Is the U.S. goading China in the South China Sea dispute?
Posted: November 23, 2011 Filed under: 9/11, Afghan Taliban, Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, America, Anti-Christ, Armageddon, atomic weapons, Ayman Zawahiri, ballistic missiles, Balochistan, Baluchistan, Barack Obama, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentDuring U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Australia this week, he told the Australian Parliament, “Our enduring interests in the region demand our enduring presence in this region. The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.”
Along with making this quite bothersome promise, at least for those of us that don’t fancy perpetual war plaguing the entire planet in the name of “freedom” and “democracy” on the American taxpayer’s dime, Obama said that American military expansion is a top priority.
That’s right, Obama actually said that military expansion is a top priority, despite the fact that the U.S. debt is so massive it makes one’s head spin with incredulity.
CNN published, “Obama made it clear that the military expansion is a top priority in the wake of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,” which is interesting seeing as we are far from being in the wake of either war at this point.
Obama also made it painfully clear that, “reductions in U.S. defense spending will not – I repeat, will not – come at the expense of the Asia Pacific.”
Apparently we can count on the United States continuing to threaten China over the South China Sea dispute for the entirety of the foreseeable future, despite our less-than-stellar economy and horrific debt.
For many individuals like me, bells started ringing the second the news of increased troop presence in Australia broke.
This is because the United States has been somewhat covertly fighting back against China in the South China Sea dispute, but this announcement represents a massive escalation on the part of the U.S.
In more accurate terms, it is only covert in the sense that the United States government hasn’t come right out and said, “We’re fighting China in the South China Sea dispute.”
Back in June of this year, I reported on the United States arming the countries opposed to China in the South China Sea dispute, which includes Vietnam and the Philippines.
The goading is not just on the part of the United States seeing as earlier this year a live-fire drill was conducted by the Vietnamese in the South China Sea.
However, the United States is undoubtedly choosing sides by providing arms and participating in the massive SEACAT exercise with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members which include thePhilippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
It is worth pointing out that Indonesia’s military commander voiced concern over Indonesia possibly being pulled into the South China Sea dispute when the 2,500 U.S. Marines are deployed in Australia along with the state-of-the-art fighter jets and transport planes.
”Their military fleets would very likely go back and forth through our waters, given the analysis that the planned base will have to conduct [military exercises] due to rising tension in the South China Sea,” Admiral Agus Suhartono told The Jakarta Post. ”We haven’t learnt clearly what this deal is but we have been studying the plan and analyzing any potential impacts on Indonesia … we have begun consulting all sources.”
In the latest meeting of the ASEAN nations at the East Asia Summit, some additional nations took part including Japan, South Korea, India, China, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.
When a similar, but less tense, standoff of sorts occurred months ago, the Chinese issued similar warnings to those uttered in the recent days.
The Chinese vice foreign minister said, “I believe some countries now are playing with fire. And I hope the US won’t be burned by this fire.”
These are unarguably pointed words, and in the wake of Obama’s announcement the rhetoric has only become more heated.
Today Reuters reported that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that, “’outside forces’ had no excuse to get involved in a complex dispute over the South China Sea, offering a veiled warning to the United States and others not to stick their noses into the sensitive issue.”
That warning is far from veiled, there is only one major military power escalating its presence and thus threatening the Chinese over the South China Sea, and that is the United States.
Keep in mind that the ASEAN countries aren’t the only players in this dispute. In September of this year, after warning the Indian state-owned oil company ONGC multiple times that joint energy explorations with Vietnam amounted to a violation of China’s sovereignty, the Indian government pledged to continue.
Back in September the Wall Street Journal pointed out that the United States has been fighting many protests on the part of China regarding their surveillance activities in the South China Sea.
Furthermore, they point out that the U.S. is trying to encourage its democratic allies in the region, especially India, which has a fairly powerful military, Australia, which has a relatively powerful military unto itself and which is now going to house at least 2,500 U.S. Marines within 5 years according to Obama, and Japan.
The White House has said that Obama seeks to bring up the South China Sea dispute at yet another summit coming up on Saturday but China said it will not discuss the issue, opting instead to deal bilaterally with the nations which are directly involved in the dispute.
“[The South China Sea dispute] ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Oustide forces should not, under any pretext, get involved,” Wen told the leaders of the ASEAN nations.
Wen is clearly telling the United States government that they have no part taking place in discussions regarding the dispute and that no intervention will be tolerated under any conditions.
The United States is infamous for couching wars of aggression in terms of “humanitarianism” as seen in Libya, and China is well aware that the United States would use plenty of propaganda and outright lies to justify their intervention.
This statement by Wen is essentially declaring these future possibilities null and void, something which likely will not make the goons in Washington happy.
China realizes that the United States is already getting involved via proxy with India, Vietnam and the Philippines, but the increased forces in Australia – which, within five to six years, will be a full Marine ground task force – are undoubtedly making tensions rise.
However, the increased American presence in the Pacific is far from just a full-fledged ground force presence but also some of the United States’ most sophisticated aerial weaponry.
In a call to journalists on Wednesday from Hawaii, the director of strategic planning and policy for the United States Pacific Command, Major General Michael Keltz said that the United States has already based squadrons of F-22 fighter jets and C-17 transport planes.
“The F-22s provide leading-edge technology for potential air-to-air combat as well as cyber and electronic warfare,” Keltz said.
This should be ringing more alarm bells for my readers out there as one of the most significant fronts between the United States and China is the nearly infinite front that is cyberwarfare.
Of course China consistently denies any of the allegations of attacks on American targets, but experts from the online security firm McAfee disagree and an image from footage shot at a Chinese military university show evidence to the contrary.
Moreover, why would the United States need massive transport planes and the most sophisticated in fighter technology if there weren’t plans to actually utilize such equipment?
Whatever the case, the massive troop increase in the region is far from reassuring to the Chinese and for good reason.
The United States has no real duty or right to intervene in the region, even under the guise of “maintaining peace and security.”
Yet the United States is already utilizing this excuse, as made clear by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes to reporters.
Rhodes used the excuse of natural disasters and claimed that there is “a demand signal from the nations of the region.”
Rhodes said, “we believe it’s not just entirely appropriate, but an important step to dealing with the challenges of the future of the Asia Pacific region.”
Clearly, Rhodes is speaking of China, but if that was a bit too ambiguous, he made it quite explicit in saying, “What we look at is how does our general force posture allow us to protect U.S. interests, protect our allies, and … secure the region broadly. China is obviously a piece of the Asia Pacific region, an emerging power.”
