Weekly World News

[danbaron]

I think that, today, all of the countries of the world, are becoming more and more alike.

I think, the time is past, when, a person could correctly say, "That could never happen here.".

If true, then, I think we are smart if we use what we see happening in other countries, to help predict what may happen in our own country.

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The future of the people is much too important a matter to allow the people to decide, yeah?

I'm mixed up, do governments exist to serve the people, or, vice versa?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/05-6

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I can't imagine doing it - publicly calling for the prosecutions of people who are violating the same international laws which I am violating.

The only difference being that, I know, for me, no one with a big public voice will yell, "The king has no clothes!".

I guess if you make it that high up the pyramid, guilt and shame are not emotions you have personal experience with.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/05-3

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What do you do when the people protest against a foreign project in your country, which involves lots of money?

Why, the solution is simple, you declare a state of emergency.

Apparently, if the choice is between uncontaminated water, and, money, money wins.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/05-1

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Something else I thought about:

I see how American (maybe for other countries, too) presidents are not personally blamed for many of the policies they implement. Officials in their administrations do the implementing, while, they (the presidents), remain silent. And, no one, no one, who would publicly ask the president about the policy, will ever, ever, be permitted to be within miles of doing so.

[danbaron]

I think that unfairness is able to continue indefinitely in one of two ways, either by force, or because, those being unfairly treated don't know it.

It is much easier for those perpetuating the inequality to do it by preventing the victims from finding out, than it is by using force against them.

For decades, those at the top have controlled the information disseminated by the mainstream (corporate) media, because, they literally came to own those media.

Now, because of the Internet, it is much easier for the people being treated unfairly economically, to find out about it - those at the top don't own everything on the Internet.

As the people find out, their anger grows.

So, there is nothing that the perpetrators would like more, than to come to control the flow of Internet information.

In the meantime, I expect more and more force to be used against demonstrators.

You can see it in the photographs of confrontations between Occupy protesters and police.

The police look identical to soldiers.

Here are undisputed facts about the economic distribution in the United States.

http://currydemocrats.org/in_perspective/american_pie.html

To me, those facts, combined with the phenomenon of more and more of the victims becoming aware of them, make a political situation which will become more and more unstable.

How long can instability grow before a system collapses?

How many times in history has it happened that the ruling class, "crossed the line"?

The problem for them is twofold, they do not function as a monolithic unit, and, they (as a group), don't know where the, "line", is.

The result is that, members at the front of their, "herd", will keep moving in the direction of the line, and, the remainder of the herd will follow.

The entire process gains its own momentum, and, the herd is unable to stop itself from walking off the cliff.

Each of those in the front of the herd, thinks, "We won't get to the cliff until I am gone.".

Some of them are correct, others are not.

(And as we are seeing worldwide, those at the bottom don't like being forced to pay for the crimes and excesses of those at the top. Actually, I think that was the cause of the French Revolution.)

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Another factor which is relevant, are the percentages of winners and losers.

If, like, for instance, in Las Vegas, 49% are winners, and 51% are losers, most likely, "the pot will not boil".

But, when, 1% are winners, and, 99% are losers, then, "that's a horse of a different color", yes?

[kryton9]

Dan I walked away from the news and reading my political and conspiracy sites for a break. I feel so much better. There are sane people out there, that I know. There are good people out there I do know that. But are they in power, are they the mass media, are they heads of foundations, organizations, institutions? Each day I fear those numbers are less and less, and by hook and by crook, the ones that were good people are gone.

[danbaron]

Austerity and Social Unrest:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/12/09/austerity-and-social-unrest/

Why no one's investigating Wall Street:

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/why_no_ones_investigating_wall_street/

(http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/why_no_ones_investigating_wall_street/)

[danbaron]

The 6 Wal-Mart heirs (all Americans), have the same net worth as the bottom 30% of the United States' population.

And, let's make no mistake, this is all inherited money.

In 2007, their combined worth was 69.7 billion dollars, which averages to 11.6 billion dollars each.

