Drug Resistant Tuberculosis in Russia and Surrounding Countries A Growing Problem

Tuberculosis is a very stubborn disease, which ultimately proves fatal to large numbers of people worldwide. In the US, the disease is mainly seen in immigrants from Asia or Latin America. But in Russia, the disease is much more common -- both inside and outside of prison populations. And the degree of drug resistance is becoming very worrisome to international public health monitors.

About 400,000 cases of TB were diagnosed last year in the 15 former Soviet Union states - 40 times the number reported in the United States. Nearly 80,000 of the sick had drug-resistant TB. According to several studies, the prevalence of TB among the region's prisoners is 10 times greater than that of the general population...

..."Tuberculosis doesn't stop at any border or any locked gate," said Goldhaber-Fiebert, a faculty member at Stanford Health Policy, a research center at the university's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

"Drug-resistant TB is rampant in prisons," he said. "When infected prisoners get out, they are thought to drive the TB epidemic in the general population. We are looking to find better ways to deal with that." _HealthNewsDigest

The article above is touting a new and relatively expensive form of DNA screening which uses DNA technology. But in Russia and surrounding countries, the money is not being allocated for proper TB treatment as it is. Why would anyone expect large sums of money to be spent on expensive new screening tests?

The public health system in Russia is slowly collapsing along with the overall health care system. One must pay bribes to receive proper treatment inside Russia for almost any ailment. Those who can do so are as likely to travel to Europe for proper treatment or sophisticated surgeries.

Russia is suffering from demographic shrinkage of ethnic Russians, as well as a serious brain drain to the West. Capital flight is one of many things preventing a prosperous domestic Russian economy from cropping up. Corruption and mafia-style extortion are two other obstacles to a healthy economy in Russia.

You may hear that everything is peachy inside the giant bear. But that would be the skankstream media singing you lullabies. Look deeper -- stratify the statistics by ethnicity. You can almost see the ethnic Russians disappearing from Siberia as you watch, for example.

High rates of tuberculosis, HIV, alcoholism, nicotine addiction, suicide, violent crime, and more, lead to high death rates -- particularly among Russian men. Russian women are having very few children -- and those who can leave the country to start new families with European, Australian, or North American men, will do so.

The Road to Superpower Status Will Be Difficult for China

China's incredible economic growth in recent years was always fragile, never sustainable for long. Not only was it state-led and state-controlled, it was fuelled largely by the availability of cheap labour, a complete disregard for the environment, and state investment in grand infrastructure projects.

According to a RAND report, the proportion of the Chinese population of working age peaked in 2011 and has started to decline in 2012. This means the share of the elderly in the population is going to steadily increase in the coming years, which will increase labour costs, reduce savings, and inflate healthcare and pension costs. _Commentator

By virtue of its rapid economic growth and impressive cash reserves, China feels it is justified in flexing its muscles on the international stage. The country is attempting to build its ability to project force by developing stronger naval and air forces, as well as moving deeper into space launch and advanced missile development.

China has lost a great deal of arable land to urban development, and continues to do so every year. Water, soil, and air continue to be poisoned by lax environmental oversight, further decreasing the domestic ability to grow crops for the population.

The need for fertile farmland is growing more desperate, to the point that the Chinese are buying or leasing access to farmland on all continents. This is an important limitation and potential strategic weakness for the dragon.

Another large weakness is the lack of a sustainable economic strategy, leading many in China to believe that war will be necessary, so as to keep nationalistic sentiments high, and national cohesiveness strong -- even in the face of potential economic downturns.

China's economic growth has been sustained, in large part, by ignoring environmental concerns. Currently, China is the world's largest emitter of CO2 gases; it emitted 8.2 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2010, which is up by an incredible 240 percent since 1992. Water and air pollution in the country causes 750,000 premature deaths a year. Large infrastructure projects have also forcibly evicted and displaced millions whilst threatening the health of livelihoods of many millions more.

Needless to say, such policies are simply not sustainable. Local and international pressure is starting to bear fruit and many grand infrastructure projects being cancelled in the process.

Beyond economics, the lack of meaningful political reform is also helping to stunt progress. The state is still characterised by endemic corruption, weak rule of law, and a lack of political accountability. Despite attempts by the state suppress dissent, newly affluent citizens are also becoming increasingly assertive and demanding more rights and freedoms.

...On-going environmental concerns, an ageing population, competition from India, Vietnam, and Brazil, internal dissent and unhappiness, and a culture that doesn't encourage risk and creativity will combine to slow China's economic growth and leave the elites frustrated.

In theory, China can change course and embrace democratisation as well as take steps to ensure future economic growth is more market-led. But China's history informs us that these changes are highly unlikely. China is and will be a power - but the next great superpower it is not nor ever likely to be. _Commentator

Why Do Blacks Seem So Violent Wherever They Go?

This article was first published on Al Fin

Statistically high rates of violence accompany population groups of African descent wherever they go. From the townships of South Africa to the ghettos of Detroit and Philadelphia to entire nations such as Haiti or Jamaica -- there is a close relationship between statistically high rates of violence and the high prevalence of persons of African descent.

Why are blacks so violent -- statistically -- wherever in the world they go? The answer to the question is as complex as the human genome -- and the close, complex interaction between the genome and the environment.

A few of the genetic pieces of the puzzle may slowly be falling into place. Take the so-called "warrior gene," for example. This variant is found in black males almost 10 X more frequently than in white males. This "warrior gene" is actually an abnormal "promoter" for the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene. This abnormal promoter has the effect of reducing the activity of monoamine oxidase enzyme, which results in more of the monoamine transmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine etc) in the brain -- leading to agitation, impulsiveness, and other dysfunctional behaviours.

