The key difference is that foreign health insurance plans exist only to pay people’s medical bills, not to make a profit. The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage.

Source – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778.html?referrer=facebook

Human knowledge is a collective and unifying activity; there are three stages in acquiring this knowledge: phantasy, reason, intellect.

Phantasy (sense knowledge) has for its scope the unification into a single representation of the multiple data of the senses.

Reason (meaning abstractive and discursive knowledge) is the faculty which abstracts universal concepts; it never arrives at perfect unity. The knowledge of reason, moreover, is deficient because it represents reality in an improper manner, for it is only founded on individual beings. Hence it follows that concepts result from contradictory notes, for instance, unity and multiplicity, being and non-being. The principle of contradiction, the basis of Aristotelian Scholastic logic, is good within the limits of reason, but it gives us an improper knowledge of reality.

We arrive at the knowledge of the reality (God), and hence of unity and the infinite, only by means of a third activity of the spirit, the faculty of intellect, which is supra-rational understanding, mystical intuition. This faculty, overcoming all differences and multiplicity, presents the reality (God) as perfect unity, in which all differences are reconciled in the infinite life, the “coincidence of opposites.” The principle of coincidence is for Nicholas of Cusa a new one on which logic must be based in order to arrive at the knowledge of reality.

Hence the title of Nicholas’ work De Docta ignorantia, which indicates the limitation of human understanding (reason) as opposed to the knowledge of God that is free of all such limitation (supra-rational). Thus the agnosticism of Nicholas of Cusa is corrected by his fideism, which of course has nothing to do with philosophy.

God is infinite. The infinity of God leads Nicholas of Cusa to affirm the coincidence of opposites. Observing how, in a circumference carried to infinity, the straight and the curved line coincide, he affirms that in the infinity of God all oppositions are identified, all distinctions overcome, and all contrariety fades into nothingness, since the correlative is not to be found. God is the “implicatio” of all opposites. But what in God is “implicatio” and “complicatio,” becomes “explicatio” in the universe, which results from multiplicity, distinction, and opposition.

Source – http://www.radicalacademy.com/philcusa.htm

WENDELL POTTER: I thought that he hit the nail on the head with his movie. But the industry, from the moment that the industry learned that Michael Moore was taking on the health care industry, it was really concerned.

BILL MOYERS: What were they afraid of?

WENDELL POTTER: They were afraid that people would believe Michael Moore.

BILL MOYERS: We obtained a copy of the game plan that was adopted by the industry’s trade association, AHIP. And it spells out the industry strategies in gold letters. It says, “Highlight horror stories of government-run systems.” What was that about?

WENDELL POTTER: The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you’re heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.

BILL MOYERS: And there was a political strategy. “Position Sicko as a threat to Democrats’ larger agenda.” What does that mean?

WENDELL POTTER: That means that part of the effort to discredit this film was to use lobbyists and their own staff to go onto Capitol Hill and say, “Look, you don’t want to believe this movie. You don’t want to talk about it. You don’t want to endorse it. And if you do, we can make things tough for you.”

BILL MOYERS: How?

WENDELL POTTER: By running ads, commercials in your home district when you’re running for reelection, not contributing to your campaigns again, or contributing to your competitor.

BILL MOYERS: Then it says, “Message to Democratic insiders. Embracing Moore is one-way ticket back to minority party status.”

BILL MOYERS: –radicalized Moore, so that his message was discredited because the messenger was seen to be radical. (The appeal to ridicule fallacy)

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely. In memos that would go back within the industry — he was never, by the way, mentioned by name in any memos, because we didn’t want to inadvertently write something that would wind up in his hands. So the memos would usually– the subject line would be– the emails would be, “Hollywood.” And as we would do the media training, we would always have someone refer to him as Hollywood entertainer or Hollywood moviemaker Michael Moore.

BILL MOYERS: Why?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, just to– Hollywood, I think people think that’s entertainment, that’s movie-making. That’s not real documentary. They don’t want you to think that it was a documentary that had some truth. They would want you to see this as just some fantasy that a Hollywood filmmaker had come up with. That’s part of the strategy.

BILL MOYERS: So you would actually hear politicians mouth the talking points that had been circulated by the industry to discredit Michael Moore.

BILL MOYERS: So your plan worked.

WENDELL POTTER: It worked beautifully.

BILL MOYERS: The film was blunted, right?

