"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, (i.e., the "business cycle") the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."
John F. Kennedy
New Age Citizen www.newagecitizen.com January 23rd, 2008 Edition [Last Update: February 08th, 2008]
On January 20th, 2009 Obama became the 44th President of the United States amidst one of the most turbulent periods of history for both the United States and the World. The exuberance of the American People was obvious. A record crowd of 2 million lined the street of the Capitol to cheer the inauguration of "the new boss," Barack Hussein Obama. Let us just hope and pray that we don't find ourselves thinking about that old tune, "We Won't Get Fooled Again," too soon. Unfortunately, by the time you read through this edition, you just might find yourself wanting to sing along.
I'm trying to give more continuity to the homepage by dividing the content into the following sections:
Section
Description
From Editor Bruce W. Cain
Original articles by New Age Citizen Editor, Bruce W. Cain
Bruce W. Cain in Action
Radio, TV and Live Appearances.
Articles and Commentary
Articles from the web and other sources, with the commentary remarks at the beginning of the article.
Videos for Viewing and Discussing
Education and Entertaining videos for personal and group viewing and discussing. I encourage people to gather groups together at your homes, and apartments, and view/discuss these videos as a group. The easiest thing to do is set around a laptop or desktop. A better solution is to plug your internet connected laptop to your large screen TV. If you play the video full screen a large screen TV should easily accommodate viewing by groups of 20 people.
For the last 2 years I have driven around the Detroit area with a rather large bumper sticker that reads:
Stop All Immigration: Legal and Illegal
For the most part my fellow drivers applauded the effort by beeping their horns or by giving me the thumbs up. About 2 percent expressed anger by giving me the "one finger salute." Almost all of these appeared to be foreigners and most of them appeared to be Hispanic. Most likely Illegal Hispanics.
If Obama wants to retain the mantel of "change we can believe in" he had better wake up immediately. For the last 5 months we have been loosing about 500,000 American jobs per month while doing nothing about Illegal immigration and concurrently allowing 138,000 legal immigrants into the country each month.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the following commercial ad during the Lou Dobbs show on February 2nd, 2009 from a new coalition of groups whose website is www.AmericanWorker.org
Another American has lost his job. Another breadwinner going home with the bad news. Last year, two and a half million Americans lost jobs. High-tech, construction and auto workers; engineers. Yet, with millions of Americans jobless, our government is still bringing in a million and a half foreign workers a year to take American jobs. Could your job be next?
Before proceeding I want to make something crystal clear: I am neither a racist nor a xenophobe. But I am a stalwart advocate for the future of the American worker.
But something is definitely happening in the United States under the new Obama administration and it is definitely not a good thing. Obama has populated his cabinet, and other high ranking positions, with members of the Council on Foreign Relations who are major supporters of the North American Union. And for those that are still clueless, the North American Union would erase the borders between Canada, the United States and Mexico. If they succeed Mexican workers would achieve de facto amnesty, as they would be able to displace both American and Canadian workers. This is a "wet dream" for the Global Elite and a nightmare for the American worker. Unfortunately, Obama appears to be on the side of the Globalists.
It is also instructive to consider what the Mainstream Media (MSM) has been censoring from their stories over the past few weeks. There have been major demonstrations in France, England and other parts of Europe calling for an end to the bailout of the Corporate Banksters that have basically destroyed the entire global economy over the past 50 years. They don't want these criminals bailed out. They also want an end to the wage killing immigration that these corporate criminals have pushed for the last 5 decades.
The following links detail a demonstration in Scotland where workers are demanding that all jobs go to legal Scottish citizens:
My predication is that there will be riots in the streets of the United States, by the end of 2009, if Obama does not choose the American People over the Globalists. These globalists are basically out to displace Americans from their homes, their jobs and their futures and replace them with foreign elites. What is even more distressing is legislation that would expand the growing number of internment camps being built throughout the United States. They are capable of "holding" millions of people and it appears certain that they won't be populated with Illegal Immigrants: they will be populated by a growing number of angry American Workers who have been betrayed by their Corporations, their Media, their very own Government.
Years ago on "60 Minutes" I recalled seeing a story documenting how the Chinese government routinely murders members of the religious group, Fulong Gong, in order to harvest their organs for US and Europeans who were in need of new organs (e.g., kidneys, hearts, lungs etc.).
The fact that US corporations were involved in the building of some of these "harvesting facilities" made me want to puke. But that is just another black mark for Global Corporate Greed. You can add that to the list of other globalists traitors that have engaged in these Faustian bargains with Communist China (e.g., Ford, GM, GE and most of the Fortune 500) for year now.
