- IF YOU’RE AMONG THE 50 MILLION AMERICANS WHO CURRENTLY SUFFER FROM SEASONAL ALLERGIES, prepare to suffer worse over the next few decades. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the impacts of global warming include the thriving of “super potent” allergen-producing plants evolving from continuously increasing carbon-dioxide levels. “By 2040, pollen counts are projected to double.” [THE FUTURIST – Jan/Feb 14]
- NEW CALIFORNIA LABOR LAW EFFECTIVE 2014: (1) Employers who in any way “retaliate against applicants or employees who complain or ‘seek information’ about company compliance with employment laws… including threat to contact immigration authorities” now face potential penalties like suspension of business license, obligation for plaintiff legal fees, and/or criminal ‘extortion’ charges. (2) Minimum wage increases to $9 per hour on July 1, with $3,120 minimum monthly salary to qualify for exemption from overtime rules; For San Francisco, minimum wage increased to $10.74 per hour as of January 1. [CALIFORNIA CPA – Jan/Feb 14]
- “INFLATION IS ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE A MONETARY PHENOMENON,” according to Milton Friedman, and “increases in money supply always lead to inflation, confirmed by a survey of 83 countries… It can be delayed, but emergence in the long-term is not in question.” Presently, notwithstanding talk of tapering, the Federal Reserve is likely to continue printing “whatever it takes to keep the stock market up” until, like all bubbles, it pops – and when that happens, inflation will be poised to skyrocket as “sooner or later, businesses and individuals have to make the decision to raise prices and raise wages.” Officially, as based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation is currently reported running around 2% annually; however, if calculated consistent with 1980 standards, it would be around 9% according to Shadow Government Statistics (shadowstats.com). A Quicken report last summer showed 35% increase in utility costs, 65% daycare and 70% school tuition, with health insurance raising an average of 111%. “Inflation is no long an economic catchword. To all Americans it is something as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man,” in the words of Ronald Reagan. [FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT – Dec 13]
- ONWARD FLOWS POLITICAL-CORRECTNESS: (1) To save the children: Over 3-million American kids get suspended at least once a year for reasons like: chomping a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun; firing an imaginary bow & arrow; a six-year-old boy who kissed a girl on the hand; wearing the wrong (mandated) shoes or socks; and tossing peanuts in back of a school bus – which also involved a felony assault charge when one nut hit the driver. Zero-tolerance policies in public schools “are often wildly disproportionate to the ‘offences’ committed, do little if anything to improve discipline, and can cause lasting harm to pupils.” (2) To segregate state and religious culture: Since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oklahoma monument to the Ten Commandments (as not violating 1st Amendment prohibition on establishment of religion), the Satanic Temple planned a monument to Devil Worship immediately next door – even promising it to be “public-friendly and something children could play on.” Not to worry! The ACLU is continuing its eight-year challenge to “keep Beelzebubba at bay,” and to the legitimacy of any “public property support for any system of religion, directly or indirectly.” [THE ECONOMIST – Dec 14 & 21, 13]
- “THE DEBATE OVER GUN CONTROL IS DEAD.” Even though guns are still involved in 70% of murders, statistics have continually dropped over the past two decades and popular attitude is now that “suicidal young men determined to make a statement by slaying innocents will continue to attempt their bloody spectacles… which the Media doesn’t help by sensationalizing with 24/7 cable coverage that psychiatrists believe incites copycats.” Meanwhile, private U.S. gun ownership has soared to some 300 million firearms and, notwithstanding local initiatives and national political posturing, over 19 million new gun buyers submitted to FBI background checks in the first eleven months of 2013. [BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK – Dec 16, 13]
- ACCORDING TO WASTEBOOK, an annual Congressional report, last year ObamaCare’s “disastrous launch” cost at least $319 million plus “millions more wasted on ads in various states… including a campaign featuring an Elvis impersonator in Colorado – where 4,000 people enrolled, one of whom turned out to be a dog named Baxter.” [LBN E-LERT – Dec 28, 13]
