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York County community works to combat elderly falling deaths

As the number of elderly fall deaths rise, organizations join efforts to end it.

By REBECCA LeFEVER Daily Record/Sunday News

York, PA - Retirement is seen as a time to enjoy relaxation and get good use out of the recliner that was neglected during a career. But for many aging adults, becoming inactive is one of the worst things they can do for their well being, according to Melissa Graham, aging services educator with York County Area Agency on Aging. Too much down time can lead to weaker muscles, Graham said. When that person finally stands to walk, their muscles aren't strong enough to carry them, and they fall. Falls are one of the leading causes of traumatic death in York County, according to the 2010 York County Coroner's Report. In an effort to combat fall death, the coroner's office has teamed with community organizations to reach out to the aging population. According to a 2004-2008 report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 8,181 inpatient hospitalizations were because of fall injuries, and 256 of those patients died from their injuries. "People need to realize that falling isn't a natural part of aging," said Beth Kehler, director of public relations and advocacy at the York County Area Agency on Aging. Kehler and Graham are each licensed trainers in the agency's A Matter of Balance program, which leads groups to create safer home environments and help the elderly develop strength and balance. Healthy Steps Fall Risk and Healthy Steps in Motion are also programs that have been used by area senior centers for about three years. While the agency sees members of the aging baby boomer population hitting the gym, a majority of their concern is with older adults who are in their homes and don't get out to senior centers or active senior groups. Community organizations teamed up last fall to reach the 90,000 aging adults in York County, Graham said. Representatives from a number of agencies, including Walgreens, York College, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the York County Coroner's Office and Wellspan Trauma Service, gathered to find the best ways to assist the aging population. "People don't want to use bathroom grab bars or their cane because they feel they're accepting a handicap," Graham said. "That's probably one of our biggest battles." Getting into seniors' homes is the next step in fall prevention, according to Kehler. Kelly Niles-Yokum, assistant professor of gerontology at York College, instructs students on how to do home inspections and talk to aging adults about wellness. Getting rugs off the floor, installing additional lights and bathroom grab bars are some of the easiest ways to make a home safer. Niles-Yokum also recommends community involvement, such as longer crosswalk lights, neighborhood lighting and safer sidewalks to make it easier for senior citizens to be active outside their home. But cost remains a big factor in making changes, and while Graham and Kehler hope to apply for grants, they're also looking for companies and organizations to donate their time and goods. "A lot of partners means keeping the cost down," Kehler said. "It's also the best way for us to reach people from all different angles and needs." rlefever@ydr.com; 771-2088 How to help People interested in donating time and items to make seniors' homes safer can call Jenny Nace, information specialist with York County Area Agency on Aging, at 771-9007. Service available The York-Adams chapter of the American Red Cross is making it easier for aging adults to feel safe while alone by using a Lifeline pendant. Residents can subscribe for the service through a landline phone and wear a watch device that they press if they need help, according to Red Cross spokeswoman Victoria Connor. There is an activation, installation and monthly fee for the service, but discounts are available throughout the year, Connor said. There are more than 300 subscribers in York County. 2010 York County Coroner's Report --- Suicides: There were 59 reported suicides in 2010, down from the 75 in 2009, which was the most in a decade. York County has one of the highest rates of suicide in the state, according to the York County Suicide Prevention Coalition. Since 2005, not a month has gone by without at least one reported suicide. --- Drugs: 2010 had 44 drug deaths, the most in York County since 2001. Most of these deaths are accidental, according to York County Coroner Barry Bloss. Most victims are people who mixed or mistakenly overdosed on prescriptions, or abusers who overdosed. --- Drowning: The four drownings in 2010 were not unusual, except that three of them were reported in December had happened at private home pools or ponds, Bloss said. --- Auto: Crash deaths were down for the first time in 10 years, with 46 reported crash deaths in 2010. Bloss said more seatbelt use is a huge factor in driver safety, but DUI continues to be a problem. --- Homicides: There were 11 reported homicides in 2010, Bloss said, but that number seems to balance out with the past 10 years. As the population grows, Bloss said, they expect to see an increase in homicides, but that hasn't been the case. Instead, homicides have steadied out the past few years. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Platts concerned for colleagues, says he's been threatened in past

Local congressman said he's been threatened in the past.

By TOM JOYCE Daily Record/Sunday News

Todd Platts

Main story: Ariz. congresswoman injured in shooting

York, PA - U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, said he's hoping and praying for the full recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was listed in critical condition Saturday night after a gunman attacked her in her Arizona district.

