Mike “Mish” Shedlock breaks down Ben Bernanke and his long run misadventures as Fed Chairman in his latest piece documenting the insanity of hijacked American monetary and economic policy.

“Bernanke is a disingenuous liar with a memory problem. He is also an economic dunce who does not understand the cause of great depression nor could he spot a housing/credit bubble visible to nearly every blogger in the country. However, like his mentor Greenspan, Bernanke believes that every problem can be cured by throwing money at it. Finally, he is a creative, political power grabbing hack who gives memorable speeches about throwing money out of helicopters.”

And that’s just the summary! Read the full article here.

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Giving the fox in charge of the henhouse more powers is either quite dumb or corrupt.

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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207, has reached and surpassed the level of 218 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, which means it is now cosponsored by a majority of the members.

The 218th cosponsor was Dennis Kucinich (OH-10), and the bill has since received its 222nd cosponsor.

“The tremendous grass-roots and bipartisan support in Congress for HR 1207 is an indicator of how mainstream America is fed up with Fed secrecy,” said Congressman Paul. “I look forward to this issue receiving greater public exposure.”

Hearings on Federal Reserve transparency are expected within the next month, as part of the Financial Services Committee’s series of hearings on regulatory reform.

Link here.

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Great interview on The Daily Show:

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In what can only be described as one of the most laughingly sad moves of ALL TIME, the unconstitutional privately-owned Federal Reserve money/banking system has announced that they will be hiring a former Enron lobbyist to supposedly help clean up their image as the institution comes under increasing - and well deserved - popular criticism.

Read a Reuters article here.

What is quite comedic and sad about this situation (among many comedic, sad and outright sick aspects of it) is that Enron was a large fraudulent energy trading platform that went bust in the early years of the millennium as it was found out that its managers had seriously cooked the books and engaged in all sorts of malfeasance. It is quite telling that an individual with such a past employ would be chosen by the quite clearly brain and soul dead Federal Reserve owners and managers to be a face for the entity within Washington DC.

At this point, it is important to point out that Ron Paul’s extremely righteous bill, H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, is up to 190 cosponsors in the House of Representatives as of the time of this writing. This is just 26 House members away from forcing a floor vote and forcing passage. Needless to say, an audit of the Fed is beyond reasonable and those who would look to stymie these efforts at base level transparency within the unconstitutional entity (see Article I, Section 8 and Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution) are rapidly showing themselves as either complete brain deads or corrupt tools of the faulty system.

Please do some research and find out whether your Representative is standing with basic common sense, the Constitution and the People, or with shady unconstitutional activity, Enron lobbyists and the general side of darkness. Also, please speak out to these people as well as your friends, family and associates. If you allow yourself to be abused, you will be.

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NBA Finals Preview

During Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, I was sitting on the couch with Ponder This… founder Kemp Moyer waiting for LeBron James to pick his team up on his back and take the series back to Cleveland. For basketball fans and David Stern alike, sadly it did not happen. The dream finals, matching Kobe versus LeBron, was not to be. The Most Valuable Puppets and Vitamin Water commercials were all for naught. Nothing against the Orlando Magic, but Kobe and LeBron was the epic matchup that everyone was pining for. But instead we all have to settle for Dwight Howard vs Kobe Bryant. But It’s really not such a bad matchup, right?

Immediately after the Magic ended Lebron’s season, I thought this would be a close series with the Lakers winning in 6 or 7 games. I mean the Magic did just eliminate the defending world champs in their own house, and they did just eliminate the current MVP. So I thought the Lakers were going to be in serious trouble. But after pondering a little bit, I don’t think this one is going to be a series at all. Here’s why:

Beating the Celtics and Cavs in the same postseason is no easy feat (that goes without saying). But when you realize the deficiencies of those teams, the end results were not so surprising. Boston didn’t have Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers never changed his game plan during the entire series. And while the Cavs have arguably the most talented individual on the planet, Mike Brown made him do a whole lot more than he should have had to. When you have Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao guarding Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis, you have a serious matchup problem on your hands. And not once did Mike Brown put out an athletic lineup to combat that. The way the Magic play, they have one post man and four perimeter guys. If the Cavs played LeBron at the 4, and used all of the energy of their big guys to hack Dwight Howard, the Cavs would have won that series. But instead the Coach of the Year handed the Magic the series on a silver platter. And when Mo Williams is non-existent and you’re shooting damn near 50% from the three point line, the stars are aligning for you.

