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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Too Big To Jail



What’s worse than unjust and ineffective laws like the failed War on Drugs and the failed sanctions on Iran?

Unjust and ineffective laws that apply to ordinary folks, but not to banksters:

When the Justice Department announced its record $1.9 billion settlement against British bank HSBC last week, prosecutors called it a powerful blow to a dysfunctional institution accused of laundering money for Iran, Libya and Mexico’s murderous drug cartels.

But to some former federal prosecutors, it was only the latest case of the government stopping short of bringing criminal money laundering charges against a big bank or its executives, at least in part on the rationale that such prosecutions could be devastating enough to cause such banks to fail.

They say it sounds a lot like the “too big to fail” meme that kept big but sickly banks alive on the support of taxpayer-funded bailouts. In these cases, they call it, “Too big to jail.”

This stings. It should sting anyone who cares about the idea of equality in front of the law, anyone who cares about the basic rule of law, anyone who doesn’t want to see their society devolve into a festering pool of feudalism.

According to the most recent data, there were 197,050 sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction of which 94,600 were serving time for drug offenses.There were 1,362,028 sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction of which 237,000 were serving time for drug offenses. That’s over 300,000 individuals serving time currently for drugs offenses, in addition to over one million currently on probation. Now I don’t agree with the War on Drugs at all. But big banks are deemed too “systemically important” to be held to the same standard as the huge and disproportionately black population of low-level drug users.



If the Drug War laws don’t apply to the big banks — if Wall Street bankers who have broken the law can’t go to prison too — then how is incarcerating low-level drug users really much different to chattel slavery?

And not only do private prison companies pocket massive profits from the taxpayers’ purse for running the prisons, but prisoners are a pool of ultra-cheap indentured labour.

As Todd Curl notes:

Prisons in the United States used to be institutions of actual reform and rehabilitation. Men who entered a prison, would often learn a trade and have a usable skill to earn a legitimate living upon release. The recidivism rates have sharply increased as job and education programs within prisons–especially private prisons–have steadily declined. This is not to say that skills are not acquired in these private prisons, quite the contrary. In many of these private prisons, inmates are contracted as telemarketers, among other things, for many large corporations. These prisoners can earn as much as 75 cents an hour for their job–sometimes under 40 cents. What’s the payoff one might ask? For one, corporations get very cheap—third world cheap—labor that cannot unionize, cannot call in sick and cannot complain without fear of time added to their sentence or retaliation from guards who overworked and underpaid themselves, and risk losing their livelihood if an “uppity” prisoner refuses their indentured corporate servitude.

The War on Drugs is descending from tragedy into farce. Poor black drug users are fair game for the slave labour business. Rich Wall Street bankers who launder drug money? Nope.

In May I asked:

Have the 2008 bailouts cemented a new feudal aristocracy of bankers, financiers and too-big-to-fail zombies, alongside a serf class that exists to fund the excesses of the financial and corporate elite?

Only time will tell.

Time is telling.

Once a certain segment of society becomes protected from criminal liability, that society has travelled a long way down the road to feudalism, to a caste system, to serfdom.


Zero Hedge


A US Congressman warns the world of a second Holocaust, the slaughter of Jewish people


Congressman Allen West, a Republican from the state of Florida, has warned that the state of Israel could become the site of a second Jewish Holocaust if the United States does not take further actions to protect the Jewish state against Iran. West, who is a veteran of the Iraq War, also warned that the current political turmoil in the Middle East could lead to a number of Arab and or Islamic states engaging Israel in a full blown Middle Eastern war.

Congressman West said that creation of a Hamas led Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders is the most egregious foreign policy decision that's ever been made and could lead to the beginning of the end for the Jewish state of Israel.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News
A warning from a United States Congressman that Israel could face the beginning of the end for the Jewish state and a second Holocaust is a page out of Bible prophecy for the last days.

United States Congressman Allen West, from the state of Florida, has issued a warning to the world that Israel could be in danger of a second Holocaust. This warning from West is based on the foreign policy decision of the present United States Administration and what seems to be a lack of support for Israel in its position in the Middle East. Iran has made numerous threats to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Israel retreating to the pre-1967 borders would only enhance the Palestinian terror organization Hamas in their plan to use armed resistance to eliminate a Jewish state from the Middle East.

I mentioned that this report is like a page out of Bible prophecy for the end of times which is evident to a student of Bible prophecy. Ezekiel 38:5 says that Iran will be a member of a coalition of nations who want to rid the world of a Jewish state. Ezekiel 35. Malachi 1, and the little prophetic book of Obadiah also foretold of the Palestinian people i.e. Hamas in the last days moving to eliminate Israel from the Middle East.

