Al Jazeera distorts Santorum euthanasia comments and Citizen Wells article, Professor Ian Buruma article biased assumptive selective quoting, Elitist condescension
“As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of the Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in it’s stead. This process of continuation alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound tracks, cartoons, photographs–to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to be correct; nor was any item of news, or expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to be on record.”…George Orwell, “1984″
“Not every item of news should be published: rather must
those who control news policies endeavor to make every item
of news serve a certain purpose.”… Joseph Goebbels
“Viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it’s real news,”…Hillary Clinton
Al Jazeera has published an article by Professor Ian Buruma on the Washington Post article about Rick Santorum’s comments about euthanasia in the Netherlands. In an attempt to lend credence to the Washington Post article, Professor Buruma cited a Citizen Wells article that was critical of the Post article. The point made at Citizen Wells was that the Washington Post tried to completely discredit Santorum when in fact Santorum painted an accurate picture of most aspects of euthanasia in Holland. Professor Buruma quoted little of the Citizen Wells article and made many assumptions. He also used Alinsky like tactics of elitist condescension.
I came across the Post article by chance. The article could have been about any non Democrat candidate being maligned by the media, it just happened to be Santorum in this case. The point was the biased angle taken by the Post in an attempt to discredit him. The convenient ommission of facts, just as Professor Buruma has done. For example:
I stated: “Santorum may have been guilty of hyperbole but his fundamental message rings true.”
“From Dutch News November 9, 2011.
“A 64-year-old woman suffering from severe senile dementia has become the first person in the Netherlands to be given euthanasia even though she could no
longer express her wish to die, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.”
“The case has serious implications for Dutch euthanasia law because it means patients who are no longer able to state their wish can still be helped to die,
Constance de Vries, who acts as a second opinion doctor for euthanasia cases, told the paper.””
“From Forbes February 26, 2012.
“But Rick Santorum’s Sorta Right About Dutch Euthanasia”
“Not that I particularly care to defend a politician I most certainly don’t support: but the piling in on Rick Santorum over his remarks on the prevalence of involuntary euthanasia in Holland does seem a little over the top.”
“The numbers the Senator puts forward are also wrong: euthanasia, voluntary, involuntary, is not 10% of all deaths.
Well, actually, that’s not quite true either. It depends upon how you define these different activities.”
https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/washington-post-attacks-santorum-on-dutch-euthanasia-statement-post-bias-trumps-facts-santorum-point-valid-citizen-wells-awards-4-orwells/
Al Jazeera March 12, 2012.
“A new idea of truth
Quality journalism has suffered as the internet allows individuals to select ‘truth’ based on their prejudices.”
“Rick Santorum, a former United States senator seeking the Republican Party’s nomination to challenge President Barack Obama this year, has been saying some very strange things about the Netherlands. Ten per cent of all deaths in that country, he recently claimed, are from euthanasia, half of which are forced upon helpless patients. Old people are so frightened of being killed by homicidal doctors that they wear bracelets that read: “Do not euthanise me.”
In a way, Santorum’s canards must come as a relief to a country that has increasingly been in the news for outrageous statements by right-wing populists about Muslims and Greeks. Indeed, Santorum’s view of the Netherlands as a kind of progressive dystopia has a slightly old-fashioned ring to it nowadays.
The Dutch were nonetheless disturbed. Some in the country’s parliament even asked whether the foreign minister should lodge a complaint in Washington.
In fact, Santorum’s fantasies were swiftly refuted in the US itself. The Washington Post concluded that “there was not a shred of evidence to back up Santorum’s claims”, and found it “telling” that his campaign managers did not even bother to defend them. One US television station even apologised to a Dutch reporter in the name of the American people.
As the Post pointed out, there is no such thing as involuntary euthanasia in the Netherlands. The patient’s consent is essential, and at least two doctors must agree that the patient’s suffering is unbearable and beyond cure. Besides, the share of assisted deaths in Dutch mortality is nowhere near 10 per cent. As for those bracelets, well…
But does any of this matter to Santorum’s followers? Probably not. Corrections from the “elitist” mainstream media are dismissed as enemy propaganda. As a blogger sympathetic to Santorum
put it: “The Washington Post, as one would expect, attempted to discredit Santorum.”
No more filter
It is disturbing, to say the least, that the most cogent refutations of bald-faced lies no longer make any impression. After all, a democracy cannot function without a public that is properly informed. Informing the public used to be the role of serious newspapers and television networks. Of course, not everything in the mainstream media is always true: Mistakes are made. News organisations have political biases, sometimes reflecting the views and interests of their owners.
But high-quality journalism has always relied on its reputation for probity. Editors, as well as reporters, at least tried to get the facts right. That is why people read Le Monde, The New York Times, or, indeed, The Washington Post. Filtering nonsense was one of their duties – and their main selling point.
