Pepper Spray was a widely used hot item this Black Friday.

The use of pepper spray was not limited to police security guards. Overly aggressive shoppers got into the act as well and used pepper spray to get competitive shoppers to back off from mutually desired merchandise. One lady shopper used pepper spray to “gain a competitive advantage” over fellow shoppers who were eager to snap up Xbox video game consoles units. After causing minor injuries to about 20 of her competitors she ran out of the Wal-Mart and is now being sought by police.

In another incident a video of a 56-year-old grandfather being attended to by police has gone viral on YouTube. Witnesses state that in order to protect his grandson the grandfather stuffed a videogame into his belt in order to pick up his grandson with both hands. An alert policeman spotted the man stuffing the videogame into his belt and was sure that he had spotted a shoplifter in action. The policeman slammed the old man to the floor with such violence that he split open his forehead. The video shows the unconscious man lying on the floor with blood streaming from his wound.

For those who have the stomach to witness American culture at its worst and how a police state operates by its own rules without regard to the law just Google “Black Friday 2011″. You will find videos of the above incidents as well as many more.

Black Friday : Example of American Culture at its Worse

Black Friday. The day has become an example of American culture at its worse. Many shoppers are so unruly, rude, and even dangerous that it is no wonder that the retailers bring in a heavy presence of security guards in an effort to maintain some order. However, the use of heavily militarized police officers who are apparently trained to use brute force in even routine situations leads to police state rules.

Please state rules means that the excessive use of force is considered to be necessary and quite normal, even if it is used against Wal-Mart customers who become carried away by the Black Friday advertising and marked down merchandise but who are not criminals. Perhaps a few multimillion dollar judgments against Wal-Mart and the police officers will cool down the violence.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Is it Time for a Dollar Rally?
• Biggest Economic Problem is in the US – George Soros

LongCrisis Recommends

• The US Is Fast Becoming a Third World Police State  (Tulsa Liberty)
• Yes, It Is a Police State  (Tulsa Liberty)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Video of University of California, Davis, Students Pepper Sprayed Goes Viral A video of the University of California, Davis, students being...
2. Iceland Eyjafjallajokull Volcano Eruption Black Swan Event The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is the...
3. Ten Black Swan Proof World Principals Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a veteran trader, a distinguished professor...
4. Nassim Taleb Sees More Black Swans Nassim Taleb, author of “The Black Swan,” and risk management...
5. Police State America Shuts Down Kid’s Lemonade Stands You know that America is fast becoming a police state...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

News of the tragedy of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster has largely disappeared from mainstream media news coverage. Yet nuclear energy experts are now widely saying that the Fukushima disaster will be worse than Chernobyl.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent Steve Chao in a report from Tokyo at least one billion becquerels of radiation continue to leak from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant each day. This level of radiation leakage is occurring even though it has been more than five months since the 9.1 Richter Scale earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility.

Radiation Hotspots in Tokyo are Reaching Dangerous Levels.

Radiation hotspots are now accumulating in Tokyo with some radiation levels exceeding those that caused the evacuation in 1986 of large numbers of Soviet citizens who lived near the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine. Experts are now beginning to think about what until recently was unthinkable. Large areas of Tokyo, a city of 35 million people, may eventually have to be evacuated.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a slow-motion train wreck for Japan. Tens of thousands of Japanese families have had to evacuate areas near the nuclear facility. Towns surrounding the nuclear power plant have become ghost towns. Now experts warn that rising radiation levels in Tokyo may already be a health hazard, especially for the young. Many Japanese expectant mothers, fearing for the health of their unborn babies, have already left the city.

Japan has a population of about 127 million. Approximately 35,000,000 live in or near Tokyo. Should Tokyo eventually have to be evacuated where would 35 million people go? For Japan, one of the most highly developed nations in the world, the Fukushima disaster may be a total game changer.

Demographics are already working against the nation’s prospects for economic growth as Japan has one of the most aged populations in the world. Now the possibility of massive forced evacuations from Tokyo and the catastrophic disruptions that would bring to the Japanese economy and society add a massive level of uncertainty to an already struggling economy.

For Japan, there appears to be no good way out of the problems created by a disaster devastating an aging population. The standard of living in Japan is falling and probably will continue to fall for many years. The recent election of the sixth Japanese Prime Minister in five years does not improve confidence in the ability of the Japanese government to deal with their complex challenges.

