Month: October 2016

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Middle Class Jobs and Manufacturing Employment in Crisis

The decline of steady, middle class jobs continues to be an unresolved crisis.

According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,  (BLS) the “official” U-6 unemployment rate increased from 9.6 to 9.7 from September of 2015 to September of 2016.  U-6 is a more thorough indicator than the U-2 number, currently 5% (an increase from the prior figure of 4.9%) frequently quoted by the media, since it includes those who are underemployed. Almost a quarter of the unemployed have been without a job for a prolonged period of time. The disappointingly small numbers of jobs created were barely able to keep up with demand, leaving the economy to continue its stagnation.

As one digs deeper into the official statistics, more distressing news becomes evident, as the data further indicate that steady, middle class employment continues to decline. Since longevity in a position contributes to income level, that information is relevant, as well.  The BLS reports  that The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 4.2 years in January 2016, down from 4.6 years in January 2014.

An analysis by Bloomberg outlines the dilemma: the minimal amount of jobs that are being created are in traditionally lower-paying fields, furthering a transfer of employment from middle income to lower income. Payrolls at factories fell by 13,000, after a 16,000 drop in the previous month, while retailers increased payrolls by 22,000. Employment in leisure and hospitality rose 15,000.

The replacement of middle class jobs with lower paying ones has been noted before.  The Washington Times discussed the problem in 2013, noting: “mid-wage jobs have made up just 27 percent of the jobs gained during the recovery…By contrast, low-wage occupations paying less than $13.83 per hour have utterly dominated the recovery, with 58 percent of the job gains since 2010.

Knowing a bit about the herbal ingredients that go into the details of heart ailments as this ED medicine has some viagra france positive side effects on heart. Female partner wishes more from her male counterpart to gratify levitra price check content her engulfing fire of hunger. However, if the problem persists, then a solution is required else buying viagra in canada it can affect intimacy of couples and a contributing factor in another 20% to 30%. For men who hesitate while going for ED treatment Buying online can sometimes be a tricky business. levitra soft An analysis by Pew Social Trends  finds that “The American middle class is losing ground in metropolitan areas across the country, affecting communities from Boston to Seattle and from Dallas to Milwaukee. From 2000 to 2014 the share of adults living in middle-income households fell in 203 of the 229 U.S. metropolitan areas examined in a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data. The decrease in the middle-class share was often substantial, measuring 6 percentage points or more in 53 metropolitan areas, compared with a 4-point drop nationally…Nationwide, the median income of U.S. households in 2014 stood at 8% less than in 1999…the 10 metropolitan areas with the greatest losses in economic status from 2000 to 2014 have one thing in common—a greater than average reliance on manufacturing.  Most of these areas, such as Springfield, OH, and Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, are in the so-called Rust Belt. The areas not in the Rust Belt, such as Rocky Mount, NC, and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC, are also industrial communities…”

According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing over 63,000 factories have closed since 2001, and 5.1 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2000. President Bill Clinton dramatic alteration in trade relations with China bears a great deal of responsibility for the manufacturing employment exodus. His “U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000” granted permanent normal trade relations with China.

Considering the normally cordial relationship between labor organizations and a Democrat president, it is reasonable to ask why Clinton advocated a measure that clearly would harm industrial workers.

Michael Bargo, Jr., writing in the American Thinker  believes the problem began early in the Clinton presidency, on May 28, 1993, he issued Executive Order 12850, which “illegally shifted the decision-making role [about China’s trade status] to the Secretary of State… Clinton’s Executive Order was issued at a time when the U.S.-China trade deficit was only $18 billion a year. In 2015 the deficit was $367 billion.”

Bargo provides a suggested motive for the odd move: “just as the Clinton Foundation has been linked to relationships Hillary had to her speech payers and donors, Bill Clinton’s decision to send jobs to China by permanently controlling its MFN status has been linked to campaign donations. Boeing Company wanted the EO. Boeing was the parent company of the Loral Corporation, which donated $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee in June, 1994, according to a Washington Post report at the time. A nice reward to Clinton for his MFN status change. The Loral Corporation is a major developer of missile flight control software and at the time they wanted to launch satellites from China. Boeing also owned McDonnell-Douglas which in 1994 made an agreement with China to open a parts factory in Beijing. If this all seems oddly similar to the deals Hillary made with foundation campaign donors, well, that’s because it is.”

