Great Depression of 2016

[rufus]

A war with Iran would be a disaster. Iraq is pretty much flat and easy to travel over. Iran is a totally different case. If Iran needs to be handled, it should be by those nations that have the expertise and ability. We are broke. If the Saudis want this done, let them do it.

I suspect we will have to live with an Irani bomb, and then a Saudi bomb and a bomb for any country that can afford to buy one. That is a bitter pill to swallow, but that is what is going to happen. We better learn to be nice with others. If the Shia and Sunni want to kill each other, let them. Deal us out of it.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

I too do not see what interest the USA has in the Middle East.These areas has been fighting for a millenium already.We go there and show these few oil exporting nations like Saudia Arabia how to locate and pump oil,then build their needed equipment,and lend them our technolgies,only to have them in control of how much they load each day to come back here.Good old OPEC is always there for us in a pinch!!
Our nation is no longer looked at as a "Leader" in Peace,or Democracy.We throw money into factions to overthrow governments that do not agree with our political agenda.What we have become is a "Facist" state,which is where the govt and public sectors are melded into one. This has been done slowly and carefully. Coorperations gets stronger,and basically owns both political parties.One coorperation buys out the competition,soon there is no competition,and we have no choice but to "accept" the terms and conditions this sole company imposes on us.Our elected officials now in office has defied the US Constitution no less than 3 times in the past 6 years that we are made aware of,partly thanks to Edward Snowden.If you really want your eyes opened,go to his twitter account and read some of the other uncoverings he provides.NSA has really overstepped their boundaries,and Constitutional rights on many USA Citizens,as well as other countries governments.
China and Russia now has the strength to keep us in check,and have proven this already.China has bought tons of our debt.Russia is no less than equal in technology to ours.If both of them decides to call in their trump cards we could easily be learning a new language

 

[rufus]

Well, there was some sort of agreement with the Saudis that if they priced oil in dollars, the US would protect them. Well, now that seems to be breaking down. The dollar is being ruined and the Saudis want us to continue being their attack dogs. Luckily, we did not get involved in the Syrian civil war. Although, it seems that some in the US administration want us involved.

If they want to oust the Alawites from power in Syria, they should man up and do it themselves. Deal us out of it.

 

[EweSheep]

Recently, my nephew came back from Texas, where he was staying for training (not boot camp but training as a Stryker mechanic) for almost 11 months, had to come home on leave because of the budget cuts. We are glad he is home but 15,000 men and women like him won't have a job when they come home and we have no idea if they are required to finish up the remaining four years required in the Army.

What in the world are we coming down to? Cutbacks in Army isn't the greatest solution to protect our country. My nephew said, it is nothing new and more "lay-offs" will occur in all military branches, closing up recruiting offices, merging one thing after another.

In the meantime, I hope my nephew will go to college because in our town, the unemployment is so high and everyone is fighting for "rare" manufacturing job or a job that pays well. At this point in time, he does not know what he will be or wanting to learn in college or would ever get any college benefits for his 11 months of service. He didn't get his honorable discharge yet until they tell him to come back or mail him the necessary papers. I honestly don't know how this works. My father said, it is common to put the boys "on leave" until the economy improves or call to war.

 

[rufus]

Well, my advice to the young fellow would be to emigrate, but to where I don't know. I don't see a lot of economic opportunity left in this country. Government treats small business people like criminals. People who actually work are taxed to death and then hated when they do succeed. Those who do work have to carry those that refuse to work. The government loves the lazy and despises those who work, save and invest. The social parasites pretty much out way the productive people. I don't know how it will all end, but I am pretty sure it will not be nice.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

My daughter will have her Associates Degree in May 2014.She is a classic over achiever.She opted to bypass her senior year in HS for a free 1 year scholarship to attend a local community college,so she is in fact equally educated as kids one year older than her. Her major requires her to have a Masters Degree,which next fall she will attend ISU,then her 2 last years at Purdue. I don't know what her likelihood of getting a job will be once she finishes.So far she has won enough scholarship money to get her thru all of next year and to the spring of 2015,but her last needed 3 years the money has yet to be found. We as parents try to build good ethics and responsibility but with the way things are looking for the future the next few generations may be in full survival mode.

 

[rufus]

Education used to be the key to a happy, productive life. Not so anymore. People have to pick their careers carefully. Our nation has lost its industrial base and its spirit of innovation. Government and unions have killed them off. As soon as someone comes up with a new product, someone sues. I cannot believe our courts are fining wind farm owners for a few dead birds. Not just a fine, but multimillion dollar fines.

Our nation is plagued with obstructionist.

My advice to young people is to choose their careers carefully and to learn another language. Figure out what countries will pay the most for their skills. Then go, before they end up in a pointless war or get killed by some senseless dolt.

Look at Detroit. That is what the whole country will look like in a couple of years. The goals of most of those people living there are food stamps and dope.

Get out while you still can.

 

[Earl-Ray]

everyone is a buzz about how will we make it. and yet no one is pointing to the real problem. which is the heart of man. i tell you, we are already fallen.

 

[cassie]

everyone is a buzz about how will we make it. and yet no one is pointing to the real problem. which is the heart of man. i tell you, we are already fallen.

The heart of man isn't any different now than it has ever been. Don't believe me? Read some history. For a start, you can just read the Old Testament in the bible. Get a translation you can actually understand and then read it.You will find there were just as many saints and sinners then as there are now. The present day doomsayers are fussing and worrying about things that in all probability will never happen, and if a disaster does happen, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will not be the one they prepared for. There is nothing new in that, either.

 

[rufus]

Somethings are really hard to prepare for. Who could have predicted the Pearl Harbor attack, or the 9-11 attack? We are more likely to see an economic melt down than a military attack. We can survive that, maybe. A military or terrorist attack is another thing. I remember in the 1950's when families that could afford them were having bomb shelters put into their back yards. A lot of money went into the ground then.

We were terrified that the Soviets were going to nuke us. The day President Kennedy was shot, I was in the Air Force chow hall when all of a sudden the status board popped up. It looked like we were going to war. Then the PA system announced that the President had been shot.

By the time I got back to my assigned war station, it was announced that he was dead. We sat their looking at the boards, waiting for the Soviet attack. It never arrived. History has told us that the Soviets were just as scared as we were.

Sometimes the best you can do is hope and pray.