Migrant Invasion Will Reach OVER 10 MILLION Warns German Minister

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Europe has barely even seen the start of the migrant influx, Germany’s Development Minister has warned.

Gerd Müller said only 10 per cent of Syrian and Iraqi migrants have reached Europe so far and “eight to ten million are still on the way”, with even more to come from Africa.

“The biggest movements are ahead: Africa’s population will double in the coming decades,” he told Bild am Sonntag, adding: “In the Sahara up to one million people have died trying to escape.”

America Crosses The Tipping Point: The Middle Class Is Now A Minority

 

Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough, notes NPR’s Marilyn Geewax, but this year – for the first time in US history, that changed. A new analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority, extending a multi-decade decline that confirms the hollowing out of society as 49% of all Americans now live in a home that receives money from the government each month. Sadly, the trends that are destroying the middle class in America just continue to accelerate.

Back in 1971, about 2 out of 3 Americans lived in middle-income households. Since then, the middle has been steadily shrinking.

The Detroitification of America

A 2010 article that couldn’t be more relevant today:

 

Like a forgotten downtown billboard, Detroit proclaims a warning about the rest of America for any who will stop and look.



If ever an American city was a warning for the nation, it is Detroit. Its crumbling mansions, overgrown boulevards and abandoned factories drive a message home to those who will pay attention. We cannot afford to ignore this once-great city. Why? What killed Detroit is killing America.

Detroit used to be synonymous with wealth and prosperity. It was a city humming with big-finned cars and Motown rhythms. Factories churned out products that ended up on store shelves around the world. Full employment empowered high salaries, flourishing schools and manicured storefronts, with flashy neon lights lining the boulevards. Multiple generations of families shared the same streets and barbecues.

Market Perspectives The Monetary Illusion

When such a newsletter comes from an institution such as Guggenheim, the soon-to-come problems America faces couldn’t be more surreal.

 

As economic growth returns again to Europe and Japan, the prospect of a synchronous global expansion is taking hold. Or, then again, maybe not. In a recent research piece published by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, global economic growth, as measured in nominal U.S. dollars, is projected to decline in 2015 for the first time since 2009, the height of the financial crisis.

In fact, the prospect of improvement in economic growth is largely a monetary illusion. No one needs to explain how policymakers have made painfully little progress on the structural reforms necessary to increase global productive capacity and stimulate employment and demand. Lacking the political will necessary to address the issues, central bankers have been left to paper over the global malaise with reams of fiat currency.

Australia’s Place in the “Asian Century”

Cultural imperialism is reshaping the Australian culture while its economic and miltary clout is forcing it to pivot towards the Asian giant and distance itself further from the United States.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government has developed a bold plan for embracing the “Asian Century.” Can words be turned into deeds?

The Asian century is rich, restless and already 12 years old. And, of all nations, Australia stands to be profoundly affected by this era of rapid change – whether the region resolves into a golden age of prosperity and human development or collapses in strategic turmoil.

7 Reasons This Election Doesn’t Matter

Click the link for the full breakdown on each challenge.

Regardless of who wins the election, America faces some tough decisions.

Challenge 1: Can you conceptualize $1 trillion?

Challenge 2: America’s massive debt

Challenge 3: America’s uncontrollable welfare dependency

Challenge 4: America’s banking system is shot.

Challenge 5: The jobs are gone forever.

Challenge 6: America’s education system is failing.

Challenge 7: The economic cost of America’s moral slide.

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Regardless of who America chooses at the ballot box, its moral slide will not be turned. At best, it can be slowed. There are 230-plus years of U.S. history that prove it.

America’s debt, its welfare mentality, its crumbling education system and morals are all the product of America’s collective choices. We are now eating the fruit of those choices. Economic indicators suggest another economic downturn has already started. A greater economic depression is on the way, and there is little that can be done to mitigate it.

America is past the point of no return. America’s past prosperity will not return until the whole economic system has been wiped out. Tough times are coming on America, but once through, the country will be able to start anew.

Full article: 7 Reasons This Election Doesn’t Matter (The Trumpet)

Video Games: The New American Pastime

Today’s food for thought:

As the Christian Science Monitor brings out, 183 million Americans play video games at least an “hour a day.” Virtually all Americans (97 percent) ages 12 to 17 play video games. And almost 5 million Americans play at least 40 hours a week—the equivalent of a full-time job.

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Millions of people live, breath and play in virtual worlds. It is not only young people either. Atari hit it big in the early 1970s. Today, one quarter of all gamers are over the age of 50.

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By the time the average American youth turns 21, he will on average have spent 10,000 hours playing video games over the course of more than a decade.

Consider that number. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000-hour rule. To achieve mastery in any field of expertise, he explains, takes about 10,000 hours of practice over the course of about 10 years. Experts become experts because they abide by this rule. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good,” Gladwell writes. “It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”

Imagine what those 5 million Americans who spend 40 hours a week playing video games could accomplish if they instead devoted that much work to something useful. In just five years, this country would have 5 million more master designers, craftsmen, engineers, pilots, scientists, builders, artists, architects, painters, geologists, farmers, inventors, poets, screenplay writers, opera singers, tuba players—the list goes on and on. Imagine how different America could be if the 183 million Americans who spend at least one hour a day playing video games did the same thing.

And now imagine the world we might live in if all these people took just a portion of that time and spent it with their families and taught their children how to become experts themselves.

What a different, more prosperous, more inspiring, more beautiful world we would live in. How would your life be different? Are you willing to change the course of your child’s life?

Many people look at America and decry its deficiencies. People see its economy collapsing. They see America’s waning influence and its growing list of enemies. They see the political fighting and dysfunction in Washington and a house divided among itself. They see a nation of eroding morals and common decency.

And they wonder, why are these things happening, and why doesn’t someone stand up and put this nation back on course?

Full article: Video Games: The New American Pastime (The Trumpet)