What America has come to
I. “I am for our soldiers!”
Cutting the budget of the US Air Force, Army and fleet, which will take effect March 1, 2013, will reduce almost $ 34 billion in wages and expenses on holidays and severance pay for millions of people. Details are given by Tom Vanden Brook (USA Today).
Regarding the army, the reduction will be expressed in the total amount of $ 15 billion. This includes salary cuts and cuts in holiday pay or benefits paid when dismissing. This measure will affect 300.000 people across the country.
The fleet may face similar reductions in the amount of $ 11 billion that will affect 186.000 employees.
US Air Force funding will be cut by $ 7,7 billion. Here, civilian employees will receive less money.
Alabama, Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania are the hardest hit. Less than others will suffer Delaware, Wyoming, Montana and Rhode Island.
In addition, the US Navy also expects a “sequestration”, which “cuts” its shipbuilding program with 7,75 billion and another with $ 4 billion will reduce the amount of funds allocated for operation and maintenance. Civil servants of the Navy may lose 20% of their salary through a decrease in vacation pay. More than other states, California, Florida and Virginia will suffer reductions in the Navy.
Overall, the military budget shrinks to $ 500 billion over 10 years through sequestration, the so-called “automatic budget cuts.” The Pentagon suggests that by the end of the current fiscal year (30 of September) he will have to “cut off” the costs of 46 billions of dollars. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has already said that these cuts will make America a secondary military power.
Mike Amato, a spokesman for the House Committee of Representatives on Armed Forces, said that we are talking about serious consequences that will affect both national defense and the country's economic well-being.
The cuts, of course, will affect the military contractors. The more military bases in a state, the harder the cuts program will hit.
For example, the economic losses of Texas will be expressed in a huge amount of 2,4 billion dollars. A whole army of civil servants - 30.000 people - will lose their jobs (they will have to go on leave without maintenance). Their personal financial losses in earnings will be 180 million. $. In Texas, there are two major military facilities - Fort Hood and Fort Bliss.
Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution, notes that there is a “game of politics” here - and the military have played to such an extent that they have given out “dramatic” indicators. Nevertheless, the expert agrees that the reduction of the armed forces in the United States can have lasting negative consequences.
The state of Texas will suffer greatly from the reduction of the Air Force, losing $ 127 million in wages. Another state that faces major economic losses from cuts and sequestration is Oklahoma. Here, civil servants can lose 124 a million dollars in wages.
President Obama is now trying to put pressure on Republicans in Congress to avoid cuts. He is going to initiate a plan that includes cuts in other expenses and which changes tax policy, which ultimately should bring additional revenue. The president is worried that people will lose jobs. This, he says, "is not an abstraction."
Last week, General Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff, told the senators that the Pentagon’s 3.100 temporary staff members were fired. Hiring new employees was frozen due to the budget crisis. Maintenance will also be canceled. The newly trained soldiers did not depart for Afghanistan and South Korea. All of them will be "reduced."
As for maintenance, those states where large warehouses are located will suffer: they will be closed in the coming months due to upcoming budget cuts. Pennsylvania, for example, has two main maintenance depots, where modernization of complex weapons systems is being carried out, including, for example, the Patriot. The above mentioned Texas and Alabama will also be seriously affected. The closure of the depot will stop the repair of weapons, communication devices and vehicles. Reducing the flow of orders will affect 3.000 companies. More 1.100 companies will face bankruptcy.
In the article by Greg Zoroi (USA Today) talks about Susan Rocco, Managing Director for military grants in the eastern region of the Semper Fi Charitable Foundation. Every morning, from seven o'clock in the morning, this woman considers a long list of requests from veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. She works right in her home, north of Quantico, Virginia.
Here is one of the American naval veterans - he does not even have money for clothes or for going home. Another veteran lost his leg. The third one went to the hospital: attempted suicide. Now his wife does not have enough money to get to the hospital.
Susan Rocco has no time to relax. In just one working day (February 1), she approved an 34 grant worth 37.000 $. She helped dozens of active and former military personnel.
The need for help is growing, she says, and people don’t even understand it. According to her, people think that the war is over, and there are no more military personnel in hospitals — well, there is no need to help. However, she continues, we are dealing with a long-term situation. Veterans need help always. Veterans are returning to us, Rocco says, and we diagnose them with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (head injuries). Many tried to commit suicide.
Military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan tormented the American nation. Meanwhile, last year the Afghan war was not even included in the number ten News 2012 from the Associated Press.
“Our country has a short attention span,” explains this fact Barbara Van Dalen, founder and president of Give an Hour, which offers free advice to war veterans that the United States waged after 9 / 11, as well as actual military personnel and members families.
Today, charitable organizations, such as Semper Fi and Give an Hour, record a record demand for their services.
During the ten years of wars, 866.000 people from 1,6 million turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs, who served after the 9 / 11 attacks.
In recent months, we are talking about "accelerating the pace." In 2012, 50.000 “new” veterans turned in with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, of which 16.531 - only in the last quarter. This is the 184 new PTSD case every day!
“I feel that our work is just beginning,” says Karen Günther, founder and president of the Semper Fi Foundation.
