Saturday, February 26, 2011
Dorm Room Speculations
Not all "Truth" gained by observation and logic is truth. It is fully dependent upon the observer and the quality of the logician. I won't insult anyone but there are a lot of things accepted as true and logical in the last many years that are simply not so. Flat earth. Sun revolves around the earth. Blacks are inferior to whites. Women are just like men only with vaginas (viva la difference). Men cause climate change. Keynes.
All logic and observation without truth.
Faith can have it's flaws and error as well. Jim Jones. Astrology. Islam.
The object of your faith must have truth as it's basis. That truth may NOT always allow for logic. Yet, anyone that doesn't believe in miracles isn't being logical.
We all carry in our supposed logic and observation a measure of faith. Even Lie to Me (which I enjoy as a TV show) requires that the participant and practitioner of the capacity for observation have faith in the truth of the facial reads. Many do NOT (if you watch the show). Those who are inside the institute and understand the "truth" of facial reads have great faith. They see it as logic borne of observation. Truth.
When our faith is based in our observation and logic we have faith in the faith in and of ourselves, in our ability, in our reason, in our capacity to see better than others can see. In that way faith in observation and logic must have at it's core a certain arrogance. The empiricism of that faith must be flawed because of that limitation.
I agree with Martin Luther that "Logic is the enemy of Faith". It's not that I doubt the value of Logic and Observation, it's that I must have a plumline of truth, and faith in those truths, to measure myself against or it leads to people into: ""one logical extension of denial of absolute truth is reduction to "might makes right" with it's corollary "the winner writes the history"".
It was logical for Pol Pot to murder millions. It's logical for Ghadaffi (however it's spelled today) to murder thousands in the streets of Libya.
The plum-line of empirical truth is most often clouded by human observation and logic.
I need a beer
“The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.” Churchill
“The search for truth is more precious than its possession.” Einstein
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo
Seeking truth is the essence of all existence and in eternity is revealed at it's essence. Redlin
OUR Nation is in peril
Death or Deliverance...Charlie it's your choice
Death or deliverance are the only two ways out of this.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Public Unions have been a Fifty Year Mistake
Government workers were making good salaries in 1962 when President Kennedy lifted, by executive order (so much for democracy), the federal ban on government unions. Civil service regulations and similar laws had guaranteed good working conditions for generations.
The argument for public unionization wasn't moral, economic or intellectual. It was rankly political.
Private sector unions fight with management over an equitable distribution of profits. Government unions negotiate with politicians over taxpayer money, putting the public interest at odds with union interests and, as we've seen in states such as California and Wisconsin, exploding the cost of government.
FDR believed that "the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," and why even George Meany, the first head of the AFL-CIO, held that it was "impossible to bargain collectively with the government."
As it turns out, it's not impossible; it's just terribly unwise. It creates a dysfunctional system where for some, growing government becomes its own reward.
The unions and the protesters in Wisconsin see Walker's reforms as a potential death knell for government unions. My response? If only.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The News Hounds that didn’t bark
Gregory "Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
Holmes: "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
Gregory: "The dog did nothing in the night-time."
Holmes: "That was the curious incident."
Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory in Silverblaze by Arthur Conan Doyle 1892
Last month after the shootings in Arizona where several people were murdered and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was severely injured there was a lot of talk about civility in politics. Members of congress, the president and news organization both print and visual bemoaned the lack of civil discourse and attempted (and still attempt despite established facts) to blame the Tea Parties and Sarah Palin for inciting violence.
Over the last few days several incidents have taken place nationwide that are contrary to the media's wish for a new spirit of civility in public discourse.
Massachusetts: At a Union Rally in support of the absent senators in Wisconsin and the teachers unions, union protesters decried tea party protesters as fascists and mass murders, gave them Nazi salutes at that same rally a former republican congressional candidate alleges he was knocked over by union protesters.
Washington DC: During a union protest against Freedom Works which has already received threats over their support of the tea party, A member of the Communications Workers of America physically assaulted Tabitha Hale, a young 5’ 1” woman who was recording him. During that same protest another union supporter angrily berated a Freedom Works member as a “Bad Jew”.
Colorado: A gay black man is called “uneducated” “son” and is asked if he has any children “that he claims” by a white crowd angry at his presence with a small Gadsden flag supporting the tea party.
