Where The Hell Is The 2.3 TRILLION???

The irony here of cutting basic public good programs and the Pentagon 'losing' $2.3 TRILLION (yes! with a 'T')is profound, even if it is the elephant in the room of USA political consciousness. Laugh...or you will cry. Better yet, get angry.

Unemployment USA statistics

I am not sure I could write a narrative as frightening as the statistics on unemployment and poverty tell in the following summary. Sometimes looking at the data is more alarming than a telegram from God. I only wish the stats below were compiled comparatively with other nations.

Of course as the labour supply increases, wages decrease. As wages decrease, so does purchasing power. Corporations seem well like the snakes who consume themselves.

Labor Day by the numbers

September 7, 2009 | An EPI Fact Sheet
compiled by Anna Turner

Note that all numbers are current as of September 4, 2009.

TOTAL JOBS LOST DURING THE RECESSION: 6.9 MILLION

• New jobs needed per month to keep up with population growth: 127,000
• Jobs lost in August 2009: 216,000
• Jobs needed to regain pre-recession unemployment levels: 9.4 million
• Manufacturing jobs lost since the start of the recession: 2.0 million (14.6% of sector’s jobs)
• Construction jobs lost in the recession: 1.4 million (19%, nearly one in five construction jobs)
• Mass layoffs (50 or more people by a single employer) in July 2009: 2,157; jobs lost: 206,791

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 9.7%

• Number unemployed: 14.9 million (up from 7.5 million in December 2007)
• Underemployment rate: 16.8%; Share of workers un- or underemployed: roughly 1 in 6
• Under- and unemployed, marginally attached and involuntary part-time workers: 26.4 million
• Unemployment rate, ages 16 to 24: 18.2%
• Male unemployment: 10.9%; female unemployment: 8.2%
• White unemployment: 8.9%; black unemployment: 15.1%; Hispanic unemployment: 13%
• Unemployment rate, young college graduates: 5.9% (2nd worst on record); Worst recorded unemployment rate for young college graduates: 6.2% (1983)
• Traditional ratio of young college grads’ unemployment to overall rate: 50%; Current ratio: 70%
• Portion of unemployed who have been jobless more than six months: one third
• Average weekly unemployment benefit in July (including additional $25 per week from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act): $332

STATES WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT UNEMPLOYMENT IN JULY, 2009: 16; WHEN THIS LAST HAPPENED: 1983

• Highest unemployment rate: Michigan, 15.0%; lowest: North Dakota, 4.2%
• When California’s Hispanic unemployment surpassed black unemployment: 2nd quarter, 2009
• Projected African American unemployment for Michigan, 2nd quarter of 2010: 24.9%

INCREASE IN AVERAGE U.S. WORKER’S PRODUCTIVITY, 2000-07: 19.2%

• Decrease in all prime-aged worker’s real median weekly wages, 2000-2007: $1; Decrease for African Americans: $3
• Annual growth rate of private-sector workers’ wages, last three months: 2.6%
• Annual growth of wages in managerial, professional, and related occupations, 2009, 2nd quarter: 0%
• Annual growth rate of real (inflation-adjusted), average, hourly wages since June 2000: 0.70%*
• Ratio of average CEO’s pay to typical worker’s pay in 1979: 27 to 1; Ratio in 2007: 275 to 1

EXPECTED NEW SPENDING (12-MONTHS) FROM THE NEW $7.25 MINIMUM WAGE: $5.5 BILLION

• Share of minimum wage workers with high school diploma in 1979: 57.5%: Share in 2008: 72%
• Workers getting a raise from latest minimum wage increase: 4.5 million
• Share of affected workers with annual family income below $35,000: 57.1%; Share working at least 20 hours a week: 81.6%
• Extent to which the minimum wage’s real value is lower than in 1968: 17%

AMERICANS UNINSURED IN 2007: 45 MILLION

• Drop in children covered through parents’ employers, 2000 to 2007: 3.4 million
• Share of people under 65, with incomes in the top 20%, covered by employers in 2007: 86.4%; Share with incomes in the bottom 20%, covered by employers: 21.9%
• Share of Hispanic workers who are uninsured: 39.8%
• Percentage of under-65 Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance in 2000: 68.3%; In 2007: 62.9%
• Average monthly cost of COBRA with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act subsidy: $370; Without American Recovery and Reinvestment Act subsidy: $1,057
• Rise in out-of-pocket spending for the 1% of adults with the greatest medical expenses, 2004-2007: 42%
• Increase in health care premiums since 1999: 119%
• Amount by which U.S. private health insurance administrative costs exceeded all Canadian national health spending in 2007: $25 billion**
• Share of total U.S. health care costs paid by private insurers in 2007: 35%
• Share of total health care costs paid by U.S. government in 2007: 46%