Japan May Never Recover From the Fukushima Disaster

The catastrophic disruptive social and financial results of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster may eventually be far worse than Chernobyl as it is affecting one of the world’s most dense population centers. For Japan, there may be no recovery to previous economic levels. A “new normal” will likely take many years to evolve.

Perhaps these days news from Japan and Fukushima is so grim the mainstream media just doesn’t want to cover it. And how are the heroic workers doing, those who are risking their lives to try and clean up the mess? Shame on the media for forgetting about these brave people.

More From LongCrisis

• 2012 Panic Grips Public
• Would You Work at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant for $5,000 a Day?
• Meredith Whitney Warns Credit Cards Next Credit Crunch

LongCrisis Recommends

• Fukushima already ten times worse than Chernobyl in ocean waters, suggests data  (Tulsa Liberty)
• Scientists Estimate Oil Leak Larger Than Reported  (LogisticsMonster)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Would You Work at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant for $5,000 a Day? After viewing photographs of the tangled wreckage of the most...
2. Japanese People Increasingly Concerned About Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant A weary and nervous Japanese people battered by a constant...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Dmitry Orlov is a 49 year old engineer and author who lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union. He warns that the US’s reliance on being able to borrow money and being so dependent upon diminishing fuel supplies might be sending it down the same path the Soviet Union took before it collapsed.

American Public Poorly Prepared for an US Economic Collapse

Orlov gives several reasons why the Soviet Union was able to survive an economic collapse and why the US may have far more trouble in doing so.

In the video Mr. Orlov gives reasons why the United States is far less prepared for an economic collapse compared to the old Soviet Union. Some of the reasons given are that the Soviet Union had an extensive public transportation system and that the public was far less dependent upon traveling about in fossil fuel consuming automobiles than Americans.

In addition, most Soviet Union citizens lived in public housing projects and were not subject to foreclosure actions when they were unable to meet mortgage payments. They continued to be provided housing and utilities even when they had no means to pay for the services. Unfortunately for Americans, once they can no longer meet mortgage payments foreclosure action can begin and eventually they are tossed out into the street.

Another fact which helped the people of the old Soviet Union to survive the collapse is that a high percentage of the population still had close ties to small-scale agriculture. There were still close family ties to villages where vegetable gardens and animals such as chickens,cows, and pigs were raised for food. Even in the cities, many Soviets had small gardens which aided in their being less dependent upon produce being available in supermarkets.

Dmitry Orlov makes other worthwhile comparisons in the video. While the video is nearly 30 minutes long it is well worth watching for anyone who is concerned about the direction of the United States economy and the possibility of an eventual debt related collapse.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Biggest Economic Problem is in the US – George Soros
• Quotes About the State of the US Economy

LongCrisis Recommends

• 'the demand for Pakistan' and the partition of India  (PakTeaHouse)
• Bob Chapman On Israel, Turkey, Korea, And The Economy  (LogisticsMonster)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Peak Oil Downside Expectations Are Bunk : Dmitry Orlov Dmitry Orlov was born in 1962 in Leningrad, Russia (now...
2. The Collapse of Complex Economic Life Support Systems Most people who have heard of the Peak Oil story...
3. Mortgage Foreclosure Freeze New Blow to Banks and Economy The mortgage foreclosure freeze has created new concerns in the...
4. Quotes About the State of the US Economy Here are some of my favorite quotes from the recent...
5. George Soros Sees World Financial Collapse Famous billionaire investor and hedge fund creator George Soros said...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You know that America is fast becoming a police state when children’s lemonade stands are being closed down in states all over the country, including California, Oregon, Texas, and Georgia – and even in previously bedrock, sensible-values American heartland states as Wisconsin and Iowa.

The latest of these unamerican police state actions came in small-town Georgia, where the local cops advised the kids in question that they had to cease and desist from selling their lemonade until they forked over $50 a day for a business license. Of course, since few if any kid’s lemonade stands anywhere clear $50 a day that put the three young entrepreneurs out of business just a day after their grand opening.

Sure, public health issues can be raised about the purity of the lemonade, whether the kids and their mom wore gloves while cutting the lemons and adding sugar and water, and if the lemonade was being stored and served in proper containers. Then in fear dominated modern America who knows — perhaps the police thought that the three young ladies and their mom were engaged in a terrorist plot to poison the helpless citizens of Midway, Georgia.

