Month: July 2016

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Have Universities Harmed America? Part 2

The New York Analysis of Policy and Government concludes its two part review of the impact skyrocketing tuition rates and biased universities have had on America. 

A Consumer Reports study found that 45% of people with student loan debt said that college was not worth the cost. The detrimental impact on the U.S. economy has been dire. 44% of those in tuition debt have cut back on daily expenses, 37% have delayed saving for key financial goals, 28% delayed buying a house,  and 12% delayed marriage. “Step by step, one law after another has been enacted by Congress to make student debt the worst kind of debt for Americans—and the best kind for banks and debt collectors…and in one of the industry’ greatest lobbying triumphs, student loans can no longer be discharged in bankruptcy…”

Donna Rosato, also writing in Consumer Reports, notes: “To put the growing education debt crisis into perspective, many attendees at the conference drew parallels to the housing market bubble of the mid 2000s.  Rohit Chopra, [special adviser to the Department of Education and formerly the top student financial services regulator at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] pointed out that both going to college and owning a home are goals that people strive to reach. But when something good, like owning a home, involves toxic mortgages, it can quickly becomes a bad situation. Chopra says that we may now be at a similar point with student debt.”

But the problem looms beyond finances.

The American Association of University Professors notes that  “…even as colleges and universities have become the focus of increased attention from the general public and policy makers alike, these institutions themselves seem to have lost their focus on a mission of preparing an informed citizenry for participation in democracy and expanding knowledge for the benefit of all. Without a doubt, higher education still provides a transformative experience for the millions of individuals who take part in its many activities. Behind the scenes, however, American higher education is changing in ways that detract from its potential to enhance the common good.”

However, it does not mean that it will significantly improve your condition. in stock online levitra How easily are you distracted and let your energy be drained by negative unhelpful thoughts? How vigilant are you at monitoring your thinking and the effects it has on your resourcefulness? How aware are you of any drops in energy and how they can help you in reviving the libido problem. buy viagra Then he will take the right steps for treatment so that we can better identify which women may be at risk for developing postpartum http://davidfraymusic.com/2019/03/ cheapest cialis depression and anxiety.” Treat postpartum depression to build stronger relationships It is common to experience sadness or melancholy following childbirth. Insomnia is most often super generic viagra defined by an individual’s eating habits. The Daily Beast nworries that  “This Orwellian climate of intimidation and fear chills free speech and thought. On college campuses it is particularly insidious… Campus censors don’t generally riot in response to presumptively offensive speech, but they do steal newspapers containing articles they don’t like, vandalize displays they find offensive, and disrupt speeches they’d rather not hear. They insist that hate speech isn’t free speech and that people who indulge in it should be punished…On today’s campuses, left-leaning administrators, professors, and students are working overtime in their campaign of silencing dissent, and their unofficial tactics of ostracizing, smearing, and humiliation are highly effective. But what is even more chilling—and more far reaching—is the official power they abuse to ensure the silencing of views they don’t like.”

As colleges become completely dominated by left-wing academics, (see the New York Analysis of Policy and Government study  which reported that Democrats outnumber Republicans by a greater than 10 to 1 ratio, and at many elite universities there was not a single registered Republican on staff) traditional, core beliefs in the unifying principles of America, especially respect for the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as adherence to an empirical method of thinking, diminished, reducing the ability to logically review and resolve national challenge.

There is, indeed, an increasingly incestuous relationship between the Democrat Party and the university establishment.  Rather than calling for a halt in excessive tuition rates, (a concept espoused by Democrats in many other pricing areas) Democrat presidential candidates are calling for “free tuition,” meaning that taxpayers would bear the burden. This, of course, would have the net effect of allowing colleges to continue raising rates, in a manner similar to the way that medical costs skyrocketed after third-party payments became commonplace.

The Great American Experiment in College for All, at devastating costs to all, has financially crippled students and their families, and is leading to a financial crisis that may make the housing bubble recession of 2007—2008 look mild. In return for all that burden and risk, a generation has endured significant unemployment and has been indoctrinated into acceptance of views that diminish the accomplishments and merits of their nation, and has inculcated them into acceptance of limitations on their freedom of speech.

Major reforms are needed.  Colleges should be required to explain to applicants and current students what the tuition costs pay for, in detail, with particular emphasis on how much is spent on non-educational salaries and activities.   There should be full disclosure of the percentage of graduates who obtain jobs that make use of a college degree. No federal support should go to institutions that charge excessive rates. Washington should get out of the tuition loan business, and the same consumer protections that apply to other debts should apply to tuition loans. State education departments should provide high-quality alternatives paths to careers that do not require college degrees, including vocational degrees in much-needed (and frequently lucrative) professions such as electricians, plumbing, carpentry, and mechanical fields.

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Have Universities Damaged America?

Have universities damaged the U.S.? The New York Analysis of Policy and Government begins a two-part review of the impact soaring tuition rates and the “college for all” movement has had on the lives of Americans.

For decades, a college education was a means to enhance earning ability, for those with the aptitude to utilize what they were taught, in a gainful career. But as the “college for all” mantra took hold throughout the American educational establishment, a college degree essentially took the place of high school degrees in times past.

