SIGNS OF THE TIMES NEWS EVENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD RELATING TO FUTURE TRENDS These are some key articles that relate to the subjects we cover. THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS US DOMESTIC POLICIES GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR GLOBAL POLITICAL THEORY THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS Human beings are currently living in way that is completely unsustainable with the world we live on. A majority of the scientists of our time are unanimous in agreement that climate change is real, and is happening more rapidly than normal because of human activities. As of now, humanity has no concrete plan for how to deal with the growing population of human beings on the planet, along with the massive resource depletion, widespread poverty and pollution. The articles we've highlighted below will discuss this crisis in more detail. WORLD FUTURE FUND REPORTS Building a Sustainable Future: An Outline of Reform Visions of the Future: An Introduction to Future Watch Studies on Our Site Portrait of Our Planet: A Collection of Charts and Pictures (PDF) Global Environmental Crisis (A further collection of key news stories about the environmental crisis) TODAY'S MASS EXTINCTIONS The diversity of life across much of Earth has plunged below ‘safe’ levels (The Washington Post, 7-14-16) Human Consumption of Earth's Natural Resources Has Tripled in 40 Years (EcoWatch, 7-25-16) Scientists Build Case for 'Sixth Extinction' ... and Say It Could Kill Us (NBC News, 6-19-15) SCIENCE ADVANCES The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species Study: We've wiped out half the world's wildlife since 1970 (VOX, 9-30-14) World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report 2014 (WWF Global) Humans Spur Worst Extinctions Since Dinosaurs (Planet Ark, 3-21-06) Extinct
Species Won't Return for 10 Million Years Climate
Change Drives Widespread Amphibian Extinctions Almost 50% Of The World's Primates Are In Danger Of Extinction (CNN) Web Site on Extinctions Human beings are exterminating other forms of life at the highest rate in millions of years. DEATH OF THE BEES Leading insecticide cuts bee sperm by almost 40%, study shows (The Guardian, 7-27-16) The following study connects low doses of exposure to Neonicitinoids to a damaged immunity in Honey Bees: Pesticide blamed for declining bee population (CBS News, 4-9-13) POISONING OF THE WORLD'S BATS Bat Disease, White-Nose Syndrome, May Increase U.S. Farm Pesticide Use: Study (Washington Post, 4-13-11) POISONING OF THE WORLD'S FROGS Frog Deaths Are A Harbinger of "Sixth Mass Extinction" on Earth (iO9, 8-12-08) DEATH OF THE WORLD'S FISH Ocean fish numbers on 'brink of collapse': WWF (Reuters, 9-16-15) WORLD WILDLIFE FUND REPORT Only
10 Percent of Big Ocean Fish Remain World's
Fish Supply Will Run Out by 2048 Read the report "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services" ENVIRONMENTAL WORLD OUTLOOK Land Degradation Could Create 50 Million Climate Refugees Within a Decade (Truthdig, 9-21-15) Report (PDF) 'Epidemic of food riots' could trigger society collapse by 2040, warn scientists (RT, 6-24-15) REPORT (Lloyd's of London) New NASA data show how the world is running out of water (The Washington Post, 6-16-15) NASA SATELLITE DATA 2014 UN Scientific Panel On Climate Change Sounds Alarm: (Maybe delete?) NASA 2014 Model Shows Possibility That Industrial Civilization Could Experience a Collapse (Maybe delete?) OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 Report (PDF) The
State of the World? A Grim Warning from 1,300 Leading Scientists (Maybe delete?) POISONING THE PLANET In America, many of the chemical companies have very lose regulations about what kinds of chemicals they can release into the public. As a result, hundreds of untested or low tested chemicals have been released into the environment that have questionable effects on human health, as well as the health of other life forms. Many of these chemicals, such as some of the newer pesticides used for farming, have killed millions of other life forms, such as bees and bats. Check out the World Future Fund Site links below for more on this chemical crisis. WORLD FUTURE FUND REPORTS Failure of U.S. Chemical Testing: Poison in The Blood (World Future Fund) EPA and EU Sites Concerning Chemicals and Human Health (World Future Fund) Chemicals and Health Organizations (World Future Fund) Green Revolution (World Future Fund) Indoor Air Report (World Future Fund) A LACK OF EPA REGULATION The Huge Drop in America's Commitment to a Safe Environment: EPA Budget as a Percent of Total Federal Budget (World Future Fund Report) Obama's EPA breaks pledge to divorce politics from science on toxic chemicals (Public Integrity, 1-23-15) White House Looks To Trim EPA's Budget In FY2014 Request: Information from Official