DIVESTING EVIL - May 31st

"If we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War."

-GEORGE WASHINGTON

Memorial Day: Commemorating Our Heroes!
A tradition that marks our greatness as a people
By Craig R. Smith
WorldNetDaily (Published in full at WorldNetDaily on Monday, May 30th)

Here are a few ways we Americans commemorate our heroes:

-We can fly our flag, the sacred emblem of our country that symbolizes our birthright and our heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

-We can observe The National Moment of Remembrance for one minute, 3 PM, local time, Memorial Day as President Bush's White House has instituted.

-We can honor our veterans who have sacrificed all they had for the freedom we treasure today. Boldly tell a Vet that you sincerely appreciate their service and sacrifice.

-We can pray and support our troops. For $25, you can send a USO care package to a deployed service member. But even if you are strapped for money, you can still say a prayer, perhaps even daily. "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers," says the Bible.

-We could help relieve the suffering of our troops in Iraq, now facing 120+ degree heat, by making a donation to CoolOurTroops.com who have sent over 65,000 personal misters to soldiers so far.

-We can honor those who daily place their lives on the line for the sake of others. Before September 11, policemen and firemen were seldom recognized as unsung heroes, but they too are true heroes worth commemorating this Memorial Day.

-Lastly, Americans can and should do all we can to be prepared for any emergency by securing our homes, finances and communities against any type of attack. This type of preparedness insures that we are part of the Homeland Security solution, not a part the problem.

Happy Memorial Day from the staff and brokers at Swiss America and from your editor, David Bradshaw. Swiss America will be closed on Monday, May 30th in observance.

MARKET NEWS DIGEST

Marines are landing -- on silver dollars -CNN
A new commemorative coin may be popular from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.
May 26, 2005
By Gordon T. Anderson, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - On the eve of Memorial Day, the U.S. Mint is remembering America's fighting men and women.

Wednesday in Philadelphia, Mint director Henrietta Holsman Fore led the ceremonial first strike of a new series of commemorative coin: a silver dollar honoring the U.S. Marine Corps. The piece will be minted at the Philadelphia facility, and is scheduled for release this summer.

The front of the coin features an engraving modeled on Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's picture of victorious Marines raising the U.S. flag after the battle of Iwo Jima. That famous image is also the subject of a sculpture by Felix de Weldon, which honors fallen Marines at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

The back, or obverse, side of the coin bears the Marine Corps insignia and the words "Semper Fidelis" (Always Faithful), the Corps motto.

"The coin design is simple and heroic," said Fore in a statement. "The Iwo Jima image is the storied symbol of the Marine Corps' heroism, courage, strength and versatility. It exemplifies Semper Fidelis to an appreciative nation every day around the world."

Congress authorizes the minting of two commemorative coins annually, produced by the U.S. Mint.

The Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Silver Dollar is the second such coin to be produced in 2005. The first was a silver dollar honoring early Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

The pieces are intended as collectible keepsakes, as compared to actual money in circulation. As such, they cost more than their face value. The Marshall dollar, for example, retails for about $35.

The price of the new Marines coin was not announced, but profits from the sale of each dollar will help pay for the creation of a National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia.

http://www.cnnmoney.com

Related Stories: FREE Special Report on the amazing growth of Gem Quality (Mint-State 65) Morgan SILVER DOLLARS. Today these little gems are up well over 72% � and retail prices still start under $70!

U.S. GOLD COMMEMORATIVES: Good things DO come in small packages! By Tom Rodriguez -- What if the price momentum for gold bullion stalls, or moves sideways for weeks, months or even years? No problem to the owners of high-quality U.S. Gold Commemorative coins! The U.S. Gold Commemorative series is one of only a handful of rare coin collections, especially in U.S. gold coins, that you can put together a complete set without paying a king's ransom.

Survey: Economy Will Slow, Inflation Will Accelerate -BL

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy will slow more this year than previously thought and inflation will accelerate, a survey of economists showed.