Yet if that wholly unambiguous message wasn’t clear enough, he added that the deal is “part of the U.S. sending a signal that we’re going to be present, that we’re going to continue to play the role of underpinning security in this part of the region. Part of that context is a rising China.”
Once again, the United States is playing the role of the “world police force” even though it not only puts American lives at risk but also sullies our international reputation while piling on debt when our economy can’t even handle the debt we have.
The timing of Obama’s visit to Australia is also quite interesting, given that he postponed trips in 2009 and 2010 due to “domestic political considerations” but not this year, when anti-Corporatism protests are breaking out throughout the nation and being met with brutal police responses.
It is also quite interesting that the coordinated crackdown on the Occupations, which involved some 18 cities, occurred right after Obama left the continental United States.
What I find quite troubling about this entire fiasco is that a major mainstream Australian publication said that the troop increase in the Asia-Pacific region is “the strongest sign yet that Australia will be at the centre of anew world order.”
I guess it is only okay to say the loaded phrase “new world order” if you’re a mainstream news outlet or a world leader like Barack Obama or the sorry excuse for a human being that is Henry Kissinger; otherwise you’re a nutty conspiracy theorist.
Some writers, including Mira Permatasari, a lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia, seem to be under the impression that Russia is siding with the United States in the effort to counterbalance the rising power of China.
I would disagree and point out that China-Russia relations are better than ever, as Dr. Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director at the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute, elucidates in writing, “The relationship between the Chinese and Russian governments is perhaps the best it has ever been. The leaders of both countries engage in numerous high-level exchanges, make many mutually supportive statements, and manifest other displays of Russian-Chinese cooperation in what both governments refer to as their developing strategic partnership.”
Furthermore, Russia Today reported last month, “Just recently, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said that he was happy with the steadily-consolidated bilateral trade, scientific and technical ties with Russia’s biggest neighbor.”
We must also weigh Ahmadinejad’s call for a united front against the West during June’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting which included Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, Mongolia and Iran.
While Russia in China didn’t jump up in support of this call by Ahmadinejad, Russia warned of severe consequences if a military strike was carried out on Iranian soil, indicating that the Russians would take Iran’s side if such a strike were to occur.
It is also quite interesting that the U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta referred to both China and Indiaand “others” as “threats” yesterday, citing their status as “rising powers” as reason to “try to make sure that we always have sufficient force protection out there in the Pacific to make sure they know we’re never going anywhere.”
Of course the Pentagon Captain John Kirby spokesman later backtracked and told reporters that Panetta did not see either China or India as military threats.
“Any suggestion that he was implying that either country was a military threat is just false,” Kirby said.
On its face, this statement by Kirby is nothing short of absurd and to appropriate Kirby’s own words, “is just false.”
China seems to be trying to win over the support of ASEAN nations through promises of $10 billion in loans and lines of credit which is in addition to the pledge made two years ago of $15 billion in loans.
Furthermore, China said that they will establish a $473 million fund which will help promote expanding maritime cooperation, navigational cooperation, environmental protection, and efforts to combat transnational crimes.
That’s not all, Wen also said that China seeks to increase financial cooperation with ASEAN nations by increasing local currency swaps along with encouraging “the quoting of China’s yuan and ASEAN currencies in each other’s interbank foreign exchange.”
It seems to me that with the American presence in the Asia-Pacific region on the rise with no sense of slowing down, China is going to seek increasing ties with ASEAN nations and others, be it militarily, scientific, or financial.
China just vowed to strengthen its military ties to North Korea as well. The Associated Press reports, “China’s army wanted to enhance understanding and mutual trust and strengthen practical exchanges with the North Korean military.”
They also attempt to minimize the timing, which is likely calculated by writing, “Although Li’s trip was likely planned in advance, recent remarks by President Barack Obama asserting the U.S. military’s continuing presence in Asia have riled Beijing.”
If you can honestly reconcile all of these uncannily timed events, statements and proclamations as pure coincidence, I have wonderful ocean front property in Oklahoma you might be interested in.
Any support that China can get at this point will likely be welcomed and taken advantage of in the South China Sea dispute given that the Japanese have already expressed support for the drastic increase in the American presence in the region.
“We regard this as a demonstration of the United States’ commitment in the Asia-Pacific region,” a spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry said on Friday, according to the AAP.
Clearly this is a heated dispute which is hitting home for Indonesia’s foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, who said the U.S.-Australian agreement would create a “vicious circle of tension and mistrust,” according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
A quite biting editorial was published in The Jakarta Post today, the title of which quite aptly sums up the brief article, “US Base? NIMBY” where NIMBY means Not In My Back Yard.
The author writes, “The presence of the US base just south of Indonesia is simply too close for comfort,” adding, “For Indonesia, or for most Southeast Asian nations for that matter, the move is not exactly the kind of signal that they are looking for in terms of greater US engagement with Asia.”
I couldn’t agree more and the author’s point that, “Obama’s choice of timing in making the announcement now is bound to stir up controversy,” is quite important because it is very unlikely that the timing of this announcement was purely coincidental.
All of this leads to the conclusion that the South China Sea dispute will be one to watch closely in the coming months and years as it could indeed be a powder keg of sorts, although I sincerely hope that is not the case.
This issue is a multifaceted one that will likely prove to be quite influential in the decisions various countries make in the near future, for good or bad.
If you have information, articles, or comments to share with me, please do not hesitate to email me directly atAdmin@EndtheLie.com while I promise to read every single one of your emails personally, I cannot guarantee a reply although I do respond to as many as humanly possible.
Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lieand has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com
How To Respond To The Aweful Truth …
Posted: November 23, 2011 Filed under: Sajjad Hashemy, Watergate, Weather Wars, weather weapons, White House, Why We Fight, William Cooper, World Affairs, world economy, World War 3, World War I, World War II Leave a commentIt’s a volatile, challenging time to be alive, no doubt. The world is a landscape thoroughly scattered with catastrophic nightmares like flaming lava pits on a giant festering orb. And this huge array of drastic, life-threatening problems we’re facing that are burning in the world’s collective subconscious are apparently careening towards some mad, apocalyptic finale.
The big question we’re all faced with is this. Once we’re aware of what’s going on, what do we do? And more importantly, for those not willing to face the truth, what will it take to wake them up?