WENDELL POTTER: The film was blunted. It–

BILL MOYERS: Was it true? Did you think it contained a great truth?

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely did.

BILL MOYERS: What was it?

WENDELL POTTER: That we shouldn’t fear government involvement in our health care system. That there is an appropriate role for government, and it’s been proven in the countries that were in that movie.

BILL MOYERS: I have a memo written by Frank Luntz. He’s the Republican strategist who we discovered, in the spring, has written the script for opponents of health care reform. “First,” he says, “you have to pretend to support it. Then use phrases like, “government takeover,” “delayed care is denied care,” “consequences of rationing,” “bureaucrats, not doctors prescribing medicine.” That was a memo, by Frank Luntz, to the opponents of health care reform in this debate.

BILL MOYERS: Why do politicians puppet messages like that?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, they are ideologically aligned with the industry. They want to believe that the free market system can and should work in this country, like it does in other industries. So they don’t understand from an insider’s perspective like I have, what that actually means, and the consequences of that to Americans.

They parrot those comments, without really realizing what the real situation is.

BILL MOYERS: Why is the industry so powerful on both sides of the aisle?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, money and relationships, ideology. The relationships– an insurance company can hire and does hire many different lobbying firms. And they hire firms that are predominantly Republican and predominantly Democrat. And they do this because they know they need to reach influential members of Congress like Max Baucus. So there are people who used to work for Max Baucus who are in lobbying firms or on the staff of companies like Cigna or the association itself.

BILL MOYERS: So it’s money that can buy access to have their arguments heard, right?

WENDELL POTTER: That’s right.

BILL MOYERS: When ordinary citizens cannot be heard.

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely right. It’s the way the American system has evolved, the political system. But it does offend me, that the vested special interests, who are so profitable and so powerful, are able to influence public policy in the way that they have, and the way that they’ve done over the years. And the insurance industry has been one of the most successful, in beating back any kinds of legislation that would hinder or affect the profitability of the companies.

BILL MOYERS: Why is public insurance, a public option, so fiercely opposed by the industry?

WENDELL POTTER: The industry doesn’t want to have any competitor. In fact, over the course of the last few years, has been shrinking the number of competitors through a lot of acquisitions and mergers. So first of all, they don’t want any more competition period. They certainly don’t want it from a government plan that might be operating more efficiently than they are, that they operate. The Medicare program that we have here is a government-run program that has administrative expenses that are like three percent or so.

WENDELL POTTER: Back in the early ’90s, or back during the time that the Clinton plan was being debated, 95 cents out of every dollar was sent, you know, on average was used by the insurance companies to pay claims. Last year, it was down to just slightly above 80 percent.

So, investors want that to keep shrinking. And if they see that an insurance company has not done what they think meets their expectations with the medical loss ratio, they’ll punish them. Investors will start leaving in droves.

I’ve seen a company stock price fall 20 percent in a single day, when it did not meet Wall Street’s expectations with this medical loss ratio.

BILL MOYERS: That they’re spending more money for medical claims.

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: And less money on profits?

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And they think that this company has not done a good job of managing medical expenses. It has not denied enough claims. It has not kicked enough people off the rolls. And that’s what– that is what happens, what these companies do, to make sure that they satisfy Wall Street’s expectations with the medical loss ratio.

BILL MOYERS: So, the more of my premium that goes to my health claims, pays for my medical coverage, the less money the company makes.

WENDELL POTTER: That’s right. Exactly right.

BILL MOYERS: So they want to reverse that. They don’t want my premium to go for my health care, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly right. They–

BILL MOYERS: Where does it go?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, a big chunk of it goes into shareholders’ pockets. It’s returned to them as part of the investment to them. It goes into the exorbitant salaries that a lot of the executives make. It goes into paying sales, marketing, and underwriting expenses. So a lot of it goes to pay those kinds of administrative functions. Overhead.

Well, keep in mind, what they want to do is enhance their profits. Enhance shareholder value. That’s number one. And the way that the business that they’re in is health care, certainly. But their primary motivation is to reward their shareholders.

BILL MOYERS: You know, there’s an irony, because you hear the companies and their trade groups talking about how we don’t want a public option that would put a bureaucrat between a patient and his doctor. But you’ve just described a situation in which a CEO is actually between a doctor and the patient,

WENDELL POTTER: It’s true. And that same thing happened, in the Nataline Sarkisyan case. You had a corporate bureaucrat making a decision on coverage. So, they are trying to make you worry. And fear a government bureaucrat being between you and your doctor. What you have now is a corporate bureaucrat between you and your doctor.

