WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ELKMONT THIS WEEK?

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Competition among backyard barbecue teams will fire up this weekend in Elkmont at the annual Smokin’ Railroad Street BBQ Cook-Off. Teams will compete for best pork, chicken and ribs and the award for people’s choice.

The $2 tickets for people’s choice go on sale at 11 a.m. on Saturday with tasting at 11:30 a.m. The two-day festival kicks off Friday at 6:30 p.m. with music by Leslie Garris. Organizers will announce the winners at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

L.D. HOBBS - OBITUARY

L D Hobbs 95, of Huntsville, AL died Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at Crestwood Medical Center, Huntsville, Alabama. Born Thursday, April 26, 1923 in Elkmont, AL, he was the son of John Worley Hobbs and Minnie Pearl Mitchell Hobbs. He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Delbert Hobbs; sisters, Stella Bevels, Ailene Hodges, Janene Wales, Mildred Lewter, and Ruth Franklin. 

He is survived by his great-great nephew, Chad Hobbs(Mandy Teng); several nieces and nephews; and many great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Mr. Hobbs was a Methodist and loved Boyds Chapel Methodist Church where he grew up. He was a graduate of Ardmore High School. He then joined the Navy where he served in a commando unit in the South Pacific, of which 18 months was served in New Guinea. After military service he worked 2 years in the Ardmore post office. He then moved to Nashville and attended college where he studied accounting. After college he worked in Washington D.C. for the V.A. and the Navy department. He moved back to Nashville where he worked for the Internal Revenue Service . He was recruited by the National Life and Accident Ins. Co. For 15 years he traveled as an auditor, working in 48 states. He was then promoted to Asst. V.P. in the home office in the personnel department, where he worked for 16 years before retirement. After retirement he worked as a volunteer for the St. Thomas hospital for 32 years. He often said that this was one of his most rewarding experiences.

A Public Visitation will be held on Saturday, June 30, 2018 Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home from 11 am - 1:00 pm.

A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, June 30, 2018 at Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home at 1:00 pm with Debbie Eubanks officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Ardmore, AL.

ALVIN RIEGER - OBITUARY

Alvin Rieger, age 82 of Elkmont, died Thursday June 21, 2018 at his residence. Mr. Rieger was born August 4, 1935 in South Dakota, he was a member of Calvary Baptist Church and he was retired from OK Tire. 

Services were 2PM Sunday at Spry Funeral Home Chapel with Randy Johnson officiating, burial in Roselawn Cemetery, visitation was from 12noon until service Sunday at Spry Funeral Home.  

Survivors: Wife: Nancy S. Rieger of Elkmont, Son: DeWayne Rieger and wife TaShay of Elkmont, Step-Daughter: Ann Hardaway and husband Mike of Elkmont, Step-Son: Tim Hubbard of Athens, Grandchildren: Marcus Rieger and Maggie Rieger, Step-Grandchildren: Erin Vassar and Bryant Hardaway, Step Great Grandchildren: Slate Vassar and Jack Vassar, Several Nieces and Nephews. Pallbearers will be Mike Hardaway, Jay Vassar, Tim Jackson, Garland Bailey, Larry Morris and Tim Hubbard. Preceded in death by first wife: Bertha Rieger.

BARRY'S CORNER - LIVING IN ELKMONT

Peaceful on the porch this morning. I adhere to the knowledge that peace comes when we ultimately realize that some things are just beyond our control. I can't make anyone believe as I do on every subject...I can't make someone love the things I love....I can't make someone understand what offends me may or may not offend others...I can't decide what is best for you....and I do not have the power to make anyone happy. 

I see people all of the time trying to "make" someone happy. Happiness and contentment comes to each of us in different ways and I truly believe as we grow older it changes. Wasn't very long ago that getting up at 5:30 and sitting on a porch seemed like something I would never enjoy. We can live chasing ideals that are in our head or we can take a good look around and make the best of situations and gain some lessons. Maybe just maybe we can project them to others and strike up the thought
"why do they seem so happy?" 

Contentment comes by giving up control. This life is a gift and I truly believe a short time on a long line called eternity. Choose to spend it in service, introspection,study, and exemplifying in yourself what you want to see in others. Be happy. Have a good one!

