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What exactly have American's given up Sigs?

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People aren't any stupider than they've always been when generally speaking. Most people are stupid. Most people were stupid. I'm going to take a wild guess here that most people in the future will continue to be stupid.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

I disagree. All of the progress that was ever made in the USA ... and that goes back to FDR and before... was made because people were less stupid - and less cowardly- then. The reason why FDR came up with his patchwork of social security programs wasn't because he was a good-hearted guy who felt sorry for the populace, but because less-stupid, less-cowardly people were fomenting revolution. If he hadn't saved capitalism from itself, it might have been destroyed by the less-stupid people.

The last gasp of the less-stupid was the antiwar movement.

But we're now at the bread (government assistance) and circuses (iPhones/TV) stage, and people are content to ignore the world as long as they're in their comfy mental bubble, and wait for the building catastrophes (there are at least three or four pending) to come crashing down on them.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
A recent episode of Max Keiser (former Wall Street trader and current commentator on economics and finance) interviewing Gerald Celente of "Trends" magazine.

https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/327519-episode-max-keiser-856/

I listen to Keiser but generally don't bring what he says to the board, as it tends to be so much blah-blah-blah. But I thought this interview was interesting, as Celente brings up two interesting points:

1) The point he makes the most of is

depression -> currency war -> trade war -> world war

In his analysis, major depressions have always been followed by world war. He uses the Great Depression as an example of this dynamic (altho IMHO his argument would have been far more robust had he been able to find more than one example). My observation is that we are CURRENTLY in a currency war, and have been for three or four years already, since nearly all of the major nations (except the USA) have been deliberately devaluing their currency to (hopefully) stimulate exports.

We are just BEGINNING our trade wars- the USA just slapped an ~250% tariff on Chinese steel.

As far as World War (hot/ shooting war) it seems to me that every major bloc is saber-rattling by now: the EU and the USA (via NATO) is pushing hard up against the Russian border and fomenting trouble (via its terrorist proxies) in the Mideast, China is building islands in the Spratlys and building up its navy, and Russia is militarily engaged in Syria. As Celente says ... Nobody is talking peace.

2) The other point, and for him it was a minor one but for me really captured the USA zeitgeist (literally "worldghost", but more like "spirit of the times", overall mood) is that Americans have given up.

We people seem exhausted from fighting with our elected representatives and getting nowhere. The rich are getting richer, the middle class is disappearing, and any goals in the realm of improving our economy or setting our nation on a different, more peaceful, more productive, more equitable, more sustainable course have fizzled. The conversation has moved from jobs and debt to terrorism in the middle east, which is serving its intended purpose in distracting from the fact that the rich are getting richer and the middle class is disappearing. The wealthy use war to get wealthier, and the vast majority as as clueless as ever.

Gerald is an old guy ... older than me. He just laughs about it.

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The reason you bring him up SIG is because it fits in with your agenda and allows you to criticize America. Again comrade troll, FUCK YOU and your Russian loving ass.

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Originally posted by Wishimay:
I'd just like to say that an aluminum smelting plant a couple counties away from us is closing down. This thing has been iconic in my childhood. Every man I knew wanted to work there at some point because it was such a good job. Even through the crap economy they held on. Not any more...

If anything is a bad omen, it's that...

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:


Here's a chart for the average price of aluminum in the last 5 years per/lb...

http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/aluminum/5-year/

It peaked at about $1.25/lb back in 2011 and now it's just around $0.70....

How the hell is that even possible, Wish?

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Originally posted by Wishimay:
I'd just like to say that an aluminum smelting plant a couple counties away from us is closing down. This thing has been iconic in my childhood. Every man I knew wanted to work there at some point because it was such a good job. Even through the crap economy they held on. Not any more...

If anything is a bad omen, it's that...

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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What exactly have American's given up Sigs?

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The idea that we can even influence Washington DC.

We live in an oligarchy, pure and simple. People have thrown up their hands and quit trying for anything different.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
A recent episode of Max Keiser (former Wall Street trader and current commentator on economics and finance) interviewing Gerald Celente of "Trends" magazine.

https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/327519-episode-max-keiser-856/

I listen to Keiser but generally don't bring what he says to the board, as it tends to be so much blah-blah-blah. But I thought this interview was interesting, as Celente brings up two interesting points:

1) The point he makes the most of is

depression -> currency war -> trade war -> world war

In his analysis, major depressions have always been followed by world war. He uses the Great Depression as an example of this dynamic (altho IMHO his argument would have been far more robust had he been able to find more than one example).

