decide to purchase My Memories Suite V3 (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software) and $10 coupon for any purchases from My Memories store.

Cut and paste this code at checkout to get your discount STMMMS94069

Frosty the Snowman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU3SKtJbNu8

Enjoy!

Too Funny!

This is Penny.  Penny isnt supposed to be in with the chickens.  I went to let the cats in and she didnt come in so I called to her and I hear this little mournful meow coming from the chicken area...I dont know how she did it but she was inside the fence.  I think maybe she was chasing a sparrow and jumped over.  I made her wait until I got the camera LOL.  Of course the chicks thought I was bringing them something to eat.  Poor little Penny.  Those birds are bigger than she is ;)  Still makes me laugh looking at it.

No cats or chickens were harmed in the making of this pic.  My cats actually get along with the chickens.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my readers, friends and family!  You really cant be too thankful for all you have.  It is a wonderful life ;)

How to clean and store garlic bulbs

This is a bowl of garlic that I harvested from my garden.  Garlic is very easy to grow.  I took some pics on how I clean it up to store it.  You dont even have to wash the bulbs off either.  First take a bulb and

cut off the root end.  Then

start taking off the outer layers of skin.  Some of the outer layers will have mold.  See in the pic?  Just take as many layers off that have the mold on them and

look at that!  It looks just like store bought but much better tasting.

Here are some walking onions I also harvested.  Boy are they strong.  Dont need much in any recipe...

And here is all of them cleaned and stored in a mesh bag.  I saved the bag from some onions I had gotten at the store.  Now just put your cleaned garlic in a dry, cool, dark place.  I store mine in my pantry.  This is my whole harvest and should last us until next year.  Any bulbs that we havent eaten get replanted next year. 

How to make tartar sauce

I make my own tarter sauce with my homemade relish and some mayo.  Just combine a couple of tablespoons of relish with a couple  of tablespoons of mayo in a small dish.

And presto, you have tartar sauce.  So good on fish.

Vacation pics

This was on the way to the Lodge factory up in the mountains.  There is a look out with a wide vista of the land below.

Hubby checking out the underside of the look out.

We went to the top of the look out and you had to climb the stairs to get there.  It was drizzling and I was in my sandals and there was graffiti painted on some of the stairs and on the top of the big rock...Hubby thought I was going to fall.  It was much easier getting up than going down.  No handrails....and the drop was straight down...

But boy it was sure pretty even on a wet day.  We had to wait until we came back from the Lodge factory to stop as it was also very foggy up that high in the early morning but not so much when we came back.  Doggone it if I cant go to a jail museum or a train museum I'm at least going to crawl up some wet rocks to look over a valley :)

Where to find a spring in your area...

http://www.findaspring.com/

Want to know who owns the organic brand you use...

Well here you go:

http://www.cornucopia.org/who-owns-organic/

Good Morning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu6--WBPBHo

Hard to believe Debbie Reynolds was pregnant when she did this number...

Scrapbooking Freebie Friday

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3


Every Friday I'll be posting a free scrapbooking kit you can use. Just click the above link and download it to your computer. Play around with it and come back here and show and tell...Cant wait to see what you have created!

All my readers/friends get $10 off if you decide to purchase My Memories Suite V2 (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software) and $10 coupon for any purchases from My Memories store.

Cut and paste this code at checkout to get your discount STMMMS94069

A picture is worth a thousand words...

What is this pic of you ask...well this is charcoal from our little grill.  Seems hubby decided to dump the coals which he thought were out on the patio...hmm.  They werent out and the above pic is what you get when you throw a pail full of water on still hot coals.  He wont do that one again LOL. 

Nice pic of the fence huh?

Tikki caught rolling in the freshly seeded plot...

Lucy looking for trouble

and she might have found it.  Tikki getting close (sorry couldnt flip the pic).

And closer...

Martha looking lovely as usual.

I see you!

Lettie RIP died today 11/16/11.

Lucy...

And another of Lettie

 Lookin' good...

Lettie died today and we buried her in the backyard before the rains came.  She had been sick for some time but had been feeling better the last couple of days but this morning we found her outside the coop.  She is the first chicken we have lost.  We will miss her.  She was a good layer.

Things have been happening....

Sorry I've been not posting as much as I should.  About four weeks ago hubby and I went for a mini vacation (overnight).  When you have chickens it's hard to get away for longer than that.  We went to the Lodge outlet store http://lodgemfg.com/ in South Pittsburg, TN.  It's right by the factory and although they dont give tours, they do have a video running in the store that you can watch.  They have seconds in the back with little nicks and such that dont affect the cookability (is that a word?) of the cast iron.  They have a lot of other kitchen items and camping items too. 