Platts said she served with him on the House Armed Services Committee. He's also met her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.

On Saturday night, he was still sorting through the breaking news about her alleged assailant, whom news outlets identified as Jared Loughner, and what might have motivated him. Platts was reluctant to read into the attack as symptomatic of the charged political rhetoric that's so common these days.

Though any such incident is too many, Platts said, they're still isolated and rare.

"We live in such a great nation where we all have the constitutional right to express our displeasure with government and government officials, and to express our disagreement on policy," Platts said. "But it's such a sad day and a tragic day when somebody takes policy disagreement and raises it to an act of violence against another person."

Platts said threats have been directed against him personally during his 18 years in public office. He couldn't recall the last time it happened. It's been several years at least, he said.

In each case, he notified police and the situations "were handled appropriately by law enforcement." He wasn't able to say whether anyone had been arrested.

He also couldn't remember the exact number of times it's happened, but said it was in the "single digits." In only two incidents did the people directly threaten violence. In the other cases, they hinted so strongly at the possibility of violence that he thought it advisable to contact police.

"Thankfully, they've been few in number and when they have occurred, they have been individuals who had mental illnesses," Platts said.

Platts said members of Congress must realize their visibility might make them a target for disturbed individuals -- as must anyone who works in a high-profile position. That awareness is simply part of the job.

"My focus now is just on the well-being of those who have been attacked today," Platts said. "It's violence that we'd like to think would never happen in our great nation, but unfortunately it does happen." Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Arizona chief federal judge John Roll among dead in Tucson shooting rampage

The Associated Press

FILE - In this April 3, 2006 file photo, Arizona Federal District... ((AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File))

TUCSON, Ariz.—Named Arizona's chief federal judge in 2006, U.S. District Judge John M. Roll won wide acclaim for a career as a respected jurist and leader who had pushed to beef up the court's strained bench to handle a growing number of border crime-related cases. His death Saturday, at the hands of gunman apparently intent on assassinating Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, stunned those who mourned the loss of a devoted, talented and gentle man. "I have never met a more sincere ... fair minded, brilliant federal judge or any judge for that matter in my whole life," Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said. Dupnik emotionally recounted Roll's final morning. A typical Saturday: a trip to church, then to the store and most likely a plan to go home to help with chores. But before heading home, he apparently stopped to visit briefly with Giffords at an event she was holding for constituents. "Unfortunately, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Dupnik said. Mark Kimball, a Giffords aide who was at the shooting scene at a shopping center, told The Associated Press that he believed the judge, who lived in the area, had simply gone to the Safeway where the shooting occurred to shop. Five others died in the attack, and several others were wounded, including Giffords. Kimball said Giffords had worked with the judge in the past to line up funding to build a new courthouse in Yuma. Roll, 63, was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. Roll previously served as a state trial judge and as a judge on the midlevel Arizona Court of appeals. He previously worked as a county and state prosecutor. Named chief judge for Arizona in 2006, Roll pushed for more judges placed on the court's bench as border violence has swelled the district's caseload. "Judge Roll was a widely respected jurist, a strong and able leader of his court, and a kind, courteous and sincere gentleman," said Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal circuit that includes Arizona. "He worked tirelessly to improve the delivery of justice to the people of Arizona." U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he recommended Roll for federal appointment. "Words are inadequate to express such a profound loss to his family, friends, state and country, but it is appropriate to note that a man of great qualities and character was struck down today," McCain said. Chief Justice John Roberts said in Washington that the killing of Roll was a terrible loss for the judiciary. The judge served Arizona and the nation selflessly and with great distinction, Roberts said. Roll received death threats in 2009 after he denied a southern Arizona rancher's motions to dismiss a lawsuit filed on behalf of illegal immigrants who alleged that the rancher detained, assault and threatened them, the Arizona Republic reported. "It was unnerving and invasive ... by its nature it has to be," Roll told the Phoenix newspaper in a mid-2009 interview. He said he followed the advice of the Marshals Service to not press charges against four men identified as threatening him. As a federal judge, Roll handled a wide variety of cases. He ruled in 2009 that federal wildlife officials used incorrect criteria when deciding against designating critical habitat and develop endangered jaguars. In the 1990s, he was among several federal judges who ruled that the Brady gun law's requirement for a records check by local authorities violates the Constitutional's 10th Amendment. Roll was a Pennsylvania native who got his law degree from the University of Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons, and five grandchildren. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Sitting Ivory Coast president keeping newly elected president prisoner in hotel

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI Associated Press

Alassane Ouattara, in red tie, arrives for an interview in the... ((AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell))

