New email I got from NIA:
The National Inflation Association (NIA) believes that every time the mainstream media focuses its attention on the weak Euro, it is trying to trick the world into going long the U.S. dollar, when the U.S. dollar will win its race with the Euro to zero. Not only were eurozone countries first to implement austerity measures (something the U.S. is still showing no signs of even considering), but it was just announced this weak that the European Central Bank (ECB), which just left interest rates unchanged this month at 1%, plans to raise interest rates next month in order to combat food and energy price inflation. NIA has been warning its members for two years that the policies of the Federal Reserve and ECB would lead to massive inflation in the prices of food, energy, and clothing, and that is exactly what we are beginning to see right now.
The ECB just dramatically raised its inflation expectations for 2011. The ECB has a sole mandate of price stability, but the Federal Reserve's mandate is not only price stability, but also maximum employment and moderate long-term interest rates. Printing money does not create jobs, except for temporary government jobs that act as a burden on the rest of the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been obsessing over the fact that the U.S. doesn't have any wage inflation, as a reason not to raise interest rates. As NIA has long been predicting for years, wages will be last to rise during the current inflationary crisis. If wages in the U.S. were rising at the same rate as energy, food, and clothing, price inflation wouldn't be a problem at all. The fact that wages aren't keeping up with rising prices should actually be a good reason to raise interest rates immediately.
China is so disturbed by the inflation being created by both the Federal Reserve and ECB, that they are looking to abandon both currencies and position the yuan as the next reserve currency. The biggest news of this past week, which conveniently got swept under the rug by the U.S. mainstream media, was news out of China that they will be allowing trades to settle in yuan instead of the U.S. dollar. China is simply responding to overseas demand from those who don't wish to hold on to large amounts of U.S. dollar reserves that are rapidly being debased by the Federal Reserve. By the end of 2011, Chinese exporters and importers will be able to settle cross border transactions in their own currency, instead of U.S. dollars. China is working to rapidly grow the yuan's role in international trade and NIA believes it will soon become the world's new reserve currency by default.
The fact is, if the Chinese abandoned the U.S. dollar, China would immediately have the world's largest economy as a result of the yuan strengthening in value. Over 70% of U.S. GDP is consumer spending and when Americans can no longer import cheap goods from China using money we borrow from them, consumer spending will fall off a cliff. Canada and other resource rich nations have nothing to worry about. Just as one small example, the U.S. for many years has been the largest importer of lumber from Canada. Shockingly, the U.S. share of lumber imports from Canada has fallen just about in half percentage wise in recent years from 70% to 36%. Now, it is expected that China will displace the U.S. as the largest importer of lumber from Canada by 2012.
Besides Canada, NIA has long said that one of our favorite places to emigrate to is Australia, because Australia's central bank was the first to raise interest rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia has interest rates at 4.75% compared to Australia's inflation rate of 2.7%. The Reserve Bank of Australia is the only major central bank with interest rates that are positive in real terms. Despite having the highest interest rate out of all major developed countries, Australia's GDP is still growing 2.7% on an annual basis.
The U.S. GDP is only growing due to artificially low interest rates of 0%-0.25%, where the Federal Reserve has held them for over two years. Artificially low interest rates of 0%-0.25% basically means that the U.S. economy is on life support. Any kind of economic growth during this period is phony and only due to inflation. Australia has a truly healthy economy, being that it is growing with modest interest rates. If the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to a modest level of 4.75% like Australia, there would immediately be a massive wave of debt defaults that sends the U.S. economy into a tailspin. We would experience a crash much worse than the Great Depression, which will likely be so bad that the median priced U.S. home will fall in half from $158,800 down to only $79,400.
Silver just reached a new 31-year high on Friday of $35.32 per ounce up 103% since NIA declared silver the best investment for the next decade on December 11th, 2009, at $17.40 per ounce. The short squeeze in silver that NIA first predicted on April 3rd, 2010, in its article entitled "Silver Short Squeeze Could Be Imminent", is now taking place as we speak. NIA was one of the first to connect the dots and expose to the world why the Federal Reserve was so eager to orchestrate a bailout of Bear Stearns, but didn't mind allowing Lehman Brothers to fail. Bear Stearns was the holder of a massive naked silver short position in silver that was being used to artificially hold silver prices down. As part of JP Morgan's takeover of Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve guaranteed to cover certain losses that would arise from the Bear Stearns portfolio, and this most likely included the silver short position.
Unfortunately, the average American family still has the bulk of their savings invested in Real Estate, when it should be invested in silver. In NIA's first ever documentary 'Hyperinflation Nation', in which we urged viewers to get out of Real Estate and invest into silver, the median U.S. home to silver ratio was 14,700. In NIA's second major documentary 'The Dollar Bubble', we once again discussed the median U.S. home to silver ratio, which was now down to 9,900, and predicted a further major decline. The median U.S. home to silver ratio is now down to 4,500. This means U.S. Real Estate has lost 69% of its value priced in silver in just the past 21 months alone. NIA is 100% sure that this ratio will decline to below 1,000 this decade and probably bottom around 500. Therefore, even if the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates near zero, we are still looking at another 78%-89% decline in the price of Real Estate in terms of silver.
NIA has been warning the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates almost since the time they lowered them down to near zero. The longer they keep interest rates where they are now, the higher interest rates will need to rise later this decade to counteract the damage being done today. It is shocking to us how the financial mainstream media still uses the bond market to determine inflation expectations. Comparing U.S. treasury yields to Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) yields does not accurately determine inflation expectations. TIPS are a scam, because they are based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)'s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which the government does everything in its power to manipulate as low as possible in order to keep payment increases to Social Security recipients as low as possible. The bond bubble is the largest bubble in world history and during bubbles in the financial markets, assets always get mispriced.
NIA doesn't understand how the mainstream media allows Bernanke to get away with testifying in front of Congress this week, "the recent rise in commodity prices will lead to, at most, a temporary and relatively modest increase in U.S. consumer price inflation" and that rising gas prices “do not yet pose a significant risk either to the recovery or to the maintenance of overall stable inflation". NIA is one of the few organizations out there challenging Bernanke's belief that we have "overall stable inflation". We know this to be the exact opposite of the truth.
The new Apple iPad 2 being released this month is going to be 33% thinner than the original iPad, but it will be sold at the same price as the first version. NIA forecasts that the BLS will use hedonics to say that the iPad 2 is now 33% better than the first iPad, being that it is thinner. With the price being the same as the old thicker version, the BLS will consider the new version to be 33% cheaper once quality adjustments are factored in. This type of deception will help cancel out food and energy price inflation when the BLS reports the CPI in the upcoming months.
We are sure that the millions of sheep in America who will wait for ten hours across a dozen city blocks to be the first to purchase the new iPad 2 will agree with Bernanke that inflation in the U.S. is overall very stable. However, for the overwhelming majority of Americans who see food and gas prices spiraling out of control, they have nobody to thank more than Bernanke. NIA will not rest until we educate as much of the world as possible to the fact that inflation is the root of all evil.
It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
FDA takes 500+ prescription cough, cold and allergy medicines off the market
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered more than 500 prescription cough, cold and allergy products off the market Wednesday, saying its office had not evaluated the medication for safety, effectiveness and quality.
"Removing these unapproved products from the market will reduce potential risks to consumers," said Deborah Autor, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a news release from the agency.
The FDA said removing the products from the market poses no harm to consumers, but taking the unapproved drugs may put the health of people at risk.
"There are many FDA-approved prescription products, as well as appropriately marketed over-the-counter products, available to treat cough, cold, and allergy symptoms; so, we expect little or no negative impact on consumers from the removal of these unapproved products," Autor added.
Among the drugs listed by the FDA is Pediahist, a cold formula labeled for patients as young as 1 month old. FDA regulations do not recommend cold medicines for any children under age 2. Other drugs involved in the recall include Cardec, Lodrane and Organidin.
Many health-care providers are unaware that the drugs are unapproved and have continued to prescribe them to patients, the FDA said. Consumers who are taking an unapproved prescription cough, cold, or allergy product should contact their health-care provider to discuss alternatives.
The FDA said no serious side effects from the drugs have been reported, but some users have complained of drowsiness, sedation and irritability after taking them.
Companies that manufacture these medications must stop making them within 90 days and stop shipping the products within 180 days, the FDA said.
Here is the link to check to see if you have any of these drugs:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/SelectedEnforcementActionsonUnapprovedDrugs/ucm245106.htm
"Removing these unapproved products from the market will reduce potential risks to consumers," said Deborah Autor, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a news release from the agency.
The FDA said removing the products from the market poses no harm to consumers, but taking the unapproved drugs may put the health of people at risk.
"There are many FDA-approved prescription products, as well as appropriately marketed over-the-counter products, available to treat cough, cold, and allergy symptoms; so, we expect little or no negative impact on consumers from the removal of these unapproved products," Autor added.
Among the drugs listed by the FDA is Pediahist, a cold formula labeled for patients as young as 1 month old. FDA regulations do not recommend cold medicines for any children under age 2. Other drugs involved in the recall include Cardec, Lodrane and Organidin.
Many health-care providers are unaware that the drugs are unapproved and have continued to prescribe them to patients, the FDA said. Consumers who are taking an unapproved prescription cough, cold, or allergy product should contact their health-care provider to discuss alternatives.
The FDA said no serious side effects from the drugs have been reported, but some users have complained of drowsiness, sedation and irritability after taking them.
Companies that manufacture these medications must stop making them within 90 days and stop shipping the products within 180 days, the FDA said.
Here is the link to check to see if you have any of these drugs:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/SelectedEnforcementActionsonUnapprovedDrugs/ucm245106.htm
Saturday, February 26, 2011
OliveNation.com
http://www.olivenation.com/
They carry spices, cheeses, etc. I just ordered some vanilla beans from them and their prices are very reasonable and they are having free shipping on their vanilla beans right now.
I'm going to be making my own vanilla extract. More later...
They carry spices, cheeses, etc. I just ordered some vanilla beans from them and their prices are very reasonable and they are having free shipping on their vanilla beans right now.
I'm going to be making my own vanilla extract. More later...
What have I been up to lately...
Well on Thursday I decided to go to the Joann Fabric Store grand opening in Huntsville. DH decided to go with me and after I was done spending the big bucks there we were going to go to EarthFare which is in the same mini-mall. I wanted to get there early as they were going to be giving away 100 $10 gift certificates. Instead of waiting in the car, DH decided to wait in line with me until the store opened. We had gotten there 1/2 hour early and there was a line...crazy. But when they opened the doors since we were in the first 100 we got gift certificates and since DH was with me he got one too! He handed it to me...isnt he sweet? So the next time I get a chance to go I can use them and get $20 off....Woohoo! Oh by the way I only spent $22 not the big bucks you had in mind huh?
We then went over to EarthFare. I had gotten on the computer before we left the house and got on their site. I signed up for emails from them and got a free meal coupon plus some others. The free meal coupon was for a whole fresh chicken, 1# bag of baby carrots and some potatoes from the deli. Total for all of them would have been close to $16 and we got it all for free! Let me tell you we ate the potatoes and they were GREAT! Yummy, just so yummy. The chicken we froze to eat later and the carrots are in the fridge. We have decided to go there more often because it didnt cost as much as we thought it would and they werent that busy that early in the morning. We got some milk there too which was just pasturized and not homogenized and it was under $6 a gallon which wasnt bad and it was local milk too!
On Friday I was sick...why oh why did I make a pig of myself on the peanuts, cranberry, dark chocolate mixture. Felt a lot better after I threw up later that day but we wont go there...:)
Today we had eggs, pancakes and some yummy applewood smoked bacon again from EarthFare. DH had off and took down some of the fencing from our old chicken run. He is going to rototill the earth there and plant some clover for the chicks. We decided to plant some things just for them so that our feed bill wont be so high. On some of the other blogs I read I see that the prices have gone up on the feed. We buy two 25 lb bags at a time usually and supplement with sunflower seeds, scratch and alfalfa cubes that DH crushes up for them at least for this past winter and we try to buy greens in the store for them. This summer they should have clover galore and I'm going to plant sunflowers so we will have seeds for them this winter. Anything to keep the cost down since they are only going to go up because of what is happening overseas. Do you do anything like this for your chickens or other livestock that you would want to share with any readers here? I think we should share information as much as possible just to get through these difficult times and I know I appreciate any information you can give.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
We then went over to EarthFare. I had gotten on the computer before we left the house and got on their site. I signed up for emails from them and got a free meal coupon plus some others. The free meal coupon was for a whole fresh chicken, 1# bag of baby carrots and some potatoes from the deli. Total for all of them would have been close to $16 and we got it all for free! Let me tell you we ate the potatoes and they were GREAT! Yummy, just so yummy. The chicken we froze to eat later and the carrots are in the fridge. We have decided to go there more often because it didnt cost as much as we thought it would and they werent that busy that early in the morning. We got some milk there too which was just pasturized and not homogenized and it was under $6 a gallon which wasnt bad and it was local milk too!
On Friday I was sick...why oh why did I make a pig of myself on the peanuts, cranberry, dark chocolate mixture. Felt a lot better after I threw up later that day but we wont go there...:)
Today we had eggs, pancakes and some yummy applewood smoked bacon again from EarthFare. DH had off and took down some of the fencing from our old chicken run. He is going to rototill the earth there and plant some clover for the chicks. We decided to plant some things just for them so that our feed bill wont be so high. On some of the other blogs I read I see that the prices have gone up on the feed. We buy two 25 lb bags at a time usually and supplement with sunflower seeds, scratch and alfalfa cubes that DH crushes up for them at least for this past winter and we try to buy greens in the store for them. This summer they should have clover galore and I'm going to plant sunflowers so we will have seeds for them this winter. Anything to keep the cost down since they are only going to go up because of what is happening overseas. Do you do anything like this for your chickens or other livestock that you would want to share with any readers here? I think we should share information as much as possible just to get through these difficult times and I know I appreciate any information you can give.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Monday, February 21, 2011
Mavis' blog
http://100dollarsamonth.blogspot.com/
Mavis is great. She has all the bargains on her site. Stop over and see for yourself. She is feeding her family on $25 a week.
