The Deteriorating State of Mexico

Our neighbor to the south seems to slowly slipping into complete chaos. Mexico's security and law enforcement continue to deteriorate - particularly along the U.S. border where drug and gang related violence have caused massive spikes in the murder rate. Corruption also plagues the government...recently it seems prison officials used prisoners as executioners. The U.S. needs to start thinking long and hard about what a lawless Mexico means for our national security.

Ahmadinejad Says Iran Is Now a Nuclear State - FOXNews.com

Ahmadinejad Says Iran Is Now a 'Nuclear State' - Iran | Map | News - FOXNews.com


Iran continues it's antagonism of the developed world by continuing its efforts to enrich uranium further. If and when they manager to enrich it enough to hit 90% they will have the ability to create nuclear warheads which could definitely pose a risk to international security.

The Euro-Zone Challenge

Greece is facing a serious financial crisis – with a current national budget deficit of ~13% of GDP – Greece is running about 10% over the GDP deficit limit set by the Euro-Zone of 3%. Greece’s debt is growing so fast and spending exceeds revenue by so much that several ratings agencies have downgraded their sovereign debt to near junk levels.
Greece’s malaise is going to test the staying power of the EU’s rules and resolve. Technically Greece’s debt rating is below the minimum (A-) that the European Central Bank (ECB) is supposed to accept as collateral for loans. This will cut Greek banks off from an important source of funds. The ECB must decide whether to bend the rules and bail Greece out or accept the risks to the Euro of Greece’s ailing fiscal picture. The major catch here is that one of the initial concerns over the long-term success of the Euro-Zone was the large differences across the national economies and the ability of the ECB to set appropriate and sustainable monetary policy over such a diverse group. This will be the first major test of the ECB and the stakes couldn’t be higher because other nations are struggling under the current policies and if the ECB steps in to help Greece others will want their bailout too. In particular, Italy and Spain may be the most upset. For now all we can do is sit and wait, but I for one was skeptical of the Euro-Zone from the start.

Iran's Nuclear Aspirations

The cat is out of the bag and I must say I am unsurprised. Iran has a secret uranium enrichment facility - of course it's only for peaceful purposes. Which if that were true then one might ask: why was it secret?

Iran will likely be a nuclear power in short order if something is not done to stop them and the US, Britain, and France are not too happy about it - not to mention Israel. Israel has repeatedly warned that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons over the years and guess what they were right. I for one don't find this surprising at all I mean if I were Israel and was located close to a country ruled by a dictator who had publicly called for my annihilation I would make it business to know if that nation had or was trying to build nuclear weapons.

No surprise either that Israel is not ruling out the possibility of preemptive strikes against Iran perhaps all the more so since our President announced he doesn't support Israel fully. This is one international issue that could quickly become a military situation and I question the qualifications of our President on this one.

Shifting Demographics

This is an interesting video commentary on population shift. I cannot say I am convinced the numbers are all correct - to get the figures a lot of assumptions must have been made. Interesting nonetheless...

Obama's Foreign Policy

The recent extended foreign policy trip by President Obama has so many implications, most of them negative, for America in the near future. This clip of an interview of Newt Gingrich by Sean Hannity does a pretty good job of summing up the issues.

It is incredible that an American President would so clearly imply that America is at fault for most of the current global economic crisis. Obama apologized his way across Europe and got nothing in return. Perhaps the most ridiculous part is Obama's bow to the King of Saudi Arabia. Now I for one don't really see it as a problem if an American President wants to bow to the leader of another nation out of respect. Particularly in Saudi Arabia where this is the custom. The thing that really pushes my buttons is the fact that Obama's administration seems to feel they must lie about this and blame the height differential. Seriously, I don't buy that - but check it out for yourself.