Four things make U.S. Cry:
Gold, Oil, Prejudice and Sighs,
All Parts of Our Lives Passing By!
Gold and Oil Prices Hit Record Highs,
As the Dollar Weakens to Kill Pie in the Sky,
So Obama’s Pastor Preaches out Oh Me, Oh My,
Damn America’s run by Rich White Men, and not I!
Wh at
will Politicians say as each Promise becomes a Lie?
And this mess grows worse as the Tribulation doth draw nigh
?
March 14, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
I will vote for former Secretary of State Colin L. Powel for President in a New York minute, and am more than willing to vote for a vast array of black men and women on America’s political scene. I would vote for countless numbers of women for President in our political spectrum. So please do not accuse me of gender or racial prejudice.
The reason I will not vote for Barak Obama is based on two things: (1) I do not believe he has the experience to deal with the enemies of the United States and, (2) His membership in a church espousing the views of its former pastor, and one that exhibits a viewpoint of racial hatred toward whites based on a prior white prejudice toward them.
Their bias is somewhat comparable to that which most whites held toward blacks for a very long time, until many whites, myself included, realized how terribly wrong we were in doing so.
I deeply regret the prejudice
I felt toward blacks well into my teens.
I was just totally wrong in my racially prejudiced attitude, repenting of it in my late teens, and I do apologize to all blacks. But it was not their response to it that totally changed me – It was the Word of God.
While I freely admit some forms of racial prejudice do still exist in our society, I am firmly convinced that the vast majority of whites are trying to do better, and I am also equally convinced that some black leaders make it sound much worse than it is.
However, after having said all that, as I have stated many times, it does not make a great deal of difference to me who wins the Presidency this November for two reasons, (1) I feel sorry for the poor devil, whether black or white, or male or female, who is unlikely to finish his or her first term before all hell breaks loose in the Middle East, and (2) I don’t believe anyone can stop the economic, political, military, and tectonic chaos, which I believe is likely to begin in earnest at some point in time between 2010 and 2015, regardless of who is President.
The three articles which follow are harbingers of a beginning of a world economic decline, which will have good days and bad days for the next year or so, but should accelerate rapidly as 2010 approaches.
Begin Article from World News
Gold prices hit $1,000 milestone
Precious metal hits key level on fears about economy and further weakness in the dollar.
By David Goldman and David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writers
Last Updated: March 13, 2008: 4:50 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gold prices touched the $1,000 milestone for the first time Thursday as the dollar plunged amid nagging fears about the health of the U.S. economy.
After weeks of flirting with the key psychological mark, COMEX gold for April climbed to $1,000 an ounce in morning floor trading. Prices later pared their gains and were most recently up $16.60 to $997.10 an ounce.
Sending prices higher were another drop in the dollar, looming Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and rising inflation.
“Supply and demand is not really the driver of gold prices,” said UBS metal strategist Robin Bhar.
“This is about global financial stresses.
“Falling dollar. The dollar hit a 12-year low against the yen and retreated to yet another record low versus the euro Thursday. As the price of gold appreciates compared to the dollar, investors pour money into the commodity in hopes that their gold will maintain some value.
“Perhaps some investors have reached a point where there is nothing better than a hard, physical asset like gold,” Bhar said.
Interest rate cuts.
Many economists expect the Fed to cut interest rates by one-half of a percentage point when the U.S. central bank meets next Tuesday. As interest rates continue to dip, and funds tied to interest rates like money market accounts lose their yield, investors look to an asset that will provide a stronger return on their investments.
“Gold is a non-interest yielding commodity, so lower interest makes gold a more attractive commodity,” said Bhar.
Rising inflation. When the central bank slashes rates, inflation rises as the dollar loses its value. As the Fed has cut rates to 3%, prices have risen at an annual rate of 2.5%, according to a U.S. Labor Department reading.
Traditionally, investors put money into government bonds and TIPS to ward off inflation. But recently bonds have provided historically low yields, and many have now transferred their funds into gold.
“It may be that we’ve reached a point that not even those instruments are adequate insurance against inflation,” said Bhar.
But historically, gold has failed to keep pace with inflation. When the economy ends its current downturn, gold prices should eventually fall, as they did 28 years ago. After hitting the $847 mark in January 1980, gold futures fell 70% to $253 in August 1999.
Still a long way to go. Even so, gold may continue to soar. The shiny commodity has long been considered a safe haven for investors worried about the economy.
“The current environment is such that the doom and gloom scenario plays right into investors’ hands,” said Bhar, who believes that gold prices will continue to rise as long as investors are worried about an economic recession.
“Though forecasts point to no recession, hedge fund clients are quite fearful right now.”
And 1980 is proof that gold prices could continue to go up. Though gold has never been traded at a higher price, the $847 level in 1980 would be worth $2,170 in today’s money, more than double the current price of gold.
Begin Economic Times Article
OPEC monopoly threatens to put oil on boil
14 Mar, 2008, 0354 hrs IST,
WASHINGTON: For much of its 47-year existence, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been a cartel in name only.
It could not control oil prices because many of its members regularly breached the production quotas that were intended to regulate the market. So OPEC followed oil prices up and down, as supply and demand shifted. But now OPEC may be the real deal: a cartel that works. If so, that’s bad news for the rest of the world.
Look no further than last week’s OPEC meeting in Vienna. Oil ministers declined to increase production despite a strong case for doing so. Not only were oil prices fluttering above $100 a barrel, but the United States is either in or near a recession and much of the rest of the world faces an economic slowdown.
What’s wrong is that a fall of oil prices is one of the mechanisms by which a recession or economic slowdown corrects itself. Lower prices for gasoline, home heating oil and diesel fuel improve consumer purchasing power.
Begin DAWN (THE INTERNET) NEWS Article
Oil hits record $107.85
March 11, 2008
LONDON, March 10: Oil prices hit a record high $107.85 on Monday as the White House announced that US Vice President Dick Cheney will head to Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia next week to seek increased production.
Dealers said oil had fallen in early trade on profit-taking but concerns over the weakness of the dollar and tightening supplies provided support and news of the Cheney trip then added an extra twist.
The New York contract for April delivery had hit a previous peak of $106.54 on Friday.
Elsewhere on Monday, Brent North Sea crude for April struck a record high $104.35 on barrel.
The latest spike came as the White House said Monday that Cheney would next week urge Saudi Arabia to push Opec to boost output in an effort to rein in sky-high prices.
“I’m sure that energy issues will come up,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a preview of Cheney’s trip to the Middle East next week. “Obviously we want to see an increase in production.”
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which produces 40 per cent of the world’s crude, decided at a policy meeting last week to maintain its daily production target of 29.67 million barrels despite calls by US President George W. Bush for it to do more.
Opec blamed the high cost of crude on speculative buying as investors sought a hedge against a weakening dollar and rising inflation.
The weak US currency encourages demand for dollar-priced commodities like oil because it makes them cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
“Tight fundamentals remain the dominant force underpinning prices in our view, with the combination of disappointing non-Opec production, solid non-OECD demand and defensive Opec output policy all exerting upward pressure on prices,” said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.
At about 1700 GMT, New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, stood at $107.54, up $2.39 from Friday’s close.
Brent for April stood $1.75 higher at $104.15.
Prices had dropped in early trade on Monday amid concerns that energy demand would drop in the United States because of its weak economy, analysts said.
Prices also fell on easing geopolitical tensions involving crude producer Venezuela, they added.—AFP
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