The vanishing farmer

What makes any person think is the fact this blog reported on yesterday.
That Gumaro Gonzales in Punta Boca del Salado, Baja California, Mexico bought a 1997 Ford F250 pick up truck for $ 10.000 by exchanging it for a piece of his land.



According to the "Internet Autoguide" the retail value of this vehicle is about $ 6.000 but that is in the USA.
So the issue is not whether Gumaro Gonzales payed 66% too much for his new truck.
Many second hand cars are brought from the USA into Mexico because they do better prices here.

The issue we may want to look at is that Gumaro Gonzales was not able to pay with money for his new car.
In a normal economy a person works and makes money.
In a good economy a person makes more than he actually needs and this we call prosperity.
The financial flourishing makes the economy do better because the surplus is spend on purchasing new products.

In an economy that is doing well Gumaro Gonzales would be able to sell his cows to the butcher for such a good price that after a while he has enough cash to buy his new car.
Illustrating the economy is exploding.

But we live in a time of an imploding economy.
The price the butcher pays for meat to the supplier is so low these days that the ranchero cannot make money.
In fact, like this year when hardly any rain fell in the area where Gumaro Gonzales has his ranch and cattle, he needs to buy extra food to keep his cows alive and because of the high cost of this extra food and the low price the meat does his business is losing money.

A farmer that has to sell his land to operate his business, is a vanishing farmer.
Especially when the money that his land represents is spend on a car.
The vehicle will last only a certain amount of time and eventually end up in the junk yard.
Then the land is gone and the truck too, leaving Gumaro Gonzales with nothing.

To escape this dramatic destiny is to operate the new car in a way that it will assist in making money.
That it becomes instrumental in financial flourishing.
But this is not very likely to happen.
Because Gumaro Gonzales is a ranchero raising cattle and he will not and cannot change his trade.
He depends of the circumstances like the price of meat and the meteorological conditions.

However, the man who traded a $ 6.000 truck for a piece of land worth $ 10.000 might sell this later with profit.
Or build a holiday house on the land to sell this for big money to some tired retiree.
We live in a society these days in which some can still make money.
But a majority, who work in a traditional way, are slowly pushed out of prosperity and into economic misery.

But for the moment, Gumaro Gonzales is very happy and proud with his new car.





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Tax Dollar Paradise

The United States is the best country to live in.
Because the Government is absolutely insane.
Due to overspending the United States has a national debt now of 1.300 billion Dollars.
The US politicians have been spending like lunatics over the last years.
And liberating the financial markets in such a way that now the whole world is in an economic crises and suffering.

What is the solution to this serious problem?
In Greece and Ireland the same situation has occurred.
Their Governments have also been spending more money than was coming in.
Financing it by borrowing until the debt became too big and bankruptcy of the whole country was threatening.
The solution to this dramatic problem has been found in other European countries helping Ireland and Greece out by re-financing their debts.
But with the conditions that Ireland and Greece take strict and severe austerity measures.
Stop spending like idiots and raise taxes.

The USA takes another direction to solve their huge economic problems.
Instead of settling more favorably the debts, start charging higher taxes and limit spending seriously, the United States starts spending an extra 858 billion Dollars.
This was approved by the Senate yesterday.
Americans will pay lower taxes and this also for the rich, the very rich and the ultra rich.
In fact, the US Government starts subsidizing their citizens to the amount of 858 billion Dollars.
Inflating the national debt with 66 %.
The idea behind it is that when the US citizens have more money to spend the economy will start rolling coasting again.
There are two problems with this expectation that is an illusion.
The current economic crises has made most people afraid and scared.
They have learned the hard way it is better not to buy and spend like crazy customers but to save for a rainy day.
When the tax reduction results in more money in the pocket, most may go to savings account doing nothing for the economy.
The other problem, and a much more fundamental and serious one, is that the politicians envisage a future where we will be back like it was in 80’s and 90’s.
People making good money and spending like there was no end to it.
The consumer society in optima forma.
Capitalism and materialism and selfishness and unawareness about what is the cost to nature and the environment.
For the short term the USA may be economically the best country to live.
But it is heading for financial catastrophe.




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Pesos polka

Prices in Mexico.

1 liter of diesel: 8 Pesos
€ 0,48 = $ 0.65

1 liter of fruit juice: 10 Pesos
€ 0,60 = $ 0.82

1 kilo of avocados: 28,90 Pesos
€ 1,74 = $ 2,37

1 kilo of apples: 32,90 Pesos
€ 1,98 = $ 2,69

1 coconut: 9,90 Pesos
€ 0,59 = $ 0.80

1 kilo of carrots: 7,90 Pesos
€ 0,47 = $ 0.64

1 cauliflower: 17,90 Pesos
€ 1,08 = $ 1.47

1 kilo of bananas: 13,90 Pesos
€ 0,84 = $ 0,65

1 kilo of pears: 28,90 Pesos
€ 1,74 = $ 2.37

1 kilo of melon: 19,90 Pesos
€ 1,20 = $ 1.63

1 kilo of lemons: 13,90 Pesos
€ 0,84 = $ 1,14

1 kilo of grapefruits: 8,90 Pesos
€ 0,54 = $ 0.74

1 kilo of broccoli: 16,90 Pesos
€ 1,02 = $ 1.39

1 kilo of papaya: 15,90 Pesos
€ 0,96 = $ 1.31

1 kilo of guayabas: 20,90 Pesos
€ 1,26 = $ 1.71

1 kilo of mangoes: 14,90 Pesos
€ 0,90 = $ 1.22

1 kilo of tomatoes: 19,90 Pesos
€ 1,20 = $ 1.63

1 kilo of kiwis: 59,90 Pesos
€ 3,61 = $ 4.91



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$ 5 a day

There is a worldwide economic crisis and today we will not go into how come this has happened.

What we will do is to have a closer observation what this economic crisis means for a country like Mexico.

Data comes from the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco), an official Mexican institution.

