From The Ramparts

                                                       From The Ramparts

                                                      Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                       Same Ol' Same Ol'

            "Chicago has some of the strictest gun restrictions in the United States with some of the highest rates of gun violence. Gang members are not buying them legally, and the police are pulling guns off the street on a daily basis, so where are they coming from?" http://www.activistpost.com/2016/09/gang-members-implicate-u-s-govt-dumping-crates-guns-chicago.html

            My brother in law sent me a book entitled Madame President The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene Cooper. It is about the rise of Liberia's and Africa's first female president. It chronicles her life story from when she was a baby and it was prophesized she would be great. The book follows Mrs Sirleaf from her infancy through the final years of her presidency. In between are vivid and horrific accounts of the carnage, rape and debauchery that took place during Liberia's civil wars from 1989-2003 and the socio- political machinations that forged the conflicts and slaughter.

            While he was reading the book my brother in law would call me baffled how and why African people could or would commit such heinous atrocities against one another? When he finished reading it, he sent us the book and my wife read it first. Often she would read portions to me. We would discuss what she read and when she finished reading it, I took it up and read it.

            The other day I was talking to my brother in law over the phone I mentioned I finished the book and he asked me what I thought. I told him one of my main take-aways was how the author mentioned the soldiers who raped pillaged and killed were most often drunk off Palm wine and amphetamines. I asked him where did the various warlords and combatants get the drugs, arms and ammunition to wage the wars?

            I told him the same thing I told my wife, that I was not attempting to excuse or minimize the atrocities done by the various factions during the wars but I maintained it was the West who supplied the arms and the drugs to the Liberians because that is their modus operandi, divide and rule by instigating and arming both sides of a conflict.

            The author Helene Cooper is a writer for the New York Times. She is a native Liberian and has had two best selling books to her credit. She praised Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who was descended from the former enslaved Afro-Americans who founded Liberia as part of the US African Colonization Society's agenda, told about how she came to America got educated and eventually worked for the World Bank and IMF.  Ms Cooper either knows nothing about the World Bank and IMF being global loan sharks and usury vultures preying on countries like Liberia or she deliberately chose not to go there in the book.

            Most Black folks know nothing of the history and agenda of the American Colonization Society an organization founded in 1816 by racists like Robert Finley, Henry Clay, Francis Scott Key and Daniel Webster designed to expatriate Blacks back to Africa or some other place because they posed a threat to their notion of an all white country, were serious competition to whites for jobs and inspired enslaved Blacks to think about freedom.  http://www.blackpast.org/aah/american-colonization-society-1816-1964.

             Abraham Lincoln was a major backer and supporter of the ACS which is why the name of Ashmun Institute was changed to Lincoln University in 1866. We need to know more about the ACS and its politics. But this is not the point of this article.

            The point I want to raise is just like whites supplied modern Liberians with arms, and drugs; just like whites currently supply ISIS, ISIL and all the rest of the so called "terrorist"  factions around the world with guns, ammunition and drugs, they are doing the same thing in the inner cities of America. Check out this video at http://www.activistpost.com/2016/09/gang-members-implicate-u-s-govt-dumping-crates-guns-chicago.html

            Keep in mind Chicago is not the only place this is happening. This has long been the MO of the Western ruling class and their flunkies. Their goal is to destabilize a people, community, region or nation, weaken it, depopulate it, wipe them out like they did the Native Americans and numerous African nations so they can expropriate the natural resources (like Liberian "blood diamonds" which Helene Cooper does not cover in her book) and exploit the people who remain.

            Here in the US they are attempting to destabilize and decimate whole Black communities and coupled with their media mind control and brainwashing us to devalue and hate ourselves it is working big time!

            Black people do not have ships, planes or the means to transport let alone manufacture modern weaponry so where did the Liberians get them? Ms Cooper neither asked nor answered that question I guess because that was not the focus of  her book. But I am. Where are the gang bangers getting the drugs and arms they use to terrorize neighborhoods here in the US?

            A few yeas ago I read a study on "living conditions" of Australian aborigines that detailed the prevalence of poverty, isolation and high rate of alcoholism. I said to myself this is the same thing that is happening on Native American "reservations" (our euphemism for government concentration camps)  in the ghettos and barrios in this country. Is that a coincidence? Not hardly!

