Fuggeddabowdit

"We tell ourselves we’re in an economic recovery, meaning we expect to return to a prior economic state, namely, a turbo-charged “consumer” economy fueled by easy credit and cheap energy. Fuggeddabowdit. That part of our history is over. We’ve entered a contraction that will seem permanent until we reach an economic re-set point that comports with what the planet can actually provide for us. That re-set point is lower than we would like to imagine. Our reality-based assignment is the intelligent management of contraction. We don’t want this assignment. We’d prefer to think that things are still going in the other direction, the direction of more, more, more. But they’re not. Whether we like it or not, they’re going in the direction of less, less, less. Granted, this is not an easy thing to contend with, but it is the hand that circumstance has dealt us. Nobody else is to blame for it.” – Jim Kunstler

The Federal Pez Dispenser

"Once Bennie fired up the printing presses, the government car companies decided to make subprime auto loans again and the Federal government started doling out student loans like a pez dispenser, all was well in the non-revolving consumer loan world. The debt outstanding has soared to $1.7 trillion, a full $90 billion above the pre-crash peak. So, after three and a half years of “austerity” and supposed deleveraging, consumer debt outstanding has fallen by 3%."James Quinn, "The Burning Platform"

Freudian Illusions

"Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.” - Sigmund Freud

Crumbling Crystal

This forecast continues to play out right on schedule.  Does this sound like a church or a business?  "Hostile work environment"?
WWJD?
"Changes are planned at the landmark Crystal Cathedral after the founding Schuller family announced plans to leave the congregation.  The Rev. Bill Bennett assured congregants that Crystal Cathedral Ministries would hold services next Sunday.  'The congregation can basically stay where they wish to stay,' Bennett said.  He said the church would revert to what he called a more "traditional" style of service, with hymns and music. It is unknown who will take over as senior pastor. The church was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in February for $57.5 million, and the ministry has three years to find a new home.  Bennett's comments came after the senior pastor, Sheila Schuller Coleman, announced Sunday that she was leaving to start a new church.  'This is the last Sunday we will be worshiping in this building,' Schuller Coleman told congregants during an emotional 11 a.m. service in the 10,000-pane glass cathedral, designed by architect Phillip Johnson.  Schuller Coleman's announcement came one day after her parents, church founder Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella Schuller, resigned from the Crystal Cathedral's board of directors, which oversees the ministry's trademark "Hour of Power" broadcast. The future of the show and the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral Ministries is unclear.  Schuller Coleman said she was leaving because of her family's "adversarial" relationship with the board. She pointed to the recent firings of her sister and brother-in-law, Jim Penner, who served as the executive producer of "Hour of Power" since 1999.  'My entire family has been experiencing a hostile work environment,'  said Schuller Coleman, who was temporarily removed as chief executive officer of the ministry last month.  The events immediately created a divide among congregants." Source: LA Times

"He said the church would revert to what he called a more "traditional" style of service, with hymns and music."

Religion will become smaller, "deeper", and more traditional.
Random Roving, January 1, 2010

The megachurch and megamillionaire ministers might have seen "the peak". Hopefully they saved all of those millions from the book deals. The trend toward more "traditional" might spark some old flames. Keep an eye out for increased religious conflict though."

Random Roving, January 1, 2010

A Complex Array Of Paper Currencies

"The con game is impressive. They call debt money. The entire foundation of the current monetary system is a complex array of paper currencies backed by sovereign debt. The problem for its managers is that the sovereign debt is crumbling."Jim Willie

Entire article:
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/jim-willie/handicapping-the-collapse

Evangelistic Contraction

"The North Carolina-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is laying off nearly 50 workers, or about 10 percent of its staff, as it shifts focus to its online ministry and other initiatives. Rhinehart says the workers losing their jobs are getting severance packages and career assistance.  About 55 workers were let go in 2009."Source: Washington Post

"The megachurch and megamillionaire ministers might have seen 'the peak'. Hopefully they saved all of those millions from the book deals."Random Roving, "Happy New Year 2010 is Here", January 1, 2010 

Article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/billy-graham-evangelistic-association-to-lay-off-nearly-50-workers-shifting-focus-to-internet/2012/03/01/gIQA5E4DkR_story.html

Shock & Sacrifices

“In real life our species has such a modest ability to deal with distant outcomes or to defer gratification that a bad ending is probably inevitable. We need, it seems, the shock of a Pearl Harbor to really gear up and make sacrifices.”
Jeremy Grantham