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POPSHYPERINFLATION (read, watch, learn) In late 1923, Germany undertook a monetary reform creating a new unit of currency called the rentenmark. The German government promised that the new currency could be converted on demand into a bond having a certain value in gold. Proponents of the standard answer argue that the guarantee of convertibility is properly viewed as a promise to cease the rapid issue of money. An alternative view held by some economists is that not just monetary reform, but also fiscal reform, is needed to end a hyperinflation. According to this view a successful reform entails two believable commitments on the part of government. The first is a commitment to halt the rapid growth of paper money. The second is a commitment to bring the government's budget into balance. This second commitment is necessary for a successful reform because it removes, or at least lessens, the incentive for the government to resort to inflationary taxation.
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POPS YOU JUST GOT SCREWED and Nobody Will tell you! URGENT!! Made the Digg front page in less than 3 hrs. Thank goodness some people still care what is happening in this country! Meanwhile, last year, Freddie Mac paid chairman and CEO Richard Syron nearly $19.8 million in compensation, Fannie Mae pres. and CEO Daniel Mudd recieved $12.2 million, including a $2.2 million bonus!
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POPSDays with my Father It's more than just a photo essay. It's beautiful and touching. I couldn't clip directly from the site so the source has the link.
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POPSHousing Bill Passes Ron Paul has a very educational speech on this "bailout" Go here to watch, the video is in the upper right hand corner "Congressman Paul talks about the Housing Bill". http://www.house.gov/paul/index.shtml
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POPSOperation Brimstone Operation Brimstone boasts two striking features: 1. It will include for the first time units of the US Expeditionary Combat Command, who are trained to operate in shallow coastal waters and rivers, such as the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf and the small islands around its chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Revolutionary Guards marine units are posted on these islands. The international force will have to control the islands to ensure oil shipping freed passage out to world markets. 2. The Roosevelt’s decks will for the first time host French Rafale fighter jets which will share space with US warplanes, while the only French carrier Charles de Gaulle undergoes maintenance.
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POPSFood Stamp Use Soars In MA & Elsewhere “I think low-income families are faced and will be faced this winter with the difficult choice of eating or heating a home,” said Patricia Baker, senior policy analyst for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the poor. “We’re seeing prices escalating, and anything that a family can access to help them buy basic food for their families is critical.”
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POPSWarrentless Wiretapping Comes to Canada First appeared in Zeropaid as: http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9639/Warrentless+Wiretapping+Comes+to+Canada+-+Canadian+Media+Censored thanks to Zeropaid for covering this document. Copyright remains with Zeropaid.
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POPSCouch Surfing Now this is a true Global Community! No government needed, no profits involved except the profit to people's hearts and minds, just people around the world getting to know each other and each others cultures, freely and respectfully!
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POPSObama's Civilian National Security Force How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together? Now, maybe he was misquoted by the Congressional Quarterly and the Chicago Tribune. I guess it's possible. If so, you would think he would want to set the record straight. Maybe he misspoke. That has certainly happened before. Again, why wouldn't the rest of my colleagues show some curiosity about such a major and, frankly, bone-chilling proposition? Are we talking about creating a police state here? The U.S. Army alone has nearly 500,000 troops. That doesn't count reserves or National Guard. In 2007, the U.S. Defense budget was $439 billion. Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean?
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POPSMcCain on Social Security "An individual does have the right to refuse his/her Social Security retirement benefit. However, Social Security is an entitlement program and an individual would essentially be forfeiting a benefit based upon contributions during his/her working lifetime," Jarrett said. McCain criticized Social Security as 'a disgrace' but still takes a check every month.
