The Book of Nehemiah

5

The Payment of Interest Abolished
1	And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
2	For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.
3	Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.
4	There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.
5	Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
6	¶ And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
7	Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. Ex. 22.25 · Lev. 25.35-37 · Deut. 23.19, 20 And I set a great assembly against them.
8	And I said unto them, We, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
9	Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?
10	I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.
11	Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
12	Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
13	Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.
14	¶ Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerx'es the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
15	But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
16	Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.
17	Moreover there were at my table a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.
18	Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.
19	Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

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Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit.
She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.
To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.
Heidi keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers' loans).
Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit .
By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages.
Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively.
A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit.
He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral!!!
At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINK BONDS.
These "securities" then are bundled and traded on international securities markets.
Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as "AAA Secured Bonds" really are debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb!!!, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses.
One day, even though the bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. He so informs Heidi.
Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts.
Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and Heidi's 11 employees lose their jobs.
Overnight, DRINK BOND prices drop by 90%.
The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank's liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.
The suppliers of Heidi's bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms' pension funds in the BOND securities.
They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.
Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multibillion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government.
The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, nondrinkers who have never been in Heidi's bar.

Does everyone now fully understand the situation we're in?

Cuba's President Raul Castro smiles during the National Assembly meeting in Havana December 18, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Enrique De La Osa

By Marc Frank

CAMAGUEY, Cuba | Tue Mar 8, 2011 2:45pm EST

CAMAGUEY, Cuba (Reuters) - Cuba's program to slash 500,000 state jobs nationwide has barely gotten off the ground in the provinces, as officials scramble to provide alternatives and deal with unease and anger over the layoffs.
Confusion about how to implement the cuts, a lack of alternative jobs and worker resistance have led President Raul Castro to drop a deadline to carry out the plan by March.
The layoffs, aimed at cutting expenditures by the debt-ridden government and increasing productivity on the Caribbean's biggest island, are a key part of economic reforms Castro says are critical to the survival of Cuban communism.
Some 3,000 jobs have been cut in eastern Granma province since the program started in October, a similar number in adjacent Santiago de Cuba and 1,000 in central Camaguey, local officials told Reuters last week.
But that is just 10 percent of the 70,000 jobs they said were slated to go by March in the three provinces and already the experience has proved wrenching for a society where a secure job had been guaranteed for decades under a centrally run socialist economy.
"We never know now if tomorrow we will wake up with a job or not and it was never like that before," said a middle-aged woman in Santiago de Cuba, asking that her name not be used.
A companion reform measure lifting many curbs on operating small private businesses and working privately in skilled trades was originally designed to absorb the workers who have yet to be let go.
As of January 31, 113,000 people nationwide had taken out licenses to work on their own, including 15,000 in the Camaguey, Granma and Santiago provinces.
But Marta Adan Hernandez, the director of labor and social security in Camaguey province, said there is room for many more people working on their own.
"There is no limit and many services still need to be provided to the population," she told Reuters.
Castro's reforms envision a growing "non-state" retail and farming sector and more efficient state-run companies. They are expected to be approved at a Communist Party congress in April.
The massive lay-offs have reportedly come under fire during tens of thousands of meetings held across the island as a prelude to the congress.
The program is being described as a "reorganization" of the labor force because in theory laid-off workers are declared "available" and offered other jobs or they can lease fallow state land or become self-employed.
LAIDOFF WORKERS DECLARED "AVAILABLE"
Twenty-nine nurses at one of nine health clinics in Camaguey, upon being declared "available" last week, were offered jobs at local hospitals.
"Some are taking the offer and others are going home because at the clinic you work eight-hour days while in hospitals you work a 12-hour day or night shift and it often turns into 24 hours when your relief doesn't show up," said Anaida, a nursing supervisor.
That was not the case for bookkeepers at 20 restaurants in Santiago de Cuba attached to the Tourism Ministry. Their jobs were simply eliminated and all 20 let go, with their four supervisors taking over the work.
"They declared me 'available' January 4 and sent me home with a month's salary and then 70 percent for another month," 40-year-old Maria Eugenia said. "They haven't offered me anything. They haven't even called me or any of the others.
Granma's provincial vice president for economic affairs, Raul Lopez Rodriguez, insisted the reorganization would continue, but admitted only 10 percent of those laid off could be absorbed by a shrinking state sector.
The remainder will have little choice but to return to the land or strike out on their own.
"You are going to see a reorganization of the labor force to improve efficiency and those who remain must be paid much more," he said. He estimated that average monthly wages, now about 440 pesos ($20), would need to double to motivate workers.

