Semper Paratus

Geroge Soros agrees with me. Physical survival is the mandate for the near future. He posits a "brutal" clampdown on American liberty. 


Generally, Soros generally says the opposite of what he is doing, such as announcing last year he is selling gold. He says things to divert criticism, however, the recent concern goes beyond general hustling. Saying survival is key, now, is quite a new thing for him to opine.  Then again, he may be laying groundwork for a future denial of culpability. You decide; however, recognize the level of published concern.

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January 26, 2012

Slouching Toward Armageddon with George Soros

Neil Snyder

George Soros, the billionaire investor and funder of radical leftist causes around the globe, believes that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and this time I agree with him.  That's not to say that Soros isn't interested in making more money.  It simply means that he thinks the likelihood of global chaos and the concomitant violence that it will engender is greater than the likelihood of making fast money in gold, for instance, which he considers to be the ultimate bubble.

In The Daily Beast, John Arlidge wrote:

Has the great short seller [George Soros] gone soft? Well, yes. Sitting in his 33rd-floor corner office high above Seventh Avenue in New York, preparing for his trip to Davos, he is more concerned with surviving than staying rich. 'At times like these, survival is the most important thing,' he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesn't just mean it's time to protect your assets. He means it's time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history-a period of 'evil.' Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether.

I'm a realist, not a hysterical conspiracy theorist looking for boogiemen around every corner, and like Soros, what I see chills me to the bone.  For instance,

• China is on the rise economically and militarily, and Chinese leaders are anxious to solidify their country's position as a global power. That means eventual conflict with existing global powers that has the potential to result in bloodshed.

• Russia is back from the brink after having abandoned radical socialism in favor of pseudo-capitalism, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wants to play an important part in global geopolitics. Per usual, he is positioning Russia to engage the West -- especially in the Middle East.

• Turkey and Iran have grand designs for achieving hegemony over the Middle East and re-establishing the Ottoman and Persian Empires, respectively. Both countries can't succeed, and the battle to determine which country wins is just getting underway.

• North Africa is a powder keg, with Islamists on the verge of taking complete control economically and militarily. Given their suicidal tendencies, that is not a harbinger of good things to come.

• Europe is in total chaos. The eurozone that was supposed to position Europe to compete effectively with the United States and China, in particular, is coming unglued as country after country comes to grips with the reality that the European style of socialism can't be sustained.

• Latin America is becoming a political sinkhole, with the likes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez taking control and doing their utmost to infect the world with Cold War-era populism/socialism.

• The United States is in the early stages of class warfare that has the potential to turn ugly in a heartbeat, and President Obama is stoking the fires of hate and envy with his rhetoric and his policy maneuvers in hopes of being re-elected.

• Last but not least, Islamists are ascending around the world, and Jewish people in general and Israel in particular are their immediate targets. Islamists have made it clear that they want to rule the world and impose sharia law, and they haven't been shy about saying that their first order of business is to eliminate Israel.

We are in the throes of a breakdown of the existing world order and a global struggle to determine what comes next.  Will it be a totalitarian Islamist world under sharia law -- a one-world caliphate, if you will?  Will it be a resurgence of Western political philosophies and liberal democracy?  Will it be a world governed by global economic and military powerhouse nations such as China and the United States?  Will it be a strengthened United Nations with taxing and enforcement powers?  No one knows for sure what will happen next, but these things are certain: political vacuums don't last for long, and historically, wars have decided what world order eventually comes into existence.

Under these conditions, Soros' concern about survival makes perfect sense.  The first order of business is not to see how much gold and silver, for example, you can accumulate before you die.  Job One is to stay alive.  In practical terms, that means two things:

1.      You need food to eat and water to drink, and

2.      You need weapons and ammunition to protect you and your family in case the worst happens. 

I'm being very candid, so I want to remind you once again that I am not part of the lunatic fringe.  I'm simply examining the evidence, trying to make sense of what is happening, and preparing for what looks like a realistic scenario -- something that could actually happen. 

Let me be perfectly clear.  I am not suggesting that you should sell everything you own and buy guns, ammunition, and non-perishable food items, but I am suggesting that you should begin to accumulate all of the things that I just mentioned as though they were a part of your investment portfolio.  You need enough food and water to keep you and your family alive in case violence erupts and the channels of distribution for foodstuffs are disrupted.  You need guns that you can use in case you and your family are attacked and you are forced to defend yourself.  You also need to know how to use them.  You need enough ammunition to fend off a mob in a prolonged engagement in case you and your family are attacked, because guns are of no value without ammunition.

