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IOUSA: “I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is ... our own fiscal irresponsibility”
by chycho
“Premier Wen Jiabao is worried about the amount of debt that the United States owes China”, which is probably why “China has quietly almost doubled its gold reserves to become the world’s fifth-biggest holder of the precious metal.” As well, “five major trading cities have got the nod from the central government to use the yuan in overseas trade settlement - seen as one more step in China's recent moves to expand the use of its currency globally.”
When America’s top accountant, US Comptroller General and head of the GAO, David M. Walker resigned in 2008, the US national debt at the beginning of the year was $9.2 trillion. As of 2 May 2009 this debt is now over $11 trillion. These numbers, however, are a little misleading. The American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government is in fact “$65.5 trillion in total obligations”, exceeding the gross domestic product of the world.
The following 2008 documentary, “I.O.U.S.A. - One Nation. Under Debt. In Stress.,” does an excellent job explaining why the current fiscal policy in the United States is unsustainable, and recommends some very painful solutions to resolve the problem.
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" Part II
Stephen Lendman
This is the second of several articles on Ellen Brown's remarkable book titled "Web of Debt....the shocking truth about our money system, (how it) trapped us in debt, and how we can break free." It's a multi-part snapshot. Reading the entire book is strongly recommended - easily obtainable through Amazon or Brown's webofdebt.com site.
Bankers Capture the Money Machine - Fighting for the Family Farm
In the 1890s, "keeping the family homestead was a key political issue" given that foreclosures and evictions "were occurring in record numbers," much like today. The "Bankers Manifesto of 1892" spelled it out - a willful plan "to disenfranchise farmers and laborers of their homes and property," again like today except that now our very freedom and futures are at stake as sinister forces aim to steal them by turning America into Guatemala and lock it down by police state repression.
A Nuclear Free World is a Matter of Conscience and or Faith
eileen fleming
On May 5, 2009, Vice President Biden reassured AIPAC/American Israel Public Affairs Committee that while USA foreign policy will change, America remains committed to the peace and security of the state of Israel but that the election of President Obama was a call “to change the trajectory that the world was on."
Self proclaimed Zionist, Biden admitted that “All the good intentions of the last decade have not resulted in a more secure, more stable Middle… we will pursue direct, principled democracy with Iran [and the U.S.] will approach Iran initially in the spirit of mutual respect."[1]
From Victimhood to Aggression: Jewish Identity in the light of Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children
Gilad Atzmon
Identity is a very tricky concept. It can very mean many opposing things and at the same time it can mean nothing. One may start to wonder about one’s identity only when one feels he is under the threat of losing it. The case of Jewish identity is a very good example. Judging by the literature and history textbooks, Jews started to explore the notion of their identity following the emancipation, assimilation and the collapse of the rabbinical authority. In short, Jews started to wonder who they were once their collective self-notion was already melting down. Seemingly, the notion of ‘Jewish identity’ was there to replace the tribal, rabbinical and racially orientated notion of the ‘Jew’ with a tolerant acceptable ‘liberal’ discourse that aims at a universal awareness.
Pay to Play Politics is Unacceptable for Health Care Reform - Video
Kevin Zeese
Yesterday morning, eight doctors, lawyers and other activists stood up for single payer health care. We stood up during a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. The hearing was only to hear from the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, HMO’s and business interests. They did not want to hear about a real national health care plan.
I was one of the eight.
We stood up to the private health insurance industry, to the corporate power in Congress and demanded a single payer national health care plan where everybody is in and nobody is out. We want a plan that ensures the peoples right to choose their own doctor, hospital and health care treatment. We want a plan that will control costs – something that cannot be done unless the insurance industry, HMO’s and pharmaceutical companies are challenged.
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" Part I
Stephen Lendman
This is the first of several articles on Ellen Brown's superb 2007 book titled "Web of Debt," now updated in a December 2008 third edition. It tells "the shocking truth about our money system, (how it) trapped us in debt, and how we can break free." Given today's global economic crisis, it's an appropriate time to review it and urge readers to digest the entire work, easily gotten through Amazon or Brown's webofdebt.com site. Her book is a remarkable achievement - in its scope, depth, and importance.
In the forward, banker/developer Reed Simpson said:
"I have been a banker for most of my career, and I can report that even most bankers (don't know) what goes on behind (top echelon) closed doors....I am more familiar than most with the issues (Brown covered, and) still found it an eye-opener, a remarkable window into what is really going on....(Although many banks follow high ethical practices), corruption is also rampant, (especially) in the large money center banks, in one of which I worked."
Australia joins the Asia Pacific arms race
Zachary Fillingham
Summary
A recently released defense white paper by the Australian government signals Australia’s entry into a widening Asia Pacific arms race.Asia Pacific map
Analysis
The white paper, titled “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030,” suggests that a new strategic reality is dawning in the Asia Pacific region, one in which Chinese power and influence is fast filling the vacuum left by a waning American presence in the region. To prepare for this new security environment, the Australian government has proposed a substantial boost in defense spending, amounting to $72 billion over the next twenty years. The money will most notably be spent on new submarines, air warfare destroyers, frigates, cruise missiles, and 100 Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighters.
Farewell to Gaza’s courageous Priest
Stuart Littlewood
I hear that Fr Manuel Musallam, the Catholic priest in Gaza, has finally retired at 71. His is a hard act to follow.
Many of us feared that ill health had forced him to hang up his cassock last year, but he returned to the fray to be with his community during their darkest hour when Israel’s psychopaths, with a nod from America and the EU, unleashed their blitzkrieg intended to finally crush the isolated and half-starved Gazans.
Unreported or Underreported Real Pandemics, Not Fake Ones Like Avian and Swine Flu
Stephen Lendman
In his April 29 Global Research.ca article, F. William Engdahl discussed "Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms" and shed light on the current swine flu hysteria - hyped by the same folks who engineered the 2006 (H5N1) Avian Flu scare that had more bark than bite. But it proved hugely profitable for drug makers like Roche and Gilead Sciences, the company Donald Rumsfeld led as chairman from 1997 - 2001 and remains a major shareholder. Although he won't discuss his "private finances," he's likely benefitting handsomely from the current panic.
Earlier Avian Flu reports were like the following:
-- numerous ones from public health journalists saying governments are "thoroughly unprepared" for a pandemic flu outbreak; as a result, it could lead to potential "societal breakdown, chaos, and panic;"
Waiting For The World To Answer
Ayman T. Quader
"Ahmad was a lovely little five-year old boy."
It was an ordinary morning December 2008. Children were playing and having fun. They were digging between the rocks to get some space for their childhood.
This is the story of Ahmad , a little boy without sin who was killed on that morning. Ahmad was known among his friends as lively, bustling boy.
Ahmad and his family live in Al Zahra district in the middle of the Gaza Strip, exactly next to the building of the Civil Defense. On the morning of December 27th, Ahmad took his breakfast, put on his boots and went out to go for playing in his nearby garden.
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