I recently received an interesting email that the US Treasury has apparently sold out the entire remains of the United States gold to the Federal Reserve for a steal – at nearly $900 per ounce less than current market values.  I have read several articles as of late relating to the balance statements of the Federal Reserve and it’s been pretty clear that there have been some drastic changes in the last few months.  My research has indicated that the balances are further out of whack than has ever been seen historically.  To put it simply, the percentage of loans vs. the retained assets of the Federal Reserve have been heavily skewed towards the loan side.  To put it in layman’s terms, it would similarly relate to a person making $30,000 a year taking out a loan for a million bucks.

Here is the copy of the email I received:

The entire 260,540,028 oz of Gold that was previously held by the U.S. Treasury has been issued to the Federal Reserve during the period of Feb 11-18, 2009 at a cost of $42.22 per troy oz.  The Federal Reserve issued credits to the U.S. Treasury  in the amount of $11 billion in federal reserve notes.  This transfer of gold represents the nation’s entire official gold stock.  In other words, a private bank, never having an independent financial audit, now  has all our nation’s real wealth!!!

It’s bad enough selling our gold, but why not at current market price of $950.00??  Are the taxpayer’s getting ripped off once again???

(The above information was released by the Fed on Feb 19,2009 in their Factors Affecting Reserve Balances–H4.1, table 8, page 1.)

I am not inclined to believe this information without first confirming it through the sourced references.  I was quickly able to find the sourced reference on the web, directly from the Federal Reserve’s web site.  You can check the information for yourself.

Though I am not an expert in these matters, I have had a fair amount of difficulty deriving the supposed stated facts from the sourced reference.  Specifically, I noted that the table referenced does not directly indicate any specific gold purchases, nor do any of the supposed values or purchase prices add up anywhere in the tables.  There is a row for gold certificate accounts which indicates zero change from both last week and last year.  So, with that said, I’m not entirely ready to believe the information I received in the email.

Through this research, though, I did take note of something interesting however, and I would like to bring it to your attention.  The assets relating to the Federal Reserve balances did increase at an abnormal rate.  If you look at the total assets and their reported changes compared to the previous week and previous year, you’ll see an asset increase on the magnitude of 72 billion dollars since February 11th.  Some simple math indicates this increase is just under twice the average week-over-week increase that we typically see.

Of deepest concern though is WHERE the increase of assets is coming from.  Interestingly, when looking at the referenced table, it’s pretty clear the largest increase has come from “securities, repurchase agreements, term auction credit and other loans.”  These are typically not real, tangible “right now” assests, but rather promises to pay and other IOU based assets.  Even more alarming is the breakdown of these sources and the elements that make them up.  If you take note, the “mortgage backed securities” increased this week at a rate 46 TIMES higher than the average week over week increases.  Some quick math shows the average weekly increase (total yearly divided by 52) is about 1.25 billion dollars.  In just this last week, that very same element increased by almost 58 billion dollars!

So what’s the deal?  Well, if you did any research on “mortgage backed securities” through the link I provided in the last paragraph, you’ll find that these are typically mortgage based loans, primarily in the residential markets.  Boiled down, that means that mean the Federal Reserve just bought a rather hefty percentage of the home loans and other property loans in the United States.  They’re well on there way to owning you, your life and your property.  No longer is it primarily the US taxpayers “promises to pay” (e.g. US Treasury bonds) that are backing up the dollar, but now your homes and property is what is giving it value.  That’s a very deep concern for me, especially considering it’s the private bankers at the Federal Reserve that have gotten us into this mess to begin with.

Even deeper, though, if you look at the other reported figures that millions may be defaulting on their home loans over the course of 2009 due to the economic recession…this could spell out a recipe for disaster.  As the Fed takes possession of our former homes, one-by-one they will begin to own and control huge percentages of personal property out there.  These guys are smart – they have the power to do this and they are beginning to exercise it.  They’re the biggest bank on the block and they’re priming themselves to control America, all the way down to our land and structures.

I did expect some increase of assets by the Fed though I wondered how they were going to do it.  It was essential because the huge loans that are being made to the US for bailouts and other disreputable causes have thrown the Fed’s balance sheet far too out of whack.  Foreign countries, banks and investors are looking at this to derive the stability and desirability of the US dollar and treasury bonds – getting too far out of balance would result in these entities going elsewhere for their investments.  I think we’ve reached the teetering point where the US taxpayers no longer have the ability to repay the huge debts that have been created – and now, the Fed is putting our private property on the line too.

The times, they are a changin’!

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I’ve been keeping an eye on those metals – especially the silver market.  Fairly recently, I wrote about the blatant manipulation we’re seeing in these markets – how it’s done and why it’s being done.  I also mentioned how the market was stressing from supply issues and how many sources were charging significant percentages over “spot” price, simply because the market was fed up with the ridiculously low prices.  I learned to keep an eye on E-Bay for current market values – and even when prices were down as low as $10.00-11.00/oz for silver, people were paying upwards of $15.00-$20.00 simply because physical possession was difficult all around the country.  E-Bay, oddly enough, shows the fairest market prices that I’ve been able to discover anywhere – after all, it clearly indicates what people are willing to pay.

I’ve wondered to myself how they can keep the prices so artificially low for so long.  Well, I think we’re finally starting to see the dam break and it’s coming back with a vengeance.  Since the first of the year, we’ve seen silver go from $11.00/oz up to about $14.50 at last check, or about a 31% slide upwards.  Compare that to other commodities, such as crude oil prices, and you’ll find nowhere near the same response.  In fact, oil has been steadily falling since the beginning of the year.  Corn shows the same trend, as does canola, wheat, cattle and nearly every other commodity out there.  (Source)

So, the commonly spewed logic that gold and silver generally follow the same trends as other commodities is clearly being blown out of the water.  With this being the case, there would seemingly be no logical reason for the prices of silver to have fallen from the low 20’s back down to the low tens over the course of late 2008.  It obviously has a mind and life of it’s own, completely independent of other markets.  Logically so, too…gold and silver have inherent actual value whereas other commodities are only as good as the price people are willing to pay for them.  I suppose this could be said about gold and silver as well – but it’s truly an odd world when the charts say it’s worth “X” and people out there are paying “X” plus ten to a hundred percent.

I guess the point here is that I wanted to dig on the idiotic logic of all those economorons out there who consistently stated that gold and silver follows other commodity trends.  I told you so.  Look at the numbers and charts.  Explain away.  Can you see it yet?

Lalalalala…I’m not listening.

