As the editor of the Silver Bear Cafe, I spend most of my time researching current events. I explore the markets, the economic war that is being waged on the middle class, precious metals, the Federal Reserve, energy, and how to go about surviving financially. In this weekly column I will attempt to condense the week's events and examine how the news might affect your pocketbook. JSB

Financial Markets

Waxing philosophically.

I was, again, fortunate this past week when I found myself in a lively debate about the differences between truth and reality. I say "fortunate" because the subject has, at least to me, grown a great deal in relevance over the last twelve years, as my inuring tenure as your editor has transpired. The Silver Bear Cafe adopted the motto: "the truth is out there" at our onset. I rarely get the opportunity to engage such an cerebral subject with another free thinker, in person.

I fancy myself Jeffersonian Constitutionalist, a champion of liberty, and a seeker of the truth. The combination of these three dutiful involvements provides me meaning and satisfaction, and coalesce into a condition that I consider wholesome, fulfilling, and one that I aspire to continue to achieve. There are too few truth seekers, although the attraction to the truth seems to be spreading in the face of an overtly devolving social condition.

During the discussion, the topic of religious truth came up, which seemed to definitionally differ a great deal from that of the the simple truth. Religious truth might be defined as what one perceives as God's word, which can be different things to different people, but is known to be absolute fact to each individual who chooses to adhere to those particular religious tenets. When someone says they have religious truth remember this saying:

"Follow him who seeks the truth; but beware of him who has found it."

In the world today, there are many who profess to have found the truth, religiously speaking. Consequently, the differing truths have caused friction and polarization between peoples, and have, for thousands of years, through emotional exploitation, abetted kings and clerics whose agenda included pitting men against men as fodder for conquest and war. For the rest of this treatment therefore, I will exclude religious truth from the conversation.

The difference between truth and reality is rarely discussed as the differences have become blurred during attempted synonymous application. Both concepts have become so muddled that they have, in many cases, lost their individual integrity. They are not the same thing however. In fact, in a sense, they are radically different. Folks have forgotten, overlooked, or dismissed the differences. These are two incredibly important and profound concepts and the effect of misuse or confusion has led to a continuing erosion of most individual's capacity for critical thought.

The piece of truth that separates it from reality is the part of it that speaks of virtuosity. Truth has virtue, reality does not. Virtuosity has to do with the power to produce effects or intended results. Reality has nothing to do with power or getting anything done. Reality is simply a condition. Reality is pervasive, truth is not. In fact, far from being pervasive, the truth is oft times elusive.

It occurred to me that, although definitionally, falsehood is truth's opposite, a falsehood can be just as powerful as the truth. In a certain sense a synonym for falsehood might be propaganda. History has shown us that, through the continual refinement of propaganda, the people can be more easily swayed with a lie rather than with the truth. It is a matter of what you can get them to believe, of what you can make them want to believe. Belief becomes the defining factor of power and control.

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it. - Adolf Hitler

I have found through my several thousands of hours of experience, that simply exposing the truth is not, in and of itself, a sufficient means of swaying public opinion. In fact, as a result of the convoluted nature of our present day propaganda machine, most would rather evade the uncomfortable nature of the truth, and instead, bury their heads in the sand.

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you sick." - JSB

There are so many falsehoods currently emanating from the Federal Reserve and all its subordinate divisions, from our present administration (and all administrations that preceded it in recent memory) as well as from all outlets of the bought and paid for mainstream media, that I went out and bought a pair of hip waders to protect my clothes from the BS when venturing out into the mainstream.

To sum up this portion of my rant, the truth is certainly something that should be sought. Seeking the truth is a sign of courage, evolution and health. Rejecting the truth is a sign of cowardice, devolution and decay. And lying, through propaganda, is a despicable sign of moral turpitude and a violation of the public trust. Violation of the public trust should be a capital offence. A healthy society should demand virtuous leadership. We have neither a healthy society or virtuous leadership. Our leaders are liars. I'm always disappointed when a liar's pants don't actually catch on fire.