White House Budget Historical Tables. See table 4.1 for projected spending on different agencies (including the EPA). Or Read entire budget here (PDF). Weedkillers are being found in Streams and Rivers Endangering Fish, and Aquatic Life (Washington Post, 12-9-07) (Maybe delete?) "The federal government first approved atrazine in the 1950s, but it came under increased scrutiny in the late 1990s after Tyrone B. Hayes, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California at Berkeley, did a series of studies -- first for chemical companies and then on his own -- that indicated that tiny amounts of the pesticide de-masculinized tadpoles of African clawed frogs. The European Union declared it a harmful "endocrine disrupter" and banned it as of 2005, but the EPA decided to allow its continued use after determining that the agency lacked a standard test for measuring the hormone-disrupting effects of chemicals. " POLLUTION Indoor Air, Human Health and Chemicals: The Missing 90% of America's Air Pollution Problems (World Future Fund) We're Surrounded by Way More Chemicals Than We Thought, and These Doctors Say We're Screwed (Mother Jones, 10-1-15) The Leading Cause of Death in Developing Countries Might Surprise You (Global Voices Online, 1-21-15) Water, Air and Soil Pollution Causes 40% of Deaths World Wide (Cornell University) Newly Discovered 'Plastic Island' Shows Global Epidemic Worsening (Common Dreams, 1-18-13) Read the report: "Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre" Not-so-Clean Hydropower is Damming Us All Dam building in developing countries is occurring at an alarming rate. The public needs to know the truth about large dams. Large dams are a societal hazard, pollutants, non-renewable and economically unsound. TOTAL COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION New UN report finds almost no industry profitable if environmental costs were included (Exposing Truth, 4-9-15) REPORT None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use (Grist, 4-17-13) (Maybe delete, because it is similar to what is above?) The
staggering annual financial cost of environmental destruction. (BBC
10/10/2008) TEEB Web Site (Maybe delete, because it is similar to what is above, and it's old?) Humans are running up huge environmental debts 10/29/2008 Living Planet Report (Text) (Maybe delete, because it is old?) Environmental destruction a grave threat to world's poor BBC 5/28/2008 (Maybe delete, because it is old?) "The TEEB review was set up by the German government and the European Commission during the German G8 presidency. The two institutions selected Mr Sukhdev, a managing director in the global markets division at Deutsche Bank, to lead it. "TEEB Report (Text) (Maybe delete, because it is old?) CLIMATE CHANGE The U.S. is the world's number one climate criminal (World Future Fund Report) Global Warming Has Been Greatly Underestimated [STUDY] (Value Walk,10-6-14) REPORT (Nature Climate Change) Pulp Fiction: The European Accounting Error That's Warming the Planet (Climate Central Reports) (Maybe delete) The world’s most famous climate scientist just outlined an alarming scenario for our planet’s future (Washington Post, 7-20-15) (Maybe delete) July Was Earth’s Hottest Month Ever Recorded (Slate, 8-20-15) Chart NASA's Data (Maybe delete) Poverty, Climate Change and Indigenous Rights In Morales and Menchu Speeches (Indian Country Today, 10-5-14) A Carbon Tax Would Cut The Deficit By $1 Trillion (Climate Progress, 11-14-13) (Maybe delete) 300,000 People a Year Are Already Being Killed by Climate Change Click here for a PDF copy of the report or visit the website here. PROMINENT VOICES SPEAK OUT ON CLIMATE CHANGE Bolivia's Morales blames capitalism for climate change (Aljazeera, 10-13-15) Leonardo DiCaprio (UN Messenger of Peace) at the opening of Climate Summit 2014 (YouTube Video) RELIGIOUS VOICES SPEAK OUT AGAINST CLIMATE DESTRUCTION Pope | Care for Creation Video Pope Francis: Heed ‘the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’ (Crux, 6-18-15) OFFICIAL STATEMENT/REPORT FROM THE POPE: "LAUDATO SI" In encyclical, Pope Francis laments global environmental degradation, but offers hope. Muslim scholars name climate change as dire threat (RTCC, 7-15-15) INFORMATIVE SITES ON CLIMATE CHANGE IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The United Nations and Climate Change Pictures of Impact of Climate Change BBC Version Al Gore 2007 Nobel Prize Speech and Video (Official Nobel Prize Site) Official Transcript (Maybe delete this for being old) NEWS FROM THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC Ice in Antarctica and Greenland Melting at Alarming Rate (NBC Report, Posted on World Future Fund) Why Greenland’s melting could be the biggest climate disaster of all (Grist, 2-24-13) Read the report: "Greenland ice sheet albedo feedback: thermodynamics