Mavis is great. She has all the bargains on her site. Stop over and see for yourself. She is feeding her family on $25 a week.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
An actual written post!
Thursday I went out with my friend, Kathy, her daughter and granddaughter for lunch. We went to 88 Buffet on University Drive. We got there at 11 which was great because just a half an hour later there was a line all the way outside to get in! It was a very good buffet with lots of different dishes and the price was really good. For the three of us (the granddaughter is under 2) it was only $22 and I had gotten a sweet tea so it would have only been $21 plus tax. No wonder there were so many people there. After we were done we went over to the new Joann's Fabric store. It's been open only for two weeks. Of course we said we werent going to get anything. You know how that went...we each bought something. Going out to lunch with friends can be very expensive sometimes LOL. No I really didnt spend that much. I just got a few small items and a magazine. When I got home I signed up for Joanns flyer so should be receiving the sales flyers regularly now.
On Friday evening, hubby and I went to Publix. I've been coupon cutting lately and actually with all their buy one get one free things plus my coupons we got out of there under $120 which was pretty good. I saved about $30 with my coupons. I would love to be one of those coupon cutters who can go in and get a carload of groceries and only pay the tax. I wanted to go to CVS but hubby was tired and cranky (he worked 8 hours and shopping is not his favorite thing to do) and he just wanted to go home and eat his sandwich.
Today I went to CVS. Most of the things I was going to get were sold out. So next time if there is something I really want I need to get my butt in there the first of the week when the sale starts. I used my extrabucks up though and only spent $4 for my bag of stuff. I was pleased anyway. I also stopped at a new thrift store that just opened a couple of months ago. I got a little crock for $5. It was cute and who couldnt find a use for a crock? Tonight we are going to eat leftover sandwiches for supper. We always get a full hoagie and then half it and eat one half the first night and either eat the remaining sandwich for lunch the next day or for supper.
I'll have to take a pic of my crock so you can see it.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
On Friday evening, hubby and I went to Publix. I've been coupon cutting lately and actually with all their buy one get one free things plus my coupons we got out of there under $120 which was pretty good. I saved about $30 with my coupons. I would love to be one of those coupon cutters who can go in and get a carload of groceries and only pay the tax. I wanted to go to CVS but hubby was tired and cranky (he worked 8 hours and shopping is not his favorite thing to do) and he just wanted to go home and eat his sandwich.
Today I went to CVS. Most of the things I was going to get were sold out. So next time if there is something I really want I need to get my butt in there the first of the week when the sale starts. I used my extrabucks up though and only spent $4 for my bag of stuff. I was pleased anyway. I also stopped at a new thrift store that just opened a couple of months ago. I got a little crock for $5. It was cute and who couldnt find a use for a crock? Tonight we are going to eat leftover sandwiches for supper. We always get a full hoagie and then half it and eat one half the first night and either eat the remaining sandwich for lunch the next day or for supper.
I'll have to take a pic of my crock so you can see it.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
New Warning on shatter resistant bulbs from McMurray Hatchery
Shatter Resistant Bulbs: A Potential Danger to Your Chickens
Posted on February 18, 2011 by McMurray Staff
Shatter resistant or safety coated light bulbs are a potential source for toxic fumes that can be dangerous to your chickens and other poultry. There are a number of shatter resistant light bulbs on the market today. These include heat lamp bulbs, work lamp bulbs, and appliance bulbs. These bulbs have or may have a coating made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which makes them shatter resistant.
When these bulbs are used, they heat up, and if the glass wall of the bulb becomes hot enough the coating can release toxic fumes. Birds (such as chickens or other poultry) are very sensitive to airborne toxins and can die from the exposure to such fumes. This can happen quickly.
We were recently contacted by a small flock owner whom this happened to. She went out to her chicken coop to find all of her chickens dead. The cause? She had recently purchased a shatter resistant light bulb and used it in her chicken coop. The bulb’s packaging contained no information on the potential dangers and did not tell the composition of the shatterproof coating. The deeply saddened flock owner had her chickens examined by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service’s Veterinarian, a pathological specialist. The veterinarian examined the chickens, and could find no disease. The only thing that had changed in the management of the chickens was the installation of this light bulb. The veterinarian researched the light bulb and found that it has a PTFE coating. The conclusion was that the coating heated up during the use of the bulb, and in the enclosed coop produced high enough concentrations of toxic fumes to kill the chickens.
Something similar occurred on a larger scale in 1999 in a poultry research facility in Missouri, where many birds in a 2400 bird broiler flock died over the course of several days. According to clinical results, the death of the broiler chickens was due to exposure to noxious gas. No change had been made to the management of the birds other than the installation of 48 PTFE-coated heat lamp bulbs.
PTFE is a synthetic polymer that was developed in 1938. Besides the coating in shatter resistant light bulbs, it is used in a number of other household products, some of which include portable heaters, irons and ironing board covers, hair curling irons, stain resistant coatings on carpet, stove top burners, drip pans, self-cleaning ovens, non-stick cooking pans, slow cookers, waffle makers, bread makers, and tortilla presses. Not all such products contain PTFE, but some do. PTFE is also associated with the brand names Teflon®, Rulon®, Chemfluor®, and possibly others.
PTFE is relatively stable and chemical and heat resistant at room temperature, but at high temperature it can release toxic fumes. These fumes can be dangerous to humans, causing flu-like symptoms, but are even more harmful to birds because of their small size, efficient lungs, and high metabolic rate.
We do not recommend using shatter proof bulbs or any products containing PTFE in your chicken coops or in brooders for baby chicks. If you have any doubts as to the safety of a particular product, please research it as thoroughly as possible before using it with your poultry. The heat lamp bulbs that we carry on our website and in our catalog are free of PTFE and are safe to use with your poultry.
Other types of fumes that can also be harmful or fatal to chickens or other birds include include aerosols, fumes from paint, paint thinners, gasoline, certain glues, or other heated plastics, tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, pesticides (such as foggers or bug bombs), and moth balls.
Posted on February 18, 2011 by McMurray Staff
Shatter resistant or safety coated light bulbs are a potential source for toxic fumes that can be dangerous to your chickens and other poultry. There are a number of shatter resistant light bulbs on the market today. These include heat lamp bulbs, work lamp bulbs, and appliance bulbs. These bulbs have or may have a coating made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which makes them shatter resistant.
When these bulbs are used, they heat up, and if the glass wall of the bulb becomes hot enough the coating can release toxic fumes. Birds (such as chickens or other poultry) are very sensitive to airborne toxins and can die from the exposure to such fumes. This can happen quickly.
We were recently contacted by a small flock owner whom this happened to. She went out to her chicken coop to find all of her chickens dead. The cause? She had recently purchased a shatter resistant light bulb and used it in her chicken coop. The bulb’s packaging contained no information on the potential dangers and did not tell the composition of the shatterproof coating. The deeply saddened flock owner had her chickens examined by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service’s Veterinarian, a pathological specialist. The veterinarian examined the chickens, and could find no disease. The only thing that had changed in the management of the chickens was the installation of this light bulb. The veterinarian researched the light bulb and found that it has a PTFE coating. The conclusion was that the coating heated up during the use of the bulb, and in the enclosed coop produced high enough concentrations of toxic fumes to kill the chickens.
Something similar occurred on a larger scale in 1999 in a poultry research facility in Missouri, where many birds in a 2400 bird broiler flock died over the course of several days. According to clinical results, the death of the broiler chickens was due to exposure to noxious gas. No change had been made to the management of the birds other than the installation of 48 PTFE-coated heat lamp bulbs.
PTFE is a synthetic polymer that was developed in 1938. Besides the coating in shatter resistant light bulbs, it is used in a number of other household products, some of which include portable heaters, irons and ironing board covers, hair curling irons, stain resistant coatings on carpet, stove top burners, drip pans, self-cleaning ovens, non-stick cooking pans, slow cookers, waffle makers, bread makers, and tortilla presses. Not all such products contain PTFE, but some do. PTFE is also associated with the brand names Teflon®, Rulon®, Chemfluor®, and possibly others.
PTFE is relatively stable and chemical and heat resistant at room temperature, but at high temperature it can release toxic fumes. These fumes can be dangerous to humans, causing flu-like symptoms, but are even more harmful to birds because of their small size, efficient lungs, and high metabolic rate.
We do not recommend using shatter proof bulbs or any products containing PTFE in your chicken coops or in brooders for baby chicks. If you have any doubts as to the safety of a particular product, please research it as thoroughly as possible before using it with your poultry. The heat lamp bulbs that we carry on our website and in our catalog are free of PTFE and are safe to use with your poultry.
Other types of fumes that can also be harmful or fatal to chickens or other birds include include aerosols, fumes from paint, paint thinners, gasoline, certain glues, or other heated plastics, tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, pesticides (such as foggers or bug bombs), and moth balls.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Obama creates the worlds first superstate
http://www.freestatevoice.com.au/politics/item/609-obama-creates-the-worlds-first-superstate-with-us-canada-merger
After Kelle's comment on the last post, I looked up the first one. If you want to see that one, the link doesnt work because it was too long but if you just go to the above shortcut and go to their site, they have lots of articles and the one she mentioned was under the politics tab. It is further down than the one I have posted above. This paper is from Australia. It is very interesting to see what other countries know about our own country that we dont. Now we all need to ask ourselves why is our media not covering these things?
And before I forget, Thanks Kelle for the info!!!
After Kelle's comment on the last post, I looked up the first one. If you want to see that one, the link doesnt work because it was too long but if you just go to the above shortcut and go to their site, they have lots of articles and the one she mentioned was under the politics tab. It is further down than the one I have posted above. This paper is from Australia. It is very interesting to see what other countries know about our own country that we dont. Now we all need to ask ourselves why is our media not covering these things?
And before I forget, Thanks Kelle for the info!!!
U.S. Budget Deficit
I keep posting these articles. I dont know if anyone reads them but you really should. I know it is a lot to comprehend but the economy does affect everyone. My food bill has gone up and I'm sure that yours has as well. If we dont cut the deficit, we will not be able to pay the interest. Who do we owe the interest to? China and other countries but mainly China. If you dont pay your loan payment on your house what happens? That's right the bank forcloses so if we arent able to pay even the interest rate what do you think happens? Do you think China will just let it ride? They will say no problem just pay us later? Maybe to pay them we will have to give them some national forests or other government owned buildings, land, etc. Its scary and it has been going on for a long time. And we just cant keep printing money with nothing to back it up with such as gold or silver. You can print all the money you want to - it just isnt worth anything. And the more money that they print the less it is worth which affects everyone's buying power.
NIA Projects Multi-Trillion Dollar U.S. Budget Deficits
Earlier this week, President Obama released the White House's budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 along with their budget projections for the following 10 years. The White House projects a record budget deficit in 2011 of $1.645 trillion, but for the deficit to be reduced to $1.101 trillion in 2012, $768 billion in 2013, $645 billion in 2014, and a low of $607 billion in 2015, before rising back up to $774 billion in 2021. We give Obama credit for being honest and admitting that he has no intention of making any attempt to balance the budget. However, NIA believes the White House is making ridiculous assumptions and deceiving the public about future budget deficits.
In our opinion, the White House will be right about the U.S. having a record budget deficit in 2011. Unfortunately, we believe this is the only thing they will be right about. Any proposed spending cuts coming out of Washington today are so small that they are a waste of time even discussing. The truth is, the total cost of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other mandatory programs alone will be $2.2 trillion in 2011. Then when you add in the projected $205 billion in interest payments on our national debt in 2011, we will have a budget deficit of $235 billion right there without including any of the government's $891 billion in security and $496 billion in non-security discretionary spending.
Obama's proposed freeze on non-security discretionary spending will only save $406 billion over the next 10 years, which is absolutely nothing. If Obama didn't just freeze discretionary spending, but he cut all discretionary spending down to zero, we would still have a budget deficit. Nobody in the mainstream media is educating the American public about just how dire our country's fiscal situation is. We get called fear-mongers for preparing Americans for hyperinflation, but we speak the truth while the mainstream media ignores our country's financial problems. We wouldn't have to spend close to a million dollars per year producing documentaries and writing articles about the hyperinflationary crisis ahead if the mainstream media did their job.
NIA believes that after our record budget deficit this year, there is a 99% chance that we will continue to see more record budget deficits in the years ahead. Even if 2012 or 2013 saw a minor dip in our budget deficit, we could see budget deficits that are double or triple their current level within the next few years. In fact, NIA doesn't think our nation will survive until 2021 based on the path we are currently on. The U.S. won't be able to continue printing money to monetize the debt and deficits, without seeing an outbreak of massive inflation and perhaps hyperinflation at some point this decade.
To reach the White House's projected reductions in the budget deficit after a record budget deficit in 2011, the White House is projecting that annual price inflation in the U.S. will rise from just 1.3% in 2011, to just 1.8% in 2012, 1.9% in 2013, 2% in 2014, and 2.1% per year from 2016 through 2021. NIA believes these numbers are unrealistic and that real price inflation in the U.S. is already north of 5%. NIA believes real price inflation is likely to rise above 10% in either the second half of 2011 or early 2012. The Federal Reserve has held interest rates at artificially low levels of 0% to 0.25% for over two years. Artificially low interest rates are very inflationary. In order to contain price inflation and keep it under control, the Federal Reserve must raise interest rates to above the real rate of price inflation. The Fed won't do this because it would destroy our phony economic recovery.
If the Federal Reserve never lowered interest rates and kept them at 5.25% where they were in 2006, instead of having 5% price inflation today, we would likely have at least 5% price deflation. This means inflation is now conservatively 10% higher than where it would have been without the Federal Reserve's destructive actions. To put this into perspective, with three years of 5% price inflation, a product becomes 35% more expensive than it would have been with three years of 5% price deflation.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported yesterday that year-over-year price inflation in the month of January was 1.63%, compared to 1.5% in December. Even based on the phony BLS numbers, it is obvious to all that price inflation in the U.S. is accelerating. NIA estimates that real price inflation is now closing in on 6%.