SHARE OF PEOPLE NEAR RETIREMENT AGE WITH A 401(K) BALANCE UNDER $40,000 IN 2007: 50%

• Percentage of amount needed to maintain living standards that is held by average 401(k) participant approaching retirement: 20-40%
• Share of 401(k) assets estimated to be lost since 2007: 29%

WORKPLACES WITH NO CONTRACT MORE THAN THREE YEARS AFTER ELECTION IS WON: 25%

• Share of employers that interrogate workers in mandatory one-on-one meetings, 1999-2003: 63%; Share of employers that threaten workers in such meetings, 1999-2003: 54%
• Increase in likelihood that firm will fail if unionized: 0%
• U.S. manufacturing workers ranking on “value-added per employee,” compared to 16 nations with higher compensation: 2

ANNUALIZED RATE OF ECONOMIC CONTRACTION, 2nd QUARTER, 2009: 1%

• Likely size of this contraction without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: 3-4%
• Jobs lost with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2nd quarter, 2009: 1.3 million
• Jobs that would have been lost without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2nd quarter, 2009: 1.8 million at least***

* EPI analysis of CPS and BLS data
**EPI analysis of HHS CMS, OECD, and World Bank data
***Mark Zandi, Moody’s Economy.com

Jump you F*ckers! Do something honorable!

Yes....'Feckers' is the right word. And it would be more apropo if we added a 'Mother' in front of it. How many children have suffered now because the corrupt greed of you immoral, financial criminals? How many have lost their jobs and homes? How many are starving in other countries from the effects of the mess you ogres have made of the world? I don't really like to swear; but in this case the word is more a description than an expletive, though both uses seem justified.

The pratice of suicide for those dishonoured or politically outmaneuvered is not exactly a new one. In ancient Rome, Romana mors, was a preferable exit to public humiliation and execution; in Japan, Seppuku was a way to pay one's debt for dishonouring the family, country and self. A pity you elite bankers of today don't have such an ethic - it would save us all alot of expense and future heartbreak in bringing you to justice. Even if you were to commit suicide, one can be sure it would not be out of the shame for bringing so much misery to so many; rather it would be because you could not continue your odious tyranny.

I don't feel a wit for those like Kellerman: I feel for those who worked their entire lives to scratch a living out, to provide a home for their families, who lost everything and committed suicide because there was no longer any hope. Nothing that is said or done now can help those people or their children...and they won't be left with big fat bank accounts pilfered from fellow citizens to console themselves. And they won't have Tim Geithner's tears and public eulogies either.

Foreclosure Problems? Mother Commits Suicide In Massachusetts

The mortgage company received a faxed letter from Balderrama at roughly 2:30 PM on Tuesday, putting a warning that she will no longer be alive when they foreclosed on her home that day. She was true to her words. It seemed that Balderrama shot herself with her husband’s powerful rifle. Her dead body was discovered at 3:30 PM after PHH Mortgage informed the police. The home in Taunton is about 35 miles to the south of Boston and costs $232,000, a large figure in the real estate market. It was supposed to be auctioned away at 5PM on the day the mother committed suicide failing to overcome a foreclosure crisis.

From Bad to Worst: Suicide Rate Up Sharply

And as bad as it's been, it got even worse last week when Lebanon County Coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum announced that suicides increased 73 percent last year -- a jump he blamed in part on the economy.

Foreclosures take an emotional toll on many homeowners

Foreclosure filings surged 65% in April compared with the same month last year, according to a report Wednesday by RealtyTrac. One in every 519 households received a foreclosure filing last month, and the number of homes with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.

Relationship between the Economy, Unemployment and Suicide

Suicide: The Other Economic Depression

Suicide rates higher in spring: study

So, for the countless people the world over who have ended their lives in despair, from the farmers in India to the economically clueless pawns in the American dream, whose only purpose has been to bloat the coffers of you gluttonous capitalists, for those whose names and tragedies we will never know, I say to you Masters of the Universe now .....Do something honourable for a change! Find your nearest high rise bank, go to the roof....and JUMP YOU FECKERS.

