Great Britain

Greece And Italy: The Roots Of Western Civilization, And The End As We Know It?

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Europe, the United States, and the entire civilized world is facing a catastrophe that threatens economic and political stability in the 21st century.

Greece, the original western civilization, with its center at Athens; and Italy, the center of the great Roman Empire which dominated much of the then known “world” outside the Far East, are both in what many consider “death throes” of their societies, as both are in a state of near bankruptcy, which threatens the whole foundation of the Western civilized world as we know it!

One wonders how these two nations can cope with the austerity being forced on them, and how this will affect the rest of Europe and the United States, which has its own financial challenges.

Will future generations look back on these times as the moment where the non Western world, led by China, India, Pakistan and Iran, became the centers of world power and influence, to the detriment of the values that brought about the great empires of Spain, France, Great Britain and the United States?

Will the United States, which is looked to as the leader of the “free world”, be able to gather the strength and fortitude to lead the future, or will we look back on these times as the beginning of the end of America as a great power? We have to wonder how the American people will react to the visions of Barack Obama and the opposition Republicans as we enter a crucial, turning point, election year!

Conservative And Republican Ideas On Economy: Proved Wrong By What Has Happened In Great Britain In Past Year

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Conservatives and Republicans keep on arguing that budget cuts are the answer, without any tax increases, and that government spending is the villain.

Meanwhile, the British government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has been promoting fiscal austerity, which has failed to help their economic situation. Unemployment has risen, and the budget cuts have not revived business confidence or encouraged more hiring, as people have less to spend as a result.

The British are suffering with a bad economy made far worse by spending cuts in the public sphere. All it has done is make for more future budget cuts as people cannot spend, and is leading toward a policy that did not work during the early years of the Great Depression, but only made it far worse.

Promoting fiscal austerity only will doom the British economy to a long period of no growth and worse economic conditions. Cutting government spending will only cause reduced demand and less tax revenue, and the British experience should be a warning sign to the American government and the American people.

Will we learn from past mistakes during the Great Depression, or will we again prove that we do not learn from the lessons of history?

Republicans Start To Deal With Foreign Policy Finally! First Mitt Romney And Later Jon Huntsman!

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The Republican Party has been busy trashing President Barack Obama and economic problems in America, but has failed to address the world scene and our foreign and defense policy.

Barack Obama has done a masterful job in many ways on the international scene, often seen as his strong point, particularly with dealing with international terrorism, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Many problems, of course, remain, including North Korea, Iran, China and the Middle East crisis. He has also had a masterful Secretary of State in Hillary Clinton!

But the question arises: Do the Republican candidates have any vision of how to deal with the outside world, considering that only former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has had any real expertise, as former Ambassador to Singapore and China?

Well, now, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts has announced in a speech at The Citadel in South Carolina, what is defined as a “muscular” foreign policy!

Romney calls for:

1. Increased Naval shipbuilding.
2. Strengthening alliances with Great Britain, Israel and Mexico
3. Keeping aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent against Iran
4. Spending more on national missile defense
5. Renewed emphasis on diplomacy and foreign aid to the Middle East
6. Increased diplomacy and trade with Latin America
7. Figuring out how to deal with Afghanistan beyond 2014
8. Devising a national cyber security strategy

Romney calls for a “new American Century”, with aggressive and hawkish foreign policy reminiscent of Ronald Reagan and the two Presidents Bush. This is in contradiction of the Tea Party Movement followers, and the libertarian, isolationist view of Congressman Ron Paul, an opponent in the Republican Presidential contest and his son, Senator Rand Paul, as well as liberal Democrats who want to avoid military conflicts overseas, which Romney seems clear to be unwilling to avoid if it is seen as necessary to assert American power.

Romney’s doubt about working through the United Nations will also turn many off from his strong foreign policy and defense policy statements, and of course, the question will be how the costs of this new, bold foreign policy will be managed in the present budget mess we are facing as a nation!