and atmospheric drivers" (PDF) Arctic Death Spiral Bombshell: CryoSat-2 Confirms Sea Ice Volume Has Collapsed (Think Progress, 12-14-13) Read the report: "Geophysical Research Letters" Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica (Washington Post, 1-14-08) THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD'S OCEANS The Destruction of the World's Oceans (World Future Fund Report) Midway Film (World Future Fund): 22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It) (Ecowatch, 4-7-14) Newly Discovered 'Plastic Island' Shows Global Epidemic Worsening (Common Dreams, 1-18-13) Read the report: "Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre" First-Ever Global Map Of Total Human Effects On Oceans (Science Daily, 2-15-08) A 'Dead Zone' Appears In The Gulf of Mexico At Record Size (Washington Post, 7-31-08) (Maybe delete this for being old) Information from study: "Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia, AKA 'The Dead Zone'" A Devastating view of how Human Activities are Effecting the World's Oceans (Washington Post, 2-15-08) (Maybe delete because it is similar to the above.) OCEAN ACIDIFICATION Ocean Acidification: A Critical Emerging Problem For the Ocean Sciences (Report) A Look at Growing Acidity in our Earths' Oceans', Scientists fear that the change may be Irreversible (Common Dreams, 12-16-07) DANGERS IN SIBERIA Anthrax Outbreak In Russia Thought To Be Result Of Thawing Permafrost (NPR, 8-3-16) Melting Permafrost Releases Deadly, Long-Dormant Anthrax in Siberia (Common Dreams, 8-1-16) Trembling tundra - the latest weird phenomenon in Siberia's land of craters (The Siberian Times, 7-20-16) FRACKING AND METHANE Global Warming’s Terrifying New Chemistry (Bill Moyers, 3-24-16) GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTER U.S. Methane Study Says Emissions 50 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates (CBS News, 11-26-13) Former Mobil VP Warns of Fracking and Climate Change (Truth Out, 7-19-13) METHANE IN THE ARCTIC Arctic Methane: Why The Sea Ice Matters (Envisionation VIDEO) Scientists discover vast methane plumes escaping from Arctic seafloor (EarthSky, 7-30-14) More Arctic Methane Bubbles into Atmosphere (Scientific American, 11-25-13) Vast methane 'plumes' seen in Arctic ocean as sea ice retreats (Independent, 12-13-11) (Maybe delete this for being old) SEE REPORTS International Arctic Research Center Ebullition and storm-induced methane release from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (Nature, 2014) Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change (Nature, 2013) COAL USE PREDICTED TO RISE IEA predicts coal will grow by as a share of world energy between 2005 and 2030. This means the world's worst form of energy will grow in demand by 73%. (International Energy Agency) (Click here for report.) (Maybe delete this for being old) THE DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS WFF Map on Global Forest Destruction Amazon Deforestation Video in Google Earth (Earth Outreach) The Earth Is Losing 10 Billion Trees Every Year (Slate, 9-8-15) Coming Soon: Global Forest Watch (World Resources Institute) Read the report "Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire (World Wildlife Fund)," Note: Clicking the link will download a PDF onto your computer. Grim news about the destruction of the world's forests (Maybe delete this) "Worldwide, one-half of
all forests we've lost in the last 10,000 years has occurred in the last
80 years. Half of that was destroyed in the last 30 years," says
Scott Paul, Forest Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace
Cambodia, for example, lost nearly 30 percent of its primary forests from 2000 to 2005, according to FAO. Vietnam lost close to 55 percent of its primary forests, FAO found. And Nigeria lost nearly 56 percent of its primary forests over the same period, the worst rate of forest loss in the world, according to FAO. The destruction of the Earth's oldest and richest forests is not a new phenomenon, but the rate of destruction has increased in recent decades. (CNN News, 7-12-07) DISSAPPEARING RIVERS World's Top Ten Rivers in Danger (PDF) (World Wildlife Fund) 8 Mighty Rivers Run Dry From Overuse (National Geographic) 28,000 Rivers Disappeared in China: No Clear Answer About What Happened. (The Atlantic, 4-29-13) CHINA'S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS Air in 90% of China’s cities still not safe for breathing, despite ‘war on pollution’ (RT, 2-2-15) 28,000 Rivers Disappeared in China: No Clear Answer About What Happened. (The Atlantic, 4-29-13) China's record-level air pollution, as seen from space (The Verge, 1-14-13) Article pictures from NASA's Earth Observatory CHINA'S ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS (Spiegel, 2-1-07) ENVIRONMENTAL AND MILITARY THREATS EMP Threat (World Future Fund