Sick veterans are turning to charitable organizations on a large scale, including in the “Semper Fi” of them, in order to fill the existing “gaps” in government assistance. This organization provides active assistance to the military and veterans of the Iraqi and Afghan campaigns.
One of those people who was helped by Semper Fi was 25-year-old Brandon Pelletier, a former shooter. Under his armored "Humvee" in 2007, an explosion occurred at night. Pelletier’s right arm was crushed from hand to elbow. Today he walks with an elbow prosthesis. This person suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a moderately severe head injury.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury - they really exist,” says Pelletier, who receives a pension from 2010. “You are trying to live a normal daily life, but you cannot remember half the things that need to be done.”
A few days after the shooter was evacuated from Iraq and arrived at what is now called the National Military Medical Center of Walter Reed, he was visited by social worker "Semper Fi". “She just sat on the edge of my bed and asked me about my life,” recalls Pelletier.
He was helped to purchase new furniture, paid for transportation costs, and finally helped to buy a car with an automatic transmission, which he could drive driving with one hand.
Currently, Pelletier is only one veteran among 1400 military personnel who are regularly helped by Semper Fi for several years.
As for the state, veterans often have to wait months for the first disability check.
America does not support its soldiers, says Michael Moore.
The boys and girls who joined the army and navy to risk their lives to protect us, writes Moore, in return become pawns in a game of political and financial forces.
Comrade Moore points out that people are going to war, having nothing to do with defending America. Brave people "are used as pawns so that the military-industrial complex can earn billions of dollars, and the rich can further expand their empire."
Who are interested in these guys and girls? No, people care about more important things: say, pick up an iPhone from repair, or find a company in which tuning will do better.
Perhaps these soldiers are supported by bankers? Oh no, they are just increasing interest on the loans that soldiers have to pay, and then evict their families while they serve abroad. Who stood before the deputy sheriff when he threw the military family out of the house? No one. No one in America needs these soldiers. No one organizes massive sit-ins to block the doors of houses alienated by bankers. Instead, some of us have a “Chilean sea bass in a decent restaurant” tonight.
And how many of us have visited military hospitals to help the sick and wounded?
And who among the enthusiasts of "support for the soldiers" can name the approximate number of women who were raped while serving? After all, 19.000 women in the army and navy each year are sexually abused by other American soldiers. What did each of us do to bring criminals to justice? Never mind.
Who helped homeless veterans? How about yesterday? Or last week? Last year? Generally sometime? And then - no one. But the number of homeless veterans in the United States is huge. Every night, writes M. Moore, at least 60.000 veterans sleep on the streets of the very country that "supports its soldiers."
At least 12.700 homeless veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are forced to always sleep outside. But people pass by them.
So let's shout louder about our love for the soldiers, Moore writes poisonously. And do not forget to buy a flag and wear it on your chest.
The author continues:
The author thinks the Pentagon doesn’t care about his soldiers. Power will not help the soldier who returned home. And if the soldier is a woman, then she should know that the Minister of Defense will not protect her from rapists. In addition, people with a conscience should not allow the military machine to use them to kill civilians in other countries - in those who have never harmed America.
Today, the United States is involved in half a dozen military operations around the world. Do not become the next unit of sad statistics, Moore calls. General Electric will mark a new record-breaking profit, but will save on the taxes that your prosthesis should be paid for.
To support the ideals of the country, Moore believes, this means leaving the ranks of the military as soon as possible. And those who will tell you: “I thank you for your service,” you need to fill a “hypocritical face.”
Trying to stop senseless wars, Michael Moore opened a cinema in Michigan, where he plays anti-war films. He is trying to arouse public interest in the action plan for the return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. It also helps to find jobs for returning soldiers. In Moore’s cinema, former soldiers watch movies for free.
Ii. "Club of death"
The US government does not need not only former soldiers returning without legs and arms from the fields of "conflicts." The White House seems to have become afraid of its own citizens - and does everything to get rid of many of them.
To the terrible questions of Moore it is necessary to add the material of John Robles ("Voice of Russia"), which tells about the "death club", that is, the CIA - the state office, which promoted the destruction of people, including Americans, to the level of the law. Recently, the US Justice Department passed an act allowing the execution of any citizen of the country without a trial. About him told the leader of the organization for peace and the rights of women "CodePink" Medea Benjamin.
Recently, according to a US Department of Justice report released to the media and addressed to Congress, the killing of American citizens "suspected of terrorism" by drones, began to be seen as ... self-defense. It is, in essence, a lawful murder.
The new regulatory document allows the execution of any US citizen, "who is the commander of al-Qaeda."
Under the definition of “the highest governing bodies or governing bodies of al-Qaida, any American citizen can fall under. I sold a hot dog to someone who in vain mentioned the name of bin Laden - and that’s ready, America’s number one enemy. And your death will be under the cover of secrecy.
Why aren't Americans particularly concerned about this document? But because they do not understand the topic drones-killers. Medea Benjamin believes that the American public needs to be told about the innocent people who have died as a result of the use of drones. What ethical principles are guided by someone who, sitting in an air-conditioned office at a military base, kills thousands of people?