Next week, Jon Huntsman will enunciate his views, as foreign policy goes from the back burner to the front burner of American politics, as indeed it needs to do. But the question is can Romney or Huntsman convince the American people that Barack Obama has not, overall, been successful in areas of defense and foreign policy?

One thinks that will be difficult to convince the nation over the next year!

The Month Of August: A Crisis Month In History For The American Presidency!

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Now that we have seen the month of August slip into history, it is worthwhile to look back and notice how significant the month is in Presidential history, how it is often a crisis month!

Examples include:

August 24, 1814–Great Britain invaded and burned the nation’s capitol, Washington, DC during the War of 1812, sending President James Madison and Congress fleeing to nearby Baltimore. This was the only invasion of American territory until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

August 4, 1914–World War I began in full swing, as all of the major European powers had finally declared war a week after the initial declaration. This alarmed President Woodrow Wilson issued a declaration that the United States would remain “neutral in thought, as well as action”, a statement which could not be upheld as the war progressed into a long term stalemate, leading to US entrance in 1917.

August 6 and 9, 1945–Newly inaugurated President Harry Truman, in office less than four months after the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, unleashes the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, leading to the end of World War II.

August 13, 1961–The Soviet Union begins the construction of the Berlin Wall, separating East Berlin from West Berlin, during the first year of the administration of President John F. Kennedy. It will remain a symbol of oppression until its destruction in November 1989.

August 4, 1964–The Tonkin Gulf Incident is reported during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, a supposed attack on US Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This led to Johnson’s request of a resolution allowing the use of force to react to the reported aggression, and was the first step in the escalation of the war in Vietnam to a full scale conflict.

August 9, 1974–President Richard Nixon resigned from office, the first President to take such action, due to the “smoking gun” tape that showed his involvement in a coverup of the Watergate scandal. President Gerald Ford succeeded him in office, and later pardoned Nixon from prosecution, allowing Nixon to evade punishment, including being removed from office in an impeachment trial had he stayed in office.

August 2, 1990–Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded its oil rich neighbor, Kuwait, alarming Saudi Arabia and other Arab and oil nations, and led to US involvement, in unison with a United Nations coalition, to force Iraq out of Kuwait, but also putting US troops for the first time in the Middle East, and inciting Muslims who became involved in terrorism through participation with Al Qaeda under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden,

August 2011–President Barack Obama faced the crisis of the Debt Ceiling, which led to a lowering of the credit rating of the United States by Standard and Poor’s and a stock market crisis. Additionally, the Atlantic Coast Earthquake and Hurricane Irene became major crises, along with the final steps toward the removal of Moammar Gaddafi from power in Libya after a five month effort by the US, with backing of NATO allies, the United Nations, and the Arab League.

So there has to be a sign of relief that the ugly month of August has again passed into history!

The Tragic End Of The Space Shuttle Program: A Mistake!

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This nation is going through difficult economic times, but still one has to have vision about the future, and not only think about the present!

Therefore, it is a mistake that the space shuttle program is ending, and that many of the talented engineers, scientists, and support staff at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in central Florida and in Houston will now, after years of dedication, lose their jobs, and in the process, leave us rootless in space!

While President Obama today suggested travel to the nearest asteroid before going to Mars, there is no plan for any definite commitment to a space future, a mistake once made in the 1970s, but then revived with the Space Shuttle beginning in 1981 under Ronald Reagan.

Two weeks before astronaut John Glenn’s 90th birthday, we are faced with the fact that the only way now to reach space, specifically the International Space Station, will be through Russian vehicles, of all situations imaginable!

It is again a shortsighted view of what really matters, and a sad commentary on the fact that America is losing its vision of the future in so many ways, while the elite rich become wealthier, with a larger portion of income and a greater stratification of the social classes than at any point in American history, and greater than the worst extremes in the history of Great Britain!

Obama And The War In Afghanistan: Nearing An End?

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Barack Obama will make an announcement two days from now on a major troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Back in December, 2009, after careful reflection, Obama announced a 30,000 troop increase to Afghanistan, and made it clear that he would reconsider troop levels after 18 months, but with the goal also of overcoming the threat of Al Qaeda.

