WIFLI Briefing for Apr 16, 2012 - A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine

Welcome to this edition of Time 2 Escape WIFLI Briefing!

What is WIFLI?
You may be wondering what the acronym "WIFLI" means. I started out by calling these issues the Time 2 Escape Daily, but that didn't work out very well. I quickly learned that putting these issues together on a daily basis was a task I was unable to accomplish. To replace "Daily" in the title, I borrowed the acronym WIFLI, which literally means "When I Feel Like It." Putting together a post on this blog WIFLI works much better for my schedule, and for the higher quality of each issue that is eventually published!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This edition of the Time 2 Escape WIFLI Briefing may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.

WIFLI Briefing for Monday, Apr 16, 2012

SPECIAL EDITION:

A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine

Just as I was getting the latest Time 2 Escape WIFLI Briefing ready to post on April 10, Rick Santorum announced the end of his campaign. Since then, it was a pretty slow news week. So, I dared to do something a little different in this issue.

The subject matter for this WIFLI came to my attention during the "show prep" for my last edition. An email from one of the sources I subscribe to, Before It's News, alerted me to the lead story in this post.  My original thinking was to include that article in the "OUTSIDE of the BOX" section of the WIFLI Briefing I was currently working on.  But before I knew it, I found even more related material that I wanted to include, as you will see below.  The WIFLI Briefing for Apr 10, 2012 was already long enough, and so I decided to dedicate this briefing exclusively to the cashless society issue, which was actually reported on by mainstream news venues.

Thanks to author David Wolman, most of the material provided in this briefing was published in the last several weeks. His book, "The End of Money," provided several mainstream news sources with up-to-date information about the coming demise of currency and coins that became feature stories on their networks. This was an anomaly, because the subject of "cashless society" seemed to be on the fringes that you would only see in the New Media (alternative news sources), mostly because of the fact that it had been tied to the end times prophecies professed by evangelical ministries.

It seems that has now all changed. When you see the following stories, you may get chills down your spine - for one reason or another. As you will read and see in the stories and videos I have provided in this special edition, there are both advantages and possible hazards that could result from the end of what we consider as "cash" - currency and coins.

For the cheerleaders of a cashless society - banks and governments - one of the "advantages" they espouse is:

Cash is favored by criminals because it does not leave a paper trail. Eliminating cash would make it much more difficult for drug dealers, prostitutes and other criminals to do business.

That sounds so obvious, doesn't it? That sounds like a plausible argument for the elimination of cash. However, the fact is, the criminal elements in society will move to other crimes that don't involve the necessary use of cash for illegal transactions, or the need for armed robberies. Criminal activities are now moving toward cyber-crime, i.e. identity theft and internet scams. Kent Lawson wrote a column on April 9, 2012, called "Why Internet Crime Actually Does Pay." In the article, Kent reports that such crimes as bank robbery have a high risk for the criminals, being that nearly 25% of the bank robbers are caught, convicted, and spend hard time in prison. And how about the cyber criminals? Read this:

In 2011, the FBI reported that 300,000 identity theft victims lost a combined $1.1 billion to Internet criminals. That’s an average of about $3,666 per victim, which is about half the rate the average bank robber makes per robbery.

But here’s the important detail: the typical Internet criminal commits literally thousands of these crimes and almost never gets caught. And those who do get caught hardly spend any time in jail.

That kind of blows a hole in the theory that a cashless society will suffer less from crime. The crime stats (as reported by Roger Grimes) show many more victims with cyber crimes and much less risk for the perpetrators.

There is a reason for many people to be hesitant or even very nervous when it comes to the end of cash. The concern is well deserved when it comes down to why governments would want to demonize the use of cash:

Most of all, a cashless society would give governments more control. Governments would be able to track virtually all transactions and would also be able to monitor tax compliance much more closely.

Think about it: The days of cheating on your taxes by understating your income in a cashless society would be gone forever. (Please note: Most of you that will file your taxes tomorrow wouldn't consider doing that anyway, as you are probably aware of how the U.S. federal government finally took down the notorious gangster Al Capone - which was accomplished long BEFORE the use of electronic transactions!)

But other than keeping tax cheating to a minimum, could there be something more insidious about the kind of control the government could have with a cashless economy? Do you think that Big Brother could end up with a lot more control over our lives? Could it mean less freedom for us? Those are questions that come to my mind and part of the reason why I am posting this special edition to the Time 2 Escape WIFLI Briefing.