            It's high time we woke up and set about the business of resolving the gun and drug crisis in our communities just like Madame President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf resolved the Ebola crisis in Liberia.

                                                                       -30- 

                                       

                                                   From The Ramparts

                                                   Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                         America's Looming Pension Crisis

            "U.S. state and local employee pension plans are in trouble — and much of it is because of flaws in the actuarial science used to manage their finances. Making it worse, standard actuarial practice masks the true extent of the problem by ignoring the best financial science — which shows the plans are even more underfunded than taxpayers and plan beneficiaries have been told." http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-your-states-public-pension-plan-is-in-a-much-bigger-hole-than-you-already-fear-2016-08-16

            While the corporate media and US Congress engage in a sham witch hunt for evidence of the nonexistent Russian hacking of the 2016 presidential election, real concerns and problems go unaddressed. Several years ago I had investigative reporter Patricia Kelly O'Meara of the Washington Times on my Internet radio program. Our topic was psychotropic drug abuses against children. She also shared a story she was working on about the insolvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation how the rash of giant bankruptcies of the US steel and airlines industries were further depleting the reserves of this quasi-Public entity designed to be the last resort to protect private pensions in cases of company default and bankruptcy.

            Her reports revealed that big companies were deliberately off-loading their pension obligations onto the PBGC to be born by the US taxpayers. They were keeping the funds they collected for and from their employees and claiming they didn't have the money to honor their pension obligations.  The BPGC was forced to step in and provide at least some pension benefits to the retirees although in most cases it was not what their Defined Benefit Retirement agreements called for!

            As a result of her articles Congress took action to replenish the PBGC fund so it was in better condition than prior to her revelations. However due to the 2008 crash the fund is now seriously underfunded again. "The government's pension insurance company, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), is broke. Because its creditors can't demand their money immediately, it won't have spent its last dollar for 'a significant number of years' yet (maybe ten) -- but its liabilities of $164 billion are nearly twice its assets of $88 billion: there is no way it can honor all its obligations." http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/07/26/who_will_pay_for_the_pension_benefit_guaranty_corporations_huge_losses_102279.html

            There is a pension crisis in America that is metastasizing and roiling out to the point hundreds of public and private pensions are at risk for collapse leaving current pensioners in a lurch and future retirees at risk for destitution due to reduced benefits or no benefits at all!

              Every once in a while the media reports on a fund that is in fiscal  difficulty like the Teamsters Union fund. https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/congress/item/24970-teamsters-pension-plans-seek-massive-cuts-to-retirees-to-stay-solvent  What we are not being told is that so many municipalities, counties states and company pensions are in deep trouble due to decisions the CEO,s CFO's, mayors, councils, managers, governors made negotiating contracts with unions, and how their funds were managed.

            For public pensions mayors and governors opted not to make the needed contributions to the funds. I do not have the space to provide all the data so go to

https://ballotpedia.org/Public_pension_crisis, www.marketwatch.com/story/collapsing-pensions-will-fuel-americas-next-financial-crisis-2017-03-14 and http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/finance/325564-the-pension-crisis-will-be-americas-next-financial-crisis to see just how precarious the US pension system both public and private really are.

            What can we do? Ask questions, raise issues with your elected officials, your union reps and employers. Get involved, attend meetings, read the relevant materials your union or pension fund send you, do your own research and become more familiar with the issues.

            The fiscal and related pension troubles in Detroit, Chicago, South Carolina and California are not isolated occurrences, they are the very reality most of us will face sooner or later.  When Detroit was going through its bankruptcy proceedings several years ago, I admonished readers to keep an eye on how they resolved the pension issues.

            Now the state of Illinois is in deep trouble, please pay attention to what happens with their budget and pension contributions. These same fiscal crisis are being faced by cities, counties, states and nations. Here is some additional information on various states, their pension status and overviews of what is being called "the pension tsunami". More than likely regardless of where you live, your state is included. Enlarge the graph at the top of this post and review the following material and act intelligently: http://www.welovecostarica.com/the-unfunded-pension-tsunami-is-rapidly-gaining-momentum-the-us-public-pension-system-is-mathematically-guaranteed-to-crash/, http://reason.org/news/show/the-public-employee-pension-crisis and https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/05/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-global-pension-crisis/

                                                            -30-

 

                                                  From the Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                History of US Depravity

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/21/study-of-holocaust-survivors-finds-trauma-passed-on-to-childrens-genes. This means the horrors our ancestors experienced during slavery have impacted us and unless we find ways to truly heal ourselves, (even within this insanely racist and evil culture) we will perpetuate them in future generations. It is a combination of nature and nurture so we must be the ones to control our socio-psychological and physical environments so we do not further traumatize ourselves and our progeny.

