неделя, 17 юли 2011 г.

Hyperinflation?



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I have no idea what will happen after we reach the point where $100 is no longer enough to buy a cup of coffee—but I do know that, after such a hyperinflationist period, there’ll be a “new dollar” or some such, with a few zeroes knocked off the old dollar, and things will slowly get back to a new normal. I have no idea the shape of that new normal. I wouldn’t be surprised if that new normal has a quasi or de facto dictatorship, and certainly some form of wage-and-price controls—I’d say it’s likely, but for now that’s not relevant.

23 aug. 2010
http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-hyperinflation-will-happen.html

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Вскоре после окончания дебатов по бюджету экономический обозреватель газеты The Times написал: «Соединенные Штаты превращаются на наших глазах в Грецию, только имеющую Google».

Эти слова являются, конечно, преувеличением, однако кризис США во многих сферах просто невероятен. Достаточно мельком взглянуть на статистику. Десять лет назад Америка занимала первое место в мире по доходу на душу населения, сейчас – седьмое. Еще не так давно США были первыми по проценту молодых людей с высшим образованием, сейчас они стали двенадцатыми. С 2001 года США закрыли более 42 тысяч фабрик и потеряли около 35% рабочих мест в производственных отраслях. В 2001 году США занимали четвертое место в мире по числу жителей, пользующихся широкополосным Интернетом, сейчас – лишь пятнадцатое. За последние 30 лет большинство американских работающих граждан обеднело из-за прекращения роста реальных доходов и ограничений в сфере социальных выплат. Между 2002 и 2007 годами 65% реального роста заработной платы попало в карман одного процента тех, кто зарабатывает больше всего.

США стали страной, где элитам живется отлично, а простым людям – все хуже. «Я перестаю верить в Америку. Раньше здесь можно было нормально работать и растить детей. Сейчас работы кот наплакал, а людям сложно выживать, потому что все дорожает. Рабочие места уходят в Китай, который нас скоро обгонит», - говорит Newsweek мать троих детей Мэри Хауснер, которая работает в одном из торговых центров в Нью-Джерси.
[…]
По некоторым последним прогнозам, в 2016 году Китай обгонит США и станет ведущей мировой экономической державой (по показателям покупательной способности). Черепаший темп развития американской экономики может привести к тому, что это произойдет еще раньше. Однако тяжелое положение Америки – это плохая новость и для Китая. Они инвестировали в американские гособлигации невероятные деньги – примерно 1,1 триллиона долларов. К этому следует добавить сотни миллиардов, инвестированных в фонды и агентства, свзяанные с рынком недвижимости. Общий объем китайских валютных резервов, деноминированных в долларах, составляет сейчас почти два триллиона. Помимо этого курс китайской валюты, китайского юаня, уже в течение почти 20 лет привязан к доллару.

«Сейчас, когда капитализм американского типа рухнул, пришло время китайской модели», - сказал в 2008 году американцам один из китайских чиновников. Когда вскоре после этого Тимоти Гайтнер (Timothy Geithner), министр финансов администрации Обамы, уверял в Пекинском университете, что инвестировать в американские облигации абсолютно безопасно, студенты разразились громким смехом.

7 august 2011
http://www.inosmi.ru/usa/20110817/173427008.html

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Thanks to pressure from members of Congress like Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul, the Fed reluctantly submitted to the first audit in its 100 year history. Not a complete audit, but I suppose we have to be satisfied with what we get.

What the Fed probably didn't want you to know was the extent of their generosity. They secretly gave $16 trillion. That's $16,000,000,000,000 of U.S. currency. Their benevolence was extended to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in this country, as well as to foreign banks and corporations.
They didn't actually give the money out without strings. Rather, the Fed generously loaned the money with 0% interest (virtually none of it has been paid back). Some examples of their largesse: Citigroup got $2.5 trillion, Morgan Stanley $2.04 trillion, and Bank of America, $1.3 trillion. Foreign banks didn't do too badly either. The Fed loaned Barclay PLC of the U.K. $868 billion, and Deutsche Bank of Germany received $354 billion. Many other big institutions in the U.S. and abroad were recipients of hundreds of billions more.