Center:
Dwight Howard looked like an animal against an aging Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace. He made us forget how hard of a time he had against single coverage against Samuel Dalembert and Kendrick Perkins. Nothing against Perkins, but you would expect Howard to manhandle him in one-on-one situations. Dwight didn’t play bad in those rounds, but he definitely was not the reason they won. Looking at his current matchup with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, I think we’ll see the Dwight from the first two rounds. Bynum is a presence defensively. He has struggled in the playoffs, but last round he showed that he’s not allowing any easy baskets. And with Pau Gasol’s skills offensively, Dwight’s gonna have to work a lot harder on that side of the ball.

Power Forward:
Rashard Lewis had a field day in the Cleveland series. He’s not gonna have that against the Lakers. Lamar Odom will get the majority of the minutes at Power Forward, and he’ll matchup ten times better with Lewis than Anderson Varejao did. Rashard Lewis is very skilled, but he’s actually going to have to deal with an athletic player guarding him in this series. I’m not saying he’s not capable of playing a great series, but I expect him to struggle against Lamar Odom. Certainly, his road will not be as easy as it was playing against the concrete-footed Varejao.

Small Forward:
Hedo Turkoglu is the key to this series for the Magic. I think he’s their most valuable player. When he’s on, Orlando is very difficult to beat. He’s also their only clutch player, so his success is essential. He matches up with Trevor Ariza who has a lot to prove to the team that traded him away. Ariza has played great defense throughout the playoffs and is hitting half his three pointers. If he scores two thirds of what Turkoglu does, Orlando doesn’t have a chance. And lets not forget, Hedo Turkoglu has a long history of losing to the Lakers in the playoffs.

Shooting Guard:
Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus, and JJ Redick (if he gets any minutes) are no match for Kobe Bryant. Pietrus is the main guy at the two for Orlando, but lets face it, he played the best series he’s ever going to play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Kobe can shut anyone of these guys down, (unless he’s guarding Turkoglu or Raefer Alston) and he’ll absolutely kill them on the offensive end.

Point Guard:
It’s basically Raefer Alston against Derek Fisher. I don’t care if Jameer Nelson is playing or not. He hasn’t played in 5 months, so there’s no chance he’ll play much, and if he does, it might be to the Lakers advantage. Alston has the ability to tear up D-Fish the way that Aaron Brooks did, but he can’t shoot and he’s erratic. Derek Fisher actually showed some life against Denver, so if he shows up against Orlando, good night. If not, Shannon Brown can come off the bench and easily do a better job.

Conclusion:
Orlando did beat the Lakers both times they met in the regular season, but they had a healthy Jameer Nelson leading them in both games. While he may be back this round, he won’t make any difference. The Lakers did struggle mightily this postseason, but they are experienced and have been here before. The Magic are young and other than Tyronn Lue, none of their players have been on this stage before. The Lakers know what this stage is all about as they’re making their 30th appearance in the NBA Finals. They were here last year and are ready to make the next step. I do think Orlando has a slight chance if they can stay hot from beyond the arc, but I think Kobe Bryant’s legacy has too much riding on this series for the Lakers to fail. I get the feeling that the Lakers are focused and know what’s at stake, while the Magic are just happy to be here.

Prediction:
Kobe finally gets one without Shaq. Lakers in 4.

(Editor’s note: after watching my dude LeBron James (or rather his team) get handled by a scrappy Magic squad, I will be rooting for the Magic to pull the upset. Magic in 6!)

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1. Economic well being is extremely dependent on return on investment (ROI). This measure illustrates how efficient one’s time, money, resources are being utilized. Maximizing ROI is the key to boosting an economy and the well being of the people in a given society.

2. War has a negative ROI. All the time, money and resources expended in a war effort are totally wasted. Bombs, bullets, jets, laser guided missiles, fuel, even food to keep fighters going in destructive efforts - these “investments” all produce a NEGATIVE ROI in that their use does not beget further production, but they actually beget destruction. War spending has a negative ROI.

3. Given that economic well being is dependent upon high ROI and war has extremely low, likely negative ROI, it is axiomatic to say that war is terrible for economic well being.

Further notes:

1. Currently economies are judged by gross domestic product (GDP). The problem with GDP is that it does not include ROI anywhere. Spending $100 on a new machine to produce widgets ten times more effectively than previous methods and government spending $100 to dig and refill ditches shows up in GDP as the same value and hence same “worth” in the eyes of ignorant “economists”.

2. Government spending money on digging and refilling ditches would show a boost in GDP and obviously, no one in their right mind would claim that digging and refilling ditches is the path to economic prosperity. The thing is, digging and filling ditches is LESS DESTRUCTIVE, in an economic sense, than war. War is a TOTAL waste of spending, which would boost GDP, but does not indicate true prosperity building in any way.