I expect silver to at least hit $25/oz this year and gold will probably touch $1250/oz.  Maybe more…maybe a LOT more.  There’s a lot of wild and unpredictable factors swirling about right now and a whole house of cards that could come tumbling down even further.  I wish you all well this 2009…and I’d highly recommend you get out of stock and commodity markets and into something you can have and hold.  Pure silver and gold!

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I have been facing the magnitude of our current economic crisis for some time now.  I expected it long before we ever got here…it’s just logical progression for those that are aware of the facts.  I have struggled, however, in the ways I can use to communicate the severity of the crisis.

The puppet heads in the media really aren’t saying what this crisis is.  They want to look at the housing market or the stock market…the companies and the malinvestments.  They just simply aren’t looking at the facts.  The problem has been and will be inflation – the creation of money out of thin air, by the Federal Reserve, without anything of substance to give it value.  This crisis is essentially the systematic destruction of the US dollar by central bankers, fueled by an ignorant and fearful Congress.

I found a video that pretty much sums it up.  The sheer numbers on a graph, when compared against historical records, illustrate quite well the maginitude of what we face.

Click here to view the video!

For those who may not get what these numbers mean, essentially this is the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve.  Imagine that I have $1,000 worth of something valuable (say, gold for example) and that is used as collateral to give value to something that has no inherent value, such as a printed dollar.  Then, say, you come to me and borrow a thousand printed dollars.  I’m now at a one-t0-one ratio, right?  I have $1,000 worth of value and $1,000 worth of debt…not a bad place to be.

But then imagine, I all of a sudden say that I’ll now borrow out $5,000 of intrinsically worthless paper…but I don’t increase my reserves.  You borrow the $5,000 paper dollars…I’m now at a 5 to 1 ratio, right?  The value of those dollars has not increased, but rather decreased because I still only have $1,000 in reserves.  If you wanted to buy that $1,000 worth of gold, it would cost you the whole $5,000 because that’s what the gold now represents.

Take that to where we are today.  The graphs in the above video illustrate what would happen if I all of a sudden said I now have tens of thousands of dollars that I can borrow out…but still, refuse to increase that which gives those dollars value.  Again, the perceived value of all those tens of thousands of dollars are decreased by the ratio of reserves to loans.

The danger of this situation is significant…both to me, the originator of such loans and to you, the borrower.  Why?  As we increase this ratio, the perceived value of those paper dollars becomes less and less attractive.  The risk comes when you, the borrower, starts to see the impacts of this devaluation and consider other options that may be less risky.  That’s where the danger comes in – if the significant borrowers of my paper money become disinterested in borrowing from me….all of sudden the system fails and both you and I are hung out to dry.

This is the rapidly approaching situation that we face, aleit simplified by magnitudes.  We cannot turn a blind eye to what is really going on with our economy these days, as scary as it is to face it.  The sooner we accept what the problem  really is, the sooner we can come to terms on how we can fix it.

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I was reading a fantastic article awhile ago that inspired me to post to my blog.  This informative article deals with the blatant manipulation of gold and silver prices.  As a precious metals investor for the past several years, I have had to deal with these manipulations which clearly make no sense at all.

I remember a time, just a few months ago, where silver had just fallen from it’s crest of $20 an ounce down to less than $10 an ounce.  Yet, when I would call every single silver dealer where I could take physical delivery, the actual selling price was upwards of $15 per ounce!  That is, if you could take delivery at all!  Pretty much every dealer I talked to was completely sold out and was expecting 5 to 6 week delays on resupply!  For those that actually could deliver, silver was going for $18+ an ounce!  Demand was huge, supply was extremely short and yet “official” trading prices maintained unreasonable levels for months!

Today, it’s not all that different, although slightly less extreme.  If you want physical delivery, it’s going to cost somewhere between $2 and $3 dollars over it’s going rate.  So, currently silver is trading for about $11 an ounce…but if you actually want it’s physical form, you’ll be paying $13 or $14 per ounce!  This compared to just a year ago where it was common to pay anywhere from a quarter to seventy five cents over it’s going rate.  It’s clear that something has been going on in these markets for some time.

In short, the commodities (paper gold & silver) are being used to manipulate and cap the market when the prices begin to rise to their natural levels.  Supply and demand theories completely go out the window when artificial gold and silver are utilized to manipulate the values of the real assets.

I particularly liked this article because it graphically represents trends using historical charts and deals with both the gold and silver markets.  If you have some time and have the interest, I recommend you read the following article.

The Manipulation of Gold and Silver Prices

Here is an article you may want to forward to your favorite mining CEO.

This article deals with the blatant manipulation that has been occurring in the gold and silver markets, and offers a solution. While this scandal has been going on for many years, at last more and more people are becoming aware that it is going on.

One of the first people to document the ongoing attempts to suppress the gold price was Frank Veneroso. Next was Bill Murphy of GATA.org. GATA continues to press the issue. Gata has discovered that the IMF instructed its member banks to treat gold that had been leased to bullion banks and sold into the market as if it were still in the vault! Imagine if an entrepreneur was running his business in this underhanded manner – how long would the government allow that?

A few years ago John Embry, while he was Portfolio Manager at RBC Global Investment Fund – a multi-billion dollar resource fund at the Royal Bank – prepared a memo for the bank’s clients that detailed the manipulation in the gold market.

Ted Butler has written extensively on the manipulation in the silver market.

This is something I have observed first hand since I became interested in silver in the mid-1960’s. It seemed that every time silver reached a peak, an invisible hand came out of nowhere and knocked the price back down to the starting point again. I wrote an article about this titled: ‘Once upon a time, in Never-Never Land.’

Every time a geo-political event, or a serious economic happening, such as the collapse of Bear-Stearns, causes gold to rise, (as it would be expected to do since it has always been a ‘safe haven investment’), the price immediately gets trounced, and investors and producers accept this new price as ‘THE price,’ since the new event has now been discounted.

Whenever common sense tells you something is happening that should cause a rise in the price of gold and silver, you can count on intervention to cap the price. As a result, millions of investors and mining companies have lost billions of dollars that they would have earned if these markets had been allowed to run their normal course.

The manipulation is obvious in the following charts:

This chart shows steady buying interest that took price from the low at 955.00 on July 14th to 985.00 the next day. The buying took place in Asia, then Europe, and carried over for about an hour in New York, when suddenly, in the space of minutes, an unseen entity dumped gold in the form of futures contracts (green line), without any attempt to obtain the best price possible. In about 5 minutes the gold price was down by 15.00, and the rise was over, as price drifted sideways for the rest of the day.

