Archive for August, 2010
China: Rumors of the Central Bank Chief’s Defection
Rumors have circulated in China that People’s Bank of China (PBC) Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan may have left the country. The rumors appear to have started following reports on Aug. 28 which cited Ming Pao, a Hong Kong-based news agency, saying that because of an approximately $430 billion loss on U.S. Treasury bonds, the Chinese government may punish some individuals within the PBC, including Zhou. Although Ming Pao on Aug. 30 published a report on its website indicating that the prior report was fabricated by a mainland news site that had attributed the false information to Ming Pao, rumors of Zhou’s defection have spread around China intensively, and Zhou’s name has been blocked from Internet search engines in China.
STRATFOR has received no confirmation of the rumor, and reports by state-run Chinese media appeared to send strong indications that Zhou is in no trouble at the moment. However, the release of this rumor and its dispersion throughout the public is significant, particularly as the Communist Party of China (CPC) is preparing for a leadership transition in 2012.
Chinese state-run media and official government websites have run several high-profile reports about Zhou, which should be seen as an attempt to refute the rumors. The PBC website published two articles on its homepage reporting on Zhou’s meeting with visiting Japanese Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi during the third China-Japan high-level economic dialogue as well as a meeting with an Italian delegation. Xinhua news agency reported that Zhou told the PBC Party Committee Enlargement meeting on Aug. 30 it should “continue to implement justice and strengthen legislative work in the financial system.” Prior to this news, Zhou appeared at the 2nd annual conference of the heads of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean central banks held on Aug. 3, and his most recent public appearance was Aug. 10 for China’s Financial System Anti-corruption Construction Exhibition.
Zhou is known to have lofty political ambitions and is believed to be a close ally to former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, as well as a core figure for Jiang’s “Shanghai Gang.” There has been no shortage of rumors about Zhou’s possible dismissal in the past five years, as he is believed to be associated with several high-level financial scandals. For example, Zhou was rumored to be under “shuanggui,” a form of house arrest administered by the CPC, during the massive crackdown of Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Liangyu in 2006, which was perceived in the country as a crackdown of the Shanghai Gang and part of President Hu Jintao’s effort to consolidate power ahead of the 2007 power transition. There was also a rumor that he might have been detained following the investigation and arrest of Wang Yi, the vice governor of the China Development Bank, along with several other officials in the financial circle. Currently, several financial scandals are still under investigation, and it is likely that Zhou, as PBC governor and one of the most powerful economic players in the country, could be associated with some cases. Therefore, whether or not the rumor is true at this time, the leaking of this news is very likely to be associated with a power struggle within the Communist Party’s economic hierarchy.
sursa: stratfor.com
Plutonul national de executie
Viata de zi cu zi, ca sa nu mai vorbesc de istorie, m-a convins cu asupra de masura ca noi, romanii, facem ce trebuie abia dupa ce am epuizat toate celelalte solutii. Ne-am specializat in rolul de victime, in a descrie cu lux de amanunte catastrofele, dar obosim repede cand trebuie sa le cautam cauzele si sa vedem ce se poate face sa nu se mai intample. Cu alte cuvinte, privim adevarul in fata abia dupa ce am obosit fugind de el.
Din nefericire, nimic nu ne mai ajuta, nimeni nu mai este de partea noastra, ba, mai mult, ne lipseste pana si energia de a tine socoteala dezastrelor. Ploi, saracie, seceta, accidente dupa accidente, raniti, morti, boli care odinioara fusesera eradicate, cersetorie si mitocanie dincolo de limitele suportabilului. Bolnavii internati isi cumpara medicamentele, vin cu catgutul si cu hrana de acasa, trenurile nu intarzie mai mult de noua ore, dar nu are nici o importanta; Racheta, locomotiva lui George Stephenson, in 1829 atingea viteza de 58 km pe ora.
Cat despre sosele sau despre urmele de autostrazi – sase milimetri de autostrada pe cap de locuitor! –, in Romania continua sa aiba o mare importanta strategica deoarece ar face imposibila inaintarea oricarei armate straine. Daca nu avem avioane, macar sa-i pedepsim cu strazile! Caci tot sunt la moda sporturile periculoase. Dupa cum lesne se poate observa, nu reusim nicicum sa ne desprindem de traditii, caci ele sunt adanc inscrise in genele noastre. In fata dusmanilor, stramosii nostri, in drum spre codri, otraveau fantanile, ardeau casele, lasau in urma lor prapad si dezastre. Caci, se stie, codrul era frate cu romanul. Acum e doar cu UDMR-ul. Dar asta-i o alta poveste. Oricum, nestiind ce inseamna binele, suntem pregatiti pentru ce-i mai rau. In rest, copiii nu sunt in siguranta nici macar in incubatoarele unor clinici cu renume, dar asta intra in firescul nefirescului national. Pe vremuri, era un banc cu Radio Erevan despre cum se poate distruge o tara. Politicienii romani nu figurau printre „specialistii“ cu pricina. Acum, dupa experienta dovedita in cele doua decenii de libertate in administrarea tarii, ar conduce detasat, Guvernul devenind un veritabil pluton national de executie.Trage din toate partile, la intamplare, in toate meseriile si in toate varstele, nelasand oamenilor nici macar sansa de a muri demni.Asa stand lucrurile, nu mai avem pe cine sa ajungem din urma decat pe noi insine, cei de pe vremea ultimilor ani ai Raposatului de la Targoviste. Toate se desfasoara cu viteza mintii conducatorilor nostri si traim in cosmarul din creierul lor, in putina lor imaginatie in care nu este loc pentru frumos, cultura, stiinta, liniste si pace, ci doar pentru santaje, pedepse, razbunari si scandaluri. In politica, in sanatate, in presa, in sport, oriunde. Avem numerosi Ceausesti si toti se afla in cautarea unor Boci. Chiar si pe Becali il apucase, zilele trecute, disperarea ca nu-si gaseste un Boc. Am devenit, asadar, prin lasitatea tuturor, o insula bizara care se refuza oricarei descrieri si ratiuni. Toti stiu ce trebuie sa faca ceilalti, dar prea putini simt nevoia sa se opuna valului de ignoranta si de nesimtire. Suntem, din pacate, numai si numai ca noi insine. Iata, de Sfanta Marie, langa zidurile manastirilor Curtea de Arges si Tismana, in asteptarea slujbelor de dimineata, „pelerinii“ au scos gratarele, bautura si manelele inevitabile, astfel ca i-au prins zorii sarbatorind „romaneste“, in ciuda slujbelor care se desfasurau in interior. Nu e vina mea ca imi amintesc tot mai des de epocile precrestine care l-au exasperat atat de mult pe Deceneu. In Evul Mediu nu cred ca s-ar fi putut intampla asa ceva sub zidurile unei biserici. Si pentru ca tot vorbim despre acea epoca indepartata, aflu din pura intamplare, ascultand un buletin de stiri ca talibanii, intr-o localitate din Afganistan, in lipsa presei, au aplicat la modul cel mai concret cu putinta, charia, lapidand, adica ucigand cu pietre, doi tineri pentru care dragostea a fost mai puternica decat actele si conventiile religioase.
Auzind acestea, m-am simtit mandru de libertatile de la noi – dobandite cu atata sange – si de faptul ca, un politician roman important a cerut ca, in oferta noastra de turism, sa fie trecute si femeile: „Avem femei frumoase!“. Ca si cum posibilii turisti n-ar fi aflat demult acest lucru circuland pe strazile numeroaselor orase europene, ba chiar si asiatice. Daca nu putem fi altceva – o Elvetie sau un Tirol pentru unguri, sau cel putin un Tinut Secuiesc, o Italie ori o Franta pentru tigani –, macar la acest capitol sa devenim Thailanda Uniunii Europene. Astfel, frunza ar avea, in sfarsit, ce sa acopere! Desi ar mai fi multe de spus, caci am uitat de cea mai remarcabila realizare postrevolutionara – bordurile! –, ma opresc aici convins ca numeroasele comisii si comitete, care exista si care mai pot fi create pentru a descoperi vinovatii de moartea copiilor, de accidentele rutiere, de decesele din timpul inundatiilor ori secetei si asa mai departe, vor neglija sa arate cauza cauzelor pentru care am ajuns unde suntem: faptul ca un profesor are acelasi salariu ca un gunoier si ca, se subintelege, niciunuia dintre ei nu-i ajunge. Ca, de anul trecut si pana azi, au mai disparut doua mii de scoli si ca, nu peste mult, vom avea cu opt mii de medici mai putin. Fugariti pur si simplu din tara care, pe zi ce trece, ramane in seama vrajitorilor, diletantilor ori a analfabetilor. Si a celor care o mai conduc. A celor ce au facut alergie la cultura, caci cartile dau idei, diferentiaza oamenii, intretin complexele de inferioritate ale unora. Intr-un celebru roman s.f. de Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 – temperatura la care arde hartia –, intr-un veac in care casele sunt neinflamabile, pompierii se ocupa de cultura. Adica vaneaza si ard carti, dar si pe cei ce se opun, in ideea ca nimic sa nu mai ramana scris. Pentru a salva memoria omenirii, mai multi savanti si-au propus sa le invete pe de rost. Pana la urma, cel mai violent vanator de carti, incepe sa le descopere rostul, minune care ar fi vremea sa se petreaca si in Romania. La noi, pompierii, profesionisti de clasa, au foarte mult de lucru, casele ard sau sunt luate de ape, stiu, asadar, ce inseamna a-ti practica meseria cu mare seriozitate. Mi-am amintit involuntar de acest roman deoarece la noi, de la razboi incoace, de cultura si de carti in general se ocupa activistii, aproape la fel de eficienti precum pompierii lui Bradbury. Mai demult, fireste, ardeau si ei cartile dar, cu trecerea anilor, si-au perfectionat metodele. Adica fac in asa fel incat presa sa dispara treptat, iar cartile sa nu mai poata fi scrise, dar mai ales citite prin mentinerea unei stari de nesfarsita agitatie, de mizerie si umilinta, de cultivare violenta a prostiei. „Omul de azi, spunea personajul principal al romanului, pompierul Guy Montag, e ca un servetel de hartie: iti sufli nasul cu el, il mototolesti, il arunci, apoi iei altul si-ti sufli nasul cu el, il mototolesti si-l arunci. Oamenii nu mai au o fizionomie proprie…“ Acest mod de a gandi nu mi se pare necunoscut, si el poate fi argumentat cu numeroase fapte si intamplari, cu catastrofa din care nu putem iesi. Nu stiu cum se face ca toate le transformam dupa chipul si asemanarea noastra: comunismul n-a fost comunism, capitalismul nu este capitalism, iar libertatea si-a pierdut demult intelesul. Aproape zilnic nu pot sa nu-mi amintesc de suta de lei a lui Ceausescu, pana atunci mereu castigatoare, cu care a iesit la bataie chiar si la ultima sa aparitie in public. Urmasii lui de azi o agita si, din nefericire, inca au succes. „Sa nu fie si mai rau!“ Si mai au succes pentru ca diagnosticul pus de presedintele tarii este foarte exact: ne lipsesc barbatii, oamenii puternici. In absenta lor se poate intampla orice, ba chiar sa devina si mai evident aerul de dictatura. Intr-o cuvantare din 1932 tinuta in fata Parlamentului, Nicolae Iorga, pe atunci prim- ministru, spunea: „Dictatura in Romania nu poate fi decat un caraghiozlac sau o crima, si anume caraghiozlacul se poate termina prin crima si crima prin caraghiozlac“. Cum s-a si intamplat. Si cum se mai intampla. Asa stand lucrurile, nu imi dau seama ce sansa mai avem. Deocamdata, ne putem refugia in tara din suflet, in tara din noi, o tara care nu ne alunga prin tot ce are si prin tot ce se intampla si unde nu te simti in exil. O tara care-si iubeste valorile, cultura, istoria, credintele, o tara care refuza sa se abandoneze lichelelor si incompetentilor.