Report) THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS US DOMESTIC POLICIES GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR GLOBAL POLITICAL THEORY THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS Global economic inequality is higher today than any other point in history. The record disparity of wealth in our globe is one of the defining issues of our time. A small 1% of the global elite own over half the wealth on the planet, and the legion of the global poor, third world slums and starving children is growing rapidly. Is this plutocratic system working? Read our key news stories and charts below to decide for yourself. World Future Fund Reports: Global Debt Money Printing Wall Street House of Cards OTHER FINANCIAL REPORTS Jubilee Debt Report Press Release Stock Buybacks Are Killing the American Economy (The Atlantic, 2-8-15) Profits once flowed to higher wages or increased investment. Now, they enrich a small number of shareholders. Richest 1% to own more than half world's wealth by 2016 - Oxfam REPORT A report from Oxfam discusses how the richest 1% will own more than half of hte world's wealth by 2016. Record Global Debt (RT, 9-30-14) REPORT Money Supply: The New World Economy in Four Charts (Financial Times, 10-8-14) What Argentina’s Sovereign Debt Dispute Means for Global Finance ( NACLA, 11-18-14) Argentina’s debt dispute with U.S. holdout creditors sparked a global conversation on debt restructuring, and may determine the fate of how debt restructuring is resolved in a future crisis. With 41% of global wealth in the hands of less than 1%, elites and citizens agree inequality is a top priority (Pew Research, 11-8-14) In many ways, inequality is not just a financial issue. It is a major problem linked to so many other challenges, such as poverty, environmental degradation, persistent unemployment, political instability, violence and conflict. People around the world are now starting to agree that it is a critical issue that needs to be solved, if we are to address other world problems as well. Economic Class Size Around the World (Economix New York Times Blog, 9-11-09) (Maybe delete this for being old, the number is probably different today.) THE COMING ECONOMIC BUBBLE The $12 Trillion Dollar Bailout (World Future Fund Data Table) Market Euphoria: The Mother of All Ponzi Schemes (Global Research, 12-14-14) Duck And Cover——-The Lull Is Breaking, The Storm Is Nigh (The David Stockman Blog, 12-10-14) Federal Reserve is printing $85 billion dollars worth of new money into economy monthly: Economists call this a big mistake (Forbes, 9-20-13) Predictions of coming economic collapse in America from The Economic Collapse Blog The "official" unemployment numbers do not reflect the real situation in America. The reality is that there are less jobs now for Americans than when this century first began. A key factor in unemployment is the off-shoring of millions of jobs that will not be coming back. There is also the replacement of workers with technology. Yet there are predictions that America has not seen the worst of its economic crisis. There are predictions that this whole situation is about to get even worse. The Global 2008 Financial Crisis Videos on the Financial Crisis (World Future Fund) Are big banks too big to jail? (World Future Fund) GLOBAL POVERTY Growth of the World's Slums (World Future Fund Chart) A chart of the global distribution of money (World Future Fund Chart) The growing gap between the rich and the poor since 1700-2000 (World Future Fund Chart) Third World Wages (World Future Fund Chart) There are 85 People Who Are As Wealthy As Half the world. (Huffington Post, 1-21-14) THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS US DOMESTIC POLICIES GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR GLOBAL POLITICAL THEORY SOCIAL REFORM Success of Social Welfare State (World Future Fund Report) A REAL PICTURE OF THE U.S. ECONOMY The Real U.S. Economy (World Future Fund Chart) American wages have gone down in 40 years. Minimum wage is below where it was 50 years ago. Labor force participation is at record low levels. This is not a healthy economy. Total U.S. Debt As A Share of GNP: (World Future Fund Chart) Debt as a percent of GNP at highest level in history. International Savings and Investment (World Future Fund Chart) Once the world's greatest creditor, America is now a basket case with a stunning $4 trillion more debts than assets. Collapse of America's International Investment Position (World Future Fund Chart) America is falling dangerously behind in terms of investing in its own future. Chinese savings are more than three times higher than American savings and investment rates. America's Balance of Payments Deficit (World Future Fund Chart) America's enormous losses in world trade. Money Supply: The New World Economy in Four Charts (Financial Times, 10-8-14) Record