It was discovered later that several large banks, suspected to be HSBC (HBC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and possibly one other bank, had switched from being ‘net long’ 5,381 gold contracts at the beginning of July 2008, to being ‘net short’ 87,609 gold contracts by the end of July. That is a 94,000 contract ‘turnaround’ and smacks of blatant interference in the market place, since these banks do not produce gold, nor are they likely to be hedging against that much gold in the vaults, since they do not own physical gold. Such a dramatic switch without any change in fundamentals is beyond reason.

Featured is the daily gold chart from October 13th. The blue line shows steady demand followed by consolidation early on Oct 14th, as recorded via the red line. Then a mysterious seller showed up shortly after the COMEX began trading in New York, and in the space of minutes the price was knocked down by 30.00. This is totally illogical, since the seller has no interest in obtaining the best price. His only interest is to destroy the price.

“In 1980 we neglected to control the price of gold. That was a mistake.” Paul Volcker.

“Central banks are ready to lease gold, should the price rise.” Alan Greenspan during Congressional testimony July 24/1998).

Featured is the price action right after the COMEX began trading in New York on October 16th. Within a few minutes the price was knocked down by 35.00 (green line), after the price had established a solid trading range between 830.00 and 850.00 during the previous two days (red and blue lines). This illogical dumping of gold contracts caused margin related selling to bring the price down another 15.00 before bargain hunters were able to level the price around the 800.00 mark.

These are just some of the examples of ‘irrational behavior’ on the part of several large traders on the COMEX, whose actions are not being controlled by the people who oversee the COMEX. While this article deals primarily with gold, the same manipulation exists in the silver markets. To repeat an earlier comment, ‘millions of investors (including miners), have lost billions of dollars because of the manipulation.’ The US government is able to interfere in the markets by way of the Exchange Stabilization Fund which is run by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. The size of the manipulation referred to in this article could not take place without the encouragement that is very likely provided by people who are highly placed in government.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

The effect of this manipulation in the gold and silver markets is an artificial low price. In view of the fact that bullish events are not being allowed to permit prices to rise, nevertheless these events will eventually have a positive effect on the price. The cause is real, but the effect is delayed. The steam in the kettle continues to boil, despite the lid being clamped down. The artificial low price stops the development of mining projects that would have been profitable at the higher price. The artificial low price also cuts into profit margins at every producing mine, making it more difficult to obtain funding for exploration to increase resources. Every mine in the world is at all times a ‘depleting asset’ and needs exploration to postpone the day when the last ounce is mined.

THE MANIPULATORS ONLY HAVE TWO WEAPONS

The ammunition used by the manipulators is provided by two sources: Central banks (including the IMF), and the COMEX. While there is nothing anyone can do about the gold selling that originates with the central banks, there are ways to choke off the amount of precious metal that flows into the COMEX warehouses.
Those of us who are tired of the manipulators picking our pockets need to become active.
In 1978 – 1979 it was a rising silver price that caused gold to rise – silver was the leader. It makes sense therefore to concentrate on silver, especially since the central banks do not have hoards of silver.

A SOLUTION!

Mining companies that supply silver to the COMEX need to find a way to turn their silver into small bars (1 oz to 100 oz), and 1 oz rounds and sell these to the public. Already some mines are doing this by selling from their website, and they are obtaining a hefty premium over the spot price. If your production is limited, join forces with a mine that is already merchandising silver products, or form a sales organization with other small mines. Hire some cracker-jack salespeople; there is a big market out there! Starve the COMEX if you want to see silver sell to realistic prices. Adjusted for inflation, the silver price of 48.00 that we saw in February of 1980, is trading at 4.00 today. (In 1980’s dollars, silver is now selling for 4.00 an ounce!)

Next, (and still communicating to mining CEO’s), instead of keeping money in the bank, or in various kinds of short-term notes, store up silver, and show us that you believe in the product you are producing. Instead of cash on hand, buy futures contracts, and keep rolling them over.

Coin dealers and wholesalers need to buy 5,000 oz bars from the COMEX, take delivery, and contact a refiner who will turn the silver into retail products. If your operation is not large enough for a 5,000 oz purchase then buy silver from people like Jason Hommel, who was smart enough to start doing this on a large scale.

Investors who can afford to spend $55,000.00 should consider buying a silver contract from the COMEX and taking delivery. James Sinclair at JSMineset.com will show you how to go about that.

Finally, anyone who holds any kind of a certificate that promises to deliver silver, needs to make sure that the bank or institution that stores the silver, is willing to provide bar numbers. Otherwise when the day comes to collect, you may find that the silver does not exist. On my website you will find an article that I wrote about a fund that stores gold and silver at a bank in Western Canada. They invite auditors twice a year to audit the inventory.

Cartoon courtesy Gary Varvel, Indy Star.

The Madoff scheme is but one example of the lack of oversight on the part of people who have been placed in the position of protecting the public. In the US Congress, two of the people responsible for the mess that was created by Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM): Congressman Barney Franks and Senator Chris Dodd, are now part of the group that is trying to ‘fix’ the problem. The foxes are in the henhouse! It was Franks and Dodd, who for years received money from Fannie and Freddie, while they stood in the way of people who wanted to tighten the lending standard at these two mortgage lending institutions. Whatever happened to responsibility? Where is the outrage?

Featured is the weekly gold chart. Price is ready to breakout on the upside. The supporting indicators are positive (green dashed arrows). The 7 – 8 week cycles have been short (twice at 6 weeks). We are due for a longer cycle. A close above the blue arrow will indicate that week #4 is the start of a run up to the green arrow. Once 925.00 is reached, then 975 is next. Since Labor day, the Federal Reserve’s assets (including huge amounts of toxic assets), have increased from 905.7 billion to 2.3 trillion dollars. This, along with the increase in the monetary base is going to add to price inflation and will cause a lot of investment money to enter the gold market. The gold rally that started in November has only just begun.

Featured is the weekly silver chart. Price has been rising since late October. The supporting indicators are positive (green dashed arrows). A close above the blue arrow sets up a target at the green arrow.

Thanks to Eric Hommelberg for the idea to use ‘historic spot charts’ to make my case. I applied the 11th commandment: “Thou shalt use every good idea thou comest upon.”

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Earlier this year, I heard some rumblings that Oregon was considering shifting their gas tax to a mileage based tax.  The idea is to maintain or increase state road revenue by charging “by the mile” instead of “by the gallon” as a measure to combat fuel usage reductions with more fuel efficient cars on the road.  I wrote it off at the time considering the technology to do so would be impractical for quite some time – but it would appear they’re now positioning some leverage against auto manufacturers to support this technology.