This week I choose to highlight the missive provided by Matthew Kerkhoff, Fractional Reserve Banking: How to Create and Destroy Money, which deals with the great lie of Fractional Reserve Banking. It's perpetuation may be a result of the initial economic offering of the modern day propaganda machine.

From Matthew Kerkhoff (click for the entire piece):

This is going to sound harsh, but any discussion about economics is pointless without a fundamental understanding of the fractional reserve banking system on which our economy is built. The intricacies of this system have profound implications on everything from the money supply to credit market health to price stability and even whether reversion to a gold standard is possible. We're going to start small and lay a foundation of knowledge from which we can then explore some of the these controversial topics.

Jumping right in, fractional reserve banking is the practice where bank deposits are backed by only a fraction of the total deposits. This system predates the formation of governmental banking authorities and regulations. It originated from the practices of early bankers, after they realized that depositors typically do not all demand payment at the same time.

Fractional reserve banking is thought to have evolved through the observations and actions of goldsmiths. Before the advent of central banks, goldsmiths assumed a role similar to depository institutions. They would accept gold and silver for safekeeping and provide a "note" as proof of deposit. These notes slowly gained acceptance as a medium of exchange, thereby acting as a form of paper money. Goldsmiths soon realized that their outstanding notes would not all be redeemed at one time, and began looking for ways to earn extra income from the deposits. As goldsmiths began investing their deposits, they soon ended up with more issued notes than redeemable gold, and the concept of fractional reserve banking took form.

As we're going to see, money in our modern banking system has the ability to multiply through bank lending. Each time a loan is made, money is created. Out of where, you may ask? Out of thin air. Most people would attribute this feat only to the Federal Reserve, but in actuality, every bank does it with every loan they make.

On the Economic War Front

One of the most glaringly obvious instances in which we are being lied to concerns the state of our economy as is calculated by the government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, on a regular basis, grossly under reports employment and inflation numbers. The rate of inflation determines cost of living and when the numbers are downwardly falsified, pension and social security increases are conveniently skirted. As a result, the standard of life for retirees is continually degraded.

Meredith Whitney, CEO and Founder of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, pointed out three years ago that there was a massive municipal bond default on the horizon. Her projection was then rejected by many "mainstream" economists. I, intuitively, felt she was correct then. Through the machinations of cover ups and misreporting, the tsunami of municipal defaults didn't seem to occur. Ms. Whitney was, as it turns out, spot on with her predictions, in fact, what then seemed like gloom and doom then might turn out to have been optimistic.

Thirty-eight municipalities have filed for bankruptcy since 2010. Those filing include Detroit, MI, San Bernadino, CA, Stockton, CA, and Jefferson County, AL. This economic turmoil is unprecedented in U.S. history. But we may have only viewed the tip of the iceberg. 2014 well may bring with it the latent tsunami that was so presciently predicted.

Boston University Economics Professor, Laurence Kotlikoff, says, "The country is in worse fiscal shape by many miles than Detroit. So, the country is essentially bankrupt." Dr. Kotlikoff estimates the long term debt and liabilities of America are more than $200 trillion! - USA Watchdog

How many citizens of the United States are aware of the dire condition that so many states are in and how the "state of the union" might be far worse? If they don't know, it is because they are being lied to.

From Nicole Foss (click for the entire piece):

There has been a lot of attention focused on shenanigans at the federal level in the USA this year, with games of brinkmanship and political theatre over the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling and the government shutdown. Cheap political points were scored in a series of unedifying spectacles, but there was no serious risk of default, despite the dramatic rhetoric. It is not at the federal level that the rubber meets the road in the US, but at the state and municipal level, where many states and municipalities are poised to hit a financial brick wall at a hundred miles an hour, as Detroit spectacularly did on July 18th.

They can neither print money nor monetize debt, meaning that tax hikes and service cuts are on the cards, along with the wholesale breaking of financial promises in some jurisdictions. Both pensions and bonds are at risk, along with the services residents depend on. One group of stakeholders – residents – is currently shouldering all the losses while others remain whole, for the time being. The losses suffered by residents, in the form of tax hikes and service cuts rarely make headlines, allowing a form of slow motion financial train wreck to occur on Main Street without the attention that would come with formal default on 'protected' obligations like pensions and bonds.