And it seems that American justice will soon look like this: the president and his assistants are gathering for a regular meeting - and they put names on the "death list".
The new regulation, according to which the killings will be carried out secretly and at a distance, should be put in one chain of events of recent months. After all, the civil war in the United States started talking already in the New York Times.
Recently, Nikolay Malishevsky ("Fund of Strategic Culture") analyzed the material in the newspaper. The authors of the article called on Americans to be ready for social collapse and provided a list of measures that will help citizens survive. True, President Obama is also preparing to counter. If you say it in words, preparing the White House for suppressing protests and dissent means opposing the “massive civil war” and the “future manifestation of totalitarianism.” To fight against the emergence of totalitarianism will be the notorious Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At the same time, Obama hardly understands that the main totalitarian boss is not some external or “internal” enemy of America, but himself.
In 2011-2012 He passed two laws: the National Defense Resources Preparedness (National Defense Resource Preparation Act, NDRP) and the National Defense Authorization Act (Defense Credentials Act, NDAA), transferring the right of interrogation and internal investigation of suspected individuals. in terrorism, in the hands of the military and allowing indefinitely to keep in custody any person who only needs to be called a "terrorist".
These laws allow Obama and the Department to control “basic national functions” in the event of an “emergency”, imprisoning US citizens in the camps of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), subordinate to the very DHS.
Comrade Maliszewski also reminds about the purchase of DHS of various combat equipment. On the "Military Review" more than once it was written about this, including the purchase by the named wholesale office 1,6 of a billion cartridges (for example, "Geopolitical mosaic").
In response, Obama citizens are actively buying firearms weapon, whose sales to the population increased by 40% compared with the onset of the economic crisis. As of the beginning of February 2013, one weapon in the USA is acquired every one and a half second!
It is also interesting that the Law on Military Expenditures for 2013 “donated” the US Department of Defense a total of 1,7 a billion dollars more than originally planned. The fact is that the senators included in the draft budget the articles on which the purchase of weapons “for internal use” will be financed. Comparing the new figure with the fact that the same law provides for the accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, analysts concluded: soldiers with military experience are going to be used to quell unrest inside the country.
This is why the White House also needs new laws approving remote killings by means of “drones”, carried out from “air-conditioned cabinets”.
Iii. The end of american dream
Against the background of bad American patriotism, the unfortunate objects of which are committing suicide, and against the backdrop of the tightening of the so-called "fight against terror", which means the introduction of the right of the highest state officials to kill anyone for any purpose, ordinary Americans either become stupid parasites, circulating between dozens of social programs, or rushing around the country in search of work or a cheaper life. These people really do not care what happens to their soldiers, why America is waging unjust wars in foreign countries and who will be killed there by drones controlled from military bases.
Social parasites in the United States are those who are firmly "hooked" on various kinds of "programs" of the federal government.
According to the material of P. Tyrrell and W. Beech ("The Heritage Foundation"), the US population receiving benefits from the federal government increased from 94 million in 2000 to more than 128 million in 2011. Currently, 41,3% of the US population is “hooked up” to various programs. Moreover, 128 with over millions is only an estimate from the US Census Bureau, and this bureau, due to the cunning research methodology, most likely underestimates the true number of benefit consumers.
The authors of the article cited a number of indicators: 128,818 million. in the United States study at least one state program; 48,580 million use Medicaid; 43,834 million receive Medicare; 35,770 million receive a pension and social security revenues; 39,030 million live in families where at least one person receives food stamps; 6,985 million receive rental subsidies; 2,047 million receive subsidies for higher education.
These categories often overlap: a person can receive both housing rent subsidies and food stamps. As a result, we can safely say: the number in 128.818.142 of a person does not correspond to reality. After all, the government, calling this number, is talking about the number of people receiving assistance in at least one government program. But the most important thing here is not an understatement, but the fact that the growth rate of the number of people who receive federal assistance is far ahead of the overall population growth in the US - and this is according to official statistics.
Judge for yourself: the number of recipients of assistance in 2011 (128.818.142 people) turned out to be 62% higher than it was in 1988 (79.592.924 people). And the population of the United States grew during this time only by 27%. Therefore, the number of people receiving assistance in at least one federal program in the United States is growing more than two times faster than the population grows.
But that's not all. In the period between 1988 and 2011. federal government spending increased by 180%. This is in comparison with the 62-percent increase in the number of people admitted to the program and the 27-percent increase in the population. This means that not only more and more people receive funds under federal programs, but more and more American taxpayers' money is spent on each recipient every year.
And these consumers - more than 128,8 million, or 41,3 percent of the entire US population! According to the Wall Street Journal, a dangerous turning point for society will be reached at a time when about half of all Americans (49,1%) will fall into the category of these “consumers”.
Neil Gardiner, a former assistant to Margaret Thatcher, and now a political commentator, often appearing on American and British television, wonders: Is it true that America will survive as a world superpower with these 128 millions of needy?
