Vera Verba

There are problems in Germany.

As Sean and I went to great lengths explaining in God Wants You Dead (which, I’ll remind my believer friends, is NOT anti-Creator, regardless of the title), collectives pursue their own ends and see humans as herds of things to be managed. We have now been given a overt example of this in Germany.

Let me state this in clear terms, then leave you, dear reader, to examine the situation as you see fit:

The collective governance of Germany says it has a right and obligation to see that all of their citizens are educated in the same way. Variation will not be tolerated. If parents choose to educate their children differently, it is considered a crime against the child, and the collective will seize that child, to protect it from the parents.

There are many things to say about this, but I’ll pass over most of them. Those who want to know how and why this works can read the book. But this must be said plainly: The collective is claiming ownership of the children of Germany - an ownership they will enforce with violence.

If fact, they have done just this very recently. And, I add, with no remorse, no apology, and no sign of moderation. Germans do not own themselves - the collective owns them, and will enforce their claim with violence.

Here are two links to the particulars of this case, and I especially want to express my thanks to WorldNetDaily for their continuing coverage.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55343

http://www.freemelissab.com/

I’d also like to append an excellent letter by a friend of a friend to the appropriate government officials in Germany. A letter that was never answered. (Which is no surprise - the agents of oppression always seek shelter in the collective structure: “I’m just following the law.”)

I have no particular action that I want you to take after reading this. But I do want you to be aware of what is happening, and I’d like you to understand it as well. You are big boys and girls; you can make up your own minds regarding what (if anything) to do about it next.

****

Madam Chancellor; Mr. President; Ladies and Gentlemen:

I hope that I may be permitted a brief self-introduction before coming to the substance
of this correspondence. I am an American by birth and a Frenchman by derivation. I have worked, attended school, and done military service in Europe, including two years in central Germany. I have studied the German language while in school in Switzerland, improved my knowledge at the US Defense Language Institute and used it while assigned to Frankfurt/Main.

For as long as I have had opinions on this subject, I have considered myself a friend of Germany and the Germans. All this by way of asserting that I am not the kind of foreigner who ignorantly considers all Germans to be brutal goose-stepping “krauts” or “Boches.” I mention that sad stereotype because it is receiving a good deal of support lately, and unfortunately that support comes from the recent actions of the Federal and Bavarian governments in the case of home-schooled children in general, and the much-persecuted Melissa Busekros and her family in particular.

By now every home-schooling family in the world with an Internet connection
is aware of this sinister affair, and the news is beginning to reach other concerned groups - fundamentalist Christians in particular - and to filter into the mainstream media. In short, there is a very narrow interval of time in which the German government can, if it acts quickly and decisively, prevent a catastrophe in its relations with the rest of the world, and with its own people as well.

The authorities mentioned earlier, acting under the power of a statute promulgated under National Socialism, have taken a girl away from her family to punish them for the sole “crime” of schooling her at home. In other words, the exercise of a fundamental human right has been treated as an offense. Worse, the responsible parties, far from recognizing and rectifying their error, have resorted to pseudoscience (again, reminiscent of Nazi-era doctrine) to justify their acts - diagnosing Miss Busekros as suffering from the hitherto-unknown syndrome of “school phobia” and forcing her to undergo psychiatric treatment.”

Further compounding their offense, they have resorted to arguments justifying their acts that tie them even more closely to the logic of tyranny: society, it seems, has an interest in the uniformity and conformity of education that overrides any right to choice held by the individual family. This argument is transparently specious - I refute it here only because responsible persons in positions of authority have asserted it, apparently in all seriousness.

Society is after all a collection of individuals; if those persons, individually, have no right to choose the medium and content of their children’s education, then it is clear that the State’s education apparatus cannot reflect any collective input from those powerless parents. Instead, it is transparently and obviously the State’s interests that are embodied and asserted over all others by its education system, which is thus better termed an indoctrination system.