BILL MOYERS: As this debate unfolds in the next month, into the fall, what should we be watching for? Tell us as an insider what to look for that is more than meets the eye?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, what happens is they will continue this charm offensive, until there’s actual legislative language. And what that means, of course, is that right now, you’re not really seeing the bills before the House and the Senate that will actually be voted on. When we see the actual legislation, when there’s something before Congress, and it will happen, presumably, within the next few weeks, you’ll start seeing a lot more criticism of it.

And the special interests will be attacking this or that. The AMA will be upset about something. The pharmaceutical industry will be upset about something. The insurance industry will not like this or that. It’s, you know, a lot of money is made in this country off sick people. And then you’ll start seeing a lot more of the behind-the-scenes attacks on this legislation, in an attempt to kill it. The status quo is what would work best for these industries.

BILL MOYERS: In other words, if the industry is able to kill reform, or the Democrats and the Republicans can’t agree on a proposal, that’s what the industry really wants.

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And it happened in ’93 and ’94. And just about every time there has been significant legislation before Congress, the industry has been able to kill it. Yeah, the status quo works for them. They don’t like to have any regulation forced on them or laws forced on them. They don’t want to have any competition from the federal government, or any additional regulation from the federal government. They say they will accept it. But the behavior is that they will not– you know, they’ll not do anything after say this plan fails.

WENDELL POTTER
With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients.

Wendell Potter on Profits Before Patients

It occured to me about 8 months ago that the Free market and Biodiversity are essentially the same argument and yet you’ll find them on opposite sides of the political spectrum, in America.

The idea is “Different businesses/animals trying to survive in different ways, being regulated by how successful they are and allowing them to die out or thrive based on their own merits. – Mericrat

It’s a very interesting comparison. In my mind though, the natural world and biodiversity isn’t a constant struggle for more, it just is. The end being existence and the means living.

In our capitalistic economy, the end is accumulation of wealth for the lucky few. And the means is wasteful production, exploitation of resources, and dehumanizing and marginalizing the less fortunate.

It’s nothing more than social-darwinism. Except the prize isn’t reproduction, it’s a life of luxury, advantages and special treatment at the expense of others hard work.

Since the interest + principle of the outstanding loans will always exceed the available money supply, this aspect constitutes nothing less than a form of economic slavery, for it is virtually impossible for the collective public to ever get out of debt.

Also, the term ‘Economic Growth’ is actually nonsense, for all expansive growth is temporary and must be counter balanced by contraction. The only reason more jobs are created is because more money is in circulation.

Wow Viking, your other post makes some great points.  Credit itself does NOT create wealth, it in fact creates the illusion of wealth…   …And yes, you are right the world is bankrupt, mainly westernized nations who have vote-buying socialist programs to maintain.  It’s not sustainable… so get used to the idea of a return to Social Darwinism.

Listen guys, the good times are over.  Not because of free market capitalism but because of CRONY capitalism where the goverment and big business are bed buddies and take care of each other at our expense (stealing our wealth through taxes or inflation). – Dannerrrr

Oh yes, I’m fully aware this is the reality of things. And very unlikely to change anytime soon. I have no illusions about the faux American ideals we have all been sold with. That only recieves lip service more often than not, as far as everyone having an equal chance to achieve the ‘American dream’ on the merits of their actions, and living in a ‘Democracy’ of the people, with ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ for all.

…When the truth is, just like in the times of my ancestors the Vikings, only the strongest, most cunning and ruthlessly deceptive and brutal recieve the lion’s share of wealth. …Other than the well-connected and established or just plain lucky. Except instead of straightforward physical strength, it favors the most manipulative and willful. Most people of decent ethical values, just assume to live a humble life of servitude to the oligarchy.

Btw the points brought up in that other post, I can’t take credit for. They come from the activist arm of the Venus Project, called the Zeitgeist Movement. I’m just trying to spead the message, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Though I would like to note I do believe there are alot of really good intentioned people in this country, in the news media and in government right now, especially Obama. And they are going to do their best to work within the current system to attempt to adhere to the constitutional beliefs this country was founded on. Which could, in theory, be the most ideal societal structure man has come up with to date. If it works…

But with all the fluctuation and manipulation of the market, alot of people are starting to think the carefully crafted bubble is going to burst. And we will be forced to address the fundamental problematic foundations of society, or potentially see a whole new dark age of mankind.