You may recall how upset the American people were about the original TARP bailout in 2008 that insured $700 billion of "troubled assets." And many citizens are furious about the $1.5 trillion government deficit this year...
For some reason, this $16 trillion bailout has slipped under the radar of the corporate media. The GAO audit was released near the end of July. It's almost as if they don't want us to know. You could make the case that America's mainstream media is generously protecting us from upsetting news. When I was a journalism major, however, I don't remember being taught about that being the role of the media.

That's 16 trillion dollars of financial aid, ladies and gentlemen. Larger than the our national debt of $14.5 trillion, more than the $14.1 trillion total GDP of the United States. That kind of generosity is unprecedented, but maybe for reasons of modesty, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, didn't want this information to go public.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Fed-s-Unprecedented-Ge-by-Arlen-Grossman-110820-845.html

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след два месеца и половина:

Светът е изправен пред най-тежката финансова криза от 30-те години насам, „ако не и повече”, каза управителят на британската централна банка, пише вестник “Дейли Телеграф”. Сър Марвин Кинг направи изказването си след решението на Комисията по монетарната политика на „Банк ъф Ингланд” да вливането на 75 млрд. лири „новоотпечатани пари” в икономиката в отчаян опит да се избегне нова кредитна криза и рецесия във Обединеното кралство.
Икономисти коментират, че решението на банката да поднови количественото облекчаване, или програмата за изкупуване на активи, показва, че е изключително уплашена за икономиката, и предвиждат още такива ходове в бъдеще.
Марвин Кинг каза, че мотивите на банката се крият в растящите сигнали за предстоящи бедствие в световната икономика.

http://focus-news.net/?id=n1574835

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седем месеца по-късно:

In the past two weeks there has been ten heads of banks stepping down from their posts! With all of these resignations happening in such a short time, is it possible that they know something big is coming? Some cite political disagreements, others personal reasons, others cite policy reasons, but it still makes one wonder what is going on behind the scenes - especially after the resignation of Zellick from the World Bank.

Check this out.

2-06-12: Dhanlaxmi Bank CEO Amitabh Chaturvedi quits
2-10-12: Tamilnad Mercantile Bank MD resigns
2-13-12: Kuwait central bank chief resigns amid political tensions
2-14-12: Nicaragua Central Bank Head Quits Amid Row
2-15-12: World Bank President Zoellick Resigns
2-15-12: Slovenia’s Two Biggest Banks’ CEOs Step Down as Woes Mount
2-16-12: CFO of ANZ Bank Resigns Amid Turmoil
2-16-12: Andrew Chick to lead Royal Bank of Scotland's Australian arm - Stephen Williams quits.
2-17-12: Credit Suisse’s Private Bank Chief Asian Economist Tan Resigns

as well as these two important changes:

2-17-12: Blankfein out as Goldman Sachs CEO by summer?
2-18-12: Embarrassment for Merkel as German president resigns in disgrace after trying to bag the press

Looks like the rats are deserting the ship... if you know what I mean.

Just remember - the US dollar has lost 1/3 of it's value since 2008,and 40% since 2007. In 2007 a 14,000 high market would be 23,300 in today's devalued dollars. 13,000 is 55.8% of the 2007 high. So the market is still down 44% (these numbers were provided by a commenter over at Zerohedge)

What we are seeing in the market is the effect of inflation, not an improving economy or an improving business environment.

Remember Weimar?

Разговори под статии

The real question is why your readers still believe in the republican lies? Do u think those home coming soldiers are going to die in the streets?? Those professional terminators will rock u. Remember the store in NY – no word spoken just 4 dead.

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Americans largely live their lives out of touch with reality and nature so it’s bound to happen they will absolutely go insane for what is to come.

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We downsized to a smaller home 4 years ago. Planted 20 fruit trees which are just starting to produce. Planted berries and grapes. We expand the garden a little each year too. Still, all of our “homegrown savings” cannot keep up with the inflation. We can barely supplement our own grocery needs, much less help our neighbors. It is getting tough.
When people can no longer feed their families, that’s when the real problems begin. Hunger is going to tear this country apart.