We stayed overnight in a Motel which was really nice and clean.  And if you thought going to the Lodge outlet store wasnt exciting enough, we were going to go to the Jail Museum but didnt cause they were closed...darn.  We even went to the Railroad Museum but guess what?  They werent open either.  Guess Mondays arent a good day.  Anyway we had a nice two days out and on the way home stopped at Swiss Pantry and had a really good sandwich. 

We got home and the cats were all sleeping but the chickens were happy to see us.  Well maybe it was the spinach they were happy to see...chickens remember food LOL...

The Molly man sleeping in my clothes basket.  See what he does?  He moves all the clean clothes out of it.  Cant get too upset with him.  After all he is over 20 years old and has a hard time finding a comfortable place to sleep...

More coming up!

Denise

Singin' in the Rain....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ

Even though we're in a tornado watch you gotta love Gene Kelly.  When's the last time you jumped into a mud puddle on purpose?

Snow, snow, snow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AToEzwZSfk

Using outside content in My Memories Suite tutorial

http://vimeo.com/31468394

All my readers/friends get $10 off if you decide to purchase My Memories Suite V2 (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software) and $10 coupon for any purchases from My Memories store.

Cut and paste this code at checkout to get your discount STMMMS94069

Suzy Snowflake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYDdm3fZiM

It just wouldnt be winter without this little film.  I even dressed up like Suzy Snowflake one halloween.  Dont remember it cause I was only 3-4 years old but I still love to see this one.  Hope you enjoy it too.  Used to play it every winter on KDKA in Pittsburgh.

Veteran's Day!

Italian economy...

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/10/as-italian-drama-persists-fears-of-credit-crunch-spread-to-smal/

I think this is more than just a "hiccup" as stated in the article.

Scrapbooking Freebie Friday

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_2

Every Friday I'll be posting a free scrapbooking kit you can use. Just click the above link and download it to your computer. Play around with it and come back here and show and tell...Cant wait to see what you have created!

All my readers/friends get $10 off if you decide to purchase My Memories Suite V2 (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software) and $10 coupon for any purchases from My Memories store.

Cut and paste this code at checkout to get your discount STMMMS94069

NIA New Email - 11/9/11

ECB Preparing Italy Bailout, Massive Inflation Coming

Italy's 10 year bond yields rose above 7% on Wednesday and economists from around the world are now proclaiming that these interest rates are unsustainable with Italy's national debt now 120% of its GDP. NIA believes the ECB is currently working on their largest bailout in history where they will commit to purchasing over €1 trillion of Italian bonds and bonds of other eurozone countries that are at risk of becoming insolvent. Despite the signals currently being given by the ECB, they will not allow Italy to fail because it will cause a Great Depression throughout the European Union, which will lead to the destruction of the eurozone.

Economists today fail to realize that 10 year bond yields of 7% are normal for not just Italy, but the rest of the eurozone and the United States. If it wasn't for the ECB holding their benchmark interest rate at artificially low levels for over a decade, Italy and other eurozone countries wouldn't have the high levels of debt they do today and they would be able to withstand yields of 7% or higher. The ECB is entirely at fault for the European Debt Crisis and they are about to follow in the footsteps of the Federal Reserve by abandoning their objective of maintaining price stability and keeping inflation low.

German 10 year bond yields declined again today to 1.72% and the spread between Germany and Italy is at a new record of 553 basis points. Germany is benefiting from safe haven buying from investors selling Italian bonds and buying German bonds, but investors will soon realize that German bonds are no better than Italian bonds and the world will dump all Euro denominated bonds.

Bond investors currently expect very little inflation in the eurozone, as seen by Germany's low bond yields. The sole reason for the large spread between German and Italian bonds is Italy's greater risk of default. However, a default by Italy would lead to the failure of Germany's largest banks. Germany knows this but they don't want to raise inflation expectations by making the world think that the ECB will be monetizing Italy's debt. Therefore, Germany is now telling Italy to request aid from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) if needed.

Unfortunately, the EFSF doesn't have the financial resources to rescue a country the size of Italy. Last week, the EFSF had to cancel a €3 billion auction of 10 year bonds due to a lack of investor interest. On Monday, the EFSF finally had the bond sale, but was met with subdued interest that barely covered the €3 billion in bonds being offered. So far the EFSF has only raised a total of €13 billion through bond sales, but has received €440 billion in guarantees from eurozone countries. If Italy becomes a recipient of EFSF funding, the EFSF will lose one of their largest contributors.