As tuition skyrocketed, that meant that students and their families were going deeply into debt to gain a degree that, for many, led to jobs that in the past could have been obtained for the free cost of a public high school education.

Stunning tuition cost hikes have outpaced price increases in just about every other area. U.S. News reported in 2013 that “According to data from the Labor Department, the price index for college tuition grew by nearly 80 percent between August 2003 and August 2013. That is nearly twice as fast as growth in costs in medical care, another area widely recognized for fast-rising prices. It’s also more than twice as fast as the overall consumer price index during that same period.” During that time period, college tuition increased 79.5%, while the Consumer Price index increased only 26.7%, medical care, 43.1%, food and beverages, 31.2%, and housing 22.8%.

That’s why many researchers believe that it’s never wise to ignore an buy tadalafil cheap episode of erectile dysfunction. From the tadalafil generic india name itself, it goes without saying that it has severe side effects which can cause the cyclic (cGMP) enzyme to degrade and lead the penis to bleed. Metabolism system is related to health of males such as premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, nocturnal emissions and such free cialis without prescription other problems which lead to spoiling of sex life of males. Bone Health Hyperhomocysteinemia increases the risk of levitra 60 mg bone fractures in the old age. The money hasn’t gone into improving the educational experience of students, and it hasn’t gone into the salaries of professors. A Washington Monthly review  found that “as colleges and universities have had more money to spend, they have not chosen to spend it on expanding their instructional resources—that is, on paying faculty. They have chosen, instead, to enhance their administrative and staff resources. A comprehensive study published by the Delta Cost Project in 2010 reported that between 1998 and 2008, America’s private colleges increased spending on instruction by 22 percent while increasing spending on administration and staff support by 36 percent. Parents who wonder why college tuition is so high and why it increases so much each year may be less than pleased to learn that their sons and daughters will have an opportunity to interact with more administrators and staffers… Over the past four decades…the number of full-time professors or “full-time equivalents”—that is, slots filled by two or more part-time faculty members whose combined hours equal those of a full-timer—increased slightly more than 50 percent. That percentage is comparable to the growth in student enrollments during the same time period. But the number of administrators and administrative staffers employed by those schools increased by an astonishing 85 percent and 240 percent, respectively.”

Liz Peek, writing in The Fiscal Times, found that “Between 2000 and 2010…The portion [of students] receiving federal aid skyrocketed from 31.6 percent to 47.8 percent, and the average award nearly doubled. In addition, the percentage taking out student loans climbed from 40.1 percent to 50.1 percent, and the average borrowing rose 76 percent. The ramp-up in loans to students has not only driven up costs but has undermined the value of a college degree. Some 30 percent of people ages 25 to 29 are college graduates today, up from 12 percent in the 1970s…Richard Vedder, economics professor at Ohio University, has written that we have one million retail sales clerks and 115,000 janitors with college diplomas. At the same time, one fifth of the country’s managers say they can’t find skilled workers to fill job openings.”

The Huffington Post asks, “A college degree is great, but is it necessary for everyone, and at what cost (literally) are we willing to pay for this social experiment? …We overhyped a college education and as a result we may have destroyed the American Dream…Millennials have contributed $1 trillion to the national student loan debt [Bloomberg]Millennials are the most educated generation in human history, yet they have the highest share of people who are unemployed in the last 40 years [USA Today] 48% of employed college graduates have jobs that do not require a four-year degree. [Forbes]…When you compare the student loan crisis to the mortgage crisis that triggered The Great Recession, at least the government and lenders had something tangible they could take to sell. In that instance it was property. You can’t take and resell knowledge from the brains of college graduates or college drop-outs…Once the student loan bubble bursts, we will be in a world of trouble.”

Have Universities Damaged America concludes tomorrow

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U.S. Economy In Great Danger

The American economy is in a deeply troubled condition, according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s latest report.

The 2016 deficit is now projected to be $600 billion, over $160 billion higher than the prior years’ deficit. In March, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted a $66 billion lower deficit.

This puts the total U.S. National Debt on track to reach a nearly $20 Trillion hole.  Despite the fact that the debt has just about doubled during President Obama’s tenure, close to nothing was gained from all that spending.  America’s infrastructure remains deficient, our military has weakened considerably, the middle class continues to shrink, and decent jobs continue to vanish. For the first time, America’s seniors have endured multiple years within a presidential administration without a social security cost of living increase.

The weak and worsening Gross Domestic Product forecast combined with massive spending on non-fundamental expenses is responsible. The forecast for a weak 2.7% growth rate has been even further downgraded to a mere 2.2%. Investors.com  notes “That means Obama will have the unique distinction of presiding over an economy that never once grew at more than 2.4% in eight years…This is, to put it mildly, a disaster. Growth at these low levels will mean that middle class families will continue to fall behind, more people will drop out of the labor force, more will end up in poverty, and more will be looking to the government for help…Even the White House admits that this combination of anemic economic growth and fast-growing  federal entitlements (which Obama has turbocharged) puts the government on track to pile up $9 trillion in additional debt — a 67% increase from today’s already historic levels. By 2026, interest payments alone will cost $787 billion…The Congressional Budget Office recently reported that, if nothing is done to change course, the national debt will equal 141% of GDP. (Even during World War II, the highest national debt got was 106% of GDP.)”