Well, with Osama Bin Laden dead, and many Al Qaeda operatives killed, it seems as if this terror network is far less of a threat, and just as Defense Secretary Robert Gates is about to leave at the end of this month, and as Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and others in the Republican Party are starting to advocate getting out of Afghanistan, Obama will be making a profound, significant speech on Wednesday, setting the future of a war which cannot be won, and is bleeding us dry!

It is hoped that the troop withdrawal will be a major one, particularly with some Republicans advocating the same, and with the NATO nations involved in the war rapidly de-escalating their own involvement in the war, including Canada and Great Britain.

With the budget crisis this nation faces, it is essential to bring troops home and stop adding to the national debt in a conflict that cannot be won in a classic way. It is time to declare victory over Al Qaeda, while keeping ourselves on guard, and get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible!

Does Osama Bin Laden Success Guarantee Second Presidential Term For Barack Obama?

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As a result of the successful raid into the Osama Bin Laden compound in Pakistan, the first thought would be that it gives President Obama a tremendous edge in the contest for re-election as President in 2012.

But before we conclude that, we need to look at history, whether military success insures a political victory.

In at least three cases, two American and one British, exactly the opposite occurred.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the great hero of World War II and the struggle against Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. And yet, when the British people voted months after the end of the European war, they chose to vote out the Conservative Party of Churchill and put in as Prime Minister the Labour Party leader, Clement Attlee, who served from 1945-1951.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford mounted a successful rescue mission of 39 US Navy personnel from the ship Mayaguez, which had been seized by the radical Khmer Rouge government of Cambodia. While 41 military personnel died in the successful rescue mission, two more than the number saved, it was still seen as a victory to be able to release the hostages unharmed. But in 1976, President Ford lost to Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia for a full term in the White House!

And in 1991, President George H W Bush was able to mount a UN offensive which defeated Saddam Hussein in six weeks, the very brief Gulf War! Bush’s ratings hit an all time high for any President, 91 percent, but a year and a half later, only 37 percent voted for Bush against Bill Clinton, the second worst defeated President in American history, despite the great and quick victory over Iraq!

So while it would seem likely that Obama gains a great edge for next year’s election by the death of Osama Bin Laden, there is no certainty in any sense of what the future holds!

An Absolute Outrage: Top 400 Families In America Own As Much as Bottom 60 Percent Of Entire American Population!

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In the midst of outrageous budget cuts in many state legislatures for education and health care and other essential needs of the American people, and with the suggestion of Congressman Paul Ryan of the House of Representatives Budget Committee that future taxes on the top incomes be lowered from 35 to 25 percent, while privatizing Medicare and Medicaid, we see the further acquisition of America’s wealth by the very super rich of our population!

The top 400 Families in America, including all relatives, owns as much total income as the bottom 60 percent of all Americans, about 200 million citizens!

America is more stratified in the past 30 years since the administration of Ronald Reagan changed tax policy to favor the wealthy, and surpasses the most stratified society before 1980, Great Britain!

Great Britain has always had an aristocracy based on heritage over a thousand years and more, but we have now managed to create a greater aristocracy based simply on greed, selfishness, and materialism than our former colonial masters!

Is this something to be proud of, that we claim to be a democracy with equal opportunity for all, and yet the truth is that such statements are a total fabrication, and that we have become a plutocracy controlled by a class that loves to perpetuate the myth that anyone can strike it rich, just to keep the masses happy in their dreaming of a reality that is not possible?

America is on the way to future civil war based on the masses eventually realizing that they have been lied to, and income levels will cause a reaction that the super wealthy will fear to see, if we do not have those most fortunate among us to start realizing their social, moral, and religious responsibility to pay a fair share of their income to better the lives of the rest of us, and make us what we claim to be but are not, a democracy of, by, and for the people!

British Budget Demonstrations Turn Violent: Is This Portending The Future In America?