We examine the effect of the 2R allele of MAOA on a range of antisocial outcomes. ► The 2R was related to arrest, incarceration, and lifetime antisocial behavior. ► These associations were only observable for African-American males. ► Only 0.1% of Caucasian males carried the 2-repeat allele. [ed: compared to about 10 times that proportion of African American males with the 2-repeat allele]_Source

It is important to understand is that there is not just one "violence gene" or "warrior gene" that can explain the high rates of violence seen among black populations. Multiple genes are involved, as well as multiple environmental interactions with the genes, arising from within the person himself, and from his environment.

A functional VNTR polymorphism in the promoter of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA-LPR) has previously been shown to be an important predictor of antisocial behavior in men. Testosterone analogues are known to interact with the MAOA promoter in vitro to influence gene transcription as well as in vivo to influence CSF levels of the MAO metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in human males. We examined the possible joint effects of testosterone (measured in CSF) and MAOA-LPR genotype on antisocial personality disorder and scores on the Brown–Goodwin Aggression scale in 95 unrelated male criminal alcoholics and 45 controls. The results confirm that MAOA genotype and CSF testosterone interact to predict antisocial behaviors. The MAOA/testosterone interaction also predicted low levels of CSF MHPG, which tentatively suggests the possibility that the interaction may be mediated by a direct effect on gene transcription. _Interaction of Testosterone w/ MAOA Promoter gene

There are many important subtleties to keep in mind. An abusive childhood, for example, is more likely to "activate" abnormal behaviours that may be potentiated by particular gene allele forms. The importance of environmental "provocations" should also be kept in mind.

We report an experiment, synthesizing work in psychology and behavioral economics, which demonstrates that aggression occurs with greater intensity and frequency as provocation is experimentally manipulated upwards, especially among low activity MAOA (MAOA-L) subjects. In this study, subjects paid to punish those they believed had taken money from them by administering varying amounts of unpleasantly hot (spicy) sauce to their opponent. There is some evidence of a main effect for genotype and some evidence for a gene by environment interaction, such that MAOA is less associated with the occurrence of aggression in a low provocation condition, but significantly predicts such behavior in a high provocation situation. _MAOA Predicts Aggression

Even between persons with similar genetic complements, there will likely be different levels of provocation required before violence is resorted to. Genetic variants can make a person more sensitive to stress, with a lower "violence threshold."

There are also cognitive factors involved, including fear of punishment, and the calculated probability of being caught and punished.

In addition, when a person thinks he has little to lose and more to gain, he is more likely to choose actions that may lead to violence. He is more likely to make such choices when he is relatively comfortable with the idea of violence, or when low levels of intelligence / executive function combine with high levels of impulsivity to block out the possible consequences of his choices.

Even with the limited evidence available so far, it is possible to hypothesise that high impulsivity -- at least partially due to genetic causes -- can combine with higher testosterone levels, lower IQ, poorer EF, and environmental provocations to lead to higher likelihoods of violent behaviour.

It is important to emphasise that when African American males are steeped in a culture of hatred toward persons of European or Asian descent from a very young age and throughout their lifetimes, that it is more likely that they will take violent action against such persons when given the opportunity to do so with minimal risk to themselves.

The Scribd document "MAOA Varies by Race" comes from a 2011 Comprehensive Psychiatry study which describes how the "more normal" variant of the MAOA promoter gene protects men of European descent from developing an antisocial personality -- despite being abused as a child. The study failed to demonstrate a similar protective effect for black boys and men.

Finally, the reason that the term "warrior gene" is a misnomer, is that a true warrior relies on a large number of skills -- including the ability to abstain from violence when it is not appropriate. The MAOA promoter gene variant described in studies above would not provide a battlefield warrior with any meaningful advantage -- and would likely prove disruptive to a disciplined warrior squad.

Is US President Barack Obama a Psychopath?

We may know very little about the formative years of, and the inner life of, US President Barack Obama. But if the US President is a psychopath, it is likely that he is of the "high functioning" psychopathic variant.

It is only when a person takes a long and careful look at the full-blown psychopath - a sort of exaggerated Narcissist - that they are able to see the caricature of the traits that then make it easier for them to identify the "garden variety" psychopath - and/or the Narcissist. _The Mask of the Psychopath

The brief excerpt immediately below is taken from a web article "Psychopaths rule the world." It suggests that psychopaths can be distinguished from non-psychopaths medically, and that they often secretly work their way into high positions of leadership.

...science is now able to predict by brain scan and DNA tests if person is a psychopath. If this person has a happy childhood the chances that they will kill decrease, but if they aren’t happy they are at a very high risk of violent behaviour. But how does this applies to politicians and corporate leaders?

...“Part of the problem is that the very things we’re looking for in our leaders, the psychopath can easily mimic.[..]Their natural tendency is to be charming. Take that charm and couch it in the right business language and it sounds like charismatic leadership”. __ Leaders as Psychopaths

This "psychopathic brain type" is estimated to comprise as many as 4 million persons within the US population.

More here:

The high incidence of sociopathy in human society has a profound effect on the rest of us who must live on this planet, too, even those of us who have not been clinically traumatized. The individuals who constitute this 4 percent drain our relationships, our bank accounts, our accomplishments, our self-esteem, our very peace on earth.

..."Likeable," "Charming," "Intelligent," "Alert," "Impressive," "Confidence-inspiring," and "A great success with the ladies": These are the sorts of descriptions repeatedly used by Cleckley in his famous case-studies of psychopaths. They are also, of course, "irresponsible," "self-destructive," and the like. These descriptions highlight the great frustrations and puzzles that surround the study of psychopathy.

Psychopaths seem to have in abundance the very traits most desired by normal persons. The untroubled self-confidence of the psychopath seems almost like an impossible dream and is generally what "normal" people seek to acquire when they attend assertiveness training classes. In many instances, the magnetic attraction of the psychopath for members of the opposite sex seems almost supernatural.