Or live the rest of your lives hiding from the people whose lives you have damaged irrevocably. And may your dreams be as sweet as the effects of your actions on others in your lifetime.

Foreclosures: the fat lady hasn't sung yet.

Homeless struggle in Atlantic City

Source
BBC correspondent Matthew Price continues his journey across the US to assess whether there are any signs of economic recovery. Today he reports from Atlantic City, New Jersey, where life appears to be getting harder by the week.

Bill Southrey shows Matthew Price around the Atlantic City shelter.It is wet, windy and cold when I arrive in Atlantic City.

Atlantic City's glossy exterior gives little
hint of an economy in trouble.

So dreary in fact that the tall downtown casinos on which this city's economy is built remain hidden by the drizzle until my car is almost right up alongside them.

The rain drips off the noses of the fake Roman statues at Caesar's Palace casino complex.

Atlantic City is suffering, and not just because of the weather.

BBC correspondent Matthew Price is travelling across the US, reporting from a new city every day, to assess the state of the economy as President Obama approaches 100 days in office.

Cristina Sanford knows that only too well. She is 21 years old, and already has three children.

Last September she lost her job as a cleaner. She spent several hundred dollars on training to become a casino card-dealer, but when her training had finished, the recession was in full swing, and the casinos were cutting back.

She gets $424 (£292) a month in cash from social security and $584 a month in food stamps. Her rent was $900 a month. So she is now homeless, and relies on the Atlantic City Rescue Mission for a place to stay.

Does she see any sign that things are getting better? "No I don't. I think it's getting worse. Everybody's getting laid off."

Falling donations

Homelessness is rising across the United States. According to the US Conference of Mayors 25 of the largest cities here reported an average 12% increase in homelessness in 2008 compared with 2007.

In 16 cities there were more homeless families. A lack of affordable housing, poverty and unemployment all contributed to the problem.

On top of that, those who try to help the homeless are suffering.

Bill Southrey runs the Atlantic City Mission where Cristina Sanford is staying. He says the organization is already about $46,000 behind in donations this year.

Their stock market investments have also lost value. "We're not at crisis at this point, but it could all vanish in an instant," says Mr Southrey.

Suffering spreads

It is not however just the vulnerable who are in trouble.

"My wife and I live pay-check to pay-check," Stephen Irish says. He is one of a growing number of middle class Americans who are experiencing economic difficulties.

He and his wife have no children, but they have five jobs. Their combined income is $60,000 a year.

"We're struggling," says Mr Irish.

Mr Irish teaches public relations, management, and marketing in New Jersey. He believes one of the problems has been America's desire for short-term riches.

The students would "take a six week real estate course, rather than a long term education", he says.

"They wanted 'make-a-lot-of-money' careers."

Discretionary spending

One of the big problems in Atlantic City is that it relies on one industry - gambling.

A player puts a coin in an Atlantic City slot machines
Atlantic City relies heavily on the gambling industry.

Betting on betting is fine in the good times, but when things turn sour the system declines.

The area is trying to diversify, to make Atlantic City a destination for tourists interested not just in gambling. Now is not a good time to try and change however.

"The impact of the economy has been more daunting here," says Linda Kassekert, the chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

"People are careful as to where they spend their discretionary dollars. Probably discretionary spending will be the last thing to come back."

Even if the economy is seeing some glimmers of hope, as some suggest, Atlantic City won't see them for some time. "There is little we can do but weather the storm," Ms Kassekert adds.

Economic locomotives

Some fear New Jersey's storm will not clear soon.

The state was once a manufacturing powerhouse. It lost out to other less unionised areas of the country and the world, but re-invented itself in the 1980s and became a national player in the business services and leisure sector.

Dr James Hughes, an economist at New Jersey's Rutgers University, is not sure how it can re-invent itself again.

"The question is what are the new economic locomotives? It's the big question of our era," he says.

As far as Dr Hughes is concerned there are no signs that an economic transformation is under way.

"I don't see any transformative investment being made. I don't see any investment to create transformative industries. Nor anything to encourage private sector investment."

New Jersey's problem, and that of Atlantic City, is how to tap into the new wave of growth industries that will spring up out of this recession.

There will be winners and losers in the grand geographical and social upheaval the US is currently going through.