In just three years, the cost of primary foods in Mexico has risen 66.7 %.
For example, in 2006 it cost $ 67 to buy 42 items.
In 2009 those same 42 items cost more than a $ 100.
This is shocking because $ 100 represents 23.6 days of minimum wage.
A person earning the minimum wage in December 2006 worked 10.4 hours to buy 4 pounds of steak.
Three years later this worker has to spend 13 hours of work to buy his 4 pounds of steak.

In general, over the last two years, the purchasing power of Mexican workers has been fallen by 41 percent.

Currently the minimum wage ranges between $ 4.19 and $ 4.42 per 8-hour day depending on the area.
Making people suffer because prices of products such as corn, wheat flour, milk, soft drinks, crackers, eggs, sugar, beans, rice and soups have risen by as much as 50 % or more.

Other shocking movements on the economic front in Mexico are the prices of fuel.
In january 2010 the price of regular gasoline was increased with almost 20 %.
Diesel was increased almost 50 %.

When things go bad, the ones who were already in a disadvantageous position suffer the most.
They have to work for less than $ 5 a day and can't even buy the food the family needs.
This, if they are lucky to find a job.
In Mexico.
Today.





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The USA heading for poverty

Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky in the United States is said to get old.
And with age getting more difficult to reason with.



What has the old man done that he is seen as an old fool?

The US Government wants to spend $ 10 billion to maintain unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and to provide stopgap funding for highway programs.
This while the US Government has a debt of
That is 12 trillion Dollars, ladies and gentlemen.
A US national debt that is rising with $ 3.96 billion per day.
Each US citizen has a share of this debt amounting to $ 40,638.40

The only thing Jim Bunning was asking was how the US Government was going to pay for this $ 10 billion while having an enormous debt.
And that makes sense.
If you are in debt for over $ 12 trillion, where are you getting your money from to spend another 10 billion?
Knowing also the 10 billion serves as a stopgap.
According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a $100-billion-plus measure is needed to provide a longer-term extension of unemployment benefits that would last through the end of the year, along with a full-year extension of higher Medicare payments to doctors and help for states with their Medicaid budgets.

The message Jim Bunning is sending is that the US Government must stop spending by just adding to the national debt.
He is saying that the money has to come from somewhere else.
From within the budget the US Government has available.
Keeping in mind what Cicero said 106 years before Christ: "The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled."


The rule should be that if the US Government wants to spend $ 10 billion it must look in the budget where $ 10 billion will not be spend.
The playing field is by what taxes bring in.
Additional excessive borrowing brings a country in a downward spiral and eventually economic misery for its inhabitants to have no more prosperity while pushed into deep poverty.

For years and years now the US politicians and the US people have been living on a financial scale that is not sustainable.
Spending and spending and borrowing and borrowing.
A collision course that is going to bring the country and its inhabitants eventually in a terrible and dramatic situation of devastation and decay.

But few people in the United States want to see this.
Blinded as most are by spending, spending, having, having, consuming, consuming.

Take Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican.
She said of her fellow party member Jim Bunning that he is hurting the American people by asking to finance the $ 10 billion from within the budget.

And that is the thing.
If the money is borrowed and the debt made go up, politicians are not hurting the American people.
But if one shows insight, intelligence and concern for the next generations of Americans, the person is against its people.

As long as this mentality is dominant, and it is, the blinded and the stupid are in control.
And the price eventually to pay will be extremely high.

The $ 10 billion could have been easily found inside the Federal budget.
The United States is spending over $ 607 billion annually on their military.
41.5 % of what is spend worldwide by all countries.
Over 4 % of the GDP.
Twice as much as countries like France and three times as much as countries like Germany.

Wouldn't it be better for the United States to stop all this international warring to first clean up the financial mess at home?
And to start taking serious persons like Jim Bunning?





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Desperately seeking sales

For the next six weeks the option has become available to drive a car for free during two months.
No need to rent one.
Just go to a GM-dealership, buy a Chevy Malibu, a Buick LaCrosse, GMC pick up truck or a Cadillac and return it after two months.
They'll give you your money back no questions asked.

This campaign GM calls "May the best car win".
But marketing experts say it is just a gimmick.
A customer who goes through all the effort of going to a dealership, selecting a vehicle and the process of paying for it, is not very likely to return the car after two months to have to go through new hassle and then start the whole process of purchasing a car again at a Toyota dealership.
Research has revealed that only 2 % of the customers when in such a deal will actually return the car.

It would be a different story if other brands like Ford and Toyota would do the same thing.
We pay, let's say $ 20.000, into a special bank account and next we are allowed to drive first a Ford for two months, then a Toyota for two months and next a Chevrolet for two months after which we make a decision.
The car maker whose vehicle is selected as the best gets the money.
Sells the car.

In this way we can really find out if what vice chairman of GM Bob Lutz is saying is really true:
"GM has to show that its cars are better than competitors’ models.
There is a “monumental chasm” between the public’s perception of GM’s vehicles and the autos in our current lineup, and the “May the Best Car Win” effort aims to change that".

But as long as this special offer is by GM only, it makes no sense to accept it.
How can we compare?

We must remember that GM is a company where desperation is the driving force.
This year their sales are down 35 %.
It is a bankrupt company that only still exists because the US government somehow thinks it is wise to pump money in it.
In May 2009 General Motors Corp. borrowed an additional $4 billion from the Treasury Department, meaning the automaker has accepted $19.4 billion in loans from the U.S. government.
GM started taking government money in December 2008 and said it intended to borrow $2.6 billion more by June 1, 2009 and an additional $9 billion after that.
GM is saying it now expects to need $7.6 billion in loans after June 1.
This is not even all the money that is unable to fill the GM holes.
In addition to the $19.4 billion that GM has directly borrowed from the government, its financial arm, GMAC Financial Services, has received $12.5 billion in aid, plus GM received a $1 billion loan to buy more equity in GMAC.

Will all that money do?
No, fervent and loyal blog readers.
The US government is also setting aside money to cover GM's expected warranty costs as part of a program to assure car buyers that their warranties will be honored regardless of what happens to the automaker.

No wonder GM is able to sell cars that can be returned no questions asked after two months.
GM operates like companies did in the Soviet Union when making profit and high quality products that could compete on the consumer markets was not relevant.