And since China was "invited" into the WTO in 2001 we have since seen our jobs and industries all offshored off to Mordor, I mean China. Mordor I believe was Sauron's lair in the "Lord of the Rings." I could be a bit off on that one, but no matter.
Anyway I think I've found something more compelling to convince Americans, and Europeans, to demand that we begin to cut our dependency on China for good. Because while you might not care about mere Chinese being slaughtered, I think you will care when you see how they skin cats, dogs and another animals alive in order for you to adorn your daughters doll with a faux mink stole etc.
2,000,000 cats and dogs are sadistically skinned alive every year in China for their fur and left to die slowly in shock and excruciating pain. Why? "Because", say the Chinese: "It's easier to skin a live warm animal that's convulsing in agony than a dead body. And who buys these Chinese products made from fur? We do. People buy apparel, accessories, toys and souvenirs trimmed or made of fur. Do you think they are labelled "Labrador Fur" or "Siamese Cat Fur?" Of course not. the Fur is Mislabeled and Disguised. Animal Saviors Awareness Campaign http://animalsaviors.org/index.html
And after watching this perhaps you could bring it to the attention of your Federal Senator and House Members, and ask them why we are still intent on expanding, rather than eliminating, our trade with China. Be aware that the following video is not to be watched right after eating a full meal.
Here is Chris Anderson's review of Taleb's "The Black Swan":
Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it.
Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it’s something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt.
The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia.
Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."
In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature. --Chris Anderson
My curiosity was peeked after I watch an interview with Taleb where he predicted that the global economic turmoil, in which we collectively find ourselves, could be far more devastating than the Great Depression (1929+). In fact he thinks it will be as challenging as the American Revolution which gave rise to this great nation and the Constitution under which it once operated. Of course I love that analogy because I have often said, as of late, that we are on the cusp of the 2nd American Revolution.
At any rate here is his interview in which he predicts an economic cataclysm which is interestingly driven by the integrated network of globalism. As an Anti-globalist I just could not resist including this interview. And here is a review of the video from "BrassCheckTV":
A sobering discussion on the nature of the current economic crisis and why this one may be very different from ones in the past.
The problem: globalization adds exponentially to the complexity of potential outcomes, but the banking system is not designed to absorb the kind of rapid and massive changes globalization makes possible.
These aren't two hippies railing against the system. This is one of most insightful mathematicians and one of the most accomplished options traders of our time http://www.brasschecktv.com
Within the next 2 weeks I should have the MERP Video together which explains my model for Re-Legalizing Marijuana.
I've been involved in Drug Reform for far too long: 20 years and counting. Like you I have come to the conclusion that most of the moneyed drug reform groups are really most interested in having jobs until they retire. And of course Obama won't touch this issue because he is beholden to those that put him in office: attorneys and the larger prison industrial complex.
I was talking with Rich Rawlings the other day about CNBC's "Marijuana Inc." It will be on CNBC on Sunday at 10 PM in case you have not seen it yet. At any rate two things really struck me from watching the show:
(1) As usual there is no clear explanation of WHY Marijuana is such an expensive commodity. Of course it is all about the black market where price is highly affected by the risk the producer takes to bring the good to market. And of course that is the Achilles Heal of this whole thing. If we adopt the MERP Model that $300-$500 ounce of "Northern Lights" from Humboldt County is only going to cost you about $20 dollars to grow yourself. It could actually be free if you grew it in your backyard. And that brings me to the second point.
(2) I was astounded by the effect that Marijuana has had on these California communities and how economically dependent they have become. There was a odd implicit message within this documentary that seemed to be saying. "We can't possibly legalize it because the local economies would go through the floor." This is basically said in so many words about mid-way through the 1 hour documentary. Of course they never explicitly explain this in relation to my first point (above).
The truth of the matter is that the Mainstream Media purposely "cherry picks" the information we are allowed to consider. They do this to support a globalist agenda dictated by the global corporations that fund and control them. So in the case of Marijuana Policy you never get to understand that millions of workers, withing the Prison Industrial Complex, are basically addicted to Marijuana Prohibition. Just think how many attorneys will be without jobs when they can no longer prey on the 840,000 Marijuana users that are getting busted every year in the United States? Then there are the prison guards, the drug testing labs, the Black Op Budgets of the NSA and CIA. Yep, they'd all get a royal screwing should Marijuana become legal under the MERP Model.