The U.S. economy may expand by 3.4 percent this year, less than the 3.6 percent projected in February and down from 4.4 percent in 2004, according to 50 economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics. The economists trimmed their second-quarter growth forecast to 3 percent from the 3.7 percent they projected in the February survey.

The economy cooled to a 3.1 percent growth rate in the first quarter as the trade deficit widened and rising energy prices helped restrain business and consumer spending. Economists surveyed by NABE said rising imports will cause the slowdown to linger into the second quarter before growth rebounds to 3.5 percent in the second half.

``After a mild slip during the early spring, our panel expects the expansion to regain its footing,'' said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank in Chicago and chairman of NABE's survey committee, in a statement.

Last year's 4.4 percent economic growth was the fastest since 1999.

The economists surveyed predicted a trade deficit this year of $662 billion, wider than the $615 billion they had forecast in February. The survey was taken before the government released figures showing the trade deficit narrowed in March.

Trade Gap

The U.S. trade gap last year was a record $617 billion. An increase in imports would suggest that foreign rather than U.S. domestic producers are helping meet higher demand for goods and services.

The survey also found that economists expect inflation to accelerate because of rising oil prices and labor costs. The consumer price index is now expected to rise 2.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the fourth quarter of 2005, up from February's 2.2 percent forecast, the survey found.

Economists forecast on average that that the price of West Texas intermediate crude oil would be $46.17 a barrel, up from February's forecast of $40. Per-hour compensation costs will rise by 4.2 percent this year as productivity slows, the NABE survey said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in a speech May 20 that businesses and consumers are changing investment and purchasing plans to adapt to higher energy prices, which will eventually reduce the energy intensity of the U.S. economy.

``Energy use over time will continue to decline relative to gross domestic product,'' he said in remarks to the New York Economic Club.

Fed policy makers will raise the federal funds rate to 4 percent by yearend to contain inflation, the NABE survey predicted.

Consumer Spending

Consumer spending will increase 3.7 percent this year, unchanged from the prior survey, NABE said. Last year's 3.8 percent increase was the most since 2000.

The economy will also get support from housing, with inflation-adjusted residential construction expected to grow to 3.4 percent even as interest rates rise. The February forecast called for a 0.8 percent rise in residential investment.

Some regions of the U.S. housing market show signs of unsustainable price speculation and ``froth'' from rapid sales, Greenspan said May 20. The surge may ease as homes become less affordable, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com

Greenspan sees housing 'froth' unsustainable -CNN/Money
Federal Reserve chairman says sector shows sign of 'froth' but doesn't perceive a national bubble.
May 20, 2005

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday the booming U.S. housing sector shows signs of some "froth" but that the central bank does not see a national housing bubble.

"We don't perceive that there is a national bubble but it's hard not to see ... that there are a lot of local bubbles," Greenspan told the Economic Club of New York.

Greenspan said he saw "very significant acceleration" in the turnover of U.S. homes, due in part to purchases of second homes.

He said speculation in both the housing and mortgage markets had accelerated, and that people were reaching financially to purchase homes, using adjustable-rate and interest-only loans to make houses more affordable.

But the central bank chief said the inability to reduce home prices, which have climbed by double-digit percentages over the past few years, was not a serious macroeconomic problem. Prices, he said, were supported by relatively slow productivity growth in home building.

Eventually, home prices will decline because the underlying pattern is unsustainable, Greenspan said.

http://www.cnnmoney.com

Related Stories:
5-24-05 -- April Home Resales Jump, Median Price $200,000 -BL ... The median price of a previously owned U.S. home topped $200,000 for the first time in April, capping the biggest increase in a quarter century, as Americans bought housing at a record pace.

Intervention against Gold Rising Sharply, GATA Says -BW
Experts Cite New Derivatives Report

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2005--Government intervention against the gold price has risen sharply since the middle of last year, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee reported today.

The increase in intervention, GATA said, was disclosed last week in the Bank for International Settlements' semi-annual report on the issuance of derivatives by major banks and dealers in G-10 countries. The report was studied by GATA's consultants -- James Turk, founder of GoldMoney and editor of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report; Michael Bolser, editor of the Interventional Analysis newsletter; and Reginald H. Howe, gold market analyst and principal of Golden Sextant Advisers.