Education is the single greatest force in the formation of a person. Indeed, it is unpleasant to imagine what the modern German nation would be like if National Socialism had survived long enough for all those educated under the old systems to die off. To place schooling under the absolute control of the State, allowing no alternative, is therefore the complete nullification of liberty. If we are not free to choose what we shall be, if we cannot inculcate our own values in our children, then all statutory and constitutional freedoms are of no value or effect. Any State that can control what we ARE has no trouble deciding what we DO.

Over the years from 1945 until the fall of the USSR and the reunification of Germany, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, myself included, stood guard side-by-side with Germans in central Europe, believing that we were defending a free republic against the threatened onslaught of a militant Socialist power. Words fail me in expressing my disappointment upon discovering that the régimes on either side of that border - superficially so different - neverless preserve the same false philosophical underpinnings. My disgust is shared by every American and European with whom I have discussed this matter. Please permit me to remind you that many of the young soldiers who patrolled the border in decades past are now men and women of stature and influence; they can be counted on to give voice and substance to their anger, and in a way that will harm - perhaps for a very long time - Germany’s standing in the civilized world and her relations with her allies.

I urge you to consign this Nazi relic to the trash heap, and to cease your persecution of
homeschooling parents and their children. It is not yet too late… but it soon will be.

Sincerely,

F. Marc de Piolenc
Master Sergeant, United States Army (Retired)

We are currently seeing predictions that “the economy” will collapse in the next couple of years. Will the once mighty USA (and Europe along with it) soon resemble 3rd World Sink Holes? Will your business and investments go down the tubes?

Or, could it be that this normal, predictable trough in the business cycle is just another time of opportunity?

If the politicians in your country are incredibly corrupt, ideologically misdirected (like Chavez or Mugabe), and also inept (think Africa, Pakistan , Argentina or the Philippines), a country’s economy can indeed sink and stay down — until a regime change. But that scenario is not likely in the USA — nor in Europe.

Why? Because anywhere there is a relatively free economy with only mildly stupid leaders, boom eventually follows bust.

Then too, regardless of the business cycle or political adjustments that occur in any country what happens to your net worth can be the exact opposite of what happens to your country’s economy as a whole.

It all depends what you bet on [or against!].

How well is the USA economy doing? Depends on whom you ask. Talk
to a homebuilder or a banker heavy into bad loans then you’ll probably get a negative answer. But talk with a farmer or an exporter. You’ll get a very upbeat view. The different perceptions are results of the current weak dollar. Far from being a negative, a cheap dollar is one of those self-correcting mechanisms fueling the biggest export boom in decades.

The weak dollar makes American goods and services cheaper. It slows down imports. This, in classic Adam Smith “invisible hand” economics, will reverse the trade imbalance that has plagued the USA. A comeback for the whole economy is almost inevitable. That is why a depressed stock market always jumps back after panic selling fueled by what I call “the doomsday boys.”

So instead of wringing your hands; panicking that civilization as you know it is about to end, just position yourself to be in any business or segment of the stock market that will do well right now or in a comeback. Diversify and make deals that will make money no matter what. Examples? If you can, pick up distressed real estate or discounted but safe junk bonds that will give you a good return; Go ahead. Just do it! Even if there are foreclosures going on all around you, if you bought right and manage your rental property effectively, in a few years you will have made a bundle. We just sold the house we lived in at double what we paid for it a year ago.

They say that the rate of return or growth on real estate is not as good as stocks. But what these “commentators” say is from people who have never been in a real estate deal. They overlook is that if a $1- stock goes up 10%, you have a capital gain of 10%. But if a 100,000 apartment is sold for 110,000, you probably have a profit of 100%. Why? Because typically, real estate is purchased with a 90% loan. The trick is to be able to support your loan payments with rental income. Or , if you live in the house, the loan payments are just like rent. If you bought place for $1,000,000 with 10% down, and it sells for $2,000,000, how much have you made (as a % profit) on the deal? Beats the 5% you’d get at a bank, doesn’t it?

