Soldiers banned from MySpace and Facebook

By Lucy Cockcroft

Facebook: The move has angered troops who regularly use networking sites to keep in touch with family and friends Photo: GETTY

Posting information on the internet through blogging, joining in forum discussions or online multiplayer games is now considered "public disclosure of information".

There are concerns that British Army personnel may inadvertently disclose confidential information.

However, the move has angered troops who regularly use networking sites to keep in touch with family and friends.

An NCO in Afghanistan told The Sun: "The fun police have taken over. I can't talk to my wife and kids or even play Call of Duty 5. Do they really think we're going to give away secrets?"

Another soldier said: "It's the most offensive thing I've ever heard. We're prepared to die for the country and are treated like children.

"I am going to ignore it. A lot of the lads are going to do the same."

Even officers are not exempt from the rule.

Generals who wish to talk with the media is now advised to ask permission of a Government minister.

It is also believed that Ministry of Defence officials want to stop criticism of defence policy on military chat forums like the Army Rumour Service.

The order, titled Contact With The Media and Communicating In Public, was issued on February 4.

British Armed Forces Federation spokesman Adrian Weale told The Sun: "You can't treat service personnel like children. They are in the front-line of the war against terrorism but the MoD doesn't trust them to behave responsibly online."

However, an MoD spokesman said the guidelines were not an outright ban.

He said: "Of course soldiers are allowed to go on Facebook and contribute to blogs.

"But we need to ensure sensitive information is not inadvertently placed in the public domain. A routine instruction has merely been refreshed and reissued."

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65 Trillion - U.S. Financial Obligations Exceed The Entire World's GDP

Posted by Shattered Paradigm

The total liabilities of the United States government, including future social security and medicare payments that the U.S. government is already committed to pay out, now exceed 65 TRILLION dollars, which is more than the entire GDP of the whole world.

According to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government, which is an official United States government report, the U.S. actually had a budget deficit of 5.1 trillion dollars in 2008.

So why did the Congressional Budget Office report that the federal budget deficit was only 455 billion dollars (which is certainly a total disaster) in 2008?

The difference lies in accounting. The CBO's figures are based on cash accounting, while the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government is based on GAAP accounting. GAAP accounting is what is used by all the major firms on Wall Street and it is regarded as a much more accurate reflection of financial reality.

So why is there such a big difference?

Well, what the Congressional Budget Office does is some really bad accounting. When you pay social security taxes, the federal government takes that money and instead of putting it away to pay your social security benefits in the future, it takes that money and spends it however it wants.

So what about the future social security and medicare benefits that the government owes you?

There is no money there for those payments.

The government is using that money right now to make the budget look better.

That's right, you have been conned.

And as bad as the numbers from 2008 look, they do not reflect any significant money from the monstrous financial bailouts that Congress has passed.

So 2009 is going to look MUCH worse.

Pretty picture, eh?

The reality is the the United States of America is a total financial disaster.

Already, 13 banks have already failed in 2009. All of the bailouts certainly don't seem to be helping much yet.

But that doesn't mean that the federal government is going to give up trying to help. It seems a new "bailout" or a new "stimulus" is being passed almost weekly now.

Instead of accepting the fact that we must adopt a lower standard of living and deal with the reality of our massive debt, the politicians are trying to crank up the debt spiral one more time.

The truth is that all of this government spending will help the economy in the short term, but it will make the long term problems of the U.S. government far worse.

So who is going to buy all of this new government debt? China has serious doubts about who is going to buy all of America's new debt. The reality is that the only way that the government can "bailout" anyone or pay for any "stimulus" bill is to borrow.

So America borrows and borrows and borrows and borrows.

If your own personal finances were like that, how do you think it would end?

Ah, you are starting to get the picture.....

The "American Dream" is quickly becoming the "American Nightmare" and most of the politicians don't have a clue.

What are you going to do when the economy collapses and everything you ever worked for starts coming apart?

It is time for all of us to start thinking about what is truly important.....

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Chávez Reaches Out to Obama Ahead of Vote

By SIMON ROMERO

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez said Saturday that he was ready to engage in direct talks with President Obama in a bid to repair relations with the United States. The statement marked an evolution in Mr. Chávez’s view of Mr. Obama, whom he described last month as having the “same stench” as his predecessor in the White House.

“Any day is propitious for talking with President Barack Obama,” Mr. Chávez said at a news conference here with foreign journalists ahead of a referendum on Sunday that could open the way for him to hold on to power indefinitely. Mr. Chávez said he would be willing to meet with Mr. Obama before a summit meeting in April of Western Hemisphere nations. The White House has not yet responded.

Mr. Chávez initially expressed optimism over Mr. Obama’s electoral victory and a willingness to re-engage with the United States. But Mr. Chávez cooled to Mr. Obama in January after the American leader voiced concern over reports of Venezuelan assistance to Colombian guerrillas. Ties between the two nations had deteriorated sharply in 2008.

The Obama administration seems to have adopted a nonbombastic approach to dealing with Venezuela, even as it was faced with questions over a referendum campaign here which had been marked by attacks by pro-Chávez partisans on institutions viewed as critical of Mr. Chávez, like the Israeli Embassy and the Vatican’s diplomatic mission, and threats against prominent opponents of the president.

“That’s an internal matter with regard to Venezuela,” Robert Wood, a State Department spokesman, said when asked this month about the referendum.

The vote on Sunday over lifting term limits for Mr. Chávez and other elected officials has again brought out the aggressive campaigning tactics of the president and his allies. His government shifted attention from festering domestic issues like a surge in homicides by expelling a Spanish lawmaker on Saturday who was here as an electoral observer.

The Spanish member of the European Parliament, Luis Herrero, had publicly described Mr. Chávez as a “dictator” in criticism of the electoral process.

“What a coarse man!” Mr. Chávez said on Saturday of Mr. Herrero, who was shoved into a car outside his hotel here by security forces Friday night and placed on a red-eye flight to São Paulo, Brazil. “He set off a fan of excrement.”

The referendum is the second time in 15 months that Mr. Chávez has sought to extend his stay in power beyond 2013, when his six-year term ends. Voters narrowly rejected an attempt in December 2007, which was bundled within a broader constitutional overhaul. Summing up the referendum on Saturday, Mr. Chávez said, “Venezuela is continuing on its march toward greatness.”

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