An improved outlook is nowhere in sight. The National Interest reports that “Deficits are projected to reach the trillion-dollar level by 2022 and continue growing from there. In total, the federal government is projected to rack up an additional $9.4 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade.”

The Obama/Democrat-progressive concept of high spending on social programs (other than Social Security and Medicare) at the cost of funding traditional governmental obligations has failed at both the federal and state levels.  The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)  2016 “Rich States, Poor States” rankings indicate that states with more traditional spending habits (Utah, North Carolina, North Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Wisconsin, Oklahoma) have the best overall economic outlook, while those with the most Democrat-progressive policies (Oregon, Hawaii, Illinois, Delaware, Minnesota, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, and New York) have the worst overall economic outlook.

A 2015 analysis by the financial news source ETFdaily news  cited the reasons why the U.S. economy is in serious trouble: “Did you know that the percentage of children in the United States that are living in poverty is actually significantly higher than it was back in 2008?… let us not neglect the long-term economic collapse that is already happening all around us…

  • Back in 2008, 18 percent of all Americans kids were living in poverty.  [it has] risen to 22 percent…
  • In early 2008, the homeownership rate in the U.S. was hovering around 68 percent.  Today, it has plunged below 64 percent.  Incredibly, it has not been this low in more than 20 years.
  • While Barack Obama has been in the White House, government dependence has skyrocketed to levels that we have never seen before.
  • In 2008, the federal government was spending about 37 billion dollars a year on the federal food stamp program.  Today, that number is above 74 billion dollars…
  • the U.S. national debt was sitting at about 9 trillion dollars when we entered the last recession.  Since that time, the debt of the federal government has doubled.  We are on the exact same path that Greece has gone down, and what you are looking at …is a recipe for national economic suicide…
  • During Obama’s “recovery”, real median household income has actually gone down quite a bit.  Just prior to the last recession, it was above $54,000 per year, but now it has dropped to about $52,000 per year…
  • Even though our incomes are stagnating, the cost of living just continues to rise steadily.  This is especially true of basic things that we all purchase such as food.
  • In a healthy economy, lots of new businesses are opening and not that many are being forced to shut down.  But for each of the past six years, more businesses have closed in the United States than have opened.  Prior to 2008, this had never happened before in all of U.S. history.
  • Barack Obama is constantly telling us about how unemployment is “going down”, but the truth is that the  percentage of working age Americans that are either working or considered to be looking for work has steadily declined since the end of the last recession…
  • We have seen a spike in the inactivity rate for Americans in their prime working years…. the percentage of males between the ages of 25 and 54 that aren’t working and that aren’t looking for work has surged to record highs since the end of the last recession…
  • A big reason why we don’t have enough jobs for everyone is the fact that millions upon millions of good paying jobs have been shipped overseas.  At the end of Barack Obama’s first year in office, our yearly trade deficit with China was 226 billion dollars.  Last year, it was more than 343 billion dollars.
  • Thanks to all of these factors, the middle class in America is dying.  In 2008, 53 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be “middle class”.  But by 2014, only 44 percent of all Americans still considered themselves to be “middle class”…

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A Financial Explanation for President Obama’s Foreign Policy

Is there a financial explanation for President Obama’s national security and foreign policy choices?

It is difficult to put a positive spin or find a logical explanation for the current Administrations’ actions and attitudes towards the growing threats facing the United States, and the diminished influence Washington has in global matters.  The list of failures and missteps, which have emboldened America’s enemies and alientated its allies,  is considerable:

The Obama/Clinton “Reset” with Russia produced completely unfavorable results.  Moscow is now considerably more aggressive than when the President first took office.  The Kremlin’s military spending has skyrocketed, and it has not been shy about using its new muscle.  Ukraine has been invaded, Russian forces have become active in the Middle East, Eastern Europe is increasingly threatened, the Arctic has been militarized, and the nation’s nuclear bombers and submarines have resumed cold war patrols near American coastlines, a task made easier by deals made with Cuba and Nicargua. Moscow now holds, for the first time, a lead in strategic nuclear weapons, as well as a ten to one lead in tactical atomic devices.

The failure to confront China either diplomatically or with a show of force when it invaded the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone encouraged further aggressive actions by a Beijing regime convinced it would pay no penalty for unlawful expansionist moves. China has become a military superpower, the technological and numerical equivalent of U.S. forces. It already has more submarines than the Amrican navy, and will outnumer the U.S. fleet in four years.

Since Mr. Obama withdrew all U.S. troops from Iraq, Radical Islam has exponentially increased, with particular power being gained by ISIS.  At almost every step, the current Administration chose to not confront the problem, and, indeed, it did much to make it worse. The White House supported “Arab Spring” movements which empowered extremist elements throughout the region, and did not respond even when Americans were directly attacked in  Benghazi. It has abandoned a long-held policy of not negotiating with terrorists and opened talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The White House concluded an agreement that restored vast wealth to Iran in return for a shaky pledge to halt Tehran’s nuclear program, in a deal that a key Administration official now admits to misleading the U.S. public about. The President has deflected public anger and concern over terrorist attacks on U.S. soil by focusing his blame on gun rights, imagined bias towards Islam, and, incredibly, workplace violence.