“Everybody” currently thinks the outlook in the USA is very bad. The “doomsday boys” predict that “everything” will get much worse. As a result, those negative expectations have been priced into the stock market. After the “dot-com” bust and before that in 1987, the doomsday boys were fueling already low expectations with talk of a universal meltdown – the coming crash, the next great worldwide depression—blah blah blah.

Those who predict the end of the world are always wrong.

WHY DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS SELDOM WORK OUT

The “Principle Of Expectations” is a very important concept to understand if you’re going to profit in the investment markets or become a billionaire.

Right now, almost “everyone” expects the United States residential property market to perform badly in the future.

The public sees entire tracts of brand new homes unable to sell.

They wonder how they’ll ever be able to sell their own houses when new ones are not moving.. On television they see sad tales of home owners being evicted & realtors losing their jobs. Most commentators focus on dire predictions of recession, unemployment, and bankruptcy

What they don’t realize is that the “invisible hand” — those self-adjusting mechanisms of capitalism are working just fine. The stock market adjusts to reflect these negative expectations. The companies who did not manage their risks are down –sometimes bankrupt. Others, like Goldman Sachs are highly profitable–paying their top three executives $66 million dollars each for their efforts in 2007. And even in a down market for financials, GS’s stock price is going up…After every bust comes another boom. It is called the business cycle. And within the business cycle, some stocks and businesses are counter-cyclical.

The question here is, “Will the future prove to be better or worse than the market expects right now?”

Have the sheep again over-reacted? Sure! They always do. Will things get better faster than expected?

Sure! The Feds are injecting liquidity into the system, the politicians are making dumb new laws to bail out bankrupt borrowers.

Yet for the moment the price of virtually all junk bonds, homebuilder’s stocks, lenders and stockbrokers reflects a worst-case scenario.

What should YOU do?

You might think about making a bet on the underdogs. Yet to come may be another terrible year or two at the most, but I expect that with a little “cherry picking” you’ll profit a lot sooner than most people think. My Advice? Buy the stock of well managed companies on dips. Expect a recovery.

Nobody becomes a millionaire by watching TV or reading blogs. You have to place some intelligent bets.

I think starting your own business or investing in property directly is better than merely investing in stocks.

When you own/run things you can control the variables. Example?

During the tail end of the great depression in the U.S.A., around 1940, a
relative of mine picked up at a tax sale auction a run down, virtually
abandoned 36 unit apartment building [in a crappy neighborhood] for a total
of $300, “all cash.”..Yes, that is no misprint: Three Hundred Dollars Total.

He personally moved in to the derelict property and rented out apartments for
$30 a month as he fixed them up. This deal was the foundation of what became a
great real estate fortune. When that neighborhood had gentrified 20 years later
in 1960, each apartment was sold by him as a condo unit at around $100,000.

Total value of property: $3,600,000, in 1960.

Had he [or his heirs] held on, those units today , 50 years later, they are now worth six mes as much , or over $700,000 each.

That’s $25 Million on a $300 investment!

And that kind of return is common as dirt — just average.

In Monaco, the Pastore Family did exactly the same thing starting with

nothing in 1938 or thereabouts. They bought distress property with profits from a cement and re-bar business, and then in WW2, built a few apartment buildings.

They never sold much. Today they own, free and clear, about 25,000 apartments, stores, and warehouses each one of which is worth today, on average, 5 million EUROS.

This makes the Pastore family in Monaco worth more than Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the Walmart Heirs or anyone else in the Fortune Rich List . They are however quaisi PTs, and not well known — nor even on any rich lists.

Monaco as a country is no economic powerhouse. It has virtually no exports. But some people [including myself] are doing very well here, thank you.

There are also many super rich people in 3rd World Countries who are making very serious money today. There are opportunities everywhere. Thus, even if the USA would become less of a free economy & even if much of the economy goes down the drain—even then — not all investors and property owners there would end up losers. Many fortunes are being made in China where democracy, & freedom are scarce and corruption is rife.

