Materialism

The constant advertisements thrown at us, and virtually all the peer pressure we experience try to convince us that to be "good patriotic Americans" we have to buy a bunch of "stuff". We are supposed to invest in America—have confidence in the economy—by taking out huge mortgages, buying cars, spending all our money, and even going in debt if need be. Worrying that constant growth cannot be sustained forever is un-American, according to them.

What is Interest?

Interest is the fee you pay for borrowing money. It should be considered legal theft. Charging any rate of interest on loans used to be called usury, and was against the law in most Christian countries (as well as condemned by the Catholic Church). Usury was condemned because of the very nature of money: it is not productive—that is, it does not produce wealth by itself.

About the Money Supply

The USA does not print its own money. The "Federal" Reserve, a private bank, creates and manages our money supply! It is neither federal, nor does it have any reserves.

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices edged upward Wednesday in anticipation of a report showing declines in U.S. crude and gasoline supplies.
Comments from OPEC that no output increases were needed also supported prices.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 7 cents to $71.80 a barrel by noon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped 24 cents to $71.73 a barrel Tuesday in the U.S.

Nymex gasoline futures rebounded by just over a penny to $2.0258 a gallon (3.8 liters) in electronic trading after dropping 2.39 cents in the day session.

Gasoline futures have been a main driver of oil prices in recent days. A number of refinery outages rekindled concerns about fuel supplies just as inventory reports have been indicating gasoline demand has remained strong late into the U.S. driving season.

But several of those refinery problems, including a reported outage at Citgo Petroleum Corp.'s refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, are apparently being resolved.

A crude distillation unit at Valero Energy Corp.'s refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has also been restarted, although at a lower rate after down time of about a week. And Dow Jones Newswires reported that the processing units at a 330,000 barrel per day Chevron Corp. refinery in Mississippi have returned to service.

Oil prices alternated between gains and losses Tuesday after Abdalla Salem el-Badri, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told