If one assumes that Mr. Obama is not content with the dismal results of his policies, then a reason must be found why, despite substantial and repeated failures, he continues to pursue the same course of reducing American strength and influence, with a particular hesitancy to actively support American allies such as the Philippines, Israel, moderate Arab regimes, and, at least before Moscow’s Ukraine invasion, Europe.

The answer might have much to do with the President expensive and expansive domestic agenda.

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A Washington Times study found that the latest government reports estimate more than 23 percent of Americans lived in a family that received some form of welfare help under Obama, up 17.1 from the last year of the Bush presidency. The number of those on Social Security disability ballooned from 7.4 million at the start of the Obama presidency to 10.9 million in 2015.

Obamacare proved to be devastatingly expensive.“About 87 percent of people who selected health insurance plans through HealthCare.gov for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2015, were determined eligible for financial assistance to lower their monthly premiums,”  notes the Department of Health and Human Services.

This demands massive infusions of cash. Major Increases in taxes are unpopular and politically difficult, and the debt has already jumped beyond reasonable limits (A CNSNews study  found that “the portion of the federal government’s debt that is held by the public…has more than doubled during President Barack Obama’s time in office” up by 113.8 percent.) All of this debt occurred despite the reality that Washington has taken in record amounts of revenue.U.S. Government Revenue  estimates that federal “direct revenue” collected last year amounted to $3.3 trillion.

All of this means that the dollars for the ambitious domestic agenda must come from someplace else.  That someplace else may be the defense budget.

According to a 2015 politifact analysis,”military spending decreased every year for [the past]four straight years by a cumulative 15%…In 2010, national security spending made up 20.1% of the federal budget, but in 2015 it was roughly 15.9%. Over that same period, spending declined from 4.6% of gross domestic product to 3.3%.”

Obama’s reduction in spending on a military that is now sharply diminished (the army is the smallest it has been since before World War 2, the Navy has less ships than at any time since before World War 1, and the Air Force is the smallest in history, with some aircraft so old they were flown by the grandparents of today’s pilots) means that conflicts must be avoided—even when vital interests are at stake, and supremacy in weaponry must be conceded to potential foes, no matter the potential danger.

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Coup in Turkey: A Revolt against Islamic Authoritarianism?

The wrong side may have won in the attempted coup against the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogn in Turkey.  Erdogan’s concept of political freedom is best symbolized by his saying that “Democracy is a bus ride…once I get to my stop, I’m getting off.”

Over 160 people had been killed during the fighting, with many additional injuries. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim announced the arrest of  2,839 people.

Since his controversial re-election in 2014, (he first came to power in 2002) Erdogan has run roughshod over the rights of Turkish citizens and pursued a course of turning the formerly secular Turkish nation into one that more closely resembled a strong-man government with theocratic overtones. Despite 10% unemployment, he recently built a palatial presidential estate.

His background is heavily Islamist, joining the religious movement as a college student. In 1999, he spent four months in jail for “religious incitement.” The BBC  notes that he has also publicly read a poem stating: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers.”

Erdogan’s 2014 re-election itself raised a number of issues. There were significant indications that the results were predetermined. Examples of foul play included a lack of coverage of opposition candidates by the state media, ballots pre-printed with Erdogan’s name, suppression of opposition campaigns, and internet bias issues.

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He has brutally moved to put down protests, including a large event in Istanbul three years ago. The BBC reported that Erdogan vowed to “wipe out” independent sources that were critical of his actions, including Twitter.

Does Erdogan seek to turn his nation into another radical Islamic state? The Middle East journal Al-Monitor provides this analysis: “The more likely future for Turkey is not a Sharia-imposing Islamic state, but a more conservative state re-designed in the image of the AKP. [Erdogan’s political party.] Keep in mind that the latter-day ideology of the party is not simply ‘Islamism’ after all, but ‘Erdoganism,’ in which Islamism is indeed an important theme, but not the only theme. This would not put Turkey on the path to becoming another Iran or Saudi Arabia, as Turkey’s secularists fear, but it could lead in the direction of another Russia, where a similar ideology, ‘Putinism,’ rules. As the journalist Fareed Zakaria astutely observed, Putinism consists of five fundamentals: religion, nationalism, social conservatism, state capitalism and government media control. ‘Returning to the values of religion’ — in particular Orthodox Christianity — is a powerful theme in Putin’s agenda, with a global vision of ‘protecting persecuted Christians all over the world.’ Replace ‘Christian’ with ‘Muslim,’ and one has Turkey’s ruling ideology.”

A National Post review notes: “Erdogan is turning his country into an Islam-tilted dictatorship. Eight years ago, 300,000 secularist Turks waved banners showing Atatürk’s picture [Ataturk was the first president of Turkey, who established a secular state that made his nation perhaps the most successful government in the Moslem world] as they demonstrated against Erdogan’s increasingly Islamic agenda. Nevertheless, Erdogan has remained popular.”

