What is Money For?

By Ezra Pound

"We will never see an end of ructions, we will never have a sane and steady administration until we gain an absolutely clear conception of money. I mean an absolutely not an approximately clear conception.

I can, if you like, go back to paper money issued in China in or about A.D. 840, but we are concerned with the vagaries of the Western World. FIRST, Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England, told his shareholders that they would profit because "the bank hath profit on the interestof all the moneys which it creates out of nothing." What then is this "money" the banker can create out of nothing"?

Let us be quite clear. Money is a measured title or claim. That is its basic difference from unmeasured claims, such as a man's right to take all you've got under war-time requisition, or as an invader or thief just taking it all. Money is a measure which the taker hands over when beacquires the goods he takes. And no further formality need occur during the transfer, though sometimes a receipt is given. The idea of justice inheres in ideas of measure, and money is ameasure of value.

MEANS OF EXCHANGE

Money is valid when people recognise it as a claim and hand over goods or do work up to the value printed on the face of the ticket, whether it is made of metal or paper. Money is a general sort of ticket which is its only difference from a railway or theatre ticket. If this statement seems childish let the reader think for a moment about different kinds of tickets.

A railway ticket is a measured ticket. A ticket from London to Brighton differs from one for London to Edinburgh. Both are measured, but in miles that always stay the same length. Amoney ticket, under a corrupt system, wobbles. For a long time the public has trusted people whose measure was shifty.

Another angle. Theatre tickets are timed. You would probably not accept a ticket for Row H, Seat 27, if it were not dated. When six people are entitled to the same seat at the same time the tickets are not particularly good. (Orage asked; Would you call it inflation to print tickets for every seat in the house?) You will hear money called "a medium of exchange," which means that it can circulate freely, as a measure of goods and services against one another, from hand to hand.

GUARANTEE OF FUTURE EXCHANGE

We will have defined money properly when we have stated what it is in words that cannot be applied to anything else and when there is nothing about the essential nature of money that is omitted from our definition.

When Aristotle calls money "a guarantee of future exchange" that merely means that it is an undated ticket, that will be good when we want to use it. Tickets have sometimes stayed good for a century. When we do not hand over money at once for goods or services received we are said to have "credit". The "credit" is the other man's belief that we can and will some time hand over the money or something measured by money.

Most men have been so intent on the individual piece of money, as a measure, that they have forgotten its purpose, and they have got into inextricable muddles and confusions regarding the total amount of money in a country. A perfectly good hammer is useless to pick your teeth with. If you don't know what money is FOR, you will get into a muddle when using it, and still more will a government get into a mess in its "monetary policy".

Statally speaking, that is from the point of view of a man or party that wants to govern justly, a piece of money is a ticket, the country's money is a mass of tickets for getting the country's food and goods justly distributed. The job for a man today who is trying to write a pamphlet on money is not to say something new, it is not to think up something or prove a theory, it is SIMPLY to make a clear statement about things that have been known for 200, and often for 2,000 years. You have got to know what money is FOR." (snip) ...

Read the complete article at this website:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49504139/What-Is-Money-For-Ezra-Pound

Banking In Canada

I received this email from Jack Peach today about “Banking In Canada” and I wish to share it with my readers.

Jack Peach peachjd@persona.ca writes:

“With another federal election coming. Wonder how many of the main stream party candidates will dicuss these facts?”

***************************************************************

Banking In Canada

"Most Canadians are aware of the existence of the Bank of Canada (BoC) but beyond that, very few know little more. It is assumed that the BoC is owned by the federal government, i.e. a public asset. Under Section 3(2) of The Bank of Canada Act, the BoC is described as a “body corporate”. Black’s Law dictionary, 6th edition (page 175) defines a body corporate as “a public or private corporation”. In a recent communication received from the BoC, a representative stated that the BoC “is not a public corporation.” The BoC is, therefore, a private corporation! But who owns it? 
 
 The Bank is made up of a Governor, Deputy Governor and twelve directors. The directors are chosen by the Minister of Finance with the approval of the Governor in Council and the twelve directors are responsible for the appointment of a Governor and Deputy Governor with the approval of the Governor in Council. The Deputy Minister of Finance is a member of the board but he has no vote!!  There is no provision in the BoC Act for the appointment of elected representatives to the board of the Bank. (I think it is safe to assume from this set-up that the duly elected Parliament has no say in the policies and operations of the BoC). The capital of the bank is divided into one hundred thousand shares with a par value of $50.00 each. (Section 17.1 and 17.2) and the shares are held by the Minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada! (Section 17.3 of the BoC Act.) It would seem that the BoC is owned by the Queen, a foreign head of state and not owned by the Government of Canada. (This fact was also confirmed by an official of the BoC) It is certainly clear however, that the Federal Parliament and the people of Canada do not own it or benefit from its activities.
 
So what was the purpose behind the creation of the Bank of Canada? The answer to this can be found in the preamble to the BoC Act. It states “Whereas it is desirable to establish a central bank in Canada to regulate credit and currency in the best interests of the economic life of the nation, to control and protect the external value of the monetary unit and to mitigate by its influence fluctuations in the general level of production, trade, prices, and employment, so far as may be possible within the scope of monetary action, and generally to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada.” Very noble, but has the BoC lived up to its principles? You decide.

Under Section 18(h), (i) and (j) of the BoC Act “Business and Powers of the Bank”, the Bank may make loans or advances to the Federal or Provincial levels of government. These loans can be for any amount, be secured or unsecured and the Bank is free to charge whatever rate of interest it chooses – presumably even a zero rate of interest.  There are a number of restrictions, which apply to these loans, and very few of them have been made in the past. BoC correspondence indicates the Bank has made 19 loan advances to the Federal government and one loan to a Province in the past (3 million dollars to Saskatchewan in 1936). The last loan was made in 1961. BoC correspondence states “it is not the bank’s role to be a source of financing for governments nor a source of financing government deficits.” This would seem to contradict the Bank’s primary purpose as expressed in the preamble and renders Section 18 (h), (i) and (j) as redundant. So why does the BoC act this way? To better understand the actions of the BoC, people need to understand how the existing private debt money system works.
 
The Bank of Canada began as a privately owned institution and at the time of its inception (1934), Alberta was in the midst of a revolution of sorts. A small group of people came to understand the origin of recessions and depressions and the corruption of bankers and were moving with plans to control the vitriolic policies of these same bankers. Big finance moved to have itself established as a central bank in Canada through the passage of the BoC Act, giving it exclusive authority over the money supply of this country. (This was and still is in contempt of our so-called constitution, Section 91.14 and 91.15.) It didn’t take long for people everywhere, especially Alberta to recognize this same group of unscrupulous individuals (bankers) as the ones behind the passage of the BoC Act. The depression was to continue unabated through the twenties and early thirties, but Alberta was determined to get control of what it believed was the ultimate social responsibility of a government – to provide a mechanism of debt free money creation as a means for the people to live and prosper without having the private banks stealing the wealth of those who create it in the first place.

The Alberta Credit House Act – An Act to provide the people of Alberta with additional credit, was passed and led to the setting up of a number of Treasury Branches throughout the Province. (This law has never been disavowed by any government in Ottawa.)  Alberta acted according to the terms of the laws of 1867 (our Constitution), which allowed the provincial legislatures to “borrow money on the sole credit of the Province”. That is to say, upon the real wealth of the province, which means that there is no doubt that there is actually a provincial credit. And the Province can certainly establish its own mechanism to use this credit directly, without mortgaging its wealth or going into debt to individuals or corporations like the private banks. 
 
The BoC responded by changing its shares from class shares to completely benign shares and depositing them with the Minster of Finance in exchange for a sum of tax dollars ($5 million). This idea gave the illusion that the bank was now owned and controlled by the government. So how could a privately owned corporation, with the power to bring a government and a country to its knees within hours, be taken over without as much as a whimper? Could it be that the Bank of Canada preferred to appear that it had been taken over (nationalized) while it maintained its independence and powers? Unfortunately, with the start of the Second World War, the Province of Alberta suspended implementation of their credit plan and it was ultimately abandoned. 
 
