Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel- Some Michigan counties have turned a few once-paved rural roads back to gravel to save money. More than 20 of the state’s 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession. The counties estimate it takes about $10,000 to grind up a mile of pavement and put down gravel. It takes more than $100,000 to repave a mile of road. Reverting to gravel has happened in a few other states but it is most typical in Michigan.
On Sunday in Iran, mass protests were drowned in blood by government authorities; at least ten reportedly have been killed with hundreds injured. The events have been given ample coverage in the U.S. media, with the intention of further demonizing Iran’s repressive government. Absent in the American media are the deeper implications of the protests, which, to anyone paying close attention, constitute a powerful revolutionary movement.
This video was sent to me by Dan Mitchell at Cato. Dan presents an excellent summary of why government spending is harmful to the economy and prosperity. Whether or not it results in deficits, the greater the spending by government as a percentage of GDP, the greater is the negative impact on the economy. One interesting point he makes is that it is not deficit spending by government that creates inflation. Japan finances its huge deficits by mostly by borrowing from Japanese savers. Yet they experience deflation. So you need to look elsewhere for the cause of inflation. And, as readers of The Daily Capitalist well know, it the Fed and the fractional reserve banking system it regulates that is the cause of inflation.
Kremlin position papers presented to Prime Minister Putin today on his upcoming meeting withNATO Secretary GeneralAnders Fogh Rasmussen state that the European-US military alliance has authorized an ‘emergency request’ from President Obama to utilize American and Canadian NATO troops to put down what is expected to be a “rebellion” after the expected January, 2010 ‘declaration of bankruptcy’ by the State of California.
According to these reports, Obama’s fears of rebellion are due to the economic health of California (the United States largest State) after the 3rd largest US State, New York, declared a ‘fiscal emergency’ and refused to release to its cities and towns over $750 Million due them this past week with the Governor of New York, David Paterson, declaring “I can’t say this enough: The state has run out of money.”
New York’s fiscal crisis, however, pales in comparison to California’s, where new economic data points to its expected 5-year budget deficit reaching the staggering amount of over $100 Billion which Russian economists warn will result in budget cuts so steep as to create ‘social chaos’ among this States 36 million citizens.
In the dead of night on December 17, 2009, President Barack H. Obama issued an Executive Order that, in effect, gives INTERPOL (an international police organization) full immunity to operate within the United States of America.
Last Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order “AmendingExecutive Order 12425.” It grants INTERPOL (INTERnational Criminal POLice Organization) a new level of full diplomatic immunity afforded to foreign embassies and select other “International Organizations,” as set forth in the United States International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945.
By removing language from President Reagan’s 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law-enforcement body now operateson American soil—beyond the reach of our own law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
What, exactly does this mean? It means that INTERPOL now has full authority to conduct investigations and other law enforcement activities on U.S. soil, with full immunity from U.S. laws such as the Freedom of Information Act and with complete independence from oversight from the FBI and other US law enforcement agencies.
In short, a global law enforcement entity now has full law-enforcement authority in the U.S. without any check on its power afforded by U.S. law and U.S. law enforcement agencies.
A bit of background is in order here, and Hot Airprovides it:
During his presidency, Ronald Reagan granted the global police agency Interpol the status of diplomatic personnel in order to engage more constructively on international law enforcement. In Executive Order 12425, Reagan made two exceptions to that status. The first had to do with taxation, but the second was to make sure that INTERPOL had the same accountability for its actions as American law enforcement—namely, they had to produce records when demanded by courts and could not have immunity for their actions. President Barack H. Obama unexpectedly revoked those exceptions in a change to Executive Order 12425 last (week)…
Thus, INTERPOL now can conduct its operations on U.S. soil with ZERO accountability to anyone in this country.
Are you beginning to understand now just what the ‘end game’ is on the part of those who are currently running the U.S. Government?
Let’s go a step further in fleshing out exactly what this means in practical terms. It gets ugly…and scary. Again, from ThreatsWatch:
Section 2c of the United States International Organizations Immunities Act is the crucial piece.
Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable. (Emphasis added.)
Inviolable archives means INTERPOL records are beyond US citizens‘ Freedom of Information Act requests and beyond American legal or investigative discovery (”unless such immunity be expressly waived.”) Property and assets being immune from search and confiscation means precisely that. Wherever they may be in the United States. This could conceivably include human assets – Americans arrested on our soil by INTERPOL officers.
Why would INTERPOL be arresting American citizens on our own soil, without oversight from our own law enforcement agencies? And remember, citizens who are thusly arrested would have no legal authority to demand full documentation from INTERPOL concerning the charges brought against them.
Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?
Combine this with the Patriot Act and at least one answer to these questions arises: a coup is underway in the United States of America, the goal of which is to establish complete, unquestioned authority over the citizens–a ‘fundamental change’ to the United States where citizens have no legal recourse against an authoritarian central government.