And third: does that predominant attitude make it inevitable for the rest of us to share their fate?
What does one do as they observe the deliberately imploded economy, the corporate thuggery pillaging the world, a manipulated media bent on an ignorant, placated populace, the ramped up rape of the environment, the poisoning of our food, water and air supply, the drugging of our children, and wars without end appearing to be leading up to a horrific nuclear conflagration?
What is our role in what we discover to be a literally predatory environment in a hijacked world?
Here’s How: Identify The Problems Are Real and Deliberate
The first issue is to clearly identify the problems and admit their gravity. Second, we need to understand the objective of these apparent trends, however horrific these motives may appear to be.
But let me get one thing straight before we go on any further.
In light of the vastness of these incontrovertible assaults on humanity and the obvious connections to corporate, banking and government insanity, whoever does NOT think that there’s an underlying motive with definite objectives by those controlling these massive programs is a stark raving lunatic, voluntarily living in a straightjacket of self-preserving denial, staring in a zombified trance at the shadows on their cell walls.
Secondly and similarly, if anyone thinks it’s simply “greed gone wild” that’s causing these problems and an unfortunate cyclical downturn of some sort, they need to get their minds blown.
And I’m here to help.
Why Doesn’t Money Satisfy The Controllers If It’s Just Greed? Cuz It’s Power and Control
Tell me something. If everything was done just for money, why don’t they stop there? These elites know they couldn’t spend what they have in a thousand lifetimes. So why do they keep pushing?
Why do wealthy people run for office when their coffers are overflowing? Why do banksters keep loaning money they know they won’t get it back to nation after nation as they slowly take over their economies andpolitics? The infamous Rothschilds are estimated to be worth over 500 trillion dollars yet keep pushing for more international “programs” and intervention.
Why?
Do you see the world improving because of their efforts? Do the mega-rich dynasties, industrialists, royal families, or the uber-wealthy Vatican chip in a non self-serving dime to help the world?
Or has the plug been pulled deliberately and we’re now in free-fall towards worldwide disaster? And could someone possibly be positioning themselves to pick up the pieces and take control of the filet that’s left on the world’s butcher block once the scraps have been extricated and thrown to the dogs of war?
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Is their plan actually written in stone? Look up “Georgia Guidestones” for a spine tingler.
Living A Conscious Life
The issue and point of this article isn’t to run once again through the litany of wrongs being deliberately perpetrated on humanity and its home. If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve caught on to some extent and hopefully are active in the awakening, or are on an accelerating path to the stage of awareness where you realize to not take action is impossible, if you have any semblance of awakened consciousness. That will come, believe me.
To be conscious means to act according to consciousness, not just think or realize in some ashram. I’m sure those folks have their place, but if you’re a somewhat normal operating human trying to exist in a world bent on abusing and even killing you off, there are some serious challenges involved as to what exactly to do.
This Is Where The Universe Comes In
You cannot…and there’s no exception to this..you cannot operate solely in the mental and physical realm and expect to understand what’s going on and where your place is in all this. You may be led there in spite of your blockage, but it’s absolutely essential to have a spiritual awakening in your life.
I’m in no way talking about religion. But I guarantee if you’re pursuing truth like I think you are, the spiritual, metaphysical, esoteric, whatever you want to call it, side of all this is becoming very, very apparent. And it’s vastly empowering. Right?
Our Refuge and Armament
The most important tool in our arsenal is the ability to listen to and act according to our hearts, our source, our spirit, our connection to consciousness. Call it God, the Universe or the underlying powers inherent in Chi, Ki, Prana or whatever. Learning to listen to a deeper influence and act in responsible, loving consciousawareness is the answer.
And we must grow in this area to meet the challenges of our time. Like the internet, our old modes of communication have been tampered with and will be used against us.
Spotting the Predators
Like the Hollywood ephemeral cloaked predator character, these mostly unseen forces we are up against can usually only be spotted by their effects, like leaves and branches moving in an organized pattern as the enemy approaches. Never mind the fact that the real government leaders and societal directors are not the ones we see in the news and that others are telling them what to do, the powers behind ALL of this we can safely assume are another level removed, and I would contend are ultimately spiritual, or other dimensional.
At the very least, call it evil people and you’ll be right. But the extent and source of this evil is quite revelatory when the next level of dots starts to connect for you. I don’t claim to know everything that’s going on, but the point is we’re up against a vastly interconnected conspiracy that, like seeing the leaves rustle when the transparent predator approaches, you can only identify by their effects.
And it’s important that we’re aware of this next level.
Any Way You Look At It It’s Nasty…But Make Some Conclusions
The point is, we don’t need to know every detail before drawing some very obvious conclusions.
1. A LOT of serious somethings are very wrong with the world.
2. World so-called “leadership” is out of touch, self serving and apparently working towards some other agenda.
3. This other agenda does not necessarily benefit you and me. They’re elitists with their own plans.
4. People are dying, being poisoned, starved and outright killed at a horrific rate, while food is withheld and medical care has become restricted and basically wealth-producing pharmaceutical in nature.
5. The extremely wealthy Powers That Be refuse to give any form of aid except to their own institutions and cohorts.
6. You are sitting at home wondering what the hell is going on while reading this article.
7. What are you going to DO with your life now that you realize this?
I hope you’ll follow your heart.
That’s my wish, prayer and affirmation. We need an energetic revolution, a call to real conscious action. That action is continuous open awareness and responding to the call of the Heart!
Wanna demonstrate, and mix with others who feel the call in whatever form? Go for it! Where will that take you? I don’t know!
Wanna participate in blogs and internet forums about your search, 9/11 truth, outrage about the world’s pollution, etc? Go for it!!
Point is, if you feel the call, respond! Respond! RESPOND!
And it will respond to you!
Happy trails, meet you in the awakening…
US military adds armed robotic helicopters to flee …
Posted: November 13, 2011 Filed under: armed robotic helicopters, Avatar, battlefield, Battlestar Galactica, drones, Flash bang grenades, Hellfire missiles, ISRAEL, LA-9/P, Laser Avenger, laser weapons, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentThe US military plans to add a new lethal drone to its fleet — a robotic helicopter for the US Navy equipped with laser-guided rockets, defense giant Northrop Grumman said Wednesday.
The armed Fire Scouts will mark a new era in naval warfare, offering an alternative to pilots flying attack helicopters or fighter jets off ships and reflecting a broader shift to robotictechnology across the US military over the past several years.