As you probably realize by now, and for sure by the time you are done examining this post, the use of cash will eventually be a thing of the past. Society is steadily moving in that direction, and has been for years. However, it does appear as though the trend is picking up speed, and it IS coming closer than most people realize. It could be a very short period of time now, at least in the developed parts of the world. And if you are against eliminating cash, I have some bad news for you: I do not believe there is anything you can do about it! Sure, there will be "extremist" cyber terrorists out there that may try to attack the global banking and electronic money systems, but they won't succeed in the end. Governments and the banking industry are vastly stepping up the cyber security that is necessary to prevent such attacks. For the individual, the average citizen, about the only thing we can do is to try to keep our identities protected from cyber theft to the best of our abilities.

In the mean time, for what it's worth, is that for many people, the belief that a cashless society is a necessary event in the End Time prophecies. Yes, of course, I had that in mind when preparing this publication. At the end of this edition is a youtube video of an Irvin Baxter discussion on this topic. It will give you an added perspective to consider when taking in this WIFLI Briefing. It gave me the motivation and a purpose to publish this WIFLI Briefing! I'm just sayin'...

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A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
From BEFORE IT'S NEWS ~ Mar 29, 2012 6:37

Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine. To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily. Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money. Just think about it for a moment. Where do you still use cash these days? If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment. Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins. But what would a cashless society mean for our future? Are there any dangers to such a system?

Those are very important questions, but most of the time both sides of the issue are not presented in a balanced way in the mainstream media. Instead, most mainstream news articles tend to trash cash and talk about how wonderful digital currency is.

For example, a recent CBS News article declared that soon we may not need "that raggedy dollar bill" any longer and that the "greenback may soon be a goner"....

... READ MORE ...

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Canada drops the penny
From Fox News FEATURED VIDEOS ~ Apr 7, 2012

Will US follow suit?

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

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Author envisions a cash-free world in years to come
From CTV NEWS ~ CTVNews.ca Staff ~ Mar 22, 2012, 7:04 PM ET

What would life be like without money?

In his new book, "The End of Money," author David Wolman tackles that intriguing question for 21st-century citizens.

Author DAVID WOLMAN

Wolman was able to answer that question after traveling the world and spending one year avoiding the use of bills and coins in his day-to-day life.

"It really wasn't that hard, up until those handful of occasions when it was totally impossible," Wolman said on Thursday on CTV's Canada AM.

From farmers' markets to shoe shine stalls, Wolman came across environments where only cash would seal a deal, even in today's age of smartphones and online technologies.

Even paying his babysitter became awkward.

"I tried to convince her dad to open a PayPal account, but he said no," Wolman said as he spoke via satellite from Portland, Oregon.

Incidents such as these often mystified Wolman, who had become "outraged" in recent years by the high costs attached to producing coins in the United States.

"A few years ago, I was reading about the lopsided economics of producing coinage, especially pennies and nickels," said Wolman.

"Right now, here in the States it costs more than the value stamped on these things," he said.

That imbalance inspired the contributing editor to "Wired" to write a tongue-and-cheek article for the American publication about living in a world without money.

"The response was thundering," said Wolman.

In the book that followed, Wolman presents an entertaining history of money across the ages.

... READ MORE ...

RELATED VIDEO:
In the column above, there is a video with David Wolman being interviewed by CTV News. Unfortunately, that video does not include the embedding code in order to share it here in this blog. (If you click on READ MORE to read the entire column, you can then see that video there!) So, instead, I have found the following video for an interview of David Wolman on youtube.com, which you can view below.

Are We Moving Towards a Cashless Society?

Video provided by TheAlyonaShow ~ Mar 14, 2012

Have you ever wondered if one day, cold, hard cash, will simply cease to exist? As more transactions are carried out via credit, online or on your smart phone, paper money and coins have become an inconvenience. David Wolman, author of the "The End of Money" went one year without using cash, with a few exceptions; he joins the show to discuss.

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Why cash is losing its currency
From CBSNews Sunday ~ Mar 25, 2012 @ 9:24 AM

For generations now, storekeepers have been making change by taking bills and coins out of the cash register drawer. Now many experts say changing technology is nickel-and-diming old-fashioned cash out of existence. So is cash a relic of a bygone era? Our Cover Story is reported by Lee Cowan:


It's what the wallet was invented for, to carry cash. After all, there was a time when we needed cash everywhere we went, from filling stations to pay phones. Even the tooth fairy dealt only in cash.