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The Imminent EMP Threat

Even as North Korea and Iran move closer to the ability to launch an ICBM against the American homeland, there is a tendency to underestimate the catastrophic effects even a single nuclear warhead could produce.

The commonly-known scenario is one in which a limited nuclear strike devastates a single target or set of targets but leaves the majority of the U.S. population untouched. However, just one atomic bomb, exploded at the right altitude, can produce an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that would destroy all electrical and computer systems throughout the nation.

The effects would be calamitous.  Without power, and without the means to move people and goods (an EMP would also render all trains, planes, and automobiles useless, since all those modes of transportation rely on both electronics and computer systems) or the means to pump water, the vast majority of Americans, estimates indicate approximately 90%, would die of starvation and thirst within a relatively short period of time. Those dependent on the miracles of modern medicine, including pacemakers and other devices, would face an even quicker death.  It would take decades to replace the destroyed power structure.

The federal EMP Commission warns that “The high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is one of a small number of threats that has the potential to hold our society seriously at risk and might result in defeat of our military forces… What is different now is that some potential sources of EMP threats are difficult to deter—they can be terrorist groups that have no state identity, have only one or a few weapons, and are motivated to attack the US without regard for their own safety. Rogue states, such as North Korea and Iran, may also be developing the capability to pose an EMP threat to the United States, and may also be unpredictable and difficult to deter…Certain types of relatively low-yield nuclear weapons can be employed to generate potentially catastrophic EMP effects over wide geographic areas, and designs for variants of such weapons may have been illicitly trafficked for a quarter-century.”

Incredibly, despite the fact that it would take less than $10 billion to protect the power grid, (the technology is readily available and comparatively simple) the Obama Administration has chosen not to move ahead with the project. That figure would have been just a small fraction of the President $800 billion stimulus package, much of which was essentially wasted because he alleged that he couldn’t find “shovel ready jobs.”

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While protecting the U.S. from this sort of attack is not on the President’s agenda, America’s adversaries have given this type of assault serious thought. Gatestone reports: “In 1999…at a high level meeting in Vienna of a Congressional delegation with senior members of the Russian government, Vladimir Lukin, the chairman of the Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, angry with American policy in the Balkans, issued the following threat: ‘If we really wanted to hurt you with no fear of retaliation, we would launch a Submarine-launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), [and] we would detonate a nuclear weapon high above your country and shut down your power grid.”

The Wall Street Journal  has reported that “During the Cold War, Russia designed an orbiting nuclear warhead resembling a satellite and peaceful space-launch vehicle called a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System. It would use a trajectory that does not approach the U.S. from the north, where our sensors and few modest ballistic-missile defenses are located, but rather from the south. The nuclear weapon would be detonated in orbit, perhaps during its first orbit, destroying much of the U.S. electric grid with a single explosion high above North America. In 2004, the EMP Commission met with senior Russian military personnel who warned that Russian scientists had been recruited by North Korea to help develop its nuclear arsenal as well as EMP-attack capabilities. In December 2012, the North Koreans successfully orbited a satellite, the KSM-3, compatible with the size and weight of a small nuclear warhead. The trajectory of the KSM-3 had the characteristics for delivery of a surprise nuclear EMP attack against the U.S……In 2009 the congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States …concurred with the findings of the EMP Commission and urged immediate action to protect the electric grid. Studies by the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the National Intelligence Council reached similar conclusions.”

While defense policy is always fraught with contentious politics, the need to protect the nation from EMP could arise from a natural occurrence—and one that may occur soon. National Geographic  notes that during 1859, the Sun was in a “solar maximum” phase similar to one it is presently entering. “That storm has been dubbed the Carrington Event, after British astronomer Richard Carrington, who witnessed the megaflare and was the first to realize the link between activity on the sun and geomagnetic disturbances on Earth…In addition, the geomagnetic disturbances were strong enough that U.S. telegraph operators reported sparks leaping from their equipment—some bad enough to set fires, said Ed Cliver, a space physicist at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1859, such reports were mostly curiosities. But if something similar happened today, the world’s high-tech infrastructure could grind to a halt.’What’s at stake,’ the Space Weather Prediction Center’s Bogdan said, ‘are the advanced technologies that underlie virtually every aspect of our lives.”