AUGUSTIN BUZURA
sursa: revistacultura.ro
Catusele ies din ecrane
Justitia la televizor, pe care o tot vedem, intr-o forma sau alta, de 20 de ani incoace, caci, nu-i asa, daca poporul nu are paine, macar circul sa fie asigurat, a intrat intr-o faza superioara, cu mult mai periculoasa.
Presiunea media uriasa, verdictele exprimate, mai mult sau mai putin doct in talk-show-uri, au inceput sa se ragaseasca, uneori explicit, in deciziile si motivarile emise de judecatori.
Tot mai timorati, dar si mai dependenti, la randul lor, de bunavointa jurnalistilor, magistratii au inceput sa tina cont din ce in ce mai mult de ceea ce se vede si se aude la televizor, chiar daca in felul acesta ajung sa intre in contradictie cu legea, mai ales in cazurile penale.
Iar una dintre cele mai mari vulnerabile zone este aceea a arestului preventiv. Presa exploateaza la maximum senzationalul si cere judecati sumare cu sentinte ferme: “dupa gratii!”. Nu o face degeaba, ci stiind ca in felul acesta satisface o pofta a poporului. Iar poporul nu e neaparat crud, ci patit.
Procesele care treneaza, legile permisive si ambigue, coruptia generalizata, au facut ca multi vinovati sa scape nepedepsiti sau cu pedepse ridicol de mici. Asa se face ca romanii si-au pierdut increderea in justitie si sunt convinsi ca exista riscuri mari ca arestul preventiv sa ramana cam toata pedeapsa pe care o face pana la urma un infractor, mai ales daca este potent finanaciar si/sau politic.
Vorba aceea - ce-i in mana, nu-i minciuna! Dar aceasta mentalitate, absolut explicabila, nu justifica excesele, ba chiar ilegalitatile la care s-a ajuns si care nu fac altceva decat sa decredibilizeze o data in plus o justitie decredibilizata.
In legislatia noastra penala arestul preventiv este o decizie cu caracter exceptional, pentru ca incalca prezumtia de nevinovatie, un principiu fundamental de drept.
Asadar, regula noastra penala este judecarea in stare de libertate, ceea ce nu inseamna ca este nevinovat. Arestul preventiv poate fi impus, exceptional cum spuneam, preponderent in cazul infractiunilor savarsite cu intentie, nu din culpa, si numai in conditiile expres prevazute de art. 148 din codul de procedura penala. Ele merita citite cu mare atentie:
“a) inculpatul a fugit ori s-a ascuns, in scopul de a se sustrage de la urmarire sau de la judecata, ori exista date ca va incerca sa fuga sau sa se sustraga in orice mod de la urmarirea penala, de la judecata ori de la executarea pedepsei;
a 1) inculpatul a incalcat, cu rea-credinta, masura obligarii de a nu parasi localitatea sau tara ori obligatiile care ii revin pe durata acestor masuri;
b) exista date ca inculpatul incearca sa zadarniceasca in mod direct sau indirect aflarea adevarului prin influentarea unei parti, a unui martor sau expert ori prin distrugerea, alterarea sau sustragerea mijloacelor materiale de proba;
c) exista date ca inculpatul pregateste savarsirea unei noi infractiuni;
d) inculpatul a savarsit cu intentie o noua infractiune;
e) exista date ca inculpatul exercita presiuni asupra persoanei vatamate sau ca incearca o intelegere frauduloasa cu aceasta;
f) inculpatul a savarsit o infractiune pentru care legea prevede pedeapsa detentiunii pe viata sau pedeapsa inchisorii mai mare de 4 ani si exista probe ca lasarea sa in libertate prezinta un pericol concret pentru ordinea publica.”
Daca lasam la o parte emotiile, manipularile, spiritul justitiar al fiecaruia dintre noi, as vrea sa stiu in care dintre aceste situatii se inscriu Florentina Carstea, asistenta de la spitalul Giulesti, Calin Platon, fostul prefect de Cluj, autor al unui cumplit accident de masina, sau chiar Cristian Ungur, tanarul care a provocat accidentul de pe aeroporul din Caransebes?
Nimeni nu spune ca ei ar fi nevinovati. Ba dimpotriva, toti trei par vinovati pentru acuzatiile care le sunt aduse. Iar atunci cand vinovatia le va fi consfintita printr-o hotarare judecatoreasca definitiva si irevocabila trebuie bagati dupa gratii sa ispaseasca ce au de ispasit.
Dar deocamdata niciunul dintre ei nu se inscrie in conditiile legale pentru arest preventiv si potrivit legii ar trebui judecati in stare de libertate.
De fapt, motivarile date de judecatori pentru arestarea lor preventiva nici nu invoca texte legale, ci fac referire directa la presiunea media (in cazul Cristian Ungur) sau la increderea opineii publice in sistemul sanitar (in cazul asistentei), ambele complet straine grilei in care trebuie judecata arestarea preventiva.
Este o distorsionare a justitiei pe care ar trebui sa nu o privim cu relaxare. Pe de-o parte, ea incalca regulile statului de drept si, in plus, fiecare dintre noi am putea ajunge, printr-un concurs stupid de imprejurari, in situatia celor tratati mai intai dupa regulile presei si abia apoi dupa cele ale codului de procedura penala.
Cat despre moderatorii TV, fericit va fi momentul in care-si vor aduce aminte ca sunt jurnalisti nu procurori stalinisti, meniti sa condamne si sa dea verdicte, cu atat mai mult cu cat putini dintre ei au macar minime cunostinte de drept.
Constantin Racaru
sursa: ziare.com
Viața în România în pași de dans…solo!
Nici unul nu s-a născut ca salvator sau ca ucigaş, acestea sunt alegerile pe care fiecare le facem în viaţă. Nimeni nu are forţa de a ne transforma în spectatori fără consimţământul nostru şi noi nu suntem cu adevărat niciodată singuri – dacă avem curajul de a acorda atenţie acelei încă “mici voci” din interiorul nostru. (Barack Obama, Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2009)
Omul are nevoie de repere stabile. Dacă această întoarcere spre valori este dezirabilă, atunci reinventarea unei pedagogii a modelelor este absolut necesară. Redescoperirea rolului modelelor în educaţie este o consecinţă inevitabilă a centrării educaţiei pe valori.
Nu a existat niciodată vreun sistem educativ care să nu fi conturat un anumit ideal sau model educativ. Dacă antichitatea elenistică identifica modelul în erou, în Evul Mediu idealul era întruchipat de monah şi cavaler. Renaşterea a reliefat personalitatea umană ca “homo universale”; revoluţiile au impus idealul personalităţii productive iar comunismul a iniţiat crearea “omului nou”, muncitor și ascultător. În perioade diferite, folosind căi de influenţe alternative, s-a ajuns la formarea unor oameni socialmente diferiţi.
În România pretins capitalistă asistăm, însă, la nașterea omului pierdut în spațiu. A omului care nu mai are repere și nici modele. Și nici voința de a reveni din nou în normalitate. Nici măcar în viitorul imediat. Un om care trăiește haotic, la întâmplare, fără demnitate și impunere de respect. Incapacitatea de rezistență la umilire și expunerea la ridicol până la cote penibile exprimă o realitate cu care din nefericire suntem nevoiți să conviețuim. Modelul de rezistență nu ne este familiar, iar speranțele de redresare nu pot fi decât minime. Ezităm să luptăm și ne exprimăm rezerve față de ceea ce ne scoate din letargia vieții. Constatarea pe care acum un secol o făcea academicianul C-tin Rădulescu Motru nu poate decât să ne determine la un strop de introspecție:
“Neamul românesc a avut în trecut eroi şi martiri. Dar ce folos a tras el din pildele date de aceşti eroi şi martiri? Nici un folos. A continuat viaţa plecată de mai înainte. Pildele eroilor şi ale martirilor nu s-au altoit pe sufletul său, pentru ca să dea roadele aşteptate. Eroii şi martirii i-au rămas de poveste, nu de îndemn la faptă…”
„Eroismul„ popular a fost demonstrat în aceste zile prin capacitatea de a rezista ore în șir la cozi interminabile. Ca semn de supunere față de pretențiile unui sistem barbar. Deplângându-se însă apoi martirajul care fost creat. Este însă singura formă de martiraj de care părem a fi capabili. Nu pentru idealuri, ci în spiritul supunerii în care suntem instruiți de decenii. Uitând că oamenii care agonizează nu acţionează, doar oamenii care acţionează nu agonizează. Însă, și atunci nu doar în interes propriu, ci pentru scopuri care transced arealul existențial personal.
O asemenea filosofie superioară de viață ne este străină, fapt demonstrat și de spiritul de dizidență în parametri minimi existent pe plaiurile mioritice. Modelele în acest sens ne-au lipsit, iar efectele le resimțim cu toții. Și chiar atunci când au existat nu au fost o sursă de inspirație. Dizolvarea societății civile fiind doar consecința inevitabilă a crizei de valori autentice cu care ne confruntăm. Și a indiferenței în care ne complacem, în pași de dans…solo!