An unarmed version of the MQ-8B Fire Scout is already flying surveillance and reconnaissance missions for theUS Navy, using cameras and sensors inside a cone on the aircraft’s nose.
Northrop Grumman won a contract in September worth $17 million to outfit the choppers with racks capable of carrying up to eight 70 mm rockets, with four on each side, the company said.
“The operational system will be delivered by 2013,” company spokesman Warren Comer told AFP.
“By arming the Fire Scout, the navy will have a system that can locate and prosecute targets of interest. This capability shortens the kill chain and lessens the need to put our soldiers in harm’s way,” George Vardoulakis, Northrop’s vice president for tactical unmanned systems, said in a statement.
The Fire Scout had its first flight in December 2006 and is due to be deployed on new littoral combat ships under construction.
The helicopter, which is seven meters (yards) long and three meters high, can reach an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), fly at a speed of more than 115 knots (200 kilometers) per hour and stay in the air for more than eight hours, employing sensors and radar to track targets.
The US Navy had a fleet of about 15 Fire Scouts and plans to build 168 of the helicopters, according to thePentagon.
One of the unmanned helicopters went down in the NATO-led air campaign in June.
Why Gold Stocks are Set for a Big 2012 …
Posted: November 2, 2011 Filed under: banking crisis, Barack Obama, China, currency war, dollar collapse, Doomsday, economic collapse, economic crisis, Europe, evidence, false flag operation, Federal Reserve, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a comment
Last week we discussed the concept of relative strength. Again, relative strength is the measuring of one market against another. There are perhaps 1000 mining companies and maybe 5% of them are worthy of your research and investment. Fundamental analysis should lead you to the best companies while technical analysis (relative strength analysis in this case) can generate a precise list of top prospects. Today we are focusing on relative strength in a larger context and will then apply it to the gold stocks.One of the best times to use relative strength is during or after a strong market selloff or panic. After 2008, I was most bullish on Gold and Agriculture for the simple fact that both didn’t have the long-term technical damage that occurred in most markets. Most markets plunged below 2005 lows. Markets that escaped that fate and held up reasonably well would make new highs first and well ahead of global stock indices (which have yet to make new highs).
In the chart below we show various markets (Gold, AGs, T-Bonds, Chile, S&P). Gold bottomed in late 2008 above its summer low in 2007. Agriculture prices bottomed slightly ahead of their bottom in spring 2007. Bonds maintained their uptrend in 2008 and beyond. Chile has been one of the strongest markets (held above 2006 lows) and surged to new highs while the S&P is nowhere close to a new high. The other four markets had the best relative strength in 2008 and thus performed the best from 2009-2010.
So how does that history apply to today? We just had a mini-panic or a mini-2008. The stock market likely put in an intermediate bottom. This doesn’t mean it will breakout but it means the lows are safe for a while. Now its time to spot the relative strength leader which will be a leader in the immediate future. In the chart below we compare gold stocks to commodity stocks, emerging markets and the S&P 500.
While emerging markets and commodity shares are in structural bull markets, both will soon meet multi-year resistance. Also, both broke their previous 2011 lows. Essentially, both have short-term technical damage to repair and long-term resistance to overcome. Meanwhile, the gold stocks have been in a consolidation for 12 months and held above their summer low during the mini-panic. We see a combination of relative strength and very limited overhead resistance.
A weekly close above $67 in GDX should usher in the beginning of a true bull market move in the gold stocks. After viewing these charts one can visualize the gold stocks galloping higher in 2012 while their commodity and emerging market counterparts encounter multi-year resistance. The reasons do go beyond technical. We’ve written about the low valuations, lack of ownership and the bull market moving towards its recognition point. The recent double bottom in GDX should make one feel more comfortable. Their relative strength in 2011 indicates leadership and potential for a major move higher in 2012. If you’d like professional guidance in navigating this bull market and finding the best performing stocks then we invite you to learn more about our service.
Solar Powered Hybrid Airship …
Posted: October 29, 2011 Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, drones, Flash bang grenades, Hellfire missiles, ISRAEL, LA-9/P, Laser Avenger, laser weapons, Long Range Acoustic Device, Project 2012, Robot, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentIn recent times there’s been a resurgence of interest in airships for military and commercial uses as evidenced by Lockheed Martin’s High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D) and Hybrid Air Vehicles heavy-lift variant of Northrop Grumman’s Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV). Like HAV’s design, this concept from Canadian company Solar Ship is a hybrid airship that relies on aerodynamics to help provide lift, and like the HALE-D, it would have its top surface area covered insolar cells to provide energy and minimize its carbon footprint.
Although the Solar Ship aircraft would be filled with helium, under normal circumstances they would rely on the aerodynamic lift provided by their wing shape to provide more than half the lift required to get them off the ground. Additionally, the aircraft could also fly when filled with plain old air. This means the aircraft will still be able to fly – and, more importantly, land safely – if there is damage that results in helium loss.
Solar Ship says the aircraft’s electric motor can either be powered solely by the energy provided by the on board batteries, or by the solar panels covering the wing – a feat already achieved by a conventional airplane design in the form of Solar Impulse.
The company points out that such heavier-than-air airships provide numerous advantages over their lighter-than-air brethren. Firstly, no mooring infrastructure or ballast weight is required to keep the aircraft from floating away during loading or unloading, making them more practical for the remote locations in which they are designed to operate. Additionally, not relying on buoyancy for lift means the aircraft can be smaller than lighter-than-air aircraft carrying the same payload. They are also more structurally robust and more maneuverable and resistant to wind and weather conditions.
Small, medium, large
Solar Ship has designed three different concept aircraft, the smallest of which is the Caracal. This design has a claimed payload capacity of up to 750 kg (1,653 lb) for 2,500 km (1,553 miles) with a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).
Designed for remote areas where roads are a rarity and targeted at general, utility and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) markets, the Caracal can take off and land on strips as short as 50 m (164 ft) long but carrying the maximum payload requires strips of 100 m (328 ft).
Next step up in size is the mid-size Chui, which is targeted at ISR and cargo markets. Under solar power it can carry up to 2,500 kg (5,512 lb) over distances of up to 5,000 km (3,107 miles) at speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). The take off and landing distances of the Chui are the same as the Caracal – 50 m (164 ft) empty and 100 m (328 ft) when fully loaded.
