Excited Delirium

Stories about Excited Delirium, the Shock Economy and a little fiction here and there.

Iran Drops Dollar – US Prepares to Attack Iran

The fate of the world economy lies in the hands of the US dollar … and the people who print it.

Iran Dumps Dollar in Favour of Yen, Euro: Full Story Here.

Another story, with a quote:

At a summit last year in Saudi Arabia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the depreciating dollar a “worthless piece of paper.”

Eliminating demand for the US dollar will most likely send the dollar further downwards in value compared to other global currencies. This is obvious. What still seems to very obscure to most journalists and business analysts around the world is the continued impact that this will have on global commodity prices. Since most prices are quoted in US funds, expect more drastic increases and inflammatory stories about starvation, shortages and food riots.

In short, we will have international inflation, or ‘interflation’, as a result of poor economic & foreign policies in the US.

Of course, news of Iran’s changing economic strategy does not sit well with the folks in the White House and hawks like McCain and here in Canada with war mongers like Harper.

Is US Preparing for Attack on Iran?

No attacks are imminent and the last thing the Pentagon wants is another war, but Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen has warned Iran not to assume the U.S. military can’t strike.

“I have reserve capability, in particular our Navy and our Air Force so it would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability,” Mullen said.

Targets would include everything from the plants where weapons are made to the headquarters of the organization known as the Quds Force which directs operations in Iraq. Later this week Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to confront the Iranians with evidence of their meddling and demand a halt.

If that doesn’t produce results, the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell the Iranians to knock it off – or else.

Sounds like it.

UN Official Calls for Study of Neocons’ Role in 9/11

This is rather shocking when you really think about it. Here’s an internationally recognized figure calling for a proper investigation into 9/11. And suggesting that the Neocons may have had something to do with it.

Full Story Here.

Quote from Richard Falk, the new UN Human Rights Council appointed to monitor Israeli actions against Palestinians:

It is possibly true that especially the neoconservatives thought there was a situation in the country and in the world where something had to happen to wake up the American people. Whether they are innocent about the contention that they made that something happen or not, I don’t think we can answer definitively at this point. All we can say is there is a lot of grounds for suspicion, there should be an official investigation of the sort the 9/11 commission did not engage in and that the failure to do these things is cheating the American people and in some sense the people of the world of a greater confidence in what really happened than they presently possess.

Excited Delirium Book: Chapter 11 (Introducing The MOMYS)

Author’s Note: The following is Chapter 11 of the my online book “Excited Delirium”. Please post comments. Please tell your friends about this story. If you’ve missed a chapter, please click here for Chapter 1 (Prelude) or here for the full index.

Winter anywhere can be a daunting threat, particularly those who love to do nothing better than sit in the sun and soak up the rays.

Winter in January in the northern hemisphere challenges even the sturdiest of characters. Those who survive it have bragging rights to a much thicker skin than their cousins to the south. Continue reading

Excited Delirium Book: Chapter 10 (Made In China)

Author’s Note: The following is Chapter 10 of the my online book “Excited Delirium”. Please post comments. Please tell your friends about this story. If you’ve missed a chapter, please click here for Chapter 1 (Prelude) or here for the full index.

China has fascinated the West for centuries. To this day, we understand very little about China, its culture and its inhabitants. The news we see is simplified. It’s filtered and refined so that we just see a few headlines, but little more. Most stories emphasize how bureaucracies let environmental or production standards slide, how the standard of living is so low or how cruel the Communists can be.

China represents 20% of the world’s population, has an economy that’s doubling every three years, and holds enough cash to buy most of the companies listed in the Fortune 500, possibly even all at once. Ironically, the aforementioned list is topped by Wal-Mart, which many now call the Bank of China.

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Excited Delirium Book: Chapter 9 (The Garamond Guy)

Author’s Note: The following is Chapter 9 of the my online book "Excited Delirium". Please post comments. Please tell your friends about this story. If you’ve missed a chapter, please click here for Chapter 1 (Prelude) or here for the full index .

One of Grant Garamond’s first ventures outside of the religious arena was with automobiles. They didn’t get into the raw metal bashing and manufacturing end of things. They were not a household name like Ford or Firestone.

They were a major supplier of privatized labour. In fact, labour would be a fixation of the Garamond family for decades to come.

Doing business in the early days of auto manufacturing was simple: pay people just enough to survive, but don’t pay them more than they need or something radical like offer benefits or a decent pension.

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