This is brilliantly demonstrated when visiting GM's Chevrolet website.
www.chevrolet.com
One sees 4 cars only and all of them are painted in a very sad grey.
Parked in what looks like a giant refrigerator.
No happiness or attraction is shining from these cars.
It looks more like frozen bodies in a mortuary.



Now, you may not go for looks.
But more for fuel consumption.
Who cares how your car looks when at the pump you can laugh at the guzzlers?

But with a new Chevrolet Malibu there is not much to laugh.
It has a 2.2 liter gasoline engine doing 22 MPG in town and 30 MPG on the highway.

Chevrolet Malibu

A car similar in size is the Peugeot 607 from France.
Equipped with a quiet and ecological friendly diesel engine doing 31.3 MPG in town and 51.4 MPG on the highway.

Peugeot 607

Maybe the thing to do is to go to other car dealer ships like Ford and Toyota and show them the offer GM is making.
This offer to drive the GM car with money back guarantee for two months.
To ask what they are offering as an incentive.
What they will do to stop you to proceed to test a Chevrolet Malibu.




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A massive illusion

There is a lot of turmoil in the USA about health care these days.
Better put, how to pay for health care.
For those who can't afford it now.

It is true of course what Barack Obama said last night in his speech to the politicians.
The United States is supposed to be the most prosperous country in the world while millions and millions are without proper health care because it is too expensive.

What meanwhile many people know is that the United States operates as a society based on the capitalist system.
The most explicit one we can find on earth.
And what many people know but what is rarely said in the USA, is that this system there has major flaws.
It has overdeveloped and has become too extreme.

The solution for the problems with the financing of health care cannot be found within capitalism.
Hence, it is true when certain Americans condemn Obama of introducing socialistic principles.
Those opposing applying socialistic ideas in the USA usually are in a comfortable financial situation and have possibly a little to lose of their wealth when the American society becomes less of a free market where making money no matter how is the current morality.

If an American was able to broaden his or her horizon and study how health care is organized in other countries, they will see that a service in a society like health care should never be given only to the free market.
The government must run a basic health care service, paid for by every citizen through taxes, where profit is not a target.
The private health insurance companies will have heavy competition of the Government service and this is a good thing.
Now, in the USA, private health care insurance companies make billions of profit and that is immoral.

A repeating argument against affordable Government health care in the USA often heard is very ugly.
It goes that once a national health service is instituted, millions of undocumented workers and their families will make use of it.
That will be certainly the case.
And what is against that?
An undocumented worker would not be in the USA if that person was unable to find work and make money.
Hence, an undocumented worker is offered work by the American society that profits enormously of this opportunity.
It pays extremely low wages to the undocumented worker boosting the profit of the company.
While the undocumented worker pays taxes like sales tax.
The opposition to having undocumented workers make use of a national health care service must realize that the only correct solution is to fine employers in such a hefty way that either they only hire documented workers or none at all.

The current situation in the USA with health care is not the only flaw of the American capitalist system.
In fact, fundamentally it is flawed.
Because the American way of capitalism is to exist based on credit.
To borrow and not think how ever it will have to be paid back.
A pure capitalist will first make money somehow and once it is in the pocket spend it in a way that the investment will make new money.
And so on.
Not so an American capitalist.
He spends money that is not his.

This is why the current times are so deceiving.
American politicians announcing that the worst of the economic crises is over and that there is a recovery.
That in a year or two everything will be back to normal.

What they don't say is that the American way of capitalism is being reinstated.
Stimulating the economy by borrowing more money.
Sinking deeper into the swamp.

Take as an example the recent subsidy the US Government offered to car buyers.
A car buyer could get up to $ 2.400 when buying a new more energy efficient car.
But where do those $ 2.400 come from?
They are borrowed by the US Government.
And how are those $ 2.400 going to be repaid?
By the Government charging taxes from their flock.
Hence, in the end, it is no subsidy at all.
The $ 2.400 that was lowering the purchase price of the car, will be taken out of the future income through taxes.
Making the tax payer spend $ 2.400 less from the income.
Dragging the economy down because less money can be spend.
It is this short time solutions of politicians that make them look good now, but that on the longer term is devastating for the people.


In capitalism it is not necessarily a bad idea to stimulate the economy by offering all kinds of financial incentives.
But what if Toyota from Japan sells over 20 % more cars over the last two months and GM sells in that same period 20 % less?
The money made available by the US Government flows to Japan and the American economy is not stimulated whatsoever.

This is happening on the widest scale.
Today it was revealed that the US trade deficit shot up in July tot he highest level in six months.
The trade deficit rose 16.3 % to $ 32 billion.
Imports rose by 4.7 % while exports were only 2.2 %.
This means that when more money is pumped by the Government into the economy, people start buying and spending but most of that money goes abroad.
Not creating jobs in the USA.

The conclusion of many financial experts is that the USA is heading for a second economic crises.
That will be more devastating and dramatic than the one we just had.

There is only one way to avoid this economic catastrophe.
To change the attitude to spend when there is no money in the pocket.
This goes for the Government and for every individual.
Americans must learn to first save money after which spending becomes an option.
It will mean that life will drastically change.
It will become more austere and ascetic compared to now.
Spending will not be a daily activity anymore but a rare exception and a well considered decision.

Although it is clear this is the only solution, at the same time it is a massive illusion.
No way the majority of the American population will accept this concept and give up their extreme consumer's attitude.

So, we will see a new economic collapse in the USA in the years to come.
The dollar losing most of its value.
And the Americans falling into painful poverty.

As an American individual you can protect yourself against this total downturn soon to come.
Start saving money.
And put it in Euros or Yuans.




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Oracling over oil

In the north of Africa is a country called Algeria.
33 million people live there.
They export oil.
They make no products themselves they can export.

East of Algeria is Libya.
6 million people there.
They export oil.
But like Algeria, no products they make themselves they can export.

Further east is Egypt.
75 million inhabitants.
The country exports oil.
No export-products they make themselves.

In the Middle East is Saudi Arabia.
25 million people.
Exporting oil.
No products for export they are able to make.

North of these countries, in Europe, we have Belgium.
11 million Belgians living there.
Exporting among others machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, beer and foodstuffs like chocolate.