As it relates to the second Holocaust, the Bible does describe a time in the future when the Jewish people will face a second Holocaust. This end time scenario is found in Zechariah 13:8 where the ancient Jewish prophet pre-wrote history and revealed that 2 out of every 3 Jews will be killed during the Time of Jacob's Trouble in the future.

Congressman West has indeed warned of a future for the Jewish people that will happen. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Prophecy Today

Russia's Putin seeks big arms deals in India



MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to conclude deals on the sale of fighter jets and aircraft engines to India next week which could be worth more than $7.5 billion, defense industry sources said on Wednesday.

Putin, who visits India on Monday, has his sights set on selling 42 Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighters and on the long-term supply of 970 warplane engines, one of the sources said.

The source did not put a value on the deals because, he said, the size of the orders had not yet been agreed.

"There is no total figure for the volume of engine contracts. It depends on what they (India) order," he said.

But another industry insider said the contracts could bring in at least $7.5 billion for Russia, one of the world's largest arms exporters.

"The deals are expected to be announced during Putin's trip to India," said Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Russian defense think-tank CAST. "The price for everything together will be between $7.5 billion and $8 billion."

The Russian Defence Ministry and the Kremlin declined comment.

If concluded, the deals would boost a Russian industry whose export market has shrunk since last year's Arab uprisings.

India, cautiously watching regional rival China's growing military might, has been the top importer ofRussian weapons.

The Russian arms industry, nurtured under Putin's first presidency from 2000 to 2008, has sold weapons to post-Soviet states and Cold War allies for decades on the strength of Soviet-era technology.

But the industry has largely stagnated due to a lack of funding since the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaving weapons manufacturers dependent on outdated designs.


Yahoo News

Mayan apocalypse and Star Wars collide in Guatemalan temple



At the center of the rebel base where Luke Skywalker took off to destroy the Death Star and save his people from the clutches of Darth Vader, Guatemala is preparing for another momentous event: the end of an age for the Maya.

Deep inside the Guatemalan rainforest stand the ruins of the Maya temples that George Lucas used to film the planet Yavin 4 in the movie "Star Wars," from where Skywalker and his sidekick Han Solo launched their attack on the Galactic Empire's giant space station.

This week, at sunrise on Friday, December 21, an era closes in the Maya Long Count calendar, an event that has been likened by different groups to the end of days, the start of a new, more spiritual age or a good reason to hang out at old Maya temples across Mexico and Central America.

"If it is the end of the world, hopefully Luke will come and blow up that Death Star," said Alex Markovitz, a 24-year-old consultant and Star Wars fan from Philadelphia, looking out over the site of Skywalker's rebel base. "I see why they shot here. It doesn't look real. It looks like an alien planet."

Once at the heart of a conquering civilization in its own right, the ancient city of Tikal is now a pilgrimage site for both hard-core Star Wars fans and enthusiasts of Maya culture eager to discover what exactly the modern interpretations of old lore portend.

In the 1960s, a leading U.S. scholar said the end of the Maya's 13th bak'tun - an epoch lasting some 400 years - could signify an "Armageddon," though many people trekking to the old temples believe it could herald something wonderful.

Discovered in 1848 when locals unearthed human skulls whose teeth were studded with jade jewels, Tikal draws tourists from around the globe. Visitors this week said they felt a powerful presence in the blue skies above them.

"The force is strong here," said Jimena Teijeiro, 35, an Argentine-born self-help blogger. "The world as we know it is coming to an end. We are being propelled to a new age of light, synchronicity and simple wonderment with life."

Maya scholars and astronomers have dismissed the idea the world is on the brink of destruction but mystics and spiritual thrill-seekers have flocked to feed off Tikal's energy. Park guards said they had to throw out 13 naked women who were dancing and chanting around a fire pit near the temples last week.

"Something big is going to happen," said the president of Guatemala's Star Wars fan club, entrepreneur Ricardo Alejos. "The Maya were an incredibly precise people. Something big is going to happen and we'll find out what in a few days."

Surrounded by thick jungle home to jaguars, monkeys and toucans, the view of Yavin 4 from the top of Tikal's Temple Four, known as the temple of the double-headed serpent, has changed little since Lucas filmed here in 1977.

CIVIL WAR

Lucas chose Tikal when he saw a poster of the site at a travel agency in England during the production of the original "Episode IV: A New Hope" film, and sent a crew to Guatemala in March 1977 to shoot during its 36-year civil war.