All of these events have three things in common:
- Video of these events are all available on Youtube
- Blogs have reported and covered these events
- None of them have been deemed worthy of coverage by the mainstream media.
Reverse the political positions of the people in question. Would actions and slurs against blacks, jews or assaults against young ladies by tea party members caught on tape be ignored by media? How is it that these acts of incivility that outraged journalists just weeks ago are ignored now?
As Holmes would say: That is the curious incident.
Why Riots keep popping up everywhere in the USA...it's a plot
Van Jones is pushing for it
And that's what you do when you have destroyed a nation
We are in big trouble and that's spelled Obama. I fear for our country.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A look at the economy to come - The Judgement of a HOLY GOD
There are economic trouble deniers. Those who continue to believe despite what they should see all around that God will somehow save the USA from strife and pain. He didn't even spare JERUSALEM. He will not spare the USA.
We have seen the beginning of sorrows in many ways what will result will be much greater than we can now imagine. Below I have posted several proof texts for those who wonder if GOD can ever cause pain, suffering or difficulty. They demonstrate where Judgment comes from.
Hosea 6 1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.Many who deny the economic collapse to come point to success in the stock market, to reports of consumer confidence, low inflation, economic indicators that seem to point to brighter days ahead. Yet, there are offsetting truths that are difficult to deny. Real unemployment is well over 20%. Real Inflation is well over 10% and increasing. People's earning power is declining. Real wages are falling like a rock. Workers now make less adjusted for inflation than they did in 1972 Property values are falling even in big cities. 11% of all homes in the USA are vacant. 5% of occupied homes are in foreclosure right now. 1 in 7 people are now on food stamps and accelerating.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
2 In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”4 “O Israel and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam, you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.
I get people saying there is no inflation because of these statistics. I have seen big inflation. High wages and increasing. Property values escalating. Rents going up. Asset values running wild.
This judgment will be different from any we have seen before. This is a time of declining wages, declining property values, declining value of money, declining rents, empty buildings. IF you look at what that judgment will look like consider the truth in Revelation 6:6 “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”
That will happen not just because there will be HUGE inflation and prices will be way out of reach for most. It will be coupled with a time of huge economic contraction. People will pay for 2 cups of wheat with a day's wage not just because wheat will be expensive, but also because wages will be so low. Oil and Fruit will be almost beyond reach. Government won't be able to help. Passing laws about minimum wage only puts people on the unemployment line or off the books working for peanuts for cash. This will be a time of great struggle, geopolitical and that will happen as God pours out his love for us to bring us back to himself. HE WILL bind us up again. He will not leave us abandoned, but like the 2 Chronicles passage he will wait until we are willing to humble ourselves as a nation. This is a call to the church of Jesus to be ready to step into the gap to give people true hope, not of money, not of goods, but of the one thing that can fill them. We will find ways of supernatural provision, loaves and fishes, manna. They are already there. George Mueller proved this in our time.
This has happened again and again in human history. We can look to the Word of God for patterns. It's nothing new. It will happen again and again. It's the way that God restores his kingdom. We are in a restoration time. We must not be offended when it all comes down. We must be aware. We will be knocked down, but not destroyed by the storm and the waves if we keep our eyes on JESUS.
Revelation 6:3 When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.
5 When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”
7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!” 8 I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.
Ezekiel 14:21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
Hosea 2:8-9 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
Matthew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
John 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Malachi 2:2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
Proverbs 1:24-31 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: ...
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
IF Father will judge those called by his name in the past, how much more will he judge those who are called by his name in this wicked day.
Because the SUN of Righteousness (Jesus) has been hidden from view in the USA, Darkness has increased...the SUN has been veiled, dimmed. WHEN the sun of Righteousness is revealed once more, we will see the darkness pushed back. That Son will rise in the midst of darkness.
Isaiah 60
The Glory of Zion
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 40
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
Glory from Judgment is about to arise.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Is this a manefistation of Romans 8?
Earthquake hits New Zealand’s Christchurch
Prime minister calls 6.3 quake the island nation’s ‘darkest hour’
People are evacuated from a damaged building after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Christchurch, New Zealand's second-biggest city. Still image is taken from a video.
Romans chapter 8:
18I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. 19In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. 20Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. 22We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.
