America's Secret Economic Warfare with China

Journalist James R. Norman argued that the U.S. and its allies use the price of oil as an economic weapon. The oil economic war against the Soviet Union worked so well in the 1980s, that this strategy is now being employed against "our other big geopolitical enemy," China, which currently imports more oil than the US, and is much less able to pay for it, he outlined. The thinking in Washington is, it's going to slow things down for China, and could put a crack in their political system, he continued. Other aspects of the economic war the US is waging with China are on the front page of the paper almost every day-- with fights over trade actions, interest rates, and currency levels, he noted.

The whole Chinese business model is based on predatory trade practices, and that's why the world is ganging up on them, Norman said, adding that China is facing large amounts of unemployment and social unrest, and their banks are sitting on huge assets of non-performing loans. Norman estimated that the actual cost of oil is between $10- $20 a barrel, but when US citizens shell out $4 a gallon at the pump, it's collateral damage or the price we pay to engage in an economic rather than physical war with China.

Companies like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley are the economic warfare equivalent of a carrier battle group, because they are able to project power-- that's why financial restrictions were lessened for them, he explained. Morgan also touched on geopolitical/economic situations in such places as Russia, Europe, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.

Biography:

Jim Norman is a veteran business journalist and energy reporter. He is currently a contributing writer for McGraw-Hill's Platts Oilgram News, where he was a senior writer for 10 years before retiring in mid-2007. At Platts, Norman has been noted for his coverage of oil industry finance, economics, deal-making and chicanery. His "prophetic press reports," as early as 1998, were cited by Paul Volcker's UN Independent Inquiry Committee for laying bare the likelihood of kickbacks and money laundering involving the Iraq Oil-For-Food program. His critical analysis of Enron accounting and governance in mid-2001 helped trigger the SEC investigation which led to Enron's downfall.

Wikipedia
Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of military operations and covert operations during wartime.

The purpose of economic warfare is to capture critical economic resources so that the military and intelligence agencies can operate at full efficiency and/or deprive enemy forces of those resources so that they cannot fight the war properly.

The concept of economic warfare is most applicable to conflict between nation states, especially in times of total war - which involves not only the armed forces of a nation, but mobilization of the nation's entire economy towards the war effort. In such a situation, causing damage to the economy of the enemy directly damages the enemy's ability to fight the war.

Some of the types or policies followed in economic warfare include: Blockade Blacklisting Preclusive purchasing Rewards Capturing of enemy assets

Clear examples of economic warfare could be seen during World War II when the Allied powers followed these policies to deprive the Axis economies of critical resources. In turn, the Axis powers attempted to damage the Allied war effort via submarine warfare, and the sinking of supply ships carrying supplies, raw materials, and war related equipment.

Capitalism is an economic system that is based on private ownership of the means of production and the creation of goods or services for profit.[1] Other elements central to capitalism include competitive markets, wage labor and capital accumulation.[2] There are multiple variants of capitalism, including laissez-faire, welfare capitalism and state capitalism. Capitalism is considered to have been applied in a variety of historical cases, varying in time, geography, politics, and culture.[3] There is general agreement that capitalism became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism.[4] Competitive markets may also be found in market-based alternatives to capitalism such as market socialism and co-operative economics.

Economists, political economists and historians have taken different perspectives on the analysis of capitalism. Economists usually emphasize the degree to which government does not have control over markets (laissez faire), as well as the importance of property rights.[5][6] Most political economists emphasize private property as well, in addition to power relations, wage labor, class, and the uniqueness of capitalism as a historical formation

Whistleblower Andrew Breitbarts Convenient Death

Radio host Alex Jones talked about the death of Andrew Breitbart. He was suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the conservative blogger's demise, since it fell on the very day that Breitbart had previously announced plans to release damning videos of Barack Obama. Additionally, Jones contended that the swift media reports claiming that Breitbart died of "natural causes," despite subsequent news releases saying it would take weeks before that could be determined, was "a big sign that this was some type of staged event." While he washopeful that Breitbart's death was not the result of a nefarious plot, Jones declared that "we would be fools" not to consider the quizzical timing of the journalist's passing.

Andrew Breitbart (/ˈbraɪtbɑrt/; February 1, 1969 -- March 1, 2012) was a conservative American publisher, commentator for The Washington Times, author, and occasional guest commentator on various news programs, who served as an editor for the Drudge Report website. He was a researcher for Arianna Huffington, and helped launch her web publication The Huffington Post.

He owned the news aggregation site, Breitbart.com, and five other websites: Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Big Peace. He played key roles in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, and the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

Death

On March 1, 2012, Breitbart collapsed while walking in Brentwood. He was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he later died. He was 43 years old. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office showed that he had cardiomegaly and died of heart failure. The toxicology report showed "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%. No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected." Personal friend of Breitbart, Bill Whittle, had said that Breitbart had a "serious heart attack" just months before his passing.

In remembrance, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich praised Breitbart. Santorum called Breitbart's passing "a huge loss" that strongly affected him, while Romney said Breitbart was a "fearless conservative", and Gingrich called him "the most innovative pioneer in conservative activist social media in America...."

His funeral was held March 6, 2012, at a Jewish cemetery in West Los Angeles. Attendees included his father-in-law Orson Bean, Matt Drudge, Herman Cain, Thaddeus McCotter, Greg Gutfeld, Ed Morrissey, Guy Benson, and Rob Long

USA Immigration Problems

Journalist and teacher Frosty Wooldridge talked about the problems of immigration and overpopulation. If America continues on its current path of allowing illegal immigrants to stream in, the quality of life will go down with increased water rationing, energy crises, and ecological destabilization, he warned. Wooldridge said he backs Former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo's plan to use the National Guard to protect US borders. For more on the subject of reducing illegal immigration, he recommended the site NumbersUSA.