That has changed. Populist demagogues in politics and the mass media are doing everything they can to discredit the quality press as propaganda organs for left-wing elites who sneer at the views of ordinary Americans. Santorum pretends to speak for these people – that is, for a minority of Americans who are mostly white, provincial, highly religious, deeply conservative on cultural and social issues, and convinced that Obama and all Europeans are dangerous godless socialists.
The point is not whether Santorum is right or wrong factually. What he says “feels” right to his followers, because it conforms to their prejudices. And the internet, having swamped the quality press, feeds and reinforces those prejudices, making it more difficult to distinguish the truth from lies.
The public is increasingly segmented into groups of likeminded people who see their views echoed back to them in blogs, comments and tweets. There is no need to be exposed to different opinions, which are, in any case, considered to be propaganda. Indeed, Santorum’s new fame will afford him a rich career as a media demagogue, even if he fails as a politician.
The truth is relative
The first people to argue that all truth is relative and that all information is a form of propaganda that reflects society’s power relations, were far removed from the world inhabited by Santorum and his supporters. Several decades ago, a number of European and American intellectuals, often with a background in Marxism, developed a “post-modern” critique of the written word. We might think, they argued, that what we read in The New York Times or Le Monde is objectively true, but everything that appears there is, in fact, a disguised form of propaganda for bourgeois class interests.
There is no such thing, the post-modern critic believes, as independence of thought. Objective truth is an illusion. Everyone is promoting class interests of one kind or another. The real lie, in this view, is the claim of objectivity. What is necessary to change the world is not the truth, but another form of propaganda, promoting different interests. Everything is political; that is the only truth that counts.
It is unlikely that Rick Santorum, or many of his followers, have read any post-modern theorists. Santorum, after all, recently called Obama a “snob” for claiming that all Americans should be entitled to a college education. So he must surely loath writers who represent everything that the Tea Party and other radical right-wingers abhor: the highly educated, intellectual, urban, secular and not always white. These writers are the left-wing elite, at least in academia.
But, as so often happens, ideas have a way of migrating in unexpected ways. The blogger who dismissed The Washington Post’s corrections of Santorum’s fictional portrayal of the Netherlands expressed himself like a perfect post-modernist. The most faithful followers of obscure leftist thinkers in Paris, New York or Berkeley are the most reactionary elements in the American heartland. Of course, if this were pointed out to them, they would no doubt dismiss it as elitist propaganda.
Ian Buruma is Professor of Democracy and Human Rights at Bard College and the author of Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents.”
Original article:
I have more to say on this article and will do so soon. It is a teachable moment.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Citizen WElls 
Everything must be tainted to reflect the Muslim perspective.
Nothing is allowed to be “pure”, it must contain a reference to Islam, or it must meet with Muslim approval. Either way the message is “tainted”.
This could fun. Not too practical but fun as heck I bet. Expensive to shoot.
http://now.msn.com/now/0312-double-barreled-handgun.aspx
OT, but the following from the prior thread is very troubling:
“Yep. All is going as planned. Stretch out the vote until the August Primary, at the right time expose Romney, Gingrich and Santorum for the “Bad Guy” operatives they are, Crash the global monetary system and the nation turns to Ron Paul………
My advise to them: Take early retirement like all those global banksters did.
It will be better for your health.”
http://www.roadtoroota.com/public/795.cfm
****************************
I have checked out the above link and found this statement:
(quote)
“Yes, in these early days of the process it looks like the candidate will be Romney…but it is REALLY early and EVERYTHING can change in an instant. Remember the “Good Guys” now control the markets via computer trading programs. At any moment in time they can crash the system and Ron Paul will be the ONLY candidate to both predict it as well as have a plan to fix it.”
Will someone, like Interested Bystander, for example, please throw some light the above plan? It seems that at least some, or maybe all, of Dr. Paul’s supporters are approving of their attempt to crash the financial markets before the Repub convention in order to sway folks towards nominating him. Is this true? Please amplify, because if it is, then it is abominable. Do we “do evil that good may come”? This is insanity.
“Good Guys” vs. “Bad Guys” – What an oversimplification! What about all of the “in-betweeners”? Furthermore, who is wise or smart enough to discern the hearts of all people? (except God Himself)
VITAL RECORDS INDICATE OBAMA NOT BORN IN HAWAII HOSPITAL (PART 3)
http://thedailypen.blogspot.com/2012/03/vital-records-indicate-obama-not-born.html
Young Obama Wanted to Be Like Sukarno, Says Transgender Nanny
http://freebeacon.com/young-obama-wanted-to-be-like-suharto-says-transgender-nanny/
CW: Is Rick Santorum a “natural born Citizen”? Is Mitt Romney a “natural born Citizen”? I would really like to know the TRUTH, please help us out here. Thanks
The Ron Paul campaign strategy has ALWAYS been the same…..garner the MOST delegates and WIN the nomination…….Dr. Paul has predicted the booms and crashes for several years and HE has NO control of what happens to the economy as the FEDERAL RESERVE…NWO thugs are still in charge!!!!