But really Americans. Isn’t enough of this silliness enough? Way back in the day in the Eisenhower years I was a young entrepreneur who with the help of my brother and mom had a lemonade stand. One hot summer my brother and I also had a handmade pottery stand where we sold pottery made from clay collected from a nearby bay.

Not once were we approached by the police or public health officials and asked to show our business licenses which of course we did not have. We did have adult clientele who seemed to get as much enjoyment out of buying products from two young entrepreneurs living in a still free America as we received from earning a small profit by selling lemonade and crude handmade pottery to them.

I really feel sorry for the young people of today. I also feel great sadness and sorrow over America being well on its way to being an absolute police state. When young people have the spirit of entrepreneurship sucked right out of them by police state actions how can the country expect to develop innovators and entrepreneurs?

How can Americans expect to lead a happy and fulfilling life when their every action is being monitored by an oppressive government and oceans of red tape and regulations surround every planned undertaking? How can Americans feel free and not threatened by the state when the government encourages Americans to snitch on their neighbors and friends as if they were living in a communist police state?

When police shutdown kid’s lemonade stands it really is another layer of conditioning for the population — follow the strict orders of the state, no matter how unreasonable they are, or else.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Video of TSA Molesting a Six Year Old Kid
• Dmitry Orlov and the Collapse of the US Economy

LongCrisis Recommends

• The US Is Fast Becoming a Third World Police State  (Tulsa Liberty)
• Stossel: What’s Great About America  (LogisticsMonster)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Is America a Bank Owned State? Samah El-Shahat, is Al Jazeera’s resident economist. She will...
2. Crisis of Credit Explained to Kids How and should you explain the crisis of credit to...
3. Pepper Spray is a Hot Black Friday Item Pepper Spray was a widely used hot item this Black...
4. State Tax Revenues Fall To Disaster Levels State tax revenues continues to plummet to economic disaster levels...
5. Quotes About the State of the US Economy Here are some of my favorite quotes from the recent...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The following article concludes that Rick Perry, governor of Texas, and Sarah Palin, former two-year governor of Alaska, may be nominated by the Republican Party to head up the 2012 presidential campaign ticket. Not only that, the article concludes that Rick Perry could become another Texan to occupy the White House, with Palin as his vice president.

While the article is written in a humorous way it is still frightening to read. The fright comes after you have chuckled your way through the article and suddenly realize that the author’s logic as to how Rick Perry could become the 45th president of the United States is spot on.

Rick Perry Headed to the Whitehouse in 2012?

Read the article with the title “Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House” by James C. Moore. Mr. Moore is a 36 year resident of Texas and Emmy award-winning former national TV news correspondent and co-author of the best-seller, “Bush’s Brain.

====================================================
As a resident of Texas for 36 years, I keep wondering why the rest of the nation pays any attention to our political and cultural absurdities and yet still chooses Texans as presidents. Our most revered historical moment, the Alamo, was arguably a mass suicide. The slaughter in San Antonio was followed by a massacre at Goliad, the fall of the Confederacy to Union forces, and later by the Houston Astros. Texas has a legacy of losing.

None of this apparently matters, though, because America is beginning the process of electing another Texan to be president. Gigantic tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, a trumped up war and a ruined economy from the last Texan seem incapable of dissuading supporters of Rick Perry.

His Saturday speech in South Carolina will make clear that he is entering the race for the White House and will spawn the ugliest and most expensive presidential race in U.S. history, and he will win. A C and D student, who hates to govern, loves to campaign, and barely has a sixth grader’s understanding of economics, will lead our nation into oblivion.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Politics: Rick Perry surges in poll

The big brains gathered east of the Hudson and Potomac Rivers believe that Mitt Romney is the candidate to beat. But they are unable to hear what Rick Perry is saying. The Christian prayer rally in Houston was a very loud proclamation to fundamentalists and Teavangelicals, which said, “I am not a Mormon.” The far right and Christian fundamentalists have an inordinate amount of influence in the GOP primary process and, regardless of messages of inclusion, very few of them will vote for a Mormon.

“We think a them Mormons as bein’ in kind of a cult,” one of the Houston rally attendees told me. “I couldn’t vote for one a them when we got a real Christian like Governor Perry runnin’.”