His team hoisted bulky camera gear and heavy lights to the top of the 210-foot-high (65-metre-high) Temple Four with a pulley system and paid a guard with six-packs of beer to protect the equipment with a shotgun for four nights, locals said.

A year after the shoot, the wooden huts where Lucas' film crew camped were burned to the ground by leftist rebels fighting against a right-wing military government.

Extending for 222 square miles (575 square km) through Guatemala's sweltering north, Tikal is one of the largest pre-Colombian Maya sites and known by some as the New York City of Maya ruins because of its high temples that climb toward the heavens.

The peaks of the limestone structures pierce the dense, green canopy of the jungle and howler monkeys wail at sunrise.

Yavin 4 and the rebel base return to the Star Wars plot in the forthcoming Episode VII, announced in October by the Walt Disney Co, in which Skywalker comes back to the planet to build a Jedi Knight academy. However, fans said that Disney will likely film those scenes in a studio rather than return to Tikal.

The shrines, believed to have been used mainly for worship, also appeared in the 1979 James Bond movie "Moonraker" in which 007 was lured through the jungle to the lair of his enemy Hugo Drax.

Local guides are expecting a rush of visitors this week and the Guatemalan government forecasts a record 235,000 foreign tourists for December. Hotels in Tikal are fully booked.

"There are passionate groups that come," said tour guide Gamaliel Jimenez. "One group told me 'If you don't take us to where they filmed Star Wars, we aren't going to hire you.'"

Reuters

Dead Sea Scrolls online library launched



Israel's Antiquities Authority (IAA), in a joint venture with Google, has launched the Leon Levy Online Library, a free online digitized virtual library featuring the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The launch comes some 11 years after the completion of the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, initiated by the IAA, and 65 years after the first scrolls were unearthed in the Caves of Qumran.

The library contains over 5,000 scans of sections of the scrolls, exhibited in optimal resolution. For the first time, anyone can have full access to these scrolls which were, until now, almost inaccessible. The documentation process took two years, and included the usage of advanced software initially developed for NASA's use.

The library includes some 1,000 new scans of the scrolls, 3,500 scans of the negatives taken of the scrolls in the 50s, and a data bank of 900 manuscripts. The documents are displayed on a 1:1 scale, identical to the original in quality.

One can find in the library the oldest existing copies of the Hebrew Bible. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew Bible (except the Book of Esther) were found in the Qumran caves, the most famous of the Dead Sea Scrolls sites.

In addition, the library features passages of Tefillin from the Second Temple, letters and documents and hundreds of additional 2000-year-old texts.



Fragment of Psalms (Photo: Shai Halevi, courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)

Zev Erlich, a historian, told Tazpit News Agency that several versions of the Bible were discovered in the caves. Some of the versions are identical to the modern accepted version, others are closer to the Septuagint, and others are close to the version of the Torah retained by the Samaritans. There were probably several versions of the Bible in circulation at the time.

As for the source of this vast collection of manuscripts, this question is still open to speculation and research. They were probably brought there from several locations.

Why? Again, the questions remains unanswered, possibly hidden for safekeeping by refugees fleeing the Roman army during the Bar Kochba Revolt. These findings provide answers and clarify some points, but also raise many other questions about life and belief during the times these documents were written.




Strenuous lab work (Photo: Shai Halevi, courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)

The IAA is currently marking the 65th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd in search of a runaway sheep. He entered a cave and discovered earth-ware containing documents thousands of years old, which were preserved thanks to the hot and dry climate in the Dead Sea area.

Since this initial discovery, archeologists have uncovered hundreds of other ancient documents in other caves in the area. The scrolls expose a unique variety of beliefs and concepts retained by Jewish sects during the turbulent period of the Second Temple, sharpening academia's understanding in biblical studies, the history of Judaism and the origins of Christianity.

The finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls is considered one of the most important archeological findings in the 20th century.


Ynet

Russian Military to Get 30 More Su-30SM Fighter Jets



MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Defense Ministry and the Irkut aircraft maker have signed a contract on the delivery of an additional 30 Su-30SM multirole fighter jets to the Russian Air Force by 2016.

The first contract between the Defense Ministry and Irkut for the delivery of 30 Su-30SMs was signed in March. The Russian Air Force received the first two Su-30SM aircraft on November 22.