Well, those who knew and understood the bankers and how their monetary policies and system operated weren’t fooled. Hundreds of pages of evidence was brought before a Standing Committee in 1939 which showed clearly how deeply indebted the Provinces were to the private banks as a result of the depression and the monetary policies in effect at that time. (The first Governor, Graham Towers was also present at these hearings to answer questions as well.) Provinces had been seeking loans from the BoC but were being denied and forced to borrow from the private banks and abroad. The reason finally given for the BoC’s unwillingness to lend to the provinces was that the provinces were not willing to enter into an arrangement with the BoC  similar to that of the arrangement the BoC had with the federal government. This arrangement gave the BoC  the lofty position of being the government’s fiscal agent. Only the BoC sells government securities -  bonds and T-bills.

The BoC also "sells" notes at face value to financial institutions for circulation throughout the country. If the Bank of Canada wants a tight monetary policy, the Bank of Canada can limit the amount of  money the government can borrow by decreasing the number of securities it sells. The BoC uses other measures to tighten the money supply as well, such as increasing the interest rates and making it more difficult for borrowers to borrow money. Through these actions,  a recession is born. The effect is the government receives less in taxes at every level and, of course, the demand for government assistance rises. To compound the problem, the government has no ability to refuse the high interest rates the BoC imposes on it and the taxpayers. The government has no ability to circumvent the decisions of the BoC. All revenue to the government flows through the Receiver General, who happens to be a servant of the BoC and not the government. 
 
The Bank of Canada appears to have other controls over government. While reading the evidence of the Standing Committee on Banking and Finance held in 1939 and Hansard, members of the committee raised the issue of the bank’s control over spending decisions of the government. There was reference to questions by low-profile backbenchers of the House of Commons about why this was so. Or, why any other policy was not being carried out even though it would greatly assist the economy. The response in the House of Commons would indicate that, although the government wished to proceed, the money was not available because of decisions made outside of government! This was confirmed many years later when the governor of the BoC told the government on more than one occasion that Canada was in no position to kick-start the economy. (As if the government could have done it without the blessing of the BoC.) 
 
During the Standing Committee on Banking and Finance in 1939, Graham Towers admitted the only thing that would limit Canada’s involvement in the war was manpower. Money would not be a problem! Yet the Bank of Canada refused to put out money for any job creation, infrastructure expansion, or aid for the poor, the old, the sick, the unemployed, the farmers, small business or any other policy suggestions that had been put forth by the federal or provincial governments. 
 
The reality is that the federal government can’t by  pen and paper  without the permission of  the Bank of Canada, and all money the public considers “waste” is willingly and culpably paid out by the Bank of Canada. When Canada is in a recession (created by the BoC), the Bank of Canada will do nothing to help the country out of it until it considers the timing to be right and the solutions offered are usually a further detriment to the economy over the long run for most of us except those on the “inner circle” who really know what is going on and can profit from it. 

Canadian banks and Credit Unions are now controlled by both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of International Settlements  (BIS) as well. Located in Switzerland,  the BIS holds deposits (i.e.  they control) of about 120 central banks and other international financial institutions throughout the world, including the Bank of Canada. In other words, the BIS financially controls the globe. It has direct influence over  the direction of the economy of every country and, indeed, the world through its banking and monetary policies. 
 
The weapon that all banks have  is the power to withhold loans, thus driving an economy into the ground in a hurry. Personal and corporate bankruptcies, lost jobs, disintegrating social programs and other unpleasant consequences are a direct result of these policies. There is no government that can afford to offend its central bank. The Bank of Canada will do what it wants to do, and what the BIS wants it to do. No amount of pressure from anyone will influence it in any way.   
 
A quote from a 1924 edition of the American Banker's Association not intended for the public sums up what is currently happening all around us:

"Capital must protect itself in every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through the process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men who are now engaged in forming an imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance. It is thus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves that which has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished."
 
The bottom line is that our present situation will not improve, ever, until we have significant reform to our banking and monetary policies. 

What has happened in this country is a result of lack of knowledge as to how we are being shafted by the present system and it must be changed. We must all make the effort to educate ourselves and our family, friends and neighbours as to the truth behind the financial demise we face today. Again, this is the purpose of this website, to inform and educate. Please take time to read through and understand how we are being robbed under the present system and how we can change it for the benefit of all Canadians.. (snip) ...

Links to articles about Islamic banking

Below are some links to articles about Islamic banking.

1. David Pidcock’s View on the State of Islamic Money, Banking, and Finance.
By Thomas H. Greco

http://beyondmoney.net/2008/01/21/david-pidcocks-view-on-the-state-of-islamic-money-banking-and-finance

2. Usury, Interest, and Islamic Banking
By Thomas H. Greco

http://beyondmoney.net/2011/03/27/usury-interest-and-islamic-banking

3. The First World Conference on Riba:

http://beyondmoney.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/pdf-part-1-1st-worlds-riba-conference.pdf

Comments and feedback welcomed as we - the usuryfree creatives - seek to fully understand whether Islamic banking is truly "interest-free" or "usuryfree."

Which Political Party Will Expose Usury?

By Tom J. Kennedy

A federal election is scheduled for May 2, 2011 in Canada. The key question is: Which political parties will permit their candidates to challenge the network of international financiers?

My ongoing research reveals that Lord Rothschild referred to compound interest as the eighth wonder of the world. We Canadians, are the victim of the eighth wonder of the world, for the amount of our national debt is $562.8 billion as of March 2011. Readers are invited to view the debt clock at this website: http://www.debtclock.ca complete with plenty of background information.

Obviously, in this current depression there is not enough money to pay off the debt in the foreseeable future so the exacting of interest which ought to be correctly called usury will continue to grow the debt.

Most Canadians are aware that the national debt is massive and for the most part unpayable. In any case, we are facing perpetual debt and deception engineered by an elitist group of international financiers. Institutionalized fiscal irresponsibility, aided and abetted by ignorant politicians - elected by voters (who don’t know that they don’t know) is thrusting a horrible future on our children and their heirs.

We can be correctly accused of being passively accomplices to “child abuse” on an unimaginable scale as we continue to let politicians bamboozle us while they knuckle under to pressure from the international financiers and their ilk who are entrenched in key decision making positions in the intricate world of “greedy finance and corrupted corporations.”

I expect that John Turmel will once again contest this federal election as an Independent candidate and he certainly will challenge the faltering, orthodox, economic system of usury-based, debt money and he will offer “usuryfree” solutions. John Turmel is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness Book of Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost.

This will be John Turmel’s 74th election contested. Details of his 73 previously contested elections are posted at this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Turmel

If you as a reader know anyone who is registered - as an Independent candidate - or as a member of a duly registered political party who is ready and willing to expose the lies, deceit and deception about our orthodox, economic system of usury-based, debt money, then please invite them to browse the articles posted at The UsuryFree Eye Opener and share them with their team of volunteers and their party hierarchy so that they might be motivated to likewise expose the lies, deceit and deception about money and banking.

YOU - The Court of Public Review: The Highest and Most Supreme Court in Canada

By Tom J. Kennedy

Something is wrong in Canada. In the greatest nation, country and society and amongst the most proud, honest, and clever of people ever to grace Planet Earth, something is seriously wrong. Too many fellow-Canadians trust too few of their elected governments - whether they be municipal, provincial or federal. The word “politician” too often brings a feeling and expression of distrust and contempt. In a nation that represents honesty, pride, patriotism, freedom, free enterprise and greatness to all who truly love being Canadian, such distrust should not exist, and that it does, certainly is a sign of some sort of problem.

Canadians currently hear and are told by the mainstream print and electronic media, the politicians, the law enforcers, and their government funded schools, that they live in a true democracy - with majority rule and all that. Canadians inheritantly know that Canada, Canadian life, society and government are supposed to be run “by and for the people.” What is the difference or is there any difference between “majority rule” and the true concept of “by and for the people?”

Most Canadians believe and have been sold the idea that the way they run their country is by voting at election time. Yet, in recent municipal, provincial and federal elections a dismal turnout is the rule rather than the exception as millions of Canadians choose NOT to participate in the running of their country. Apparently, many Canadians believe many Canadians know their vote does very little to influence the running of their country in a manner that benefits them.