23The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. [c] This means that our bodies will also be set free. 24And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. 25However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it. 26In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Green Promises Produce Only Red
The National Center for Policy Analysis looks at an expose of the “green jobs” myth at the American Enterprise Institute.
Among their findings:
- -The capital needed for one green job in Italy could create almost five jobs in the general economy.
- -Wind and solar power have raised household energy prices by 7.5 percent in Germany.
- -Since 2000, Spain spent 571,138 euro (about $774,000) on each green job, including subsidies of more than 1 million euro (about $1.4 million) per job in the wind industry.
- -The programs creating those jobs destroyed nearly 110,500 jobs elsewhere in the economy (2.2 jobs destroyed for every green job created).
- -Each “green” megawatt installed destroys 5.28 jobs elsewhere in the economy on average.
Many of the simple-minded socialists who always cheer “green jobs” are oblivious to the real reason for the existence of companies and jobs.
READ THE WHOLE THING
A story from the front lines of the depression
February 21st, 2011
First to give you a little background on me. I graduated college in May 2000 with a Bachelors degree in Broadcasting/Minored in History. I have worked for major corporations as an Enterprise Sales Consultant selling Servers. I was a Network Engineer for Qwest Communications. I even worked for the Federal Government and held a Security Clearance for 4 years. I also won Dell Small Business Sales Consultant of the quarter as well. But since I don’t have an active clearance anymore no one wants to hire me in D.C. I lost my job in 07/2010 and from 07/2010-Present I have been unemployed. My food stamps were also recently cut off last month since the State of Virginia decided that for a household of 1 you can’t make more than $1178 a month. I make $1250 a month in Unemployment compensation before taxes so according to the Government I am too rich to receive Food stamps now. My Rent, Gas and Car insurance is $1000 a month and I am holding on for dear life. I am currently in the process of declaring Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and using my tax return to pay the attorney $1500 to file. That leaves me with only #250 a month for food, water and cell phone.
I have a list compiled in my Google email with approximately 784 applications I have filled out for every government agency, defense contractor and job available in the Washington, DC area. I even applied to Carmax and my old job in college waiting tables at Red Lobster and the moving company I used to work at during the summers in college. If its bad for someone like me with over 10 years of Sales, Server/computer experience, Investigations and Network Engineering than I can’t imagine how bad it is for people that just have a high school diploma. I have been on one interview out of the almost 1000 jobs I have applied to(It takes about 2 hours to apply to one job). The one interview I went on offered me less than my unemployment gives me at $8 an hour. I can sit at home and make more money on unemployment than 80% of the jobs that I have applied too and even those jobs don’t call me. Is this what America has become? Is this what I sacrificed 5 years of my life in college from 17 years old to 21 years old and spent $40,000 to get a worthless degree that won’t even get you hired? Every email I get from a recruiter asks…
- “Where are you working now?”
- “Are you unemployed?”…..”
- “Do you have an active Top secret clearance?”
I also am afraid that because of my Credit and my financial situation that is causing employers to not hire me. Once I let the employer do a credit check on me I never hear from them again and I even send Personal Hand written Thank you cards! So I am going back to school to get my Network+Certificate. I hope this will make a difference in my job search. Its hard out here but I keep the faith. I mean what is it going to take? 24 masters degrees?….PHD’s? Do I need to go to law school too?
I even sent my resume to my state senators, My congressman and my senator asking to intern or do anything in their office! All I get are form letters back! The only good politician that actually writes me back is my Virginia Delegate Mark Cole. All the rest ignore me. If our government doesn’t do something soon then there will be riots in DC and in every major capitol.
I Also am going to add my two cents on the topic of Food stamps since I actually have been on food stamps from 07/2010-Present(Yes I know I know since I am a Libertarian I shouldn’t even accept government assistance is what you are all thinking). Well my answer to that is that I am not going to go hungry so I can prove a certain political philosophy or be a burden on my family or friends. I Thank god every day that I have food Stamps. If it wasn’t for Food stamps I would be in REALLY bad shape. Maybe that doesn’t make me Libertarian but when reality hits you in the face and you have to do what you have to do to survive politics go out the window and not starving to death is a MUCH higher priority. I get $200 a month on the Virginia EBT card. I usually run out of Food Stamps at about the 25th of every month but usually I have enough food to survive that last week until the 1st when the EBT card gets re-loaded.
From my 6 months of observations and shopping on food stamps here is my normal shopping list, what I eat, etc.