But let us keep focused on what would be gained when we force them to go "cold turkey" off of the profits of Marijuana Prohibition:
* Destroy the Drug Gangs and Cartels * Stop the Criminalization of our American Citizens * Restore Personal Liberties Lost After 911 * Destroy the Prison Industrial Complex * Save Taxpayers 20 Billion Each Year
The real truth of the matter is that we are all currently under the control of a Global Economic System that has become toxic to both the planet and the people. It is a system that only exists as long as there is exponential growth and access to cheap labor and resources. And the real problem we are facing is that this Ponzi scam has run its course and the mass deception can no longer be concealed.
So you see people with rising property taxes at a time when there home values are plummeting 20% in the last year. Why? Because the cities have to raise the money for pensions at a time when the stocks, that once funded them, have become worthless. This is also why they prey on young drivers who are more likely to be carrying weed. This is also why they give tickets to drivers who have not really rolled through stop signs etc. These are all desperate attempts to salvage a sinking economic ship.
That is "why" the MERP Model is just one plank of my "New Agenda for America." [Plank #3]
(1) Universal Health Care for All American Citizens (2) A 20-year moratorium on all immigration into the United States (3) Legal Marijuana for all Adults and Medical Patients (4) An immediate reversal to the Offshoring and Inshoring of American Jobs (5) A strict enforcement on issues of Separation of Church and State (6) An immediate move from so-called Free Trade Agreements to Bilateral Trade agreements (7) A major R&D project to bring energy independence to the United States and the World through recycling, reuse, ending hyper-consumerism and investing in the development of sustainable energy sources (e.g., solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal) (8) No further ownership of US Assets (businesses, homes, ports, stock exchanges) by foreign governments or individuals! (9) Replace the Federal Reserve with a People's Reserve which allows public oversight (10) Absolute support for Net Neutrality ==========================================
The broader truth of the matter is that we are between two "Ages." If you're into astro-theology I suppose you might say we are migrating from the age of Pisces to the age of Aquarius. If you are a student of history it is pretty clear that we are seeing the self-destruction of the Darwinian Economic Model, because it is an exponential growth model that can no longer grow.
In any case we need a plan to transition from a exponential growth system to a static sustainable system. As I have said many times this transition will be as dramatic as the transition from Hunting and Gathering Societies to Agricultural Societies. Recent historians have actually made a good argument that this may be the historic transitions spoken about in the story of man being cast out of the Garden of Eden. On a positive note I would hope that the coming transformation puts us all back in the Garden, so to speak.
To do this we need a plan. My tentative plan involves giving a $150,000 'stimulus check" to every American (20 years and older) in order to erase all mortgage, student loans and other debt. They can only keep what is left after paying off the debt. Secondly we need to implement the idea of "Social Credit" talked about by former Treasury expert Richard Cook. [I would also recommend the elimination of taxes for those without jobs (e.g., property taxes)]. This “social credit” might pay each adult about $1,000 per month. If these two things are implemented we won't have to worry about foreigners buying us out of our homes, our businesses and our futures. And for those that now think I'm nuts? Well, if we don't do what I'm talking about – or something equally dramatic -- that is exactly what will happen. In fact it is happening right now as 2.6 Million American Workers lost their jobs in 2008 while we allowed 2.5 Million foreigners into the country during the same time period: 2008. How long before some foreigner is going to own your home?
Now the reason I bring up this evolving plan is because of what is happening in the Californian towns that are dependent on Marijuana Prohibition or a Draconian Tax and Regulate Model. Marijuana growers, Police, HMO workers and really just about everyone is going to need some sort of safety net over the next few decades to keep them in their homes with adequate food, clothing and access to various entitlements. Otherwise get ready for the vagaries of the Global Economic Order that is now in the process of playing out the End Game. If we don’t unite the New World Order is going to throw millions of us onto the streets and possibly into mass concentration camps that are already awaiting our arrival.
I have worn a leaf around my neck for the last 20 years because I felt it stood for values that I held sacred. Certainly the right to feed by mind and body are among those. But as the years have worn on – I’m now 54 years of age – I see the leaf as a symbol of the transformation that will be required to move us from an age of war and mass consumption to an age of peace and sustainability.