Not only is the White House budget using deceptive inflation numbers, but it is also misleading Americans about GDP growth. The White House budget is projecting 5% annual nominal GDP growth over the next 10 years. Over the past decade, the U.S. has seen an average annual nominal GDP growth rate of 3.95% and if you go back to the years 2001-2005 during the Real Estate bubble, we saw annual nominal GDP growth during those five years of 4.86%.
It is absolutely insane for the White House to be projecting nominal 5% GDP growth per year, with inflation of only 2% per year. There is absolutely no chance of the U.S. economy seeing real GDP growth of 3% per year, which would be higher than our average real GDP growth during the biggest artificial boom in U.S. history. In our opinion, any GDP growth the U.S. sees this decade will be created entirely by inflation. Considering that the White House expects there to be a lot of GDP growth in the years ahead, they are clearly putting a lot of pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to create as much monetary inflation as possible.
As part of the White House's budget projections, they also project unemployment in the U.S. to decline from an average of 9.6% in 2011 to a low of 5.3% in years 2016 through 2021. Real unemployment in the U.S. today, after accounting for both short and long-term discouraged workers, is now approximately 22%. Between federal, state, and local government workers, government employees now make up 16% of all U.S. payrolls. Over the past 60 years, government employment growth has just about doubled the rate of U.S. population growth. During the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis, we could very easily see the number of government employees cut in half, which would send the official U.S. unemployment rate up to 16% and the real unemployment rate up to 29%.
The biggest problem NIA has with the White House budget is their projections for interest payments on our national debt. Historically, going back the past 50 years, yields on the 10-year bond have averaged about 7.2%. The 10-year bond yield has been skyrocketing in recent months and is currently 3.57%, up from being 2.381% on October 8th of last year. With the 10-year bond yield surging 50% over the past four months, there is no reason the yield can't surge another 50% over the next six to twelve months up to 5.36%. Yet, the White House is projecting the bond yield to average 3% in 2011 and to rise to only 3.6% in 2012, 4.2% in 2013, and up to a high of 5.3% for years 2017 to 2021. Trust us, if interest rates on the 10-year bond don't rise to 5.3% within the next six to twelve months, we guarantee they will still do so a lot closer to six months than six years.
With treasury yields having been held at artificially low levels for so long, we expect them to rise above historically average levels and remain there for many years. There is no doubt that we will see bond yields back above 7.2% in the years ahead. As inflation begins to spiral out of control, we expect to see bond yields rise to above 10% and beyond. The White House doesn't expect interest payments on our national debt to rise above $500 billion until the year 2015. They're projecting net interest payments in 2015 of $505 billion with our public debt averaging the year around $13.9 trillion. In order words, they expect us to pay only 3.6% interest on our debt that year.
To summarize, Obama expects our budget deficit to decline from $1.645 trillion this year down to a low of $607 billion in 2015 by having 5% per year GDP growth, only 2% per year inflation, unemployment in 2015 of only 5.9%, and an overall interest rate that is only 1/2 of historical 10-year treasury yields. NIA projects that the U.S. will see zero GDP growth adjusted for inflation and if we are right, and we also see the U-3 unemployment rate rise back above 10% along with our overall interest rate on our debt rising back to historical levels of 7.2%, our actual deficit in 2015 could very easily surpass $3 trillion.
In early 2008, the Bush Administration was projecting the U.S. budget deficit to decline to $160 billion in 2010, $96 billion in 2011, and for the U.S. to have a $48 billion surplus in 2012. Look how easily a $96 billion projected deficit turned into a $1.645 trillion deficit, 17 times higher than projected. It is nearly impossible to reduce budget deficits once they begin spiraling out of control, unless the government acted to dramatically slash spending by 50% or more in all areas of the budget including the so-called untouchable areas like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Obama pledged while running for President to cut the budget deficit in half during his first term, but it has so far increased by 262%. If we have just a few more years of trillion dollar plus budget deficits, interest payments on our national debt will begin to approach half of U.S. government tax receipts and at that point, hyperinflation will be all but guaranteed.
NIA Projects Multi-Trillion Dollar U.S. Budget Deficits
Earlier this week, President Obama released the White House's budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 along with their budget projections for the following 10 years. The White House projects a record budget deficit in 2011 of $1.645 trillion, but for the deficit to be reduced to $1.101 trillion in 2012, $768 billion in 2013, $645 billion in 2014, and a low of $607 billion in 2015, before rising back up to $774 billion in 2021. We give Obama credit for being honest and admitting that he has no intention of making any attempt to balance the budget. However, NIA believes the White House is making ridiculous assumptions and deceiving the public about future budget deficits.
In our opinion, the White House will be right about the U.S. having a record budget deficit in 2011. Unfortunately, we believe this is the only thing they will be right about. Any proposed spending cuts coming out of Washington today are so small that they are a waste of time even discussing. The truth is, the total cost of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other mandatory programs alone will be $2.2 trillion in 2011. Then when you add in the projected $205 billion in interest payments on our national debt in 2011, we will have a budget deficit of $235 billion right there without including any of the government's $891 billion in security and $496 billion in non-security discretionary spending.
Obama's proposed freeze on non-security discretionary spending will only save $406 billion over the next 10 years, which is absolutely nothing. If Obama didn't just freeze discretionary spending, but he cut all discretionary spending down to zero, we would still have a budget deficit. Nobody in the mainstream media is educating the American public about just how dire our country's fiscal situation is. We get called fear-mongers for preparing Americans for hyperinflation, but we speak the truth while the mainstream media ignores our country's financial problems. We wouldn't have to spend close to a million dollars per year producing documentaries and writing articles about the hyperinflationary crisis ahead if the mainstream media did their job.
NIA believes that after our record budget deficit this year, there is a 99% chance that we will continue to see more record budget deficits in the years ahead. Even if 2012 or 2013 saw a minor dip in our budget deficit, we could see budget deficits that are double or triple their current level within the next few years. In fact, NIA doesn't think our nation will survive until 2021 based on the path we are currently on. The U.S. won't be able to continue printing money to monetize the debt and deficits, without seeing an outbreak of massive inflation and perhaps hyperinflation at some point this decade.
To reach the White House's projected reductions in the budget deficit after a record budget deficit in 2011, the White House is projecting that annual price inflation in the U.S. will rise from just 1.3% in 2011, to just 1.8% in 2012, 1.9% in 2013, 2% in 2014, and 2.1% per year from 2016 through 2021. NIA believes these numbers are unrealistic and that real price inflation in the U.S. is already north of 5%. NIA believes real price inflation is likely to rise above 10% in either the second half of 2011 or early 2012. The Federal Reserve has held interest rates at artificially low levels of 0% to 0.25% for over two years. Artificially low interest rates are very inflationary. In order to contain price inflation and keep it under control, the Federal Reserve must raise interest rates to above the real rate of price inflation. The Fed won't do this because it would destroy our phony economic recovery.
If the Federal Reserve never lowered interest rates and kept them at 5.25% where they were in 2006, instead of having 5% price inflation today, we would likely have at least 5% price deflation. This means inflation is now conservatively 10% higher than where it would have been without the Federal Reserve's destructive actions. To put this into perspective, with three years of 5% price inflation, a product becomes 35% more expensive than it would have been with three years of 5% price deflation.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported yesterday that year-over-year price inflation in the month of January was 1.63%, compared to 1.5% in December. Even based on the phony BLS numbers, it is obvious to all that price inflation in the U.S. is accelerating. NIA estimates that real price inflation is now closing in on 6%.
Not only is the White House budget using deceptive inflation numbers, but it is also misleading Americans about GDP growth. The White House budget is projecting 5% annual nominal GDP growth over the next 10 years. Over the past decade, the U.S. has seen an average annual nominal GDP growth rate of 3.95% and if you go back to the years 2001-2005 during the Real Estate bubble, we saw annual nominal GDP growth during those five years of 4.86%.
It is absolutely insane for the White House to be projecting nominal 5% GDP growth per year, with inflation of only 2% per year. There is absolutely no chance of the U.S. economy seeing real GDP growth of 3% per year, which would be higher than our average real GDP growth during the biggest artificial boom in U.S. history. In our opinion, any GDP growth the U.S. sees this decade will be created entirely by inflation. Considering that the White House expects there to be a lot of GDP growth in the years ahead, they are clearly putting a lot of pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to create as much monetary inflation as possible.
As part of the White House's budget projections, they also project unemployment in the U.S. to decline from an average of 9.6% in 2011 to a low of 5.3% in years 2016 through 2021. Real unemployment in the U.S. today, after accounting for both short and long-term discouraged workers, is now approximately 22%. Between federal, state, and local government workers, government employees now make up 16% of all U.S. payrolls. Over the past 60 years, government employment growth has just about doubled the rate of U.S. population growth. During the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis, we could very easily see the number of government employees cut in half, which would send the official U.S. unemployment rate up to 16% and the real unemployment rate up to 29%.
The biggest problem NIA has with the White House budget is their projections for interest payments on our national debt. Historically, going back the past 50 years, yields on the 10-year bond have averaged about 7.2%. The 10-year bond yield has been skyrocketing in recent months and is currently 3.57%, up from being 2.381% on October 8th of last year. With the 10-year bond yield surging 50% over the past four months, there is no reason the yield can't surge another 50% over the next six to twelve months up to 5.36%. Yet, the White House is projecting the bond yield to average 3% in 2011 and to rise to only 3.6% in 2012, 4.2% in 2013, and up to a high of 5.3% for years 2017 to 2021. Trust us, if interest rates on the 10-year bond don't rise to 5.3% within the next six to twelve months, we guarantee they will still do so a lot closer to six months than six years.
With treasury yields having been held at artificially low levels for so long, we expect them to rise above historically average levels and remain there for many years. There is no doubt that we will see bond yields back above 7.2% in the years ahead. As inflation begins to spiral out of control, we expect to see bond yields rise to above 10% and beyond. The White House doesn't expect interest payments on our national debt to rise above $500 billion until the year 2015. They're projecting net interest payments in 2015 of $505 billion with our public debt averaging the year around $13.9 trillion. In order words, they expect us to pay only 3.6% interest on our debt that year.
To summarize, Obama expects our budget deficit to decline from $1.645 trillion this year down to a low of $607 billion in 2015 by having 5% per year GDP growth, only 2% per year inflation, unemployment in 2015 of only 5.9%, and an overall interest rate that is only 1/2 of historical 10-year treasury yields. NIA projects that the U.S. will see zero GDP growth adjusted for inflation and if we are right, and we also see the U-3 unemployment rate rise back above 10% along with our overall interest rate on our debt rising back to historical levels of 7.2%, our actual deficit in 2015 could very easily surpass $3 trillion.
In early 2008, the Bush Administration was projecting the U.S. budget deficit to decline to $160 billion in 2010, $96 billion in 2011, and for the U.S. to have a $48 billion surplus in 2012. Look how easily a $96 billion projected deficit turned into a $1.645 trillion deficit, 17 times higher than projected. It is nearly impossible to reduce budget deficits once they begin spiraling out of control, unless the government acted to dramatically slash spending by 50% or more in all areas of the budget including the so-called untouchable areas like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Obama pledged while running for President to cut the budget deficit in half during his first term, but it has so far increased by 262%. If we have just a few more years of trillion dollar plus budget deficits, interest payments on our national debt will begin to approach half of U.S. government tax receipts and at that point, hyperinflation will be all but guaranteed.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Couldnt resist posting this one...
TEXTING FOR SENIORS
Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting there appears to be a
need for a STC (Senior Texting Code).
Pass this on to your Children and Grandchildren so they can understand your
texts.
ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CGU: Can't get up
CGIP: Can't get IT up
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
PIMP: Pooped in my pants
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
GLKI (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In)
Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting there appears to be a
need for a STC (Senior Texting Code).
Pass this on to your Children and Grandchildren so they can understand your
texts.
ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CGU: Can't get up
CGIP: Can't get IT up
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
PIMP: Pooped in my pants
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
GLKI (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In)
Friday, February 11, 2011
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Reserves Overstated by 40%
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Reserves Overstated by 40%
Many people including CNBC’s Steve Liesman have been criticizing NIA’s recent food inflation report, claiming that agricultural commodity prices only make up a small portion of the price of a finished food product in the supermarket. The truth is, when you see a 50% surge in nearly all agricultural commodities in six months, it will translate into much higher prices in the supermarket. At first, wholesalers and retailers will take a hit on their profit margins hoping that commodity prices will come back down, but after what NIA estimates to be a six month lag time, the full effects of rising agricultural commodities will be seen at your local supermarket and NIA conservatively estimates that the U.S. will see 10% food price inflation in the first half of 2011.
Besides the cost of agricultural commodities, the second largest cost that makes up food prices is oil. Oil is used not only for the farming of agricultural commodities and the production and packaging of food, but also shipping food to your supermarket. Oil prices have lagged behind agricultural commodities in recent months, but oil’s inevitable spike back above $100 per barrel that NIA predicted (and was wrong) would occur in 2010, could be just around the corner.
Major news is out today that cables from WikiLeaks show that a senior Saudi government oil executive claims that Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves have been overstated by 300 billion barrels or nearly 40%. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and according to the WikiLeaks cables, the U.S. fears that Saudi Arabia does not have enough oil reserves to prevent oil prices from skyrocketing.
Apparently, it was said by an executive at Aramco that they couldn’t reach a 12.5 million barrel per day capacity to keep a lid on oil prices, but could only possibly reach a 12 million barrel per day capacity in 10 years. This same executive also said that “peak oil” production could be reached as early as year 2012.
This may be the catalyst needed to drive oil permanently above $100 per barrel and gas prices to $5 per gallon. NIA remains very bullish on oil stocks for the long-term. They have been out of favor since late-2008, but could be back in play very soon.
NIA previously suggested on April 23rd, 2009, the ETF “DIG” at $22.65 as the best way to play oil stocks and it has since risen by 141% to $54.61. However, DIG is still way off of its high seen in May of 2008 of $131.08 and therefore still has much more upside potential.
Many people including CNBC’s Steve Liesman have been criticizing NIA’s recent food inflation report, claiming that agricultural commodity prices only make up a small portion of the price of a finished food product in the supermarket. The truth is, when you see a 50% surge in nearly all agricultural commodities in six months, it will translate into much higher prices in the supermarket. At first, wholesalers and retailers will take a hit on their profit margins hoping that commodity prices will come back down, but after what NIA estimates to be a six month lag time, the full effects of rising agricultural commodities will be seen at your local supermarket and NIA conservatively estimates that the U.S. will see 10% food price inflation in the first half of 2011.