...read Cleckley's speculations on what was "really wrong" with these people. He comes very close to suggesting that they are human in every respect - but that they lack a soul. This lack of "soul quality" makes them very efficient "machines." They can be brilliant, write scholarly works, imitate the words of emotion, but over time, it becomes clear that their words do not match their actions. They are the type of person who can claim that they are devastated by grief who then attend a party "to forget." The problem is: they really DO forget.

Being very efficient machines, like a computer, they are able to execute very complex routines designed to elicit from others support for what they want. In this way, many psychopaths are able to reach very high positions in life. It is only over time that their associates become aware of the fact that their climb up the ladder of success is predicated on violating the rights of others."Even when they are indifferent to the rights of their associates, they are often able to inspire feelings of trust and confidence." _Psychopath

More at the link above.

What would separate a charming and irresponsible rogue such as President Bill Clinton, from a psychopathic president such as -- perhaps -- Barack Obama? Both have the ability to charm, and to lie with a straight face.

Perhaps the difference between a quasi-psychopathic rogue and a true psychopath, would be that the rogue simply doesn't care about the bad results of his actions, whereas the psychopath takes pleasure in the misery that he causes.

It is unlikely that US President Obama will submit to the necessary tests which might determine whether he falls within the psychopathic mind type. I would not be surprised if he would score very close to the mean of that category, were he to be tested. But it is certain his zombied followers will never consider the idea, and that the US skankstream news and entertainment media will avoid the very idea as far as possible.

What is important is that intelligent persons of independent minds consider the possibility that high functioning psychopaths might easily work their ways into positions of power, and to develop contingency plans based upon the various risks that such individuals may pose.

The Collapse of the Russian Empire

This article was first published on Al Fin blog

Russia is haunted by the history of empire -- an empire that is rapidly slipping the grasp of a bleeding bear. The collapse of Russia's male population is related to alcohol abuse and drug abuse. Russia's politically connected wealthy are stashing tens of $billions in foreign bank accounts, her best and brightest youth vie for overseas jobs, and her beautiful young women seek husbands in Australia, North America, and Europe. Besides oil & gas, Russia's main asset is bluster.

Russian Men and Vodka

The mansions and gardens of old imperial Russia have faded or crumbled, as have many of the collective farms that fed communist Russia. Today, the hamlets dot a forsaken land of rampant poverty where men drink from morning to night. The interconnected crises of low fertility, high death rates and ragged infrastructure have left much of the nation barren.

... Even darker times may lie ahead.

A major study that the United Nations released in April, authored by leading Russian experts, projected that Russia would lose at least 11 million more people by 2025. Another U.N.-sponsored report said last year that the population could fall to as low as 100 million in 2050.

That report cited a recent improvement in fertility but cautioned that, "while these favorable trends may last another five or six years, all recent forecasts . . . predict that Russia's population decline will only intensify."

"There's a risk that in the most negative situation, Russia will stop existing as a state," said Olga Isupova, a senior demographic researcher at the Higher School of Economics, a leading private Russian university in Moscow.

...Russia as a whole lost 12.3 million people from 1992 to 2008. An influx of immigrants, mainly from former Soviet territories, helped hide the extent of the problem. The population is now 142 million, but it would have been 136.3 million without that surge from outside.

...— the decay in the heartland suggests that Russia isn't a resurgent superpower so much as a nation that's trying not to come apart at the seams._NewsTribune

In a worst-case scenario, the population drops from a peak of around 145 million at the turn of the century to about 60 million by 2100, a catastrophic loss of 85 million people at an average rate of 850 000 per year. Unless the government brings in hundreds of millions of foreign migrant workers to compensate, Russia’s productivity and GDP would shrink along with its population.

Strategically, Goldman (2010) points out that a potential problem for Russia is that the depopulation rate in its far east, near the border with China, is higher than the national average. By contrast, the Chinese population on that increasingly sparsely populated border is growing rapidly. Will trouble brew on this border as a result? _Russia's Future

How can Russia help but come apart at the seams? It is only a matter of time before the country no longer has the manpower to hold its vast land area -- particularly when neighboring population overflow has been slipping into Russia for decades, diluting Russia's core population and national spirit.

Despite the rhetorical bluster by Putin and others, critics say that Russia's leadership is largely at fault for not diversifying the economy and helping modernize companies.... During the past decade or so of booming oil and gas exports that brought wealth and prestige, very little was done to revamp a nation still largely stuck in Soviet-era practices. _NewsTribune

On the local level, the problem is poisoning by vodka, drugs, and despair. On the national level, the problem is rampant corruption -- with Russia's heritage being stolen by government officials and their cronies, and shipped overseas.

There is no reason to expect Russia to be any more careful with its huge nuclear arsenal than it has been with any other national assets that might be stolen by insiders and sold to the highest bidder.

With few exceptions, the entire nation is in decay and decline. Expect trouble ahead as a result.

Marc Faber's Jaded View of the Future

Marc Faber is popularly known as Doctor Doom, best known for his jaundiced outlook on US government deficit financing and the ballooning debt in the first world.

The video above is a 45 minute presentation on Faber's future outlook. In the scribd embed below, Faber presents a number of charts that illustrate various aspects of the problem.

50 Charts From Marc Faber

Ultimately, Faber is likely to be proven right in many or most of his views. In the short term, we are likely to see significant volatility in markets around the world.

Learn to be very light on your feet, when it comes to where you put your assets. Be prepared to move them quickly.