In France 65 million people are living.
10 million less than in Egypt.
But they are exporting a wide range of products like wine and other alcoholic beverages, aircrafts and aircraft parts, agricultural products, weapons, cheese, cars, trucks and nuclear power plants.

In Denmark 6 million people are living.
Like in Libya.
Denmark exports pigs, bacon, cheese, butter, windmills, ships and Lego.

Why is one country able to produce all kinds of goods that can be exported and another country unable to produce any goods for export?

The countries that are mentioned here and are unable to export make their money selling what they find underneath their land: oil.
With the revenues they import whatever they need.
Why bother making a car if you have the money to buy one?

But we may ask ourselves what this attitude is doing to the minds of those people.
If a country has no oil to export, it must come up with other ways to have money come in.
It inspires the people and challenges them to have the best come out of them.
But if foreign oil companies come to an oil rich country and extract the oil in exchange for tons of money, the people living there become inept.

It is explained in a more simple way by understanding that in Switzerland they know how to make a watch and in Saudi Arabia they don't.

Eventually the oil reserves will run out.
For example, in 63 years Libya will have pumped up all the oil that they have.
Meanwhile, the world will turn more and more to alternative sources of energy.
Every windmill installed is a step bringing the oil price down.

In less than a century the money now going to oil producing countries will dramatically decrease.
And then what?
How are they going to know what time it is?
To buy a watch will be too expensive for them.
While they are unable to make one themselves.
Remembering how much we pay for one gallon of gasoline now, will we care?



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The ss USA is sinking

Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is a U.S. investor, businessman, and philanthropist.
He is one of the most successful investors in history, the largest shareholder and C.E.O. of insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway and in 2008 was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately $62 billion.
A guy who knows everything about money and the ways it flows.
If he says something about the economy, we better listen carefully.

Today he has said that the United States is spending 85 % more money than is coming in.
What does that mean?

Imagine, you make $ 3,000 a month.
But you spend $ 5,550 a month.
That's no good, right?
You may get the extra $ 2,550 by using credit cards.
Borrowing the money from the bank.
That's expensive and some day you need to repay the money you borrowed.
Hence, in fact, of the $ 2,550 extra you borrow, part has to be used to pay the interest on the loan.
And the question is, with this extra amount you borrow and that you can spend, are you making more money than if you would simply live of your income of $ 3,000 a month?
You better do otherwise it is like sinking deeper and deeper in the drift sand.

Of course no fervent and loyal blog readers is earning $ 3,000 a month and spending $ 5,550 a month.
That would be really stupid and asking for fatal trouble.
Besides, no bank or credit card company will borrow 85 % of the monthly income.

However, currently the United States as a country, as an economic mammoth, according to Warren Buffet, is just doing that.
Spending 85 % more than is coming in.

How can this happen?
By borrowing.
From Japan and China.
And anyone who believes that the American economy in the future will be able to generate enough money to pay back the loans and pay the interests.

Warren Buffett said today that a revived American economy will not be able to generate enough revenues to bridge the gap between outlays and receipts, so changes in taxes and spending will be required.

Now, that is something no American citizen is prepared to accept.
Change in spending?
Paying higher taxes?
No way, José.

So, any politician who wants to be elected will never have a policy to increase taxes in order to pay off the national deficit that is now reaching almost 2 trillion dollars.
The politician will simply not get enough votes to be elected.
So, according to Warren Buffet, politicians may opt to quietly let inflation increase, a move that will "confiscate" wealth and allow the United States to evolve into a "banana republic economy".

It is easy to see what will be the economic future of the United States.
Either taxes will go up dramatically to pay off the national debt and consequently the American citizen will be forced to seriously limit the life of luxury and comfort.
Or, and this is the most likely scenario, inflation will lower the value of the US Dollar so much, that it will have not much buying power anymore.
Resulting in an American citizen having dollars that buy not much more than the local apples and carrots.
Everything else that comes from outside the USA will be too expensive to buy.
And that includes oil.

Warren Buffet is painting this picture of the USA today.
And nobody will be alarmed, shocked and start taking drastic measures to avoid these horror scenarios.
The ship will continue to sail while the holes in the hull let the water in more and more.
It will sink but on the deck they dance.

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To read in detail what Warren Buffet has to say about the US economy, click on:
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/TopStories.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1044505&Category=Top Stories






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Goats kill

There is currently an epidemic raging, growing and spreading that is making more and more people very sick.
So sick that people are even dying.
The epidemic is called Q-Fever and a major outbreak is now happening in a province of the Netherlands called Noord-Brabant.


Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, a species of bacteria that is distributed globally.
It is a bacteria that comes from the excrement of goats and sheep.
The wind may blow over goat's pooh and carry the bacteria that can survive by itself for months.
If a human being breaths air that contains this bacteria, likely that person will get the Q-fever.
Getting headaches, feel without any energy, becoming totally miserable.
Like a 23 year old victim said: I feel like a 70 year old man.
In most cases, a treatment with antibiotics during three weeks will eventually heal the Q-Fever person.
But in many cases patients develop pneumonia.
Or the liver is attacked.
And most particularly, the heart valves may get infected needing replacement.

In this province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands about 2.5 million people are living.
And they happen to have industrial breeding of animals in their province.
In large halls they keep pigs, veal, chicken and goats.
Animals that never see the light of day, have no space to move and have to stand on metal grills.
How excessive and perplexing this industrial breeding has become is explained by the figures.
In an area where 2.5 million people live, they are keeping 5 million pigs.
Then there are 30 million chicken kept in halls in that part of the Netherlands.
And over 100.000 goats.

Large ventilators blow the air out of the halls where these animals are housed.
Introducing bacteria's in the environment of the human beings.
Who breath them.
And then there are millions of tons of feces coming from the animals that end up in the environment.

It is totally unnatural and irresponsible to keep so many animals together under those extreme conditions in a highly populated area.
Hence, it is only logic that diseases break out like Q-Fever.
And we may expect new and worse epidemics in the future.