Immigration has been both a boon and a curse for the United States. While on the one hand, the country has seen its rich culture and civilization being shaped out by talented, ambitious, and hard-working people from around the world, but on the other hand, illegal and disruptive elements have endangered the national security.
Here a brief focus can be made on major challenges posed by immigration problems USA .

More Info

Illegal immigration to the United States is an alarming problem in the current times. It refers to the migration of people across the national borders of the United States in violation of US immigration and nationality law. Illegal immigrants are also referred to as illegal alien, illegal immigrant, undocumented alien, undocumented immigrant, undocumented worker, and the like. These people are said to have threatened the American social fabric, native economy, national security, and everything other that is American. Illegal immigration to the USA (predominantly from Mexico) occurs through following means:

1. Illegal crossing of border;

2. Overstaying after expiry of visa or Border Crossing Card (BCC);

3. Drug smuggling;

4. Identity theft;

5. Immigration on false visas from countries with which the USA has no automatic visa agreements

MAT STEIN ~ The Coming Social Collapse

Engineer, author and building contractor Mat Stein discussed preparing for social collapse, environmental catastrophes and inevitable disasters. He detailed six key areas where current trends suggest impending disaster for the planet: oil depletion, climate change, collapse of the world's oceans, deforestation, food shortages, and overpopulation. Taken individually, each of these are serious issues, Stein said, but since they are happening simultaneously and exacerbating each other, the cumulative result could be even more catastrophic. Ultimately, he warned that "if human beings don't start controlling their consumption and controlling their growth patterns, then nature will do it for us" via famines and plagues.

Expressing hope that the human race could find a way to reverse these trends, Stein joked that "I call myself 'the optimistic doomer.'" That said, he declared that changing the outlook for the planet would require global cooperation in the face of these impending tipping points. To that end, he appealed to corporations to "make sustainability like the God of the marketplace" rather than merely maximizing profits with no regard for the negative effects on the environment and populace. Chillingly, he mused that, by the time the human race decides to make a serious effort to address these troubling trends, it may be too late and "we're gonna go over that cliff, no matter what we do." Despite the potential futility of such an effort, Stein stressed that it's "a good fight that's worth doing" for the betterment of future generations.

Biography:

Matthew Stein holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He is an engineer, author and building contractor. He has also worked as a schoolteacher, carpenter, and rock climbing and ski instructor. As the owner of Aloha Aina Builders, Stein built hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes. As a mechanical engineer and president of Stein Design, he has designed consumer water filtration devices, commercial water filtration systems, photovoltaic roofing panels, medical bacteriological filters, drinking fountains, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, portable fiberglass buildings and automated assembly machinery for Open Energy, Hewlett Packard, Seagate, Plantronics, Duraflame, Haws, and IGT, among other companies.

Wikipedia
Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who are actively preparing for emergencies as well as possible disruptions in social or political order, on scales ranging from local to international. Survivalists often have emergency medical and self-defence training, stockpile food and water, prepare for self-sufficiency, and build structures that will help them survive or "disappear" (e.g. a survival retreat or underground shelter).

Anticipated disruptions include the following: Clusters of natural disasters, patterns of apocalyptic planetary crises, or Earth Changes (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, solar storms, severe thunderstorms). A disaster caused by the activities of humankind (chemical spills, release of radioactive materials, nuclear or conventional war, oppressive governments). The general collapse of society caused by the shortage or unavailability of resources such as electricity, fuel, food, or water. Financial disruption or economic collapse (caused by monetary manipulation, hyperinflation, deflation, or depression). A global pandemic. Widespread chaos or some other unexplained apocalyptic event.

Mainstream emergency preparations

People who are not part of survivalist groups or apolitically oriented religious groups also make preparations for emergencies. This can include (depending on the location) preparing for earthquakes, floods, power outages, blizzards, avalanches, wildfires, terrorist attacks, nuclear power plant accidents, hazardous material spills, tornadoes, and hurricanes. These preparations can be as simple as following Red Cross and U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommendations by keeping a first aid kit, shovel, and extra clothes in the car, or by maintaining a small kit of emergency supplies, containing emergency food, water, a space blanket, and other essentials.

Mainstream economist and financial adviser Barton Biggs is a proponent of preparedness. In his 2008 book Wealth, War and Wisdom, Biggs has a gloomy outlook for the economic future, and suggests that investors take survivalist measures.

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Edition , When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival Matthew Stein

MARC FABER Thanks Ben Bernanke

http://www.marcfabernews.com
Marc Faber : I own equities, and I should thank Mr. Bernanke. The Fed has been flooding the system with money. The problem is the money doesn't flow into the system evenly. It doesn't increase economic activity and asset prices in concert. Instead, it creates dangerous excesses in countries and asset classes. Money-printing fueled the colossal stock-market bubble of 1999-2000, when the Nasdaq more than doubled, becoming disconnected from economic reality. It fueled the housing bubble, which burst in 2008, and the commodities bubble. Now money is flowing into the high-end asset market—things like stocks, bonds, art, wine, jewelry, and luxury real estate. The art-auction houses are seeing record sales. Property prices in the Hamptons rose 35% last year. Sandy Weill [the former head of Citigroup] bought a Manhattan condominium in 2007 for $43.7 million. He sold it last year for $88 million.
Money-printing boosts the economy of the people closest to the money flow. But it doesn't help the worker in Detroit, or the vast majority of the middle class. It leads to a widening wealth gap. The majority loses, and the minority wins. Although I have been a beneficiary of this policy, I can't approve as an economist and social observer.


Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.