[outcast]

Dang, missed one reference. Oh well, yes it is Osaka, can anyone guess the year?

[outcast]

No takers? Ok, this was in 1990. The point I'm demonstrating is that just because times are tougher now and just because there is an uptick in civil unrest doesn't mean that total collapse is imminent. The 1960's and much of the 70's was a lot worse, with constant protests and race riots all the time, not to mention rising crime rates, yet we somehow made it through that.

[seahorse2]

State of Arizona considering selling it's capitol building to balance its budget.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2009/07/29/20090729assets0729.html

I don't think they considered doing that in the 70s.

Now, the point of this thread is to look at Kaplan's predictions made in the 90s about the macro trends, wherein the world would see a growing disparity between rich and poor, growing poor, increased crime etc. It's not about imminent collapse.

[outcast]

I don't think they considered doing that in the 70s.

In the 70's the city of New York nearly went bankrupt, and would have if it didn't get bailed out.

[seahorse2]

Guard troops may be deployed in Alabama to maintain order in financially troubled county.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.

Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker ruled that leaders in Jefferson County — now trying to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing of historic proportions — could go ahead with plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale, who had filed a lawsuit that temporarily blocked spending cuts for his office.

About 1,000 county workers already are on unpaid leave because courts threw out a key county tax, and Hale has warned that reductions to his budget would mean fewer patrols by deputies and decreased courthouse security.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_alabama_county_crisis_1

[sittinguy]

For those of us who know something is going on and what could happen, this is like a slow train wreck

[seahorse2]

For those of us who know something is going on and what could happen, this is like a slow train wreck

This is a "slow" train wreck to us, but probably not in some future history book. The US fiscal incompetence at all levels from individual to gov't (the gov't is just a reflection of the culture) leads to a consumer economy that is completely unsustainable fiscally. California issuing IOUs, New Orleans still not rebuilt, Detroit selling homes for less than cars, talk of razing towns, court houses closing, yet somehow American populace doesn''t take much notice. Maybe we all do, maybe we all do recognize the problem but it is so entrenched that it literally takes major economic surgery to excise the problem. Who knows.

I probably tend to be more pessimistic than others on the economic side of things, bc as a lawyer I'm going to bankruptcy court and bombarded with people's economic woes on a daily basis.

Today, for example, I was trying to help a police officer who was picked up for shiplifting $20 worth of food. I asked him why. His second job (moonlighting security services) was terminated by a company that was cutting costs and his wife's job (based on commissions) has tanked. So, now, he has lost his job as a cop shoplifting $20 worth of food. He had an exemplary record for 10 years. Too bad.

[seahorse2]

City of Chicago to close Monday due to budget problems.

link

[EnergyUnlimited]

“At some point, if the budget continues to be cut, we’re going to have to start making decisions about what crimes we prosecute.”

I would suggest not prosecuting drug crimes, prostitution, and gambling to start with.

So do you really want to bankrupt all these gangsters and make them as poor as you might be, just to keep big pharma going for a while longer, and also force many beautiful females to work for peanuts overnight? Do you want to make miserable everyone, including whores and gangsters?

[careinke]

Do you want to make miserable everyone, including whores and gangsters?

Everyone needs to make some sacrifices for the common good.

[Cloud9]

Turn your car into a salvage yard. Save your life and save the planet.

[seahorse2]

Philadelphia prepares "doomsday budget" of budget cuts.

Devastating Cuts Expected Under Doomsday Budget
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―Mayor Michael Nutter said the clock is counting down to the implementation of a devastating 'doomsday budget' in Philadelphia. During a morning press conference Thursday, Mayor Nutter said he has submitted a revised five-year plan for the city that would lead to the largest number of layoffs in the city's history.

"Other than the five days in which we have lost brave police officers in the line of duty, this is clearly the worst day of my tenure and service to you as mayor of this great city," Mayor Nutter said. Under the "Plan C" budget, nearly 3,000 city workers will lose their jobs, including 1,000 police officers and 200 firefighters.