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The year 2011 is only three months old, but already we have had massive demonstrations protesting dictatorial government in the many countries in the Middle East, with some of these demonstrations, unfortunately, turning violent. But it is clear the younger generation wants opportunities for a real future, rather than one of poverty and deprivation and lack of human rights.

Sadly, now we are starting to see massive demonstrations and the danger of violence in countries around the world affected by the economic crisis, by citizens who cannot tolerate the massive cuts in education, health care, and other public services that the population of these nations cannot comprehend occurring, as it will hit the poor and the middle class in massive ways, while the plutocracy–the rich and the powerful–of these societies do everything they can to evade taxation or responsibility for their part in promoting the advancement of society!

We have now seen protests against British government actions to promote massive cuts in programs, and it has led to violence by the masses who are being harmed by it, and want the elite wealthy to pay more than they do in taxes, and stop evading of taxes by corporations!

We may have had Tea Party demonstrations before the midterm elections last year in the United States. But as the American people come to realize the extent of tax evasion by companies such as General Electric just revealed this week, and the growing influence of the Koch Brothers and other billionaires in lining their own pockets by manipulating the Republican Party in the states and in the Congress, and the anti labor, anti elderly, anti youth, anti minorities, anti women, and anti public services mentality of our plutocracy which has been assisted by the corruption of the Republican dominated, Koch Brothers influenced Supreme Court majority allowing unlimited corporate spending in the Citizens United Case of January, 2010, the result, unfortunately, is likely a mass reaction in a way highly dangerous of public order!

The American people are not going to permit the total destruction of the middle class and the kicking of the poor to the curb, by selfish, greedy interests who care about nothing but their own wallets!

So portending the future in America is indeed terrifying, as we are going through rougher times now than ever before, and the future seems very gloomy for most Americans, even those who are fortunate enough to have employment, but are being abused by their companies or their government employers in the name of the advancement of personal gain over social responsibility!

The Politics Of The Libyan Civil War Intervention

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With the US involvement in the Libyan Civil War, along with that of France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Canada, Denmark, and Norway, and with the backing of the Arab League, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United Nations, and lack of use of their Security Council veto by Russia and China, we are seeing a political split developing in our nation.

We have learned that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after earlier doubts, was finally convinced by UN Ambassador Susan Rice.

We have also learned that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen had great doubts on the intervention, but of course were loyal team members once the decision was made for involvement.

Also, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, of different political persuasions and the last two losing Presidential candidates in 2008 and 2004 both felt that intervention was essential.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also have strongly backed the military action, but Republican Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking member ofr the Kerry led Foreign Relations Committee, has expressed great upset at the intervention, and Speaker of the House John Boehner has made it clear that the President needed to consult Congress before taking action, which he basically failed to do, leading to a controversy over the War Powers Act of 1973, which mandates an explanation by the President within 48 hours, and the ability of Congress in theory to demand withdrawal after the military action, IF they can gain a majority vote in both houses of Congress, which has never happened, and is unlikely ever to happen!

The lack of consultation so far has angered Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich so much that he has brought up the concept of impeachment of the President, which certainly is not going to happen, but shows the turmoil developing because of the US now being committed to THREE wars at once, all in Muslim nations!

The danger is that Obama might, by what he has decided to do, to intervene to stop mass murder in Libya, could end up in a protracted war that could cost the nation many billions of dollars at a time when we are in economic crisis and cutting domestic budgets in states and nationally.

Additionally, it could cause Obama to have a Democratic opponent in the Presidential primaries of 2012, who assuredly he could defeat, but the attacks that would occur against him would weaken him, and make him more subjected to the likelihood of defeat in the Presidential Election of 2012 by the Republican nominee for that office!

This has happened three times in the past 35 years, in 1976 to Gerald Ford, in 1980 to Jimmy Carter, and in 1992 to George H W Bush.

It is clear that the Libyan Civil War intervention complicates the economic and political scene in America, and creates potentially new defense, foreign policy, and national security issues for the short run and the long run!