As has been the case for years now, going “green” will by no means be a less expensive alternative.  We have to pay more for organic foods, shell out more cash for “green” energy, and dish out more for seemingly any “green” option that’s available.  It would appear that the systems of taxation are right on top of this…they’ll figure out a way to make you pay, even if you’re using less.

The necessary technology behind the effort is alarming to me.  Somehow, fuel providers (and who knows whom else) must “download” data from one’s vehicle to determine how many miles had been driven since the last fuel up.  Theoretically, this information could be tied into GPS systems frequently found in today’s vehicles through safety technologies like OnStar, which also concerns me a great deal.  This means that interested parties could use this information to determine where your vehicle has been, not just how many miles had been driven.

With every technology, I am always aware of the potential results if such information were hackable, which will always be the case.  (If the Pentagon gets successfully hacked, an auto manufacturer has zero chance of a secure system.)  A techno-criminal could theoretically access this information and determine where your house was and your regular travel patterns could be assessed for when you were commonly away from home.

Even if we were assured that GPS data would not be tied into the download and that our government or hackers would never receive our personal driving habits, I ask the fundamental question of whether it’s good to have such technology that can track our vehicle usage over any period of time.  Why not show the real intent and create a separate (higher) tax for hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles?  The next challenge would be how to determine the difference between a gas guzzling rig vs. a fuel efficient model vehicle.  Simply have a different fuel tank mechanism that can tell the pump what kind of vehicle you have.  Outfitting fuel tanks and gas pumps to detect fuel efficient cars seems no more difficult than outfitting cars and pumps to be ready to download mileage data – and no personal information needs to be collected.

Anyhow, that’s what I know on this front.  Hope you’re feeling better informed!

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Are you on the terrorist list?  Think you’re not doing anything wrong and so you have nothing to worry about?  Well, as us watchdogs have been telling you for years, you don’t have to be doing anything wrong to be labeled as a terrorist in America these days.

I read this article from the LA Times this morning and it just further confirms that we must remain vigilantly on guard against being tossed down the path of being a “homegrown terrorist.”  Even if you’re a nun.

Spying on pacifists, environmentalists and nuns

Reporting from Takoma Park, Md. — To friends in the protest movement, Lucy was an eager 20-something who attended their events and sent encouraging e-mails to support their causes.

Only one thing seemed strange.

“At one demonstration, I remember her showing up with a laptop computer and typing away,” said Mike Stark, who helped lead the anti-death-penalty march in Baltimore that day. “We all thought that was odd.”

Not really. The woman was an undercover Maryland State Police trooper who between 2005 and 2007 infiltrated more than two dozen rallies and meetings of nonviolent groups.

Maryland officials now concede that, based on information gathered by “Lucy” and others, state police wrongly listed at least 53 Americans as terrorists in a criminal intelligence database — and shared some information about them with half a dozen state and federal agencies, including the National Security Agency.

Among those labeled as terrorists: two Catholic nuns, a former Democratic congressional candidate, a lifelong pacifist and a registered lobbyist. One suspect’s file warned that she was “involved in puppet making and allows anarchists to utilize her property for meetings.”

“There wasn’t a scintilla of illegal activity” going on, said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit and in July obtained the first surveillance files. State police have released other heavily redacted documents.

Investigators, the files show, targeted groups that advocated against abortion, global warming, nuclear arms, military recruiting in high schools and biodefense research, among other issues.

“It was unconscionable conduct,” said Democratic state Sen. Brian Frosh, who is backing legislation to ban similar spying in Maryland unless the police superintendent can document a “reasonable, articulable suspicion” of criminal activity.

The case is the latest to emerge since the Sept. 11 attacks spurred a sharp increase in state and federal surveillance of Americans. Critics say such investigations violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and assembly, and serve to inhibit lawful dissent.

In the largest known effort, the Pentagon monitored at least 186 lawful protests and meetings — including church services and silent vigils — in California and other states.

The military also compiled more than 2,800 reports on Americans in a database of supposed terrorist threats. That program, known as TALON, was ordered closed in 2007 after it was exposed in news reports.

The Maryland operation also has ended, but critics still question why police spent hundreds of hours spying on Quakers and other peace groups in a state that reported more than 36,000 violent crimes last year.

Stephen Sachs, a former state attorney general, investigated the scandal for Gov. Martin O’Malley — a Democrat elected in 2006. He concluded that state police had violated federal regulations and “significantly overreached.”

According to Sachs’ 93-page report and other documents, state police launched the operation in March 2005 out of concern that the planned execution of a convicted murderer might lead to violent protests.

They sent Lucy to join local activists at Takoma Park’s Electrik Maid, a funky community center popular with punk rockers and slam poets. Ten people attended the gathering, including a local representative from Amnesty International.

“The meeting was primarily concerned with getting people to put up fliers and getting information out to local businesses and churches about the upcoming events,” the undercover officer reported later. “No other pertinent intelligence information was obtained.”

That proved true for all 29 meetings, rallies and protests that Lucy ultimately attended. Most drew only a handful of people, and none involved illegal or disruptive actions.

Using the aliases Lucy Shoup and Lucy McDonald, she befriended activists. “I want to get involved in different causes,” she wrote in an e-mail, citing her interest in “anti-death penalty, antiwar and pro-animal actions!!!”

Max Obuszewski, a Baltimore pacifist who leads antiwar protests, said Lucy asked about civil disobedience, but didn’t instigate any. “She never volunteered to do anything, not even hand out leaflets,” he said. “She was not an agent provocateur.”

Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman, said that no one in the department had been disciplined in connection with the spying program. Lucy, who has not been publicly identified, would not consent to an interview, he said.

The surveillance, Shipley said, was inappropriate. And the listing of lawful activity as terrorism “shouldn’t have happened, and has been corrected.”

Most of the files list terrorism as a “primary crime” and a “secondary crime,” then add subgroups for designations such as antiwar protester.

Some contain errors and inconsistencies that are almost comical.

Nancy Kricorian, 48, a novelist on the terrorist list, is coordinator for the New York City chapter of CodePink, an antiwar group. She serves as liaison with local police for group protests, and has never been arrested.

“I have no idea why I made the list,” she said. “I’ve never been to the state of Maryland, except maybe to stop for gas on the way to Washington.”

Josh Tulkin, 27, a registered lobbyist with the Virginia state Legislature, is cited under “terrorism — environmental extremists.” Tulkin was deputy director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group that claims 15,000 members and regularly meets with governors and members of Congress.

“If asking your elected officials a question about public policy is a crime, then I’m guilty,” he said.