Besides the cost of agricultural commodities, the second largest cost that makes up food prices is oil. Oil is used not only for the farming of agricultural commodities and the production and packaging of food, but also shipping food to your supermarket. Oil prices have lagged behind agricultural commodities in recent months, but oil’s inevitable spike back above $100 per barrel that NIA predicted (and was wrong) would occur in 2010, could be just around the corner.
Major news is out today that cables from WikiLeaks show that a senior Saudi government oil executive claims that Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves have been overstated by 300 billion barrels or nearly 40%. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and according to the WikiLeaks cables, the U.S. fears that Saudi Arabia does not have enough oil reserves to prevent oil prices from skyrocketing.
Apparently, it was said by an executive at Aramco that they couldn’t reach a 12.5 million barrel per day capacity to keep a lid on oil prices, but could only possibly reach a 12 million barrel per day capacity in 10 years. This same executive also said that “peak oil” production could be reached as early as year 2012.
This may be the catalyst needed to drive oil permanently above $100 per barrel and gas prices to $5 per gallon. NIA remains very bullish on oil stocks for the long-term. They have been out of favor since late-2008, but could be back in play very soon.
NIA previously suggested on April 23rd, 2009, the ETF “DIG” at $22.65 as the best way to play oil stocks and it has since risen by 141% to $54.61. However, DIG is still way off of its high seen in May of 2008 of $131.08 and therefore still has much more upside potential.
Egypt: Preview of America in 2015
Egypt: Preview of America in 2015
The rioting and looting currently taking place in Egypt is primarily a result of massive food inflation and shows what all major cities in the United States will likely look like come year 2015 due to the Federal Reserve’s zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing to infinity. On December 16th, 2009, NIA named Time Magazine’s 2009 ‘Person of the Year’ Ben Bernanke our ‘Villain of the Year’, saying he created “unprecedented amounts of inflation in unprecedented ways” and “When it costs $20 for a gallon of milk in a few years, Americans will have nobody to thank more than Bernanke.”
What started out a few weeks ago as protests in Algeria with citizens chanting “Bring Us Sugar!” and five citizens being killed, quickly spread to civil unrest in Tunisia which saw 14 more civilian deaths, and has now spread to riots in Egypt where 300 Egyptian citizens have been killed. Food inflation in Egypt has reached 20% and citizens in the nation already spend about 40% of their monthly expenditures on food. Americans for decades have been blessed with cheap food, spending only 13% of their expenditures on food, but this is about to change.
NIA was the first to predict the recent explosion in agricultural commodity prices in our October 30th, 2009, article entitled, “U.S. Inflation to Appear Next in Food and Agriculture”, which said we have a “perfect storm for an explosion in agriculture prices”. A couple of months later in ‘NIA’s Top 10 Predictions for 2010′ we predicted “Major Food Shortages” and said, “Inventories of agricultural products are the lowest they have been in decades yet the prices of many agricultural commodities are down 70% to 80% from their all time highs adjusted for real inflation”. Over the past year, agricultural commodities as a whole have outperformed almost every other type of asset, with silver being one of only a few other assets keeping pace with agriculture. (On December 11th, 2009, NIA declared silver the best investment for the next decade at $17.40 per ounce and it has so far risen 64% to its current price of $28.39 per ounce).
The world is at the beginning stages of an all out inflationary panic. Wheat, which NIA previously called on ‘NIAnswers’ its favorite investment besides gold and silver, is now up to a new 30-month high of $8.63 per bushel and has doubled in price since June of last year. Algeria bought 800,000 tonnes of wheat this past week, bringing their total purchases for the month of January up to 1.8 million tonnes, which was quadruple expectations. Saudi Arabia is also beginning to stockpile their inventories of wheat. Rice futures have gained 8% during the past few days with Bangladesh and Indonesia placing extraordinary large orders. Indonesia’s latest rice order was quadruple its normal allotment and Bangladesh plans to double rice purchases this year. Meanwhile, the U.S., which is the world’s third largest exporter of rice, is expected to cut production by 25% in 2011.
NIA considers rice to be one of the world’s most undervalued agricultural commodities at its current price of $15.96 per 100 pounds and forecasts a move back to its 2008 high of $24 per 100 pounds as soon as the end of 2011. NIA believes cotton, at its current price of $1.80 per pound, may have gotten a bit ahead of itself in the short-term. In NIA’s first ever article about agriculture on February 17th, 2009, we said that cotton’s “upside potential is astronomical” at its then price of $0.44 per pound. NIA pointed to increasing sales to textile companies in China and the fact that cotton was down 70% from its all time high as reasons to be very bullish on cotton at $0.44 per pound. Early NIA members could have made 309% on cotton, but today we see much bigger potential in rice. The recent spike in cotton reminds us of the 2008 spike in oil. Although we believe cotton will ultimately rise above $3 per pound later this decade, we coul d possibly see a dip to below $1.40 per pound first.
Many people in the mainstream media have been criticizing NIA’s recent food inflation report, claiming that agricultural commodity prices have very little to do with prices of food in the supermarket. CNBC’s Steve Liesman, in particular, claims that “rising commodity prices won’t cause inflation”. Liesman has it backwards. NIA has never claimed that rising commodity prices cause inflation. Soaring budget deficits that the U.S. government can’t possibly pay for through taxation causes inflation when the Fed is forced to monetize the debt by printing money.
Rising commodity prices are only a symptom of inflation. The reason NIA was so bullish on agricultural commodities going back two years ago when we produced our first documentary ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, is because while gold is the best gauge of inflation and is often the best tool for predicting future money printing, agriculture is where the majority of the monetary inflation ends up going after the Fed’s newly printed money trickles down to the middle-class and poor. With gold prices already surging two years ago when we produced ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, NIA said in the documentary “food prices have the potential to surge most during hyperinflation”.
One thing NIA is almost 100% sure of is that come year 2015, middle-class Americans will be spending at least 30% to 40% of their income on food, similar to Egyptians today. As NIA warned in its latest documentary ‘End of Liberty’, if you don’t have enough money to accumulate physical gold and silver, it is important to begin establishing your own food storage, and store enough food to feed you and your family for at least six months during hyperinflation. Many store shelves in Egypt are now empty after recent panic buying, with shortages of nearly all major staple items throughout the country.
The U.S. Treasury is getting ready to sell $72 billion in new long-term bonds next week, as the U.S. rapidly approaches its $14.29 trillion debt limit. The debt limit is now expected to be reached by April 5th and Treasury Secretary Geithner warned the U.S. will see “catastrophic damage” if it isn’t raised. With the Federal Reserve now surpassing China and Japan as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, the real “catastrophic damage” ahead will be hyperinflation as a result of the U.S. government doing absolutely nothing to dramatically reduce spending. It is an absolute joke that Obama during his State of the Union address announced $400 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, but then the very next day, the Congressional Budget Office increased its 2011 budget deficit projection by $400 billion to $1.48 trillion.
Not raising the debt limit would be a good thing, as it would force Washington to live within its means. Sure, the stock market would collapse and the U.S. economy would enter into its next Great Depression, but at least it would save the U.S. dollar from losing all of its purchasing power. In fact, the standard of living for middle class Americans might actually improve if the government allowed the free market to put our economy into a depression, because goods and services would get cheaper.
The U.S. economy has become a drug addict that is dependent on cheap and easy money from the Federal Reserve. While Wall Street bankers took home a record $135 billion in total compensation in 2010, up 5.7% from $128 billion in 2009, this money was stolen from middle-class and poor Americans through inflation. The more monetary inflation (heroin) the Federal Reserve creates in order to satisfy the (in the words of Gerald Celente) “money junkies” on Wall Street, the more middle-class and poor Americans become dependent on unemployment checks and food stamps just to survive. Millions of American students are graduating college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but no jobs. Luckily for them (but not holders of U.S. dollars), NIA is hearing reports from both unemployed and underemployed college graduates with student loans that the government is reducing their required monthly payments by sometimes 90% or more based on their current incomes.
China and Japan recently saw their credit ratings downgraded, while the U.S. credit rating remains at “AAA”. NIA believes it would make far more sense for the world’s largest debtor nation to be downgraded instead of the world’s two largest creditor nations. The Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing has yet to even reach the halfway point and the Fed already holds about $1.11 trillion in U.S. treasuries. By the time QE2 is over at the end of June, the Fed will own $1.6 trillion in U.S. treasuries, about what China and Japan own combined. Shockingly, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig is already dropping hints about QE3. According to Hoenig, the Fed may consider extending treasury purchases beyond June 30th, 2011, (the scheduled completion date for QE2) if U.S. economic data looks disappointing.
With the Fed taking over as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, China is beginning to rapidly move away from the U.S. dollar and into gold. In just the first 10 months of 2010, China imported 209 metric tons of gold compared to 45 metric tons in all of 2009, a stunning five-fold increase. While the western world is downplaying the threat of inflation as much as possible, Asian countries understand that hyperinflation is the most devastating thing that can possibly happen to any economy. The demand for gold in Asia right now is the most intense it has ever been, as they look to tackle rising inflation before it becomes hyperinflation.
The Chinese are so smart that families are now giving each other gold bullion as gifts instead of traditional red envelopes filled with cash. China is now on track to soon surpass India as the world’s largest consumer of gold. The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently gave Beijing-based Lion Fund Management Co. approval to create a fund that will invest into foreign gold ETFs.
U.S. stock mutual funds saw $6.7 billion in net inflows during the past two weeks, the most in any two week period since May of 2009. The rioting, looting, and civil unrest in Egypt is now making the U.S. look like the safe haven of the world, even though it should be considered the riskiest place to invest. From the Dow’s low in August until now, about $38 billion was actually removed from U.S. stock mutual funds, despite the stock market rising 20%. The Dow Jones has been rising from September until now solely due to the Federal Reserve printing around $350 billion out of thin air. When central banks print money, stock markets often act as a relief valve due to there being too much inflation going into the hands of financial institutions.
The U.S. M2 money supply surged by $46.6 billion during the week ending January 17th to a record $8.8623 trillion, following a rise during the previous week of $7.6 billion. The rise in the M2 money supply over the past two weeks of $54.2 billion equals an annualized increase of 16%. The M2 multiplier now stands at 4.218 compared to a long-term average of 10. When QE2 is complete, the Fed’s monetary base will likely stand at $2.59 trillion. A return to the long-term average M2 multiplier of 10 means we are due to see a 192% increase in the M2 money supply and that is not even including a possible QE3 and QE4.
The U.S. economic ponzi scheme could unravel very quickly in the years ahead, with the velocity of money increasing much faster than anybody expects. As more Americans learn about NIA and become educated to the truth about the U.S. economy and inflation, a complete loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar could occur very suddenly. It is important for all Americans to prepare as if hyperinflation will be here tomorrow. At least in Egypt, their currency still has purchasing power and their citizens are trying to implement a regime change before it is too late. By 2015 in America, it will already be too late and the civil unrest here has the potential to be many times worse.
The rioting and looting currently taking place in Egypt is primarily a result of massive food inflation and shows what all major cities in the United States will likely look like come year 2015 due to the Federal Reserve’s zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing to infinity. On December 16th, 2009, NIA named Time Magazine’s 2009 ‘Person of the Year’ Ben Bernanke our ‘Villain of the Year’, saying he created “unprecedented amounts of inflation in unprecedented ways” and “When it costs $20 for a gallon of milk in a few years, Americans will have nobody to thank more than Bernanke.”
What started out a few weeks ago as protests in Algeria with citizens chanting “Bring Us Sugar!” and five citizens being killed, quickly spread to civil unrest in Tunisia which saw 14 more civilian deaths, and has now spread to riots in Egypt where 300 Egyptian citizens have been killed. Food inflation in Egypt has reached 20% and citizens in the nation already spend about 40% of their monthly expenditures on food. Americans for decades have been blessed with cheap food, spending only 13% of their expenditures on food, but this is about to change.
NIA was the first to predict the recent explosion in agricultural commodity prices in our October 30th, 2009, article entitled, “U.S. Inflation to Appear Next in Food and Agriculture”, which said we have a “perfect storm for an explosion in agriculture prices”. A couple of months later in ‘NIA’s Top 10 Predictions for 2010′ we predicted “Major Food Shortages” and said, “Inventories of agricultural products are the lowest they have been in decades yet the prices of many agricultural commodities are down 70% to 80% from their all time highs adjusted for real inflation”. Over the past year, agricultural commodities as a whole have outperformed almost every other type of asset, with silver being one of only a few other assets keeping pace with agriculture. (On December 11th, 2009, NIA declared silver the best investment for the next decade at $17.40 per ounce and it has so far risen 64% to its current price of $28.39 per ounce).
The world is at the beginning stages of an all out inflationary panic. Wheat, which NIA previously called on ‘NIAnswers’ its favorite investment besides gold and silver, is now up to a new 30-month high of $8.63 per bushel and has doubled in price since June of last year. Algeria bought 800,000 tonnes of wheat this past week, bringing their total purchases for the month of January up to 1.8 million tonnes, which was quadruple expectations. Saudi Arabia is also beginning to stockpile their inventories of wheat. Rice futures have gained 8% during the past few days with Bangladesh and Indonesia placing extraordinary large orders. Indonesia’s latest rice order was quadruple its normal allotment and Bangladesh plans to double rice purchases this year. Meanwhile, the U.S., which is the world’s third largest exporter of rice, is expected to cut production by 25% in 2011.
NIA considers rice to be one of the world’s most undervalued agricultural commodities at its current price of $15.96 per 100 pounds and forecasts a move back to its 2008 high of $24 per 100 pounds as soon as the end of 2011. NIA believes cotton, at its current price of $1.80 per pound, may have gotten a bit ahead of itself in the short-term. In NIA’s first ever article about agriculture on February 17th, 2009, we said that cotton’s “upside potential is astronomical” at its then price of $0.44 per pound. NIA pointed to increasing sales to textile companies in China and the fact that cotton was down 70% from its all time high as reasons to be very bullish on cotton at $0.44 per pound. Early NIA members could have made 309% on cotton, but today we see much bigger potential in rice. The recent spike in cotton reminds us of the 2008 spike in oil. Although we believe cotton will ultimately rise above $3 per pound later this decade, we coul d possibly see a dip to below $1.40 per pound first.