The MERP Model is part of this transformation. If you agree with the Model please spread the word. I currently have a “Yes We Can – Yes We Will” graphic that you can place on your websites, face book pages etc. You will find it at the homepage of my website:
When the first www.change.gov poll was posted by the Obama Administration the most recommended change was to Re-Legalize Marijuana. But then on December 26th Obama flatly responded that he has no intention on Re-Legalizing Marijuana. Subsequently Obama took the first poll results off of the site and started a second poll. And even though Marijuana Re-Legalization remained in the top 5 requests Obama refused to utter any additional clarification as to what he would do to represent the large contingent of Americans that continue to demand an end to the War on Marijuana.
Then on Thursday (01/22/2009) Federal DEA agents raided a Medical Marijuana cultivation facility, just days after Obama was officially inaugurated:
The fact of the matter is that Obama himself has admitted to using both Marijuana and even harder drugs such as cocaine. Yet it appears that he is completely willing to allow the continued annual persecution of nearly 900.000 Marijuana users each year: a figure that has tripled since 1990. Are we seeing the beginnings of an Imperial Presidency where there is one set of standards for the elite and another for us commoners?
What we may be watching here is the "Bamboozling" of all those American voters who cast their vote for Obama believing he would stand for "change" we could all believe in. Though I still want to give him a fair chance I must say that I have been skeptical of Obama long before his election as our 44th President. I had previously reported on his close ties to Globalists such as Brzezinski in the following article that I had authored in mid-2008:
Of all the suggestions for Legalizing Marijuana the one that seems to make the most sense is the MERP model. Under this plan every adult citizen would get to grow up to 100 plants without any regulation, taxation or other interference from the federal government. By taking the profit out of growing Marijuana there would be many immediate benefits:
* Destroy the Drug Gangs and Cartels * Stop the Criminalization of our American Citizens * Restore Personal Liberties Lost After 911 * Destroy the Prison Industrial Complex * Save Taxpayers 20 Billion Each Year
You can learn more about the MERP Model through the following links:
And despite the fact that none of the moneyed drug organizations -- such as NORML, DPA, MPP -- will support the MERP Model, there is really nothing very radical about the MERP Model. It would basically allow adult Americans to cultivate Marijuana in the same way we have always allowed the production of home brewed beer.
At any rate I support the MERP Model and I think you should too. 70 years of Marijuana Prohibition is 70 years too long. And Obama’s opposition to our request to Re-Legalize Marijuana is like getting a lump of coal for Christmas.
I believe it is time to gather each of these lumps of coal and use them to light a giant fire under Obama. It is “high time” we put his feet to the fire until the MERP Model is implemented and the War on Marijuana ends once and for ever.
You can join the movement to implement the MERP Model by getting on my mailing list at www.newagecitizen.com. Here is the link to join my mailing list:
I also recommend becoming part of the US Marijuana Party as they were the only drug reform group that supported my write-in candidacy in 2008 and continue to support the MERP Model for Re-Legalizing Marijuana:
Let’s make 2009 the year we insist: “Yes We Can” Have Legal Marijuana for Every Adult American and perhaps for every Adult on planet Earth. Please send and post this article as widely as possible. The time for real change begins NOW!
I only share a small fraction of the readings I have done at the website: www.newagecitizen.com. But I archive most of my readings in Microsoft Word files. So If you want to read more here are some additional reading that you can read or print to read off line.
Each file is dated at the time I begin adding articles. So the document "AOL081217.doc" was authored on December 17th, 2008.
For anyone that wants to read the entire compilation you must get a "membership" by sending $100 (check or money order to "Bruce W. Cain") to:
New Age Citizen PO Box 419 Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
For that I will send you a DVD with hundreds of files consisting of thousands of articles spanning the last 5+ years. The writing are encyclopedic in scope and are formatted just like the "freebies" that I have provided above. Each article contains the original text along with a hyperlink to the original citation. It would take months just to read through all of the articles.
Bruce Cain, Editor of "New Age Citizen," is planning a series of lectures centered on Re-Legalizing Marijuana and implementing an Anti-Globalist political platform known as the "New Agenda for America." Additional events will be added as the year progresses.
Date
Event
04/04/2009
Hash Bash in Ann Arbor, Michigan
05/02/2009
Global Marijuana March in Detroit, Michigan
To get an idea as to what he likes to talk about please watch his 30-minute lecture "Marijuana: Past, Present and Future," below.
Bruce Cain, Editor of "New Age Citizen," talks about the history of Marijuana and how its prohibition is part of a larger Globalist agenda to push us towards a Post-Constitutional New World Order where inalienable rights are no longer guaranteed. He believes that both Obama and McCain have been selected to further this agenda and that citizens should stop legitimizing the "Election Charade" by writing in the names of 3rd Party and Independent Presidential Candidates. He further believes that the American People must organize to stop either candidate from pushing us further toward a Globalist New World Order when one of them becomes our next president in January 2009.
