A PEEK AT THE BLEAK

I am looking at the future and if I was not into survivalism I would be very uncomfortable with what I see. I got a comment from Riverwalker yesterday that said he saw a FEMA camp in Georgia and people should avoid the place and any place like it. The one I saw in a video up in Indianapolis looks pretty mean too. Like I said, I think I'll stay home and miss this party.

I spent last night and this morning reading a book on life in Pennsylvania in the late 1700's and early 1800's. Fabulous. That was back in the days when men were men. Hunting Elk and Deer and Bear and Panthers. Hellish men. Find an Elk and turn the dogs loose and start chasing it for a couple, maybe three, days. Helluva romp through the woods. A 20 mile chase was nothing. The book told of men soaking their shoes in water and having to take them off in sub-freezing weather. And they did it and kept on going! Not too well thought of today but back then you did what you had to do.

Black powder weapons, long knives, tomahawks, and whatever they could get in a pinch was what they used. And they kept them up themselves. There were no Big Box stores around to buy another weapon from if the one they had broke.

Whatever you were going to have in the way of materialism was what you brought into the wilderness with you. No stores, no warehouses, and no freight terminals. All that sort of stuff was for more civilized areas. It was strictly a "run what you brung" ordeal and if you made it you must have done something right. I use this as an analogy of what we face in an economic collapse. What you have is what you get. There ain't anymore coming, at least not for awhile. And there might not be any fuel to drive somewhere anyhow. Think about that. Gasoline stations might be a thing of the past. Maybe the fedgov will put in "fueling stations" someplaces and you might have the honor of gassing up there. Wonderful.

But if you didn't bring enough stuff to make it, if you don't have a paid for retreat, no matter how cheap or ratty it might be, then you have the alternative of going to a detention camp. And that is going to cost a few million people their asses. We will hear reports of "your governemtn is doing all it can as quickly as it can to aleviate the suffering of the people." You will translate this as "They are processing folks and taking all their biometric data and implanting RFID chips as fast as they can go." Hah! Won't that be a wonderful thing to experience! You will be strip searched, cavity searched, DNA blod sampled, optically scanned and given a number. YOU WILL HAVE AN I.D. Hah! And don't think for one minute that the plans aren't already drawn up. Remember, the Patriot Act was already written and laying on the shelf when 9-11 happened. They just got it out, dusted it off and sent it to Congress for passage. It is told that this heinious piece of legislation came about as a result of a terrorist attack. BULLSHIT! The subjegation was already in the works. So keep an eye out for the troops coming to YOUR area for the round-up. There will be all kinds of trumped charges to level on the populace. Anything they can connect with any kind of a crime or faux pas will be used againt you. The Constitution will be suspended and that will be that. And the city boys will bear the brunt of the attack. It's such a target rich environment. Double Hah!

Let the forces of evil find you in the midst of a multitude of men sitting around cleaning their guns. Let them see new buildings, log buildings, being built. Let them see your gardens and your livestock. Let them hear your anthems of freedom ringing from the hills and echoing across the land. Let them know that they better not tread on YOU.

And this won't appeal, once again, to the rugged individualists. They will once again sneer at the group effort. Well, let them sneer. I guess it's good facial muscle exercise. But individuals are not going to do too well in the coming days. People with friends and kinfolk will do a lot better. The more the merrier. The group effort is a reality as far as retaining your freedom and your spirit. It is the hope of those not wanting to be a slave to the machine being built to run this planet. Sixty years ago there would have been blood in the streets at the mere thought of what is taking place in this country. Now the sheeple just go on minding their business and hoping the wolves eat them last. Piss on the wolves! Run 'em off smelling of fresh urine. The dogs can follow them easier that way. Triple Hah!

And here is the Mogambo Guru! I just had to put this in to give everyone an idea of what the hell is coming off. The game is about over!

The Daily Reckoning PRESENTS: Consumers are suffering because the stupid European governments boosted spending for a decade or more, the money financed by debt, and it is all of this spending that has made the purchasing power of the euro to fall. How do we fix this? The Mogambo has an answer. Read on…

INFLATIONARY TORTILLAS
by The Mogambo Guru

The biggest laugh I had all week was from Bloomberg.com reporting that "European consumers are 'suffering as surging food and energy prices erode the value of their wages', finance officials said" which is not itself funny, but the article immediately goes on that this is "urging governments to boost spending to help the poorest deal with the fastest inflation in 16 years." Hahahaha!