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast—The newly elected president of this troubled republic in Africa's tropics cannot leave his hotel. And neither can the linens on which he sleeps—except by helicopter. They are flown out to be dry cleaned across town and flown back at night, just like everything else that comes or goes from the resort hotel where Alassane Ouattara took refuge last month after he was declared winner of the Nov. 28 election. Although his victory has been unanimously recognized abroad, world opinion has not been able to sway sitting president Laurent Gbagbo to leave the presidential palace he's occupied for 10 years. He has deployed his troops around the hotel like a noose, and last week they pulled it tight, choking

Alassane Ouattara, in red tie, arrives for an interview in the garden of the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. Ouattara, the man recognized as the winner of Ivory Coast's recent presidential election, called Thursday for special forces from West African nations to remove Ivory Coast's incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo in a commando operation. ((AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell))

off the exits and imposing a blockade. The only way to reach the man considered to be the legitimate president of Ivory Coast is now by a United Nations helicopter, which ferries diplomats and journalists on daily flights, as well as groceries for the hotel's kitchen, cases of liquor for the bar, and the president's freshly pressed pillowcase. The international community finds itself in a conundrum in a country where sanctions, tough talk and the threat of a military intervention have not persuaded the 65-year-old Gbagbo, a former history teacher, to step aside. Xenophobic sentiment runs high and every night, state TV portrays the international position as a "Franco-American plot" and U.N. peacekeepers as enemy combatants. A military ouster may be the only way to remove the defiant Gbagbo, but many fear doing so could not only provoke attacks against foreigners but also degenerate leading to mass casualties. It is forcing world leaders to weigh whether the cost of democracy is civil war. "The problem that we are facing in Ivory Coast is the question of democracy. It isn't just about Alassane Ouattara," said Guillaume Soro, former prime minister under Gbagbo, who resigned in protest and has since been named Ouattara's prime minister. "Next year, there will be more than 10 elections in Africa. If African heads of state see that you can get away with this ... it will be the death of democracy on the continent," he said. Gbagbo's defiance has been especially on display this week, when three African presidents representing a regional bloc of 15 neighboring nations came for a closed-door negotiation. After they left on Monday night, they released a statement saying that Gbagbo had agreed to lift the blockade. But journalists who approached the checkpoints on the road leading to the hotel were met by bazooka-toting soldiers who motioned in the air for them to turn around. The Golf Hotel at one point almost ran out of food. For five days, it didn't serve bread. For another two, there was no rice. In the restaurant, waiters no longer hand out the menu as there is only one choice, or maybe two, per meal. The formerly manicured lawns are now strewn with trash and drying laundry, laid out under the blasting sun. One of the kiddie pools is being used to wash the uniforms of the more than 800 peacekeepers protecting the hotel. "We are not even able to get sometimes medication on time. Getting food here is difficult ... He wants to intimidate me, but it will not work," the 68-year-old Ouattara said in an interview with The Associated Press near the hotel's pool. "What is important for me is that Ivorian people by a majority of 54 percent elected me as president ... We have the will and the determination to stay." Along with effectively imprisoning Ouattara, Gbagbo is also needling his supporters. Since the United States acknowledged Ouattara as the winner of the election, the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan has not been able to get its mail. U.N. employees have been accused of hiding arms and had their homes searched. And according to news reports, a shell landed inside the Nigerian Embassy after ECOWAS, a regional body chaired by the Nigerian president, told Gbagbo he needed to yield power without delay. But although Ouattara is confined to a small patch of ground in his own country, his considerable reach abroad has made life unpleasant for the occupant of the presidential palace. Both the European Union and the United States have imposed visa bans on more than 50 of Gbagbo's closest associates, a painful blow to the elite of this former French colony who are used to vacationing abroad. In an unusual move intended to create pressure by proxy, the United States has also included family members of Gbagbo allies, including their children. A private newspaper reported this week that in Houston, the daughters of Pascal Affi N'Guessan, Gbagbo's campaign manager, were sent 90-day notices to leave the U.S. And a senior diplomat confirmed that in Atlanta Gbagbo's stepdaughters will not be allowed to re-enter the U.S. The regional central bank has also recognized Ouattara as the head of state and revoked Gbagbo's access to state accounts. In December, several banks in Abidjan posted notices in their windows saying that they would not be cashing civil servant paychecks because they hadn't received a guarantee of reimbursement from the government. Lines formed outside. Just before Christmas the notices were taken down, and people began to be paid. The veteran diplomat, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the press, says Gbagbo emptied out a savings account set aside for an infrastructure project to make payroll. Country experts believe Gbagbo will most likely run out of money in a few months, and if he stops paying the army, they may defect and force him to cede. But Gbagbo appears unflappable. Footage of him flashing his signature, ear-to-ear smile and shaking hands plays continuously on state TV, in scenes that communicate confidence and business as usual. "It doesn't dent our resolve. We don't feel pressured because we know Laurent Gbagbo won the election," said N'Guessan in a telephone interview. Ivory Coast is no tropical backwater. Until a civil war broke out in 2002, the nation of 20 million was referred to as the "Ivorian miracle" and the Paris of Africa. Abidjan still has the best roads, the most modern airport and the highest skyscrapers in the region. However, inside many of them the offices are vacant. And the well-paved roads are lined with college students who can't find work. They eke out a living running after cars trying to sell chewing gum and second-hand trousers shipped in bulk from Western countries. Gbagbo has made an art of staying in office. In 2005, when he reached the end of his first term, Gbagbo argued the country was too volatile to hold an election, and the United Nations granted him a one-year extension. The vote was supposed to take place every year since then. "There will not be an election unless President Gbagbo is confident that he will win it," the United States Embassy said in a 2009 cable published by WikiLeaks. In the days after the Nov. 28 vote, the head of the electoral commission began receiving death threats. Early results indicated Ouattara had won by a 9-point margin, but night after night members of the commission were prevented from announcing them. The constitutional council headed by a Gbagbo ally overturned Ouattara's victory by canceling the districts where Ouattara had won a majority, claiming fraud. The international community has been uncharacteristically unanimous in its assertion that Ouattara won because of a 2005 accord—signed by Gbagbo—which called for the U.N. to certify the results. It was a safeguard negotiated by the various political factions to make it impossible for someone to steal the election. "This is not just a national crisis," said Swedish diplomat Pierre Schori, who was the United Nations special representative to Ivory Coast in 2005. "Because it is such a clear-cut case where one person won, and one lost. The repercussions would be so dangerous and negative if we backed out now. Gbagbo would become a role model for people who want to cling to power." Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Portuguese TV journalist slain, castrated at NYC hotel