Perry, of course, can’t come right out and print bumper stickers that say, “Rick Perry — 2012 — Not a Mormon.” But he doesn’t have to. He’s wearing his faith like a power tie while Romney stays quiet as a tabernacle mouse on the topic of religion. Romney has business experience and intellect that are not on Perry’s resume’ but he is from “Massatoositts,” (Webster’s Texas Edition, see also “Massachusetts”), and Texans love to kick their political boots into New Englanders’ squishy parts. Perry is about to remind the tea partiers and fundamentalists that Romney created a state health care plan, (the horror, affordable health care for everyone), believes global warming is real, and has a troubling history for conservatives on the matters of abortion and gay marriage.

So much for Mitt.
=====================================================
To read the remainder of the article go to CNN.
=====================================================

Can you imagine Americans electing another Texas governor as President who was a marginal student, who according to Mr. Moore, hates to govern and who has a child like grasp of economics? This is a man who panders to the evangelical right by staging last Saturday in Houston a prayer event called “The Response”, attended by 30,000 devoted followers.

Can you imagine that presidential candidate being joined by another poor student but master at earning humongous sums of money through self-promotion, one Sarah Palin, who also has a fanatical right wing evangelical following and who considers ignorance a positive virtue?

Rick Perry may hate to govern but apparently he loves to campaign. He is a shrewd enough politician to win the Republican nomination for President by pandering to the evangelical far right wing of the party then moving to the center for the general election and hammering away at a struggling President Obama on jobs and the economy issues. This strategy could prove to be a powerful one as Sara Palin would use her immense popularity with the evangelical crowd to bring in the far right votes while Perry would chip away at Obama’s base and likely become popular with independents who in general are extremely disappointed with Obama.

Given a Poor Economy a Perry – Palin Ticket Will be Hard for Obama to Beat

James C. Moore may be on to something here. It is unlikely that economic issues would show much progress by the time of the 2012 election. President Obama is extremely vulnerable when it comes to the state of the economy and with continued high unemployment will be fighting a tremendous head wind as he campaigns to remain in the White House.

The handsome Rick Perry and the ever dapper and spicy looking Sarah Palin would indeed look good together as they posture before the TV cameras and wave at the millions of Americans who are more interested in beauty contests than serious political candidates who have coherent strategies to reduce America’s debt and to create meaningful jobs. In a time of national crises could Americans really be dumb enough to elect a pair to the nation’s highest offices who have more beauty than brains?

Judging from the self-inflicted wounds America keeps incurring the answer to that question is, You Betcha!

More From LongCrisis

• Glenn Beck on the Road to Socialism
• Americans Not Ready for a Long Crisis
• The Long Crisis Spins Out of Control

LongCrisis Recommends

• The Spaniards Are Awake To The Bilderberg Group and The Central Banks  (LogisticsMonster)
• Why Perry Will Be The Republican Nominee And Then Beat Obama  (Michael_Redbourn)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Nancy Grace for 2012 US President? Nancy Grace, largely due to the three-year old Casey Anthony...
2. 2012 Panic Grips Public The movie 2012 and all of the promotion surrounding the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here is a good example of how the United States government is currently being run. Congress left for the weekend without renewing legislation for the FAA Reauthorization bill. The FFA will immediately have to layoff 4000 employees and stop funding airport improvement projects across the nation. Air traffic controllers will stay on the job but the FFA will not be able to collect air travel taxes as their authority has lapsed.

The Air Travel Taxes that are Affected Are:

- the 7.5% excise tax that applies to all domestic flights
- the $3.70 per flight segment tax, also for domestic flights
- the $16.30 international arrival and departure tax
- the $8.20 departure tax for flights between Alaska/Hawaii and the mainland USA

Congress Can Not Agree on Provisions of FAA Reauthorization Bill

Next week there will be a lot of pressure on congress to fix the mess but it’s a mess that should never have happened. Like the continuing vicious fight among the parties and the President over the debt and credit limit extension.

Today so much in government is being managed poorly. The ill feeling and dissent between the Democrats and Republicans has become so intense that compromise on even what used to be routine legislation has become almost nonexistent.

It’s really depressing to see how legislative gridlock now prevailing in Washington DC. affects even what should be routine legislation like the FAA Reauthorization bill.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• G20 Summit Set To Expose Crisis Sticking Points
• All You Need To Know About Quantitative Easing

LongCrisis Recommends

• Hickenlooper declines to take tax stance  (The Spot)
• 20 Questions To Ask Anyone Foolish Enough To Believe The Economic Crisis Is Over  (Tulsa Liberty)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. 100 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar Bill Here is a close up look at the new 100...
2. Greek Parliament Passes Second Austerity Bill The Greek Parliament passes a second austerity bill Thursday, June...
3. Congress Plans to Breakup Big Banks s Congress may pass an upcoming bill that would give...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Nancy Grace, largely due to the three-year old Casey Anthony saga, has become one of the most loved and most hated TV show hosts ever. Nancy Grace is considered by many to now be the most polarizing host in cable television news. That’s saying a lot when you consider that Glenn Beck and Russ Limbaugh are some of her competition.

