An Ominous Wind This Way Blows

Our world seems to be at a tipping point. The ever encroaching police state, the fact that all financial markets, over the entire global, are rigged. Since when does the President come out and tell Congress that he needs omnipotent powers to continue to expand the wars of aggression? What next, maybe world war; cast a dragnet across the internet to begin scooping up owners of alternative news websites? Perhaps begin systemically killing the bankers in the back office with the codes and programs that run the derivatives markets and rig the equities markets? Or maybe journalist begin dying in questionable auto accidents or suicide. Where does it end? 

Uncle Sam’s $8 Trillion Annual Debt Churn: Why Washington Is Pertrified Of Honest Interest Rates

I know that headline sounds completely outrageous.  But it is actually true.  The U.S. government is borrowing about 8 trillion dollars a year, and you are about to see the hard numbers that prove this.  When discussing the national debt, most people tend to only focus on the amount that it increases each 12 months.  And as I wrote about recently, the U.S. national debt has increased by more than a trillion dollars in fiscal year 2014.

But that does not count the huge amounts of U.S. Treasury securities that the federal government must redeem each year.  When these debt instruments hit their maturity date, the U.S. government must pay them off.  This is done by borrowing more money to pay off the previous debts.  In fiscal year 2013, redemptions of U.S. Treasury securities totaled $7,546,726,000,000 and new debt totaling $8,323,949,000,000 was issued.  The final numbers for fiscal year 2014 are likely to be significantly higher than that.

So why does so much government debt come due each year?

Ecuador and China to strengthen military cooperation

During a press conference held in Beijing on Sept. 15, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, the defense minister of Ecuador, told the Madrid-based Agencia EFE that China and Ecuador had agreed to strengthen military cooperation.

‘More Europe, not less’ needed on security and defence

As the EU situation continues to get worse, the only consistent solution Europe has thought up and pushed for has been to further consolidate. The world’s next superpower is bringing its European Army with it.

An effective European security and defence policy would allow the EU to ‘project influence globally’, argues Maria Eleni Koppa.

European security and defence is a topic that has been attracting a lot of attention after the decision of the European council to hold a special discussion dedicated on security and defence – for the first time since 2008 – at the forthcoming December summit. In this context, on 21 November, the European parliament adopted the report on the implementation of European security and defence policy, concerning the positions of the parliament for the future of the common security and defence policy (CSDP).