Ron Paul – A STORM IS COMING: The Fires of Liberty
For the record Cabby….that post you made about Dr. Paul came from Bix Wier….he is NOT involved in the DOC’s campaign and BIX has been predicting the CRASH for a while now too…just like many of us have!
When the FEDERAL Reserve Fiat money system goes out of commission a NEW FINANCIAL SYSTEM backed by REAL assets is waiting in the wings…..if you did some research you would know it is imminent….it’s not WHETHER it will happen but WHEN it will happen and he is right to say it could be BEFORE November!
STOP TRYING TO MAKE RON PAUL and his supporters out as BAD PEOPLE…..he and millions of us have been warning you all for quite some time…..some of you are JUST TOO BRAINWASHED to figure it out!!!
Medical euthanasia has been with us for a long time. I recall my grandmother who was suffering from cancer which had spread to her brain and who could not recognise family members and just kept repeating wjat we assumed incidents from her childhood had her life termiated.
It was very gentle and considered. The doctors called by Dad and his brothers and sister to the hospital and explained they had reached the stage where without large doses of morphine the pain would be unbearable for her but the required dose of morphine would probably be lethal o someone of her age in a weakened state.
The family said, “Do what you have to but don’t let her suffer, she has been through enough.” In less than 48 hours she was dead.
I know a lot of religious people would say the administration of death as an act of mercy should be left to God. I would ask them to consider the problem from a different angle. Medical science has found ways to preserve a life God would have ended. It is right the practicioners should take responsibilty for their hubris.
I do think however that rather than a big public debate about it, the old way of discreet acknowledgement between carers and family is the best way to handle the problem. I would certainly not want government bureaucrats involved in choosing the time of our death.
In the end we should do what is best for the individuals concerned and not tmake a political issue of it. One size fits all solutions to the problems of individuals will never work well.
Romney’s grandfather, Gaskell, fled the US due to the Edmunds- Tucker Act against Mormon polygamy. The Act did not take away US Citizenship, so Romney’s father, born in Mexico, to US Citizen parents would have been born a US Citizen (not natural born). Mitt’s father returned to the US at age 5, and Mitt was born in Detroit– thus he was born in the US to US Citizen parents and is a natural born Citizen.
Santorum’s father would have had to serve 5 years in the military to get passive US Citizenship by GI bill. He only served 4, thus he would have had to perform an oath of Citizenship. No evidence of that has been produced.
If you think it’s an accident that there are so many questions with these candidates, think again.
UMMMMM…what are the dark ones up to now??? Don’t know if this is true or not but it seems to hold some credibility as there are people named who were involved….guess it would be easy enough to find out if the names are REAL…..
Flight attendant on Chicago-bound flight talks of 9/11 and plane crash: passengers
Sun-Times Staff Reports March 9, 2012 12:30PM
A flight attendant on a Dallas-to-Chicago American Airlines flight went on the plane’s public address system, alluded to the Sept. 11 attacks and told passengers the plane was going to crash, passengers say.
The incident happened while the plane was preparing to take off from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and fly to Chicago.
Bethany Christakos of Dallas, seated toward the rear of the plane, said passengers started “freaking out” as one of the flight attendants gave a rambling, 15-minute speech on the plane’s public-address system.
“She said, ‘I’m not responsible for this plane crashing,’” Christakos said.
Another passenger, Brad LeClear of Fox Lake, said he helped restrain the flight attendant, whom he said acted oddly and mentioned something about 9/11.
“She is obviously sick and needs to take her medicine,” LeClear said.
The pilot radioed air traffic controllers for permission to return to the gate and be met by airport police.
Police were called to the Dallas airport after what authorities would only call “an altercation onboard the plane” bound for Chicago. It led to the flight returning to the terminal and two flight crew members being hospitalized.
American Airlines Flight 2332 finally arrived in Chicago late Friday morning, according to American’s website.
“This morning Flight 2332 had left the gate at DFW bound for Chicago when an incident occurred involving some of the cabin crew,” a statement from American Airlines said. “The aircraft returned to the gate, where it was met by Department of Public Safety officers.”
FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said there was “an altercation onboard the plane and that’s why it returned to the gate and police were called.”
Dallas Police told the FAA there was an altercation, but provided no additional details, he said.