The new derivatives numbers from the BIS are "stunning" in regard to gold, Turk said, summarizing GATA's research. "In major banks and dealers in the G-10 countries, the total notional value of gold derivatives rose from $318 billion at mid-year 2004 to $369 billion at year-end.

"That $51 billion increase -- a 32-percent annual rate of growth -- occurred while gold miners were reducing their hedge positions.

"The reduction in hedge positions by mining companies should have resulted in a decrease in the aggregate position in the BIS report. That it didn't happen suggests that the international economist Frank Veneroso is right. Here's what Veneroso had to say in the March issue of Gold Newsletter:

There is only one possible explanation for why purchases of thousands of tonnes of gold in the futures and forwards markets do not blow the price of gold sky-high: The official sector must step in on gold price rallies as an offsetting forward seller.

How much more gold can governments dishoard to throw at the gold market to keep the price down?

"The answer," Turk says, "is of course unknowable, both to us as well as to the governments intervening in the gold market. At some point the banks executing the government positions are going to reach the tipping point, when the free-market demand for gold overwhelms government price capping. I think that moment is near for one important reason.

"Price capping in gold can be prolonged only by continually supplying the market with physical metal. Right now the demand for physical metal is strong. So governments can sell all the paper derivatives they want, but it isn't going to stop people from buying metal. In fact, the low price of gold resulting from government price capping is causing the demand for physical gold to increase."

GATA's findings on the latest BIS gold derivatives report can be found on the Internet here: http://www.goldensextant.com/Charts.html

GATA Chairman Bill Murphy said this new evidence of government intervention against the gold price should compel mining companies to be represented at GATA's Gold Rush 21 conference in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, on August 8 and 9.

"Gold Rush 21 will hear presentations from gold and silver market experts from around the world," Murphy said, "and will develop a plan of action to restore free markets to the precious metals."

Information on Gold Rush 21 can be found on the Internet here: http://www.goldrush21.com/

http://www.gata.org

COMMENTARY

"Terror-free" investing has arrived -Craig Smith
A simple plan to mobilize investor activism against U.S. funding of terrorism
Worldnetdaily.com
May 23, 2005

"Money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations." -President GW Bush, 1-25-04, quoted, 60 Minutes

Nearly every American with a pension plan or mutual fund has money invested in companies that are doing business with terrorist-friendly countries. But now there's a way to help suck the "lifeblood" out of terrorism -- and do some good at the same time.

In early 2005, the Treasury Dept. reported "The U.S. and our international partners have seized or frozen nearly $147 million in terrorist-related assets."

Sound's great, right? Wrong! That's about the equivalent of a fly's poop in the ocean when you consider that over 400 publicly traded companies (U.S. and foreign) presently have business activities in nations that sponsor terrorists and represent tens of trillions of dollars. (Please re-read the last sentence, then go throw up.)

U.S. law restricts American companies from doing businesses with terrorist supporting nations including Iran, Sudan, Syria, Cuba, Libya and North Korea. But there's a loophole that does not apply to a foreign or offshore subsidiary run by non-Americans.

Last month, while guest-hosting "America at Night," a syndicated late-night radio program, I had an opportunity to interview Roger Robinson, a man who is on the frontline of trying to shut the door forever on terrorist funding by U.S. and foreign corporations. Roger runs Conflict Securities Advisory Group, a research firm in D.C. that monitors companies working in these rogue states.

What I learned is well worth repeating.

For example, of the 400 companies known doing business in terrorist-sponsoring states, almost every pension portfolio in America holds some of these company stocks!

"Well over 200 are actually doing business in Iran and 60 are doing business in Libya. These companies are funneling tens of billions of dollars worth of capital, technology and know-how to state-owned oil and gas sectors of these two countries alone," according to Mr. Robinson. (A fact also referenced in "ATOMIC IRAN" by Dr. Jerome Corsi.)

"There's 11 to 14 companies on the S&P 500 that are involved in some substantial projects with these countries," Mr. Robinson recently told CBS 60 Minutes.