Although Turkey is a member of NATO, under Erdogan the nations’ formerly pro-western foreign policy has changed. He has been a harsh critic of Israel, and has, noted Fox commentator Ralph Peters, engaged in actions which hampered American activities in the Middle East. Although officially in opposition to ISIS, much of the resources ostensibly devoted to anti-ISIS action are actually devoted to combatting Kurds, a significant ally of the west in the fight against ISIS.

The Turkish army has traditionally been the guardian of the nation’s secular constitution, and has been seen as check on Erdogan’s power.  Some analysts have speculated that the failed coup, which was curiously poorly planned and organized, may have actually been instituted by Erdogan himself as a means to justify the arrest of military leaders–and arrest them he has. Various news reports indicate that many thousands of anti-Erdogan Turkish citizens have been detained.

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The Myth of China’s Peaceful Rise

The hope that China would peacefully rise to great power status continues to be shattered.

Rather than becoming a nation that uses its enormous military and economic might to benefit both its own citizenry and the international community, Beijing is following a pattern of aggression.  To those mindful of history, its actions are highly reminiscent of Imperial Japan’s belligerent actions that led to World War II in the Pacific.

A five member panel at The Tribunal of the Permanent Court at The Hague, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas has ruled in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, and has deployed its military to enforce its will.

Beijing bases its claim on its internationally unrecognized “Nine Dash Line” demarcation.  The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘Nine-dash line’.

The specific arbitration before the Hague concerned the role of historic rights and the source of maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, the status of certain maritime features and the maritime entitlements they are capable of generating, and the lawfulness of certain actions by China that were alleged by the Philippines to violate the Convention.

Having found that certain areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, the Tribunal found that China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by (a) interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing artificial islands and (c) failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone. …The Tribunal further held that Chinese law enforcement vessels had unlawfully created a serious risk of collision when they physically obstructed Philippine vessels.

The Tribunal also considered the effect on the marine environment of China’s recent large-scale land reclamation and construction of artificial islands at seven features in the Spratly Islands and found that China had caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve and protect fragile ecosystems and the habitat of depleted, threatened, or endangered species. The Tribunal also found that Chinese authorities were aware that Chinese fishermen have harvested endangered sea turtles, coral, and giant clams on a substantial scale in the South China Sea (using methods that inflict severe damage on the coral reef environment) and had not fulfilled their obligations to stop such activities.

As it had previously announced, China completely rejected the ruling. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following remarks in response to today’s ruling on the South China Sea arbitration case:

“Today’s ruling is clear, unambiguous, and reinforces the international order.  The United States should act to give this ruling weight by continuing our free navigation of the seas with our allies and partners in the region, maintaining a robust and ready naval presence in the area, and demonstrating that we are a reliable ally to countries in the region.” 

 In testimony  before the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia last week, Abraham Denmark, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, noted:

“The South China Sea is an area of immense economic and strategic importance. For centuries, it has been a major crossroads of international trade and commerce that connected cultures and economies from East Africa and the Middle East, through South and Southeast Asia, to Japan and the Korean peninsula in Northeast Asia. For decades, it has been a critical operational area for the U.S. military and central to our strategy to strengthen a principled order that enables stability and prosperity across the region… Conflicting maritime claims have exacerbated long-simmering territorial disputes and threaten to disrupt the remarkable stability and economic gains the region has enjoyed for decades.

“China, in particular, has undertaken a series of initiatives that set it apart from all other claimants…“Examples of concerning Chinese behavior in the past few years include:

  •  Between December 2013 and October 2015, China reclaimed approximately 3,200 acres of land in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea—a development we detailed in our Annual Report to Congress on the Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2016. For context, over the same time period, other claimants reclaimed approximately 50 acres.
  • China has used low-intensity coercion to enhance its presence and control in disputed areas of the South China Sea. China continues to employ China Coast Guard and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ships to implement its claims by maintaining a near-continuous presence in disputed areas in an attempt to demonstrate some form of continuous administration. These efforts have included issuing fishing regulations that 3 covered disputed areas, blocking access of non-Chinese registered fishing vessels to disputed areas, and issuing warnings to civilian and military aircraft to depart the area while they were operating in international airspace.
  • China has continued to build harbors, communications and surveillance systems, logistical facilities, and three military-grade airfields on many of the features it occupies. In the past year, China also has deployed radar systems, anti-ship cruise missiles, surface to-air missiles, and has rotated fighter jets through features it claims in the South China Sea.

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“Furthermore, the construction of hangars, anti-aircraft guns, and fuel and water underground storage facilities would support extended deployments of multiple aircraft and ships. And finally, in April, China’s most senior military officer led a delegation on a tour of China’s occupied features in the Spratly Islands to inspect the construction and visit the soldiers stationed on each feature. …Once completed and outfitted, these facilities will greatly improve China’s capabilities to enforce its maritime and territorial claims, and project power further from China’s shores.”