Many people in the mainstream media have been criticizing NIA’s recent food inflation report, claiming that agricultural commodity prices have very little to do with prices of food in the supermarket. CNBC’s Steve Liesman, in particular, claims that “rising commodity prices won’t cause inflation”. Liesman has it backwards. NIA has never claimed that rising commodity prices cause inflation. Soaring budget deficits that the U.S. government can’t possibly pay for through taxation causes inflation when the Fed is forced to monetize the debt by printing money.
Rising commodity prices are only a symptom of inflation. The reason NIA was so bullish on agricultural commodities going back two years ago when we produced our first documentary ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, is because while gold is the best gauge of inflation and is often the best tool for predicting future money printing, agriculture is where the majority of the monetary inflation ends up going after the Fed’s newly printed money trickles down to the middle-class and poor. With gold prices already surging two years ago when we produced ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, NIA said in the documentary “food prices have the potential to surge most during hyperinflation”.
One thing NIA is almost 100% sure of is that come year 2015, middle-class Americans will be spending at least 30% to 40% of their income on food, similar to Egyptians today. As NIA warned in its latest documentary ‘End of Liberty’, if you don’t have enough money to accumulate physical gold and silver, it is important to begin establishing your own food storage, and store enough food to feed you and your family for at least six months during hyperinflation. Many store shelves in Egypt are now empty after recent panic buying, with shortages of nearly all major staple items throughout the country.
The U.S. Treasury is getting ready to sell $72 billion in new long-term bonds next week, as the U.S. rapidly approaches its $14.29 trillion debt limit. The debt limit is now expected to be reached by April 5th and Treasury Secretary Geithner warned the U.S. will see “catastrophic damage” if it isn’t raised. With the Federal Reserve now surpassing China and Japan as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, the real “catastrophic damage” ahead will be hyperinflation as a result of the U.S. government doing absolutely nothing to dramatically reduce spending. It is an absolute joke that Obama during his State of the Union address announced $400 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, but then the very next day, the Congressional Budget Office increased its 2011 budget deficit projection by $400 billion to $1.48 trillion.
Not raising the debt limit would be a good thing, as it would force Washington to live within its means. Sure, the stock market would collapse and the U.S. economy would enter into its next Great Depression, but at least it would save the U.S. dollar from losing all of its purchasing power. In fact, the standard of living for middle class Americans might actually improve if the government allowed the free market to put our economy into a depression, because goods and services would get cheaper.
The U.S. economy has become a drug addict that is dependent on cheap and easy money from the Federal Reserve. While Wall Street bankers took home a record $135 billion in total compensation in 2010, up 5.7% from $128 billion in 2009, this money was stolen from middle-class and poor Americans through inflation. The more monetary inflation (heroin) the Federal Reserve creates in order to satisfy the (in the words of Gerald Celente) “money junkies” on Wall Street, the more middle-class and poor Americans become dependent on unemployment checks and food stamps just to survive. Millions of American students are graduating college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but no jobs. Luckily for them (but not holders of U.S. dollars), NIA is hearing reports from both unemployed and underemployed college graduates with student loans that the government is reducing their required monthly payments by sometimes 90% or more based on their current incomes.
China and Japan recently saw their credit ratings downgraded, while the U.S. credit rating remains at “AAA”. NIA believes it would make far more sense for the world’s largest debtor nation to be downgraded instead of the world’s two largest creditor nations. The Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing has yet to even reach the halfway point and the Fed already holds about $1.11 trillion in U.S. treasuries. By the time QE2 is over at the end of June, the Fed will own $1.6 trillion in U.S. treasuries, about what China and Japan own combined. Shockingly, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig is already dropping hints about QE3. According to Hoenig, the Fed may consider extending treasury purchases beyond June 30th, 2011, (the scheduled completion date for QE2) if U.S. economic data looks disappointing.
With the Fed taking over as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, China is beginning to rapidly move away from the U.S. dollar and into gold. In just the first 10 months of 2010, China imported 209 metric tons of gold compared to 45 metric tons in all of 2009, a stunning five-fold increase. While the western world is downplaying the threat of inflation as much as possible, Asian countries understand that hyperinflation is the most devastating thing that can possibly happen to any economy. The demand for gold in Asia right now is the most intense it has ever been, as they look to tackle rising inflation before it becomes hyperinflation.
The Chinese are so smart that families are now giving each other gold bullion as gifts instead of traditional red envelopes filled with cash. China is now on track to soon surpass India as the world’s largest consumer of gold. The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently gave Beijing-based Lion Fund Management Co. approval to create a fund that will invest into foreign gold ETFs.
U.S. stock mutual funds saw $6.7 billion in net inflows during the past two weeks, the most in any two week period since May of 2009. The rioting, looting, and civil unrest in Egypt is now making the U.S. look like the safe haven of the world, even though it should be considered the riskiest place to invest. From the Dow’s low in August until now, about $38 billion was actually removed from U.S. stock mutual funds, despite the stock market rising 20%. The Dow Jones has been rising from September until now solely due to the Federal Reserve printing around $350 billion out of thin air. When central banks print money, stock markets often act as a relief valve due to there being too much inflation going into the hands of financial institutions.
The U.S. M2 money supply surged by $46.6 billion during the week ending January 17th to a record $8.8623 trillion, following a rise during the previous week of $7.6 billion. The rise in the M2 money supply over the past two weeks of $54.2 billion equals an annualized increase of 16%. The M2 multiplier now stands at 4.218 compared to a long-term average of 10. When QE2 is complete, the Fed’s monetary base will likely stand at $2.59 trillion. A return to the long-term average M2 multiplier of 10 means we are due to see a 192% increase in the M2 money supply and that is not even including a possible QE3 and QE4.
The U.S. economic ponzi scheme could unravel very quickly in the years ahead, with the velocity of money increasing much faster than anybody expects. As more Americans learn about NIA and become educated to the truth about the U.S. economy and inflation, a complete loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar could occur very suddenly. It is important for all Americans to prepare as if hyperinflation will be here tomorrow. At least in Egypt, their currency still has purchasing power and their citizens are trying to implement a regime change before it is too late. By 2015 in America, it will already be too late and the civil unrest here has the potential to be many times worse.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Well here's a new one...
Hubby went to get some grease for his grease gun at Harbor Freight on Monday. They asked him for his birthday. Seems they cant sell grease to anyone under 21. I wonder what they do with it...ohh the things that run through your mind LOL.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Lundberg Family Farms
If you are looking for a good rice product look at Lundberg's site. They sell at national retailers. The following is an excerpt from their email I recently received...
Lundberg Family Farms® proudly sponsored the first ever Non-GMO Month in October
by participating in the “Celebrate your right to choose Non-GMO” campaign on Facebook.
The Facebook application educated users about GMOs, the Non-GMO Project, and featured
brands participating in the product verification program, including Lundberg. It also
raised funds for the Project with vendor sponsors donating $1 for every click from users.
The process of genetic modification, which takes place in a laboratory, typically merges
DNA from different species, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes
that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.
Studies, meanwhile, increasingly show a correlation between consumption of GMOs and an array
of health risks. As a result, more and more consumers are seeking non-GMO choices, and Nielson
reported in February of last year that “GMO-free” is now the fastest growing store brand label claim.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association estimates that GMOs currently are in approximately 80%
of conventional processed foods in the United States, but they are not labeled. To fill the information
gap, a “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal has been created. Manufacturers earn the seal through
compliance with rigorous GMO avoidance standards, including ingredient testing, as part of the
nation’s first third party non-GMO verification program.
Lundberg was among the first companies to have their products verified by the Non-GMO Project
and is currently working on adding the “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal to the packaging
of 82 rice products that have been “Non-GMO Project Verified”.
I thought the 80% of processed foods are GMO was very interesting...
Lundberg Family Farms® proudly sponsored the first ever Non-GMO Month in October
by participating in the “Celebrate your right to choose Non-GMO” campaign on Facebook.
The Facebook application educated users about GMOs, the Non-GMO Project, and featured
brands participating in the product verification program, including Lundberg. It also
raised funds for the Project with vendor sponsors donating $1 for every click from users.
The process of genetic modification, which takes place in a laboratory, typically merges
DNA from different species, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes
that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.
Studies, meanwhile, increasingly show a correlation between consumption of GMOs and an array
of health risks. As a result, more and more consumers are seeking non-GMO choices, and Nielson
reported in February of last year that “GMO-free” is now the fastest growing store brand label claim.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association estimates that GMOs currently are in approximately 80%
of conventional processed foods in the United States, but they are not labeled. To fill the information
gap, a “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal has been created. Manufacturers earn the seal through
compliance with rigorous GMO avoidance standards, including ingredient testing, as part of the
nation’s first third party non-GMO verification program.
Lundberg was among the first companies to have their products verified by the Non-GMO Project
and is currently working on adding the “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal to the packaging
of 82 rice products that have been “Non-GMO Project Verified”.
I thought the 80% of processed foods are GMO was very interesting...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
All I can say...
is it is a good thing that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow because if he had I think a lot of people would have made a trip to Punxsy to see him and it would not be pretty :). Poor little groundhog...LOL.
Stonyfield's email just got today on GE alfalfa
I just got this email today from Stonyfield. If you didnt know, now they are also going to farm GE rice that has had human DNA put in it. Wrong, wrong, so wrong....
As you know this past Thursday, the USDA announced its decision to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. Alfalfa is an important crop for many organic dairy farmers and despite a growing body of scientific evidence against GE crops, the USDA decided to allow planting of GE alfalfa without any oversight or protections for organic farmers. We believe that the USDA decision favors the interests of the biotech industry, and deals a major blow to both organic farming and the public’s right to choose foods free of GE contamination.
It is crucial that those of us who care about organic and feeding our families food free of GE ingredients join together and act. We hope you’ll take the time to read this letter below from Maria Rodale, Michael Pollan, and the organic community and learn how to take action.
We also hope you’ll share it with your on-line and off-line communities. Here is the direct, easily sharable link: http://huff.to/g0qE1u
LETTER FROM THE ORGANIC COMMUNITY
We stand united in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to once again allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers.
Last spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to the USDA highly critical of the substance and conclusions of its draft EIS on GE Alfalfa. Instead of responding to these comments and concerns, including expert comments from farmers, scientists, academics, conservationists, and food safety and consumer advocates, the USDA has chosen instead to listen to a handful of agricultural biotechnology companies.
USDA’s decision to allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of
Monsanto’s GE Roundup Ready alfalfa without any restrictions flies in the face of the interests of conventional and organic farmers, preservation of the environment, and consumer choice. USDA has become a rogue agency in its regulation of biotech crops and its decision to appease the few companies who seek to benefit from this technology comes despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of American farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.
The Center for Food Safety will be suing on this decision.
In the coming months, we will be seeing USDA proposals to allow unrestricted plantings of GE sugar beets, and GE corn and soy crops designed to resist toxic pesticides, such as 2-4D and Dicamba, highly toxic pesticides that pose a serious threat to our health and the environment. To win these critical and difficult battles, the entire organic community, and our allies in the conventional food and farming community, will have to work together.
Now is the time to unite in action. We need to work together to restore sanity to our food system, stop the deregulation of GE crops and join together against the forces that are seeking to silence hundreds of thousands of Americans.
As we move forward, we are united in opposing genetically engineered organisms in food production and believe that pressure to stop the proliferation of this contaminating technology must be focused on the White House and Congress. The companies responsible for this situation are the biotech companies whose GE technology causes genetic drift and environmental hazards that are not contained as the deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa goes forward. The organic community stands together with consumer, farmer, environmental and business interests to ensure practices that are protective of health and the environment.
We urge you to join us today.
Sign up to receive action alerts:
http://cfs.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Register
Consider making a donation to the legal effort ahead:
https://secure3.convio.net/cfs/site/Donation2?1311.donation=form1&df_id=1311&JServSessionIdr004=vqetvh6lh5.app306a
Let the White House know that you do not support the deregulation of GE alfalfa:
http://ota.capwiz.com/ota/issues/alert/?alertid=24747501
Sincerely,
Christine Bushway, Organic Trade Association
Jay Feldman, Beyond Pesticides
Michael Funk, United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI)
Elizabeth Henderson, NOFA Interstate Council
Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm
Liana Hoodes, National Organic Coalition
Kristina Hubbard, Organic Seed Alliance
Faye Jones, Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service
Robby Kenner, Robert Kenner Films
Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety
Russell Libby, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (MOFGA)
Ed Maltby, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance (NODPA)
Robyn O’Brien, Allergy Kids
Keith Olcott, Equal Exchange
Michael Pollan, Author
Maria Rodale, Rodale Inc.
Eric Schlosser, Author
Robynn Schrader, National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA)
George Siemon, Organic Valley
Michael Sligh, Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)
Megan Westgate, Non-GMO Project
Maureen Wilmot, Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
Enid Wonnacott, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT)
As you know this past Thursday, the USDA announced its decision to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. Alfalfa is an important crop for many organic dairy farmers and despite a growing body of scientific evidence against GE crops, the USDA decided to allow planting of GE alfalfa without any oversight or protections for organic farmers. We believe that the USDA decision favors the interests of the biotech industry, and deals a major blow to both organic farming and the public’s right to choose foods free of GE contamination.
It is crucial that those of us who care about organic and feeding our families food free of GE ingredients join together and act. We hope you’ll take the time to read this letter below from Maria Rodale, Michael Pollan, and the organic community and learn how to take action.
We also hope you’ll share it with your on-line and off-line communities. Here is the direct, easily sharable link: http://huff.to/g0qE1u
LETTER FROM THE ORGANIC COMMUNITY
We stand united in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to once again allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers.
Last spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to the USDA highly critical of the substance and conclusions of its draft EIS on GE Alfalfa. Instead of responding to these comments and concerns, including expert comments from farmers, scientists, academics, conservationists, and food safety and consumer advocates, the USDA has chosen instead to listen to a handful of agricultural biotechnology companies.