Again, I'm not betting on the worst-case scenario, and I'm not saying that it is inevitable, but I am cognizant of reality, and I'm preparing for what could happen.  Proverbs 22:3 says, "The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it."  A wise man prepares for what might happen.  That's what I'm doing, and I suggest that you do the same thing.

Neil Snyder is a chaired professor emeritus at the University of Virginia.  His blog, SnyderTalk.com, is posted daily.  His latest book is titled If You Voted for Obama in 2008 to Prove You're Not a Racist, You Need to Vote for Someone Else in 2012 to Prove You're Not an Idiot.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/01/slouching_toward_armageddon_with_george_soros.html at January 26, 2012 - 08:52:38 PM CST

Oligarchy: Soros and Obama

George Soros Helped Craft Stimulus Then Invested in Companies Benefiting

by Wynton Hall

Billionaire George Soros gave advice and direction on how President Obama should allocate so-called “stimulus” money in a series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisers even as Soros was making investments in areas affected by the stimulus program.

It’s just one more revelation featured in the blockbuster new book that continues to rock Washington,Throw Them All Out, authored by Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer.

Mr. Soros met with Mr. Obama’s top economist on February 25, 2009 and twice more with senior officials in the Old Executive Office Building on March 24^th and 25^th as the stimulus plan was being crafted.  Later, Mr. Soros also participated in discussions on financial reform.

Then, in the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Soros went on a stock buying spree in companies that ultimately benefited from the federal stimulus.

• Soros doubled his holdings in medical manufacturer Hologic, a company that benefited from stimulus spending on medical systems
• Soros tripled his holdings in fiber channel and software maker Emulus, a company that wound up scoring a large amount of federal funds going to infrastructure spending
• Soros bought 210,000 shares in Cisco Systems, which came up big in the stimulus lottery
• Soros also bought Extreme Networks, which, months later, said it was expanding broadband to rural America “as part of President Obama’s broadband strategy”
• Soros bought 1.5 million shares in American Electric Power, a company Mr. Obama gave $1 billion to in June 2009
• Soros bought shares in utility company Ameren, which bagged a $540 million Department of Energy loan
• Soros bought 250,000 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group, 500,000 shares of NRG Energy, and almost a million shares of Entergy—all companies that  came up winners in the Department of Energy taxpayer giveaway that produced the Solyndra debacle
• Soros bought into BioFuel Energy, a company that benefitted when the EPA announced a regulation on ethanol
• Soros bought Powerspan in April 2009.  Just weeks later, the clean-energy company landed $100 million from the Department of Energy
• In the second quarter of 2009, Soros bought education technology giant Blackboard, which became a big recipient of education stimulus money
• Soros also bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe and CSX, both beneficiaries of Mr. Obama’s plans for revitalizing the railroads
• Soros bought Cognizant Technology Solutions, which scored stimulus funds in education and health care technology
• Soros also bought 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group and 4.6 million shares of Covanta, both of which landed taxpayers’ money through the stimulus, the former of which bagged $200 million

American Socialist Subversives

There is a local party that actually won some posts last election.  It is important to realize the Working Famlies Party is funded by George Soros and is a blatantly socialist organization hiding behind a touchy feely front.

Please pass this around our area so people realize who the people behind the curtain really are.

Please note a recent ad on Craig's List:

FIGHT TO HOLD WALLSTREET ACCOUNTABLE NOW! MAKE A DIFFERNENCE GET PAID!

---

Date: 2011-09-26, 5:09PM EDT
Reply to: job-fvgsu-2618821815@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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The Working Families Party (WFP) (www.workingfamiliesparty.org) is New York's most energetic, independent and progressive political party. Formed in 1998 by a grassroots coalition of community organizations, neighborhood activists, and labor unions, we came together to build a society that works for all of us, not just Wall Street CEOs and the well-connected. WFP is independent from corporate and government funding and in-addition we are community based; community funded and equally uninfluenced by both major parties. Our agenda focuses on economic and social justice, corporate accountability, job creation, environmental protection, and investment in education and healthcare.

For the past twelve years the WFP has been at the fore front of progressive politics,

Leading the fight and helping to frame the debate. The WFP has a proud record of fighting for issues that matter and has been instrumental in implementing key pieces of legislation such as Raising New York's Minimum Wage, Enacting Living Wage Laws, Creating Thousands of Jobs In the Green Economy, Passing Healthcare Reforms on the Local Level, Fighting for Affordable Housing, Keeping Tuition Costs Low, A Progressive Tax Code, Reliable/Cost Effective Public Transit System, Public Financing Of Elections and Corporate Accountability . In addition, we have an unapologetic stance on supporting and pushing good candidates to enact progressive legislation

The WFP is seeking immediate hires.

