The xXx Gloom & Doom Report

[k0xxx]

Geeze guys, when I went to bed last night there were three posts following my OP. I didn't check in this morning, as I had to go to a neighboring town for the day. I get home tonight and check the thread and wow, y'all have been busy.

Ok, where to start....

I don't know what you all think but my other concern is for our water resources. I have a feeling that clean, affordable water is becoming more and more a thing of the past.

Thought this was aninteresting article on Colorado owing water so they're going to drain an entire reservoir. And what exactly is Kansas going to do with this one-time water payment?

Yes, water is going to be a BIG issue in the future. In the US this will be extremely critical in several areas. In the southwest, Lake Mead has been experiencing drought conditions. After reaching it's lowest levels in some forty years, it seems to be recovering a bit now, but is still below the drought level of 1125 ft. The bad news is that to help the lake regain it's level, a lot of the water use by downstream farms had to be restricted. Elsewhere, we are seeing record aquifer depletion and some cities, like Atlanta, are in growing bigger and faster than the water supply can handle. Water will be a very hot topic in the coming years.

I disagree that America will be the next to fall. The whole world financial systems are falling. There is nobody left, who are really prepared to take the baton, that can do/will do what it takes to "replace" America's position in the world. We're not really going anywhere position wise. We're not really losing ground. Everybody is slipping at the same time. Not that we couldn't completely go down, but I just don't see it happening yet. Things are getting rough, but it is getting rough collectively as a planet, not just any single nation. Financial collapse will depend on positioning of those in charge. We need a clearly defined leadership with a plan of action. Will they be stubborn enough to leave everything as is and watch the ship sink, or will they get off their thumbs and grab a bucket to start bailing water? That's left to be seen. The current political picture appears to be gaping stares of disbelief that there is a hole in the boat. People are in a state of shock and confusion, and need to snap out of it and grab that bucket before it's too late. I'm waiting for 2012 to see for sure if we're going down. Right now, I don't see it. I see only signs that it CAN happen, but none that it is completely imminent as of yet.

On another note, it is going to be our(SS'ers) responsibility to model/rebuild the new way of life if/when, because nobody else seems to have a clue We'll be the last ones standing on our own two feet so to speak, and we'll need to help everyone else get back up if we expect to have a nation worth living in ever again.

Just my opinion. Doom and gloom? Nah...just reality roll with the punches.

America will fall. We've extended ourselves way too much and we have made far too many enemies that will take advantage of the fall. Iran is building nukes and may actually already have a couple thanks to our "friends" in Russia. They (Iran) are getting ready to deploy war ships off of our coast as a deliberate provocation. Iran has already stated (and I take them at their word) that they intend to wipe Israel off of the map. They call Israel the "Little Satan", but they call America the "Big Satan" and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned of an "explosion" in the Islamic world directed at "Israel and its Western supporters." There are very powerful factions within Turkey that are openly calling for the country to once again be the center of a Muslim caliphate. With the "Arab Spring", so highly praised by our current administration, they may get their wish. The Muslim Brotherhood, who's stated goals are the destruction of Western civilization, is fast gaining power throughout the Middle East. Russia is reportedly in a bunker building frenzy with the goal of completing 5000 bunkers in Moscow alone by 2012. I'm not saying anything other than to draw your own conclusions.

As far as who would be prepared to take the baton, my guess is that it would be China. That is, if they can keep their growing middle class under control. Somehow though, I can't see any of America's enemies just sitting back and not taking advantage of the situation, should chaos erupt.

So, does anyone here see a way to stop the economic snowball from picking up speed as it hurtles down the hill toward the big tree? (And I mean a practical way, not pie-in-the-sky-but-will-never-happen stuff.) Or is it better to just hunker down & do your best to take care of yourself (plus family & friends) when the calamity hits?

I don't see any way that we will avoid it. It could be done, but the measures that would be required would be so politically unpalatable and the reaction by the public so severe, that politicians will just push the consequences as far into the future as possible. Of course, that will just give the snowball time to gain more mass and speed, making it's impact that much worse.

At this point I think everyone needs to hunker down and be ready. Take care of yourself and your family. In order for this to be averted or at a lessor level, people at the top need to do a full turnaround and actually do what is right. I don't see that happening anytime soon. I think they are trying to hold it off long enough to get as much money/power/etc out of as possible before the bottom falls out.

I do find it interesting that the regular news people are actually starting to report that things don't look good. I take that as a bad sign.

What she said!

Or stack the rolls and use them as bunker armor

oooh! or you could build a new type of rifle that shoots rolls of nickels!

Anybody else remember those little plastic toy guns, that shot out plastic disks? Hmmm...

 

[k0xxx]

And now the latest of the Gloom & Doom Report...

Nearly Half of U.S. Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefit

US's Geithner warns Europe crisis a global threat

Protectionism beckons as leaders push world into Depression

World facing worst financial crisis in history, Bank of England Governor says

"One In Three International Investors Expect a Global Economic Meltdown Within the Next 12 Months"

 

[Britesea]

On http://www.whizbangbooks.com/, if you follow the links to The Deliberate Agrarian, you will find an article about Walter Prescott Webb's Boom Hypothesis of Modern History. It is absolutely fascinating, and scarily prophetic for a book written 60 years ago.

 

[cabinchick]

And now the latest of the Gloom & Doom Report...