Nancy Grace Knows What So Many Americans Want

Should she be persuaded to attempt to cash in on her tremendous name recognition and run for President in 2012 she would be sure to have millions of loyal supporters. Nancy knows what so many Americans truly want – something simple presented to them like a mom allegedly murdering her own child. Now that they can understand. If that mom is declared innocent by an American justice system jury after been found guilty by a TV host and her panel that mom becomes the victim of an overriding emotion – hate. The nations real crushing problems are just so darn complicated. Why bother thinking about them? They only bring on headaches.

The former attorney and prosecutor took up the cause of Caylee Anthony when the child went missing and spent hour after hour, month after month, on the case as mother Casey was charged with her daughter’s murder. Grace harbored nothing but disdain and exhibited hatred for “tot mom,” as she called Anthony. With Grace in the lead studio chair, coverage of Anthony’s acquittal on Tuesday brought HLN the largest audience in its 29-year-history.

Nancy Grace Not Kind in her Remarks After Anthony Acquittal

After the acquittal her assertion that the Anthony jury was “kooky” and post-verdict statement that “the devil is dancing tonight” seemed to be steps too far even by Grace’s inflammatory standards. Both those who cheer her advocacy and others who find her overbearing had plenty of fresh material to stew over.

“When I take a stand, I don’t expect people to like what I have to say,” Grace, told ABC News. “But I do hold myself up to the standard of trying to tell the truth. And if they don’t like it or if it hurts their feelings, there’s nothing I can do about that. But I can tell you this much: That mom is guilty.”

For three years Nancy Grace and her panel of agitated so-called “experts” opined about the details of the Casey Anthony case and even though apparently they had no special or privileged information declared her guilty. Millions of fans in the TV audience agreed even though they also knew nothing about the case other than what was presented in the media. And, of course, the media, especially Nancy Grace, knew that they had latched onto a hot subject that retained the public’s attention and while ratings stayed high were not about to back off.

So here we go. Night after night Nancy and her panel regurgitated the same old information, while showing pictures and videos of Casey Anthony that would portray her in the worst light possible. When Casey received an acquittal, except for the relatively minor charges of lying to police investigators, Nancy Grace and her rabid mad dog panelists went into a frenzy.

Her HLN audience ratings set a new time high as Nancy declared the jury as incompetent kooks and once again stated that she knew that “tot mom” was guilty and should be put to death.

The Casey Anthony trail is a classic example of a defendant being tried in the court of public opinion. Talking heads that really know little about the case other than what they have seen in the media and heard from other talking heads pontificate night after night after night and proclaim the defendant as guilty. Absolutely. No doubt about it. Guilty, who needs a jury?

The fact that Nancy Grace and HLN devoted so much airtime to discussing the sorry Casey Anthony case and subsequent trial is not a good sign for American. At a time when serious structural problems are about to take the nation down, with average Americans standard’s of living plummeting and 44 million Americans receiving food stamps, the public is easily diverted by TV circuses rather than engage in serious discussions about taking steps to head off disaster and to prepare for a better future.

So could Nancy Grace be a serious contender as a 2012 presidential candidate? Why not? She is tough as nails and mean as a snake. Just about right for such a thankless dirty job. Our corrupt Congressmen would cower before her. No one would be confused as to who’s running the show.

Love her or hate her one has to admit that she pulls no punches in expressing her opinions. She has stage presence and knows how to keep a TV audience engaged. Those qualities place her far ahead of most of the other poll sensitive candidates vying for what has become the number one talking head position in the world – the President of the United States of America.

More From LongCrisis

• US Paying Afghan Taliban Millions for Protection
• Americans Not Ready for a Long Crisis
• 2012 Panic Grips Public

LongCrisis Recommends

• Nancy…The Monster Is Coming For You!  (LogisticsMonster)
• The Monster’s Dream Team For 2012  (LogisticsMonster)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Onion Comments on 2008 President Election Still Valid for 2012 This “The Onion” takeoff about the election machine debacle in...
2. President Obama : A One Term President? The health care issue seems to be in the process...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Greek Parliament passes a second austerity bill Thursday, June 30, 2011, which paves the way for the EU and IMF to release a 12 billion euro ($17 billion) loan installment. Athens urgently needs the additional loans to stave off bankruptcy.