How to join the financial war on terrorism

What can the average American investor do to speed up this process of divesting in companies that support terrorism?

Thankfully there's a fresh movement afoot that's mounting a grassroots divestment campaign called DivestTerror.org They're encouraging both institutional investors and average Americans to rid their portfolio of holdings in companies that partner with terrorist-sponsoring states.

"The premise is that by divesting, investors force leading public firms to choose between their activities in these countries and their standing with the U.S. investor community," according to Adam M. Penner, Conflict Securities COO.

And it's starting to work, according to Mr. Penner. BusinessWeek did an article last week addressing this matter and, based on the response of Swiss giant ABB, lends credence to the fact that companies may modify their behavior when faced with investor activism.

Three steps from DivestTerror.org detailing how individual investors can help:

1) So far not one retail brokerage service in this country makes available to clients the data on corporate ties to terrorist-sponsoring states. That must change. The first objective of individual investors is to threaten to take your business elsewhere if your broker or portfolio manager won't provide a list of such companies.

2) When you do get information about any company doing business with terror-sponsoring regimes you hold in portfolio, write its management explaining that you are divesting its stock and will not consider holding it in the future as long as its does business with countries that are state-sponsors of terror.

3) Ensure your voice is heard. Let the local media, as well as the companies involved, know that you plan to actively recruit others to join you in the financial war on terror by divesting their stock, as well. Savvy media may even decide do a feature on your activism.

One final bit of good news. Conflict Securities has recently has partnered with Roosevelt Investment Group to provide the only mutual fund in the country that is certified to be "terror-free." Their new "Bull Moose Growth Fund" is a five-star Morningstar rated fund rated by the WSJ as one of the top 7 performing multi-cap mutual funds in the country. It is also a no-load fund traded under the symbol BULLX. (I don't own either, but plan to.)

Stop feeling helpless in the fight against terrorism. Send a message to Wall Street that greed is not good and We the People are tired of participating in "commerce without morality" - especially when it comes to funding terrorists!

http://www.wnd.com

Related Offer:
7-5-05 -- OPERATION DIVEST TERROR -WND ... Private-sector offensive aims to shut down 'business' of extremists...The goal of "Operation Divest Terror" is to help investors identify U.S. companies whose business activities provide revenues, equipment and technology and political cover to governments that sponsor terrorism � and send them a message this is a bad business decision.

Related Stories:
5-24-05 -- Is your pension supporting terrorists? -Ron Strom, WND...An analysis of public pension systems in the U.S. finds the largest and most prominent funds tend to be heavily invested in global publicly traded companies that have business activities in terrorist-sponsoring states.

ATOMIC IRAN - Intro, Foreword, Reviews

The dictionary definition of manipulation is: "exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage." One politician after another is lining up to accuse China of manipulation of their currency. Recent Bush administration reports stop just short in using the word manipulation. China is everyone's favorite whipping boy. If we can just fix our China problem by having them revalue their currency our trade deficit would go away, our manufacturing jobs would cease to go overseas and all would be right with the world.

I suppose using the word hypocrisy and politicians in the same sentence should not be too much of a stretch, but it really isn't strong enough. Let's look at exactly what the devious Chinese have done. It seems that way back in 1994, after their currency had lost 75% of its value in a very short time, they decided to fix their currency to the dollar. What a smart thing to do they were told by all and sundry. As the dollar rose in value, especially against their Asian competitors, no one in the United States was complaining.

All they have done since then is maintain their peg to the dollar, much like numerous other countries (although smaller) around the world. If they could see the current situation back in 1994, they are a lot more shrewd and cunning than even their most ardent admirers would suggest.

Do you want to see manipulation? Let's look at China's neighbors. Japan spent an unprecedented Y34 billion in 2002-3 trying to hold down the value of the yen. Now that's manipulation. Every one of China's neighbors has aggressively worked to hold down the value of their currency relative to China and the dollar to try and keep a competitive advantage. Japan? Korea? Taiwan? Thailand? Malaysia? Singapore? Why are senators not foaming at the mouth about these nations and their competitive advantages?