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA | Tue Mar 8, 2011 9:36pm EST

HAVANA (Reuters) - The government has given permission to eight more airports to offer direct charter flights to and from Cuba in the latest small opening in the 49-year-long trade embargo against the communist island.
Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday Cuba flights would now be allowed from airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Previously, Cuba flights could be flown only from Miami, New York and Los Angeles. It was not yet known when flights would begin from the new cities.
President Barack Obama said in January Cuba charter service would be expanded. At the same time, he announced a loosening of restrictions for some groups on U.S. travel to Cuba.
The embargo, imposed since 1962 with the aim of toppling the communist government put in place after a 1959 revolution, prevents most Americans from going to Cuba. Only charter flights, not regular air service, are allowed to operate on U.S.-Cuba routes.
Obama has said he wants to recast U.S.-Cuba relations. He previously removed limits on Cuban American travel to the island located 90 miles from Florida and on the sending of remittances.
Cuban Americans have flooded into the country, packing the flights available and making Americans among the top nationalities numerically to visit Cuba.
Under Obama and President Raul Castro, the longtime ideological foes also have initiated talks on migration issues and the possible resumption of direct mail service.
Some Cuban American leaders and groups have opposed Obama's measures, saying they help the Cuban government that was run by Fidel Castro for 49 years before his younger brother Raul Castro succeeded him in 2008.
Progress in the long-hostile relations came to a halt in December 2009 when Cuba arrested U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross for working in a U.S.-funded program to promote political change on the island.
The approval of the new airports comes as a Cuban court decides Gross's fate following a two-day trial last week for what prosecutors said was his involvement in "subversive projects" to "defeat the Revolution."
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Will Dunham)

Well here it is March the 2^nd 2011 at 3am, I’ve watched the news and have listened between the words for some semblance of truth in the media, only to be disgusted and then I turn the channel hoping to find a good movie or perhaps a good documentary, maybe I should waste my time and play a FPS video game or read through some more blogs, I have my favorites but I am one with more time to read other peoples musings then to try to postulate my own. I feel perplexed on all sides as I worry about the future not for myself but more for my family and friends, I’m seeing History repeat itself once again as we here in the United States sit comfortably in our homes behind our computer screens or TV’s as the World outside is crying for help, what can i do? Besides sending charity to a few selected people, while I worry about bills and the future, while I fight the desires for more material possessions. I wonder what will be my legacy when I am gone, did I say enough to those that needed to hear a word? Did I give enough to those who needed help? Did I pray for them earnestly enough for those who feel there is no more hope? I used to long to be like a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the lost but now I am nothing more than one of the lost sheep crying out, return Lord Jesus, return.

 How long oh Lord Holy and true that you are, how long till you return and straiten the crooked paths and shore up the foundation’s that have been drowned in the miry pits of despair, how much longer are we to be bombarded with such rampant evil and decadence all around us as we ourselves glance back like lot’s wife.

There are a lot of things that I see and hear that really piss me off besides the injustice many people suffer presently, what I’m more upset about is my inability on my own to change those things around me especially when I see the indifference many of us have, the feeling that everything is just fine the way it is, I walk through the supermarket purchasing food items, and suddenly I’m reminded of how well we have it here in the United States “if you have a Job” and make a decent living, the store shelves are full of items that we Americans take for granted daily, I have a thought, what if all of this excess were to suddenly disappear and we were thrust back into a third world society, would Americans begin to revolt like those in Egypt and Libya, probably huh?  We Americans would begin to bitch and moan for the lifestyle that we have become accustomed to, while the rest of us hopefully begin to overcome and adapt.  It’s now time I am off to bed, thanks for letting me vent.