Global Debt (RT, 9-30-14) REPORT MOTHERS IN CRISIS The world is getting better at paid maternity leave. The U.S. is not. (Washington Post, 8-13-16) POVERTY & ECONOMICS America and Poverty A Sorry Record (WFF Chart) The Real Economy: Some Charts (WFF Chart) Some 66 million Americans have ‘zero’ emergency savings (Market Watch, 6-21-16) America’s Racial Wealth Divide Is Nothing Short of Shocking (Common Dreams, 8-10-16) More Evidence That Half of America Is In Or Near Poverty (Truth Out, 3-24-14) There are more Americans living in poverty than what the official numbers indicate. The official poverty threshold reflects living standards that prevailed in the mid-1950's. It needs to be adjusted for the current day standard of living. Food costs have doubled since the 1980's, housing has tripled, medical costs are six times higher and college tuition is eleven times higher. Not to mention that half of Americans own NOTHING. 47% of Americans on the bottom own 1.1% of America's net wealth. What all this means is that HALF of Americans are in poverty! One in Four Households Have No Net Worth (Economy in Crisis, 3-30-11) Almost a Third of Americans Under 35 Are Living With Their Parents: (FedUpUSA) According to a stunning Gallup Survey, nearly 3 out of 10 young adults are living at home with their parents. This is due to unrealistic housing costs as well as a weak job market. Half of Food Stamp Recipients are Children (CNN Money, 11-26-13) Food stamps are currently feeding 47 million people. Enrollment in the program has surged since the recession, 15% of the population is on the program. Children account for 45% of food stamps. The White House also highlighted in a 2011 survey that most of food stamps go to the elderly, children and people with disabilities. Former President Clinton's Welfare Reforms of the 1990's Made America's Poorest Families Even More Poor (Center for Budget and Priorities, Off The Charts, 5-25-11) Middle-Class
Dream Eludes African American Families AMERICA'S DECLINING WAGES Minimum wage would be $21.72 if it kept pace with increase in productivity (Huffington Post, 2-13-13) The Middle Class Myth: Here's Why Wages are Really So Low Today (Salon, 12-30-13) What the Recovery is Leaving Behind: The Long-Term Unemployed and Living Wage Jobs (The Shriver Brief, 10-29-13) UNEMPLOYMENT Record Low Number of Adults in Workforce (MSN Money, 2-10-14) America Needs a Better Measure of Unemployment (Against Crony Capitalism, 3-24-14) If we measured unemployment today in the same way that we did during the Great Depression of the 1930's, today's unemployment would be worse than any single year of the Great Depression. Even with the Fed saying that unemployment rates are at "6.5%," much of the numbers are very doctored. The official numbers do not take into account the people who have dropped out of the job market completely and given up looking for work. AMERICA'S LOW LEVEL OF TAXES America's Low Level of Taxes (World Future Fund Chart) Taxes and Deficit 1980-2010 (Shows need to raise taxes.) THE HEALTH CARE CRISIS IN U.S. Single Payer Health Insurance Plan, The Only Effective Option For Keeping America Healthy (World Future Fund Report) Single-Payer Is Worth Fighting For (US News, 1-21-16) US Health System Ranks Worst in Developed World in New Study (By Agence France Presse posted on Common Dreams, 5-15-07) Link to Report Maybe delete this because it's old AIDS
Disaster in Nation's Capital The
Nation's ER Care in Crisis: Capacity, Expertise are Found
Lacking (Washington Post, 6-15-06) Maybe delete this because it's old POLITICS AND RELIGION Ugly Realities of Some Evangelical Support for Israel (World Future Fund) Racist Roots of Religious Right (World Future Fund) Jesus, Sex and Death in Modern America (World Future Fund) Religious Problems in Modern America (World Future Fund) RELIGION AND EDUCATION Religious Interference in U.S. Sex Education Produces Disaster New York Times 9/6/2008 ISLAMOPHOBIA Quotes on Islam by Franklin Graham compiled on ReligiousTolerance.org RELIGIOUS SCANDALS Dennis Hastert gets 15 months in prison in hush money case (CNN, 4-27-16) The Page Who Took Down the GOP (Politico, 11-20-15) Hobby Lobby Funded Disgraced Fundamentalist Christian Leader Accused of Harassing Dozens of Women (Mother Jones, 7-2-14) How US evangelicals are shaping development in Uganda (Aljazeera, 7-25-14) Bible Belt Leads the Nation in Consumption of Gay Porn (Patheos, 3-13-14) Top
Evangelical Leader Discredited in Homosexual Scandal Claude
Allen, President Bush's Domestic Policy Chief, Charged with Felony
Theft (Washington Post, 3-11-06) GOP
Rep. Mark Foley, Chair of House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children,
Resigns Due to Homosexual-Pedophilia Scandal Former
House Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned on September 29, 2006 for