H/T Lew Rockwell

Does Voter Fraud Explain 4 More Years of Obamanation?

take Philly out of Pennsylvania, the Big Apple out of New York, the Motor City out of Michigan, the Windy City out of Illinois, Cleveland out of Ohio, Milwaukee out of Wisconsin, St. Louis out of Missouri, etc., and a lot of blue states would instantly be red. What explains this pronounced and hugely significant partisan divide between urban and nonurban areas?

One obvious explanation for the overwhelming Democratic majorities in big cities is the Curley effect with the corresponding concentration of Democratic constituencies like welfare recipients and unions... The Curley effect has turned once-vibrant cities into economic basket cases . . . _Forbes

Election precincts that are controlled by unions and inner city activist groups are not likely to be open to neutral poll observers, and are more likely to generate curious results . . .

Consider the large number of precincts in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, and other Democratic Party controlled areas including Chicago, which returned vote tallies that are just short of statistically impossible.

Many precincts for Obama returned upward of 99% or greater numbers of votes compared to registered voters. Quite a handy feat. Other districts that had experienced actual population decline showed vote returns that did not reflect this decline in population. Dead voters on the prowl again, voting for Democrats just like in the old corrupt political machine days?

If anybody has been reading the news lately, there has been some gradually disturbing news coming out about voting fraud in the Presidential Election. In critical swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois there are a lot of precincts in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago which reported 100% of their votes cast for Obama. These add up to many 10's of thousands of votes for Obama and 0 for Romney. I repeat, 0 for Romney. I have read a number of articles about this and people knowlegable in Political Science and Statistics are starting to take notice of this.Statistically, even if among 10's of thousands of voters all wanted to vote fo Obama, it would not be possible to receive 100% of the vote because at least a few would make a mistake and vote incorrectly for Romney. Not to mention the fact that a least a few of those 10's of thousands might actually disagree with Obama. These types of election returns are only seen in countries run by dictators. I do not understand why this is not getting more attention. _Comment at NBC Chicago

These are the days of the corrupt Chicago Outfit. A combination of violent union thugs, corrupt politicians, radical inner city activist groups, faux environmnetalist greens, far-leftist zombies, and allied bona fide organised crime groups.

The Chicago alliance represents a "win at all costs" ethic which has no concern for the underlying well being of the society or the citizens living in the society.

The most recent US national elections represented a significant solidifying of the Chicago Outfit's grip on US politics. Expect an already massive dysfunction and corruption to expand.

Massive Problems come with Massive Debt

Massive government debt is nothing to sneeze at. Particularly when the debt goes to pay off voters and political cronies -- with no possibility of ever paying off the debt. That is not merely "bad debt." It is catastrophic debt.

Here is a good look at central banks, and their pathetic attempts to deal with massive modern debt:

Because governments are in disagreement, bodies are taking their place that are turning into ersatz governments: the central banks. The ECB's decision to buy up unlimited amounts of the sovereign debt of European countries is a replacement for political solutions for which there are currently no majorities in the governments and parliaments of euro-zone countries. The decision by the American Federal Reserve Bank to inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the markets again to stimulate economic growth results for the inability of Democrats and Republicans to agree on a compromise between limiting debt and economic stimulus programs. Printing money -- or betting hundreds of billions once again -- is the last desperate response on both sides of the Atlantic.

What began four years ago with the bursting of a credit bubble in the mortgage market is being combated with more and more new debt in the trillions, thereby inflating the next, even bigger credit bubble.

The fresh trillions circle the world in the search for yield, but only a small part of the money flows into the real economy, where investments in new production plants produce lower returns. Instead, the trillions slosh back and forth, from one financial market to another, from the foreign currency market to the commodities market, and from the gold market to the stock market and back again.

Because these trillions are not reaching the real economy, the risk of inflation is currently smaller than Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, and its president would have us believe. But every saver and everyone with a life insurance policy pays for the central bank's low interest-rate policy with low interest rates. When central banks keep interest rates close to zero for long periods of time, which they have done for years, they disadvantage ordinary savers and favor major investors, gamblers and banks, which can borrow at low rates and invest the money elsewhere at a profit. _Spiegel

As seen in the image, it requires more and more debt to generate less and less growth, over time. Governments and central banks get caught up in a tangled web feedback loop of out of control debt spending, with no clear way out.

Government officials "play at the problem" with no real intention of addressing the central concern: Governments have grown to an all-encompassing size and degree of control over their now-subservient societies. How can societies be subservient to governments when governments run on the surplus production of societies? Because governments have grown to be parasitic upon their underlying societies.

This story does not have a happy ending. But it will have to have an ending, because better stories will not wait indefinitely to be told.

Obama et Hollande: Twin Freaks of Different Mothers?

There is a freakish resemblance between the national leaders of France and the US. Each is an ideologue, first and foremost. Neither are bright enough to understand how their respective nations could grow more prosperous, nor do they particularly care. Thuggish political mobsters at heart, they are only interested in leeching the wealth and accomplishments of others, to the acclaim of the popular media.

Twin Freaks of Doom

In France, Hollande’s class war approach has been disastrous for the French economy. His tax policies have prompted the start of a mass exodus of wealthy individuals, who are taking their money elsewhere in Europe, including to Britain and Switzerland. In the words of Laurence Parisot, head of the French Employers’ Federation: “Our country is, alas, becoming less and less attractive with every passing month whilst our neighbours are trying to become more and more attractive.”

Unsurprisingly, economic growth has taken a hit, with falling consumer spending and plummeting market confidence. France is slipping back into recession in the final quarter of 2012, with Europe’s second largest economy now projected to miss its deficit target and barely grow at all in 2013.

France’s economic failure is a sharp warning to the United States if it goes down the same path. Ominously for Barack Obama, Hollande’s approval rating has fallen to just 36 percent, making him the most unpopular French president in recent history (at the six month mark). _Twin Freaks of Doom

Obama simply doesn't care. In fact, one of his missions in life since childhood, has been to punish the US and Europe for their "oppression of third world peoples over the past few centuries." Obama's mother drilled that lesson into his head, and the only father-figure Obama knew as a child -- Frank -- made sure the lesson stuck.