The third and largest Solar Ship class is the Nanuq, a dedicated cargo freighter designed to carry payloads of up to 30 tonnes (66,139 lb) for distances of up to 6,000 km (3,728 miles) at speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph). Empty the Nanuq can take off on strips 60 m (197 ft) long and land on strips 100 m (328 ft) long, while fully loaded requires a take off distance of 200 m (656 ft).
Solar Ship has already built and flown a 10 m (33 ft) prototype. The promotional video below provides a glimpse of the company’s vision for the future in which it sees a wide range of uses for its heavier-than-air aircraft, from delivery of urgent medical supplies to remote communities and disaster relief, to environmentalmonitoring and military applications.
… and with several company’s floating short take off hybrid airship platforms, this is definitely a space to watch over the next decade.
Vatican Calls for a Central World Bank …
Posted: October 26, 2011 Filed under: economic collapse, economic crisis, economic meltdown, economic predictions, economic recession, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis, financial meltdown, forewarning, free fall, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentthe Pope officially gave his support toOccupy Wall Street and, likeGorbachev, proposed a solution that goes EXACTLY at the opposite of the protester’s demands: an international organization regulating economy. In other words, a Central World Bank. In other other words, a New World Order.
Thank you Vatican for your input. Jesus was indeed a big advocate of international banking. He also preached about a world financial system that would only benefit the elite. Yup, that’s what he did alright (sorry for the extreme sarcasm).
Enough about Jesus. Now listen to my economic policies!
Here’s an article about the Vatican pushing for the same international system as the Rockefellers and others.
Vatican Calls for Oversight of the World’s Finances
The Vatican called on Monday for an overhaul of the world’s financial systems, and again proposed establishment of a supranational authority to oversee the global economy, calling it necessary to bring more democratic and ethical principles to a marketplace run amok.
In a report issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Vatican argued that “politics — which is responsible for the common good” must be given primacy over the economy and finance, and that existing institutions like the International Monetary Fund had not been responding adequately to global economic problems.
The document grows out of the Roman Catholic Church’s concerns about economic instability and widening inequality of income and wealth around the world, issues that transcend the power of national governments to address on their own.
“The time has come to conceive of institutions with universal competence, now that vital goods shared by the entire human family are at stake, goods which the individual states cannot promote and protect by themselves,” Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, the president of the pontifical council, said as he presented the report on Monday. “That is what pushed us.”
The language in the document, which the Vatican refers to as a note, is distinctively strong. “We should not be afraid to propose new ideas, even if they might destabilize pre-existing balances of power that prevail over the weakest,” the document states.
The message prompted comparisons with the rallying cries of protest movements that have been challenging the financial world order, like the indignados in Madrid and theOccupy Wall Street protesters in New YorkCity. Still, Vatican officials said the document was not a manifesto for disaffected dissidents.
“The document proposes ideas that seem to be in line with those proposed by the indignados, but really we are in line with theMagisterium of the church,” said Bishop Mario Toso, secretary to the pontifical council, referring to the church’s teaching authority. “It is a coincidence that we share some views. But after all, these are proposals that are based on reasonableness.”
The document is a reminder that the Catholic Church, without getting involved in policymaking, still seeks to shape its principles. “To function correctly the economy needs ethics; and not just of any kind, but one that is people-centered,” the document states, paraphrasing an encyclical that Pope Benedict XVI issued in 2009 calling for greater social responsibility in the economy.
In the United States, the report was embraced by politically liberal Catholics who are concerned about the widening gap between rich and poor. Vincent J. Miller, a professor of Catholic theology and culture at the University of Dayton, wrote, “It’s clear the Vatican stands with the Occupy Wall Street protesters and others struggling to return ethics and good governance to a financial sector grown out of control after 30 years of deregulation.”
John Gehring of Faith in Public Life, a liberal advocacy group in Washington, said, “In the next Republicanpresidential debate, someone should ask Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both proudly Catholic, whether they support the Vatican’s call for more robust financial reform.”
Politically conservative Catholics, meanwhile, hastened to assure their camp that the document does not carry the full force of church teaching, since it was produced by a Vatican office, not by the pope himself. And some dismissed the report as nothing new, or simply misinformed.
Writing in the National Review, Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute, which promotes free-market economic policies, said of the document: “It reflects rather conventional contemporary economic thinking. Unfortunately, given the uselessness of much present-day economics, that’s not likely to make it especially helpful.”
Vatican Dedicated to Luciferian World Gov’t …
Posted: October 26, 2011 Filed under: America, Atlantis, Auto Industry, Barack Obama, brainwash, Christianity, Christmas, Conspiracy Theory, Corporate Logos, Crash of 2009, Dajjal, Dajjal Illuminati, Egypt, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentThe Vatican Justice and Peace Department released a paper Monday,“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” calling for a “Global Institution” run by theUnited Nations to rule the globe’s finances.
The wording of the paper is almost religious: il riferimento ad un’Autorità mondiale diviene l’unico orizzonte compatibile con le nuove realtà del nostro tempo e con i bisogni della specie umana.“the reference to a world authority is the only horizon compatible with the new reality of our times and with the needs ofhumankind”.
This materialistic view goes against 2000 years of Christian thought, which states that Jesus Christ is the final fulfillment of human needs and that God takes (economic, material) care even of birds and the lilies in the fields.
The document suggests measures that have been a banner of the new world order for some time, such as taxation on financial transactions.
These ideas have been fostered by people such as Al Gore and the big banks, which would love to manage and trade the carbon taxes. Now, with the failure of the global warming hoax, a global financial tax seems to be on the agenda. No doubt this is very timely, just after the United States has bailed out several banks and Europe is about to spend more than one trillion dollars saving some more banks. Why not do it with this new tax ?
If put into action, such a plan would effectively destroy the sovereignty of countries, which would loose the control over their currency. It says, “In fact, one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of ‘central world bank’ that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges similar to the national central banks”.
Not surprisingly, Bishop Mario Toso, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is an admirer of new world order leader and Marxist advocate George Soros.
In a time when the Roman Church is under severe attack for the many cases of pedophilia and is losing ground every year to evangelical churches in Latin Americaand even with Hispanics in the US, it is a wonder that they leave religious themes behind in order to put their muscle behind aglobalist agenda.
We have to remember that the Roman Church has been active for decades behind the “Liberation Theology”, a Marxist distortion of the gospel that has been used to set Latin America and other Third World countries in the direction of Communism.
For a time, it seemed that Roman leadership was back to a more conservative direction, but now it looks like they are only aiming on a different, global level that involves the developed countries as well.