There is a great deal of variety in the financial health of states and municipalities, so the crunch will be very unevenly distributed both spatially and temporally. The process has already begun in many places, however the long rally has distracted from the realization of local government in crisis that was dawning in 2010, and has postponed, but not prevented, the day of reckoning. The fundamentals have continued to deteriorate, but the perception of the situation has changed in the direction of far greater optimism, in line with the prevailing sentiment peak.

Precious Metals

The markets in precious metals have been, and continue to be, assaulted by criminals with lofty titles like "Chairman", "President", "CEO", "CFO" and "Chief Economist". There is, from my vantage point, an epic battle going on between the criminal bankers and their minions in the west (New York City and London) and the governments of Russia and China in the east. Between the two factions are thousands of speculators either striving to exploit the fiat currency system, by borrowing and spending funny money at no interest, or destroy it through the implementation of systems whereby goods and services are exchanged for hard assets. The only thing the criminal bankers have going for them is the power to invent currency, an attribute whose continued permittance is rapidly eroding, all over the world.

Bankers continue to maintain a grasp on the markets, because of the collective faith that the market participants continue to exhibit through their participation. There are signs everywhere, however, that that faith is rapidly waning. Since the system is built on false foundations, it will not collapse, the foundations will just, one day, disappear, and the endgame will be short and sweet, at least to those of us who have become appalled and repulsed by the banksters' very existence.

The Eastern nations hold a staggering amount of Gold reserves and USTreasury Bonds. They strive to bring about by force an overnight 50% USDollar devaluation. When the discussion turns to the impact on other fiat paper currencies, the conclusion is simple. All major currencies will likely retain their relative exchange rates. But they will all adjust to the 50% devaluation versus the benchmark currency: GOLD. What he is describing is a Global Currency Reset that features an overnight double in the Gold Price. The biggest loser will be the United States, the site of the greatest financial crimes and the location of the greatest abused privilege. - Jim Willie

I believe that a bottom has finally been reached in both the gold and silver markets. I also believe that a game changing event is imminent. I am looking forward to some economic fireworks this holiday season.

From Michael Noonan (click for the entire piece):

Gold and silver are in reverse bubbles, if you will, where price has been both severely distorted and suppressed by central banks, the visible tools of the otherwise hidden moneychangers, those on the top of the population pyramid who want to control and enslave the entire world in a totalitarian state of existence. Ironically, the best and only hope for the [not so] free world comes from China and Russia. It is a twisted world in which we live.

There are so many pieces to the entire puzzle, and for all the known ones, those which are most important are unknown to the great majority. All one can do is to continually monitor events and prepare accordingly. The best predictor of the future has always been past behavior. For centuries, the most reliable preparation has been the ownership of gold.

There is no evidence that it will be any different, this time around. In fact, given the gross manipulation of both gold and silver, once this artificial reverse bubble bursts, the results will be equally distorted to the upside. Where not too long ago, one often heard $5,000 to $10,000 the ounce for gold, the numbers have accelerated to as high as $50,000 and $500 the ounce for gold and silver, respectively.

Energy

There is currently a mass of radioactive debris, airborne, afloat, and submerged, the size of California, that is on a collision course with the west coast. Just like the financial crisis, the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill, and all other crises, the government continually prefers to lie to us rather than addressing the situation. Instead of doing much to try to protect folks from the deadly contamination emanating from Fukushima, the U.S. Government has responded by raising the acceptable radiation levels and to discontinue monitoring.

Projected paths of the radioactive atmospheric plume emanating from the Fukushima reactors, best described as airborne particles or aerosols with extremely high concentrations of radionuclides, and subsequent atmospheric monitoring, showed it coming in contact with the North American continent at California, with greatest exposure in central and southern California. Government monitoring sites in Anaheim (Southern California) recorded the highest radioactive airborne concentrations of all stations on the west coast. Anaheim is where Disneyland is located.

