Obama had to sit down after getting his first briefing.

[Nitro Express]

The US is broke. The UK is broke. The only solvent country in the European Union is Germany. I think Russia is solvent. Japan holds $5 trillion in reserves. China has the most reserves.

Basically the US is in such debt the international courts if they forced us to pay our debts would take generations to pay back and then you have the problem with $2 gazillion dollars of derivative debt. There are more paper claims than world gross national product. So in short world finance is one big ponzi scheme and unfixable.

We can either kill each other over the problem or we as a world can erase the debt and start over. A world currency would make sense but it would have to be commodity based and ran under elected representatives and not a private central bank like The Fed. I think a world banking board should run it and every country or region has a veto and that only applies to that country. As soon as a private cabal becomes in charge it will be abused. This has actually been suggested by several finance experts in Japan.

[Nickdfresh]

No link?

Maybe people are just making shit up and posting it on the internetz?

[ZahZoo]

In my time working for a government agency one thing I was told by several sources is we don't have a government. We have governments and they basically run themselves. One of my bosses said the most shocking thing he learned when he first took his job is he didn't have the authority to fire his own staff. Lot's of compartmentalization and lot's of mid managers with no real authority and nobody really seems to know who is in charge.

Maybe you should take some time and study US history... focus on the structure of the 3 federal branches and the boundries created between state and federal government.

That's the beauty of it all... we've never been one government... more of a union of republics and governing bodies with checks and balances all over the place.

Surprises me so few people pay attention to this complex power arrangement thinking we're all one entity when in fact our very name spells it out... United States. Currently 50 governments plus territories represented by 3 executive offices as a whole.

Until you can understand what we really have here... you won't undertand how it all works. Pay fucking attention...

[ace diamond]

The US is broke. The UK is broke. The only solvent country in the European Union is Germany. I think Russia is solvent. Japan holds $5 trillion in reserves. China has the most reserves.

Basically the US is in such debt the international courts if they forced us to pay our debts would take generations to pay back and then you have the problem with $2 gazillion dollars of derivative debt. There are more paper claims than world gross national product. So in short world finance is one big ponzi scheme and unfixable.

We can either kill each other over the problem or we as a world can erase the debt and start over. A world currency would make sense but it would have to be commodity based and ran under elected representatives and not a private central bank like The Fed. I think a world banking board should run it and every country or region has a veto and that only applies to that country. As soon as a private cabal becomes in charge it will be abused. This has actually been suggested by several finance experts in Japan.

funny you should mention that china holds the most reserves.

10 years ago i had a dream that the chinese came over here and took over our country from within.
they had tons of sleeper cells here in every major city, so when the red army came parachuting out of the sky, much like in red dawn, the chinese already
had an army in place and ready to go.

anyone who had the chance to do so before the chinese managed to lock down our borders so no one got in or out, either went to canada or mexico.......in my dream i went to canada.
canada opened their borders to accept american refugees.

mind you, i had this dream in 1999, i was 22 at the time, and i'm 32 now.
i'll be 33 next year.

thing is, i know it's just a dream, but i swear it was a premonition and a warning at the time.
still does. it still feels that way. a powerful feeling i haven't been able to shake or forget.

anyways, nitro, just thought i would share this.

[Igosplut]

I never quite bought the marshal law thing. If the corrupt government could declare marshal law and get away with it they would do so.....

Funny you should mention Marshal law.....

You DO know that there is a huge ammunition shortage on the legal US gun market right now, don't you? (that nobody can seem to explain in any in-depth way). Coincidence perhaps??

[Nickdfresh]

Funny you should mention Marshal law.....

You DO know that there is a huge ammunition shortage on the legal US gun market right now, don't you? (that nobody can seem to explain in any in-depth way). Coincidence perhaps??

Um, it's called supply and demand--because of the fact that people have been sapping up guns and ammo and record rates do to the "Obama's-gonna'-take-ur'-guns" paranoia...

[Igosplut]

Um, it's called supply and demand--because of the fact that people have been sapping up guns and ammo and record rates do to the "Obama's-gonna'-take-ur'-guns" paranoia...

No, it's much more than that Nick. There is a real shortage, and it's not because of demand (which yes is higher, but not overly so from years past). Guys I know (that run gun/sporting goods stores) say that the suppliers have next to nothing from the factory's, with no clear reason why. And this is in all the lower 48 states. Rumors are running around, but the one clear fact is something has caused manufacturing of ammo to be largely scaled down. And nobody's talking....

There has been a run on gun sales (and production of those haven't slowed a bit), but you DO see that every time a Dem gets into office. I haven't heard a peep out of Obama on the subject of guns and/or laws. I think he's realized it's not a good subject to get into given the mess he has, and how divided people are on the subject.

[kwame k]

There has been a run on gun sales (and production of those haven't slowed a bit), but you DO see that every time a Dem gets into office. I haven't heard a peep out of Obama on the subject of guns and/or laws. I think he's realized it's not a good subject to get into given the mess he has, and how divided people are on the subject.

Plus the NRA is one of the biggest lobbyist groups in Washington.

[Igosplut]

Plus the NRA is one of the biggest lobbyist groups in Washington.

I guess he's learned who not to take on..

[kwame k]

I guess he's learned who not to take on..

It would be political suicide if he did.