It is not the first time that Pope Benedict has called for a global authority. In 2009, he urged that such an entity be created in order to ” oversee the economy and work for the common good”. In March 2011, he called for a world authority with “real teeth.”
In a spiritual sense, it seems that some Protestant authors such as Dave Hunt were right. In his book “A Woman Rides the Beast”, he claims that the Roman Church is the woman dressed in scarlet in Revelations that helps anti Christ to achieve power and consolidate his world government, only to be later betrayed by him. It is a scary thought.
Elites Announce Post Gadhafi Hit List …
Posted: October 26, 2011 Filed under: Afghanistan, age of deception, al-Aqsa Mosque, al-Qaeda, Allah, America, Anti-Christ, Anti-Semitism, Antichrist, Ashkenazi Jew, Bank Of England, Barack Obama, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentThis will make your blood boil if it’s not already.
News “source” outlets like AP and Reuters are owned propaganda mouthpieces for the elite controllers. Whatever they put out, especially in profiling pieces like this, is to give signals, while manipulating public opinion and preparing the populace for the next stages.
Never forget that.
Gadhafi is gone but other US foes remain
WASHINGTON (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi now joins the ranks of powerful foreign figures who have battled theUnited States only to come to a bad end.
But even with the demise of the Libyan dictator, plus Osama bin Laden, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic, there are still autocrats around the world hostile to the U.S., notably in Cuba, Venezuela,North Korea and Iran.
1. Gadhafi “battled the US” because they ATTACKED him, with the help of the other hired NATO thugs. “What, he dared to not just roll over while we murder his people and family?”
2. Thanks for the hit list, PTBs. You left out Syria, Sudan, Pakistan and whatever Gulf states don’t keep complying, or countries the military corporate industrial complex needs for “strategic purposes”. Self defense is a BS buzzword.
America’s most determined foes have been bucking more than just the world’s sole surviving superpower, which spends as much on its military as all other countries combined. All faced social and technological trends that made their work more difficult by opening more borders to trade and travel, promoting ethnic and religious tolerance and wiring the world for high-speed Internet.
But as long as the U.S. maintains its leadership role in world affairs, it will find itself a tempting target.
3. Military budget as much as the rest of the world combined! That’s to pretend to be concerned, while actually rattling their sabers. And don’t forget they spend 3 times more on private contractors making bank on the blood of innocents. “They that live by the sword shall die by the sword.”
4. “Social and technological trends that make their work more difficult”..i.e. the countries were evolving according to their own dynamics, transitioning at their own speed. The arrogant American and NATO terror-imperialists need to stay the hell out.
5. Twisted misleading lie of the day: “But as long as the U.S. maintains its leadership role in world affairs, it will find itself a tempting target.” If you mean its leadership as a warring monster on innocent populations, it damn well better be a target for those wanting to defend their countries and families!
Not all dictators are regarded as enemies of the U.S.; during the Cold War and beyond, many have been treated as stalwart allies. Today, a number of autocrats endure criticism from the U.S. but are thought to represent little threat to Washington’s strategic interests, including President Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.
Birds of a feather…Mugabe and Queen Lizzie
6. So what makes US installed brute beasts like Mugabe OK? Doesn’t have any oil? Pays off the US with money or human trafficking or drugs? Yes, folks, it is that dark out there. Follow the money…and power.
From the U.S. perspective, the survival of openly hostile despotic regimes may be less important than the rise of rival economic and political powerhouses like China, India, Brazil and Russia, a trend that some experts say could one day create a world where the United States becomes one major power among many competing for influence and markets.
7. OMG, the US wouldn’t have full reign over the world?…whatta pity. Actually, this is just adding to the list of countries being put on alert…toe the mark or else we’re coming after you too.
The decline and fall of Gadhafi, Saddam and others doesn’t mean the age of hostile dictatorships is ending. Just as enemies can become allies, allies can become adversaries. Source
8. How perceptive. You mean it’s all politics dancing around rule by force? I’m shocked.
9. And we know “the age of hostile dictatorships is far from over”…the US corporofascist dictatorshipmasquerading as a “free democracy” is at this point the worst, most oppressive, world and society polluting, metastasizing monstrosity to ever attempt to rule the earth.
And if people don’t disengage and disable the mechanics of this now global monster, a much worse worldwide police state awaits.
Meet the cold, hideous face of murder
Watch this wicked CFR gofer joke and laugh at Gadhafi’s outright cold blooded assassination by these monsters. Lady, what goes around comes around. You reap what you sow. I’d rather you woke up from your evil spell and joined conscious humanity but I fear it’s way too late for you and your ilk.
I guess you and yours won’t be needing a trial either, Hills, if this is the form of justice you subscribe to.
See appalling video HERE
Just had to weigh in on this sordid, heartbreaking, wanton destruction and barbaric genocide taking place while these devils wear the mask of “humanitarians”.
Can it get any more Orwellian? I don’t know.
Be well. And be conscious. And please act accordingly. The world is waiting for the awakening.
5 Outrageous Government Crackdowns on Peaceful Activists …
Posted: October 25, 2011 Filed under: Activism, activist surveillance, activists are terrorists, antiwar activists, civil liberties, civil rights, domestic surveillance, FBI, fbi raids activists, Patriot Act, Sajjad Hashemy, warrantless Leave a comment
In recent months, police and government leaders have inappropriately, unfairly, and in some cases illegally targeted peaceful activists on a number of occasions.
That should come as a shock to no one, since government mistreatment of nonviolent activists has been going on for as long as activists have been pushing for social change in the U.S. — that is, as long as there has been a U.S. government.
Still, it’s distressing that after all these years, activists continue to be arrested, assaulted and otherwise harassed by the nation’s police and government agencies for participating in nonviolent protests and other actions.
What’s more, the recent mistreatment of activists is wildly hypocritical, since the Obama administration has over the past several months scolded governments in the Middle East for their heavy-handed treatment of pro-democracy protesters. For instance, both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton had stern words for Egyptian authorities earlier this year, as Chris Dunn reported in the Collegiate Times:
“So I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly, association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny,” Obama said in a speech.
Likewise, Clinton said, “We call upon the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain security forces,” and two days later reiterated, “We have sent a very clear message: We want to see restraint, we do not want to see violence by any
As Dunn notes, this rhetoric about rights to peaceful assembly and free speech is at odds with the government’s treatment of activists at events like the September 2009G20 summit in Pittsburgh, when police and the National Guard, concerned about the actions of a small group of anarchists, targeted scores of nonviolent protesters with tear gas and excessive force.