USDA’s decision to allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of
Monsanto’s GE Roundup Ready alfalfa without any restrictions flies in the face of the interests of conventional and organic farmers, preservation of the environment, and consumer choice. USDA has become a rogue agency in its regulation of biotech crops and its decision to appease the few companies who seek to benefit from this technology comes despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of American farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.
The Center for Food Safety will be suing on this decision.
In the coming months, we will be seeing USDA proposals to allow unrestricted plantings of GE sugar beets, and GE corn and soy crops designed to resist toxic pesticides, such as 2-4D and Dicamba, highly toxic pesticides that pose a serious threat to our health and the environment. To win these critical and difficult battles, the entire organic community, and our allies in the conventional food and farming community, will have to work together.
Now is the time to unite in action. We need to work together to restore sanity to our food system, stop the deregulation of GE crops and join together against the forces that are seeking to silence hundreds of thousands of Americans.
As we move forward, we are united in opposing genetically engineered organisms in food production and believe that pressure to stop the proliferation of this contaminating technology must be focused on the White House and Congress. The companies responsible for this situation are the biotech companies whose GE technology causes genetic drift and environmental hazards that are not contained as the deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa goes forward. The organic community stands together with consumer, farmer, environmental and business interests to ensure practices that are protective of health and the environment.
We urge you to join us today.
Sign up to receive action alerts:
http://cfs.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Register
Consider making a donation to the legal effort ahead:
https://secure3.convio.net/cfs/site/Donation2?1311.donation=form1&df_id=1311&JServSessionIdr004=vqetvh6lh5.app306a
Let the White House know that you do not support the deregulation of GE alfalfa:
http://ota.capwiz.com/ota/issues/alert/?alertid=24747501
Sincerely,
Christine Bushway, Organic Trade Association
Jay Feldman, Beyond Pesticides
Michael Funk, United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI)
Elizabeth Henderson, NOFA Interstate Council
Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm
Liana Hoodes, National Organic Coalition
Kristina Hubbard, Organic Seed Alliance
Faye Jones, Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service
Robby Kenner, Robert Kenner Films
Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety
Russell Libby, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (MOFGA)
Ed Maltby, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance (NODPA)
Robyn O’Brien, Allergy Kids
Keith Olcott, Equal Exchange
Michael Pollan, Author
Maria Rodale, Rodale Inc.
Eric Schlosser, Author
Robynn Schrader, National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA)
George Siemon, Organic Valley
Michael Sligh, Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)
Megan Westgate, Non-GMO Project
Maureen Wilmot, Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
Enid Wonnacott, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT)
New Films coming out...
Well just heard that they will begin filming The Hobbit this month. It's going to be a two parter. Cant wait to see it. Some of the cast from Lord of The Rings is going to be in this one. They even said that Christopher Lee (who is 88) will be reprising his role. I am pretty sure that it is going to be just as good as the original trilogy. It is supposed to come out in 2013. Long wait for hopefully a good movie.
On the other hand I just read that they are going to be filming another movie. It's called Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter...Huh???? This vampire stuff is just getting way out of hand. They say that movies reflect the mood of the people. I guess we are just surrounded by vampires, well I'm not, just the people in Washington maybe LOL. :)
In my opinion there havent been very many good movies lately. I think the writers arent in touch with reality in some ways. Funny movies just arent funny. Replacing some good laughs with swearing and gutter humor really isnt working. TV doesnt have any really funny shows on. I guess maybe I'm getting too old. I remember when you watched Lucy, Barney, the Fonz, Laverne and Shirley and they were funny. Sure they were silly but it was a nice vacation from reality. TV doesnt have anything on that is worth watching really and the good shows that they do have on they cancel for lack of viewership. Where do they get the numbers? I watch some shows dont get me wrong but no reality shows. Dont get those at all. If I want reality all I have to do is go to the store. There's a big dose of reality. I want fantasy, just get away type of shows where I have to maybe think about the show during the week. I loved Lost though some people didnt get it and you really had to watch it from the beginning to halfway understand it. It had a religious ending which some people didnt like but I thought it was great. After the first season I could see the religious underpinnings which really came to the forefront during the last season.
I guess what I am trying to say in my rambling way is that movies and TV shows need to do something whether that is just making people laugh to taking them to a different place and time or into situations where they would never be to trying to make a difference in their lives whether it be from laughing and enjoying themselves to making them think or making them forget. Movies and TV are powerful. Although they are not the end all and be all by any means. I could live without TV but not without books. Books make you use your imagination and that is something we all could use a lot more of.
Well now that I have just about made a circle and not made any sense I'll close for now. Hope everyone made it through the bad weather. It was sure cold here this morning and yesterday the wind was whipping around so it made me think it was colder than it was.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
On the other hand I just read that they are going to be filming another movie. It's called Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter...Huh???? This vampire stuff is just getting way out of hand. They say that movies reflect the mood of the people. I guess we are just surrounded by vampires, well I'm not, just the people in Washington maybe LOL. :)
In my opinion there havent been very many good movies lately. I think the writers arent in touch with reality in some ways. Funny movies just arent funny. Replacing some good laughs with swearing and gutter humor really isnt working. TV doesnt have any really funny shows on. I guess maybe I'm getting too old. I remember when you watched Lucy, Barney, the Fonz, Laverne and Shirley and they were funny. Sure they were silly but it was a nice vacation from reality. TV doesnt have anything on that is worth watching really and the good shows that they do have on they cancel for lack of viewership. Where do they get the numbers? I watch some shows dont get me wrong but no reality shows. Dont get those at all. If I want reality all I have to do is go to the store. There's a big dose of reality. I want fantasy, just get away type of shows where I have to maybe think about the show during the week. I loved Lost though some people didnt get it and you really had to watch it from the beginning to halfway understand it. It had a religious ending which some people didnt like but I thought it was great. After the first season I could see the religious underpinnings which really came to the forefront during the last season.
I guess what I am trying to say in my rambling way is that movies and TV shows need to do something whether that is just making people laugh to taking them to a different place and time or into situations where they would never be to trying to make a difference in their lives whether it be from laughing and enjoying themselves to making them think or making them forget. Movies and TV are powerful. Although they are not the end all and be all by any means. I could live without TV but not without books. Books make you use your imagination and that is something we all could use a lot more of.
Well now that I have just about made a circle and not made any sense I'll close for now. Hope everyone made it through the bad weather. It was sure cold here this morning and yesterday the wind was whipping around so it made me think it was colder than it was.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
NIA on State of the Union Address
Obama Fails to Address Inflation in State of the Union
President Obama's State of the Union address last night did not make one single mention of inflation, when it is the belief of NIA that massive price inflation (especially food inflation) will become America's top crisis by the end of this calendar year. Obama's speech also failed to mention the Federal Reserve, the Federal Funds Rate being held near 0% for over two years, and the Fed's latest round of $600 billion in quantitative easing. Unless Obama addresses our nation's fiat currency system, nothing else he says has any meaning at all.
After the U.S. lost 8.36 million jobs over a two year period from December of 2007 through December of 2009, our economy has recovered 1.12 million jobs as a result of the Federal Reserve and U.S. government spending $4.6 trillion on bailouts and stimulus programs. That is over $4 million spent for each job created. Instead of bailing out Wall Street and allowing non-productive bankers to receive record bonuses, the U.S. could have sent a check for $550,000 to each middle-class American who lost their job.
When a central bank prints trillions of dollars out of thin air, you are going to see some type of a nominal uptick in economic statistics. Obama can brag all he wants about over 1 million jobs being created, but he continues to ignore what the ultimate cost of it will be. When a government has an annual cash budget deficit of over $1 trillion that cannot possibly be balanced by raising taxes, massive inflation is the inevitable outcome. Our real budget deficit, once you include increases in our unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is already north of $5 trillion. NIA believes the U.S. is now at serious risk of experiencing hyperinflation by the year 2015.
Obama proposed in his speech that "we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years" saying it "would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president." The truth is, Obama's proposals, if successfully implemented, would not reduce the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade. They would only cut $400 billion from proposed spending increases. NIA doesn't understand why Obama would even waste his breath talking about reducing the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade, when the Federal Reserve is creating $600 billion in monetary inflation over a period of just eight months. Americans who listened to Obama speak last night wasted over an hour of their time, because until the Federal Reserve raises interest rates and stops printing money, it will be impossible for the U.S. economy to truly recover and become healthy.
Even if the U.S. government cut all discretionary spending down to zero, we would still have a budget deficit from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone. Surprisingly, Obama admitted that most of the cuts he proposed "only address annual domestic spending, which represents a little more than 12% of our budget." When referring to the Deficit Commission's proposed spending cuts, Obama said "their conclusion is that the only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it". In what was Obama's most shocking statement of the night, he went on to say, "This means further reducing health care costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit."
This is the closest Obama has ever come to admitting that major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid are necessary, if we want to have any hope of ever balancing our budget. However, NIA is taking Obama's comments with a grain of salt. He immediately changed the subject in the very next sentence, claiming his health care reform law that was enacted last year "will slow these rising costs". He then continued to defend the law saying, "repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars to our deficit."
One week ago, the new Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted 245-189 to repeal Obama's health care reform law. The House's vote to repeal it is meaningless because it would never pass the U.S. Senate and even if it did, Obama would simply veto it. NIA believes the law should be repealed because it is impossible for government legislation to bring down health care costs. Only the free market can bring down health care costs and the health care reform law will impede the free market more than any piece of legislation has ever impeded the free market in any industry or sector in history. In our opinion, the new health care law is guaranteed to add trillions of dollars to the deficit over the next decade and there is absolutely no chance of Obama ever making the necessary dramatic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid until the U.S. is already in the middle of an outbreak of hyperinflation.
When it comes to Social Security, Obama said we need a "bipartisan solution to strengthen" it and "we must do it without putting at risk current retirees" and "without slashing benefits for future generations". In other words, nobody in Washington is even going to bring up the possibility of cutting or eliminating Social Security, because it would be political suicide for them. We need more honest representatives in Washington like Ron Paul who aren't afraid to speak the truth about the need to cut entitlement programs and inform the American public to the consequences of our government's deficit spending.
Most Americans think they don't have to worry about our country's national debt because our grandchildren are the ones who will ultimately be responsible to pay it off. Unfortunately, it won't just be our grandchildren who feel the pain of our deficit spending and monetary inflation. All Americans with incomes and savings in U.S. dollars along with all foreigners holding dollar-denominated assets will begin to feel the pain of our government's destructive actions in the very near future through massive price inflation and the U.S. dollar losing nearly all of its purchasing power.
One thing from last night's State of the Union address is very clear, Obama is not serious about cutting spending and nobody in Washington has any expectation of the U.S. ever returning to a balanced budget. NIA believes that this past week's dip in the prices of gold and silver is an unbelievable buying opportunity for Americans who already own precious metals as well as those wishing to buy precious metals for the first time. Sure, both gold and silver could dip lower in the short-term, but we can't try to time short-term fluctuations and we need to stay focused on the long-term destruction of the U.S. dollar. In future State of the Union addresses to come in another year or two down the road, the entire focus of the President's speech will likely be on inflation and the collapsing U.S. dollar. When that time comes and mainstream America becomes aware of what NIA members have known for years, we could easily see $5,000 per ounce gold and $500 per ounce silver, and everybody will regret not loading up as much as possible at these levels.
It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us
President Obama's State of the Union address last night did not make one single mention of inflation, when it is the belief of NIA that massive price inflation (especially food inflation) will become America's top crisis by the end of this calendar year. Obama's speech also failed to mention the Federal Reserve, the Federal Funds Rate being held near 0% for over two years, and the Fed's latest round of $600 billion in quantitative easing. Unless Obama addresses our nation's fiat currency system, nothing else he says has any meaning at all.
After the U.S. lost 8.36 million jobs over a two year period from December of 2007 through December of 2009, our economy has recovered 1.12 million jobs as a result of the Federal Reserve and U.S. government spending $4.6 trillion on bailouts and stimulus programs. That is over $4 million spent for each job created. Instead of bailing out Wall Street and allowing non-productive bankers to receive record bonuses, the U.S. could have sent a check for $550,000 to each middle-class American who lost their job.
When a central bank prints trillions of dollars out of thin air, you are going to see some type of a nominal uptick in economic statistics. Obama can brag all he wants about over 1 million jobs being created, but he continues to ignore what the ultimate cost of it will be. When a government has an annual cash budget deficit of over $1 trillion that cannot possibly be balanced by raising taxes, massive inflation is the inevitable outcome. Our real budget deficit, once you include increases in our unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is already north of $5 trillion. NIA believes the U.S. is now at serious risk of experiencing hyperinflation by the year 2015.
Obama proposed in his speech that "we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years" saying it "would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president." The truth is, Obama's proposals, if successfully implemented, would not reduce the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade. They would only cut $400 billion from proposed spending increases. NIA doesn't understand why Obama would even waste his breath talking about reducing the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade, when the Federal Reserve is creating $600 billion in monetary inflation over a period of just eight months. Americans who listened to Obama speak last night wasted over an hour of their time, because until the Federal Reserve raises interest rates and stops printing money, it will be impossible for the U.S. economy to truly recover and become healthy.
Even if the U.S. government cut all discretionary spending down to zero, we would still have a budget deficit from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone. Surprisingly, Obama admitted that most of the cuts he proposed "only address annual domestic spending, which represents a little more than 12% of our budget." When referring to the Deficit Commission's proposed spending cuts, Obama said "their conclusion is that the only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it". In what was Obama's most shocking statement of the night, he went on to say, "This means further reducing health care costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit."
This is the closest Obama has ever come to admitting that major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid are necessary, if we want to have any hope of ever balancing our budget. However, NIA is taking Obama's comments with a grain of salt. He immediately changed the subject in the very next sentence, claiming his health care reform law that was enacted last year "will slow these rising costs". He then continued to defend the law saying, "repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars to our deficit."