France is probably doomed. Hollande has no idea how to pull the country out of the hole he continues to dig for France. Obama is, if anything, less intelligent than Hollande, and driven more by revenge than by ideology or simple thuggish greed -- both of which Obama possesses in abundance.

It will be an interesting few years for both unfortunate countries, France and the US. Try not to be too vulnerable to miscreants of this nature. Large scale damages are a certainty. Doom for their respective countries is not out of the realm of possibility. Take care of yourselves.

Is "The Death of White America Theme" Being Overdone in Regard to the 2012 US Elections?

Probably the best piece so far on "The Death of White America" was published recently in the UK Daily Mail.

For Republicans struggling to understand their defeat at the polls, the most chilling statistic in this week’s presidential election was this: Mitt Romney won the biggest share of the white vote that any Republican White House contender ever has — and he still lost.

In an election battle that was defined as much as anything by race, Mitt Romney won the support of 59 per cent of whites, but just 27 per cent of Latinos, 26 per cent of Asian-Americans and 6 per cent of African-Americans.

Thirty years ago, being unpopular with ethnic minorities would hardly have stopped a white establishment candidate like Romney from trouncing Barack Obama. But back then, whites accounted for almost 90 per cent of voters. Now they make up just 72 per cent of the electorate, and that figure is shrinking by the year. _DailyMail

Much more at the link.

In the future -- if demographic trends continue -- it will be impossible for white candidates to win election in most areas of North America, without large numbers of votes from blacks, hispanics, and other ethnic "minorities." But in 2012, that is not necessarily the case. It may be a bit early in the demographic evolution of the US to proclaim "the death of white America."

Only about 54% of eligible voters actually voted. And of the white voters who did vote, almost 40% voted for Obama -- and against their own economic future. It is one thing to proclaim "the death of white America" when white voters voted in large numbers and for their own future benefit -- and still lost. But that was not the case in 2012, when large numbers of white voters did not vote, or even voted against the futures of themselves and their progeny.

We should also not overlook voter fraud, which played a very large part in the final vote tallies brought in by Democratic Party controlled precincts. If you look at large Democrat controlled cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, etc etc it is clear that more votes were registered than were actually cast in a valid manner.

As we mentioned here before, it is not clear whether fraudulent vote counts were high enough to tip the electoral college totals. But it is more than likely that fraudulent votes tipped the popular vote count in favour of Obama.

There are many reasons that Obama will be able to continue his corrupt and destructive reign over the US government for another 4 years. But it would be best not to draw exaggerated or premature conclusions from the election results.

For the near future, a better use of the time of US conservatives, centrists, and libertarians, would be to toughen up election laws to prevent future election fraud as much as possible.

So a Group of Arse-Heads Get Together and Decide to Put Another Arse-Head in Charge

So how is this year's US election different from earlier elections?

There have been other close elections that illustrate a deeply divided US electorate. But emotions have been higher this year than in most previous elections, with large numbers of black Americans promising to riot or assassinate Romney if the Republican were elected. The element of designed racial division on the part of the Obama campaign made this year's election a more dangerous battleground.

This year, a lot of problems were intentionally and successfully swept under the rug over a period of several months, to avoid getting voters upset with the ruling regime.

The news media were largely responsible for shaping the battlefield, and will have to bear final responsibility -- perhaps on a personal level, in some cases.

The US has been getting in deeper and deeper trouble, the longer that Obama has been in office, and too many arseheads appear determined to stay the course no matter where it leads.

US blacks are the biggest losers -- a fact made exquisitely poignant by the role that they themselves played in putting themselves in this position.

Putin's Russia has to be happy, since anything that weakens the US helps to strengthen Russia's relative position in the world.

China has to be ambivalent, at best. Four more years of Obama may put the US irrevocably on the road to default of its debt -- much of which is held by China.

Europe is another big loser, likewise poignantly so due to Europe's long unrequited love affair with the narcissistic US ruler.

Was the election rigged? That is the wrong question. The question is: How badly was the election rigged? No one will ever know the answer to that, although it is almost certain that Romney actually won the popular vote -- if one could remove all the dead voters, multiple voters, mentally incompetent voters, and general ballot stuffing and vote manipulation.

The electoral college reality will have to remain unknown due to the distributed and modular / cellular nature of the cheating that occurred across the battleground states.

The US is not quite as bad as Cuba or Venezuela. But it is well on the road.

Obama Drives a Stake Through the Hearts of Black Americans

Despite very high expectations from the outset, the Obama presidency has not been kind to African Americans.

The October employment numbers deepened the gloom among African Americans and those (including the Via Meadia team) who believe that the United States as a whole cannot progress as it should unless African Americans are getting ahead too. As a report from Think Progress reminds us, in October, African American unemployment rose almost a full percentage point to 14.3 percent.

...unemployment is only part of the story. America’s Black middle class is facing a crisis of historic proportions. African Americans were among the biggest losers in the housing bubble; well intentioned but ill advised policy changes intended to get more low income families and marginal households into home ownership kicked in just in time to lure African American families into the housing market at the peak of the bubble. The loss of wealth and savings has been nothing short of catastrophic; decades of progress in building net worth for middle class and lower middle class minority families have been wiped out since 2007.

... if President Obama wins reelection, his team will have to come to grips with the devastation the last four years have brought to his most loyal supporters and, one hopes, begin to think seriously and realistically about policy changes that might do some good. _Via Meadia

Black Americans are voting for Obama in droves -- although a few have woken up to the debilitating effects of the Obama vision since the 2008 hysteria. Those few are quietly hoping that Mr. Obama is removed from his Peter Principle Position, so that blacks can begin putting the pieces of their lives back together again.

