Socialist Republic

Of

California

? 

FREE SPEECH SMACKDOWN

California Democrats toss state senator Janet Nguyen for comments on Tom Hayden.

On Tuesday, February 21, California’s senate Democrats memorialized the late Tom Hayden, a former state senator, husband of Jane Fonda, and leading figure in the New Left. On Thursday, February 23, southern California Republican Janet Nguyen rose to speak, first in Vietnamese, then English. 

“Today I recognize in memory the millions of Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who died in seeking for freedom and democracy,” she said. “On Tuesday you had an opportunity to honor Sen. Tom Hayden. With all due respect, I would like to offer this historical perspective. 

 As the Sacramento Bee reported, at that point Sen. Ricardo Lara, Bell Gardens Democrat, cut off Nguyen, who continued to speak even after Democrats shut off her microphone. When she refused an order to take a seat, Lara had Nguyen “forcibly removed” by the Sergeant at Arms. The Democrats also shut down the feed to the California Channel, preventing viewers statewide from hearing Nguyen’s statement. Senate Republicans called it a violation of free speech, but it was more than that.

 NEW POLL SHOWS DEMOCRATS 

ARE THE

 NEW SOCIALIST PARTY

Remember back in the day when there was a difference between Democrats and Socialists? 

Don't look now, but there is no difference. 

The poll also gauged the level of support for "Basic minimum income" aka free money for all aka universal welfare funded by working people. 

43% overall support and 39% oppose. (Yes, we're in bad shape.) 

30% of Dems strongly support it. 25% somewhat support it for a total of 55% support. Among Republicans, total support is in the thirties. 

At this rate, why don't the Dems just rebrand as the Socialist Party.

DYI: Democrats, Republicans and America in general what type of government have we morphed into since 1776?

Communism:

Political theory advocating all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Socialism:

Political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administrating the major means of production and distribution of goods (mixed economy).

Fascism:

Political theories advocating governmental policy to influence which industries expand and, perhaps implicitly, which contract, via subsidies, tax breaks, and other aids for favored industries.

Welfare Statism:

Political theories advocating government to protect the health and well-being of its citizens especially those in financial or social need, by means of grants, pensions, and other benefits.

Capitalism:

Political theories advocating prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopolies, or other authorities.

Democrats AND Republicans, by classical definition, are predominantly fascist’s.  Both will make changes in the tax code along with rules, regulations and subsidies to direct manufacturing and services.  Simply put a government industrial directed policy of private ownership (corporations). 

The welfare state – Democrats are front and center with head line programs such as Social Security, Medicare (retirees) and Medicaid (poverty-stricken) and food stamps (SNAP program).  Extreme welfare statist Democrats are endorsing cradle to grave government paid healthcare AND universal basic income.

All in all until Democrats pass legislation for the ownership or at least partial ownership of a major industry they are Fascist’s and Welfare Statist's NOT Socialist’s.

Obviously America is at the cross roads of Fascism and the Welfare State; will we move as a nation to full blown socialism or begin the journey back to free market capitalism stamping out industrial policy and the welfare state allowing rugged individualism to reign supreme?  The internet is the battle ground; if it remains free from censorship as a nation we will move back to roots as a Libertarian free market with our citizens seen as sovereign with natural rights – if not – morph into another failed socialist, fascist, welfare state run by the nature of big government – criminals.

   DYI

Dollar

Assault

Closing Chapter for Bretton Woods Accords & Petro-Dollar

The World Is Creeping Toward

 De-Dollarization

The issue of when a global reserve currency begins or ends is not an exact science. There are no press releases announcing it, and neither are there big international conferences that end with the signing of treaties and a photo shoot. Nevertheless we can say with confidence that the reign of every world reserve currency has to come to and end at some point in time. During a changeover from one global currency to another, gold (and to a lesser extent silver) has always played a decisive role. Central banks and governments have long been aware that the dollar has a sell-by date as a reserve currency. But it has taken until now for the subject to be discussed openly. 

The mechanism underlying today's “dollar standard” is widely known and the term “petrodollar” describes it well. This system is based on an informal agreement the US and Saudi Arabia arrived at in the mid-1970s. The result of this deal: Oil, and consequently all other important commodities, is traded in US dollars — and only in US dollars. Oil producers then “recycle” these “petrodollars” into US treasuries. This circular flow of dollars has enabled the US to pile up a towering mountain of debt of nearly $20 trillion — without having to worry about its own financial stability. At least, until now.