“In line with the new contract, Irkut will build 30 additional aircraft of this type for the Defense Ministry by 2016,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Su-30SM is the latest development of the twin-seat Su-30 jet fighter family, itself a derivative of the long-serving single-seat SukhoiSu-27, one of the air force's most important warplanes.

The new aircraft has an improved radar, communications and identification-friend-or-foe system, new ejection seat and new weapons. It also has thrust-vectoring engine nozzles and canard foreplanes, providing supermaneuverability at low airspeeds.



RIA Novosti

Senators urge Obama to reiterate willingness to use force against Iran



NEW YORK — A bipartisan group of 57 senators have signed a letter this week calling on President Barack Obama to take a more aggressive stance against the Iranian regime in order to stop its nuclear program.

Noting that “Democrats and Republicans in Congress have set aside their differences and worked together on a bipartisan basis with your Administration to put in place the most stringent sanctions ever against Iran,” the letter urges Obama “to reiterate your readiness to take military action against Iran if it continues its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Initiated by senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the letter openly calls for the Obama administration to undermine the current authoritarian regime in the country and to support more liberal democratic elements.

“We urge you to expand America’s outreach and support to the Iranian people and support of the cause of human rights and democracy in Iran,” the senators wrote, adding, “the current government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will eventually end up in the ash heap of history, not because of the efforts of the United States, but because of the desire of the Iranian people to enjoy the basic freedoms that are their universal right, and that many of their neighbors increasingly are demanding.”

The letter comes against the backdrop of the renewal next month of international diplomatic discussions with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program, and the growing conviction among many observers that 2013 will be a decisive year for Western efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

It also comes amidst speculation in Washington that Obama is looking to appoint former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense, succeeding the retiring Leon Panetta. Hagel, a respected Republican known for working well with Democrats, is in the minority opinion among American political leaders on the Iranian issue, having argued in the past against a military strike opposing the Iranian nuclear program and speculating that the United States might be able to live with a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Iranian government “has continued to press forward with its nuclear program,” the senators charged. “It has quintupled its stockpile of low enriched uranium since 2009,” “taken a significant step closer to possessing weapons-grade uranium by enriching up to 20 percent,” and “raced towards completion of its hardened Fordow enrichment facility, more than doubling the number of centrifuges installed there just since the summer of this year.”

The senators urged Obama “to work with our European and Middle Eastern allies to demonstrate to the Iranians that a credible and capable multilateral coalition exists that would support a military strike if, in the end, this is unfortunately necessary.”

According to the senators, “there is no national security challenge that is more urgent and essential to resolve during your second term.”

The Times of Israel

China arrests 500 people in fringe Christian group



BEIJING — Chinese police have detained more than 500 people from a fringe Christian group for spreading rumours about the world’s impending end, state media reported Tuesday.

In western China’s Qinghai province alone, police arrested more than 400 members from the religious cult group, state-run China Central Television said Tuesday.

Police seized leaflets, video discs, books and other apocalyptic materials in the recent arrests of more than 500 people across eight provinces and regions, from the prosperous east coast to less developed western China, state media reports said.

The detentions come ahead of Friday, Dec. 21 — a date some say the Mayans prophesized would be the end of the world and which was the subject of the apocalyptic movie “2012.”

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, which is also called Eastern Lightning, after a phrase from the Bible’s Book of Matthew. Widely regarded as a heretical Christian sect, the group preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. It has been accused of targeting Christians, kidnapping and beating them to force conversions.

Chinese society has been in tumult as decades of rapid free-market economic growth discredit communist ideology, loosen social controls and pull hundreds of millions from the countryside to the cities. Into the spiritual void have rushed traditional Buddhist groups and Daoist practices, as well as evangelical Christian churches and other spiritual groups, some with unorthodox and apocalyptic visions.

Eastern Lightning first appeared around 20 years ago, and the official Xinhua News Agency said that its members had “recently latched on to the Mayan doomsday prophesy to predict that the sun will not shine and electricity will not work for three days beginning on Dec. 21.”

A public notice on the website of Qinghai provincial government said local police are waging a “severe crackdown” on the group described as a cult with “strong political penchants.” The government urged the public to inform the police of any illegal propaganda, gathering and preaching by the group.

The CCTV report called the group a cult and accused it of attacking the party and the government, though it did not give any specifics.

The state-run Huashang website last week, citing local authorities, reported that the group is urging followers to “exterminate the great red dragon” — a reference to the Communist Party — “and found a country under the rule of Almighty God.”

National Post

Obama 'backs assault weapons ban



US President Barack Obama wants to reinstate an assault weapons ban in the wake of the mass killings in Newtown, Connecticut, his spokesman says.