Can You Solve a Debt Problem by Creating More Debt?

The problem is that Greece is a country over its head in debt already and the emergency funds from the EU and IMF only add to that debt burden. It’s hard to see how piling more debt onto a mountain of debt will fix a debt problem.

Still financial markets in Europe and around the world are rallying on the austerity bill news as rigged markets seem to still nicely respond in a way that suits their banking cartel masters. The Greek debt problem is really beyond repair. Eventually Greece, the EU, the IMF, and especially French and German bankers, will have to admit that only by accepting losses on Greek bonds, that is by accepting a default, will Greece be able to hit a reset button and start anew with a reduced debt load. Of course, accepting losses will be the last thing that Greece’s bankers will agree to.

11 million Greek citizens are already reeling from previous austerity measures.

Antonis Samaras, head of the opposition New Democracy party which opposed the austerity bills, said measures would only delay default and further harm Greece’s stricken economy, straining under the weight of a public debt equivalent to 150 percent of gross domestic product.

“This treatment will not cure the patient,” he told parliament before the vote. “I’m sorry because in a couple of months, you and the troika will realize the medicine has actually worsened the patient’s health.”

Vassilis Korkidis, head of retail association ESEE said, “The mid-term (austerity) plan is a futile road to nowhere,” said “It will bring over-taxation, shut down businesses, send workers away, reduce incomes, abolish social rights and health benefits and lower living standards.”

Just think about the measures the Greek public has already been subjected to. Public services like garbage collection, fire protection, and police protection have already been reduced. Pensions and government worker salaries have been reduced by 20% or more. All Greeks are subject to higher taxes and fees. Powers once held by unions have been strictly curtailed. In general, the quality of life has fallen sharply and now further austerity measures are demanded by the EU and IMF.

Protests and violence have already become daily occurrences in Greece. It will be interesting to see how the Greek Parliament’s acceptance of additional austerity measures will be received by the public. Passing a bill is one thing, however enforcing its provisions may prove to be quite another and extremely difficult. The Greek debt story is sure to end in tragedy not only for Greece but much of the developed world.

For now, the tragedy has largely been limited to Greek citizens. In the near future that tragedy will probably be extended to Greek politicians, European banks, and through contagion other Euro zone nations. With the vast amount of counterparty obligations existing in world financial markets some of that tragedy will extend to US banks and US markets.

Excessive debt cannot be cured by increasing the debt load. This is true in Greece and it is true in the United States. Eventually, massive defaults are likely to occur in both nations. In the meantime, we can watch the celebration taking place in financial markets due to the Greek Parliament kicking the toxic debt can a little further down the road.

The celebration will probably not enjoy a long life as the politician’s favorite game of pretend and extend began to wear thin.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Biggest Economic Problem is in the US – George Soros
• Long Crisis in Unemployment to Continue

LongCrisis Recommends

• Markey will vote for health reform bill  (The Spot)
• Senate passes reworked payday loans bill  (The Spot)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Greek Default and Euro Zone Breakup Could Trigger Global Financial Panic A Greece Default in 2012 Almost Certain Greece is flat...
2. Farewell Euro or Save the Euro Tour Ends in Italy After gauging public opinion in the Netherlands and Switzerland Eric...
3. Save the Euro – Adopt a Greek This video is part of a series of “Farewell Euro...
4. Italian Debt Rates Hit Euro Era High Monday morning the yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose from...
5. Hedge Fund Manager Rips Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Spanish Ambassador to the UK Carles Casajuana on Greek Debt So called expert Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Spanish Ambassador to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) finally admits by posting the following chart that the world is now consuming more oil each year than it is producing. This is the first time that the normally optimistic EIA forecast admits to the possibility of genuine oil shortages.

EIA Finally Admits to Peak Oil. The Future is Grim

The United States President, Barack Obama, has just announced the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the US strategic oil reserves. This release would be matched by several other nations and release 60 million barrels to the world market. This may sound like a lot of oil but really it is not. It is approximately the amount of oil that the world consumes in one day.