Putin Orders End To US Dollar Trade At Russian Seaports

Whether in response to rising scorching tensions with the US, or simply to provide support for the ruble, on Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to approve legislation making the ruble the main currency of exchange at all Russian seaports by next year, RT reported citing the Kremlin website.

 DYI:  American world Dollar dominance is drawing to a close as the list grows for countries such as the newest Venezuela, throwing off the reserve currency petro-dollar chains.  However, this will not be the demise of the U.S. nor will it cause hyper Weimar inflation.  What is happening is an acknowledgement of America’s debt – [government, corporate & private] - and spend economy has debased her currency fewer countries wish to hold a depreciating asset.  This is why the barbarous relic – GOLD – reported for years in the alternative media and now is a stable among many main stream media outlets – is being implemented by Russia and China.

Also the Bretton Woods Accords that was signed by the Allies in 1944 American’s would provide the majority of the cost and man power in securing Europe’s defense plus protecting all sea lanes and accepting unlimited imports.  The idea behind this was obvious who ever controls the sea lanes controls the world – unfortunately this had a tragic flaw.  In order for countries to earn dollars they needed to under cut, first based on price then quality, gutting our industrial base.  These countries were simply playing by American rules much to our demise.  With the rise of Trump he has said enough is enough the rules must change.  This would have happened eventually – no matter who was President – as the U.S. simply can no longer afford to play the world domination game.

The U.S. has many advantages – access to the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific with multiple world class ports – extensive navigable rivers and canals – massive farming along with natural resources.  This plus four reasons America will remain a super power. 

• The Unsung hero of energy – energy efficiency – from LED light bulbs to gas sipping autos – the U.S. has reduced its energy foot print significantly.  Businessmen all look to reduce their costs and one place is in energy usage.  Despite any ups or downs of the economy this trend is here to stay will only improve over time. 
• Fracking…Love it or hate it drillers are becoming more and more efficient in its usage extending the life of existing fields along with known shale deposits.  This has driven natural gas prices down to low prices along with moderating the price of oil.
• The development of thorium molten salt nuclear power.  Amazing as it is this is it is an old technology.  The reason it was displaced by the so called standard reactor was not electrical generation but the by products for nuclear bomb making [world domination].  Thorium is unusable for bomb making and as such is shunned by the major powers.  As energy usage has sky rocketed world wide development of thorium power is being ramped up significantly.  Thorium is very plentiful so much so it is not considered a strategic mineral.  Once developed and standardized a new thorium molten salt reactor will be at the same cost as a coal fired plant.  This will moderate significantly the cost of electricity bringing up point four.
• Coal liquefaction…Conversion of coal into liquid fuels technologies that have been around since WWII with many countries such as South Africa using the process for decades.  What is required is energy – such as abundant nuclear power to make the conversion process profitable.

The cross current of energy independence and world domination overreach U.S. foreign policy is in transition from controlling ALL major and minor sea lanes to those who benefit American imports AND exports.  With energy independence manufacturing will have a rebirth turning America into an export nation.  So…America will become disinterested of other countries (unless they have nuclear weapons) outside of our major trading partners.  A new world disorder will occur as America will shun entanglements – out of cost [world domination] and non-necessity of trade – many regions such as the Mid East will fall to the way side.  America will not become isolationist will simply become far more selective in its use of foreign power whether political or militarily.  All of this is within the time table of geopolitics which is to say this trend will increase proportionally year by year over the next two decades.

  DYI

Up, Up & Away

In My Beautiful Bubble!

Wall Street hits record highs, S&P 500 pierces 2,500

Shiller PE as of 9-18-17 is 30.69

DYI

America

Home of the Free?

DYI:  America has morphed into a combination of socialism, corporate monopolies, with a touch of Nazism and Fascism living in a post constitutional republic directed by the Shadow Government and managed by the Deep State. Their modus operandi is different between the two; the Shadow Government uses fear and intimidation in order to keep citizens in line including the Deep State who seek power and greed by utilizing their position to extract profits using a heavy dose of graft and out right fraud.