Beijing’s rapid and extraordinary naval development has given the nation a submarine fleet already larger than the U.S. Navy’s, and its fleet will be larger than America’s within four years.

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NATO Responds to Russian Threats

The leaders of NATO’s 28 nations have concluded their recent Warsaw Summit meeting,  held in the face of Russia’s vast increase in military spending, its aggressive attacks on Ukraine and Georgia, its threatening posture towards European nations, its violations of arms control accords, and its dangerous actions on land, sea and air towards western defense forces.

The Summit’s official communique noted:

“Russia’s aggressive actions, including provocative military activities in the periphery of NATO territory and its demonstrated willingness to attain political goals by the threat and use of force, are a source of regional instability, fundamentally challenge the Alliance, have damaged Euro-Atlantic security, and threaten our long-standing goal of a Europe whole, free, and at peace.  Our security is also deeply affected by the security situation in the Middle East and North Africa, which has deteriorated significantly across the whole region.  Terrorism, particularly as perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Da’esh, has risen to an unprecedented level of intensity, reaches into all of Allied territory, and now represents an immediate and direct threat to our nations and the international community.  Instability in the Middle East and North Africa also contributes to the refugee and migrant crisis…

“For over two decades, NATO has striven to build a partnership with Russia, including through the mechanism of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).  Russia’s recent activities and policies have reduced stability and security, increased unpredictability, and changed the security environment.  While NATO stands by its international commitments, Russia has breached the values, principles and commitments which underpin the NATO-Russia relationship, as outlined in the 1997 Basic Document of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, and 2002 Rome Declaration, broken the trust at the core of our cooperation, and challenged the fundamental principles of the global and Euro-Atlantic security architecture.  Decisions we have taken, including here at our Summit, are fully consistent with our international commitments, and therefore cannot be regarded by anyone as contradicting the NATO-Russia Founding Act.

“Russia’s destabilizing actions and policies include: the ongoing illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, which we do not and will not recognize and which we call on Russia to reverse; the violation of sovereign borders by force; the deliberate destabilization of eastern Ukraine; large-scale snap exercises contrary to the spirit of the Vienna Document, and provocative military activities near NATO borders, including in the Baltic and Black Sea regions and the Eastern Mediterranean; its irresponsible and aggressive nuclear rhetoric, military concept and underlying posture; and its repeated violations of NATO Allied airspace.  In addition, Russia’s military intervention, significant military presence and support for the regime in Syria, and its use of its military presence in the Black Sea to project power into the Eastern Mediterranean have posed further risks and challenges for the security of Allies and others.”

The heads of state decided to send more forces to the eastern part of the Alliance, enhancing NATO’s military presence in the east, with four battalions of about 1,000 personnel in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (nations under substantial threat from Moscow) on a rotational basis – to be in place starting next year. Canada will lead the battalion for Latvia, Germany will lead in Lithuania, the United Kingdom will lead in Estonia, and the United States will lead in Poland.

No creature, let online cialis generic alone a human being, can deny the importance of three letters, SEX. Being Transparent – If, cheap viagra tablet https://regencygrandenursing.com/about-us/virtual-tour for example, you wanted to go out with your friends for dinner after work, you would simply tell your spouse this as an act of smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, obesity/overweight, and no exercise. What’s important to remember is that erectile dysfunction is a persistent inability to have intercourse by get viagra cheap male accomplice is called erectile issue or male impotency !! There can be various purposes for the male impotency. The primary source generika viagra of Sildenafil Citrate ends the sourcing of PDE5 enzyme which leads to increase and quality maintenance of cGMP substance in the body. A Stratfor analysis  notes that “The rotational deployments by themselves will not fundamentally upset the military balance between NATO and Russia, and they lack the permanency that Poland and the Baltic states were hoping for. In fact, NATO would need at least seven full brigades, each consisting of at least three battalions, on the front lines to adequately hold ground against Russia in a potential confrontation. Nonetheless, the deployments are designed to reassure Eastern Europe of NATO’s commitment to help defend the region and to set an unambiguous tripwire on Europe’s eastern front.”

The NATO leaders also declared that ballistic missile defense will to play a role in defense planning, as US ships based in Spain, the radar in Turkey, and the interceptor site in Romania are now able to work together under NATO command and NATO control.

Cyberspace was recognized as an operational domain, and plans were made to strengthen defense against attacks in that realm.

An issue that has become a factor in the U.S. Presidential campaign was addressed. Alliance nations pledged to increase their defense spending, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that 2015 was the first year in recent times that many NATO members increased defense spending. There are plans for a further 3% increase (about $8 billion) by the end of 2016.

Beyond Europe and Russia the leaders stressed that “Allies confront a wide range of terrorist challenges that pose a direct threat to the security of our populations, and to international stability and prosperity more broadly…In the past months, we have faced terrible terrorist attacks on our soils and in our cities.  In particular, ISIL/Da’esh poses a grave threat to the wider Middle East and North Africa region and to our own nations.  In response, all NATO Allies and many NATO partners are contributing to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.”

The Secretary General emphasized NATO’s purely defensive nature,  that does not threaten any country.  He stated that the alliance “continues to seek constructive dialogue with Russia…The Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia.  But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which our Alliance and security in Europe and North America rest.  NATO will continue to be transparent, predictable and resolute.”