In addition, the budget of America undermines public debt. Gardiner recalls that, according to the OECD, the total US public debt has exceeded 100% of GDP, and the public federal debt is projected to exceed 100% of GDP by 2024. America's public debt, calculated as a percentage of GDP (109,8%, data for 2012 year) exceeds all (!) Debts of the eurozone (100,6%), or individual France (105,1%) and the UK (105,3). Only Greece (181,3%), Iceland (124,7), Ireland (123,2), Italy (127) and Portugal (125,6%) are now “overtaking” America by this indicator.
Americans who failed to get hooked on social programs, romp around the country in a difficult job search or a cheaper life. In the blog "Refreshing News" were published data on the "most abandoned states" of the United States.
United Van, the shipping company, in its 36 annual customer migration survey, indicates that the number of people moving through the continental US in 2012 was 125 thousand. The study reported a mass exodus from the northeast.
In the first place in terms of the ratio of those who entered the state and left it - the state of New Jersey. Of the six thousand two hundred residents of the state who moved last year, 62% forever left its territory. New Jersey suffers from industry decline, production moves from the northeast to the south and west. The high cost of housing in New York also affects the outcome.
The states with the highest migration rates are in the northeast of the country and in the Great Lakes region: Illinois (60%), New York (58%), Maine (56%), Connecticut (56%), Wisconsin (55%).
The main reason for the move - the collapse of the economy. In the city of Detroit, the highest unemployment rate among major US cities is 20%.
The second reason is the high cost of living. New York is one of the most expensive cities in the United States. 4000 dollars monthly rent for a three-room apartment in Manhattan can not afford everyone.
The southern and western states are popular because there is warmer and not so high living expenses. North and South Carolina, Florida and Arizona are the most popular places to move.
In parallel with the economy in the United States and education is destroyed.
Stephanie Simon (Reuters) cites the latest report from the US federal commission, which stated that the US education system is actually a planned action against poor students and warned that neither the reforms promised by the democrats, nor the reforms initiated by the Republicans, did not lead to a change in the situation in public schools.
The report of the commission, compiled by 27 scientists, civil rights activists, trade union leaders and school officials, described the American public education system in a crisis.
It is noted that the government is still eliminated from the equalization of funding, from the issues of improving the quality of education in public schools. It is also said that minority students have to face social injustice: they are taught by poorly trained teachers, and as a result, students' academic achievements leave much to be desired.
A group of researchers came to the sad conclusions:
The report also notes that other commissions have similarly criticized the White House administrations in past decades. It was both under Nixon and Reagan. For example, in 1972, the public school report explicitly stated: “A nation is in danger.” But there was no improvement in the long run. In 1983, they also shouted about “a nation in danger” and talked about “a growing wave of mediocrities that threaten our school”.
In a new report, experts concluded that teachers are ruining too much emphasis on standardized tests. The school system was also hurt by the fact that “the reforms carried out to date have not achieved their goals”.
According to ReutersIn the United States, funding for private universities, including the largest ones, is gradually shrinking.
In 2012, Stanford University attracted 1,035 billion in charitable contributions, taking first place. Harvard University ($ 650 million), Yale ($ 544 million), University of Southern California (492 million) and Columbia University, New York (490 million) also hit the top ten in fundraising. Together they all collected over 5 billion.
In general, donations to colleges and universities in the country amounted to 31 billion. In 2012, compared with 2011, charitable contributions to American colleges and universities grew by 2,3%, slightly ahead of the inflation rate. When adjusted for inflation, donations remained virtually unchanged, increasing by only 0,2%.
The total amount of donations is still below the historical maximum in 31,6 billion, reached in 2008, before the financial crisis.
If the poor and the national minorities cannot get quality education in the USA even in schools, then the rich people study at Ivy League universities in the same way their mothers and fathers studied there. For example, studying at Harvard costs an average of 63.000 dollars per year. The rich daddy kids here are aiming for a diplomatic, legal or political career, not really diligently. In August 2012 in Harvard happened “Scandal”, in which sixty people were expelled.
It turned out that 125 students helped each other at the last exam - in other words, they “blew out”. It is curious that the massive cheating occurred in the exam following the simplest course - "Basics of the Congress."
The “Golden Youth” at Harvard hardly poured over textbooks and won at olympiads before. One of Harvard graduates is George W. Bush, 43-th President of the United States, and formerly the governor of Texas. Being at the helm of the country and fighting with Iraq, he believed that this country was in Africa - somewhere on the border with Afghanistan.
Cutting the budget of the US Air Force, Army and fleet, which will take effect March 1, 2013, will reduce almost $ 34 billion in wages and expenses on holidays and severance pay for millions of people. Details are given by Tom Vanden Brook (USA Today).
Regarding the army, the reduction will be expressed in the total amount of $ 15 billion. This includes salary cuts and cuts in holiday pay or benefits paid when dismissing. This measure will affect 300.000 people across the country.
The fleet may face similar reductions in the amount of $ 11 billion that will affect 186.000 employees.
US Air Force funding will be cut by $ 7,7 billion. Here, civilian employees will receive less money.
Alabama, Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania are the hardest hit. Less than others will suffer Delaware, Wyoming, Montana and Rhode Island.
