Today’s story from CBS is that carbon dioxide has reached a 2 million year high, and the last time it was this high the sea levels were 66 feet higher.

So just for fun I checked the flood map to see what 66 feet (20 meters) would mean to my part of California. Interestingly enough California’s inland valley from Yuba City to Turlock becomes an inland sea with major flooding in the Bay Area.

Fair Oaks, California would be just minutes from the beach. Hey maybe this climate change stuff isn’t such a bad thing after all… just kidding.

So what to think? No matter who you believe, a one fact is indisputable. Greenhouse gasses (methane, carbon dioxide, aerosols) are on the rise and climate change is the new normal. Flexibility and resilience should be our focus and be playing a big role in all our plans.

Where Do You Stand on the Bill of Rights? I realize this may seem like a loaded rhetorical question… but… there are some people, including some in government, that clearly don’t value the framework our nation was founded upon. Their actions show us that they think it’s ok to pass new laws, or in the case of the President, issue executive orders that boldly undermine the Constitution & Bill of Rights.

No matter what labels we all choose to wear (liberal, conservative, moderate, democrat, republican, libertarian, etc) we the people are Americans first, so protecting the Constitution & Bill of Rights protects our freedom.

Can we PLEASE STAND TOGETHER and put a stop to this trend!?

Alex Jones (pictured above on the right, speaking with Piers Morgan) may be one of the best known conspiracy theorists. His angry ranting seems to work well for him on his radio (and internet) show but for most folks he must come across as irrational.

Conspiracy theorists don’t help expose the truth, they (often inadvertently) cloud the truth by tainting the facts they present with small insertions of accusations, assumptions, generalizations and inaccurate facts.

The only way wake up the masses from a big lie would be with a mountain of rock solid investigation backed with undeniable facts presented as glossy as the prime time news. This is because the bigger the lie the bigger the case against it must be.

Hitler knew how to tell the biggest lies and wrote about them in Mein Kampf:

“All this was inspired by the principle–which is quite true within itself–that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” (wikipedia)

So when we are presented with big lies, or big truths, there must be a larger opposing force to push it aside. Apparently this as true for ideas as it is for physics.

This also explains why conspiracy theorists make matters worse. A small group of people that are open to alternate ideas and those who don’t buy into the main stream point of view will listen and believe the conspiracy theorist. The masses will think the conspiracy theorist is just a nut and their beliefs in the main stream point of view will end up being hardened.

What to do?

Think for yourself, weigh all the evidence yourself, and decide which truth seems more plausible. Then (more importantly) observe the tide, step back, and avoid being caught up – not to turn your back on the issues but to better choose your next step.

In the case of Sandy Hook, just like 9/11, we see a lot of evidence presented by conspiracy theorists that seems valid that the official story is filled with partial truths. We also see the powers-that-be pushing an agenda. In the case of 9/11 it was war with Iraq, in the case of Sandy Hook it’s gun control.

So the tide this time is a swirling confusion of facts but the main direction of the flow is toward gun control. So no matter what actually happened at Sandy Hook the powers-that-be, or a powerful subset, want to take guns away from Americans. The outcome of this could have wide sweeping impacts such as an increase in crime overall, the reduction of personal freedom, and the increasing of the centralization of power in Washington DC.

So one’s next step should probably account for those net effects. You can also choose to fight the tide which may be a fools errand much as tilting at windmills but if it makes you happy go for it. Otherwise it may be more beneficial to focus on the things you can control and surf toward and eddy to ride out the wave.

Caution, paradigm shift ahead.

It seems to be a normal practice for network device manufacturers (like HP and IOmega) to leave the password protection wide open on all sorts of network devices like printers, scanners, security camera systems, network storage devices, and so on.

I suspect this is done to make the devices easier to install and use, increasing their user friendly feel while lowering the cost to support. Sadly the side effect is that hackers can easily connect to these devices and access your saved data. So while your computer may be secure with a password, your network devices may be wide open to hacking.

To protect yourself dive back into the manuals for your home network devices and learn how to activate the security functionality. Be sure to pick a difficult password to break that contains numbers, special characters, and most importantly words not found in any dictionary.

Dang this latest news is better than any false flag. Obama now has the smoking gun he’s been seeking and a war with Iran will seem justified.  It has been reported that Ahmadinejad’s cameraman has delivered key evidence into American hands.

“The Iranian cameraman assigned to document President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent trip to the UN has defected, and new reports claim that with his exit he has handed the US a trove of never-before-seen footage of his homeland’s nuclear facilities.” - RT.

