FELIZ ANO NOVO!

FELIZ ANO NOVO!

To all our Friends and Readers around the World, Best Wishes for a Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year!

Photographed and Posted 

by

The Blogger

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THE MODERN "CHILDREN'S CRUSADE!"

THE MODERN

 "CHILDREN'S CRUSADE!"

It is always worth a closer look at situations in which children assume adult roles and tackle issues that exist in the World.

This article is worth a read.... 
(copy and paste)

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/uns-woke-climate-change-propaganda-insult-science?utm_campaign=&utm_content=ZeroHedge%3A+The+Durden+Dispatch&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zh_newsletter

I can remember from my own youth, being involved in many issues of the day and being a great spokesman for things I truly believed in. But, I certainly did not receive the kind of publicity and recognition that one Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, has received by the World's  "mocking bird" press!

According to the reports easily found by an internet search, she been followed by cameras from day one. She has parents famous in their own right, so it is not a stretch to suggest that she has been "used" by the left to promote all the favorite sovereignty-robbing agendas of the communists! She apparently is autistic and certainly looks very innocent in all her pictures. Look closely at many the pictures of her and other people and you will see she is very carefully choreographed and led by adults with an agenda on their minds!

It doesn't matter whether she is successful or not. The main thing, is to get young folks to agree to a "World Order" to tackle "issues." The message is always the same...get rid

of "Nation-States" and surrender to an all powerful "International Utopia."

It is funny to see how Greta Thunberg uses yachts of millionaires to travel around the world, while politicians who attend the climate "thingy" in Madrid, Spain, use JETS to travel there!  And of course, nothing is accomplished and Greta is "unhappy"she is the only "kid" who is supporting this formally! Opponents get no time in the press at all and are mocked and ridiculed.

She has expressed a willingness to let Facebook censor any comments against her, regardless of how reasonable, and she seems to think that politicians are failing in efforts to make the climate hoax an international matter. (Sound familiar?) A lot of foolish school kids were conned into being scared that the world is coming to an end. (It isn't!) They happily took a day off from school to "demonstrate."

It's all pure baloney, of course. Some of the greatest polluters in the world are third world countries and "emerging countries!" We have interwoven some picture-examples in this article. So why are Western Countries targeted, but not the emerging ones who pollute more than anyone??

That pollution is a problem is not the issue. 
 It is the political crap behind this movement that is suspect!

Who are the people promoting Greta kidding? The answer is simple: They are kidding as many as possible! I am not kidded one bit. This has been tried before!

It is a fact that children are the easiest to influence because they are new to the world, innocent and have absolutely no life experience. So if you teach them correct principles, the results will be great. But if you teach them lies and misinformation, they grow up to be total brainwashed misfits!

It is useful to look at the past. How many of you remember the "Children's Crusade" of long ago?

Stephen was a French child-prodigy preacher from Chartres, France, with great persuasion. In the year 1212, he and a companion, Nicolas of Germany persuaded a whole generation of youth to travel to the Holy Land and free the place from the Saracens. The Crusades, (translate adults) had failed, so it was up to youth to "save the world!"

It is a all a bit reminiscent of "The Pied Piper!"

In vain did Phillip Augustus issue a decree that the children return to their homes. Others tried to dissuade these young zealots from going through with their plans, but to no avail. Eventually, ships mysteriously became available. The children thought they were doing a noble deed, instead were assaulted by brigands along the way and eventually sold into slavery in the Middle East!

It wasn't until some ten years later that a man who survived a shipwreck lived to tell the tale. He told of a tempest that sank many ships and how those that survived went on to become slaves. The whole side-show was one miserable failure. The result was devastating for Europe as a large portion of the "next generation" was eliminated from the gene pool....

This whole fascinating story can be found on the internet in many sources. My source is a series of Children's Books first published in 1937 compiled by Olive Beaupre Miller called MY BOOK HOUSE (Volume ten, page 30). These books are collectors items now, easily worth $750 or more for the set. The drawings are from the same source.