Do Canadians really have “majority rule?” Too few voters actually vote politicians into office. Do you believe that you run your country to your satisfaction by simply voting at election times? Are too many Canadians aware that elections results always show evidence of the “same machine, different driver?” Are you one of those Canadian who is requesting that (NOTA) None Of The Above be included on all election ballots? Are you one of those Canadians who is requesting to have his/her name removed from the registered voter’s list?

On March 26, 2011, a 37-day, federal election campaign was announced. Indeed, the 41st general election since Canada became a country in 1867 is under way. What will you do?

Yes, there is something wrong in Canada. The “running of a nation” or the “business of government” implies the ability to create and/or enforce laws. If Canada really is run “by and for the people,” the people would have some easy, simple and direct way to (a) say what is and what is not law (b) say and control what government can and can’t call law and (c) tell government exactly what their job is, was and always will be in a country and society of freedom like our country should be if this is still Canada we live in.

Growing numbers of Canadians distrust and are dissatisfied with their current governments/ politicians. Why? Is there something which can be easily named, largely agreed upon, self-evidently obvious, and simply resolved that the current government/politicians are doing to betray Canada and Canadians?

Canada and these issues need to be put on trial before You - The Court of Public Review. The issues referred to above and the ones which follow need to be addressed with a sense of urgency.

What is Canada supposed to be? What is Canada really? What does it mean to be Canadian? Is Canada a corporation or simply a nation functioning as a corporation? What forms of government does the real Canada represent at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government respectively? What forms of government currently exist in Canada? How come increasing numbers of Canadians have an intense dislike for the “government mafia” - the agents who invoke gestapo tactics to collect “money” for the (CRA) Canada Revenue Agency? Is the Canada Revenue Agency a private corporation?

What is all the noise about ‘Tax Protestors,” “Untax Crusaders,” “Freemen of the Land,” and “Sovereign Individuals” and “Lawful Rebellion?” Who are these growing numbers of Canadians who claim to be living, flesh and blood, free will, full liability men and women? Why do they challenge the legal definition of “person?” Why do they choose to be ruled by Common Law? Why do they seek to avoid contract or operate directly with the current, fictional, corporate world - this includes all levels of government? Many people are asking: “Is there a law that governs government?”

Why are more and more people questioning the “all capital entity,” (KENNEDY, THOMAS JOSEPH or THOMAS JOSEPH KENNEDY). Is this “all capital entity” a “limited liability” without “free will” and is therefore, subjected to needing licenses and is obligated to follow numerous regulations and be subjected to a host of controlled by governments (municipal, provincial and federal)? Similarly, many individuals believe that the “all capital entity”is vulnerable to government retaliation.

Is this “all capital entity” a monetary document indicating that the federal government is imposing a monetary value upon the newborn child pledging it as a chattel to the trustee of the bankrupt Crown?

Prior to December 11, 1931, was the Parliament of Canada an auxiliary organization attached to the Corporation Sole of the British Governor General?

Who and what is the most Supreme and Sovereign Power in Canada and how is that power easily exercised if this really is Canada we live in? These are a few of the questions and issues demanding answers in the potential trial of Canada as exercised by You - The Court of Public Review.

The goal of usuryfree creatives is to put these issues and Canada and what Canada is all about on trial in the highest and most supreme of Courts in this land.

Most Canadians have heard of the Supreme Court, most have heard of Federal Courts, Provincial Courts, Municipal Courts, Tax Courts, Peoples’ Courts, and Kangaroo Courts. There is however, another court, which few, if any Canadians know about or have heard of. It is the Highest, most Supreme of Courts in Canada, higher even than the Supreme Court. For some reason, the government funded, public school system is not teaching Canadians about this court. I repeat, it is the goal of usuryfree creatives to teach Canadians about this most Supreme of all courts in Canada. In that court, and during this 41st federal election, usuryfree creatives intend to bring Canada and these issues to trial and hopefully, some day very soon, freedom, justice, honesty, integrity, peace, prosperity and usuryfree living in the true Canadian tradition will reign King. The major charge and/or question to be answered is: “Is this Canada we live in? ... or not?

Who and what is the highest, most Supreme of courts in our land, if this is Canada? And how is this highest court called to order? Is it called to order during a federal election campaign? The highest and most Supreme of Courts in our land is called: “The Court of Sovereign Authority” or “The Court of Public Review.” This court is made up of any and all free will, full liability men and women who rightfully, proudly, and with a sense of patriotism and honour would call themselves a “Canadian.”

Readers are invited to search the internet for related topics and read the articles posted at The UsuryFree Eye Opener: Know that countless, meticulous researchers are reporting their findings on the internet and in real life workshops and seminars to inform the awakening public. In the process, the design flaw of usury is being exposed as the ultimate fifth pillar that has been holding their fraudulent, money matrix system that is being used to scam us financially as it ruins our lives and undermines our freedoms, while treating we-the-people as slaves to their oppressive - but faltering - “usury-based” economic system of debt money.

As each reader reads this article and tells and shares it with family and worthy friends, the Court of Sovereign Authority or The court of Public Review is called to order and Canada and these issues are brought to trial before the highest and most Supreme of Courts in our land - you and me, otherwise known as we-the-people.

The 41st federal election is underway, court is now in session ... All Rise - You, the Honourable reader are presiding - “Is this Canada we live in? ... or not? What is a Canadian and who has the ultimate power to say so? This article does not have all the answers. In fact, it suggests a number of questions and readers are invited to question any answers. To know usuryfree creatives and to follow The UsuryFree Eye Opener is to follow a definite course of de-programming and re-education as you seek answers to questions. The author and growing numbers of self-educated and/or re-educated Canadians hope you are motivated to ask more questions and question more answers.

“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” - Abraham Lincoln

Why Pay Usury To The Usurers?

by Tom J. Kennedy

To understand why debtors commonly accept to continue paying (tribute) usury to usurers, when we-the-people have the power to create our own usuryfree personal (or community) currency, one must be aware of the definition of “cognitive dissonance.”

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological condition where the mind involuntarily rejects information not in line or cognizant with previous beliefs or actions. In summary, people tend to believe only things that they like to believe.

It is critical to understand that failure to believe something does not necessarily make the information false.

Now consider that our orthodox banking system of ultimate plunder works only with usury-bearing credit! Know that credit exists only in the mind of the debtor. No debtor can see, hear, taste, feel or smell credit. Nor can any debtor send credit to pay bills. To entice any debtor to believe in credit and use credit, they (our controllers) must control the debtor's mind. How do they do this? The short answer is that they are absolute masters at their crafts of lies, deceit and deception.

The politicians and their controllers, the electronic and print media, the giant trans-national corporations, the movies and our formal education system are the key instruments of conditioning the masses (the majority of whom are debtors) for their own self-destruction.

Here are two important questions to consider. (1) How can any level of government be authorized to tax "money" from its citizens when the orthodox, banking system works only with credit? (2) How can any level of government be authorized to borrow "money" from any source or spend "money" on any product or service when the orthodox, banking system works only with credit?

We-the-people, who are the debtors willingly give up all of our production for pieces of paper or computer blips and neither one of these mediums-of-exchange bear a "promise to pay money." In the earlier years of the 20th Century, the pieces of paper did bear a "promise to pay money."

In the booklet, "Modern Money Mechanics" it is stated by the Federal Reserve: "The actual process of money creation takes place in commercial banks." Now in this 21st Century, it is essential to grasp the fact that "money" is created psychologically when the financial institution approves the debtor’s signature on any loan or mortgage. The debtor is then given a deposit receipt of "computer blips" or bills of credit mistakenly labelled as "dollars."

The creditor or usurer never creates the usury or interest portion of any loan, however the creditor or usurer demands that the debtor repay both the principal and the interest or usury portion of every loan or mortgage.

It is imperative that all debtors overcome any cognitive dissonance and fully understand that "money" is created in your mind when your signature is scrolled on the promissory note. The "money" is correctly explained as "credit." Know that the "system" relies on the "thought standard" rather than the "gold standard" of previous times or the "labour standard" or "time standard" of this modern era of "time trading."