JOHNNY ROYCE BAILEY, JR -OBITUARY

Johnny Royce Bailey, Jr., age 56 of Ardmore, AL died Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at his home. Born in Decatur, AL he was the son of John Bailey, Sr. and Osta Leigh Balch Bailey. John was a long time resident of Ardmore, AL. He was a self -employed electrician. His hobby and passion was sound work. He was the type of man that would give you the shirt off his back. To many, he was sound man, electrician, plumber (which he just hated plumbing), and what ever else that needed to be fixed. He would help his family and friends and not expect anything in return for it. He was always helping the Ardmore community. He loved helping out at the Boys and Girls Club annual Cruise In and Meet the Tigers. If it had anything to do with sound he wanted to be a part of it. He always had a joke, enjoyed spending time with his family, friends and our 10:30 Valley Tavern Family. He was a great husband, father, pawpaw and friend that had a big heart. He will be missed by many.
He was preceded in death by his father and mother; grandparents, Roy Lee and Bernice Bailey and grandfather, Rock Balch.

Johnny is survived by his wife, Coni Bailey, Ardmore, AL; sons, Jacob Bailey (Jessica Clemons), Decatur, AL and J.D. Luna (Brittany Cookson), Athens, AL; daughter, Crystal (Dustin) Musselman, Elkmont, AL; step-mother, Gail Bailey, Ardmore, AL; sisters, Dana Bailey, Helena, AL and Stacey (Thomas) Miller, Harvest, AL; brother, Barry Bailey, Birmingham, AL ; grandmother, Jane Balch, Athens, AL; and 10 grandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2018 at Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home, Ardmore, AL from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2018 at Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home, Ardmore, AL, at 1:00 PM with Bro. Doug Colwell and Ronnie Cornelison officiating.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The American Diabetes Association.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT..... ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO READ DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

We have the left media, we have the right media but there are other points of views still ... what do you think? 

The economy functions best when on a hard money standard and absent central control of the money supply and burdensome taxation and redistribution. Remember: Since the U.S. monetary system is no longer on the gold standard, Federal Reserve Notes (what we call "dollars") are no longer redeemable for gold, as they were before 1933. Now the government recognizes a slip of paper with a printed value on it as money. That slip of paper is backed by the "full faith and credit of the U.S. Government." However, that government can simply print money whenever the supply runs short or the government decides to spend more on the pet projects of the elected class, to curry favor with one demographic or the other, or to bail out their favored corporatist masters.

In 1966, before he sold his soul to the banksters, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote an essay titled Gold and Economic Freedom. In it, he said:

In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.

Many things lie beneath the mystique of gold besides greed and fear. Most Americans think of gold in terms of dollars. This fact demonstrates the unbelievable power of propaganda over our thought processes.

Think on this for a moment. As we have discussed in detail in recent letters, the "dollar" is an imaginary fiction supported by the force of government in the form of legal tender laws, regulation and restriction of credit (the U.S. "dollar" is a unit of credit) or taxation. In other words, government force has created a myth and given it life in our minds, so much so that we measure real and substantive value such as gold (created by God) by this myth and imaginary enigma. Believe me, the tail is wagging the dog. Myth and mysticism rule over substance and value. This is exactly the reverse of reality.
When we think of gold, we think in terms of "dollars." The time will come once again when we will think of gold in terms of value, not "dollars." This will be a move back toward the restriction of politicians and an expansion of and new birth of human liberty.

Governments hoard gold to stabilize their political and economic power. At the same time, they downplay gold to the people to destabilize their psyche and make them dependent on government credit. Gold stabilizes human emotions, dissipates fear of authority, and promotes individualism and human dignity. Government-created money (credit) destabilizes emotions, creates fear of unseen authority, creates political tyranny, and it expropriates the wealth of the people. 

Government(s) and their partners, the central banks, are involved in history's greatest fraud and deception. They are stealing and have stolen the wealth of the world with bank credit ("dollars") while forcing the deception upon the people that they are in heavy debt and near bankruptcy. So clever and deceitful is government propaganda that not one man in a million suspects this fraud. An army of "opponents" of government "wasting and spending" have built their careers on mimicking government propaganda about "the national debt" and the need to "balance the budget." There is a whole industry of deception built around governments to keep up the mirage. Our lives are wrapped in myths and countermyths simply because we are ignorant of the nature of money.