The American statement said, “Two flight attendants were taken to local hospitals for treatment. We continue to investigate the details and circumstances, and will have no further comment at this time.”
link
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/11174247-418/flight-attendant-used-pa-to-tell-passengers-the-flight-would-crash-report-claims.html
Since we now know that Algazeera (we can assume Hillary Clinton also), as well as Huff Post lurks here… maybe they would like to listen to the following:
[audio src="http://www.therothshow.com/demos/recent/hour1Aug0709.mp3" /]
[audio src="http://www.therothshow.com/demos/recent/hour2Aug0709.mp3" /]
[audio src="http://www.therothshow.com/demos/recent/hour3Aug0709.mp3" /]
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/13373
Enjoy.
BTW, Hillary, thanks for tipping us off to Obama’s ineligibility. You’re the greatest.
🙂
Chuck Baldwin Endorses Ron Paul for President
Obama Busted: Obama Admits He Shares Values With Communist Congressman
The Hillary remark was sarcasm in case you didn’t know, obots.
In The Fox Hole
Santorum: Fox News is ‘shilling’ for Romney
And their go to “expert” on the political competition has for a very long time been Rove, who, btw, visibly almost loses it whenever Santorum even gets close to Romney. He gets on the phone and talks to his “connections” to get contrary information.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/#ixzz1p2VyWTGr
Well put Ian.
Thanks.
Soldier Murders Afghans, Generals Murder Soldiers
by Ralph Peters (retired army officer and enlisted man)
This is a very truthful, hard-hitting article that has gotten rave reviews from
military patriots.
Here is a teaser quote:
“If there’s a “battle cry” in Afghanistan, it’s “Blame the troops!” Generals out of touch with the ugly, brute reality on the ground down in the Taliban-sympathizing villages respond to every seeming crisis in Afghan-American relations by telling our troops to “respect Afghan culture.”
” But generals don’t have a clue about Afghan “culture.” They interact with well-educated, privileged, English-speaking Afghans who know exactly which American buttons to press to keep the tens of billions of dollars in annual aid flowing. The troops, on the other hand, daily encounter villagers who will not warn them about Taliban-planted booby traps or roadside bombs, who obviously want them to leave, who relish the abject squalor in which they live and who appear to value the lives of their animals above those of their women. When our Soldiers and Marines hear, yet again, that they need to “respect Afghan culture,” they must want to puke up their rations.”
Read more:
http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2734278%3ATopic%3A343204&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
saskamare.
To the best of my knowledge they are NBC.
However, anyone getting the nomination should offer any proof requested.
Cabby.
Compare Obama’s response to the killing of Afghans by an American to
his response when Nidal Malik Hasan murdered Americans.
Thanks for the video Rob.
Cabby (7:06)
I’ve always admired Ralph Peters on Fox News. Haven’t seen him there lately. As a matter of fact, many people have mysteriously disappeared from FOX. Very strange if you ask me.
CW…..
I was just thinking the same thing when I watched Brian Williams tonight…
Obama didn’t make such a speech when Hasen murdered all those soldiers at Fort Hood…in fact Obama called it “work place violence” although Hasan shouted Ali Aukbar all the time he was killing our soldiers.
Where was the outrage by the Commander in Chief on that?
Shall we compose a list of all those who are no longer on Fox, or whose exposure is greatly reduced? I bet the list would be extensive. I will begin with just a few…
Judge Napolitono
Eric Bolling
Glenn Beck
Ralph Peters
http://lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=670234
A little something for Wells…
Ian R Thorpe | March 13, 2012 at 4:20 pm |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I think what you are describing is not literally considered “euthanasia” because it is medically attempting to alleviate unbearable pain; not the deliberate taking of a life. It is done with the understanding that such medications for pain can have the side effect of earlier natural death but that is not the intention of the caregivers. Experimental surgeries as well as certain prescription drugs can also contain such undesired side effects but the intention is to hopefully heal. There is also the case when a pregnant mother needs lifesaving surgery. The goal is to hopefully save both mother and child but there is the endangerment of the child in the womb within such a decision. Sometimes the child may die as a result; sometimes the mother. But neither was purposefully intended.
It’s when it’s sytematized and takes advantage of someone under the burden of fear or depression to intentionally use a known purposeful means to definitely end the life. The traditional faiths also recognize the ethics of the former approach and not the latter.
My mother-in-law was under extreme suffering (literally suffocation) at the end. To eliminate her hell on earth awareness she was placed in a medically induced coma until the natural end otherwise came. But….she also had a pace maker that she had placed years before…and it was that that kept her going probably longer than what otherwise would have occurred earlier due to the other factors. But nothing was done other than to minister to her terrible life killing pain.
“jbjd on REALITY CHECK RADIO”
“On Tuesday, March 13, at 9:00 PM EDT, I will be a guest on Reality Check Radio, a program which is described on the Blog Talk Radio site as “a weekly show covering the Obama eligibility movement, the cases, and politics in general.” The host, “RC,” has indicated I will be able to take your calls. You will also be able to post comments in the open chat room. The show runs for 2 hours; RC said I can stay as long as I like.”