Joe Cassano: President of AIG’s financial products division. Cost so far to U.S. taxpayers: $180 billion. Cassano made $300 million before leaving AIG last year.

Angelo Mozilo: Countrywide Financial. In 2007, Mozilo unloaded $121 million in options. That same year, the company announced it had lost $704 million, and the share prices tanked. Last fall, Countrywide’s new corporate owner agreed to pay up to $8.7 billion to settle a massive predatory lending suit.

Frank Raines and Daniel Mudd: Fannie Mae. In 2006, Fannie paid a $400 million civil fine to settle charges that Raines and others? overstated earnings. Raines walked away from his six-year tenure $91 million richer. Starting in 2005, successor Mudd continued the reckless policies. He left last year more than $10 million richer. Your bill: tens of billions

Senator Chris Dodd: Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd was behind bailout language that protected bonuses for Wall Street companies—including that shocking $218 million given to AIG execs. In 2003, he accepted two special “VIP” mortgages from Mozilo’s Countrywide, reportedly saving up to $70,000.

Phil Gramm: Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said in 2001. “I see the American Dream in action.” The Texas Republican, who has since retired from the Senate, fought to deregulate those infamous credit-default swaps that brought down AIG and other derivatives. He also blocked attempts to limit the kind of predatory lending that wiped out thousands of families. Today, Gramm is a well-paid executive at Swiss banking giant UBS.

Federal regulators: The Federal Reserve and the SEC failed to stem the reckless behavior of big banks—despite clear warning signs of potential collapse as early as 2006. Regulators took at face value assurances from banks that they had enough capital to back up their financial gambles.

Alan Greenspan: The Federal Reserve’s former chairman dismissed the idea of a nationwide housing bubble as “most unlikely” while further fueling home sales with low interest rates. In 2004, he even encouraged home buyers to pursue risky adjustable rate mortgages against the advice of other experts. And he opposed attempts to regulate the exotic financial instruments at the heart of the current mess. Greenspan recently admitted that he has “found a flaw” in his worldview, which strongly favored unrestrained markets.

Jim Cramer: “Bear Stearns is not in trouble,” the host of CNBC’s Mad Money shouted on March 11, 2008. “Don’t move your money from Bear!” The Wall Street bank collapsed days later. Cramer made similarly bad calls about Lehman Brothers and Bank of America. His excuse? He relied too heavily on personal assurances from insiders at those banks.

Us: Many of us borrowed too much and bought homes we knew we couldn’t afford. And by not paying attention to and not participating more in our political system, we made it too easy for those in Washington to get in bed with corporations and special interests.

Naming and shaming some of the key culprits is only a start.

Source – http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/outrageous-worst-of-america/article140039.html

May I be happy

May I be free from suffering

May my friends be well

May my friends be happy

May my friends be free from suffering

May those beings I do not personally know be well

May those beings I do not personally know be happy

May those beings I do not personally know be free from suffering

May those I thought to be enemies be well

May those I thought to be enemies be happy

May those I thought to be enemies be free from suffering

May all sentient beings everywhere be well

May all sentient beings everywhere be happy

May all sentient beings everywhere be free from suffering

I am kind

I am patient

I am loving

I am caring

I help others

Compassion Meditation Binaural Beat Brainwave Entrainment Gamma Waves.wma 

by “miss_silver and OmegaPoint; members of AboveTopSecret.com”

‘Bach To The Future‘ – New Deep Meditation Tool!

A binaural beat brainwave entrainment track for deep meditation overlaid with the classical music of Bach along with hypnotic ocean waves, designed to take the listener on a graduated basis from alpha, to theta and then to delta brainwave patterns, a meditative state ordinarily achieved only by Zen and Yogi masters with over 20 years of meditation pratice (scientific and other info to follow).

Instructions for use:

1) Method – Use stereo headphones, and sit upright, listening with eyes closed, while attempting to remain conscious throughout, although falling asleep, especially when new to it, is not an uncommon occurance.

2) Use Daily – It is recommended, to get the full benefit, to use this as part of a daily meditation practice. You can expect to notice results within days or weeks, and bigger ones over the duration of a month or two.