One week ago, the new Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted 245-189 to repeal Obama's health care reform law. The House's vote to repeal it is meaningless because it would never pass the U.S. Senate and even if it did, Obama would simply veto it. NIA believes the law should be repealed because it is impossible for government legislation to bring down health care costs. Only the free market can bring down health care costs and the health care reform law will impede the free market more than any piece of legislation has ever impeded the free market in any industry or sector in history. In our opinion, the new health care law is guaranteed to add trillions of dollars to the deficit over the next decade and there is absolutely no chance of Obama ever making the necessary dramatic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid until the U.S. is already in the middle of an outbreak of hyperinflation.
When it comes to Social Security, Obama said we need a "bipartisan solution to strengthen" it and "we must do it without putting at risk current retirees" and "without slashing benefits for future generations". In other words, nobody in Washington is even going to bring up the possibility of cutting or eliminating Social Security, because it would be political suicide for them. We need more honest representatives in Washington like Ron Paul who aren't afraid to speak the truth about the need to cut entitlement programs and inform the American public to the consequences of our government's deficit spending.
Most Americans think they don't have to worry about our country's national debt because our grandchildren are the ones who will ultimately be responsible to pay it off. Unfortunately, it won't just be our grandchildren who feel the pain of our deficit spending and monetary inflation. All Americans with incomes and savings in U.S. dollars along with all foreigners holding dollar-denominated assets will begin to feel the pain of our government's destructive actions in the very near future through massive price inflation and the U.S. dollar losing nearly all of its purchasing power.
One thing from last night's State of the Union address is very clear, Obama is not serious about cutting spending and nobody in Washington has any expectation of the U.S. ever returning to a balanced budget. NIA believes that this past week's dip in the prices of gold and silver is an unbelievable buying opportunity for Americans who already own precious metals as well as those wishing to buy precious metals for the first time. Sure, both gold and silver could dip lower in the short-term, but we can't try to time short-term fluctuations and we need to stay focused on the long-term destruction of the U.S. dollar. In future State of the Union addresses to come in another year or two down the road, the entire focus of the President's speech will likely be on inflation and the collapsing U.S. dollar. When that time comes and mainstream America becomes aware of what NIA members have known for years, we could easily see $5,000 per ounce gold and $500 per ounce silver, and everybody will regret not loading up as much as possible at these levels.
It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Hubby brings me a present
Hubby had off today and after fixing the truck (that's a whole other post) he decided to go take our recyclers to the recycle center. When he came back he told me there was a present in the back of the truck for me. Now I'm thinking what in the world cause he isnt a junker and doesnt usually pick up things. Well I went out and looked in the back of the truck and there was a case of 12 wide mouth quart jars. He said that they were sitting beside the recycling bins. The thing was that they were still in the original packing and were brand new. He did open the plastic to make sure that none of them were broke before bringing them home. The only thing I saw wrong with them is that some of the bands were starting to rust. So I got 12 new canning jars for free! How great is that? I figured someone was cleaning out their mom's house and decided to recycle them. Although why they didnt even take the lids off and such is beyond me and also our recycling place doesnt take glass so maybe they thought someone could use them...The things people throw out are amazing sometimes...
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Sunday, January 23, 2011
chick pea recipe
See the pic? It tastes much better than it looks. To make: Dice two potatoes and one small onion. Saute in butter til onions are translucent. Add one can of chick peas (I used my home canned ones) and one can of diced tomatoes with liquid. Cook til the potatoes are done and chick peas are softened. If you need more liquid, add some chicken stock. To spice it up some I added garam masala about two tablespoons, some salt and pepper. I ate this with some bread and butter but you could put over rice or noodles for a completely different taste sensation.
If you try this recipe let me know how you prepared it.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Snow
Here are some pics I took during our big snow storm of 8 inches. It's a lot for down here in Alabama so pick yourself up off the floor from laughing so hard ;) The pics are also showing off our new fence system (two dog pens put together) and the behind the coop is the little building we built to keep the chicks out of the weather. That's DH checking on the chicks...
Knit alert!
Yes I finally finished the skirt that I started knitting in the summer. The waistband was kind of freaking me out but it turned out pretty nice. In my journey to use up old stuff, I used an old waistband from some worn out underwear (shh dont tell). The underwear I cut up for rags and I am really hating to throw out something useful and the waistbands were not in bad shape, still stretchy so I used one of them for the skirt. The skirt itself was a really dull knit after all the interesting bells and lace at the bottom - just straight knitting up to the waistband. I inserted the elastic and sewed the top down about an inch for the elastic casing. Cant wait until it gets warm enough to wear it.
I have some other knit things going on and will post them as I complete them...
I have some other knit things going on and will post them as I complete them...Talk to ya later!
Denise
Kombucha and dehydrating veggies
This is our quart of kombucha just fermenting away. It will turn into vinegar if you let it go long enough. Which is what happens when you forget about it...LOL. If you are interested in making kombucha which is tangy sweet with lots of probiotics, you need to get a scoby. The scoby, also called mother, is the fungus looking thing at the top of the jar. I ordered mine from one place where it had been dehydrated but even after they sent me a second one I just couldnt get it to do anything so I ordered this one off of Ebay. Kind of strange to get it in the mail. It came hydrated in its own kombucha liquid. To make it you take some boiled water (chlorine is a no-no), add sugar and steep some tea (with no additives). I used green tea but you can also use black and white teas. The scoby will tint. If you use white sugar and white tea the scoby will be whiter and the liquid will be clearer too. After you have it fermenting a couple of days up to a week another baby will form on top of the mother. I usually compost the mother and use the baby for the next batch.
Also at Publix they had buy one get one free on celery so I dehydrated them too. I even used the leaves. They will add a lot of flavor to your soups and stews.
On to dehydrating. To begin I cut up all the veggies into 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch slices and spread them out on the racks. Here are mushrooms. I bought them on sale at Publix when they had buy one get one free deal going on.
Here is the same batch after dehydrating.
Here is my dehydrator looking in from the front. It has five racks.
And here are some onions I dehydrated. It is amazing how little space they take up after they are dehydrated. I put them in jars and store them in my cupboard. I also did some peppers and carrots. To rehydrate just throw a small amount into your soup. For the mushrooms we use them on pizzas so to rehydrate them we put them in some hot water and let them sit for 5-10 minutes. Dehydrating is a wonderful thing I have found and so glad I bought the dehydrator. It has freed up space in my freezer and fridge and now things arent going bad before I use them. I'll have to remember to take a pic of the finished jars so you can see how much I actually did. I'm still experimenting with it. Next on the agenda is to dehydrate some sourdough starter. Will let you know how that turns out...
Talk to ya later!
Denise
3 Item swap
I'm really late about posting this but back in December I signed up for a 3-item swap on MaryJane's Farm forum. The three items were to be one handmade item, one store bought item and a recipe. I sent a lavendar sachet that I made (hand sewn and my own lavendar), two recipes, a angel coffee cup and a little santa pin. I only took a pic of the sachet and here it is:
Here is what I got in return: A container of organic coffee, a handmade pincushion and a recipe. Here is a pic:
Oh and she had used as filler in the box some "old" she said fabric. I'm going to use it in a quilt. Waste not want not :)
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
New Years Resolutions for Cats...
Thought this was really funny so I'm passing it along
It's that time of year. Here's a list a cat might compile, if they could write (and if they actually cared)
I will not flush the toilet while my human is in the shower.
I will not puff my entire body to twice its size for no reason after my humans watch a horror movie.
I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium.
I will not lean over to drink out of the tub, fall in, and then run screaming into the box of clumping cat litter.
I will not use the humans' bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks.
I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and barf them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage.
My human will never let me eat her pet rat, and I am at peace with that.
I will not help myself to Q-tips, and I will not attempt to stuff them down the drain to dispose of them.
I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare into her eyes until she wakes up.
As fast as I am, I must remember that I cannot run through closed doors.
I will not back up off the front porch and fall into the bushes just as my human is explaining to his girlfriend how graceful I am.
I will remember that I am a walking static generator. My human does not need my help installing a new board in her computer.
Birds do not come from the bird feeder. I will not repeatedly knock it down and try to open it up to get the birds out.
I will remember that my human really will wake up and feed me. I do not have to pry his eyelids open with my claws.
I will remember that a warm pepperoni pizza is not a good place for a nap!
I will not hide behind the toilet so that I can pat the human on the backside when he sits down just to make him levitate.
I will not drag dirty socks up from the basement in the middle of the night, deposit them on the bed and yell at the top of my lungs so that my human can admire my "kill."
If I sit in the sink while my human is brushing his teeth, I will not get angry when he spits toothpaste on me.
I will not complain that my butt is wet and that I am thirsty after sitting in my water bowl.
I will not knead my male human's groin at 3 AM with claws extended. It seems to cause him some discomfort and he wakes up all grumpy.
I will not attempt to stop the human's snoring by sticking my paws into his mouth.
I will not use my psychic powers to project myself into my human's dreams when I am hungry, causing her to dream that I am a talking cat, and I can say "Where's my supper!"
I will not run through the house with a condom wrapper in my mouth when my human's grandmother is visiting.
I will not teach the parrot to meow in a loud and raucous manner.
When my young humans are playing with modeling clay, I will not remove solid waste from my litter tray and roll it onto the kitchen floor.
When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them.
I will not display my worm collection on the kitchen floor on a rainy night. My human does not like finding it with her bare feet.
It's that time of year. Here's a list a cat might compile, if they could write (and if they actually cared)
I will not flush the toilet while my human is in the shower.
I will not puff my entire body to twice its size for no reason after my humans watch a horror movie.
I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium.
I will not lean over to drink out of the tub, fall in, and then run screaming into the box of clumping cat litter.
I will not use the humans' bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks.
I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and barf them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage.
My human will never let me eat her pet rat, and I am at peace with that.
I will not help myself to Q-tips, and I will not attempt to stuff them down the drain to dispose of them.
I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare into her eyes until she wakes up.
As fast as I am, I must remember that I cannot run through closed doors.
I will not back up off the front porch and fall into the bushes just as my human is explaining to his girlfriend how graceful I am.
I will remember that I am a walking static generator. My human does not need my help installing a new board in her computer.
Birds do not come from the bird feeder. I will not repeatedly knock it down and try to open it up to get the birds out.
I will remember that my human really will wake up and feed me. I do not have to pry his eyelids open with my claws.
I will remember that a warm pepperoni pizza is not a good place for a nap!
I will not hide behind the toilet so that I can pat the human on the backside when he sits down just to make him levitate.
I will not drag dirty socks up from the basement in the middle of the night, deposit them on the bed and yell at the top of my lungs so that my human can admire my "kill."
If I sit in the sink while my human is brushing his teeth, I will not get angry when he spits toothpaste on me.
I will not complain that my butt is wet and that I am thirsty after sitting in my water bowl.
I will not knead my male human's groin at 3 AM with claws extended. It seems to cause him some discomfort and he wakes up all grumpy.
I will not attempt to stop the human's snoring by sticking my paws into his mouth.
I will not use my psychic powers to project myself into my human's dreams when I am hungry, causing her to dream that I am a talking cat, and I can say "Where's my supper!"
I will not run through the house with a condom wrapper in my mouth when my human's grandmother is visiting.
I will not teach the parrot to meow in a loud and raucous manner.
When my young humans are playing with modeling clay, I will not remove solid waste from my litter tray and roll it onto the kitchen floor.
When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them.
I will not display my worm collection on the kitchen floor on a rainy night. My human does not like finding it with her bare feet.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
7-Eleven Secretly Reduces Size of Super Big Gulp
Very Interesting article from NIA
7-Eleven Secretly Reduces Size of Super Big Gulp
An NIA member just sent this to us with the suggestion that we do a future documentary on all of the retailers and wholesalers that are secretly reducing the sizes of their products with no warning to the public, while keeping their prices the same.
Apparently, 7-Eleven just reduced the size of their Super Big Gulp drink from 44 oz to 40 oz and the price has remained the same at $1.50. This is food inflation by deception, but it is indeed another form of food inflation. The real cost for a Super Big Gulp at 7-Eleven just rose by 10%, but this will never show up in any government CPI numbers.
Super Big Gulp fan says 7-Eleven duping the public out of 4 ounces
By John Kelso from the Austin American-Statesman
One thing I admire about Austinites is how they’re all over any wrongdoing that comes along, large or small. Or, in this case, super.
Take Paul Sunby, 50, a biologist with an environmental consulting firm who is all over 7-Eleven for “trying to dupe people” over the actual size of its Super Big Gulp fountain drink. Sunby said the convenience store has reduced the size of the drink from 44 to 40 ounces in a sneaky way — or as he put it, “cleverly, quietly, and diabolically.” Meanwhile, he said, the price remains the same: $1.50.
Paul, who is married to one of our business reporters, Lori Hawkins, said he noticed this transgression last summer when the store stopped selling Super Big Gulps for a couple of months, then started up again with a new cup. The old cup used to say Super Big Gulp on it, along with the 44-ounce size. But the new cup, while saying Super Big Gulp, included no size info, Paul said.
“They still say Super Big Gulp, but they no longer had the 44-ounce size printed on them, making people think they’re the same thing,” Paul groused.
Sunby said the new cup just didn’t feel quite as large as the earlier version, so he decided to measure. Was the wool being pulled over the eyes of the big soda-pop-drinking public?
“The first time, unofficially, I just took the new cup and filled it with water up to the top, and poured it into a legitimate 44-ounce cup from Exxon Tigermarket, and noticed that it didn’t fill it up all the way,” Paul said. “It was a quarter-cup short. So then I actually filled it back up and poured it into a measuring cup to get the full measurement, and determined it is a 40-ounce cup.”
Sunby said he wouldn’t be upset if it just said “40 ounces” on the side of the new Super Big Gulp. “They still called it a Super Big Gulp, when in fact it’s no longer,” he said. “It’s somewhere between a Big Gulp and a Super Big Gulp. It’s a Not So Big Gulp. To me, the Super Big Gulp is deceased.”
Sunby thinks this is important because, as he wrote in his e-mail, the term Big Gulp “seems to have a place in the fabric of some segments of society.”
“The Super Big Gulp is an American institution, in my mind,” he said. “How many truckers have made it across I-10 because of the Super Big Gulp?”