Consider Carlos Slim, according to Forbes, now the richest man in the world. The son of a Mexico City shopkeeper he recently built up a staggering $65 billion personal fortune. The Mexican stock market crash was his opportunity to get into a few deals cheaply. In the early 1980s, Mexico was in the depths of a massive financial crisis. It was much worse than the current situation in the USA. Periodically the elder Slim would round up his three teenage sons for an economics lesson. Sitting them down in the living room of the family home, Slim would produce a handwritten list. One line would show, for instance, how a Mexican insurance company was selling for far less than a similar American insurer. Another would show that compared with European candy or cigarette makers, Mexican manufacturers were drastically undervalued. It was time to buy and get into new businesses, not to retrench or buy gold bars.

Moral of this Tale:

Don’t stand around frozen like a deer in headlights.

Think creatively! Move out of danger into profit. Be prepared with your own optimistic vision. Position yourself to get where you want to be.

– Gramps

P.S. I just re-read an article by one of my favorite authors, Richard Bach. [Remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull ? Uno?] He indicated that the best way to end any prediction or story was:

Everything I said may be wrong.

It is often said that the The Holy Bible is the “best selling book of all time” but is this the gospel truth, or just mythology? In the spirit of the TV show “MythBusters” (one of our favorites) we set up an arbitrary pseudo-scientific experiment to evaluate this claim. Half way through that experiment, it is not looking good for Jesus.

Our first task was to decide exactly what was meant by “all time best selling.” Was it just a claim that the Bible has sold more copies than any other book? Or that the Bible still sells better than any other book? And which version of the Bible? Many of the same biblical texts appear in holy books of many religions, and many different publishers print many different versions of the Christian Bible. Deciding on the exact proper definition of this claim was a very hard problem, so in true MythBusters style, we just opted for an experiment we thought would be fun.

We decided that the most fun would be to test the sale of biblical content against atheistic content. We set up an ongoing experiment involving a new translation of the Bible offered for sale by a new publisher, and a new atheist book from the same publisher. To be fair to both books, we decided to make them as similar as possible in all ways other than their content - size, shape, number of pages, price - and a marketing budget of as close to zero as we could manage.

Step 1. Create the Books

It was our assumption that “The Bible” meant the Christian Holy Text, so to remove the issue of the same texts appearing in the books of other religions, we chose to re-publish just the content that gave birth to Christianity - the New Testament. Additionally, we wanted it to be as readable as our competing book, so we chose to remove all the verse numbers and put it in an easy to read paragraph form. (The way it was originally written before in became important to add verse numbers so people could hold them up on large cardboard signs at major sporting events.)

Our title for our bible translation: Jesus - The New Testament.

To compete with Jesus, we wrote a brand new over the top atheist book that not only slams organized religion, but also takes on just about anything that anyone, anywhere, anytime, has ever thought to be sacred.

Our title for this ultimate atheist’s handbook: God Wants You Dead.

Writing one book, translating another, and formating both for printing was about a one year task, so the total time for this experiment is about 2 years. (Don’t try this at home kids, we are professionals with too much time on our hands!)

Step 2. Create the Publishing Company and Start Marketing the Books

Having finished creating the two books, we incorporated, arranged to be able to process credit card orders, and set up a website with Zen Cart shopping cart software and the WordPress blog you are reading now. We arranged a printer, secured ISBN numbers, and got our books listed for sale on Amazon.com in addition to our own website. We also included several other books of different sizes and prices that seemed worth publishing. (These might be thought of as the control group if we were actually being scientific here.)

In keeping with our almost zero dollar budget target, we kept our marketing to a minimum, just sending out emails to various people and publications we thought might be interested in religious and/or anti-religious books.

Results:

Six months into the trial, this myth is well on its way to being busted.

“God Wants You Dead” is currently outselling “Jesus - The new Testament” by a considerable margin. But perhaps it is still too early to call it. Jesus may yet have some big sales over the months to come. The Bible might just be a slow starter.