So, the solution is simple.
Close down these places of hell for animals that make victims among humans.
But at that very moment, money comes into the picture.
Well being of animals and humans gets then positioned opposed to the material and economic interests of the bio industry.

For now this epidemic in the Netherlands is alarming.
Making victims.
Over 1,500 people are officially infected and this number is rising rapidly.
Three persons have died of the Q-Fever until now.
But still no initiative has been taking by the authorities to start limiting the presence in those huge numbers of animals in their province.
For that to happen, first more people must get sick and die.
Because, in the end, it is about how much money is a life of a human being worth.
For three dead people the authorities are not going to force bio-industrialists to close down their centers of animal cruelty.
The question is when drastic action will be taken: after 30 deaths? 300? 3.000?

The public would be fools for this to happen.
They must come to realize that the bio-industry is the result of their own way of how they want to spend their money.
Consumers want to buy in the supermarket a steak or a chicken for as little money as possible.
Forcing themselves not to think about the consequences of paying so little for meat.
Forgetting how those animals are treated and what food and chemical substances they are given to eat.
Ignoring how nature responds when you put 5 million pigs among 2.5 million people.

So, either the public starts boycotting meat that comes from the bio-industry.
To bring that horrible business to a halt.
Or they continue to buy and eat cheap meat and more and more people will die.






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Political solutions

There are several decisions governments worldwide could made that would drastically change the political and social situation in the world.
Unorthodox and rather revolutionary decisions but they have that nature because the current strategies and policies are old fashioned and not working.
In the past we have seen similar situations that revolutionary approaches to how to organize and direct societies suddenly came about.
The French revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolution of 1917.
These days we are in such a mess it is time for a new revolution.
By democratically forcing current governments to change fundamentally their policies or by a real revolution coming from the majority of the population.

Some decisions governments could take that drastically will improve the lives of many people:

1/
In the USA and elsewhere drugs should be legalized in a controlled manner.
Anybody should be able to obtain and use drugs like hard liquor, marijuana, cocaine and heroine.
Users of hard drugs can go to their GP, obtain a permit for a certain amount and buy their quantum in an official shop for prices controlled by the Government.
In this way drugs are de-criminalised.
It will end the illegal drug trade and the drug wars.
Drugs then will become a source of income for the governments.
This money should be spend to assist medically and psychologically the drug addicts.

2/
All foreign troops and fighters must leave Iraq and Afghanistan right away.
The people of Iraq and Afghanistan must be allowed to create the societies they want in a way they prefer.
Even if those societies will not be to our liking or to our economic advantage.
If the Taliban wants to create an orthodox Islamic state in Afghanistan, why should we be opposed when we tolerate it so generously of our friend Saudi Arabia?
Next, we can deal with countries with who we disagree concerning democratic rights and equality between men and women in a civilized way without violence.
By using methods like economic boycott and cultural isolation.
And using institutions like the International Court of Justice.

3/
The US Dollar must end as the worldwide leading standard in the economy.
Because the US Dollar by now is a hollow balloon and in fact completely worthless.
Business can only be allowed in currencies like the Chinese Yuan, the Japanese Yen and the European Euro: currencies that are backed up by sufficient reserves.
This will stop a standard of luxurious living in the USA that is financed by borrowing that makes billions of people elsewhere live in painful poverty.

4/
Annually the USA donates to Israel about 2,5 billions of dollars.
Since the formation of the Hamas led Palestinian Authority government after democratic elections in March 2006, the US administration has suspended its foreign assistance program to the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
What should happen is this:
Half of any financial support to Israel must go to the Palestinians.
Linked to very precise and rigorous conditions.
Any action contrary to international laws and previous agreements are immediately punished by withholding financial assistance.
This new way of financing applies not only to the USA, but to the European Union as well.
It also goes for the financial aid that Iran and Saudi Arabia are giving to the Palestinians.
Half of the money donated to the Palestinians goes to Israel but again, with very precise and rigorous conditions.
Otherwise: nothing and let the Palestinian and Israeli populations then have it fight out with their political leaders.

5/
Islamic fundamentalists must be allowed to come to Europe and the USA and propagate their ideas.
This fundamental and democratic right is exercised by Christian fundamentalists also, is it not?
However, the promoting of certain religions and ideologies is only allowed within the frame work of democracy.
Only in the lawful way as is democratically agreed upon.

6/
Industrial breeding of animals for meat consumption should be banned.




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Happy birthday, Mr. President!

Every day is a special day.
Also today.
More so because it is the anniversary of Barack Obama.
Happy birthday, Mr. President.

A good opportunity to check the Obameter.
An initiative of the newspaper The St. Petersburg Times.
They have compiled more than 500 promises Barack Obama made during the election campaign.
Now they are tracking their progress.
And for good reason.
Because Barack Obama himself has said during the election campaign:

“I want you to hold our government accountable.
I want you to hold me accountable”.

OK, Mr. President, we will do that.

So, where are we after 196 days of Obama being in office?

Of the 515 promises Obama made, 34 were kept.
On 11 he made a compromise.
7 promises were broken.
12 are stalled.
77 are in the works.
And on 374 promises no action has been taken.

To put it differently:

• 6.6 % promises were kept.
• 1.3 % promises were broken.
• 72.6 % promises are waiting in the drawers.

A US President has 4 years to govern his country.
That is 1.460 days.
The time to make good on what he promised the electorate.
If in 196 days 6.6 % of the promises were kept, mathematics and logic will predict us that at the end of his turn less than 50 % of the 515 promises will have been fulfilled.

Will the electorate in 3.5 years time accept this?
See that as a good record and achievement?
Creating enough confidence to allow Obama a second term of 4 years?

This partly depends of who is going to be the presidential candidate of the Republicans.
If it is to be Sarah Palin, the question will be how convincing she will be with her promises.

That is all in the future.
Right now we better focus on the Obama promises that are being kept.
And what they imply for the US citizens.

The most recent promise kept was the signing of the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities on July 31.
This UN convention asserts the rights to education, health, work, adequate living conditions, freedom of movement, freedom from exploitation and equal recognition before the law for persons with disabilities.
By signing, and then ratifying the treaty, the United States commit themselves to enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights, as well as abolish discriminatory legislation, customs and practices.