The EFSF is looking to leverage up its €440 billion in funding to over €1 trillion. The European Debt Crisis was caused by too much leverage and debt. It is complete insanity to believe that the EFSF is going to solve the debt crisis when it too is getting deeply into debt and planning to use huge leverage to increase their funds available for bailouts.

There was recently a report that a proposal was made at the G20 summit last week in Cannes for Germany and other leading countries in the eurozone to pool together their foreign currency reserves including their gold reserves to back the EFSF, which would allow it to easily leverage up their funds and raise more money through bond sales. As soon as this report surfaced, Germany immediately announced to the world that they will not be using their gold reserves to boost the EFSF and that their gold reserves are "untouchable".

Germany's unwillingness to use their gold reserves clearly shows that gold is the real safe haven where individuals should store their savings if they want to keep their purchasing power. Investors buying German 10 year bonds with a yield of only 1.72% should ask themselves why Germany is willing to fund the EFSF with Euros but not their gold. Maybe investors will come to their senses and change their mind about buying any Euro denominated bonds.

For the past decade there has been a bond bubble in both Europe and the U.S. where we have seen bond yields at artificially low levels for an unprecedented amount of time. This has caused modern economists to believe that low bond yields are the new normal. When central banks interfere in the free market by manipulating interest rates to artificially low levels, it creates asset bubbles that eventually burst. When asset bubbles burst, the free market takes over and attempts to correct the damage by raising interest rates to extremely high levels, which encourages consumers to reduce their consumption and increase their savings.

NIA believes that over the next five years, 10 year bond yields will reach double digit territory throughout the eurozone and the U.S. The free market wants countries like Greece and Italy to default on their debts and restructure them, which is why their bond yields are rising so high. Although Greece and Italy have the highest debt levels in the eurozone as a percentage of GDP, the whole entire eurozone borrowed too much and has too much debt. Germany and France both know that the failure of Italy will spread to them when German and French banks with Italian debt begin to fail. The EFSF will soon be exposed as a failure itself when it is unable to attract the funding necessary to rescue eurozone countries in need of bailouts. Unless the ECB decides to bailout eurozone countries through the EFSF by buying their bonds, the ECB will be forced to directly monetize debts across the entire eurozone.

Even though the destruction of the eurozone seems imminent, NIA believes it will take time to play out. Most likely, in about two or three months from now the media will begin focusing its attention on the U.S. crisis. When the spotlight is off Italy, their bond yields will temporarily dip back down, but U.S. bond yields will skyrocket. The U.S. national debt is very close to breaking 100% of GDP, which will likely be a catalyst for investors to begin dumping their U.S. dollar denominated assets. The U.S. has unfunded liabilities many times the size of Italy's unfunded liabilities. Including unfunded liabilities, while Italy's total debts are approximately 300% of their GDP, the U.S. has total debts equaling about 600% of its GDP.

Austerity cuts are becoming very common in the eurozone and although citizens still protest them, it has become politically acceptable for politicians in Italy and other eurozone countries to support them. Italy's cash budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is currently only 3.9% and their national debt has been barely growing. The U.S. cash budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is currently 8.7%, more than double Italy, and the U.S. national debt has been growing at a record rate. Americans are used to stimulus over austerity. Members of Congress are too afraid to make necessary spending cuts. The U.S. has a budget deficit from entitlement programs and interest payments on the debt alone.

The supercommittee created by Congress to recommend $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions by November 23rd, so far hasn't agreed to make reductions to any entitlement programs. The Democrats and Republicans have so far only reached consensus on changing the way the government calculates inflation for Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) increases. They want to calculate inflation by using a new chain weighted CPI, which will understate inflation even more than the current CPI they use.

Based on how the current CPI has been miscalculating inflation for decades, Social Security recipients today should be receiving approximately triple their current payments. All Americans should be outraged that the government is planning to once again reduce the deficit through deception, when they should be eliminating wasteful government agencies like the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the Department of Homeland Security, while bringing our troops home from the middle east and immediately cutting overseas military spending in half so that we have the resources to better protect ourselves at home.

The extremely high levels of debt in both Europe and the U.S. need to be liquidated as soon as possible. If Italy can't sustain itself with 7% interest rates, which is only average on a historical basis, think about how large the crisis will be in the U.S. when interest rates here reach 15% as price inflation spirals out of control. Less than three months ago Italy's interest rates were below 5%. Fundamentally, Italy's economy is the same as it was three months ago, but perceptions in the marketplace change quickly. Today, U.S. treasuries are still perceived to be a safe haven, but this will change 180 degrees in no time.

