Government plans for massive death

This from Simon Black, who keeps several fingers on the pulse of our nation and the world.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Late last week, a bill HR 6566 was introduced on the floor of the US House of Representatives. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it.

The bill is entitled the "Mass Fatality Planning and Religious Considerations Act," and its stated purpose is "[t]o amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide guidance and coordination for mass fatality planning..."

Hmmmm. Homeland Security. FEMA. Sounds like a fun party.

The bill was introduced a week ago, but it took the US Government Printing Office until this morning to actually make the text available to the public.

It turns out that my weeklong wait was for nothing. The bill itself is just a handful of paragraphs that merely reiterates the title... that the cracker jack team over at FEMA should be prepared to respond to mass fatalities in the United States, and to account for religious burial differences.

This is just one of those things that makes the stomach turn: the people who brought us the National Defense Authorization Act (authorizing the detention of US citizens on US soil) now deem it prudent to prepare for mass fatalities on US soil...

Moreover, they're outsourcing it to one of the most failed government agencies in history.

FEMA, as you may recall, is the same organization that couldn't get bottles of water delivered to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina... and held up hundreds of seasoned volunteer emergency service workers from entering the city for several days of mandatory sexual harassment training.

I doubt a Soviet boot factory could have botched the job more miserably than that. I can't wait to see these guys in charge of whatever 'mass fatality' event the government is preparing for.

It boggles the mind that this agency still exists... and more importantly, why with so many other problems to deal with, 'mass fatalities' is even a topic of discussion at the Capitol.

Whether well-intentioned or not, this strange little bill is yet another telling indication of how the political elite thinks. At best, they're incompetent and out of touch. At worst, they're dangerous and sociopathic.

Either way, this ought to be a reminder of what representative democracy really means in the Land of the Free today... and why it's so important to take control of your freedom.

These people are not the solution. They're the problem. The real solutions lie within. If you're not free, you can get free. It just takes a little bit of effort, a reshuffling of priorities, and some rational thinking. More to follow.

Date: October 1, 2012

Reporting From: Santiago, Chile

I want to tell you about a company I've recently come across that is shaping up to be one hell of an investment opportunity. Today is the first day of their new fiscal year, and it's obvious they're poised for massive growth and huge upside potential.

To start off, it's an absolutely giant company. The biggest in the world, in fact. Maybe the biggest in the history of the world. And year after year, it gets even bigger. They hire more employees and embark on larger, more ambitious investment projects.

Now, in all candor, most of those investment projects don't really work out very well for the company's bottom line. In fact, the company has actually lost money nearly every single year for the past five decades.

I should also point out, in fairness, that the company's balance sheet is pretty dismal. Its net book value is negative. Big time. The company's debt load is worth far more than all of its assets put together, and then some.

They also have a small problem with future pension liabilities (which could actually dwarf the existing debt burden). It's difficult to ascertain the true nature of this pension issue, though, because I believe management is using a few accounting tricks to cover up the problem.

Oh, and speaking of management team, the company has a real cracker jack squad running the show.

They've got an enormous board of directors to oversee things on behalf of shareholders. Most of the directors are trained attorneys, so they really know their stuff when it comes to managing finance.

Curiously, many have been on the board for decades, so as individuals they are not necessarily held accountable for corporate performance. It seems, however, that the shareholders really prefer this system and find it to be the best form of corporate governance in the world.

On that note, shareholders also directly choose the company CEO. This is typically a very charismatic fellow with great hair and a winning smile who excels at giving speeches. They even bought him an expensive jet to fly around the world and represent the company.

CEOs are changed out every few years. Before the transition, the new guy usually talks a lot about all the positive changes he wants to make... though over the next few years he usually comes up short. Shareholders don't seem to mind very much, though, because this cycle seems to repeat itself endlessly every few years.

Anyhow, let me tell you about the three key assets that make this as worthwhile investment:

The first is goodwill. The company's brand and trademark are loved around the world, even more than Coca Cola. There's barely a soul alive that hasn't heard of the company. OK, in truth, popular opinion may be waning in recent years... but most people still seem to view the company as it was 50+ years ago. This is a major benefit and will obviously last forever.

The second is its vast debt facility. Despite already being in so much debt, the company has access to nearly infinite lines of credit... so it can continue to further indebt itself in order to finance operations. Clearly this will continue forever, unabated, so no reason to worry.

The last key asset is the company's share structure. While every shareholder has a single share, large consortiums often band together to influence management in their own favor at the expense of other shareholders.

Moreover, management has the authority to issue a mandatory rights offering... essentially compelling shareholders to pay up more money into the company. As a matter of fact, if the shareholders don't pay, they can go to jail and the company can seize their assets. It's a beautiful system.

(curiously, shareholders never actually signed up for this obligation... but somehow it's still enforceable...)

Anyhow, here's the investment I want to tell you about-- the company wants to borrow a bit more money, structured as a 10-year note. They're offering an interest rate of 1.62% for that ten-year period. I don't know about you, but this seems like a no brainer to me. Even the rating agencies agree, it's practically risk free!

If you want to do your own research, check out the company yourself. It's called the United States of America.

Until tomorrow, 

Simon Black

Senior Editor, Sovereignman.com