3) Start Slow – I would also suggest, for the first 14 days, that you listen only for the first half hour to prevent any sort of “overwhelm” from the new stimulous, which tends to surface previously unresolved and repressed unconscious material. The first song, absent Ocean waves, repeats at the half hour interval.

4) Sit after listening – Lastly, to get maximum benefit and results from each listening session, please sit for 15 minutes to a half hour after listening. The greatest benefit may reside during this absolute quiet time while remaining in the target brainwave pattern.

Enjoy!

 

Bach To The Future – Brainwave Entrainment Meditation.mp3

by “miss_silver and OmegaPoint; members of AboveTopSecret.com”

Source - http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread473254/pg1#pid6513818

How did this happen? Why is the US national debt $12,250,000,000,000 as of Jan 2009? Of the 203 countries in the world today, only four (!) do not owe others money. The collective external debt of all the governments in the world is now about 52 trillion dollars and this number doesn’t include the massive amount of household debt in each country.
The whole world is basically bankrupt. But how? How can the world as a whole owe money to itself?
Obviously, it’s all nonsense. There is no such thing as ‘money’. There are only planetary resources, human labor and human ingenuity. The monetary system is nothing more than a game… and an outdated and dysfunctional one at that.
Those in positions of social power alter the rules of the game, at will. The nature of those rules is guided by the same competitive, distorted mentalities that are used in everyday “monetary” life, only this time the game is rigged at its root to favor those who run the show.
For example, if you have 1 million dollars and put it into a CD at 5% interest, you are going to generate $50,000 a year simply for that deposit. You are making money off of money itself… paper being made from other paper … nothing more – no invention – no contribution to society – no nothing.
That being denoted, if you are a lower to middle class person, who is limited in funds, and must get interest based loans to buy your home or use credit cards, then you are paying interest to the bank, which the bank is then using, in theory, to pay the person’s return with the 5% CD! Not only is this equation outrageously offensive due to the use of usury (interest) to ‘steal from the poor and give to the rich’, but it also perpetuates class stratification by its very design, keeping the lower classes poor, under the constant burden of debt, while keeping the upper classes rich, with the means to turn excess money into more money, with no labor.
That reality aside, there are other games in the system which have worked for decades, but are just now starting to bloom into the inevitable mathematic disasters that should have been anticipated 100 years ago.

What this means is that after a period of growth (boom) with the economic indicators now pointing towards a weakening economy, a choice can be made by the financial regulators/government to either:

[1] Continue the expansion by infusing even more money, often by lowering the interest rates (such as the ‘prime’ or ‘discount’ rate) or by simply moving large sums of money to certain sectors (such as the 2008 700 Billion dollar bank bailout).
or [2] Let the contraction (recession) run its course, raise the interest rates, and bring the economy back to some kind of equilibrium, thus preparing it for another expansion.

As far as history is concerned, the pattern has been to do both, basically with the idea being to “ease” the recession by increasing liquidity.

The reasoning is simple. It is politically unpopular for the ruling class to have unemployed, poor citizens. This can lead to contempt for the leadership and perhaps revolution. Therefore, there is always the game of placating the public with false security in order to avoid the truth coming out about the inherent dysfunctionality and corruption of the Ponzi scheme known as the Monetary System.

Now, in response to these problems, very often people suggest ‘monetary reform’ as the solution.

These suggestions often consist of: going back to the gold standard; outlawing interest; shutting down the Federal Reserve and giving the power of printing money to the government and letting the government distribute it debt free…etc.
While these reforms and others all pose logical merits, they do not recognize an unstoppable phenomenon that has accelerated since the early 20th century, which has greatly impacted the labor force since:
The replacement of human labor with machines.

While politicians, business leaders and labor leaders bicker over issues they claim are responsible for the growing unemployment in the world, such as foreign company outsourcing or immigrant labor, the real cause is going unaddressed in the public debate:

Technological Unemployment

In the words of Nobel Laureate Economist Wassily Leontief:

”The role of humans as the most important factor of production is bound to diminish in the same way that the role of horses in agricultural production was first diminished and then eliminated by the introduction of tractors.”