In addition, the US Navy also expects a “sequestration”, which “cuts” its shipbuilding program with 7,75 billion and another with $ 4 billion will reduce the amount of funds allocated for operation and maintenance. Civil servants of the Navy may lose 20% of their salary through a decrease in vacation pay. More than other states, California, Florida and Virginia will suffer reductions in the Navy.
Overall, the military budget shrinks to $ 500 billion over 10 years through sequestration, the so-called “automatic budget cuts.” The Pentagon suggests that by the end of the current fiscal year (30 of September) he will have to “cut off” the costs of 46 billions of dollars. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has already said that these cuts will make America a secondary military power.
Mike Amato, a spokesman for the House Committee of Representatives on Armed Forces, said that we are talking about serious consequences that will affect both national defense and the country's economic well-being.
The cuts, of course, will affect the military contractors. The more military bases in a state, the harder the cuts program will hit.
For example, the economic losses of Texas will be expressed in a huge amount of 2,4 billion dollars. A whole army of civil servants - 30.000 people - will lose their jobs (they will have to go on leave without maintenance). Their personal financial losses in earnings will be 180 million. $. In Texas, there are two major military facilities - Fort Hood and Fort Bliss.
Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution, notes that there is a “game of politics” here - and the military have played to such an extent that they have given out “dramatic” indicators. Nevertheless, the expert agrees that the reduction of the armed forces in the United States can have lasting negative consequences.
The state of Texas will suffer greatly from the reduction of the Air Force, losing $ 127 million in wages. Another state that faces major economic losses from cuts and sequestration is Oklahoma. Here, civil servants can lose 124 a million dollars in wages.
President Obama is now trying to put pressure on Republicans in Congress to avoid cuts. He is going to initiate a plan that includes cuts in other expenses and which changes tax policy, which ultimately should bring additional revenue. The president is worried that people will lose jobs. This, he says, "is not an abstraction."
Last week, General Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff, told the senators that the Pentagon’s 3.100 temporary staff members were fired. Hiring new employees was frozen due to the budget crisis. Maintenance will also be canceled. The newly trained soldiers did not depart for Afghanistan and South Korea. All of them will be "reduced."
As for maintenance, those states where large warehouses are located will suffer: they will be closed in the coming months due to upcoming budget cuts. Pennsylvania, for example, has two main maintenance depots, where modernization of complex weapons systems is being carried out, including, for example, the Patriot. The above mentioned Texas and Alabama will also be seriously affected. The closure of the depot will stop the repair of weapons, communication devices and vehicles. Reducing the flow of orders will affect 3.000 companies. More 1.100 companies will face bankruptcy.
In the article by Greg Zoroi (USA Today) talks about Susan Rocco, Managing Director for military grants in the eastern region of the Semper Fi Charitable Foundation. Every morning, from seven o'clock in the morning, this woman considers a long list of requests from veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. She works right in her home, north of Quantico, Virginia.
Here is one of the American naval veterans - he does not even have money for clothes or for going home. Another veteran lost his leg. The third one went to the hospital: attempted suicide. Now his wife does not have enough money to get to the hospital.
Susan Rocco has no time to relax. In just one working day (February 1), she approved an 34 grant worth 37.000 $. She helped dozens of active and former military personnel.
The need for help is growing, she says, and people don’t even understand it. According to her, people think that the war is over, and there are no more military personnel in hospitals — well, there is no need to help. However, she continues, we are dealing with a long-term situation. Veterans need help always. Veterans are returning to us, Rocco says, and we diagnose them with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (head injuries). Many tried to commit suicide.
Military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan tormented the American nation. Meanwhile, last year the Afghan war was not even included in the number ten News 2012 from the Associated Press.
“Our country has a short attention span,” explains this fact Barbara Van Dalen, founder and president of Give an Hour, which offers free advice to war veterans that the United States waged after 9 / 11, as well as actual military personnel and members families.
Today, charitable organizations, such as Semper Fi and Give an Hour, record a record demand for their services.
During the ten years of wars, 866.000 people from 1,6 million turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs, who served after the 9 / 11 attacks.
In recent months, we are talking about "accelerating the pace." In 2012, 50.000 “new” veterans turned in with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, of which 16.531 - only in the last quarter. This is the 184 new PTSD case every day!
“I feel that our work is just beginning,” says Karen Günther, founder and president of the Semper Fi Foundation.
Sick veterans are turning to charitable organizations on a large scale, including in the “Semper Fi” of them, in order to fill the existing “gaps” in government assistance. This organization provides active assistance to the military and veterans of the Iraqi and Afghan campaigns.
One of those people who was helped by Semper Fi was 25-year-old Brandon Pelletier, a former shooter. Under his armored "Humvee" in 2007, an explosion occurred at night. Pelletier’s right arm was crushed from hand to elbow. Today he walks with an elbow prosthesis. This person suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a moderately severe head injury.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury - they really exist,” says Pelletier, who receives a pension from 2010. “You are trying to live a normal daily life, but you cannot remember half the things that need to be done.”