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Really, in all honesty, what can the American people do besides watch it all unfold? Prepare? Yes, we can do that, but who will protect you from a mob of who knows how many people? If people find out you have food or anything else of value, they will get it or get you no matter how well your armed. I’m scared more for my young son and daughter, and all other children out there more than for myself! What can we do people? Everyday further down that hole we go, so what can we do? I hope Ron Paul wins the presidency, but is that going to stop them?

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Too many people are chasing too few resources. There are simply not enough jobs to go around and it is only going to get worse. Once we start to bring our troops home, where are they going to find work? I believe the elites in the world have figured it out, unless some new way of creating food, energy, and other resources is discovered soon, the population is going to have to be reduced to counterbalance the problem.

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And since the abuse, the hubris, the errors, the stupidity, and even the criminality America practiced the past 15 years are so very great, the reckoning will be as great. Along the way, there will be political upheavals to accompany economic and social earthquakes.
The changes will come, but only after the dusts settle. Just like the era of 1930-1945. Historians call it the Fourth Turning. It cannot be avoided. Better accept it and stop the national delusion.

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Americans all want to out do each other with what they own instead of living without debt, having savings and living simple lives.

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A reader named Alex sent this comment by email….What is going on in the U.S. is absolutely shocking and I am appalled at the crimes of my country. I was born in the former USSR and I only know from my parents, history and personal diaries of great Rabbis of the past, that grew up in that system and the Czarist regimes (which ironically were far better for Jews than the USSR). With that said, that is why it is shocking what is happening in the US, for we are becoming no better than what the USSR adhered to: total control of every citizen every second of their lives. But today, with technology, there is no escape.

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There is no economy to go back to a recession, we have not recovered from the recession that began in 2007. The reality of the situation is we are just one small shock away a swiftly rolling series of shocks that unleash a depression far greater than the Great Depression. After the crash of 1929 the economy did not fall into a true depression until 1932. There is always a delay factor.
What we have witnessed over the past 4 years and what we are witnessing right this very minute are sign posts on the road to collapse. Prepare, prepare, prepare as best you can.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-signs-that-the-american-people-are-starting-to-freak-out-about-the-condition-of-the-economy

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под друга статия:

Well, here I am living in a Muslim country still working at retirement age. Primarily due to the fact that social security barely pays property taxes back in the States. Let alone trying to pay for food or heating bills during the lovely global warming winters I have moved over seas... I would say that I am more concerned here with the exaggerated CIA presence (some 40% of embassy employees, if estimates are correct). We already know of their destabilizing influences upon any country that they deem the slightest anti-Israel in national sentiment so there is always a possible danger of political machinations... With the exception of worry about the well-being of my family back in the States, I am quite content to watch the slow motion to destruction of the evil empire from this distance. As a Native American historian I have always known that any nation born in Genocide, will turn that genocide against it's own at some point. That time is approaching quickly.

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I fear for my daughter, still living in California. I am a 57 year old engineer and have no chance there of finding work because I am a Type II diabetic that has already had their first stroke... Two more years and I can apply for Swiss citizenship and I will do so without hesitation.

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larouchepac.com is reporting that the dire warnings and panic mongering surrounding lifting the debt ceiling by Bernanke and Obama (and Giuliani for that matter) etc., is all about transferring what's left of our wealth and sovereignty to the smouldering heap that is Europe. That's where most of QE II went to via US domestic branches of European banks that was funneled back. In other words, the Oligarchy needs us to behave, raise the debt ceiling and get QE III rolling, or else as Paulsen once warned "there may be martial law" and blood in the streets.

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I'm an American living with my family now in another country and will be eligible for citizenship in a bit over a year. We will take it without hesitation. Very hard to leave, but I'll most likely never set foot in America again, unless things change which I'm not expecting... why deal with DHA and TSA? I refuse to do it. People vote for change and get continuity times ten. Forget it.
When any country thinks itself to be the "indispensable" country, and the people to be the "exceptional" people, bad things always happen. It's risky being American. Too many historical examples of this sort of thing and what happens.