Shadow Government

  

Shadow Government – The Players

The chart above is the players on the international scene with many of the names overlapping in the different organizations.  Here in the States the flow chart for primary players and secondary actors of the Shadow government is this:

Primary Players

CFR – 

Council of Foreign Affairs

CIA – Central Intelligence Agency

MSM – Main Stream Media

NSA – National Security Agency

Secondary Actors

DOS –

 Department of State

NGA – National Geospatial Agency

JSOC – Joint Special Operation Command

And

********

The

Deep State

The Military Industrial Complex (MIC)

•  Lockheed Martin
•   Boeing
•   Raytheon
•   General Dynamics
•   Booz, Allen & Hamilton
•   Leidos Engineering Company
•   MIC – Lobbyists
•   Countless Subcontractors in ALL 50 States

The Financial Industrial Complex

Banks of Influence and Control - Wall Street

•   JP Morgan Chase
•   HSBC Holdings
•   BNP Paribas
•   Bank of America
•   Wells Fargo
•   Citigroup Inc.
•   Deutsche Bank
•   Societe General
•   Goldman Sachs
•   Lloyds Banking Group

World Wide Monetary Control

• Federal Reserve System
• U.S. Treasury Department
• European Central Bank
• Bank of Japan
• Bank of England
• World Bank
• International Monetary Fund

Medical Industrial Complex

Largest Hospital Chains of Influence and Control

• Community Health System - Employees 123,000
• Hospital Corporation of America - Employees 233,000
• Tenet Healthcare - Employees 130,000
• LifePoint Health - Employees 46,000
• Prime Healthcare Services - Employees 43,000

 Largest Pharmaceutical Chains of Influence and Control

• Bayer
• AbbVie
• Gilead
• GlakoSmithKline
• Sanofin
• Merck & Company
• Novartis
• Roche
• Pfizer
• Johnson & Johnson

DYI

Bubble

News

September 18, 2017

Eyes Wide Shut

John P. Hussman, Ph.D.

At the October 2002 market low, the S&P 500 stood -49.2% below its March 2000 peak (-48.0% including dividend income), with the Nasdaq 100 having lost more than -82.8% from its high, on the basis of both price and total return. The loss wiped out the entire total return of the S&P 500, in excess of Treasury bills, all the way back to May 1996. 

The bull market that followed would bring the S&P 500 to a fresh high by October 2007. Unfortunately, in the face of historically extreme valuations, that victory also proved temporary, and the S&P 500 collapsed by -56.8% (-55.2% including dividends) by March 2009, with the Nasdaq 100 losing -51.9% (-51.5% including dividends) in that decline. The loss wiped out the entire total return of the S&P 500, in excess of Treasury bills, all the way back to June 1995. 

It’s too easy to forget that by the low of the 2007-2009 collapse, the total return of the S&P 500 had lagged risk-free Treasury bills for nearly 14 years, all the way back to June 1995, and had outpaced Treasury bills by less than 1.2% annually over the nearly 22-year period since the 1987 high, even though early-2009 valuations reached only modestly undervalued levels based on the most historically reliable measures we identify. Having anticipated both the 2000-2002 and 2007-2009 collapses, with a constructive shift in-between, I remain convinced that investors are walking eyes-wide-shut into a similar outcome today. 

By the completion of the current market cycle, I expect that the S&P 500 will have lagged Treasury bills for the entire period since roughly October 1997.

DYI:  The Great Wait continues…Valuations are stretched to insane levels pushing future returns to sub atomic low levels and very possibly negative especially over the shorter term.  My model portfolio remains defensive as ever and the cash will be deployed only when valuations are more conducive to more reasonable future returns.  So hang onto your hats and your cash better values are ahead!

 Updated Monthly

AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO - ACTIVE ALLOCATION - 9/1/17

Active Allocation Bands (excluding cash) 0% to 60%

78% - Cash -Short Term Bond Index - VBIRX

22% -Gold- Precious Metals & Mining - VGPMX

 0% -Lt. Bonds- Long Term Bond Index - VBLTX

 0% -Stocks- Total Stock Market Index - VTSAX

[See Disclaimer]

 This blog site is not a registered financial advisor, broker or securities dealer and The Dividend Yield Investor is not responsible for what you do with your money.

This site strives for the highest standards of accuracy; however ERRORS AND OMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED!

The Dividend Yield Investor is a blog site for entertainment and educational purposes ONLY.

The Dividend Yield Investor shall not be held liable for any loss and/or damages from the information herein.

Use this site at your own risk.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS.

DYI

Hurricane Prone Regions

The

Real Solution!

IRMA'S DAMAGE A REMINDER OF FLORIDA ECONOMY'S VULNERABILITY

BY JOSH BOAK
AP ECONOMICS WRITER

Yet Hurricane Irma's destructive floodwaters renewed fears about how to manage the state's population boom as the risks of climate change intensify. Rising sea levels and spreading flood plains have magnified the vulnerabilities for the legions of people who continue to move to Florida and the state economy they have sustained.