This lecture was given before a "live audience" at the Trumbull-Plex Theatre on Sunday, October 19th, 2008: just 2 weeks before the Presidential Election. The Trumbull-Plex Theatre is located in Detroit, Michigan. He was the featured speaker at this event that was celebrating that Michigan will most probably be the 13th State to Legalize Marijuana for Medicinal use. Bruce Cain encourages the distribution of this video in order to de-legitimize the 2008 Presidential Election and challenge the New World Order in 2009.
If nothing else it is a fact filled journey tracing the history of the animal kingdom's consensual relationship with mind altering drugs over the millennia. But it actually goes much further, tracing the role that Marijuana Prohibition has had in the building of a "Technological Cage" by which the New World Order is slowly stripping away the inalienable rights guaranteed by the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
First I want to make clear that I want all immigration into the US and Europe to stop immediately through an emergency directive. I'm not discriminating against any one group. But make no mistake about it. The unmitigated immigration of Muslims in to Europe and Mexicans into the US has been perpetrated by Global Corporate Interests that are behind both the European Union and it's US twin: the North American Union. At a later date we will need to address their complicity in this historic betrayal.
We also have the Corporate Media to blame. Why was the following video, depicting Muslim harassment of British Police, been kept off the mainstream media? It is because they are also shills for the New World Order. I want to thank the Muslim Extremist that filmed this because I believe it will be most persuasive in finally convincing the pseudo liberals that Immigration needs to stop NOW!!!
During this first month of the New Year 2009, we have seen some stunning developments that, considered together, should leave absolutely no doubt about the rising radical Islamic threat on our doorsteps in America.
I have been warning Americans since 2002 about this threat, and that the threat is not just confined to terrorism. This is not a “war on terror.” Terror is a tactic, one of many in the arsenal of radical Islamists.
I have been declaring, to anyone who would listen, that Islamists are well on their way to subverting and transforming Europe, and they are riding that wave here to America.
I have told my personal story, of how Islamists, step by step, took over my country of Lebanon. How they used our freedoms and commitment to tolerance and multiculturalism against us to further their ultimate ends. And how they are using the same strategies and tactics against us in the West.
In just the past three weeks we have seen: A violent Islamic protest in Britain, where an angry mob shouting “Allahu Akbar” chased – yes, chased – dozens of British policemen for blocks. You must see this video to believe it! (Please be warned – there is offensive language and profanity). Click here to see this shocking video.
Pro-Hamas, anti-Israel Muslims conducting demonstrations here in America, shouting praises to Hitler for what he did to the Jews, yelling “go back to the ovens,” and at times physically attacking counter-protestors.
The Amsterdam Court of Appeals ordering the prosecution of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders because he has made statements deemed “insulting” and harmful to “the religious esteem” of Muslims.
Austrian parliamentarian Susanne Winter convicted of “incitement,” because of public statements she has made, including the claim that the prophet Mohammed was a pedophile.
Muslim protest marches in Italy that ended with the protestors, in an obvious act of intimidation, conducting mass prayer vigils directly in front of Catholic places of worship.
The release of an official U.S. government report stating that Hezbollah is forming terrorist cells here in the U.S. that could become operational.
The UN continuing to move ahead with the “Durban II” conference and its document that is little more than an anti-Israel rant that calls for suppressing public “defamation” of religion – notably Islam. This has run parallel to an effort by the Organization of the Islamic Conference to get the UN Human Rights Commission to pass a resolution condemning public “defamation” of Islam. My friends, the handwriting is clearly on the wall. Radical Islam is on the march, and it is growing stronger and bolder with every passing day.
What elected official in Europe or the UK will now have the courage to speak out against this threat? Certainly the actions against parliamentarians Wilders and Winter will ultimately have a chilling effect on American elected officials as well.
How many more “no-go zones,” Muslim enclaves where non-Muslims and even police officers fear to go, will appear in Europe? We’re already seeing such enclaves develop here in America right now. There’s a reason why Dearborn, Michigan, is frequently referred to as “Dearbornistan.”
What will happen in America when 50,000 ranting, chanting Islamist demonstrators attempt to aggressively back down and chase police officers trying to maintain order? Will the police use the force necessary? If they do, we can expect howls from groups like CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations). How will government officials respond?