You must be an energetic communicator, with a passion for social and economic justice.

Only outgoing, articulate dedicated, determined candidates will be considered for the positions.

For those candidates that qualify WFP offers substantial paid-training provided by senior leadership, on varied issues such as: advocacy, public speaking, mobilizing, fundraising, networking and organizing. We invest in passionate people with excellent communication skills and a full benefits package is offered to those candidates that qualify. In addition, there is opportunity for advancement and travel to our satellite chapters and out of state affiliates.

This is not a policy job! Through direct action you will be shaping NY state politics for the next 20 years.

If you care about New York and want to help educate and mobilize around legislative campaigns-then we look forward to hearing from you!

"We're organizing in communities around New York State -- but we don't hire people to Occupy Wall Street. Then again, if you believe the laughable conspiracy theories from Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, this is probably the wrong job for you anyway."

Apply at http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/jobs/.

• Compensation: $350-$650 A Week Depending On Responsibility & Length Of Time On Staff
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 2618821815

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Stealing Elections

Here are a few items items from an article from the American Thinker that Irene sent along.  They are taken from a review of the book in stores now called Stealing Elections.  I recommend a look at this topic as it demonstrates a very-long term effort to disrupt and violate the election process.  See: Cloward/Piven strategy, ACORN, Project Vote.  Then, there is George Soros NFP group aimed at taking the offices of Secretaries of State - those who control elections, such as in Minnesota.

A PowerPoint presentation available at ElectionCenter.org describes new election legislation proposed by congressional Democrats. They intend to nationalize voter registration and force the states to eliminate voter ID checks, provide absentee ballots to all voters, register voters on Election Day, and permit felons (who overwhelmingly support Democrats) to vote. 

A look at the luckiest election we have had where all the thievery still failed to elect Al Gore.

In his book Stealing Elections, writer John Fund suggests that another 15,000+ Bush votes were destroyed in Democrat-controlled Palm Beach County. Palm Beach reported 19,120 "over votes" -- ballots marked for more than one candidate -- representing nearly ten times the error rate for the rest of the state. Former law enforcement officials told Fund that stacks of paperballots had been altered by pushing a thin prod through the Gore column, invalidating votes for Bush while leaving those for Gore intact. National Democrats hired a telemarketing firm to make thousands of calls to Palm Beach County on Election Day, urging residents to say they were "confused" by the ballot....

...SEIU International Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina advocates amnesty for non-citizens ("immigration reform") as a way of adding 8 million new Democratic voters. 

Then, there is the stand-up comic: 

Minnesota's fraudulent senator

Years of leftist planning and effort came together in Minnesota in 2008, where the nation's closest statewide contest pitted Democrat Al Franken against Republican incumbent Senator Norm Coleman. Presiding over the election was SOSP Secretary Mark Ritchie, whose extensive ties to ACORN were predictably ignored by the media. Shortly before the election, Ritchie was asked to investigate serious problems with the registration rolls, including 261,000 duplicates and 63,000 voters who had listed non-existent addresses. He dismissed the request as an attempt "to create a cloud over an election so people don't accept the outcome." After the polls closed, Secretary Ritchie reported that his office "received no reports whatsoever" of fraudulent voting.

The final tally showed Coleman with a narrow 725-vote victory. It wasn't enough. Over the next four days, his lead fell to 221 as officials "discovered" errors in the vote. Most came from three small precincts controlled by Democrats. Other irregularities included "misplaced" ballots turning up in an official's trunk, and vote total adjustments that affected only the Senate race. The manipulation continued during the official recount, as the Minnesota Canvassing Board detected just enough "ballot errors" to put Franken over the top. John Lott later analyzed the Board's inconsistent decisions, nearly all of which favored the Democratic candidate.

Some 17,000 more ballots were counted in the Minnesota Senate election than there were recorded voters. Mark Ritchie had dismantled the state's ballot reconciliation program, which previously required voting districts to validate the number of votes cast against the number of ballots issued.  Outside investigators also found that 1,400 convicted felons had voted illegally.

The Secretary of State Project is supporting Ritchie once again in 2010, pleased with what the organization refers to as "a scrupulously fair and transparent election recount."

The Hidden Agenda

I know I owe a few folks a response re recent entries, but permit me to address another curiosity quickly, so I can take the duct tape off my head, thereby relieving the pressure. Forgive any hasty writing.