A good thing, as long as the United States really live up to this treaty.

And what about the promises that are broken?
Two examples:

Obama promised that senior citizens making less than $ 50,000 per year would not have to pay income tax anymore.
Forget it.
They will have to continue to pay an average of $ 1,400 annually in income tax.

Obama promised he was going to recognize the genocide of thousands of Armenians in 1915 by the Turks.
But also for Barack Obama once in power, the relationship with Turkey was more important than telling the truth.

More than all his promises though, probably the major test for Obama will be his efforts to turn around the health care system in the USA.
A struggle that is going on right now and that is in fact a situation where capitalism opposes any form of socialism.
The defending of the right to make money no matter how even if it makes part of the own population suffer and even die.
It is a battle of principle.
And it looks Obama can’t win this one.
The power of the insurance companies and their Republican representatives is just too big with their 250 billion Dollars profit annually.

The best Obama can get out of this is probably an ugly compromise.
And that will shine on him much more than all the election campaign promises fulfilled.

Failing on health care reform will look very bleak compared to all the hoopla during his election campaign.
“Yes, we can”.
Can what?

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For more on the Obameter, click on:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/


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Be a bee

One could say we live in times of great uncertainty.
The US Government is taking the biggest gamble ever in history.
Getting as deep in debt as never before hoping that the economy will revive and that the trillions borrowed can be paid back.

When one listens to the commentaries on radio and TV, we hear only two tunes.
One is singing that all will be well.
The other that we are approaching total catastrophe.

Who can decide with ultimate authority who is right and who is wrong?
Nobody, ladies and gentlemen.
However we imagine the outcome will be, it will be different.

So let’s lower the eyes from the future and point them to the present.

To the own well being this very moment.
Towards the people that are surrounding us.
To the nature embracing us.

And all that we see now does not need any explanation or prediction.
We know what it is and we can enjoy it.
We can find peace and harmony in our existence as it is right now.

This is rather important.
Because anything that is going to happen in the future will come from how a person lives now.
It is a direct line from now to next.
A perspective originating in the now and widening into the future.

Hence, the more happiness, harmony and peace we achieve in our daily life now, the more happy, healthy and harmonious we will be in the time to come.

And this doesn’t depend on what Barack Obama decides to do to fix the economy.
Happiness and harmony is a personal thing.
Rain or shine.

Of course these thoughts come up in the mind because tomorrow an attempt will be made to cross the Mexican-American border.
Because the last time in Tijuana it was explained by the US Immigration authorities that crossing there could only happen when first obtaining visa documents from the American consulate in Tijuana, tomorrow the border crossing at Tecate will be tried.
Tecate is 46 kilometres (29 miles) east from Tijuana and is reached taking a mountain road from Ensenada.

The mind is forced now not to think and speculate about crossing the border.
But to focus on that cat in front of the Fuso Szulc right now.
Bathing in the early sunshine while watchful to catch an innocent bird.





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How the Americans work for the Chinese

Yesterday China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao, did a rather unusual thing.
He expressed publicly his worries about the American economy.
And the way it is going.

Mr. Wen Jiabao has good reasons to be worried.
China has borrowed the USA about 1 trillion Dollars.
And now the one that borrowed that money and is supposed to re-pay it, is in a self-inflicted economic mess.
The way out is to borrow more: the USA expects the Chinese to buy the U.S. Government Bonds financing the Stimulus Package totaling almost 1 billion Dollars.
So China’s Premier Wen Jiabao says:

"Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets.
To be honest, I'm a little bit worried."

Of most concern for the Chinese is the value of the US Dollar.
Besides all that money they borrowed the Americans, they are keeping nearly half of its $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves in U.S. Treasuries and notes issued by other U.S. government-affiliated agencies.

If the Dollar goes down, what is very likely when the USA continues to spend more than it earns, the value of the Chinese financial surplus goes down with it.

There was an immediate response to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao comments from Barack Obama.
Over the last weeks he had been rather negative about the messy economic situation in the USA.
But suddenly he said in a public address that the USA is the best country to invest in.
Well, what could he say?
He needs desperately the 1 trillion extra from the Chinese.

Who have not much of a choice.
They have had too much confidence in the regulators of the American economy.
Now they are too deeply involved and in order to avoid to lose most they invested in the US economy their only bet is to borrow more hoping it will go better this time.

What we will probably see is more involvement of the Chinese in American financial policies.
Like the Chinese ordering the Americans not to let the Dollar go down too low.

American financial policies of the last 10 years have resulted in an American economy that depends of foreigners.
The Dollar that is spent by an American in his country is in fact owned by a Chinese.
Therefore an average American has been reduced to a spending machine.
He or she is supposed to work hard, make money and spend it right away.
To buy things constantly even when they are not needed.
To see the Chinese get a return on their investment.





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Fair Trade

When you walk into a super market in Europe, you will find products with a label saying “Fair Trade”.
It can be chocolate, sugar, tea, bananas, wine, fresh fruit or coffee.

These products usually are slightly more expensive but the customer knows something very important about them.
That they come from developing countries.
That the producer is paid a fair price.
And that the environmental standards in which the product has been growing is acceptable.

“Fair Trade” is a big success in Europe.
They increase their business volume by 47 % annually.
In 2008 over 7,5 million disadvantaged producers and their families were benefiting from “Fair Trade” funded infrastructure, technical assistance and community development projects.

A farmer in a developing country never knows how much money the ground nuts he is growing with his family will bring him.
It depends if there is sufficient rain.
It depends of the world market price.
There are years he makes good money.
But there are also years he makes no money whatsoever and often starvation is the result.

If the farmer can join a collective of ground nut growers associated with “Fair Trade”, each year he will get a fixed amount for his product.
Even if the weather has been bad, he is guaranteed a certain amount for his ground nuts.
In that way he and his family can survive bad years.
And can he continue to send his kids to school.

In the years the price of ground nuts is very high, the extra money does not go to the members of the collective.
The money is spend on school buildings, the communal water well and other infrastructure in the village benefiting everybody.