And if the police back down and run, as they recently did in Britain, what message is being sent to radical Islamists?
With the recent announcements by the Obama administration regarding ending the use of certain coercive interrogation practices, will this administration have the courage and use the tools necessary to protect us from Hezbollah, Hamas and al Qaeda terrorist cells in our midst?
It is becoming crystal clear that 2009 is going to be a critical year in our effort to roll back the rising tide of Islamofascism. Over the next several weeks we will be announcing various projects and programs designed so that we can more aggressively and effectively go on the offense against this threat.
I am asking you to pay close attention to these announcements when they occur and to participate in every way you can. We must all come together and ACT! this year, before the worldwide momentum building behind radical Islam becomes too powerful to stop.
While U.S. corporations fire U.S. citizens yet demand even more foreign workers...India is actually firing foreign executives, workers and hiring their own citizens instead.
Expatriate executives, who were the flavour of the season when India was riding high on a 9%-plus growth rate, are now becoming the first ones to get the pink slip as Indian industry, hit by the slowdown, starts looking within the country for inexpensive hires.
“Many of the expatriate executives, who have been asked to leave, are subject experts. Their value diminishes in a downturn as companies are no more expanding, and thus don’t need people to guide in a new venture,” says K Sudarshan, MD of executive search firm EMA Partners’ India unit.
Since October 2008, there has been a spate of replacements of expat executives with Indian professionals at the senior level.
Aviva Life Insurance appointed former Citibank executive TR Ramachandran to replace Bert Paterson as the CEO for its Indian operations. Insurance firm MetLife replaced its CFO Nick Paket with an Indian hire. And, according to executive search firms, two top expatriate executives of another insurance firm are slated to leave in March, to be replaced by Indians.
Aditya Birla Retail is reportedly hiring an Indian executive from a beverage company to head its supermarket chain More, which was earlier led by Andrew Denby. Delhi-based Dabur Retail’s top three ex-pats, including CEO Peter Baker, have been replaced by Indian hires.
Does anyone want to bet against this happening in the United States before 2010? I believe that if Obama does not do the following immediately that is exactly what is going to happen:
(1) Stop all further foreclosures and evictions (2) Stop all further LEGAL and ILLEGAL immigration (3) Universally demand all employers use e-Verify (4) Legalize Marijuana IMMEDIATELY under the MERP Model (5) Give a $150,000 "stimulus check" to each Legal American Citizen over 20 with the caveat that all money must first go towards paying off all debt (e.g., credit cards, mortgages) (6) Begin the distribution of monthly supplement checks based on Cook's concept of "social credit."
This will be the "acid test" which determines whether Obama becomes our next Washington or our worst betrayer. The stakes have never been so high.
Bruce W. Cain
Protesters confront riot police in Lithuania. Tensions in Eastern Europe continue to rise due to the global economic climate. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images) Shaky governments face growing anger.
Riga, Latvia - On a frigid evening this month, more than 10,000 people gathered outside a 13th-century cathedral in this Baltic capital to protest the government's handling of Latvia's economic crisis and demand early elections. The demonstration was one of the largest here since the mass rallies against Soviet rule in the late 1980s, and a sign of both the public's frustration and its faith in the political system.
But at the end of the night, as the crowd dispersed, the protest turned into a riot. Hundreds of angry young people, many drunk and recently unemployed, rampaged through the historic Old Town, smashing shop windows, throwing rocks and eggs at police, even prying cobblestones from the streets to lob at the Parliament building.
Similar outbursts of civil unrest have occurred in recent weeks across the periphery of Europe, where the global financial crisis has buffeted smaller countries with fewer resources to defend their economies. Especially in Eastern Europe, the turmoil reflects surging political discontent and threatens to topple shaky governments that have been the focus of popular resentment over corruption for years.
Europeans have compared the unrest to events of the 1960s and even the 1930s, when the Great Depression fueled political upheaval across the continent and gave rise to isolationism and fascism. But no ideology has tapped into public anger and challenged the basic dominance of free-market economics and democratic politics in these countries. Instead, protesters appear united primarily by dashed economic hopes and hostility against the ruling authorities.
"The politicians never think about the country, about the ordinary people," said Nikolai Tikhomirov, 23, an electronics salesman who participated in the Jan. 13 protest in Riga. "They only think of themselves."