By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press

In this Dec. 1, 2010 photo, Carlos Castro, right, presents an award during the "Transvestites' Night" show at the Sao Luiz theater in Lisbon, Portugal. The 65-year-old Portuguese television journalist was found castrated and bludgeoned to death in a New York City hotel on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 and his companion, Renato Seabra, a male model who had recently been a contestant on a Portuguese reality TV show, was in police custody Saturday according to the New York Police Department. ((AP Photo/Armando Franca))

NEW YORK—A celebrity Portuguese television journalist was found castrated and bludgeoned to death in a New York City hotel, and his companion, a male model who had recently been a contestant on a Portuguese reality TV show, was in police custody Saturday. The journalist, 65-year-old Carlos Castro, had arrived in the U.S. in late December in the company of his young boyfriend, the model Renato Seabra, to see some Broadway shows and spend New Year's Eve in Times Square, according to a family friend. There had been some friction between the two men toward the end of the trip, but nothing to suggest that anything horrible was about to happen, said the friend, Luis Pires, the editor of the Portuguese language newspaper Luso-Americano. "I think that they were a little bit upset with each other, for jealousy reasons," Pires told The Associated Press. The couple saw the musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" and took in the movie "The Black Swan." But when it was time to meet Pires' daughter for dinner Friday night, Seabra suddenly emerged in the lobby of the InterContinental New York Times Square hotel acting strangely, Pires said. "He told my daughter, 'Carlos will never leave the hotel again,'" Pires said. He said his daughter, distraught, fetched a hotel manager. Security guards opened the door to the room and found the body at about 7 p.m. By then, Seabra had left the hotel but was detained by police hours later after he sought care at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, not far from the hotel. He was being evaluated Saturday at Bellevue Hospital Center, across town. No charges had been filed against Seabra as of Saturday afternoon, the New York Police Department said. Police said the victim suffered serious head trauma. The medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death. Seabra was a contestant last year on a Portuguese TV show called "A Procura Do Sonho," or "Pursuit of a Dream," which hunts for modeling talent. He didn't win the show but did get a modeling contract with an agency founded by fashion designer Fatima Lopes, who developed the show and was a judge on it. Seabra had always been interested in fashion, he told the Independente de Cantanhede newspaper in September. "I have entered this world, and I don't want to leave it because I see I can be successful," he said. Castro, who also was a columnist in Portugal, was admired there for his bravery in coming out as a gay man and "revealing the feminine side of his personality," said Rui Pedro Tendinha, a film critic who knew Castro. He was a high-profile public figure as a TV personality, Tendinha said. "The way he died is causing a big commotion in Portugal," he said. The organizer of Lisbon Fashion Week, Eduarda Abbondanza, said she knew Castro from his coverage of Fashion Week. Abbondanza said that when she fell seriously ill, Castro "was always there for me, calling me every time, checking up on me." On a trip to Rome, Castro even bought Abbondanza a rosary that the pope had blessed. Abbondanza said that when she heard about Castro's death, she took the rosary to a church to pray. "I only wish I could have helped him the way he helped me," Abbondanza said. "He had a huge heart. Only a human being with a heart like that could have done what he did for me." Designer Ana Salazar, considered a fashion pioneer in Portugal, recalled Castro's role as one of the country's first social columnists. "I was both in his best- and worst-dressed lists in the '80s," she said. She said she was shocked by his death. "It's like something out of a horror movie," she added. A guest at the InterContinental, Suzanne Divilly, 40, told the Daily News she heard the two men arguing in their room during the day Friday. "There was a lot of noise, talking," she said. "You could hear them arguing in the corridor and even in our room." Pires described