I oppose war entirely. We didn’t go to war with India or Pakistan when they declared they had nukes. We didn’t go to war with Israel because they are suspected of having nukes.

I wish Obama would use this evidence to pressure Iran’s friends (China & Russia specifically) to help encourage Iran to work with the international community and give America & Israel no viable reason to start a war.

But sadly it looks like the joint US/Israel attack is loaded in the breech.

“After months of urging from Israeli authorities for the US to intervene in a rumored Iranian plan to procure a nuke, a source speaking on condition of anonymity tells Foreign Policy’s David Rothkopf that the two allies have come close to signing off on an attack against Iran.
Although no plan of action has been set in stone yet, the source says the attack will likely be from the sky and consist of drone strikes and bomber jets for only “a couple of hours” at best but would not require more than “a day or two” of action.” – RT

So lets just say this happens – after all it’s on the table. A couple of questions pop into my mind:

• How will China or Russia respond? Will they jump in militarily and make WWIII official or will they continue to play their cards close to their chest and continue their subtle chess moves? I suspect the latter.
• What will happen to the oil flow from the Middle East? We all know about the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz. We all know that Iran is well armed. This could go very badly for Americans at home if gas goes higher.
• How will Americans respond? Will they support Obama and give him a landslide election or tell him to make up with Ahmadinejad and let the oil flow? I suspect both but would he seek peace?
• Could this be the catalyst to collapse the petrodollar? An attack on Iran seems like it would have the potential to split the world in two – east & west. If this happened would oil trades cease to be made predominantly in U.S. Dollars? Seems plausible.
• If the petrodollar collapses does the dollar collapse? Technically speaking – yes. Hyperinflation would be the result of a massive increase in the money supply, so if the demand for dollars suddenly dropped due to its abandonment for oil trades the dollar should technically drop in value – possibly collapse.
• Would the U.S. Government go back on the gold standard to support the dollar? I think might – in fact I think the powers-that-be would do anything to protect the American way of life. There has been some speculation that the gold design features of the new $100 bill hints that this might be the case.
• If there were a world war, and the U.S. went back on the gold standard, and replaced all old dollars with gold dollars, what would happen to all those foreign held paper dollars? Oh right, they would be made worthless – obsolete. That would also strengthen the dollar significantly and destabilize any nation relying on those old dollars.

I’m just asking questions and making guesses. I used to be a fairly good chess player and this reminds me of the thought process one uses to win. You know… if I move X, my opponent will move Y, Z, or… Q!? It’s always guess work but helps a player see ahead a few moves.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out… now I just need to go dig a bunker so I have somewhere to watch the game unfold.

Crazy world… and all for this.

Just to recap, the Federal Reserve is now pumping cash into the money supply at a rate of $40,000,000,000 a month (that’s forty billion) and buying mortgage-backed securities with the fresh cash. These are derivatives (bets) on home mortgage packages.

So in other words these potentially toxic assets (underwater mortgages) are being bought up by the Fed to strengthen the value of mortgages. In other words if the mortgage derivative market collapsed it would likely collapse the value of homes. You might also think of it as the powers-that-be directly protecting and extending our current way of life.

But pumping cash into the U.S. Dollar is the definition of inflation, which can also be described as devaluing the dollar. Understanding this is as simple as understanding supply and demand… the more rare a desirable thing the more it’s value increases. So as the money supply increases the more the buying power of each dollar decreases.

So while the dollar declines the Yuan appears to climb in value, improving the prospects of the Chinese currency becoming a de facto reserve currency. This would crush the U.S. Economy.

China’s yuan climbed Friday to its highest level against the U.S. dollar since the currency was revaluated in July of 2005, buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent QE3 program as well as data this week showing that the People’s Bank of China injected a record amount of cash into the financial system, according to analysts. - MarketWatch.

So on one hand, Washington D.C. is seemingly trying to protect the world’s reserve currency status of the U.S. Dollar by attacking any nation (next up, Iran) that trades for oil with something other than the petrodollar – and on the other hand they print U.S. Dollars wildly, forcing the value of the Dollar down and weakening it’s desirability as a reserve currency.

Why? I don’t now. I won’t go there.

What I do know is that these policies are doing two things that can’t be obscured.

1. We’re being led to war with Iran and possibly China and/or Russia. Yes a world war.
2. The U.S. Dollar is at risk of becoming worthless. Why? Paper (fiat) currencies are only valuable because people agree they have value and use them for trade for things that have real value like commodities (food, water, shelter, security, etc). If people (or markets) decided that a currency has low or no value then the commodities themselves would likely become the new preferred form of trade. Gold and silver would also rise in value exponentially in this scenario.