The age of Oil and fossil fuels, along with all the resulting pollution, is coming to a close. There is no reason to burn fossil fuels at all anymore, other than the profit oriented, vested interest which keeps new energy prospects at bay. Remember, the last thing the Energy Industry wants is abundance, for that translates into a loss of profits in the monetary system.
Now, one of the most important energy sources to recognize today is Geothermal Power. A 2006 MIT report on geothermal energy found that 13,000 zettajoules of power are currently available in the earth, with the possibility of 2000 zettajoules being easily tap-able with improved technology. The total energy consumption of all the countries on the planet is about half of a zettajoule a year, this means about 4000 years of planetary power could be harnessed in this medium alone. And when we understand that the earth’s heat generation is constantly renewed, this energy is really limitless and could be used forever.

Source - The Zeitgeist Movement

The automobile did not come to dominate American transportation by chance or by public choice. It happened as part of a plan by auto makers to buy up and destroy mass transit companies. General Motors led the way. As recently as the 1920s, many American cities and towns were connected by a network of electric railroads and interurban trolleys. Within cities, electric street railways, trolleys, and elevated trains, moved large numbers of people easily and cheaply, with minimal congestion and pollution. But steel-wheeled electric/rail mass transit systems did not serve the needs of the automobile manufacturers and their allies in the steel, rubber, glass, concrete, and oil industries.

GM’s ‘reinvention’ starts with $25 million battery lab

General Motors took a big step toward its reinvention as the “New G.M.” today when it opened what it calls the largest automotive battery laboratory in the United States, a move the struggling company believes will hasten the development of electric vehicles.

General Motors opens largest automotive battery laboratory in the U.S.

GM invests $25 million in the 33,000-square-foot Global Battery Systems Lab

Lab will develop and test the drivetrains underpinning alternative vehicles

Opening comes one week after company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

General Motors CEO resigns as part of bailout deal

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced his resignation early Monday — the latest change for the troubled automaker. White House and GM sources had told CNN Sunday that Wagoner would resign as part of the federal government’s bailout strategy for the troubled automaker.

Departure of General Motors’ CEO part of government’s bailout strategy

GM’s president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, to replace Rick Wagoner

GM to get 60 days of financing; Chrysler could get $6 billion

Tehran is running scared of the uncontrollable forces of freedom

The surge of revolt threatened to become a tidal wave. So the Islamic republic responded with ‘a coup against the coup.

Iran seldom admits the international media. It makes an exception at election times because it wants the world to see the Islamic republic’s glorious democracy in action. Thus some 400 foreign journalists and television crews were given ten-day visas to cover Friday’s presidential election, and for a week we really did see a vibrant and impressive democratic process.

Admittedly the four candidates were handpicked by the regime, but they ranged from the liberal to ultra-conservative, offered starkly contrasting visions for the future and engaged in remarkably outspoken TV debates. The people responded. Armies of supporters took over the streets, festooned every square with posters and banners and, on election day itself, flocked to the polling stations in numbers that shamed most Western democracies.

The charade ended abruptly on Friday night. Scarcely had polling ended than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cronies in the Interior Ministry and Elections Commission declared him the winner. They gave him not a razor-thin victory, which might just have been credible – the President did have legions of diehard supporters among the pious and rural poor. They gave him nearly two thirds of the vote, a figure that defied belief and raised two unmistakable fingers to the Iranian people and the world. They claimed that the main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, lost heavily even in his own village. The number of votes allegedly cast for Mr Ahmadinejad, 24.5 million, was probably chosen so that he could claim to have more support than any president in the republic’s 30-year history. The previous high was just over 20 million, cast for the reformist Mohammad Khatami in 1997.

The crackdown began instantly. Mobile phone and text messaging systems were taken down so the opposition could not organise. Opposition websites and international news services were blocked. Baton-wielding security forces flooded on to the streets. Overnight the festive atmosphere turned to fear, exuberance to terror, as the regime showed how evil it is.

All weekend protests were ruthlessly suppressed. Demonstrators were beaten. Foreign journalists, including a reporter and photographer from The Times, were detained. Leading reformists were arrested. Iran’s “Prague Spring”, its “Velvet Revolution”, was crushed with Soviet-style ruthlessness by a regime practised in silencing dissent. Mr Ahmadinejad, the self-styled man of the people and champion of the oppressed, unleashed the full force of the state machinery on his own population.

Some of the facts that should be plain that clearly show that revolution and economic collapse are coming:

1. 15% of all subprime mortgages were foreclosed in May with foreclosure rates climbing. Alan M. White of the Valparaiso Law School.