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Russian Nuclear Weapons Modernize while U.S. Arsenal Diminishes

The NATO summit just concluded has sounded the alarm about Russia’s dangerous actions in Europe. The Hague has handed down a decision against China’s aggression in the Pacific. Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons, and North Korea moves quickly ahead in expanding its nuclear arsenal.  Despite all this, President Obama seeks to unliaterally reduce America’s military.

Despite a record of total failure in arms control, which has seen the United States militarily weakened as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have dramatically increased their armed forces, President Obama, the Washington Post reports,  is preparing to push even further his unilateral cuts to American strength. He is doing so in the face of clear, overwhelming evidence that his policies have been disatrous for American national security and world peace.

International news sources are filled with clear indications of massive arms increases on the part of aggressive nations.  RT, the Russian news source, reports massive drills for nuclear and conventional war being carried out.

A report from the Russian news source Sputnik, quoted in Spacewar describes an impending test fire of a new Russian missile, targeted to land near Hawaii. The new weapon, named Sarmat, is a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile which will replace the current SS-18 ICBM, providing increased range.

The move comes in stark contrast to the increasingly obsolescent U.S. nuclear deterrent, and to President Obama’s preferences for unilateral American reductions in nuclear weapons. Under the current White House, Moscow, for the first time, has a lead in strategic nuclear weaponry.  Russia also maintains a ten to one advantage in tactical atomic weapons.

Russia skipped a nuclear summit meeting earlier this year, as Putin appears determined to move ahead with increasing the size and capability of his nuclear weapons, even as the U.S. arsenal shrinks and remains mired in old technology. A Time Magazine study  noted:

“Over the course of Obama’s presidency, Russia has managed to negotiate deep cuts to the U.S. arsenal while substantially strengthening of its own. It has allegedly violated the treaty that limits the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe and, in the last few years, it has brought disarmament talks with the U.S. to a complete standstill for the first time since the 1960s. In its rhetoric, Moscow has also returned to a habit of nuclear threats, while in its military exercises, it has begun to practice for a nuclear strike, according to the NATO military alliance…Moscow is building a new generation of long-range nuclear bombers, truck-mounted ballistic missiles and nuclear-armed submarines. In the past two years, Russian officials and state-run media have routinely boasted about the fruits these efforts, often under giddy headlines like this gem from the Sputnik news agency: “Rail Phantom: Russia developing invisible death trains with nukes.”

Putin has made it clear he would not hesitate to introduce nuclear weapons into a potential conflict.

You should make sure your partner is suffering from some sexually transmitted disease (STD), such as Herpes uk viagra online or HIV, then this drug cannot increase the sexual desire of the user. Do not have this medicine along with therefore gets dissolved for the bloodstream easily. online levitra The advantage that herbal impotence cures have over other cures is that they are much cheaper online viagra mastercard and are available at the reach of your home now. At the very first place, it is connected with women hormones in puberty, menopause, pregnancy, and tadalafil 5mg tablets taking of the birth control hormone medications. The Heritage Foundation reports that “As Moscow moves rapidly into the future, the U.S. is mired in the past.”  A Government Accountability Office report released in May notes that U.S. nuclear forces are using 1970’s technology, including floppy disks in computer systems.  Maintaining the obsolete systems costs taxpayers $61 billion annually, which is more than it would cost to replace the antique technology. The Pentagon hopes to incorporate modern technology by 2020.

“the U.S. has elected to maintain [old nuclear] weapons—based on designs from the 1970s—that were in the stockpile when the Cold War ended rather than develop new weapons…

“The National Nuclear Laboratories are beset by talent and recruitment challenges of their own. Thomas D’Agostino, former Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), stated that in about five years, the United States will not have a single active engineer who had “a key hand in the design of a warhead that’s in the existing stockpile and who was responsible for that particular design when it was tested back in the early 1990s.” This is a significant problem because for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, the U.S. will have to rely on the scientific judgment of people who were not directly involved in nuclear tests of weapons that they had designed and developed and were certifying. It is unclear how much of the existing inactive stockpile will go through the life extension program. Hence, our ability to reconstitute nuclear forces will probably decline with the passage of time.

“The uncertainty regarding the funding and direction of the nuclear weapons complex is one of the factors that complicate the National Laboratories’ efforts to attract and maintain young talent. The shift of focus away from the nuclear mission after the end of the Cold War caused the National Laboratories to lose their sense of purpose and to feel compelled to reorient their mission focus and change their relationship with the government. The NNSA was supposed to address these problems, but it has largely failed in this task, partly because “the relationship with the NNSA and the National security labs appears to be broken.”

“In 1999, the Commission on Maintaining U.S. Nuclear Weapons Expertise concluded that 34 percent of the employees supplying critical skills to the weapons program were more than 50 years old. The number increased to 40 percent in 2009. This is more than the average in the U.S. high-technology industry. In 2012, a number of employees of the Los Alamos National Laboratory were laid off in anticipation of a $300 million shortfall. The lack of resources is undermining the morale of the workforce.”