After the Bolsheviks took over Russia, many who lived there before were able to compare life before and after the Communist take-over. It became readily apparent that they had gone from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. However subsequent generations, having nothing to compare, had no idea what life could be under some other kind of government and simply accepted the regime as a way of life. Is this what will happen in the United States?
As we experience the “perfect storm” of leftist control of the government and the country, Americans stand to see our traditional way of life deteriorating under our very nose. Those of us who experienced life under less government control of our lives are outraged and oppose the direction of the Obama government and allies in congress led by Speaker Pelosi in the House and Senator Reid in the Senate. Clearly the views and beliefs of the people who are opposed to current Executive and Congressional action are not being represented in our so-called representative republican form of government. Sadly, our representatives choose to establish their agenda and care not if the public opposes the agenda. The leftist mantra is “if not now, then when?”
If successful, and there is presently no reason to expect otherwise, the total transformation of our country with less individual rights and freedom and more government control of our lives than ever envisioned by country’s founders, is a virtual certainty.
Mike Whitney—-The US media is very critical of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He’s frequently denounced as “anti-American”, a “leftist strongman”, and a dictator. Can you briefly summarize some of the positive social, economic and judicial changes for which Chavez is mainly responsible?
Eva Golinger—-The first and foremost important achievement during the Chávez administration is the 1999 Constitution, which, although not written nor decreed by Chávez himself, was created through his vision of change for Venezuela. The 1999 Constitution was, in fact, drafted – written – by the people of Venezuela in one of the most participatory examples of nation building, and then was ratified through popular national referendum by 75% of Venezuelans. The 1999 Constitution is one of the most advanced in the world in the area of human rights. It guarantees the rights to housing, education, healthcare, food, indigenous lands, languages, women’s rights, worker’s rights, living wages and a whole host of other rights that few other countries recognize on a national level. My favorite right in the Venezuelan Constitution is the right to a dignified life. That pretty much sums up all the others. Laws to implement these rights began to surface in 2001, with land reform, oil industry redistribution, tax laws and the creation of more than a dozen social programs – called missions – dedicated to addressing the basic needs of Venezuela’s poor majority. In 2003, the first missions were directed at education and healthcare. Within two years, illiteracy was eradicated in the country and Venezuela was certified by UNESCO as a nation free of illiteracy. This was done with the help of a successful Cuban literacy program called “Yo si puedo” (Yes I can). Further educational missions were created to provide free universal education from primary to doctoral levels throughout the country. Today, Venezuela’s population is much more educated than before, and adults who previously had no high school education now are encouraged to not only go through a secondary school program, but also university and graduate school.
Although the powers that be say things are getting better, the average Joe still isn’t buying it (no pun intended). According to the latest Gallup Economic Weekly, the urge to splurge remains lacking (italics mine):
Self-reported consumer spending was down more than 20% in each of the last three weeks from last year’s depressed weekly comparables. At the same time, Gallup’s Economic Confidence and Job Creation Indexes were essentially unchanged.
…
Consumer Spending fell slightly last week, as self-reported daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $73 — down $2 from the previous week. More importantly, it was down 22% from last year’s comparable, when average spending was $94 per day. For the third week in a row, consumer spending has trailed last year’s anemic spending levels by more than 20%.While it remains unclear how consumers’ spending is being divided between Christmas gifts and other discretionary spending for such things as travel, entertainment, and eating out, consumers are reporting a significant decline in their perceived spending during recent weeks. (This week’s consumer spending level may be slightly overstated, as Gallup did not interview on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, days on which spending estimates are typically lower.) Even with this year’s much better inventory controls, many retail merchants may be feeling the need to unload goods as Christmas approaches, providing good buying opportunities for consumers with money yet to spend.
The swine flu vaccine has become a coveted commodity all over the country, but someone inMilwaukee appeared at first glance to carry the notion to a new level this week, stealing off in a refrigerated truck that was hauling 930 of the prized doses.
The doses were being returned to Milwaukee’s main storage facility on Thursday evening after a public vaccination clinic when one or more people took off in the truck, which had been left idling and unattended only for moments, the authorities said.
The police found the truck 40 minutes later, and said the crime appeared to have been inspired more by the easily available vehicle than by the H1N1 vaccine inside. In fact, the vaccine was all found, apparently untouched and perhaps even unnoticed.
The doses will now be sent back to their manufacturers, although Milwaukee, like seemingly every other city, has plenty of people hoping to get one. “Given that it was out of our chain of custody, we cannot validate the integrity of that vaccine,” said Bevan K. Baker, the city health commissioner.
As prosecutors considered charges against a man suspected in the theft, there was other fallout: the department will no longer employ the transport company involved, Mr. Baker said, and trucks bearing H1N1 doses will now be escorted by a police squad car.
“We’re prepared to give this precious cargo its appropriate resting place” – in arms and noses, he said
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