At least American Blacks can be grateful that Obama has not done to them what he did to the US Libyan ambassador.

The Obama regime is a lesson in designed incompetence via ideology. There is much to be learned from a thorough dissection of the legions of missteps taken by Obama and his crony minions. But a wiser use of time would be to put Obama and his bamboozling shenanigans behind us -- all of us.

Be Prepared for Obama Zombies to Riot if Obama Loses

Twitter supporters of President Obama have been threatening to riot if Obama loses this week's presidential election. Threats to assassinate Romney are also picking up, as the very tight election approaches.

A few weeks ago, Twitchy reported on Twitter users threatening to riot if President Obama loses to GOP rival Mitt Romney. With four days to go until Election Day, we decided this is a topic worth revisiting. The results of our Twitter searches are not pretty:

If Romney win , me obama and 2 chainz going to start a riot and shoot his ass !—
TriciaM'fcknShell (@TattooedPretty) November 02, 2012

If Obama lose it's going to be the biggest riot in history… Beacause, I'm going to start it!—
Dimz (@turn2two) November 02, 2012

yup, thas me. RT @BanitaApplebumm: If Romney were to win, I feel like ppl are gonna riot the streets..—
The Sage⚡ (@ChuckRaging) November 02, 2012

I Swear If Romney Win Imma Start A Mothafuckin Riot—
JayBabyyyy (@JayBae813) November 02, 2012

If Romney win we should start a riot—
IG: @Perfectly_Badd_ (@Perfectly_Badd_) November 02, 2012

If Mitt Romney wins, imma start a riot!—
Ganja Nish.✌ (@_SweetKiWi) November 02, 2012

if Romney wins this election i'm starting a riot—
ricky spanish (@DoobsxBoobs) November 02, 2012

If Obama don't win it's gone be a riot.—
Uncle Mitchie (@RedForemen) November 02, 2012

I'ma start riot if Obama don't win—
Vanna Jamie James (@VannaDoesItRite) November 02, 2012

If I drive all the way to the city to vote Tuesday & Obama doesn't win! Imma start a riot!—
#BattleOfTheValleys (@RashadBF) November 02, 2012

Romney wins= L.A. Riot—
FREDO (@ASAPLife_) November 02, 2012

RIOT! Ima start a riot! * @2chainz voice* RT @RealShaddyLo: If Mitt Romney win idk what I'm gonna do—
MAC_Freshly (@MACBoy_Inglish) November 02, 2012

If Romney wins the election, imma start a riot like Spike Lee in Do The Right Thing—
Boss Lady ♥ (@BrittanyiCandy) November 02, 2012

Lets face it u vote for obama were fucked u vote for mitt romney were super fucked lets all riot.. #butseriously—
★†₤∅F†★ (@TLoft1_MTOE) November 02, 2012

@_KissesFrmBrezy Romney win = RIOT—
Terell Kirby (@Terell_Lamont) November 02, 2012

Or both “@RAYandNITE: If Romney win, its either going be a recount or a riot”—
Ya GF Fav LightSkin♕ (@Lo_Heffner) November 02, 2012

If mitt romney wins I'm starting a fuckin riot—
Narcissistic. (@Rachettastic) November 02, 2012

If Romney wins , Ima start a fuccn Riot .—
Ontario_london (@London_monroee8) November 02, 2012

If Mitt Romney wins, nighas gon riot like when Dr. King died. It's gon be a sight to see.—
F R A N K L I N (@ChangeMy_Name) November 02, 2012

If Romney wins, we riot.—
Ben O. Verbich (@_Swaggerless) November 02, 2012

If Romney wins, me & @2chainz startin a riot frfr—
Mr. Promo (@AfterMoneyFlipp) November 02, 2012

If Obama Dont Win , Imma Start A Bigg Ass Riot . Lls 👌—
- MAWH TOO THE $$$. (@BitchEmAllNee) November 02, 2012

Those are just the riot threats posted today (Friday November 2nd). It is reasonable to assume that hundreds more were posted prior to today — all of them ignored by a complacent, biased mainstream media.

Interestingly, the threats made today were posted exclusively by supporters of President Obama. We weren’t able to find even one Republican threatening to riot if Mitt Romney loses.

Granted, most of these riot threats were probably made in jest, but a few may be serious. People who do not respect property rights and have little regard for the rules governing civil society have been known to riot over matters of less importance than a presidential election.

Our advice: Be prepared.

_Twitchy

Oh, yes. Best be prepared. Always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

At least half of Obama supporters are several cards shy of a full deck of playing cards. It wouldn't take much to set them off like a load of old dynamite, with nitroglycerin bleeding all over the surface.

When traveling through the US, be careful where you go over the next several weeks -- regardless of who wins the election. Just as rabid sports fans will riot whether their teams win or lose, so with Obama zombies.

Illinois, Obama's Home Base, is a Basket Case

Obama's home town of Chicago is among the murder capitals of the US. It is corrupt from top to bottom, in debt, and in thrall to public unions and organised crime. Government worker unions and their generous pay / pension / benefit packages are helping to drag Chicago down, and the entire state of Illinois with it.

Illinois has the lowest credit rating of the 50 states and has America’s second-biggest public debt per capita, $9,624, including state and local borrowing. Only New York State’s debt is bigger, at $13,840 per capita. But Illinois has not been able to use much of the borrowed money to keep its roads, bridges and schools in good working order, because years of shoddy fiscal practices have taken a heavy toll, the report said.

“Illinois has been doing back flips on a high wire, without a net,” the task force said in the report, which was issued in Chicago.