having sent sexually explicit email and instant messages to teenaged boys
(under 18) serving as pages in the U.S. Congress. Foley had made
fighting child pornography a center-piece of his congressional agenda and
in a particularly ironic twist he was serving as chairman of the House
Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children at the time the emails came to
the public's attention. The scandal promises to widen as the Justice
Department investigates Foley and the press continues to question when the
Republican leadership first learned about Foley's conduct. After
all this, "pro-family" Foley now admits he is an active homosexual and
says this was a result of having had sex with a minister. See
story. Maybe delete this because it's old Bakker’s Other Conspiracy (Patheos, 12-4-1996) Maybe delete this because it's old THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS US DOMESTIC POLICIES GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR GLOBAL POLITICAL THEORY After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America has unleashed a global campaign of terror upon the Middle East in retaliation. America has invaded more than six countries in the last decade. In effect, the United States has declared war against an ideology: radical Islam. Yet ideology must combat ideology, not tanks and bombs. At World Future Fund, we are not pacifists. We understand that there is sometimes a time and place for violence in the case of national defense. Yet the endless drone attacks against third world countries is only creating more terrorism, not less. After invading a string of third world countries, America has recently antagonized a major world power (Russia) by intervening in the conflict in Ukraine. If the United States continues down this path of relentless military interference, we could unwittingly unleash a major global conflict from which we may not recover. Top UN Official Says 'Global War on Terror' Is Laying Waste to Human Rights (Common Dreams, 2-6-15) PENTAGON CONCLUDES AMERICA NOT SAFE UNLESS IT CONQUERS THE WORLD: LINK TO REPORT Press Release on Pentagon Website THE NEW COLD WAR World Future Fund Reports: New Cold War Ukraine Crisis NATO Lies about Eastward Expansion Dangerous Ukraine Bills Apocalypse on Hair Trigger Putin Speech 2015 The Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe Is Greater Today Than During the Cold War (The World Post, 1-20-16) WAR CRIMES: War Crimes and Democracies (World Future Fund Report) Death Toll from US Wars (World Future Fund Report) The Kuala Lampur Foundation: War Tribunal Finds Bush, Cheney Guilty of War Crimes (Common Dreams, 5-13-12) War crimes: Why should Bush, Blair and Obama be exempt? (First Post, 9-3-12) Hunger Striking and Force Feeding at Guantanamo Bay (New York Times, 4-14-13) IRAQ (See our more detailed report on Iraq.) Iraq War Among World's Worst Events (PDF Report, David Swanson) Current Death Toll in Iraq: Around 1.5 million (Just Foreign Policy) Report on the Body Count of the War on Terror (Physicians For Social Responsibility NGO, 2015) (PDF) WAR Study reveals that an overwhelming majority of young Iraqis view the U.S. as an enemy (Dead State, 4-16-16) The Iraqi man who took a sledgehammer to Saddam’s statue wants him back (The Washington Post, 7-5-16) The Count of Dead Iraqis Could Actually Be 2.7 Million (CounterCurrents.org) Poll: Civilian Death Toll in Iraq May Top 1 Million (Common Dreams, 9-14-07) Maybe delete this because the article above is about the same topic, but more recent. Anger, Disbelief as Obama Defends US Invasion of Iraq (Common Dreams, 3-26-14) America helped direct the Iraqi gas attacks with its spy satellites. (The Guardian, 9-2-13) Contractors reap $138bn from Iraq war (Financial Times, 3-18-13) Saddam's Alleged Al-Qaeda Ties Were Disproved Before the War SYRIA Syrian War Facts (World Future Fund) Bashar Al-Assad Has More Popular Support than the Western-Backed “Opposition”: Poll (Global Research, 12-14-15) Chilling Video May Show NATO Member State Greeting and Providing Refuge to ISIS Militants (Alternet, 12-2-15) Obama Plans to Escalate the War in Syria (The Nation, 2-18-14) Maybe delete this because it's old Top Western Backed Rebel in Syria is Forced to Flee (The Wall Street Journal, 12-11-13) Maybe delete this because it's old CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran (Foreign Policy, 8-26-13) U.S. Prepares to Attack Syria - - 60% of Americans Are Against It, Obama Has No U.N. Approval, and No Proof of Who Was Behind Gas Attacks (Alternet, 8-26-13) Maybe delete this because it's old Time to End Western Support for Terrorists in Syria: “Opposition” is Entirely Run by Al Qaeda (Global Research, 4-28-13) Syria Behind The Lines (PBS Frontline, 4-9-13) How Obama Chose War Over Peace in Syria (Counter Punch, 3-29-13) AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN US Puppet State in