THE ECONOMY/SOROS: “Soros sees no bottom for world financial ‘collapse‘” is the headline of the 2/22/09 Reuters piece (reuters.com/article/businessNews).
“Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is no prospect of a near term resolution to the crisis.
Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.
THE ECONOMY/MCCOACH: From “The Hijacking of America” by Greg McCoach at www.321gold.com on 2/19/09 (thanks to survivalblog.com of 2/23/09 in the section “Items of the Economatrix”)
“Looking at the dismal record of fiat currencies throughout history, no country that has disconnected their currency from a gold or silver standard has ever made it past the 40th year mark before inflationary panic and disaster unfolded. The United States is now in the 37th year of it’s fiat currency experiment since Nixon took us off the gold standard in in 1972.”
THE ECONOMY/W.B. YEATS: From Yeats poem “The Second Coming”:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
More accurately, the Yeats poem would perhaps reflect our general world condition and not just the narrow economic scene.
SOCIAL UNREST: “Britain faces summer of rage – police” is the article’s title in the UK’s guardian.co.uk/uk post on 2/23/09.
“Police are preparing for a ‘summer of rage’ as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.”
The article goes on to note that “…people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings”
are “…becoming ‘foot soldiers’ in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.” and that “…middle-class individuals who never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests…”
‘COPING’: Two articles in Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net, Food & Agriculture) on 2/20/09 deserve attention: the first is “UK allotments boom as thousands go to ground in recession” by Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian.
“…as recession bites, the growing enthusiasm for homegrown veg has seen more than 100,000 people join waiting lists for a patch of land as demand hits an all-time high.”
And second, “Portland, Maine allows backyard chickens” from Tom Bell, Portland Press Herald.
“…Portland City Council voted 7 -1 to remove its long standing ban on chickens and allow people to keep up to six hens within city limits.
“ …proponents of the measure…said the measure is part of a broader movement to create a situation in which food sources are found as close to home as possible.” and that “This brings us one step closer to sustainability …”
Until a little later in the week then, keep your eyes on the horizon. The weathers changing fast.
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