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PCEC members ask, “Who has my money?”
Master of Ceremonies Hawaii Bob Sutterfield welcomed
everyone to the regular Pattaya City Expat Club Sunday meeting on August 1.
After the usual opening announcements, he called on fellow member Harry
“Sig” Sigworth to introduce the guest speaker.
PCEC Speaker of the day, Matthew Christensen speaks about
‘America’s Banking System,’ primarily about the Federal Reserve, which
generally controls the monetary policy of the USA.
In introducing Matthew Christensen, Sig noted that prior
to coming to Thailand he had created his own company in the USA to make
T-shirts and hats. This company is still a going concern with Mathew’s
brother managing the USA operations. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Business
Administration in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in International
Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. He is currently working
on his Masters of Arts in International Investments at the Bangkok campus of
Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Matthew is a Financial
Consultant and Technical Analyst for Pan Millennium Financial International
as well as Training Manager and Technical Analyst for G.O.W. Corporation;
both in Bangkok.
Mathew’s topic was, “America’s Banking System,” which was
primarily about the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve generally controls
the monetary policy of the USA. He said that monetary systems are often
taken for granted and are seldom understood even though money is the life
blood of all institutions.
Following his presentation, Matthew responded to the many
audience questions, all keen to know more about ‘Who has my money?’
He then explained the function of a central bank and
described facts and misconceptions about the creation of the Federal
Reserve. He also showed several quotes from prominent individuals cautioning
against the powers of a central bank, such as: “Let me issue and control a
nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” - Mayer Amschel
Rothschild (1744-1812), founder of the House of Rothschild.
He then presented a short video on how the Federal
Reserve supplies money into the monetary system and the application of
interest in the process.
In discussing how the Federal Reserve Act came about, he
gave his views on the role of international bankers in the panic of 1907 and
their behind the scenes actions to get the USA to pass the Federal Reserve
Act in 1913. He described how the actions of the Federal Reserve contributed
to the great depression after the crash of 1929. Matthew also gave his views
on how the abolition of the “gold standard” was detrimental to the economic
well being of the USA. He also pointed out that the Federal Reserve has
never been audited and is not subject of governmental oversight.
Matthew then gave a brief overview of the current
economic situation facing the USA and European Union and his views that the
USA stimulus effort has not succeeded. He explained his views by citing the
current rate of unemployment and state of the housing industry.
After Matthew answered several questions from the
audience, “Hawaii” Bob called on Richard Silverberg to conduct the Open
Forum; always informative and often humorous where questions about living in
Thailand and Pattaya in particular are asked and answered.
Democrats abroad meet in Bangkok
Members and friends of the American political group, Democrats
Abroad Thailand met in Bangkok to plan strategy on how to get out the American
vote in November.
Supa (Sue) Kukarja
On August 4, the Democrats Abroad Thailand (DAT) executive
committee, joined by volunteers, met for a dinner and discussion on politics and
the US elections in November 2010.
During the meeting they set out strategies to “get out the
vote” by encouraging Americans residing in Thailand to cast their absentee vote.
Voter registration for Americans is easy and can be done at the one-stop
web-page, www. votefromabroad.org.
Peter du Pont, the DAT chair, was joined by vice-chairs Peter
Fischbach, Jennifer Erickson, DAT Bangkok chapter chair Jenn Kovolski, and
others, including DAT members from Pattaya, in this important planning meeting.
The event took place at Los Cabos restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 14 in Bangkok.
St. Nikolas Church pastor
celebrates 36th birthday
Premprecha Dibbayawan (front, center right) along with family
and friends of the church, wish a happy birthday to Rev. Francis Xavier Kritsada
Sukkaphat (front, center).
Chatchanan Boonnak
Thai and foreign Roman Catholics turned out at St. Nikolas
Church July 25 to help Rev. Francis Xavier Kritsada Sukkaphat celebrate his 36th
birthday.
Born July 26, 1974, Sukkaphat was raised as a parishioner of
the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Chantaburi. He was ordained as a
priest in May 2003.
Amongst his many duties and responsibilities for the
congregation, Sukkaphat has a love and passion for helping charity work for the
welfare of not only children residing at the Pattaya Orphanage, but all
underprivileged children under the care of the Children’s Home Foundation.
Amongst the many friends that came by to help were Premprecha
and Supanee Dibbayawan, who ensured that there was ample food and refreshments
for the multitude of well-wishers gathered in the grounds of the church.
Attendance down at PILC
monthly lunch at Trattoria Toscana
Browsing the book stall at
the monthly luncheon.
Gillian Thom
Another month past, another lunch for PILC and a return to
Trattoria Toscana on Beach Road. Not too many members present this month, with
so many away on holiday to their far flung homelands - we look forward to
welcoming you back in the near future.
The meal itself was delicious, and although it took rather a
long time to serve, we took the opportunity on our table to “brainstorm” some
ideas for the forthcoming Bazaar and Ball (since we had Bea Grunwell, Special
Events Chair, on our table, we had very little choice!). These two events are
our main fundraisers for the year, and we are actively searching for sponsors
and volunteers for both events. If you know of any companies (bend your
husband’s ear!) that could sponsor us for amounts from as little as THB 20,000,
or if you eat at a favorite restaurant which may be able to provide dinner
vouchers for our raffle, we would love to hear from you!
We are also keen to hear if you have any ideas for “new”
events, or other fun (and fund-raising) ideas that will help to boost our
welfare funds, all of which go to help needy families in the area.
Anja Schoof, President, made the monthly announcements
without the help of a microphone, so if you didn’t catch some of the
information, it will all appear on our website, www.pattaya-pilc.com. Well done,
Anja!
Many thanks to Roberto and his delightful staff at Trattoria
Toscana - and they were also kind enough to donate a very substantial voucher to
our Holiday Bazaar raffle efforts - so remember to buy lots of tickets when they
appear at the next event!
Attendance was down, but that didn’t stop the fun.
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