Gold allows no such monopoly of credit by central banks. Gold is a natural creation extracted and fabricated by human production. It is not only long- term value, it is forever. It survives the deception and tyranny of political governments that always turn to dust. As government dollars (credit) create immorality, gold supports morality and honesty. Gold is the substance of economic survival. It is the essence of privacy and the preservation of wealth. For gold to be all that we say it is, it needs to be in your possession. We don't mean in your "safe deposit box" at the bank, and we certainly don't mean in some "trust" account. It should be in your private safe with other valuable effects. This is the way it used to be before we got drunk on bank credit.

If your pension or retirement fund is in the form of computer symbols in some bank, and it is, you might want to consider putting a small percentage in gold coins to keep in your possession. It may turn out to be all you have. And brother, this is not fear hysteria when you understand how fast things can implode into financial disaster.  Do you have faith in the U.S. currency? Well, faith in the currency is a misnomer. Currency is faith itself — a belief system. When you think of money or currency, you think of green paper, but 95 percent of "money" is computer symbols in bank computers. More specifically, your money is a pure psychological entity that evaporates as confidence fails.

Gold is substance. It is hard currency. It and silver are the only hard currencies in existence. You don't have to have faith in gold as you do in fiat money. Fiat currency creates fiat government. When the fiat currency fails, its government and fiat politicians fail, too. Gold stands on its own. The sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner our government bureaucratic nightmare will come to an end. The only gold (and silver) to buy is in its physical or bullion form — not paper gold, which is another fiction government uses to manipulate the price of gold. Bullion refers to the metal cast in bars or minted into coins with the weights marked on them.

Actual coins we recommend are the American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, African Krugerrand or the Australian Kangaroo. We prefer these because they are stamped in English, have their gold content stamped on them, come in convenient, well-known sizes (1 oz., ½ oz., ¼ oz. and 1/10 oz.) and sell at small premiums over the value of their gold content. If you can't make up your mind which to buy you should probably give more consideration to the American Gold Eagle, which the U.S. mint still lists as legal tender.
But don't buy numismatics. Their price is not determined by their gold or silver content, but by their value as a collectors' item. You will overpay dramatically in terms of real value if you buy numismatics.

For silver we recommend buying pre-1965 U.S silver coins, also called "junk" silver. They were minted using 90 percent silver. They are still legal tender and are worth more than their face value (proving the devaluation of the dollar) because of their silver content. One of the best ways to buy these is in bags with a $1,000 face value of dimes, quarters, half dollars and silver dollars. A bag contains 715 oz. of coins and currently costs around $12,000. You can buy them in smaller quantities, i.e., $500 face value or $250 face value. You can also buy American Silver Eagles.
 
There are many places you can go to buy gold and silver coins, both locally and over the internet. Local dealers give you the confidence that you are shopping with a legitimate business — particularly if they have been around a while — and the ability to actually see and hold what you are about to buy. You can make your purchases with cash, if you choose, which will help you remain under the Government radar. Find a dealer in your community — preferably one that has been in business for a number of years — and check with the Better Business Bureau and/or online ratings agencies to determine the seller's reputation. Remember, buyer beware. Do your homework first.

Yours for the truth,

Bob Livingston
Editor, The Bob Livingston Letter™

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT..... ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO READ DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

We have the left media, we have the right media but there are other points of views still ... what do you think? 

There is a classic denial tactic that many people use when confronted with negative facts about a subject they have a personal attachment to.  I would call it "deferral denial" — a psychological postponing of reality.

For example, point out the fundamentals on the U.S. economy such as the fact that unemployment is not below 4 percent but actually closer to 20 percent when you factor in U-6 measurements including the record 96 million people not counted because they have run out of unemployment benefits. Or point out that true consumer inflation in the U.S. is not around 3 percent as the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics claims, but closer to 10 percent according to the way CPI used to be calculated before the government rigged the numbers. For a large part of the public including a lot of economic analysts, there is perhaps a momentary acceptance of the danger, but then an immediate deferral — "Well, maybe things will get worse down the road, 10 or 20 years from now, but it's not that bad today..."
This is cognitive dissonance at its finest. The economy is in steep decline now, but the mind in denial says "it could be worse," and this is how you get entire populations caught completely off guard by a financial crash. They could have easily seen the signs, but they desperately wanted to believe that all bad things happen in some illusory future, not today.
There is also another denial tactic I see often in the world of politics and economics, which is what I call "paying it backward." This is what people do when they have a biased attachment to a person or institution and refuse to see the terrible implications of their actions. For example, when someone like Donald Trump makes a destructive decision, such as the continued support of Israel and Saudi Arabia in Syria and Yemen, or the reinstatement of funding for the White Helmets in Syria who are tied to ISIS, Trump supporters will often say "Well what about Obama?"