Below are several stories of even more recent injustices committed against nonviolent activists and protesters.
1. FBI v. activists. The FBI has a history of targeting nonviolent animal rights, anti-war, and other activists, unjustly labeling many of them domestic terrorism suspects. (Examples here, here, here, and later in this list.)
Now, the bureau has raised eyebrows among the civil liberties and activist communities for expanding its own domestic surveillance powers. The New York Times reports that the bureau’s new rules will allow some 14,000 agents “more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention,” giving them the power “to look into people and organizations ‘proactively’ and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity.”
Check out this interview on Democracy Now! with one of the many activists who’s already been unfairly watched by the FBI and who is understandably concerned that the FBI’s new guidelines could lead to further abuses of power.
2. Activists’ homes searched as part of “terrorism” investigation. Here’s one recent example of activists getting caught up in FBI anti-terrorism investigations. Last fall, the bureau attained warrants to search the homes of activists in Minneapolis and Chicago who had been involved in protests at the 2008 Republican National Committee. According to the warrant, the FBI was “gathering evidence related to people ‘providing, attempting and conspiring to provide material support’ to terrorist organizations, and listed Hezbollah, the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.” The warrant gave permission to seize electronics, letters, photos, and other items.
According to Democracy Now! at least 23 activists were also subpoenaed between September and December as part of the FBI’s “terrorism” probe. Maureen Clare Murphy, a journalist and Palestinian solidarity activist and one of the people subpoenaed, told DN’s Juan Gonzalez:
[I]t’s kind of ironic that we are being subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury, when oftentimes we’re protesting outside of federal buildings, and we’re calling on our legislators and we’re being very vocal and public in our calls for a more just U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. So, I don’t think the government needs to subpoena us to find out what we believe in and what we do. And so, that’s why we think this is really about intimidating our movement and trying to silence our movement, because, you know, they know what we do, and we know what we do is just and peaceful. And what it’s really about is basically trying to silence our very strong and successful movement.
3. Environmental activist faces 10 years in jail for nonviolent effort to save threatened land. This March, environmental activist Tim DeChristopher was convicted of two felony charges for placing a bid on federally owned land that he did not actually have the funds to pay for, with the intention of disrupting oil and gas drilling on the land. What DeChristopher saw as necessary civil disobedience to protect a tract of land from being destroyed, the U.S. government saw as a violation of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act.
As Tina Gerhardt reported for AlterNet, DeChristopher’s actions have been supported by a number of climate scientists, activists and journalists, with author Jeff Biggers arguing that DeChristopher “deserves the medal of freedom, not a prison sentence.”
DeChristopher is scheduled for sentencing on July 26.
4. Arrested for feeding the homeless. Earlier this month, the Orlando Sentinel reported that three members of the local chapter of Food Not Bombs, a grassroots anti-war, anti-hunger group, were arrested for violating a city ordinance that puts strict limits on how often organizations can host groups of people in certain Orlando parks.
The group, which has been feeding homeless people breakfast and dinner in Lake Eola Park a few days a week for several years, had been fighting the ordinance in court, arguing that it violates the group’s right to free speech and assembly. Orlando Food Not Bombs volunteer Thomas Hellingerexplained, “We don’t have another place downtown that works like the park. Homeless people have a right to access parks just like anyone else, and it’s a nice place to eat. The city tried moving us to other locations in the past, like parking lots and abandoned buildings, but then it comes back to a question of human dignity.”
After the city prevailed in court, volunteers Jessica Cross and Benjamin Markeson and Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry were arrested at the next Orlando Food Not Bombs meal; they face 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine. Since those initial arrests, the group has continued to serve meals in the park, and Food Not Bombs now says a total of 21 volunteers have been arrested. According to People’s World, McHenry is calling on activists to travel to Orlando and participate in civil disobedience by helping out with meals, while “solidarity actions” have been planned in Italy, Japan and Detroit.
5. Arrested for dancing. In late May, police officers arrested five activists for participating in a peaceful, flash mob-style protest that involved dancing quietly at the Jefferson Memorial. As theHuffington Post notes, the group was protesting the recent appeals court ruling that “national monuments are places for reflection and contemplation” — but not dancing, apparently.
The back story:
In 2008, Mary Brooke Oberwetter and a group of friends went to the Jefferson to commemorate the president’s 265th birthday by dancing silently, while listening to music on headphones. Park Police ordered the revelers to disperse and arrested them when they did not.
Oberwetter sued on free speech grounds, but the appeals court ruled last week that her conduct was indeed prohibited “because it stands out as a type of performance, creating its own center of attention and distracting from the atmosphere of solemn commemoration” that Park Service regulations are designed to preserve.
The police reaction to the May protest was inappropriately harsh, as you can see in this video:
The New Reality For U.S. Cities: No Money For Street Lights, Roving Packs Of Wild Dogs And Open-Air Drug Markets …
Posted: October 21, 2011 Filed under: banking crisis, bankruptcy, banks, Barack Obama, California, chaos, Chapter 9, dollar collapse, economic collapse, economic crisis, evidence, food stamps, foreclosures, Sajjad Hashemy Leave a commentIf you want to know what the early stages of an economic collapse look like, just walk around some of the downtown areas of our major cities. Today, nearly all large U.S. cities are either flat broke or they are on the way to being flat broke. Yes, New York City and Washington D.C. (and a few others) are still doing fairly well, but for most U.S. cities economic reality is catching up with them very quickly. Right now, there are a number of major cities that are so broke that they cannot keep the street lights operating. Down in St. Louis, parents in some areas are carrying golf clubs with them as they walk their kids to school in order to fend off roving packs of wild dogs. In other major U.S. cities, open-air drug markets conduct business without fear. All over the United States, cities that used to be clean and prosperous and full of hope are now being transformed into post-industrial wastelands. We are certainly not in “Mad Max” territory yet, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to see where all of this is headed.
I have previously written about how Detroit is literally coming apart at the seams. Well, now in many areas of the city they can’t even keep the street lights on anymore. There simply is not enough money, and even if there was, thieves are stealing the copper wiring out of the street lights faster than the city can repair them.At this point, there are some neighborhoods in Detroit where up to 50 percent of the street lights are not functioning.
