About Me 0025: Making Money Easy

John Rubino at Dollar Collapse.com obviously thinks, like I do, that inflation is a Terrible, Terrible Thing (TTT).

To prove it, and to simultaneously prove to my wife, kids, relatives, co-workers and neighbors that I am not the “weirdest man who ever lived” as concerns inflation, I call him up on the phone!

A man whom I assume is Mr. Rubino answers, “Hello?” and I say, “John! John, old buddy, old pal! This is Mogambo, calling to verify that you are scared out of your freaking mind about how inflation is rising all around the world because central banks, similarly all around the world, are creating more and more money, which causes inflation in prices, which is made worse for foreigners by us dumbass Americans having a trade deficit of over $600 billion a year, equaling a third of combined global trade deficits, which means that we are buying actual things from foreigners and exporting $600 billion dollars overseas, increasing their money supplies and thus increasing their inflation in prices, meaning that we should be buying gold and silver with fevered abandon, and how the usual reaction to impending starvation by the masses is such that we should be building fortresses in our backyards, bristling with guns and cannons, and maybe some of those cool Agent 007 James Bond devices like, you know, smoke screens, ejector seats, laser beams, and heat-seeking rockets, because (my voice rising to crescendo) We’re Freaking Doomed (WFD) thanks to the foul Federal Reserve creating so, so, so much freaking much money that it boggles the mind (‘boing!’) to even contemplate a Quantitative Easing II to effect an increase in the US money supply (to monetize government debt, no less!) of a whopping $600 billion in the next six months, of which half will end up overseas in the accounts of foreigners thanks to the trade deficit, who will use the money to buy US assets, thus repatriating the cash back to the USA to do its inflationary havoc whilst we strangely export the ownership of means of production to what I assume are sinister foreign forces, probably aligned with Illuminati conspirators, New World Order bozos, rogue government agents, extraterrestrial forces, Satan, or something. I mean, who really knows?”

He then replies, tellingly, “What? Who?” whereupon the line abruptly went dead, also proving that the CIA and/or the FBI and/or unknown government agents and/or aliens from outer space are not only tapping my telephone, but doing a poor job of it, too!

Anyway, I think Mr. Rubino’s position is clear when he headlines his recent essay “‘Bring us Sugar!’ US Inflation And the Rest of the World”, with the rest of the essay being about inflation breaking out all over the place!

And if there is one thing that a Junior Mogambo Ranger (JMR) knows, it is to buy gold and silver when inflation is rising, as it is, and will, because the Federal Reserve is creating lots and lots of money, which means, as proved 100% reliable by 4,500 years of history, that inflation in prices is Super Freaking Guaranteed (SFG), and the higher the increase in the money supply, the higher the inflation.

And, by that selfsame 4,500 years, it’s also proved that gold and silver will soar in value as all else Turns To Crap (TTC).

And with that kind of guaranteed and easy decision-making, what can you say except, “Whee! This investing stuff is easy!”?

The Mogambo Guru

for The Daily Reckoning

Economic Ruination from Money Creation to Price Inflation originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, offers a uniquely refreshing, perspective on the global economy, investing, gold, stocks and today's markets. Its been called "the most entertaining read of the day."

Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. in Mar. 1964. (Photo: AP Photo)

As the first head of the Peace Corps, he joked that he had been chosen because he would be easy to fire if things worked out badly. But he plainly loved the work. In 1964 he called it "the best job in Washington" because of the dedication of volunteers—"a committed generation of Americans who really care about the human condition and are dedicated to the quest for progress for all mankind."

Charles Peters, who functioned as an in-house inspector for the Peace Corps then, said Shriver succeeded in communicating his own "glorious, infectious enthusiasm" to volunteers, who needed the boost because in the early days it took courage to volunteer and assignments didn't always work out well. Lyndon Johnson thought him such a success that he insisted in 1964 that he add to his Peace Corps duties with another, harder job. Johnson got him to run the War on Poverty, even though Shriver had little experience with the subject in America. His optimism led him to compare ending poverty to eradicating scarlet fever and diphtheria. He predicted that in a few years, perhaps less than a decade "the number of people mired permanently in poverty will be almost eliminated in America."

"He had enthusiasm to the hilt," said his niece, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. "That's really who he was, with a real vision of service and making a difference."

That hasn't happened of course, and in later years Shriver would say that war had not been lost; it had just not been fought hard enough, with enough money, to win. But the remains of the War on Poverty still help poor Americans through Head Start, the Job Corps, and the Legal Services Corporation, among others.

Shriver gained prominence from his association with his in-laws, but that did not bring political success. In 1972, he was George McGovern’s eventual choice to replace Thomas Eagleton as the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket. In fact, McGovern said this week, he probably would have chosen instead of the ill-starred Eagleton at the Miami Beach convention, but Shriver was traveling in Russia and could not be reached by phone to be offered the nomination. Once he was the belated nominee, McGovern said, Shriver “never lost that enthusiastic, optimistic attitude” even though the campaign by then was 20 points behind Nixon and Agnew.

His earnest effort that year can be explained by a story Tip O'Neill liked to tell. Tip recalled suggesting to Shriver that the route to popularity in a South Boston bar was to buy a round. Shriver took his advice, but when the bartender finished taking orders for beer or "beer and a shot," he asked what the candidate would have. As Tip told it, shaking his head, the reply was "Courvoisier with a twist." His own 1976 campaign for the presidency, focused clearly on his brother-in-law's legacy, went nowhere.

Bob Shrum, the Democratic consultant and a longtime friend, tells a more upbeat story. One afternoon he and Shriver arrived at the Shriver home as Eunice was running a Special Olympics event. She had put out a wine punch for the athletes' parents. Sarge sampled it and asked what wine was used. A servant said Eunice had told them to just take anything handy. They had opened a case of Chateau Lafitte Rothschild '48, a gift from Giscard d'Estaing, president of France when Shriver served as ambassador. Shrum reports that Shriver was momentarily nonplussed, but then smiled and said, "Then we'd better drink a lot of it."

That is just one of the stories friends tell about Shriver and family. Mark Shields, who worked on that 1972 campaign, said, "I've never known any candidate with a better relationship with his children and his family than he did."

Vicki Kennedy said Eunice and Sarge "raised remarkable children. Every one of them is involved in giving back. Every one of them is an achiever. Every one of them learned by the example of their parents."

And Townsend said their 56 years of marriage "was really one of the first great partnerships. He was absolutely successful, as we know, first head of the Peace Corps, head of the poverty program. But he just was enchanted by Eunice. He loved her. He loved everything about her. He appreciated her, and he supported her work."

After Eunice died and the family assembled in Hyannisport, she said, "Sarge put his arm on her coffin and said 'We did it, Euni, We did it. We fought the good fight. We fought for America. We did it. I love you Euni, I love you.' "

Adam Clymer is a former chief Washington correspondent of The New York Times and author of Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Making Money Easy

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