Attached 17-page (12 plus footnotes) paper is worth reading. Much to agree with, little to dispute. Major thesis is that Army has, since about 1989, transformed from a citizen force that may go nowhere for decades to a professional legion that deploys operationally on a routine basis.
The single part that most seized me is that portion of the abstract that reads, “… In the midst of a civilian society that is increasingly pacifistic, easygoing, and well adjusted, the Army (career and non-career soldiers alike) remains flinty, harshly results-oriented, and emotionally extreme. The inevitable civil-military gap has become a chasm.”
America owes foreigners about $4.5 trillion in debt. But America owes America $9.8 trillion.
Phi Beta Iota: Details below. The lies and misrepresentation from all sides in Washington are reprehensible. The distance between the truth and those in power has never been greater. It turns out the US owes the largest chuck (30.3%) to the US Treasury and the Social Security fund; next up is 6.6% to US households, and then a plethora of banks and funds that could easily be stiffed for a year.
Islamophobic parties in Europe have established a tight network, stretching from Italy to Finland. But recently, they have extended their feelers to Israeli conservatives, enjoying a warm reception from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Some in Israel believe that the populists are Europe's future.
Phi Beta Iota: Politicians and “leaders” have been grossly negligent about population policies including assimilation of legal immigrants, stopping illegal immigrants, educating the population, enforcing cultural expectations (e.g. not allowing women to be abused, part of assimilation). Both Europe and the USA have been mis-managed by lowest common denominator “leaders.”
The FBI was telling new bureau recruits as recently as Jan. 2009 that Islam “transforms [a] country's culture into 7th Century Arabian ways” and recommending a book written by one of Norwegian terrorism suspect Anders Behring Breivik's favorite authors as well as the Complete Idiot's Guide To Understanding Islam.
. . . . . . .
It's been well established that anti-Muslim self-proclaimed counterterrorism experts — often times funded by federal grants — have been giving advice to state and local law enforcement officers for years. But the fact that the nation's top law enforcement agency was pointing new federal agents to bigoted material as recently as 2009 came as a surprise to those who have seen this stuff before.
The fourteen citizens in a Danish Consensus Conference take several weekends over several months to learn about their assigned technical issue and come up with shared recommendations for Parliament and the public.
A 24-person Citizen Initiative Review of the kind now institutionalized in Oregon takes a week to figure out how to best advise voters on a given ballot initiative.
Similar Citizens Juries on all kinds of subjects also take about a week.
The dozen citizens selected for MACLEAN'S magazine's 1991 “People's Verdict” deliberations took just three days to come up with a lengthy vision for Canada's future direction.
A Wisdom Council often takes just two days to come up with a consensus statement sharing their concerns and dreams for their community.
Hundreds or thousands of people in a 21st Century Town Meeting take one day to make decisions on the issue that they have been assigned.
And now ABC News gave five citizens of diverse political beliefs one hour to solve the deficit crisis that Washington can't seem to resolve in months. This small group's success is the special feature of this e-mailing, so check out ABC's very short video (2:43) about it
My good friend Robert Bryce carpet bombs the wind industry and highlights some very important issues in the process. He is author of several energy-related books, including the released book: Power Hungry: The Myths of ‘Green’ Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future (PublicAffairs, April 27, 2010), which is an excellent description of the of some show stopping limitations of the current menu non-nuclear green technologies.
Phi Beta Iota: There is no lack of open source information necessary to create public intelligence in the public interest. There is only a lack of integrity among all concerned–from government to corporations to parasitic think tanks and non-profits whose existence is rooted in pleasing masters with money rather serving the public interest. Particularly troubling is the US Governments refusal to be honest about either the carbon costs or the ecological costs (thousands of birds and bats being wiped out), and refusing to carry out its Congressionally-mandated duties with respect to protecting the environment from corporate predators.
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.
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.