Days after the riot, a demonstration by 7,000 protesters in neighboring Lithuania turned violent, leading police to respond with rubber bullets. Fifteen people were injured. Smaller protests and clashes have erupted in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, following weeks of street violence in Greece last month. On Thursday, police in Iceland used tear gas for the first time in half a century to disperse a crowd of 2,000 protesting outside Parliament in Reykjavik. The next day, Prime Minister Geir Haarde agreed to call early elections and said he would step down.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, said the financial crisis could cause further turmoil "almost everywhere," listing Latvia, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine as among the most vulnerable nations. "It may worsen in the coming months," he told the BBC. "The situation is really, really serious."
There is particular concern about the relatively young and sometimes dysfunctional democracies that emerged after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, where societies that endured severe hardship in the 1990s in the hope that capitalism and integration with the West would bring prosperity now face further pain.
"The political systems in all these countries are fragile," said Jonathan Eyal, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a research group in London. "There's a long history of unfulfilled promises and frustration with the political elites going back to the Communist era."
Eyal warned of a revival of ethnic conflict in the region, where most countries have large minority populations, adding that tensions could rise after workers who have lost jobs in Western Europe return home. But he noted that extreme nationalist movements have won only limited support in Eastern Europe in recent years.
"People here instinctively know the idea of a strongman who imposes order doesn't work," he said, arguing that the region's history with Communist rule, its integration with the European Union and its anxiety about Russia's intentions make a turn toward authoritarianism unlikely. "They have seen the past, and a return to previous populist schemes isn't very persuasive. At the end of the day, they know there's no alternative to the market economy."
That assessment rings true in Latvia, where the government's approval ratings have fallen as low as 10 percent - the worst in the European Union, and lower than at any other time in the nation's post-Soviet history - but where people scoff when asked if they want to abandon markets and political freedoms.
"If some politician said, 'Let's leave the E.U., give up democracy and free markets,' you can be sure that nobody would vote for him," said Aigars Freimanis, director of Latvia's largest polling firm. The memory of Soviet occupation makes it difficult even for mildly left-wing parties to win elections, he said.
But Freimanis said public anger could bring significant political change, noting that the crisis has renewed debate on constitutional reforms, including measures to give citizens the right to dismiss Parliament and to vote for individual lawmakers instead of only political parties.
"We want more democracy, not less," said Renata Kalivod, 28, a social worker who attended the protest in Riga. She said that her father, who recently lost his job, had given up on elections but that she still believed it was possible for the public to have an impact. "If I gave up, I would leave the country like other young people. But I'm still here," she said.
After enjoying double-digit growth rates that were among the highest in the E.U., Latvia is now struggling to defend its currency and survive a sharp slowdown. The economy is forecast to shrink by 5 percent this year, after a 2 percent drop last year. Unemployment has doubled in the last six months to 8 percent, with the rate three times as high among young people.
Forced to accept a $10.5 billion bailout from the IMF, the European Union and other sources - including neighboring Estonia, a fact some considered humiliating - the government has embarked on an austerity program involving 25 percent budget cuts, 15 percent wage reductions for civil servants and large-scale layoffs.
Aigars Stokenbergs, an opposition leader in Parliament who quit the ruling coalition and helped organize this month's protest, said the public was as upset about corruption as economic mismanagement. The same conservative parties have dominated the government for years, he said, and many believe they serve a handful of billionaires who struck it rich in the privatization schemes of the 1990s.
"People don't want this government anymore. They don't trust it," he said, criticizing Parliament for firing the nation's anti-corruption chief in June and adopting the IMF reforms in a single day without consulting unions, businesses or other groups.
But Andris Berzins, a leader in the ruling coalition and former prime minister, said the public's anger is misplaced because the country's problems are rooted in decisions by previous administrations to expand spending instead of building up reserves. "The government needs to take some very serious economic reforms, but it hasn't been able to build public support for them," he said.
Public anger intensified in December when the finance minister, Atis Slakteris, badly fumbled an interview on Bloomberg Television. Asked what had caused Latvia's economic crisis, he replied, "Nothing special." The words were soon emblazoned on T-shirts and shop windows as parodies proliferated on the Internet.
The riots, which left about 25 people injured and resulted in 106 arrests, have unnerved people in part because Latvia has practically no history of such violence. Some are worried the crisis will exacerbate tensions between ethnic Latvians and the nation's Russian-speaking minorities, who make up more than a third of the population.
President Valdis Zatlers has responded by distancing himself from the ruling coalition that elected him and essentially siding with the opposition, threatening to dismiss Parliament if it fails by March 31 to pass a set of reforms and take other specific actions to build public trust.
