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GoldMoney Alert - 18 December 2007

In case you missed this news, the European Central Bank yesterday created 348 billion euros. That's equal to about one-half trillion dollars. Presto! Like magic, one-half trillion dollars of so-called "liquidity" appeared out of thin air.

It really isn't liquidity though. Let's call it what it really is. It's just newly 'printed' currency, created not with a printing press, but rather, with a simple book entry on the ECB's balance sheet.

Let's flash back to Weimar Germany in 1923. As that country's monetary problems worsened, the central bank, the Reichsbank, in the misguided thinking of that day printed one-half trillion of Reichsmarks. It also had the aim to provide liquidity.

Is there anything essentially different between what the Reichsbank did and what the ECB just did? Absolutely not.

Last week I wrote the following for one of my regular commentaries on the Kitco website, responding to the $40 billion of new currency that had just been 'printed' in an instant by the Federal Reserve: "Creating money this way is a barbaric process because it further debases the dollar, but is hailed by the banking insiders and their apologists as a brilliant maneuver to fight the worsening liquidity crunch. Of course it is a view of those with vested interests, and bluntly, is just their selling pitch to the masses."

We are in a monetary crisis, not unlike the one that plagued Weimar Germany. It is a crisis of fiat currency, where 'money' can be created out of thin air in an instant and in any quantity, which are actions that cause people to distrust the money. This lowers the demand for the debased money, and eventually leads to a flight from it. The demand for the Reichsmark was declining for years before its collapse, just like the demand for the dollar, euro and other fiat currencies is now declining as people seek safe alternatives.

Over the past few weeks John Rubino and I have been updating our book, The Coming Collapse of the Dollar, for a new paperback version that Doubleday plans to release in January. Not only has the content been updated, but Doubleday wants to update the title too. The proposed new title is: "The Collapse of the Dollar", to reflect the downward path of the dollar since writing our book back in 2004. The following is from the introduction to this new version:


"The stage is set, in short, for not just a further decline in the value of the dollar, but a collapse. Which means the turmoil-and profit opportunities-of the past few years were just a taste of what's coming. But note that despite the title of this book, it's not only the dollar that's headed for the trash heap of history. The real problem isn't U.S. economic mismanagement, but the whole concept of fiat currencies. Put simply, when politicians have the ability to buy votes by printing money, they do so. This lack of monetary discipline leads to an oversupply of currency which causes its value to decline until most citizens give up on it altogether. In the past this has happened to one country at a time, but today it's happening everywhere, with the world's dominant currency, the dollar, leading the way. The inevitable result will be a tumultuous few years in which the world discovers that fiat currencies -i.e., government-created-and-controlled currencies with no externally-imposed discipline on the printing press-are inherently flawed, and abandons them en mass."

As 2007 comes to an end, it is time to think about what lays ahead in the New Year. My conclusion is that the present crisis is going to get much worse and then end badly. How badly?

Well, no one of course can predict the future, but when you are on a road, you can obviously see where you are going. The dollar, euro and the other national currencies are on a road that is well traveled. We know where it is going. It's the same road the Reichsmark was traveling. It's the road to the fiat currency graveyard.
http://tinyurl.com/7rka2

Iranian Jews deal a blow to Zionists
Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:00:34



The attempts by a Zionist organization to persuade Iranian Jews to leave the country and receive $10,000 in return have failed.

The organizers of the project in Israel and the United States have voiced their disappointment after they were given the cold shoulder.

Evangelical Christians in the US started the project in January 2007; however, after a frosty reception, they were forced to increase their incentive from $5,000 to $10,000.

According to a report by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), of some 25,000 Jews living in Iran, only 125 accepted the money during the course of the one-year project.

Iran's Jewish community leaders denounced the IFCJ attempts in a statement saying “Iranian Jews will not abandon their identity for any amount of money.”

“We love our Iranian identity and culture, so threats and enticements would not persuade Iranian Jews to give up their identity,” the statement added.

Iran is home to the second largest Jewish community in the Middle East.
http://tinyurl.com/yweexx

Bill Clinton's Big Inspiration
Where did the most powerful man in the world get his inspiration from?
Issue 05, Summer 1998