“Fair Trade” is a great idea.
For only a little more money, consumers in the USA and Europe have a huge impact on the existence of hard working people in developing countries.

Next time you go shopping, look for “Fair Trade”-products.
And do us a favor: get those, please.
In Europe they are in every major supermarket.

In the USA:

Fair Trade Certified products are served at many national cafes and restaurants:

Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops - Ask for Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee or Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream.

Bruegger's - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.

Caribou Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.

Dunkin' Donuts - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.

Einstein Bagels - Ask for their Global Village Fair Trade Blend.

Noah's Bagels - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.

Peet's Coffee and Tea - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.

Seattle's Best Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Certified Organic French Roast.

Starbucks Coffee - Ask for Cafe Estima.

Tully's Coffee - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.

Fair Trade Certified products are available at many retailers:
Costco - Look for Kirkland Signature FTC Coffee

Fred Meyer - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea

Giant - Look for FTC flowers, coffee, tea, chocolate

Kroger - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea

Safeway - Look for FTC coffee, tea, sugar

Sam's Club - Look for Member’s Mark® coffee, Neu Direction FTC wine,
Peterson Farms FTC Sweetened Dried Triple Cherry & Cherry Berry Blend, FTC bananas, & online FTC flowers

Target - Look for Wandering Grape FTC wines, Archer Farms FTC coffee

Trader Joe's - Look for FTC coffee

Wal-Mart - Look for Sam's Choice FTC coffee, Peterson Farms FTC Chocolate Covered Dried Cherries

Wegman's - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar

Whole Foods Market - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, wine, sugar, energy bars, body care products, flowers, rice.






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Dreaming a nightmare

At the time it was said that Ronald Reagan and his capitalist United States had managed to bring the Soviet Union to its knees and even to its end.
The Communist system, as a way to organize society, had failed and capitalism had won.

The Soviet Union fell apart and became many new independent states.
All embracing a form of social capitalism.
De-nationalising companies and allowing private business.
Permitting people to become millionaires.

Meanwhile, under 8 years of George W. Bush, capitalism was giving the free reigns more than ever.

With as a result that we are now in a similar situation as with the Soviet Union.
The United States and its capitalist system is economically and socially on its knees and has ended.
Difference with the time of the Soviets is that not another doctrine or system is responsible for this.
The American capitalist system has brought itself to its knees.

Most peculiar now is that a reverse development can be seen compared with after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Russians turned to capitalism.
The United States is now changing into a Socialist society.
Principles of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin are applied.
For example, the major banks are nationalised.
The mortgage banks are now Government owned.
The auto industry is artificially kept alive with Government subsidies.
The health care system will be nationalised and sponsored by the Government.
Employment is created by hiring people to work for the Government.

Meanwhile, not many people are remembering right now why the societies that were based on socialism all failed.
What went wrong when a society was centrally managed by a Government.
Why eventually they all turned to capitalism as the only way.
Not many knowing the past of the Communist countries seem to be alarmed about what the current US Administration is doing.

When somebody looks expertly around, a conclusion is that extreme capitalist societies, like the USA was, and extreme socialist societies, like North Korea is, are failing and are not to the benefit of the people.
While in a socialised-capitalist society like Sweden people live in prosperity, peace and security.

The major mistake that is being made by the Obama Administration is that with socialist methods a return wants to be made to the capitalist society of the last 20 years.
Back to what was flawed.
"We have begun the essential work of keeping the American dream alive in our time," Obama said when he signed the $787 billion stimulus bill.

The newspaper USA Today published today a massive study by Gallup and Healthways that revealed that 24 million Americans shifted in 2008 from lives that were “thriving” to ones that were “struggling”.
Hence, how perfect as a concept is “The American Dream”?

Ten years ago, during the economic boom, 71% of Americans said it was likely that those in the next generation would be better off than their parents.
One year ago, 66% agreed with this opinion.
Now, 59% do.
It is now at 41 % and will go up higher rapidly: people in the USA who think in the same way as the Russians under Communist rule.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To read everything about "The American Dream" in today's USA Today, click on:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-03-09-americandream_N.htm




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A cold wind from the banks

In most countries worldwide the recession is blowing its icy winds into emptying bank accounts.
More people getting unemployed.
More businesses closing down.
Everybody depressed and without hope.

This man was found on the beach last night.
He was trying to sleep there in a cold breeze with one thin blanket only.
About 2 miles from the rancho some building activity is going on and the man is temporarily working there.
He comes to the Gonzalez to buy himself an evening meal.
Having no car and being from the mainland far away from his home, he sleeps wherever he can.
Over here it is the beach where at night the temperature goes down to 13º C (55º F.)

Logical to invite the man to sleep on the folding camping bed next to the Fuso Szulc where is no wind.
He accepted immediately and this morning he went back to work at daybreak.

This experience triggered memories of the pictures made for the Farm Security by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange in the 30’s.
People having hardly anything anymore because of the economic circumstances.
Travelling to where was work.
They were desperate.
Without hope.
John Steinbeck wrote a fabulous book called “The grapes of wrath” where he describes how life was for the poor during the Big Recession.

It seems these days are returning.
Poverty is coming to people who used to make a decent living.
While we are only at the beginning of a degrading economic situation that might take over one year.

Suddenly Governments that have been practicing capitalism, leaving the markets free to do what they wanted without hardly any regulations, turn to a more socialistic approach.
Nationalizing companies or borrowing money in return for shares.
Making more strict regulations and increasing monitoring.
Controlling society more and more now while before they were just a service institute for business.

We see now that Governments are investing billions of Euros and Dollars in their societies.
The remarkable thing though is that those Governments do not have that money that they have start spending now.
They borrow it and it needs to be repaid in the years to come.
How?
By raising taxes.

The truth is that the next two generations will live on a lower level of wealth.
Because taxes will be higher than we were used to, as they have to repay what we are now borrowing and needing to get the economy going again.

This is the devastation that the Bush regime leaves the coming generations and us.
He created in the USA paradise for business putting the people in hell.
Sleeping in a cold wind on the beach.

Stoking steel

The stimulus package Barack Obama wants to start implementing has a very weird rule.