The following is from a recent article in The Detroit News about this crisis….
The war to keep the lights on in Detroit is a serious one. Thieves, antiquated equipment and a lack of funding have made it impossible for city officials to catch up to the problem.City officials estimate 15-20 percent of the 88,000 lights in the Motor City are not working, and they acknowledge that figure could be as high as 50 percent in some neighborhoods.
But it is not just Detroit that is having a major problem. Over in Highland Park, Michigan the majority of the street lights have been repossessed because the city was not keeping up with the electricity bill.
So what are residents of Highland Park supposed to do?
Are they supposed to lock themselves in their own homes at night?
In Fresno, California the theft of copper wire from street lights has become a total nightmare. At this point, the loss of copper wire and the cost of repairing the street lights is costing Fresno about $50,000 a month. So far, approximately 2,500 street lights have been stripped of their wiring.
Down in St. Louis they are having a different problem. In some of the worst areas of the city, roving packs of wild dogs are a serious threat to children that are walking to school.
A recent report by the local CBS affiliate in St. Louis described the situation this way….
…Lewis Reed is sounding the alarm. “I’ve witnessed packs of dogs, 10 and 15 dogs running together, and I’ve seen all these dogs I’m talking about they don’t have collars, they don’t have tags, these are truly wild dogs,” he said.Reed says stray dogs are terrorizing the north side. “It’s obscene that parents have to walk their kids to school, in some parts of the city, with a golf club to fend off wild dogs.”
Can you imagine that?
They say that they are going to try to put more money into animal control efforts if they can find it. But like most major U.S. cities, St. Louis is a financial basket case.
Moving west a bit, Las Vegas is a different kind of a problem. It was once a mighty symbol of American luxury and decadence, but now it is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with our economy.
The following description of the decline of Las Vegas comes from a recent article in The Telegraph….
But Las Vegas’s days as a boom town are long gone. At 14 percent, unemployment is the highest inAmerica (the national average is 9.1 per cent). House prices have fallen 58.1 per cent since their 2006 high – the biggest losses of anywhere in America, while according to the website RealtyTrac, which specialises in foreclosed properties, Las Vegas is the nation’s foreclosure capital. Some 70 per cent of homes in Las Vegas are thought to be ‘under water’, or in negative equity, meaning their value is worth less than the amount owed on the mortgage, while foreclosure notices have been served on one in 16 properties. A survey last year by the local Las Vegas Review-Journal and Channel 8 News Now found that 34 per cent of locals would leave Las Vegas if they could find a job elsewhere, or if they weren’t underwater on their home loan.
Last year, I wrote a piece entitled “The Death of Las Vegas“. Since then, things have gotten even worse for the city in many ways.
Today, there are hundreds of people living in the tunnels underneath the streets of Las Vegas. You can see CNN video of some of these people right here.
But at least the “tunnel people” have a “roof” over their heads.
Over in “Lost Angeles”, homelessness is absolutely exploding and there are thousands of people living in the streets.
The following is from a recent article by Nick Allen….
In Skid Row, a grimy pocket of downtown Los Angeles, the prostrate forms of homeless people lie strewn across the pavements.
The lucky ones have tents for shelter but others make do with a sliver of cardboard for a bed and a supermarket trolley to carry their rags.At the last police count 1,662 people live on these streets, twice as many as a year ago.And now amid the drug addicts and the drunks there are families who not so long ago had homes and ordinary suburban lives.
Wait, wasn’t the economy supposed to be getting better?
So why has the number of people living on Skid Row doubled over the past year?
Los Angeles, like much of California, is rapidly falling apart. Decades of very foolish policies have turned the “California Dream” into the “California Nightmare“.
Unemployment is rampant, crime is seemingly everywhere and the gangs appear to be getting bolder by the day. For example, 21 machine guns were recently stolen right out of an LAPD training facility.
But there are cities in California that are in even worse shape than Los Angeles is. If you go east of Los Angeles about 100 miles, you will come to the city of San Bernardino. 34.6 percent of the residents of San Bernardino are currently living below the poverty line. Among major U.S. cities, only Detroit has a worsepoverty rate.
Heading back to the east coast, the city of Camden, New Jersey is representative of the post-industrial hellholes that you will find all over the mid-Atlantic region and up into New England.
In an extraordinary article entitled “City of Ruins“, Chris Hedges did an amazing job of documenting how bad things have gotten in Camden. Today it is estimated that the actual rate of unemployment in Camden is somewhere around 30 or 40 percent. For most young people in Camden, there are very few legitimate opportunities for a better life, so many of them have resorted to selling drugs or selling their bodies in a desperate attempt to survive.
The following is a brief excerpt from “City of Ruins”….
There are perhaps a hundred open-air drug markets, most run by gangs like the Bloods, the Latin Kings, Los Nietos and MS-13. Knots of young men in black leather jackets and baggy sweatshirts sell weed and crack to clients, many of whom drive in from the suburbs. The drug trade is one of the city’s few thriving businesses. A weapon, police say, is never more than a few feet away, usually stashed behind a trash can, in the grass or on a porch.
The era of “American exceptionalism” is over. We have rejected the things that made us great. We have forsaken the truth and now we are paying the price.
At this point, we are rapidly becoming a joke to the rest of the world.
You know that things are bad when headlines such as this start showing up in major international publications: “America Must Manage Its Decline“.
Is that what we are going to tell our kids and our grandkids?
Are we going to tell them that we must “manage” our decline?
Most Americans also realize that something is fundamentally wrong. According to a recent Time Magazine poll, 81 percent of the American people believe that the country is on the wrong track.
So why don’t our cities just spend more money and fix all of these problems?
Well, it is because most of them are drowning in a sea of red ink. Instead of spending more money, most of them are desperately searching for more places to cut. If you can believe it, 72 percent of all U.S. cities are laying workers off this year.
The federal government has been pumping massive amounts of money into state and local governments in recent years, but that can’t last much longer. As I wrote about yesterday, the federal government is in debt up to its eyeballs. In fact, the national debt has become so large that it threatens to collapse our entire financial system.
Sadly, the cold, hard truth is that we are now going to pay the price for decades of financial foolishness.
We thought that it would be our children and our grandchildren that would pay the price for our financial recklessness, but the reality is that we are going to pay the price too.
America is in a serious state of decline and things are going to get a lot worse in the years to come.
Take advantage of the relative prosperity that we are enjoying now to prepare for the lean years which are ahead.
The Vision Media 