3. Given the basic common sense noted above, it can be concluded that war qua war is terrible for the economy.

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(Apologies to readers for this being published late, we have been encountering some technical difficulties here at PT)

The Conference Finals are upon us, and the defending champs are surprisingly nowhere to be found. While we all knew the Celtics weren’t at full strength, with star low-post presence and team leader Kevin Garnett out with injury, I still expected them to be in the hunt to defend their crown for at least one more series.

It was not to be, however. For the first time in franchise history, the Celtics blew a 3-2 series lead. To make matters worse, they had the lead going into the fourth quarter in Game six. When they lost that game, I half-seriously figured they were simply trying to play as many games possible, as they did last year and that there was no way they would lose the series finale. I figured, no matter how many guys are hurt, defending champions aren’t supposed to lose game sevens on their home court. But come up short they did, and in the process, Orlando showed that they are a legit contender who should be taken very seriously.

The other remaining team in the East is led by a guy who is playing some of the best roundball ever played. He’s making it look too easy, but that’s in part because the Cavs have not faced a formidable foe yet. I thought the Hawks would put up a fight but, to put it in Madden terminology, the Hawks were playing on rookie, while the Cavs were on All-Madden.

The Nuggets are playing similarly to the Cavs. They’ve lost only two games in these playoffs and by a grand total of three points. They are peaking at the right time as Carmelo Anthony is quietly ascending to Superstar status in his own right. If he has the ball, he can score like Kobe and LeBron. He just doesn’t get the pub like those two do.

The Lakers were Jekyll and Hyde in their second round set. They looked like an unstoppable team in some games and a lottery bound team in others. They showed they can be as dominant as they want to be, but that was only when they had something to prove after embarrassing losses. They overlooked the injury plagued Rockets, and that almost cost them the series. They’ll definitely need to regain their focus if they plan on getting past the hard charging Nuggets.

Western Conference Finals

#1 Lakers vs. #2 Nuggets

Over the past seven years, there’s been one constant in the NBA version of the Final Four: Chauncey Billups. I don’t know the exact stats on this, but I’m assuming that’s a record in modern day basketball.

Chauncey, along with Carmelo Anthony, has the Nuggets looking like they should be the favorite in this series. But over the past 12 games against the Lakers they are 1-11. While Chauncey wasn’t there for the first nine of those games, I don’t think that record can be ignored. Plus, in the Lakers three wins this year, they won by double digits every time.

I think the Lakers know what they’re dealing with in this round and I fully expect them to be prepared. I’m not ignoring what the Nuggets have done, but only defensive oriented teams give the Lakers problems, and while the Nuggets have improved in that aspect, they are not a defensive team. The Nuggets will have to put up a lot of points to get past the Lakers. They are definitely capable, but they don’t have the defenders to win this series.

As far as matchups go, Nene and Bynum will cancel each other out, Lamar and Pau will work Kenyon Martin like last year, and no one will be able to stop Kobe Bryant. Also, Derek Fisher can’t play any worse than he did last round. Chauncey Billups is far superior than what D-Fish had to deal with last round, but he doesn’t have the speed that Aaron Brooks had, which gave Fisher problems. Expect a far less lopsided matchup at point guard in this series.

Carmelo has the advantage over Trevor Ariza, but it won’t be that lopsided either. Ariza is a solid defender and has been hitting threes consistently. A positive for the Nuggets is that their bench is playing a whole lot better than the Lakers bench. They play with a lot more energy and have JR Smith, who can get hot at any time. But I think that will only help the Nuggets win a few games. The Lakers will not have two straight bad series.

Lakers in six.

Eastern Conference Finals

#1 Cavaliers vs. #3 Magic

The Cavs have swept through the first two rounds, winning by double digits in each game. But the Magic will be their first true test of these playoffs.

The Magic won the season series 2-1, with the Cavs’ only win coming from a big fourth quarter rally. And the last time these teams met on April 3rd, Orlando embarrassed the Cavs by 29. Thus the Cavs definitely have something to prove in this round. They’ve been on cruise control for four weeks, so we’ll see what they’re truly made of in this one.

In the Celtics series, Dwight Howard wasn’t as dominant as he should have been. Once he called out his coach, his play improved, but he still has to command the ball if he wants the touches. Zydrunas Ilgauskas shouldn’t be a problem at all when he’s guarding him, but Dwight has to have monster games to get Orlando to the finals.

A bigger key to Orlando’s success will be their outside shooting. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu have to be consistent to beat the Cavs. And with LeBron defending Hedo, he’s not going to have an easy time.