The hope for Atlantic City is that it will be on the winning side. If it is not, many here fear the long-term consequences for people like Cristina Sanford and her three children.

How have you been affected by the recession in the US? Send us your stories and experiences using the form below.

Atlantic City Rescue Mission

Housing Bubble Smackdown:
Bigger Crash Ahead
Huge "shadow inventory"

by Mike Whitney
Global Research
April 21, 2009
Source
Due to the lifting of the foreclosure moratorium at the end of March, the downward slide in housing is gaining speed. The moratorium was initiated in January to give Obama's anti-foreclosure program---which is a combination of mortgage modifications and refinancing---a chance to succeed. The goal of the plan was to keep up to 9 million struggling homeowners in their homes, but it's clear now that the program will fall well-short of its objective.

In March, housing prices accelerated on the downside indicating bigger adjustments dead-ahead. Trend-lines are steeper now than ever before--nearly perpendicular. Housing prices are not falling, they're crashing and crashing hard. Now that the foreclosure moratorium has ended, Notices of Default (NOD) have spiked to an all-time high. These Notices will turn into foreclosures in 4 to 5 months time creating another cascade of foreclosures.

Market analysts predict there will be 5 MILLION MORE FORECLOSURES BETWEEN NOW AND 2011. It's a disaster bigger than Katrina. Soaring unemployment and rising foreclosures ensure that hundreds of banks and financial institutions will be forced into bankruptcy. 40 percent of delinquent homeowners have already vacated their homes. There's nothing Obama can do to make them stay. Worse still, only 30 percent of foreclosures have been relisted for sale suggesting more hanky-panky at the banks. Where have the houses gone? Have they simply vanished?

600,000 "DISAPPEARED HOMES?"

Here's a excerpt from the SF Gate explaining the mystery:

"Lenders nationwide are sitting on hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes that they have not resold or listed for sale, according to numerous data sources. And foreclosures, which banks unload at fire-sale prices, are a major factor driving home values down.

"We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market," said Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles nationwide statistics on foreclosures. "California probably represents 80,000 of those homes. It could be disastrous if the banks suddenly flooded the market with those distressed properties. You'd have further depreciation and carnage."

In a recent study, RealtyTrac compared its database of bank-repossessed homes to MLS listings of for-sale homes in four states, including California. It found a significant disparity - only 30 percent of the foreclosures were listed for sale in the Multiple Listing Service. The remainder is known in the industry as "shadow inventory." ("Banks aren't Selling Many Foreclosed Homes" SF Gate)

If regulators were deployed to the banks that are keeping foreclosed homes off the market, they would probably find that the banks are actually servicing the mortgages on a monthly basis to conceal the extent of their losses. They'd also find that the banks are trying to keep housing prices artificially high to avoid heftier losses that would put them out of business. One thing is certain, 600,000 "disappeared" homes means that housing prices have a lot farther to fall and that an even larger segment of the banking system is underwater.

Here is more on the story from Mr. Mortgage "California Foreclosures About to Soar...Again"

"Are you ready to see the future? Ten’s of thousands of foreclosures are only 1-5 months away from hitting that will take total foreclosure counts back to all-time highs. This will flood an already beaten-bloody real estate market with even more supply just in time for the Spring/Summer home selling season...Foreclosure start (NOD) and Trustee Sale (NTS) notices are going out at levels not seen since mid 2008. Once an NTS goes out, the property is taken to the courthouse and auctioned within 21-45 days....The bottom line is that there is a massive wave of actual foreclosures that will hit beginning in April that can’t be stopped without a national moratorium."

JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae have all stepped up their foreclosure activity in recent weeks. Delinquencies have skyrocketed foreshadowing more price-slashing into the foreseeable future. According to the Wall Street Journal:

"Ronald Temple, co-director of research at Lazard Asset Management, expects home prices to fall 22% to 27% from their January levels. More than 2.1 million homes will be lost this year because borrowers can't meet their loan payments, up from about 1.7 million in 2008." (Ruth Simon, "The housing crisis is about to take center stage once again" Wall Street Journal)

Another 20 percent carved off the aggregate value of US housing means another $4 trillion loss to homeowners. That means smaller retirement savings, less discretionary spending, and lower living standards. The next leg down in housing will be excruciating; every sector will feel the pain. Obama's $75 billion mortgage rescue plan is a mere pittance; it won't reduce the principle on mortgages and it won't stop the bleeding.