But money isn't just physical anymore. It's not only the pennies in your piggy bank, or that raggedy dollar bill.

Money is also digital - it's zeros and ones stored in a computer, prompting some economists to predict the old-fashioned greenback may soon be a goner.

"There will be a time - I don't know when, I can't give you a date - when physical money is just going to cease to exist," said economist Robert Reich.

Economists like Reich say the demise of cash has been happening ever since our financial fortunes could first be told by a piece of plastic with a magnetic strip.

That was half a century ago - and now? "95 percent of the transactions in America, or more, have nothing to do with physical pieces of paper or coins," Reich said.

Think about it. Parking meters, taxis, tolls, even Girl Scout cookies don't require cash anymore, all proof (argue some) that cash's days are numbered.

"Everyone thinks cash is so simple and so easy and so fast and so secure. It's NONE of those things," said author David Wolman. In his new book, "The End of Money," he argues the biggest knock against cash is that it's costly.

"It's really expensive to move it, store it, secure it, inspect it, shred it, redesign it, re-supply it, and round and round we go!" Wolman said.

It already costs the U.S. government almost TWICE as much to make a penny and a nickel, than they're actually WORTH.

But that's only one cost. Wolman says cash is also the currency of crime - drug deals, bribes, and bank robberies.

And there's something else: It's not particularly clean.

"I'm right there with you," Wolman agreed. "It's pretty gross!

... READ MORE ...

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A Cashless Society

Video provided by endtimeministries on Dec 15, 2011

Endtime Ministries presents an excerpt of the December 14th show with Irvin Baxter. Visit Endtime.com for more information about Endtime Ministries.

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Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

They believe they're gods ~ By Erik Rush

Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so persuasive that prudent men had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.

~ Woodrow Wilson, "The New Freedom"

So, who was Woodrow Wilson talking about in the quote above? Erik Rush believes that the progressive president, Wilson, was talking about "We the People" as being those that "the biggest men in the United States" are afraid of:

I submit that, although these dark lords do indeed exist and are certainly influential in sociopolitical developments worldwide, they do not possess the degree of authority that conspiracy theorists believe they have, nor the authority they believe they have.

They've made the mistake of believing that they are gods – and they're wrong. There is but one God, and I believe that those who are working toward the preservation of this nation as a constitutional republic are doing His work.

Erik continues on with his discussion of the elites by concluding the following:

This is why I believe that so much effort is being put into demonizing grassroots movements in America, members of the tea party in particular. The elites I have elucidated upon here know that should Americans succeed in gaining real control of any political party (whether the existing ones, or others in the offing), their time as puppet masters in America will be short.

.

They believe they're gods

ERIK RUSH

By Erik Rush

January 27, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Over the last week, I've had conversations with colleagues which touched on the concept that the entire left-right paradigm of the political parties in America is fallacious, à la professor Carroll Quigley (1910-77). In the "real" model (according to those who argue so), neither of the two preeminent parties in America actually represent divergent ideals and policies, but only appear to. Those ignorant – but extremely useful – ideologues and voters who "fight the good fight" only serve to distract and to empower a cadre of global elites. These power players, like progressives, are essentially societal parasites, rather than visionaries or workers who produce wealth. They actually transcend, if you will, the political system in which most of us operate.

Let us presume for a moment that this is precisely the case. It would infer then, that the threat of progressive-Marxist collectivism against which so many of us preach is simply a "smoke soldier," having no real power to implement those odious things people such as myself claim are around the bend. The same could be said about Islamofascism then, since that doctrine would obliterate the power – and the wealth – of such forces.

I believe the truth is somewhere in between. Over the last decade in particular, many have recognized that there is scant difference between how the Republican and Democratic Parties operate, and this assertion certainly has some merit. If we are to take even a few people at their word, then we must presume that there are still some constitutional conservatives in our government. If that is true, then of course those who are attempting to reinstitute constitutional principles in government are on the right track. This would include members of the tea-party movement, who are operating through the GOP, for example.

Also true – in the "false left-right paradigm" – would be the threat perceived regarding the advent of such grassroots movements on the part of those power players operating through both political parties. Now, despite the supposed anonymity of these people, we do know who they are, because they have never really operated with the degree of secrecy claimed by some Americans.

Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.

~ Mayer Amschel Rothschild, international banker

One we know to be Hungarian financier George Soros, who operates quite out in the open. Controlling money is what Soros is about. He has made billions manipulating currencies and creating untold suffering among "little people" all over the globe. His imperious and cavalier rhetoric concerning the restructuring of America and the decline of its currency have been nothing short of monumentally audacious, as well as manifestly seditious.

Does this mean that our situation is hopeless, that the system is hopelessly corrupt, and that all of our heroes – from grassroots citizens, to lawmakers and statesmen who remain faithful to the Constitution – are essentially micturating into the wind?

I think not.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Obama's New World Order manifesto ~ By Joseph Farah

June 15, 2010 - When we are successful, and we will be: Welcome to the New World Order

President George H. W. Bush said when he was President that there will be a New World Order. President Bush was prophetic when he said, "When we are successful, and we will be," It is the sole purpose of President Obama to fulfill that prophesy.

Now, I don't know, maybe Joseph Farah was watching this video when he got the idea for his column yesterday. Either way, it is strange that I had written the description for this video as I did back on June 15, 2010. I have had the feeling about Obama's rise to the presidency with no executive experience and a weird and largely unknown past (like, why did he travel to Pakistan as a young man?), there was some sinister force (George Soros, maybe?) that was backing him. So, along comes this column, where Joseph Farah found the misnamed "National Security Strategy," which is actually a blueprint for an international order, or as George H. W. Bush called it, a "NEW WORLD ORDER." Just sayin'...

Do you get the picture? Do you want to read more? Do you need to read more? Keep in mind, this is Obama's National Security Strategy. Heaven help us.

By Joseph Farah

Posted: June 24, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2010

Lost in all the chaos of the Gulf oil spill is Barack Obama's 52-page manifesto for a New World Order.

I invite you to read for yourself his misnamed "National Security Strategy" – misnamed because it is actually a blueprint for running the whole world like he's been running the United States since January 2009.

Obama is hardly the first president to plead for America to join a New World Order. It started with the first George Bush (emphasis mine...  more evidence he saw the video above?) and has continued unabated through three more administrations. But Obama's so-called "National Security Strategy" has little to do with securing the U.S. from threats and much more to do with turning over the U.S. to the illegitimate authority of global organizations.

It starts early in the table of contents: "Promoting a Just and Sustainable International Order."

Woodrow Wilson tried with the League of Nations. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried with the United Nations. I guess we're going to keep trying this path until we get it right.

Nowhere in this document will you see the word "sovereignty" used in regard to the United States – only about Iraq and Russia. (Maybe all of us who want to live in a free and independent nation need to move to one of those locales?)

The last seven pages of the document are about this new "international order" Obama wants to build – a pretty ambitious agenda for a guy who has never run any business or served in any executive capacity before assuming the presidency. But don't worry. His plan is to bring in some people with lots of experience running things – the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to name a few.

This "international order" term is not a theme in the report, it's an obsession:

• "Just as America helped to determine the course of the 20th century, we must now build the sources of American strength and influence, and shape an international order capable of overcoming the challenges of the 21st century."

• "We will do so by building upon the sources of our strength at home, while shaping an international order that can meet the challenges of our time. This strategy recognizes the fundamental connection between our national security, our national competitiveness, resilience and moral example. And it reaffirms America's commitment to pursue our interests through an international system in which all nations have certain rights and responsibilities."

• "This engagement will underpin our commitment to an international order based upon rights and responsibilities. International institutions must more effectively represent the world of the 21st century, with a broader voice – and greater responsibilities – for emerging powers, and they must be modernized to more effectively generate results on issues of global interest."

• "Finally, our efforts to shape an international order that promotes a just peace must facilitate cooperation capable of addressing the problems of our time. This international order will support our interests, but it is also an end that we seek in its own right. New challenges hold out the prospect of opportunity, but only if the international community breaks down the old habits of suspicion to build upon common interests. A global effort to combat climate change must draw upon national actions to reduce emis­sions and a commitment to mitigate their impact. Efforts to prevent conflicts and keep the peace in their aftermath can stop insecurity from spreading. Global cooperation to prevent the spread of pandemic disease can promote public health."

• "An international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security and oppor­tunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges."