Castro as having "kind of a Liberace style. Eccentric, but very well-known." He said he had been on Portuguese TV since he was a teenager, had written several books and was friends with the former president of Portugal, Mario Soares. The young model and older journalist had been dating each other for a few months, he said. "My wife and my daughter were with him for the past three or four days," Pires said. "My wife told me that he was a very nice kid. Very polite. I think this must have been a crime of the heart." "This was a 21-year-old kid, looking for fame. He (Carlos) probably saw him watching girls, or something." The death is the second recent slaying in an upscale New York City hotel room. Swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay, 33, was found strangled and drowned in a bathtub at the trendy Soho House hotel on Dec. 9. Her boyfriend Nicholas Brooks has pleaded not guilty in her death. Brooks, the 24-year-old son of "You Light Up My Life" writer and Oscar winner Joseph Brooks, has been held without bail since his arrest. In 2009, Ryan Jenkins, a contestant on the VH1 show "Megan Wants a Millionaire," was charged in the gruesome slaying of his ex-model wife. After her body was found in California, he fled for his native Canada, where he hanged himself in a hotel room. He left a suicide note that said he considered her the love of his life but thought she was cheating on him, police have said. ——— Associated Press writer Harold Heckle in Madrid and AP Television Producer Joana Mateus in London contributed to this report. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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We Need A REAL Media in the Aftermath of the Giffords Shooting

Via Deadline Live:

America 20xy By Andrew Steele

There’s no words strong enough to condemn the violent, cowardly acts of the gunman who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords this afternoon.  I’m waiting with everyone else to see what happens and I pray that Giffords and other victims survive.  Already it’s being said that a small child has died.  To say that nothing justifies this violence is a no brainer.

Many in the media are already starting to demonize protestors and those with opposing political views to Giffords, irresponsibly associating them with the actions of the gunman.  This is disgusting political opportunism and a cynical attempt to seize the reigns of this tragedy and use it to chill free speech.  Regardless of the gunman’s motivation, (which at the time of this writing has still not been reported), his actions do not represent the intention of the majority of Americans who stand against big government, and this incident should not be used as a weapon against the American people’s right to openly challenge to their elected officials.

Widening the gap between officials and their constituents will only create more civil unrest.

While the police on the scene have a duty in these early hours after the event to find out what led to the tragedy, and while the doctors have a duty to save lives, the press has a duty to get to the bottom of this event without capitalizing on it to push an agenda.

The American people did not shoot the Congresswoman, and they don’t deserve to be punished through “guilt by association” for using their First Amendment rights.

Political Hacks Waste No Time In Shamelessly Exploiting Giffords Shooting To Demonize Political Oppositon U.S. Rep. Giffords Shot In The Head At Tucson Community Event, Judge Dies Tucson Rampage Casts Light on Toxic Political Tone Mark Potok Blames the Radical Right for Giffords Shooting, IGNORES FACT Propaganda 101 US Media Silent Following Months of Sensationalism New drug-resistant superbugs found in 3 states A Response to Demos’ Carl Miller’s Blog And “The Power Of Unreason” Report Read more at theintelhub.com

 

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Behold the Storm and All the Mad People

IMVA By Dr. Mark Sircus

This video powerfully presents the ideas in this essay. My first spiritual teacher, who also doubled as a martial arts instructor, taught that people learn from repetition and impact. The video definitely delivers on the impact and I hope my presentation of the words of many delivers on the necessary repetition. It is understandable when people without resources and intelligence ignore all the warning signs but there is no excuse when intellectually capable people stick their collective heads in the sand.