My point is, folks, be careful whom 
you FOLLOW. 
If something does not make practical sense, 
it is best left alone. 

The next time someone comes up with an agenda, whether it be climate change, pollution, gun control or a myriad of other subjects, ask yourself if their "solutions" make sense or not. On an individual basis we can all do our part to improve life. Look around you and ask yourself what YOU can do that is practical to help improve life! It seldom involves government interference, or other wily ways, which mostly has proven very harmful!

Written 
by
Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst

Drawings are from MY BOOK HOUSE
Vol 10 compiled by Olive Beaupre Miller 

Caption of Greta Thunberg
taken from the Internet

Third World Pollution Photos
are from the Internet

Be sure to follow us on 
GAB
the social media
as 
HOMEFRONT BOOKS

Also check out our Facebook Page
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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

In the Christian World, 

Christmas is a special,

even a Sacred Time of the Year.

Sometimes, 

in our quest for presents and merriment,

we forget to be Thankful for all we are....

Thankful for what we have,

Thankful for our many accomplishments

 during the year.....

Thankful for each other....

and...

Thankful for each Day we Have to Experience!

To all my Friends and Readers

around Our World....

A Merry Christmas to All....

God Jul...

Feliz Natal....

From The Blogger

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SAYINGS OF GREAT MEN!

SAYINGS OF GREAT MEN!

Nature is always consistent and a Nice Reflection on us all!

You may want to try an experiment with your friends. It can be for the fun of it, or you can do it in an effort to provoke some thoughtful commentary.

Don't be surprised if your effort falls flat on its face and you get thrown out on your ear!!

Take this little saying, for example:

How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.... 

If you said that President Franklin Roosevelt said this, Roosevelt lovers would agree this is a great saying by a great man. If, by chance, you suggested it was really President Donald Trump that said it, you run the risk of starting a verbal war depending on whether you are talking to a Trump-lover or a Trump-hater! And if you were to tell the truth and give the real source (Adolph Hitler), you might lose your job, your girl-friend, friends, your Facebook Account and whole lot of other things. You would be called a Nazi and become an outcast!

Try this little gem:

The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.

That so clearly shows in the Climate Change Hoax it is hilarious. But, if you went through the same exercise, mentioning different leaders as the source of that comment, you would get reactions corresponding to what the mental midget you are talking to is capable of comprehending! But mention the real source (again Adolph Hitler) and you have a major problem on your hands!

Or this one:

Republics decline into Democracies and Democracies degenerate into Despotisms... 

If you suggested that saying was attributed to Adolf Hitler you would get a virulent reaction! You would quickly learn that you are a bad guy for quoting such a horrible leader. If you "corrected" your "mistake" by saying it was really ARISTOTLE that said that, no one would believe you! Such is the power of propaganda!

One more:

Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man except it be interwoven with that memory  of ancient things of a superior age.

Again, if you attributed the saying to Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist Leader you run the risk of being called a communist yourself, maybe Anti-American, or if you run into a rabid lefty, he would agree with you Mao was a "great man!" But if you were to say it was a quotation from Cicero, no one would believe you!

Shakespeare was a student of Mankind. In his play, "A Midsummer Nights Dream," he makes the point very clearly in the story of star-crossed lovers and an impetuous imp:

Lord, what Fools these Mortals be!

When people cannot think for themselves and appreciate commentary on its own merits, regardless of the source and act accordingly, we make ourselves out to be the bigots and hypocrites we always condemn others for being! Remember that no one has a monopoly on truth and no one is always wrong! That is a hard lesson to learn for most people! Some things are naturally correct and it really does not matter WHO said it!

Politics is pure poison...

and that's not difficult to demonstrate...

To be perfectly clear, that saying you can attribute to the blogger!

People at one with the Environment

Written and Photographed

by

Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst

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is t

STUPID DOES AS STUPID IS....

STUPID DOES AS STUPID IS....

I am embarrassed.

I really am.

I EXPECT utter

stupidity from elected officials.