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
A recent episode of Max Keiser (former Wall Street trader and current commentator on economics and finance) interviewing Gerald Celente of "Trends" magazine.

https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/327519-episode-max-keiser-856/

I listen to Keiser but generally don't bring what he says to the board, as it tends to be so much blah-blah-blah. But I thought this interview was interesting, as Celente brings up two interesting points:

1) The point he makes the most of is

depression -> currency war -> trade war -> world war

In his analysis, major depressions have always been followed by world war. He uses the Great Depression as an example of this dynamic (altho IMHO his argument would have been far more robust had he been able to find more than one example). My observation is that we are CURRENTLY in a currency war, and have been for three or four years already, since nearly all of the major nations (except the USA) have been deliberately devaluing their currency to (hopefully) stimulate exports.

We are just BEGINNING our trade wars- the USA just slapped an ~250% tariff on Chinese steel.

As far as World War (hot/ shooting war) it seems to me that every major bloc is saber-rattling by now: the EU and the USA (via NATO) is pushing hard up against the Russian border and fomenting trouble (via its terrorist proxies) in the Mideast, China is building islands in the Spratlys and building up its navy, and Russia is militarily engaged in Syria. As Celente says ... Nobody is talking peace.

2) The other point, and for him it was a minor one but for me really captured the USA zeitgeist (literally "worldghost", but more like "spirit of the times", overall mood) is that Americans have given up.

We people seem exhausted from fighting with our elected representatives and getting nowhere. The rich are getting richer, the middle class is disappearing, and any goals in the realm of improving our economy or setting our nation on a different, more peaceful, more productive, more equitable, more sustainable course have fizzled. The conversation has moved from jobs and debt to terrorism in the middle east, which is serving its intended purpose in distracting from the fact that the rich are getting richer and the middle class is disappearing. The wealthy use war to get wealthier, and the vast majority as as clueless as ever.

Gerald is an old guy ... older than me. He just laughs about it.

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Originally posted by JAYNEZTOWN:
Sometimes Luke Rudkowski is interesting, but he's often part of that tinfoil head David Icke and Alex Jones crowd

He reports on Russia's 'Withdrawal From Syria'


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In this video Luke Rudkowski goes over all the details of Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the withdrawal of Russian forces inside of Syria and the real reason why this is happening right now.

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A recent episode of Max Keiser (former Wall Street trader and current commentator on economics and finance) interviewing Gerald Celente of "Trends" magazine.
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/327519-episode-max-keiser-856/
I listen to Keiser but generally don't bring what he says to the board, as it tends to be so much blah-blah-blah. But I thought this interview was interesting, as Celente brings up two interesting points:
1) The point he makes the most of is
depression -> currency war -> trade war -> world war
In his analysis, major depressions have always been followed by world war. He uses the Great Depression as an example of this dynamic (altho IMHO his argument would have been far more robust had he been able to find more than one example).- SIGNY

There is reason for lack of repeated example - it is not a cause-effect.

The dependable trigger (for USA) is when the Defense Budget drops to record levels, we enter a War. Loss of Defense Budget results from extended periods of liberalism. Likewise for the depression sequence above. Therefore, the Depression sequence is not a serial cause-effect with World War, is is a coincidence or parallel with the Defense Budget, both resulting from extended liberalism combined with politicians ignoring the repetition of history.- JSF

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JAYNEZTOWN:
Sometimes Luke Rudkowski is interesting, but he's often part of that tinfoil head David Icke and Alex Jones crowd. He reports on Russia's 'Withdrawal From Syria'.
In this video Luke Rudkowski goes over all the details of Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the withdrawal of Russian forces inside of Syria and the real reason why this is happening right now.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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A recent episode of Max Keiser (former Wall Street trader and current commentator on economics and finance) interviewing Gerald Celente of "Trends" magazine.
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/327519-episode-max-keiser-856/
I listen to Keiser but generally don't bring what he says to the board, as it tends to be so much blah-blah-blah. But I thought this interview was interesting, as Celente brings up two interesting points:
1) The point he makes the most of is
depression -> currency war -> trade war -> world war
In his analysis, major depressions have always been followed by world war. He uses the Great Depression as an example of this dynamic (altho IMHO his argument would have been far more robust had he been able to find more than one example).- SIGNY

There is reason for lack of repeated example - it is not a cause-effect.

The dependable trigger (for USA) is when the Defense Budget drops to record levels, we enter a War. Loss of Defense Budget results from extended periods of liberalism. Likewise for the depression sequence above. Therefore, the Depression sequence is not a serial cause-effect with World War, is is a coincidence or parallel with the Defense Budget, both resulting from extended liberalism combined with politicians ignoring the repetition of history.- JSF

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Except the Defense budget has NOT dropped to "record levels". Or may not have dropped to record levels, depending on how far back in the record you want to go.





It's possible that the military reacts to ANY reduction in budget, though.

--------------
You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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A starter home is supposed to be an entry point into the market: a modest property, maybe a two bed, one-bath, a place a young couple could buy into before all the pets and kids and seldom used kitchen appliances come along.