Much of the money will be spend on the decayed infrastructure in the USA.
Many bridges need to be repaired or even rebuild.
For this a lot of steel is needed.

Steel can be bought from all over the world.
Usually, when steel is needed, it is bought where it is the cheapest.
Steel used in the USA can be coming from China or Europe.
But this time, the stimulus package forbids this.
The steel must be bought in the USA.

This is called protectionism.
What has at least two consequences.
The steel will be more expensive.
And the countries that cannot sell their steel to the USA, usually retaliate by banning importing certain products from the USA.

In the short term, getting the steel only from the USA seems not to be such a bad idea.
It keeps the US-steel industry in business.

However, in the long term it is very damaging to an economy.
The particular industry operates without competition and will become inefficient.
And the counter measures by other countries may damage the national US economy more than the advantage of buying American steel only.

Protectionism and boycotting imports is not an unknown tune to the US Government.
In the USA there is a huge meat industry and they like to export their products.
To Europe as well.
But the Europeans refuse to buy American meat.
The reason is that American meat is coming from animals that are given growth hormones.
That end up in the bodies of the meat eaters and can cause cancer.
In Europe meat with growth hormones is therefore considered dangerous for the health.
So they choose not to buy it.
Instead, they get meat from other countries like Argentina.
This doesn’t please the US-Government.
As a punishment for not buying American meat, the US Government is not allowing imports of certain European goods and products.
The WTO (World Trade Organization) has condemned this US policy but nothing is changing.

We live in a complex world.
Boycotting, banning, limiting, sanctions: they are no good solutions.

A better idea is to import only from countries where the wages paid there to the workers are at least the same as in the importing country.
If a product is made somewhere by workers paid less, it cannot be imported and the product has to be made in the own country.
If a product is made somewhere and the workers are paid more, it becomes beneficial to produce the product in the own country: it will be cheaper.
For a country like China to export, it must first raise the wages of their workers.

A result of this system will be that products become more expensive.
But a result will also be that workers worldwide will be paid a decent salary.
Something that cannot be claimed right now.
The cheap stuff from China in Wall*Mart is available only because too many Chinese work like slaves.
They are earning low salaries, have hardly social welfare and live in miserable conditions.

In the end, everybody can buy what one needs.
If it becomes more expensive because workers get paid more decently, it only will take a little longer before the product can be bought.
We will learn to save money again before we buy something.
And we will learn again only to buy what we really need.

*************************************

To learn the details and facts of the US-trade policy for not being able to sell hormone treated meat, click on:

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:HVfxgRtt2YAJ:www.eurunion.org/eu/index2.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26do_pdf%3D1%26id%3D1722+usa+retaliation+import+sanctions&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a






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Like a Christian virgin.

The city of La Paz, in Baja California, Mexico is not escaping from the economic downturn.
Shops can be seen that are closed.
Many houses can be noticed with for sale signs.

Friend Esther, who has the most beautiful “Bed & Breakfast” in La Paz, called “El Angel Azul”, told she hardly has any guests.
While it is the high season.

And friend Don Rafaël, who buys cows from the ranchos to feed the animals fat before to sell them to the slaughterhouse, has stopped buying.
The reason is that the USA is not buying cows for hamburgers from Mexico anymore.
Therefore the Mexican market is overflowed with meat pushing down the price.
Don Raphaël can’t make money with his cattle.

The trailer park “Casa Blanca” in La Paz shows the economic recession as well.
There is only one trailer.
For the rest it is painfully empty.

Where will it go from here?
The economic crisis is far from over.
It will get worse.
There are now 11 million people without a job in the USA.
And this number will seriously increase in the months to come.

The worse the economy is doing in the USA, the deeper the poverty will go in Mexico.

Free and unregulated economy was propagated for the last 8 years.
The current situation is what that policy has resulted in.

Fortunately there is now a website where people can leave a goodbye-message to almost ex-President George W. Bush.
A remarkable website with hobbyist designs and drawings.

Meanwhile in La Paz, to uttermost surprise, discipline has been kept like a Christian virgin.
No forms of self-destruction executed or other condemnable actions taken.
Although one Coca Cola was consumed.
Writing and expressing in a posting the real personality before to go to town has helped to keep it perfectly under control.
Of course, now, many comments are expected from Preferred and other fervent and loyal blog readers giving compliments, appreciation and admiration for the strong character that has been demonstrated in La Paz.
However, last night there was a sudden wake up with screaming out of fear.
The dream was about a Frankenstein like person who sneaked in from behind with hands outstretched to strangle the protagonist to death.
Noticed in time, a jump away from the potential murderer saved the life.
But the screaming from fear did the wake up and immediately the thoughts were forced to think about the realistic and concrete things around.
To be instantly out of that nightmare.
And to immediately realize it was just a dream.

Meanwhile the digital wizard has managed to fix the most recent problem with the “Donation"-option on this blog.
When fervent and loyal blog readers click on this button now, they will travel to the USA-site of PayPal and find no more obstructions to promote to the most desired Preferred status of fervent and loyal blog reader.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

The website to send the worst US-President ever a farewell message, click on:
http://www.byedubya.com/






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Save money and the environment

More than ever we depend on innovation.
With the tools and toys we are using now, slowly we are destroying the earth we are living on.

Every little step of innovation therefore is vital and one of those is now made by a company in the Netherlands called Spranq.

They have come up with a way to save 20 % on the use of ink when printing.
Any kind of printing.
It can be the newspaper or a book.
And even the print you make at home with any computer printer saving you dramatically on spending money on ink cartridges.

What did these smart fellows invent then?

They were inspired by Swiss cheese.
Besides tasting well, Swiss cheese has holes in its substance.
Result of air that was inside the cheese during the fermentation process.

The Spranq people figured out that if they would make holes in the letters, less ink would be needed.
This is what they did.
They took an existing letter: the Vera Sans.
And put the font full of holes.
This technique can be applied to any font of course.







The good news is that this font is available for free.
Any person can download it from the website of Spranq.
To use it, save money and most important: to be eco-friendly.

Isn’t that a nice Xmas present?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To learn more about the Ecofont and to download it for free, click on:
http://www.spranq.nl/en/






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