Pretty much you always eat at home and prepare all your meals at home. Going to Chick-Fil-A is a once a month treat for me and so is Starbucks. Other than that I haven’t been to a Restaurant like Outback. Red Lobster, Chili’s in about 4 months. Rent, Gas, and Car Insurance take up about $750 a month in expenses just to put a roof over my head and have transportation. I can only afford the ghetto $40 a month no credit check phone from Best Buy which I pay ahead every month. And believe me its definitely not a Smart phone and there is NO Internet on the phone…
I brew my own coffee every day and always buy the big canisters of Folgers since Maxwell House is Nasty. When you are on SNAP benefits(I love how the Government renamed Food stamps to the wonderful euphemism of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program……hilarious!). The only place that you can really afford to shop at and be able to afford protein is Wal-mart. I tried Wegmans one month and I was out of food stamps by the 15nth. I eat a lot of Tostino’s Pizza’s, Peanut butter sandwiches and eat a lot of cereal and spaghetti that I freeze in containers. You HAVE to go to Wal-mart at the beginning of the month because that's when the sales are for bulk items. You have get their early on the 1st because usually all the bulk rice, bulk sugar, bulk coffee, and $1 loaves of bread are hoarded off the shelves by the big families that come in with $1000 EBT cards.
FORGET about purchasing anything Organic! Let me stress that again if you start buying anything organic like Milk, eggs or organic vegetables or fruit you will starve by the 20th of the month. I know because I tried. You can survive off of Food stamps for one person but the only protein I get is from eggs, peanut butter or hamburger meat that is 70/30 thats in my spaghetti I make. Forget about buying any lean hamburger meat or ground turkey which is $4 a pound now at Wal-mart. I make sure I take daily vitamins and minerals. If you don’t take Vitamins or minerals on the food stamp diet I would be really worried about major vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The Folgers bulk coffee cans used to be $6.99 and now they are $9.99 which really sucks if you are a coffee drinker like me. The biggest expenses I have is for frozen chicken breasts and anything that is a protein item. I can only afford to eat fish once every two weeks(I wish I could eat fish, shrimp or crab more often) I have gone a week without any protein since the EBT card ran out and let me tell you that my body is not a happy camper eating just frozen pizza’s and noodles. It is much harder than I thought it was going to be as well. I really hate Wal-mart but I am forced to shop there since its all I can afford. I wish I could eat the Yogurt too but if I purchase a 14 day supply of Yogurt its almost $40 now. One of the best ways to survive I haver found is Instant Quaker oatmeal and cheerios and Milk. I eat that almost every day. I also lived a week off of cheese hot dogs and corn dogs as well.
I hope this helped explain to people that $200 a month isn’t shit. You will not starve or die but I have gained like 15 pounds from all the transfats, white flour products, corn sugar products and processed foods. I also have found that one main thing that is important is make sure you dress in shitty clothes when you whip out that EBT card. One day I made the mistake of buying food with my EBT card with my suit and tie on coming back from a job interview and I received many really shitty, condescending looks from people.
Finally let me add that I have a wonderful family that invite me over for dinner. My brothers take care of me and so does my Mom by making me feel like a normal person. They make me feel Human when I eat home cooked meals that are delicious and healthy. They are all I have in this world and without them I would really struggling right now.
I really hope someone from congress or the President reads this.
I keep the hope though that America will be stronger coming out of this. We need strong leaders. We need strong men and women of integrity. Without my faith in God I would not be where I am. Things will turn around for me. I know it. I want to give you all hope to not give up. But do some research on what is really causing all this. I buy silver, I buy MRE’s and storable food, water filter and a solar power flashlight AM/FM radio and a good military grade knife.
ANOTHER
My mother is unemployed. She is 61 years old, has 25 years of experience working for a major telecommunications corporation, and has a four-year degree. I watch her send application after application to employers with no response. I watch her get contacted by recruiters who say she is a ‘perfect fit’ for a job and never deliver. I watch her slide into depression and staying in bed many hours of the day.
I am 38 years old, I have mental illness, and I recently lost my job as a delivery driver because the owner sold his business to a competitor.
I don’t believe that either my mother or I will ever be employed again. I am beginning to feel that I am permanently in the world of the unemployed. I feel as trapped as I did when I spent weeks in an in-patient clinic for the mentally ill where you could never leave and you know that there is a world out there just beyond the locked doors.