Know also that there are two primary classes of people. Those who create money, creditors - (who ought to be correctly called usurers) and those who borrow money, debtors - (who could be correctly be called usurees or economic slaves). These economic slaves are forever indebted to and subservient to their masters - the usurers.

The banking fraud formerly concealed, is now revealed. Let we-the-debtors no longer be intimidated and decimated by the usurers. Let’s create and spend our own usuryfree personal or community currency. Let’s do it NOW, so that we will have our economic lifeboats already launched when their Titanic of usury-based, debt money goes down.

Relevant Quotations:

"Those unaware are unaware of being unaware." - Merrill M. E. Jenkins Sr.

"My people perish for lack of knowledge." - Hosea 4:6

"The world is governed by far different personnages than what is imagined by those not behind the scenes." - Benjamin Disraeli

"Why are we-the-people still using their (the bankers’) money and paying them a fee (usury) when we now know that we can create and spend our own currency (personal or community) for FREE?" - Tommy UsuryFree Kennedy

Memories of Casino Turmel

By Tom J. Kennedy

On the lighter side ... at The UsuryFree Eye Opener:

I proud to say that I worked at Casino Turmel at Topaz in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as a dealer (both black jack and poker) and as the cashier from 1991 until the final bust in July of1993. Actually, it was never an “illegal” casino. John Turmel was brilliant and he had been acquitted of a previous gambling charge. First, the Hull Police busted Casino Turmel in 1991, then it was moved to Baseline Rd., then to Baxter Ave., and finally to Topaz where it was operated until July 1993.

When he opened Casino Turmel at Topaz, he briefed the Ottawa Police of his plan ahead of time and I was with him when he visited the detectives at the Ottawa Police Station. We had 125 people on staff - three eight hour shifts every day with a minimum of 18 blackjack tables and 6 poker tables. John paid generous wages and we earned even more in weekly tips that we earned in wages. Indeed, it was well known as the “cleanest game in town” and John was (is) much more than a gambler.
http://turmelpress.com/gambler.htm

For those interested in some background information about John Turmel and Casino Turmel, you are invited to browse this website: http://turmelpress.com/prsgame.htm and there is lots more information about John Turmel at this website: 
http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel & at Wikipedia: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Turmel

I remember well the day the tray of chips went missing. At that time we were expanding very fast and new tables were needed almost on a daily basis.

On the day of the theft, the tray that was stolen was definitely not screwed into the wooden table yet as it had just been set up the evening before when Casino Turmel was operating at full capacity and another table was needed. The table was set up and the tray set into the hole cut for it and the dealer started dealing to the anxious black jack players.

When that table was closed later in the wee hours of the next morning, there was an oversight and the tray was counted and left in the table without being screwed down. Obviously, the pirates were watching and one of them had a plan to scoop it up and hide it - probably under a jacket or coat - as the optimal way of completing the theft. When the “tray theft” was discovered, the staff immediately knew that the tray has not been screwed into the wood of the black jack table.

I worked at Casino Turmel from 6:00 PM until midnight, seven days a week. This was my part-time job and my full time job was being an elementary school teacher for the Ottawa Board of Education. Casino Turmel was busted twice and I was not working either time. That was fortunate for me as I am not sure what the Ottawa Board of Education would have done If I have been criminally charged under the Gaming Laws.

I remember that the theft happened sometime after midnight - probably in the wee hours of the morning as John suggests in his email (see below). I can attest that Casino Turmel was open 24 hours every day - except for Christmas Day when it was closed. The theft of the tray did not happen on Christmas Day.

The amusing part of the story is that there were various denominations of chips in the tray from $1.00 chips to $5000.00 chips. As cashier, I would regularly cash in chips from players from $1.00 to $500.00 BUT I never cashed in chips valued at $5000.00 as they were rare and only used in the tray for accounting purposes.

So the thief and his buddies were quite likely able to cash in the smaller denominations of chips. I do remember one player bringing a $5000.00 chip to me, when I was working as the cashier one night. Obviously, I refused to cash it in because I knew that $5000.00 chips were kept in the tray exclusively for accounting purposes. As I remember, there was no argument from the player when I refused to cash in the $5000.00 chip. I guess he just had to try when his other cash had run dry.

I always suspected the thief was one of the so-called “pirates” but we never had any proof. So they probably cashed in all of the smaller chips but I guarantee that none of the $5000.00 chips were ever cashed in. Perhaps they painted them to become $500.00 chips!!

I say that because yet another scam was exposed one night when I was working as the cashier. One of the poker players came to me to show me a chip that he had in his pile. Players always stack their chips and drop them through their fingers as they make their bets. This player noticed that his black chip valued at $100.00 had a red colour at the corner of the chip. We scraped the chip a bit more and sure enough, a red chip valued at $5.00 have been professionally and meticulously painted black with all of the fancy gold trimmings that were the trademark of Casion Turmel.

So we had to call in all of the black chips and scrape them to find which one were converted. We also found blue chips valued at $2.50 also painted black. I forget the exact number of painted chips that we found BUT it was a considerable amount. Again, there was absolutely nothing that we could do about the “painting scam” to turn small denomination chips into larger denomination chips.

My observation at the cashier was that neither the “tray theft” nor the “painting scam” hurt Casino Turmel financially for karma played its role and the scammers ended up putting more money into the trays over time.

Below is a brief email from John Turmel describing the theft as it is outlined on page 104 of the book “The Champagne Gang: High Times & Sweet Crimes.”

JCT: “The Champagne Gang: [ISBN 1-895629-97-7] "High Times & Sweet Crimes" by Jeremy Mercer is about a gang of young safe-crackers who had a lucrative career robbing pharmacies and corner stores of their cigarettes and drugs.

On page 104, they mention my Casino Turmel at Topaz in Ottawa!

Kevin Grandmaison: "The best was last year when he had come out after robbing an illegal casino in Ottawa. The place was usually open 24 hours a day, but the guy who ran it closed the place down once a year for cleaning. Kevin broke the lock on the door, snuck in past the cleaners and grabbed $45,000 worth of chips before anyone knew what was going on.

He was in and out in less than 90 seconds. The next day, before the chips were noticed missing, he and some friends came in and took turn cashing in the hot chips. After paying off his buddies, Kevin had $35,000 in cash in his pocket and he caught the next flight to Vegas. The money lasted 4 days.

He'd even been up more than $200,000 at one point, but a bad run on the blackjack table left him with nothing but his return ticket home."

JCT: There was only one underground casino big enough to handle $45,000 in chips and that was my Casino Turmel at Topaz. My companion Pauline Morrissette had told me about the robbery but in a different way. First of all, we never closed down, so it must have been in the wee hours of the morning. Some tables had the chip trays not screwed into the table and she reported that one of the trays was missing. The rest
were all screwed in properly that day. She had figured it was "the pirates" who had taken it but we figured they lost back far more than that over time.

But now we know for sure that it was "the pirates" who had lifted the chip tray!”

Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy

Left-wing billionaire's own experts dominate quiet push for 'a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.'

By Dan Gainor
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 4:48 PM EDT

"Two years ago, George Soros said he wanted to reorganize the entire global economic system. In two short weeks, he is going to start - and no one seems to have noticed.

On April 8, a group he's funded with $50 million is holding a major economic conference and Soros's goal for such an event is to "establish new international rules" and "reform the currency system." It's all according to a plan laid out in a Nov. 4, 2009, Soros op-ed calling for "a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order."

The event is bringing together "more than 200 academic, business and government policy thought leaders' to repeat the famed 1944 Bretton Woods gathering that helped create the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Soros wants a new 'multilateral system," or an economic system where America isn't so dominant.

More than two-thirds of the slated speakers have direct ties to Soros. The billionaire who thinks "the main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat" is taking no chances.

Thus far, this global gathering has generated less publicity than a spelling bee. And that's with at least four journalists on the speakers list, including a managing editor for the Financial Times and editors for both Reuters and The Times. Given Soros's warnings of what might happen without an agreement, this should be a big deal. But it's not.

What is a big deal is that Soros is doing exactly what he wanted to do. His 2009 commentary pushed for "a new Bretton Woods conference, like the one that established the post-WWII international financial architecture." And he had already set the wheels in motion.