Policymakers have decided they've done enough and are refusing to help. They don't see the tsunami looming in front of them plain as day. The housing market is going under and it's going to drag a good part of the broader economy along with it. Stocks, too.

Homeless in Brooklyn

Stop hoping and Start demanding.

People talk alot about hope these days. Hope is not an unworthy emotion; in fact, you can't really live without it. But when hope becomes the excuse one clings to placing the burden of changing things on someone else, it is more an anesthetic than a commendable stance.

The article below by Naomi Klein cleverly puts this dreary miasma into focus. When we will decide to demand basic human rights? If the New World Order is coming, and surely it is, will people be its victims or it architects? Putting hope into action to demand that people's well being be the priority over banksters profits is the only way out. It requires moving from a victim's role to that of a responsible actor in creating the world.

Sometimes one has to stop begging the elite Big Dogs of society, 'Please help us and provide for us! Pretty please?', and start demanding, 'We will not tolerate for another moment this wreckage of your greed as a legacy for our children!' Until this happens, hope will be a toxin in the body politic rather the emergence of a better world.

‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

Network video clip

Hopebroken and Hopesick:
A Lexicon of Disappointment

By Naomi Klein
Source
April 17, 2009 "The Nation" -- All is not well in Obamafanland. It's not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury's latest bank bailout. Or the news that the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned millions from the very Wall Street banks and hedge funds he is protecting from reregulation now. Or perhaps it began earlier, with Obama's silence during Israel's Gaza attack.

Whatever the last straw, a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard.

This is a good thing. If the superfan culture that brought Obama to power is going to transform itself into an independent political movement, one fierce enough to produce programs capable of meeting the current crises, we are all going to have to stop hoping and start demanding.

The first stage, however, is to understand fully the awkward in-between space in which many US progressive movements find themselves. To do that, we need a new language, one specific to the Obama moment. Here is a start.

Hopeover. Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn't really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame. It's the political equivalent of the crash after a sugar high. Sample sentence: "When I listened to Obama's economic speech my heart soared. But then, when I tried to tell a friend about his plans for the millions of layoffs and foreclosures, I found myself saying nothing at all. I've got a serious hopeover."

Hoper coaster. Like a roller coaster, the hoper coaster describes the intense emotional peaks and valleys of the Obama era, the veering between joy at having a president who supports safe-sex education and despondency that single-payer healthcare is off the table at the very moment when it could actually become a reality. Sample sentence: "I was so psyched when Obama said he is closing Guantánamo. But now they are fighting like mad to make sure the prisoners in Bagram have no legal rights at all. Stop this hoper coaster-I want to get off!"

Hopesick. Like the homesick, hopesick individuals are intensely nostalgic. They miss the rush of optimism from the campaign trail and are forever trying to recapture that warm, hopey feeling-usually by exaggerating the significance of relatively minor acts of Obama decency. Sample sentences: "I was feeling really hopesick about the escalation in Afghanistan, but then I watched a YouTube video of Michelle in her organic garden and it felt like inauguration day all over again. A few hours later, when I heard that the Obama administration was boycotting a major UN racism conference, the hopesickness came back hard. So I watched slideshows of Michelle wearing clothes made by ethnically diverse independent fashion designers, and that sort of helped."

Hope fiend. With hope receding, the hope fiend, like the dope fiend, goes into serious withdrawal, willing to do anything to chase the buzz. (Closely related to hopesickness but more severe, usually affecting middle-aged males.) Sample sentence: "Joe told me he actually believes Obama deliberately brought in Summers so that he would blow the bailout, and then Obama would have the excuse he needs to do what he really wants: nationalize the banks and turn them into credit unions. What a hope fiend!"

Hopebreak. Like the heartbroken lover, the hopebroken Obama-ite is not mad but terribly sad. She projected messianic powers on to Obama and is now inconsolable in her disappointment. Sample sentence: "I really believed Obama would finally force us to confront the legacy of slavery in this country and start a serious national conversation about race. But now whenever he seems to mention race, he's using twisted legal arguments to keep us from even confronting the crimes of the Bush years. Every time I hear him say ‘move forward,' I'm hopebroken all over again."

Hopelash. Like a backlash, hopelash is a 180-degree reversal of everything Obama-related. Sufferers were once Obama's most passionate evangelists. Now they are his angriest critics. Sample sentence: "At least with Bush everyone knew he was an asshole. Now we've got the same wars, the same lawless prisons, the same Washington corruption, but everyone is cheering like Stepford wives. It's time for a full-on hopelash."