This week, Richard Chirgwin provided us with a glimpse of a technology that might provide another alternative. I personally believe that technologies already exist that could enable mankind to create energy, essentially, for no cost at all. The provision of cheap or even free energy would, immediately, raise the standard of living for all human inhabitants of the earth. Those that are currently selling us energy, are not very keen on alternatives. The ever growing need that we have, as a species, to divorce ourselves from both fossil fuels and hot fusion reactors as sources of energy, is paramount to the perpetration of humanity. Those that, because of greed or stupidity, or both, refuse to accept that fact, are our enemies, and must be dealt with accordingly.

From Richard Chirgwin (click for the entire piece):

Sealed box claimed to turn nickel and hydrogen into copper and electricity

Leonardo Corp says it's now accepting pre-orders for its "energy catalyzer" product, with delivery expected within four months.

The "Ecat" is a controversial product: although it's been claimed to deliver more output power than input power in "black box" experiments, the mechanism by which the "low energy nuclear fusion" reaction happens is treated with scepticism by physicists. The Ecat purportedly attaches hydrogen atoms to nickel, according to its inventor Andrea Rossi, with energy and copper as the outputs.

Scientific scepticism runs so deep that Australian philanthropist Dick Smith has a standing offer of $AU200,000 to anyone who can prove that the Ecat works – and now, if you have a cool $US1.5 million lying around, customers might get the chance to give an Ecat a spin.

The company says it's for a 1.5 MW plant which will be delivered in a container. The 1.5 MW system, the company says, consists of 106 individual Ecat units.

"Each reactor contains three cores and consumes small amounts of treated Nickel powder and Hydrogen gas (under pressure, approx. 15 bar). The plant is recharged by specially trained and certified personnel," the company writes.

The Fed

As we approach the centennial anniversary of the the birth of the creature from Jekyll Island, I find myself at a loss to think of anything to say that I haven't already said, in reference to the abomination which is the Federal Reserve. So, I will resort to leaning on some previous rants to reiterate my feelings. The following three paragraphs are excerpts of some of my past essays which I sourced from the archives.

The Federal Reserve is a private corporation made up of criminal slime ball banksters, who have been systematically stealing the savings of American people since 1913. The Federal Reserve was originally set up by criminal slime ball banksters to steal the savings of the American people. That is, and has always been, the sole purpose of the Federal Reserve. They steal our money through the insidious ruse of inflation. Most of the "sheeple" in this country believe that inflation is a natural economic occurrence. That is not true. Most of the sheeple in this country have their heads up their asses.

If it wasn't for the Federal Reserve, all goods would become less expensive as a result of manufacturing technology, improved and refined delivery systems, and free market competition. Without the Federal Reserve, the standard of life in this country would continually improve. They have been able to accomplish and get away with the despicable crime of currency debasement through inflation by "buying" slime ball politicians. They have been "inventing" money out of thin air, and using it to buy members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, as well as the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch continuously, since 1913.

Without government complicity they could have never pulled it off. Until the Criminal Federal Reserve is abolished and all members, proponents, as well as all of their bought off criminal politicians are arrested and jailed, or shot, or hung, the economic woes of our Country will not only not get better, they will continue to get worse. If the fact that the Federal Reserve continues to exist doesn't bother you, you are either a criminal or an idiot. If you are an idiot, you deserve to be ravaged by the carnage which is about to engulf financial markets the world over. If you are a criminal, your days are numbered. Now let me tell you what I really think...

From Tyler Durden (click for the entire piece):

"It's only a question of time before the central banks lose control," David Stockman warns a shocked CNBC anchor, "and a panic sets in when people realize that these values are massively overstated."

The outspoken author of The Great Deformation rages "the Fed is exporting its lunatic policies worldwide," as central banks around the world have followed the Fed's lead, "for either good reasons of defending their own currency and their trade and their exchange rate, or because they're replicating the Fed's erroneous policies."