                                                                        -30-

                                                 

                                                 From The Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             Environmental Poisoning

            A recent story in a Philadelphia newspaper and Philadelphia television stated many gentrified communities in the Delaware River wards are experiencing a spike in lead poisoning; not in the drinking water or from paint but from the ground!  The article stated the lead comes from old smelters and factories that were prevalent in the city during the nineteenth and twentieth century industrial boom. At one time Philadelphia had the most lead smelting factories in the nation. The lead from these buildings is saturated in the ground. State and local authorities are bickering over whose responsibility it is to clean up and remedy the situation.

            Lead is extremely toxic and can cause severe health defects and conditions. Lead exposure and contamination are major problems throughout modern America not just in Philadelphia or Flint Michigan. Most of the information about the dangers of lead poisoning have focused on children, but lead poisoning is deadly to adults as well. "Here’s what we do know, though: Even low-level exposure can harm your heart, brain, kidneys, and reproductive system. Concentrations of less than 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood—a level the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers toxic and at which it recommends public health intervention—can weaken adult kidney function and increase the risk of kidney disease, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. There are also hints that this level of exposure in adults may contribute to seizures, hearing loss, impairment of cognitive functions (including memory), and the development of Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Scientists are now looking into whether it might exacerbate cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia... Scientists have associated somewhat higher blood lead levels—5 to 10 micrograms per deciliter—with high blood pressure and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. That’s because our bodies seem to confuse lead with calcium, which plays a vital role in muscle contraction. This mix-up causes tiny muscles around our blood vessels to contract more forcefully than they normally would have, thereby increasing the blood pressure... Black Americans already experience higher rates of cardiovascular health problems than other groups, often due to poor diet, so lead may compound an existing problem in majority-black cities like Flint, 41 percent of whose residents live below the federal poverty threshold." http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/flint-lead-exposure-adult-health-effects/

            But environmental toxicity is not just relegated to Philadelphia and Flint Michigan. In the June 21 edition of the Government Slaves Website http://www.govtslaves.com/these-9-zip-codes-have-dangerously-high-levels-of-toxic-heavy-metals-in-the-municipal-water-supply/ there was an article on environmental toxins with a link to a Natural Science Journal study of three hundred sixty four municipalities by zip codes with high limits of lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, aluminum and cooper http://naturalsciencejournal.org/ICP-MS-Analysis-364-Municipal-Water-Samples.html

            I belong to The Philadelphia Seminar an organization that brings in guest speakers every month to share ideas and topics that impact African Americans. Last week we had Glen Ellis and he specifically told us only twenty percent of the issues that impact our health have anything to do with doctors, medical insurance, coverage or hospitals. The other eighty per cent involves personal lifestyle, our habits, our immediate environment, our mental attitudes and the day to day stress we experience. As an example of environmental factors, he mentioned lead and the deadly effects lead has on humans.

                                                

                                                From The Ramparts

                                             Junious Ricardo Stanton

                              The American Empire, A Pathocracy In Action

            "Pathocracy from Greek pathos, 'feeling, pain, suffering'; and kratos, 'rule' A totalitarian form of government in which absolute political power is held by a psychopathic elite, and their effect on the people is such that the entire society is ruled and motivated by purely pathological values. A pathocracy can take many forms and can insinuate itself covertly into any seemingly just system or ideology. As such it can masquerade under the guise of a democracy or theocracy as well as more openly oppressive regimes." https://pathocracy.wordpress.com/definition/

            Several weeks ago I described America as an empire in decline and promised to revisit this topic in successive weeks. Although the United Sates is only two hundred forty one years old, it is already a global empire albeit one in rapid decline. Since its inception this country has engaged in a murderous, expansionist imperial rampage to the point it now defines itself as the preeminent and indispensable nation in the world. This self-delusional narcissism has fueled an increasing megalomania and push for total global hegemony. This psychopathy is promoted by the ruling class's mind control apparatus/propaganda machine designed to recruit canon fodder for the ubiquitous wars, interventions and covert ops the ruling class uses to acquire and maintain their ill gotten resources, spoils and booty from around the world while controlling the masses here in the United States. 