But under Latvia's aging constitution, the president must call an unprecedented referendum to dismiss Parliament. Early elections would be held if it passed, followed by talks to form a new government. The entire process could take more than eight months, and some say such a prolonged period of political uncertainty would hinder Latvia's efforts to repair its economy, resulting in further unrest.
Governments across Eastern Europe face similar uncertainty, and analysts said the timing of electoral cycles could determine which ones fall. Newly elected governments in Lithuania and Romania might survive, for example, while the Bulgarian government faces elections this summer and is in trouble.
Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said it makes sense in Latvia to hold new elections because the current Parliament is "utterly discredited" and can do little for the economy in any case. "You can't have a government that has no support," he said. "It's useless."
Analysts said the E.U. serves as a bulwark against radical politics in the region, but they warned of a backlash if the developed nations that dominate policymaking ignored the problems of the smaller ones. In Latvia, politicians and business leaders complain about E.U. agricultural subsidies that benefit farmers in Western Europe and trade barriers in the service sector. But they have praised the E.U.'s swift response to the country's economic crisis so far.
Pavel Nazarov, 21, a physics student who participated in the rally, said he welcomed E.U. intervention for another reason. "They can keep an eye on our corrupt politicians," he said, "even when we can't."
Lawrence Summers, President-elect Obama's chief economic advisor, has been relatively quiet on vitally important "free trade"- issues in light of the attention given to the government bailout and rescue plans. However, there is plenty of information which proves Summers to be an avid proponent of most of the policies which have destroyed our industrial economy.
Summers' submission to Financial Times last spring shows that the man our new president will look to for economic policy is perhaps a bit out of touch with everyday reality. Before the full scope of the economic crisis was known, some sentiment toward "protectionism"- had already begun to rise. Summers, a tried and true "free trader"- and holdover from Clinton-era deregulation, is against all things "protectionism."- It can be reasonably assumed that Summers will promote "free trade"- within the new administration, flying in the face of what many Americans had hoped to achieve in electing a Democrat as president.
Most Americans believed then Senator Obama on the campaign trail when he took a tough stance against NAFTA, the WTO and our listless course toward unregulated international and domestic markets. We have seen in the past several weeks that as president, Barack Obama may have no intention of fulfilling his campaign promises of the past two years. His selection of "free trade"- advocates for U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Secretary have been well covered. Americans could make their presence known by petitioning their Congressional representatives to block the confirmation of any appointees who don't fit the bill in our tumbling economy.
The core of his economic team is also cause for worry. Unfortunately, the ethereal National Economic Council is merely a government "think tank"- and is thus not responsible to the will of the people. As the head of the NEC, Lawrence Summers will have the President's ear on all economic issues. At the same time, he will not be responsible to constituents in the same way that a cabinet official would. Not only do his views on "free trade"- not match with those supported by the majority of the American people, but his position in the administration is one that cannot be challenged.
President-elect Obama has made many puzzling choices for key economic advisory positions in the past weeks and months. Lawrence Summers' position atop the economic policy hierarchy is but one of several which should be viewed with consternation by a public that has been left behind by the past four presidents. Americans elected Obama to change Washington and alter the disaster course this country is traveling. With his selection of status quo "free trade"- advocates across the board, the President-elect seems to have already lost that calling.
I'm against Obama's New World Order but must take exception to it being called a "New Age" plan. "New Age Citizen" was named to talk about a "Anti-Globalist" New Age which is about as far from Obama's plan as one could be. Still, this video speaks volumes about Obama's globalist tendencies.
I have always complemented Lou Dobb's on his coverage of Illegal Immigration and many other important contemporary topics. But he is clearly clueless when it comes to Drug Policy. I have sent dozens of emails to Lou Dobbs in order to present my views on the MERP Model and the folly of his continued support Marijuana Prohibition. I suppose he must see me as too formidable in my ability to challenge his position on Marijuana Prohibition?
The Congressional Oversight Panel released a report on January 29, 2009: Modernizing the American Financial Regulatory System. This is a Special Report on Regulatory Reform required under Section 125(b)(2) of Title I of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Pub.L.-110-343.
These "Corporate News Cushiebags" are just rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. And when Krugman talks unemployment rates he fails to recognize that the reason rates are not higher is because Clinton changed the definition to artificially reduce the numbers by no longer counting those out of jobs for more than 6 months. It amazes me that they would give this dunce, Krugman, the Noble Prize in economics. All of these "talking heads" are nothing more than shils for the New World Order. And we had better figure that out immediately in order to figure out a real solution.
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