On Wednesday, Mayor Nutter said Philadelphia's court system will face a "virtual shutdown" if the cash-strapped city does not get state approval for a sales tax increase and changes to how it makes its pension payments.

Philadelphia is facing a $1.4 billion five-year budget deficit. The city has asked the state to approve a temporary sales tax increase in Philadelphia and allow changes to how the city makes its pension payments.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham says her office and others would face devastating cuts, too.

Numerous city agencies will also be severely impacted by the amended budget. Mayor Nutter said recreational programs, libraries and city pools will be closed under Plan C.

The city planning commission, commerce department and Fairmount Park will also be shuttered under the measure.

Officials in every city department have been asked to produce a list of layoff candidates by Friday. Those affected employees will be notified no later than September 18 with layoffs planned for October 2.

Residents will also be directly affected by cuts as city trash pickups will shift to an every other week schedule. Street lighting will also be reduced and 1,000 traffic lights will be switched to red flashers.

In Harrisburg, a state legislative leader says he hopes to have a bill ready for a vote next week. But Mayor Nutter warns the bill will need to pass without any amendments and get on the Governor's desk as soon as possible.

CBS3

[seahorse2]

Fastest dying US cities hold talks.

That was one suggestion from representatives of eight of the 10 cities labeled last year as America's fastest dying. They met at the Dayton Convention Center last weekend to swap ideas about how to halt the long skid that's turned cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y., into shorthand for dystopia.

What emerged was a sense of desperation over the difficulty of rebounding from both real problems -- declining populations, dwindling tax bases -- and perceived woes.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125011106498326993.html

[seahorse2]

State of Rhode Island planning on shutting down for 12 days due to budget issues.

Aug 24, 8:03 PM (ET)

By RAY HENRY

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island will shut down its state government for 12 days and hopes to trim millions of dollars in funding for local governments under a plan Gov. Don Carcieri outlined Monday to balance a budget hammered by surging unemployment and plummeting tax revenue.

The shutdown will force 81 percent of the roughly 13,550-member state work force, excluding its college system, to stay home a dozen days without pay before the start of the new fiscal year in July.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090825/D9A9IKMG1.html

[seahorse2]

Community of 700 living in "Lost Vegas" flood tunnels.

It is estimated the population of the underground community could be as many as 700. As well as credit-hustling, they earn their money off the wildly excessive city above by begging and "dumpster diving" - raiding bins and skips.

There are around 350 miles of flood channels running under Las Vegas. Most inhabitants are in the area under the city's strip. Another couple, Amy and JR, have lived in the tunnels for two years, having moved to Las Vegas in search of work, wealth and a slice of the famous Sin City action.

Putting down the Twilight vampire book she is reading for the third time, Amy, 33, explains: "My husband and I have been down here two years this week. "We were living with my mom in California but the house was full and we had to leave.

"I heard Las Vegas was a good place for jobs. It's the city that never sleeps, with all the bright lights, and I'd always wanted to come. "But it was tough and we started living under the staircase outside the MGM casino. Then we met a guy who lived in the tunnels. We've been down here ever since.

The Sun

[seahorse2]

The "golden state"?

Outside the Forum in Inglewood, near downtown Los Angeles, California has already failed. The scene is reminiscent of the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, as crowds of impoverished citizens stand or lie aimlessly on the hot tarmac of the centre's car park. It is 10am, and most have already been here for hours. They have come for free healthcare: a travelling medical and dental clinic has set up shop in the Forum (which usually hosts rock concerts) and thousands of the poor, the uninsured and the down-on-their-luck have driven for miles to be here.