[kwame k]

Maybe you should take some time and study US history... focus on the structure of the 3 federal branches and the boundries created between state and federal government.

That's the beauty of it all... we've never been one government... more of a union of republics and governing bodies with checks and balances all over the place.

Surprises me so few people pay attention to this complex power arrangement thinking we're all one entity when in fact our very name spells it out... United States. Currently 50 governments plus territories represented by 3 executive offices as a whole.

Until you can understand what we really have here... you won't undertand how it all works. Pay fucking attention...

The problem is that the checks and balances went to the wayside during the last 8 years. The abuse of the Executive Branch and it's steadfast refusal to comply or even answer to the Legislative Branch or the Judicial Branch, using the war on "terra" as a scapegoat.

Their thug lawyer John Woo was telling them they didn't have to answer to subpoenas and Bush is quoted as saying that his people didn't have to respond or give testimony. Documents that were request by the Legislative Branch suddenly came up missing and on and on.

So in theory we have checks and balances only if the Executive Branch decides it wants to play along. All the safeguards went out the window after 9/11 and just in the last 3 years or so we have seen how bad our Constitution has been shit on.

[FORD]

I told you two fucking years ago you idiot, it's what a candidate HAS DONE with his life, not what bullshit he SAYS he is gonna do that tells you what type of guy he really is!

And you shat on that vital piece of information, saying I was racist for disagreeing with you.

You are a racist. There's no doubt about that. You're also a hypocrite, because you voted for the Chimp. And what the fuck had he done with his life? A lot less than Obama, that's for damn sure.

[standin]

Since I hold a degree in finance from the University of Washington I think I know what money is. Money is in various forms. It started with barter and salt was a popular form of exchange. Gold is a historic form of money. Since gold is heavy paper money was invented. Then the banks and politicians found out once confidence was had in the paper currency they could issue more currency than the commodities that backed it and this has created serious problems. Today most our money is computer code saved on a server somewhere. So modern money is really quite strange and people in the past would think we are stupid.

Money is a noun regardless of what form it is in. A fuck could be money if it was in exchange for something in a transaction. To fuck and fucking is a verb but when the action of fucking is labeled as a fuck as in a transaction it becomes a noun.

Good then you understand that money is not something.
That wealth by money is a perception of value.
Electronic credits and debits is no more stupid than shiny metal as money.

Money is always and will always be a form of barter.

It is what do you bring to the table and what value is placed on it by those at the table.

[kwame k]

The problem is that the checks and balances went to the wayside during the last 8 years. The abuse of the Executive Branch and it's steadfast refusal to comply or even answer to the Legislative Branch or the Judicial Branch, using the war on "terra" as a scapegoat.

Their thug lawyer John Woo was telling them they didn't have to answer to subpoenas and Bush is quoted as saying that his people didn't have to respond or give testimony. Documents that were request by the Legislative Branch suddenly came up missing and on and on.

So in theory we have checks and balances only if the Executive Branch decides it wants to play along. All the safeguards went out the window after 9/11 and just in the last 3 years or so we have seen how bad our Constitution has been shit on.

Coffee hasn't kicked in yet......John Yoo was the lawyer thug....John Yoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GO-SPURS-GO]

As I've said previously, the bait and switch on health care was a major dealbreaker for me, and the cabinet appointments, especially the economic team, were a major disaster as well. And there's only two ways of interpreting all of this....

1) Either Obama truly had the best of intentions when he got into office, but has capitulated to "certain forces" under threats to himself or his family.

or

2) He never meant one goddamn word of anything he said in any speech between 2002 and 2008.

I have no way of knowing which of these statements is true, but if you look at how rapidly Obama has aged in the last two years, it looks like stress to me. I'm not excusing anything here, but I don't think he's exactly doing what he wants to.

Deep down inside, you, and most other Democrats here know it's #2. I'm guessing that's the reason you changed your default pic?

The reason he's aged and looks stressed is because he knows he lied to billions of people.
Obama is like a rock star. Rock stars know full well that the lifestyle they live will take its toll on their bodies, but when they’re on stage, or at autograph sessions, the fame and fortune are worth all the problems they’ll have when they get older. When Obama’s out shaking hands with all the people who worship him, or when he’s getting the Nobel Peace Prize, the thought he’s screwing most people over are not on his mind. But when he goes to sleep at night, that’s a different story!

So, he knew damn well what he was getting into, for us to suggest otherwise, is only making excuses for him. Hell, even you’re smart enough to figure out that Biden and Pelosi (leaders of your party, by the way) are fake “DLC” Democrats, but he didn’t know this when he was running for president? If he didn’t, then he should be on top of the highest mountain, with the loudest megaphone telling us that the leaders of his party are fake. But he doesn’t! Why?

I know it’s still early, and it’s not too late for Obama to do the right. But so far, ending the “Don't ask, don't tell” policy is the only thing I feel he’s done differently from what McCain would’ve done if he was elected. That’s what I believe, at least. It feels good to not be a political zealot, because some things (like war, the rich getting richer, etc...) are out of my control. How many gray hairs have grown on your head from all this, FORD? If Obama doesn’t send you to an early grave, watching Dean/Gore in 2012 do a 180 on what they campaigned on, will definitely send you there. Jesus hangs out here, so he should be stopping by shortly to tell you it’s not wise to put your faith in mortals. <--That beer I bought for you is a UNIBROUE. Only the best for my friends!