I am seldom disappointed these days...

...but I am EMBARRASSED!

The Hags of Hazzard County!

Did you ever see a more motley crew of idiots in your life? They look like hags of the worst sort, and in my estimation, have zero redeeming quality as human beings. There isn't ONE STATESMAN-LIKE quality displayed in those faces! The fact that they are WOMEN, is even more embarrassing. BUT THESE WOMEN have no shame at all. They SAY anything, and PROSTITUTE themselves for the most ridiculous causes.

It isn't just these WOMEN, either. What about the clowns that ELECTED them? What is their excuse? Maybe the time has come to go back to the old system of only letting PROPERTY OWNERS vote. They had the superior quality of voting for what was good for all. After all, what is good for property owners is good for renters and others! 

We have gotten to a point in America, where people vote for what they WANT, and not for what they NEED. Property owners normally take care of their own and the spill down effect worked like a charm. Now that any idiot can vote (one-man one-vote) there is nothing but loony-ism at work! Letting prison inmates, teenagers without any life experience and illegal immigrants vote, only adds to the insanity!

It isn't just the women. What about this sorry excuse for a MAN? 

This guy is not just a loony, but looks like one. Look at those EYES! 

Here is man (Representative Adam Schiff) who leads the "impeachment inquiry" into President Trumps "behavior." He cherry-pocks witnesses, hides the name of a so-called "whistle-blower," (Eric Ciaramella) who is nothing but an apparent fraud and does everything he can to make innuendo and opinions count as facts.

Another Loony BEZERKLY "instructor" 
goes "off the rails..." 

This is a young fool (Jackson Kernion) with no experience in life who is an "instructor," and maintains that rural people have made poor life choices and are not worth much. He objects to rural folks looking down on city people! I wonder where this idiot thinks that FOOD comes from, if it isn't from the group he so loudly condemns?! You can read about him here:

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/uc-berkeley-instructor-rural-americans-bad-people-whove-made-bad-life-decisions/


When people have lost the ability to think sensibly for themselves and have no power of discernment, there is not much hope for progress.....

Everyday there is more and more examples of "unhinged behavior" by those who call themselves human beings. I don't need to cite them all. There just to many!

Happily there are those of us that forge ahead with life and don't give a "hoot" about what these mental midgets think! In the long run, it is those who have their heads screwed on correctly who will be the winners.

Follow us on GAB, if you like. The Blogger posts as homefrontbooks. 

Better yet, join GAB, become PRO and pay five dollars a month for completely uncensored, unlimited commentary. As Facebook, U Tube and Google go down the slippery slope of censorship, open-source operations like GAB become more important than ever. There are groups there for everyone. If you don't find one you like, create your own!

 
Photograph: Not Fall, Not Winter!

Posted by 
THE BLOGGER




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FAMILY BUILDINGS IN NORWAY

FAMILY BUILDINGS IN NORWAY.

I had an opportunity to visit Norway on a recent trip to Europe. I was interested in seeing some of the places that I grew up in and looking at family accomplishments over the years.

Family is interesting. Not only is there a large number of us, but all are engaged in one kind of enterprise or another. 

I am not much impressed with the socialists in power in Norway, but the country has little external debt and has a very useful Petroleum Fund which is invested all over the world and helps fund many of the programs the government thinks is good. 

It is an example of what all governments COULD do if they chose. Make good investments and use the results to make good choices for people. Unfortunately, that is seldom done in many countries. 

I looked at a building built almost a hundred years ago by Uncle Anders Hesstvedt. I had not seen it since I was a boy. Anders was my grandfather's brother. Here is the building today, still standing and still in use. The upper story serves as a top scale restaurant after all these years.

 Bakkekroen Restaurant

Grandad was quite the entrepreneur. As a young man he went broke a few times and moved a lot before settling on his life-long project, a ladies wear store. He did very well, raised a large family and built his own home. 

Grandfather's Home Today 

Grandfather as seen at his beloved 

"Garder"

in the 1930's

Grandfathers Store Window, Christmas 1928.