Jay Carney said the president was "actively supportive" of a Democratic senator's plan to introduce a bill on the first day of the next Congress.

There could also be moves on ammunition and gun-sale loopholes, Mr Carney said.

In its first statement since Friday, the National Rifle Association said it was "heartbroken" by the attack.

The gun lobby group said it was "made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters - and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.

"The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again," the statement said, announcing a "major news conference" to be held on Friday.

Gun sales, including those of assault rifles, have risen since Friday, a sign that enthusiasts fear that new legislation is coming, the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington reports.

At the same time, share prices of several gun manufacturers have fallen and a private equity firm has sold its stake in the company that makes the assault rifle used at Newtown, after pressure from one of its biggest investors, a California teachers retirement fund.

Gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults in last Friday's attack.

Students in the rest of the Newtown district returned to school on Tuesday, but Sandy Hook Elementary, where the shooting took place, is still designated a crime scene.Closing loopholes

The US president has previously stated his support for the reintroduction of an assault weapons ban, which lapsed in 2004.

But he has not backed a specific move to do so before now.

"He is actively supportive of, for example, Senator [Dianne] Feinstein's stated intent to revive a piece of legislation that would reinstate the assault weapons ban," Mr Carney said on Tuesday.

The White House press secretary added that Mr Obama was also supportive of other gun legislation, including on high-capacity ammunition clips and against a loophole that allows for gun purchases at gun shows without a background check.

BBC

Berlusconi says Italy may be forced to leave the euro zone


ROME (Reuters) - Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday Italy would be forced to leave the euro zone unless the European Central Bank gets more powers to ensure lower borrowing costs.

Berlusconi, who announced this month he will again lead his People of Freedom party (PDL) in a national election expected in February, said on a talk-show on state broadcaster RAI that the ECB should become a lender of last resort for the currency bloc.

"If Germany doesn't accept that the ECB must be a real central bank, if interest rates don't come down, we will be forced to leave the euro and return to our own currency in order to be competitive," Berlusconi said in comments reported by Italian news agencies Ansa and Agi.

The 76-year-old media tycoon has made similar remarks in the past about the possibility of Italy, or even Germany, leaving the euro, but has often at least partially rectified them later.

Berlusconi is already campaigning hard for the election with a spate of television interviews in an attempt to close the wide gap with the center-left Democratic Party which is polling at above 30 percent, some 14 points above the PDL.

Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in November last year as Italian bond yields surged at the height of the euro zone debt crisis.

Yahoo News

There Is Something Seriously Wrong With Young Men In America


22 Stats That Prove That There Is Something Seriously Wrong With Young Men In America
When are we finally going to admit that we have a very serious problem with this generation of young men in America?  We have failed them so dramatically that it is hard to put it into words.  We have raised an entire generation of young males that don't know how to be men, and many of them feel completely lost.  Sometimes they feel so lost that they "snap" in very destructive ways.  Adam Lanza and James Holmes are two names that come to mind.  Why is it that mass murderers are almost always young men?  Why don't young women behave the same way?  Sadly, Adam Lanza and James Holmes are just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem in our society.  Our young women vastly outperform our young men in almost every important statistical category.  Young men are much more likely to perform poorly in school, they are much more likely to have disciplinary problems and they are much more likely to commit suicide.  In the old days, our young men would gather in the streets or in the parks to play with one another after school, but today most of them are content to spend countless hours feeding their addictions to video games, movies and other forms of entertainment.  When our young men grow up, many of them are extremely averse to taking on responsibility.  They want to have lots of sex, but they aren't interested in marriage.  They enjoy the comforts of living at home, but they don't want to go out and pursue career goals so that they can provide those things for themselves.  Our young men are supposed to be "the leaders of tomorrow", but instead many of them are a major burden on society.  When are we finally going to admit that something has gone horribly wrong?
There is even a name for this generation of young men that does not want to grow up.  It is called the "Peter Pan generation".  They want to enjoy the benefits of being grown up without ever taking on the responsibilities.  A member of this "Peter Pan generation" recent wrote an article for the Daily Mail in which he discussed what he and his friends are going through...
I haven’t yet had to grow up so, well, I haven’t.
Reckless, irresponsible and immature? Yes. But at least I can take comfort in the fact I am not alone.
Last week, I read that there is even a name for people such as me. We are the ‘Peter Pan generation’; a sizeable group of 25 to 40-year-olds who exist in a state of extended adolescence, avoiding the trappings of responsibility — marriage, mortgage, children — for as long as possible.
‘Our society is full of lost boys and girls hanging out at the edge of adulthood,’ says Professor Frank Furedi, a sociologist who has been studying this phenomenon, at the University of Kent.
‘Another word sometimes used to describe these people is “adultescent” — generally defined as someone who refuses to settle down and make commitments, and who would rather go on partying into middle age.’