A few days after the shooter was evacuated from Iraq and arrived at what is now called the National Military Medical Center of Walter Reed, he was visited by social worker "Semper Fi". “She just sat on the edge of my bed and asked me about my life,” recalls Pelletier.
He was helped to purchase new furniture, paid for transportation costs, and finally helped to buy a car with an automatic transmission, which he could drive driving with one hand.
Currently, Pelletier is only one veteran among 1400 military personnel who are regularly helped by Semper Fi for several years.
As for the state, veterans often have to wait months for the first disability check.
America does not support its soldiers, says Michael Moore.
“I am tired of the cunning and hypocrisy with which we play these brave citizens - soldiers and sailors of our armed forces. And do not hesitate - many of these soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines clearly see the whole falsity of our words. "I support our troops!", "I am for our soldiers!" - say the Americans with such false sincerity - false, because our deeds do not coincide with our words. "
The boys and girls who joined the army and navy to risk their lives to protect us, writes Moore, in return become pawns in a game of political and financial forces.
Comrade Moore points out that people are going to war, having nothing to do with defending America. Brave people "are used as pawns so that the military-industrial complex can earn billions of dollars, and the rich can further expand their empire."
Who are interested in these guys and girls? No, people care about more important things: say, pick up an iPhone from repair, or find a company in which tuning will do better.
Perhaps these soldiers are supported by bankers? Oh no, they are just increasing interest on the loans that soldiers have to pay, and then evict their families while they serve abroad. Who stood before the deputy sheriff when he threw the military family out of the house? No one. No one in America needs these soldiers. No one organizes massive sit-ins to block the doors of houses alienated by bankers. Instead, some of us have a “Chilean sea bass in a decent restaurant” tonight.
And how many of us have visited military hospitals to help the sick and wounded?
And who among the enthusiasts of "support for the soldiers" can name the approximate number of women who were raped while serving? After all, 19.000 women in the army and navy each year are sexually abused by other American soldiers. What did each of us do to bring criminals to justice? Never mind.
Who helped homeless veterans? How about yesterday? Or last week? Last year? Generally sometime? And then - no one. But the number of homeless veterans in the United States is huge. Every night, writes M. Moore, at least 60.000 veterans sleep on the streets of the very country that "supports its soldiers."
At least 12.700 homeless veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are forced to always sleep outside. But people pass by them.
“And you know what is the most beautiful thing in all this“ our support ”? Probably, we have done something for the good of these soldiers - and they feel this love and support so well that a record number of them kill themselves every week. In fact, the soldiers who killed themselves are now even more than the soldiers who died in battle (332 suicides in November 2012 of the year against 210 deaths on the battlefield). Yes, in the United States military you are more likely to die by your own hands than by al-Qaida or the Taliban. According to experts, eighteen veterans kill themselves every day - that is, it is every fifth of all American suicides. Although no one knows the exact number of these suicides, because we did not bother to track this phenomenon. ”
So let's shout louder about our love for the soldiers, Moore writes poisonously. And do not forget to buy a flag and wear it on your chest.
The author continues:
“But what I really support: I support their return home. I am for good medical care for these people. I support the world, and I implore that every person reading this is a young man who reflects on joining the armed forces - please think twice. Our military department has done enough to show you that they will thoughtlessly exchange your young life in a dangerous struggle for a cause that has nothing to do with what you were hired for. ”
The author thinks the Pentagon doesn’t care about his soldiers. Power will not help the soldier who returned home. And if the soldier is a woman, then she should know that the Minister of Defense will not protect her from rapists. In addition, people with a conscience should not allow the military machine to use them to kill civilians in other countries - in those who have never harmed America.
Today, the United States is involved in half a dozen military operations around the world. Do not become the next unit of sad statistics, Moore calls. General Electric will mark a new record-breaking profit, but will save on the taxes that your prosthesis should be paid for.
To support the ideals of the country, Moore believes, this means leaving the ranks of the military as soon as possible. And those who will tell you: “I thank you for your service,” you need to fill a “hypocritical face.”
Trying to stop senseless wars, Michael Moore opened a cinema in Michigan, where he plays anti-war films. He is trying to arouse public interest in the action plan for the return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. It also helps to find jobs for returning soldiers. In Moore’s cinema, former soldiers watch movies for free.
Ii. "Club of death"
The US government does not need not only former soldiers returning without legs and arms from the fields of "conflicts." The White House seems to have become afraid of its own citizens - and does everything to get rid of many of them.
To the terrible questions of Moore it is necessary to add the material of John Robles ("Voice of Russia"), which tells about the "death club", that is, the CIA - the state office, which promoted the destruction of people, including Americans, to the level of the law. Recently, the US Justice Department passed an act allowing the execution of any citizen of the country without a trial. About him told the leader of the organization for peace and the rights of women "CodePink" Medea Benjamin.
Recently, according to a US Department of Justice report released to the media and addressed to Congress, the killing of American citizens "suspected of terrorism" by drones, began to be seen as ... self-defense. It is, in essence, a lawful murder.
The new regulatory document allows the execution of any US citizen, "who is the commander of al-Qaeda."