[link at jbjd’s site]
http://jbjd.org/2012/03/12/jbjd-on-realitycheck-radio/
P.S. The extreme stress from unbearable pain, if not alleviated, can itself bring on death earlier than if given pain killers or whatever else is necessary to alleviate the stress. Stress creates inflammation which is deadly to organs after too long.
CW: I know you would give me the TRUTH, but I really do want just that. What about Romney’s mom? And then again, what about Santorum’s dad? Sorry, I know he fought for us during WWII, but I want to just know the FACTS and the TRUTH! And I know that this is where it resides, right here! So thank you, all, for the TRUTH!!
Mick: That’s why my questions exist!! I really want to be a “hard-a$$” on the NBC and it seems that Santorum and RMoney are evading the questions and playing “softball” with oPuke!! There is another candidate (and his daughter’s FB page) who is talking the TRUTH, just in inclements, but the TRUTH just the same.
nothing in politcs happens by accident. shooting in afgan was a cia set up period and this flight attendant was set up as well. something big is about to go down. all the warning signs are there
I think you are correct truthbetold but tonight we can celebrate Rick Santorum’s win in Alabama! He is the Christian conservative who has my vote and trust.
Ian Thorpe…………………….
My wife worked over 25 years as a licensed nurse in geriatric care giving. She often said that there was some residents on her floor who had reached the maximum level of their respective morphine push,and similarly their families were notified of this. This always results in the death of the individual very soon thereafter. The criteria is called “Comfort measures only”.
I personally believe that if a person has an illness which can only get worse,and eventually terminate their lives should have the legal right to choose euthanasia if they wish. I have believed this virtually all of my adult life. I do not understand why our so called laws require a person to live in agonising pain for weeks, months, and sometimes years, until they finally pass away. To me this is inhuman,and laws should be passed in EVERY STATE allowing doctor supervised euthanasia. However the administration of the law should be on a case by case basis.
We as adults who have pets know where I am coming from. We do NOT HESITATE to put a SUFFERING PET down. I personally own to little dogs both of whom I love just as if they were my own children. If either of them ever contracts a condition which is extremely painful for them and there is no chance of recovery,I would NOT HESITATE to LOVINGLY have them PUT TO SLEEP. I know that it would cause me a great deal of grief,yet because I love them I would not sit idly by and allow them to suffer needlessly. Why then shouldn’t the same apply to TERMINAL humans as well.
Ian Thorpe…………………
You sound as though you are an advocate of MERCIFUL EUTHANASIA. I agree with you totally. While I know there is still a great deal of controversy surrounding MERCY EUTHANASIA, I believe that proper elective merciful euthanasia (only to those who are proven to be terminal) should indeed be an option. Especially if the illness generates extremely high levels of pain.
BYE BYE back to the protection of MY ROCK!
I understand the situation when someone is given high doses of morphine for pain with the understanding that it depresses the breathing enough for that person to expire peacefully, or the removal of a ventilator when all hope is lost but i think euthanasia on the whole is a slippery slope of ethics. As demonstrated during the discussions of Amsterdam who decides, when do they decide, who has the final say? Does a caretaker get fed up and decide they have had enough though perhaps the patient is still fighting for life? Does a hospital or a physician decide that enough money has been spent on a patient though no timeline for their expiration is established? I believe that God is the one who decides life and death. God has his own timelines. How often does a terminal paitent stay alive to get thru Christmas or to await the arrival of distant family members? Mortals should not be enabling life’s passage though I fully understand and have personally experienced events when all has been done and acceptance of the inevitable is the only alternative.
Collapse Coming–Not Recovery
2012 March 13
tags: Financial Crash, U.S. Economy
by: Greg Hunter as published in USAWATCHDOG
03/12/2012
http://usawatchdog.com/collapse
The way the latest unemployment numbers were reported by the mainstream media (MSM), you would think the Great Recession was over and the United States was solidly on the road to recovery. The Associated Press reported the numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) with a story that said, “The United States added 227,000 jobs in February, the latest display of the breadth and strength of the economic recovery. The country has put together the most impressive three months of job growth since before the Great Recession. The unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent. It was the first time in six months it didn’t fall, and that was because a half-million Americans started looking for work.” (Click here for the complete AP story) I don’t see how the MSM can say this one number is “the latest display of the breadth and strength of the economic recovery.”