Egon von Greyerz writes, “We now live in a world where governments print worthless pieces of paper to buy other worthless pieces of paper that, combined with worthless derivatives, finance assets whose values are totally dependent on all these worthless debt instruments. Thus most of these assets are also worthless. So the world financial system is a house of cards where each instrument’s false value is artificially supported by another instrument’s false value. The fuse of the world financial market time bomb has been lit. There is no longer a question of IF it will happen but only WHEN and HOW. The world lives in blissful ignorance of this.”

Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama, the Wall Street banks, and the corporate mainstream media are playing a giant confidence game. It is a desperate gamble. The plan has been to convince the population of the US that the economy is in full recovery mode. -The Burning Platform-

“First, the global economy is in dire straits and riding the wave of a convoluted ‘recovery’ built on fiat and fantasy. So to get to the point (as if it is not painfully obvious); there is no recovery! I don’t care how often CNBC, MSNBC, FOX, or CNN, pull skewed data and automaton analysts from their ghastly dungeon of disinformation, the fundamental dysfunctions of the American economy remain unchanged. The key here is the dollar and its inevitable demise, which the establishment is trying desperately to hide until the last possible moment. Over the next year we are likely to be buried in a deluge of excuses, half-truths, and lies, all meant to divert attention away from the word ‘inflation’ as the masses begin to question just what the hell is going on,” writes Giordano Bruno.The mainstream financial press as usual will be used as a tool to mislead the public even as the storm hits them broadside.

The United States financial system, as it exists, is making war on its own citizens, and on the citizens of other countries, by foisting the decrepit system on the rest of the world. -James West-

After the Federal Reserve went on its latest rampage of printing money, Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital said, “If bond prices failed to rise given such a Herculean effort to lift them up, there can be only one direction for them to go: down.” So as the winter opened her cold doors, the bells of doom are ringing in the huge bond market meaning that a lot of trouble is brewing on the horizon. “The big money realizes that the Fed is fueling a trend of global inflation.And only a fool would want to be stuck holding bonds when interest rates rise,” writes Robert Prechter.

One can hear a storm like this approaching. It sounds like a hundred freight trains converging on you. The above video is like this but reality is always so much worse than any presentation of it. Storms like this are real and they do destroy property and kill people. What is happening in the financial sphere though is so much worse for its going to be like a storm of this destructive power touching down on all points of the earth simultaneously. Everyone everywhere will feel its destructive capacity to destroy lives and wealth though obviously the wealthy that have their wits about them have prepared more than others.

James Howard Kunstler, in a master document of the world’s fate for 2011 says, “As is the case now, first in the unraveling of global financial arrangements – a terrifying matrix of irresolvable mutual obligations that are destined to be repudiated in an ugly way. Everybody owes too much money to everybody else. A worldwide game of financial musical chairs is currently eliminating various nation-players too weak to plant their asses in the diminishing chair-space. Iceland dropped out first, then Greece, then Ireland, and so it goes. Entering 2011, the trouble is that the world is out of runt countries to shove to the sidelines. There are Portugal and Belgium to go, and from these on all you’ve got are nations too big to fail and too broke to keep going, the most conspicuous being Spain.”

It is uncommon to conceptualize the world and human history as an ongoing clash between the filthy rich and almost everyone else, between the extractors of economic renters and the sellers of debt, the oppressors and the oppressed. Today we stand on the brink where large swaths of unproductive private and public debt will not be repaid, and sovereign countries will default on their obligations. International monetary, political or strategic unions that rely on economic stability, mutual trust and confidence will not be preserved in any meaningful form and it’s going to be one hell of a ride down from here.

Governments will do anything to keep funds flowing.

Daniel R. Amerman writes, “Something really interesting (and terrifying) happens when you combine monetary inflation with asset deflation in real terms (meaning the purchasing power of assets is plummeting). As the dollar price of the assets in ever-more-worthless dollars climbs higher and higher, the purchasing power of those assets drops lower and lower. This generates very high taxable profits that are then taken by an increasingly desperate federal government.”