I am often criticized for my Muddle Through philosophy. I see neither a great boom nor a repeat of the Great Depression. Rather, a slow growth economy, punctuated by a few recessions, as the world becomes more balanced. I recognize that the imbalances are significant, but I believe the entrepreneurial ability of American business people will overcome the worst effects. It will not be pretty, but we will survive, thank you very much.

(I suppose my rather benign view might seem cavalier if you need to work an extra 5-10 years in order to save enough to retire. That might seem more than Muddle Through to you. But for the economy as a whole it will be Muddle Through. Small comfort if you are the one working, though, and I realize that.)

I've always had an asterisk or a caveat to my view. The one thing that could cause serious financial upheaval is a global move to protectionist markets and trade barriers. Nothing would be more devastating.

The following note from Stephen Roach, writing this morning, sums up the situation well:

"Meanwhile, back home, the US government has unleashed a multi-pronged assault on Chinese trade. The Commerce Department has imposed "surge protection" quotas on the imports of several categories of textile products made in China. The Treasury Department has issued the functional equivalent of an official ultimatum on the currency issue -- making it crystal-clear that China is on the brink of being found guilty of manipulating the renminbi. And the US Congress is moving full speed ahead in the consideration of a more broadly based scheme of stiff tariffs on all Chinese-made products shipped to the United States. Reflecting the confluence of lingering angst in a tough US labor market and a China-centric trade deficit, the scapegoating of China has now become the favorite political sport in Washington. Never mind, the flawed macro logic behind this potentially tragic outbreak of protectionism. US politicians seem increasingly united in their efforts to blame China for America's massive foreign trade and current-account deficits.

"The real test for China comes from the potential interplay between these two sets of forces -- internal measures aimed at containing the property bubble and external measures aimed at constricting Chinese trade. This could be an exceedingly difficult set of circumstances for an unbalanced Chinese economy, whose growth dynamic is powered by two major drivers -- exports and export-led investment. Collectively, exports and fixed investment now make up about 80% of total Chinese GDP. By going after the property bubble, Beijing is attempting to squeeze the biggest piece of that -- domestic investment -- whereas Washington is taking aim on the export component. This potential double whammy is especially disturbing in that China lacks the backstop of internal private consumption; in 2004, household consumption fell to a record low of 42% of Chinese GDP -- the smallest consumption share of any major economy in the world. (Note: While investment, exports, and private consumption collectively account for more than 100% of Chinese GDP, a negative offset of some 34% of GDP comes from imports, while another 12% shows up in the form of government consumption).

"This could well be modern-day China's toughest macro challenge. Time and again -- but especially over the past eight years -- the Chinese economy has had to cope with very tough external and internal circumstances. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, the synchronous global recession of 2001, and the SARS outbreak of early 2003 were all formidable threats that most in the West thought would derail the Chinese economy. Yet China barely skipped a beat on all of those occasions. This time the challenge is very different and potentially much more significant -- ironically, coming just when the world has become convinced that the Chinese growth miracle is here to stay. If Beijing gives on the currency front after having just taken actions to pop the property bubble, the risk of a major shortfall of Chinese economic must be taken seriously.

"But the real problem is political: China and the United States are on very different pages when it comes to assessing the reactions to these tough macro circumstances. The Chinese leadership is filled with indignation over Washington's protectionist leanings. But it seems unwilling or unable to recognize the political aspect of this threat. Instead, senior Chinese officials are very focused on the macro origins of America's external imbalances as being deeply rooted in an unprecedented shortfall of domestic US saving -- a case that I have made repeatedly in my own presentations in Beijing and around the world over the past several years. What Beijing seems to be missing is that Washington politicians could care less about macro -- they are focused are pinning the blame on someone else. Today, that someone else, unfortunately, is China.

"What worries me most is that both nations -- China and the US -- are painting themselves into political corners from which there are no easy exits. Chinese officials speak repeatedly of the currency issue as a matter of "national sovereignty" -- stressing that any external pressure to change will be counter- productive for a nation that places great emphasis on its newfound pride. At the same time, Washington seems increasingly convinced that the US body politic is finally prepared to say, "enough is enough" on the trade deficit."