Consumers are suffering because the stupid European governments boosted spending for a decade or more, the money financed by debt, and it is all of this spending that has made the purchasing power of the euro to fall. And now the governments are going to boost spending some more Hahaha!

But it's okay, these guys are saying, because it's "to help the poorest deal with the fastest inflation in 16 years." Hahahaha! Idiots! As Strother Martin said of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the movie of the same name as they went down the mountain to La Paz, "Idiots! I've got idiots on my team!"

For example, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg is quoted as saying, "The least well off in our societies are very seriously exposed to a loss of purchasing power due to the increase of oil prices, of commodity prices and food prices", which is true.

Then, bizarrely, he says that this inflation-from-too-much-spending makes it imperative that "It's up to public budgets to react to this loss in purchasing power by helping out the least well off"! Hahahaha!

And how does he suggest we do that? Naturally, anybody with an ounce of brains or education knows that the first thing you do is stop creating more money and credit, which is what causes a "loss in purchasing power" in the first damned place.

Naturally, I figure that since the solution is so simple that it was time to go out for something tasty to eat and something wet to drink, and then maybe take in a couple of XXX-rated movies, but I was wrong, as here comes European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet saying that inflation will remain "high'' for quite some time to come, and European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia saying "We need to do more,'' because "Inflation is a socially negative tax on the poorest'' people, which it is, and that is why it is so imperative to stop creating more money and credit nowm not create more, you idiots!

Participating in this Gang of Morons Idiocy (GOMI) is U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, who "cut the tax bills of Britain's poorest families by 2.7 billion pounds ($5.25 billion) in a bid to cushion the blow from higher prices", which is a nice thing to do, especially if you don't want to overlook the fact that they were taxing Britain's poorest families to start with, which tells you all you need to know about the good intentions of the British government.

But the horror is that they are NOT proposing to stop creating more money and credit! They were proposing to create MORE money and credit, making everything worse, as we learn to our horror when Darling said he will "raise government borrowing to finance the decision as slower economic growth curbs tax revenue."

John Stepek, writing in the Money Morning newsletter from MoneyWeek.com, writes "Gordon Brown's response to the end of his economic 'miracle' is to rattle off yet another succession of bills. You'd think he'd realise that the British consumer is sick of bills by now. But no. The man once laughably described as the Iron Chancellor has thrown off all pretence of fiscal competence and is now flinging money he doesn't have at problems he can't solve."

And speaking of inflationary things that people can't solve, Christopher Laird of PrudentSquirrel.com writes that "There is a report that 25% of the world wheat crop is at serious risk of a new virulent wheat rust that chokes the wheat before it comes to head. The US has its own concerns over a wheat rust spreading through the Mid West. So, what are the chances of a record grain harvest in 08?"

Naturally, I have no idea about the chances of anything since I figure that neither my marriage nor my career will last until the weekend, and so Mr. Laird gives us a hint. "Just to give an idea of the concern about food," he writes, "China just spent a $400 a ton premium on fertilizer that used to cost $170 a ton Jan 08. It was a huge order. Reason? They are afraid that if they don't have great harvests this year, tens of millions may starve in 09."

And in case you don't care about Europeans but are concerned about the other hemisphere because that is where you live, SteveQuayle.com posted a news.bbc.so.uk story that "The price of tortillas, a staple food in Mexico, are set to rise 18% in the next few weeks, an industry group says".

This is bad news because "Thousands of people protested against tortilla price rises in Mexico last year" when tortilla prices rose "by more than 10%."

So, Mexicans rioted at 10% inflation, and now everyone is wondering what they will do about 18% inflation in tortillas? Hahahaha! Welcome to inflationary hell! Ugh.

The Mogambo Sez: Ahh, commodities! Verily I say unto thee; thy gold, thy silver and thy oil sustain me when all others wouldst betray me, as they now betray all those who were tempted by the charms and promises of "invest in the stock market, invest in the bond market, invest in the housing market, and invest in a larger government for the long-term!"

Until next time,

The Mogambo Guru
for The Daily Reckoning

Editor's Note: Richard Daughty is general partner and COO for Smith Consultant Group, serving the financial and medical communities, and the editor of The Mogambo Guru economic newsletter - an avocational exercise to heap disrespect on those who desperately deserve it.

The Mogambo Guru is quoted frequently in Barron's, The Daily Reckoning and other fine publications.
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I could go on with this rant for another few thousand words but I won't. I'll spare you the details of my observations. But don't let up on staying alive. And at the risk of sounding trite, prepare like crazy!


Michael

mboone@rtccom.net