In trying to name these various hope-related ailments, I found myself wondering what the late Studs Terkel would have said about our collective hopeover. He surely would have urged us not to give in to despair. I reached for one of his last books, Hope Dies Last. I didn't have to read long. The book opens with the words: "Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up."

And that pretty much says it all. Hope was a fine slogan when rooting for a long-shot presidential candidate. But as a posture toward the president of the most powerful nation on earth, it is dangerously deferential. The task as we move forward (as Obama likes to say) is not to abandon hope but to find more appropriate homes for it-in the factories, neighborhoods and schools where tactics like sit-ins, squats and occupations are seeing a resurgence.

Political scientist Sam Gindin wrote recently that the labor movement can do more than protect the status quo. It can demand, for instance, that shuttered auto plants be converted into green-future factories, capable of producing mass-transit vehicles and technology for a renewable energy system. "Being realistic means taking hope out of speeches," he wrote, "and putting it in the hands of workers."

Which brings me to the final entry in the lexicon.

Hoperoots. Sample sentence: "It's time to stop waiting for hope to be handed down, and start pushing it up, from the hoperoots."

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and syndicated columnist and the author of the international and New York Times bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, now out in paperback. Visit her website http://www.naomiklein.org/

Americans and their ostrich culture.

Ho-hum – The Collapse of the Dollar

By Joseph Farah
April 03, 2009
"WorldNetDaily"
Source

One of the interesting things about the Internet news business is how you get to see which stories attract interest, attention and readership.

Sometimes, you just never know what people will go for until you see the reports with your own eyes.

Recently, the news has been rife with reports of the imminent collapse of the dollar.

Now, I would have guessed that this story would be of inordinate interest – especially to Americans.

What it means, fundamentally, is that their dollars are going to be worth less – or maybe even worthless.

Yet, according to the readership reports I see on WND, these stories have been met with a collective yawn.

I don't know if that means Americans just aren't taking these warnings seriously or whether they just don't want to read bad news. Maybe Americans believe if they don't read the reports, they won't come true.

But this is serious business.

Since World War II, the U.S. dollar has been the standard for currency throughout the world. That is changing because of the weakness of the dollar – because of how much debt the U.S. has accumulated and because of how many dollars have been flooded into the system to keep the economy from collapsing.

The response by the U.S. government to the imminent collapse of the dollar internationally has been to do more of the same – to vastly increase debt and currency. Very seldom in life is the cure for an affliction higher and faster doses of the poison that caused the affliction. But that is what the Barack Obama administration, the U.S. Congress and the Federal Reserve are trying as a last resort to jumpstart the economy.

Arm yourself with information, like a great new book by Jerry Robinson called "The Bankruptcy of Our Nation." It's a great primer on the subject – and very current.

Unfortunately, even if it works in the short-term, which I sincerely doubt, it will mean even more long-lasting pain later.

The current debt-spend economy of the United States is simply not sustainable. And the cure is not more debt and more spending.

This formula has been tried many times by empires of the past. It has failed every single time – no exceptions.

Do Americans really believe they live such a charmed life that the laws of economics and the laws of the universe do not apply to them?

Do Americans really believe their leaders are so much smarter and gifted than the leaders of the past that they can somehow outwit the laws of economics and the laws of the universe?

Do Americans really have such blind faith in their government that they are willing to keep their heads in the sand even when they see their economy failing all around them?

I hope not.

I pray not.

In fact, I am very encouraged by the grass-roots "tea-party" rebellion springing up all across America. But will it be enough? Is it too little too late?

I believe unless this activity is greatly stepped up in the coming months, government will continue to believe it has license to continue the failed policies of the past – ending all hopes of a reversal and real, long-lasting recovery.

Government and the central bank are pushing all the wrong buttons. The death of the dollar is near. If you want to avoid a total catastrophe in this country – one that will affect not only you but your children and grandchildren – it's time to get out in the streets and stop the madness.

Yes, participate in those tea parties. Help organize more. And let your elected officials know you are on to them. Tell them, "No more bailouts. No more economic stimulus bills. No more printing money. No more tax increases."

Let the free-enterprise system work. Stop the counterproductive and destructive government meddling.

We can do this. The time is now!

