ivoteamerica

By Alan Caruba.

The Korean War ended in a stalemate in 1953. Having begun on June 25, 1950 with the blessings of Joseph Stalin, an armistice agreement on July 27, 1953 left the peninsula divided between the Republic of South Korea and the Peoples Republic of North Korea. How long ago was that? Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected largely on the promise to go there and secure an end to the conflict

By the time it was over the Red Chinese had intervened and American casualties were around 54,000 with 103,000 wounded. The North Koreans and Chinese were estimated to have lost ten times that number. The war was immensely unpopular with an American public that was still recovering from World War Two that had ended in 1945.

Another UN Sanctioned War for America

To his credit, President Truman did not hesitate to commit troops. Within two days after the invasion, Americans were fighting another war in Asia. The United Nations provided cover and the conflict was officially a UN action.
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Every time you see some product being sold as “Green”, allegedly safer or beneficial for the environment, you can be sure that it is more expensive than a comparable product that does the same thing without making this claim.

Everything you eat, drink, wear or use begins as a “natural” product. It is absurd to think that calling it “Green” improves it in any fashion. Countless inspections before anything reaches the marketplace ensure product safety. To put it another way, a carrot is a carrot is a carrot.

Recently I received a news release from a public relations firm touting clients selling Green products such as “Parsley Plus All-Purpose Cleaner”, along with “stylish organic bed linens, “natural and organic clothing”, a “99.6% natural line” of shampoos, and, “100% Bamboo towels.”
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Mark Levin and I are new pals. That is, I am a new listener to his compelling multi-hour program via my satellite radio connection. Last week I found myself driving aimlessly in order to capture all Mark could give me.

My sense of Mark and what drives him is growing. Along with my appreciation of his positions, I find his arguments used to sustain his viewpoints nearly impregnable.

Seldom am I upset when a radio talk show host concludes his/her broadcast. Not so with Mark. I’m pissed off that he has shut down because I want more of him, his wit, his intelligence, his anger, his overall persona and his direct approach to the problems we all face.

Just this week he told a caller who praised the health care system in North Korea to “get the hell out” of America and move to North Korea if he thought their health care system was so remarkable. Why, I thought, for the love of God, don’t more people act like Mark and just cut to the proverbial chase? If America is so screwed up, just get the hell out!
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By Alan Caruba

Lately I have been playing with the question, is the United States of America too big to fail?

Greece’s bonds are now rated as “junk.” It will have to be bailed out with billions from the nations of the European Union, but Portugal is not far behind and so are Italy and Spain. Iceland went belly-up months ago. Meanwhile, the sovereign debt of the United Kingdom, plus the assets of its five largest banks, exceeds 500% of its gross domestic product (GDP)!

According to Forbes, in the United States the total federal debt, including debt held by government agencies like the Social Security fund has ballooned by 50% since 2006 to $12.3 trillion. The U.S. government debt-to-GDP radio is 84%. A tipping point into default is generally believed to be 90%.

Can the whole financial system be gamed? Read the rest of this entry »