President Obama is drawing some heat for releasing oil from the strategic oil reserves that was intended to be released only in the event of an emergency. There are currently approximately 727,000,000 barrels of oil in the reserve, which again sounds like a large amount of oil, and in absolute terms it is, but at current rates of consumption the entire reserve amounts to only about a 12 day world supply of oil.

The United States Chamber of Commerce has been especially critical of President Obama for releasing the 30 million barrels of oil reserves. They state that the oil release is more of a political maneuver than anything else and that while it may reduce gasoline prices over the short run it leaves the United States more vulnerable to potential disastrous interruption in oil supplies.

The White House states that the release is to make up for the oil supply that has been reduced due to the conflict in Libya. With continued turmoil and confusion continuing in the MENA nations the possibility of a serious disruption in oil supplies is real. For that reason, releasing oil from the strategic oil reserves at this time strikes me as being a particularly bad idea based upon political strategies.

The largest single consumer of oil in the world is the United States military. With even the optimistic folks at the EIA admitting that the world is running out of oil (at least that that can be easily and inexpensively accessed) it seems to me that the strategic oil reserves should be only for an extreme emergency, not to bring gasoline prices down by a few cents per gallon.

The United States is addicted to oil. As supplies continue to fall and long-term prices continue to rise the occasion of an addict going through withdrawal pains will not be pretty. With the US military machine engaged in constant warfare, using vast amounts of petroleum based resources, the rest of us may have to get by as best we can in an energy short nation in an energy short world.

Peak Oil Consequences Will be Severe for the US Economy

The consequences of an economy based upon cheap energy supplies, read that as cheap oil, being subjected to lower supplies and higher prices are sure to be severe. The current poor state of the US economy is probably just beginning to reflect the new reality of forced contraction. When even the EIA admits that peak oil has been reached you can bet that drastic changes to our lifestyle in the US are coming and in fact have already begun.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Jim Rogers | Center of the World Shift to Asia
• Biggest Economic Problem is in the US – George Soros

LongCrisis Recommends

• Joe Gschwendtner (aka Joe G) goes after Dan Maes again | The Spot — Denver, Colorado politics and government news — The Denver Post  (The Spot)
• If you can't stand the heat, get out of the majority | The Spot — Denver, Colorado politics and government news — The Denver Post  (The Spot)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

How would you feel as a parent if it was your kid being felt up from top to bottom? Behavior that would get you a long jail term and a life time identification as a sex offender if done anywhere else except a US airport and by a TSA employee becomes part of life for the air traveling US public.

What Do You Think? Is it Child Abuse and Molestation?

It is hard to watch the video without thinking that the TSA employee is definitely molesting the female child. It must be terribly confusing to a six year old kid to be told by their parents that strangers touching their private body parts is not okay and then to be groped at the airport while their parents stand by and watch.

I doubt that such outrageous behavior by TSA government employees has not been approved and carefully thought out by Department of Homeland Security big shots. The conditioning of the public, especially young pliable children, to meekly accept what ever treatment is forced upon them seems to be a conscious effort to condition Americans for a full-fledged police state.

The usual lame statement by the TSA that “it is better to accept a pat down than to be blown up by a terrorist” is really not acceptable as an excuse for sexual molestation. A flyer ID card, backed by a background check, would go a long way toward eliminating airport pat downs. For kids, especially six year olds and younger, the parents ID card should suffice to clear the children for air travel. There aren’t many parents in this world who would blow up their own kids to take down an airplane.

Probably any feeling of enhanced safety that intrusive pat downs bring are only an illusion, one promoted by the TSA. Truly dedicated hard core terrorists who are willing to blow themselves and whatever aircraft they are traveling on up would likely insert explosives and a detonation device into a body cavity.

Are You Ready for a TSA Full Body Cavity Search?

Will the TSA and increasingly oppressive US government take that step? How many Americans would continue to travel by air if they had to undergo a full body search, including the search of body cavities?

America was once such a great country to grow up in. Now, with kids being groped at airports, not so much.

More From LongCrisis

• Best Explanation Yet of the Economic Crisis
• Miss USA Susie Castillo Molested by TSA at Dallas Airport
• The Long Crisis Spins Out of Control

LongCrisis Recommends

• Nominees for our 2010 Mickeys (Big Mouth) legislative quotes of the year  (The Spot)
• Rookie senator’s sister offers a different nickname  (The Spot)

Ask LongCrisis To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. 2010 Year of Disaster – Haiti Earthquake Guarantees It I’ve been thinking for some time now that the year...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.