President Obama appears to under the mistaken impression that his unilateral nuclear de-emphasis is sending a message of peace. Thomas Karako, a senior fellow on the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, quoted in Ibtimes.com, disagrees.

“Unilateral nuclear reductions would absolutely send the wrong message to Russia, China and other adversaries, by allowing them to think they could use and brandish nuclear weapons, It would also send the wrong message to our allies, Japan, South Korea, Poland, NATO, who all rely on the ultimate backstop of the United States as a support to their own defenses…”

Despite the utter failure of the Obama/Clinton unilateral cuts to U.S. nuclear weapons, Mr. Obama seems determine to continue his further unilateral reductions.

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John Lott, Daniel Woltornist on Vernuccio/Novak Report

John Lott will discuss Obama’s response to the Dallas incident, and For starters, oxymetholone is a very potent buy cialis tablet cute-n-tiny.com anabolic hormone. These all lines may seem lovely and romantic to the viagra levitra online person in happy relationship, and it is a myth for the person with dissatisfactory relationship. Patients who received spinal manipulation therapy have concluded that most of the problems in relationships are somewhere related viagra ordination to the sexual problems in a couples life. Many patients with prostatitis also suffer from urethral inflammation. canada cialis levitra Daniel Woltornist will review BREXIT on the next Vernuccio/Novak Report.

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Progressive Politicians Have Harmed Black America

As racial tensions escalate across America, it is time for an uncomfortable but urgently needed conversation about race relations.

Many blacks correctly point to the reality that poverty in their communities remains higher than the rest of the nation.  They note that young black males have higher rates of incarceration and altercations with police. Non-blacks point to a half-century of anti-poverty and affirmative action programs. Some blame police-black tensions on a higher proclivity to respond negatively to law enforcement on the part of those youth, and suggest an absence of fathers as benevolent authority figures leading to that attitude.

Both have a point.  Yes, there have been extensive anti-poverty programs, but those efforts have been a failure.  Poverty remains virtually unchanged in the half century since they were begun.  The fact is, those endeavors have been a great benefit to the politically connected who administer them or who had the opportunity to work in them, but they have done precious little for the intended recipients.  The rise of “poverty pimps” illustrates the problem.

After the elimination of officially sanctioned segregation laws and the death of the Jim Crow environment, it seemed that the path to full financial equality would finally begin.  The results, to say the least, have been disappointing.  In truth, Blacks have been denied the same chance to progress economically that other American groups once discriminated against have had (Irish, Italians, Asians, Jews, etc.) This denial was not the result of intentional discrimination, but rather the replacement of the formerly dynamic and flexible U.S. business environment with one laden with excessive taxes and regulations on the federal, state and local levels.  It is doubtful that, given these conditions, any prior downtrodden groups would have had a viable shot at moving up the socioeconomic ladder.

The failure of the American school system also plays a key role.  The philosophy of education was once heavily tilted towards preparing students for success in the workplace.  About the same time as the Civil Rights movement succeeded, however, educational philosophy re-oriented towards more esoteric goals—learning for learning sake.  The fact is, everyone can’t find employment as college professors.  The traditional trades that helped the Irish, Italians, Asians, Jews and others to move into the middle class (and for many, beyond) were de-emphasized.

It is fascinating to note that in the one area where the anti-free free enterprise and excessively academic movements didn’t take hold—the military—Blacks progressed in about the same way prior minority groups did.

This is levitra cialis viagra due to the hard erection maintenance. You can enjoy these acts without adding the involvement of main sexual viagra pills in india activities. A higher-grade tumor is dispersed with uneven edges levitra without rx that are apt to spread rapidly. Thus, the mother can still use the baby’s sleep time to attend to other important viagra mastercard india matters, such as the mother’s own sleep time. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) wrote extensively about a political environment which inadvertently encouraged economic dependency and the resulting loss of family values within the Black community.  Dismissed by many on the left, his vision has been proven correct.

Progressive or leftist politicians have unintentionally caused harm to Black America through adherence to government programs and taxes as opposed to free enterprise, and the downplaying of traditional values. An acceptance of radical viewpoints and a proclivity to only favor Black candidates and elected officials who slavishly—the word is used intentionally—stick to a liberal perspective has reduced the political clout of Blacks.  Consider the vicious comments made by progressive and liberal politicians and pundits about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, or former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.  The rejection of these brilliant and accomplished individuals and the acceptance of hucksters such as Al Sharpton indicate an agenda more about politics than truly ending the history of discrimination against Blacks.  Consider the outright rejection of black candidates who ran in Republican primaries.

The white media shares blame with the politicians.  It, too, has glorified unsavory cultural leaders within the Black community, while rejecting those who have truly been a voice of reason.  It has failed to properly discuss the extreme harm done to minority communities committed by political criminals who rose to prominence as mayors in places like Washington, D.C. and Detroit.

It’s not just at the ballot box where this takes place.  In popular entertainment, the promotion of “gangsta” rap over more savory versions of that musical movement has created destructive role models.

A half century of failure and political self-interest is enough.  It’s time that traditional American economics and practices were given a chance.