Amerman continues, “Many people, looking at what has just been presented, would see this as being a major reason to keep that deficit spending right up there and maybe even get more aggressive about it. This is indeed the position of many politicians and pundits, as well as a number of mainstream economists. Unfortunately, there is a double problem with this approach: there’s no indication that it’s working other than as a short term band-aid, and the cost of the “band-aid” risks wiping out the value of money, savings and investment on a nationwide basis.”

“Unfortunately it appears quite likely that there will be a crash in the value of money itself. This is likely to be accompanied by a crash in the purchasing power of financial assets. The stock market may collapse in a way we haven’t seen since the last time we saw this level of depression, that being the 1930s. We are likely to see a tremendous bond market crash as US government monetary creation and manipulation is eventually overwhelmed by reality.”

The Western public debt crisis is growing very rapidly. The absence of economic recovery in the United States, the accelerated structural weakening of the United States in monetary, financial as well as diplomatic affairs, and the global drying up of sources of cheap finance are all leading to a storm of unprecedented proportions. Ron Robins writes, “Banks and the financial system will probably soon experience a new round of massive real-estate-related losses and subsequent financial institutions’ bankruptcies. Thus, a new major financial crisis will likely soon engulf America, greatly impairing its lending facilities and creating a severe scarcity of debt.”

The biggest macro-economic story of 2010 was Europe: It’s falling apart, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that’s going to stop this collapse.

Jim Willie writes, “Remember in mid-2008 the nation was told that the $1.4 trillion deficit would be reduced to below $1 trillion easily in 2009. It was not, and repeated the $1.4 trillion. Remember in mid-2009 the nation was told that the previous two $1.4 trillion deficits would be reduced to below $1 trillion easily in 2010. It was not, and repeated the $1.4 trillion. Finally, the US Govt deficits in current projections are estimated to be well above $1 trillion, as reality has struck. The $1T deficits are a permanent fixture. Thus the Quantitative Easing #2 is in place, since the US Treasury does not want the shame from failed auctions to reflect badly on the US Dollar or the other galaxy of US$-based paper assets. They masquerade as containing value, when they are largely trash items. They can no longer compete against gold. If truth be known, Wall Street executives are trashing their corporations and buying gold in private accounts as counter-parties. They will someday dump their corporate losses on the US Govt and ride into the sunset zillionaires. Then comes the US Treasury default.”

Practical Economics

Enough of this high finance stuff. Let’s look at how the common man is fairing in all of this. Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow reads the headline in the New York Times. “Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city, and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy.”

Everyone either on a pension or soon to deserve one might not get one or will definitely lose ground as the money to pay them dries up. It will almost be like class warfare with people close to or in retirement being the first in line to lose the basic structure of their lives. Equally, the salt of society, its teachers, librarians, police, firemen, and just about everyone else in local, city, and state governments are facing an apocalypse in terms of their promised benefits and even their daily wages.

The young also are not having a good time with things these days either. Europe’s Young Grow Agitated Over Future Prospects is the headline, also published in the Times. Many of the young are getting fed up with how surreal and ultimately sad it is to be young in the first world today. The outrage of the young has erupted, sometimes violently, on the streets of Greece and Italy in recent weeks, as the young protest austerity measures and a rising reality and feeling of being increasingly shut out of their own futures. The young are facing a terrible job market.

“Giuliano Amato, an economist and former Italian prime minister, was even more blunt. “By now, only a few people refuse to understand that youth protests aren’t a protest against the university reform, but against a general situation in which the older generations have eaten the future of the younger ones,” he recently told Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest newspaper.”

“As a result, a deep malaise has set in among young people. Some take to the streets in protest; others emigrate to Northern Europe or beyond in an epic brain drain of college graduate. But many more suffer in silence, living in their childhood bedrooms well into adulthood because they cannot afford to move out.”

Conclusion:  “Sooner or later all this dishonesty will terminate in collapsing living standards, loss of public services, growing civil disorder, and political crisis. You can get there via deflation (no money) or via inflation (plenty of worthless money) but the destination is the same. I don’t see how America fails to begin arriving at that destination before Halloween 2011. Europe may get there by springtime, anyway, dragging the rest of the developed world into a vortex,” writes James Howard Kunstler.