            When we examine American society critically we are struck by the acute hypocrisy and schizophrenia it demonstrates. We notice the leaders speak of liberty while becoming rich off of the African slave trade and modern prison labor, they speak of peace while waging incessant war, they talk of equality yet maintain egregious gender, color and class disparities in wealth and opportunity, they talk about life yet engage in global ecocide and genocide.

            This perverse mentality springs from the consciousness and cultural norms of the European ethos, harkening to their ancestral love of violence, rapine, plunder and looting. Today the ruling class wear expensive suits whereas their Goth, Visigoth, Osteogoth, Vandal, Frank, Jute, Pic, Anglo, Saxon, Norman ancestors wore

animal skins and crudely fashioned clothing; nevertheless their mentality is the same.             Today they speak of Judaeo-Christian values as the foundation of their culture yet just like the Roman Empire, they use religion as a tool for imperialism, conquest and subjugation, then turn around and use the same religion as a tool of indoctrination to oppress and dominate their victims to make them docile and acquiesce to their debasement.

            Astute folks refer to America as a pathocracy, a nation ruled by psychopaths, worshipers of evil and practitioners of demonic occultism. America for all intents and purposes is a criminogenic society. http://disinfo.com/2010/10/pathocracy-is-civilization-the-creation-of-psychopaths/, http://barbariansinsuits.net , http://drsircus.com/world-news/psychopaths-rule-our-world-medicine-politics-and-war/ , http://www.wanttoknow.info/mk/liftingtheveil#15 

            The signs are all omnipresent yet most don't see them because we have been brainwashed, hoodwinked and bamboozled to view the world through a prism fashioned by our psychopathic overlords; a prism that severely distorts reality, creates illusions and stimulates mindless consumption, obedience and compliance. 

            The cumulative psychopathy is metastasizing throughout this society. The plutocrats' mind control apparatus glorifies degeneracy, decadence, war, self-indulgence, narcissism and exploitation all day all the time. When we look at our own communities we see the deleterious impact of media consumption, the self-indulgence, narcissism and mindless adulation of the "celebrities" and degenerates the ruling class set before us to imitate. The hoochie momma, squeezer, thug and playah stereotypes promoted in books, by the record companies, videos, reality shows, radio, and movies have psychically reengineered our people and are contributing to our maladaptive responses to our condition in this country. 

             It is time for us to wake up and fortify ourselves against the moral rot engulfing this nation and the world. It is imperative we have our own media, one that focuses on liberation, empowerment that speaks our truth.  The great Marcus Garvey spoke and wrote about the importance of propaganda how we should use it to fight the negative stereotypes perpetrated by our enemies and create positive images of ourselves, that tell our history and provide a vision for our future.  (Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons  edited by Robert A. Hill and Barbara Bair Lesson 16 page 289). We need more serious books, more righteous Websites, more Internet radio, television and streaming venues to tell our stories and bombard our psyches with positive images and messages. We must exert our energies to establish, support and maintain our own media to tell our stories from our perspective to accomplish our goals and not those of our adversaries.

                                                            -30-

                                         Saving Cheyney University

                                             Junious Ricardo Stanton

            On Monday evening June 6, Heeding Cheyney's Call held a rally to provide information, status updates and dispel rumors the historic institution, the oldest institution for higher learning in the United States for African-Americans, is about to close.

            Heeding Cheyney' Call is a grassroots, coalition made up of alumni, students, higher education advocates and activists who were called together in 2013 by the late great Professor Edgar "Sonny" Harris to save the school. Harris was a former professor of mathematics and mathematics instruction at the university who served for many years as the president of the faculty union and the retired faculty union. In 2013 he became increasingly alarmed at the declining enrollment, escalating deficits, lack of viable leadership and willful neglect on the part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

                        Harris called one of his mentees, activist attorney Michael Coard and several other alumni (myself included) who began meeting to investigate exactly what the status of the university was and strategize how to reverse the dangerous trends and save the school.