Just a week before that op-ed was published, Soros had founded the New York City-based Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), the group hosting the conference set at the Mount Washington Resort, the very same hotel that hosted the first gathering. The most recent INET conference was held at Central European University, in Budapest. CEU received $206 million from Soros in 2005 and has $880 million in its endowment now, according toThe Chronicle of Higher Education.

This, too, is a gathering of Soros supporters. INET is bringing together prominent people like former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and Soros, to produce "a lot of high-quality, breakthrough thinking."

While INET claims more than 200 will attend, only 79 speakers are listed on its site - and it already looks like a Soros convention. Twenty-two are on Soros-funded INET's board and three more are INET grantees. Nineteen are listed as contributors for another Soros operation - Project Syndicate, which calls itself "the world's pre-eminent source of original op-ed commentaries" reaching "456 leading newspapers in 150 countries." It's financed by Soros's Open Society Institute. That's just the beginning.

The speakers include:

Volcker is chairman of President Obama's Economic Advisory Board. He wrote the forward for Soros's best-known book, 'The Alchemy of Finance' and praised Soros as "an enormously successful speculator" who wrote "with insight and passion" about the problems of globalization.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute and longtime recipient of Soros charity cash. Sachs received $50 million from Soros for the U.N. Millennium Project, which he also directs. Sachs is world-renown for his liberal economics. In 2009, for example, he complained about low U.S. taxes, saying the "U.S. will have to raise taxes in order to pay for new spending initiatives, especially in the areas of sustainable energy, climate change, education, and relief for the poor."

Soros friend Joseph E. Stiglitz, a former senior vice president and chief economist for the World Bank and Nobel Prize winner in Economics. Stiglitz shares similar views to Soros and has criticized free-market economists whom he calls "free market fundamentalists." Naturally, he's on the INET board and is a contributor to Project Syndicate.

INET Executive Director Rob Johnson, a former managing director at Soros Fund Management, who is on the Board of Directors for the Soros-funded Economic Policy Institute. Johnson has complained that government intervention in the fiscal crisis hasn't been enough and wanted "restructuring," including asking "for letters of resignation from the top executives of all the major banks."

Have no doubt about it: This is a Soros event from top to bottom. Even Soros admits his ties to INET are a problem, saying, "there is a conflict there which I fully recognize." He claims he stays out of operations. That's impossible. The whole event is his operation.

INET isn't subtle about its aims for the conference. Johnson interviewedfellow INET board member Robert Skidelsky about "The Need for a New Bretton Woods" in a recent video. The introductory slide to the video is subtitled: "How currency issues and tension between the US and China are renewing calls for a global financial overhaul." Skidelsky called for a new agreement and said in the video that the conflict between the United States and China was "at the center of any monetary deal that may be struck, that needs to be struck."

Soros described in the 2009 op-ed that U.S.-China conflict as "another stark choice between two fundamentally different forms of organization: international capitalism and state capitalism." He concluded that "a new multilateral system based on sounder principles must be invented." As he explained it in 2010, "we need a global sheriff."

In the 2000 version of his book "Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism," Soros wrote how the Bretton Woods institutions "failed spectacularly" during the economic crisis of the late 1990s. When he called for a new Bretton Woods in 2009, he wanted it to "reconstitute the International Monetary Fund," and while he's at it, restructure the United Nations, too, boosting China and other countries at our expense.

"Reorganizing the world order will need to extend beyond the financial system and involve the United Nations, especially membership of the Security Council,' he wrote. 'That process needs to be initiated by the US, but China and other developing countries ought to participate as equals."

Soros emphasized that point, that this needs to be a global solution, making America one among many. "The rising powers must be present at the creation of this new system in order to ensure that they will be active supporters."

And that's exactly the kind of event INET is delivering, with the event websiteemphasizing "today's reconstruction must engage the larger European Union, as well as the emerging economies of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia." China figures prominently, including a senior economist for the World Bank in Beijing, the director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the chief adviser for the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations.

This is all easy to do when you have the reach of George Soros who funds more than 1,200 organizations. Except, any one of those 1,200 would shout such an event from the highest mountain. Groups like MoveOn.org or the Center for American Progress didn't make their names being quiet. The same holds true globally, where Soros has given more than $7 billion to Open Society Foundations - including many media-savvy organizations just a phone call away. Why hasn't the Soros network spread the word?

Especially since Soros warns, all this needs to happen because "the alternative is frightening." The Bush-hating billionaire says America is scary "because a declining superpower losing both political and economic dominance but still preserving military supremacy is a dangerous mix."

The Soros empire is silent about this new Bretton Woods conference because it isn't just designed to change global economic rules. It also is designed to put America in its place - part of a multilateral world the way Soros wants it. He wrote that the U.S. "could lead a cooperative effort to involve both the developed and the developing world, thereby reestablishing American leadership in an acceptable form."

That's what this conference is all about - changing the global economy and the United States to make them "acceptable" to George Soros." (snip) ...

- Iris Somberg contributed to this commentary

Dan Gainor is the Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center's Vice President for Business and Culture. His column appears each week on The Fox Forum. He can also be contacted on FaceBook and Twitter as dangainor.

NOTE: This article is originally posted at this website:
http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/2011/Unreported_Soros_Event_Aims_to_Remake_Entire_Global_Economy.html

The Success Of Alternative Markets Depends On You

"Grassroots barter markets have a notorious reputation lately for fizzling out before they ever get a chance to shine. The reasons for this are sometimes complex, but if we are to be honest, usually the lion’s share of the blame goes towards the way in which they are often half-heartedly initiated. If the foundation of your network is not built on solid ground and a passionate desire for a better future, then that network will fail. In a world dominated for decades by fiat currencies and debt, in a world where private trade has become a novelty rather than a mainstay of local commerce, there is little room for error, or ego. Establishing a barter organization today is not just an act of self preservation in the face of a crumbling mainstream economy, it is, indeed, an act of revolution. For by doing so, you are stating loudly and with clarity that you will no longer be held enslaved by the corrupt financial labyrinth. That you will no longer participate in its trappings. That you will no longer play the game by their rules. By building your own system, you declare independence, and this is not something to be taken lightly.

This revolt, as it were, is against the dire mechanizations of globalism; a modern day rehashing of ancient feudalism which, as in the days of lords and monarchs, benefits only the ultra-rich. So far, globalization has given us nothing but a tenuous condition of interdependency, a constant state of decay in which every nation becomes a domino in a long and precarious chain; one falls, and we all fall. The claimed “mission” of globalism is harmonization and “equality”, but the cultures of the world are made equal through globalization only in that they are made equally desperate.

Truly free markets, whether large or small, are the ultimate defense against globalism and corporate centralization. They create flexibility, redundancy, and integrity. If the people are in control of their own trade, if that trade is designed to strengthen local communities and not global conglomerates, if their transactions are structured in a manner that protects their privacy, instead of laying their entire life bare for an unaccountable bureaucracy to dissect, then they will be very difficult to dominate. No society can hope to remain free without first having free markets.

Understanding the gravity of this undertaking is the first and most important step before delving into the difficult work of barter organizing. It is a step that we at the Alternative Market Movement cannot help anyone take; it is something each person must do on their own. The following steps, however, we can help with. Here are some simple guidelines to make the barter process easier for you and your new network…

Anyone Can Barter: The strength of bartering lay in its simplicity. Anyone can trade with anyone else, at any time, for any reason. There is absolutely no need for a middle-man to regulate a barter transaction. Period. The scale does not have to be grand either. A weekly or bi-weekly traders market on public grounds would be fantastic, but it is not absolutely necessary. Talk with friends, family, and co-workers, and start trading! The point is to uncomplicate commerce.

Online Social Networking: Social networking is a powerful communications tool, and should be used to meet like-minded people in your city or state to expand your network base. However, networks should NOT become dependent on the internet for all organizing. Eventually, Americans are going to have to stand up from their computers, leave their houses, meet in public forums or open markets, and deal with each other face to face. The social networking function of Alt-Market.com can never take the place of physical organization in the real world. That said, we believe it can help immensely in the initial stages of any group hoping to grow and invite new participants.