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I left the US to go to Canada 23 years ago, and haven't regretted it. In these 2 decades, I've watched the US slowly drift into the economic reefs of debt. The Bush presidency was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen, and I used to be a rock ribbed republican voter. I've taken out Canadian citizenship, and no longer worry about my health care costs bankrupting me or my family... Tough times are coming, and Canada looks like a decent place to whether the storm.

http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/07/full-spectrum-decay.html

от други места:

In my area we have been able to sleep well enough and always known our neighbors – up until a few months ago I did not lock my cars or my home most of the time – there was no need. That has changed, neighbors are now siphoning gas out of cars from desperation, and stealing scrap lumber, metal, livestock, produce and anything else they can get their hands on to sell or eat. Over the last year or so the police departments of some areas have started taking these seriously and actually investigated and caught a few. They are sometimes groups of people working together to amass resources to sell. We now keep a vigilant eye on our little flock of chickens and we have a colony of rabbits as well. We no longer “free range” them on our property at all – the risk of theft is too high if others know we have them. We keep any resources away from the road on the back side of our property – we also keep two German Shepherd Dogs for guarding our property. Living in the country is NOT what it used to be.

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I live in Texas. I was born and raised here... We lived a frugal life and still try to... I think in the days ahead it will be very hard on all of us. Our country only has two choices left. If Ben Bernanke doesn’t do quantitative easing (QE3) our country will go into a full blown depression that will make the 1929 look like a piece of cake and if he does do QE3 we will have hyperinflation. So either way we are in for terrible times. I am a Christian and the thought of having food to eat while others suffer is not appealing at all. But, no matter how much I try to prepare I won’t be able to feed everyone. One thing that has presented a great problem in our state is the number of illegals here. We began to have a massive influx during George Bush and it got progressively more under Obama. Secondly,our crime is now off the charts due to violent drug gangs. We have drive by shootings all the time in our once small town. Example, I just got back from the grocery store today and bought hotdogs for supper because I couldn’t afford much else and saw a family of illegals buying not one but two shopping carts full of groceries... That is why it is especially important to vote a conservative into office that believes in limited government, strict immigration laws, pro business.

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I’m a +50 year old Marine Veteran who’s fairly well armed and have taught my daughter how to use firearms. I only question if I’ll be able to stockpile enough to weather the coming storm.


http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/18-signs-the-collapse-of-society-is-accelerating
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/12-more-signs-that-society-is-collapsing

събота, 16 юли 2011 г.

Like a tsunami

Any doubt that the Eurozone debt crisis is no longer contained but has metastasized into a full-blown global calamity is rapidly being erased by fast-moving events. With the second bailout of insolvent Greece in the works, followed by a ratings downgrade to junk by Standard & Poor's, Moody's has now weighed in with a double whammy. Ireland's sovereign debt has been downgraded to junk status, with a clear signal that the marketplace expects the Irish Republic to require a second bailout package, as was the case with Greece. Moody's has now followed up on its action regarding Ireland with a warning that for the first time in its history, the AAA rating on U.S. government debt is under review for a possible downgrade. This inauspicious development is in connection with the political dysfunctionality that has afflicted Washington policymakers in both the executive and legislative branches over extending the national debt limit.

With ratings collapsing and bond spreads widening throughout the developed world, it now appears that another member of the infamous PIIGS nations (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) is descending into fiscal anarchy. Italy is on the verge of requiring a bailout of its own, one which would exceed what has already been allocated to Greece, Ireland and Portugal. In desperation, the Italian senate has voted in favor of austerity measures. Based on the failure of the austerity measures in Greece to prevent a second bailout being required, the desperate action by Italian decision makers is unlikely to work, and has the look of panic rather than thoughtfulness.

Like a tsunami wave that can travel thousands of miles from the epicenter of a major seismic event, the cascading sovereign debt crisis, which had its origins in policy responses to the global financial implosion of 2008 and the Greek debt crisis of 2010, is now ravaging public finances on both sides of the Atlantic. A point may soon be reached where private investors, Eurozone taxpayers and the IMF can no longer cobble together ever-larger "rescue packages," all of which, with perverse logic, require even larger levels of public debt to construct. A dark truth may soon permeate this ballooning crisis; the policymakers have no real solutions, and have just about run out of gimmicks and short-term fixes. The global economic crisis that began with the financial collapse of 2008, far from being resolved or a clear path to recovery being underway, is entering a more dangerous phase, in which sovereign debt reaches the level of unsustainability. The result could very well be paralyzing insolvency among the advanced economies, which could destroy the economic future of an entire generation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheldon-filger/sovereign-debt-crisis-is-_b_898771.html

