Friday, October 17, 2008

In a nutshell

I was driving home from school a few hours ago and was imagining a conversation I might have with somebody who asked me my opinion on the banking system. As I was considering howto give my opinion in a nutshell, the term ponzi scheme came to mind. I was reading an article on the internet a few hours later and came across this paragraph:

The Collapse of a 300 Year Ponzi Scheme

All the king’s men cannot put the private banking system together again, for the simple reason that it is a Ponzi scheme that has reached its mathematical limits. A Ponzi scheme is a form of pyramid scheme in which new investors must continually be sucked in at the bottom to support the investors at the top. In this case, new borrowers must continually be sucked in to support the creditors at the top. The Wall Street Ponzi scheme is built on "fractional reserve" lending, which allows banks to create "credit" (or "debt") with accounting entries. Banks are now allowed to lend from 10 to 30 times their "reserves," essentially counterfeiting the money they lend. Over 97 percent of the U.S. money supply (M3) has been created by banks in this way. The problem is that banks create only the principal and not the interest necessary to pay back their loans. Since bank lending is essentially the only source of new money in the system, someone somewhere must continually be taking out new loans just to create enough "money" (or "credit") to service the old loans composing the money supply. This spiraling interest problem and the need to find new debtors has gone on for over 300 years — ever since the founding of the Bank of England in 1694 – until the whole world has now become mired in debt to the bankers’ private money monopoly. As British financial analyst Chris Cook observes:

"Exponential economic growth required by the mathematics of compound interest on a money supply based on money as debt must always run up eventually against the finite nature of Earth’s resources."

http://www.infowars.com/?p=5371

It's reassuring to know that I am not out of my mind.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Apple Picking and Cider Pressing!

Photos taken by Mike Church.

Two Sundays ago we went to Bishop's Orchard and picked apples and pressed them into cider. It was cold, but the cider was delicious. It tastes good cold or heated up (with cinnamon sticks and oranges, if you're fancy). I made an apple crisp a few days later with some of the ones I'd picked at the orchard. This is yet another aspect of fall that we love.



The orchard





Joel preparing to press the apples while Kate drops them in the top.


Davey cranking away while I press the mashed up apples into frothy goodness


Joel posing



On a more gruesome note, one of the few things we do not like about fall is when the spiders decide our house is more cozy than the cold outdoors. I am not a fan of spiders (to put it lightly) and am prone to fits of screaming and gagging when I see them. Thankfully I have a brave husband. Even Whiskey helps out; though she hasn't turned out to be a great mouser, she's a bold and daring spider-er. She likes to walk around with them as they try and wobble away to safety on their long, unstable legs. Then, whether because she's bored or just clumsy, she usually squishes them with one heavy paw. I've come downstairs several times to find flattened spider corpses on the floor. It's a satisfying sight.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Kamiak

Today we took a hike up Kamiak Butte so that I could collect pine-cones to put in my outdoor planters. It was perfect weather, and the view from the top is incredible.



Friday, September 26, 2008

So that I might win a purse too!

I am linking to Bekah Merkle's blog, Amoretti, because that way I get doubly entered in her give-away contest. So here it is, you all should check out her stuff, it's very cute!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Tee hee

This is what is happening a week and a half before I defend my senior thesis: I find lots of opportunities to not work on homework. The Onion news is one example.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Pictures from a wedding

The groom made a photo booth. Yes, made. Invented. Created. So all the guests got to take pictures which made for super fun memorabilia. I wonder if you can guess which one is Joel's favorite....