Marcus Aurelius: Joe Scarborough Tries to Scare on Debt

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Marcus Aurelius

Below is an excellent example of scare-mongering and ideologically-rooted media froth.

The morning after

Joe Scarborough

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Aug. 3, 2011

It was a financial storm that even an economics professor could see coming. The debt crisis that had gripped Washington for a month came to a sudden, horrifying climax that left America’s economy looking like a nuclear wasteland. Credit markets suffered life-threatening seizures as the stock market dropped a staggering 25 percent. U.S. Treasuries plummeted as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ credit rating — instantly adding trillions of dollars in interest costs to the national debt. Only gold was on the rise, and its price exploded past $2,000 an ounce.

Read rest of article….

 Phi Beta Iota:  The only people who benefit from raising the debt ceiling are the banks that destroyed the economy in the first place, and the industrial complexes from medical to military that have grown the profligate entitlement and earmark society.  Nationalizing the banks and closing down the Federal Reserve are both viable alternative strategies.  The fact of the matter is that the truth is not on the table.  To WHOM does the US Government owe money in violation of the Constitutional mandate that it be the steward of the full faith and credit of the Republic?  Triage among sovereign powers, banks, and individual investors should reveal a wealth of alternatives.  This is, as one TV commentator called it, a “food fight.”  Intelligence and integrity are lacking within Washington–neither the Republicans nor the Democrats, the Congress nor the Executive, are demonstrating the needed character during this time of tribulation.

Dolphin: Libyan Rebel – We Want the Green Flag Back

05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Deeds of War, Military, Movies, Peace Intelligence

How many times has the West encouraged rebels–going back to the Warsaw ghettos–only to leave them to die in the lurch?  When motives are less than pure, both those being supported and those doing the supporting are on shaky moral ground, and opening Pandora's Box, which always includes third parties with their own agendas, empowered by Western destabilization to muck about on their own.

Libya , Ashraf General Younis son : We want the green flag back

Abdel Fatah Younis Assassinated By Rebels: Rebel Officer

Witnesses: Commander Killed by Fellow Libya Rebels

Libya rebels say Younis killers were ‘Islamist element'

Close Friend Claims General Younis was Betrayed

NATO bombs Libyan TV transmitters

Koko: US Government Suspends Scientist For Integrity Inquiry – Who Suspends the USG?

03 Environmental Degradation, 05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Government, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests
Koko

Arctic scientist who exposed climate threat to polar bear is suspended

US government conducts ‘integrity inquiry' on federal biologist amid lobbying by oil firms for Arctic permits

, US environment correspondent

guardian.co.uk,

It was seen as one of the most distressing effects of climate change ever recorded: polar bears dying of exhaustion after being stranded between melting patches of Arctic sea ice.

But now the government scientist who first warned of the threat to polar bears in a warming Arctic has been suspended and his work put under official investigation for possible scientific misconduct.

. . . . . .

Some question why Monnett, employed by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, has been suspended at this moment. The Obama administration has been accused of hounding the scientist so it can open up the fragile region to drilling by Shell and other big oil companies.

Koko: Russia’s President Wants Educational Games

06 Russia, Academia, Advanced Cyber/IO, Articles & Chapters, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Policies
Koko

Russia's President is on to something, with the observation that the best history games would not focus on what was, but on what might have been had true cost information been embedded at each point in time.

Russia's prez wants educational World of Warcraft history game

DVICE.com, 29 July 2011

While the Chinese love World of Warcraft so much they're using them as punishment in labor camps, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev wants to make a similar game to teach people about Russian history.

Somebody give this guy a chest-bump and a double high-five. Unlike most Presidents, Medvedev is a young guy. He's in tune with pop culture and “what's in” and “cool” and aims to aggressively use new mediums such as MMORPGs as an educational tool.

Click on Image to Enlarge

Speaking at a gathering of Russia's cultural and science councils, Medvedev said:

“I've checked what our youth are playing with, and most games are pseudo-historical and fantasy-based.”“Take ‘World of Warcraft.' … It's not all about destruction. It has a subtext about developing human civilization.”

“We could try to make something similar if it's so popular — not globally, perhaps, but at the domestic level.”

Medvedev's idea comes as Russia prepares to celebrate its 1,150th anniversary of statehood next year.

Using video games to drill historical facts into heads? If we had a WoW knock-off when we were still in high school, maybe we'd have been less apt to cutting class to hang underneath the football field bleachers where the “evil” lurked.

Tom Atlee: Abundant Democracy Resources

Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Open Government, Peace Intelligence, Policies, Reform
Tom Atlee

Dear friends,

In 2001 the Co-Intelligence Institute released a breakthrough compilation of more than 100 democratic innovations.  At that time there was no other comparable resource on the web.

This year we decided — and began — to update this list, to fix its broken links, to add new innovations and resources, and to make it into a wiki to allow other people to add democratic innovations they knew about.  You can see our initial progress online.

While preparing a grant proposal to expand the project, we researched the web for other lists of democratic and participatory practices and resources.  We were surprised to find quite a few.

We decided that to add the most value in the context of this great wealth of resources, our project should

Continue reading “Tom Atlee: Abundant Democracy Resources”

DefDog: Completely False Story from Coalition on Taliban

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Media, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Officers Call
DefDog Recommends....

This story is completely false.  NightWatch's compilation of data reveals that “March saw the highest level of fighting up to March 2011 and May was higher still. July looks down, but much more focused and lethal against senior officials.”

Just more of the aversion of truth that permeates Washington…..it also goes against all the previous reporting of having the Taliban on the ropes…..

Coalition holds line on Taliban attacks, data show

By Jim Michaels

USA TODAY, 28 July 2011

For the first time in five years insurgent-initiated attacks in Afghanistan have not increased with the start of a new fighting season, suggesting that a surge of U.S. forces has blunted Taliban momentum, according to the coalition forces.

Read full story…

Continue reading “DefDog: Completely False Story from Coalition on Taliban”

Robert Young Pelton: USA Road to Debt Decisions

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Robert Young Pelton

Useful survey on when the recent as well as the further back decisions on going into debt were made.  From April, but so very relevant today.

Running in the red: How the U.S., on the road to surplus, detoured to massive debt

By

The Washington Post, April 30, 2011

The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis.

. . . . . . .

All told, Obama-era choices account for about $1.7 trillion in new debt, according to a separate Washington Post analysis of CBO data over the past decade. Bush-era policies, meanwhile, account for more than $7 trillion and are a major contributor to the trillion-dollar annual budget deficits that are dominating the political debate.

. . . . . .

William Hoagland, who was for years a top budget aide to Domenici and other GOP Senate leaders, said it is simplistic to think today’s fiscal problems began just 10 years ago. In 1976, as a young CBO analyst, Hoagland produced a long-term simulation that showed entitlement costs gradually overwhelming the rest of the federal budget.

“This situation really goes back to long before [the Bush administration], which is to say to old dead men that have long left the Congress,” he said.

Read full article (three screens)…