Barry Kissin, 57, a lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2006, heads the Frederick Progressive Action Coalition, a group that works “for social, economic and environmental justice,” according to his police file. Their protests “are always peaceful,” it added.

He was labeled “Terrorism — Anti-Government.”

Nadine Bloch, 47, runs workshops for protest groups that seek corporate responsibility and builds huge papier-mache puppets often used in street marches. Her terrorism file indicates she participated in a Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington on July 16-18, 2005.

Animal rights, Bloch said, is one of the few causes she doesn’t actively embrace. Besides, she was attending an educators conference in Hawaii that week as a contractor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This whole thing,” she said, “is so absurd.”

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For the last several years, I’ve successfully avoided the insanity of Black Friday by practicing the counter cultural equivalent, Buy Nothing Day.  I’ve found great pleasure in avoiding the illicited consumer orgy of obscene spending, crowd herding and pointless gift gathering.

While millions huddled around advertisements and oogled over cheap crap that nobody needs, I didn’t even bother to crack the newspaper.  Waking up this morning, I sipped coffee and tooled around with my blog while Americana consumer-bots trampled each other and fought for their right to surrender their hard earned cash to corporate executives.  As America heaved their day’s acquisitions into their cars and homes, I took pride that not one new possession entered my home.

I was a little worried this year – there was a chance I might’ve had to buy a thing.  But, as it turns out, it’s 8:30PM and I don’t forsee needing to crack the wallet any time in the next several hours.

Some days, it feels good to not do something.

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As I mentioned last week, I traveled up to Helena, MT yesterday to attend the “first ever” organized national protest of the Federal Reserve bank.  It was an opportunity to stress our concerns over the ever mounting national debt, the countless corporate bailouts, and other issues facing the economic state of our country today.

I had a great time.  About 30 people gathered at it’s high point – not bad considering that many had to travel several hours there and back just to be there.  There were dozens of hand made signs – saying everything from “End The Fed” to my sign, which read, “Wake up.  You owe THIS bank $35,000.00!”  I had several folks comment that they liked my sign and an attending family voted it as “the best.” 

Despite our efforts, it wasn’t possible to get local news media down there.  Apparently, nothing happens in Helena on Saturday or Sunday…so the news crews just simply don’t come to work that day.  Even if it means breaking the biggest story of the last century – “Private federal reserve bank steals trillions from American taxpayers.”  Oh, well.

The response from the area was mixed – a large majority looked on in a confused state; looking at our signs and then looking at the bank with the words “Huh?” going through their minds.  Some were very supportive…honking and waving at us…some even making a second trip to amplify their support.  Then there were the two who apparently didn’t understand what we were protesting and opted to give us the one finger salute.  They must’ve thought we were protesting the war or something.  We were able to distribute literature to quite a few stopping cars.  One of the young & spunky gals was marvelously effective at shoving bags stuffed with good info into closed windows on vehicles.  Nonetheless, it was a great opportunity to get the message out and I’m certain that at least some people are better off today because of it.

As for me, I’ll definately be there next year on 11/22.  And I hope in the coming year we can rally additional support and get hundreds of folks out there.  I’m certain that if the economy stays on it’s current track, by this time next year a LOT of folks are going to be pissed off enough to do something about it.

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This kind of moment is pretty rare on US mainstream television.  Peter Schiff calls out the state of the economy how it is.  There is so much truth in this six and a half minutes that it’ll make your head spin.

Click here to view the video!

Schiff’s been very accurate in his predictions over the last couple years.  As you’ll see below, he used to be ridiculed.  Now days, the tone has changed and people like Peter Schiff and Ron Paul have the MSM’s ear.  You’d do well to listen to him.

Click here to view the video!

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I’m not going to go on and say that this year’s presidential election results were in any way influenced by voter fraud.  I don’t have to.  To quote the best summation I’ve heard of Obama’s campaign, “The campaign he ran against the entrenched Clintons was one for the history books, and when the battle shifted to the final contest, his well-orchestrated efforts made the McCain campaign look like a high school production of Camille versus Obama’s Tony Award-winning Broadway version.”  Democrats could have gotten on the mic and sneezed and the American people would’ve voted for them.

It is more out my interest to educate people out there on what I feel are the core issues facing our country.  The issue of voter integrity is paramount, for, if we don’t have an election process that can be trusted and verified, the entire process of citizen rule is undermined.  This topic is probably too little, too late…considering we just had our election.  But, ongoing awareness certainly wouldn’t hurt anything.

I recently spent 36 minutes watching this video.  It is, hands down, the best documentary I’ve seen yet on voter fraud issues here in America.  This is an excellent way to spend 36 minutes of your life.

Click here to view the video!

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I’ve been hearing about I2, or “Internet 2″ for several years now. Basically, the concept is a revolutionary redesign of the internet and it has been headed up by a consortium of universities, technology leaders, government officials and corporations. Critics fear that this somewhat obscure group could be responsible for regulatory acts over the internet in order to bring about systems of taxation, further surveillance and and greater control exercised over the global internet.

One arm of this has been the Net Neutrality legislation that has recently been discussed by congress. Essentially, net neutrality is the idea behind giving certain precedence to some websites over others, based on the ability of the service provider to pay the proper fees. So, for example, Google could afford to pay for massive usage and get fast speeds – whereas my site would be slow (or completely unavailable) because I am unwilling to pay or can’t afford such usage fees. This is bad stuff for the internet as it will completely favor large corporations and cause smaller, less-popular websites to suffer viewership because of such regulation.

Another branch of this is the technology aspects of Internet 2. There is great question over what this could encompass, however, concern is placed over what technologies would be allowed to exist over such a network. Most people think of the internet as “the web” – but it’s much larger than that. For example, IRC (internet relay chat) is a sub technology, like “the web,” that rides over the internet. Another example might be a voice-over-IP telephone connection. Little is truly known about what Internet 2 might actually look like from the technology perspective.

Now, I’ve been hearing “crying wolf” stories about the regulation of the internet so many times that I’ve almost become numb to it. However, just recently, another alarm has gone off on this front and I feel obliged to reveal it to you. Sources have uncovered what may be leaked information about some of the potential design aspects of this new internet technology, informally termed Internet 2.

Essentially, leaked information suggests that internet service providers may go to a “pay per view” model, as early as 2012, where users are charged based for their internet usage habits. Going even further, the information also suggests that a certain list of “approved sites” would be readily available for anyone to access, however, the millions of *other* websites out there would require pay-per-view type access accounts and/or a more costly tier of service to access them.