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1 месец по-късно:

Европа и еврото се намират на ръба на пропастта, предупреждава бившият председател на Европейската комисия Жак Делор.
В интервю за швейцарския вестник „Льо Тан” Делор посочва, че френско-германската среща не е довела до реални решения за изход от кризата в еврозоната.
„Нека си отворим очите – еврото и Европа се намират на ръба на пропастта. За да не се сринат, изходът е прост – или страните-членки се съгласяват на по-тясно икономическо сътрудничество, или предават допълнителни правомощия на ЕС. Вторият вариант вече бе отхвърлен от мнозинството от 27-те страни, така че остава първият”, отбелязва 86-годишният Делор.
Според него отказът от по-тясно икономическо взаимодействие е равносилен на разпадане на европейската общност.

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Франция и Германия предлагат да се създаде правителство на еврозоната и за негов ръководител да бъде назначен председателят на Европейския съвет Херман Ван Ромпой. Това решение бе взето от президента на Франция Никола Саркози и канцлера на Германия Ангела Меркел по време на извънредната среща в Париж. По този начин суверенитетът на отделните страни в ЕС реално се ограничава, а като цяло този международен съюз все повече ще напомня една единна държава, пише „Взгляд”.
След като всички останали икономики в еврозоната, включително дори и Италия, се оказаха на границата на разоряването, реалната власт в ЕС премина към двете останали страни-донори – Франция и Германия. Най-вероятно ключовите решения в него отсега ще се взимат не с консенсус на 27-те страни, а от тандема между правителствата в Париж и Берлин. Засега не е ясно каква ще е ролята на Еврокомисията начело с Жозе Мануел Барозу, който в момента фактически е премиер на Европейския съюз, коментира изданието.

http://focus-news.net/?id=n1556961

петък, 15 юли 2011 г.

В края на четвъртия месец

Bar the shouting, the war in Libya virtually ended Thursday morning, July 14, when US President Barack Obama called Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to hand Moscow the lead role in negotiations with Muammar Qaddafi for ending the conflict - provided only that the Libyan ruler steps down in favor of a transitional administration. The US president thus accepted the Russian-Libyan formula for ending the war over the heads of the NATO chiefs who rejected it when they met Russian leaders at the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week...

Debkafile's diplomatic sources hail the agreement Presidents Obama and Medvedev reached on terms for negotiating the war's end with Muammar Qaddafi as a major victory for the Libyan ruler and a resounding fiasco for NATO.
It also knocks over the international war crimes tribunal's demand to extradite Qaddafi and his sons as war criminals. Instead of sitting in the dock of the world court, they will now take their seats at the negotiating table for a deal one of whose objects will be to rescue NATO from the humiliation of defeat at war. But its main purpose will be to agree on the shape of a regime for the transition to democracy and its makeup. Qaddafi, while consenting to step down, will not doubt insist on his sons and loyalists being co-opted with full privileges to the future administration in Tripoli.

http://www.debka.com/article/21115/


коментари:

Не забывайте какую активность перед началом агрессии проявлял Сарко. Он, очевидно, был уверен,что его падающий рейтинг спасет победоносная войнушка. Автор пишет, мол Каддафи надо судить, а ведь точно также можно судить и того же Сарко, за неспровоцированную агрессию например.

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Это напомнило мне историю СССР, когда в 20 годы страны Запада пытались с помощью интервенции сорвать власть коммунистов. Ничего не вышло. И сейчас через почти столетие не вышло. Браво Муамар. Истинный патриот свои страны.

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Молодец Кадафи! Кадафи станет знаменем в борьбе с Западным колонизмом для многих и думаю, что уже и при жизни Кадафи! Вот так Запад своими необдуманными поступками создал себе идейного вдохновителя, способного объединить многих в борьбе против Запада!

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Если бы была полноценная война (боевая операция), то, конечно, размазали бы Ливию в 2-3 недели. А здесь попытка - "одной левой" - не прошла. Был, конечно, расчет, что Каддафи ответит терактами и другими действиями, которые позволили бы объявить его международным террористом, Ливию гнездом террора, а значит обосновать начало наземной операции. Не прошло, полковник проявил незаурядный ум, терпение, дальновидность и переиграл НАТО.