P.S. Intelectualii se agită. Se revoltă. Anunță grevă fiscală. Ar contrazice ceea ce am scris în acest articol. De ce nu au făcut-o atunci când au fost atinse drepturile celor mai săraci? Și demnitatea le-a fost călcată în picioare?… Acum chiar lideri din arcul guvernamental se alătură revoltei. Desigur, doar buzunarul este personal. Nimic despre idealuri sau lupta pentru drepturile omului. Ci doar despre propriul dans…solo!
prof. Lehaci Florentin
sursa: proatitudine.ro
Top economists: The second Great Depression has arrived
David Rosenberg, market guru, has officially declared that the US economy is in a state of depression, and he sees the economic superpowers woes worsening.
On the heels of that bleak forecast, the statistics for existing home sales for July were released and the numbers were ugly. The weak housing market collapsed. Reflecting the worst slump in American history, existing housing sales had plummeted a stunning 27 percent and there’s no sign on the horizon that sales will stabilize any time soon.
The bottom line, argues Rosenberg and others: the US economy has collapsed into another Great Depression.
Citing the period from 1929 to 1932 and the eerie similarities, Rosenberg said, “We may well be reliving history here. If you’re keeping score, we have recorded four quarterly advances in real GDP, and the average is only 3 percent.” The same happened during the early 1930s stock market rebound of 50 percent after the 1929 crash.
The Great Depression followed the brief economic upswing.
As long as two years ago, one of Britain’s top economists predicted a decade-long depression, $45 trillion in debt defaults and unemployment in the US and UK approaching 25% or higher.
During October 2008, economist Fred Harrison told the Foreign Press Association in London,”"The massive contraction in demand caused by this ‘wealth effect’ will condemn the western economy to a decade-long depression.”
Like some economists who alerted the Clinton and Bush administrations about the approaching economic crisis, Harrison warned future Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the looming financial danger when Brown was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1997. Brown, like Presidents Clinton and Bush, ignored the warning.
“Brown blames America for the global crisis. But every country in the world permitted property speculation, which is at the heart of boom/busts. Brown now defends himself by claiming that he tried to get global agreement on a stabilization plan. But he failed to tell the other governments about the tax reforms that could have prevented the crisis,” Harrison explained in his speech in London.
Two years later, more economists agree with Harrison. Such luminaries as Arthur Laffer and Paul Krugman are two. Although at the opposite ends of the political spectrum, both see dire times ahead for the United States: higher unemployment, a worsening of the credit crisis and housing slump, more loan defaults, more business failures and more foreclosures. Add to this economic witch’s brew the possibility of simultaneous currency deflation and inflation and you have every ingredient necessary for another extended Great Depression.
In fact some economists have begun using the term, Great Depression II.
Harrison concurs and believes that the situation has become so serious that whole nations could fail and something unseen in the West for hundreds of years could appear again: wholesale starvation of peoples in some Western countries.
Back in 2008, Spectator Business reported that “Harrison’s predictions earned him the epithet ‘Prophet of Doom’ until his forecasts proved correct. He is now described as ‘the canary in the housing mine…(his) prediction is chilling: Nostradamus…could scarcely have been more accurate.”
On the other side of the pond, in the US, sits Arthur Laffer. The author of several important books on economic theory including his latest, “Return to Prosperity: How America Can Regain Its Economic Superpower Status,” Laffer was also an adviser to the Reagan Administration during the 1980s and a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Board.
His economic models have been proven to work and withstood the test of time. Now Laffer has declared that the US economy is heading for a very big fall early in 2011.
The economist, best known for his economic model called the ‘Laffer Curve,” came to national prominence when his model was adopted by Ronald Reagan in an effort to turn the economy around after the disastrous economic policies of Jimmy Carter.
Back in the late 1970s the media kept track of ‘the misery index’ an informal gauge of inflation, stagnation and taxation that put a damper on the economy for years. Laffer’s recommendation—to cut federal taxes significantly and roll back the rate of government spending—was employed in 1981 after Carter’s bid for a second term was roundly routed by an angry American electorate.
Laffer’s ‘prescription’ created an economic boom that carried into the Clinton presidency. It also surprised many critics of the model when it achieved what Laffer had predicted: higher revenues to the treasury despite the deep tax rate cuts.
Now Arther Laffer has analyzed the direction of the federal government over the past two years and hears alarm bells going off. The savvy economist has studied the potential impact of the historic debt, an economy hovering just above a depression, and the building pressure to raise interest rates when inflation rises in the future, and compares the ship of state to the Titanic.
“Today’s corporate profits reflect an income shift into 2010. These profits will tumble next year, preceded most likely by the stock market,” writes Laffer in the Wall Street Journal article, Tax Hikes and the 2011 Economic Collapse.
Laffer calls attention to the one thing that has kept the economy partially afloat, as poor as the economy has been: the Bush tax cuts. When they expire (on January 1, 2011), “federal, state and local tax rates are scheduled to rise quite sharply.” Dividend tax will skyrocket from 15 percent to a whopping 39.6 percent, the capital gains tax will increase 25% and the estate tax will jump from zero to 55 percent.
These taxes—a triple whammy to the economy—will serve to further depress business growth and hiring, depress real estate further and add an even greater burden on the ability of the consumer to spend discretionary income, which will sink like a rock. To all that must be added the re-introduction of the infamous “marriage penalty” that could lead to more home foreclosures.
If all that is not bad enough, tax rates will be raised further on income earned outside the US, payroll taxes will rise in 2013 squeezing the middle-class wage earner more, the alternative minimum tax will affect people at lower income levels and taxes are scheduled to be imposed on so-called “Cadillac health care plans.”
Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman, a liberal economist, concurs, but for different reasons. He believes the federal government has not spent enough fast enough. Much of the so-called “stimulus money” authorized by Congress is languishing, unspent. Some hundred billion went to dubious projects and grants designed to stimulate nothing.
Krugman is furious. Writing in a New York Times OpEd piece recently, he condemned the current administration’s economic policies and predicted a Second Great Depression. He also raised a rather bellicose alarm against Treasury and other responsible for US monetary policy—including the Fed. Krugman is convinced that tens of millions will never find work again and the economy will worsen in 2011 and 2012.
All economic indicators echo 1929 - 1933
Finally, Robin Griffiths [http://www.financial-gurus.co m/gurus/9511/Robin-Griffiths/] devines the future economy from a technical market approach. Griffiths is a strategist at Cazenove Capital who recently shared with viewers of CNBC that “the world has entered significant financial depression.”
According to Griffiths “Equities are for losers and bond markets for winners. Equities are simply for people who like losing money,” Griffiths said.
“A double-dip is inevitable and imminent, as Keynesian stimulus measures have never worked anywhere. We are in the equivalent of a Great Depression following 3 years of credit crisis,” he added.
Griffith has taken a seat at the economic banquet of scarcity, austerity and gloom. The entrees at that table offer very slim pickings indeed: charts depicting a 20-year economic downturn; zero growth; possible additional contraction; massive unemployment, and the imminent collapse of governments globally.
If all that’s not enough, Griffiths points out that the United States’ shrinking M3 money supply now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933.
Despite the gloom and doom, it’s best to remember that things could always be worse.
How? Well, an asteroid could hit Earth tomorrow…
Terrence Aym
sursa: helium.com
Criza din Romania: un biet bebelus
Criza din Romania - care face deja ravagii, desi acestea, s-o spunem deschis, se afla abia la inceput - este un biet bebelus prin comparatie cu criza care ar putea cuprinde tarile de prin Occidentul fagaduintei, modelul si inspiratia noastra, a celor de pe aici!
Un biet bebelus si in privinta nocivitatii cauzelor, si chiar in privinta amplitudinii efectelor. Singura deosebire se afla probabil in viteza cu care se deruleaza secventele.
Daca se admite sa se depaseasca analiza doar la suprafata lucrurilor, cauzele crizei din Romania sunt puse preponderent pe lipsa de reguli si nerespectarea regulilor stabilite, specifice capitalismului primitiv, pe incompetenta manageriala in politicile publice, pe coruptia si clientelismul care devalizeaza banul public, iar unii ceva mai cutezatori nu se dau la o parte in a vorbi si de ignorarea fundamentelor economice, de incompatibilitatea unei insertii de economie financiara pe articulatia unei economii reale precare si chiar de modelul bananier harazit tarilor de la periferie de catre cele din centrul capitalismului matur.
Daca, tot asa, dincolo de suprafata lucrurilor, se incearca depistarea cauzelor profunde ale crizei din Occidentul fagaduintei, se constata ca aschia Romania n-a sarit prea departe de trunchi! Aceeasi indepartare nefasta de fundamentele economice are loc in intreg Occidentul.
Aceeasi insertie supraponderala de economie financiara paraziteaza sistemul economic. Un jaf de dimensiuni planetare se desfasoara de fapt sub ochii nostri in Occident, jaf care este organizat de acest sistem financiar care suge majoritatea profiturilor, ia caimacul activitatii din economia reala si secatuieste indeosebi tarile slabe.
Un astfel de sistem financiar a generat si criza! Nici nu mai este nevoie de coruptie. Prin aceleasi mijloace netransparente, sistemul financiar face mai mult rau economiei chiar si decat coruptia si furturile.
Si, la fel ca in Romania, generatorii crizei sunt salvati pe seama contribuabililor, in vreme ce parazitii continua sa prospere chiar si in timpul crizei si dupa aceea.
Cum se face ca, in plina criza, in Romania cad ca popicele firmele cu capital romanesc, iar cele cu capital strain - banci ori societati nebancare - se simt aproape mai bine decat oricand, iar in Occident, cele mai infloritoare continua sa fie tocmai societatile din domeniul financiar care au provocat criza?!
Si colo, si colo, parazitii n-au nici o problema! Singura diferenta este de cheag. In Romania nu exista cheag si dezastrul a ajuns repede la populatie. In Occident este cheag si deznodamantul este deocamdata amanat. Dar acesta va veni inevitabil.
In fond si la urma urmei, criza actuala provine din faptul ca sistemul financiar bancar a impins la paroxism indatorarea, caci din indatorare prospera! Paroxism, pentru ca datoriile au crescut mult peste cresterea veniturilor!
Si ce remediu au prevazut guvernele si bancile centrale din Occident? Au emis bani din nimic pentru a acoperi datoriile! Adica incearca sa rezolve problema datoriilor facand datorii si mai mari.
Pana ce totul, inevitabil, va exploda sau, ceea ce este aproape acelasi lucru, pana ce o inflatie devastatoare va incepe sa manance de la contribuabili, platitorii ultimi ai datoriilor! Parazitii insa se vor ingrasa in continuare, probabil si mai tare.
In Romania totul a inceput mai devreme. Si secventele sunt mai putine. Caci contribuabilii din Romania - ca din orice tara de la periferie - au de cotizat si in contul contribuabililor de la centru!