First, let me posit a starting point via Galloway of the Huffington Post called Pelosi's Hamfisted Turkey Move

Pelosi's Hamfisted Turkey Move

Posted October 16, 2007 | 10:26 AM (EST)

---

Despite howls of protest from Turkish officials, Nancy Pelosi seems intent on bringing to the floor a resolution condemning Armenian genocide nearly 100 years ago. The debasement and massacre of hundreds of thousands of people clearly merits attention.

But the timing of this resolution is a bit sub-optimal. Why target a genocide which occurred 100 years ago, and not offer a similar resolution against the Japanese for genocide that occurred in World War II, half a century ago? Could it possibly be related to the fact that nearly 70% of all air cargo destined to supply the troops in Iraq passes through Turkey, who thus far have been a reasonably reliable ally?

The Turkish government has indicated they might revoke our ability to send supplies, including new mine-resistant vehicles, if Pelosi follows through with her non-binding resolution. So why now? To complicate Bush's life? You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

Even Barney the Dinosaur could figure out that Pelosi is trying to be too clever by a half with the timing (not the content) of this resolution, and if Barney can, so can a good deal of the American public. I was once criticized on the Jon Stewart show for opining that Americans are smart enough to think for themselves. They are.

It's this type of tactical dissonance that has made Pelosi's first nine months such a rousing failure, if congressional approval polls are to be believed. The Democrats need a leader who plays chess, not hopscotch. Where's Francis Urquhart when you need him?

So, here we see the left is confused, as well as the right. Put aside the notion that the Constitution does not have any provision for legislative pontification, especially in foreign affairs, there is something else afoot.

Mr. Galloway figures that this move is some sort of anti-Bush, anti-success move thoroughly designed to piss off Turkey (the Ottoman Empire is long gone) into slicing the hamstring of our troops in Iraq (who are also on the verge of being in the front line against Iran). For this assertion to be true, one would have to grant unto Pelosi some subtle intelligence and depth of understanding of world cultures, something even Pelosi herself would not dare claim. Thus, there must be another answer.

Let us do what the left does and follow the money. Hedge funds and leverage speculators, such as George Soros, the man the Democrats rely on and Republicans fear, are heavily invested in seeing oil up, gold up, US dollar down. Recall Soros made his fortune by following and pushing the British pound downward. Here is an excerpt from a Soros NFP about his history:

In 1956, Soros immigrated to the United States. He worked as a trader and analyst until 1963. During this period, Soros adapted Popper's ideas to develop his own "theory of reflexivity," a set of ideas that seeks to explain the relationship between thought and reality, which he used to predict, among other things, the emergence of financial bubbles. Soros began to apply his theory to investing and concluded that he had more talent for trading than for philosophy. In 1967 he helped establish an offshore investment fund; and in 1973 he set up a private investment firm that eventually evolved into the Quantum Fund, one of the first hedge funds, through which he accumulated a vast fortune.

For the clever investor, one who sees bubbles and profits, it is an easy task, where one is without borders, wealthy, and powerful, to create bubbles for profit. To be honest, one should say the tendency to do that is well within our human nature. Few of us could resist such an easy way to make money. This would be true especially where one has a strong belief system, such as Soros' "open society," that can be fed by the profits generated from bubbles.

A quote from a Bank for International Settlement's white paper:

...The longest standing [concern] has been that hedge funds could contribute to macroeconomic crises by enabling the protracted build-up and rapid unwinding of asset price misalignments. The most readily available examples come from the foreign exchange market. Thus, George Soros’s Quantum fund was clearly implicated in the ERM crisis of 1992 (though many viewed this as a desirable equilibrating process), while hedge funds were repeatedly accused (but never convicted) of precipitating the Asian crisis. While we have seen fewer speculative attack episodes in recent years, thanks to the more widespread use of floating exchange rates, hedge funds do seem to have played a role in the tendency for the exchange rates and asset prices of smaller high yield countries to be buffeted by the waxing and waning of the carry trade. We can find evidence for this in the fact that the flow of money into certain styles of hedge funds (global macro and fixed income arbitrage) seems highly correlated with movements in Yen and Swiss franc interest rates.

When it was clear the "surge" was having a positive affect, oil and gold were settling downward in an orderly fashion, and the the U.S. sub-prime challenge was being absorbed without chaos, any vast investment in gold, oil, and against the U.S. dollar would be in jeopardy.

If you follow the "follow the money" theory, there are some interesting explanations about odd things that are afoot.