• "Our engagement will underpin a just and sustainable international order – just, because it advances mutual interests, protects the rights of all and holds accountable those who refuse to meet their responsibilities; sustainable because it is based on broadly shared norms and fosters collective action to address common challenges."

• "This engagement will pursue an international order that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations. As we did after World War II, we must pursue a rules-based international system that can advance our own interests by serving mutual interests. International institutions must be more effective and representative of the diffusion of influence in the 21st century. Nations must have incentives to behave responsibly, or be isolated when they do not. The test of this international order must be the cooperation it facilitates and the results it generates – the ability of nations to come together to confront common challenges like violent extremism, nuclear proliferation, climate change and a changing global economy."

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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Global governance is here! ~ By Henry Lamb

Hooray for Glenn Beck, and for Henry Lamb! Like Glenn, I too have been learning about global governance, only for me it has been for the last several years. Though I had thought much about the subject going back as far as the late 1970's, it wasn't until I became an avid reader of everything Henry Lamb has written about the subject on WorldNetDaily.com that I started seeing just how true it is, that GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IS HERE! Just sayin'...

I decided that it would be a great idea to have at least one of the Beck segments embedded into this post where he is talking about global governance. As Glenn Beck followers know, some of Glenn's segments can go beyond the 10 minute limit for youtube videos, so I have included the first two videos from his May 13, 2010 show:

Videos provided by captainusa





For the remainder of the Glenn Beck show for May 13, 2010, which you should definitely watch, click here to go to the NEW ZEAL blog.

Glenn Beck is in the process of discovering what global governance really is, and he is not afraid to tell his audience what he is learning, even though he knows his critics will ridicule his observations. It matters not how blatant the ridicule is, or the source from which it comes. "Global governance is here, it is here to stay, and … it will inevitably expand," unless the American people come to grips with the facts.

The American system of government that made America the greatest nation on earth cannot survive in the system of global governance being designed by the United Nations. The American system of government must be "fundamentally transformed" to fit into the European mold. This transformation is well under way.

By Henry Lamb

Posted: May 22, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Hooray for Glenn Beck! Right out there in front of God and everybody, he talks about global governance as a real and present danger. But right on cue, progressive bloggers do their best to ridicule the idea with wisdom such as this:

Seriously, for a moment. We're going to have to address the paranoia about a global takeover at some point – probably in easy-to-comprehend, Dick-and-Jane language – for the tea party.

Could it be that these people really don't know that global governance is already here?

As early as 1997, Gustave Speth, former head of the World Resources Institute, former Clinton transition team member and then head of the United Nations Development Program, told the Rio +5 gathering in Rio de Janeiro:

Global governance is here, here to stay, and, driven by economic and environmental globalization, global governance will inevitably expand.

Speaking to the delegates to the U.N. Conference on Climate Change at The Hague in 2000, then- French President Jacques Chirac said:

For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance, one that should find a place within the World Environmental Organization which France and the European Union would like to see established.

Just last month, Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York:

… the emerging economies are now economically and financially so important and systemically so influential that they must have a full and proper ownership of global governance.

Glenn Beck is helping people realize that global governance is not an event. Global governance did not occur as the result of an invasion of blue-helmeted U.N. troops delivered in black helicopters. Instead, global governance is:

… the framework of rules, institutions, and practices that set limits on behavior of individuals, organizations, and companies. (U.N. Development Report, 1999, p. 34)

Few people realized that when the United States agreed to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), March 3, 1973, that by Dec. 28, 1973, there would be a federal law – the Endangered Species Act – "limiting the behavior of individuals, organizations, and companies" to comply with the "framework of rules" created by the institution called the United Nations.

Few people recognized it to be global governance when the United States endorsed the report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in 1976, which said:

Private land ownership is a principal instrument of accumulating wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice. Public control of land use is therefore indispensable.

By 1996, however, the recommendations in this report were being implemented through the President's Council on Sustainable Development and were imposing comprehensive land-use plans, which mandate "… limits on behavior of individuals, organizations, and companies," as prescribed by the institution called the United Nations.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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will help me to attend tea party rallies,
(especially the one in Las Vegas, on July 15-17)!

The end of La Dolce Vita ~ By Patrick J. Buchanan

For those that don't know, "La Dolce Vita" is Italian for "the good life" or "the sweet life." I only know because I just looked it up. That should tell you what you need to know to understand just what Pat is saying.  We have become so accustomed to the good life, despite the huge cost, what will happen if can't be paid for in the future? What will happen if the economies of Europe and America collapse? A one world economic system? Global governance? Tyranny? We may be about to find out.