...Nearly two-thirds of the Illinois state government’s $58 billion in direct debt consists of bonds the government issued to cover retirement payments for workers, including a $10 billion pension obligation bond that broke all previous records in 2003.

Yet despite all that borrowing, Illinois’ public pension system is still in tatters. In fact, its total pension shortfall is conservatively estimated at $85 billion. Recent changes that raised the retirement age for new workers and limited the pensions that future workers can earn have not reduced the existing obligations.

The task force said that further reductions in pension benefits appear inevitable, though legally difficult, because the state has promised more than it can deliver.

...“Retirees may lose their pensions as the funds dwindle, low-income and disabled people may lose their health care as costs escalate, and citizens and businesses seeking a stable environment may face steep and sudden tax increases,” the report said. _NYT

What Obama helped to do to Illinois, he is causing to happen to the US in a more forceful fashion -- using executive orders and the US executive branch of over-bloated regulatory bureaucracies.

Illinois' problems are becoming the entire nations' problems. California and New York are in the same category. Michigan is lining up to join the other three.

The Night Obama Should Not Have Gone Back to Sleep

Special-ops teams and air cover were readily available, and could’ve been on the scene in less than two hours. (The attack lasted for more than six hours.)

In fact, two surveillance drones were deployed — both capable of relaying real-time visuals of what was happening.

But urgent requests for help were rejected — even when Woods and two others radioed that they had a laser fixed on the terrorists who were firing mortars and called in their coordinates.

Woods and another former SEAL, Glen Doherty, were killed by a mortar shell about six hours after the initial assault began.

“My son . . . responded to the cries for help and voluntarily sacrificed his life to protect the lives of other Americans,” says his father, Charles Woods.

“This has nothing to do with politics,” he added. “This has to do with integrity and honor. My son showed moral courage.” _NYP

A president is supposed to make the hard decisions that no one else can make -- and then he is expected to take responsibility for those decisions. US President Obama has, however, made a life of avoiding decisions and avoiding responsibility. And so it was that when Obama was presented with the choice of sending in a rescue team to get the diplomats and their staff out of Benghazi, Obama made a "no decision, decision." And went back to sleep.

Washington decision-makers – from the Pentagon to the White House Situation Room – must have known within minutes or hours that the incident in Benghazi was 9/11.2, the second successful al Qaeda attack on American soil. They also would have known that this well-coordinated assault killed the American ambassador to Libya, as well as three other Americans who fought valiantly to save him.

...The president keeps trying to cover up his mistakes, and the press establishment is determined to look away, despite the cascading contradictions.... The president must now answer for the misdeeds his subordinates and his media allies tried so hard to cover up. _Obama Knew

...an urgent request for military help during last month’s terrorist attack on the US consulate there “was denied by the CIA chain of command.”

The attack, on the anniversary of 9/11, killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three embassy personnel, including two former Navy SEALs working as security contractors.

... a Special Operations team had been moved to US military facilities in Sigonella, Italy – approximately two hours away – but were never told to deploy.

“The fighting at the CIA annex [in Benghazi] went on for more than four hours – enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators.” _CSMonitor

Obama received his wake-up call, but chose to go back to sleep. He wanted to be well rested for that big fund-raiser in Vegas. Campaigns take priority over everything else. And with Obama, life itself is nothing but a campaign. That idea was drummed into his head by Mom and Frank, and he is never going to forget it.

A Lavish Lifestyle: A Struggling America's Haute Noblesse

The US is a nation struggling with economic uncertainty and cultural decline. While real unemployment is well above 10% and underemployment approaches 25%, America's new political nobility provides itself a lavish lifestyle in which previous president's and their families never thought to indulge.

President Obama has spent far more lavishly on White House state dinners than previous chief executives... current and former government officials said the documents obtained by The Examiner point to an unprecedented upsurge in White House spending on such events.

...A knowledgeable government official who made the documents available to The Examiner said the extravagant spending seemed unfair with so many Americans out of work.

"It just kind of takes your breath away to see the expenditure of money that has occurred since 2009," the official said.

Gary Walters, who ran presidential household operations for 21 years during Democratic and Republican administrations, before retiring in 2007, told The Examiner the costs reflected in the documents were "excessive. They are high." _Examiner

Not surprisingly, the government agency responsible for paying for these extravaganzas of the haute noblesse, is run by a US State Department official who also happens to be a business partner of the man who caters these exorbitantly costly events.

Of course, that is but one side of the story. The very costly vacations taken by the novo haute noblesse would make a billionaire blush -- if his vacations were taken at taxpayer's expense.

But to the novo haute noblesse, such costly pleasures are considered minimal perquisites, for the many duties required of them as official and unofficial figures of state. "If you cannot live well on other people's money, what good is becoming involved in government?" they are likely to ask.

And America drifts backward toward the autocratic rule which the founders of the original republic had tried to hard -- at such a high cost -- to escape. Welcome to the Idiocracy.

US Presidential Election Tightens in the Home Stretch

For most of the US presidential campaign, US President Obama has been comfortably coasting, well ahead of all rivals -- including Mitt Romney. But in recent weeks -- since the beginning of the series of 3 presidential debates -- Romney has begun to close in on the US President. Both in popular vote estimates and electoral college estimates, Romney has narrowed the gap significantly. Even the In-Trade odds gap has begun to narrow.

The last debate in the series of three took place last night in Boca Raton, Florida, and it is not likely that President Obama helped his case any. In fact, in the last debate, Romney looked more like the president, and Obama more like the challenger.

