Deborah Terreson wrote:
> In article  ,
"Turin"
>  wrote:
>
> > "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN"
> >
> > Face it.  America's heyday is over...
> >
> >
> > "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
> > partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
> > of her plagues.
> >
> > "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God
> > hath remembered her iniquities.  Reward her even
> > as she rewarded you, and double unto her double
> > according to her works: in the cup which she
> > hath filled fill to her double.
> >
> > "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived
> > deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give
> > her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen,
> > and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
> >
> >
> > "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
> > death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall
> > be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the
> > Lord God who judgeth her."
> >
> > (~Revelation 18:4-8 --- prophecy of Babylon's final destruction)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8191.htm
> >
> >
> > America No. 1?
> >
> > America by the numbers
> >
> > by Michael Ventura
> >
> > 02/03/05 "ICH"  - - No concept lies more firmly embedded in our
> > national character than the notion that the USA is "No.
1," "the
> > greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous
> > advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office
seeker
> > saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact,
anyone
> > saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're
an "empire,"
> > ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An
> > empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in
order
> > to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1.
Well...this
> > is the country you really live in:
> >
> > The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York
Times,
> > Dec. 12, 2004).
> >
> > The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical
> > literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
> >
> > Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth.
Seventeen
> > percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The
Week,
> > Jan. 7, 2005).
> >
> > "The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans
with
> > less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all
of
> > the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The
> > European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly
Eclipsing
> > the American Dream, p.78).
> >
> > Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that
American
> > businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec.
12,
> > 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
> >
> > "The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and
> > engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D)
> > expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
> >
> > "Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest
> > producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
> >
> > Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science
Foundation.
> > The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT,
Dec.
> > 21, 2004).
> >
> > Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last
> > year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first
time
> > in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last
year
> > Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent,
Indians
> > 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're
not
> > the place to be anymore.
> >
> > The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in
> > terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In
the
> > fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United
> > States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation
in
> > the world" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots
> > less.
> >
> > "The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in
the
> > world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The
> > European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a
> > "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
> >
> > Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary
American
> > deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on
9/11.)
> > (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)
> >
> > "U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among
the
> > developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream,
> > p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed"
to you? Yet
it's
> > the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.
> >
> > Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S.
> > households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to
feed
> > themselves." Families that "had members who actually
went hungry at
> > some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).
> >
> > The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba
scores
> > higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
> >
> > Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America
than
> > in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
> >
> > The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is
murder
> > (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).
> >
> > "Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead
> > last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in
the
> > 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate
grew
> > only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The
European
> > Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any
other
> > industrialized country, and get less vacation time.
> >
> > "Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500
> > rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The
European
> > Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies,
> > conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The
European
> > Dream, p.69).
> >
> > "Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are
> > European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is
the
> > world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In
> > engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are
> > European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American
> > engineering and construction company is included among the world's
top
> > nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestl=E9 and
Unilever,
> > two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the
world.
> > In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European
companies...are
> > first and second, and European companies make up five of the top
ten.