Cyclical and structural unemployment are gripping the nation. Certain jobs are gone forever or, at the very least, for a very long time. Maybe that’s why millions of people have given up even looking for work. Forbes.com reported, just a few weeks ago, millions have stopped looking for work, and the government has stopped counting them. The report said, “In the latest, much celebrated, unemployment report, the labor force participation rate had plummeted to 63.7%, the most rapid decline in U.S. history. That means that under President Obama nearly 5 million Americans have fled the workforce in hopeless despair. The trick is that when those 5 million are not counted as in the work force, they are not counted as unemployed either. They may desperately need and want jobs. They may be in poverty, as many undoubtedly are, with America suffering today more people in poverty than in the entire half century the Census Bureau has been counting poverty. But they are not even counted in that 8.3% unemployment rate that Obama and his media cheerleaders were so tirelessly celebrating last week.” (Click here for the complete Forbes.com report)
While we are on the subject of unemployment and poverty, the number of people on food stamps jumped to more than 46.5 million in December 2011! It is a new all-time record. How can the nation be in a true “recovery” with increasing numbers of Americans on the government dole?
According to economist John Williams of Shadowstats.com, the latest good news about job creation is distorted with what he calls “massive seasonal adjustments.” The latest Shadowstats.com report, last Friday, said, “With heavy warping of the seasonal-adjustment process from the effects of the extreme nature of the current downturn, the resulting employment gain and unemployment rate level remain of questionable quality and significance.” If unemployment were calculated the way BLS did it in 1994 or earlier, the true unemployment rate would top 22% according to Shadowstats.com. Williams also says, “The outlook for the broad economy remains bleak, despite relatively upbeat February payroll data. Bank lending remains impaired, while household income has taken a new hit, as indicated in recent reporting. Separately . . . annual and monthly growth in the broad money supply appears to be stalling, again. That likely is a further indication of mounting difficulties in the systemic-solvency crisis.” (Click here to go to the Shadowstats.com home page).
“Mounting difficulties in the systemic-solvency crisis” means, in reality, it is more likely financial collapse is coming—not recovery. Maybe that’s why the Federal Reserve recently announced it is going to start another round of money printing because the economy is teetering on an abyss. Marketwatch.com reported just last week, “Federal Reserve officials are considering a new type of quantitative easing that will attempt to boost the economy without accelerating inflation, according to a report published Wednesday.” (Click here for the complete Marketwatch.com story) If the economy was in a real “recovery,” why would the Fed want to “boost the economy”? The Fed also announced at the end of January it would hold a key interest rate at 0% through 2014. If the “breadth and strength of the economic recovery” was so powerful, wouldn’t the Fed be hiking interest rates? Of course it would. The fact it is keeping them at zero for years and starting a new round of money printing is signaling the economy is in trouble, not in a so-called “recovery.”
Even near record low interest rates are not helping the morbid housing market to recover. According to the latest Case-Shiller report, home prices were down nearly 4% at the end of 2011. What kind of a recovery features near record low interest rates and falling home prices? Also, millions of empty houses are sitting on the books of the banks, and millions more are headed for foreclosure. Shouldn’t home inventory be shrinking in a real “recovery”? It is not, and that’s a fact!
Finally, if there really was a recovery, the government would not be hitting record deficits month after month. The deficit would shrink as the economy got better wouldn’t it? (Think Clinton era.) Instead, the Federal deficit is exploding! The Washington Times reported, just last week, “The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars. . . . The nonpartisan agency projected the government will run a deficit of $229 billion in February, the highest monthly figure ever.” (Click here for the complete report from the Washington Times) That means the government spent nearly $8 billion more than it took in each and every day of last month (29 days). This is not a sign of economic “strength” but of tremendous weakness.
You cannot print your way to prosperity, but it can pave the way to an economic collapse.
hrmfc,
Re. the matter of euthanasia, your position is mine, also.
This story needs lots of exposure…….
Malice Versus Nobility: Scooter Libby and Bradley Manning
2012 March 13
The top conspirator in the Bush administration and the soldier who leaked thousands of cables to wikileaks get different treatment from the justice system.
By Saul Landau
March 11, 2012
http://www.ips-dc.org/blog/malice_versus_nobility_scooter_libby_and_bradley_manning
AJ is outing the globalist again……pass this far and wide…..
Why Angelina Jolie Needs To Go To Prison!
Cabby,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to your 2:40 comment, but let me try it this way:
First I would like to comment that I have seen some videos, and read a couple of articles about Paul supporters at State Delegate Conventions, and although I can NOT condone what is happening at these events, it is what the “system” has created, and if a candidate can NOT reach the 1144 to be nominated on the first ballot at the convention, then the delegates are free to vote for whomever they want.
If this is the way the Republican Party WANTS it, then THEY have to live with the consequences. It kind of reminds me of people being negative about Paul putting pork in bills and then voting against those bills believing they will be passed. Paul is simply playing the “game”.
To me it would be like me being against Social Security ever being passed, but yet getting that benefit once I become eligible for it. Should I turn down Social Security because of my “principles” when I, and my employer has paid in all of this money for all of these years? I don’t think so.
