More than 700 schools in the United States are currently closed due to the H1N1 (we’re-not-allowed-to-call-it-“swine-flu”-anymore) flu scare. The US government is now saying these schools should reopen, as the flu risk has been recently lowered. However, anyone infected with the virus is still asked to stay home for a 7-day period (duh).
The US has reported 403 cases of H1N1, most of which have been mild. Read more…
An assassination plot against President Obama has been foiled in Turkey. US officials are allegedly taking the threat “very seriously.” However, the president did not need to change his schedule. The man who had been planning the attack was arrested last week in Turkey. Read more…
Not that Fox News is widely renowned for their objectivity, but they recently b*tch slapped their neighbors to the north by calling them stupid, effeminate, cowardly, and lazy - among other adjectives. Just watch it for yourself:
Wow, could this be true?
The company set up to manage the money of former presidential candidate Ross Perot is liquidating a fixed-income hedge fund. Perot and his family are the biggest investors in the fund. The company, Parkcentral Global Hub Ltd., saw assets fall as much as 40 percent to $1.5 billion this year through October. Read more…
This is from Drudge Report and Matt Drudge is hosting it on his own site, so I am not sure about the accuracy, but regardless it’s an interesting read:
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.
Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily IZVESTIA published on Monday: “The dollar is not secured by anything. The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse.”
The paper said Panarin’s dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year’s events.
When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: “It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world’s financial regulator.”
When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: “Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia.”
Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: “A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles.”
He also cited the “vulnerable political setup”, “lack of unified national laws”, and “divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions.”
He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.
He even suggested that “we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all.” Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.
Read more.
All signs point to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) having more power in the 21st century… and US dominance to end. But how much power will the US keep?
The National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends report, issued every four years to document looming problems, predicts a new global system will emerge where no single state dominates.
“By 2025, the U.S. will find itself as one of a number of important actors on the world stage, albeit still the most powerful one,” the report by U.S. intelligence agencies says.
China is poised to have more impact than any other country, but the report also foresees a rise by India and Russia.
If trends continue, the report predicts China will have the world’s second-largest economy by 2025, be a leading military power, while becoming the world’s largest importer of natural resources and also the biggest polluter.
What is striking, the report notes, is that none of the three rising stars adhere to a Western liberal model but rather a system of state capitalism, under which the government takes a key role in economic management.
The transition will leave a world system “almost unrecognizable” in comparison to today, the report says.
It says there will be an unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from the West to East, with rising oil and commodity prices in the Gulf States and Russia and lower production costs shifting manufacturing and service industries to Asia. While terrorism is unlikely to disappear by 2025, the report says its appeal could decline if economic growth continues in the Middle East.
The report also suggests al-Qaeda may “decay sooner” than expected after alienating supporters by killing Muslims in its attacks and failing to gain traction in large parts of the Islamic world.
With more than 1.2 billion more people in the world by 2025, natural resource issues such as energy, food and water will be the increasing focus of conflicts, the report says.
The effects of climate change will be uneven, but the report mentions Canada alongside Russia as two countries who will benefit from it over the next 20 years.
Read more.
President-elect Barack Obama appeared on 60 Minutes last week to weigh in on all the big issues, after taking an apparent media break since his election:
Since last week’s historic election of Barack Obama’s as the next U.S. president, a number of high-profile Europeans have been sticking their feet in their mouths while commenting on the situation (Well, some were being outright racist). For example, a leading Austrian television journalist said - on camera - that he “wouldn’t want the Western world to be directed by a black man.” The Italian Prime Minister tried to joke about it, by describing Obama as “young, handsome and even suntanned.” The National Democratic Party of Germany ran the headline, “Africa Conquers the White House,” on their website. And these aren’t even the extremists. Read more…
A little transparency from president-elect Barack Obama: a set of “behind the scenes” photos from election night. Relive the evening here…
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