There is no doubt that a move like this would radically transform the look, feel and freedom of the internet. Many of the sites and things that we enjoy on the internet could be significantly threatened if a business model like this is allowed to come to fruition.

I’m still waiting for several independent sources to confirm this information and awaiting further investigation to be released, but this latest threat appears to be somewhat credible with the news that has been released so far.

This is bad stuff, folks. Please feel free to watch these videos to get some more information about the subject matter. There are also several web articles out there.

I Power Net Neutrality Analysis:

Click here to view the video!

Alex Jones Analysis:

Click here to view the video!

Click here to view the video!

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I do have to tell you that now that Ron Paul’s presidential campaign is mostly over for me, at least for me here in Washington and my neighbors in Idaho, it’s nice to actually have spare time to dedicate to such frivolous things as blogging. I’m still considering going to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the Republican National Convention for the Campaign for Liberty rally, but that’s dependent on whether someone can lock down some serious land space nearby for camping and a genuine Ron-Fest.

So, I was cruising the ‘net, getting informed, as I often do…and I found this little gem – a 9/11 truth music video, the first to my knowledge. Gotta say, it’s a little catchy…and considering I mostly detest disco and wish it would just go away forever, it’s been rolling through my head ever since I heard it. You can see my thoughts on the 9/11 truth movement here, if you’re interested.

Click here to view the video!

Hope you enjoy it.

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Something has come to our attention in the US lately…a so-called Trans-National corridor and the formation of what could be called the North American Union (NAU). The mainstream media has largely debunked these ideas as irrelevant conspiracy theories; conjecture by unwarranted kooks. They say the trans-national corridor is simply a highway maintenance project and the NAU, simply unfathomable. Or at least this is what they’d like you to believe.

See, the mainstream media works on the principle that the majority of their viewers will not research the information presented to them…and though this may be true, to a certain degree, I believe we’re in a time where the media is losing their grip on the American people.

After Ron Paul, GOP Presidential candidate, was asked whether he believed in such “conspiracy theories” at the CNN/YouTube debate last month…I took note that many of the organizations involved in said projects changed their public websites and, in one swooping effort, made a point to sweep the idea that there could be a conspiracy under the rug. The word “conspiracy” has been marginalized in our society…it is not often used for it’s true intent; an organized effort towards a common goal. The mainstream media backed this up by running story after story of how kooky people were that believed these things.

Well, I for one am NOT a kook and I’ve seen substantial evidence supporting the existence of such “conspiracies”. This article is by no means a complete documentation of all the available research and you are, of course, encouraged to come to your own conclusions by doing your own research.

As far as the trans-national corridor, you need only watch Canadian television to discover it’s truth:

Click here to view the video!

Ummmm…wait just a second. What was that? A mid-continent trade corridor, connecting trade markets throughout Canada, the US and Mexico??? Oh, wait, we all know how kooky those Manitoban Legislators are. Who would believe them? Oh, but then there’s the Canamex Corridor Coalition, essentially a lobbyist group for the project, that conveniently removed all mentions of NAFTA from their website after Ron Paul’s debate comments. Oh, wait, and then what’s this…a Mexican company, Cintra Concesiones de Infrastructuras de Transporte, S.A., will be collecting tolls from US citizens that use parts of the freeway?? Hmmmm…looks like there really is a conspiracy.

But what about a North American Union? Lou Dobbs, whom I suppose is a loon too, has reported about it a couple of times. You’d think something like this would be all over the newspapers and television news, but indeed, it wasn’t. Does the question, “Why?” come to mind? There’s a reason for that, too, but it’s outside the scope of this post.

Click here to view the video!

Click here to view the video!

The phrase “North American Union” is merely a phrase coined to describe similar principles by which the European Union was founded upon, only implemented in North America. It’s precise term is the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” and it’s a formal effort by the countries of North America to create a so-called partnership between the countries.

When one dives deep into the Security and Prosperity Partnership, we find some rather startling facts. While on the surface it might appear like a benign trade agreement…when you realize the scope of the plan and the meaning of their words, it becomes quite apparent that this is an alignment of commerce, military, legislation, regulation and policy. What concerns me most is that neither the Congress or the people voted on this agreement / alignment / union / whatever you call it…it was a private & secret agreement that has been forced down our throats.

The resistance to their plan has been so great, that they’ve taken it upon themselves to put together a myth vs. facts page (archive), where it reads like, “No there is no plan for a NAU,” “No, it won’t infringe on sovereignty,” “No there wasn’t an agreement signed,” no this, no that. It’s quite unimpressive to the inquisitive mind, really. Especially when a click away you can see their latest progress, which clearly shows a discrepancy over many of their supposed “facts” stated on their myths vs. facts page. It’s right out there in the open…an open conspiracy, if you will…that illuminates many additional interests other than just commerce involved in this partnership.

So, it would appear that Ron Paul and the other “kooks” that believe in the existence of this stuff aren’t so crazy after all. We’re just paying attention. I encourage you to look into these things…I believe these issues should be at the forefront of American discussion.

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Well, perhaps it’s not the beginning – but some news came out today that should cause each and every one of you to sit up and pay attention.

The US dollar slumped to an all-time low today – never before has the US dollar been worth less since it’s been independently tracked against foreign currencies in 1973. This could be the tipping point for our inevitable economic downward slide…with potential for a much larger magnitude than the economic crisis of the 1930’s.

Read about it on Bloomberg

If you’re not aware, the United States currently spends more than it makes and has to borrow money from foreign nations just to keep the lights on. Our government does this so they can print more money and spend that money into existence. Problem is, each time we create money, we devalue the currency that is all ready in circulation – it’s called inflation. This inflation has been occurring at an unprecedented rate over the last five years due to untempered spending in Washington.

Why the crisis? Well, two reasons. First, this devaluation impacts the desirabilty for investors to back the US dollar as better performing currencies will be a more likely choice for better returns. This means less people will invest in the US dollar, thereby decreasing the money we can create without out-of-control inflation, furthering our inability to pay our bills. Second, with the foreign investment dependence we currently suffer, foreign nations will favor stronger currencies than our faltering dollar. Countries like China have significant reserves of US currency – dumping these in favor of stronger currencies means our debt comes back to bite us like a rabid dog. These two things combined mean that people will start to transition their wealth into other currencies or precious metals, if they’re aware enough to do so. If this sustains and goes supernova, the US economy could come crashing down like a house of cards because of our reliance on these investors.

All I’m waiting for now is the first major bank to crash – at that point, we will have entered an irreversible trend that will catapult the economy towards the floor.  If you don’t think that can happen – you should be learning about the growing number of mortgage defaults, the worldwide housing market crash, imploding hedge funds and systemic risk.