I would also like to state that I do NOT like “open” primaries. I believe that you should be a registered REPUBLICAN to vote in Republican primary, and Independents and Democrats should be left out of the nomination process.
As far as a total monetary collapse, although I see it coming, it’s not going to happen this year, at least in my opinion. There are a whole bunch of things that have to happen first, like hyper inflation, unemployment in the double digit range, the stock market collapsing more than it did 4 years ago, and precious metal prices increasing far more than they have.
But I have been predicting the collapse for a long time, not from reading articles, or watching the news ALONE, but by what I see out here in the real world also. People are NOT altering their lifestyles like they should be doing, they are buiding more and more debt themselves (with the example the Government is setting, is it any wonder that everyday people start thinking that THEY can live that way also?).
So, as far as a “plan” that would bring about a monetary collapse, at least in MY opinion, it is not a “grand scheme” led by Ron Paul. I would submit to you that in those over 600 bills that Paul tried to get support for, you will find at least 40 bills where Paul tries to address the issue to KEEP it from happening.
As far as Paul’s “plan” to get us out of the monetary collapse, I believe the author of the article would be referring to Paul’s belief that we need to get back on the gold standard, which I totally agree with.
I hope I have helped you see where I stand on this issue. I read the article that JS linked, but I do NOT think that Paul has some grand scheme to win the election. The convention can go to 300 rounds before someone gets the nomination, and it STILL won’t be Paul.
It is also my opinion that these “schemes” only bolsters those on the other side who liken Paul to a “kooky uncle”. I don’t believe Paul is that, but when folks like JS and the author of the article linked by JS comment or write things like they do, then it’s hard to argue against that lable.
I am still a Ron Paul supporter, and I look forward to voting for him in the Indiana Primary along with Richard Murdoch for Senator and getting rid of Lugar
but:
I AM a REALIST.
Hey All,
Good morning to everyone here at Citizen WElls, especially THE MAN himself. I hope everyone understands how fortunate we are to have YOU here for us, thank you sir.
If I may comment on the soldier who killed those civilians in Afghanistan.
I have been posting for probably a year now that we should get out of Afghanistan, and I believe in my heart that we should have been out no later than 7 years ago, but we stay there trying to get them to believe like we do.
I agree that those meeting with Generals in Afghanistan are those who have been educated here and say what the General WANTS to hear. Lying comes so easy to some people, no matter what religious persuasion or lack there of that guides that person’s life. It has become commonplace for people to believe outright LIES simply because those being lied too, do not ask questions of the ones who are lying, simply to avoid a confrontation.
In my opinion it says a LOT about someone’s CHARACTER, and I tend to stay away from LIARS. I think MOST OF US think we can live life like that, I do NOT.
But back to the solider, I don’t think we can even fathom the stress our troops are under over there. Rules of engagement, our own Government’s restraints on what they can and can’t do, the Afghanistan Government making really strange comments about the US presence, and the civilian population who are sick and tired of us OCCUPYING their Country, can do our young folks no good.
I do NOT condone what the soldier did, but OUR Government put him over there, in the situation he is in, and people deal with stress differently. The man had hit his limit, and I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t insist on paying the ultimate price for what he did.
Is this how every soldier will react to the stress? Absolutely NOT, but they will deal with it in SOME way, some breaking up families, some getting counseling, some with drugs, some with making their families stronger and the list goes on and on for EACH member of our military.
I just do NOT think he should have been in that situation to begin with.
And now on to Iran, right?
cough cough
When will we learn?
And lastly before I get my shower and hit the sheets for the day,
Congrats to Rick Santorum on last evening’s victories.
It would do Newt good to get out of the race now, and I belive that IF Santorum wants to continue on his upward swing, he should name Newt as his VP candidate.
I am NOT suggesting that I could vote for them, but I think it would do BOTH of them good.
Just the opinion of an outsider looking in.
I’d really like to read Paxson’s comments on a Santorum-Gingrich ticket.
Hope all is well with you Paxson, there has been too much death in the last year an a half around here, and I know our family is not the only one that has been affected by this.
Paxson, please know that we are ALL thinking about you (and Cabby too, who was hit hard by death not long ago).
Be well Paxson, I miss your comments.
SueQ.
Bolling is on Fox and Friends as a host this morning, and is a regular on The Five on Fox.
I have also seen the Judge on Fox and Friends at least once a week, usually in the first hour.
Hrmfc | March 13, 2012 at 10:39 pm | SAID,
“I think you are correct truthbetold but tonight we can celebrate Rick Santorum’s win in Alabama! He is the Christian conservative who has my vote and trust.”
Santorum hasn’t proven that his father was a US Citizen when Rick was born. He has not proven that he is a natural born Citizen.
Good Morning CW et. al.
American Thinker asks the right questions today.
