Welcome, Fall!

This is what the first day of Fall brought us...a dead garden! The frost killed our plants before we really got to enjoy the 'fruits' of our labors. What a bummer! I guess you live and learn, right? We've definitely picked up some useful tips for next year.

BEES!!

So, a couple of weeks ago, we were hanging out in the backyard when we saw this...
How in the WORLD had we not noticed it before? Its huge, and its sitting in the big lilac bush that Jack plays under...ALL OF THE TIME! Needless to say, Eric decided it was time to get that thing under control.

He used up one full can of spray, and knocked it out of the bush, and the next morning there were still bugs living in it. He got it with another full can of spray, and we are now rid of the evil little bugs! Hooray for men who think that kind of thing is fun!

Seeing Double!

This is for Aunt Amber! Amber bought matching dresses for Addie and Sara (Eric's cousin's daughter) and we finally got them together for a little photo shoot. It was pretty much impossible to get any good shots, but this is my favorite!

Thanks for the dresses Amber! I think the girlies look adorable!

5 reasons Eric thinks you should be suspicious of the Fed

Look, I'm not that smart of a person. I don't take well to organized education as evidenced by the premature ending to my collegiate experience. However I am a strong believer in education. I have been trying to give myself an education on the Federal Reserve lately and I have to say that out of all the thing that the US government is up to and out of all the crimes that have been committed against the people of this country the Fed has to be in the top 3. I thought I would share, as succinctly and cogently as possible 5 reasons why you too should raise an eyebrow at the Fed.

1) The Fed was founded in 1913, the same year as the income tax, it was a bad year for Americans. The actual legislation was written at a private club on Jekyll Island, GA by certain members of the political elite as well as members of the private banking community. Chief among the banking interests was JP Morgan, and it was he who arranged the meeting on Jekyll Island, after all it was his club. John Rockefeller was also in on the origins of the Fed but to a lesser extent. Anytime a private group of people urges the government to grow it has to be for a reason. If the past 12 months have not been an explanation enough let me put it this way. The private banksters wanted to create a lender of last resort so they could take on riskier assets in greater number, pyramiding their assets on fractions of reserves. In other words they had say $10 in the vault and were lending out $10,000. If they failed they now had a safety net, that is the American taxpayers pocket book. This has been evidenced by the majority of banks taking TARP money over the past year. The government took these "toxic assets" off the books of the banks and put them on their own, or OURS. This is, I believe is a crime.

2) The very existence of the Federal Reserve makes it possible to mislead entire markets, sometimes even global markets. When the board of Governors at the Fed sees a market adjustment coming they are able to manipulate interest rates or extend credit or contract monetary supply to try and preempt a market correction. For example in the late 90's there was a market correction coming and Alan Greenspan saw it coming. In stead of allowing the correction to take place (which is to say some businesses may fail, or reorganize but ultimately capital will be relocated to places where it will be more productive, this is what makes free markets so dynamic) Greenspan created massive amounts of money, dropped interest rates to entice borrowers to come and get the money and make purchasing or borrowing decisions under false pretenses. So what we ended up with is 7 years of boom, one of the largest growths in the housing market ever. The market has been trying to correct itself, but the bailing out of multiple zombie companies, the allocation of taxpayer money or newly created money to these failed companies keeps new and more efficient companies from entering the market. If the market was allowed to adjust by itself in the late 90's people would have been smarter with their money, but we were all misled into believing it was safe to spend, borrow, buy, whatever you want to call it. We should have been saving or borrowing based on capital, not credit.

3) The Fed has a monopoly on the creation of money in the United States. If they need more money they just have to turn on the printing press or go in to the computer and add a few zero's. This is bad for 2 major reasons. #1 the more of something there is, the less that item is worth. This is why coal is extremely cheap relative to diamonds. When there are more dollars floating around the economy it makes the dollars you have in the bank worth less. In other words it is a devaluation of the dollar every time the Fed creates more money. From 1776 to 1913 the value of the dollar actually increased in value 11%. You could purchase 11% more goods with your money in 1913 than in 1776. From 1913 to 2008 the dollar has lost 97% of its value. Your 1913 dollar can now buy only 3% of the goods it could purchase in 1913. This punishes those who save the most. After all they are the ones who are left holding dollars. Spenders and borrowers are living the life while responsible savers are punished for being just that, responsible.
#2 The government doesn't have to tax you any more to run off and do something stupid on a very large scale. The government is always short of cash. There is no social security cash, they just create it as they need it. Because of this they don't have to stand accountable to the people of the country. The people wouldn't or couldn't take it if we were taxed for everything they do. They just do it and tell us about it later or never. We will be in a perpetual warfare/welfare state until either the Fed collapses or the dollar collapses.

4) The Fed is not actually a government agency. Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution tells us that congress shall have the power to determine the weights and measures of money but they acquiesced on this responsibility when the Federal Reserve Act was passed. The Fed doesn't have to answer to anyone, not even congress. Ron Paul is currently trying to pass legislation that would allow the comptroller general to conduct an audit of the Fed. Can you believe this? We have to write laws to make them accountable. There isn't another, less transparent and more powerful entity in the world, I am convinced. They are the proverbial "man behind the curtain". If I mess up my taxes just one time I am subject to fines or jail time. My money is literally nothing to these guys. The Fed who can sway worldwide markets with their power answers to no one. This is shady of course. What could they be hiding?

5) Finally the Fed does deals with other central banks of other countries. Just today the UN has said we should look into a new world currency. The Fed plays a role in these meetings. They hold secret conferences with the G7 or the G20 and meet about who knows what, but they don't have to tell us. The bypass the entire political structure and create alliances that we have no idea about. This too is a crime.

But of course this all gets little if any coverage in the mainstream media. It's not supposed to be of interest to us, the low life peons of the country. But of course the fact that we are all getting ripped of is very interesting. We need to audit the Fed, and then we need to abolish it. The 18 recessions and 2 depressions, and 97% devaluation of the dollar should be enough to convince us of this.

Please urge your congressmen to co-sponsor HR1207 and your senators to co-sponsor S604 to audit the Fed. And the next time you hear something about the Fed, I hope your ears perk up, at least a little.

For additional information you can read:
The Case Against the Fed
The Creature from Jekyll Island
End the Fed

or visit Mises.org for infomation
dailypaul.com for activism

Just wanted to make sure you know your place