Ilie Serbanescu
sursa: bloombiz.ro
Collapse Survival Will Be Tribal: Begin Recruiting Now
Everyone on earth knows how fragile the economy is. It has pushed first-world countries to the brink of revolution. The pushing can’t withstand much more before the pillars of civilization begin to fall. And once they begin falling, there may be no stopping them from collapsing society altogether. Unfortunately, the signs of further economic erosion are disturbingly obvious to the onlookers, and the remaining pillars are hanging on by a thread.
What’s more, the controllers are orchestrating the collapse of the American economy and society right now, albeit in slow motion, but it is already crumbling. The economy and the environment have surpassed their critical tipping points, where dollars will inevitably be worthless and resources will be out-of-reach expensive for most of humanity. We are likely to see astronomically-high gas prices ultimately causing food and medicine to be quickly wiped out of the box stores — first by nesters, then by desperate looters. One only has to witness the panic buying before predicted snow storms to imagine what a sustained blizzard would do. It’s well past the 11th hour and survival and real solutions must rule the day.
The collapse will surely be a desperate time for many, especially those who live in major cities. Even some suburbs will not be immune for those who didn’t see it coming and plan accordingly. Jobs will be far scarcer, money will not go nearly as far for essentials like food and energy, and what will be left of the cities will be roving gangs desperate for resources. The poor helpless citizens will most likely be taken to FEMA “dormitories” as is already being proposed.
If there is one bright spot about the Elite engineering the collapse, it is the fact that they will lose central control of vast areas of the country where control will be in the hands of local tribes, gangs, and clans. There will be communties that planned, adapted through cooperation, as well as armored “Green Zones” that maintain some semblance of normalcy. Paul Craig Roberts wrote that local territories will be run by clans, probably headed by police or a band of armed citizens. Just as these gangs and clans will likely rule over a certain territory, you must begin to create your tribe in order to survive and flourish.
Obviously, you will have to find like-minded folks who may offer skills, resources, and loyalty to your tribe. Friends and family should be the first place to start. If they are still asleep to what is coming, call meetings and have movie parties with wake-up material. Do what you can to get them on board. Remember what Arthur Schopenhauer said about truth:
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Luckily for us, many activists have already done the heavy lifting of ridicule for us. Now, as we surpass the 11th hour, we must march forward with the truth, because we are rapidly approaching the “violently opposed” stage. Sadly, it will only become self-evident to many once it is too late . . . when they are in a FEMA dorm watching their children be dragged off to war.
A good place to begin finding tribe members that are already building local self-sufficient survival infrastructure are organic food cooperatives. These cooperatives usually encourage trade amongst members and may have a variety of local producers of food and other goods and services. If you live in a city, or congested suburbs when a dramatic collapse takes place, your tribe better have an escape plan, route, and sustainable destination. You will have to prepare go-bags with well-organized resources and tools.
In many early civilizations, there was no hierarchical governance; the tribe members simply had different job titles according to their skills and passions. The natural leader had the burden of final decision making; the person most skilled in medicine kept the tribe healthy; and skilled hunters provided food — in these communities no one acquired more material wealth for their efforts than did another. Most importantly, the well-being of each individual was recognized as essential to the overall survival, health, and happiness of the tribe. For those who have a natural aversion to community concepts and equality (Socialism, or Communism), it should be understood that this tribal egalitarianism is based on individual skill contribution — not individual sacrifice to a government structure of ruling Elites.
Preparing for the collapse with a good tribe will be essential for survival — recruiting season is here.
Human World Order
sursa: Activist Post
Toată România intră în grevă fiscală!
Vrând, nevrând. Deja, prea puțini mai plătesc impozite în România, iar pentru asta sunt pedepsiți după principiul “bate calul care trage”. Întrebarea e “când” – nu “dacă” – va rămâne statul cu căruța-n drum.
În România, statul pretinde că ar trebui să primească o taxă pe muncă de 45%. Nu prea reușește să-i obțină. Doar un milion de salariați care nu lucrează la stat declară mai mult decât salariul pe economie. În rest, oamenii își obțin veniturile sub diverse alte forme. Legale (drepturi de autor, PFA, firmă, offshore etc.) sau ilegale (bani în palmă, la negru). Ce face statul în situația asta? Îi pedepsește pe cei care își declară totuși veniturile, pentru că pe ceilalți nu se pricepe să-i găsească.
Exact ca profesorii tembeli care-i pedepsesc pentru chiul în masă tocmai pe puținii elevi rămași în clasă, după care se miră că nu mai vine nimeni la orele lor.
Impozitarea muncii este enormă pentru România. Pentru că nu suntem o țară dezvoltată, cu care ne-ar plăcea să ne comparăm, iar contribuabilii au probleme în a-și îndestula foamea înainte de-a plăti iluzorii dar scumpe servicii publice.
Potrivit Eurostat, rata medie de taxare a muncii a fost în 2008 de 40,9%. Era deja a opta cea mai mare din UE. În 2009, guvernul a mărit CAS cu 3,3 puncte, ducând România aproape de vârful piramidei. Un stat inteligent, Irlanda, se mulțumește cu 20%.
Dar n-avem cotă unică?
O mare minciună! Cota unică este doar o mică parte din ce pretinde statul. În realitate, avem doar un impozit foarte mare pentru toată lumea. Chiar și pentru un salariu minim pe economie, un angajator are costuri de 40%. Știți cât este salariul minim în România? 600 de lei brut. Știți ce înseamnă 600 de lei? Nimic! Angajatorul plătește 773 de lei iar angajatul primește 461. Altfel spus, pentru un salariu de mizerie, de 110 euro, statul pretinde să fi încasat deja 75 de euro. Iar gradul de impozitare ajunge rapid la 45%, înainte ca salariul net să ajungă la 1.000 de lei.
Din banii ăștia ar trebui să vadă pensii, sănătate, educație, drumuri, nu-i așa? Că doar de-aia ele există în statele cu impozite mari, pentru că statul “are bani”. Fals, fals, fals, fals!
E adevărat, România colectează la bugetele naționale mult mai puțin decât țările cu care ne-ar plăcea să ne comparăm: 32% în loc de 40-45%. Șia sta nu pentru că taxele sunt mici, ci dimpotrivă, pentru că sunt atât de mari încât aproape nimeni nu le mai plătește. De cheltuit, România cheltuie 40% din PIB, față de 50% din alte țări. Poate am fi tentați să credem că cei 10% diferență se traduc în pensii mici, educație proastă și sănătate lipsă. Nu-i așa!
În România, pensiile costă doar 10% din PIB. Majoritatea țărilor UE plătesc în medie 15 sau chiar mai mult. La sănătate se duc 4% din PIB, jumătate față de alte țări, iar la educație 5%, deci cu un procent-două sub medie. În total, România cheltuie pentru pensii educație și sănătate maximum 20% din PIB. Majoritaea țărilor UE cheltuie cel puțin 30%! Pentru administrație, armată, poliție, investiții și prostii, România cheltuie 20%. Celelalte țări cheltuie maximum 20%. În banii ăștia, ei au și drumuri. Noi, nu!
Și totuși, statul plânge după bani și cere mai mult.
Oare cât de mare trebuie să fie frustrarea dacă ești printre cei un milion care încă mai plătesc și vezi cum în jurul tău toată lumea caută soluții să nu mai dea niciun ban? Sunt două rezolvări: 1. Să o faci în continuare, cu încrederea că statul va dovedi în cele din urmă că știe ce să facă cu banii tăi sau 2. să forțezi statul să ceară doar prețul corect pentru serviciile oferite și să folosească banii cu cap.
Nu doar persoanele fizice autorizate sau “autorii” ar trebui să facă grevă fiscală, ci – mai ales – cei un milion de oameni care își declară întreg contractul de muncă. Cinstit vorbind, ei sunt adevărații și eternii nedreptățiți ai sistemului: caii care trag.
Nu sunt puși să stea la coadă, dar asta-i costă jumătate din salariu. Poate că pentru o parte din banii ăștia ar sta. Plătesc pentru “sănătate” o zecime din salariu, adică sute sau uneori mii de lei pe lună, dar primesc exact aceleași servicii ca unul care a plătit câteva zeci de lei sau de cele mai multe ori nimic. Plătesc pentru pensii un sfert din costul total suportat de angajator, dar nu sunt siguri că vor mai primi ceva, dintr-un sistem de colectare de care toată lumea fuge.
Da, de aici ar trebui să înceapă greva fiscală. Cereți ca statul să impoziteze munca rezonabil, cu 25%, oricum asta este suma pe care majoritatea contribuabililor sunt dispuși să o dea și o dau în realitate. S-ar putea ca birocrații să se sperie că rămân fără bani la “bugete”, dar asta doar dacă sunt bătuți în cap. Atunci când contribuabilul este motivat și are încredere, banii vin mai ușor. Dacă statul va folosi cei 25% exclusiv pentru plata pensiilor, milioane își vor declara brusc veniturile salariale. De ce? Pentru că este pe palierul formelor alternative de impozitare (profit+dividende, chirii etc) însă banii vor ajunge să se contabilizeze la pensie. Astfel se pot strânge ușor cei 10% din PIB necesari pensionarilor. Restul calculelor sunt aici: sănătatea se poate plăti din jumătate din sumele încasate ca TVA (5% din PIB), cealaltă jumătate poate merge pentru educație (5% din PIB). În felul acesta, contribuie toată lumea, după nevoi. Impozitele pe profit și dividende sau orice alte câștiguri de capital pot finanța ușor alocațiile, ajutoarele de șomaj și alte ajutoare sociale (4-5% din PIB). Iar administrația, armata, poliția, compania de drumuri ar trebui să-și împartă taxele pe proprietate, redevențele și accizele. Dacă le colectează temeinic, pot ajunge împreună la alte 10% din PIB.
Nu-i așa că pare simplu? Este simplu!
Însă statul își permite să fie incompetent atâta timp cât cei care finanțează tac și înghit. Deja se bazează pe asta. Taxa pe muncă de 45% este mult superioară taxei pe capital, de 16%. În mod normal, n-ar trebui să fie nicio diferență. De ce există totuși? Deoarece capitalul și-a impus de mult punctul de vedere. I-a demonstrat statului că poate oricând să circule liber și să se așeze acolo unde se simte mai bine. În schimb, despre muncă statul crede că este captivă. Uneori are dreptate. În statul german, sau francez sau belgian sau oricare unde impozitele sunt foarte mari, munca este captivă pentru că acolo oamenilor le place să stea acolo, chiar primesc servicii bune de banii ăia așa nu le arde să plece. Cel mult, își plimbă salariile prin off-shore-uri. În România, statul se înșeală teribil. Nu doar că granițele sunt deschise, însă deplasarea fizică nici măcar nu este necesară. Deja, prea mulți pot lucra de acasă pentru un angajator din orice colț al lumii și nu au niciun motiv să-și declare veniturile. De fapt, nu sunt nici măcar obligați să cheltuiască banii aici, așa că statul nu se alege nici cu TVA.
