Stormy Weather

In October conference of 1997, Pres. Hinckley said, “The time has come to get our houses in order… We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing… There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.” He then went on to talk about the strain debt puts on the individual and the economy as a whole. (“Portent,” according to the dictionary, means “An indication of something important or calamitous about to occur,” or “threatening or disquieting significance.”)

Eleven years later, I think the storm front has just passed, and we’re in for some weather. Ron Paul says, “It’s not going to be the Great Depression of 1930s; it’s not going to be the “stagflation” of the 1970s; it will be a complete financial meltdown.

If you have 10 minutes, watch this video. If it doesn’t sound like a storm to you, nothing will

And the video was made before housing bailout…

Pat Buchanan, in a great column you can read herehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080919/cm_uc_crpbux/op_337446
writes, “Seizing on the crisis, the left says we are witnessing the failure of market economics, a failure of conservatism.
“This is nonsense… What we are witnessing is what happens to a prodigal nation that ignores history, and forgets and abandons the philosophy and principles that made it great….
“For years, we Americans have spent more than we earned. We save nothing. Credit card debt, consumer debt, auto debt, mortgage debt, corporate debt — all are at record levels. And with pensions and savings being wiped out, much of that debt will never be repaid…
“The party’s over. What we are witnessing today is how empires end.”

And what has the current prophet said lately? Exactly one year ago, at the October 2008 conference in his first remarks as president of the Church, he said, “As Priesthood bearers we are on earth in troubled times. Political machinations ruin the stability of nations…” “Machination,” in case you don’t have a dictionary handy, is defined as “a crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end.”

As one stockbroker said last week as the market went haywire, “Last night I dreamed of AIG and the Fed, and woke up with an urge to stock up on canned goods and ammunition.”