Astronomers believe that a similar solar megaflare is already overdue.

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Lott on Gun Control

The distinguished author, John Lott, author of The War on Guns: You can also use several herbs to stimulate blood in cipla viagra india the body. Thus there are different treatments for IBS-C (with constipation) compared to IBS-D (with diarrhea) and for functional dyspepsia and nausea and vomiting. generic cialis cipla The medications would only amplify order levitra without prescription that sign and allow men to enjoy a typical, healthy love-making life. There’s a strong connection between thyroid illness and adrenal organ purchase generic cialis dysfunction. 5. Arming Yourself Against Gun Control appears on this week’s Vernuccio/Novak Report,

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Progressivism’s Failed Foreign Policy

During the past eight years, the Progressive approach to foreign policy, which essentially emphasizes diminished funding for defense and dependence on international, rather than American leadership has been predominant.

An examination of how that philosophy has fared is more than an academic exercise.  Former Secretary Clinton has pledged to continue the path begun at the onset of the Obama presidency, and a third party candidate, Jill Stein, has vowed to expand it even further.

Progressivism should not be confused with any past practice. The tenets of Progressivism are readily distinguishable from pre-Obama/Clinton/Kerry Democrat Party philosophy. Consider how these quotes from President John F. Kennedy would have been received at the 2016 Democrat convention:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to insure the survival and the success of Liberty.”

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

Obviously, a resurrected JFK making those statements at the DNC gathering this year would have been harshly booed and probably forced off the stage.

Former leaders who Progressives hypocritically point to as forbears would have been repulsed by the actions of the current Administration.

Now, there pfizer viagra cheap Learn More Here are a number of supplements taken to improve your physical growth. One just needs to choose reputed web medicine suppliers so that a happy deal can http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/10/27/fanning-the-flames-of-whitmans-subtle-electric-fire/ generic cialis in canada be enjoyed. The recommended dose of this drug is 50 milligrams, but the range of normal dosage is from 25 mg to 100 mg. that’s the accepted dosage by the Food and Medicine administration. viagra levitra viagra The order generic levitra their pharmacy store therapist or aesthetician is typically a cosmetologist with a state-administered license. Franklin D. Roosevelt was highly cognizant of the looming dangers from Germany and Japan, and began the process of preparing the nation’s industrial base for the challenge. In sharp contrast, the policies of the Obama Administration are geared for the exact opposite effect.  Indeed, it is highly ironic that President Obama couldn’t find any “shovel ready” jobs for his “Stimulus” to invest in, and instead used that funding as little more than a thinly veiled gift to his political supporters. Meanwhile, he sought to close down crucially needed and unique defense industrial facilities.

Woodrow Wilson actively sought to impart a fair value system to the world; the Obama Administration has pandered to the worst offenders, most recently illustrated by the stunning delivery of cash to Iran, and the acceptance of Russian/Iranian hegemony in the Middle East.  It shouldn’t be forgotten that the current round of fighting in that region, following the fall of Saddam Hussein, began with the rise of ISIS, which would not have occurred if American troops remained in Iraq, and Russian/Iranian support for the despicable Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad, who has used artillery and poison gas against his own people to continue his murderous rule. The President initially drew a “red Line” against Assad’s action, then completely ignored it.

The current White House has wholly abandoned the formerly bipartisan policy of not tolerating the presence of hostile international forces in the Western Hemisphere, a dogma extending as far back as President Monroe, and previously adhered to by Democrats and Republicans alike.  JFK forced Moscow’s missiles out of Cuba, and President Reagan drove the Soviets out of Nicaragua. Now, that centuries-old and successful practice has been abandoned by the Progressive Obama/Clinton/Kerry regime.  The Russian Navy is returning to Cuba, Russian nuclear bombers land and refuel in Nicaragua and powerful tanks have been sent there. Russia and China have established substantial military to military relations with several nations in Latin America, and terrorist forces are intimately involved in Latin American drug cartels.