We need a slow and steady policy. Pushing china to take steps which endanger her economy is not prudent. The world does not need a China going into recession. It will have serious negative repercussions in the US. What Sen. Charles "Smoot- Hawley" Schumer and company propose will send us into a deep recession, at best.

There is an odd balance in the current world situation. Asia, and especially China, save a great portion of their income. They also export massive amounts to the US. Their exports are financed by their savings. For our part, the US has been willing to go into debt in order to be able to buy their goods.

FULL STORY

Darkest Side of Pension Consultants Unseen -John Wasik

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is finally examining the dark side of pension consulting, which could lead to a crackdown on some hidden abuses that have been hurting pension fund returns for years.

In a study released on May 16 that examines 24 large, unnamed pension-fund consulting firms, the SEC found that some consultants didn't clearly disclose conflicts with income received from money managers they also recommend to their clients.

Such conflicts have the ``potential to cloud the objectivity of a pension consultant's recommendations to advisory clients,'' the SEC report mildly stated.

Pension consultants, who are gatekeepers between pension funds, 401(k)s, brokers and money managers, are poorly policed middlemen who give advice on some $2.4 trillion in assets.

If you want to know how much pension fund returns have been diminished by consultant abuses, it's not in the SEC report.

There is little question that clear conflicts of interest exist in the pension-consultant industry, which consists of more than 1,700 firms. The SEC found that 13 of the largest consultants in its 24-company survey ``provide products and services to both pension plan advisory clients and money managers and mutual funds on an ongoing basis.''

Double Dipping Profiled

In other words, consultants may be double dipping by charging money managers for being introduced to pension fund clients while also billing retirement plans for consulting services.

The SEC said that some of most egregious practices by pension consultants aren't clearly disclosed to pension funds. A majority of the consultants surveyed may have directed brokerage trades to appointed or affiliated brokers to offset consultant fees, as well as recommended money managers who also paid consultants for expensive software, performance monitoring or educational seminars.

It's unlikely that fund trustees knew the full extent of these arrangements or how they affected their net returns since consultants ``do not adequately disclose material conflicts of interest arising from these practices to their clients,'' the report stated.

Pay to Play Profiled

``By paying for the consultant's fees with the plan's brokerage, plans may overpay for the pension consultant's services because the directed brokerage arrangements may not be capped to terminate when fees due a pension consultant may be paid in full,'' the SEC stated.

Another component of this conflict is that because compensation may be indirectly based on trading volume, consultants have a powerful incentive to recommend a more expensive, poorer- returning active trading strategy.

Unfortunately, the SEC didn't state how prevalent these practices are or name the firms involved. It also didn't estimate the amount of overpayment in fees or commissions, or the negative impact on fund returns.

Under the lax current regulation, pension funds and participants often aren't aware that they are getting conflicting advice.

The key document that outlines compensation arrangements -- Form ADV, Part II -- is difficult to obtain because consultants are required to send it only to their clients. It also contains sketchy details about how much money is charged to money managers and brokers.

Dodging Responsibility

In addition to scant disclosure, pension fund consultants have found ways to skirt legal responsibility for their advice by avoiding being ``named fiduciaries,'' the SEC noted. That means consultants may dodge being held legally accountable for their actions.

``As a result, it appears that many consultants believe they don't have any fiduciary relationships with their advisory clients and ignore or are not aware of their fiduciary obligations under the (Investment) Advisers Act,'' the SEC stated.

FULL STORY

IN DEFENSE OF TRUE LIBERTY -David Bradshaw, Editor, RMP
May 28, 2004

May we all spend some time over this patriotic holiday thinking and honoring the fallen American heros from the past and praying for our brave soldiers as we look ahead.

The following is a short exerpt from a free educational resource entitled "The Big Picture: The Shape of Things to Come," released in Dec. 2000. (See text and audio link below)

LIBERTY IS BORN FROM WITHIN

DAVID DAVIDSON: The Bible views government from the bottom up and starts with the individual and then moves to the family and then it goes to the church and then there's voluntary association of people, and then civil government is last, and, biblically speaking, it is least. The function of government is to limit sin. Freedom by biblical definition is the absence of sin.