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POPSYou Owe $455,000 * “People seem to think the government has money,” said former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. “The government doesn’t have any money“ * The United States Department of the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget published a report stating that the U.S. cannot grow our way out of the government’s liabilities, that the liabilities are quickly growing, and that failing to take drastic and immediate action would lead to very bad consequences (the report was written in 2006) * The International Monetary Fund - which oversees third-world economies - are so concerned about the solvency of the U.S. economy that they are conducting a complete audit of the whole US financial system If you owed $455,000, you might very well have to file for bankruptcy, unless you had some rich uncle who could bail you out. But if your uncle had bailed you out numerous times in the past and if you had consistently broke your promises to re-pay him - he’d probably cut you off
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POPSThe DRILL Act (Drill here, drill now!) "Where better to drill than the NATIONAL Petroleum Reserve. That is what it is for. That is why it was set aside. The National Petroleum Reserve. "My colleagues, situated on the North Slope of Alaska, this Reserve is no pipe dream like ANWR - which is a bumper sticker approach of our energy woes. 10.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil! "Far more than ANWR, which is not open to leasing. And if opened, would be far behind bringing energy to Americans than the National Petroleum Reserve. "In Alaska, 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas has been stranded - think about that - 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas - because there is no pipeline to bring it to market. Elsewhere, there is 68 million acres of federal lands. Onshore and offshore in the Outer Continental Shelf. Under oil and gas leases. That are not producing. May be subject to speculation. Being warehoused. "I say drill it! Drill it.
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POPS Support an Iraq Referendum
We are continually told that we must stay in Iraq to prevent a sectarian blood bath. But the Iraqi people don't seem to share this fear, and perhaps with good reason. A study of violent attacks in Iraq indicates that the sectarian violence has largely subsided, and that most of the remaining violence is directed at the occupation, and at government officials who are perceived to be collaborating with US. forces. http://www.countercurrents.org/lin190308.htm This would seem to indicate that violence in Iraq could dwindle away to nothing, if only we would leave. Of course, no one can guarantee what will happen in Iraq if U.S. forces depart. But the same is true for the opposite position. It's possible that the violence will continue precisely because the occupation continues. It's time to cut through the pointless, circular debate. It's time to ask the Iraqi people what they want, NOT what U.S. politicians want. The Iraqi people should decide. That's democracy, isn't it?
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POPSUSA's Unhealthy Health Care Rating **Up to 100,000 fewer people would die from causes that could have been prevented by good health care if the US achieved the lower mortality rates of leading countries **Thirty-seven million more adults would have an accessible primary care provider, and 70 million more adults would receive all recommended preventive care **The Medicare program could potentially save at least $12 billion a year by reducing hospital readmissions or by reducing hospitalizations for preventable conditions. **Reducing health insurance administrative costs to the average level of countries with mixed private/public insurance systems (Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland) would free up $51 billion annually, or more than half the cost of providing comprehensive coverage to all the uninsured in the US. Reaching the lowest rate benchmarks (2 to 3 % of national health expenditures spent on adm. costs) set by the lowest countries Finland, Japan, and Australia—could save an estimated $102 billion per yea
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POPSCulture of secrecy and deception US taxpayers are required to report all foreign financial accounts if their total value exceeds $10,000 at any point during a given year, prosecutors said. Failure to report the accounts can result in a penalty of up to 50 percent of the amount in the accounts. The report states that in some instances, UBS declined to report accounts to the IRS when clients opened them in the names of offshore corporations, trusts, foundations or other entities, even if the bank knew the true beneficial owners were US taxpayers. In Liechtenstein, the report said the royal family's LGT Group contributed to a "culture of secrecy and deception" that enabled clients to "evade US taxes, dodge creditors, and ignore court orders."
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POPS US Slips Down Development Index Among other findings: * Of the world's richest nations, the US has the most children (15%) living in poverty * Of the OECD nations, the US has the most people in prison - as a percentage and in absolute numbers * 25% of 15-year-old students performed at or below the lowest level in an international maths test - worse than Canada, France, Germany and Japan * If the US infant mortality rate were equal to first-ranked Sweden, more than 20,000 babies would survive beyond their first year of life It also provides a snapshot of the inequalities between the richest and the poorest Americans and between different ethnic groups. "The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's author, Sarah Burd-Sharps. "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living.
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