În 20 de ani, statul român n-a înțeles să se schimbe și să lucreze în favoarea cetățenilor săi. Funcționează încă după principiile comerțului socialist. Galantare goale, marfă – rar, când este – e proastă, vânzători acri, dar care pentru o șpăguță rezolvă orice. Pentru privilegiați, în schimb, există pensii speciale, spitale de lux iar Poliția vine “la domiciliu” să le facă buletinele.
Un astfel de model nu se reformează niciodată de bună voie. Însă amenințarea falimentului poate face minuni peste noapte. Când va deveni clar că statul este de fapt dependent de contribuabili, îi va trata pe toți ca pe niște privilegiați. Așa este firesc și așa se întâmplă în țările cu care am dori să ne comparăm. Numai că spre deosebire de noi, contribuabililor de acolo batjocura nu li se pare normală.
Când la batjocura taxelor mari și degeaba se adaugă și batjocura statului la coadă, este prea mult. Dar asta nu trebuie să se transforme într-un avantaj de negociere pentru stat. Cozile trebuie să dispară, dar nu ca o favoare în schimbul căreia guvernul să pretindă orice nivel de taxare ci pur și simplu pentru că ele n-ar fi trebuit să existe niciodată. De-abia apoi începe negocierea.
Da, este timpul pentru o grevă fiscală. Una generalizată și perfect legală: sunt zeci de modalități legale și legitime prin care din câștigurile tale să dai statului atât cât știi tu că merită, nu atât cât crede el.
Lucian Davidescu
sursa: standard.ro
Sclavii şi stăpânii de sclavi
Profitorii perioadei post-decembriste s-au transformat în stăpâni. Au domenii, reguli şi grupuri de sclavi clar definite.
Povestea mea începe de la remarca unui individ care mergea alături de un altul. Primul s-a adresat celui de-al doilea: „Eşti sclavul meu“! Celălalt, umil, i-a răspuns: „Aveţi dreptate, şefu’!“ Am dorit să văd care e diferenţa dintre cei doi: unul este sclav, şi altul, stăpân de sclavi. Mi-am dat seama că lumea nu s-a schimbat niciodată. Totdeauna a fost formată din sclavi şi stăpâni. Uneori s-au schimbat lucrurile în partea de recuzită a spectacolului, dar relaţiile au fost aceleaşi: stăpânul, plin de aur şi de aere, iar sclavul, umil, dar jinduind la poziţia stăpânului. De unde acest tip de relaţie? Din lipsa de educaţie şi de demnitate. Populaţia României este împărţită, în bună măsură, în aceste două categorii. Sigur, există destule excepţii. Mai scapă unii, care s-au transformat în analişti. Când vorbim de analişti, vorbim şi de expertiză sau, de multe ori, de lipsa ei. Recunoaşteţi în mass-media o groază de analişti „buni“ la toate. Ei sunt specialişti în: cultura de varză, fotbal, fizică nucleară şi mondenităţi. Vorbesc cu naturaleţe, încât crezi că ori ştiu care este lumea reală, ori îi dispreţuiesc pe cei care-i privesc.
Iată cum, în lumea sclavilor şi a stăpânilor, educaţia nu contează, iar băieţii descurcăreţi sunt alături de stăpâni. Profitorii perioadei postdecembriste s-au transformat în stăpâni. Au domenii, reguli şi grupuri de sclavi clar definite. Ce face supusul care nu vrea să se supună? Caută variante de salvare. Ele pot însemna: educaţia, părăsirea României sau anonimatul. Stăpânii naţionali devin sclavi internaţionali. Manualul stăpânului include: sclavul nu ştie, dacă ştie trebuie să simuleze că nu ştie; sclavul este umil, dacă nu este umil, trebuie să-şi dea silinţa să facă plăcere stăpânului; face parte dintr-o castă inferioară şi nu va fi niciodată din cea a stăpânului; nu are opinii; sclavii nu se pot întâlni în grup prea mare. Credeţi că lumea asta este a lui Orwell sau este reală? Anestezierea simţurilor prin eliminarea educaţiei este dorinţa stăpânilor de a perpetua o stare care le oferă posibilităţi nelimitate de a batjocori milioane de oameni. Stăpânii de sclavi sunt oriunde: în lumea politicii, a afacerilor. Ei creează contexte în care teama şi lipsa de informaţii sunt elementele unei reacţii din care rezultă supunerea. Nu poate exista un parteneriat între stăpân şi sclav.
Mă adresez sclavilor, nu stăpânilor. Ei au şansa să se schimbe, pentru că nu mai au nicio scuză să fie umili şi neştiutori. Sclavii epocilor anterioare nu aveau informaţii. Acum, există şansa informării, pentru că în lumea actuală este o reţea prin care putem schimba informaţii şi atitudini. Nu trebuie acceptată ideea că oamenii au merite prin înaintaşi. Sclavul va trebui să le spună copiilor că este mai bine să caute în interiorul lor decât în interiorul altora. Mă întreb dacă la rândurile de mai sus vor comenta mai mult sclavii sau stăpânii. De analişti nu mai spun.
Prof. Univ. Dr. Paul MARINESCU, Universitatea din Bucureşti
sursa: capitalul.ro
Unplug the Signal: The Truth Will Not Be Televised
A flow of information is constantly streaming from the television set; a bombardment of words and pictures. The speed at which this information is communicated makes it easy for the signal to take control, switching the viewer’s brain to stand-by as information is absorbed without analysis or question. Today the television’s constant signal shapes the conclusions of the masses and produces the collective norm. The signal prescribes what is news and what is truth through the words of so-called experts and authorities, gelding the consciousness and independent thoughts of those subjected to it. Through television, the masses can be made to accept the most monstrous distortions of reality. The signal is a chill wind of continuous oppression over the minds of the masses. It controls the management of society and culture, creating uniformity across all subjects.
The fuel for this vehicle of mass deception is a technique known as perception management where an array of psychological techniques are used to alter the truth, leading the viewer to a desired conclusion. Some call this spin or propaganda while others know it as lying. According to Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister for Adolph Hitler, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it… It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Most of what can be found on the nightly news is nothing but advertisements selling more government and a false reality that benefits only those in control. Television is the dictator of information; newspaper and radio are the whisper campaign of the television’s message.
It is expected that Americans will consistently prescribe to the doctrine of the television. It is subtly communicated that one should stay within the collective and never challenge the message, for doing so may be considered an aggression towards culture. The message is, “Be a good consumer; always obey authority; you know nothing; listen only to experts; be content and never question or express new ideas.” This signal is being broadcast across millions of screens, indoctrinating the unconscious minds of those who choose this as their only reality. Self-censorship occurs when these individuals become so deeply indoctrinated that they are afraid to discuss any information outside the paradigm of television-created culture; they police their thoughts to ensure they won’t conflict with this culture. Sadly, many people’s reality today does not allow any outside information to process, instead it is written off as conspiracy or blatant lies. Our consciousness has been destroyed so much that fiction has become reality. An entire lifestyle of poisonous foods, pharmaceuticals, and fluoridated water are accepted as safe and sold to us at the cost of our health and well being.
Those of the establishment are using the incredibly powerful weapon of mass psychology as a method of controlling the minds of the masses and altering the behavior of individuals. Edward Bernays, a pioneer in the field of public relations in the 20th century, applied Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis to manipulate the masses by engineering consent. According to Bernays, “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.” Advertisers and psychologists of the billion dollar culture creation industry manufacture trends through the proliferation of insecurities; and manipulating desires and emotions. These concepts are also employed to control how individuals think about politics, as well as the possibilities and limitations within society. Those wielding power within our streams of mass communication market their plans into each generation as individuals adopt specific ways of thinking and never suspect that all the major events and trends within their lifetime are actually planned by an elite few before they are even born. In our society today, culture is created from the top down. Virtually all forms of culture are created by the ruling class to build a false sense of reality, ensure social compliance, and control the future course of cultural evolution.
Predictive programming is a tool used by the establishment to acclimate the public to new ideas, trends, beliefs, and threats. It is used through television by including certain situations or ideas within the plots of many fictional shows, familiarizing the viewer with these concepts no matter what they may be watching. When similar situations occur or like ideas are circulated in the world we think that these particular things are quite natural for we have unknowingly been made familiar with them through television. By viewing nearly any popular show on television, one can see the same propaganda that will be aired on the nightly news. Propaganda on a wide array of subjects has been interwoven into a great number of television shows. Just a few of these subjects include global warming, vaccinations, torture, terrorism, national security, the militarization of police, and the degradation of the family unit. Through predictive programming, television shapes culture and prevents individuals from asking questions.
Crises are created on a daily basis and broadcast across the airwaves to keep individuals in a state of panic and fear. Whether it be the threat of a pandemic or terrorism, the constant state of crisis has created a form of mental illness as we are slowly acclimated into an age of crisis. By using Hegelian dialectic, the television promotes the problem, guides our reaction, and presents the solution. The problem of terrorism was exclaimed, a strong emotional response was evoked, and it was stated that our rights need be sacrificed in order to protect us from the threat. We’ve lost personal sovereignty under the guise of terrorism; we’re stopped and searched; we’re watched by cameras as we go about our lives; and we’re encouraged to spy on our neighbors. We have been trained to accept the life of a prisoner.
America is in a state of enlightened despotism where most individuals live only to satisfy selfish inner desires and remain ignorant of the state of the world around them. In most public places one can find a television transmitting propaganda around the clock ensuring the masses remain focused on trivial matters. From birth we take the world as it’s presented on television. We don’t question it and any serious criticism of TV is becoming psychologically impossible in society. Who would suspect getting born into a world where everything around you is a continuous lie? The youth of today are convinced that the experts and personalities on television are the authority of credible information while parents and older generations are foolish with dated ideas. Children are conditioned to disconnect from what is truly important to their well being and instead focus on mindless trivia, sports, celebrity gossip, and buying an array of material things. They invest their psychological worth in fantasy characters on television while ignoring or even scorning individuals contributing to the betterment of humanity. They are discouraged from getting involved in their local community and often lack the ability to think independently or to resist corruption. As their children’s minds are molded by television, there is barely a murmur from the public.