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Браво, Мухомор! Ты вписал в историю своё имя и имена твоих ничтожных врагов!

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Когда мы в 91 году выронили из рук знамя борьбы против Вселенского Зла, нашлось кому подхватить! Поздравляю народ Ливии с Победой!

http://www.inosmi.ru/africa/20110715/172055902.html

неделя, 3 юли 2011 г.

40 години от интронизацията на патриарх Максим


...На 2 юли 2011 г. в 18.00 ч. бе поставено началото на тържествата, посветени на 40-годишнината от възкачването на Негово Светейшество Българския патриарх и Софийски митрополит Максим на патриаршеския престол. С неговото благословение и по решение на Св. Синод на БПЦ тържествената вечерня с всенощното бдение бяха предстоявани от Негово Високопреосвещенство Пловдивския митрополит Николай.


Богослужението започна веднага след като великата светиня от светогорския манастир „Св. ап. Павел” - мощите на св. Максим Изповедник - бяха посрещнати в храм-паметника „Св. Александър Невски”, а след това изнесени от св. олтар лично от патриарх Максим и поставени в центъра на храма за всецърковно поклонение. Най-първо пред тях се поклони Негово Светейшество Българският патриарх, последван от всички останали архиереи – чуждестранни гости, членове на Св. Синод на БПЦ и епископи, архимандрити, свещеници, дякони, монашествуващи, иподякони и миряни, които с видимо вълнение пристъпваха към този, който просвети вселената и утвърди светото Православие без да пожали нищо свое.



http://bg-patriarshia.bg/news.php?id=47819

събота, 2 юли 2011 г.

Dictatorship

10 Indications The United States Is A Dictatorship

... we have clearly passed through the first "atmospheric" stage of approaching dictatorship, and have now entered the second -- the open behavior of a dictatorship in the United States.
It will never be announced on the evening news, and it is not likely to continue under an authoritarian leader in the mold of a Stalin, Hitler, or Mao. Likewise, it is not to say that Barack Obama is the first dictator of The United States, but rather is part of a continued expansion of executive power that is now so great that by all measures America can no longer be called a Land of the Free ruled by We the People. We stand no chance of reversing this forced march by false democracy until we understand where we are headed, who is leading us there, and for what purpose.

