. June 22, 2007 SouthAmerica: Reply to LT701 You can read my response to you in the following article. At the end of the day the dynamics still are all in place, and just the timing is a bit off. ****** Maybe you will find interesting the article that I wrote about the coming worldwide economic depression. Published on February 17, 2005 on my blog and also on Brazzil magazine. âThe First Great Depression of the New Millenniumâ By Ricardo C. Amaral http://firstgreatdepressionofnewmillennium.blogspot.com http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/1424/49/ .
. April 29, 2008 SouthAmerica: I turned my television on to CNBC to check the stock market and instead George W. Bush had just started his speech about nothing â another waste of my time. I did watch what he had to say anyway, since after surfing the channels I found out that there were many TV channels broadcasting that fiasco. Anyway, Bush said Americans are "understandably anxious" about issues affecting their pocketbook today â then he did go on with the solutions that it would take many years to build it such as the industry infrastructure to solve the immediate pocketbook problems of today regarding the energy needs. Bush pushed for Congress to approve new refineries to increase gasoline supplies, allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, support nuclear power, and reform the Farm Bill. But he did not say a world about the obvious and the fastest way to help with the energy problem â increase the average gas mileage of any vehicle produced in the US to match the current standards being used today by more innovative countries from around the world â a strategy that would save more oil than all the oil that they could produce from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He also called on Congress to pass legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration, reform housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allow state housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance subprime loans â that way they can pass the buck of the subprime mess and dump all the toxic waste on the back of the states that are already in financial trouble. After a while I could not listen anymore to his non-sense and I just turned off my television and found something more constructive to do like vent my frustration with this posting. .
. July 1, 2008 SouthAmerica: I saw that news item yesterday on the front page of Folha de Sao Paulo â a major Brazilian newspaper. The enclosed article shows that the United States still number one in at least another area other than the cumulative outstanding debt. ******* âU.S. leads world in substance abuse, WHO findsâ By Maggie Fox, Editing by Michael Kahn and David Wiessler Reuters - Tue Jul 1, 2008 - 12:31 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday. Countries with looser drug laws have lower rates of abuse, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. The survey of 54,000 people in 17 countries found that 16 percent of people in the United States had used cocaine in their lifetimes -- far higher than the next highest rate, found in New Zealand, where 4.3 percent of people reported having used cocaine. More than 42 percent of Americans admitted to having tried cannabis, closely followed by 41 percent in New Zealand, Dr. Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and an international team of colleagues found. Americans were also the most likely to have smoked, with 74 percent saying they used tobacco at some time in their lives, although current smoking rates are far lower at 21 percent. The next-highest lifetime smoking rate was found in Lebanon at 67 percent, with 60 percent of Mexicans and the 61 percent of Ukrainians having ever smoked. "Globally, drug use is not distributed evenly and is not simply related to drug policy, since countries with stringent user-level illegal drug policies did not have lower levels of use than countries with liberal ones," Degenhardt's team wrote. Alcohol was by far the most common substance used, the researchers found in their face-to-face interviews with people. "Alcohol use by age 15 years was far more common in European countries than in the Middle East and Africa," they wrote. By the age of 21, up to 99 percent of Europeans, 92 percent of Japanese, 94 percent of New Zealanders and 93 percent of people in the Americas had tasted alcohol. "Estimates were lower in the Middle East and Africa (40 percent to 63 percent)" the researchers wrote. "In the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, and New Zealand, more than 60 percent of young people had started to drink by age 15 years," they added. "These findings add to our understanding of substance abuse world-wide, and suggest that drug use is still a major problem in this country, pointing to the need for more effective prevention interventions," U.S. National Institutes of Health director Dr. Elias Zerhouni added in a statement. The researchers said their findings shed light on drug, alcohol and smoking policy. "The use of drugs seems to be a feature of more affluent countries," they wrote. "The United States, which has been driving much of the world's drug research and drug policy agenda, stands out with higher levels of use of alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis, despite punitive illegal drug policies, as well as (in many U.S. states), a higher minimum legal alcohol drinking age than many comparable developed countries," they added. "The Netherlands, with a less criminally punitive approach to cannabis use than the U.S., has experienced lower levels of use, particularly among younger adults." The study is available at http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document& doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141 Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080701/hl_nm/drugs_who_dc .
Yeah... the US is the biggest consumer of drugs in the world... and the sky is blue... business as usual...