Since I have no idea why the powers-that-be would risk these two things, I simply have to assume that these outcomes are not only on-the-table but increasing in risk daily as the war drums beat in Washington D.C. and the Fed’s presses roll.

The plot thickens and the narrative builds, but I’m not buying it for a second.

“Senate Homeland Security committee chairman Joe Lieberman I-Conn. said Iran has targeted the American financial system in response to U.S. sanctions placed on the country because of its nuclear program.” - latimes.com

Now this I can believe:

“Researchers have found evidence suggesting that the United States may have developed three previously unknown computer viruses for use in espionage operations or cyber warfare.” – businessinsider.com

…and this:

“The United States and Israel jointly developed the Flame virus, which collected intelligence for a cyber-attack on Iran’s nuclear program. This has been confirmed by a number of Western officials familiar with classified data on the effort.
The CIA, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Israeli military were all involved in developing malware to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program, the officials confirmed.” – rt.com

Why don’t I believe the U.S. Governments story?

1. Iran has nothing to gain by provoking war with the U.S.A. and everything to loose.
2. The U.S. government seems prepared to do anything to protect the petrodollar and world reserve currency status of the U.S. Dollar.

Brief History

Since WWII the U.S. Dollar has been the primary currency used to trade oil worldwide, which in-turn helps to support the value of the dollar. So when any nation chooses to trade oil for something else (like gold) the value of the dollar is threatened. Even with the sanctions in place some countries like China, Japan, and India are still permitted to trade with Iran. These trades are not being made in U.S. Dollars.

Current Situation

I suspect the American powers-that-be see any threats to the dollar’s status as a top-priority national security issue warranting the appropriate response. What the powers-that-be don’t seem to want to allow themselves to believe is that the current paradigm, a paradigm that values acquisition over all other things, is fatally flawed. You see a paradigm that uses the tools of war & debt to perpetuate itself has no future but death, destruction, and slavery.

The Solution

I don’t think these masters of the current paradigm can see the obvious solution – a paradigm shift back to core values like fairness, balance, and honor. A way of life that’s closer to home, closer to each other, and closer to the ground we live on. A paradigm I think most Americans would embrace.

Tick Tock… When Will The Boot Drop?

So we wait for war to begin. I think it’s inevitable. The powers-that-be must be in a frenzy right now looking for any reason to attack this threat to their reality, since for them this threat represents and end to everything the know and value.

How this war will effect the world and folks here on main street America I don’t know. I imagine it will really depend on (1) the catalysts for war, (2) the speed of regime change in Iran (if any), (3) how China & Russia react, (4) the economic hit to the petrodollar, and (5) the conflicts that may arise between the American people and our government.

When I went to Google News this morning the top story was on our Peace Prize Packing President taking off the gloves… oh wait his gloves have been off since the get-go.

“US President Barack Obama will warn Iran on Tuesday that the United States will “do what we must” to prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapon, and appeal to world leaders for a united front against further attacks on US diplomatic missions in Muslim countries.” - Obama to warn Iran: US will do what it … JPost – International.

Today is going to be an interesting day.  Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York speaking at the UN General Assembly, Obama will be there too to draw a line in the sand, a fleet of western warships is off the coast of Iran, the Middle East is in an uproar and hating America more than usual, and Israel is battening down the hatches on this Yom Kippur. Fingers off triggers folks!

When I went to Google News this morning I found no mention of this story without a little digging. Instead the top stories told me that Romney is focusing his message on the economy (duh) and that the television shows ‘Homeland’ and ‘Modern Family’ made it big at the Emmys. I think America is mostly asleep. Here’s the news we might want to consider keeping on our radar:

“An armada of U.S. and British naval power is amassing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program.

Warships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.” from: US And Britain Sending Warships To Gulf – Business Insider.

This whole situation makes me wonder if Israel is planning to attack as early as Yom Kippur (starting 9/25 at dusk through 9/26). The timing just seems too coincidental and there is a historical precedent (1973 Arab–Israeli War); or maybe it’s just more saber rattling.

I hope the latter is true because Iranian oil supplies much of the world (China, India, Turkey, etc). So a disruption to the flow of Iranian oil would expectedly piss a lot of people off – including some U.S. allies.

Such a mess. Hope everyone keeps their fingers off the triggers.

Update (same day): I just learned that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will be speaking at the UN tomorrow. So Iran’s leader is not even at home as the UN fleet bears down on his nation. To top it all off the Israeli press are calling for some swift action. Yikes! I hope the next few days are uneventful.