The xXx Gloom & Doom Report

[lighthawk]

All we ever see on your network news is fear. You shut down the longest undefended border in the world (with Canada) on pretenses and now both our nation's citizens need passports to travel to each other--I remember other times. You've got a system that lets your population know what "security level" you're at--when I was younger that was the stuff of Wargames and other similar movies, not everyday life and the 6 o'clock news. Airport security measures are at an all-time ridiculous level, which just irritates people and doesn't actually stop guys like your underwear bomber from potentially doing damage, and yes inciting terror and fear.

And I honestly don't truly see that your average citizen is more concerned with what they've become or what they need to do to survive than with terrorism. Do you really see this in the average American? The credit-card toting up-to-their-eyeballs in debt to get the things they want average American citizen? Truly?

When they started that passport thing my nephew"s father in law sold his property in Canada. Just got to be too much hassle to summer there. Shame too it was beautiful there.
I refuse to fly since the TSA took over the airports.
Average citizen?
Actually I am seeing less and less of that behavior. I work in the service industry and we have a customer base of about 450 clients we see once or twice a year. More and more of them are adopting a "I need to prepare" attitude. Is it mainstream? No. More and more people are getting wise though. As for personal responsibility I believe that Children learn by example. Our leaders spend their entire elected term ducking responsibility so what do the children learn.
Also more and more are wising up to the pablum being fed to them by...
The Media...
Sometimes watching the nightly news turns my stomach. I just shake my head and wonder how anyone cannot see through the lies. G.W.Bush was once quoted saying that if you repeat it often enough they will believe it. Trust me they do exactly that. They portray nation X as a terrorist state and nation Y as inhumane and nation Z as one huge drug cartel. Over and over they repeat it. They actually had some econimist on the other night trying to "spin" inflation as a good thing. IMO the government and the media are convinced that we are stupid.
I have taken to watching RT and Aljazera along with some others and boy is that an eye opener. Seeing how Russian television reports on news in America is night and day. Totally different perspective on the same event.
Honestly I would be more terrified of my car breaking down in certain neighborhoods in Chicago or Detroit than I would be of a "terrorist" attack.

Rich .

 

[moolie]

Have you spoken with the average american? What, precisely, is an average american? Or, for that matter, what is an average canadian? I'm not attacking, I truly want to know. Apparantly, none of us here who are Americans are average, so I would like to know who the average american is. I used to think I was average, but now I find out I'm not? I gotta say, most people I know have stopped worrying about terrorists, and are more worried about/focused on their families, their jobs, and their lives. They only worry about the terrorists in regards to when they have to deal with increased security measures and such. And then they aren't worried, they are irritated and pissed off.

I suppose I should be grateful I'm not viewed as average

I speak with Americans on a daily basis, as part of my job. Not to mention the fact that I have several very good American friends whom I love dearly

"Average" is not an individual measure but rather an agglomeration. We each as individuals exist inside differing systems, and it is our daily experiences and influences that contribute to how we develop as individuals. There is no one "average" person, however by observing a number of individuals we can come up with "average" sets of behaviours by which we refer to groups. Most Americans believe strongly in self-determination and what is referred to as "the American dream"--a life based on a particular set of freedoms. In my case, how I view the "average" American is built both out of what you as a group put out there to the rest of the world about yourselves (including your media) and my personal experiences while traveling in your country and with the Americans I have met over the years.

An "average" Canadian doesn't exist any more than an "average" American on an individual basis, however as a group we tend also to hold to a set of beliefs that bring and hold us together as a nation.

One of those beliefs is that we are different from Americans as much as we are different from other national groups despite the close proximity of our two nations. We have a particular kind of patriotism that includes this belief.

We're none of us as humans very different as individuals (however "non-average" you may feel). Humans all have the same basic needs and desires.

 

[Wifezilla]

A forecast on my local economy...
http://www.gazette.com/articles/forecast-126690-return-recession.html

 

[TanksHill]

You know what I don't get. How can they keep calling this a double dip when most people never really came out of the first recession?

 

[old fashioned]

You know what I don't get. How can they keep calling this a double dip when most people never really came out of the first recession?

x2

 

[Living the Simple Life]

I think just sums it all up.....

 

[old fashioned]

 

[Wifezilla]

Yes! We all must protect the Bacon! LOL


"The U.S. economy is likely to experience a period of stagflation worse than the 1970s, which would cause bond yields to spike, commodity bull Jim Rogers told CNBC on Friday in Singapore. Rogers said governments were lying about the inflation problem and the recent rally in Treasurys was a bubble.

"As the inflation numbers get worse and as governments print more money and as governments have to issue many, many more bonds - somewhere along the line we get to the point when (bond prices) go down."

Between 1974 and 1978 average inflation in the U.S. was at 8 percent, while unemployment hit a peak of 9 percent in May 1975. Currently, unemployment is at 9.1 percent while CPI is at 3.8 percent.

Rogers believes inflation will get much worse this time because, he said, in the 1970s only the Fed was printing money, whereas now many global central banks have been easing monetary policy.

Rogers' view is at odds with others such as economist Nouriel Roubini who have been talking about a depression [cnbc explains] . Other economists have said the U.S. is experiencing a "balance sheet recession", just as Japan did in the 1990s, and that means the U.S. risks a long period of falling prices and asset values.

In the case of Japan, despite massive monetary easing, government bond yields have continued to fall. On Friday, 10-year yields were close to just 1 percent. But Rogers is convinced that the U.S. experience will be different from Japan's.

"A difference is when Japan did that they were the largest creditor nation in the world, America is the largest debtor nation - not just in the world - but in the history of the world and the U.S. dollar has been - and is the world's reserve currency. So there are some factors that might not keep the interest rate down in the U.S."

Rogers, who told CNBC in July that he was shorting Treasurys, admitted that his view on U.S. bonds hadn't panned out. Since July, 30-year Treasurys have rallied and the yields have fallen from 4.36 percent to 3.15 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Rogers said when there is a bubble, such as the one being experienced in U.S. Treasurys, prices could go up for long periods of time. Bill Gross of Pimco, who also had a bearish view on Treasurys, threw in the towel earlier this year. But Rogers is sticking to his opinion that Treasurys will eventually fall.

"Bernanke is obviously backing the market again and the Federal Reserve has more money than most of us - so they can drive interest rates down again. As I say they are making the bubble worse."

For now though Rogers is playing it safe and avoiding bonds. Instead, he's betting on stagflation by being long commodities and currencies (such as the Chinese yuan) and shorting stocks.

"I wouldn't advise anybody to buy bonds, I would advise you to sell bonds," he said. "If I were a bond portfolio manager, I would get another job."

"In the 70s you didn't make much money in stocks, you made fortunes owning commodities," Rogers added."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44900450

 

[old fashioned]

A difference is when Japan did that they were the largest creditor nation in the world, America is the largest debtor nation - not just in the world - but in the history of the world and the U.S. dollar has been - and is the world's reserve currency.


Now THAT is a scary thought......

 

[old fashioned]

On another note......last night DH was saying he heard on NPR that banking customers were transferring accounts to Credit Unions because of impending bank fees and their efforts to avoid it. I can't find anything about it on NPR website to validate this info, so I dunno. BUT if this is happening now, then the future of major banks will be even more shaky than ever before with the possibilities of eventually closing.....atleast I would think happening in a cause & effect