Intellectual Dull

The other thing, even worse, is that the fiasco in Iraq shows the impotence of the U.S. military to quickly win a colonial war against a country of only 25 million inhabitants destroyed by a succession of wars (the Iran-Iraq war, the the first Gulf War, the long decade of Anglo-American bombing). Failure of the intelligence apparatus of super-charged and refinement of dollars but unable to process information effectively, dull intellectual consequence of human resources from a decadent society. Poor morale to fight the regular troops and mercenaries (the famous "Contract") which wasted arms and slaughtering defenseless civilian population. Technological bravado accompanied by a logistics unreasonable, paralyzing, a result of the lack of significant local support. Repeats itself as the story of the decline of empires and civilizations of the past. Another factor in the crisis is the accumulation of explosive imbalances. The deficit of foreign trade has been growing for over a decade, but now I get to unsustainable levels (more than 500 billion in 2003, which will certainly be surpassed this year) due to an industrial fabric each day less competitive and corroded by the financial dynamics. The fiscal deficit this year exceeded 400 billion dollars, hit by increased military spending and tax cuts for the rich. The result is a debt that exceeds 7.4 billion dollars, equivalent to 67% of GDP, about 25 thousand dollars a head. In the past 12 months the pace of increase daily is the order of 1700 million dollars.

Crisis Engines

The United States emerged from recession in late 2001 inflicting a second financial bubble, whose base this time was not speculation bursátil, but the real estate business. There was a further concentration of income boosted by tax cuts for the rich, by military spending and other transfers of public resources for economic clique linked to the government, among these the oil multinationals who orchestrated the invasion of Iraq. The takeover expanded the old imbalances, has generated new and rehabilitated others who slept during the Clinton era. The result was an avalanche of problems that go beyond the ability to control the system, pushing it to the crisis. The negative indicator is the most visible failure of the invasion of Iraq, which has a dual aspect. On one side is a blow to the U.S. strategy for control of oil resources worldwide, the Iraqi adventure and occupation of Afghanistan have been designed by the Bush team as initial deployments that would be followed by the invasion of Iran and the colonization of the former Soviet republics in Asia Central, pressing Russia and China to submit them completely. The scheme became a swamp and the possible withdrawal (defeat) of the invaders of Iraq probably trigger an escalation of anti-American movements from the Middle East, passing through Pakistan and coming to the Philippines and Indonesia. The Islamic people (more than 1300 million people) will be the basis of human transformation.

The US in the center of the crisis

At the end of the last decade the U.S. economy used to be presented by the media as the mega engine of global growth, the paradigm of capitalism triumphant where, according to the neoliberal gurus, was expanding so vertiginous a New Economy based on high technology and the trigger is a virtuous circle of progress indefinitely. Explained to us that technological innovations generate income to encourage more innovation, which in turn expanded the wealth and so on. All that expressed itself in an unprecedented euphoria bursátil (anyone remember what occurred in 1929). Clinton occupied the White House and radiated sympathy, the Lewinsky case added a note of joy to the celebration of additional markets. However, some facts dissonant disturbed the harmony. First, the contrast between the peak and consumer virtual disappearance of personal savings. The citizens of the empire spent all their income and contract debts because, so directly or through investment funds or pension, earned a lot of money speculating in the stock market. Companies, especially the so-called technological saw as day after day recognize it is their actions - which allowed them to (on) and investing (on) run into debt. All this made up the quotations in the bag without much connection with the real profitability of firms. The desinchou bubble in 2000, Clinton handed his post to Bush and installed to recession. Moreover, the September 11, 2001 has marked the launch of a militaristic era. Not missing observers, especially the progressive camp, to mark the antagonism between an arbitrary and imperial Bush and Clinton a multilateral, negotiator, attached the set of institutions. However, Clinton drove a phenomenal concentration of incomes, triggered the war in the heart of Europe (Yugoslavia) and intensified the blockade and bombardment against Iraq who prepared the invasion later. All his economic linkage was based on financial hypertrophy, accelerating the rise of mafias that now govern discovery of guy. In fact, the fascism of Bush emphasized, their imperialist delusions, the corruption that surrounds and inherits exacerbates trends during the 90s. The parasite mutation of the American capitalism and its social consequences, political and military gestada was for a long time, with the complicity of Democrats and Republicans, sinks its roots in financialisation of global capitalism.