For over half a century, our society has lived under this signal of mental programming and conditioning. The message is clear: don’t be a leader, don’t engage in critical thinking, and don’t care about the people in your life. Until individuals become aware of the current information war, our standard of living and our liberties will continue to be degraded and we will continue to lose communities and meaningful relationships between people. Currently, pockets of resistance are beginning to spring up everywhere as some unplug the signal and regain control of their own thoughts. Informed individuals are canceling their cable and satellite subscriptions and instead spending time with their families and children while participating in meaningful experiences. They are seeking alternative news sources. They are reading about those who wield incredible influence over culture like Edward Bernays, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Charles Galton Darwin, Plato, Bertrand Russell, and Aldous Huxley. However, it is a continuous battle to educate the masses for the television remains our greatest threat to individual sovereignty and the largest obstacle to becoming a truly informed individual. Fortunately, unplugging from the signal is easy. The television can simply be turned off. Through doing so, you may realize nearly our entire world is now a hoax; things once known as truth are fake. We have been trained like dogs to be obedient to our television; our master has had our minds on a tight leash. Let us never forget the truth will not be televised.
Nathan Janes
sursa: Pupaganda.com
Conclusive: Global Distribution of Rockefeller-Funded Anti-Fertility Vaccine Coordinated by WHO
In addition to the recent PrisonPlanet-exclusive Rockefeller Foundation Developed Vaccines For “Mass-Scale” Fertility Reduction — which outlines the Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts in the 1960s funding research into so-called “anti-fertility vaccines”– another series of documents has surfaced, proving beyond any doubt that the UN Population Fund, World Bank and World Health Organization picked up on it, further developing it under responsibility of a “Task Force on Vaccines for Fertility Regulation”.
Just four years after the Rockefeller Foundation launched massive funding-operations into anti-fertility vaccines, the Task Force was created under auspices of the World Health Organization, World Bank and UN Population Fund. Its mission,according to one of its members, to support:
“basic and clinical research on the development of birth control vaccines directed against thegametes or the preimplantation embryo. These studies have involved the use of advanced procedures in peptide chemistry, hybridoma technology and molecular genetics as well as the evaluation of a number of novel approaches in general vaccinology. As a result of this international, collaborative effort, a prototype anti-HCG vaccine is now undergoing clinical testing, raising the prospect that a totally new family planning method may be available before the end of the current decade.”
In regards to the scope of the Task Force’s jurisdiction, the Biotechnology and Development Monitor reported:
“The Task Force acts as a global coordinating body for anti-fertility vaccine R&D in the various working groups and supports research on different approaches, such as anti-sperm and anti-ovum vaccines and vaccines designed to neutralize the biological functions of hCG. The Task Force has succeeded in developing a prototype of an anti-hCG-vaccine.”
One of the Task Force members, P.D. Griffin, outlined the purpose and trajectory of these Fertility Regulating Vaccines. Griffin:
“The Task Force has continued to coordinate its research activities with other vaccine development programmes within WHO and with other international and national programmes engaged in the development of fertility regulating vaccines.”
Griffin also admitted to the fact that one of the purposes of the vaccines is the implementation in developing countries. Griffin:
“If vaccines could be developed which could safely and effectively inhibit fertility, without producing unacceptable side effects, they would be an attractive addition to the present armamentarium of fertility regulating methods and would be likely to have a significant impact on family planning programmes.”
Also, one of the advantages of the FRVs over “currently available methods of fertility regulation” the Task Force states, is the following (179):
“low manufacturing cost and ease of delivery within existing health services.”
Already in 1978, the WHO’s Task Force (then called Task Force on Immunological Methods for Fertility Regulation) underlined the usefulness of these vaccines in regards to the possibility of “large scale synthesis and manufacture” of the vaccine:
“The potential advantages of an immunological approach to fertility regulation can be summarized as follows: (a) the possibility of infrequent administration, possibly by paramedical personnel; (b) the use of antigens or antigen fragments, which are not pharmacologically active; and (c) in the case of antigens of known chemical structure, there is the possibility of large-scale synthesis and manufacture of vaccine at relatively low cost.”
In 1976, the WHO Expanded Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction published a report, stating:
“In 1972 the Organization (…) expanded its programme of research in human reproduction to provide an international focus for an intensified effort to improve existing methods of fertility regulation, to develop new methods and to assist national authorities in devising the best ways of providing them on a continuing basis. The programme is closely integrated with other WHO research on the delivery of family planning care by health services, which in turn feeds into WHO’s technical assistance programme to governments at the service level.”
Although the term “Anti-Fertility Vaccine”, coined by the Rockefeller Foundation, was replaced by the more bureaucratic sounding “Fertility Regulating Vaccine (FRV), the programme was obviously the same. Besides, The time line shows conclusively that the WHO, UN Population Fund and World Bank continued on a path outlined by the Rockefellers in the late 1960s. By extensions, it proves that all these organization are perfectly interlocked, best captured under the header “Scientific Dictatorship”. The relationshipbetween the WHO and the Rockefeller Foundation is intense. In the 1986 bulletin of the World Health Organization, this relationship is being described in some detail. While researching the effectiveness of “gossypol” as an “antifertility agent”, the bulletin states:
“The Rockefeller Foundation has supported limited clinical trials in China and smallscale clinical studies in Brazil and Austria. The dose administered in the current Chinese trial has been reduced from 20 mg to 10-15 mg/day during the loading phase in order to see if severe oligospermia rather than consistent azoospermia would be adequate for an acceptable, non-toxic and reversible effect. Meanwhile, both the WHO human reproduction programme and the Rockefeller Foundation are supporting animal studies to better define the mechanism of action of gossypol.”
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In August of 1992, a series of meetings was held in Geneva, Switzerland, regarding “fertility regulating vaccines”. According to the document Fertility Regulating Vaccines (classified by the WHO with a limited distribution) present at those meetings were scientists and clinicians from all over the globe, including then biomedical researcher of the American Agency for International development, and current research-chief of USAID, Mr. Jeff Spieler.
In 1986 Mr. Spieler declared:
“A new approach to fertility regulation is the development of vaccines directed against human substances required for reproduction. Potential candidates for immunological interference include reproductive hormones, ovum and sperm antigens, and antigens derived from embryonic or fetal tissue.(…). An antifertility vaccine must be capable of safely and effectively inhibiting a human substance, which would need somehow to be rendered antigenic. A fertility-regulating vaccine, moreover, would have to produce and sustain effective immunity in at least 95% of the vaccinated population, a level of protection rarely achieved even with the most successful viral and bacterial vaccines. But while these challenges looked insuperable just a few years ago, recent advances in biotechnology- particularly in the fields of molecular biology, genetic engineering and monoclonal antibody production- are bringing antifertility vaccines into the realm of the feasible.”
“Vaccines interfering with sperm function and fertilization could be available for human testing by the early 1990s”, Spieler wrote.
In order for widespread use of these vaccines, Spieler writes, the vaccine must conquer “variations in individual responses to immunization with fertility-regulating vaccines”.
“Research”, he goes on to say,”is also needed in the field of “basic vaccinology”, to find the best carrier proteins, adjuvants, vehicles and delivery systems.”
In the 1992 document, the problem of “variations in individual responses” is also discussed:
“Because of the genetic diversity of human populations”, states the document, “immune responses to vaccines often show marked differences from one individual to another in terms of magnitude and duration. These differences may be partly or even completely overcome with appropriately engineered FRVs (Fertility Regulating Vaccines) and by improvements in our understanding of what is required to develop and control the immune response elicited by different vaccines.”
The picture emerging from these facts is clear. The WHO, as a global coordinating body, has since the early 70s continued the development of the Rockefeller-funded “anti-fertility vaccine”. What also is becoming clear, is that extensive research has been done to the delivery systems in which these anti-fertility components can be buried, such as regular anti-viral vaccines. It’s a mass-scale anti-fertilization programme with the aim of reducing the world’s population: a dream long cherished by the global elite.
Jurriaan Maessen
sursa: Infowars.com
10 Practical Steps That You Can Take To Insulate Yourself (At Least Somewhat) From The Coming Economic Collapse
Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that this “recession” will end and that the “good times” will return soon, but a growing minority of Americans are starting to realize that things are fundamentally changing and that they better start preparing for what is ahead. These “preppers” come from all over the political spectrum and from every age group. More than at any other time in modern history, the American people lack faith in the U.S. economic system. In dozens of previous columns, I have detailed the horrific economic problems that we are now facing in excruciating detail. Many readers have started to complain that all I do is “scare” people and that I don’t provide any practical solutions. Well, not everyone can move to Montana and start a llama farm, but hopefully this article will give people some practical steps that they can take to insulate themselves (at least to an extent) from the coming economic collapse.
But before I get into what people need to do, let’s take a minute to understand just how bad things are getting out there. The economic numbers in the headlines go up and down and it can all be very confusing to most Americans.
However, there are two long-term trends that are very clear and that anyone can understand….
#1) The United States is getting poorer and is bleeding jobs every single month.
#2) The United States is getting into more debt every single month.
When you mention the trade deficit, most Americans roll their eyes and stop listening. But that is a huge mistake, because the trade deficit is absolutely central to our problems.
Every single month, Americans buy far, far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Every single month tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the country than comes into it.
That means that every single month the United States is getting poorer.
The excess goods and services that we buy from the rest of the world get “consumed” and the rest of the world ends up with more money than when they started.
Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars leave the United States and don’t return. The transfer of wealth that this represents is astounding.
But not only are we bleeding wealth, we are also bleeding jobs every single month.
The millions of jobs that the U.S. economy is losing to China, India and dozens of third world nations are not going to come back. Middle class Americans have been placed in direct competition for jobs with workers on the other side of the world who are more than happy to work for little more than slave labor wages. Until this changes the U.S. economy is going to continue to hemorrhage jobs.
The U.S. government has helped to mask much of this economic bleeding by unprecedented amounts of government spending and debt, but now the U.S. national debt exceeds 13 trillion dollars and is getting worse every single month. Not only that, but state and local governments all over America are getting into ridiculous amounts of debt.
So, what we have got is a country that gets poorer every single month and loses jobs to other countries every single month and that has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world which also gets worse every single month.
Needless to say, this cannot last indefinitely. Eventually the whole thing is just going to collapse like a house of cards.
So what can we each individually do to somewhat insulate ourselves from the economic problems that are coming?….
1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, “the borrower is the servant of the lender”, is so incredibly true. The key to insulating yourself from an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent. You don’t want a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get bad out there.
2 - Find New Sources Of Income: In 2010, there simply is not such a thing as job security. If you are dependent on a job (“just over broke”) for 100% of your income, you are in a very bad position. There are thousands of different ways to make extra money. What you don’t want to do is to have all of your eggs in one basket. One day when the economy melts down and you are out of a job are you going to be destitute or are you going to be okay?