The queue began forming at 1am. By 4am, the 1,500 spaces were already full and people were being turned away. On the floor of the Forum, root-canal surgeries are taking place. People are ferried in on cushions, hauled out of decrepit cars. Sitting propped up against a lamp post, waiting for her number to be called, is Debbie Tuua, 33. It is her birthday, but she has taken a day off work to bring her elderly parents to the Forum, and they have driven through the night to get here. They wait in a car as the heat of the day begins to rise. "It is awful for them, but what choice do we have?" Tuua says. "I have no other way to get care to them."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/california-failing-state-debt

[seahorse2]

Unclaimed dead piling up in Detroit morgues with no funds to bury them.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/_morgue/index.htm

[eXpat]

Have a glimpse of the future security in rural areas in the US (and everywhere soon)
Ashtabula County: Judge tells residents to "Arm themselves"

JEFFERSON -- In the ongoing financial crisis in Ashtabula County, the Sheriff's Department has been cut from 112 to 49 deputies. With deputies assigned to transport prisoners, serve warrants and other duties, only one patrol car is assigned to patrrol the entire county of 720 square miles.

"I did the best with what they (the county commissioners) gave me. If it wasn't enough, don't blame me, don't blame this department," said Sheriff Billy Johnson.

Johnson said he is suing the commissioners to get a determination of whether he should use his limited budget to carry out obligations defined by law or put more patrol cars on the streets.

"I just can't do it anymore," he said. "I have to have the court explain to the commissioners and to me what my statutory duties are."

The Ashtabula County Jail has confined as many as 140 prisoners. It now houses only 30 because of reductions in the staff of corrections officers.

All told, 700 accused criminals are on a waiting list to serve time in the jail.

Are there dangerous people free among the 700 who cannot be locked up?

"There probably are," Sheriff Johnson said, "but I'm telling you, any known violent criminal, we're housing them. We've got murderers in there."
Ashtabula County is the largest county in Ohio by land area.

Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey was asked what residents should do to protect themselves and their families with the severe cutback in law enforcement.

"Arm themselves," the judge said. "Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we're going to have to look after each other."

Ashtabula County gun dealers and firearms instructors tell WKYC their business has really picked up since the Sheriff's Department cutbacks began some months ago.

"That's exactly why they are coming, so that they can protect themselves," says Tracy Williams, a certified firearms instructor in Jefferson. "They don't feel that they are protected. They want to be able to protect themselves."

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=133951&catid=3
I think that, as society goes into crisis mode, more and more police, security and military force will be seen in the cities (easier to coordinate ,deploy and to manage large concentrations of people ), while the countryside is left to fend for themselves.

[eXpat]

Greece, Irish parliament and now an anygry mob of students in Slovenia (EU) attack parliament.
Video: http://24ur.com/novice/slovenija/studentje-in-dijaki-bodo-zavzeli-ljubljanske-ulice.html#video
Romanians, Slovenians protest against govt austerity measures

Tens of thousands of Romanians demonstrated yesterday in Bucharest against government ordered wage and pension cuts under a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The protesters - 30,000 according to police and 50,000 according to unions - demanded the resignation of centre-right Prime Minister Emil Boc.

“We will not leave until the government quits,” Bogdan Hossu, leader of the Cartel Alfa trade union, said. He warned unions would call a general strike on May 31 if their demands were not met.

Teachers, civil servants, medical staff, police and pensioners joined the demonstration calling on the authorities to abandon a planned 25% cut in public sector wages and 15% lower pensions.

The leader of CNSRL-Fratia union Marius Petcu symbolically tore up a copy of the government’s agreement with the IMF. Under the deal, Bucharest pledged to cut the public deficit to 6.8% by drastically reducing expenses, in exchange for a new instalment of a 20bn-euro aid package from the IMF, the European Union and World Bank.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=362612&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21

[timmac]

Thailand's ex-PM Thaksin predicts guerrilla war

(Reuters) - Exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Wednesday that a military crackdown on protesters backing him could spawn mass discontent and lead to guerrilla warfare.
Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless 2006 military coup, is denounced by adversaries as Thailand's most corrupt politician. To his anti-government supporters, who set Bangkok ablaze on Wednesday, he is a savior.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Thaksin said the crackdown on "red shirt" protesters, which killed six people and wounded 58, could degenerate into widespread violence.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I5NX20100519?