Joseph Farah, is a veteran newspaper reporter and editor who directed the editorial operations of the Sacramento Union and other major metropolitan dailies before pioneering Internet journalism.

Read and weep.
U.S. Debtor Meets G20 Creditors at the Dollar’s Funeral

Humpty Dumpty and the G20

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

There is wisdom in this old nursery rhyme for the G20 summit: one which will most likely go unheeded as those invested in capitalism try to glue the pieces back together. Anyone pinning their hopes on the G20 summit for relief from this Fat Cat, Big Dog economic meltdown of capitalism, had better keep their money in their pockets. Getting even three countries to agree on anything would be a minor miracle - 20 would require a cosmic reconstruction of the universe.

No doubt, the focus of the G20 Summit will be how to restore the capitalist system. But some things broken cannot not be fixed. We have all experienced such consequences: ever had to deal with infidelity of a partner? how about a car involved in a head on collision? Chances of repairing the damage of such events is close to nil. Sometimes the consequences of our destructive are irrevocable.

People of the world know this and are demonstrating and rioting in countries all over the world.
The big lie of capitalism has been revealed to all now and the international clamour for a system which puts people before profits is deafening. The fairy tale smokescreen has been blown away and nasty greed and callousness of an economic order designed for the benefit of the rich to become richer is laid bare for everyone on earth now. Yet, like addicts who seek to clean up and get healthy, we will suffer the painful withdrawal cleansing us of our illusions:change will come only after blood, tears and determination.

The words of the evil genius of our times, George Soros
, may be the writing on the wall.

The G20 summit in London next week is, he says, the last chance to avert disaster. “The odds would favour that it fails because there are such differences of opinion. It’s difficult enough to get it right in your own country let alone with 20 governments coming together, but if it’s a failure I think then the global financial and trading system falls apart.”

If the G20 is nothing but a talking shop then he thinks we are heading for meltdown. “That could push the world into depression. It’s really a make-or-break occasion. That’s why it’s so important.” The chances of a depression are, he says, “quite high” – even if that is averted, the recession will last a long time. “Look, we are not going back to where we came from. In that sense it’s going to last for ever.”

There is only one way out for us, trite tho it is: worker's of the world unite. And before our internet freedoms are curtailed by those who wish to retain control of people as labour commodities for their own benefit. The article below details the efforts of Europeans to begin the painful fight to take back planet earth from the Fat Cats who feel entitled to use the rest of us for their own purposes of power and greed.

Read and feel empowered: this process will take much courage.


G20 demonstrators march in London
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Tens of thousands of people have marched through London demanding action on poverty, climate change and jobs, ahead of next week's G20 summit.

The Put People First alliance of 150 charities and unions walked from Embankment to Hyde Park for a rally.

Speakers called on G20 leaders to pursue a new kind of global justice.

Police estimate 35,000 marchers took part in the event. Its organisers say people wanted the chance to air their views peacefully.

Protesters described a "carnival-like atmosphere" with brass bands, piercing whistles and stereos blasting music as the slow-paced procession weaved through the streets.

Police said one man was arrested during the march for being drunk and disorderly.

Unite union, general secretary Derek Simpson said: "I think it's an important message but whether it will get through to the people meeting in London I don't know. Anyone who sees the numbers on this march should realise how important it is."

G20 march in London
Protesters came from across the UK and around the world

Families with children in pushchairs were among those marching along the 4.2-mile route under banners with slogans including 'capitalists - you are the crisis' and 'justice for the world's poor'.

As protesters passed the heavily-policed gates of Downing Street, there were chants and jeers with one person shouting "enjoy the overtime".

BBC News reporter Mario Cacciottolo said people were clearly angry, but the atmosphere was not tense.

Milton McKenzie, 73, from Essex, told him: "How the hell can we have a situation here in Britain where we have people out of work and the bankers just cream it off and are helped by the government."

G20 LONDON SUMMIT
World leaders will meet next week in London to discuss measures to tackle the downturn. See our in-depth guide to the G20 summit.
The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU.

Italian trade unionist Nicoli Nicolosi, who had travelled from Rome, said: "We are here to try and make a better world and protest against the G20."

Glen Tarman, chairman of the Put People First co-ordination team, said: "An exciting alliance has been born today. We will keep up the pressure on world leaders and the UK government to address our demands and put people first."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said he wanted to see G20 leaders agree a plan of action to deal with the financial downturn.