3 – Reduce Your Expenses: Many Americans have left the rat race and have found ways to live on half or even on a quarter of what they were making previously. It is possible – if you are willing to reduce your expenses. In the future times are going to be tougher, so learn to start living with less today.
4 – Learn To Grow Your Own Food: Today the vast majority of Americans are completely dependent on being able to run down to the supermarket or to the local Wal-Mart to buy food. But what happens when the U.S. dollar declines dramatically in value and it costs ten bucks to buy a loaf of bread? If you learn to grow your own food (even if is just a small garden) you will be insulating yourself against rising food prices.
5 – Make Sure You Have A Reliable Water Supply: Water shortages are popping up all over the globe. Water is quickly becoming one of the “hottest” commodities out there. Even in the United States, water shortages have been making headline news recently. As we move into the future, it will be imperative for you and your family to have a reliable source of water. Some Americans have learned to collect rainwater and many others are using advanced technology such as atmospheric water generators to provide water for their families. But whatever you do, make sure that you are not caught without a decent source of water in the years ahead.
6 – Buy Land: This is a tough one, because prices are still quite high. However, as we have written previously, home prices are going to be declining over the coming months, and eventually there are going to be some really great deals out there. The truth is that you don’t want to wait too long either, because once Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s inflationary policies totally tank the value of the U.S. dollar, the price of everything (including land) is going to go sky high. If you are able to buy land when prices are low, that is going to insulate you a great deal from the rising housing costs that will occur when the U.S dollar does totally go into the tank.
7 – Get Off The Grid: An increasing number of Americans are going “off the grid”. Essentially what that means is that they are attempting to operate independently of the utility companies. In particular, going “off the grid” will enable you to insulate yourself from the rapidly rising energy prices that we are going to see in the future. If you are able to produce energy for your own home, you won’t be freaking out like your neighbors are when electricity prices triple someday.
8 – Store Non-Perishable Supplies: Non-perishable supplies are one investment that is sure to go up in value. Not that you would resell them. You store up non-perishable supplies because you are going to need them someday. So why not stock up on the things that you are going to need now before they double or triple in price in the future? Your money is not ever going to stretch any farther than it does right now.
9 – Develop Stronger Relationships: Americans have become very insular creatures. We act like we don’t need anyone or anything. But the truth is that as the economy melts down we are going to need each other. It is those that are developing strong relationships with family and friends right now that will be able to depend on them when times get hard.
10 – Get Educated And Stay Flexible: When times are stable, it is not that important to be informed because things pretty much stay the same. However, when things are rapidly changing it is imperative to get educated and to stay informed so that you will know what to do. The times ahead are going to require us all to be very flexible, and it is those who are willing to adapt that will do the best when things get tough.
sursa: theeconomiccollapseblog.com
China Buys Euros as Fear of World Depression Grows
The US Treasury has just announced that China’s official holdings of U.S. Treasury securities declined by about $30 billion between April and May of this year, from about $900 billion to some $868 billion. According to the US authorities, this means that Chinese holdings of US government paper are now at the lowest level in the past year. A 2% to 3% decline in a month does not qualify as massive dumping, but simply means that China is in the process of diversification. It is also very likely that China has more U.S. Treasury bonds than this official count would indicate, quite possibly through proxy purchases via Hong Kong and other places.
With the sales of existing homes in the United States falling by 27% this morning, together with disastrous statistics regarding unemployment and foreclosures, it ought to be obvious that the US economy is in depression. Even experts interviewed on CNBC are beginning to wake up to this obvious fact.
World Bond Bubble
On August 24, the Treasury’s two-year note reached its highest price in recorded history, meaning that the yield was at a record low. The entire world is piling into short-term U.S. Treasury paper, and many buyers cannot get enough. This makes a mockery out of the right wing reactionary refrain that the US equals Greece and soon will be unable to borrow. If, according to the crackpot Austrian theory, markets know things that individual humans cannot know, then surely the market is signaling a great desire for T
Treasury bills and Treasury notes at the short end. The main reason for this demand is of course fear and panic – coming from the growing awareness that the world is indeed experiencing the second wave of a world economic depression of colossal proportions.
There is now a large-scale international bond bubble involving, among others, US treasuries and German Bunds. Since the flash crash of May 6, many investors have fled the stock markets entirely. It is still too soon to sound the alarm on deflation ahead, but deflation has now appeared over the horizon as a concrete possibility – partly because so many major financial players are now convinced that deflation is the wave of the future. If this were to come about, it would mean a depression looking much more like 1929-1933 than the relatively more mild situation we have experienced over the last two years. The depression may be taking a turn toward something far more excruciating for the masses of the population. One by-product of that would be vastly decreased popular gullibility for the anti-government recipes of the libertarian Austrian school, which are tailored for those who have money, and which have very little appeal to people who are unemployed, homeless, and starving.
Also on August 24, the Japanese yen hit a 15-year high compared to the dollar, and a nine-year high compared to the euro. This kind of currency championship is a Pyrrhic victory which nobody wants, since it means the Japanese exports are in the process of being strangled. This is true currency chaos and world depression at the same time, pointing once again towards the urgent need to restore the fixed rate system of Bretton Woods, which was destroyed 39 years ago this month by Nixon and Kissinger, urged on by Milton Friedman and other snake oileconomists.
For the past year, the main thrust of the London and New York financial centers has been the effort to export the Depression into Europe by means of a speculative attack on the government bonds of Greece, Spain, Portugal, and some other countries, all designed to provoke a panicked flight out of the euro, which would in turn allow the Anglo-Americans to loot and asset strip the accumulated wealth of the old continent. This was not a market event, but it orchestrated strategic attack, inspired by such figures as Soros, Einhorn, and Paulson. During July and the first half of August, it became apparent that this Blitzkrieg as originally planned had failed to reach its objectives. But the Anglo-Americans, one-trick ponies as always, maybe persisting in the assault.
China Blocks US-UK Attack On Euro
The Anglo-American hedge fund attack, as we have documented here, employed credit default swaps as the primary weapon against Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish government bonds. The failure of London and New York to induce a panic flight out of the euro during the May-June timeframe was partly results of the German self-defense measures, involving bans on naked credit default swaps and bans on naked shorting of German equities. In addition to this, Chinese support for the euro has played a decisive role.
There is every indication that the Chinese made a decision not to allow the destruction of the euro during the late spring and early summer. That decision was technical, commercial, and political at the same time. The technical part was the China sought to re-balance the basket of currencies it uses to maintain the international stability of the renminbi. As the euro looms larger in Chinese trade, purchases of euros and Eurobonds are in order. It is also worth pointing out that the Chinese have not delivered on their promise to radically raise the international value of the renminbi, as hysterically demanded by Tiny Tim Geithner and others.
The commercial and political sides of Chinese support for the euro were reflected in the June visit of the Chinese vice prime minister to Greece, notably to the port of Piraeus. This Chinese envoy signed more than a dozen important economic cooperation deals, including shipping and shipbuilding, telecom, and container ports. The deputy Greek finance minister, Theodoros Pangalos, was quoted as saying: “The Chinese want a gateway into Europe. They are not like these Wall Street [blankety-blanks], pushing financial investments on paper. The Chinese deal in real things, in merchandise. And they will help the real economy in Greece.”1 The emphasis on the production of tangible physical commodities by the Chinese, in contrast to Wall Street’s reliance on a mass of toxic and kited derivatives, points to the real basis of Chinese economic ascendancy. If the Chinese are wise, they will not go overboard with short-term greed, but rather be ready for generous concessions to the Greek labor movement, so as to get the unions on their side. In any case, these euro-denominated Greek purchases are one obvious reason why Beijing is holding fewer greenbacks and more euros.
Will Hungary, Ireland, or Budget Austerity Sink The Euro?
The Anglo Americans are still beside themselves with rage and consternation over the fact that their original attack on the euro has not worked. But since about the middle of August, the euro has fallen from over $1.30 to about $1.26 or thereabouts. Part of this is due to the decline of the New York Stock market, given the long-standing dollar-Dow trade-off. Another negative factor for the euro is doubtless the cruel and stupid deflationary policies introduced by many EU governments in a craven attempt to ward off further speculative attacks. In a depression, government spending is the main thing that supports the entire economy, so cutting the government budget is a recipe for economic disaster, as some EU countries are now being reminded. Another factor is simply the month of August, when Catholic Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, and Bavaria, tends to shut down.
Where Will The Next Panic Break Out?
The world is now in a time of mixed signals and cross-currents. The forces of depression, in the form of $1.5 quadrillion of toxic and kited derivatives, are most emphatically still lurking, and since they have not been shredded, canceled, deleted, outlawed or abrogated, they will soon find a way to explode once again. Serious financial observers are now waiting to see where the next currency or banking panic will come. Over the last day or two, there have been reports of heavy selling of the Hungarian forint, which is inside the EU but not part of Euroland. Late on August 24, Standard & Poor’s announced a major downgrade of Irish debt, switching to a negative outlook. If the panic comes in Hungary or Ireland, then the euro could indeed go down. CNBC traders, in response to the question of how to make money off the crisis of the Hungarian currency, immediately replied that the way to do that was to short the stocks of Austrian banks, who hold much Hungarian debt. From here, the crisis would move on to Germany, and soon the entire continent would be back in the soup. The British pound sterling also has massive vulnerabilities to being the next monetary unit to crash.
But the most likely victim remains Wall Street itself. A glance at the stock chart of Bank of America over the past three months shows what any technical analyst would regard as a very ugly picture. There are rumblings that Citibank may be heading towards liquidity trouble in September and October. For those who like to read the tea leaves, CNBC’s Jim Cramer today responded to a question about Citigroup by emphatically declaiming “Stick with Citi,” and “Stick with Pandit.” Citigroup, he affirmed, remained his “favorite speculation.” For contrarians who have learned something over the past two years, this may already be enough to head for the hills. In any case, if the banking panic breaks out in New York, then the dollar may turn out to be the victim.
Bernanke and QE2
Today also brought the publication of the August 10 minutes of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. These minutes reveal a serious split in the management committee of the US financier oligarchy. Bernanke and his majority are afraid of deflation, and want a new round of quantitative easing – already dubbed QE2 by the Street. But there is also a significant Austro-monetarist reactionary minority who regard inflation as the greater evil, and to whom a deflationary crash would not be unwelcome, as libertarian rantings over many decades have made plain. These tensions may well be on display at the Federal Reserve’s annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of this week.