DYI:  When it comes to the AP you can assured climate change clap trap will be front and center whether directly or remotely regarding the weather.  Be that as it may a nuts and bolts direction is what is needed – not climate change BS - for communities in hurricane regions; changing building codes dramatically to alleviate the staggering costs of rebuilding.  The mentality needs to change from speed of rebuilding – and the staggering taxpayer’s costs – to prevention.  I’ve advocated for years these regions need to be required – at the local level building codes – steel framed housing build off the ground to reduce significantly and possibly eliminate water and wind damage to such an extent private insurance companies will take on the liability.  Once established these weather events will go from major devastation to a nasty storm only watched on the weather channel.

DYI

Democrats

The

New Trust Busters?

Inside the new battle against Google

Barry Lynn and his team think monopoly is the next great Democratic political cause. But what happens when they aim for the tech giants?

One of the biggest, most embarrassing divorces in the normally quiet world of Washington think tanks blew into the open earlier this month, when writer Barry Lynn and nine others defected from New America. Lynn said they were pushed out of the influential Democratic think tank after he wrote a post this summer criticizing Google, one of its key funders. Anne-Marie Slaughter, who heads the foundation, called the story reporting the news "false"—then wrote a long Medium post walking her charge back. 

Lynn's group, called Open Markets, has spent six years arguing that the Democrats have become too comfortable with corporate money and power, and need to rally around a new principle: breaking up monopolies. As the party remains locked in a struggle to reboot itself, unable to craft a unifying vision in the Trump era, Lynn and his group are trying to push it into a new fight against global corporate titans, targeting big companies like Google by name, and arguing that it’s time to use federal antitrust law to chip away at their influence. They see the fight as both a boon to democracy and a political framework that could excite voters in a new, more energized populist moment. 

Lynn and his team argue that the concentration of money and power in a small number of companies is a huge danger to our economy and politics, and that Washington's main weapon to combat it, antitrust law, has become rusty from lack of use. They want to revive the New Deal antitrust regime that prioritized competition and worried about the political power of large companies—a reform that would represent a reboot of antitrust thinking for the new tech age and the kind of new political rallying point that Democrats have been looking for.

DYI:  This newly formed breakaway think tank is moving in the correct direction as corporate power has significantly lessened competitiveness not just in high tech but across many other industries as well.  If they were to add on the anti-trust mentality – to which DYI completely agrees – to government agencies through their very size have become monopolistic and tyrannical in nature no different than their big business cousins.  This one, two punch would go a long way to restoring States rights by reducing big business/big government power and restoring much needed democratic local control. 

     DYI

U.S.

Dollar

Assault 

The Most Important Chart in the World Is Getting Uglier By the Day

As you can see the $USD broke out of a massive 40 year falling wedge pattern. This initial breakout has failed to reach its ultimate target (120) and is now rolling over for a retest of the upper trendline in the mid-to low-80s. 

Put simply, this chart is telling us that the $USD is going to be collapsing in the coming months. 

The implications of this are going to be tremendous for the financial system. US corporate profits will be increasing particularly for large multi-national companies. Emerging Markets will outperform. 

And most importantly, the $USD's collapse  is going to be like rocket fuel for inflation trades. 

Venezuela Suspends Trade In U.S. Dollars

Venezuela has told oil traders it will no longer accept or offer U.S. dollars in payment for crude oil and fuels, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the developments. As a result, traders have started converting dollars into euros, and PDVSA’s foreign partners operating in the country may have to switch to euros as well. 

The decision comes on the heels of fresh U.S. sanctions that effectively aim to tie Caracas’ hands with the issue and sale of new debt, which increases the danger of it defaulting on existing loans. As a counter move, Caracas is moving to a combination of yuans, Russian rubles, and euros to cushion itself against the sanctions. PDVSA, according to the plan, will do half its oil and fuel trades in currencies other than the greenback. 

Venezuela’s Energy Minister Eulogio del Pino said PDVSA is about to start invoicing oil sales to India in rupees, and to China in yuans. Although Russia was not mentioned, an official from the energy ministry said the state oil company does hope to sell Russia oil for rubles.

DYI:  Down goes the dollar up goes the price of gold – so goes the premise.  Here at DYI I have no idea the direction of precious metals prices especially in the short term except to say “they will fluctuate!”  However, the longer term perspective as measure by the Dow/Gold Ratio gold is slightly below the long term average creating a reasonable bargain. 
 