The U.S. population is approximately 300 million.

30% of 300 million, is 90 million.

So, on average, each of those 6 has as much money as 15 million people in the bottom 30%.

I'll bet none of the 6 has given away even 1% of 11.6 billion dollars, i.e., 116 million dollars, anyone want to wager?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/09-6

[Charles Pegge]

It would be quite hard for any those individuals to turn all their Walmart shares into cash. The valuation is in Wall St dollars which behave in ways that defy quantum physics
:)

PS: I agree with Kent. The broadcast news is highly selective and gives a distorted view of the World. I try to ration my exposure to it. News gathering on the web is much more informative but you have to check credibility of the sources!

[danbaron]

This song has been in my head lately.

Why do we forget everything else, but, remember songs?

Probably, the fact that John Kay was born in Germany, had something to do with its composition.

After Germany, he made his way to Canada, and finally to the U S of A.

It's a really good song (not just the words).

The Ostrich
Steppenwolf, 1968, John Kay

We'll call you when you're six years old
And drag you to the factory
To train your brain for eighteen years
With promise of security

But then you're free
And forty years you waste to chase the dollar sign
So you may die in Florida
At the pleasant age of sixty-nine

The water's getting hard to drink
We've mangled up the countryside
The air will choke you when you breathe
We're all committing suicide

But it's alright
It's progress folks keep pushin' 'til your body rots
We'll strip the earth of all its green
And then divide her into parking lots

But there's nothing you and I can do
You and I are only two
What's right and wrong is hard to say
Forget about it for today
We'll stick our heads into the sand
Just pretend that all is grand
And hope that everything turns out okay

But there's nothing you and I can do
You and I are at most are two
What's right and wrong is hard to say
Forget about it for today
We'll stick our heads into the sand
Just pretend that all is grand
And hope that everything turns out okay

You're free to speak your mind my friend
As long as you agree with me
Don't criticize the fatherland
Or those who shape your destiny

'Cause if you do
You'll lose your job, your mind and all the friends you knew
We'll send out all our boys in blue
They'll find a way to silence you

But there's nothing you and I can do
You and I are only two
What's right and wrong is hard to say
Forget about it for today
We'll stick our heads into the sand
Just pretend that all is grand
And hope that everything turns out okay..

[danbaron]

Bailout Total: 29.616 Trillion Dollars

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/bailout-total-29-616-trillion-dollars/
(http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/bailout-total-29-616-trillion-dollars/)
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Yes, the composite person is really stupid (by definition, IQ = 100).

I think that's why it takes a society so long to come to a consensus when the system is scamming it.

And, of course, the other factor which adds hugely to the time before realization, is that, historically, the mainstream media have (The word, "media", is plural - I agree, it doesn't sound right.) been part of the system doing the scamming, and they have done everything they could to hide the scam.

To me, the entire financial system has been scamming the people for a long long time. Now, additionally, it is extorting the people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion

The system intentionally again and again takes huge risks. When the risks succeeed, they (the members of the system) take the money. When the risks fail, they force the people to pay for their losses.

I think, they are effectively saying to the people, "You can think the system is corrupt. You can think it is filled with crooks who are never prosecuted for stealing trillions, while you are prosecuted if you don't put money in a parking meter. It doesn't matter. You are going to continue giving us everything we want. If you stop, the world economic system, upon which your lives are dependent, will collapse.".

In my opinion, it's like a mafia guy saying he will kill your family, or, someone with his finger on a button attached to a bomb which can blow up the entire Earth - he says, "You are going to do exactly what I tell you to do.".

Today, "money", has zero intrinsic value. It is tied to no resource (such as gold). Those at the top of the system create the value entirely by transmitting and receiving electronic bits of information, nothing else. What could be more corrupt? How dumb does a society have to be to acquiesce to such a system?

Yes, the composite person is really stupid. But, I think at some point almost anyone gets tired of being threatened over and over again, and says, "'F' you.".