Young men in America didn't always behave this way.  Several decades ago, men in America moved away from home, got married and had children much earlier than they do now.  But the young men of today seem to want to put off the "markers of adulthood" for as long as possible.  The following is from an outstanding article by Sandy Hingston...
Sociologists cite five “markers” or “milestones” that have traditionally defined our notion of adulthood: finishing school, moving away from the parental home, becoming financially independent, getting married, and having a child. In 1960, 65 percent of men had ticked off all five by age 30; by 2000, only a third had. The experts have plenty of explanations for what’s come to be called “extended adolescence” or “emerging adulthood”—or what New York Times columnist David Brooks calls the “Odyssey Years.” They blame helicopter parents, the burden of student loan debt, much higher poverty rates among young people (nearly half of all Americans ages 25 to 34 live below the national level), and a dearth of vo-tech training and manufacturing jobs. Almost 60 percent of parents are now giving money to their grown kids—an average of $38,340 per child in the years between ages 18 and 34. Whatever happened to the son looking after his mom?

So why is all of this happening?
Well, there are a whole host of reasons.  But certainly parents and our education system have to bear much of the blame.  In the old days, young men were taught what it means to "be a man", and morality was taught to young men both by their parents and in the schools.  But today, most young men have very little understanding of what "manhood" is, and our society has taught them that morality doesn't really matter.  Instead, television and movies constantly portray young men as sex-obsessed slackers that just want to party all the time, so that is what many of our young men have become.
How much better off would our society be if we had trained this generation of young men to love, honor, protect and take care of others?
How much better off would our society be if we had nurtured the manhood of our young men instead of teaching them to be ashamed of it?
How much better off would our society be if we had disciplined our young men and taught them morality when they were getting off track instead of just letting them do whatever they wanted?
The following are 22 stats that prove that there is something seriously wrong with young men in America today...
#1 Males account for approximately 70 percent of all Ds and Fs in U.S. public schools.
#2 About two-thirds of all students in "special education programs" are boys.
#3 The average American girl spends 5 hours a week playing video games.  The average American boy spends 13 hours a week playing video games.
#4 The average young American will spend 10,000 hours playing video games before the age of 21.
#5 One study discovered that 88 percent of all Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 play video games, and that video game addiction is approximately four times as common among boys as it is among girls.
#6 At this point, 15-year-olds that attend U.S. public schools do not even rank in the top half of all industrialized nations when it comes to math or science literacy.
#7 In 2011, SAT scores for young men were the worst that they had been in 40 years.
#8 According to a survey conducted by the National Geographic Society, only 37 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 can find the nation of Iraq on a map.
#9 According to the New York Times, approximately 57 percent of all young people enrolled at U.S. colleges are women.
#10 It is being projected that women will earn 60 percent of all Bachelor's degrees from U.S. universities by the year 2016.
#11 Even if they do graduate from college, most of our young men still can't find a decent job.  An astounding 53 percent of all Americans with a bachelor's degree under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed during 2011.
#12 Pornography addiction is a major problem among our young men.  An astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites, and one survey found that 25 percent of all employees that have Internet access in the United States even visit sex websites while they are at work.
#13 In the United States today, 47 percent of all high school students have had sex.
#14 The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate on the entire planet.  If our young men behaved differently this would not be happening.
#15 In the United States today, one out of every four teen girls has at least one sexually transmitted disease.  If our young men were not sex-obsessed idiots running around constantly looking to "score" these diseases would not be spreading like this.
#16 Right now, approximately 53 percent of all Americans in the 18 to 24 year old age bracket are living at home with their parents.
#17 According to one survey, 29 percent of all Americans in the 25 to 34 year old age bracket arestill living with their parents.
#18 Young men are nearly twice as likely to live with their parents as young women the same age are.
#19 Overall, approximately 25 million American adults are living with their parents in the United States right now according to Time Magazine.
#20 Today, an all-time low 44.2% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are married.
#21 Back in 1950, 78 percent of all households in the United States contained a married couple.  Today, that number has declined to 48 percent.
#22 Young men are about four times more likely to commit suicide as young women are.
So what do you think about this generation of young men in America?  Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below...

Economic collapse