If Mr. Soros made a call to Nancy Pelosi saying it is really too bad the Turks have not been made to take responsibility for the clear genocide in 1915 period and suggest that his desire is some sort of statement as to what happened should come from Congress, Ms. Pelosi would comply, as her party, per the words of MoveOn.org, has been bought and paid for. [See Investor's Daily series on Soros' curious 2006 machinations HERE.]

Since Pelosi is fine with interfering with the Executive's exercise of its delegated foreign policy powers, like visiting Syria, giving all manner of aid and comfort to the terrorist state while grinning like an idiot, she would listen to her master's voice. [The picture above is from her visit - I didn't make up the bizarre grin.]

Sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory? The problem is, it is the only theory left.

Consider today 72% of NYer's are against Gov. Spitzer's weird decision to give away licenses to any claimant. I am still driving under a Vermont license because I could not get a NY one last year - I needed a picture ID to get a picture ID.

Under Spitzer's "steam roller" edict, he will eliminate the NY license as a valid ID for all citizens. It will no longer be valid to board a plane under the Homeland Security laws. (So, we all have to go and pay for a passport.)

How does this political animal give the finger to 72% of NYers in the middle of the mini-crisis involving his office's treatment of Senator Bruno? The same way both houses in Washington tried to sneak through the Immigration Bill, that we were all too stupid to have explained to us. You know, the one that gave amnesty to, what, 30,000,000 illegal aliens? [I always favor using numbers rather than words - they tell the real story ----- 30,000,000. California, itself, has a legit population of 37,000,000!]

There was a virtual revolution when word got out about the fast-tracked bill that both parties supported. Congress people, afterwards, told us that they did not do a good job explaining the bill which we morons did not understand because of "talk radio." (But Democrats don't listen to talk radio!) What was not to understand? Rather than explain the bill, they still assure us that is was a good compromise. Yeah, Bush and Peolsi agreeing eye to eye. I think I even heard the last-ditch, hack justification, "It is for the children!"

Had either party come out strongly against the bill and for securing the borders, their candidates would have had a ten year advantage in coming elections. We are talking about 80% of voters being viscerally upset at the bill, not discontent, but pissed and bewildered at the obvious instanity. Even before this fiasco, Congress' rating was nearing single digits. Still, they valiantly sailed the bill into the gale of anger. The question is still begging - why?

The Congress, then, changed course once they saw they may actually lose elections over it, regardless of party affiliation. Still, there was not peep of conciliatory language from either party or the President - they will be coming back to the issue in their tried and true incremental manner.

So, back to the premise - what is going on that politicians are doing weird things that enrage the vast majority of voters? Where is Congress now? Is it 8% approval rating? And, still, the inflammatory and dangerous Turkey vote is coming?

The answer to the apparent weirdness is that it is not weird at all, in light of some other game being played behind the scenes, one where voters are annoyances - like having borders, states, and a Constitution. Our opinion only matters insofar as emotions can be inflamed at election time.

For my money, things start to clarify when you extend the big money folks desire for a more efficient and controllable market, such as the European Union, which is why we have signed on, without a vote in Congress, to establishing the North American Union, a new currency, and a new Court above the Supreme Court. One more argument on this - the unions are being ignored by the Democrats! This makes little sense without a new agenda behind the scenes.

Our governments not only don't care about securing the borders, they are actively watering down the U.S. culture so that it blends into the mess of unsophisticated voters in Mexico who are living back in the 1930's regarding class warfare.

You see behind all of this a shimmer of Soros' "open society" where the ruling class does not have to concern itself with the petty politics of a republic, as they go about making money and fixing the rest of us.

Ultimately, however, you can't blame people with self interests for following their desires. Our government was founded on that principal (Federalist Paper #10). So, who do we blame? The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves; we need to stop voting like drug addicts fawning over the pusher and vote for our national and personal survival.

We need to create a "none of the above" alternative and, as the motto Governor Dean stole from the last remnants of native Vermonters, who aimed it at him, the rich kid from Long Island, "Take Back America."

I don't see how we can trust any of the crowd in D.C. Mostly, of course, they are good-natured goof balls, superficial do-gooders, and old-fashioned power mongers, but they have in common the ability to do what they are told by leaders who are transmitting orders from elsewhere.

The other common trait is a skill at avoiding reflection, study, and honor. But, like I say, we put them in office, so you can't blame them for being dolts. They are what they are. It was Benjamin Franklin who answered a Mrs. Powel's question about what sort of government the convention had given "us." His reply, "A republic, if you can keep it."