“I don’t know of any such person in the world,” says Benjamin. “But I know that out of a thousand people killed as a result of combat attacks with UAVs, only 2% were really the main target of the defeat.”
Under the definition of “the highest governing bodies or governing bodies of al-Qaida, any American citizen can fall under. I sold a hot dog to someone who in vain mentioned the name of bin Laden - and that’s ready, America’s number one enemy. And your death will be under the cover of secrecy.
Why aren't Americans particularly concerned about this document? But because they do not understand the topic drones-killers. Medea Benjamin believes that the American public needs to be told about the innocent people who have died as a result of the use of drones. What ethical principles are guided by someone who, sitting in an air-conditioned office at a military base, kills thousands of people?
And it seems that American justice will soon look like this: the president and his assistants are gathering for a regular meeting - and they put names on the "death list".
The new regulation, according to which the killings will be carried out secretly and at a distance, should be put in one chain of events of recent months. After all, the civil war in the United States started talking already in the New York Times.
Recently, Nikolay Malishevsky ("Fund of Strategic Culture") analyzed the material in the newspaper. The authors of the article called on Americans to be ready for social collapse and provided a list of measures that will help citizens survive. True, President Obama is also preparing to counter. If you say it in words, preparing the White House for suppressing protests and dissent means opposing the “massive civil war” and the “future manifestation of totalitarianism.” To fight against the emergence of totalitarianism will be the notorious Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At the same time, Obama hardly understands that the main totalitarian boss is not some external or “internal” enemy of America, but himself.
In 2011-2012 He passed two laws: the National Defense Resources Preparedness (National Defense Resource Preparation Act, NDRP) and the National Defense Authorization Act (Defense Credentials Act, NDAA), transferring the right of interrogation and internal investigation of suspected individuals. in terrorism, in the hands of the military and allowing indefinitely to keep in custody any person who only needs to be called a "terrorist".
These laws allow Obama and the Department to control “basic national functions” in the event of an “emergency”, imprisoning US citizens in the camps of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), subordinate to the very DHS.
Comrade Maliszewski also reminds about the purchase of DHS of various combat equipment. On the "Military Review" more than once it was written about this, including the purchase by the named wholesale office 1,6 of a billion cartridges (for example, "Geopolitical mosaic").
In response, Obama citizens are actively buying firearms weapon, whose sales to the population increased by 40% compared with the onset of the economic crisis. As of the beginning of February 2013, one weapon in the USA is acquired every one and a half second!
It is also interesting that the Law on Military Expenditures for 2013 “donated” the US Department of Defense a total of 1,7 a billion dollars more than originally planned. The fact is that the senators included in the draft budget the articles on which the purchase of weapons “for internal use” will be financed. Comparing the new figure with the fact that the same law provides for the accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, analysts concluded: soldiers with military experience are going to be used to quell unrest inside the country.
This is why the White House also needs new laws approving remote killings by means of “drones”, carried out from “air-conditioned cabinets”.
Iii. The end of american dream
Against the background of bad American patriotism, the unfortunate objects of which are committing suicide, and against the backdrop of the tightening of the so-called "fight against terror", which means the introduction of the right of the highest state officials to kill anyone for any purpose, ordinary Americans either become stupid parasites, circulating between dozens of social programs, or rushing around the country in search of work or a cheaper life. These people really do not care what happens to their soldiers, why America is waging unjust wars in foreign countries and who will be killed there by drones controlled from military bases.
Social parasites in the United States are those who are firmly "hooked" on various kinds of "programs" of the federal government.
According to the material of P. Tyrrell and W. Beech ("The Heritage Foundation"), the US population receiving benefits from the federal government increased from 94 million in 2000 to more than 128 million in 2011. Currently, 41,3% of the US population is “hooked up” to various programs. Moreover, 128 with over millions is only an estimate from the US Census Bureau, and this bureau, due to the cunning research methodology, most likely underestimates the true number of benefit consumers.
The authors of the article cited a number of indicators: 128,818 million. in the United States study at least one state program; 48,580 million use Medicaid; 43,834 million receive Medicare; 35,770 million receive a pension and social security revenues; 39,030 million live in families where at least one person receives food stamps; 6,985 million receive rental subsidies; 2,047 million receive subsidies for higher education.
These categories often overlap: a person can receive both housing rent subsidies and food stamps. As a result, we can safely say: the number in 128.818.142 of a person does not correspond to reality. After all, the government, calling this number, is talking about the number of people receiving assistance in at least one government program. But the most important thing here is not an understatement, but the fact that the growth rate of the number of people who receive federal assistance is far ahead of the overall population growth in the US - and this is according to official statistics.
Judge for yourself: the number of recipients of assistance in 2011 (128.818.142 people) turned out to be 62% higher than it was in 1988 (79.592.924 people). And the population of the United States grew during this time only by 27%. Therefore, the number of people receiving assistance in at least one federal program in the United States is growing more than two times faster than the population grows.
But that's not all. In the period between 1988 and 2011. federal government spending increased by 180%. This is in comparison with the 62-percent increase in the number of people admitted to the program and the 27-percent increase in the population. This means that not only more and more people receive funds under federal programs, but more and more American taxpayers' money is spent on each recipient every year.
