It rained this morning, briefly, but now the sun is out and you can't even really tell that we've had any rain at all. Every summer as a child in Texas the grass and pastures would get to looking like this (brown) but I've not seen it here in Illinois. While on the one hand it's bringing back wistful memories of my childhood, on the other hand I'm thinking about what it means for the future.
There's no drought of scary news stories today though. The debt seems to be the biggest one, but this goofy cellphone hacking stuff continues to dominate the British press. Nothing interests the media like events happening to other media. We're on a 15 day countdown until the United States is out of money and defaults. Of course, remember where the money we're currently operating on came from ... Federal pensions.
1. The government has reached the debt ceiling and is raiding federal pension funds to keep operating. Expected to continue until August 2nd when they'll have to find another source of operating revenue in order to keep the doors open. If they haven't resolved this come August, keep your hand on your wallet. UPDATE: Congressional Budget Office releases the numbers - 33rd straight month that the federal government has ran a deficit.
2. We are past the 60th day of American involvement in the NATO-led Libyan campaign. NATO is ramping up activities and currently the president and all military personnel participating in this are violating the law. Nobody seems to notice, however, and the other branches of government appear to be giving the executive branch a free pass on this one, further undermining the rule of law. UPDATE: Some lawmakers are SUING the president and Boehner has issued some harsh words. Supposedly a bill has been presented which will cut off funding. STILL NO ACTION!
3. Officials are warning of blackouts and food shortages in Europe this year due to drought. Is there anywhere in the world that ISN'T warning of food shortages? Except North Korea, apparently, where Dear Leader has promised each family a pig in the pot.
4. VIPR sweeps by TSA exceeds 8,000 per year in public locations. The TSA has introduced a new "flash mob" approach where they descend on public locations with a large number of armed officers and heavy equipment and conduct identity checks and pat downs. Bus stations, sporting events, and even on city streets over the past year, they have conducted at least 8,000 of these sweeps. Was this the sign you were waiting for?
5. CBO releases projections that servicing our nation's debt will reach 101% of our GDP by 2021. Got kids? Teach them Chinese.
6. Obama is bringing NATO and G-8 leaders to Chicago, despite that city's fiscal woes. Could this increase violence in the city as anarchists descend upon them, Vancouver style?
7. On July 1st, the Treasury department has announced that we have one month to go until the United States defaults on our debt. The only option proposed by the government so far is to raise the debt limit and acquire MORE debt.
8. Democrats have presented their idea of how to balance the budget: $2 trillion in new taxes and a slashing of the defense budget. As far as the defense budget goes, slash away, but I'm pretty concerned about where that $2 trillion is going to land.
9. Unemployment is now at 9.2%. This is about where it was at the start of the Great Depression before it soared up to almost 20%. If you look at the differences between 1929 America and 2011 America, I don't think we can survive even 10% as well as our grandparents survived 20%. We've lost the vast agrarian society, people aren't near as self-sufficient as they were in 1929, and our government is now bankrupt.
10. The Treasury (under direction by the president) is discussing methods of how they could circumvent the legislative branch and issue more debt. A Republican from the legislative branch said that if Obama does this then it will mean impeachment time. The standoff continues.
11. According to news releases, Project Gunrunner ALSO funneled guns illegally to Honduran Marxists. This thing continues to escalate. I will be surprised if there isn't any jailtime.
12. Italy needs a bailout like Greece got. Spain is probably next. UPDATE: Italy is on the verge of passing some harsh new austerity measures.
13. President Obama is poised to roll out extra-legislative gun controls, his press secretary announced. Patriots are loading some extra-legislative ammo in response.
14. Law enforcement agencies across America are petitioning Congress to pass stricter laws requiring internet providers to maintain logs on the websites their customers access for 18 MONTHS! While they are doing this visibly to track child pornographers, they do admit that it will be used to
prosecute ANY sort of internet crime.
15. More nations and individual investors are buying gold, sending the price per ounce flying on London markets. When you buy gold, you are expressing doubt about the fiat currencies of the world. There's a lot of doubt being expressed. UPDATE: Gold reached a historic high this morning of $1600.
16. According to CNBC quoting a London-based financial analyst: ""It's inevitable that the U.S. will default—it's essentially an empire which is overextended and in decline—and that its financial system will go with it. The question is: Does the U.S. default when it is forced to by the outside world, probably the Chinese, or does it take the option to default on its own terms in such a way that it may have a strategic advantage."
17. NEW U.S. Governors are meeting in Salt Lake City with Chinese communists and provincial governors to discuss ... well ... we just don't know. Only the communist mouthpiece media has been allowed in.
18. NEW Currently the top Federal income tax rate is 35% but is headed to 39% in 2013. Income state taxes often add 10% to that. A new WSJ article reveals that to meet government spending the way Obama is suggesting, the top tax rate would actually have to be 70%!
19. NEW Moody's (a bond issuing agency) suggests that our government do away with a debt ceiling altogether. Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? Unlimited credit! Woohoo!
20. NEW In Brooklyn, a group of 4 black gang members beat a man for "being white". This has become a rather commonplace story except for a new twist ... a older black man (54) who was just an innocent bystander decided to join in to "beat ------" for awhile as well.
21. NEW Heat indexes have been topping 115 in the Midwest and now the heat wave is moving east!
22. NEW Drought is crippling southern agriculture. Everything from ranching to the cotton crop is expected to be down by 50% or more.