If one cares to look, Stockman adds, "there are bubbles everywhere," citing Russell 2000 valuations of 75x LTM earnings as an example, "that makes no sense. It's up 43% in the last year, but earnings of the Russell 2000 companies have not increased at all." This is dangerous, he strongly cautions, "I haven't seen too many bubbles in history" that haven't ended violently.

Financial Survival

The Silver Bear Cafe was initially setup, in January, 2002, to explore six separate areas of economic relevance. Our main meta tag (computerese for description) has always been:

"a daily analysis on how current events will affect your pocketbook"

At the time of our inception, I, admittedly, had not yet realized just how intertwined those areas were and how my understanding of the nature of economics would all revolve around these six subjects.

Financial Markets are all, very much, affected by the continuation of the dollar as the worlds reserve currency, and are also highly dependent on the workings of the Federal Reserve. The petro dollar system requires that the word's oil (Energy) be purchased in dollars, which is of paramount importance to our (as Americans) Financial Survival. Without the petro dollar system, the American dollar will become worthless. We have not yet experienced hyper inflation because all of the trillions of dollars that are already out there are still being used to purchase oil. When Saudi Arabia begins to accept other forms of currency in return for their oil, the world will no longer have a need for all those trillions of cumbersome dollars and they will be repatriated, and will quickly lose most of their value due to an overt and radical dilution.

The world's continuing faith in the various fiat currency schemes everywhere is dependent on the suppression of the cost of Precious Metals, without which the price of gold and silver would "go to the moon". All this fraud and corruption provides the means for the criminals to continue to wage an Economic War on the middle class. The war is being waged in order to rob us blind. If left unabated, the war will continue until there is no middle class left.

Mr Ebeling this week reminds us that one of the cornerstones of this whole process has been enabled by the creation and perpetuation of the welfare state. The war on the middle class is being waged successfully, as is evidenced by the fact that the welfare state now outnumbers the middle class by about four to one. By "welfare state" I am counting, not only the recipients but, the administrators as well.

From Richard Ebeling (click for the entire piece):

In the United States policies are being promulgated by those with political power in Washington, D. C. that involve a massive and dangerous growth in the size and scope of government. At the core of the Obama administration's push for implementing a comprehensive national health care system and related programs is a radical ideological belief in political paternalism and the welfare state.

In the face of the euphoria of those demanding such a huge expansion of "Big Brother" over even more of our lives, it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of the premises behind and the realities of welfare statism.

First and foremost, the guiding idea behind political paternalism is that the individual cannot be trusted to be a free and responsible human being. Those who wish to socially engineer our lives consider us too ignorant, too irresponsible and too narrow in our own personal planning horizons to intelligently and reasonably take care of our own health care, our own retirement, our own family's education, or our own spending and consumption choices.

 

You must first realize that there are, present in our lives, enemies. You must then know who those enemies are and act accordingly.

Eliminate as much debt as possible, especially “variable rate” debt, such as credit cards and lines of credit. Interest rates will be rising, so the elimination of debt offers a “real return” of escaping rising rates by creditors.

Get some control over some fresh water.

If you are depending exclusively on Social Security, stop.

Follow the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well...

Its not what you don't know that will screw you up, it's what you think you know that is wrong. The spin you hear from the mainstream media is intended to mislead you. Open your eyes and face the future. If you leave your head in the sand and ignore it, you are only leaving your butt exposed for the world to kick. This all may sound like gloom and doom, but when you get a handle on what is going to happen, you will have a future filled with opportunity. Fortune favors the Informed.

More next week...

May the Great Spirit be with you always,

Johnny Silver Bear
Chief cook and bottle washer, The Silver Bear Cafe

Disclaimer

All statements and expressions are the sole opinions of the editor and are subject to change without notice. A profile, description, or other mention of a company in the newsletter is neither an offer nor solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. While we believe all sources of information to be factual and reliable, in no way do we represent or guarantee the accuracy thereof, nor the statements made herein. The staff of Silver Bear Cafe are not registered investment advisors and do not purport to offer personalized investment related advice. The publisher, editor, staff, or anyone associated with, or associated to the Silver Bear Cafe may own securities mentioned in this newsletter and may buy or sell securities without notice.