1. Reflecting the sentiments held by the editorial board here at Ponder This… and aligning with reasonable and aware analysis of the underlying interests in the subject, huge bond manager Bill Gross today came out stating that he believes the Federal Government has understated consumer price inflation on a continuous basis. Given that so many major decisions are based on the “official” government figures, the fact that numbers have been understated and accepted by the market implies that numerous mal-adjustments have been worked into the economy over years, potentially leading to devastating effects in the coming years as economic reality asserts itself on individuals who have lived in a government-inspired fantasy land. Some individuals have begun calling the growing awareness on the part of the people in relation to the trash coming from the government and related sectors (banking, media, the complexes - pharmaceutical, military, prison, being the best examples) the “Great Awakening”. Thankfully, more and more people are willing to speak out against blatantly ridiculous reporting on the part of “official” agencies. Bill Gross appears to be the next major voice in this process.

2. The next bubble to burst could very well be in the consumer retail sector. Already numerous companies have been getting slammed by growing consumer struggles related to the fall out associated with boom/bust Federal Reserve System credit cycles. With housing prices and related construction being hammered, and food, fuel and input prices surging due to perceived weakness in the fundamentals of the US$ (Federal Reserve Note), the willingness and ability of consumers to continue to shop for random trinkets will likely decline. The problem? Over the last 10 years there has been a massive retail expansion in the U.S. as credit was extended willy nilly and without any hesitation by any lending institution. The Great Awakening will include an awareness on the part of many individuals that going into debt to buy relatively useless gadgets, toys, clothes and other nominal goodies is not the best idea for long term economic well being.

3. Related to our recent exposure of fluoridated water being a serious potential health risk, additional research is piling up that the boom in infant vaccinations, and the mercury that may be present in said vaccinations, could be a major cause of the recent boom in autism in American children. Please research this and make aware choices. Shooting up your child with no questions ask is probably not the best idea. Diligence is key.

4. The always solid Ludwig von Mises Institute published a very interesting analysis of the Ron Paul electorate. Check it out.

5. Karl Rove has been subpoenad by the House Judiciary Committee. How this man remains employed as a major analyst for major “news” networks is simply baffling. I continue to see his articles in the Wall Street Journal. WHY?

6. I think some of the FLDS sect members and the cultish group in general are very odd. That being said, in a free society we cannot have large government bodies willy nilly snatching hundreds of children from hundreds of families based on very questionable evidence of abuse. Taking kids from their parents, against the will of both parent and child, should be done with extreme hesitancy and only with significant evidence of real abuse. From what I have gathered, the mass rounding up of all of the children of the sect, many of whom have been hospitalized since being taken from their parents and held in foster homes, is totally egregious. There is no way that such mass action can lead to productive ends. At a maximum, only specific individuals who have been duly charged should be involved in the process. But in this case, the entire compound was overtaken by SWAT teams in tanks. Do we really want mass round ups based on general circumstantial evidence to be an accepted thing in our country? What if the authorities chose your family next? Maybe you guys are kinda weird. Or do we only want “normal” people to have general rights? Who defines normal? Where does the slope start getting very slippery? Remember, many people sat idly by as the Nazis rounded up an ever larger group of “strange” or “different” peoples and shipped them off to concentration camps to their doom. I don’t know about you, but I’ll stand up early and often to tyranny-like actions. It seems the Texas appeals court agreed with my opinion as they judged that Texas overstepped its authority when it removed some of the 460 children taken from the compound.

Filed under: Politics, Social Mood, Economics, Current Events