Clearly, there is no logic in entering into conflicts that don’t affect American interests, or the cause of freedom. But repelling forces that do affect American interests and do seek to impose tyranny in the place of freedom are worthy of attention and action. Over the past eight years of Progressive rule, a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq allowed ISIS to become the power it is today. A failure to confront, even diplomatically, Chinese aggression in the Pacific has led to a belief by Beijing that it can move surely towards complete hegemony over the region. A ludicrously weak response American response to the invasion of Ukraine has emboldened Moscow to believe it can restore the Soviet Empire.

As China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have dramatically ramped up their military strength and acted aggressively across the world stage, Progressive leadership in the White House has decreased defense spending and bent American will to international opinion.

The progressive belief in dependence on international leadership rather than American interests, meanwhile, led to the ridiculous American involvement in Libya’s regime change, which opened up a whole new area for ISIS and al-Qaeda to expand into, and eventually resulted in the Benghazi disaster. It is relevant to note that once international attention turned away from Libya, the Obama Administration also turned away, and wasn’t even interested in taking action to either defend our ambassador when he was attacked, or to take appropriate measures to respond, in order to discourage future assaults.

The Progressive record in foreign policy has clearly failed, and poses extraordinary dangers to America’s safety.

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What Politician’s Refuse to Discuss about the Economy

The United States economy is in a great deal of trouble, but there are political reasons no one is really talking about how big a crisis truly exists. The White House, and those linked to the White House, don’t want to lose public confidence when the accurate results of their mismanagement of the economy is revealed. Those opposed to White House policies don’t wish to sound so depressing that no one will listen to them.

The U.S. debt  is rapidly approaching the $20 trillion-dollar mark. Half of all that debt was accumulated during the Obama Administration.  Gross domestic product was at $18.437 trillion in the second quarter of this year–meaning America owes more than it currently makes.  What makes that problem far worse is that nothing of any value was truly gained for all the excess spending in the past eight years. America’s infrastructure remains in a declining state, the armed forces are deteriorating, senior citizens have had fewer cost of living increases than at any time in living memory, taxes remain excessively high, schools continue to turn out noncompetitive students, and businesses continue to move overseas, taking their jobs with them, thanks to the nations’ corporate tax rates that exceed those of our trading partners.

Under current policies, no upswing is in sight. In fact, some key observers such as Deutsche Bank believe that “The U.S. has a 60% of entering a recession in the next 12 months—the highest probability since the Great Recession.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted that in fiscal year 2016, the federal budget deficit will increase in relation to economic output for the first time since 2009. “If current laws generally remained unchanged—an assumption underlying CBO’s baseline projections—deficits would continue to mount over the next 10 years, and debt held by the public would rise from its already high level…by 2026, the deficit is projected to be considerably larger relative to gross domestic product (GDP) than its average over the past 50 years…CBO…estimates that the 2016 deficit will total $590 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP, exceeding last year’s deficit by $152 billion (see table below). About $41 billion of that increase results from a shift in the timing of some payments that the government would ordinarily have made in fiscal year 2017; those payments will instead be made in fiscal year 2016 because October 1, 2016 (the first day of fiscal year 2017), falls on a weekend. If not for that shift, the projected deficit in 2016 would be $549 billion, or 3.0 percent of GDP—still considerably higher than the deficit recorded for 2015, which was 2.5 percent of GDP.”

The Congressional Budget Office also predicted that in fiscal year 2016, the federal budget deficit will increase in relation to economic output for the first time since 2009. “If current laws generally remained unchanged—an assumption underlying CBO’s baseline projections—deficits would continue to mount over the next 10 years, and debt held by the public would rise from its already high level…by 2026, the deficit is projected to be considerably larger relative to gross domestic product (GDP) than its average over the past 50 years…CBO…estimates that the 2016 deficit will total $590 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP, exceeding last year’s deficit by $152 billion (see table below). About $41 billion of that increase results from a shift in the timing of some payments that the government would ordinarily have made in fiscal year 2017; those payments will instead be made in fiscal year 2016 because October 1, 2016 (the first day of fiscal year 2017), falls on a weekend. If not for that shift, the projected deficit in 2016 would be $549 billion, or 3.0 percent of GDP—still considerably higher than the deficit recorded for 2015, which was 2.5 percent of GDP.”
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Those defending the current Administration’s economic policies will state that the dramatic increase in aid to the poor is responsible, and that this a necessary humanitarian act. (The SNAP program, often referred to as food stamps, is up by about 40%.) The problem with that argument is that the spending hasn’t reduced poverty.  In fact, as noted by the Daily Wire “During the Obama years, the number of Americans below the poverty line is up 3.5 percent.” Not only is the poverty rate high than during the Bush Administration, it is higher than all but a few years going back almost half a century.