I’ve written about the investing into precious metals and I still advise it as the most sure bet of sustaining the hard times that could be ahead. Gold has rocketed past $800 per ounce, up hundreds of dollars from where it was even months ago. Silver, albeit a more volatile market than gold, has seen recent spikes upwards of 30% from where it was just few short months ago. These precious metals are also inclining at a faster pace against the US dollar than other currencies that are performing better, such as the Canadian dollar.

Speaking of the Canadian dollar, I wrote awhile ago about the Canadian dollar overtaking the US dollar in value. In just a few weeks, we’re now seeing that it’s nearly 8 cents over the dollar, or 8% higher. (Read another, US currency is worth 8% less) Further evidence of our rapid downward spiral. I did a comparison of the Canadian dollar and the US dollar against the Swiss Franc recently in order to prove the anomaly wasn’t just the Canadian dollar performing better than average. The Swiss Franc is widely regarded as one of the most stable, unwavering currencies in the world and is therefore a good choice for comparison of inflationary effects. The graphs showed that, yes, the Canadian dollar was doing better…but by far, the US dollar was declining at a much more rapid pace.

Anyhow…that’s what I have to say for now. Pretty serious stuff, I know…but you need to pay attention to it because it WILL ultimately affect you. If you want to know what you can do, look at who I support – Ron Paul.

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If you’ve spent any time on my blog, you’re probably aware of my anti-TV attitude. I’m a little disappointed in myself – I think I’ve found myself giving in to the YouTube kool-aid. Online video is hard to resist once they hook ya’…I can’t even tell you how many YouTube junkies are out there…but I know it’s a LOT. I feel like such a hypocrite. Hell, my blog is plastered with videos…admittedly, a lot of words, too…but still, I’m up to probably somewhere around 20 videos.

It’s times like this that I try to remember why I stopped watching TV in the first place back in 1997. 1) I wanted to explore it as a social experiment. 2) I hate advertising. 3) I found my quality of life and interests improved when not spending so much time watching TV. 4) Television wasn’t that good, anyways.

OK, then I compare those same reasons to YouTube and this is what I came up with. 1) YouTube is an interesting social experiment. 2) Not near as much advertising, but it’s still present. 3) I’ve enjoyed hearing & seeing “people” talk/teach/complain/etc and, in a way, it contributes to my quality of life 4) I’ve found a ton of kewl videos & if I don’t like it, I press the “Back” button and it’s gone.  (I do banish all thee who think dumb is the kewlest thing.  It is NOT kewl to be dumb.)  So, as you can see, I’ve managed to justify every single point. I’m wondering if I’m a hypocrite – to denounce television, yet to watch *television* on YouTube (albeit directed and on-topic) seems a little contradictory.

I don’t really have a problem with motion video – I’ve watched enough movies & documentaries to prove that. My issue is more with the ever increasing level of manipulation that a viewer subjects themselves to. With television, people are presented a “mainstream” that has nearly become the bar to which we live our lives. It’s authority over the average American has taken on unprecedented proportions – it’s almost as if they accept it as reality. When in fact, it is not.

I really don’t get this feeling from YouTube. It’s television clips, sure…but it’s also Vlogs (video blogs), DIY videos, educational videos, amazing video and many other things. Real stuff. You can dive in and really direct your viewing towards specific interests or just click through the vast array of video interconnectedness…and with the size of it, there is a substantial amount to choose from. I don’t feel like there’s some great big hand guiding my thoughts with the bombardment of many common ideas and zippy video editing. It’s just different than TV.

So, I think I’ll keep posting videos to my blog – ’cause hey, I like ‘em. And if I’m a hypocrite, that’s fine. I know enough to veer away from becoming a total YouTube junkie, so you can’t accuse me of that. I’ve also promised myself that I will continue to do text only blog entries as there should be moderation in all things. So, them’s the breaks with me, TV & online video.

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So, was cruising around YouTube the other night and this video caught my eye. I’m always game for any guest that Bill O’Reilly interviews that has the courage to throw it right back in his face. Here, we see Phil Donahue performing an anal-cranial extraction on my most-hated media pundit.

I’m no big fan of Phil Donahue…but I gotta say, I give him props for this one. Anyone that can go toe-to-toe with Bill the moron is at least semi-decent in my book.

Click here to view the video!

I was particularly offended by O’Reilly’s stance that our country should be able to declare war upon whomever they choose without oversight and Congress can only “take action if they want to take action.” O’Reilly is an enemy of the Constitution. He might as well stand for treason.

Hope you enjoy! Remember, if you listen to this moron, I can’t help it if you become ignorant and stupid! O’Reilly’s bad for the brain.

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Have you ever had a feeling that you pretty much had an idea of how something works, only to find out what you know is completely false? And sometimes the truth is just so far from where you thought it was that you just have to take a step back and say, “Oh my God.” This happens to me all the time.

I’ve discovered something beyond alarming…the voting process involved in the passage of legislature in America has been severely compromised. Where I thought there was order, there is chaos…where I believed in a modicum of integrity, there is ravaging dishonesty. The House of Representatives is a fraud. Our political leaders have allowed something to be that should never, ever (ever) be allowed. I am nearly on my knees as I’ve witnessed the collapse of America’s political constituency.

You need to watch this video:

Click here to view the video!

This video is out of Texas…but implicates a much larger corruption. If it’s this common with Texas representatives…how could it not be going on anywhere else? It’s clear enough that I really need to know more about this.

I could hardly believe my eyes as CBS casually revealed the shattered reality of our Republic’s representation. I reeled as I realized the enormity of it, a massiveness of consequence that betrays almost every shred of respect I may have had for America’s legislative branch. A thousand colloquial “oh my fucking God’s” can’t even begin to express the detestable antipathy that this makes me feel. I can hardly manage to not string together dozens of sordid expletives and venomous word-spears to communicate my response. Let’s just leave it with a simple, “Damnit.”

How, I ask, can you have justice when there are 8 million laws that we can’t even confidently believe were actually voted in legitimately ? And to the lady that was complaining about not having bathroom breaks? Vote for some (we’ll understand, really…) and actually push the damn voting buttons for yourself. I simply don’t trust politicians (or anyone else, for that matter) to leave aside ulterior motives and honestly represent any other…not when there’s so much at stake.

I can’t say it enough…Ron Paul needs to be our next President.

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Last month I wrote up an article about a student being tazered by police for simply asking a question. I present you another video showing the exact same kind of abuse of power that we’re seeing today. In this case, we have a student that was using the campus library late at night and had forgotten his student ID card.

