Why in the world would anyone still want to live in the state of California at this point? Residents of California have been forced to endure a brutally oppressive level of taxation for many years, and yet the state of California has still managed to find itself on the verge of bankruptcy. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a “fiscal emergency” in his state on Thursday, but nobody is even pretending that such a declaration is actually going to help matters. Brown wants to cut even deeper into the state budget (even after tens of billions have already been slashed out of it in recent years) and he wants to explore ways to raise even more revenue. Meanwhile, the standard of living in California is going right into the toilet. Housing values are plummeting. Unemployment has risen above 20 percent in many areas of the state. Crime and gang activity is on the rise even as police budgets are being hacked to the bone. The health care system is an absolute disaster. At this point California has the fewest emergency rooms per million people out of all 50 states. While all of this has been going on, the state legislature in Sacramento has been very busy passing hundreds of new laws that are mostly about promoting one radical agenda or another. The state government has become so radically anti-business that it is a wonder that any businesses have remained in the state. It seems like the moving vans never stop as an endless parade of businesses and families leave California as quickly as they can. (Read More...)
Is Sarah Palin’s Political Career Almost Over?
In the United States today, perhaps only Barack Obama is more of a polarizing political figure than Sarah Palin is. When it comes to Sarah Palin, the vast majority of Americans seem to either absolutely love her or absolutely hate her. Unfortunately, the number of Americans that can’t stand her seems to be increasing, and this is really bad news for Palin as she considers making a run for the White House in 2012. A staggering 59 percent of the respondents to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll said that they would not even consider voting for Sarah Palin in 2012. The same poll found that just 8 percent of registered voters said that they would “definitely” vote for Palin and 31 percent of registered voters said that they would possibly consider voting for Palin. Those are really, really dismal numbers. Sarah Palin has tried to cast herself as the leader of the Tea Party movement, but right now it is just not working. In fact, it seems that Palin can’t do much of anything right lately. At one time Sarah Palin was considered the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2012, but now all that is ancient history. (Read More...)
Are You Ready For The Universal Internet ID That Barack Obama Wants To Impose On All Of Us?
The Obama administration is developing a “universal Internet ID” program that would watch, track, monitor and potentially control your activity on the Internet. These “trusted identities” are being touted as a way to increase safety and security on the Internet and as a way to eliminate the need for dozens of different usernames and passwords. But is a universal Internet ID that is issued and controlled by the U.S. government really a good idea? Right now, Obama administration officials are trying to make it seem as non-threatening as possible. They are insisting that it will not be mandatory. They are insisting that it would be impossible for hackers to steal the universal Internet identities. They are insisting that none of our personal information will be gathered or used by federal agencies. But in light of how regularly the government has abused our liberties and freedoms in recent years in the name of “security”, should we really believe what they are saying about this new universal Internet ID? (Read More...)
College Education?: Shocking New Research Proves That Our College Students Are Learning Next To Nothing
Have you ever wondered what all those college students are actually learning? Well, according to one shocking new study, they are apparently not learning much at all. According to very extensive research detailed in a new book entitled “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses”, 45 percent of U.S. college students exhibit “no significant gains in learning” after two years in college. For many Americans, a statistic like that comes as a complete shock, but for anyone that has spent much time in or around U.S. colleges lately this should not come as much of a surprise. This new research also found that today’s students spend approximately 50% less time studying than U.S. college students did just a few decades ago. What this research shows is what many of us have known for a long time – that the quality of college education in the United States today is a complete and total joke. (Read More...)
Trade With China?: 25 Facts That Prove That China Is Kicking Our Rear Ends
Do you believe that trade with China is a good thing? Well, you might not be so sure after you read the 25 facts listed below. The truth is that China is kicking our rear ends all over the planet. When it comes to world trade, China is absolutely dominating the United States. Have you wondered why the U.S. economy cannot produce nearly enough jobs for everyone anymore? Have you wondered why so many thousands of factories have been closing down? Have you wondered why it seems like America is getting poorer? Well, the answers are below. Of course both major political parties continue to insist that “globalism” is a good thing and that what we are experiencing now is just a period of “adjustment” as we are merged into the new global economic order. Our corrupt politicians will continue to sell you the same tired lies over and over and over as thousands more U.S. factories and millions more U.S. jobs continue to be shipped overseas. So will you keep buying the lies of our corrupt politicians or will you believe the facts that are right in front of your face? (Read More...)
High Oil Price = Faster Economic Decline For America
Most Americans have no idea how important oil prices are to the overall health of the U.S. economy. Whenever oil prices have pressed toward record levels in recent decades, it has always resulted in an economic downturn. A high oil price does not just mean that consumers will have to pay a little more at the pump. The truth is that oil is the very lifeblood of our economic system. We have built our entire country around the concept that we can transport lots of stuff very long distances for a very, very cheap price. When that paradigm beings to change, it fundamentally alters the dynamics of the U.S. economy. A high oil price will mean an even faster economic decline for America. The cost of oil factors into everything. A high oil price means that transportation of products and services costs more, travel costs more and energy costs more. It means that consumers will have less disposable income. When the price of oil goes up it benefits the big oil producers and a few others, but for everyone else it is very painful. But perhaps even more importantly, because the U.S. has to import such massive quantities of oil, whenever the price of oil goes up it means that we are becoming poorer as a nation because even more of our money flows out of the country and into the hands of the oil barons. (Read More...)
Be A Watchman
When I was young, someone told me the following: “Life is like a coin – you can spend it any way that you want, but you can only spend it once.” So how are you spending your life? Are you just “killing time” and watching world events go by or are you actively trying to make a difference? When your life is over, will you be proud of the legacy that you have left, or will you be ashamed of what you have done with the time that you were given? None of us can go back now and change what we have done in the past, but the future stands unwritten before us. The remaining chapters of your life can be a beautiful thing – but only if you are courageous enough to seize the day. One way that you can make a difference in this world is by being a watchman. So exactly is a watchman? Well, in the ancient world they did not have any of the modern forms of communication that we take for granted today, so the only way a city would know that a threat was approaching would be to post watchmen on the city walls. A watchman would stand at his post for endless hours, watching intently for any threats that might be headed for the city. If the watchman did spot something troubling on the horizon it was his job to sound the alarm – thus buying the residents of the city precious time to prepare. If the watchman did his job correctly, it could potentially deliver the city from total disaster and literally save the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. (Read More...)
Price Shocks, Food Shortages And Global Economic Riots In 2011?
People need to wake up – 2011 has just begun and yet we are already seeing significant price shocks and serious food shortages in many areas of the globe. In fact, violent economic riots are now being reported in Algeria, in Chile and in Mozambique. Food shortages and price increases are also causing political unrest in other nations such as India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. This is a very serious situation, and if the major food producing nations of the world do not have another record harvest this year there is very likely going to be an incredibly serious global food crunch. According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, the global price of food hit a new record high in December. The previous record high for food prices was in June 2008, and we all remember what happened during the summer of 2008. Massive food riots erupted in countries such as Cameroon, Haiti and Egypt. So with price shocks and food shortages already being reported all over the globe, will we see even worse global economic riots in 2011? (Read More...)