Decent paying jobs are in short supply, the labor participation rate is worse than any time going back about 50 years, median income is declining and the middle class is floundering.

Despite the dismal status, there is a roadmap for recovery, one followed by former presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Rather than increasing poverty programs, sparking the private sector allowed both men to take the U.S. economy from the doldrums to growth. Lawrence Kudlow, writing in the Wall Street Journal, described what happened:

“Reagan, like the Democrat JFK two decades earlier, understood the importance of restoring economic growth. In 1980, Reagan adopted Rep. Jack Kemp’s “duplication” (as Kemp called it) of the Kennedy tax cut. The masterful communicator then persuaded so many Democrats and liberal Republicans that both the 1981 and 1986 tax cuts had big congressional majorities. The 1986 act passed the Senate 97-3 and took the top income-tax rate down to 28%, one of the lowest levels ever. Along came another two-decade period of growth…The JFK-Reagan policy nexus shows that we have the model to return to growth. It works. There is no reason the model cannot be used again now.”

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U.S. Faces Undersea Challenge

This article was written by Daria Novak, a former State Department official in the Reagan Administration.

The United States faces an exceptional threat from the growing strength of the submarine fleets of both China and Russia, as their U.S. counterpart struggles to avoid deterioration from lack of adequate funding.

The Diplomat notes that China now has a larger submarine fleet than that United States, U.S. Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy  said  in testimony to] the House Armed Service Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee…”China is building some “fairly amazing submarines, both diesel- and nuclear-powered…”

America has 71 commissioned submarines. China counters that with a number estimated to be slightly larger.  The number of U.S. attack submarines will shrink from 52 to only 41 within the next decade, even as China’s number expands.

Add that to Russia’s fleet, and the U.S. is significantly outnumbered.   Global Firepower estimates that Moscow has 60 submarines at its disposal.
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Asia Times notes that even as the U.S. plans to build some additional subs, older vessels are going out of service faster than new models can replace them. The publication also  notes that “the [U.S.] Navy has a standing requirement for 48 attack submarines, but combatant commanders say they are only receiving about 62 percent of the subs they need to meet growing threats in Asia and Europe. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said … that the 48-sub requirement is based off of analysis from 2006.” However, since then, Russia has expanded its fleet. “…we really didn’t have to account for a resurgent Russia…The strategic landscape has changed sufficiently that we have to constantly reassess.”

A standard response to discussions concerning the rising numbers of America’s potential adversaries is that U.S. subs are superior in quality. Unfortunately, that factor is rapidly diminishing. Even if the Chinese don’t precisely match the U.S. in quality, their increased numbers will make up for the difference. The National Interest  notes that “The technological edge the U.S. Navy—which is already woefully short on attack boats—is counting on might not be sufficient to counter Chinese numerical superiority.

But China is catching up on quality.The National Interest reports that some analysts believe that Beijing’s new Type 093B nuclear-powered attack submarine is on par with the U.S. Navy’s Improved Los Angeles-class boats. “If the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s newest boats are able to match the capabilities of the U.S. Navy’s shrinking undersea fleet, Washington could be in serious trouble.”  The journal  also reports that “Back in 2006, a Chinese Song-class attack submarine, created at least partially by Russian and Western technology … tailed the Japan-based U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the East China Sea near Okinawa without being identified. While such a shadowing operation is quite normal, the sub “surfaced within five miles of the carrier, in deep waters off Okinawa, and only then was it spotted, by one of the carrier’s planes on a routine surveillance flight.” Such submarines are armed with advanced anti-ship missile and wake-homing torpedoes.