Rafer Alston has to do a good job of keeping Mo Williams busy on the defensive side of the ball. Williams hasn’t faced an offensive threat in the playoffs, which allowed him to hang out on the three-point line for two series. In the two games they played against each other this season, they’ve pretty much canceled each other production-wise. On the Cavs side of things, we all know what LeBron James brings to the table. You can expect to see the same crazy stats from him. The key for the Cavs is shooting the ball as well. If Big Z can hit jumpers, Dwight Howard will have to come out and guard him, thus opening lanes for his teammates. And if Williams, Wally Szcerbiak, and Delonte West stay hot, the Cavs could run away with this series. But I don’t think anyone runs away with this series. As much as I’d love to see an Adam Morrison-JJ Redick NBA Finals, I don’t think it’ll happen.

The Magic will put up a fight, but in the end, the Cavs are just playing too well. It won’t be an easy series for the Cavs, as I expect them to be in a lot of close games. But in the end, they’ll come out on top.

Cavs in six.

I will have my preview for the potentially eminent Kobe-LeBron Finals next time. Until then getaklew and Ponder This…

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1. Forbes Magazine published an op-ed piece by Ron Paul on auditing, and later ending, the Fed. It is important that every American knows the facts about the nature of the Federal Reserve System: it is privately-owned; it is extremely secretive (Ron Paul has described it as often more secretive than the CIA!); it is granted regulatory oversight of the large United States banks in a way that grants a pseudo-cartel to its large entities; it has been granted an unconstitutional currency monopoly; the notes it issues are not backed by gold or silver (as mandated by Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution) but instead are backed by other debt instruments and are essentially a form of “fiat” or government mandated currency; the Constitution gives the legislative branch the power to coin money and emit bills of credit, but the Federal Reserve is hardly overseen by the legislative branch and its members (such as current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke) are appointed by the executive branch; and so on.

Support H.R. 1207 to Audit the Federal Reserve. The transparency bill is currently up to a whopping 165 co-sponsors but seems to be having trouble getting past the Democrat House leadership (such as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi). These individuals need to be held to account for failing to perform their Constitutional role.

2. Speaking of Barney Frank, Mish reports that Frank now wants the Federal Government to capitalize a new municipal bond insurer. Where these people get the idea they can willy nilly use seized taxpayer resources to do this sort of thing is beyond me. Auditing the Fed is not even worthy of a discussion for committee chairman Frank, but doling out $5 billion to taxpayer finance a muni bond insurer comes up for him as a great idea? What the freak?! How does Barney Frank have the power that he does? Seriously.

3. Mish also reports on the increasing danger of Obamanomics. In doling increasingly large chunks of seized taxpayer wealth to failed enterprises and politically connected entities, Mr. Obama and his economic team (and the legislature allowing this to happen) are setting the economy up for intense further damage. One thing these folks fail to understand is that the laws of economics cannot be gamed. Seizing money from productive areas to give to proven unproductive portions of the economy will simply further restrict economic growth. It should also be noted that continuously seizing a larger portion of present and future taxpayer wealth is morally wrong (on top of it being a recipe for failure). Yoking future generations with a larger debt burden is also a form of despicable cowardice that continues to be a hallmark of 21st Century American politics, increasing exponentially with Bush and, now to a larger degree, Obama.

4. While it was never really assumed that Mr. Obama would be even decent on the economy and the morality of economic freedom, it was at least hoped for that the man would take measurable steps towards reducing the society-sickening (and economy-plaguing) taxpayer-financed global standing military presence and twin (potentially triplet) undeclared wars. Sadly, the anti-war democrats are finding that Obama is coming out to be more of a status quo pro-war big government corporatist. It is not surprising to see that lunacy is not a single-party phenomenon in American politics.

5. For a consistent quality read from a Constitutional, freedom-minded, pro-American perspective, please consider checking out Republic Magazine. You can check them out here.

6. As South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has been campaigning tirelessly for “Most Outwardly Fascist Sitting U.S. Senate Member”, S.C. Governor Mark Sanford came out in defense of the common sense ideas of individual liberty against the rabid attacks made by warmonger Graham.

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Last year Bush and the Democrat congress broke the all-time record for the Federal gunvernment’s deficit at >$400 BILLION. As receipts declined (but spending didn’t) due to the collapse of the Federal Reserve-inspired housing/mortgage/funny money/equity bubble.

I thought that was bad, but, Obama and the Democrat congress have JUMPED THE SHARK and now project a $1.8 TRILLION deficit!!

Read more here.

I cannot really say anything aside from: these MOFOS are CRAZY!!

Aside from trying to laugh my way through this whole farce and prepare myself and those around me for what will undoubtedly be a hurricane (might as well make it a SLURRICANE), all I can fathom doing is praying to God that he gives good people the grace to rise up and clean this whole mess of a situation up. (PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYER - we need it…)

Meanwhile, anyone supporting this whole mess (I still come across a few of those sorts, here and there) remind me of these:

Watch out below!!

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