Nearly Half of U.S. Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefit

Social Security Retirement income is not a government entitlement benefit. I've spent most of my life paying into that system and intend to get every cent back that I can before it desolves completely - and it will. I spent most of my working years at the Social Security Administration...worked my way up from the bottom into management. That's when my eyes were opened to the propoganda that was being fed to the employees and the public alike...we were told "SSA will be around in some form or another, no worries". It was a blatant lie and most of my coworkers and I had faith in my boss, that he would tell me the truth. Duh . I have no misconceptions that my retirement benefits as well as my husbands will run out much sooner than SSA is stating. That's why we're really trying to aquire SS skills that will help us when the economy completely collapses.

 

[framing fowl]

America will fall. We've extended ourselves way too much and we have made far too many enemies that will take advantage of the fall. Iran is building nukes and may actually already have a couple thanks to our "friends" in Russia. They (Iran) are getting ready to deploy war ships off of our coast as a deliberate provocation. Iran has already stated (and I take them at their word) that they intend to wipe Israel off of the map. They call Israel the "Little Satan", but they call America the "Big Satan" and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned of an "explosion" in the Islamic world directed at "Israel and its Western supporters." There are very powerful factions within Turkey that are openly calling for the country to once again be the center of a Muslim caliphate. With the "Arab Spring", so highly praised by our current administration, they may get their wish. The Muslim Brotherhood, who's stated goals are the destruction of Western civilization, is fast gaining power throughout the Middle East. Russia is reportedly in a bunker building frenzy with the goal of completing 5000 bunkers in Moscow alone by 2012. I'm not saying anything other than to draw your own conclusions.

As far as who would be prepared to take the baton, my guess is that it would be China. That is, if they can keep their growing middle class under control. Somehow though, I can't see any of America's enemies just sitting back and not taking advantage of the situation, should chaos erupt.

I would actually be keeping an eye on Russia. Putin stepped down into the prime minister role but is poised to "win" the presidency next year. He also changed their political process so the president serves for 6 years rather than 4. He will be in position to serve 12 years (two terms) unless he decides to change the rules in mid-stream. He is also calling for the creation of anew Eurasian Union. He has close ties with Iran and they have large natural gas and oil resources.

Let's also look at space programs. American astronauts must now learn Russian to go into space. Our space program is defunct and now astronauts must ride along on Russian spacecraft to get into space.

I'm not liking the Iranian ships in the Atlantic either.

 

[FarmerJamie]

I'm not liking the Iranian ships in the Atlantic either.

I'm not losing ANY sleep over the Iranian ships in the Atlantic. First, it's a logistical nightmare to keep the ships supplied and provisioned. Second, it's only one small frigate plus a resupply ship. Third, the frigate would be more danger to a US surface ship or merchant shipping than anything on land. Fourth, about 10 secs after any hostile actions, the Iranian ships would be on their way to becoming an artificial reef. It's all propaganda with very little viable threat.

Iranian Ships in the Atlantic
Iranian Frigate

With regards to relying on the Russians for providing lift-to-orbit capability.

 

[i_am2bz]

It's not the alien workers who have nefarious intentions, the majority of your illegals are just trying to make a living and take care of their families like everyone else. It's too bad that everyone gets painted with the same brush.

But the problem is, moolie, we have NO IDEA who is crossing the border. If someone is caught, how do we KNOW they are only here "to do jobs Americans refuse to do"; how do we know they aren't drug smugglers, slavers, terrorists? If we need an agricultural visa program, fine; fix THAT program, don't just don't let EVERYONE in & hope for the best. :/

 

[i_am2bz]

Geeze guys, when I went to bed last night there were three posts following my OP. I didn't check in this morning, as I had to go to a neighboring town for the day. I get home tonight and check the thread and wow, y'all have been busy.

Ok, where to start....

Hey Mark, I was wondering where you were! It's like you threw a stink bomb in the room, locked the door, & ran away giggling!

 

[framing fowl]

I'm not losing ANY sleep over the Iranian ships in the Atlantic. First, it's a logistical nightmare to keep the ships supplied and provisioned. Second, it's only one small frigate plus a resupply ship. Third, the frigate would be more danger to a US surface ship or merchant shipping than anything on land. Fourth, about 10 secs after any hostile actions, the Iranian ships would be on their way to becoming an artificial reef. It's all propaganda with very little viable threat.

Iranian Ships in the Atlantic
Iranian Frigate

I'm not losing any sleep either. I'm not worried about a single ship, I'm concerned with the propaganda and the attitude of that country's government behind having the ship there. It's more of a symbol than anything and I don't like what the symbol represents.

 

[k0xxx]

Thanks for the link Britesea, I'll look it up.

Social Security Retirement income is not a government entitlement benefit...

Social Security is indeed an entitlement. It was never intended to be and we were promised that it never would be, but when the trust fund was emptied and placed into the general budget and then benefits started being paid to those that never put anything into the system, it became an entitlement.

The Trust Fund balance is available to finance future benefit payments and other Trust Fund expenditures but only in a bookkeeping sense.... They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits. Instead, they are claims on the Treasury (IOU's) that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures. The existence of large Trust Fund balances, therefore, does not, by itself, have any impact on the Governments ability to pay benefits.

We're screwed.

I'm not losing ANY sleep over the Iranian ships in the Atlantic...

Normally I wouldn't either, but a couple of things give me cause for pause.

Ahmadinejad is a "12'er", a member of a sect that believes that it is necessary to have global chaos and blood shed before their version of the messiah (which bears a striking resemblance to the Bible's Antichrist) can return. Now consider that Iran has practiced launching missiles into a low earth orbit arc for delivery of an nuclear EMP device. One device detonated over the central US at high altitude would result in a EMP pulse that would affect the entire continental US. Such a device could easily be launched by a frigate or even a small container ship for that matter.

Hey Mark, I was wondering where you were! It's like you threw a stink bomb in the room, locked the door, & ran away giggling!