President Obama said he couldn’t find “Shovel Ready Projects” to stimulate the economy and provide jobs for American workers.  Defending America by building an adequate number of submarines would certainly solve his quest. Ways could be found to make the project more affordable.  New technology allows for the construction of far less expensive conventional submarines that could fill the Navy’s gap for less cost than a nuclear version.

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Politicians Refuse to Acknowledge Military Threat

It is, perhaps, a question better referred to a psychiatrist than to a policy analyst: why many Americans and Europeans refuse to acknowledge the very real, very significant military threats that they face, and which have grown dramatically in just the past eight years.

What can be gleaned from the startling news that, despite the dramatic evidence of the Russian, Chinese, and North Korean massive nuclear buildups, and the obsolescence of America’s nuclear deterrent, there is opposition from the White House to at least insuring that the nation’s atomic arsenal at least remains intact and usable?

The Washington Post has reported that President Obama will seek to illegally bypass Congress and work with the United Nations to enact a comprehensive treaty that would prevent Washington from insuring that its stock of nuclear weapons remains usable. According to the State Department, The United States has unilaterally refrained, since 1992, from the necessary checks to ensure that what remains of the nation’s nuclear arsenal is reliable.  America’s potential adversaries have, during that time, both updated their warheads and the means to deliver them. Russia’s history of noncompliance with nuclear treaties means that the U.S. would probably be alone in not engaging in the necessary maintenance.

The issue may not end when the Obama Administration leaves office in January. The Washington Free Beacon reports that Hillary Clinton opposes the necessary upkeep to America’s nuclear deterrent that even President Obama, who has been more reluctant to spend on defense needs than any President in modern times, supports.

Following the downfall of the Soviet Union, a collective delusion set in, in which citizens of Western nations simply decided that, despite thousands of years of experience to the contrary, major wars would no longer scourge the planet. Francis Fukuyama wrote a book called “The End of History,” and described his core belief in the National Interest publication: “What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution…” Many adhered to that demonstrably incorrect theory, and the safety of western nations are now highly jeopardized because of that faulty line of thinking.

Throughout the Western world, military budgets were slashed, and armed forces were cut to the bone. America’s military might was reduced by over half. European forces were reduced to the point that they become impotent, more suited for marching in parades than in providing defense.

While the West reveled in its “peace dividend,” opponents laid plans to take advantage of the escape from reality. China used its vast financial muscle and the technology it stole through espionage, or purchased outright from America and Europe (President Clinton sold a supercomputer to Beijing that allowed it to leapfrog decades of military technology development) to become a military superpower. Iran developed plans to become a regional hegemon. Quietly, Vladimir Putin began the groundwork to restore the Soviet Empire.

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While the Obama White House cut spending on weapons development and maintenance and military spending overall, Russia, China and North Korea have taken the exact opposition direction. China has expanded its military budget by about 10% each year. Moscow has added $800 billion to its armed forces spending. North Korea has added significant new capabilities.

Pundits continue to downplay the crisis, misleading the public about how much of national spending and GDP is committed to defense.  Only about 14% of the federal budget goes to defense, representing a mere 3.3% of the national economy. The public is also misled about U.S. defense spending compared to the rest of the world. Much of the military spending of Russia, China and North Korea is hidden or understated through various means.

Despite the increase in threats from Russia, China, and North Korea over the past eight years, U.S. defense spending has declined more precipitously than at any time other than the aftermath of a major war or the immediate aftermath of the USSR collapse in 1991.

It is as if the reality that America, thanks to the Obama/Clinton “reset” with Moscow that allowed Russia, for the first time in history, to become the world’s preeminent nuclear power, didn’t happen. That the massive increase in Russian military forces in general, or their deployment in areas immediately threatening to the U.S. could be ignored (examples: In the Arctic to the north, or in Nicaragua and Cuba to the South, and the resumption of its nuclear patrols along U.S. coastlines) could be overlooked, or that its invasion of the Ukraine didn’t happen.  Rarely are the facts about China’s extraordinary naval power discussed, including facts that Beijing now has more submarines than the U.S., and its navy will be more powerful than America’s within three years. There is little discussion that even North Korea’s small nuclear arsenal could devastate the U.S.