The Reformation clarified the priesthood of all believers - which means that divine power flows from God to the believer, not first passing through the pastor or priest. The same pattern is true of godly civil government.

A biblical view of civil government is rooted in the understanding that God's power and authority flows from Himself to individual people, not to civil government rulers and then to the people, as humanist philosophy teaches.

God ordained civil government to begin on the local level to promote peace and justice - no more or less. Duties that cannot be administered on a local level are then delegated to a higher level, such as state and federal government. This does not mean the state and federal government are superior or more powerful, but rather, that they have certain delegated powers given by local rulers on behalf of the people.

This pattern establishes local government as the parent and higher government as the child. A child does not tell the parent what to do or else the child is out of order. As with the family, so it is to be with civil government. Today the deterioration of this "bottom-up" concept is so widespread that it is almost inconceivable that local government would challenge state or federal government, yet that is how it once was � and could be again.

The defense of liberty is up to her sons and daughters because liberty lives only one generation at a time.

Liberty is not an idea - it is something you do in your daily relationships with people.

Liberty is not manufactured-she is born � not in a hospital � in the home.

EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED

DAVID BRADSHAW: America is starting to understand that government begins within. The role of civil government has grown beyond it's proper boundaries and I expect the next sweeping movement will downsize it, but not until after a final attempt by the faithless to separate God from American culture (which will fail miserably).

American patriots such as Michael Savage, host of The Savage Nation (the fastest growing radio talk show in the country) are dedicated to helping dismantle the present liberal political/media establishment. They speak with a prophetic voice about our cultural crises, and in my view, is preparing the way for a true reformation based on a biblical foundation.

Economic change in the 21st century will also be sweeping. As the debt bubble created during the last artificial boom continues to be corrected. No amount of Fed manipulation or government spending stimulus will speed this natural "pruning" process much. I hope this is the year that many Americans stop living beyond their means - either by choice or by circumstance. The biblical principle of earning all you can, saving all you can and giving all you can - together with wise asset diversification that includes tangibles like gold - will be the saving grace of many financially.

Read: THE BIG PICTURE: The Shape of Things to ComeFULL STORY
LISTEN TO THE BIG PICTURE 60-min. program online at True-Wealth.com

REAL MONEY PERSPECTIVE Archives ~ FEATURED COMMENTARY Archives

REAL MONEY PERSPECTIVES is Growing ~ Post RMP on YOUR website!

Welcome to the 21st century paradigm shift
-- from a "stock-driven era" to a new "commodity-driven era."
In "Economic Solutions for the 21st Century" you'll discover ...
* SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM ... A plan to unify America
* WHY YOU MUST OWN assets that offset a DECLINING DOLLAR
* WSJ SAYS: "You don't have to be rich to invest in COINS."
* WHY SILVER could rise to $50, $75 or even $100 per ounce.
* "ATOMIC IRAN" spells the beginning of a new U.S. "Dirty War"

David M. Bradshaw is Editor of REAL MONEY PERSPECTIVES, a new, syndicated daily financial/cultural news digest. In 2001, he published REDISCOVERING GOLD IN THE 21ST CENTURY: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush and has been an economic commentator since 1987, when he produced the World Economic Perspectives radio show. In 2004, he produced "A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO COUNTER-TERRORISM" a free-to-the-public educational resource on DVD and CD. In 2005, he released a new CD, "WHAT'S YOUR WORLDVIEW?" a one-hour CD sample from his 24-hour series, "THE BIG PICTURE: The Shape of Things to Come" discussing geopolitical, economic and spiritual trends in the 21st Century. MORE ... PERSONAL NOTE: Youngest daughter Braida Zoe (age 15 mo.) is now feeding herself, running, says "hi" and "bye-bye," her name, "mama" & "dada." Shown with her mom (and loving wife) Micki among some bright Spring flowers!