> > Only four U.S. companies are on the list" (The European Dream,
p=2E68).
> >
> > The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last
decade
> > (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).
> >
> > U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan.
14,
> > 2005).
> >
> > Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of
unemployment
> > insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers
are
> > jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).
> >
> > Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our
government
> > debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep mortgage
> > rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and
> > little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom" (NYT,
Dec.
> > 4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China,
because
> > they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture.
> >
> > Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as
the
> > world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's
> > largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and
tobacco.
> > Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef
producer.
> > (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear
> > record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus
(NYT,
> > Dec. 12, 2004).
> >
> > As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT,
> > Dec. 12, 2004).
> >
> > Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible
> > voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That's
more
> > than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show
for
> > their election, no country in the world will think that election
> > legitimate.
> >
> > One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of
all
> > U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).
> >
> > "Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies,
> > videos, DVDs, music, and books combined" (The European Dream,
p=2E28).
> >
> > "Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to
get
> > what they want is acceptable" (The European Dream, p.32).
> >
> > Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes
justified,
> > according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004).
> >
> > "Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last
> > year for which such data are available" (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004).
> >
> > "The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts
by
> > the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies
have
> > left the nation more vulnerable than ever" (USA Today, Nov. 17,
2004).
> >
> > No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10
> > anymore. Not even close.
> >
> >
> > The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending,
debt,
> > and delusion.
> >
> >
> > Reprinted from the Austin Chronicle.
> > www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/article12985.asp
>
> Oh yeahhhhh...
>
> It's gonna be fun watching the FoxNews weenies squeal like pigs in a
poke
> when the shit hits it.
>
> Here's another one Turin. Last Tuesday, the WSJ ran two really
interesting
> articles - one about how China has made inroads in EVERY country in
Africa
> in the last 5 years. They are building infrastructure across the
continent.
> They are rebuilding the Nigerian rail system, have paved 80% of the
state
> highways in Rwanda, are working in over a dozen countries rebuilding
> electrical grids and telephone services, are running the largest
copper mine
> in Zambia. And are increasing their influence while America is barely
> hanging on, and in many cases, losing influence.
>
> Here's a full paragraph from the article:
>
>  "China has simply exploded into Africa, as in 'Katie-bar-the-door
stuff.'"
> says Walter Kantsteiner, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state
for
> African affairs. Adds Rep. Ed Royce, a Californian Republican and
vice
> chairman of a House subcommittee that deals with Africa: "China's
increasing
> engagement in Africa is a concern and we need to focus on it before
Beijing
> becomes fully established."
>
> Here's the rub: China has no qualms about doing business with
countries like
> Nigeria, or other brutal, corrupt dictatorships. It is dropping 300
million
> in Zimbabwe to rebuild it's electrical grid, Mugabe's UN sanctions be
> damned. Also, since most of the businesses going in are state owned,
they
> turn a modest 3% profit, if at all, while Western businesses so used
to
> short term, high profits for the stakeholders, won't even consider an
effort
> unless at least a 15% profit margin is sustainable.
>
> The Chinese are setting up their long term access to resources, while
> America is jerking off, all full of itself and arrogantly cocksure
that we
> alone have the plan that will win.
>
> The other article was about the Silicon Valley engineers who are
> increasingly faced with the inability to get their own kids to choose
> technical careers.
>
> Some paragraphs from this article:
>
>   But some of the nation's tech elite - including many immigrants who
> benefitted greatly from engineering careers - are finding even their
own
> children shun engineering. One oft cited reason: concern that dad and
his
> contemporaries will ship such jobs overseas.
>
>   Venture capitalist Promod Haque, for example, is in an ironic bind
when it
> comes to advising his own kids. Like many other Silicon Valley
financiers,
> Mr. Haque has recently begun funding tech startups in India and
urging U.S.
> tech entrepreneurs to outsource from the start by forming companies
that
> split operations between the U.S. and India. Mr. Haque chuckles about
a
> recent dinner conversation with his college-age daughter, who he
hoped would
> go into engineering, just like he did. "She said, 'Dad, I'm not going
to
> take any more computer science-classes,'" he recalls. "I asked her
why. She
> looked at me straight and said, 'I don't want to go to India to get a
job.'"
>
> I love it. What goes around, comes around..
>
> This country is SO fucked: Kruschev WAS right, when he pounded his
shoe on
> the podium of the UN: The West (America) IS so decadent, it IS
selling the
> communists (and everyone else) the rope they're going to hang us
with.
>
> Deb.

Civilizations ebb and flow, and democracies tend not to last long,
relatively speaking.  They usually carry the seeds of their own
decline, and certainly a spoiled rotten population is a big part of the
problem.  When the bottom line is nothing but the dollar, it's no
surprise to see long-term benefits sacrificed for immediate gain
(gratification).

However, before everyone marvels at the wonders of Europe, you might
want to consider that there's every indication they're declining more
rapidly than we.  The snapshot stats presented here don't paint the
whole picture.



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