Afghanistan dominates heroin trade (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Heroin Dealer in Chief. Afghanistan, Source of 90% of The World’s Heroin (Global Research, 12-29-15) ‘14 years of occupation by world’s richest nation, Afghanistan remains desperate’ (RT, 12-22-15) Defeated by the Taliban, Washington Decides to Take on Russia and China (Global Research, 12-4-13) Drone Kills Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud; Pakistan Accuses U.S. of Derailing Peace Talks (Washington Post, 11-1-13) U.S. thwarts chance for peace talks by bombing the Taliban Chief, who had been planning negotiations with the Pakistani government. What is even more alarming, is the fact that Mehsud has been replaced by a much more ruthless leader with a hard-line position and a violent track record. Read about Taliban's New Leader (Dawn, 11-7-13). More Than 2,500 Killed By Drones in Pakistan, Names of Victims Now Available (Truth-Out, 10-15-13) Is the US maintaining death squads and torture militias in Afghanistan? (2-26-13, Guardian) The west has lost in Afghanistan (3-26-12, Financial Times) LIBYA Obama's 2011 Attack on Libya (World Future Fund) The Big Lie About the Libyan War (Foreign Policy, 3-22-16) Even critics understate how catastrophically bad the Hillary Clinton-led NATO bombing of Libya was (Salon, 3-2-16) Libya and the Big Lie: Using Human Rights Organizations to Launch Wars (Global Research, 9-24-11) Libya War Lies Worse Than Iraq (Information Clearing House, 7-23-11) U.S Ambassador Raped Before Murdered (Examiner, 12-13-12) How Obama Ignored Congress, and Misled America, on War in Libya (The Atlantic, 9-13-12) If the Libyan war was about saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure (The Guardian, 10-26-11) NATO Inflicted Libyan Deaths, Injuries Not ‘Propaganda’: Cynthia McKinney (The Information Clearing House, 6-10-11) ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA Israel dropped 800 tons of bombs on Gaza, the world didn’t blink an eye (The Iran Project, 11-23-15) The future of Gaza looks bleak (Aljazeera, 9-15-15) The tragedy of Palestine in shocking images (Facebook, 9-10-15) Gilad Sharon, Son Of Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Writes Op-Ed: 'We Need To Flatten Entire Neighborhoods In Gaza'(Huffington Post, 11-19-12) Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Caught On Camera With Plans to Relentlessly Bomb Palestine (You Tube Video, 7-17-10) Eight British-Based Aid Agencies and Human Rights Groups has Described the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip as the Worst in 40 Years (Spiegel, 3-6-08) In 2006 Lebanon War, Most Crimes Were Israeli (Antiwar, 8-17-07) Israeli Bombing Creates Lebanon's Worst Environmental Disaster Video on Gaza Gaza's Reality - Video 5 minutes (Information Clearing House) Desmond Tutu Likens Israeli Actions to Apartheid THE WEST'S FAILURE AT TRYING TO FIGHT ISLAMIC RADICALISM Islamic Militants are Defeating U.S. Technology Five Years after 9/11 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN TERORRISM Biotechnology and Politics (World Future Fund Report) Biotechnology and Biological Warfare. Chilling news of how even smallpox might be created by biotechnology. (Washington Post, 7-31-06) THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS US DOMESTIC POLICIES GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR GLOBAL POLITICAL THEORY DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY AND THE RISE OF AUTHORITARIAN IDEAS "The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom" by Evgeny Morozov (Paperback) "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism" by Sheldon S. Wolin (Paperback) CHINA Fascism in China (World Future Fund Report) China and the Authoritarian Model: The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Economic Freedom (Academia.edu Report) China's 60th Anniversary of Communist Conquest - Video (World Future Fund)
China's Next-Generation Nationalists (Carnegie, 5-6-08) Russia and China Chart their own Course, their Political Elites are Pursuing an Alternative to the Prevailing Western Model (Financial Times, 1-8-08) China's Neo Fascist System Becoming a Model to Many (Washington Post, 5-20-07) Red China, Inc.: Does Communism Work After All? (Spiegel Web Site, 2-27-07) JAPAN Fascism in Japan Major film in Japan glorifies Kamikazes. Just recently, a new film has been made with the active support of Japan's popular Governor of Tokyo that glorifies the Kamikazes. This article speaks for itself. QUESTIONING U.S. GLOBAL EMPIRE AND WESTERN HEGEMONYUN Security Council Reform (World Future Fund Report) Commentary: U.S. fiscal failure warrants a de-Americanized world (Xinhua Net, 10-13-13) Running The World; Asia Makes Reform of International Institutions A Priority For The West (The Economist, 7-3-08) DMITRY ORLOV: AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION, IS