            After a series of meetings with US Department of Education officials, the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights staff,  federal, state and local elected officials a press conference was called to announce our intent to revisit the 1999 federal consent decree agreement between the University and the US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. Heeding Cheyney's Call as we call ourselves began searching for an attorney or law firm willing to take on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on behalf of the university in federal court. Following our press conference in October of 2013, Governor Tom Corbett and his staff presented counter claims that they had adequately funded the university. After a public rebuttal of their claims by Michael Coard, the Governor's office reached out and offered to meet with HCC.

            After eight months of face to face meetings and attempts to negotiate with the Corbett Administration, in July of 2014 Corbett's team informed us they were not going to give Cheyney any additional funding.  HCC decided to file a federal lawsuit in October of 2014 several weeks prior to the upcoming gubernatorial election. We engaged Joe Tucker who agreed to handle the work pro bono and he quickly went into action building a solid case.

            Once the paperwork was filed, HCC prepared for a protracted legal battle but Gov. Corbett lost the November 2014 gubernatorial election. His successor Governor Tom Wolf indicated he wished to avoid the expenses and potentially negative consequences of litigation. Heeding Cheyney's Call entered into good faith negotiations with Gov. Wolf and his staff and the process moved along smoothly; so much so HCC agreed to ask the presiding judge to set it aside while we worked out a settlement. The case was withdrawn without prejudice in January of 2016. We have the option of reopening it!

             Since 2010 the university has experienced a fifty-three percent decrease in enrollment from 1,406 undergraduate students to a mere 660 in 2017. The university is also burdened with escalating debt due to loans from PASSHE to keep it operational, and because the federal government has delayed paying owed financial aid monies to the university. The university also experienced challenges with the NCAA but avoided sanctions because they self-reported violations.

             Due to the press the university's fiscal position was generating, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education returned to campus to look at Cheyney despite having granted the university full reaccreditation status in 2014. The new Middle States team discovered Cheyney lacked the financial wherewithal to sustain itself and carry out its mission. They were especially concerned about Cheyney's declining enrollment and lack of permanent leadership. Middle States subsequently placed the university on probation in November of 2015. Cheyney has two years to rectify its shortcomings, November 19, 12017 is the deadline.

            The Commonwealth has steadfastly declined for over two years to initiate a search for a permanent president and despite several high ranking PASSHE officials managing and stabilizing the departments of enrollment, financial aid and the bursars office, the university failed to meet its enrollment projections for Fall 2016. Now PASSHE says it cannot lend Cheyney any additional funds.

            The state convened a special Task Force charged with coming up with a new institutional model for mission, operations and sustainability. The Task Force was composed of a Wolf administration cabinet head, legislators, PASSHE  Board of Governors and Cheyney Council of Trustee members. They published their final report in May. The report proposes a radical reconfiguring of the university. It specifically recommends exploring ways to monetize Cheyney's real estate, tearing down several buildings,  cutting staff and discontinuing NCAA Division II sports.

            Cheyney is one of several PASSHE schools experiencing fiscal and enrollment difficulties: Mansfield, Clarion, California and Edinboro are the others. Each of these schools have historically been stepping stones for working class families to acquire a college education. Their demise would be catastrophic for the state. http://www.pennbpc.org/sites/default/files/20170608_RisingCostsPaper.pdf

            It was in response to the Task Force's report that Heeding Cheyney's Call convened Monday's meeting. HCC is asking everyone concerned about saving Cheyney to do three things immediately: call Governor Tom Wolf, (717) 787-2500, Chancellor Frank Brogan (717) 720-4000 and the PASSHE Board of Governors Chairperson Cynthia Shapira (717) 720-4028, demand they rethink the Task Force recommendations and work to immediately resolve the chronic systemic causes of Cheyney's problems. After you do that please send HCC an E-mail at HeedingCheyneysCall@gmail.com, leave your name and phone number, the date, time and person you spoke with. Your participation, whether you went to Cheyney or not, is crucial to our success keeping the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans in this nation open, alive and thriving! Please make the calls.