From The Associated Press:

A new report finds the president has broad authority to continue easing sanctions against Cuba without violating the congressionally mandated U.S. embargo.
The report, released Tuesday by Washington-based attorney Stephen Propst, was conducted at the request of the moderate, business-backed Cuba Study Group.
Cuban authorities announced in September they were opening the island's Marxist economy to a limited amount of private enterprise. Propst' review found President Barack Obama could authorize certain services to be imported from Cuba, such as those provided by Cuban web-based entrepreneurs. He also maintains Obama could create more general travel licenses to the island, making it easier for those working with the country's fledgling business class.

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/02/obama-could-ease-more-sanctions-without-violating-the-trade-embargo-a-report-says.html#ixzz1FNVdPBHw

  So my question is, whats the frigging hold up?  why this blatant hypocrisy with Cuba as the US trade's with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, didn't we get our asses handed to us on the way out of that country?
What would the 58000 Americans who died fighting the Vietcong  have to say?
Why the double standard? is because of the old fucks in government who have an ulterior motive?
END THE EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA before the World places an Embargo against the United States.

There are two United States of America, one in which vanity reigns, and another suffering from Stockholm syndrome on a mass scale, My mind moves from one to the other and I can only hope for the real awakening that is desperately needed. In any case, the veil over our heads is blowing in the wind to only be swooshed away soon. And to know it, you don’t need any proof other than the fear that permeates The American psyche and the mainstream media, the streets full of State and federal employees earning salaries and benefits that the average person in the disappearing private sector will never earn. The sense that we are being lied to as the American dream slowly turns into a nightmare, the absolute distress of those trying to hang on to ownership of their home before it is foreclosed on.

We Americans look with dismay at the Middle East as our politicians and news anchors tell us what evil dictators these men have been to their people and that the only answer is DEMOCRACY? …come on people Democracy is NOT the End All Cure All, I was in Iraq when it was shoved down the throats of the people as if they really had a freedom of choice for their next leader, here in America every 4years we are given the choice of Chicken or Pasta, one or the other, period. And you say we live in a free society? We are SLAVES to consumerism, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and especially the pride of life, these will destroy a society, ie (Rome)

Is fear our sword of Damocles and does the government look upon us like trembling and defenseless lambs? Or is it that the trembling of the shepherds is greater than that of the sheep. Those in the Federal and state government, the paranoia and fear have become State policy. Although they try to appear comfortable in the chairs of democratic fascism as they hold to their constitutional authority, they know the foundation has been eroding away and is going to disappear.

When will the True Sons of the Republic return to repair the foundation stone's that have been cracked and chipped by politicians using there jackhammers on the U.S. Constitution? perhaps the ink that is written on that old piece of hemp paper can no longer support the house that was once built upon it, for a divided house cannot stand.

   Well here i am trying out my hand at blogging out my musing's, but who the hell do i think i am? out of the millions perhaps hundreds of millions blogging what can i possibly add that hasn't already been said and written. I enter the Bloggesphere with humility and trepidation hoping i don't sound like just another dumb ass tooting his horn on his soap box, with all his musings.
   Do you ever think about your past and some of the things you have said and done and wish you could change it, does the past sometimes haunt you like a bad dream you want to forget and the feeling's of loosing your mind only to tell yourself and the haunting thoughts "get the Fuck out of my head" ?.  I'm not mental i can assure you, im what some may call a "functioning manic depressive" I tend to work better under stressful situations, but when driving down the road in my truck i feel somewhat free as i focus on the road before me as my mind wanders the past, present and future, and contemplate "Just who do i think i am"?