March 14, 2012
Why Obama’s Birth Certificate Matters, Especially Now
By Selwyn Duke
There was a time when someone could perhaps justify sitting on the fence on the matter of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. There were those on the left who could chalk doubts about its authenticity up to conspiratorial internet paranoia. As for the right, there was every reason to worry about being the victims of an Alinsky-style setup designed to marginalize opponents. In other words, let the other side double down on an incredible claim, and then, at the most opportune time (October surprise?), provide irrefutable evidence to the contrary and make them look like deluded wackos. So, for a long time, there might have been reason to watch, wait, and let the wheels of investigation render their judgment.
That judgment is in, and the time for waiting is over.
With the results of Maricopa County, AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “Cold Case Posse,” an incredible claim has become an incredible situation: a team of professional investigators, commissioned by a major law-enforcement agency, has determined that the alleged birth certificate produced by the president of the United States is a probable forgery.
Process that for a moment. The regime of the world’s most powerful nation — a republic that prides itself on adherence to the rule of law — is likely peddling a forged document. What say you, citizen?
Note that I didn’t claim that the president isn’t natural-born. Rather, I claim nothing but am only stating a fact: there is now no denying that the birth-certificate matter warrants further investigation, and it is time for other law-enforcement agencies and the media to show due diligence. And I will spell out the possibilities here:
1. The Arizona investigators are correct.
2. They are mistaken.
3. They are lying.
For the record, I don’t believe the last for a moment, but I do want to cover all the bases. And home plate is this: the answer may be number one or two, and it’s incumbent upon us to find out through further investigation. And, for those who dislike Sheriff Arpaio, what if the answer is three? Well, if a major law-enforcement agency is producing fraudulent evidence for the purposes of damaging a sitting president, wouldn’t that warrant investigation, too? The undeniable, irrefutable fact here is that there is smoke. And we need to find out who started the fire….
http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/stunner-balanced-tv-report-on-arpaio-probe/?cat_orig=politics
Good morning Zach, et al.
FYI-
http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/03/monday-round-up-113/#more-140561
Monday round-up
By Marissa Miller on Mar 12, 2012 at 8:40 am
With oral arguments in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act set to begin in two weeks, the weekend’s coverage of the Court focuses on the Term’s most anticipated case.
In the New York Times, Adam Liptak writes that the Court’s health care decision will “shape, if not define,” the legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts, reasoning that “clashes like the one over the health care law come around only a few times in a century, and he may well complete his service without encountering another case posing such fundamental questions about the structure of American government.” Michael Leahy of the Washington Post profiles former Solicitor General Paul Clement, who will serve as counsel for Florida and the other states challenging the law as unconstitutional. Leahy observes that “the personal stakes in the battle are high for Clement,” who is “frequently mentioned by Republicans as being on the short list of Supreme Court nominees should the GOP win back the White House.” Writing for Forbes, Lawrence Hunter describes the White House’s “campaign to hoist the Court on the petard of conservative justice Antonin Scalia’s words,” based on the Justice’s “expansive view of . . . the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause.” And at Politico, Jennifer Haberkorn discusses the possible political consequences of a decision either way….
zachjonesishome | March 14, 2012 at 8:26 am |
From the article –
“Arpaio has assured those interested that the investigation is continuing and earlier suggested that the appropriate avenue might be for Congress to begin an investigation.”
_____________________________________________
I would submit that this would be like the criminals investigating the criminals. Here is my theory for this four year obfuscation of the eligibility fraud –
A Theory on why we have been on this 4 year eligibility question.
A – The Republicans were questionable on Obama’s NBC.
B – The Democrats were sure that McCain did not meet the legal qualifications for NBC because he was born off the Navy Base.
C – Both parties decided to pass Senate Resolution (SR 511) making McCain legal NBC.
D – They secretly agreed not to question either candidate’s qualifications after that.
“Another fine mess you have gotten us into, Stanley” – And I don’t mean “Stanley” of Laurel & Hardy!
Interested Bystander | March 14, 2012 at 5:06 am |
Cabby,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to your 2:40 comment, but let me try it this way……
******************************************
Thank you SO much, IB, for your well-reasoned, well-expressed, and I might add, SANE comment with respect to Ron Paul’s efforts. You make me feel a lot better about the situation which I referred to. As always, you write logically and sensibly, and that is greatly appreciated.
Also, with respect to Afghanistan, I couldn’t agree more with you. The time has long passed for us to be out of there. What really is so awful is not only the death of our servicemen but the broken bodies and minds of those who have returned to face lives that will never be the same again. When I see the Wounded Warrior ads, it makes me heartsick!
What is the matter with our government which, after a certain point, fails to care and provide for these heroes? Everything is so twisted these days. There is money for everything else except when it comes to our young men and women who have served our country at the behest of the top brass, as well as of the fraudulent CiC.