La Dolce Vita is coming to an end. The ever-expanding European and American welfare states of the 20th century will contract in the 21st. Some have already begun to shrink. A time of austerity is at hand.

Indeed, what is about to be tested is democracy itself.

Can democracies that attracted universal applause in the golden years of rising expectations impose upon their citizens the enduring and painful sacrifices necessary in a time of retrenchment?

We are about to find out.

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted: May 06, 2010 ~ 8:16 pm Eastern

© 2010

Are Europe and America headed to where Athens is today?

To answer the question, consider what brought Greece to where she is – running a deficit of 14 percent of gross domestic product with a debt approaching 100 percent, with Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Great Britain not that far behind.

How did this happen?

Protected by the United States through a half-century of Cold War, Europe cut back on defense and ratcheted up spending for La Dolce Vita.

All of Europe adopted universal health care. All voted in a shorter workweek, a higher minimum wage, greater job security, earlier retirements and munificent pensions.

As the cradle-to-grave welfare states rose, an ever-increasing share of the labor force left the private sector for the security of the public sector.

Tax-consumers, the beneficiaries of the welfare states and the bureaucrats that ran them, grew in number, as taxpayers declined as a share of the labor force. Though Greece was far from the most productive nation in Europe, Athens led the parade.

After the baby boom ended, the pill arrival in the 1960s. Then came abortion on demand in the 1970s.

The fertility rate of Greece and every European nation fell below the 2.1 births per woman needed to replace an existing population. Greece's birth rate has been below zero population growth for three decades.

Result: In Year 2000, Greece had just under 11 million people and a median age of 38. In 2050, Greece is projected to have just under 11 million people, but the median age will be 50.

Were Greece a company, the solution would be bankruptcy.

But Greece is a country. And a bailout of $141 billion is being put together by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Why? Because, should Greece decide not to take a chain saw to her welfare state, but walk away from her debts and default, she would blow a hole in the balance sheets of the biggest banks in Europe.

Then the banks would have to be bailed out.

Seeing Greece's bondholders being burned, terrified holders of Portuguese and Spanish debt would start dumping their bonds, forcing Madrid and Lisbon to pay a higher interest rate both to sell new bonds and roll over the old ones coming due. Rather than savage their welfare-state programs, and risk riots in the streets and a massacre at the polls, Madrid and Lisbon, too, might look agreeably at default.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, though exasperated with the Greeks, is urging Germans to back the $141 billion bailout: "Nothing less than the future of Europe ... is at stake."

Merkel believes there is no alternative. But there is an alternative – a restructuring of Greece's debt or a default where the holders of Greek bonds suffer the fate of the holders of bonds from Lehman Brothers and General Motors.

Inevitably, this is what is going to happen.

For how long will Greeks work longer, retire later and live on smaller pensions, so holders of Greek bonds can get their interest payments right on time?

The EU and IMF may, with the bailout of Greece, kick this can up the road. But the crisis will return. For the nations of Europe have made commitments beyond their capacity to keep, given their growing debts and aging populations.

And America is not all that far behind.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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Is alternative to dollar in works?

From WorldNetDaily

Plan for 'Special Drawing Rights' creates competition for reserve currency By Jerome R. Corsi Posted: October 20, 2009 ~ 9:38 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily The administration of President Barack Obama, without congressional authorization, is advancing a plan that could end the use of the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency by setting up International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights to compete. The move comes as the dollar heads toward a 14-month low of $1.50/euro and as some top fund managers, including some of President Obama's top financial supporters, worry the decline will continue as long as Obama depends on China to fund trillion dollar budget deficits. It is Obama's promise to participate in a G20 nations agreement by giving $250 billion to the IMF to set up the alternative reserve currency that now has been documented in the final communiqué of the London meeting, according to the G20 website. At G20.org, a report under "The London Summit 2009" reveals the LondonSummit.gov.uk/en/ site where "Point 5" of the final communiqué says the G20 agreed to allocate that amount to Special Drawing Rights in a move calculated to provide the liquidity needed to position SDRs as a dollar alternative in international trade. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]