This is a game of shifting accountability. Is one person worse than the other? Possibly. I say give it time and make notes. However, the negative decisions of one politician we don't like do not diminish the negative decisions of another politician we might like. They should both be held accountable.
The same goes for countries and economies. When an analyst points out that U.S. debt is at historic highs and is utterly unsustainable, people in denial will say "but what about China or Europe?" One does not negate the other and, of course, there are differences that make the situation in the U.S. far more tenuous.

Primarily I am talking about America's endless dependency on the world reserve status of the U.S. dollar and, beyond that, the endless expansion of debt at low interest rates.

The Federal Reserve, once the No. 1 buyer of U.S. debt, has essentially declared it is cutting off support and has begun dumping assets from its balance sheet. The only assets the Fed seems to be maintaining are Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). All others are being cut, including Treasurys. The American economy is inexorably attached to the idea of our Treasury debt as a safe investment, with our national debt spiking above $21 trillion and many trillions more owed to entitlement programs depending on how you calculate the expenditures, there is a vital need for steady foreign investment in U.S. debt.
But what happens when investment in U.S. debt becomes politically unsavory? Consider the current escalation of the trade war. Many pro-dollar talking heads and cheerleaders have argued in the past that no nation has the guts to dump dollar denominated assets and risk the wrath of American "economic might." But already we have seen Russia dump half its U.S. Treasury holdings in a single month and the trade war has only just begun.

Is Russia's action a sign of things to come? Will other nations like China follow the same strategy? We will have to wait and see, but I believe this is the inevitable outcome of the trade war if it drags on for the rest of the year.

America's dependent nature, feeding off of foreign investment to support its debts, is a disaster waiting to happen. The concept of economic "recovery" is laughable until this issue is addressed.
That said; let's not forget about American corporations and consumers. U.S. corporate debt as a percentage of gross domestic product is at historic highs not seen since the housing bubble of 2008 or the dot-com bubble of 2001. There is a distinct difference, though, that makes today's bubble far more insidious. After years of near-0 percent interest rates, corporations have become addicted to cheap debt. So much so that they have been borrowing nonstop to support their own stock prices through stock buyback manipulation. But now the Fed is raising interest rates and has committed to expanded hikes in the future.

So what will corporations do as the cheap debt dries up? So far, they are spending the majority of their Trump tax cut still trying to artificially prop up stock process. When this money runs out (and I believe it will much faster than the mainstream thinks), the existing debt of these companies will cost much more to finance, and future borrowing at the same pace will become impossible. This is a threat that is developing now, not in some far-off future.
Eventually, corporations will have to make deep spending cuts rather than borrow. This means mass layoffs, store closures and potential cuts to pensions. And, of course, no more stock buybacks, meaning a market crash will ensue.

What about the U.S. consumer? U.S. consumer debt is set to reach new highs by the end of the year; around $4 trillion by official estimates.  While discussion continues about the "labor shortage" in the U.S., one thing is clear — the jobs that do exist do not pay wages that keep up with true inflation. When we see spikes in retail sales in the U.S. and this is applauded as economy recovery, very few people point out that higher retail sales are actually tracking higher inflation.

Consumers are spending more on less stuff. Again, this is unsustainable, which is why consumer debt is exploding. Dependency on credit cards and loans is being used by the public to offset much higher costs. But as the Fed raises interest rates, this too will end. Higher Fed rates translate to higher credit rates as well as higher mortgage rates (indirectly). With higher interest payments comes a large drop in overall spending.

As you can see, there are at least two forces at work here that will end all talk of U.S. recovery — the first is the trade war, which I believe is a massive distraction designed to draw attention away from the actions of international banks and central banks. The second is the Federal Reserve, which has addicted the country to cheap fiat and is now flushing all the drugs. We cannot delude ourselves into thinking that this trend will remain slow or that it will not develop into a crisis in the near term. We also cannot simply deflect to other countries like China or those in Europe as if their problems are somehow worse and therefore ours are not a concern.

