Pausing for gratitude, Leah Dieterich's New Book: thxthxthx

Congratulations to my friend, divine writer and film-maker, Leah Dieterich, whose book, thxthxthx: Thank Goodness for Everything launches today! Check it out!

In a world in which our inclination is to critique (and I do my share!), and there's much in need of correction, Leah's book reminds us that pausing to consider the small, often overlooked, seemingly odd or trivial, things in life for which we are grateful, is a good way to go.

thxthxthx is funny, endearing, witty, and uplifting. 

Check out her blog too.  And for those of you that live in LA, Leah will be doing her kick-off book event and launch party at Skylight Books on June 11 at 5PM. Stop by and meet an inspiring author and person.

Comments

[sgt_doom]

I certainly appreciate the smaller things in life, and many times that is all we are able to appreciate it.

More importantly, I appreciate the existence of the Bible of Forensic Economics: th Old Testament being Louis Brandeis book, Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use it; the New Testament being Nomi Prins' Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America.

A number of important points are established in Justice Brandeis' classic book, but the most important sentence, IMHO, he wrote was:

"They control the people through the people's own money."

This is their routine, and that is the exact manner today.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the interlocking directorates Brandeis researched and explained, were the principal control element to harness the monopolistic power of the corproations and their wealth.

Today, it is the ownership of banks by banks and other financial institutions, which in turn are owned by other banks and financial institutions, ad infinitum, and especially banks owning hedge funds which in turn own banks.

Today, those directorships and interlocking directorships, while conveying some influence, are really more about bribery and payoffs, hence one finds Erskine Bowles, Obama's "liberal" appointee to that deficit commission, sitting on the board of directors of Morgan Stanley, while his wife sits on the board of directors of JPMorgan Chase. (If Bowles is a liberal, I am married to the Queen of Norway --- a negative on both counts!!!!!)

Ms. Prins points out most cogently in her book (the New Testament) how Enron's foreign ventures was essentially underwritten by OPIC, which is really the underlying framework of how the multinationals do everything: using US foreign aid, through USAID, OPIC, and other agencies, to create all those foreign factories, production facilities, training centers, R&D laboratories, chip factories, etc., etc., which they then ship all those jobs to, and/or create new ones at.

Other people's money --- in this case the taxpayers'. It is always OPM which they use to steal, screw the rest of us, and continue that massive transfer of wealth.

It is also important to realize that Andrew Mellon, the treasury secretary before the Great Crash of 1929, urged a reduction in the capital gains tax, which they did indeed do, one or two years prior to the Great Crash.

Today, the Obama Administration is once again urging the same thing, and once again we have a member of the Mellon family as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner (this came as a surprise to me, also, and only was made aware of it recently by several online associates who themselves only recently stumbled upon that fact when they were researching bank owernship in the USA).

Some other books which are excellent resources for further understanding the present economic circumstances we see today.

Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson

Wall Street Capitalism: A Theory of the Bondholding Class by E. Ray Canterbery

The Rich and the Super-Rich by Ferdinand Lundberg

Trade, Development and Foreign Debt by Michael Hudson

But, whatever you do, be sure to familiarize yourself with both OPM books, Ms. Prins and Mr. Brandeis!

[Nomi Prins]

Really?

"and once again we have a member of the Mellon family as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner (this came as a surprise to me, also, and only was made aware of it recently by several online associates who themselves only recently stumbled upon that fact when they were researching bank owernship in the USA)."

very interesting....nature over nurture? or in his case, I guess both...

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