`They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!” cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!” “Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge. “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?” Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, 1843
It's going to be a rough ride....
CNN Gal Reporter SHOCKED that OBAMA isn't LOVED around the world
She insisted against all the facts to the opposite that Obama is universally loved around the world.
Survey says, what I say ,,,,, As a Born Again Christian and NOT as secular Jews seem to Believe
 |
To the question, "Agree or disagree: Israel is a flawed nation-state like others but remains, as the Bible says, the apple of God's eye," while 22.4 percent of those affiliating with the Jewish faith said they strongly agreed, 60 percent of those who identify as born-again Christian responded that they strongly agree. Another 21 percent said they somewhat agreed.
Other results:
- About 80 percent of born-again Christians disagreed with the statement that Israel "is an aggressor nation," nearly the same as the 85 percent of Jews who held that opinion.
- Fifty-eight percent of the Jews said they agreed with the statement that the U.S. does not provide enough moral support to Israel, but more than 62 percent of the born-again Christians held that view.
- Thirty-nine percent of the Jews believe the U.S. is undermining Israel by pushing a Palestinian state, while almost 56 percent of the born-again Christians believe that.
- Fifty-one percent of the Jews believe the U.S. should make support of Israel the primary plank in Middle East policy, but more than 72 percent of born-again Christians hold that perspective.
- Some 22.4 percent of the Jews believe the U.S. will be judged by God according to the way it treats Israel, but 2 of 3 born-again Christians agreed with that statement.
- While 55.2 percent of Jews believe Americans should be very concerned about Israel's national security, that figure was 71.1 percent for born-again Christians.
"The survey also shows most Americans believe Israel is under a continuing grave threat from Islamic radicals," the analysis said.
According to the survey, 75 percent of all respondents in the survey said they believe Israel is the top target of Islamic radicals. Eighty-six percent said they are at least somewhat concerned about Israel's national security – and 53 percent said they were "very concerned" about it.
Further, "71 percent said they believe the U.S. should support Israel if Israel engages in military action to counter a possible Iranian nuclear attack against Israel. And, while the U.S continues to wage two other heavy military actions in the region – Iraq and Afghanistan – 64 percent said they would favor using American military troops against Iran if Iran attempts a nuclear attack on Israel."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Middle Class Economic Connundrum
Even during this time of relative economic stability, the U.S. middle class is still being ripped to shreds. If there are those among your family and friends that are somehow convinced that the U.S. economy is recovering nicely, you might want want to show them the following 18 very sobering facts....
#1 According to Gallup, the U.S. unemployment rate is currently 10.3 percent. When you add in part-time American workers that want full-time employment, that number rises to 20.2 percent.
#2 According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings in the United States declined for a second straight month during December.
#3 There are currently more than 4 million Americans that have been unemployed for more than a year.
#4 The number of Americans that have become so discouraged that they have given up searching for work completely now stands at an all-time high.
#5 Gasoline prices in the United States recently hit a 28-month high.
#6 During the 4th quarter of 2010, 4.63 percent of all U.S. home loans were in foreclosure. That matched the all-time high, and it was up significantly from 4.39 percent in the 3rd quarter.
#7 It is estimated that there are about 5 million homeowners in the United States that are at least two months behind on their mortgages, and it is being projected that over a million American families will be booted out of their homes this year alone.
#8 Almost 14 percent of all credit card accounts in the United States are currently 90 days or more delinquent.
#9 The average credit card rate in the United States had increased to a whopping 13.44 percent at the end of 2010.
#10 Americans now owe more than $890 billion on student loans, which is even more than they owe on credit cards.
#11 Average household debt in the United States has now reached a level of 136% of average household income. In China, average household debt is only 17% of average household income.
#12 U.S. life expectancy at birth is now three years less than Canada and four years less than Japan.
#13 New home sales in the state of California were at the lowest level ever recorded in the month of January.
#14 43 percent of all mortgages in south Florida are currently underwater.
#15 Prior to the most recent economic downturn, there were usually somewhere around four to five million job openings in America. Today there are about 3 million.
#16 When you adjust wages for inflation, middle class workers in the United States make less money today than they did back in 1971.
#17 One out of every seven Americans is now on food stamps.
#18 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.
