Doc: Maxed Out, about increasing debt
Title: “Maxed Out”
It’s in 9 parts on YouTube, amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbC-N8nhBkE
Documentary: Monsanto
Title: “The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won’t ever see.”
If the link breaks, search for the title at video.google.com.
90,000 infants neglected
About 1 in 50 infants in the U.S. have been neglected or abused,
according to the first national study of the problem in that age group.
My question: why is this the first national study that has been conducted on this problem? Neglected children grow up to be emotionally imbalanced adults. The cycle continues.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_on_he_me/infant_neglect;_ylt=At_Fhdbafgj3__lQPXMWCpSs0NUE
Canals, flooding, construction
Title: “Old canals concern federal water bosses”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080405/ap_on_re_us/aging_irrigation_canals;_ylt=AlUY2jCKiLNWlYmxtBd8t2ms0NUE
Citizen’s Arrest! sort of
It’s thug paradise: cop shortages due to budget cuts means Joe Public answers 911 calls.
Title says all: “National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute”
This article has a number of great statistics, some of which truly put things into perspective. For example:
“We pay in interest four times more than we spend on education and four
times what it will cost to cover 10 million children with health
insurance for five years,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“That’s fiscal irresponsibility.”
No, madam politician, it’s the definition of insanity. Servicing the interest alone (not the actual principal of the Federal Debt - JUST THE INTEREST) costs taxpayers 4X what we spend on education?!!
Here’s a great little table I made up from information in that article:
Year — US Federal Debt, in trillions
1989 — $2.7
2001 — $5.7 (average of $250 billion per year over 12 years added)
2008 — $10 (average of $600 billion per year over 8 years added)
Ok, so clearly we have an accelerating debt burden. As any “subprime borrower” can tell you, that’s not a good thing. You need to either curb borrowing or increase your ability to make payments. Thankfully, both of these tendencies are right around the corner for Uncle Sam. Yeah, not so much:
Over the next 25 years, the number of Americans aged 65 and up is
expected to almost double. The work population will shrink and more and
more baby boomers will be drawing Social Security and Medicare
benefits, putting new demands on the government’s resources. (…) Aggravating the debt picture: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates could cost $2.4 trillion over the next decade.
This article is one of the best pieces on public finance that I’ve seen in the mainstream press in a while. The parallels to the current mortgage fiasco are deservedly prominent - a very worthwhile read.
Drug Cos Buying Influence at the University Level
First sentence knockout:
Nearly two-thirds of academic leaders surveyed at U.S. medical schools
and teaching hospitals have financial ties to industry, illustrating
how pervasive these relationships have become, researchers say.The article is worth a read.
Nothing to see here, people. Move Along…
A brief collection of quotes from a few officials who might, one would think, have been in the position to know what was on the horizon for the housing market. Maybe they didn’t want to precipitate a calamity by issuing dire warnings, but these quotes hardly help the credibility of any statements issued from the mouths of any talking head involved in public perception about these issues.
Lord Save our Tax Dollars Because We Aren’t Drowing Yet
Poll: Americans worried but reject higher taxes to fix bridges - CNN.com
In another act of short sided weirdness, here we are scared to spend to fix infrastructure that could be dangerous. I have no idea how the wording of the question was phrased but strongly urge the American public to connect a few of the dots between recent disasters. I.e., couldn’t they have all been avoided with some system maintenance? The biggest problem is coming up with a way to overhaul budgets to make the dollars we spend more useful. I would start with the military and subsidies. Can anyone get some hard facts about how much we spend on infrastructure compared to other things?
Thanks!
More Army Expenditures - Yawn
Army to expand recruiting incentives - Yahoo! News
This is just ridiculous. The army needs more manpower to feed it’s incompetent war, which isn’t it’s fault. Rather than keeping us safe in a time of need, they are defending the interests of big business. Fine, it’s old news and my description is probably too simplistic by more than half. But when I read about stuff like this, 45K for four years service, I can only ask whom they are trying to recruit and whom they are trying to fool? God save the troops because last I heard there was a shortage of body armor. feh.