Fred's Intelligent Bear Site brought to you by Fred Filskov. Public, private, and commercial distribution of this material is permitted as long as a link to this site is attached.  

Dow/Gold Ratio as of 9-15-17 is 17 to 1 (rounded)

Which way will gold or the precious metals mining company’s prices move DYI has no idea they are ripe for at least a reasonable sized position.  If prices move downward a more lucrative position can be had due to our outsized cash horde or if prices move up smartly gains will be harvested waiting for stock and bond markets to correct.

DYI’s averaging formula has kick us out of stocks and long term high grade corporate/Treasury bonds – and rightfully so – due to prices above their long term average (since 1871) to insane levels.  The wait has been long as central banks around the world have moved interest to sub atomic low levels or as in Europe to negative levels.  This has energized market participants – in their zeal for yield – to buy anything with a higher interest rate pushing prices to the moon.  In the end Mr. Market will have his way with rates normalizing.  Of course a funny thing happened along the way to the forum; since interest rates have been way below the average they will shoot way past the average before resting around their long term average (10 year T-bonds at 4.58%).

  Updated Monthly

AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO - ACTIVE ALLOCATION - 9/1/17

Active Allocation Bands (excluding cash) 0% to 60%

78% - Cash -Short Term Bond Index - VBIRX

22% -Gold- Precious Metals & Mining - VGPMX

 0% -Lt. Bonds- Long Term Bond Index - VBLTX

 0% -Stocks- Total Stock Market Index - VTSAX

[See Disclaimer]

 This blog site is not a registered financial advisor, broker or securities dealer and The Dividend Yield Investor is not responsible for what you do with your money.

This site strives for the highest standards of accuracy; however ERRORS AND OMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED!

The Dividend Yield Investor is a blog site for entertainment and educational purposes ONLY.

The Dividend Yield Investor shall not be held liable for any loss and/or damages from the information herein.

Use this site at your own risk.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS.

DYI  

War

Drums

What Lee Ming-che’s Show Trial Tells Us

More than anything, Beijing is using the Lee case to send a warning to Taiwan and the rest of the world that proposing political alternatives for China, or even criticizing the CCP, can be costly. Whoever or wherever you are.

The “trial” of Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-che, who went missing in China on March 19, opened yesterday at the Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court, with Lee admitting to various purported crimes against China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

Lee, 42, pleaded guilty to “subverting the state” by “spreading articles that maliciously attacked the Communist Party of China, China’s existing system and China’s government” by calling for a multiparty political system. After admitting his “wrongs,” the rights activist said he had been mislead by vicious Taiwanese (and Western) media about China and that his eyes had been opened. Now seeing the real virtues of China, Lee said that after he is released from prison (at this writing no sentence has been given) and allowed to return to Taiwan he would work towards promoting unification. 

From the beginning, it was evident that whatever “confession” Lee made at trial would be coerced. 

As his long-winded “responses” to the prosecutor’s succinct questions made clear, this was political circus, a scripted affair that ticked off all the boxes in the CCP propaganda playbook.

DYI:  With the western world distracted by on going terrorism as illustrated by the attacks in London, England subway (the tube) system along with North Korea firing off additional missiles China ramps up their campaign for reunification of Taiwan and continuing land grab in the South China Sea.  War is coming to the South China Sea region as China expands their reach for natural resources to continue their modernization of the Chinese economy.  Eventually this will be settled by war.  The first possible flash point is either Taiwan – forced reunification – or Vietnam as China claims the Paracel Islands with known oil reserves legally owned by Vietnam.       

DYI

WTF?

College Park to allow non-US citizens the right to vote in local elections

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The College Park City Council has voted in favor of a measure that would allow city residents who are not U.S. citizens to vote in local elections.College Park joins six other towns in allowing legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants to vote in municipal elections.

DYI:  Go ask a Canadian if Americans residing north of the 49^th parallel should legally able to vote in any of their elections?  Or for that matter ask the same question to any other country around the world and you will receive the same answer.  Not no – but HELL NO!  What is required to stop this lunacy dead in its tracks is a constitutional amendment requiring only citizens with the right to vote.

DYI is of the opinion that if a legal permanent resident desires to become politically active by voting then they should go through the process and become a citizen.  If not and to be blunt: Put up and shut up (voting denied)!  

Is this too much to ask?

And to address the undocumented immigrant ILLEGALS – not only hell but HELL NO!   

DYI