1. Rule by force, not by law: This is where it all begins; when the legal framework that serves to define a country and its behavior is dismantled and intimidation tactics take over...
2. Crushing peaceful protest: Despite the current mission to defend protesters living in dictatorships overseas, when George Bush brought "free speech zones" to America it effectively spelled the end of peaceful, lawful street protest...
3. Checkpoints: ...The expanding checkpoint system dovetails with new initiatives such as the No Ride List proposal of Chuck Shumer, building upon the No Fly List already in place. These no-travel lists are extrajudicial, secret, and form a guilty-until-proven innocent framework that subverts freedom instead of protecting it. Incidentally, this element of constant suspicion is exactly what leads to a citizen spy network.
4. Citizen spy network: ... Most dangerous of all, though, is new legislation introduced by Peter King that enshrines Janet Napolitano's program and would provide immunity for accusers "acting in good faith" while reporting suspicious activities. This is guaranteed to lead to false arrests and disappearances, just as it has on every occasion throughout history when a society's fear becomes self-directed.
5. Executive Orders: ... The Constitution is clear, however: only the legislature (Congress) can make laws. Yet, the use of Executive Orders has increased, beginning with President Clinton who came under fire for his abuse of this power... His successors seem only to have been encouraged. Clinton issued 14, George W. issued over 60, and Obama is at 26 with many more to be expected if he wins a second term. Among the most egregious of Obama's orders is the ability to hold detainees indefinitely even after a court has found them not guilty.
6. Control of regulatory agencies: ...Regulatory agencies in the United States have engendered a system where the corporate-government revolving door leads to corruption and consolidation - not free markets. The current regulations are opposed to the principles of freedom and independence, and favor only those in positions to make money from more control...
7. President declares war unilaterally: Despite the parade of lies that led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it pales in comparison with the new war in Libya and other interventions and sanctions throughout the Middle East and North Africa... This unilateral power to drag nations into war without checks and balances is a hallmark of dictatorships where entire countries are swept along purely by the ideology of their leader. As Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell have stated, "We have a dictatorship when it comes to foreign policy."
8. Torture: Torture has long been a tactic used by America. In fact it runs the leading school on its methods. The School of the Americas (now called WHINSEC) has been responsible for training Latin American dictators and their thugs on how to intimidate the local population and rule with an iron fist... No nation that uses torture to obtain confessions can be called legitimate.
9. Forced labor camps (gulags): ... As Naomi Wolf has illustrated, "With its jails in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, of course, Guantánamo in Cuba, where detainees are abused, and kept indefinitely without trial and without access to the due process of the law, America certainly has its gulag now." Additionally, a silent gulag has already been created inside America, starting with the nation's prisoners who are increasingly locked up within a for-profit prison-industrial system that makes money both on the construction of prisons as well as the cheap labor force. The Defense Department itself pays prisoners 23 cents per hour to build its weapons systems, which is clearly a type of slave labor... America has the world's largest prison population and the highest incarceration rate precisely because nearly everything is a jail-time crime, and there is money to be made by the growing corporate prison system...
10. Control over all communications (propaganda): Once the physical framework of dictatorial control has been set up, then the justification for its continued presence can commence. The type of high-tech control grid now put into place in The United States to this point has only been explored in works of fiction such as 1984, which has led Paul Craig Roberts to draw a correct parallel. A public emergency announcement system has in fact been in place since the '50s, whereby the president can interrupt television and radio to deliver critical messages. However, this has been recently expanded even beyond the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as the FCC voted to mandate (PDF) "the first-ever Presidential alert to be aired across the United States on the Nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS).” Now, with the arrival of the trackable smartphone that can be hijacked to bring government messages (emergency or not) we find ourselves "willing" participants in a scenario reaching far beyond 1984. Using the bin Laden assassination and the threat of guaranteed reprisal, the government has announced that the president will break into these private networks to carry PLAN government messages and warnings; and there is no opt-out... At the same time, we have seen the buildup in rhetoric leading toward Internet control. Ideologically, Obama advisor, Cass Sunstein, has proposed a fairness doctrine for the Internet that would enable a government overlay on private websites that would offer counter opinions to anti-establishment content. We are approaching a situation worse than China, where both mental intrusion via propaganda and physical intrusion via systems control are merging. It is not comforting to know, also, that the president made a shocking claim recently that he can censor unclassified documents. There is clearly a concerted effort to take over all forms of information, permitting the government to alter it or censor it before consumption by its citizens. In any other country we would call this a dictatorship.

16 May, 2011
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/10-indications-united-states-is.html

**

Нещо около състоянието на обществото:

1. Incarceration
Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 incarcerated per 100,000 population.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) 7,225,800 people at yearend 2009 were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole — about 3.1% of adults in the U.S. resident population.[7][4] 2,292,133 were incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails at year end 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

2. Divorce rate
1 United States: 4.95 per 1,000 people
2 Puerto Rico: 4.47 per 1,000 people
3 Russia: 3.36 per 1,000 people
4 United Kingdom: 3.08 per 1,000 people
5 Denmark: 2.81 per 1,000 people
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_div_rat-people-divorce-rate

3. Television viewing - person per weeк

1 United Kingdom: 28 h, United States: 28 h
3 Italy: 27 h
4 Ireland: 23 h, France: 23 h, Germany: 23 h
7 Australia: 22 h
8 Denmark: 20 h, Netherlands: 20 h
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_tel_vie-media-television-viewing

4. Taking antidepressants
Close to 10 percent of men and women in America are now taking drugs to combat depression.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-medicated-americans

5. Illegal Drug Use
The World Health Organization's survey of legal and illegal drug use in 17 countries, including the Netherlands and other countries with less stringent drug laws, shows Americans report the highest level of cocaine and marijuana use.
For example, Americans were four times more likely to report using cocaine in their lifetime than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%),
Marijuana use was more widely reported worldwide, and the U.S. also had the highest rate of use at 42.4% compared with 41.9% of New Zealanders.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/01/health/webmd/main4222322.shtml

6. Pornography
89% of porn is created in the U.S.
http://techcrunch.com/2007/05/12/internet-pornography-stats/