And these consumers - more than 128,8 million, or 41,3 percent of the entire US population! According to the Wall Street Journal, a dangerous turning point for society will be reached at a time when about half of all Americans (49,1%) will fall into the category of these “consumers”.
Neil Gardiner, a former assistant to Margaret Thatcher, and now a political commentator, often appearing on American and British television, wonders: Is it true that America will survive as a world superpower with these 128 millions of needy?
In addition, the budget of America undermines public debt. Gardiner recalls that, according to the OECD, the total US public debt has exceeded 100% of GDP, and the public federal debt is projected to exceed 100% of GDP by 2024. America's public debt, calculated as a percentage of GDP (109,8%, data for 2012 year) exceeds all (!) Debts of the eurozone (100,6%), or individual France (105,1%) and the UK (105,3). Only Greece (181,3%), Iceland (124,7), Ireland (123,2), Italy (127) and Portugal (125,6%) are now “overtaking” America by this indicator.
Americans who failed to get hooked on social programs, romp around the country in a difficult job search or a cheaper life. In the blog "Refreshing News" were published data on the "most abandoned states" of the United States.
United Van, the shipping company, in its 36 annual customer migration survey, indicates that the number of people moving through the continental US in 2012 was 125 thousand. The study reported a mass exodus from the northeast.
In the first place in terms of the ratio of those who entered the state and left it - the state of New Jersey. Of the six thousand two hundred residents of the state who moved last year, 62% forever left its territory. New Jersey suffers from industry decline, production moves from the northeast to the south and west. The high cost of housing in New York also affects the outcome.
The states with the highest migration rates are in the northeast of the country and in the Great Lakes region: Illinois (60%), New York (58%), Maine (56%), Connecticut (56%), Wisconsin (55%).
The main reason for the move - the collapse of the economy. In the city of Detroit, the highest unemployment rate among major US cities is 20%.
The second reason is the high cost of living. New York is one of the most expensive cities in the United States. 4000 dollars monthly rent for a three-room apartment in Manhattan can not afford everyone.
The southern and western states are popular because there is warmer and not so high living expenses. North and South Carolina, Florida and Arizona are the most popular places to move.
In parallel with the economy in the United States and education is destroyed.
Stephanie Simon (Reuters) cites the latest report from the US federal commission, which stated that the US education system is actually a planned action against poor students and warned that neither the reforms promised by the democrats, nor the reforms initiated by the Republicans, did not lead to a change in the situation in public schools.
The report of the commission, compiled by 27 scientists, civil rights activists, trade union leaders and school officials, described the American public education system in a crisis.
It is noted that the government is still eliminated from the equalization of funding, from the issues of improving the quality of education in public schools. It is also said that minority students have to face social injustice: they are taught by poorly trained teachers, and as a result, students' academic achievements leave much to be desired.
A group of researchers came to the sad conclusions:
"No other developed country has such a deep or systemic injustice, not a single developed nation ..."
The report also notes that other commissions have similarly criticized the White House administrations in past decades. It was both under Nixon and Reagan. For example, in 1972, the public school report explicitly stated: “A nation is in danger.” But there was no improvement in the long run. In 1983, they also shouted about “a nation in danger” and talked about “a growing wave of mediocrities that threaten our school”.
In a new report, experts concluded that teachers are ruining too much emphasis on standardized tests. The school system was also hurt by the fact that “the reforms carried out to date have not achieved their goals”.
According to ReutersIn the United States, funding for private universities, including the largest ones, is gradually shrinking.
In 2012, Stanford University attracted 1,035 billion in charitable contributions, taking first place. Harvard University ($ 650 million), Yale ($ 544 million), University of Southern California (492 million) and Columbia University, New York (490 million) also hit the top ten in fundraising. Together they all collected over 5 billion.
In general, donations to colleges and universities in the country amounted to 31 billion. In 2012, compared with 2011, charitable contributions to American colleges and universities grew by 2,3%, slightly ahead of the inflation rate. When adjusted for inflation, donations remained virtually unchanged, increasing by only 0,2%.
The total amount of donations is still below the historical maximum in 31,6 billion, reached in 2008, before the financial crisis.
If the poor and the national minorities cannot get quality education in the USA even in schools, then the rich people study at Ivy League universities in the same way their mothers and fathers studied there. For example, studying at Harvard costs an average of 63.000 dollars per year. The rich daddy kids here are aiming for a diplomatic, legal or political career, not really diligently. In August 2012 in Harvard happened “Scandal”, in which sixty people were expelled.
It turned out that 125 students helped each other at the last exam - in other words, they “blew out”. It is curious that the massive cheating occurred in the exam following the simplest course - "Basics of the Congress."
The “Golden Youth” at Harvard hardly poured over textbooks and won at olympiads before. One of Harvard graduates is George W. Bush, 43-th President of the United States, and formerly the governor of Texas. Being at the helm of the country and fighting with Iraq, he believed that this country was in Africa - somewhere on the border with Afghanistan.
Observed and translated by Oleg Chuvakin
- especially for topwar.ru
- especially for topwar.ru
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