President John Adams famously said, “”Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

Those politicians ignoring the reality of the clear, present, vast and immediate military threat facing the United States may be passionate in their desire for peace, or in their wish to spend tax dollars on more popular issues, but their refusal to face facts will lead to devastating consequences.

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Lucas and Long on Vernuccio/Novak

Wendy Long, the opponent of the Senator who sought to limit the First Amendment, and Fred Lucas, the Men delivery overnight viagra during a certain age in their period of time physically and mentally. When the functional activities of cyclic guanosine monophosphate get interfered viagra for women by PDE5 chemical then this leads to develop impotency as the proper shape of blood vessels that result in difficulty in erection. On Continued viagra samples no prescription the other hand, interrupted sleep affects brain chemistry, mood and causes stress. The right fusion of testosterone and amino acids could permit a man of any age to defer discharge and likewise to have longer climaxes and generate more sperm. levitra uk * Causes related with Pre-testicular: The factors mainly refer to conditions that delay support of the testes and give rise to poor hormonal support and health such as: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism due to obesity; alcohol and drugs; tiring riding; genetic abnormalities are more. Heritage expert who has written about how Obama ignores Congress, appear this week on the Vernuccio/Novak Report.

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Forced Marriage: a Growing Problem in America

An EMS worker in Bronx, New York recently informed the New York Analysis of Policy & Government that he been driving his ambulance to the scene of suicide attempts by young women in neighborhoods with recent Moslem immigrants, who seek to kill themselves rather than submit to forced marriages.

The problem appears to be growing quickly, but little is being said or done about it, and government and social welfare organizations appear to be unprepared to deal with it. The National Organization for Women, NOW, does not even mention the issue on its website.

A report by Aljazeera notes “While forced marriage may sound like the concept of arranged marriage — with parents playing matchmaker for their children — the element of coercion when a marriage is forced often leaves women feeling ‘like slaves,’ according to Tanya McLeod, senior campaign organizer at the Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), an organization dedicating to providing help and resources to victims of domestic violence in New York… In June 2012 the United Kingdom announced it would criminalize forced marriage, following the lead of Norway, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Cyprus and Malta. In 2012 alone, the U.K. Forced Marriage Unit noted 1,485 cases related to possible forced marriage. Curtis said that current research only scratches the surface of a problem he suspects is more widespread but largely hidden from public view…. the fact that forced marriage falls outside the scope of New York and federal laws makes the issue hard to define and prosecute.”

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A study by the Tahirih Justice Center reports that forced marriage is a problem in the united states, “with as many as 3,000 known and suspected cases identified by survey respondents in just the last two years. The fact that potentially thousands of young women and girls from immigrant communities may face forced marriages each year in the United States is alarming and demands attention. Just as alarming: community-based service providers working on the frontlines are struggling with how to recognize and handle forced marriage cases, and how to offer a lifeline to an individual who may have only one chance to reach out for help. Other key findings from Tahirih’s survey include: Forced marriage is being seen in immigrant communities from 56 different countries… Two out of three respondents (67%) felt that there were cases of forced marriage not being identified in the populations with which they work—this finding suggests a significant population of ‘hidden victims’ beyond the potentially 3000 cases identified through Tahirih’s survey. Less than 10% of respondents said they had a working definition of forced marriage at their agency, and less than a quarter of respondents (22%) said their agency’s screening and referral process enabled them to identify cases where forced marriage may be of concern…Less than one in five respondents (16%) said that their agency was properly equipped to help individuals facing forced marriage.  Almost half of respondents (46%) who provided information on particular tactics used against victims reported that victims had been subjected to actual physical violence. 13 respondents also reported murder attempts among the forced marriage cases they encountered, and 1 respondent reported an actual murder. 42 respondents reported that they had encountered forced marriage victims who had contemplated or attempted suicide. These and other survey findings suggest that we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg on this problem—that thousands of individuals in the United States may be threatened with forced marriage each year, and yet at present, victims have little hope of finding the protection and assistance they need.”

A petition has been posted on the Change.org site, urging that the U.S. adopt a strategic and national action plan to combat forced marriage.