Buy a starter home, if all goes well, and you position yourself later to trade up. A starter home helps make possible a second home, which makes possible maybe a third even grander one somewhere down the line.

But what happens when the most affordable entry-level housing on the market costs $700,000? Okay, that's an extreme example (it's from metro San Francisco). But across the country, the list prices of starter homes have been rapidly rising, running away from what would be remotely possible on the kind of incomes that could traditionally buy you such properties. In metropolitan Oakland, the median list price for a starter home is up 104 percent since 2012, according to a Trulia analysis. In Denver, it's up 78 percent. In Portland, 50 percent. In metro Washington, 37 percent. These prices are soaring, in part, because starter homes are some of the rarer creatures on the market now

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American inequality didn’t just happen. It was created. Market forces played a role, but it was not market forces alone. In a sense, that should be obvious: economic laws are universal, but our growing inequality— especially the amounts seized by the upper 1 percent—is a distinctly American “achievement.” That outsize inequality is not predestined offers reason for hope, but in reality it is likely to get worse. The forces that have been at play in creating these outcomes are self-reinforcing.

America’s current level of inequality is unusual. Compared with other countries and compared with what it was in the past even in the United States, it’s unusually large, and it has been increasing unusually fast. It used to be said that watching for changes in inequality was like watching grass grow: it’s hard to see the changes in any short span of time. But that’s not true now.

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Originally posted by JO753:
My theory:

The Earth iz being harvested by alienz and we are doing the work.

Money iz the devise they uze to make us work.

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Originally posted by second:
I’ve heard that the American Dream is to own a home. Why does it seem impossible to buy your first home? From today’s Washington Post:

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A starter home is supposed to be an entry point into the market: a modest property, maybe a two bed, one-bath, a place a young couple could buy into before all the pets and kids and seldom used kitchen appliances come along.

Buy a starter home, if all goes well, and you position yourself later to trade up. A starter home helps make possible a second home, which makes possible maybe a third even grander one somewhere down the line.

But what happens when the most affordable entry-level housing on the market costs $700,000? Okay, that's an extreme example (it's from metro San Francisco). But across the country, the list prices of starter homes have been rapidly rising, running away from what would be remotely possible on the kind of incomes that could traditionally buy you such properties. In metropolitan Oakland, the median list price for a starter home is up 104 percent since 2012, according to a Trulia analysis. In Denver, it's up 78 percent. In Portland, 50 percent. In metro Washington, 37 percent. These prices are soaring, in part, because starter homes are some of the rarer creatures on the market now

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www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/22/why-it-seems-impossible
-to-buy-your-first-home/

Why are the prices of starter homes rising faster than the average income? There is too much money chasing after too few houses. The too-much-money part is explained in article by a “Nobel Prize Economist”:

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American inequality didn’t just happen. It was created. Market forces played a role, but it was not market forces alone. In a sense, that should be obvious: economic laws are universal, but our growing inequality— especially the amounts seized by the upper 1 percent—is a distinctly American “achievement.” That outsize inequality is not predestined offers reason for hope, but in reality it is likely to get worse. The forces that have been at play in creating these outcomes are self-reinforcing.

America’s current level of inequality is unusual. Compared with other countries and compared with what it was in the past even in the United States, it’s unusually large, and it has been increasing unusually fast. It used to be said that watching for changes in inequality was like watching grass grow: it’s hard to see the changes in any short span of time. But that’s not true now.

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http://evonomics.com/nobel-prize-economist-says-american-inequality-di
dnt-just-happen-it-was-created/

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

During Obama's ACORN bubble, the unqualified homebuyers drove the prices down, and also starved out new home construction. Now the lack of under-decade old homes is raising the market values, plus the prices are returning to their normal range while no longer being artificially forced low.

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This item seeks to dump much of the blame for America's current economic woes on Barack Obama by claiming that as a young lawyer, Obama filed a lawsuit requiring financial institutions to lend money to "poor people" and "others who could not show proof that they could pay the money back."

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Originally posted by second:
See how easily I solved that confusing problem for you? Imagining aliens is a sure sign of mental confusion.

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Originally posted by JO753:

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Originally posted by second:
See how easily I solved that confusing problem for you? Imagining aliens is a sure sign of mental confusion.

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I red a story about a huje accumulation uv treasure being stolen during shipment way befor the A.D. era, never to be seen agen. Dont recall any detailz. I just wundered why it wuz being transported in the first plase.

That got me to thinking about alienz. Alienz explainz our so-called 'civilization' and wut we are doing to the planet very well. Sins I dont need to imajin alienz, I only need to explain why they are here.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

During Obama's ACORN bubble, the unqualified homebuyers drove the prices down, and also starved out new home construction. Now the lack of under-decade old homes is raising the market values, plus the prices are returning to their normal range while no longer being artificially forced low.