Just like how the U.S. government understates inflation when calculating COLA adjustments, they also understate inflation when calculating GDP growth. The U.S. recently reported 3Q GDP growth of 1.62% on a year-over-year basis, which used a price deflator of only 2.52%. If they used the real rate of price inflation, they would have reported negative GDP growth. The Federal Reserve just lowered forecasts for U.S. GDP growth in 2012 to between 2.5% and 2.9%, down from a forecast in June of between 3.3% and 3.7%. In order to ensure that we even meet the Fed's new projections, the Fed will soon be launching QE3. NIA predicts that the Fed will use fears of contagion from the European Debt Crisis as their excuse for launching QE3 in the near-future. Combined with massive inflation from Europe as the ECB monetizes debt to save banks with exposure to Italian bonds, gold will soon skyrocket to new all time highs with silver likely beginning to once again outperform gold.

If you would like your friends and family members to be among the first to see NIA's 'Occupy Wall Street the Documentary' coming soon, please tell them to become a member of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

NIA New Email - 11/07/11

European Debt Crisis Facts and Truth

The mainstream media as of late has been focusing its total attention on the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and seemingly has forgotten that we have a much larger debt crisis in the U.S. that hasn't gone away and is only getting worse. Many global economists have been saying in recent weeks that if the European Central Bank (ECB) only went the way of the Federal Reserve, eurozone nations wouldn't be in the desperate situation they are in today. NIA believes that the ECB has already been acting just like the Fed, just not to the same extent.

Mario Draghi just took over as the new President of the ECB and as his first act in office, Draghi lowered the ECB's benchmark interest rate by 0.25% to 1.25%. The ECB's interest rate of 1.25%, while not quite as low as the Fed Funds Rate of 0% to 0.25%, is still very inflationary. The ECB's primary stated objective has always been maintaining price stability and containing inflation. However, with all of the rioting and civil unrest that took place in Greece in response to major austerity cuts, public officials in countries like Spain have been putting pressure on the ECB to abandon their objective to maintain price stability and instead focus on helping fuel growth.

In May of 2010, eurozone countries along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to rescue Greece from default by giving them a €110 billion loan. Of the €110 billion loan, eurozone countries agreed to contribute €80 billion of the funds, including Germany providing €29.3 billion and France providing €22 billion. The IMF agreed to contribute the remaining €30 billion.

Unfortunately for Greece, their bond yields have been skyrocketing and they have been finding it difficult to raise money on their own. Greece is now in need of additional rescue funds. In July of 2011, after Greece's two year bond yield rose as high as 40.46%, European leaders negotiated in Brussels a deal to provide Greece with a new bailout of €109 billion in rescue loans. After this deal was announced, Greece's two year bond yield declined to 25.66% in just two days.

In August, Greece's two year bond yield started to surge once again, surpassing July's high of 40.46%. In mid-September, Moody's downgraded the credit ratings for the eight largest Greek banks, sending the two year bond yield to a new high in September of 84.52%. In early October 2011, Greece raised their 2011 budget deficit estimate as a percentage of GDP to 8.5%, well short of the 7.6% target that Greece promised to meet as a condition of the bailout package agreed to in July.

In late-October, European leaders abandoned their proposal from July and announced a new shocking bailout plan for Greece. Not only did they agree to give Greece new rescue funding of €130 billion, but in an additional part of the agreement, banks holding Greek bonds have agreed to accept a 50% haircut on the money they are owed by Greece. Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou, instead of accepting the deal on his own, announced that he was going to hold a referendum so that Greek citizens can vote on the deal.

Papandreou's proposed referendum infuriated leaders of Germany and France, who expressed their frustrations with Papandreou and threatened to pull the plug on the bailout deal. Greek bond investors once again panicked, sending the two year yield all the way up to a new high of 107.26%. Papandreou later announced that he was canceling the referendum, but still faced calls from the opposition to resign. Papandreou survived a confidence vote this weekend but is planning to soon step down to allow the creation of a new national unity government.

NIA believes that the best decision for Greece and its citizens would be to turn down the new bailout deal and declare bankruptcy. Greece would be best off leaving the eurozone and creating their own fiat currency. The bailouts are doing nothing to help the citizens of Greece, they are only helping the German and French banks that recklessly purchased Greek bonds at artificially low interest rates. If Greece declares bankruptcy, the country won't self-destruct. All of their infrastructure will still exist, but their debts will be eliminated and Greek citizens will enjoy a higher standard of living.

