The xXx Gloom & Doom Report

DrakeMaiden said:

I, for one, look forward to reading your updates. I will consider it my economic doom & gloom "cheat sheet" because I haven't had time to read or even listen to the news much lately. I did happen to hear the other day that Apple stock was down too.

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RIP Steve Jobs.

I don't know what you all think but my other concern is for our water resources. I have a feeling that clean, affordable water is becoming more and more a thing of the past.

Thought this was aninteresting article on Colorado owing water so they're going to drain an entire reservoir. And what exactly is Kansas going to do with this one-time water payment?

framing fowl said:

THEFAN said:

I am seeing our community groups starting to disband or on the verg. Not good.

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What sort of community groups -can you give a couple of examples?

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Our Grange is on te verg of collapse. They are getting ready to sell there building to try and stay as a group.
A couple church groups are disbanding due to age and no interest
There's a lady's group also broke up.

Some of our best fund raisers for scholarships at our summer events got done this year. Not enough people interested in running it. We are a small island too.

I will get back to you with others that were mentioned at one of meetings a few weeks ago

I am a grange member and one of the yougest one. There is no new blood and the elders can't do it all anymore. The average age is 65 in most of these groups. I find the youth is disconnected from community and it's all about me. Not good not good at all. I find Morris Berman expalins it pretty good in his book Dark Age America.

Oooh, I'm in, I'm in!! I'm a doom & gloomer thru & thru.

FarmerChick - yeah, I'm just thrilled to death that Duke is buying Progress Energy; they already said our bill will go up at least $20/mo, just to pay for the serverance packages to all the workers they'll be laying off.

Britesea - I keep wondering if it's worth paying off my bills, if the system is about to collapse anyway, or would it be better to take every extra cent & buy food & other supplies...?

Someone else mentioned about businesses not being able to hire qualified help (sorry, I can't find your post now!) - my BIL got laid off a few months ago, & openly states he refuses to take any job that pays a penny less than what he was making when he was let go. Guess he'll be one of those "99ers"...

I listen to GB "religiously", & even tho most people think he's bat-sh!t crazy, what he says makes perfect sense to me - & he's usually right.

Get ready folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride....

Bat stuff crazy doesn't mean stupid! Another Beckaholic here. Yesterday's show was a riot! Good thing I had that duct tape wrapped around my head to keep my brain from exploding.

Wifezilla said:

Bat stuff crazy doesn't mean stupid! Another Beckaholic here. Yesterday's show was a riot! Good thing I had that duct tape wrapped around my head to keep my brain from exploding.

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Yeah, good thing Glenn's also hysterically funny, otherwise I'd have probably jumped off a bridge months ago. :/

And I do find myself reaching for the duct tape when watching the network news.

I too will follow this thread with earnest. Hubby and I watched a few programs the other night...I think on the history channel. He loves to watch the Nostradamus stuff...I for one don't get into that hype. However, there was another interesting program on the Myan calendar. Now, I know, there are a lot of people out there that think the world will end, December 2012. I don't think it will "end" just that it will " end as we know it" We have a plan...don't know if it will work for us.....but..we have a plan none the less. Water will be our only issue here. We do not have access to the water in the well..and do not have the money to get it working right now. We have a smallish pond....as a last resort.

I am in! We are in a slow-motion free fall as a society, and how could that NOT be reflected in our economy? There is a pervasive me-me-me and rampant greed on all sides. There is a huge diminution of the middle class which is the "engine" of our consume-consume-consume society There is going to be social unrest from the rapidly widening gap between the top and bottom and without a middle to buffer the two, I don't want to picture what is coming.


That said, I am a flaming liberal and can't watch anything on Fox news for longer than it takes to change the channel. I just can't get behind anything that is so against what I am that they feel I shouldn't exist, much less have any rights.

k0xxx said:

Shares of American Airlines fell by 33 percent on Monday on rumors that the airline is about to enter bankruptcy. Amazingly, trading in the stock was stopped 7 different times on Monday. It is being reported that approximately 240 pilots for American Airlines have retired in the last two months alone. All of those pilots are retiring so that they can shield their pensions from the upcoming bankruptcy filing. Nearly the entire airline industry got hit really hard on Monday. Shares of United Continental, U.S. Airways and Delta were all down more than 10 percent.

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This is strategic more than a financial need. After 9/11 a lot of the big airlines declared bankruptcy and got out from under employee pensions and other costs of doing business by "reorganizing." American didn't; it got all its employee groups to make major concessions (like 40% pay cuts -- ouch) to try to get the airline to stay afloat. But since many of its competitors were operating under lower costs thanks to their bankruptcies, American is finding it harder to compete with others operating under falsely-decreased costs. So it will file for reorganization like the others and get the same benefits the others have already gotten (courtesy of the taxpayers) so it can stay competitive.

framing fowl, I also think water will become a very critical issue.

I disagree that America will be the next to fall. The whole world financial systems are falling. There is nobody left, who are really prepared to take the baton, that can do/will do what it takes to "replace" America's position in the world. We're not really going anywhere position wise. We're not really losing ground. Everybody is slipping at the same time. Not that we couldn't completely go down, but I just don't see it happening yet. Things are getting rough, but it is getting rough collectively as a planet, not just any single nation. Financial collapse will depend on positioning of those in charge. We need a clearly defined leadership with a plan of action. Will they be stubborn enough to leave everything as is and watch the ship sink, or will they get off their thumbs and grab a bucket to start bailing water? That's left to be seen. The current political picture appears to be gaping stares of disbelief that there is a hole in the boat. People are in a state of shock and confusion, and need to snap out of it and grab that bucket before it's too late. I'm waiting for 2012 to see for sure if we're going down. Right now, I don't see it. I see only signs that it CAN happen, but none that it is completely imminent as of yet.

On another note, it is going to be our(SS'ers) responsibility to model/rebuild the new way of life if/when, because nobody else seems to have a clue We'll be the last ones standing on our own two feet so to speak, and we'll need to help everyone else get back up if we expect to have a nation worth living in ever again.

Just my opinion. Doom and gloom? Nah...just reality roll with the punches.