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I checked this at www.snopes.com/politics/obama/loans.asp and www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/alinsky.asp

Do you want to know what I learned? That you should be ashamed of yourself, JewelStaiteFan. You are spreading falsehoods.

To quote my source:

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This item seeks to dump much of the blame for America's current economic woes on Barack Obama by claiming that as a young lawyer, Obama filed a lawsuit requiring financial institutions to lend money to "poor people" and "others who could not show proof that they could pay the money back."

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I red a story about a huje accumulation uv treasure being stolen during shipment way befor the A.D. era, never to be seen agen. Dont recall any detailz. I just wundered why it wuz being transported in the first plase.

That got me to thinking about alienz. Alienz explainz our so-called 'civilization' and wut we are doing to the planet very well. Sins I dont need to imajin alienz, I only need to explain why they are here.

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Originally posted by JO753:

Not saying I believ it, just a hypothosis. . . . Taking control uv a bunch uv apes on a backwater rock coud be fun. 1 guy coud do it.

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Originally posted by FREM:
You think so, do you ?
Have you not looked at Michigan, ehe ?

Do you think that was a fluke ?
That it was some kind of accident, hrmm ?

Pfffth, morons, the lot of you.

-F5

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The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) failed in its fundamental responsibility to effectively enforce drinking water regulations. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) failed to adequately and promptly act to protect public health. Both agencies, but principally the MDEQ, stubbornly worked to discredit and dismiss others’ attempts to bring the issues of unsafe water, lead contamination, and increased cases of Legionellosis (Legionnaires’ disease) to light. With the City of Flint under emergency management, the Flint Water Department rushed unprepared into full-time operation of the Flint Water Treatment Plant, drawing water from a highly corrosive source without the use of corrosion control.

Though MDEQ was delegated primacy (authority to enforce federal law), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) delayed enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), thereby prolonging the calamity. Neither the Governor nor the Governor’s office took steps to reverse poor decisions by MDEQ and state-appointed emergency managers until October 2015, in spite of mounting problems and suggestions to do so by senior staff members in the Governor’s office, in part because of continued reassurances from MDEQ that the water was safe. The significant consequences of these failures for Flint will be long-lasting. They have deeply affected Flint’s public health, its economic future, and residents’ trust in government.

The Flint water crisis occurred when state-appointed emergency managers replaced local representative decision-making in Flint, removing the checks and balances and public accountability that come with public decision-making. Emergency managers made key decisions that contributed to the crisis, from the use of the Flint River to delays in reconnecting to DWSD once water quality problems were encountered. Given the demographics of Flint, the implications for environmental injustice cannot be ignored or dismissed.

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Originally posted by JO753:

Then, if you just go yir to yir, totalling all the income suppozedly jenerated, subtracting all the food eaten, carz and other crap purchased, the suppozedly getting richer all the time rich peeps woud need to be spending all this money sumhow.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

We people seem exhausted from fighting with our elected representatives and getting nowhere.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

" It takes a long time, to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people. " - John Dingell ( Democrat )

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

" It takes a long time, to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people. " - John Dingell ( Democrat )

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I have no idea who Dingell is, but I know AURaptor and I know there is more to that quote than what was included. To listen to the whole quote will only take a second:

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

Do you keep your head in the sand, in order to remain oblivious to those taking away your rights like Dingell?

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The biggest threat to American workers is slowly starting to go away

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

I disagree. All of the progress that was ever made in the USA ... and that goes back to FDR and before... was made because people were less stupid - and less cowardly- then. The reason why FDR came up with his patchwork of social security programs wasn't because he was a good-hearted guy who felt sorry for the populace, but because less-stupid, less-cowardly people were fomenting revolution. If he hadn't saved capitalism from itself, it might have been destroyed by the less-stupid people.

The last gasp of the less-stupid was the antiwar movement.

But we're now at the bread (government assistance) and circuses (iPhones/TV) stage, and people are content to ignore the world as long as they're in their comfy mental bubble, and wait for the building catastrophes (there are at least three or four pending) to come crashing down on them.

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Good that you mentioned FDR. Churchill ought to be included. I think a better description of what happens now is “A generation of failed politicians has trapped the West in a tawdry nightmare”.

In one of his last interviews, the historian Tony Judt lamented his “catastrophic” Anglo-American generation, whose cossetted members included George W Bush and Tony Blair. Having grown up after the defining wars and hatreds of the west’s 20th century, “in a world of no hard choices, neither economic nor political”, these historically weightless elites believed that “no matter what choice they made, there would be no disastrous consequences”.

A member of the Bush administration brashly affirmed its arrogance of power in 2004 after what then seemed a successful invasion of Iraq: “When we act,” he boasted, “we create our own reality.”

The reality it made is mayhem in Asia and Africa now reaching European and North American cities.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/01/generation-failed-politi
cians-elite-liberal-values

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What can change that?

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