The only good news to come out of the European debt crisis so far is that the banks are willing to accept a 50% haircut on their Greek bonds. If the U.S. is going to survive its debt crisis without creating hyperinflation, it will need to convince its creditors to take an even larger haircut on U.S. treasuries. Unfortunately for Americans, the U.S. will never admit that it can't pay back its debts. The U.S. debt crisis is even worse than Greece, but the U.S. has a printing press that it will use to pay back China, Japan, and our other creditors, which will steal the remaining purchasing power of American citizens who don't have their savings in gold and silver.

The uncertainties and fears surrounding Greece are now spreading to Italy, which saw its 10 year bond yield skyrocket in recent days to a new Euro-era high today of 6.66%. Greece's liquidity problems began last year after their 10 year bond yield rose above 6%. Many people believe that Italy is becoming the next Greece and is now at risk of defaulting on its debt.

Even though Italy's debt to GDP ratio is 120%, the second highest out of eurozone countries behind Greece, Italy's budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is among the lowest in the eurozone at only 3.9%. It is insane for Italy's 10 year bond yield to be 6.66% with the U.S. 10 year bond at only 2.04%. The U.S. has no chance of ever balancing its budget and will likely see its deficit explode to new highs in the years ahead. Italy, on the other hand, could realistically balance its budget if it implements reform measures to cut spending.

NIA believes that Italy's 10 year bond yield is near a short-term peak because everybody has become negative on Italy all at once. It will likely decline back below 6% in the near future as Italy implements more austerity cuts. America's strategy to grow its way out of its own debt crisis will only create massive price inflation without any real economic growth. Before long, U.S. bond yields will surge faster than anybody has ever seen in history. In a few months, the media will forget about Italy and focus their attention on the U.S.

Although a 10 year bond yield for Italy above 6% may be a new high for the Euro-era, Italy's 10 year bond yield averaged well above 6% for many decades before the eurozone was created. Italy made a major mistake by joining the eurozone. Before joining the eurozone, Italy was able to survive even when their 10 year yield reached a high of 13.75% in 1995. After joining the eurozone, Italy was able to borrow money at interest rates that were manipulated to artificially low levels by the ECB. If Italy's bond yields were still being set by the free market this past decade, they would have no where near the level of debt they do today.

Many investors selling Italian bonds are now buying German bonds, because Germany has a low debt to GDP ratio and one of the world's largest manufacturing bases. German 10 year bond yields are now 1.78%, a record 488 basis points below Italy. This huge spread will not last and NIA believes investors are making a mistake by buying German debt over Italian debt. There is no chance of Italy being allowed to default on its debt. If Italy ever gets to the very edge of insolvency, Germany and France will allow the ECB to monetize Italy's debt. If Italy went bankrupt, many of the largest banks in Germany and France would fail. The ECB will not allow this to happen.

As bad as things are in Europe today, with the media making it seem like Euro Armageddon is fast approaching, you would expect the Euro to currently be collapsing on a daily basis. The Euro, which ended last year at $1.34, has risen so far in 2011 to $1.38. This shows that even with all of the inflation being created by the ECB, it is nothing compared to the inflation being created by the Fed. The U.S. is lucky for the European debt crisis because it is taking attention away from our problems and allowing the Fed to secretly prepare QE3 while our bond yields are still near record lows.

If you would like your friends and family members to be among the first to see NIA's 'Occupy Wall Street the Documentary' coming soon, please tell them to become a member of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

17 uses for baking soda

http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/leafy-greens/17-uses-for-baking-soda.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_content=NHG+eNews+11.10.11&utm_campaign=NH_ENEWS&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email

Random check points

http://www.infowars.com/tennessee-joins-tsa-in-creating-random-check-points/

This kinda makes me nervous....

Are you eating irradiated foods?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/05/why-are-your-spices--seasonings-exposed-to-half-a-billion-chest-xrays-worth-of-radiation.aspx?e_cid=20111105_DNL_art_3

Check out the article to see the symbol they use for irradiated foods...

American Christmas email ---

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high
gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --
Merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This
year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine
concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift
giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes
there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in
a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?
Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates
from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some
health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned
detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a
book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down
the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift
receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or
driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift
certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about
a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this
isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town
Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or
motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a
local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is
struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin
their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery
and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave
your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at
your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese
lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about
fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to
burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that
China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about
US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow
their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our
communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion
groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations,
and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other,
and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Scrapbooking Freebie Friday

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3

Every Friday I'll be posting a free scrapbooking kit you can use. Just click the above link and download it to your computer. Play around with it and come back here and show and tell...Cant wait to see what you have created!

All my readers/friends get $10 off if you decide to purchase My Memories Suite V2 (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software) and $10 coupon for any purchases from My Memories store.

Cut and paste this code at checkout to get your discount STMMMS94069