Alt-Market.com is also NOT a new eBay or Craigslist. Transactions between participants should be handled face to face, and kept as local as possible. Again, relying completely on the internet to support your bartering completely defeats the purpose of building barter networks. If Alt-Market.com, or the internet itself, were to be shut down, those who refused to do the work of building locally would be utterly lost.

Free Market Skill Sets: Alt-Market.com will feature instructional video submissions from anyone who believes they have a skill useful in a poor economy or a post collapse economy. Our goal is to find the best teachers in the movement to share their knowledge with others, so that we can expand the practical skill sets of barter networks and make trade more dynamic. Teachers whose videos qualify will be given the opportunity to participate in Alt-Market conventions and workshops across the country meant to give people hands on training experience in various trades. Every person involved in a barter network should endeavor to increase their skill sets in order to improve their ability to trade.

Some skills, like firearms repair, or welding, have obvious value. But one should not discount other talents. Fabric work, candle making, electronics repair, are great barter skills. Those with engineering or construction backgrounds will be highly sought after. School teachers could always home tutor for trade. Even a barber could trade haircuts for goods or services. Make a list of your valuable skills, then work to expand it.

Approach Your Local Farmer’s Co-Op: I can’t stress enough how important food production is in the midst of an inflationary environment. As long as Americans are completely dependent on the dollar for trade, they will be forced to endure ever increasing food prices at the grocery store. Planting one’s own garden is a given in this scenario, but Farmer’s Co-Ops will also play an integral part in barter economies. Groups should make a point to approach local co-ops and discuss with them the advantages of participating in barter commerce, including the fact that by doing so, they will greatly increase their customer base while corporatized farms continue to lose money.

Start A Micro Industry: Those with business savvy and funding could find great opportunity within the barter framework. Producing a particular item or service for an entire town or city is no doubt possible, and could even bring local employment back to life. The best micro-industries will, of course, stay focused on goods and services practical for a poor economy or post collapse environment.

Micro-industries and small businesses involved in the Alternative Market Movement will be in a unique position to nurture barter networks by giving their employees the option of being paid in gold, silver, or trade instead of dollars. This would complete the circle of wealth and trade, making each community financially self contained and protected against derailment of the wider system.

Wean Yourself Off Corporate Chains: As your network grows, and more and more goods and services become available, move to support that growth by purchasing what you can through the network. Hey, there’s always going to be some items that you might have to shell out fiat for at WalMart, so don’t feel guilty, but do make an effort to buy local instead.

The number of mom-and-pop stores in this country is dwindling fast. Involving them in the barter process would be ideal. Just as with farmer’s co-ops, they stand to gain a considerable customer base while other businesses flounder in the bad economy, and you gain an outlet to barter for goods without having to set foot in Wally World. Small businesses can also use Alt-Market.com to their advantage by setting up a profile page and alerting every interested person in their immediate area that they are open to barter and trade. This is, essentially, free advertising for participating businesses.

For those businesses concerned about the tax implications of accepting barter in their stores, we will soon be providing legal advice from networks which have already handled these issues and have the answers at hand.

Start Small, Aim High: Moving your entire city or state into a barter framework is going to take time. Attempting to implement trade on that scale from the very beginning will likely end in bitter disappointment. The key is to start local, between family, friends, neighbors, and those you meet through Alt-Market.com and other tools, then create a strong core group, and grow from there. Participants who first involve those acquaintances they know well, such as their church, or pre-existing political club, will be off to a very fast start, because successful trade is highly dependent on trust.

Eventually, networks from one city may begin to trade with networks from a nearby city and so forth, until finally, barter is as commonplace as the dollar itself.

Expand Options, Don’t Limit Them: Asking the average American to go cold turkey on the dollar and start using only silver, or only goods for barter, is simply not going to work. The secret to wider success in a barter economy, I believe, is to increase options, not limit them. Barter systems that accept gold, silver, goods, services, and even dollars (until the dollar implodes), will attract the most participation. Again, in economics, flexibility is strength.

Now that we’ve covered some of the more constructive steps in starting a barter system, here are some serious mistakes that could derail your network. Are these 'official Alt-Market rules'? No. They are suggestions based on intensive study into the functions of macro and micro commerce. They are also based on common sense.

What NOT to do:

Micro-Manage Your Network: Barter networks need organizers, not dictators. The most important thing to remember here is that barter and trade belongs to everyone, and no one person can or should control such a system. It is important to take responsibility for the network you help to build, and, it is also important to take pride in its growth. However, if you are out to become the ‘king of barter town’, you are going to lose people. Remember, to fight centralization, we must decentralize. To fight globalism, we must turn to localism.

Introduce Your Own Fiat: As if the dollar is not a big enough problem, why not add to it by printing off your own completely unbacked currency? Fiat is fiat, whether produced by the Federal Reserve, or on your basement computer. If you are going to try to issue a personalized currency for the network you participate in, then it had better be supported by tangible goods or commodities which remain IN STORE, not in transit. That means, you should not issue coupons and notes for a reserve of goods you do not yet have. Its fraud when the banksters do it, and the situation will be no different for you.

Some networks do use personalized currencies, often made of silver, gold, and copper. This works because there is a legitimate commodity, and thus a legitimate store of wealth, involved. Each network will have to decide whether or not this particular strategy is worthwhile for them.

Cheat Your Trading Partners: Honesty is the paramount value of trade. Without it, healthy commerce is impossible. Cheating those you barter with will eventually lead only to your own downfall. Word travels fast in community markets. Keep it honorable, keep it clean, keep it fair. Bartering is for businessmen. “Hustling” is for idiots…

Limit Your Own Trade: Keep your barter options as open as possible. It’s good to focus on what you need, as opposed to what you “want”, but don’t let this diminish your ability to interact in your barter network. You may be offered certain goods that might not be immediately needed, but they may be useful to you down the road. Demanding only silver, or only livestock, or only grain for each and every trade, creates rigidity, and frustrates people into not wanting to barter with you at all. Keep in mind, even if an item is not what you need at the moment, it may still be sought after by someone else you know. Stay flexible, within reason…

This has been an overview of methods and guidelines for participating in Alternative Markets. Alt-Market.com is not a centralized body meant to “administrate” all barter and trade, we are a resource meant to help you administrate your own barter and trade. The concept of “localism” and decentralization is foreign for many Americans. We have been conditioned to expect that an organization or movement must be led from the top down, instead of the bottom up. This is simply not so. In fact, Alternative Markets depend upon you to lead. They depend upon you for direction, not some centralized group of self-proclaimed shepherds. It is my greatest hope that one day, not long from now, barter networks will be so common, sound money principles so respected, and corporate globalism so thoroughly denounced by the populace, that this website will become ridiculously obsolete. Until that day, Alt-Market.com remains here for you…" (snip) ...

You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com

This article is originally published at this website:
http://www.alt-market.com/articles/34-the-success-of-alternative-markets-depends-on-you

NOTE: Be sure and bookmark the "alt-market" website for future reference:
http://www.alt-market.com/

AND check for barter groups in your area:
http://www.alt-market.com/groups

The High Cost of Being Poor In Canada

By Emily Dee

"My daughter is disabled and on the Ontario Disability Support Program. She works 16 hours a week for minimum wage, part of which is deducted from her monthly allowance, so suffice it to say that she is deemed low income.

She is dependable, and has been at her job for three years. During that time she has never been late, with the exception of the odd snowstorm that delayed her bus, and rarely takes a day off.

But this summer I was abruptly introduced to the hidden economy of the working poor, when a young street “punk” moved in on her, and in just two weeks, destroyed years of my daughter’s financial prudence.

And she was able to do this so easily because of something called “payday loans”. I had heard the term before but never really understood the system. I certainly understand it now.

During that time, this young girl (16-years-old) took my daughter to four of these places, where for 21% on the dollar, she could get a cash advance (the longest term 11 days). All she needed was a chequing account and proof that she had a job.

Using one transaction as an example, she was advanced $118.50 in exchange for a post-dated cheque of $ 150.00 (6 days hence). Since roughly 60% of her income goes to rent, she doesn’t have $ 150.00 extra in income, so the cheque bounced.

The bank charged her an NSF fee of $40 and the establishment an NSF fee of $50.00. So the cost to borrow less than $120 dollars for a week was now $240.