"Where I hope we will see a consensus emerge is in the recognition that unless they act together, then the problems are only going to get worse.

"This, unlike any other recession, is a recession right across the world."

The Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said it was important for the G20 to make commitments on helping the environment as well as the economy.

"There are some people who will say you can either tackle the economic crisis or the climate crisis.

"But the truth is that both come together with this idea of a Green New Deal, of investing in the jobs of the future, which are going to be in the green industries of the future."

The director of the the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler, said governments have caused the economic crisis.

Protesters with a model made out of money
Many protesters were calling for social justice

"The world market economy is actually a very moral system that raised a billion people out of poverty in the last 10 years," he said.

A huge security operation is under way in the run-up to the G20 summit, at which world leaders will discuss the global financial crisis and other issues.

There have been fears that banks and other financial institutions could be the focus for violent protests.

Commander Simon O'Brien, one of the senior command team in charge of policing security, said: "It's fair to say that this [the march] is one of the largest, one of the most challenging and one of the most complicated operations we have delivered.

"G20 is attracting a significant amount of interest from protest groups. There is an almost unprecedented level of activity going on."

Saturday's march will be followed by a series of protests on Wednesday and Thursday by a variety of coalitions and groups campaigning on a range of subjects, from poverty, inequality and jobs to war, climate change and capitalism.

Berlin march

Ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been visiting a number of countries seeking support.

On Friday, during a visit to Chile, he said people should not be "cynical" about what could be achieved at next week's summit, saying he was optimistic about the likely outcome.

However, in an interview with Saturday's Financial Times, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dampened expectations of a significant breakthrough.

She said one meeting would not be enough to solve the economic crisis and finish building a new structure for global markets.

In Berlin, thousands of protesters have also taken to the streets with a message to the G20 leaders: "We won't pay for your crisis".

Another march took place in the city of Frankfurt. The demonstrations attracted as many as 20,000 people.

Banners accused the Germany government of being too willing to spend billions bailing out financial institutions and too slow to protect ordinary workers, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg said from Berlin.

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Chinadaily BBS - World Affairs Today - Is Capitalism dying?

Bye Bye Dollar

Ditch the dollar?

By Jeremy Gaunt
European Investment Correspondent
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LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.

Currency specialist Avinash Persaud, a member of the panel of experts, told a Reuters Funds Summit in Luxembourg that the proposal was to create something like the old Ecu, or European currency unit, that was a hard-traded, weighted basket.

Persaud, chairman of consultants Intelligence Capital and a former currency chief at JPMorgan, said the recommendation would be one of a number delivered to the United Nations on March 25 by the U.N. Commission of Experts on International Financial Reform.

"It is a good moment to move to a shared reserve currency," he said.

Central banks hold their reserves in a variety of currencies and gold, but the dollar has dominated as the most convincing store of value -- though its rate has wavered in recent years as the United States ran up huge twin budget and external deficits.

Some analysts said news of the U.N. panel's recommendation extended dollar losses because it fed into concerns about the future of the greenback as the main global reserve currency, raising the chances of central bank sales of dollar holdings.

"Speculation that major central banks would begin rebalancing their FX reserves has risen since the intensification of the dollar's slide between 2002 and mid-2008," CMC Markets said in a note.

Russia is also planning to propose the creation of a new reserve currency, to be issued by international financial institutions, at the April G20 meeting, according to the text of its proposals published on Monday.

It has significantly reduced the dollar's share in its own reserves in recent years.

GOOD TIME

Persaud said that the United States was concerned that holding the reserve currency made it impossible to run policy, while the rest of world was also unhappy with the generally declining dollar.

"There is a moment that can be grasped for change," he said.

"Today the Americans complain that when the world wants to save, it means a deficit. A shared (reserve) would reduce the possibility of global imbalances."

Persaud said the panel had been looking at using something like an expanded Special Drawing Right, originally created by the International Monetary Fund in 1969 but now used mainly as an accounting unit within similar organizations.

The SDR and the old Ecu are essentially combinations of currencies, weighted to a constituent's economic clout, which can be valued against other currencies and indeed against those inside the basket.

Persaud said there were two main reasons why policymakers might consider such a move, one being the current desire for a change from the dollar.

The other reason, he said, was the success of the euro, which incorporated a number of currencies but roughly speaking held on to the stability of the old German deutschemark compared with, say, the Greek drachma