Dr. Mark Sircus:

http://magnesiumforlife.com/

http://blog.imva.info/

The After-the-Fed Solutions Debate Begins: Greenbackers vs. Goldbugs 20 Signs That The Economic Collapse Has Already Begun For One Out Of Every Seven Americans Everything Is Falling Apart: 20 Facts That You Will Not Want To Read If You Still Want To Feel Good About America’s Decaying Infrastructure Dead Soul Is a Debt Collector – Robo Signers Global Crash JPMorgan Campaign – BUY SILVER! The Economic Collapse Blog: The Working Poor Central Banking 101: What the Fed Can do as “Lender of Last Resort” Financial Shocks in Europe and America Read more at theintelhub.com

 

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Amplify’d from theintelhub.com

Political Hacks Waste No Time In Shamelessly Exploiting Giffords Shooting To Demonize Political Oppositon

Intel Hub Note: It is clear that this shooting had NOTHING to do with gun rights or the need for further gun control. If not for the 2nd amendment this man could have killed even more people. Media talking heads who use this horrible tragedy to push for gun control should be exposed as political hacks who could care less about Gifford or the country and the Constitution itself.

Paul Joseph Watson Infowars.com

UPDATE: This is allegedly Jared Loughner’s You Tube Channel. He lists his favorite books as Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto. There is no evidence of any Tea Party/Ron Paul/patriot movement affiliation, much to the disappointment of the Huffington Post, but Fox News and others are hastily building his profile as a nutcase conspiracy theorist.

UPDATE: A second man has been arrested in connection with the shooting, while a third man is also being sought.

UPDATE: Reports suggest that the gunman is a 22-year-old white male named Jared Loughner, an Arizona native.

UPDATE: Amidst a widespread assault on gun rights, we learn that the gunman was stopped after he was shot at by someone in the crowd exercising their second amendment.

UPDATE: Giffords’ father has told the New York Post that “the entire Tea Party” were enemies of his daughter, suggesting that a Tea Partier was behind the shooting. However, Giffords is a blue dog Democrat who is pro-border control and pro-second amendment - an unusual target for a “tea partier”.

Political hacks have wasted little time in exploiting the tragic shooting of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to demonize their political opposition despite the gunman’s motivation being completely unknown at this time.

Read Entire Article

U.S. Rep. Giffords Shot In The Head At Tucson Community Event, Judge Dies Read more at theintelhub.com

 

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Reading the Constitution of the House Floor (Video)

Amplify’d from www.hapblog.com

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Reading the Constitution of the House Floor (Video)

She reads the 1st Amendment about peacefully assembling...This is video from just a few days ago

See more at www.hapblog.com

 

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ABC News Blames Giffords Shooting on AZ Immigration Law – So Predictable

By Debbie Schlussel

Tonight, after I finished the Jewish Sabbath, I learned the news of the shooting of Democrat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge, and several others.  Say a prayer for Congresswoman Giffords (who is fighting for her life) and her family and for the families of federal Judge John M. Roll and the five others who were tragically murdered.

Sickening: ABC News Blames Rep. Giffords Shooting on Arizona Immigration Law

Since Giffords is an Arizona Congresswoman who opposed Arizona’s law to enforce immigration laws and was the point man for Barack Obama’s plan to send more soldiers to the border, I wondered how long it would take for the liberal mainstream media to blame this massacre by a total nut on those of us who stand for secure borders and NOT for any form of violence like what occurred today.  Well, it didn’t take long.

In fact, ABC News–in its very first report on the air–suggested that this was somehow related to the fact that Arizona has a “heated political climate surrounding its immigration law.”  The network newscast then went into the fact that Giffords opposed the law and that she was Barack Obama’s opposition point man.  And the anchor, David Muir, and reporters repeatedly stressed this point.

Um, evidence please?

In fact, there is no evidence that the shooter, this murderer, Jared Loughner, was anything but a nut.  No evidence at all that this had anything whatsoever to do with immigration.  It’s like me saying that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab picked Detroit as the destination over which to detonate his underwear bomb because of the heated climate surrounding Detroit’s corrupt former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick.  One has NOTHING to do with the other.

This simply has nothing to do with the immigration law.  And it’s absurd to pin this instance of craziness on that law or those of us inside or outside of Arizona who support that law.

Clearly, those–who do pin this on the law and those who support it–have an agenda.  And ABC News needs to change is name to Los ABC Propagandistos.  (I don’t speak Spanish, so forgive me for making that one up.)

And I’m sure ABC isn’t the only “news” outlet to do so. In fact, I’d bet most of them did the same. They all tend to toe the party line on this stuff.

**** UPDATE – Facebook Friend Jake Lee (join me on FB) notes:

This was a Leftist Hate Crime. The guy is an Anarchist/Far Left nut whose favorite books were The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf.

Exactly. How sad that ABC News just “didn’t get to that” on tonight’s newscast. Too busy blaming the immigration law. Like I said, sooooo predictable. Read more at www.debbieschlussel.com

 

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