Obama started the 90 minutes here in Boca Raton, Florida believing he was losing his bid for re-election. Romney, by contrast, felt he could play things safe. He was a kinder, gentler presence than he was in the second debate in Hempstead, New York, when he fought back hard against a hyper Obama desperate to make up for his catastrophic performance in the first debate in Denver. By and large, Romney succeeded in Boca. He came across as knowledgeable and reasonable and made no mistakes. In short, he passed the commander-in-chief test. Having proved in the first debate he had the backbone, policy expertise and determination to try to tackle America's economic woes, tonight he showed that he was a plausibe commander-in-chief. It was not an especially high bar, but he cleared it. _Is Obama Losing the Election War to Romney?

Now we will watch and see if the early to mid-October trend in favour of Romney continues through the end of October, to the elections. If so, a large number of dictators and tyrants around the world will bemoan the loss of a golden opportunity, which the second Obama term represented.

France Elects Its Own Obama -- Risks Rapid Decline

The French have been long enamoured with US President Barack Obama, and as a result they have elected a French equivalent: Francois Hollande. Monsieur Hollande is already beginning to have the same effect on French private enterprise which Mr. Obama has had on the US private sector.

“The situation is very serious. Some business leaders are in a state of quasi-panic,” said Laurence Parisot, head of employers’ group MEDEF. “The pace of bankruptcies has accelerated over the summer. We are seeing a general loss of confidence by investors. Large foreign investors are shunning France altogether. It’s becoming really dramatic.” _Evans-Pritchard

The biggest problem with political leaders of a socialist bent, is they typically have no real understanding of how economies work. Certainly Mr. Obama never worked outside of politics or academia, and the same appears to be true for Monsieur Hollande.

Modern leftist ideology is best described as a tautological fantasy ideology -- essentially unfalsifiable, and only answerable to anyone when national economies collapse and the fools are thrown out.

The fear is that a fiscal shock in 2013 will tip the economy into a sharp downward slide. “France needs more fiscal austerity right now like a hole in the head,” said sovereign debt strategist Nicholas Spiro.

“They don’t have any chance of meeting their growth target of 0.8pc next year, but that does not in itself put French debt at risk.

“The real danger is contagion if things turn ugly in Spain.” _Evans-Pritchard

Obama entered office just as the US was beginning to emerge from a significant financial crisis and recession. While Mr. Obama's policies made the US economy far more sluggish and depressed than it should have been, he was partially saved by the revolutionary shale oil & gas bonanza -- which occurred despite his policies rather than because of them.

Mr. Hollande has no reason to expect such a providential bailout from anyone or anything. Hollande has rejected shale drilling, and is also proposing drastic and potentially crippling reductions in France's nuclear power industry.

The near to intermediate future does not appear to be very promising for France. Of course, if Obama is re-elected, the future for the US is likely to be similarly dismal.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. And remember: It is never too late for a dangerous childhood.

Barack "Empty Stool" Obama: Birth of a Legend

This article was previously published on Al Fin blog, on the occasion of the Ameican Labor Day holiday

Empty Chair?  Empty Stool?  Empty Suit?  Empty Skull?  Obama's Many Faces

America Celebrates National Empty Chair Day

Barack Obama: The Empty Stool

President Obama has consistently been absent, more concerned about branding than leadership, with image and atmospherics than truly rallying the troops and harnessing our resources and solving our most pressing problems.

...According to most accounts, even friendly ones, President Obama is haughty and surly. To those with eyes to see, he is an act. A vacuous promise. An illusion. An empty stool. _EmptyStool

As a legislator in both the Illinois Senate and the US Senate, Obama became known as "Senator Present," even though he was most often absent -- out campaigning for his next election. Perhaps he was warming up for his role as "the empty stool" even then.

Even when he appears to be sitting in the chair, there is something clearly missing. It is not exactly that the emperor has no clothes. . . It is more that the clothes have no emperor. "There is no there, there" as Al Fin once remarked to Gertrude Stein, sitting in an Oakland cafe in a previous life.

Perhaps America should send out an expedition of scatologists in search of "the real Obama." The fate of the next century may just depend on what is discovered.

Outside observers may blame American voters for electing this mystery man, but if the American media failed to do its job of investigation, it deserves a large share of any blame to be placed.

It is not entirely clear as to why America replaced the Labor Day Holiday with National Empty Chair Day, other than the general lack of jobs. Some claim that it has something to do with what is depicted in the photograph to the left.

Since the image depicts only a single person -- an American cinema star -- it is possible that it is a scene taken from a motion picture. But if so, where is the rest of the movie? Historians may fight over the question for decades.

No matter. The change may represent a coming trend of changes to American national holidays. It is rumoured that up until now, efforts to change the Christmas Holiday to "O Holy Bama Day" have been rebuffed. But now, who can predict such things?

One thing is for certain: If US President Obama is re-elected in November, Thanksgiving Day will receive some serious scrutiny for change, if not hope.


Photo credits: Top, Bottom

4 More Years of Obama Makes Violent Social Turmoil Virtually Inevitable

Grice looks at some examples from history where currency debasement led to a complete breakdown of the social fabric of communities like the Roman Empire, France during the revolutionary period at the end of the 18th century, and Weimar Germany.

In every case, citizens turned on each other as a sharply devalued currency led to a breakdown of trust between members of society.

A perhaps lesser-known incident that Grice brings to light, however, is a period in Britain during the late 16th and early 17th centuries when the country was rocked by witch trials.

 

Société Générale

..."All I see is more of the same . . ."

  _Dylan Grice

Los Angeles 1992

The modern equivalent of witch trials is ethnic, race, and gang riots, such as cropped up in 1992 from Los Angeles to Toronto (mostly Los Angeles).

Reginald Denny's Diversity Celebration

If Obama is defeated in the November US elections, some degree of racial violence is anticipated. But if Obama is re-elected and allowed to complete the job of destroying the glue of social cohesion and trust along with the global reserve currency -- the US dollar -- one should expect much much worse, and over a much wider area.

As Dylan Grice recommends in the linked piece above, it is time to invest in safe havens.