Today I watched in awe as the news dominated the world, not people dominated the news. In a way it was refreshing but it was also a stark reminder that mankind remains vulnerable to allowing their ego to become the center of the universe, especially in the world of politics, while missing much of what is important in the world.
For example, take today's stories that were not expected. After a month of the Obama administration claiming the economy and jobs situation had turned the corner toward recovery such soothsayers of good tidings were dealt a series of crushing reminders that we are not in control of our own destiny. It all started last week when Obama turned on the business sector and blasted companies for executive bonuses and taking advantage of the government.
Today came an unemployment report on job losses far worse than anticipated. Then came the next in a series of recalls from Toyota sending shocks waves through the domestic auto market and international money markets. Just last month Toyota became the number one auto seller in the world. No one is talking about it but most Toyotas sold in America are made in America so if the Japanese giant loses huge market share which is likely and probable, it will most certainly shut down the US operations first further accelerating the economic disaster for America.
The reaction to Obama's new budget this week finally surfaced, and it was a resounding dud with the record spending increases and ominous increase in our national debt. His budget says our budget deficit will reach a record $1.565 trillion this year, equal to 10.6% of the entire GDP, Gross Domestic Product, and the highest since World War II. Obama's long delayed concern for American jobs and our economy are doing little to reassure people the administration has a clue in managing the economy. The young president has stumbled through bank bailouts, insurance and auto bailouts, housing and mortgage bailouts, a non-stimulus and those incredible executive bonuses.
AIG, one of Obama's least discussed bailouts and actions, announced they were paying out another $100 million in bonuses to people who drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy, an action approved by the Obama management team. While Congress and the president twiddle their thumbs Wall Street, unions, auto companies and who knows who else pick apart the scraps left of America.
Finally came the action by Congress today to raise the national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion to over $14 trillion, the highest in history, an emergency action to accommodate Obama's spending frenzy. It is the first time the national debt will equal the entire annual GDP of America and Obama says it will climb to $26 trillion over the next ten years.
As the world absorbed this rash of unexpected developments today the stock market wiped out all the gains over the past month dropping nearly 300 points and barely closing above 10,000 mark. Tomorrow the unemployment rate is likely to increase, not decrease as Obama projected, so the economic adjustments may be far from over.
Tomorrow begins the Tea Party national convention in Nashville, with Sarah Palin headlining the speakers this weekend, and I predict the horrible response of the media and both political parties to this independent movement will make it a far stronger force as it emerges from the convention. Right now it is a loose coalition but it could easily become a national force and stands as the greatest threat to back room politics and old time politicians, including our Ivy League president, in our nation's history.
For a year the media ignored the people's populist revolt and ever since the victories over the establishment in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts the past few weeks the political parties, Democrats and Republicans, and President Obama have tried to claim ownership of this independent movement. How stupid? The Tea Party movement is the only thing keeping our nation from being controlled by crooks and con artists disguised as politicians and media.
Today an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude hit a few miles off the coast of Northern California following another a couple of weeks ago of 6.5 magnitude. So far they have not reached the California fault lines but they are powerful enough that it could be an indication of imminent danger. For comparison the Haiti quake was 7.0 magnitude.
If you are into natural disaster monitoring consider this. Between January 17, 2010 and today there have been 1,719 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region of Wyoming ranging up to a 3.8 force. That is the second largest earthquake swarm ever recorded at Yellowstone and continues today. Underground at Yellowstone lies one of the largest magma pools of lava in the world measuring as much as a staggering 50-90 miles wide. Scientifically it is called a supervolcano and about 2.1 million years ago the area blew up and caused 2,500 times as much volcanic ash as the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980.
Other strange news today included the missionaries in Haiti who went to court expecting to be released and wound up being formally charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to steal children from Haiti. The guru who led a sweat lodge ceremony about a year ago in Sedona, Arizona that killed 3 and sent 18 more people to the hospital was charged with manslaughter. I have participated with Native Americans in many sweat lodge ceremonies, a spiritual ritual of the original Americans, and what he did was an insult to the culture and spirituality of Indian cultures.
The list goes on and on but that is enough for now. You get the impression that higher forces took control of events for the day to give us a break from the non-stop political nonsense we face and also to give us a warning that we are so preoccupied with what we want that we are losing sight of what really counts. Maybe we should be paying more attention to Mother Earth and Father Creator and less to our own needs and desires? If you need more read my last article on the Seven Cardinal Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins.