I called up 7-Eleven corporate to try to get to the bottom of this. I spoke to a woman named Keisha, who said she couldn’t give me her last name. I asked her if 7-Eleven had changed the size of the Super Big Gulp without informing the public. She looked it up, then said, “It says it has been changed to 40 ounces, this information I have in my system.”
So I asked her if 7-Eleven had made a public announcement about the change.
“We don’t have announcements; we just have information, so I’m not sure if we ran an announcement or not,” she said. Then she gave me case No. 1101030132. If I hear anything more, I’ll let you know.
ALSO-
Watch your bacon sizes as well, they are no longer 1lb packages most have gone down to 12 ounces. Dont be surprised if the size of your bread loaves goes down as well. In the last three weeks my husband said that the price of bacon went up $3. And that's on the sale price...I think I need to start canning meat...:)
Talk to ya later!
Denise
7-Eleven Secretly Reduces Size of Super Big Gulp
An NIA member just sent this to us with the suggestion that we do a future documentary on all of the retailers and wholesalers that are secretly reducing the sizes of their products with no warning to the public, while keeping their prices the same.
Apparently, 7-Eleven just reduced the size of their Super Big Gulp drink from 44 oz to 40 oz and the price has remained the same at $1.50. This is food inflation by deception, but it is indeed another form of food inflation. The real cost for a Super Big Gulp at 7-Eleven just rose by 10%, but this will never show up in any government CPI numbers.
Super Big Gulp fan says 7-Eleven duping the public out of 4 ounces
By John Kelso from the Austin American-Statesman
One thing I admire about Austinites is how they’re all over any wrongdoing that comes along, large or small. Or, in this case, super.
Take Paul Sunby, 50, a biologist with an environmental consulting firm who is all over 7-Eleven for “trying to dupe people” over the actual size of its Super Big Gulp fountain drink. Sunby said the convenience store has reduced the size of the drink from 44 to 40 ounces in a sneaky way — or as he put it, “cleverly, quietly, and diabolically.” Meanwhile, he said, the price remains the same: $1.50.
Paul, who is married to one of our business reporters, Lori Hawkins, said he noticed this transgression last summer when the store stopped selling Super Big Gulps for a couple of months, then started up again with a new cup. The old cup used to say Super Big Gulp on it, along with the 44-ounce size. But the new cup, while saying Super Big Gulp, included no size info, Paul said.
“They still say Super Big Gulp, but they no longer had the 44-ounce size printed on them, making people think they’re the same thing,” Paul groused.
Sunby said the new cup just didn’t feel quite as large as the earlier version, so he decided to measure. Was the wool being pulled over the eyes of the big soda-pop-drinking public?
“The first time, unofficially, I just took the new cup and filled it with water up to the top, and poured it into a legitimate 44-ounce cup from Exxon Tigermarket, and noticed that it didn’t fill it up all the way,” Paul said. “It was a quarter-cup short. So then I actually filled it back up and poured it into a measuring cup to get the full measurement, and determined it is a 40-ounce cup.”
Sunby said he wouldn’t be upset if it just said “40 ounces” on the side of the new Super Big Gulp. “They still called it a Super Big Gulp, when in fact it’s no longer,” he said. “It’s somewhere between a Big Gulp and a Super Big Gulp. It’s a Not So Big Gulp. To me, the Super Big Gulp is deceased.”
Sunby thinks this is important because, as he wrote in his e-mail, the term Big Gulp “seems to have a place in the fabric of some segments of society.”
“The Super Big Gulp is an American institution, in my mind,” he said. “How many truckers have made it across I-10 because of the Super Big Gulp?”
I called up 7-Eleven corporate to try to get to the bottom of this. I spoke to a woman named Keisha, who said she couldn’t give me her last name. I asked her if 7-Eleven had changed the size of the Super Big Gulp without informing the public. She looked it up, then said, “It says it has been changed to 40 ounces, this information I have in my system.”
So I asked her if 7-Eleven had made a public announcement about the change.
“We don’t have announcements; we just have information, so I’m not sure if we ran an announcement or not,” she said. Then she gave me case No. 1101030132. If I hear anything more, I’ll let you know.
ALSO-
Watch your bacon sizes as well, they are no longer 1lb packages most have gone down to 12 ounces. Dont be surprised if the size of your bread loaves goes down as well. In the last three weeks my husband said that the price of bacon went up $3. And that's on the sale price...I think I need to start canning meat...:)
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Update on the flooring
On Thursday we started the flooring in the craft/computer room. Needless to say there was a lot of stuff to be moved out of there. Hubby just kept shaking his head and mumbling dont know why...:) Told him not to open the closet (good thing we didnt have to do that floor in there yet). It is a good reason to get rid of some stuff though. I even (gasp) got rid of some yarn. But everything needs to be looked over and either donated or sold. We didnt get the room done but almost. It took a lot of time to take off the baseboards, pull up the carpet, pull up the little wooden strip with nails and pound down the nails into the cement. We have a cement slab and it was easier to pound down the nails than try to pull them up cause if you try to pull them up some of the cement usually comes with them. Then we laid down the foam (this is for a floating floor) and then I stayed on the floor fitting the pieces while hubby went out and cut the end pieces I needed to complete each section. It went pretty quick but we tuckered out. Must have been all the moving out of stuff LOL. Needless to say we were very sore the next day. I'm still a little sore. My upper downer is pretty sore. Hard to sit down and even harder to stand up. Getting old and too fat I guess for this kind of stuff. We are planning to finish up the floor here next week when hubby has another day off and then we will have to go to Home Depot to get some half round to put with the baseboards to make it all look professional. Will try to get pics but half my "stuff" is in other rooms and I put together my computer just last night.
The truck still isnt working. Hubby got a brand new battery but it wouldnt start. He thinks its the starter. He has put one of those on the truck before so maybe we will be getting that part and he can put it on when he has time.
We're supposed to be getting up to 7 inches of snow and if it snows that much he probably will not be going to work. They dont have snow plows here that I know of and usually use sand on the roads if we get dustings of snow. It's not the snow that worries my hubby just the crazy people down here that have never driven in it. Kinda scary. He works at Kroger and they were so busy yesterday that he had a hard time putting out lunchmeat there were so many people in there. Its crazy to have to run to the store immediately because of a storm coming but thats what they do. No planning. And the things that they buy kind of crack me up. Its always toilet paper, milk and bread. We lose electricity your milk will go bad (in the summer) and what they dont need something to put on the bread? We're set unless we lose electricity but even then we'll be OK. We have a fireplace and some fake logs. They dont make much heat but some and if worse comes to worse we can go get a kerosene heater although hubby's sinuses cant take that smell too much. We have the cats for heat too :)
Has everyone got their seed catalogs yet? We have gotten so many. Cant wait for spring!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
The truck still isnt working. Hubby got a brand new battery but it wouldnt start. He thinks its the starter. He has put one of those on the truck before so maybe we will be getting that part and he can put it on when he has time.
We're supposed to be getting up to 7 inches of snow and if it snows that much he probably will not be going to work. They dont have snow plows here that I know of and usually use sand on the roads if we get dustings of snow. It's not the snow that worries my hubby just the crazy people down here that have never driven in it. Kinda scary. He works at Kroger and they were so busy yesterday that he had a hard time putting out lunchmeat there were so many people in there. Its crazy to have to run to the store immediately because of a storm coming but thats what they do. No planning. And the things that they buy kind of crack me up. Its always toilet paper, milk and bread. We lose electricity your milk will go bad (in the summer) and what they dont need something to put on the bread? We're set unless we lose electricity but even then we'll be OK. We have a fireplace and some fake logs. They dont make much heat but some and if worse comes to worse we can go get a kerosene heater although hubby's sinuses cant take that smell too much. We have the cats for heat too :)
Has everyone got their seed catalogs yet? We have gotten so many. Cant wait for spring!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Bad day for hubby
The day started out Ok. We went to Tractor Supply for some chicken feed and then came home. He made big plans today you see and wanted to get everything done on his list. Of course he never completes the list because he always has too much on the list and never has enough time to do everything. Then he ends up beating himself up because he didnt get his list done...sigh. Well the truck stopped running the other day so the next thing on his list was to check the battery. So I had to mail my Christmas package to my parents and brother out today (dont ask...no I mean really dont ask) and he said we would go to the post office and he would stop at the parts store to see if they had the right battery in stock and ask how much it would be. Well we did go to the post office and I mailed the package out (was less than I expected but glad the rates hadnt gone up yet) and then we went over to the parts store. They had the battery in stock. The price really didnt matter as if he needed a battery of course we would get one. We went back home and he pushed the truck out of the garage. He cleaned the terminals and I started the car after he put the jumper cables on the batteries. The truck started after a few minutes of waiting and what does he do but shut it off...sigh again ;). Of course it wouldnt start again so off he goes to get a battery while I stay at home and do the transcription. He took the old battery with him so they could check it. The battery was 5 years old so he got another one. He comes back with a battery and a battery terminal cleaner, goes out and puts the new battery in the truck and it STILL WOULDNT START...not a good day like I said. He ended up going to Harbor Freight for a battery tester (as he had broken his today) and a battery charger. He finally comes home and the truck STILL WOULDNT START. It just makes this wonderful clicking noise. Needless to say he didnt get his list done and was depressed about it all night poor baby. Tomorrow when he comes back from work he will check all the connections and wires to make sure nothing is disconnected. If he cant find the problem I guess we will have to have it towed to a garage and let them see if they can fix it. It could be the starter or the alternator. Keep your fingers crossed its just a loose wire. Alternators are expensive. Starters he can replace himself but not the alternator...
I had a rather good day on the flip side of today's "list". Maybe because I didnt have a list? Chicks gave us five eggs today and it was a beautiful sunny day what more could you ask for...well dont ask hubby that :)
Talk to ya later!
Denise
I had a rather good day on the flip side of today's "list". Maybe because I didnt have a list? Chicks gave us five eggs today and it was a beautiful sunny day what more could you ask for...well dont ask hubby that :)
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Turkey Casserole
Just wanted to let you know what I did with all the leftovers we had from Thanksgiving. I made a casserole. It was really yummy and we ate it all - no more leftovers!
Here is what I did:
I had 2 cups of stuffing leftover so I put that in the bottom of a greased casserole dish, layered some turkey (about a cup but you could add more), buttered peas, corn, chopped onions (not leftover), poured the leftover gravy over all and topped with 4 cups of mashed potatoes. Covered it with tinfoil and put in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. We didnt have any cranberry sauce but I think it would really have tasted good with this casserole.
If anybody tries this, let me know how yours turns out.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Here is what I did:
I had 2 cups of stuffing leftover so I put that in the bottom of a greased casserole dish, layered some turkey (about a cup but you could add more), buttered peas, corn, chopped onions (not leftover), poured the leftover gravy over all and topped with 4 cups of mashed potatoes. Covered it with tinfoil and put in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. We didnt have any cranberry sauce but I think it would really have tasted good with this casserole.
If anybody tries this, let me know how yours turns out.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Happy New Year!
I know I'm late...and have been absent from this blog for a while. I have no excuse just being lazy I guess...
Let's see for Christmas I knitted two shawls for my mom one for summer and one for winter and I knitted a wool sweater for my dad. I started another cardigan for me and will be casting on another pair of socks for DH.
We will be putting in a new floor in my computer/craft room just as soon as I can clean it out to do so...sigh.
I didnt decorate much for Christmas, wasnt in the mood for much but we did have a white Christmas of about three inches of snow which was nice. Mom and Dad got me a butter churn (too cool) so now if I can get some cream I'm all set to make butter.
The snow melted and then it rained and flooded but not near to us. We had high winds though but the temps were in the 50s and 60s. Now it's back down to 30s and low 40s in the daytime again.
We put out the new heated chicken waterer and it works like a charm. We put up a new enclosure for the chicks right before the snow came and good thing too cause the old one collapsed from the snow. Chickens dont like snow...didnt know that but they dont.
I've been spinning some yarn and when I get enough spun I'll ply it and then wash it again to set the spin and hang it to dry. Plying was kind of freaking me out but I did it no problem. Dont know why I was freaking out about it.
Cant believe that 2011 is here. Where did all the time go? My resolutions...well I really only have a few.
I want to learn more about everything. Small resolution dont ya think?
I want to be more tolerant of people.
I want to be more accepting of myself and not say negative things like I'm too stupid to do that (see plying above).
I want to get rid of most of this stuff that is cluttering up this house. It's starting to really bug me.
I want to really start blogging more cause you know what an interesting life I lead (ha!)
No resolutions about losing weight. I just want to eat healthier and get out in the open air more.
I think those are reasonable resolutions, dont you?
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Let's see for Christmas I knitted two shawls for my mom one for summer and one for winter and I knitted a wool sweater for my dad. I started another cardigan for me and will be casting on another pair of socks for DH.
We will be putting in a new floor in my computer/craft room just as soon as I can clean it out to do so...sigh.
I didnt decorate much for Christmas, wasnt in the mood for much but we did have a white Christmas of about three inches of snow which was nice. Mom and Dad got me a butter churn (too cool) so now if I can get some cream I'm all set to make butter.
The snow melted and then it rained and flooded but not near to us. We had high winds though but the temps were in the 50s and 60s. Now it's back down to 30s and low 40s in the daytime again.
We put out the new heated chicken waterer and it works like a charm. We put up a new enclosure for the chicks right before the snow came and good thing too cause the old one collapsed from the snow. Chickens dont like snow...didnt know that but they dont.
I've been spinning some yarn and when I get enough spun I'll ply it and then wash it again to set the spin and hang it to dry. Plying was kind of freaking me out but I did it no problem. Dont know why I was freaking out about it.
Cant believe that 2011 is here. Where did all the time go? My resolutions...well I really only have a few.
I want to learn more about everything. Small resolution dont ya think?
I want to be more tolerant of people.
I want to be more accepting of myself and not say negative things like I'm too stupid to do that (see plying above).
I want to get rid of most of this stuff that is cluttering up this house. It's starting to really bug me.
I want to really start blogging more cause you know what an interesting life I lead (ha!)
No resolutions about losing weight. I just want to eat healthier and get out in the open air more.
I think those are reasonable resolutions, dont you?
Talk to ya later!
Denise
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