In 1961, when President Kennedy was in his Camelot and the Cold War got colder as the Berlin Wall was erected, a 15 year old boy walked into the Masonic Temple at 311 West Grand Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, he was inducted into a youth organisation which had formulated its principles on the life and death of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, roasted alive in Paris in 1314.
    This teenager had been born William Jefferson Blythe on 19 August 1946, in the small town of Hope, Arkansas. He was named after his father who had been killed in a car accident three months before his son was born. Later, his mother re-married and he took his step-father’s name of Clinton. The rest is history. As the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton is now eager to point out that he owes a great deal to an Order which was founded by American Freemasons and is run under the auspices of the Craft.
    Yet, mysteriously, the world-wide Order of de Molay, which also includes in its Hall of Fame such luminaries as John Wayne, Burl Ives, Walt Disney, Mel Blanc, Bob Mathias, Walter Cronkite, John Steinbeck, US astronauts and US senators, has never made a foothold in the United Kingdom; even though over one million young men have passed through its portals. Many have gone on to join the Craft.
The Founding of the Order
In the year 1919, Frank Land answered his telephone and recognised the voice of Sam Freet, newly installed Senior Warden of Ivanhoe Lodge in Kansas City, Missouri. Freet asked if Land could find a part-time job for the eldest son of a mason who had died a year before. After he met the youngster, Land was impressed and began to mull over the idea of an organisation for young men meeting at the Missouri Temple - young men in need of uplifting influence.
    A week later, nine youths and Land met in one of the meeting rooms of the Temple and agreed to meet again as a club. It was decided to make the eligible age group from 15 to 21. But what about a name? They turned to Land for suggestions. He pointed to a recent series of prints on the wall which showed the adventures of Sir Galahad and the Knights of the Round Table. There was a negative shaking of heads. The greatest of wars had ended only a few months before, and the adventures of knights of old seemed far away. Names were mentioned from history and the Bible and Land was asked to tell them something connected with Masonry. He mentioned Jacques de Molay and the story around him; the name caught the boys’ imaginations. Here was a great example of loyalty, of courage, a theme of knighthood and chivalry and the name of a martyr to fidelity and toleration. In 1305 Philip the Fair, King of France, set about to take control of the Knights Templar and seize their wealth. The year 1307 saw the beginning of the persecution of the Knights and De Molay, along with hundreds of others, was seized and thrown into a dungeon. For seven years, he and others suffered torture and inhuman conditions. Nevertheless, De Molay continued to be loyal to his friends and Knights.
Bill Clinton’s Memories
What does William Jefferson Clinton think of his De Molay experience? “I have a lot of memories of De Molay. Really rich ones and all good. I enjoyed learning all the parts of the ritual... it meant a lot to me. I think it helped me develop my mind and helped me to develop my speaking ability. I remember the projects we did and the work that I did as a member of the team. Since I was an only child until I was aged ten and came from a small family, working with other people was a very important lesson I learned. A lot of my close friends today are people I met when I was in De Molay.”
    During his period with the Hot Springs Chapter of De Molay, the future President served as a Master Counsellor and later, in 1964, he received his Degree of Chevalier : the highest honour an active De Molay can receive. He is remembered by one member of De Molay at the time (now a successful banker) as “earnest and determined. It was obvious that he was proud to be a De Molay and it was equally obvious that he would get on in life. I don’t think any of his friends appreciated just how far he would get, but I for one am not surprised!”
    Clinton’s words of praise for the Society are not Political Speak, they are genuine words of affection. One action epitomised this when, during a visit to the Philippines in November 1996 for the Apec Summit, Clinton sent his security men into a flap when he decided to make an unscheduled helicopter flight to a De Molay meeting. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported : “In a clear breach of protocol, Clinton - the most watched and tightly guarded man during the summit - made an unscheduled stop, flying in from Subic at the Quirino Grandstand to receive an award from the local chapter of a Masonic group of which he was once a member. Clinton met a group from the Order of Molay of the Philippines to receive the Grand Master’s Maltese Cross Award for his outstanding service and continuing concern for the welfare and development of youth.”
Self destruction
Clinton believes it is far more difficult to be young today, and sees “self destruction” as the greatest threat to young people. “In our country, we waste more people than any of our competitors. From infant mortality and low birth weight, to kids showing up for kindergarten and not being prepared to learn, to people dropping out of school and people basically shooting themselves in the foot by doing things or picking up habits they don’t need. That’s why De Molay is so important. That’s why it will always be important. We’ve got to find a way, particularly with kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, to pierce this fog in which so many of them live and the way they kind of wander through life with no direction and fall into these terribly destructive traps.”
    He continued : “That can only be done one on one. Some adult has got to be able to look into the eyes of a child and say, ‘I care about you. You are an important creature of God. You’ve got to get a hold of your life and do what’s right.’”
    The President is convinced that America has to continue to develop leadership : “Every generation needs to have a group of people who really understand what’s going on and can summon others to make the sacrifices and decisions, to take the action that has to be taken at that time to sustain the country. So, both of these things are things that De Molay responds to.”
A De Molay in the White House
On hearing the outcome of Clinton’s election as President, De Molay Grand Master Jerold J Samet siad : “I am proud to be an American and I am proud of the fact that we have, at long last, a Senior De Molay in the White House.”
    President Clinton believes in the spiritual value of De Molay for a full life : “Life is an exciting adventure and very much worth living. Part of what makes it exciting and worth living is the pain, the failure and the disappointment that go along with the victories and the elation of getting what you want. I think it’s terribly important that we take life in all of its aspects. If you want joy, you’ve got to have the burdens of failure. You have to kind of keep your eye on the prize; you have to keep looking ahead and always looking toward tomorrow. Particularly young people, try to forget about yesterday. There’s always tomorrow. If we can convince enough young people that their goal is tomorrow then we’re going to be just fine. I’d also tell them that I got to be Governor when I was 32. I grew up in a family with no money and no political influence. My mother was widowed when I was born. I had a lot of breaks. A lot of people helped me. So, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are when you start. It’s where you wind up in the finish. De Molay, I think, helps that. It trains people to believe that if your values are good, you develop your mind, you work hard - wherever you start, you can finish in a very good place.”
Doug Pickford would like to thank Jeffrey Speaker, Executive Director of the De Molay Service and Leadership Centre, Kansas City, for his help in producing this article
http://tinyurl.com/ypgpus