This actually happened back in 2006, I believe…but I must’ve missed it. Not watching TV or reading magazines or newpapers & always having to work for your info does have it’s drawbacks. I have to warn you…the video’s a little graphic. Not bloody graphic – just the graphic display of cops, hard at work, abusing their power of authority.

Click here to view the video!

Instead of police just cuffing & bagging to diffuse a situation, which you can’t tell me two or nine cops couldn’t do, we’re seeing rampant abuse of power all over the place. Things like this are extreme cases, but on a much larger scale with much smaller impacts, police are advancing upon us like a professional military. Instead of justice being the goal, we have public displays of outright torture by police for things that aren’t even a crime. Learn to fear, America. That’s what they’re trying to ingrain into your minds.

What angers me about this is the police officer’s unwillingness to identify themselves. They are required, by law, to identify themselves, both as a police officer and a name or badge number when asked. That, and the fact that *while* tazering the guy, they were demanding he stand. I dunno if you’ve ever been tazered, but as someone that’s touched a 110V circuit inadvertently (errr, more than once), I believe the voltage those things put would be more the enough to make it difficult to stand. Police should never give an order while making it completely impossible to follow. That is abuse of power.

It’s almost like basic civil rights are not being taught in police academies these days. Their training is designed to override human decency and patience. The Constitution and ethical behavior is most certainly not being taught. A tazer, which is known to kill people (by the way), is capable of completely disabling a person…and in fact, is what it was designed for. We allow police to have these because A) we believe every problem isn’t best solved with a gun and B) there are situations where disabling a person (e.g. meth-head gone freakin’ bezerk) might be necessary. A person that is willing to leave on their own accord, after realizing the seriousness of the situation, and committed the “crime” of forgetting a piece of identification, does not classify a justifiable use of such non-lethal force, in my opinion.

All this over a forgotten ID, by a student, in a library. (Imagine that…I thought that was a *good* thing?) Sure, he resisted leaving (probably because he wanted to study) and it was escalated into a violent crescendo of tazering, physical roughhousing and impossible demands. Despite even being willing to leave on his own accord…why must police take things to this level? Of course this all erupted from one of those ingenious plans to protect you…a policy of random ID checks after a certain hour in the library…and a hard line stance against any violations. Nothing bad could ever come from such a thing…or could it?

Of course, if you watch COPS every night…you’re nearly immune to seeing abuse of power. Cops that do this kind of thing rightfully earn the disrespectful term of “pig” and honestly, I hope these cops have a special place reserved in hell. That’s all I have to say.

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So, a question…who’s smarter: Bill O’Reilly, media swill and spinmaster, or Dr. Ron Paul, 10th term Congressman from Texas? Well, two things are clear: Bill O’Reilly is still a lying, ignorant idiot and Fox news still has an interest in brainwashing their viewers with fearmongering and lies.

Click here to view the video!

In typical O’Reilly style, he ignorantly fumbles historical fact, rudely interrupts an *Honorable* Congressman, squirms like a tickled school girl when he must avoid confirming his guest’s accuracy, disrupts conversation about sensitive topics so they get no coverage and, worst of all, goes so far as to insult a US Congressman. O’Reilly says himself, “We don’t need a history lesson!” God forbid, it might teach him to have a little more respect for those that lead our nation. Bill, you’re not that good.

Ummm…just for anyone that’s not clear on the subject, the CIA did state that Iran was 10 years away from even possibly having a nuclear weapon and found no evidence of such a program in place. Apparently, Fox news has better sources that say the danger is more like 5 years. Who has more authority…the CIA or the “everybody says” that Fox News just conjured up?

Oh, and notice when Dr. Paul brings up that 50% of the suicide attackers are Saudi…O’Reilly wasn’t going to touch that one. Or the Pakistan reference. Subjects broiling with controversy…and a Google search will pretty much lay it all out for you…but O’Reilly won’t pause for you to think about it. Why can’t we talk about it, O’Reilly?

Just for the record, if O’Reilly told me I was living in Oz and treated me like that, I think I’d throw off my microphone, crawl over the desk and strangle the guy on air. I don’t know how his guests stay so composed when he gets like that. Dr. Paul’s a better man than I.

So you can see what happens when Ron Paul is interviewed by a reasonable host, you can view Bill Maher’s new hero here:

Click here to view the video!

Remember…vote Ron Paul for President in 2008…and stop watching Fox News!

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I found out about MySpace around a year ago…it’s kinda neat…makes a “blog” accessible to just about anybody and has tons and tons of readers. I know at least a handful of people that spend most of their net surfing hours there. I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a MySpace that links back to this blog, but I think I’ve decided against it. Permanently. Oh, and you won’t find any hyperlinks from my site to MySpace either.

For context, I run an open-source web-based blog application, called Wordpress, that is installed on web server space that I rent from a company in Canada. (Yep, you’re connected to Canada, folks.) I’ve also purchased several domain names that all point to this web server, providing me the ability to simultaneously run multiple websites from the same server. I used to run a web server from my home (for free) but ultimately wanted to start working with online video…thus, to save my cable modem’s bandwidth, renting server space seemed the better way to go.

Anyway…back to the point. If I wanted mass traffic, MySpace might be the way to go. It certainly doesn’t lack readership and popularity…who doesn’t know about MySpace? (And if you found my website before you heard about MySpace, there’s also some other neat-o sites you need to know about called YouTube, Google and Wikipedia)

Of more concern, I’ve learned of disreputable MySpace censoring tactics. I don’t like the idea that I don’t own my blog and can’t post whatever it is that I see fit. Even if it is about the most important presidential candidate to run for Presidency. If you don’t believe me, just watch this video:

Click here to view the video!

That, and I’m typically not one to do something the easy way. Heck, even my mom has a MySpace, who (certainly no offense intended…just in case you’re reading…Hi Mom!) is not a technical wizard. I guess it’s pretty easy to do. Easy enough that nearly everyone I know has a MySpace. Geez…and here I am debating whether I will or I won’t have a MySpace. I could’ve had a MySpace set up in the time it’s taken me to write this post.

Last, but not least…the layout of MySpace, frankly, sucks. It’s just ugly, poorly laid out and what…just..what…is up with all the silly/ugly comments that people leave on people’s pages? Who has the patience to read through the heaps and heaps of pointless garbage that people “tag” onto your website? Who even wants those readers anyway? (If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about…) I haven’t found a MySpace page that I like yet…it’s almost offensive to my eyes.

So, that’s why I don’t MySpace and why, for the foreseeable future, will not be found on MySpace. Just Google me, it’s kewler that way.

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