"Kahrs & Co." 

won First Prize Award for their 

Christmas Window Display.

While I was in Norway, I used the opportunity to visit and photograph a building where I went to school. Built in 1925, the place is still in use, though it features a new roof. Extra buildings have been built to hold the additional students of an increased population today. Here is what it looks like today.

  

Fjellstrand Skole on Nesodden, Norway

In 1965 the building looked like this:

This photograph (digitized from an Ektachrome Slide) was taken in the Summer of 1965, when I visited the place as a young American Soldier. This photograph is featured in our book AN IMMIGRANT REMEMBERS, advertised elsewhere on this blog. 

Sometimes it is good to return and take a look at our roots and appreciate our past, our heritage and the things that helped make us what we are today!

Written and Photographed

by

Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst




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THE DOLLAR AND ITS FUTURE.

 THE DOLLAR AND ITS FUTURE.

There are very few men I really admire for their wisdom.

Most of what I write on this blog is from my own pen. Today, I am quoting someone else. The reason is that I could not have said it better, and because I think the material is worth disseminating.

David Schectman is a Precious Metals Dealer. I do not have nor have I ever had any business dealings with him. Not because there is any problem with dealing with him. He is an honest businessman and is very well respected in his profession. I therefore recommend him. But I use other connections I prefer NOT to divulge. Instead I read his newsletter, because it is one of the best in the business. I want to make it clear I do not get any compensation for publishing this! Just saying!

You may find it interesting reading, assuming you are of an inquiring mind and are an intelligent human. If you are not, then don't bother to read this, it will only "upset" you!

‌  ‌

From The Desk Of David Schectman

David's Commentary (In Blue): I love my profession. It has provided me with a comfortable living for the last 36 years. It has profoundly changed my views on finance, government and the economy. My views of government, money, the press, politics and investing are so different from my peers that when I discuss any of those topics with them we seem to be speaking a different language. Although they may not say it, they think I am out there in left field.  As I get older, it becomes more obvious that you can’t change people’s views, no matter how compelling and logical your argument is. That’s true whether the topic is religion, politics or economics. People, especially people our age, are set in their ways. No wonder there are so few people who share our views and so few who actually own gold or silver.  Offer a stranger on the street the choice between a $10 bill and a gold coin and most will take the $10 bill. Most Americans have never seen a gold coin or a silver dollar. Not one in a hundred knows that gold and silver coins were our money for over 150 years. Typically if you ask people why they don’t own gold or silver the more educated of the bunch will reply, because they don’t pay interest, so what good are they? You can’t cash them in at a bank. So if it is nearly impossible to convince non-gold owners that they should consider owning some, and there are so few people who actually own gold, whom do we sell it to? That is a troubling question. It ain’t the Millenials.  I often write that we “preach to the choir.” The majority of the (intellectually) unwashed masses out there have no idea that they are losing their freedom, or the damage that the Federal Reserve and our government is doing to their currency and way of life. The press isn’t about to tell them the truth. Neither is our educational system. You don’t learn about gold in high school or college.  So when will these clueless people finally figure it out? If at all, it will be after a massive price rise when everyone is talking about it and it is making headlines in the newspapers and magazines. I’ll sell them some of my gold coins for $5,000 or $10,000 an ounce. Today was but another example of how things have changed. I had to look for my TSA number in order to avoid long check in lines at the MSP International airport before I leave on a flight. I had to set up an appointment with my primary care physician in order to book an appointment with a physical therapist to treat a pinched nerve in my neck. I wasted half a day dealing with the bureaucracy. These days, you have to go through a doctor to see a doctor. It’s crazy. When I was in college I sold women’s shoes part time (Monday and Thursday evenings and on Saturdays and full time in the summer) and made enough to pay for my tuition, gas for my old car and the money I used to buy a few beers and a pizza on the weekend. On a good Saturday I could make $10 and that would last me a week.  Now it costs me nearly $10 for a large latte and a McDonalds Sausage and Egg McMuffin. Filling up the gas tank costs between $50 and $75. How do people get by on $15 an hour minimum wage? They don’t. How do they get along on three or four times that amount? Very poorly. One option is – both husband and wife work. That’s fine, unless there are young children at home and who is left to watch them? Childcare costs more than the second income.  Maybe Trump is right when he says, “Make America Great Again.” The emphasis on “Again.” When I was in my 30s I easily supported my family on just my income. These days that is impossible for most Americans. I look at my pay stub and I am impressed. By my humble standards, I make a lot of money – but after they deduct FICA and Federal and State taxes, plus what I have to pay in local real estate taxes and Minnesota’s 6.875% sales tax and all the other hidden taxes I am lucky to keep one-third of what I gross. A big number becomes a lot smaller number in a hurry.  Most Americans are aware that something isn’t right and they can’t understand why their dollar doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to, even though they seem to be making a decent living. Well, if they are fortunate enough to be reading our newsletter they will find out what has happened to their purchasing power. Inflation: In the words of Alfred E. Neuman, “What, Me Worry?” Most Americans do not worry about inflation. Why would they? The government’s bureau that reports on inflation, the BLS, says inflation is only running at a rate of 2% a year. That doesn’t sound so bad. At that rate, it would take 36 years for prices to double. Haa, ha, haa. What a joke.  How many of your friends have ever heard of John Williams and his excellent Shadowstats newsletter? How many of them understand that the “real” inflation number is running at – not 2% but 6% or 10% depending on the way it is calculated?