2. The Federal Reserve needs to “borrow up to $3.25 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30″. Bloomberg

3. China has agreed to buy only 200 billion of Treasury T Bills (sold to finance the debt) total next year, while the oil exporting nations and the rest of the world have agreed to buy 300 billion total. This leaves over 2 trillion dollars that domestic investors will have to buy to float the deficit of the fiscal year that starts September 30th. Congressional Budget Office (After private investors had their private investments taken by the Government and the Unions in the Chrysler and General Motors deal, the experts say that the vast majority of the T Bills will not be sold, meaning the Government will have to print the money monetizing the debt)

4. Dozens of US cities (Like Flint Michigan) may have to bulldozed entire neighborhoods “as part of drastic “shrink to survive” proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline in the nation’s cities.” London Telegraph

5. Democrats in Congress hid a $100 billion bail out of the world’s credit system by the International Monetary Fund, tucking it into the war supplemental intended for operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, according to lawmakers’ aides quoted in a Reuters report.

6. “I will tell you what the problem is,” Collin Peterson (Democratic Chairman of the Agriculture Committee) told the New York Times, “they give three times more money than the next biggest group. It’s huge the amount of money they put into politics. The banks run the place (US Congress).”

7. “And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin

8. “After yesterday’s widespread announcement of a “new world order” by the world’s media, “The world is a step closer to a global currency, backed by a global central bank, running monetary policy for all humanity.” Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of London Telegraph

9. “Toxic Asset Plan Will Leave The Same Amount Of Toxic Assets In The System, But With the Taxpayers Now Liable For Most Of The Losses” Financial Times

10. “The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s.” This is three times the actual Bush deficit in spending in the first 100 days of President Obama’s Presidency. Bloomberg

11. “Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.” June 12, Bloomberg

12. Across the country growing numbers of tax payers are stating that they will not pay anymore taxes. Promising to not file and just to refuse to pay, growing numbers of US tax payers have said enough is enough; “We Are Not ATMS!”

13. The Tea Party movement continues to grow, as the anger of the American people over government waste; The Tea Party Movement Grows & The Tea Party Movement Grows 2

On the Streets of China, Electric Bikes Are Swarming

Right now the future buzzes along at a sedate pace. Government regulations limit the top speed of e-bikes to about 12 mph. But manufacturers are building bigger and bigger machines with speed regulators that are easily removed. E-bikes that are basically pedal-powered machines with an electric boost are common in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but e-scooters with heavier motors and top speeds of around 30 mph, fast enough to rival mopeds, are growing in popularity.

The e-bike boom owes much to Chinese policy. The government made developing e-bikes an official technology goal in 1991. Major Chinese cities have extensive bicycle lanes, which means riders can avoid the worst of rush-hour congestion.

Indeed, as engineers around the world scramble to create eco-friendly, plug-in electric cars, China is already ahead of the game. Says Frank Jamerson, a former GM engineer turned electric-vehicle analyst: “What’s happening in China is sort of a clue to what the future will be.”

Don’t Call What Happened in Iran Last Week an Election

It was a crudely stage-managed insult to everyone involved.

Iran on Fire

The BBC says clashes between demonstrators and police in Tehran are the most violent in a decade.

 Below are thousands of Iranians chanting not “Death to America” or “Death to Israel,” but “Death to the Government.”

Oppressive governments that face ferocious resistance in the streets often don’t last very long. The Islamic Republic regime has been durable so far, and reports of its imminent demise have been premature, but there is only so much it can withstand.

Hatred, chaos and savage beatings in Tehran

He was surrounded and pleading for them to stop but six men with clubs, batons and metal rods kept battering a young Iranian man with ruthless force. The swing that keeps replaying in my head was the black baton that smashed the man in the skull behind his left ear.

Seconds earlier the man had dared to stand up to the baton wielding men because they had shoved a 14-year-old girl. For his chivalry he got one of the most savage beatings I have ever seen at the hands of four Iranian riot policemen and members of the Baseej, Iran’s plain clothed volunteer militia.

“To hell with Iran,” he said as he sat beaten and battered along the sidewalk. “This is not my government. This is not my country.”

A grown man who watched the beating burst into tears.

This was a glimpse of the ugly aftermath of Iran’s presidential elections, which sparked outrage among supporters of candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Moussavi’s backers are calling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s landslide victory a sham. They’re demanding the vote be annulled. The government’s response has been a ruthless and violent crackdown.