Denial Of Service Attacks
Hmm. Both my host and typepad were hit by DDoS attacks today and were down for prolonged periods of time. Wonder what the connection is. This may be on and off for a while, I apologize for the inconvenience.
Government Offers Very Little ROI
The trustees of Social Security and Medicare now estimate that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2040 while the Medicare trust fund will be depleted in 2018, slightly sooner than previously forecast…
…The term “trust fund exhaustion” does not mean that there are no funds available – rather, it means that the system will be able to pay out only a percentage of promised benefits…
…The report also estimates, as it did last year, that come 2017 Social Security will no longer be taking in enough payroll tax to pay all promised benefits and will need to tap the special-issue bonds that make up its trust fund. In order to make good on repaying those bonds, the federal government will have to borrow more money, raise taxes, cut spending elsewhere or reduce benefits.
This is the case across the board, costs are increasing, benefits are decreasing, and everyone is having a hard time justifying paying their taxes.
Profiles In Panic
This article outlines why citizens can not rely upon government (the GOP in particular) to handle oil issues –
The response so far has been profiles in panic. Some conservatives dropped their philosophical opposition to tax hikes and business regulations and began complaining loudly about oil companies and the auto industry.
President Bush last week announced that he wanted the authority to raise fuel economy standards on automobiles. One aide acknowledged the idea was devised on the fly, with almost no planning or discussion among relevant agencies. This became obvious within hours when White House officials cautioned that Bush had no immediate plan to use the authority even if he had it.
A few days earlier, Bush backed diverting crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an idea he dismissed less than two years earlier as a political stunt.
Republican lawmakers likewise have responded with a mishmash of solutions — some barely vetted, others with little chance of becoming law.
They proposed an accounting-rule change that would have amounted to a tax increase on any company that maintains an inventory, including oil firms. Then they dropped it after business supporters yelped. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) yesterday called the idea “stupid.”
Well said.
Iraqi Troops Protest
Reuters –
Hundreds of newly graduated Iraqi soldiers protested after a passing out parade on Sunday saying they were promised they would serve only in their hometowns.
Look for this to continue as the country fractures along cultural fault lines.
The al Qaeda Has Lost Argument
Harold Hutchinson of StrategyPage perpetuates the bubble/optimistic vision of Iraq–
Despite the many brickbats of the media, al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, and is now retreating to lick its wounds where it can…
…In trying to defeat the United States, al Qaeda made three big mistakes: They fought the last information war, they underestimated the American leadership, and they also managed to anger the Iraqi people.
To flesh out his argument regarding al Qaeda “fighting the last information war” Hutchison ironically points at the lack of a major significant media event (like the bodies being dragged through the streets in Somalia circa 1993). This peak datapoint came in the form of the bombing of the al-Askari Mosque.
From the AQ perspective the American loss of Iraq is a given. And while “American leadership” has managed to “stay the course” (if we disregard the rapid withdrawal taking place under the guise of handing the reins to the Iraqi security structure) AQ’s Iraqi efforts have exploited the various fault lines in the American nation state in order to create gaps.
And his final point, the angering of the Iraqi people, was actually the key goal of AQ efforts. AQ managed to revert the majority of the Iraqi populace to their primary loyalties.
Bottom line: There is a larger framework in place dictating the present and future, but bubble conditions are preventing accurate analysis for a majority of the population, of which this article (and its avid readership) are an indicator.