The danger is here, now. Seeing and accepting it allows us to prepare accordingly. Denying it as inconsequential sets people up as victims of their own bias and ignorance.

To truth and knowledge,

Brandon Smith

MARTHA RUTH HODGES - OBITUARY

Martha Ruth Hodges 62, of Huntsville,AL died Friday, June 15, 2018. Born Monday, November 14, 1955 in Chicago, IL, she was the daughter of Ernest Devue Langford and Mamie Marvolene Langford. She was preceded in death by her parents and daughter, Kathy Hardy,
 

She is survived by husband,Jack Hodges, Huntsville, AL, sons, Curtis(Stephanie) Nichols, Lester, AL, Scotty (Crystal) Nichols, Elkmont, AL, Shaun(Stephanie) Nichols, The Woodlands,TX, Daniel Nichols, Elkmont, AL, Doug A Hodges, Huntsville, AL, Daughters, Deana(Randy) Spearman, Huntsville, AL, Lisa Hodges, Shelia(Roger) Duncan, Summerville, AL. Tammy Hodges, Huntsville, AL, Jacqueline Whitt, Athens, AL, Brother, Bobby Joe Langford, Elkmont, AL, Sisters, Sandy Colwell, Elkmont, AL, Melissa Hunt, Elkmont, AL, 14 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
 

Visitation will be held on June 19, 2018 at Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home, from 5 PM until 9 PM. A Funeral Service will be held on June 20, 2018 at Ardmore Chapel Funeral Home, at 11 AM. Burial will be in Gatlin Cemetery, Ardmore, AL.

BARRY'S CORNER - LIVING IN ELKMONT

Was at the beach last week with two other couples, sitting and talking in our chairs. I walked to the edge of the water and this lady walks up and says “excuse me”...” are you a story teller?”
My first inclination was to say “sorry” because there was no telling what she had overheard. She then said “you’re the Armour All guy!...from the story telling festival”. I swelled up a little and said “why yes...that would be me.” 

I was thinking wow at the beach and I’m being recognized. This must be how Tom Cruise feels at the beach 😉. She said “yeah”. We heard your “unique” voice and said “That has to be that guy!” Unique voice...kind of like a teenager about to hit puberty who’s a smoker, lol. Deflated some, I was still like hey, a lady from somewhere far away knows me. She then said “yeah we go all the time..we’re from Lawrenceburg”. So much for my celebrity status!! Well, for a moment I felt like Tom Cruise ... then more like Kermit the Frog. “Unique” voice....please!!! 😀Have a good one!

BETTIE JEAN LEWIS - OBITUARY

Bettie Jean Lewis, age 72 of Tanner, passed away Thursday June 14, 2018 at Athens Limestone Hospital. The Funeral Service was Saturday June 16, 2018, at McConnell Memorial Chapel with Reverend Jimmy Bailey officiating at 1 P.M. Visitation was Saturday June 16, 2018 from 11-12:45 PM at McConnell Funeral Home. Burial was at Athens City Cemetery. 

Mrs. Lewis was born October 30, 1945 in Limestone County, AL to Alvie Smith and Zelpha Tribble Smith. She was preceded in death by her parents. Mrs. Lewis was a member of The Baptist Church. She worked at Food World for 30 years. Mrs. Lewis is survived by her husband Kenneth Lewis, one son Todd Lewis (Deda Graham) of Tanner, AL; one daughter Amanda Lewis (Mark Horton) of Elkmont, AL; mother in law Elizabeth Lewis of Decatur, AL; two sisters Naomi Walker (John) of Harvest, AL; and Martha Jackson (Bobby) of Athens, AL; two brothers Wayne Smith of Athens, AL; Alvie Smith of Athens, AL; three sisters in law Joan Burgreen of Madison, AL: Beverly Lewis of Athens, AL; and Lisa Dobbs of Decatur, AL; two Brothers in law Bobby Burgreen of Madison, AL and Mike Dobbs of Decatur, AL; three grandchildren Preston Lewis, Naudia Horton, and Samuel Lewis, several nieces and nephews Pallbearers will be Mike Dobbs, Neal Coats, and Elliott Beddingfield, Preston Lewis, John Vickers, and Brandon Graham.