THE U.S. NEXT? When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 90's, many Americans were smug. Surely the failure of Communism was proof that Democracy and Neo Liberal Economics were the world's best systems? Yet the collapse of the Soviet Union may just be a mirror of what the United States can expect in the near future. This is an argument made by Dmitry Orlov, who was an eyewitness to the Soviet collapse. In his writings, Dmitry paints a picture of what life was like in Russia after the political collapse. Much like Russia in the 80's, America currently finds itself in a political crisis, with a declining economy and a waning reputation world wide. Orlov explains what will be necessary for survival after the collapse: mitigation, adaptation and opportunity. If we are to survive a possible disaster, we will need to be flexible and put aside our cultural baggage in the wake of new political systems to come. BLOG BOOKS Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG: PREDICTIONS OF COMING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE IN AMERICA The "official" unemployment numbers do not reflect the real situation in America. The reality is that there are less jobs now for Americans than when this century first began. A key factor in unemployment is the off-shoring of millions of jobs that will not be coming back. There is also the replacement of workers with technology. Yet there are predictions that America has not seen the worst of its economic crisis. There are predictions that this whole situation is about to get even worse. READ THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG THE LONG EMERGENCY: SURVIVING THE CONVERGING CATASTROPHES OF THE 21ST CENTURY BY JAMES KUNSTLER The Long Emergency is a book that explores the consequences of a world oil production peak, coinciding with the realities of climate change, rampant disease, water scarcity, global economic instability and warfare that will cause trouble for future generations. "The Long Emergency" Free PDF File SUCCESS OF MODERN EUROPEEUROPEAN WELFARE Success of Social Welfare State (World Future Fund Report) BOOKS Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?: How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century EU AND EUROPEAN UNIFICATIONEuropa - Gateway to the European Union Could the EU eventually have one army? (Euro News, 5-24-13) Europe's most powerful countries call for elected EU president (The Telegraph, 12-18-12) European Leaders signed a new treaty to reshape the EU and streamline decision-making (CNN News, 12-13-07) French President Nicolas Sarkozy Wants to Create European Naval Unit (Spiegel, 6-16-08) Politicians Urge Removal of US Nuclear Weapons From Germany (DW-World, 6-23-08) BOLIVIA ESTABLISHES RIGHTS FOR MOTHER EARTHWho has a right to life? Only human beings? In the west there is this idea of "human rights," that all humans have a right to life. Yet what about human responsibilities? Do humans get to kill off all other lifeforms on the planet? Some call this progress. However, there are others with a different vision. Many around the world are beginning to see the present world order as a form of suicidal madness. In Bolivia, the government has created a vision of life. Evo Morales, the current President of Boliva, has put forth laws to protect the biological rights of nature and life on the planet. Bolivian Law on Nature's Rights ANCIENT RELIGIONS REEMERGE (I changed this title)As consciousness about the environmental problems we face today grows around the globe, many are beginning to return to ancient beliefs with roots in indigenous, earth based practices. Europe's True Identity: Christian or Pagan? (Hindu Human Rights) The Lost Tribe That is Trying to Save The World (The Irish Times) Russia's Pagan Revival (Souciant, 12-17-12) Rebirth of Paganism in Africa. A very interesting article from Germany's Der Spiegel showing that Christianity is fading. Certainly the record has been a sorry one in recent years. Congo and Rwanda were the African nations with the highest percentage of Christians. Click here for article. (Spiegel Web Site, 2-7-07) NORWAY'S HONORABLE AND DIGNIFIED RESPONSE TO TERRORHonor and Dignity in the Face of Evil and Horror: Terror in Norway 7/22/11 (World Future Fund) In July of 2011, Norway experienced one of the worst terrorist attacks on their country in recent times. Almost 100 Norwegians were killed by an armed extremist of the radical right. Yet out of this terrible evil has come a response that should inspire the world. Norway's government did not respond with more hate or more panic. Instead, they remained true to their values. Read the link above to see a beautiful speech made on the part of Norway's Prime Minister. His response was to meet this terrorist attack with "more democracy, more openness and more humanity." |