Now the scary thing is that the US is the biggest pharmaceutical drug market in the world. They take more drugs for psychological problems than anyone else. Considering the many side-effects, that makes it really scary. :eek: In all of south america it seems that they consume a lot of pharmaceutical drugs as well, although medical services are not that rampant here.
. July 20, 2008 SouthAmerica: "Goebbels used to say if you repeat a lie several times it becomes a truth," â Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim could not have found a better way to define George W. Bush and his administration. He captured the essence of the Bush administration into a nutshell. ******* âBrazil official's Nazi reference rocks WTO talksâ By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer Associated Press â July 20, 2008 GENEVA - Some pre-negotiation jabbing turned into a potentially damaging diplomatic incident Saturday when Brazil's foreign minister said rich countries' deception in trade talks reminded him of tactics used by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. His comments drew a sharp rebuke from the United States, whose chief trade negotiator, Susan Schwab, is the daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Her spokesman described the reference to Goebbels as "incredibly wrong." The controversy threatens to overshadow next week's last-ditch effort to save seven years of frustrating talks on a new global trade pact toward alleviating poverty around the world. The so-called Doha trade round is already teetering on the brink of collapse. President Bush has made a Doha deal a key part of his trade agenda. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the U.S., Europe and other wealthy economies have so frequently misrepresented the talks launched in Qatar's capital in 2001 that public perception has become totally warped. "Goebbels used to say if you repeat a lie several times it becomes a truth," Amorim told reporters at the World Trade Organization, where top negotiators from over two dozen countries are expected Monday for the official start of the talks. Poorer countries have demanded cuts in the farm tariffs and subsidies used by wealthy countries, saying they hinder Third World development. In exchange, rich countries have insisted on better market access in developing countries for their manufacturers and service providers. Amorim implied that rich countries were employing Goebbels' lying tactics in describing the agricultural concessions they claim they are willing to make, while criticizing poorer countries for refusing to liberalize their industrial markets. "I am reminded of Goebbels," said Amorim, whose country has co-led with India a broad coalition of developing countries at the WTO talks. Later, his spokesman qualified the remarks and apologized to Schwab. Sean Spicer, spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said he was horrified by the "personal venom" of Amorim's words. "We came here to Geneva to negotiate on substance," Spicer told The Associated Press. "For him to make remarks like this is so incredibly wrong. They are insulting." Spicer noted that Schwab visited Amorim to soothe tensions immediately after negotiations collapsed in acrimony in 2006. In an interview with the AP, Amorim's spokesman Ricardo Neiva Tavares said the minister "regrets if Susan Schwab or anyone else was upset by his comments on a historical fact. He certainly did not intend to hurt anyone's feelings, which he deeply respects." Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080720/ap_on_re_eu/wto_quoting_goebbels .
September 6, 2012 SouthAmerica: What has happened to Gringinho? I have not heard from him for a while. .
. September 24, 2012 SouthAmerica: These people are looking for trouble.... Anti-Muslim ads go up in NY subway â September 23, 2012‎ <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Za9DWyzsSIk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> They'll be going up at ten stations across New York City by Monday morning -- signs that bear anti-Muslim message. The savages behind this non-sense is the American Freedom Defense Initiative a group run by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, and any violence resulting from the message on these signs then we all know who are the responsible people to be held accountable. ***** Look what the Zionists did in Palestine. The Dirty Truth About Israel <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wM2S0L6xW5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Khazarian Supremacy <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DAnpqvprCHU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Iran and American Interference http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...ge=6&highlight=interference iran&pagenumber=1 US, Israel seek excuse for war with Iran: James Fetzer â September 21, 2012 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VjBDqBQf9SI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Press TV has conducted an interview with James H. Fetzer, American philosopher and political commentator, to further discuss the issue. Noam Chomsky: Iran is NO Threat (Oct 2011,University College London) <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rutrNbkrhIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> NATO, Saudis prevent dialog in Syria: Webster Tarpley â September 21, 2012 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/07JwmYBxoCo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The outside opposition controlling terrorist infiltration into Syria is neither capable nor interested in dialogue and is falling apart, propped up by money and NATO. Press TV has interviewed Mr. Webster Griffin Tarpley, author and historian from Washington about the Syrian crisis. ***** Your Sunday Message http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...68843403228.2011830.1290360310&type=1&theater .