Another CNBC analyst has ventured to predict a ragged decline of the Dow to about 5,000 over the months ahead. If that begins to happen, then the danger of deflation will be enhanced, and in such a scenario the dollar would actually tend to increase in value compared to other currencies. On the other hand, Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s trademark is his strategy for flooding the system with bailouts and other liquidity if deflation looms. Bernanke is the captain of that ship of fools known as the QE2. The one certainty is that there is no recovery, and that the second wave of a world economic depression dominates the world.
Webster G. Tarpley
sursa: TARPLEY.net
Un altfel de razboi, cu milioane de victime
Decidentii zilei nu se opresc. Nu au nici cea mai vaga intentie de a se opri din razboiul pe care l-au declansat impotriva populatiei. Se cred stapanii absoluti ai Romaniei. Refuza sa dea vreo explicatie pentru haosul generalizat. Pentru declinul accentuat al economiei. Pentru ruinarea exporturilor. Pentru confiscarea institutiilor statului. Pentru devalizarea banilor publici de catre o clientela de partid ce insfaca, sub protectie politica, halci consistente din bugetul de stat. Pentru rapirea ultimului dram de speranta intr-un viitor decent. Pentru umilinta la care este supusa, in fiecare zi, o populatie strivita de neajunsuri, austeritate si probleme.
Razboiul cu Romania este dus de peste 20 de ani, de toti cei care ne-au condus, intr-o formula sau alta. Lideri politici marunti, obsedati de propriile privilegii, dispusi oricand sa scoata la ruleta intereselor de partid prezentul si viitorul Romaniei. Iresponsabili, dispretuitori, incompetenti si corupti pana in maduva oaselor, decidentii se simt, probabil, frustrati ca nu pot rapi pana si trecutul. Un trecut pe care l-ar perverti, fara nicio remuscare, conform intereselor personale, de partid, de gasca. S-a furat pe rupte in Romania ultimilor 20 de ani. Privatizari frauduloase in care tot ce a contat a fost valoarea comisionului, banci devalizate de impostori ce au profitat de haosul legislativ creat special pentru a se permite aceste lucruri, bugete de stat risipite cu nonsalanta in interesul unor oligarhii si clientele politice lacome peste masura.
Politica a devenit, rapid, cea mai de succes afacere a Romanei postdecembriste. Zeci, poate sute de alesi, fie ei ministri, secretari de stat, parlamentari, prefecti, primari sau simpli consilieri, au reusit “performanta” ca din salariile de bugetari sa puna bazele unor averi personale uriase. Ei nu au dat explicatii nimanui, cu atat mai putin cetatenilor, cat timp compromisurile in politica au functionat de minune. A existat, in ciuda unor acuze reciproce de ochii electoratului, un acord tacit intre coruptii de stanga, de dreapta, de centru, nationalisti sau adepti ai autonomiei teritoriale, care a permis ca pestii cei mari, simbolurile coruptiei sa se poata bucura pe mai departe de o imunitate transformata intr-o platosa ce permite orice faradelege.
Nici in 2010 situatia nu poate fi alta. Ba mai mult, s-a agravat. Razboiul declansat impotriva populatiei a luat proportii uriase. Iresponsabile. Guvernantii cultiva diversiunile, asmutind o categorie sociala impotriva alteia. Bugetarii au devenit dusmanii de moarte ai celor din mediul privat si viceversa. Minciunile actualei Puteri se tin lant. Subfinantarea cronica loveste in plin sistemul de sanatate, sistemul educational. Lipsa reformelor economice creste numarul somerilor ca si pe cel al firmelor ce sunt nevoite sa isi traga obloanele. Numirile politice isi arata efectele si decredibilizeaza accentuat administratia publica.
Razboiul dus impotriva Romaniei este total, iar victimele din randul populatiei sunt din ce in ce mai numeroase. Functionari publici, profesori, medici, ceferisti, tineri si pensionari cad unul cate unul pe frontul deschis de actuala Putere. Umilinta este generalizata. Ca si degringolada unei societati ce trebuie sa isi identifice urgent alte repere, alte valori, alti lideri politici. Pericolul manelizarii Romaniei ramane unul real. Directia in care alegem sa ne indreptam depinde de noi, de fiecare dintre noi. Noi detinem Puterea, Puterea adevarata, Puterea care poate trimite in eter, fara drept de recurs, o guvernare corupta si incompetenta. Cat timp nu vom constientiza acest lucru, cat timp ne vom multumi sa tinem capul in pamant si sa acceptam o umilinta pe care nu o meritam, situatia actuala va continua sa se agraveze. Iar razboiul declansat de clasa politica impotriva milioanelor de romani va face si pe mai departe victime. Din ce in ce mai multe victime.
Iulian Badea
sursa: cronicaromana.ro
O tara lipita cu scotch
Improvizatia instalatiei de aer conditionat care a declansat incendiul ,de la Maternitatea Giulesti este reprezentativa pentru noi, ca natiune. Nu de un an, nu de doi - aproape de o intreaga istorie. Doar ca uneori iese mai rau si atunci ne miram ipocrit ca asistam la o tragedie.
Bucata de sirma, banda de scotch si alte “unelte” ale improvizatiei ne insotesc in istorie asemenea sarmalelor cu mamaliguta. De ce? Pentru ca pur si simplu “merge si-asa”.
In Primul Razboi Mondial, conflagratie in care Regatul Romaniei a fost pe primul loc in lume ca raport intre numarul de soldati mobilizati si victime (morti si raniti), au fost situatii in care combatantii nostri nu si-au putut folosi armele pentru ca existau pusti de un anumit calibru iar cartusele erau de calibru diferit (!).
Pur si simplu existau firme diferite prin care se derulasera importurile de armament si munitie, iar birocratia era de asa natura incit documentele de import nu ajungeau unde trebuie.
Este celebra afirmatia generalului francez Henri Berthelot, care - dupa ce a inspectat frontul - i-a spus regelui Ferdinand:”Majestate, aveti o armata minunat dezorganizata”.
Mi-am adus aminte si de un articol publicat de celebrul ziarist Brunea-Fox in ziarul “Dimineata”, pe la inceputul anilor ‘30, tot despre o maternitate.
Cazuse guvernul taranist si venisera iar liberalii la putere. Directorul respectivei maternitati fiind numit de taranisti, “trebuia” schimbat de noua stapinire. (O paranteza: va suna cunoscut?! Se intimpla acum mai bine de saptezeci de ani).
Pentru ca legal era cvasiimposibil, guvernantii trimisesera o inspectie sanitara care a decis ca spitalul nu respecta normele de igiena, asa ca i-au pus lacatul, doar-doar directorul isi da singur demisia.
Prin urmare, femeile nasteau acasa, cu moasele, ca-n Evul mediu, iar maternitatea era inchisa.Mergea si-asa…
In anii ‘80, pe fondul cvasidisparitiei scolilor de meserii - acum au disparut cu totul - atunci cind ti se spargea o teava sau iti cadea tavanul in cap, economia informala intra in actiune.
Sudorul devenea si instalator sau un lacatus-mecanic aparea echipat cu bidinea si var. Improvizatia devenea, incet, dar sigur, litera de lege. Cel care ieri era sofer pe rata, cum se zicea pe vremea aia, aparea brusc in postura de chelner peste o saptamina si-ti varsa supa-n poala.
Sigur ca una era sa-ti cada salata-n cap din miinile chelnerului si alta era sa-ti sara apartamentul in aer din pricina unei impovizatii la instalatia de gaz. Numai ca mentalitatea si lantul de intimplari care conduceau spre asemenea situatii era mereu si mereu acelasi.
Mereu se putea si-asa, mereu o saiba si o sirma inlocuiau reparatia corespunzatoare. Uneori se invoca si saracia, si lipsa pieselor de schimb si altele, dar deseori delasarea era chestiunea de baza.
Pe de alta parte, realizam treptat - am mai scris-o cu ani de zile in urma - ce inseamna sa ne pierdem meseriasii buni, atitia cit mai erau/mai sunt.
Nu doar medicii, nu doar profesorii, nu doar inginerii. Exodul acestora din urma abia incepe, pe masura ce Uniunea Europeana ridica restrictiile pentru Romania si Bulgaria pe piata fortei de munca.
Numai ca de doua decenii am inceput sa ne pierdem electricienii, timplarii, zidarii, istalatorii, parchetarii, etc, etc. Sigur ca din punct de vedere social/profesional, situatia acestora este mai umila decit aceea a medicilor sau a profesorilor.
Dar pentru viata noastra de zi cu zi, lipsa lor poate genera tragedii. Un sofer de autobuz neatent sau alcoolic, un instalator de la gaz care face o instalatie de tip “bomba cu ceas”, un constructor care ridica o cladire fara sa respecte normele de protectie, toate acestea pot provoca tragedii incomensurabile.
Imi aduc aminte de un cutremur in Turcia, cind s-a constatat ca o multime de firme nu respectasera aceste norme, ca una era pe hirtie si alta in realitate si, prin urmare, numarul de victime a fost mult mai mare decit ar fi trebuit sa fie daca s-ar fi lucrat cu responsabilitate.
Sigur, cind se intimpla ceva de anvergura a ceea ce s-a intimplat la Giulesti, responsabilitatea imediata este a celor implicati in mod direct. Insa o natiune inteligenta transcede discutia de la cazul concret la sistem si trage concluziile de rigoare, in asa fel incit probabilitatea ca ceva similar sa se intimple sa fie minima.
Discutia publica nu ar trebui sa fie politizata - totul este imediat politizat la noi, in interesul unui partid sau al altuia, care profita in mod cinic de eveniment pentru a isi lua la suturi competitorii - ci profesionalizata.
Sistemul de mentalitati care conduce la asemenea tragedii, asa cum scriam mai sus, este unul istoric - am dat citeva exemple, mai pot da sute din ultimele decenii - si impotriva metehnelor istorice, care se solidifica intr-un pattern cultural/social, este cel mai greu de luptat.
Pentru ca aici nu mai avem de-a face cu slabiciunea unei administratii, cu prestatia unui anume partid sau coalitie de partide, avem de-a face cu insusi modul nostru de-a fi.
De la primul pina la ultimul. Un amic din Germania imi povestea ca atunci cind si-a renovat apartamentul, contractul incheiat cu firma respectiva - evident, exista un contract - prevedea si cite straturi de lac vor fi aplicate pe lemnarie.
Si ce penalizari vor fi platite de firma in cazul in care nu isi respecta conditiile asumate. Nu exista rola cu banda de scotch in buzunarul de la spate. Uneori, mentalitatile noastre produc doar nervi si ginduri de emigrare.
Insa exista situatii in care produc tragedii cumplite. Cum spunea un amic, poate ne trezim pina nu ne cade tara-n cap.
Eugen Ovidiu Chirovici
sursa: Bloombiz.ro