To view the current rankings for yourself, and maybe even cast your own vote by buying a book, visit our online bookstore at: http://www.veravera.com/

Our Annual Conspiracy Hunt is getting even more interesting!

Graham Kelly of GoldNow just added $100 of e-gold to the prizes. (GoldNow was the first e-gold exchanger, continuously in business since then.)

Thanks, Graham!!

I think I have to be considered a wild advocate of the Internet. After all, I’m probably best known for writing a novel that more or less credits the Internet with facilitating the next step in the evolution of mankind. But, the Internet has caused some problems too, and this post adresses one such problem that is both very large and little-understood.

Twenty years ago I wrote a little series of essays for myself entitled Closed-Circuit Thinking, mostly as a way of clarifying my own thoughts. In it, I addressed the problems that arise in groups of people that listen to no voices but their own. I would now call these closed systems. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only person thinking along these lines. There is now a considerable body of work of the subject, generally classified as Group Polarization.

Group polarization works this way: When a group of people with the same opinion remains in a single room, that opinion moves inevitably to the extreme. Many tests have been done - with widely-varied groups - it happens every time.

The reason for this is what psychologists call Individuation: the need to be seen as a distinct individual, not merely as another drone in the hive.

The more outgoing people in any group will always struggle to make their voices heard above the din. To be regarded, one must have something different to say. And, since everyone in the room already holds the same opinion, the logical move is to take the opinion a bit farther than it has already gone. (Taking it away from the extreme would make you appear impure, weak, compromising, or otherwise unfaithful to the group.)

The end effect of this is that people in such self-contained groups get more and more polarized, and ever-harsher toward any groups that they see as their opponents.

While writing this in early 2008, it is generally agreed that opinions in the United States – especially political opinions – have become more polarized than usual in recent years. For example, to his opposing party, the President of the United States is seen not as wrong, or even bumbling, but as a Satan figure – evil, conniving, purposely lying for evil purposes.

But if polarization is increasing just now, there must be a recent cause. And, as I mentioned above, the great enabler of this negative trend is the Internet.

Prior to the Internet, assembling a large group of people that shared a single opinion was not a particularly easy task. Even in homogenous societies, there were always the Liberal/Conservative, Torry/Labor, and Catholic/Protestant sorts of divisions. Closed opinion loops did form, but usually as groups of people who energetically separated themselves from the rest of their societies. (And since separation required a very significant amount of motivation, these groups tended to be small.) Now, with the exponential increase in communication possibilities brought to us by the Internet, surrounding one’s self with people of the same opinion is easy.

Let me repeat: The Internet makes it possible to surround yourself with people of a single opinion

If you are pro-Bush, you can surround yourself with like-minded people, harmonious opinions, patriotic songs and appropriate tee-shirts at all times. And if you are anti-Bush, you can find enough material to give you 24/7 support that Bush is, indeed, everything Hugo Chavez says about him, and more.

The problem is that people are doing this. Websites, blogs, discussion lists, and chat rooms all proliferate; and this in addition to ever-more television and radio stations catering to smaller segments of the populace. It is now possible to enclose yourself in your chosen mythologies.

So, this technology-enabled, Group Polarization effect delivers binary (Us/Them) opinions, highly-emotional public clashes, and the demonization of outsiders.

The question now is how far this goes. When and how will people get over the new closed-system polarization? When will they haltingly acknowledge that things got out of proportion? Or does this go – as it sometimes has historically – somewhere very ugly?

I think we have to assume that it will get ugly in at least some cases. But, I expect that at some point in the near future, one or more dramatic and ugly incidents will become known, the sins of polarization will be given a face, and the public (or at least as many as are awake) will get an object lesson. Then, hopefully, people will emerge from their self-congratulatory cloisters and back away from the pit.

In the end, unpleasant contrary opinions are good for us. Cognitive dissonance is our friend; it shows us what we have not integrated. Eliminating or even excluding contrary voices can be dangerous.