I know that the right-wing would automatically denounce the young girl who took advantage of a disabled person, with “soft on crime”, “young offenders”, because after all, she was the one who walked away with the $118.50. But what of the offenders who “legally” netted $121.50? They are no better than the “little criminal”.

In total, this young girl received about $800, and my daughter was left with a debt of almost $2000, because not only did she have exorbitant bank charges, because of returned “payday loans”, but her regular monthly bills, like cable and telephone, also bounced, and these companies charged her on their end as well.

I only became aware of what was happening when my daughter called crying that her employer had messed up her paycheque and she had no money for food. Turns out that she received her pay, but all of it went to cover an overdraft.

How Did This Happen?" (snip) ...

Read the complete article at this website:
http://unseatharper.ca/wordpress/2011/03/the-high-cost-of-being-poor-in-canada/

Also read "The PayDay Loan Trap"
http://moneyjarbudget.com/2009/10/the-payday-loan-trap

Stephen Zarlenga's Talk on Usury

Stephen Zarlenga gave this talk on usury to Lord Sudeley's "Monday Club" discussion group at London's Carlton House on May 5th, 2004:

Stephen Zarlenga is the Director of the American Monetary Institute, P. O. Box 601, Valatie, NY 12184

THE USURY PROBLEM REMAINS

"We’ve been to the moon; were on the verge of artificially creating life, yet we have made almost no progress on a question which most societies considered a great danger – a destroyer of nations - the question of usury. Even bringing up the matter invites pre-judgement. What should civilized society’s attitude be toward usury?

Lets start today with Solon's Reform In Athens about 600 BC shortly after the introduction of coinage. The class of free small farmers was vanishing, with land becoming concentrated into the hands of the Oligarchy. Professor Clahoun identified the problem:

"Before the introduction of coined money the peasant farmer borrowed commodities and repaid the loan in kind, and … was probably able to meet the obligation without great difficulty; but after the introduction of coined money the situation became decidedly more difficult…he must take a loan of money to purchase his necessary supplies at a time when money was cheap and commodities dear. When a year of plenty came and he undertook to repay the loan, commodities were cheap and money was dear."

Unable to get out of debt, eventually bad weather or a poor harvest would bring foreclosure on their land and even bind them into slavery. This enslavement grew to crisis proportions, when Solon came to Athens rescue with his "Seisachtheia" or "shaking off" of burdens. Personal slavery was no longer allowed as security for debts. He canceled such existing debt contracts; and gave back land which had been seized. Farmers who had been sold into slavery abroad by those to whom they owed money were "bought" back and returned to Athens.

SOLON ALSO DECLARED A MINIMUM MONETARY VALUE FOR EACH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT SETTING FLOOR PRICES FOR THEM (Heichelheim presents the ancient source for this). He switched from the "Aeginatic" to the lighter weight "Attic" monetary standard reducing coinage weights and increased the amount of coinage in circulation.

Several Hundred Years Later Aristotle (384-322 Bc) Formulated The Classical View Against Usury. Aristotle understood that money is sterile; it doesn’t beget more money the way cows beget more cows. He knew that "Money exists not by nature but by law":

"The most hated sort (of wealth getting) and with the greatest reason, is usury, which makes a gain out of money itself and not from the natural object of it. For money was intended to be used in exchange but not to increase at interest. And this term interest (tokos), which means the birth of money from money is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth, this is the most unnatural." (1258b, POLITICS)

And Aristotle really disliked usurers:

"...those who ply sordid trades, pimps and all such people, and those who lend small sums at high rates. For all these take more than they ought, and from the wrong sources. What is common to them is evidently a sordid love of gain..." (1122a, ETHICS)

THE CHRISTIAN SCHOLASTICS DIFFERENTIATED BETWEEN USURY AND INTEREST

The Scholastics (1100 -1500 AD), the Church scholars familiar with the available writings in existence, echoed Aristotle. Acquinas argued that money is a measure, and usury "diversifys the measure" placing extra demands on the money mechanism which harmed its function as a measure. Henry of Ghent wrote: "Money is medium in exchange, and not terminus." Alexander Lombard noted: "Money should not be able to be bought and sold for it is not extremum in selling or buying, but medium."

The Scholastics made the first attempt at a science of economics and their main concern was usury; but this was not the same as just charging interest. It was generally not forbidden to earn interest if the lender was actually taking some risk, without a guaranteed gain. Interest could also be charged when the lender suffered some loss or passed up some opportunity by extending the loan. Venice used advanced financial forms for centuries without violating the Scholastic usury bans.

TWO TYPES OF LOANS WERE ALWAYS EXEMPT FROM BANS ON INTEREST: the "Societas", where the lender assumed some portion of the risk of the enterprise. Also exempt was the "Census" - an obligation to pay an annual return based on some "fruitful" property. At first it was paid in real produce, later in money.

The Census was normally capitalized at 8 times the annual return, but the risk of the "fruitful" base was on the lender not the borrower, for if the crop were destroyed by weather, the borrower had no obligation that year. Later cities issued "census" obligations based an tax revenues, which came to be called "rents".

Usury was much more than charging interest - it was taking unfair advantage; USURY WAS AN ANTI-SOCIAL MISUSE OF THE MONEY MECHANISM. Similar to the term Riba in the Islamic world."

Read Stephen Zarlenga's complete Talk on Usury at this website:
http://www.monetary.org/usurytalk.htm

AND readers are invited to read "The Usury Problem Remains"
http://www.ethicalmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/The-Usury-Problem-Remains.pdf

The Money Scam

"Like Henry Ford, Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, believed that a group of "international Jewish bankers" was striving to take over the World. On February 8, 1920, the Illustrated Sunday Herald published in London ran an article by Churchill. Its title: "Zionism Versus Bolshevism: A Struggle for the Soul of the Jewish People."

Genius Industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947) exposed the Jewish Bankers’ conspiracy in his book “The International Jew” excerpts of which were published in THE DEARBORN INDEPENDENT, which he started when Jewish bankers tried to take over his business, e.g. issue of 21 May 1921:

•“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking ...for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning...”

•“The influenceof the common people is driven out of the schools; but Jewish influence is allowed to run rampant in the higher institutions where the common people’s influence cannot go…“

Note: “Ford's apology was abject, but neither then nor since did he ever deny the truth of the articles.” (snip) ... http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/intern_jew.htm

Click on the link below for the complete pdf file titled "The Money Scam."
http://forumnews.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/the-money-scam.pdf

The Illuminati and the House of Rothschild

By Johnny Silver Bear http://www.SilverBearCafe.com

"The "Illuminati" was a name used by a German sect that existed in the 15th century. They practiced the occult, and professed to possess the 'light' that Lucifer had retained when he became Satan.

In an attempt to document the origins of an secret organization which has evolved into a mastodonic nightmare, successfully creating and controlling a shadow government that supercedes several national governments, and in whose hands now lay the destiny of the world, one must carefully retrace its history. The lengths to which this organization has gone to create the political machinery, and influence public sentiment to the degree necessary to propel its self-perpetuating prophecy, are, quite frankly, mind boggling. Yet the facts provide for the undeniable truth of its existence.

In 1743 a goldsmith named Amschel Moses Bauer opened a coin shop in Frankfurt, Germany. He hung above his door a sign depicting a Roman eagle on a red shield. The shop became known as the Red Shield firm. The German word for 'red shield' is Rothschild.

Amschel Bauer had a son, Meyer Amschel Bauer. At a very early age Mayer showed that he possessed immense intellectual ability, and his father spent much of his time teaching him everything he could about the money lending business and in the basic dynamics of finance. A few years after his father's death in 1755, Mayer went to work in Hannover as a clerk, in a bank, owned by the Oppenheimers. While in the employ of the Oppenheimers, he was introduced to a General von Estorff for whom he ran errands. Meyer's superior ability was quickly recognized and his advancement within the firm was swift. He was awarded a junior partnership. Von Estorff would later provide the yet-to-be formed House of Rothschild an entré into to the palace of Prince William.

