Grand Strategy: America’s Dangerous Drift

The U.S. faces tremendous challenges at home and abroad. Without a grand strategy, America’s perilous drift is likely to continue, and worsen.

By William C. Martel: In light of today's enormous domestic and international challenges, the United States today needs, more than ever, an effective grand strategy. Without one, the nation is in a dangerous state of drift.

In the aftermath of the recent U.S. presidential elections and in the midst of grueling battles over spending and deficit crises, American politics is highly polarized with the electorate and their policymakers deeply divided on domestic issues.
Turning to foreign policy, the picture is equally troubling. The United States struggles without a coherent grand strategy, while the American people, its friends and allies, and competitors wonder what principles guide Washington's foreign policy. What, they must ask, does the United States want to achieve in its foreign policy, and what leadership role does it seek to play in this rapidly evolving world order.
Worse, many fail to grasp that grand strategy involves far more than foreign and national security matters. Grand strategy is precisely about the broader, if often ignored, context of building and reinforcing the domestic political and economic foundations of American national power.

'Thank you for Everything' (Ode to my Brain) - Hugo

Jonathanswift: I have an amazing companion who gives me everything I could ever need, no questions asked, and without whom, my life would simply be impossible. If you're reading this, you have one too. Here's a rap poem to express a small amount of my gratitude for everything this friend has ever done for me.

'CIA killed 9/11 author in black ops hit'

UK and Europe Banned Press TV: Philip Marshall was killed in a black operation over confessing to having worked with CIA drug smugglers and the potential exposure of 9/11 secrets. In the background to this, former US National Security Agency Officer Wayne Madsen says the 9/11 investigative author Philip Marshall and his children were killed in a "black ops hit" by the CIA, dismissing the suicide hypothesis. Marshall was afraid of being silenced for his revelations about 9/11, Madsen said, noting that a side door the investigator never used was wide open when his dead body was found. Marshall believed the former US President George Bush had pulled off the 9/11 attack to foment a government coup. In his fourth book, he was supposed to disclose blockbuster information.

Spain Has A Long Way To Go Down

Ilargi: I received another entry from Dave Fairtex, who delves into Spanish houding data this time around. We had a nice discussion about it, since I question some of the assumptions on which he bases his interpretation of the data. In particular, I think Dave assumes 2 things:

1) That, during the - ongoing - bust, Spanish home prices will fall to the level they were at when the boom began (a drop of 55%), and then stop falling right there.

2) That there is a bottom underneath prices, determined by their "utility value", i.e. people will always need to live somewhere.
As for 1), it immediately makes me think of a series of 3 graphs we use in Nicole's presentations, and which those of you who have acquired our DVD set "A World of Change" will readily recognize:

What you see is that in these 3 crises, the end point is (way) below the starting point, due to what can be called the "undershoot". In each case, it makes prices fall by well over 90% of its peak level. Now, Dave says he thinks homes are not tulips

Good Italy, Bad Italy: Girlfriend in a Coma

British Brainwashing Corporation Documentary in which Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist, asks where has Italy gone wrong and examines the good sides about the country as well as the disasters. Source

Your Off Switch: The Waco Massacre - Neil Sanders

Morris: Like Jonestown this was not a mass suicide, but a mass killing! - David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 -- April 19, 1993) was the leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect ... Part 2

Globalists Hate C-Span - James Corbett

corbettreport: Every day we are subjected to programming that tries to convince us that we are alone, powerless, and rightly shunned by society for asking questions about the propaganda we are subjected to. But we are not alone, we are not powerless, and there are more of us than you might think. Today we examine some examples of the public standing up to the globalist stooges in one of the few quasi-mainstream outlets they have to do just that: C-Span. Source

USA: YOU Will Soon Be Forced To Buy Government Debt!

Gregory Mannarino

Italy’s Sans Cullotes: revolution for export!

By Richard Cottrell: Practically unreported in the European and North American media, an extraordinary revolution is under way in Italy. It is nothing short of a peoples’ revolution which, failing to lose speed and traction as most such forces do after the first bright dawn, seems to be gaining ground in all quarters of Italian society.
The Grillini are the hottest topic in every newspaper, on the airwaves and the Net. The one time stand up jester from Genova, Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Grillo, who looks quite like an Old Testament prophet, has seized control of the national conversation. The grudging establishment parties are forced to deal on his terms.
The childish spite that the 150 Grillini MPs and Senators have received from the snooty doorkeepers at the ornate Italian parliament in Rome – telling the sans culottes to enter by the back door – speaks for itself. This petty and crude face of the establishment forces is nonetheless reported with glee by the mainstream media, who are beginning to have real fun with a story that clearly has a long way to go.
The cheery Grillini in their casual clothes, with  their regional accents and general sense of clubby pleasure in finding themselves rather suddenly largely in control of the country, rub shoulders with the finely suited ‘profpo’s  – the professional politicians accustomed to conducting government by nods and winks, plots and innuendo behind closed doors.

Greek teachers, students stage protest against budget cuts in Athens

Constantine Venizelos: Primary and secondary state school teachers and unionists staged a protest in Athens against relentless budgetary restrictions in the country's public education sector. The problems are deep and many, teachers say, adding that continued austerity reforms have led Greek teachers and students to an irreversible humanitarian crisis in their sector, affecting the quality of education by way of dehumanizing study conditions in the country's schools. Hundreds of schools across the country are operating without paying utility bills like water, electricity and heating.

Anger builds in Italy as old guard plots fresh technocrat take-over

Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano is exploring the creation of a second technocrat government to break the political log-jam and calm markets after key parties failed to reach an accord, risking a serious popular backlash.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Italian officials say the Bank of Italy’s governor Ignazio Visco is front-runner to take over as premier despite warnings that this will be seen as an elitist ploy. It is far from clear whether the Democrats (Pd) in charge of the lower house will back the idea.

The plans amount to a near replica of the outgoing team of Mario Monti, though one greatly weakened by the earthquake upset in the elections a week ago. Almost 57pc of the vote went to groups that vowed to tear up the EU-imposed austerity agenda.

Stefano Fassina, the Pd economics chief, said his party is vehemently opposed to “any form of technocrat government, new or old”, insisting that the election result must be respected. Mr Fassina said 90pc of the country had rejected the Monti agenda and warned that it would be a grave error to try to force through the same reviled plans a second time.

Beppe Grillo repeated his vow to “bring down the old system” and dismissed the latest talks as cattle market trading by a depraved political class trying to circumvent the will of the people.

Daniel Gauntlett 35 froze to death all alone last Saturday

The artist taxi driver