That is a BIG difference. 2% inflation, compounded, cuts your buying power in half every 36 years . 6% inflation cuts your buying power in half in 12 years and at 10% inflation, it takes only 7.2 years.  Is your after-tax income rising that fast? Probably not, so every year you fall further and further behind. If you are not making a lot of money in the stock market you are in trouble.

And it is even worse for the Millennials. Only 38% of this group owns any stocks. How will they retire? They won’t. How Much Do You Have To Set Aside To Retire (In Comfort)? How can the average American ever retire with interest rates at 2% or 3% and falling. If a family were somehow able to scrimp and save a million dollars, they would only receive $20,000 to $30,000 a year - before taxes on a safe interest-bearing investment like a bond or CD. Can you retire on that amount? And how many Americans do you think have saved a million dollars? Sure, you can add another $20,000 from Social Security payments and that ups the number to around $50,000 or so but that is a life style without vacations, without new cars, and one that hopefully does not have to deal with expenses from a major illness. How many Americans can afford long-term care insurance? Not many. You may be one of the fortunate few who are situated well above these numbers. Many of our readers probably are, but even we are getting squeezed and our dollars are not going nearly as far as they used to. I’m on my third Porsche Carrera in the last 10 years and the cost has risen by nearly $20,000 for the same car. What would the BLS have to say about that? They would say I can drive a Chevy. Both are cars, so the cost has not gone up at all. That’s what they do when they “adjust” inflation “hedonically.” The computing power of your Apple computer doubled so the fact that the price may have also doubled is deemed to be of no consequence. And if the price of steaks rises, then you will eat chicken. See, no inflation. What you get is deflation – deflation in your standard of living. The What and the Why That is the WHAT. But I like to talk about the WHY. Being in my industry has answered the “WHY” question. “WHY” our standard of living is shrinking before our eyes. And when you understand the “WHY” you understand why people buy gold and silver.  Forget about what gold did today, or last week, or last month. Gold is not about “price and it is not about profit.” Gold is about being able to maintain buying power - over time. Please don’t accuse me of deliberately picking a time frame that is favorable to gold. Almost any time frame of a couple of decades or more would suffice. But I will use 1970 as a fair starting point for this discussion. Gold was the official backing of the dollar until 1971. In 1970 I went to work for Target Corp. as an assistant buyer at a starting salary of $8,000 a year. A senior buyer at Target might make twice as much. Lou Kennedy, the toy buyer, told me, “My goal is to make $1,000 a year times my age.” In other words, when he was 25 he wanted to make $25,000 a year and when he was 40 he wanted to make $40,000 a year. That was a far-reaching goal in those days. It hardly seemed possible. In the late 60s I built a lovely four bedroom colonial house in a new suburb for $32,000 and bought a new canary yellow Corvette convertible for $3,500. Then I moved up to a red Mercedes 280SL roadster for $9,000. (This was all pre-Target when I was making a lot more money.) An ounce of gold officially sold for $42.22, but you couldn’t legally buy it. It was illegal to own gold until 1975. In a few short years, gold exploded to $850 an ounce as inflation raged on – the result of the Viet Nam war and Lyndon Johnson’s social programs. In the 70s, rampant government