Emergency Broadcast - The New World Order Is Here

I came across this video that must be shared. It will make you think. While the One World Government, or the New World Order, or whatever you want to call it, may not yet be in place, do you get the feeling that the path leading to it is being paved? After watching this video, I doubt that you will still feel that it is a long way off. It isn't going to be too much longer, in my humble but well informed opinion. It's happening now! There is a book that I read a couple of years ago, By Dr. Stanley Monteith, called, "Brotherhood of Darkness." I highly recommend reading it at your earliest opportunity. It is very educational, as Dr. Monteith explains just how the New World Order will be brought to us, and the secret societies who are behind it. In fact, I may just read it again myself. Youu can buy the book here, or check to see if they have it at Amazon. Now, it's video time. Watch this and be prepared to be in totally stunned silence when you're done: RELATED STORY: Read about "Brotherhood of Darkness" by Dr. Stanley Monteith

Ho-hum – the collapse of the dollar ~ By Joseph Farah

Farah is surprised to see such a story draw a collective yawn. Government and the central bank are pushing all the wrong buttons. The death of the dollar is near. If you want to avoid a total catastrophe in this country, one that will affect not only you but your children and grandchildren, it's time to get out in the streets and stop the madness. read more | digg story

Playing president - By Henry Lamb

Barry Obama, along with all of his mind-numbed minions, will think that he is accomplishing things, while all along this stooge is simply playing the role of president while others use him to advance their own agenda to establish a New World Order... Oh yeah, sorry, I meant to say Global Governance. Henry Lamb lays it all out for you here. read more | digg story

U.S. backs global alternative to dollar

The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi's Red Alert Posted: March 19, 2009 © 2009 WorldNetDaily Increasingly, the International Monetary Fund, with the support of the United States and Russia, appears positioned to launch a one-world currency at the upcoming G-20 meeting in London. The move is intended to be a last-ditch effort to prevent massive bank failures from occurring throughout the European Union. The idea is for the IMF to issue at least $250 billion in Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, to IMF member states as a method of placing a safety net under developing countries that might otherwise have to declare bankruptcy. The idea gained momentum Tuesday when the Moscow Times published an article revealing that the Kremlin intended to use the G-20 meeting, beginning April 2, to push for the IMF to utilize SDRs as "a super-reserve currency widely accepted by the whole of the international community." U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is on the record calling for the G-20 to support "substantially increasing emergency IMF resources" by up to $500 billion to deal with the global economic crisis. "The IMF is looking for about $500 billion in SDRs in order to bail out the European Union banks that have lost trillions of dollars making loans into the Eastern European countries the EU thought would adopt the euro after joining the EU," said Bob Chapman, author of the online International Forecaster newsletter, in a telephone interview. "If the United States or other countries come up with $500 billion the IMF wants to back these new SDRs, the $500 billion will end up being loans to the IMF that the IMF will simply never pay back," Chapman explained. [Continue reading]

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The Obama Deception

"The Obama Deception" is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people. The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery. See the video below, or click here to read more of the video description and see the video at youtube.com.

digg story ~ Submitted by ErickLiberty

I'm depressed … but preparing -- By Patrice Lewis

Whatever your views on the cause of our current economy, and whatever your views on what is needed to pull us out, remember this: In the end, the only thing you can depend upon is YOU. You're the only who can tighten your belt, buy seeds, stockpile food, plug those financial leaks... whatever it takes. But don't bury your head in the sand! read more | digg story

Is liberalism anti-intellectual? - By Ellis Washington

Under the pretext of an imminent economic depression, Obama will use the machinery of government to repress our God-given natural rights of the people on an unprecedented scale. Unless Obama's anti-intellectual, Marxist moves are stopped; this country will no longer be called USA but USSA – the United Socialist States of America. read more | digg story

Out of chaos, a new world order - By Joseph Farah

Henry Kissinger wrote a very important article in the International Herald Tribune Jan. 12, [2009], and it was meant as a signal – marching orders, if you will, for a disparate band of elitists determined to bring about a new form of global rule that will supersede our notions of national sovereignty, limited government and personal freedom. [Read this story] digg story

Glenn Beck: The End Game is Global Government & One Currency

“There is a global meltdown coming. It is global depression. And one world currency and one world financial system is the endgame.” Glen Beck Says, “China said last week they want one global currency. France said yesterday … they want one world order - a new world order at the end of this event." digg story, submitted by ColumbusRep