World's Crisis

Far beyond the thunder and lightning of the Little Rock crisis, the free world's major nations were caught up last week in a problem that nags more lives than race segregation or conflict between states' rights and federal powers. The problem: inflation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that its consumer price index had edged upward for the twelfth month in a row, with an August rise of .2 lifting the index to a record high of 121.0 (the 1947-49 average = 100) as compared with 116.8 a year earlier. Because of the relentless upcreep in prices, factory workers' average real wages actually shrank by nearly 1% from August 1956 to August 1957 despite an increase of $2 a week in take-home pay. And the U.S. inflation record, measured against the global scale (see chart), was moderate indeed.
Surging Confidence. This sobering set of facts adds up to something close to a world crisis, as President Eisenhower made clear last week in a speech to the 68-nation World Bank and International Monetary Fund. "In all our lands," said the President, "there is a surging confidence that steady economic growth can be a reality—that the good things of life can be made available in a growing stream to all our peoples." But to achieve this aim, nations must foster stability as well as growth, i.e., they must combat the "worldwide phenomenon" of inflation.
Disclaiming any idea of advising trained economists on "technical issues," Ike set forth some "commonsense aspects of the matter that we must squarely face." No economy, he said, can satisfy all "personal and governmental demands and desires" at the same time. "The world may try through financial and monetary devices to obtain more from its economic resources than can be produced, [but] in reality this cannot be done." If an economy is asked to "carry more than it can," the results will be rising prices and — if inflation runs on unchecked — depression. "It may be well occasionally to recall the old story about the dog that jumped off the bridge to get the bone he thought he saw in the water, and thereby lost the bone he was carrying in his mouth."
In the fight against inflation, said the President, governments must curb their own demands upon the economy — "a difficult task in this day of heavy defense outlays" — and follow credit policies that promote stability. But government measures alone cannot win the fight unless nations avoid "the costly error of overpaying ourselves for the work we do." Payments for "productive efforts of all sorts," i.e., profits as well as wages, should rise in step with productivity, not outrun it. Here Ike echoed a theme he had voiced in his State of the Union address last January: labor and business, as well as government, should restrain their demands.

Global Energy Crise

Abundant and economical energy is the life blood of modern civilizations. The bargraph shows oil, coal and natural gas together supplying 85 percent of the world's energy supply in 2008.




Coal, nuclear and hydro are used primarily to make electricity. Natural gas is widely used for heating. Biomass, meaning wood and dried dung, is used for heating and cooking. The red sliver is wind and solar power, primarily. The sliver may be small, but it is the future because wind and solar power are sustainable.Oil powers almost all machines that move and that makes oil uniquely versatile. Oil powered airplanes carry 500 people across the widest oceans at nearly the speed of sound. Oil powered machines produce and transport food. In North America there are many more seats in oil powered vehicles than there are people. Oil powered machines are ubiquitous. Clearly, we live in the age of oil, but it is drawing to a close.If oil production remains constant, there is enough to last 42 years. That figure is 61 years for natural gas and 133 years for coal. Oil and gas wells produce less as they become depleted which is just one reason production will not stay constant. Everyone realizes oil and gas will become scarce and expensive within the life times of living humans. Inevitably, there will be a transition to sustainable energy sources. The transition may be willy-nilly or planned--the choice is ours.Consider the implications of the following facts;
* The United States consumes 25 percent of the world's oil and 70 percent of that is imported.
* 61 percent of the world's oil reserves are in the Middle East. The United States has 2.4 percent.
* 66.3 percent of the world's gas reserves are in the Middle East and the Russian Federation. The United States has 3.4 percent.
Because of our numbers and our technology, we humans greatly influence the ecology of Earth. Yet Earth does not come with an operating manual and we need to look to science to create one. The new era of limited and expensive energy will be very difficult for everyone on Earth but it will be even more difficult if it is not anticipated. It is of utmost importance that the public and especially policymakers understand the global energy crisis and the underlying science.

Source: http://www.planetforlife.com/

General Crysis

As we all might have noticed by now, we are beeing target of a new kind of crise, not only in economical sence but i think pretty much all kind! From ecological, to alimentation, ethical, etc. A new conciousness is developing, where new ideas are shaping to what we are and what we learn just like a product of the society it self. This crise is far behond knowledge of the most ordinary people in a society as they intend to clean this issues from their minds not caring as they should, or just ignoring them completelly, and living their lifes like if they weren't a racional beeing capable of individual thoughts (philosophing), not trying to solve them or even to understand them.