did cause price inflation. These days, with trillion dollar plus annual deficits, they tell us debt doesn’t matter. The “official” BLS rate of inflation since 1970 states it now takes about $6.50 to equal one 1970 dollar. So let’s revisit the prices I listed above and see if they are lying. Of course they are, but let’s check just for kicks. My 1970 wage of $8,000 would be adjusted to $52,000. My house in the suburbs would be adjusted to $208,000. A new Corvette would now cost $22,750 and the Mercedes roadster would cost $58,500. I would estimate that my taxes have more than doubled, so you could calculate that in too, which would significantly reduce the net amount I had to pay for these things but whose counting? The price of a house like the one I built in 1968 for $32,000 now runs around half a million (not $208,000). A new Corvette starts at $56,000 (not $22,750) and a Mercedes roadster comparable model to my 280SL world run $114,500 ( not $58,500). As my friend Backwoods Jack loves to say, “Confucius say Sum-ding-wong.” What’s wong is the CPI, which simply stated is a fraud. Who Cares If Inflation Is Under Stated? So who cares? It’s just a number right? Wrong. Our Social Security checks are indexed to the way-understated number. If inflation were officially acknowledged to be 6-10% guess what would happened to wages and guess how much interest the banks would have to pay you for your deposits? We are being lied to and screwed. And since gold is the Canary In The Mine Shaft, when its price rises too fast it signals inflation. Interest rates rise. Is it any wonder that the powers-that-be do everything they can to suppress the price?  Let’s Price Things In Gold Ounces O.K. how about another example, one that is more recent. In 2005 Susan and I took out a $1,100,000 mortgage on a house we built in a lovely part of Minneapolis. I had a choice to make. Should I pay cash for the house and not have a mortgage, or should I keep the money and let the bank do the financing? At the time, gold was $500 an ounce and between my physical gold holdings and mining shares I could have cashed them out and paid for the house. It would have taken 2,200 ounces of gold to cover the cost of the house. I chose not to sell my holdings and instead took out the mortgage. Was that a good decision? Today the 2,200 ounces of gold is worth $3.3 million. It turned out to be a very wise financial decision.  The simple fact is – the government can’t print gold and the way things are headed with trillion dollar plus annual deficits,a $21 trillion dollar national debt, the debt ceiling recently eliminated; the amount of new money that needs to be created will accelerate inflation as far as the eye can see. I can see the 1970s all over again, especially if this administration gets us involved in another war in the Middle East. As inflation causes the dollar to lose purchasing power, the price of gold appears to rise, when in fact it does not – it just takes more dollars to buy the ounce of gold. Yes, gold does what it is supposed to, it preserves buying power over time. Most of my friends do not understand that and most of them do not own any gold. They think I am nuts. I think they are misguided. Only one of us is right. It doesn’t matter whether you are Republican, Democrat or Independent; this should concern you. Take 5 minutes to watch.  You'll be glad you did. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4808035/googles-election Bill Murphy says it’s only a matter of time until the Cartel can no longer source enough physical gold to keep the price under wraps. What is unusual is that gold has rallied without much help from the dollar. There is a new buyer out there with deep pockets. Posted by The Blogger  *    *    *    *    *