   

                                                   From the Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                          America An Empire In Decline

            "The American Empire invaded, occupied or bombed 14 countries in less than 30 years – timeline The real reason for singling out these countries is the petrodollar system, a scheme that enables America to stay afloat despite being more than $17 trillion in debt. The existence of petrodollars is one of the pillars of America’s economic might, because it creates a significant external demand for the American dollar, allowing the United States to amass enormous debts without defaulting." The American Empire Is In Decline Like All Others Before http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/american-empire-decline/ri15586

            The American Empire like all empires before it,  will not last forever. Studies indicate an empire lasts about ten generations or two hundred years. The typical empire goes through several stages over a period of years, but because of the  massive technological advances that have occurred during its rise the lifespan and decline of America is being accelerated.

            The Europeans who came to these shores came not as explorers and seekers of freedom as their propaganda and myths tell us, but as conquerors, colonizers, plunderers and murderers. With that mindset is was inevitable they would initiate strife, conflict, and genocide everywhere they set foot. That was the first stage of empire, settlement.

            Once the Europeans established a toehold here they began their conquest in earnest which is the second phase of empire, expansion.  Next they exploited the natural resources, established commerce and attempted to universally subjugate and enslave the native inhabitants but in some cases like the Canary islands, Tasmania, North America and Australia the invading whites exterminated most of the indigenous peoples they encountered.

            Taking advantage of African free labor and the technology of the motherland the colonists and the new country of America became wealthy beyond measure. Their wealth was based upon war, land seizure, slavery and rapine. They cultivated a mentality of expansionist entitlement, greed and hubris which fueled further growth. They created myths about themselves to justify their immorality and hubris. This false identity and reality made it easy for them to up the ante on their system of pillage until they became a global empire. But their wealth led to crass materialism, hedonism, decadence and depravity which sowed the seeds of decline.

            Today after two hundred forty one years as a nation, America stands astride the world daring anyone to challenge its military supremacy, its predatory economic system or its dream of global hegemony, what they call "full spectrum domination".

            But in their gluttony, megalomania, and hubris they fail to recognize the symptoms of their imminent demise. Like all empires America thinks it will last forever. Not so. The stitching holding the empire together is rapidly unraveling as we speak. It is only a matter of time before internal decay and hubris cause it to implode and collapse.

            Like the Roman and British Empires before it, the American empire is going through many of the same stages. America is at the point of imperial overreach where its neocolonial outposts and conquest are draining it of resources as the  plutocrats rake in the spoils while domestic income inequality widens and socio-economic conditions for the ninety-nine per cent worsen.

            America is in a state of decline, the numbers reveal it for all willing to see beyond the propaganda and lies. America is awash in debt, national, corporate and personal. This debt will eventually drown the empire.  "On November 7, 2016, debt held by the public was $14.3 trillion or about 76% of the previous 12 months of GDP).[5][6][7][8] Intragovernmental holdings stood at $5.4 trillion, giving a combined total gross national debt of $19.8 trillion or about 106% of the previous 12 months of GDP.[7] $6.2 trillion or approximately 45% of the debt held by the public was owned by foreign investors, the largest of which were Japan and China at about $1.09 trillion for Japan and $1.06 trillion for China as of December 2016.[9]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States

            This is unsustainable over the long haul.  No amount of taxation or fiat money creation will be able to balance the books or prevent collapse. Much of this debt is fueled by war and imperial overreach. The US maintains over 800 known military bases in seventy countries around the world. The true cost is unknown due to the so called off book covert military and CIA sites but a conservative figures is $150 billion annually. In addition to the military bases the US in engaged in numerous wars, interventions and covert ops as we speak. The bogus War on Terror alone has cost $4.79 trillion with a T. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States and this doesn't include the $2.97 billion for research and development in the super secret Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) or the military  budget the Trump just raised!

            Another major indicator of decline is the corruption and malfeasance on all levels of US government. Whole federal departments like Defense, Medicare, Medicaid and Housing and Urban Development have been suborned and are ripe with corruption and fraud.

            This is also prevalent on the state and local levels. Go to https://thefailedsystem.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/corrupt-states/  to read a good synopsis of state corruption especially the part about the link between the level of corruption and the health of the residents in the state.

            The topic of America's decline is too extensive and too important to treat in one article so I will offer additional evidence in future articles.

                                                                  -30-