His success allowed him the means to return to Frankfurt and to purchase the business his father had established in 1743. The big Red Shield was still displayed over the door. Recognizing the true significance of the Red Shield (his father had adopted it as his emblem from the Red Flag which was the emblem of the revolutionary minded Jews in Eastern Europe), Mayer Amschel Bauer changed his name to Rothschild (red shield). It was at this point that the House of Rothschild came into being.

Through his experience with the Oppenheimers, Meyer Rothschild learned that loaning money to governments and kings was much more profitable than loaning to private individuals. Not only were the loans bigger, but they were secured by the nation's taxes. (snip) ...

Read the complete article at the Red Ice Creations website:
http://www.redicecreations.com/specialreports/2005/08aug/redshield.html

NOTE: The article was (is) originally published at this website:
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/rothschild.html

The Hidden History of Money and Feudal Order Usury Secrets

A great compilation of resources and information about our orthodox economic system of usury-based, debt money by Alexander James. I purchased the printed copy of "The Hidden History of Money and Feudal Order Usury Secrets" a couple of years ago when it was first released.

The UsuryFree Network got mentioned on pages 21 and 87.

I suggest downloading this book and storing it in your archives for future reference.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/48297449/The-Hidden-History-of-Money-and-Feudal-Order-Usury-Secrets

Join The Global Revolution

From this YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WITHHELDINTELLIGENCE

"LATEST CALL TO REVOLUTION VIDEO EDIT. Speech audio taken from my friend at http://www.youtube.com/user/peoplestandup

Latest V for Vendetta address. The world is currently rising to Revolution, lets not miss the train....We all need to play an active part. To take back our planet from the Ancient Brotherhood of Deception. Let's arise to caste away the Deception that has taken over this beautiful planet of ours. Let's bring down the secret group who brings the world FREEMASONS, ILLUMINATI, NAZI, ZIONISM and infiltrates and confuses our world's religions and peoples. The Human Race is ONE." (snip) ...

Join The Global Revolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gTmWH5ao7w

Rise People Rise – The Global Revolution is Upon Us!
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/01/28/ken-okeefe-rise-people-rise-–-the-global-revolution-is-upon-us

Community currency to benefit economically

By Madison Samuel-Barclay - Invermere Valley Echo

Published: March 06, 2011

In less than two months, Community Dollars (C$) will hit the streets of select communities of the Columbia Basin.

C$ is a new currency program that will benefit communities by keeping a currency circulating in local businesses and organizations.

C$ first came from a spin-off conversation in the Transitions Nelson Group about a local currency. A committee was formed to see the project through, and has been in the works since late spring of 2010.

"It's a currency that can circulate in a community," said Billy Jones, member of the Community Currency Committee in Nelson. "A lot of the money that goes into a community goes out just as fast, when a community always needs money to stay and circulate."

The ideology behind C$ comes from the Community Way, an exchange system developed by Michael Linton, who also developed LETS (Local Exchange Trading System), a system used around the world in various countries and communities.

C$ is exactly as it sounds; a community-specific currency is introduced to work in conjunction with the Canadian dollar.

Businesses can fund the organization with Canadian money for the community dollars, and agree to take back the money in certain percentages (a certain percentage of C$ is allotted for a product, for example).

"What it does is build resilience with the community," said Jones. "Everybody wins, because it circulates and stays in the community. It stops a valve that flows on Canadian currency."

The C$, which were designed by Robert Strutin, are available in increments of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. They will be available on April 22.

The bills depict an environmental scene on the front, with a native animal on the back.

"Our wealth comes from our land," said Strutin about the inspiration for the bill designs. "We're going after something vivid, attractive, and beautiful with the design. We want it to be something people want to have."

Due to a growing demand for more information about C$, online and community-based sessions have been scheduled throughout March and April for those interested in participating, including those interested in getting their own community involved.

Workshops will be held in Kimberley, Fernie and Nelson starting on March 8." (snip) ...

For more information, visit http://www.communitydollars.ca

NOTE: This article is originally posted at this website:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/invermerevalleyecho/business/117438488.html

Prepare For Global Economic Disaster

"It is not just the United States that is headed for an economic collapse. The truth is that the entire world is heading for a massive economic meltdown and the people of earth need to be warned about the coming economic disaster that is going to sweep the globe. The current world financial system is based on debt, and there are alarming signs that the gigantic global debt bubble is getting ready to burst. In addition, global prices for the key resources that the major economies of the planet depend on are rising very rapidly.

Despite all of our advanced technology, the truth is that human civilization simply cannot function without oil and food. But now the price of oil and the price of food are both increasing dramatically. So how is the current global economy supposed to keep functioning properly if it soon costs much more to ship products between continents? How are the billions of people that are just barely surviving today supposed to feed themselves if the price of food goes up another 30 or 40 percent? For decades, most of the major economies around the globe have been able to take for granted that massive amounts of cheap oil and massive amounts of cheap food will always be there. So what happens when that paradigm changes?

At last check, the price of U.S. crude was over 104 dollars a barrel and the price of Brent crude was over 115 dollars a barrel. Many analysts fear that if the crisis in Libya escalates or if the chaos in the Middle East spreads that we could see the all-time record of 147 dollars a barrel broken by the end of the year. That would be absolutely disastrous for the global economy.

But it isn't just the chaos in the Middle East that is driving oil prices. The truth is that oil prices have been moving upwards for months. The recent revolutions in the Middle East have only accelerated the trend.

Let's just hope that the "day of rage" being called for in Saudi Arabia later this month does not turn into a full-blown revolution like we have seen in other Middle Eastern countries. The Saudis keep a pretty tight grip on their people, but at this point anything is possible. A true revolution in Saudi Arabia would send oil prices into unprecedented territory very quickly.

But even without all of the trouble in the Middle East the world was already heading for an oil crunch. The global demand for oil is rising at a very vigorous pace. For example, last year Chinese demand for oil increased by almost 1 million barrels per day. That is absolutely staggering. The Chinese are now buying more new cars every year than Americans are, and so Chinese demand for oil is only going to continue to increase.

Much could be done to increase the global supply of oil, but so far our politicians and the major oil company executives are sitting on their hands. They seem to like the increasing oil prices.

So for now it looks like oil prices will continue to rise and this is going to result in much higher prices at the gas pump.

Already, ABC News is reporting that regular unleaded gasoline is going for $5.29 a gallon at one gas station in Orlando, Florida.

The U.S. economy in particular is vulnerable to rising oil prices because our entire economic system is designed around cheap gasoline. If the price of gas goes up to 5 or 6 dollars a gallon and it stays there it is going to have a catastrophic effect on the U.S. economy.

Just remember what happened back in 2008. The price of oil hit an all-time high of $147 a barrel and then a few months later the entire financial system had a major meltdown.

Well, as the price of oil rises it is going to create a whole lot of imbalances in the global financial system once again.

This is definitely a situation that we should all be watching.

But it is not just the price of oil that could cause a global economic disaster.

The global price of food could potentially be even more concerning. As you read this, there are about 3 billion people around the globe that live on the equivalent of 2 dollars a day or less. Those people cannot afford for food prices to go up much.

But global food prices are rising. According to the United Nations, the global price of food has risen for 8 consecutive months. Last month, the global price of food set a brand new all-time record high. Many are starting to fear that we could actually be in the early stages of a major global food crisis.

The price of just about every major agricultural commodity has been absolutely soaring during the past year....

*The price of corn has doubled over the last six months.
*The price of wheat has more than doubled over the past year.
*The price of soybeans is up about 50% since last June.
*The price of cotton has more than doubled over the past year.
*The commodity price of orange juice has doubled since 2009.
*The price of sugar is the highest it has been in 30 years.

Unfortunately, the production of food in most countries around the world is very highly dependent on oil, so as oil goes up in price this is going to make the food crisis even worse.

Hold on to your hats folks." (snip) ...

Read the complete article and other articles and and view some video clips at this blog:
http://newamerica-now.blogspot.com

This article was originally published at this website:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/people-of-earth-prepare-for-economic-disaster

AND check out the comments by the people who have read the article.

NOTE: "The blog (NewAmericaNow) is concerned with the economic crisis and imminent economic and social collapse, survival after such a currency crisis in which the dollar and other fiat currencies become useless."